======================================================================== WRITINGS OF LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER by Lewis Sperry Chafer ======================================================================== A collection of theological writings, sermons, and essays by Lewis Sperry Chafer, compiled for study and devotional reading. Chapters: 191 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. 01.0.1. Dispensationalism 2. 01.01. Introduction to Dispensationalism 3. 01.02. The Creatures of God Viewed Dispensationally 4. 01.03. Scripture Doctrine Viewed Dispensationally 5. 01.04. Dispensationalism in the Light of Divine Grace 6. 01.05. Conclusion 7. 02.00. Ephesian Letter Considered Doctrinally 8. 02.01. Ephesians 1:1, 2 9. 02.02. Ephesians 1:3 10. 02.03. Ephesians 1:4-6 11. 02.04. Ephesians 1:7-14 12. 02.05. Ephesians 1:15-23 13. 02.06. Ephesians 2:1-3 14. 02.07. Ephesians 2:4-10 15. 02.08. Ephesians 2:11-22 16. 02.09. Ephesians 2:19 to 3:13 17. 02.10. Ephesians 3:14-21 18. 02.11. Ephesians 4:1-6 19. 02.12. Ephesians 4:7-16 20. 02.13. Ephesians 4:17 to 5:14 21. 02.14. Ephesians 5:15-33 22. 02.15. Ephesians 6:1-24 23. 03.00. Grace 24. 03.01. The Theme 25. 03.02. Salvation by Grace 26. 03.03. Safe-Keeping by Grace 27. 03.04. The Life Under Grace 28. 03.05. Kingdom Teachings 29. 03.06. Contrast Between Law and Grace Teachings 30. 03.07. The Law Done Away 31. 03.08. The Sabbath, a Test Question 32. 03.09. Christ, The Believer's Sphere in Grace 33. 03.10. Conclusion and Appeal 34. 04.00. He that is Spiritual 35. 04.00.1. Preface 36. 04.01. Three classes of men 37. 04.02. The Ministries of the Spirit 38. 04.03. The filling of the Spirit, or true spirituality 39. 04.04. Grieve not the Holy Spirit 40. 04.05. Quench not the Spirit 41. 04.06. Walk in the Spirit 42. 04.07. An analogy and the Conclusion 43. 05.00.1. Major Bible Themes 44. 05.00.2. Preface to the e-Sword Edition 45. 05.00.3. Copyright Information 46. 05.00.4. Dedication 47. 05.00.5. Table of Contents 48. 05.00.6. Author's Introduction 49. 05.01. The Bible: The Word of God 50. 05.02. The Bible: Inspired of God 51. 05.03. The Bible: Its Subject and Purpose 52. 05.04. God The Trinity: His Person & Deity 53. 05.05. God The Father 54. 05.06. God The Son: His Pre-Existence 55. 05.07. God The Son: His Incarnation 56. 05.08. God The Son: His Substitutionary Death 57. 05.09. God The Son: His Resurrection & Ascension 58. 05.10. God The Son: His Priestly Ministry 59. 05.11. God The Son: His Coming For His Saints 60. 05.12. God The Son: His Coming With His Saints 61. 05.13. God The Holy Spirit: His Personality 62. 05.14. God The Holy Spirit: His Advent 63. 05.15. God The Holy Spirit: His Anointing 64. 05.16. God The Holy Spirit: His Ministry 65. 05.17. God The Holy Spirit: His Baptism 66. 05.18. The Dispensations 67. 05.19. The Covenants 68. 05.20. The Angels 69. 05.21. Satan: His Personality & Power 70. 05.22. Satan: His Work and Destiny 71. 05.23. Man: His Creation 72. 05.24. Man: His Fall 73. 05.25. Sin: Its Character and Universality 74. 05.26. Sin: God's Remedy For It 75. 05.27. Law & Grace 76. 05.28. Salvation From The Guilt And Penalty of Sin 77. 05.29. Salvation From The Power of Sin 78. 05.30. Four Aspects of Righteousness 79. 05.31. Sanctification I 80. 05.32. Sanctification II 81. 05.33. Security 82. 05.34. Assurance 83. 05.35. The Church: Her Membership 84. 05.36. The Church: Her Mission 85. 05.37. The Sabbath 86. 05.38. The Lord's Day & The New Creation 87. 05.39. Love 88. 05.40. Prayer 89. 05.41. Service 90. 05.42. Thanksgiving 91. 05.43. Stewardship 92. 05.44. Prophecy In The Old Testament 93. 05.45. Prophecy In the New Testament 94. 05.46. Judgement of the Believer's Works 95. 05.47. Judgment of the Nations 96. 05.48. Judgment of the Wicked 97. 05.49. The Eternal Estate of the Redeemed 98. 06.00. Preface to the e-Sword Edition 99. 06.00.1. SALVATION 100. 06.00.2. Copyright Information 101. 06.00.3. Table of Contents 102. 06.00.4. Dedication 103. 06.00.5. Preface 104. 06.00.7. Introduction 105. 06.01. The Word Salvation 106. 06.02. The Divine Estimate of the Lost 107. 06.03. The Three-Fold Message of the Cross 108. 06.04. The Present Values of the Cross to the Un... 109. 06.05. The One Condition of Salvation 110. 06.06. The Riches of Grace in Christ Jesus 111. 06.07. Two Cardinal Facts 112. 06.08. Assurance 113. 06.09. Rewards, or the Place of Christian Works 114. 06.10. Eternal Security of Believer, Doubful pas... 115. 06.11. Eternal Security of Believer 116. 06.12. An Appeal 117. 07.00. Preface to the e-Sword Edition 118. 07.00.1. Satan 119. 07.00.2. Copyright Information 120. 07.00.3. Table of Contents 121. 07.00.4. Foreward 122. 07.00.5. Introduction 123. 07.01. The Career of Satan 124. 07.02. The Ages 125. 07.03. The Course of This Age 126. 07.04. This Age and the Satanic System 127. 07.05. The Satanic Host 128. 07.06. Satan's Motive 129. 07.07. Satan's Methods 130. 07.08. The Man of Sin 131. 07.09. The Fatal Omission 132. 07.10. Modern Devices 133. 07.11. The Believer's Present Position 134. 07.12. The Believer's Present Victory 135. 08.00.1. SEVEN BIBLICAL SIGNS OF THE TIMES 136. 08.00.2. e-Sword Module Prepared by BibleSupport.com 137. 08.01. The Seven Biblical Signs Of The Times 138. 08.02. Our Object In Service 139. 08.03. Is The End In View? 140. 08.04. Christians May Discern The Approaching End 141. 08.05. Two Prophetic Days Must Be Distinguished 142. 08.06. Real Issues to be Considered 143. 08.07. The Seven Major Biblical Signs Of The Times 144. 08.08. The Jewish Sign 145. 08.09. The Gentile Government Sign 146. 08.10. The Jerusalem Sign 147. 08.11. The Unveiled Prophecy Sign 148. 08.12. The Material Earth Sign 149. 08.13. The Apostacy Sign 150. 08.14. The Commercial Sign 151. 08.15. Conclusion 152. 09.00.1. The Kingdom in History and Prophecy 153. 09.00.2. Preface to this Digital Edition 154. 09.00.3. Copyright Information 155. 09.00.4. Table of Contents 156. 09.00.5. Introduction 157. 09.00.6. Preface 158. 09.00.7. Bibliography 159. 09.01. The Theme 160. 09.02. The Kingdom Covenanted 161. 09.03. The Kingdom Prophesied 162. 09.04. The Kingdom Offered 163. 09.05. The Kingdom Rejected And Postponed 164. 09.06. Present Truth 165. 09.07. The Church Which Is His Body 166. 09.08. The Bride, The Lamb's Wife 167. 09.09. The Mystery Of Iniquity 168. 09.10. The Mysteries Of The Kingdom Of Heaven 169. 09.11. The Call Of The Bridegroom 170. 09.12. The Olivet Discourse 171. 09.13. The Return Of The King 172. 09.14. "Thy Kingdom Come" 173. 10.00. True Evangelism 174. 10.01. False Forces in Evangelism 175. 10.02. Salvation, the Objective in Evangelism 176. 10.03. Conviction by the Spirit 177. 10.04. The Prayer of Intercession 178. 10.05. Suffering with Christ 179. 10.06. The Cleansing of the Priests 180. S. Assurance of Salvation 181. S. God's Estimate of the Lost 182. S. Preaching the Gospel in its Accuracy 183. S. Rewards, or the Place of Christian Works 184. S. The Church Which Is His Body 185. S. The Crowns of the Lord Jesus Christ 186. S. The Fundamentals of Grace 187. S. The Riches of Grace in Christ Jesus 188. S. The Specific Character of the Christian’s Sin 189. S. The Sufferings and Death of Christ in Types 190. S. The Supernatural Origins of the Word of God 191. S. The Terms of Salvation ======================================================================== CHAPTER 1: 01.0.1. DISPENSATIONALISM ======================================================================== Dispensationalism By Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871-1952) Founder/President of Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas; Professor of Systematic Biblical Theology; Editor, Bibliotheca Sacra ======================================================================== CHAPTER 2: 01.01. INTRODUCTION TO DISPENSATIONALISM ======================================================================== Chapter 1 Introduction to Dispensationalism Author’s Note: (a) The title of this thesis has been chosen reluctantly. It is not intended by it to imply that those who hold what are here set forth as dispensational beliefs are abnormal or disproportionate in doctrine. This thesis purports to demonstrate that so-called dispensationalists find the specific meaning of the Scriptures which God intended to impart and are therefore, by the most exacting proofs, found to be both reasonable and normal in their interpretations. This title is used only that this discussion may be identified in its relation to various articles others have written on this theme. (b) Much Scripture is cited. Usually the citation is not exhaustive, but serves only to provide one proof text out of the many. For want of space, the Scriptures could not be quoted. The sincere reader is requested to look up each passage. Otherwise, the value of this thesis, such as it is, will not be gained. This is the second reprint of an article published in Bibliotheca Sacra (XCIII, 390-449.) 1.1 The Word "Dispensation" A controversy among orthodox theologians over dispensational distinctions is not new. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) wrote: "There is, perhaps, no part of divinity attended with so much intricacy, and wherein orthodox divines so much differ as the stating of the precise agreement and difference between the two dispensations of Moses and Christ" (Edward’s Works, I, 100). But this discussion, as is often the case, has suffered much for want of definition. The word dispensation is twofold in its import: (1) It may refer to a dispensing or an administration or (2) to an abrogation of standards or existing laws -- such are the dispensations practiced by the Church of Rome. It is obvious that the controversy among theologians is concerned only with the former. The word dispensation is Latin in its origin, being derived from dispensation -- economical management or superintendence -- and has its equivalent in the Greek oikonomia, (G3622) meaning, in this specific usage, ’stewardship’ or ’economy’ as to special features of divine government in the various ages. To quote the Century Dictionary bearing on the theological import of the word: "(a) The method or scheme by which God has at different times developed his purpose, and revealed himself to man; or the body of privileges bestowed, and duties and responsibilities enjoined, in connection with that scheme or method of revelation: as the Old or Jewish dispensation; the New Gospel dispensation. (b) A period marked by a particular development of the divine purpose and revelation: as the patriarchal dispensation (lasting from Adam to Moses); the Mosaic dispensation (from Moses to Christ); the Christian dispensation." The Century Dictionary also quotes one pertinent sentence from Bibliotheca Sacra of sixty-two years ago: "The limits of certain dispensational periods were revealed in Scripture" (XLV, 237). In the light of this material, the definition advanced by the late Dr. C.I. Scofield (Scofield Reference Bible, p. 5), namely, "A dispensation is a period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God," is hardly entitled to the criticism which is aimed against it. What men, then, according to these definitions, should be classed as dispensationalists? The answer to this question might be stated in a variety of ways. Three of these may suffice: (1) Any person is a dispensationalist who trusts the blood of Christ rather than bringing an animal sacrifice. (2) Any person is a dispensationalist who disclaims any right or title to the land which God covenanted to Israel for an everlasting inheritance. And (3) any person is a dispensationalist who observes the first day of the week rather than the seventh. To all this it would be replied that every Christian does these things, which is obviously true; and it is equally true that, to a very considerable degree, all Christians are dispensationalists. However, not all Christians, though sincere, are as well instructed in the spiritual content of the Scriptures as others, nor have they seen the necessity of recognizing other and deeper distinctions which do confront the careful student of the Word of God. It should be observed, however, that, apart from extremists who are not now under consideration and mere echo men who appear on either side of a controversy and who have not thought through the problems of interpretation, the instructed dispensationalists of all generations have had as good reason for the distinctions they have made as any Christian might present for trusting only in the blood of Christ apart from all Jewish sacrifices. The worthy dispensationalist does not create problems of interpretation; he rather seeks to solve the problems which penetrating study of the text of Scripture imposes. Naturally, to the person who has confronted no problems, the work of the advanced student seems divisive and superimposed. Such misunderstandings obtain in every field of human investigation. 1.2 Misleading Apprehensions Four misleading apprehensions have been expressed recently by partial dispensationalists. A brief consideration of these statements will be made before turning to the constructive message of this thesis. 1. The term modern dispensationalism implies that dispensationalism is modern. In the recovery of vital truth in the Reformation dispensational distinctions, like various other doctrines, were not emphasized. The truths thus neglected in the Reformation have since been set forth by devout Bible students, but against the opposition of those who assume that the Reformation secured all that is germane to Systematic Theology. The testimony, already cited, of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) that in his day dispensational distinctions were a living topic of theological discussion indicates the fact that these themes were dominant nearly three hundred years ago. Similarly, a worthy and scholarly research of the Bible with dispensational distinctions in view was made during the last century in England by J.N. Darby, Charles H. Mackintosh, William Kelly, F.W. Grant, and others who developed what is known as the Plymouth Brethren movement. These men created an extensive literature of surpassing value which is strictly Biblical and dispensational, though this literature has been strangely neglected by many conservative theologians. The term anno Domini is intensely dispensational in itself and the familiar dictum attributed to Augustine (354-430, A.D.), "Distinguish the ages and the Scriptures harmonize," could hardly be considered modern. Until the distortive spiritualizing method of interpretation was introduced by the scholars of the Alexandrian School there was no formulated opposition to the simple belief in and understanding of all that the Sacred Text implies. Abundant evidence for this statement may be drawn from the works of the early fathers, even going back to the Didache, which evidence establishes the fact that Chiliasm, with those dispensational divisions which belong to it, was the orthodox faith of the early church and was far from the heresy that some writers represent it to have been. 2. It has been claimed that dispensationalism is in some respects "illogical" and "leads to disastrous consequences." No argument against this claim need be advanced here other than to point out that dispensationalism has now become one of the most firmly established features of Christian education and is the acknowledged source of untold blessings as well as the inspiration to sacrificial service to uncounted multitudes who testify that the Bible became a new and transforming message to them when dispensational distinctions were observed. Like the controversy between Arminianism and Calvinism wherein a very great company have been won from Arminianism to Calvinism and few if any from Calvinism to Arminianism, so of the vast company who have turned to dispensationalism very few are known to have ever abandoned the new ground they have taken. It is the dispensationalists who are promoting Bible study movements over the whole land and they are the major factor in all evangelistic and missionary activity today. Dispensationalism has always been disastrous to theological dicta that cannot stand the acid test of Biblical proof. 3. Another claim has been made in recent discussions: "I am a premillennialist, but not a dispensationalist." This statement evidently supposes that premillennialism is a belief in an event which is isolated from all that precedes and all that follows it. The term premillennial conveys the thought that Christ comes before the millennium. In reality premillennialism becomes a dominating feature of interpretation since it bears on the whole divine program from its beginning to its end. As well might it be argued that though the sun rises in the morning it will neither be preceded by darkness nor accompanied by light as to contend that Christ will come to the earth again, as the Scriptures relate that coming to all that precedes it and all that follows, without causing the most stupendous dispensational changes. 4. And, finally, it has been contended of late that dispensationalism is a modern heretical departure from sound interpretation of the Scriptures, and that the scholarly research of dispensationalists (who of all men are most faithful defenders of every cardinal doctrine of the Word of God) should be classified as a form of Higher Criticism. To quote: "Dispensationalism shares with Higher Criticism its fundamental error." And, again, "In a word, despite all their differences, Higher Criticism and Dispensationalism are in this one respect strikingly similar. Higher Criticism divides the Scriptures up into Documents which differ from or contradict one another. Dispensationalists divide the Bible up into dispensations which differ from and even contradict one another; and so radical is this difference as viewed by the extremist that the Christian of today who accepts the Dispensational views finds his Bible (the part directly intended for him) shrunk to the compass of the Imprisonment Epistles" ("Modern Dispensationalism," by Oswald T. Allis, former professor of Hebrew in Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Evangelical Quarterly, Edinburgh, Scotland, Vol. VIII, No. 1, p. 24). Though somewhat involved in his expression at the end of this quotation, the author believes Dr. Allis is referring only to extreme dispensationalists of which class there are but very few today. He must know that the great expositors of this and past generations are and were dispensationalists, and that the above description could in no case apply to them. However, the object in view in bringing forward this quotation is the more serious and intended assertion that "Dispensationalism shares with Higher Criticism its fundamental error." What, then, is this fundamental error to which Dr. Allis refers? It consists, evidently, in the recognition of certain divisions of truth. But Dr. Allis, in common with all Bible students, recognizes some divisions in the Word of God. Thus this "fundamental error" consists in the recognition of distinctions which go beyond Dr. Allis’ own conceptions. This point is not stressed to embarrass Dr. Allis, but only that this problem may be reduced to its actual dimensions. We believe that a partial dispensationalist has a valid reason for the divisions he accepts, and so has the dispensationalist. And the latter will contend that his reasons for these distinctions which go beyond the range of those of the partial dispensationalist are, to him, just as impelling as are the reasons which support the distinctions which he holds in common with the partial dispensationalist. The dispensationalist’s larger view of the structure of the Bible is not due to ignorance, lack of logic, or lack of devotion to the integrity of the Scriptures. To hold to the precise character of the Davidic Covenant is no more "divisive" or akin to Higher Criticism than to hold to the precise character of any other covenant. The instructed dispensationalist holds to both. Beyond this extended introductory word, it is not the purpose of this article to be negatively controversial, though some opposing statements must be considered. In the limited space available it is purposed to make a constructive statement bearing on conservative dispensationalism. In presenting an outline of dispensational fundamentals, proof for statements made will be drawn from the Word of God. Believing the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the only infallible rule of faith and practice, no appeal is to be made to the creeds, confessions, or doctrinal standards which men have formed. Recent articles published in defense of sound doctrine have quoted the Westminster Confession for authoritative evidence as much as or more than the Word of God. Men are branded as heterodox who disagree at any point with this Confession. Having declared in ordination vows that he believes the Bible to be the only infallible rule of faith and practice, how can a minister go on to assign infallibility to the Westminster Confession? And if the Westminster Confession is accepted as fallible, could that acceptance be interpreted as being any more than one of general agreement? Even the drafters of the Westminster Confession did not expect their statement to supplant the Scriptures. They wrote: "The authority of the Holy Scriptures; for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the Author, and therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God." Indeed, it is not a long step from the Protestant claim that a man is heretical who does not accept in toto some dictum of the Protestant Church to the imposition of Rome which is to the effect that the dogmas of the church are equal in authority with the Scriptures. The theologian who draws his proof as much from the standards of his church as from the Bible is slipping from the true Protestant position. To a student whose conception of doctrine is gained from firsthand searching of the Scriptures, the confessions or creeds, though appreciated for what they contain, are nevertheless characterized by what they do not contain. An overweening devotion to creedal statements may easily lead to a neglect of much important truth which is outside the range of those creeds. When good men disagree about doctrine it is usually due to a fundamental difference in premise. Perfect logic, when built on divergent premises, will usually result in irreconcilable conclusions. The controversy between partial dispensationalists and dispensationalists is due to a wide difference in premise. This difference cannot be stated apart from an extended preliminary analysis. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 3: 01.02. THE CREATURES OF GOD VIEWED DISPENSATIONALLY ======================================================================== Chapter 2 The Creatures of God Viewed Dispensationally The Bible is God’s one and only Book. In it He discloses facts of eternity as well as of time, of heaven and hell as well as of earth, of Himself as well as of His creatures, and of His purposes in all creation. The reader of the Scriptures should be prepared to discover revelation which at times deals with other beings and their destiny quite apart from himself. The Bible presents the origin, present estate, and destiny of four major classes of rational beings in the universe: the angels, the Gentiles, the Jews, and the Christians. Nothing could be more germane to true Biblical interpretation than the observance of this fact that these divisions of rational beings continue what they are throughout their history. The revealed divine program for each of these groups will here be traced in brief. 2.1 The Angels The angels are created beings (Psalms 148:2; Psalms 148:5; Colossians 1:16), their abode is in heaven (Matthew 24:36), their activity is both on earth and in heaven (Psalms 103:20; Luke 15:10; Hebrews 1:14), and their destiny is in the celestial city (Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 21:12). They remain angels throughout their existence. They neither propagate nor do they die. There is no reason for confusing the angels with any other creatures in God’s universe. Even though they fall, as in the case of Satan and the demons, they are still classed as angels (Matthew 25:41). 2.2 The Gentiles In regard to their racial stock, the Gentiles had their origin in Adam and their natural headship is in him. They have partaken of the fall, and, though they are the subjects of prophecy which predicts that some of them will yet share, as a subordinate people, with Israel in her coming kingdom glory (Isaiah 2:4; Isaiah 14:1-2; Isaiah 60:3; Isaiah 60:5; Isaiah 60:12; Isaiah 62:2; Matthew 25:34; Acts 15:17), they, with respect to their estate in the period from Adam to Christ, are under a fivefold indictment, namely, "without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12). With the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, and the descent of the Spirit, the door of gospel privilege was opened unto the Gentiles (Acts 10:45; Acts 11:17-18; Acts 13:47-48), and out of them God is now calling an elect company (Acts 15:14). Their new proffered blessings in this age do not consist in being permitted to share in Israel’s earthly covenants, which even Israel is not now enjoying; but rather, through riches of grace in Christ Jesus, they are privileged to be partakers of a heavenly citizenship and glory. It is revealed that the mass of Gentiles will not in this age enter by faith into these heavenly riches. Therefore, this people, designated as "the nations," go on, and at the end of their stewardship as earth-rulers, which is the termination of "the times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24; cf. Daniel 2:36-44), they of that generation will, at the end of the tribulation period (cf. Matthew 24:8-31 with Matthew 25:31-46), be called upon to stand before the Messiah King, seated on the throne of His glory (Matthew 25:31-32) here on the earth. At that time, some who are found on the left and who are designated "the goats" will be dismissed into "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," but those who are found on His right, who are designated as "sheep," will be ushered into "the kingdom" prepared for them from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:31-46). The basis of this judgment and its disposition of each of these groups, who together represent the sum total of that generation of the Gentile nations, will be meritorious to the last degree. The "sheep" enter the kingdom and the "goats" the lake of fire on the sole issue of their treatment of a third group whom Christ designates "my brethren." This context does not bear out the interpretation that this is a description of a last and final judgment when all saved people of all the ages are ushered into heaven; for the saved, each and every one, when departing this world are immediately present with the Lord in heaven (Acts 7:55-56; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Php 1:23); and who, according to such an interpretation, would answer to "my brethren"? The scene is at the close of the great tribulation (Matthew 24:21) after the removal of the Church from the earth, and at a time when nations will be divided over the Semitic question. The issue is one regarding what nations will be chosen to enter Israel’s Messianic kingdom on the earth. The destiny of the Gentiles is further revealed when it is declared concerning the city which, after the creation of the new heavens and the new earth, comes down from God out of heaven (Revelation 3:12; Revelation 21:2; Revelation 21:10), that "the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. ... And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it" (Revelation 21:24-26). The term "the nations of them which are saved" could not refer to the Church for her destiny is not earthly, neither is she ever termed "the nations," nor does she include the kings of the earth in her number. In this same context, the city itself is said to be "the bride, the Lamb’s wife," which is the Church (Revelation 21:2, Revelation 21:9-10). Thus it is disclosed that -- in spite of the fact that a dispensation of world-rule is committed unto them, that in this age the gospel is preached unto them with its offers of heavenly glory, that in the coming age they share the blessings of the kingdom with Israel, and that they appear in the future ages -- they remain Gentiles, in contradistinction to the one nation Israel, to the end of the picture; and there is no defensible ground for diverting or misapplying this great body of Scripture bearing on the Gentiles. 2.3 The Jews Whatever Abraham was nationally before he was called of God, it is certain that God set him apart and through him secured a race so distinct in its individuality that from the time of the Exodus to the end of the record of their history they are held as antipodal of all other nations combined. Whatever Abraham’s distinctive physical characteristics may have been, it is undeniable that his spiritual characteristics were far removed from those of the idolatrous heathen among whom he was reared, and the race which sprang from him through Isaac and Jacob has ever been unique both with regard to spiritual values and physical appearance. Following the first eleven chapters of Genesis wherein the first third of human history is recorded and which concern a period of two thousand years when there was but one division of the human family on the earth, the record enters upon the second third of human history which period of two thousand years extends from Abraham to Christ. In a usual edition of the Bible totaling 1,351 pages, 1,132 bear almost exclusively upon this second period, and concern the physical seed of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. During this extended period there are two divisions of humanity on the earth, but the Gentile is then considered only in the light of his relation to Israel. Israel is set apart as an elect nation. Her specific divine favors are enumerated thus: "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen" (Romans 9:4-5). Out of the covenants Jehovah has made with Israel, five eternal features are dominant -- a national entity (Jeremiah 31:36), a land in perpetuity (Genesis 13:15), a throne (2 Samuel 7:16; Psalms 89:36), a king (Jeremiah 33:21), and a kingdom (Daniel 7:14). Though Jehovah reserves the right to chasten even to the extent of scattering His people through all the nations, their land being trodden down of Gentiles and their throne vacant for a time, yet His eternal purposes cannot fail. This people are to be regathered and the land will be possessed forever (Deuteronomy 30:1-6; Jeremiah 23:5-8; Ezekiel 37:21-25). Their rightful King, the Son of David, will occupy the Davidic throne forever (Psalms 89:34-37; Isaiah 9:6-7; Jeremiah 33:17; Luke 1:31-33; Revelation 11:15). Each of the two major passages on the virgin birth of Christ -- one in the Old Testament (Isaiah 7:14 with Isaiah 9:6-7) and one in the New Testament (Luke 1:31-33) -- record the prediction, in addition to the virgin birth, that Christ will occupy the Davidic throne forever. According to very much prophecy, the anticipated Messiah would come as a resistless Lion and as a sacrificial Lamb. Peter testifies to the perplexity of the prophets over this seeming paradox (1 Peter 1:10-11). Isaiah blends the events connected with the two advents into one vast, all-inclusive expectation (Isaiah 61:1-5); and even the angel Gabriel was not permitted to disclose the fact of two advents separated by the present age, but refers to the events of both advents as though they belonged to one uninterrupted program (Luke 1:31-33). However, to David were given two important revelations, namely, (a) that God’s eternal Son would die a sacrificial death (Psalms 22:1-21; Psalms 69:20-21), and (b) that He would occupy David’s throne forever (2 Samuel 7:16-29; Psalms 89:34-37). David reasoned that if all this were true, God’s Son must first die and be raised again from the dead and thus be free to reign forever. This conclusion on the part of David was one of the most vital features of Peter’s Pentecostal sermon (Acts 2:25-36), in which he is proving that the Lord Jesus is, in spite of His death, the eternal Messiah to Israel. Thus it was disclosed that the Son of David would first die and then be raised again, that the Davidic promise of an eternal occupant of David’s throne might be fulfilled. However, it was as definitely predicted that Christ would at His first advent offer Himself to Israel as their King, not in the role of a resistless conquering monarch, as He will yet come (Revelation 19:15-16), but "meek" and "lowly" (Zechariah 9:9; cf. Matthew 21:5). Yet, in spite of prediction that Christ would make a precross offer of Himself to Israel as their King, coming in "lowly guise," Dr. Allis in his article on "Modern Dispensationalism" (quoted above) refers to the belief which dispensationalists hold -- that Christ offered the kingdom to Israel and that it was rejected and postponed -- as a theory characterized by intricacies and impossible. He states that this theory seriously minimizes "the value and centrality of the Cross in Biblical Revelation" (Ibid., p. 34). Likewise, a Presbyterian minister of the south has written an article which has been published by a reputable Presbyterian journal also accusing the late Dr. C.I. Scofield of modernistic teaching because he seemed to minimize the cross by his advocacy of the theory that the kingdom was offered to Israel before the death of Christ. These men are Calvinists, yet they are disturbed over the seeming conflict between divine sovereignty and human will. If the ground of their objection to the "postponement theory" stands, then there was no assurance that there would be a Jewish nation until Abraham made his decision to obey God; there was no certainty that Christ would be born until Mary gave her consent; there was no assurance that Christ would die until Pilate so ordered. In the light of two determining facts, namely, (a) that Jehovah’s Lamb was in the redeeming purpose slain from the foundation of the world and (b) that had Adam not sinned there could have been no need of a redeemer, why did Jehovah tell Adam not to sin? And what would have become of the redemptive purpose had Adam obeyed God? These objections to the so-called postponement theory do not take into consideration the fact of the divinely purposed test involved and the necessary postponement resulting from the failure under testing, the failure itself being anticipated. These are evidently very serious problems for some Calvinists to face. If it be claimed that the birth and death of Christ were predicted and therefore made sure, it is equally true that the precross offer of the earthly Messianic kingdom to Israel by her Messiah in the days of His "lowly guise" was also made sure by prediction. It is equally made sure by prediction that Christ would be crucified, which was Israel’s official rejection of their King (Psalms 118:22-24 with 1 Peter 2:6-8; Matthew 21:42-45; Luke 19:14; Luke 19:27; Acts 4:10-12), be raised from the dead (Psalms 16:8-10), and ultimately sit on David’s earthly throne and reign over the house of Jacob forever (Isaiah 9:6-7; Matthew 2:6; Luke 1:31-33). The prophet declared of Christ that He would be "despised and rejected of men," and John states, "He came unto his own, but his own [Israel] received Him not" (John 1:11). The truth set forth in this last passage is of utmost importance. The "rejection" on the part of the nation Israel was not the personal rejection of a crucified and risen Savior as He is now rejected when the gospel is refused. It was a nation to whom a Messiah King was promised, rejecting their King. They did not say, "We will not believe on this Savior for the saving of our souls"; but they did say in effect, "We will not have this man to reign over us." This distinction is important since it determines the precise character of their sin. Two years after their departure from Egypt, God offered to Israel an entrance into their land at Kadesh-Barnea. They rejected the offer. God knew they would reject it, yet it was a bona fide offer He made to them. Yea, it was in the divine counsel that they would reject, become guilty of that specific sin, and, as a punishment, be returned to thirty-eight more years of wilderness experience. After that, they were taken into the land by His sovereign hand without a question concerning their own wishes. Since He had worked in their hearts to do His good pleasure, they went in with songs of rejoicing. This history is allegorical, if not typical. The two years of wilderness experience preceding the offer at Kadesh are typical of the six hundred years Israel had been out of their kingdom when Christ came. The rejection of the divine offer at Kadesh is typical of the rejection of Christ. A possible entrance into the land at Kadesh was a bona fide offer to Israel made by Jehovah in the full knowledge that they would reject it, and in spite of the fact that His eternal purpose required them to reject the offer and return to thirty-eight more years of trial. Had the salvation of the world hung on the added years of trial after Kadesh, hesitating Calvinists would shrink back from admitting that the Kadesh offer was ever made, or, if made, was genuine. All would be branded as a theory characterized by intricacies and impossible. The added thirty-eight years are typical of Israel’s present condition as a people yet deprived of their land and the blessings of their covenants. The entrance of Israel into the land by sovereign power corresponds to the final restoration of that nation to their inheritance which Jehovah covenanted to them as an everlasting possession (Genesis 13:14-17). That Israel will yet be regathered into her own land is the burden of about twenty Old Testament predictions beginning with Deuteronomy 30:3. The death of Christ is neither incidental, accidental, nor fortuitous. It is the central truth of the Bible and the central fact of the universe. It was also in the purpose of God that Christ’s death should be accomplished by Israel as their act of rejecting their King. It is also true that they did not and could not reject what was not first offered to them. In the present unforeseen age -- which is bounded by the two advents of Christ and often termed parenthetical or an intercalation in the sense that it is unforeseen in the divine program for the Jews as reflected in the prophecies concerning them and is not accounted for in the Gentile program of successive monarchies symbolized by the colossal image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream -- the Jews, like the Gentiles, are, as individuals, shut up at the present time to the message of the gospel of saving grace through faith in Christ. The agelong Jewish advantage because of divine election is, for an age, set aside and the Apostle declares, "There is no difference." They are as individuals alike with the Gentiles "under sin" (Romans 3:9), and as individuals alike with the Gentiles in that God is rich in mercy to all that call upon Him (Romans 10:12). This is a new message to Gentiles and equally new to Jews. The divine favor proffered to Gentiles does not consist in offering them a share in the national blessings of Israel, nor does it provide a way whereby the Jew may realize the specific features of his national covenants. Though present salvation is into the kingdom of God (John 3:3), no earthly kingdom is now being offered to any people. Colossians 1:13 is no exception. Should the present king of Great Britain marry a woman of another nation he would bring her into his kingdom, not as a subject, but as a consort. The present divine purpose is the outcalling from both Jews and Gentiles of that company who are the Bride of Christ, who are, therefore, every one to partake of His standing, being in Him, to be like Him, and to reign with Him on the earth (Revelation 20:4, Revelation 20:6; Revelation 22:5). To the nation Israel Christ is Messiah, Emmanuel, and King; to the Church He is Head, Bridegroom, and Lord, the last designation connoting His sovereign authority over the Church. These statements, admittedly dogmatic, are easily verified. At the end of this age, Israel must pass through the great tribulation, which is specifically characterized as "the time of Jacob’s trouble" (Jeremiah 30:4-7; Daniel 12:1; Matthew 24:21); and, before entering her kingdom, she must come before her King in judgment. Of this event Ezekiel writes: "I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered. ... And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me" (Ezekiel 20:34-38. The entire context should be considered, 33-44. Cf., also, Isaiah 1:24-26; Psalms 50:1-7; Malachi 3:2-5; Malachi 4:1-2). Israel’s judgments are likewise described by Christ in Matthew 24:15-51 - Matthew 25:1-30. That this Scripture refers to Israel is certain from the fact that the Church does not come into judgment (John 3:18; John 5:24; Romans 8:1, A.R.V.,[There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. ASV] Romans 8:38-39), and that the description of the judgment of the nations does not begin until verse 31. It therefore follows that Israel’s judgments are in view in the passage in question. The incomparable tribulation is ended by the glorious return of Christ to the earth (Psalms 2:1-9; Isaiah 63:1-6; Matthew 24:27-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12; Revelation 19:11-21); Israel’s judgments, according to the context of Matthew 24:30-51 - Matthew 25:1-30, follow the glorious appearing of Christ; and the judgment of the nations occurs when He is seated on the throne of His glory (Matthew 25:31-32). The Day of Jehovah, which extended period occupies so large a part of Old Testament prophecy, begins with the judgments of Jehovah in the earth, mentioned in the foregoing, and continues on including the return of Christ to the earth and all the millennial glory for Israel and the Gentiles. Zechariah 14:1-21 predicts the beginning of that long period, while 2 Peter 3:4-15 (note, in this connection, Peter declares "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day") and Revelation 20:7-15 describe the end of that period. The whole extended "day" is characterized by the presence of Christ reigning on the earth with His Bride, by Satan being bound and in the abyss, and by the realization on Israel’s part of all the glory and blessedness promised that people in Jehovah’s covenants with them. More space than this thesis may claim would be required to quote even the major prophecies bearing on this theme (cf. Psalms 45:8-17; Psalms 72:1-20; Isaiah 11:1-16 - Isaiah 12:1-6; Isaiah 54:1-17 - Isaiah 55:1-13; Isaiah 60:1-22 - Isaiah 61:1-11 - Isaiah 62:1-12 - Isaiah 63:1-19 - Isaiah 64:1-12 - Isaiah 65:1-25 - Isaiah 66:1-24; Jeremiah 23:5-8; Jeremiah 31:1-40; Jeremiah 33:1-26; Ezekiel 34:11-31; Ezekiel 36:16-38; Ezekiel 37:1-14; Ezekiel 40:1-49 - Ezekiel 41:1-26 - Ezekiel 42:1-20 - Ezekiel 43:1-27 - Ezekiel 44:1-31 - Ezekiel 45:1-25 - Ezekiel 46:1-24 -Ezekiel 47:1-23 - Ezekiel 48:1-35; Daniel 2:44-45; Daniel 7:13-14; Zechariah 14:1-21; Malachi 4:1-6). These promises are all of an earthly glory and concern a land which Jehovah has given as an everlasting possession to His elect people, Israel, to whom He said, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3). Little consideration, indeed, is given to the confusion or inconsistencies which arise when, under a spiritualizing method of interpretation, these blessings which are addressed to the elect nation and related to their land and King are applied to an elect heavenly people called out from all nations to whom no land has ever been given, and who are not now or at any future time said to be subjects of the King. There is no scholarly reason for applying the Scriptures which bear upon the past, the present, or the future of Israel to any other people than that nation of whom these Scriptures speak. The real unity of the Bible is preserved only by those who observe with care the divine program for Gentiles, for Jews, and for Christians in their individual and unchanging continuity. 2.4 The Christians The current and last third of human history, extending from the first advent of Christ to the present hour, is characterized by three widely different classes of people dwelling together on the earth. As in the preceding age, all divine purpose centered about the Jew, and the Gentile was in evidence only as he was related to Israel; so in this age the divine purpose centers in the new group which is present, and the Jew and the Gentile are seen only as those to whom the gospel is to be preached alike and from whom this new elect company is being called out by a spiritual birth of each individual who believes to the saving of his soul. The Scriptures addressed specifically to this company are: the Gospel by John -- especially the Upper Room Discourse, the Acts, and the Epistles. The Synoptic Gospels, though on the surface presenting a simple narrative, are, nevertheless, a field for careful, discriminating study on the part of the true expositor. In these Gospels Christ is seen as loyal to and vindicating the Mosaic Law under which He lived; He also anticipates the kingdom age in connection with the offer of Himself as Israel’s King; and, when His rejection is indicated, He announces His death and resurrection and the expectation concerning a heavenly people (Matthew 16:18) for whom He gave Himself in redeeming love (Ephesians 5:25-27). An extensive body of Scripture declares directly or indirectly that the present age is unforeseen and intercalary in its character and in it a new humanity appears on the earth with an incomparable new headship in the resurrected Christ, which company is being formed by the regenerating power of the Spirit. It is likewise revealed that there is now "no difference" between Jews and Gentiles generally, either with respect to their need of salvation (Romans 3:9) or the specific message to be preached to them (Romans 10:12). It is seen, also, that in this new body wherein Jews and Gentiles are united by a common salvation, the middle wall of partition -- the agelong enmity between Jew and Gentile -- is broken down, itself having been "slain" by Christ on the cross, thus making peace (Ephesians 2:14-18). In fact, all former distinctions are lost, those thus saved having come upon new ground where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, but where Christ is all in all (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). The New Testament also records that the individual Christian, being indwelt by Christ, now possesses eternal life and its hope of glory (Colossians 1:27), and, being in Christ, is enriched with the perfect standing of Christ, since all that Christ is -- even the righteousness of God -- is imputed unto him. The Christian is thus already constituted a heavenly citizen (Php 3:20) and, being raised with Christ (Colossians 3:1-3), and seated with Him (Ephesians 2:6), belongs to another sphere -- so definitely, indeed, that Christ can say of the Christian: "Ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (John 17:14, John 17:16; cf. John 15:18-19). It is likewise to be observed that since this spiritual birth and heavenly position in Christ are supernatural, they are, of necessity, wrought by God alone, and that human cooperation is excluded, the only responsibility imposed on the human side being that of faith which trusts in the only One who is able to save. To this heavenly people, who are the New Creation of God (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15), is committed, not in any corporate sense but only as individuals, a twofold responsibility, namely, (a) to adorn by a Christlike life the doctrine which they represent by the very nature of their salvation, and (b) to be His witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth. It is similarly believed that the Scriptures which direct the Christian in his holy walk and service are adapted to the fact that he is not now striving to secure a standing with God, but is already "accepted in the beloved" (Ephesians 1:6), and has attained unto every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3; Colossians 2:10). It is evident that no human resource could enable any person to arise to the fulfillment of these heaven-high responsibilities and that God, anticipating the believer’s inability to walk worthy of the calling wherewith he is called, has freely bestowed His empowering Spirit to indwell every one who is saved. Of this same heavenly company it is declared that they, when their elect number is complete, will be removed from this earth. The bodies of those that have died will be raised and living saints will be translated (1 Corinthians 15:20-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). In glory, the individuals who comprise this company will be judged as regards their rewards for service (1 Corinthians 3:9-15; 1 Corinthians 9:18-27; 2 Corinthians 5:10-11), be married to Christ (Revelation 19:7-9), and then return with Him to share as His Consort in His reign (Luke 12:35-36; Jude 1:14-15; Revelation 19:11-16). This New Creation people, like the angels, Israel, and the Gentiles, may be traced on into the eternity to come (Hebrews 12:22-24; Revelation 21:1-27 - Revelation 22:1-5). But, it will be remembered, the Christian possesses no land (Exodus 20:12; Matthew 5:5); no house (Matthew 23:38; Acts 15:16), though of the household of God; no earthly capital or city (Isaiah 2:1-4; Psalms 137:5-6); no earthly throne (Luke 1:31-33); no earthly kingdom (Acts 1:6-7); no king to whom he is subject (Matthew 2:2), though Christians may speak of Christ as "the King" (1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Timothy 6:15); and no altar other than the cross of Christ (Hebrews 13:10-14). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 4: 01.03. SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE VIEWED DISPENSATIONALLY ======================================================================== Chapter 3 Scripture Doctrine Viewed Dispensationally A true religion consists in a specific relationship, with its corresponding responsibilities, divinely set up between God and man. There is no revelation of any distinctive relation having been set up either between God and the angels or between God and the Gentiles which partakes of the character of a true religion, but God has entered into relation with the Jew, which results in Judaism, or what the Apostle identifies as the religion of the Jews (Acts 26:5; Galatians 1:13; cf. James 1:26-27), and with the Christian, which results in Christianity, or what the New Testament writers designate as "the faith" (Jude 1:3) and "this way" (Acts 9:2; Acts 22:4; cf. Acts 18:26; 2 Peter 2:2). Judaism and Christianity have much in common; each is ordained of God to serve a specific purpose. They incorporate similar features -- God, man, righteousness, sin, redemption, salvation, human responsibility, and human destiny -- but these similarities do not establish identity since the dissimilarities far outnumber the similarities. There are remarkable points of likeness between the laws of Great Britain and the laws of the United States, but this fact does not constitute these two nations one. A complete religious system provides at least seven distinctive features, all of which are present both in Judaism and in Christianity. These features are: (1) an acceptable standing on the part of man before God; (2) a manner of life consistent with that standing; (3) a divinely appointed service; (4) a righteous ground whereon God may graciously forgive and cleanse the erring; (5) a clear revelation of the responsibility on the human side upon which divine forgiveness and cleansing may be secured; (6) an effective basis upon which God may be worshiped and petitioned in prayer; and (7) a future hope. It should be observed that though Judaism and Christianity have much in common, they never merge the one into the other. Having each its own eschatology reaching on into eternity, any attempt to fuse these two systems in the interests of a mere idealistic unity of the Scriptures is doomed to fail under the acid test of an unprejudiced, faithful searching of the Word of God. A constructive work on the eschatology of Judaism, such as an Old Testament scholar of the standing of Dr. Allis might produce, is a desideratum. It should go beyond the bounds of the Westminster Confession, which is itself greatly restricted in its eschatology. Equally to be desired is an exhaustive work on the soteriology of Judaism; observing in it the first law of a true Old Testament Theology, namely, that in every instance its doctrine shall stand only on the body of truth which obtained in the period under consideration. The all too common practice of imposing Christianity back upon Judaism or Judaism forward upon Christianity, is the cause of that dire confusion which appears in some theological literature. The Word of God distinguishes between earth and heaven, even after they are created new. Similarly and as clearly it distinguishes between God’s consistent and eternal earthly purpose, which is the substance of Judaism; and His consistent and eternal heavenly purpose which is the substance of Christianity, and it is as illogical and fanciful to contend that Judaism and Christianity ever merge as it would be to contend that heaven and earth cease to exist as separate spheres. Dispensationalism has its foundation in and is understood in the distinction between Judaism and Christianity. 3.1 An Acceptable Standing on the Part of Man Before God Whatever may have been the divine method of dealing with individuals before the call of Abraham and the giving of the law by Moses, it is evident that, with the call of Abraham and the giving of the law and all that has followed, there are two widely different, standardized, divine provisions, whereby man, who is utterly fallen, might stand in the favor of God, namely, (a) by physical birth into Judaism or (b) by spiritual birth into Christianity or the kingdom of God. 3.11 Divine Grace Upon Israel Apart from the privilege accorded proselytes of joining the congregation of Israel -- which seemed to bear little fruitage -- entrance into the right to share in the covenants of blessing designed for the earthly people was and is by physical birth. It was no vain boast when the Apostle declared of himself that he was "of the stock of Israel" (Php 3:5), nor is there any uncertain generalization in the statement that Christ "was a minister of the circumcision to confirm the promises made unto the fathers" (Romans 15:8). The national blessings of Israel are recorded thus: "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came" (Romans 9:4-5). Though they went down into Egypt a family, they came out a nation and Jehovah redeemed them as a nation unto Himself both by blood and by power. It was not an individual redemption since it was not restricted to that generation, but Israel remains a redeemed nation throughout all her history (Isaiah 63:4). On the human side, the passover lamb saved the physical life of Israel’s first-born. On the divine side, the lamb, as an anticipation of God’s perfect Lamb, gave Jehovah freedom to redeem a nation forever. That Israel was already in Jehovah’s favor is revealed in Exodus 8:23; Exodus 9:6; Exodus 9:26; Exodus 10:23. The redeemed nation became Jehovah’s abiding treasure (Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 4:32-40; Psalms 135:4). What Jehovah has covenanted to His elect nation is one thing, and what He covenants to individuals within that nation is quite another thing. The national entity has been and will be preserved forever according to covenant promise (Isaiah 66:22; Jeremiah 31:35-37; Genesis 17:7-8). The individual Israelite, on the other hand, was subject to a prescribed and regulated conduct which carried with it a penalty of individual judgment for every failure (Deuteronomy 28:58-62; Ezekiel 20:33-44; Matthew 24:51; Matthew 25:12, Matthew 25:30). The national standing (but not necessarily the spiritual state) of each Israelite, was secured by physical birth. Some of that nation did by faithfulness attain to more personal blessing than others of the nation (cf. Luke 2:25, Luke 2:37), and some gloried in their tribal relationship (cf. Php 3:5); but these things added nothing to their rights within their covenants, which rights were secured to every one alike by physical birth. 3.12 Divine Grace Upon Christians The heavenly people, whether taken individually from either Jewish or Gentile stock, attain immediately by faith unto a standing as perfect as that of Christ, which standing is secured by a spiritual birth and all the saving operations of God which accompany it. They are individually redeemed by the blood of Christ, born of the Spirit into a relationship in which God becomes their Father and they become His legitimate sons and heirs -- even joint-heirs with Christ. Through the regenerating work of the Spirit they have Christ begotten in them (Colossians 1:27), and they receive the divine nature which is eternal life (Romans 6:23). They are forgiven all trespasses to such a degree that they will never come into condemnation (Colossians 2:13; John 3:18; Romans 8:1, A.R.V.[There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. ASV]), and justified forever (Romans 3:21-31 - Romans 4:1-25 - Romans 5:1-11). They died in Christ’s death (Romans 6:1-10), they rose in Christ’s resurrection (Colossians 3:1-3), and they are seated with Christ in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2:6). By the baptizing work of the Spirit they are "joined to the Lord" (Romans 6:1-7; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27) and, being thus in Christ, their standing before God is no less than the perfection of Christ in whom they are accepted (2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:6). Being in Christ, they are one in each other in a mystic union which is both incomparable and incomprehensible -- a unity like that within the blessed Trinity (John 17:21-23). They are already constituted citizens of heaven (Php 3:20). These blessings are not only as exalted and spiritual as heaven itself and eternal, but they are secured apart from all human merit at the instant one believes on Christ to the saving of the soul. Any Bible student can verify the assertion which is here made that not one of these distinctive characteristics of a Christian, and the list here presented could be greatly extended, is ever said to belong to Israel as such either as individuals or nationally; and almost none of these spiritual blessings are predicated of any individual before the death and resurrection of Christ. The Upper Room Discourse (John 13:1-38 - John 14:1-31 - John 15:1-27 - John 16:1-33 - John 17:1-26), though spoken before the death of Christ, is, nevertheless, a record in anticipation of all that would be after His death and even after Pentecost. 3.2 A Divinely Specified Manner of Life Quite apart from the revealed will of God as recorded of earlier ages, the Bible sets forth at length three distinct and complete divine rulings which govern human action. None of these rulings are addressed to the angels or to the Gentiles as such. Two are addressed to Israel -- one in the age that is past, known as the Mosaic Law, and the other the setting forth of the terms of admission into, and the required conduct in, the Messianic kingdom when that kingdom is set up in the earth. The third is addressed to Christians and provides divine direction in this age for the heavenly people who are already perfected, with respect to standing, in Christ Jesus. Since the Bible is God’s one book for all the ages, it should be no more difficult to recognize its reference to future ages than to recognize its reference to completed past ages. These three rules of life do present widely different economies. This is evident both from their distinctive characteristics as set forth in the Word of God and from the very nature of the case. Concerning the nature of the case, it may be said that the divine administration in the earth could not be the same after the death of Christ, after His resurrection, after His ascension and the inauguration of His present ministry, after the advent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, and after the ad interim disannulling of Judaism, as it was before those events. Nor could the divine administration be the same after the removal of the Church from the earth, after the regathering of Israel and the restoration of Judaism, after the judgment of the nations, after the binding of Satan, and after the seating of Christ at His second advent on David’s throne to rule over the whole earth, as it is now before those events occur. Since the faith of some cannot be extended to the point of visualizing unfulfilled prophecy into reality, it might be the part of wisdom to restrict this argument to the first group of events, namely, those which form a cleavage between the past age and the present age. Because of the fact that these events are now history (though at one time they were predictive prophecy) their reality is hardly disputed even by the unregenerate man. Nevertheless the second group of events, which separate the present age from the age to come, are the keys to the understanding of God’s kingdom purposes in the earth, and without these keys the casual reader is left with little else to do other than to fall in with the Romish fiction of a world-conquering church under a supposed supremacy of an irresistible kingdom of God on the earth. No doubt will be raised by any intelligent Christian concerning the truth that it is within the range of divine power to transform society in this age, or at any other time. The question is really one of whether world-transformation is the divine purpose for this age; and until the one who believes that this is the divine purpose has made a reasonable exposition and disposition in harmony with his views of the vast body of Scripture that discloses the confusion and wickedness with which this age is said to end, there is little to be gained by accusing those who believe God’s present purposes to be the outcalling of the Church of "dishonoring the Spirit of God," or of "minimizing the value of the cross." Especially is such a charge without force when it is known that those so accused believe that all of God’s triumph in this and every age will be only by virtue of that cross. The Mosaic system was designed to govern Israel in the land and was an ad interim form of divine government between that gracious administration, described in Exodus 19:4, and the coming of Christ (John 1:17; Romans 4:9-16; Galatians 3:19-25). It was in three parts, namely, (a) "the commandments," which governed Israel’s moral life (Exodus 20:1-17); (b) "the judgments," which governed Israel’s civic life (Exodus 21:1-36 - Exodus 22:1-31 - Exodus 23:1-33 - Exodus 24:1-11); and (c) "the ordinances," which governed Israel’s religious life (Exodus 24:12-18 - Exodus 25:1-40 - Exodus 26:1-37 - Exodus 27:1-21 - Exodus 28:1-43 - Exodus 29:1-46 - Exodus 30:1-38 - Exodus 31:1-18). These provisions were holy, just, and good (Romans 7:12; Romans 7:14), but they carried a penalty (Deuteronomy 28:58-62) and, because they were not kept by Israel, they became a "ministration of death" (Romans 7:10; 2 Corinthians 3:7). The law was not of faith, but of works (Galatians 3:12). It was ordained unto life (Romans 7:10), but because of the weakness of the flesh of those to whom it made its appeal (Romans 8:3), there was, as a practical result, no law given which could give life (Galatians 3:21). The law did, however, serve as the paidagogos,(G3807) or child-conductor, to lead to Christ -- both immediately, as Christ was foreshadowed in the sacrifices, and dispensationally, as described in Galatians 3:23-25. Though almost every intrinsic value contained in the law system is carried forward and incorporated into the present grace system, it still remains true that the law as an ad interim system did come to its end and a new divine economy superseded it. No more decisive language could be employed on this point than is used in John 1:17; Romans 6:14; Romans 7:2-6; Romans 10:4; 2 Corinthians 3:6-13; Galatians 3:23-25; Galatians 5:18. These Scriptures should not be slighted, as they too often are, by those who would impose the law system upon the heavenly people. It is useless to claim that it was the judgments and ordinances that were done away and that the commandments abide, since it is that which was "written and engraven in stones" which is said to have been "done away" and "abolished" (2 Corinthians 3:11, 2 Corinthians 3:13). Nor is the situation relieved for those who claim that the law has ceased as a means of justification; for it was never that, nor could it be (Galatians 3:11). The heavenly people, by the very exalted character of their salvation being "made" to stand in all the perfection of Christ (Romans 3:22; Romans 5:1; Romans 8:1; Romans 10:4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:22; Ephesians 1:6), have no burden laid upon them of establishing personal merit before God since they are perfected forever in Christ (Hebrews 10:9-14); but they do have the new responsibility of "walking worthy" of their high calling (Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:1-3; Colossians 3:1-3). No system of merit, such as was the law, could possibly be applied to a people who by riches of divine grace have attained to a perfect standing, even every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3; Colossians 2:10). It is to be expected that the injunctions addressed to a perfected heavenly people will be as exalted as heaven itself, and they are (cf. John 13:34; Romans 6:11-13; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 4:30; Ephesians 5:18). Similarly, as these requirements are superhuman and yet the doing of them is most essential, God has provided that each individual thus saved shall be indwelt by the Holy Spirit to the end that he may, by dependence on the Spirit and by the power of the Spirit, live a supernatural, Godhonoring life -- not, indeed, to be accepted, but because he is accepted. Those who would intrude the Mosaic system of merit into this heaven-high divine administration of superabounding grace either have no conception of the character of that merit which the law required, or are lacking in the comprehension of the glories of divine grace. The third administration which is contained in the Bible is that which is designed to govern the earthly people in relation to their coming earthly kingdom. It is explicit, also, with regard to the requirements that are to be imposed upon those who enter that kingdom. This body of Scripture is found in the Old Testament portions which anticipate the Messianic kingdom and in large portions of the Synoptic Gospels. The essential elements of a grace administration -- faith as the sole basis of acceptance with God, unmerited acceptance through a perfect standing in Christ, the present possession of eternal life, an absolute security from all condemnation, and the enabling power of the indwelling Spirit -- are not found in the kingdom administration. On the other hand, it is declared to be the fulfilling of "the law and the prophets" (Matthew 5:17-18; Matthew 7:12), and is seen to be an extension of the Mosaic Law into realms of merit-seeking which blast and wither as the Mosaic system could never do (Matthew 5:20-48). These kingdom injunctions, though suited to the conditions that will then obtain, could perfect no one as men in Christ are now perfected, nor are they adapted as a rule of life for those already complete in Christ Jesus. These systems do set up conflicting and opposing principles; but since these difficulties appear only when an attempt is made to coalesce systems, elements, and principles which God has separated, the conflicts really do not exist at all outside these unwarranted unifying efforts; in fact they rather demonstrate the necessity of a due recognition of all God’s different and distinct administrations. The true unity of the Scriptures is not discovered when one blindly seeks to fuse these opposing principles into one system, but rather it is found when God’s plain differentiations are observed. The dispensationalist does not create these differences as he is sometimes accused of doing. The conflicting principles, in the text of Scripture, are observable to all who penetrate deep enough to recognize the essential features of divine administration. Instead of creating the problems, the dispensationalist is the one who has a solution for them. If the ideals of an earthly people for long life in the land which God gave unto them (Exodus 20:12; Psalms 37:3, Psalms 37:11, Psalms 37:34; Matthew 5:5) do not articulate with the ideals of a heavenly people who in respect to the earth are "strangers and pilgrims" and who are enjoined to be looking for and loving the imminent appearing of Christ, the problem is easily solved by the one whose system of interpretation is proved rather than distressed by such distinctions. A plan of interpretation -- which, in defense of an ideal unity of the Bible, contends for a single divine purpose, ignores drastic contradictions, and is sustained only by occasional or accidental similarities -- is doomed to confusion when confronted with the many problems which such a system imposes on the text of Scripture, which problems are recognized by the dispensationalist only as he observes them in the system which creates them. All Scripture is "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16), but all Scripture is not of primary application to a particular person or class of persons which the Bible designates as such. All Scripture is not of the angels, nor is it of the Gentiles. In like manner, all Scripture is not addressed to the Jew, nor is it all addressed to the Christian. These are obvious truths and the dispensationalist’s plan of interpretation is none other than an attempt to be consistent in following these distinctions in the primary application of Scripture as far as, and no further than, the Bible carries them. However, all Scripture is profitable, that is, it has its moral, spiritual, or secondary application. To illustrate this: Much valuable truth may be gained from the great body of Scripture bearing on the Jewish Sabbath, but if that body of Scripture has a primary application to the Church, then the Church has no Biblical ground for the observance of the first day of the week (which she certainly has) and she could offer no excuse for her disobedience, and her individual members, like all Sabbath-breakers, should be stoned to death (Numbers 15:32-36). In like manner, if all Scripture is of primary application to believers of this age then they are in danger of hell fire (Matthew 5:29-30), of unspeakable plagues, diseases, and sicknesses, and by reason of these to become few in number (Deuteronomy 28:58-62), and to have the blood of lost souls required at their hands (Ezekiel 3:17-18). Moral and spiritual lessons are to be drawn from God’s dealing with Israelites, quite apart from the necessity being imposed upon Christians to comply with all that a primary application of the Scriptures specifically addressed to Israel would demand. Of the believer of this age it is said that "he ... shall not come into condemnation" (John 5:24), and "there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1, A.R.V.[There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. ASV]). These latter promises are disannulled by diametrically opposite declarations if all Scripture applies primarily to the Christian. Arminianism is the legitimate expression of this confusion and the would-be Calvinist who ignores the plain distinction of the Bible has no defense against Arminian claims. 3.3 A Divinely Appointed Service Service for God is an essential of any true religion. In the case of Judaism, service consisted in the maintenance of the tabernacle and temple ritual, and all tithes and offerings went to the support of the priesthood and their ministry. In the case of Christianity, service faces outward with its commission to preach the gospel to every creature and includes the edification of the saints. 3.4 A Righteous Ground for Forgiveness and Cleansing Any religious economy which is to continue must provide a ground upon which God is righteously free to forgive and restore those who fail. Being possessed -- as all are -- of a fallen nature, there is no possibility of anyone continuing in right relation to God who is not ever and always being renewed and restored by the gracious power of God. In the case of Judaism, God forgave sin and renewed His fellowship with them on the ground of His own certainty that a sufficient sacrifice would be made in due time by His Lamb. In the case of the Christian, God is said to be propitious concerning "our sins" (1 John 2:2), and this because of the fact that His Son has already borne the penalty (1 Corinthians 15:3), and because of the fact that Christ as Advocate now appears for us when we sin (1 John 2:1). No more comforting truth can come to the Christian’s heart than the assurance that God is now propitious concerning "our sins." 3.5 A Revelation of the Human Responsibility for Securing Divine Forgiveness and Cleansing This aspect of this theme offers opportunity for several misunderstandings. In a general way, it will be recognized by all that the requirement on the human side was, in the Old Testament, the offering of an animal sacrifice, while in the New Testament, following the death of Christ -- which event terminated all sacrifices -- divine forgiveness for the believer is conditioned on confession of sin, which confession is the outward expression of an inward repentance. All this is natural and reasonable. However, certain complications arise when these obvious facts are considered in their relation to other phases of truth. It is important to observe that in the Old Testament ages no provisions were made, so far as Scripture records, for Gentile needs. We recognize that Abel, Noah, Job, and Melchizedek sacrificed offerings for sin, yet no form of doctrine is disclosed regarding these offerings. On the other hand, the Jews, being a covenant people, were, when injured by sin, given the sacrifices as a basis for divine forgiveness and as a way back into those blessings and relationships belonging to their covenants. It must be observed that the sacrifices never constituted a ground for the entrance into the covenants, which ground was already secured by their physical birth, nor was any sacrifice the ground of personal salvation. On the contrary, the sacrifices for Israel served to provide a ground for forgiveness and restoration of covenant people. The parallel in Christianity is the provision through the death of Christ whereby the Christian may be forgiven and cleansed. Judaism required an animal sacrifice; Christianity looks back to the sacrifice already wrought. The only parallel in Judaism of the present salvation of an unregenerate person is the fact that the Jew was physically born into his covenant relations. The personal salvation of a Jew in the old order is a theme which is yet to be considered. 3.6 An Effective Basis for Worship and Prayer Under this heading it is to be observed that the basis of an appeal on which the Old Testament saints prayed was that of their covenants. A study of the recorded prayers will disclose the fact that they pleaded with Jehovah to observe and do what He had promised He would do. The ground of prayer in the New Testament after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, and the descent of the Spirit, is such that the new approach to God is in the name of Christ. Being in Christ, the believer’s prayer arises to the Father as though it were the voice of Christ, and it is granted for Christ’s sake. That this is new is indicated by the word of Christ when He said, "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name" (John 16:24). By this statement all previous forms and appeals are set aside and the new appeal is established which is as immeasurable as infinity itself. We read, "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you" (John 16:23). 3.7 A Future Hope Judaism has its eschatology reaching on into eternity with covenants and promises which are everlasting. On the other hand, Christianity has its eschatology which is different at every point. Some of these contrasts are: 3.71 The Future of this Life In the case of Israel, the thing to be desired was long life "upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee," whereas the Christian’s hope is the prospect of the imminent coming of Christ to take away His Church from the earth. This he is taught to wait for, and he is told that he should love Christ’s appearing. He has no land, nor has he any promise of earthly things beyond his personal need. In those Scriptures which warn Israel of the future coming of her Messiah, that nation is told that they should watch for His coming since that coming will be unexpected (Matthew 24:36-51; Matthew 25:13). Over against this and for the same reason, the Christian is told to wait for his Lord from heaven (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). 3.72 The Intermediate State One passage reporting the words of Christ is about all that Judaism reveals on the intermediate state. This is found in Luke 16:19-31. The rich man is in torment, while the beggar is in "Abraham’s bosom." The latter is a strongly Jewish conception and in contrast to the revelation that when the Christian departs this life he goes to be "with Christ; which is far better" (Php 1:23; cf. 2 Corinthians 5:8). 3.73 Resurrection Judaism contemplated a resurrection for Israel. In Daniel 12:1-3 we read that, following the great tribulation, Daniel’s people will be raised from the dead (cf. Ezekiel 37:1-14). Some are to be raised to everlasting life before they enter the kingdom (cf. Ezekiel 37:14) and some to everlasting contempt. Rewards are also promised, for those "that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." That this refers to Daniel’s people is clearly indicated in the context. Martha, voicing the Jewish hope, declared that her brother would be raised again in the resurrection at the last day (John 11:24). And in Hebrews 6:1-2, where Judaism’s features are named, the resurrection of the dead is included. The doctrine of resurrection for the Christian is in two parts: (a) He has already been raised and seated (Ephesians 2:6), and, having partaken of the resurrection life of Christ and being positionally in the value of all Christ has done, is said to be already raised from the dead (Colossians 3:1-3), and (b) should he die, the believer’s body is yet to be raised, and this at the coming of Christ for His own (1 Corinthians 15:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). The believers will also be rewarded for faithfulness in service. 3.74 Eternal Life To a large degree, eschatology is the consummation of soteriology and of necessity reflects the scope and ultimate purpose of the soteriology to which it is related. To such a degree as the soteriology of Judaism and the soteriology of Christianity differ, to the same degree do their eschatologies differ. The problems which beset the soteriology of Judaism are largely due to confusion which arises when the elements which are peculiar to the soteriology of Christianity are imposed upon Judaism. The Old Testament saints were in right and acceptable relation to God, but it could not be said that they were in the new headship of the resurrected Christ, nor that their lives were "hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:1-3). The Apostle writes: "But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed" (Galatians 3:23). As for the estate of the Jew in the old dispensation it may be observed: (a) They were born into covenant relations with God wherein there were no limitations imposed upon their faith in Him or upon their fellowship with Him. This fact was itself a demonstration of superabounding grace, (b) In case of failure to meet the moral and spiritual obligations resting upon them because of their covenant position, the sacrifices were provided as a righteous basis of restoration to their covenant privileges, which fact is another demonstration of immeasurable grace, (c) The individual Jew might so fail in his conduct and so neglect the sacrifices as, in the end, to be disowned of God and cast out (Genesis 17:14; Deuteronomy 28:58-61; Ezekiel 3:18; Matthew 10:32-33; Matthew 24:50-51; Matthew 25:11-12; Matthew 25:29-30). (d) The national salvation and forgiveness of Israel is yet a future expectation and is promised to occur when the Deliverer comes out of Sion (Romans 11:26-27). Who can fail to recognize the eternal grace of God revealed in Isaiah 60:1-22 - Isaiah 61:1-11 - Isaiah 62:1-12 toward Israel in all ages to come? The doctrine of eternal life as related to Israel is thought by some to present insuperable difficulties. To Israel, as is demonstrated in this thesis, eternal life was a future expectation and related to those requirements which are peculiar to Judaism. If any clarity is to be gained on the difference between Israel’s privileges under the Mosaic system and the present privileges of the Church, distinction must be made between the law as a rule of life which none were able to keep perfectly, and the law as a system which not only set forth the high and holy demands upon personal conduct, but also provided complete divine forgiveness through the sacrifices. The final standing of any Jew before God was not based on law observance alone, but contemplated that Jew in the light of the sacrifices he had presented in his own behalf. All consideration of the doctrine of eternal life, whether of one age or another, must distinguish between mere endless existence and the impartation of that life from God which is as eternal in every aspect of it as is the Author Himself. No human being can ever cease to exist; even death, which appears to terminate life, in due time will be dismissed forever (1 Corinthians 15:26; Revelation 21:4). Quite apart from the indisputable fact of the endless character of human existence, is God’s gracious bestowment of eternal life, which eternal life is a vital part of the eschatology of Judaism as it is a vital part of the soteriology of Christianity. A very clear and comprehensive body of Scripture bears on eternal life as related to Judaism. However, it is there contemplated as a future inheritance. The doctrine as related to Judaism is found in well-identified passages: (a) Isaiah 55:3 (cf. Deuteronomy 30:6), in which context the prophet is calling on a covenant people to enter fully into the blessings which Jehovah’s covenants secure. In the midst of these is this promise that "your soul shall live." (b) Daniel 12:2, where the context, as seen above, relates to the resurrection of those who are of Judaism, some of these are to be raised to "everlasting life," and some to "everlasting contempt." The "life" is no more their possession in this present existence than is the "contempt." (c) Matthew 7:13-14, which passage is found in that portion of Scripture that defines the terms of admission into, and conditions life in, the earthly Messianic kingdom; which kingdom occupies a high place in the eschatology of Judaism. The passage imposes the most drastic human effort as essential if one would enter the narrow way that leads to life. The life is at the end of the path and its price is well defined by the word agonizomai (G75) (better translated agonize) as used by Luke 13:24 when this saying of Christ’s is reported by him. (d) Luke 10:25-29, in which passage the lawyer asks how he may inherit eternal life and is told by Christ in the most absolute terms that eternal life for him is gained by the keeping of that contained in the Mosaic Law -- "this do, and thou shalt live." (e) Luke 18:18-27, where it is likewise reported that a young ruler made the same inquiry, namely, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" and to this sincere man our Lord quoted the Mosaic commandments; but when the young man declared that these things had been kept by him from his youth, Christ did not chide him for falsehood but took him on to the ground of complete surrender of all he was and all he had as the way into that state which Christ termed perfect (Matthew 19:21). (f) Matthew 18:8-9, which passage presents the alternative of entering life -- a future experience -- maimed or halt, or entering "everlasting fire" or "hell fire." That a Christian, already possessing eternal life and perfected as he is in Christ, could not enter heaven maimed or halt when his body is to be like Christ’s glorious body, nor into hell fire after Christ has said that he shall not come into judgment and that he shall never perish, is obvious indeed. Over against this extended body of Scripture bearing on that particularized, future form of eternal life which, being a feature of Judaism, is related to the earthly kingdom, is another body of Scripture far more extensive which declares that eternal life for the Christian is an impartation from God and is the gift of God (John 10:28; Romans 6:23); is a present possession (John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:54; John 20:31; 1 John 5:11-13); and is none other than Christ indwelling (Colossians 1:27) and the imparted divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). The receiving of eternal life will be for Israelites, as it is in the case of Christians, a feature of salvation itself; and salvation for Israel is, in Romans 11:26-32, declared to be after the present age-purpose of the fullness of the Gentiles which is now accompanied by Israel’s blindness (Romans 11:25), and at the time when "there shall come out of Sion the Deliverer," who shall "turn away ungodliness from Jacob." "This," Jehovah says, "is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." Isaiah anticipates the same great moment of Israel’s salvation when he predicts that a nation shall be born "at once." The Hebrew words "pa’am (H6471) ’ehath (H259)" from which the words at once are translated mean, as a time measurement, a stroke, or the beat of a foot. On the other hand, the Christian is saved when he believes and that salvation is related only to the first advent of Christ. 3.75 The Covenanted Davidic Kingdom This, the most extensive and important feature of the eschatology of Judaism, occupies so large a place in the discussion which this whole thesis presents, it need be no more than mentioned here. That form of interpretation which rides on occasional similarities and passes over vital differences is displayed by those who argue that the kingdom of heaven, as referred to in Matthew, must be the same as the kingdom of God since some parables regarding the kingdom of heaven are reported in Mark and Luke under the designation the kingdom of God. No attempt is made by these expositors to explain why the term kingdom of heaven is used by Matthew only, nor do they seem to recognize the fact that the real difference between that which these designations represent is to be discovered in connection with the instances where they are not and cannot be used interchangeably rather than in the instances where they are interchangeable. Certain features are common to both the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God, and in such instances the interchange of the terms is justified. Closer attention will reveal that the kingdom of heaven is always earthly while the kingdom of God is as wide as the universe and includes as much of earthly things as are germane to it. Likewise, the kingdom of heaven is entered by a righteousness exceeding the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20), while the kingdom of God is entered by a new birth (John 3:1-16). So, again, the kingdom of heaven answers the hope of Israel and the Gentiles, while the kingdom of God answers the eternal and all-inclusive purpose of God. To be more explicit: Matthew 5:20 declares the condition upon which a Jew might hope to enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 8:12; Matthew 24:50-51; Matthew 25:28-30 indicate that children of the kingdom of heaven are to be cast out. Neither of these truths could apply to the kingdom of God. Again, the parables of the wheat and the tares, Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43, and the parable of the good and bad fish, Matthew 13:47-50, are spoken only of the kingdom of heaven. However, the parable of the leaven is predicated of both spheres of divine rule; leaven, representing evil doctrine rather than evil persons, may corrupt, as it does, the truth relative to both kingdoms. Such contrasts might be cited to great lengths, but the important objective has been gained if it has been made clear that there is an eschatology of Judaism and an eschatology of Christianity and each, though wholly different in details, reaches on into eternity. One of the great burdens of predictive prophecy is the anticipation of the glories of Israel in a transformed earth under the reign of David’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. There is likewise much prediction which anticipates the glories of the redeemed in heaven. No division of theology is more beset with problems than soteriology. The plan of salvation itself is the solution of the question of how Jehovah might remain just and at the same time justify a sinner who does no more than to believe in Jesus (Romans 3:26). The difficulties are no less in the soteriology of Judaism than in the soteriology of Christianity. The ultimate holy estate of each group is such that God will be equally free to tabernacle with them both. In 2 Peter 3:13 it is stated with reference to the new heaven and the new earth that in them alike righteousness will dwell; the implication being that the new earth will be inhabited. Israel’s fundamental covenants are both earthly and eternal and their national entity is forever identified with the earth (Isaiah 66:22). Revelation 21:3-4 is a description of the new earth. This is evident from the earthly designation "men" and from the fact that the "former things," said to have "passed away," are only earthly in character. It is said that God will tabernacle among men. The saints of the former dispensations were sanctified, that is, they were set apart unto God. Their very birth into the covenant rights was advantageous to a surpassing degree. They were granted the experience of relief from the condemnation of their sins through the sacrifices, and they were on a ground of fellowship with God and temporal blessings when in right relation to Him. Faith toward God was a most vital part of their daily life and by it some wrought great accomplishments (Hebrews 11:4-38); but it must not be overlooked that "these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect" (Hebrews 11:39-40). This passage not only declares the delay in the execution of Israel’s promises, but distinguishes between the blessings covenanted to Israel and the "better things" which belong to "us." Again, we read concerning the same Jewish saints: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13). Thus it is clear that of the blessings which Judaism provided, some temporal and spiritual experiences were immediately secured through adjustment to the Mosaic system; but the larger features of the taking away of sin, the receiving of eternal life, and the kingdom glories were reserved for the return of their King. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 5: 01.04. DISPENSATIONALISM IN THE LIGHT OF DIVINE GRACE ======================================================================== Chapter 4 Dispensations in the Light of Divine Grace When contemplating more specifically the precise character of each divine economy, it is essential that the nature, extent, and scope of God’s grace shall be carefully estimated. At least three aspects of the doctrine of grace are involved, namely: 4.1 The Divine Freedom to Act in Behalf of Sinful Men Unlike His wisdom, power, and glory, which could be manifested in creation, the grace of God could be manifested only as there were fallen beings toward whom He could be gracious. It is difficult to believe that the exercise of this essential part of His nature would be suppressed forever, or that, when it is expressed, it would not be on a plane as perfect and as worthy of Him as are all His works. In Ephesians 2:4-5 of the context of Ephesians 2:1-10, which context is the central passage of the Bible on divine grace, three closely related words appear -- mercy, love, and grace. A distinction is here indicated: Love is the affection or compassion of God for sinners; mercy is that in Him which devised and provided a redemption through the death of His Son; while grace, in its outworking, is that which God is free to do on the ground of that death. God might love sinners with an unutterable compassion and yet, because of the demands of outraged justice and holiness, be precluded from rescuing them from their righteous doom. The essential revelation contained in the gospel of our salvation is this fact that God is now free within Himself to act in grace toward sinners through the death of Christ for them. Since no other freedom to act in behalf of sinners has been secured, it is to be concluded that all God has ever done or will do for sinful men is wrought on the sole basis of Christ’s death. Even though Christ has died and God is thus free to act in grace, the question of whether He does little or much for men will be determined only according to His sovereign purpose. This freedom He will always exercise as He has exercised it in past ages. 4.2 The Divine Purpose in this Age A Complete Demonstration of Grace As stated above, whatever God has done in behalf of man in any age, being based on the death of Christ, is a manifestation of grace; but the present, unforeseen age is unique in this that its divine purpose is, to a distinguishing degree, the supreme demonstration of God’s grace. Had this distinction been observed, a number of misunderstandings regarding dispensational truth would have been obviated. Because it is believed that this age is peculiarly one of divine favor does not militate against the belief that God’s grace is abundantly exercised in all other ages. Proofs that this is an age in which God is manifesting His grace are many indeed. Two of these will suffice: (1) In Matthew 13:1-50 the present age is in view under seven parables. They treat of a divine economy when "the field is the world," which breadth of view did not obtain from Abraham to Christ. Three elements are to be distinguished in these parables, namely, (a) that which is good, designated as "wheat," "good seed," the "pearl of great price," and the "good fish"; (b) that which is evil, designated as "tares," evil "birds," "leaven," and "bad fish"; and (c) the "treasure" hid in the field, which so evidently refers to Israel, as the "pearl of great price" so evidently refers to the Church. Thus three elements appear in this description of the present age, namely, that which is good, or the heavenly people; that which is evil, or the unregenerate masses; and the earthly people, Israel. Two New Testament passages add much to this revelation. In 2 Thessalonians 2:7 it is disclosed that the Restrainer, who many expositors agree is the Holy Spirit, goes on restraining until He is taken out of the way. This important passage records the fact that the Spirit, who is ever omnipresent but specifically resident in the world in this age, will leave the world. However, according to John 14:16-17, the Church in which He now dwells cannot be separated from Him. Thus it is demonstrated that the age-purpose is not the cessation of evil, but rather the completion of the Church. This truth is even more clearly presented in Romans 11:25 where Israel’s present blindness (Isaiah 6:9-10; Matthew 13:14-15; John 12:40; 2 Corinthians 3:14-15) is declared to continue until the "fulness of the Gentiles be come in." "The fulness of the Gentiles" is a designation which is explained in Ephesians 1:22-23 as "the church, which is his body." Thus we observe that of the three elements which characterize this age, neither Israel’s program, nor a victory over evil is the purpose of this age, but that each of these is waiting until the Church is called out. (2) In Ephesians 2:4-10 it is directly stated that salvation, as now provided through Christ, is secured by faith alone, with the purpose in view that in the ages to come God may by means of it "shew the exceeding riches of his grace." Of three motives assigned to God for His present saving grace (cf. Ephesians 2:7; John 3:16), the fact that by the present exercise of saving grace He will make a demonstration to all intelligences of the "exceeding riches" of His grace, is that which surpasses all else in the measure in which God is greater than man. Of no other age -- those recorded in history or those anticipated in prophecy -- could it be said that its primary divine purpose is the making by God of a specific demonstration, all satisfying to Himself, of His grace. Likewise, in no other age could it be said that those who are saved are "accepted in the beloved"; yet this very acceptance, which is divine favor drawn out to infinity, is said to be "to the praise of the glory of his grace" (Ephesians 1:6). It may be concluded that the present primary age-purpose of God is the demonstration of His grace, which belief in no way precludes one from recognizing the gracious acts of God in all other ages. What worthy Bible expositor has ever contended for aught else than this concerning the grace of God? 4.3 God’s Grace in Covenant Form Whatever God declares He will do is always a binding covenant. If He in no way relates His proposed action to human responsibility, the covenant is properly termed unconditional. If He relates it to human responsibility or makes it to depend on cooperation on the part of any other being, the covenant is properly termed conditional. It may be contended that there is no unconditional, or conditional, covenant which God has made; but it must be admitted that, contemplating these propositions even hypothetically, they do represent principles which can in no way combine. A covenant which is unconditional cannot be conditional and a conditional covenant cannot be unconditional. While all the covenants God has made with men cannot be treated here, it is essential that these fundamental elements in the divine economy shall be emphasized. 4.31 An Unconditional Covenant Because of the fact that human obedience is indirectly related to some aspects of the unconditional divine covenants, confusion seems to exist in the minds of certain writers. It is identically the same confusion which hinders many from recognizing the present marvels of salvation by grace and prompts men to get the "cart" of human works before the "horse" of faith, or, in some instances, the horse is in the cart or even under the cart as fancy dictates. As before stated, whatever God does for sinful man on any terms whatsoever, being made possible through the death of Christ, is, to that extent, an act of divine grace; for whatever God does on the ground of Christ’s death is gracious in character, and all will agree that a divine covenant which is void of all human elements is more gracious in character than one which is otherwise. These distinctions apply only to the divine side of any covenant. On the human side -- a theme yet to be considered -- there is no exercise of grace in any case; but the human requirements which the divine covenant imposes may be either absolutely lacking or so drastically imposed as to determine the destiny of the individual. When any person becomes the beneficiary of God’s unconditional, unalterable promise apart from any consideration of human merit, his obligation for righteous conduct becomes that of adorning, or walking worthy, of the position into which the covenant has brought him. If God has made a covenant declaring what He will do provided man does his part, it is conditional and the human element is not one of walking worthy of what God’s sovereign grace provides, but rather one of being worthy to the end that the promise may be executed at all. When the covenant is unconditional, God is limited in what He will do only by the knowledge-surpassing bounty of His infinite grace. When the covenant is conditional, God is restricted by what man is able or willing to do. As an efficacious appeal, the obligation to walk worthy, though in no way conditioning the sovereign purpose, secures more normal and spiritual response than all the meritorious systems combined. The human heart is far more responsive to the proposition couched in the words "I have blessed you, now be good," than it is to the proposition couched in the words "Be good, and I will bless you." The element of human conduct thus appears in each form of the divine covenant but in such a manner that one is rendered unconditional and the other conditional. One further distinction is essential before turning to an evaluation of three unconditional covenants, namely, God’s unconditional and sovereign dealing with Israel is to the end that they are an elect nation. Concerning the nation as an entity, it is said, "For the gifts and callings of God are without repentance" (Romans 11:29). And this context cannot be of any other than national Israel. But this national election does not extend to every Israelite. That it does not, the Apostle proves in Romans 9:1-24. On the contrary, the individual Israelite, when under the Mosaic Law, was, in the matter of his personal blessing, under a secondary, meritorious covenant with gracious provisions in the animal sacrifices for the covering and cure of his sins and failures. In sharp distinction to this, the Church is, in respect to her corporate whole, an elect people also (Romans 8:33), but her election and sovereign security is extended to every individual in that body (John 5:24; John 6:37; John 10:28; Romans 8:1, A.R.V.[There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. ASV]). While Israel anticipated much of her blessings, the Church now possesses "every spiritual blessing ... in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3, A.R.V.[Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ:]; Colossians 2:10). Distinction should also be made between the blessings and privileges within the covenants and the terms of admission into the covenants. In the case of the Israelite, entrance into the covenants was by physical birth; while in the case of the Christian it is by spiritual birth. The gospel terms upon which a Christian has entered into a grace relationship with God are no more a part of the believer’s positions than the physical birth of an Israelite was a part of the covenants under which he lived. The unconditional covenants to be considered are: 4.32 The Abrahamic Covenant Though in part it was repeated to Isaac and Jacob, the full detail of the Abrahamic Covenant as given to Abraham is found in five passages of Scripture: Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:14-17; Genesis 15:5-21; Genesis 17:1-8. This covenant provides for a blessing to extend to all the families of the earth; it provides for one great nation -- Abraham’s seed after the flesh; it deeds a vast territory to that nation as an everlasting possession; and assures a personal blessing to Abraham himself. The feature of this covenant which concerns the land is amplified by the terms found in the Palestinian Covenant (Deuteronomy 28:63-68; Deuteronomy 30:1-10) and, while the everlasting possession of the land is declared, other Scriptures reveal that there were to be three dispossessions of the land and three restorations. It is also evident that the nation to whom this land is deeded is now, as a divine chastisement, suffering the third and last dispossession of the land; but will, in the faithfulness of Jehovah, be returned to her land, never again to be removed from it. It is recognized that great numbers of the Israelites have gone back into the land in unbelief within recent years, and by so much prophecy is fulfilled. The Abrahamic Covenant, aside from that portion which is addressed to Abraham personally, could be executed only as Jehovah in sovereign power commands the destiny of all future generations of the human family. Thus, since any human terms which might have been imposed could apply only to individual men and to their own generation, the covenant is, of necessity, unconditional; and the statement of it incorporates not one human condition, but rests altogether on the oft-repeated sovereign "I will" of Jehovah. Added to all this, the ratification of the covenant as described in Genesis 15:5-21 is most significant. In response to Abraham’s appeal for a ratification, Jehovah instructs Abraham in the preparation of the carcasses which, when half was put over against half, formed a passageway between, through which the covenanting parties passed; but Abraham is depressed into a very deep sleep while Jehovah, in the appearance of a burning lamp, passes through alone. The reason for this is that Abraham covenanted nothing; it is the ratification only of Jehovah’s sovereign oath (Genesis 26:3). Recent extensive arguments have been advanced in an attempt to prove that since the human element appears in a covenant, there is no such thing as an unconditional covenant. The ineffectiveness of these arguments lies in the failure of the writer to distinguish between that form of conduct which belongs to one already secure in all that the covenant provides, and, on the other hand, the direct conditioning of Jehovah’s faithfulness upon human rectitude. The Abrahamic Covenant is sealed by the rite of circumcision, which seal can be no more than the individual’s personal recognition of what Jehovah has promised. Failure thus to recognize Jehovah’s covenant imposed a penalty on the individual, but did not alter Jehovah’s covenant reaching out to the nation and to all families of the earth. The charge which Jehovah makes against the offender is not that he hath broken our covenant, but, rather, "he hath broken my covenant" (Genesis 17:14). It has also been asserted that the Abrahamic Covenant was made conditional upon Abraham’s faithfulness. Only two passages might thus be misconstrued. Genesis 17:9-14 does not present a condition restricting Jehovah’s "I will" to Abraham’s conduct. It rather instructs Abraham in the manner of life which becomes one for whom Jehovah undertakes so much. In like manner, Genesis 26:5 is not addressed to Abraham, but is rather Jehovah’s declaration to Isaac extending to him the sovereign, unconditional covenant made to his father Abraham. Isaac is admonished to live a faithful life under the covenant "because" of the example of his father. In this connection, the exact reading of Genesis 18:19 is significant. In this context Jehovah says: "For I have known him [as a factor in my gracious purpose], to the end [or result] that he [Abraham] may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham [in personal blessing] that which he hath spoken of him" (A.R.V.)[Author’s quotation, author’s braketed insertions]. In the contemplation of these important issues, two outstanding, qualifying facts should be observed: (1) No human element appears in any feature of the Abrahamic Covenant as it is announced by Jehovah, and (2) that both Abraham’s position in Jehovah’s covenant to him and Abraham’s imputed righteousness (Genesis 15:6) are secured to him apart from meritorious works. Romans 4:1-22 declares that Abraham’s blessings both concerning imputed righteousness and his position as "heir of the world" (Romans 4:13) were wholly secured before he was circumcised (Romans 4:10). Thus, also, it is asserted that, in contrast to the "works principle" which the Mosaic system introduces, Jehovah gave Abraham the inheritance contained in the Abrahamic Covenant by "promise," namely, what He alone did promise by an oath to do (Galatians 3:13-18). All of this bears vitally on the present offers of salvation by grace which are not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9), but by promise (Galatians 3:22; cf. Romans 4:23-25; Galatians 3:9). Thus the Apostle Paul declares that to intrude the element of human works into the Abrahamic Covenant, or as a ground of that righteousness which was imputed to Abraham, is to intrude works into the present plan of salvation by grace. To do this is no small error indeed, for it makes the promise of "none effect" when God has made it "sure" (Romans 4:13-16). In the light of all these revelations, what subtle Arminianism infests the doctrine of those who claim that Jehovah made His covenant with Abraham on the ground of the fact that Abraham was one who "obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws" (Genesis 26:5). The Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional, else, by such logic as only the Apostle could use, a passage like Ephesians 2:7-10 becomes null and void. 4.33 The Davidic Covenant 2 Samuel 7:16 with its context records the covenant Jehovah made with David. David’s own interpretation of it is written in 2 Samuel 7:18-29 and in Psalms 89:20-37. This covenant, without imposing the slightest obligation upon David, does bind Jehovah with an oath (Acts 2:30) to the perpetuity of the Davidic house, the Davidic throne, and the Davidic kingdom. Again, Jehovah reserves the right to chasten the sons of David, but with the express declaration that the covenant cannot be abrogated (2 Samuel 7:13-15; Psalms 89:30-37). This covenant is unconditional, even into eternity to come. It declares what Jehovah in grace will do for David and all who share in the Davidic blessings. The covenant is of an earthly throne related to a people whose expectation is earthly. There is no evidence that David foresaw an earthly throne merging into a spiritual reign, yet David was given a perfect understanding concerning the divine purpose which the covenant designated. Nor is this kingdom and throne established in heaven. It is established on the earth when the Son of David returns to the earth (Matthew 25:31-32; cf. Matthew 19:28; Acts 15:16-17; Luke 1:31-33; Matthew 2:2). In the light of the unqualified statements of the Scriptures, is it not pertinent to inquire whether, had Jehovah intended to establish a Davidic throne and kingdom on earth with David’s Son as the eternal occupant of that throne, He could have employed language with any more clearness and precise meaning than He has employed to set forth the covenant made with David? 4.34 The Gospel of Divine Grace Many worthy expositors combine the present offers of salvation, as being the outworking of the New Covenant made in Christ’s blood (Matthew 26:28), with the long-predicted New Covenant yet to be made with Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-40; Hebrews 8:8-13; Hebrews 10:16-17), and on the ground that the term new covenant is used of both and because it is believed that the term is broad enough to include all that God accomplishes directly through the blood of Christ. However, there are such important differences between that which God is doing for the heavenly people over against that which He will yet do for Israel and the Gentiles on the earth in the kingdom age, that the two, even though they might be parts of one grand whole, should be considered separately. As cited above, the absolute, unconditional character of the Abrahamic Covenant and the fact that all that Abraham received was by promise, concerning which Abraham did no more than to believe, is declared by the Apostle to be the norm or pattern of the saving grace of God for the believer of this age (Romans 4:1-25; note Romans 4:23-25; Galatians 3:13-29). Dr. Allis (Evangelical Quarterly, Edinburgh, Vol. VIII, No. 1, p. 29) criticizes the late Dr. Scofield for distinguishing at least four uses of the word gospel. Since Dr. Allis centers this criticism upon the distinction between the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel of the grace of God and suggests that to recognize a difference between them is "unfortunate" and "dangerous," attention is called to four out of many important differences between them: (a) The gospel of the kingdom as preached by Christ, by John the Baptist, and by the Apostles is declared and amplified in an extensive body of Scripture (cf. Matthew 3:1-12; Matthew 4:17; Matthew 10:5-42; Luke 3:7-14). Its distinctive "good news" is the announcement of the presence of the long-expected Messiah and His predicted blessings for Israel. Over against this, the gospel of the grace of God is even more extensive and announces a plan of perfect salvation for Jew and Gentile alike. (b) The kingdom gospel, since it concerns Israel’s national hope, was properly restricted to them. The heralds of this gospel went not to Gentile nor Samaritan, but only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:5-7; Matthew 15:24, Matthew 15:26); whereas the gospel of the grace of God is to be preached to all nations and to the uttermost part of the earth, (c) The one and only requirement on the human side which the kingdom gospel imposes is repentance, while the only requirement in the gospel of the grace of God is faith or believing. A covenant people return to the blessing of their covenants, when these have been lost through sin, by repentance and its outward expression -- confession (Psalms 32:5; Matthew 4:17; 1 John 1:9). On the other hand, the requirement on the human side for present salvation is belief in Christ as Savior, which belief includes all the repentance (which is a change of mind) that a spiritually dead person can produce. John’s Gospel, written that men may be saved through faith in Christ, and the Epistle to the Romans, which is the very structure of the plan of salvation, do not use the word repentance as a separate act in salvation, nor is anything added, nor could anything be added reasonably, to the one and only requirement -- believe. However, believing as related to the Messiah must be distinguished from believing unto salvation. Since the first preaching of the kingdom gospel called for repentance only, it is evident that it was addressed to a covenant people, and it is to be noted that Israel was the only covenant people in that day. It is also evident that this gospel call was not for the salvation even of Israel, but was for their revival and restoration, (d) Since according to Matthew 10:7-8 signs were to accompany the kingdom preaching -- healing, cleansing of the lepers, raising of the dead, and casting out demons, and this they did (cf. Luke 10:17) -- this seal is an inseparable feature of kingdom preaching. On the other hand, though certain miracles were wrought by the early preachers of the grace gospel, no signs were ever promised as an accompanying seal. Similarly, what place has Matthew 10:22 or Matthew 24:13 in a Calvinistic conception of salvation? The question may be asked in all kindness of Dr. Allis and all men of his school of interpretation: How many men have been led to a saving knowledge of a crucified and risen Savior by calling on them to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand? And has this preaching been accompanied by the designated miracles which are the seal of a kingdom ministry? According to this norm and in exact harmony with its every feature, the Christian’s salvation and safekeeping, which are in the sphere of the very perfections of Christ, are vouchsafed to him on the most absolute unconditional promises (cf. John 5:24; John 6:37; John 10:27-30; Romans 3:21-31 - Romans 4:1-25 - Romans 5:1-11; Romans 8:1, Romans 8:28-39; Ephesians 1:3-6; Colossians 2:10). Faith is itself the opposite of works, since its essential element is confidence in what Christ had done and can do; but, as has been seen, the condition of entrance into a relationship is no part of the relationship itself. The very fact that present salvation is declared to be to the end that a full demonstration of the exceeding riches of divine grace may be wrought out, necessitates its being altogether a work of God and, therefore, unconditional. 4.35 The New Covenant for Israel A new covenant for Israel is anticipated in Jeremiah 31:31-40; Hebrews 8:8-13; Hebrews 10:16-17. This is not to supersede the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants which continue forever, but is put over against that Mosaic Covenant which Jehovah declares that Israel "brake" (Jeremiah 31:32) and in which they "continued not" (Hebrews 8:9). The contrast is emphatic, and in no respect more so than in the fact that the Mosaic Covenant was subject to human conditions concerning which Israel failed, while the New Covenant for that people is declared in the most explicit terms to be unconditional. We read: "After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:33-34). According to Deuteronomy 30:1-10, the execution of all that this covenant promises is related to the return of Christ; in Romans 11:26-27 to the Deliverer who comes "out of Sion"; and in Jeremiah it is related to the eternal existence of the nation Israel (Jeremiah 31:35-37). No human condition can be forced into this great declaration of Jehovah’s concerning what He will yet do for Israel, nor can it be demonstrated that such promises have ever been fulfilled for Israel, nor that they even remotely apply to the Church. When a parallel is drawn between the New Covenant now in force for the Church (Matthew 26:28) and the New Covenant yet to be made for Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-34), it is found that all that is promised Israel is now vouchsafed to the Church and that the range of blessing for the Church far exceeds the restricted provisions for Israel, (a) Jehovah’s law will be written on the heart of the Jew, but God by His indwelling Spirit is now working in the believer both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:13; cf. Romans 8:4). (b) Jehovah will be Israel’s God and they will be His people, but the Christian is now in Christ and his life is now "hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). (c) All Israel shall know the Lord, but the Christian is in the most vital union and communion with God as Father, (d) Israel’s iniquities will be forgiven and her sins remembered no more, but for the one in Christ judicial forgiveness is secured to the extent that there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1), and they have been forgiven all trespasses (Colossians 2:13). The theological term the Covenant of Grace is not found in the text of the Scriptures. From the literature bearing upon it, it is to be concluded that it is believed by many that all that God does for the benefit of man from the fall of Adam to the end of time is incorporated into one "Covenant of Grace." This supposed covenant, though not identified in its beginning, course, or ending, is seldom declared to be unconditional. In considering this theological conception, it is well to observe that any covenant in which God is free to act on the ground of Christ’s death has the element of grace in it, and any covenant which publishes God’s sovereign declaration of what He will do for sinful men apart from their merit or demerit is specifically a grace covenant. The term the Covenant of Grace implies that there is but one such covenant, whereas the Scriptures, as demonstrated above, present various, wholly independent, and diverse covenants which are both sovereign and gracious to the last conceivable degree. Grace on the part of the First Person, secured and made righteously possible by the Second Person, and administered by the Third Person, has been and must continue to be the attitude of the Triune God toward lost men until the divine purposes in grace are realized. If the term the Covenant of Grace refers to an agreement of the Three Persons of the Godhead between themselves concerning the part each would assume in the plan of redemption, as some contend, such an agreement is conceivable, but is not clearly revealed in the Scriptures. If, as others contend, this covenant refers to the abiding purpose of God to act toward sinners in grace, it can be classed as a covenant only in so far as a purpose of God can be considered to be a covenant. If this latter conception is accepted, it must be conceded that the working out of this one abiding purpose is expressed in various, diverse, and wholly independent ways. 4.36 A Conditional Covenant The phrase the Covenant of Works is another theological conception which by some is claimed to be an agreement between God and Adam concerning Adam’s conduct in the Garden of Eden, and, since Adam’s failure secured the ruin of the race, all are included in the condemnation. However, man still has an inherent obligation to be in character like his Creator, and in one subsequent covenant, at least, which God has made with man, the human element is such that it determines the entire course of the covenant’s blessing. This latter covenant is conditional, and, though of the same nature as the covenant with Adam, is wholly separate from and independent of it. A conditional covenant is formed when God, to any degree or in any form whatsoever, makes His blessings to depend on human faithfulness. At first thought it might seem to some that, since various major covenants, cited above, reach out in unconditional promises and provisions to Abraham’s seed, both physical and spiritual, and to all the families of the earth, that there could be no sphere left in which any conditional covenant might be formed. It will be observed, however, that the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants, which reach out to Israel and the nations for all time to come, do not, beyond certain men -- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, David’s immediate sons, and David’s Greater Son, Christ -- enter into any personal or individual issues; but concern the larger entities of families, thrones, kings, and nations. This fact necessitates the recognition of a sphere wherein God deals with individuals about their personal conduct. This He did with individual Jews and this He does with individual Christians. His attitude toward a nation or corporate body is one thing, whereas His requirements of the individual within these groups is quite another thing. Again, a distinction should be observed between the basis on which God placed individual Israelites regarding personal conduct and the basis on which He places the Christian. The national covenants with Israel do not extend to the individual; they guarantee the perpetuity of the race or nation and its final blessing. When under the Mosaic Law the individual Israelite, it will be seen, was on an unyielding meritorious basis. Over against this, the divine purposes for the whole Church as a body do extend to the individual believer and every one predestinated will be called, and every one called will be justified, and every one justified will be glorified (Romans 8:30). God will present each one faultless before the presence of His glory to His own exceeding joy (Jude 1:24). The believer’s motive for right conduct grows out of the fact that he already has an eternal heavenly calling and a destiny which sovereign grace has designed and will execute to infinite perfection. Thus, in like manner, the Mosaic Law, even if observed, never had the function of creating Israelites; it was given as a consistent rule of life to those who were Israelites by physical birth. As has been seen, the blessings proffered to the individual Israelite under the law were in two classifications: (a) For faithful observance of the law which included the remedial value of the sacrifices, they were promised immediate prosperity and tranquility. This truth appears in almost every statement of the Mosaic Law, and nowhere more clearly than in Deuteronomy 28:1-62 where both the blessings and curses which the law imposed are set forth. (b) For faithfulness under the law they were promised a share in the future glories which Jehovah, with unconditional sovereignty, covenanted to the nation. Not every Israelite will enter the earthly kingdom (Ezekiel 20:33-44; Matthew 24:48-51; Matthew 25:1-13, Matthew 25:14-30). Nor will every Israelite have right to eternal life (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 10:25-28). Since human faithfulness of whatever degree could never be the exact compensation or exchange for the values of eternal life or for unending blessings in the kingdom, there is a very large measure of divine grace to be seen in the salvation of the elect earthly people. What is identified as a spiritual remnant in Israel, seen in all her generations from Moses to Christ, is none other than those who through personal faithfulness claimed the immediate blessings which the law provided. Some Israelites did live on a very high plane and were in very much personal blessing. To this a multitude of Old Testament saints bear witness (Hebrews 11:1-38) and none are more conspicuous in their worthy conduct than Daniel. When looking back upon his experience in Judaism, the Apostle Paul could say that he had then been, as "touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Php 3:6). This did not imply sinless perfection, but rather that he had always provided the requisite sacrifices. On that basis the faithful Jew lived and was accepted of God in the Mosaic system. Who, indeed, are the "ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance" cited by Christ according to Luke 15:7? And why were other covenant people classified as "publicans and sinners"? After a new order is established through the death and resurrection of Christ, men like Nicodemus, the Apostles, and Saul of Tarsus were saved by a new birth, not because they were utter failures in Judaism, but because a new and vastly different relation to God was provided. Why should Saul who before the law was blameless need to be saved at all? Why should three thousand covenant people be saved on the Day of Pentecost? After the new gospel of grace with its offers of a perfect standing in Christ apart from human merit was established, the Apostle complains that unsaved Jews, who as he confessed had a great zeal for God, were still going about to establish their own righteousness and were not through faith coming under the perfect merit of the imputed righteousness of God (Romans 10:3). In this connection he declares, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10:4). The conclusion is that blessing under the Mosaic economy was conditioned on individual faithfulness to the law. This economy formed a secondary covenant which was meritorious in character -- secondary in the fact that it was restricted to the problems concerning the individual’s conduct and in no way compromising the primary covenants which determine the destiny of the nation. In contrast to this, the Christian, while given a rule of life which is in no way meritorious though his faithful service will win a reward or divine recognition (1 Corinthians 3:12-15; 1 Corinthians 9:19-27; 2 Corinthians 5:9-11), is in regard to his personal salvation -- like the corporate whole to which he belongs -- both secure and safe and destined to eternal glory from the moment he believes. The Mosaic Covenant of works, which Micah perfectly epitomized was an ad interim economy: "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6:8). It was preceded by a peculiar divine freedom and reign of grace by which they had reached the very heart of God (Exodus 19:4), and it came to its determined end with the death of Christ (John 1:17; Romans 3:21; Romans 6:14; Romans 7:2-6; Romans 8:3-4; Romans 10:4; 2 Corinthians 3:7-13; Galatians 3:19-25). The Word of God everywhere harmonizes with the revelation that the Mosaic economy as a rule of life came to its end with the death of Christ. However, this statement involves a long discussion with a recognition of the various uses of the word law as found in the New Testament. Space precludes the introduction of such a study as a feature of this thesis. It is true that Jehovah had determined the law as the rule of life for the Israelites, yet it is equally true that they embraced this law and assumed their part in a conditional covenant when they said, "All the words which the Lord hath said will we do" (cf. Romans 9:30-33); and it is significant that this people, who before had been drawn to the heart of God, found Him, after their consent to this covenant, hidden behind an unapproachable fire and surrounded by blackness and darkness (Exodus 19:8-25; cf. Hebrews 12:18-24). They found themselves standing on a covenant of works, but without the requisite merit. The gracious provisions for healing and restoration which were in the sacrifices became their only hope. If the Mosaic Covenant was not one of works and conditioned by human merit, as some have claimed, what was the "yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1; cf. Acts 15:10)? What covenant was "cast out" (Galatians 4:19-31)? And what is the old covenant said to have been given to them when they came out of Egypt and which they "brake" (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:7-13)? It is opposed to truth to claim that the law is no longer a means to justification. When was it ever a justifying agency? True, men became "just" men by its observance (cf. Luke 6:1-5), but that is far removed from the Christian’s absolutely perfect justification apart from law works (Romans 4:5-6; Romans 5:1) in Christ Jesus. It is equally unwarranted to impose the meritorious Mosaic Covenant of works as a rule of life upon a people who already stand in the finished work of Christ (Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 1:6). Much that is vital in the law system is restated and incorporated in the principles which instruct the believer in his manner of life under grace, but this fact does not place the Christian under law. It is probable that certain features of the law which governed the thirteen colonies under English authority were incorporated in and adapted to the legal system which afterwards became the law of the United States, but that fact would not be sufficient ground for the claim that the United States is now under the rule of England. The rule governing the conduct of Israelites is in two principal divisions, namely, (a) that which obtained from Moses to Christ, or the Mosaic Law, and (b) that which determines entrance into and conditions life within the future kingdom on the earth. The terms of admission into the kingdom as set forth in Matthew 5:1-48 - Matthew 6:1-34 - Matthew 7:1-27 are, in reality, the Mosaic requirements intensified by Christ’s own interpretation of them. The contrasts which He draws between the former interpretation of these laws and His own interpretation (Matthew 5:21-44) does not tend to soften anything in the interests of grace, but rather binds with greater legal demands than any unaided person in the present age could hope to achieve. Why are the plain injunctions of Matthew 5:39-42; Matthew 10:8-14 and Matthew 24:20 so universally ignored today if it is not that it is so generally recognized that these injunctions belong to conditions obtaining in another age? Will not the exalted demands of the Sermon on the Mount be more easily obeyed when earthly conditions are changed, as they will be? The Church will be removed and Israel advanced to a position above all the nations of the earth with Jehovah’s Law written in their hearts and the Spirit poured out on all flesh. Satan will be bound and in the abyss; the present world-system will have been destroyed; the bondage of corruption now resting upon creation will be lifted; and Christ as the glorified Son of David will be reigning on David’s throne out from Jerusalem and over the whole earth. The effect of that reign will be that righteousness and peace shall cover the earth as waters cover the face of the deep. These conceptions are drawn from a vast body of Scripture which could have no other meaning than that which is here set forth. When these great issues which are so definitely related to Israel are applied to the heavenly people as some apply them, there are insuperable conflicts created in doctrine which lead one to inquire (and the questions will be confined, in the main, to the problems that arise from the careful consideration of but one book of the Bible): 1. As a title, what is the meaning of the designation, The Christ? 2. Why was Christ born of the Davidic line? 3. Is such a birth essential if His kingdom is spiritual? 4. Why should He be designated "THE KING OF THE JEWS"? 5. Was the ministry of John the Baptist in anticipation of a spiritual kingdom? 6. Why was the kingdom message restricted to Israel? 7. What is the "hope" of Israel? 8. Into what kingdom does any man enter by personal righteousness? 9. Are the heavenly people referred to as "the meek" who are to inherit the earth? 10. How can Matthew 5:7 be reconciled with Ephesians 2:4-5? 11. How can Christians who according to John 10:28 are safe in Christ be in danger of the hell fire mentioned in Matthew 5:22, Matthew 5:29-30? 12. Will a Christian, who is promised a glorious body like unto Christ’s resurrection body (Php 3:20-21), nevertheless enter heaven "halt" and "maimed"? See Matthew 5:29-30; Matthew 18:8-9. 13. What is the doctrinal relation between Matthew 5:17 and Romans 15:8-9? 14. Can Matthew 5:20 be reconciled with Titus 3:4-7? 15. How can the difference be accounted for between Matthew 7:21-23 and John 6:29? 16. How can Matthew 10:32-33 be reconciled with Romans 8:30; 2 Timothy 1:12; or 1 John 2:1-2? 17. How can Christ appear as prosecutor in Matthew 10:32-33 and as defender in 1 John 2:1-2? 18. How can Matthew 7:1-2 be reconciled with John 5:24? 19. Why is the "golden rule" of Matthew 7:12 related to "the law and the prophets"? 20. Are Christians referred to as "children of the kingdom" in Matthew 8:12 (cf. Matthew 24:50-51; Matthew 25:30)? 21. According to the context, what kingdom is in view in Matthew 6:10? 22. Is Matthew 6:14-15 to be reconciled with Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13; 1 John 1:9? In his article on "Modern Dispensationalism" (Evangelical Quarterly, Vol. VIII, No. 1) already cited, Dr. Allis objects to the notes in the Scofield Reference Bible bearing on the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer. The specific note in question reads as follows: "This is legal ground. Cf. Ephesians 4:32, which is grace. Under law forgiveness is conditioned upon a like spirit in us; under grace we are forgiven for Christ’s sake, and exhorted to forgive because we have been forgiven. See Matthew 18:32; Matthew 26:28 note." Similarly, Dr. Allis objects to Dr. Scofield’s citation of Matthew 18:32-33 and Ephesians 4:32 together as Dr. Scofield does in his summary on forgiveness (p. 1038), when pointing out the principle of human forgiveness. Dr. Allis objects to the use of Matthew 18:32-33 to represent grace since the context goes on to say: "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." In making this criticism it appears that Dr. Allis has overlooked the fact that Dr. Scofield is here discussing the principle of human forgiveness as in contrast to divine forgiveness. Human forgiveness, quite apart from divine grace, is man’s forgiveness of his fellow man, and Dr. Scofield points out that human forgiveness rests upon and results from divine forgiveness, that is, the normal impulse in a human heart to forgive comes from the recognition that one has been forgiven. It matters nothing to this human motive whether God has forgiven because we forgive, as in Matthew 6:14-15, or for Christ’s sake, as in Ephesians 4:32. The motivating principle in human forgiveness is the same in either case. Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 2:13 present a forgiveness which rests on no human merit whatever, and apparently refer primarily to the once-for-all forgiveness which belongs to salvation by grace. In 1 John 1:9, where household forgiveness is in view, there is the one and most essential condition of confession set up for the child of God; but grace relationships, whether for salvation, as in Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 2:13, or for restoration, as in 1 John 1:9, do not introduce the element of merit which element is found in Matthew 6:14-15 and Matthew 18:34-35. The one who contends that the meritorious principle in forgiveness, which is presented in Matthew 6:14-15 and Matthew 18:34-35, applies to the Christian imposes on himself and others the conception of God that He is not propitious until rendered so by the human acts of forgiveness; that He is "wroth"; and that He will deliver His own redeemed ones who are in Christ to the "tormentors" until they make legal and equitable payment to Him for every offense. Is any Christian now believing that he has no more divine forgiveness than he merits by the exercise of human forgiveness? But one other step, which is taught by some, need be added to this, namely, that the Christian, following the supposed divine pattern, should not forgive his enemies until they are penitent. Thus it would be arranged that God forgives only when the Christian forgives, but the Christian cannot forgive until his enemies are penitent; the conclusion being that the Christian cannot be forgiven until his enemies are penitent. All such conclusions are foreign to the revelation that Christ is the propitiation for our sins. Dr. Allis does not and could not demonstrate that Matthew 6:14-15 and Ephesians 4:32 represent similar principles in divine forgiveness. Thus the real issue which Dr. Scofield is presenting is left without an argument against it. Dr. Allis does quote from the Westminster Shorter Catechism in support of his contention that Matthew 6:14-15, which must include Matthew 18:34-35, is applicable to Christians under grace. The Catechism states: "In the fifth petition ... we pray, that God, for Christ’s sake, would fully pardon all our sins, which we are rather encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others." As a comment on this quotation, it may be observed that the Catechism, no matter how much it is revered, has no authority to insert into the Lord’s Prayer the phrase for Christ’s sake. The new and limitless privilege of prayer in the name of Christ or for Christ’s sake was not extended until in the Upper Room when Christ was anticipating the new relationship under grace. In the Upper Room Discourse He said, regarding the new ground of prayer, "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name" (John 16:24). This includes every previous prayer the disciples had ever prayed -- not excepting the Lord’s Prayer. It is therefore not the prerogative of the Catechism to put this petition into the Lord’s Prayer when Christ distinctly declares that it could not belong there. It is this assumed freedom to soften the elements of law with grace and to vitiate grace with law which leads to confusion and which blinds good men to the most imperative and vital distinctions in the Word of God. In pursuing this same general criticism of Dr. Scofield’s notes, Dr. Allis quotes Schaff, with apparent approval, as follows: "The typical catechisms of Protestantism ... are essentially agreed. ... They teach the articles of the Apostles’ Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer; that is all that is necessary for a man to believe and to do in order to be saved." We might inquire what plan of salvation these brethren discover in the Lord’s Prayer and the Ten Commandments? The Apostles’ Creed does include a statement of belief in historic facts related to Christ, but no word is found there of personal appropriation of the value of those facts. This essential element is seen in Paul’s testimony: "He loved me, and gave himself for me." An inquiry is in order, again, concerning how many lost souls have been led to a saving knowledge of a crucified and risen Savior by the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles’ Creed. And do these articles contain that gospel which the Apostle Paul declared was specifically revealed unto him? In another article Dr. Allis asks whether the author of this thesis teaches his students not to pray the so-called Lord’s Prayer. In reply, it is asked whether Dr. Allis teaches that one should pray the prayer of Matthew 24:20. It will be seen that Christ directs the praying of one prayer as much as He does the other. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 6: 01.05. CONCLUSION ======================================================================== Chapter 5 Conclusion The 22 questions concluding Chapter 4 with the problems they develop might be multiplied many times and extended to all parts of the Sacred Text. Dispensationalists do not create these problems nor do they invent the right divisions of Scripture. For the dispensationalist, these so-called problems are not only solved but, because of the distinctions which the problems demand, the problems become a part of the overwhelming evidence that his method of interpretation is according to truth. Those who pursue an idealism regarding the unity and continuity of the Bible, which idealism is built upon and sustained only by occasional or accidental similarities, must, if sincere, face the problems their method of interpretation generates. The limited array of evidence about God’s specific purposes which this thesis presents is sufficient to demonstrate that dispensationalism, even though it does recognize the divine age-purposes and does departmentalize the message of the Word of God according to its obvious divisions, does also discover the true unity and continuity of the Bible. The outstanding characteristic of the dispensationalist is the fact that he believes every statement of the Bible and gives to it the plain, natural meaning its words imply. This simple plan has changed the Bible from being a mass of more or less conflicting writings into a classified and easily assimilated revelation of both the earthly and heavenly purposes of God, which purposes reach on into eternity to come. He is saved from working at cross purposes with God, and the exposition he gives of the Scriptures, like the uncompromised gospel he preaches, is blessed to the multitudes who are attracted by his understandable message. There is a reason why churches are filled, souls are saved, and the interest in missionary work thrives, where the whole Bible with its vital distinctions is faithfully preached. Agreement cannot be accorded to recent writers who accuse the faithful Bible expositors and evangelists of this and past generations of being modernists, and only because they stand for that form of doctrine and recognize those distinctions which are invariably discovered when the whole Bible is considered and believed and when it is given its plain and reasonable interpretation. The situation which necessitates the writing of this thesis serves to demonstrate the wide doctrinal differences that may exist between supposedly orthodox men. A crisis is evidently being reached concerning the issues which have long separated expositors from theological theorists, and this distinction does not imply that the expositor does not know Systematic Theology, for usually he does know it well; however, he builds his theology directly upon the Word of God and is in no bondage to the opinions of men. At the beginning of this thesis it was stated that the doctrinal differences herein discussed are due to the fact that the two schools of interpretation involved stand on widely divergent premises. The dispensationalist believes that throughout the ages God is pursuing two distinct purposes: one related to the earth with earthly people and earthly objectives involved, which is Judaism; while the other is related to heaven with heavenly people and heavenly objectives involved, which is Christianity. Why should this belief be deemed so incredible in the light of the facts that there is a present distinction between earth and heaven which is preserved even after both are made new; when the Scriptures so designate an earthly people who go on as such into eternity; and a heavenly people who also abide in their heavenly calling forever? Over against this, the partial dispensationalist, though dimly observing a few obvious distinctions, bases his interpretation on the supposition that God is doing but one thing, namely, the general separation of the good from the bad, and, in spite of all the confusion this limited theory creates, contends that the earthly people merge into the heavenly people; that the earthly program must be given a spiritual interpretation or disregarded altogether. The advocates of this interpretation oppose every earthly feature of the divine program. They disregard or ignore the earthly covenants and promises; they spiritualize or vaporize the vast body of Scripture bearing on the Davidic throne and kingdom; they present no specific reason why Christ was born as the Son of David; and they recognize no earthly glory or purpose in His second advent. According to their system, Christ comes again to end the world, but, unfortunately for these conceptions, the world does not end then or ever. May the number, already vast indeed, of those who believe the Bible and are subject to its plain teachings continue to increase! The End ======================================================================== CHAPTER 7: 02.00. EPHESIAN LETTER CONSIDERED DOCTRINALLY ======================================================================== The Ephesian Letter Doctrinally Considered By Lewis Sperry Chafer, 1871-1952 Copyright 1935 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 8: 02.01. EPHESIANS 1:1, 2 ======================================================================== Section One Ephesians 1:1-2 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Unquestionably the greatest religious crisis in human history was experienced when, immediately following the death of Christ, the divine purpose was changed from the limitations of Judaism to the world-wide proclamation to Jew and Gentile alike of the infinite grace of God in and through Christ Jesus. The demand then was for a man who, under God, could receive the new divine revelation, formulate its doctrines, and contend for its claims. Saul of Tarsus was God’s chosen instrument and to him were given two distinct revelations. The first was of the gospel of the saving grace of God through Christ, and is stated thus: "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11-12). The second was of the divine age in the out-calling of the Church which, so far from being a continuation of any previous plan for Jew or Gentile, is said to be a mystery or sacred secret which was hid in past ages. This new purpose was not merely that a blessing was determined for Israel or for the Gentiles -- each of which has a large place in unfulfilled prophecy -- but rather that out from both Jews and Gentiles a new heavenly company was to be formed. The Scripture states, "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward; how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; ... which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel" (Ephesians 3:1-6). The Ephesian letter is a revelation of God’s plan in and for the Church and is thus a development of the second revelation given to the Apostle Paul. Date of the Epistle By an abundance of evidence, we are assured that this Epistle was written A.D. 64 to the church at Ephesus by the Apostle Paul while in prison at Rome, and that it was closely associated with the letter to the Philippians and the letter to the Colossians. Probably all three letters were carried from Rome by Tychicus and noticeable, indeed, are the thirty-three similarities in the messages of the Ephesian and Colossian Epistles. The fact that the words "at Ephesus" (Ephesians 1:1) in some early manuscripts are omitted is of little significance in view of the general character of the letter itself. Possibly this Epistle may be the letter to the Laodiceans (Colossians 4:16) -- that is, the letter may have been written as a circular, or encyclical, going to various churches which each, in turn, was charged to pass on to another, with Ephesus as a final destination. Though now but an insignificant village, in Paul’s day Ephesus was the capital of Proconsular Asia, located on the Sacred Port and the river Cayster, and noted for its theater and its temple -- the temple of Artemis (Diana) -- both of which are mentioned in the Scriptures (Acts 19:27-29). In addition to the text of the letter itself, much New Testament Scripture bears directly, or indirectly, on this city and the believers therein. It will be remembered that in his first missionary journey about A.D. 51, the Apostle was "forbidden to preach the word in Asia" (Acts 16:6), but returning from that journey, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila of Rome, he stopped at Ephesus (Acts 18:18-21); and, upon resuming his journey, he left Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus. This, Paul’s first visit to Ephesus, was exceedingly brief yet vitally effective and apparently without opposition from the Jews in whose synagogue he "reasoned." Acts 20:31 records Paul’s second visit, about A.D. 54, and indicates an unbroken ministry of three years (Acts 20:31); first for a period of three months in the synagogue, and later for a period of two years in the "school of one Tyrannus" (Acts 19:8-10). The beginning of this second ministry in Ephesus was characterized by his discovery of twelve men, disciples of John the Baptist, whom he led into the knowledge of Christ and who were rebaptized "into the name of the Lord Jesus." So far-reaching were the effects of the second visit that "all which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks." This ministry accompanied by miracles so penetrated the thought of the heathen city that we are told "many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men, and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed" (Acts 19:19-20). A Companion Text Outside this Epistle to the Ephesians, perhaps the most important scripture bearing on the ministry of Paul in Ephesus will be found in Acts 20:17-38, which context records the farewell words of Paul to the elders of the Church at Ephesus. The Apostle, being restricted in time, stopping but briefly at Miletus on his way to Jerusalem, called for the elders to journey the thirty miles that he might be with them all the available time. This portion of Scripture (Acts 20:17-21, Acts 20:25-38) should be read with care and compared with the message of the Ephesian letter. It is as follows: "And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ ... And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have shewed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship." From Ephesus Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was written, and the influence of the scenes which surrounded him is discernible (1 Corinthians 4:9; 1 Corinthians 9:24-25; 1 Corinthians 15:32). Later on, in A.D. 63, the Apostle’s care for the Ephesian church is seen again in the various references to Ephesus in the Pastoral Epistles (1 Timothy 1:3; 2 Timothy 1:18; 2 Timothy 4:12). Events in Ephesus We are also assured that, following the death of the Apostle Paul, both Peter and John carried on the apostolic testimony in the region of Ephesus. There John’s Gospel and his Epistles were written. So, also, the Revelation was written from Patmos --removed from Ephesus but sixty miles. At Ephesus, likewise, the great Christian council which dealt with the Nestorian heresy was held in A.D. 431. But, finally, the Ephesian church is distinguished as the first of the seven churches to which the ascended and glorified Christ spoke through John. No accusation is made against her other than that she had lost her first love; on the other hand, she is commended by these priceless words: "I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate" (Rev. 2:2-6 Revelation 2:2-6). Here some intimation is given of the wealth of the spiritual life and experience that obtained in the Ephesian church before her departure from her first love. The church was jealous both for apostolic authority and for the brotherhood of the saints; which brotherhood has been so sadly divided and so despoiled by Nicolaitanism, i.e., the division between laity and clergy and the subverting of the laity by the clergy. The Epistle to the Ephesians reflects nothing of Nicolaitanism, though the ministry gifts are recorded (Ephesians 4:11). It is in this Epistle that we read, "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Ephesians 4:4-6). Similarly, as an introduction to the Epistle to the Ephesians this, the first letter to the churches in Asia, should be read with care, remembering that it is written by the Apostle John a full thirty years after the death of the Apostle Paul. To Whom Addressed? That the Epistle to the Ephesians is not addressed to unregenerate persons is clear. The full identification of the distinct and limited class to whom this message is addressed will be disclosed as the study of the Epistle proceeds. However, a brief identification of this particular company is called for at this point before the Epistle itself is approached. That this company may be seen in all its relationships and separate characteristics, a brief panorama of human history, past, present, and future, is here given. Generally speaking, the period from Adam to Abraham, though occupying but the first eleven chapters of the Bible and including at least two thousand years, represents one-third of all human history as that history has progressed from Adam to the present time. The second period of two thousand years, or from Abraham to Christ, occupies by far the major portion of the text of the Bible; while the third period of nearly two thousand years, or from Christ to the present time, occupies a portion, but not all, of the New Testament. Prophecy plainly anticipates a yet future period of one thousand years, after which there will be the setting up of the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. It is obvious that in the first period of two thousand years, though there were distinct nations, the earth was inhabited by one stock or kind of humanity; and in the second period of two thousand years, there were two distinct kinds of people -- the original Gentile looking backward to federal headship in Adam, and the Jew looking backward to federal headship in Abraham (Hebrews 7:9-10). The seed of Abraham was to be different in kind, preservation, and destiny. Three Classes of People In this third period of two thousand years there are certainly three classes of people in the earth. The original Adamic stock and the Abrahamic stock are still here; but, added to these, or rather taken from them, not by natural generation, but by regeneration, there is a third group of people who look backward only to the resurrection of the last Adam, Christ, and these in Him and together with Him form the New Creation. Representatives of this third group have been present in the world in each generation during the period from Pentecost to the present hour. Representatives will also be present in each future generation until their elect number is completed, when they will be received into glory at the coming of Christ to receive His bride. The Apostle Paul clearly recognized the three classes of people of this period when he wrote: "Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God" (1 Corinthians 10:32). Likewise, in Ephesians 2:11 the Apostle refers to the Gentiles as the "Uncircumcision," and the Jews as the "Circumcision in the flesh made by hands." But in Colossians 2:11 he refers to the Church as "the Circumcision made without hands." The same Apostle gives a most vivid statement of the Gentile’s position in the world: "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:11-12). He gives also the position of the Jew in the world: "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen" (Romans 9:4-5). In like manner, he states the position of the Church: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved" (Ephesians 1:3-6). Every student of the Scriptures will do well to ponder these passages carefully, both for the truth each portion contains as well as for the wide variation in privilege and position which each sets forth. The Meaning of "Church" Since it so vitally determines the right understanding of the Ephesian Epistle, the precise Biblical meaning of the word Church should be given careful consideration. In the original word Church means a called out assembly of people, a meaning not unlike the English word congregation, or gathering of people in one place. Such was Israel in the wilderness (Acts 7:38), and such was the mob in the Ephesian theater, which mob is termed an _ekklesia, or church (Acts 19:32). Of such companies it could never be said that the life of each individual of the company is hid with Christ in God, or that, collectively, they form the very Body of Christ; nor can these holy distinctions be applied to any organized church or congregation. The true Church is composed of all the redeemed who have been, or will be saved through Christ in the period between the day of Pentecost and the removal of the Church, which is yet to be (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). That the true Church is not restricted to Jews, Gentiles, a sect, or to one generation is obvious. Each person in this heavenly company is individually called of God, regenerated, forgiven all trespasses, justified, made a member of the household and family of God, united to Christ, and destined to partake of His heavenly glory forever. That the distinctive character of the Church may be still more clearly observed, the panoramic view of the divinely revealed program for the human family in the earth should be traced to its consummation. It will be seen from the Scriptures that, following the close of this age and the removal of the Church from the earth, there are to be but two classes of people -- the Jew and the Gentile -- in the earth during the coming period of a thousand years. Likewise, following this thousand-year period, and during the eternity of the new earth, the Jew, of necessity, will be on the earth; for their five great earthly covenants, which are everlasting, cannot be broken. These covenants concern their national entity (Isaiah 66:22; Jeremiah 31:36), the lion of their land (Genesis 13:15), their throne (2 Samuel 7:16), their King (Jeremiah 33:21), and their Kingdom (Daniel 7:14); and, in like manner, Revelation 21:23-27 seems to indicate the continuation of redeemed nations on the earth in that eternity to come. Truth for All The Ephesian letter, though it is addressed to the one local church in Ephesus, contains truth which belongs to the whole company of those who are saved in this dispensation. This fact is disclosed in the two opening verses. The Epistle opens with this clear identification of its author, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God." The name Paul, or Paulus, is a Gentile name, while its Hebrew form is Saul, or Saulus. That he is an Apostle is one of the highest of honors, which honor is claimed here by the Apostle Paul, not at all in self-seeking, but as the ground of authority upon which he is about to write. He is God’s messenger according to God’s will, and those who, with humbleness of mind, will listen for God’s voice, will give heed to the words of an Apostle (1 Corinthians 2:1; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Galatians 1:1). The Epistle is written to "the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful [full of faith, trustful] in Christ Jesus." Since the words saint and sanctify are from the same root, it follows that all who are saints are sanctified (Hebrews 10:10 Hebrews 10:14); that is, they have been set apart unto God -- which is the true meaning of sanctification -- by virtue of their union with Christ through the baptism with the Spirit. It follows, also, that those who are positionally sanctified, or set apart unto God through their union with Christ, which is true of every believer, are saints. After this manner, the message is addressed not only to saints who are in Ephesus, but to all the faithful in Christ Jesus. Thus the letter becomes a personal word to every child of God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 9: 02.02. EPHESIANS 1:3 ======================================================================== Section Two Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. In the salutation of the Ephesian letter the Apostle Paul is identified as its human author, and those to whom he writes are addressed as, first the saints whose earthly abode is Ephesus, but whose spiritual position is in Christ Jesus. Secondly, the message is tended to all the faithful everywhere and anywhere who are in Christ Jesus. Being thus addressed only to those who are saved, three distinct lines of truth inhere in the Epistle: (1) the present exalted position of each born-again believer; (2) the specific truth relative to the Church which is Christ’s Body; and (3) the consistent walk and warfare of those who are saved. Again, the order of truth as presented in this Epistle should be observed with care. True to the plan of divine grace, the Epistle first presents the believer’s exalted position which has been secured through the infinite mercy and power of God, and this is followed by an appeal to the one thus favored to walk worthy of the calling wherewith he is called. Thus, in the divine plan, the walk, or manner of daily life, is seen to be a normal result, or reasonable expression, growing out of the possession of the exceeding riches of grace in Christ Jesus. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that, under God’s provision in grace, God must first accomplish by His own unaided power all that enters into the believer’s position in Christ and secure it forever; then, after this is accomplished, the saved one is called upon to live as one should live who has already entered the most exalted abiding position to which any created being could ever be brought. Naturally, the human heart with its ideals of personal merit and appreciation of common justice has always had a different conception. Is it not the usual plan to ask children to be good and then to reward them according to their effort? Life Under the Law Was not this God’s way of dealing with Israel under the law when they were before Him as mere minors and under tutors and governors? And shall we dare to believe that a new plan has been secured through the death and resurrection of Christ and the present ministry of the Spirit wherein God perfectly and eternally saves the trusting sinner apart from every consideration of his merit or demerit, and that He does all this before any appeal for the daily life is made? Are we to believe also that this appeal, when it is made, is based only on the fact of a perfect merit already secured in Christ? Is it true that to be good because we are saved is even a stronger motive than to be good because we hope thereby to be saved? Satan has ever sought to confuse the weak believer at this crucial point by laying upon his conscience the responsibility of his walk before that believer has a true conception of his standing in Christ -- from which standing everything that is vital in his walk must proceed. In Christ Certainly the first step for each child of God is to see himself as standing perfectly in the righteousness of God, that imputed righteousness which is gained by his position in Christ and to which nothing could ever be added in time or eternity. When the conscience is thus set free from the unbearable burden of human responsibility, namely, the providing of perfect merit in the sight of God, and is purged from dead works through the blood of Christ (Hebrews 9:14), there is opened up to the mind and heart of the one thus enlightened the new sphere of liberty which belongs to the sons of God -- liberty, indeed, to do according to the desire of the heart; but invariably these desires are to be accompanied by a right adjustment to the mind and will of God, for God is always working in a yielded heart "both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Php 2:13). In beginning the verse-by-verse contemplation of this Epistle, we shall find that the first section (Ephesians 1:1-23, Ephesians 2:1-22, and Ephesians 3:1-21) contains no word of exhortation as to the believer’s daily life, nor is any mention made of the service which he should render to God. The section is characterized by the revelation of the boundless work of God in behalf of one who trusts in Christ. Since the salutation occupies the first two verses of the letter, the message of the Epistle begins properly with Ephesians 1:3 : "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." God is not only the source of every blessing, but He is the object of all our thanksgiving, worship and praise. The word here translated blessed is found eight times in the New Testament and is addressed only to God. It is an ascription of supreme worship in which all devotion and adoration that the human heart can give is ascribed to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is revealed to us by and through His Son; but according to the following Scriptures, the contemplation should not stop with the Son alone; it should lead on to the Father: "All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father: neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him" (Matthew 11:27); "God ... hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son" (Hebrews 1:1-2); "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (John 14:13). Never should we fail to glory in the Son; but it is an indication of spiritual immaturity if the Son has not led us on to the knowledge of the Father. The Son would have us join in adoration to the Father, for the Father is blessed indeed. This Epistle could hardly begin upon a more exalted plane, nor could it assume more maturity of spiritual enlightenment in the ones to whom it is addressed. Recognizing the wisdom of the Apostle Paul in adapting his message to the capability of those to whom he writes we may conclude that the Ephesian saints were enriched in all things and, to an exceptional degree, were able to receive the "strong meat" of the Word. In undertaking an exposition of these themes, there should be no lessening of their high character even though simplicity in style is so much to be desired. The phrase, "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," is the full title of the First Person of the Blessed Trinity, and it incorporates, also, the full title of the Second Person. True, God the Father is also the Father of all who believe, but for all eternity to come He must first be recognized by that surpassing distinction which, in part, has been His throughout the eternity past, namely, "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." The relation of the Second Person to the First Person has from all eternity been that of a Son, and, like all else related to the Godhead, it is not only eternal but unchangeable. He did not become a Son of the Father by His incarnation, nor by His resurrection, nor is He a Son by mere title, nor is He temporarily assuming such a relationship that He may execute His part in the Covenant of Redemption. He was the Only Begotten of the Father from all eternity, having no other relation to time and creation than that He is the Creator of them. It is evident that the Father and Son relationship sets forth only the features of emanation and manifestation and does not include the usual conception of derivation, inferiority, or distinction as to the time of beginning. The Son, being very God, is eternally on an absolute equality with the Father. The Incarnation On the other hand, the First Person became the God of the Second Person by the incarnation. Only from His humanity could Christ address the First Person as "My God." This He did in that moment of supreme manifestation of His humanity when on the cross He said, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" And again, after His resurrection He said, "I ascend unto my Father and your Father; and to my God, and your God" (John 20:17). When contemplating the full title of the First Person of the Godhead, 2 Corinthians 1:3 and 1 Peter 1:3 should be observed sufficiently to note the significance of the use of this phrase in each instance (note, also, Matthew 27:46; 1 Corinthians 3:23; Ephesians 1:17; and Revelation 3:12). Spiritual Blessings "Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." As it is becoming for us to love Him "because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19), it is equally becoming that we should bless Him because He has first blessed us, and the infinity of His love does not surpass the infinity of His blessing; for the blessing includes "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly in Christ Jesus." Thus three qualifying conditions are set up with regard to the exalted character of those blessings the believer has now received, each of which reaches on into knowledge-surpassing realms. (1) The spiritual blessings are not limited to the unseen as in distinction to the seen, nor to the immaterial as in distinction to the material; the thought expressed being that these blessings come forth from God and not from humanly devised circumstances. There is a reiteration here of the great fact so clearly stated by Jonah when he said, "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9); and again stated by the Apostle Paul, "By the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10). From all this it will be seen that, though man possesses a strange power by which he may hinder the work of God, he, on the other hand, is as strangely impotent in the realms of spiritual attainment. (2) These divine blessings are identified as belonging to the heavenly. The term heavenly is an adjective without a noun, and the human mind naturally seeks to discover what it is that is here said to be heavenly. Heavenly is a term which is peculiar to the Ephesian letter (as the phrase the kingdom of heaven is peculiar to Matthew’s Gospel); it occurs also in Matthew 2:6, Matthew 3:10, and Matthew 6:12 The translators of our Authorized Version have supplied the noun places. This would imply that some localities are more blessed than others. Some interpreters have suggested that these blessings are heavenly because of the fact that they originate in, and proceed from heaven. Still another interpretation, which has very much in its favor, is that reference is here made to the sphere of the believer’s present relation to Christ. This sphere of relationship is far-reaching and all-inclusive. It includes the sharing of the divine nature; the possession of life which is none other than "Christ begotten in you the hope of glory"; the common purpose with Christ in service indicated by the words, "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world"; the relation between Christ and the believer as forming the New Creation; in suffering, for we suffer together with Him; in inheritance, for it is said that we are "joint-heirs with Christ"; and in a yet future glory, when we shall be "glorified together with Him." Such a sphere of blessing is not limited to favored places but is ever and always the deepest reality in the unchanging sphere of identity with Christ, a reality which can shed its radiant glories in the human heart even in the dungeon at midnight as much as in the blazing glory of celestial realms. (3) In His upper-room discourse, Christ uttered a phrase of seven monosyllables which sets forth the major twofold characterization of the Christian -- "Ye in me, and I in you" (John 14:20. Judging from these seven words alone, how marvelous are the inexhaustible and unsearchable riches of divine grace, and yet how wonderful is the simplicity of the divine utterance! The second of these two relationships, stated in the words, "I in you," asserts the essential truth that the child of God has received a new impartation of life, which life is none other than the indwelling Christ. The fact of a new impartation of Christ’s life should not be contemplated as being a mere imitation of Christ, or a new rule or ideal of life, it is "Christ in you, the hope of glory." The Christian is one to whom Christ has given His own eternal life, which truth is sustained by no less than eighty New Testament passages, and to which Christ referred when He said, "I give unto them eternal life" (John 10:23, and, in like manner, when He said, "I in you." "Ye in me" The first of these two phrases -- "ye in me" -- is the one which is referred to in Ephesians 1:3 and which, more than all else, discloses the basis on which the knowledge surpassing heavenly blessings rest, as well as the ground on which they are bestowed. The whole theme of the New Creation is compressed in these three words of two letters each. As the entire unregenerate race is in Adam and constituted sinners by his one act of disobedience (Romans 5:19), so the entire regenerate group are in Christ and are constituted righteous by His one act of obedience. Likewise, because of its relation to Adam, the first creation became subject to death; so, also, the New Creation, because of its relation to Christ, has received the gift of God which is eternal life; and, added to this, all heavenly blessings which are in Christ Jesus. The limitless scope of these heavenly blessings has been pointed out above. It remains to be seen that the release of this transforming divine favor is granted, not on the ground of any fancied or real personal qualities attained or attainable, but is bestowed on the ground of the fact that God now sees the believer as transferred from the ruin of the Old Creation into the riches of the New Creation. By the gracious baptizing work of the Holy Spirit the believer, at the moment he is saved, is joined to Christ and is then eternally delivered from every complication and condemnation arising out of the first Adamic headship. Similarly, and at the same time, he is made to partake of every spiritual blessing in the heavenly association in Christ Jesus. Therefore, it may be said of the least of the children of God that he not only possesses the indwelling Christ, Who is his eternal life, but he is ensphered in Christ and thus enriched with all that Christ is and all that Christ has received. These riches are beyond comprehension; they include not only that infinite grace and perfection which Christ offered to God in our behalf, but they include also, all that He received from the Father (John 16:15), and all that was conferred upon Him because of the fact that He was obedient unto death -- an incomparable glory (Php 2:9). The human mind cannot comprehend such riches. Nevertheless, according to the testimony of the Scriptures, the child of God is now a partaker of all these riches in Christ Jesus. Added to this, these divine benefits are made real to the believer’s heart and mind by the illuminating work of the Spirit (John 16:11-15). Certain major aspects of these riches are emphasized in the Scriptures: the believer is "made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21); he is "accepted in the beloved" (Ephesians 1:6); he is "in Christ Jesus ... made nigh" (Ephesians 2:13); he is loved as Christ is loved (John 17:23); he is no longer of this world (John 17:16); and he is heard when he prays, as though his voice were the voice of the Son of God (John 14:14). It remains yet to observe that all these marvels (and the half has never been told) are the immediate and present possession of every one that is saved. This fact is set forth with great emphasis. Our God and Father hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly association in Christ Jesus, and to those who trust in Christ, though they deserve in themselves only eternal condemnation, it is said, "all things are yours" (1 Corinthians 3:21), and, "ye are complete in him" (Colossians 2:10). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 10: 02.03. EPHESIANS 1:4-6 ======================================================================== Section Three Ephesians 1:4-6 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. The previous study in this series was largely occupied with one verse (Ephesians 1:3) wherein is recorded the word of praise to the Father for His measureless spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus to all who believe. The section which follows and which is now to be considered (Ephesians 1:4-6) is the beginning of an enumeration and amplification of the heavenly positions which together constitute the present spiritual blessings mentioned in Ephesians 1:3. Attention has been called to the spiritual insight which characterized the Ephesian believers, and at no point in this Epistle is the fact of their understanding of the deep things of God more demonstrated than that this portion now to be considered was addressed to them. So deeply theological is this section of the Epistle that no little strain is placed upon the expositor whose ideal is a degree of simplicity of expression suited to the understanding of the average Christian. The enumeration of these heavenly positions presents a series of fundamental doctrines -- doctrines which have engaged the greatest minds in all ages -- and, though presenting certain facts regarding the believer’s position in Christ, this Scripture does not set forth an exhaustive list of all these positions, nor will a complete list be found at any one place in the New Testament. Only the briefest consideration can be given here to the positions that are mentioned in this section of the Epistle. "Chosen in Him Before the Foundation of the World." What could be more orderly than that the contemplation of the divine dealing with man should begin with a declaration of God’s sovereignty in election? Whatever God bestows upon His creatures must, of necessity, be absolute in its nature. He here discovers nothing in fallen man other than an object of His super-abounding grace. The first man, Adam, stood before God on the ground of a natural perfection, being the true representation of God’s creative purpose; but Adam fell from the estate of natural perfection and from that time, both for Adam and his posterity, only regenerative grace could commend any human being to God. No obligation rests upon God in the exercise of His grace. He may, and does, choose whom He will. He neither sees, nor foresees, any good in man which might form a basis of His blessings. Whatever good is found in redeemed man is wrought in him by divine grace. God does design for those whom He chooses that they shall be "holy and without blame before him"; but this is the result which is wrought by God in grace, and is never wrought by man. Certainly man has not chosen God. Christ emphasized this when He said, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." Even the first man when unfallen and wholly free to choose did not choose God; how much more is it certain that fallen man will not of himself choose God! Therefore the provision of the ground of redemption is not enough in itself; the perverted will of man must be divinely moved. The unregenerate heart must be rendered willing as well as transformed in its essential character. All this God undertakes and accomplishes in sovereign grace. He elects, He calls, He inclines the heart, He redeems, He regenerates, He preserves, and He presents faultless before His glory those who are the objects of His sovereign grace. On the other hand, He employs means to the accomplishment of His purpose. On the divine side, the awful demands of sin must be met by the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. It is not enough that sin shall be declared to be sinful; it is required that its curse shall be borne by the Lamb of God, the will of man must be moved, regeneration must be wrought by the Spirit, and every spiritual and heavenly blessing must be secured by the setting up of an actual union with Christ. On the human side, when man’s opposition to God is divinely broken down, he then believes to the saving of his soul. So demanding and real are all the divine means employed for the saving of the lost, that it is as much required of man that he believe and thus elect to be saved by the divine grace as that actual redemption shall be wrought for him on Calvary’s cross. In the realm of human experience man is conscious only of his power to choose, or reject, the salvation that is in Christ; and, because of the reality of this human choice, he is saved or lost according to his belief, or disbelief, in Christ as his Savior. While there is very much in the doctrine of divine election which transcends the limitations of the finite understanding, it is true that man originates nothing -- not even sin, since sin began with the angels of God. It is God who has chosen His elect, and while this selection is both sovereign and final, nevertheless, not one human being who desires to be saved and who complies with the necessary terms of the gospel will ever be lost. Though the doctrine of divine election presents difficulties which are insolvable by the finite mind, the fact of divine selection is not limited to God’s choice of some out of the many for eternal glory; it is observable anywhere in the universe. There is a variety in all God’s creation. There are classifications among the angels. One star is said to differ from another star in glory. Men are not born of the same race with the same advantages, nor with the same native abilities. These variations in the estates of men cannot be accounted for on the basis of the efficacy of the free will of man. Men do not choose their race, their life conditions (whether it be in civilization or in heathendom), nor do they choose their natural gifts. On the other hand, it is as clearly disclosed to those who will receive the revelation, that God’s attitude toward the entire human family is one of infinite compassion and boundless sacrificial love. Though the two revealed facts -- divine election and the universality of divine love -- cannot be reconciled within the sphere of human understanding, here, as elsewhere, we may honor God by believing and by resting in Him. Therefore, to God be all the glory! And to Him be given the first consideration! Those systems of religious thought which required that the doctrine of God shall conform to the doctrine of the supremacy of man, which begin with man, defend man, and glorify man, are fundamentally wrong and therefore are productive of God-dishonoring error. The order of truth is established forever by the first phrase of the Bible, "In the beginning God." He it is Who planned, He executes, and He it is Who will realize to an infinite degree all that He has purposed. He will never be defeated nor disappointed. The true system of religious thought begins with God, defends God, and glorifies God; and the creature is conformed to the plan and purpose of the Creator. The fall of man alone can account for the wickedness of heart which resists the divine supremacy. The divine selection of some for eternal glory was made before all time. The phrase, "before the foundation of the world," occurs also in John 17:24 and 1 Peter 1:20. In these passages the eternal feature is obvious. While there is a similar phrase, "from the foundation of the world" (Luke 11:50; Hebrews 4:3; Hebrews 9:26), meaning since the beginning of time, the phrase "before the foundation of the world" refers specifically to the eternity past (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2; Romans 16:25). The eternal feature of God’s elective choice is of measureless importance as a factor in the recognition of divine sovereignty. At a time and under conditions where there was none other than His Triune Self to determine and none other to satisfy or glorify, He determined the objects of His grace and decreed all the means necessary to the realization of His purpose. Deep indeed are the mysteries of the eternal counsels of God, yet it is to these mysteries that the Apostle refers at the opening of this letter, and upon these as a basis he proceeds with his exalted message addressed, as it is, to all the children of God. "Having Predestinated Us." Election and predestination do not indicate the same thing. Election is God’s selection of individuals, while predestination is His plan and purpose for those whom He selects. It is also to be observed that He predestinates nothing for those whom He does not elect for His eternal glory; but He does predestinate the destiny of those whom He chooses. The Apostle has already anticipated the fact of predestination in the preceding verse wherein the eternal purpose is said to be "that we should be holy and without blame before him." This utterance might refer to the state of those who are redeemed and who by divine grace are finally perfected into the image of Christ (1 John 3:3), or it might refer to the standing of the believer in Christ, in which union all the perfections of Christ are imputed to the believer for all eternity to come. The theme as introduced in Ephesians 1:3 would favor the latter interpretation; for it is the heavenly, spiritual blessings in Christ which are in view. However, it is provided, and most engaging is the contemplation, that in his destiny and as a realization of divine election rather than by human attainment, the believer will be perfected in his state as he is now and forever perfected in his standing (cf. Romans 8:29 with Hebrews 10:14). It is true that, in the execution of His purpose, God will both incline and draw those whom He chooses and provide for them the redemption by which alone they can be the objects of His blessing. But the earthly aspects of His purpose are not at this point in view; He is rather relating the past eternity with that eternity which is to come. Before the foundation of the world He made sovereign choice of those who in the eternity to come would be holy and without blame before Him. A similar passage occurs in Romans 8:30, "Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Here, again, the connection is set up between the predestination which characterized the eternity past, and the glory that will characterize the eternity to come. However, it is indicated here that to realize this end He both calls and justifies, and there is no failure or loss of one. All whom He predestinates He calls, all whom He calls He justifies, and all whom He justifies He glorifies. Let it be stated again, that this is truth on the highest conceivable plane where the sovereign election of God is alone presented with its certainty of fruition. Its realization called for the creation of worlds, the creation of man, the permission of evil, the fall, the ages of human history, redemption at infinite cost, and the calling and justifying of His elect; but the end is sure. It will be in the end precisely what He decreed it to be in the beginning. Later in this Epistle it will be seen (Ephesians 2:7) that this purpose is not for the display of His holy judgments in the retribution of those who do not believe, though that retribution is unavoidable, but it is for the manifestation of His grace in those who do believe. Thus His love is the dominating motive in all that He does. For this reason it is probably correct to relate the phrase "in love" which occurs at the end of Ephesians 1:4 with the beginning of Ephesians 1:5. It is in love that He predestinated us. Love is one of the attributes of God. "God is love," which means that He has never acquired love, He does not maintain it by any effort whatsoever, nor does His love depend upon conditions; for He is the Author of all conditions. God loved before any being was created, and at a time -- if time it be -- when there was no other than His own Triune Being. He loved Himself supremely, but upon a plane far above that of mere self-complacency. His love is as eternal and unchangeable as His own existence, and it was in that incomprehensible past that He also loved the beings He would yet create. Though expressed supremely by the death of Christ at a moment in time, and though seen in the preservation of, and providence over, His redeemed, His is a love of the dateless past and its continuation is as immutable as the predestination it devises. Yes, predestination is, so far from being a hard and awful predetermination of God, in reality, the supreme undertaking and satisfaction of His infinite compassion. Only one aspect of His predetermining purpose is mentioned in this passage: it is, "unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will," and thus adoption is exalted to a place among the heavenly, spiritual blessings in Christ. Two features of filial relation to God the Father through Christ should be distinguished: there is, first, that aspect of relationship which results from regeneration and involves the change of estate and nature and provides a right and title to all riches of divine favor; and there is, second, that aspect of position which has to do with privilege. In human life, relationship with all its realities is accorded the child from his birth to the day he reaches his majority. After that, though relationship is unchanged, he enters a sphere of freedom, responsibility and prerogative. So, in like manner, the believer is constituted a legitimate child of God by spiritual birth with all its attending relationships, but he is also, at the moment of that birth, advanced to maturity of position, being constituted an adult son by virtue of that legal placing which in the Scriptures is termed adoption. Being free from the law, the child of God is no longer "under tutors and governors" as was Israel (Gal. 4:1-3 Galatians 4:1-3), but is rather called to the liberty and freedom which is in Christ Jesus (Gal. 5:1 Galatians 5:1). There is therefore no childhood period in the sphere of the Christian’s responsibility. Whatever appeal as to a holy walk and service God addresses to one He addresses to all regardless of the length of time they may have been saved. "Made accepted in the Beloved." "The Beloved" is none other than Christ, Who is so named because He is beloved of His Father, and, while He is beloved of the Father, He is, at the same time, despised and rejected by the world. The child of God will therefore contemplate his hope, not as related to this world, but as related to Christ in the heavenly realms. Thus, also, the Christian need anticipate no more from the world than is accorded Christ. "If they have hated me, they will hate you" and, "Ye are not of the world even as I am not of the world." But the present theme is not of that rejection which for a little time is promised here; it is rather of that acceptance forever which is even now the believer’s position in heaven. Precious indeed is the fact that the child of God is made accepted; the implication being, according to truth, that redeeming grace has so answered every judgment because of demerit, and so provided every essential quality through the merit of Another, that the Father sees the saved one in the standing of His Son and loves him as He loves His Son (John 17:23). All this is possible because divine grace and power have so wrought that the believer is made accepted in the Beloved. Such a measureless accomplishment will not only serve the desirable purpose of a soul being perfectly saved for all eternity, but it will redound "to the praise of the glory of his grace." Again and again the Apostle returns to this final objective of salvation: it is that the glory of His grace may be praised. How high, then, is the calling which is ours. In the sovereign choice of God, we shall be employed as the instrumentality whereby He will disclose the eternal riches of His favor! ======================================================================== CHAPTER 11: 02.04. EPHESIANS 1:7-14 ======================================================================== Section Four Ephesians 1:7-14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Resuming the connected theme presented in the opening verses of the Ephesian letter, we enter upon a section (Ephesians 1:7-14) wherein the writer descends from the premundane purposes of God, unfolded in the preceding portion, to the actual execution of those upon the earth and within the boundaries of time. Here again, not every aspect of the divine activity is enumerated, but only such of these as will serve to indicate the precise nature of the divine undertaking. As has been stated in the previous study, the divine purpose anticipates a well-defined, predetermined end for those whom, as sons, He will bring into glory. The process by which the predetermined end will be reached is manifold in its particulars, incorporating, as it does, every minute detail of divine action and human experience intervening between the originating, sovereign choice of an elect company, in the past eternity, and the final presentation of that company in glory in the eternity to come. The execution of this vast program necessitated the creation of all things. In Colossians 1:16, it is declared that "all things were created by him, and for him," which creation includes the heavenly hosts, and things "that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers." Likewise, in Ephesians 1:23 and Ephesians 5:27, it is revealed that this elect company is the supreme object of the affections of the One for Whom and by Whom all things were created and for whom He has made the supreme sacrifice. An Object of Divine Grace According to the divine plan, man is the highest in position and capacity of all earthly creation and in his original estate reflected perfectly and properly the holy character and sublime creative power of God; but, as originally created, man did not serve as a manifestation of the grace of God. Being unfallen and fulfilling to satisfaction the ideal of his Maker, man was not, nor could he then be, an object of divine grace. In this connection it should be observed that the precise scope of divine grace as revealed in the Word of God is not that general benevolence toward man which doubtless characterized the attitude of God toward unfallen man: it is rather that exercise of mercy toward the sinner who is otherwise doomed, which mercy has been made possible through Christ’s death as the sinner’s Substitute bearing his justly imposed condemnation. Likewise, it should be observed that, when man fell, he descended to a level so low that he became only and forever an object of divine grace. So long as virtue and goodness have existed, their opposite, evil, has been at least a conceivable thing, though without the slightest possibility of expression before the creation of angels and man. But the problem as to why sin was ever permitted its manifestation either in heaven by Satan or on earth by man is an insoluble mystery to the finite mind and is no more disclosed in this portion of Scripture than elsewhere. There can be no question but what the expression of sin was divinely permitted. It did not come as a surprise to God, nor did it frustrate His purpose. It must be remembered, also, that sin was permitted in spite of the fact that it is so abhorrent to God and in spite of the fact that its tragedy could be healed only by the most costly sacrifice possible to God -- the death of His Son. While He permitted sin in the universe, God is not disclosed as being responsible for it. He is rather revealed as the One Who hates it with a perfect hatred. However, the problem is not without a partial solution. There was that in God which had never been expressed, nor could it be expressed until sin had entered the world. His wisdom, His power, and His glory had been disclosed by created things (Psalms 19:1; Romans 1:19-20); but until there were fallen beings, no manifestation of the compassion of God was possible. How gracious He could be to a hell-deserving sinner could not be demonstrated until such an object of His grace existed. A soul tested in the furnace of temptation and saved from eternal condemnation by divine grace will be a witness in heaven of that in God which otherwise could never have been made known. So great a salvation will redound "to the praise of the glory of his grace." Thus the Apostle declares in Ephesians 1:7 concerning Christ, "In whom we have redemption." Nothing is revealed of the preliminary fact that in and through the fall of the first Adam we have need of redemption. That need is assumed and is but a necessary step in the preparation of the more essential manifestation of super-abounding grace. In Christ Jesus we have redemption. On the divine side, the great redeeming work is accomplished. It is now a completed transaction; not a thing which God will do for man upon some condition of human worthiness, but a thing which He has done for man already and when man was without merit, without strength, a sinner, and an enemy of God. That there is an elect company in the divine view is no part of the gospel of divine grace which is addressed to a lost world; it is one of God’s secrets intended only for those who are saved. On the other hand, the announcement of an accomplished blood-redemption as potentially provided for all is the evangel of infinite grace, "Whosoever will, may come." Redemption has always been by blood alone. Blood is the divinely determined ransom which an outraged holiness must demand. That blood-ransom was prefigured in all Old Testament sacrifices as it is now available through the death of Christ; hence redemption has been offered to man as a benefit throughout the history of the race. O Divine Redeemer Having contemplated the holy nature of God and His uncompromising, unyielding character and government, it is not difficult to accept the solemn decree, "The soul that sinneth it shall die"; likewise, "The wages of sin is death"; and, again, "Without shedding of blood there is no remission." God never deals with sin in leniency or mere generosity. The awful penalty which sin inevitably incurs cannot be lessened in the slightest degree. God’s holy demands which are based on His holy character are as unchangeable as His nature. Christ paid the required ransom. Divine justice is satisfied, and the way of salvation is now open for all. The responsibility imposed on the sinner is that of believing the record God has given concerning this redemption which is in His Son. This record points to the Redeemer as the only One who is able to save, and calls for nothing less or for nothing more than saving trust in Him. It is in Him that we have redemption. He is our redemption. By the shedding of His blood He accomplished a perfect ransom; by His resurrection He proved the completeness of His undertaking, and resumed His life by the same authority by which He laid it down. Thus He ever lives as the all-sufficient Redeemer of those for whom He died. It is God who in infinite grace provided a ransom, and it is man who in infinite sin rejects that ransom. The price is paid and the grace of God is the portion of each and every one who will receive it, and those who are saved can say with the Apostle, "We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." In the outworking of the plan of redemption, God has wrought on an infinite plane and has disclosed the unsearchable depths of His wisdom and prudence (Ephesians 1:8). In 1 Corinthians 1:23-24, the great transaction of the sacrifice of Christ is declared to be the manifestation of divine power and wisdom. As revealed in the Scriptures, the greatest problem that ever confronted the Almighty is not creation, which in Psalms 8:3 is likened to mere finger-play: it is rather the redemption of a lost soul, which, according to Isaiah 53:1, required the making bare of His great right arm. His wisdom is seen in the solving of the problem as to how God can remain just and yet be, according to the compassion of His heart, the Justifier of the sinner. His power is set free to act in behalf of all who believe on Christ as their Savior, and, when thus set free, He will not stop short of the satisfaction of His measureless love. He will present the saved one in glory conformed to the image of His Son. God is satisfied with the payment Christ has made, and it is in Him who alone is worthy that we have a perfect redemption, even the forgiveness of sins: not, indeed, a partial forgiveness, which would be no manifestation of infinite grace, but that which, being complete forever, remains an abiding glory to God. Thus, the believer is accepted eternally into the family of the redeemed; yet, in that family relationship he will, time and again, need to be forgiven -- in the sense of being restored, not into the family, but into the fellowship of the Father and the Son (1 John 1:9). At this point in the progress of the Ephesian message (Ephesians 1:9), one great example of the abounding grace and wisdom of God is stated, being addressed, as it is, to all who share in the redemption that is in Christ, and forming, as it does, a part of the New Testament revelation. The precise nature of the message is stated in the ensuing verse. However, the Apostle anticipates the nature of the message in two particulars: first, it is a mystery, and second, it is a purpose which the Father purposed in His Son (the phrase "in Himself" being better rendered, in Him, i.e., in Christ). In the New Testament sense of the word, a mystery is a truth undiscoverable apart from revelation and usually refers to something not clearly disclosed in the Old Testament, but now revealed in the New Testament; even there it is not always completely set forth, enough being declared, however, to form a basis for identification and human compliance. To illustrate this: it is impossible for the human mind to grasp all that is involved in the resurrection of the dead and the translation of the living as stated in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; but, though termed a mystery and not in these precise particulars seen in the Old Testament, enough is revealed to form the ground of a great hope and consolation. Such, in the main, is the character of all the New Testament mysteries. Together they form a most important division of truth and sum up largely the progress of revelation in the New Testament over that of the Old Testament. A Mystery Revealed According to verse 10, the mystery which the Father purposed in His Son is to be realized at a time which is here identified as "the dispensation of the fulness of times"; and since the word dispensation here means stewardship -- the assuming and discharging with complete authority all the interests of another -- the "dispensation of the fulness of times" is that yet future period when Christ will exercise headship authority over all things both in heaven and on earth. Since such headship is not being exercised in this age, nor has it been exercised in any past age, it is evident that another age for the realization of these divine purposes is determined which will follow the present period. Not yet are all things put under the authority of the Son (Heb. 2:8 Hebrews 2:8; cf. 1 Cor. 15:25-28 1 Corinthians 15:25-28), nor could this authority be His until He returns, according to the promise, to govern the earth. The Father’s commissioned One in the age of His stewardship will yet reign over all things. This will be the fulness, or consummation, of all preceding seasons. Human history, which throughout the ages has been characterized by incompleteness, is yet to see completeness in the stewardship of Christ. The Gentile nations will be enriched under the authority of the Prince of Peace; Israel’s great covenants will be fulfilled; and the Church will have been joined to the Lord and have experienced the fruition of all her promised heavenly blessings. The stewardship of the Son will gather under one authority all things that are in heaven and on earth. The revelation of this mystery transcends human understanding, but the hope and its certainty are assured. The great disclosure that all authority is yet to be centered in Christ should not be confused with the present fact that the Church is now, as to spiritual, vital union, in Christ; the latter being the theme with which the Epistle opened. Enlarging upon this aspect of truth, in Ephesians 1:11 the Apostle declares that in Christ the children of God have obtained an inheritance. They share by right in all that belongs to Christ. They are "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17). All this, it is reiterated, is the fulfilling of the sovereign, divine predestination, and is according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. Thus, they (Ephesians 1:12) who first trusted in Christ are to be to the praise of His glory. The trust, to which reference is here made, is not that saving faith by which they are constituted children of God; it is rather the reasonable expectation of the future association with Him in glory at His coming again. After the refreshing return to the premundane purposes of God with the assurance that all things in heaven and on earth will be executed according to the counsel of His own will, the theme reverts again to earthly things and to the experience of the Ephesian believers in particular. They are reminded that they did trust in Christ after that they heard the Word of truth, the gospel of their salvation. To them, as to all God’s elect, the gospel must be preached, and by them be received. How else will that be realized which is according to His purpose and after the counsel of His will? The opening section of this Epistle (Ephesians 1:1-14), which carries the reader into both the eternity past and that which is to come, and which asserts the fact of sovereign, immutable, divine predestination, comes to its close with the mention of one more of the heavenly, spiritual blessings which accrue to the believer because of the fact that he is in Christ Jesus. As has been stated, the saved one is chosen in sovereign grace, predestinated in love, adopted into heaven-high privilege, redeemed, illuminated, made a partaker of Christ’s inheritance, and, finally, sealed with that Holy Spirit of Promise. Sealing of the Spirit The sealing with the Holy Spirit of Promise is distinctly a sealing in Christ. This seal carries two important meanings: first, that of reality, and second, that of rightful ownership. As the sealing of the Spirit is again mentioned in Ephesians 4:30, it will be observed that the present instance is unto reality (cf. John 3:33), and the later reference is unto rightful ownership. That there may be no possible doubt as to the reality of the believer’s position in Christ he has been sealed therein by the Holy Spirit of Promise. This sealing took place not after, but upon believing. The Authorized text, "after that ye believed," is better rendered "upon believing." There is no reference here, or elsewhere in the Scriptures, to a second work of grace, nor is it once implied that these divine blessings are received in sequence; on the contrary, upon believing, the child of God is blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly in Christ Jesus. The Spirit is here distinguished as the Spirit of Promise since His advent into the world was covenanted by both the Father and the Son. He is holy to that degree which identifies Him with the Persons of the Trinity. He Himself is the earnest of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:14) until the completion of our redemption. An earnest is a pre-payment, or foretaste of an oncoming bounty. Thus all the present blessed influences and ministries of the Spirit to the child of God are but an intimation of the boundless, experimental fulness of the inheritance which is yet to be. Divine illumination is needed if these marvels of grace are to be comprehended; hence, at this point, the Apostle turns to prayer. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 12: 02.05. EPHESIANS 1:15-23 ======================================================================== Section Five Ephesians 1:15-23 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. The author, the Apostle Paul, who from the salutation of this Epistle has been hidden from view by the magnitude of his theme, now, in Ephesians 1:15, comes forward and the Epistle assumes again the character of a personal message. True to his gracious attitude, he finds abundant reason for joy in the contemplation of the Christian character already developed in those he had led to the saving knowledge of Christ. The report of their spiritual progress and steadfastness had been conveyed by one who had more recently observed the devoted lives of the Ephesian saints. Perhaps this message was received through Epaphras (Colossians 1:7). Others, too, it is implied, joined with the Apostle in the joyful contemplation of this advancement in the knowledge of Christ. The advancement of the saints of Ephesus is both one of faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the brethren, the latter being the logical result of the former. The portion now under consideration (Ephesians 1:15-23) is closely related to that which has gone before; opening, as it does, with the connecting word, wherefore. In view of the divine purpose toward believers which has been set forth, the Apostle, at this point, testifies to them of his prayer on their behalf, which was to the end that they might be divinely enabled to comprehend these riches of grace and glory; but not until he has first given expression to his thanksgiving to God for the benefit they have received. Not once only is he exercised in prayer, but often. He declares that he "ceased not" to give thanks for them. Thus is provided one more evidence of the persevering character of the prayer ministry of the Apostle Paul. His faithfulness in prayer is most impressive, and his recorded prayers form some of the richest portions of the New Testament. The Apostle prays that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Himself. Thus, as in Ephesians 1:3, he refers to the First Person of the Godhead as "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ," and here, as before, the humanity of Christ is in view; for only in that relationship is the First Person properly addressed as the God of the Second Person. In Matthew 27:46 it is recorded that in the hour of His death the Son so addressed the Father. It was necessary that the Son of God, in order that He might "taste death," should become incarnate, and there was no possible redemption apart from His death. In like manner, we have in John 20:17 a similar reference to the First Person on the part of the Second Person, but, in this case, after the resurrection. Naturally, there is great significance in this since it attests the fact that Christ retains His humanity in His present exaltation and forever. The First Person is also addressed as "the Father of Glory." The indisputable truth that He is a glorious Person is hardly the meaning here; it is rather the fact that glory is an attribute belonging to the very essence of God, which fact is far removed from the mere ascription to Him of glory on the part of others. There is a peculiar fitness in the use of the title "the Father of Glory" in a prayer the central thought of which is the display of the divine glory in and through Christ -- who is the brightness of His excellent glory (Hebrews 1:3); and it is further declared that the knowledge of the glory of God is seen in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). Thus, through the incarnation, that essential glory, like other aspects of deity, has been brought into the range of human contemplation. To Know God To know God in His perfections, as He is revealed in Christ (Colossians 2:9), is the exalted privilege of believers; the human incapacity for such knowledge being overcome, in the divine provision, by the Spirit of God who is appointed to take of the things of Christ and show them unto us (John 16:12-15). Thus reference is made in Ephesians 1:17 to the Spirit as "the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him." The world is satisfied with the ideal expressed by the phrase, "know thyself"; but to the child of God it is given to know God, whom to know aright is life eternal. Significant, indeed, is the use of the Greek word _epigenosis at this point, which word refers to a full knowledge, and is much stronger than the general word _genosis, which refers to the more restricted aspects of human understanding. In Isaiah 11:2, the Holy Spirit is declared to be "the Spirit of wisdom and understanding." He has power to impart divine wisdom and understanding to men. Thus is introduced the extensive doctrine of the teaching ministry of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 John 2:27; John 16:12-15). According to verse 18 and in the exercise of this ministry, the eyes of the heart, not the understanding merely, are to be enlightened. When revealed by the Spirit, the deep things of God are not addressed to the human understanding alone; they claim the response of the affections and will. These divinely imparted themes include the heavenly blessings which have occupied the opening portion of this Epistle, the present effectual call of each child of God into the prospect of soon sharing the glory of Christ’s resurrection, and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:19). It would be profitable to dwell on these riches of grace and glory as disclosed in other portions of the Word of God where they will be seen to appear and reappear, especially in the Gospel by John and in the Epistles of the New Testament. Likewise the divinely enabled heart will comprehend "the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe." Standards of Divine Power Three standards of divine power are set forth in the Scriptures. First, in the past dispensation the evidence of Jehovah’s power, oft cited, was His deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. "I, Jehovah, which brought you out of the land of Egypt." Second, divine power will be measured in the future dispensation of Israel’s kingdom glory in the earth by the yet future regathering of that nation from all countries into their own land. Thus we read in Jeremiah 23:7-8 "Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land." That this final gathering of Israel into their own land is a miracle wrought by divine power is revealed in Matthew 24:31. This elect nation is to be assembled under the ministrations of the angels. Third, over against all this, and in contrast to it, the standard of divine power in this age is "his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1:19-23). In considering the order of events in the resurrection and exaltation of Christ as here stated, it should be remembered that all that is set forth in this description is stated primarily to the end that the believer may be properly impressed with the greatness of the power -- the same power which wrought in Christ -- which is engaged to accomplish for him everything that God has purposed, according to His election, predestination, and sovereign adoption. True, the Redeemer and His redemption will be provided, as well as the enabling power to believe; but, beyond these issues which are within the boundaries of time, the divine, eternal purpose will yet be realized to its full fruition, and is certain because of the "exceeding greatness of the power" which is engaged to that end. Nor should it be forgotten that all this disclosure is but a part of the Apostle’s oft-repeated prayer wherein he makes request that, through the teaching work of the Spirit, these marvels which demonstrate the divine sufficiency might be comprehended by those who are the objects of these riches of grace and glory. Often in the Scriptures does the Spirit of God bring to our attention the certainty of all things which God has purposed, and happy indeed is the one who, by divine illumination, enters into the heart-understanding of these things. But what, after all, is the measure of this exceeding great power which is to us-ward who believe? The record of it is given for our understanding -- if so be that we are taught of the Spirit. Second only in importance is this theme to that of election and predestination with which the Epistle opened. What God has purposed He will realize, and to an absolute degree. What He has begun He will complete with that perfection which belongs to Infinity. This exceeding great power which is to us-ward who believe has already been manifested in four ways in behalf of Christ: First, Christ was raised from the dead, not from a dormant state, as is suggested by the usual illustrations of resurrection which men employ, such as the lily bulb, the cocoon, and the egg, but from the estate of death. From this estate He was raised to a sphere far above that which He occupied on the earth before His death. The resurrection of Christ is more than the reversal of His death; and more, indeed, than a restoration such as characterized all previous so-called resurrections. Christ became a new order of Being. The Second Person of the Trinity was always present in Christ from the moment of His gestation in the virgin’s womb to His exaltation in glory; but His humanity presented ever-changing aspects. As a child, He "grew and waxed strong in spirit." He who was "from everlasting to everlasting" came to be "thirty years of age"; and that body which was mortal, being subject to death, became immortal and He who was dead is now alive forever more. He who alone has immortality (1 Timothy 6:16) is now the first-fruits of resurrection -- the only present representation in glory of that host of redeemed ones who will soon be with Him and be like Him. Every power of Satan and man had combined to retain Christ’s body in the tomb. The keys of death were apparently in Satan’s hands until the resurrection of Christ (cf. Hebrews 2:14 with Revelation 1:18). The greatest earthly power had set its seal upon the tomb, and none could loose the "pains of death" (Acts 2:24) other than God. Though, in the mystery of the Trinity, it is declared that Christ came forth from the tomb by His own will and power (John 2:19; John 10:17-18) and that He was quickened by the Spirit (1 Peter 3:18), it is stated upwards of twenty-five times that Christ was raised by the power of God the Father. Thus, in this passage (Ephesians 1:20) it is revealed that the resurrection was due to the exercise of the Father’s mighty power which "he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead." This same mighty power, we are assured, is not only engaged to raise the believer from the dead, but is engaged to accomplish all that has been divinely predetermined for him unto eternal glory. Second, the Ascension of Christ is a measurement of divine power to us-ward who believe. Though directly presented but three times (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:49-52; Acts 1:9), the ascension of Christ is often referred to in the Acts and Epistles as an important aspect of divine power (Acts 2:33; Acts 3:21; Acts 5:31; Acts 7:55; Romans 8:34; Php 2:9; Php 3:20; Colossians 3:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; Hebrews 1:3; 1 Peter 3:22; Revelation 3:21). This body of truth, which is of great importance as evidence of the ascension and present position of Christ, is introduced at this point in the Ephesian letter as a ground of confidence that what God has purposed for the believer He is abundantly able to accomplish. The present exaltation of Christ to a sphere far above all principalities and powers is a theme which transcends the range of unaided human understanding. The Spirit alone can impress the heart with that revelation which is here intended to create assurance in the child of God that he will himself realize all that God has purposed for him. This purpose includes no less than a partaking with Christ of that exalted glory. Of His own, Christ said, "Where I am, there ye shall be also," and, "The glory which thou gavest me I have given them." Third, "And hath put all things under his feet." It was in this same connection that Christ said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18; cf. Luke 4:5-6), and by Him shall all things be subdued (1 Corinthians 15:25-26). Great, indeed, is the power to us-ward who believe; for we are destined to reign with Christ and share with Him His authority. The Christian experiences little of the exercise of this authority now. At the present time he shares the rejection of his Lord; for all who will live godly shall suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). Fourth, "And gave him to be head over all things to the church." Returning thus at the close of the first chapter to the subject which was in view at the beginning, the Apostle makes mention of that group of humanity which, because called out from both Jews and Gentiles into a heavenly association in Christ, is properly called an _ekklesia, or Church. The fact which is uppermost here is that Christ, by divine appointment and power, is now Head over all things to the Church. The term Head combines two important aspects of truth: (1) Christ now presides over the Church as the One who directs every moment of life and every act of service of those who comprise this heavenly company. He is the bestower of gifts (Ephesians 4:8), and, by the Spirit, directs the exercise of those gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). (2) But Christ is now Head over the Church in the sense that from Him she draws all spiritual vitality. Because He lives, the members of His body live also. He is to the Church as the vine is to the branches, as the shepherd is to the sheep, as the corner-stone is to the building, and as the bridegroom is to the bride. The Benefit of Believing Special attention should be given to the fact that all the stupendous benefits enumerated in the first Chapter of the Ephesian letter are, on the human side, secured upon the one condition of believing. It is stated that the power of God is to us-ward who believe. In accordance with the plan of salvation by divine grace, no other condition could be imposed. Not only does God undertake all this measureless benefit, but the very faith by which it is received is itself a gift of God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 13: 02.06. EPHESIANS 2:1-3 ======================================================================== Section Six Ephesians 2:1-3 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; herein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. At the opening of Ephesians 2:1-22, the Apostle descends again from the contemplation of those exalted heights of heavenly position and glory which are accorded to the Church, constituting her spiritual blessings in the heavenly association in Christ, to the level of that estate which all the unsaved now occupy and from which each and every child of God has been saved. No new theme is introduced. In the first Chapter it has been disclosed that God is Sovereign over all things and all that is wrought by Him is wrought after the counsel of His own will. Likewise it is revealed that His limitless power has had its demonstration in the resurrection and exaltation of Christ, and that the resurrection and exaltation of Christ is an assurance to all who believe that, because of the fact that His mighty power is now engaged in their behalf, no purpose of God for them can ever fail. At the beginning of Ephesians 2:1-22, the sovereign, eternal purpose of God is still in view, though for the moment the text is concerned with but one detail of that purpose -- the manifestation of measureless grace in the salvation of men. The Greatness of His Grace The purpose of God incorporates vastly more than the mere rescue of sinners from their doom, as wonderful as that rescue is. God is the Designer and Creator of all things; His preservation is extended to all things; and His providence is guiding all things in order that, agreeable to His own sovereign will, all things may redound to the praise of His glory and grace. To this end sin is permitted its manifestation in the universe -- first in heaven, and then upon the earth; a race is allowed to fall; a Savior is provided who by His death and resurrection declares to an infinite degree the love and grace of God; and the individual sinner, according to divine election, is called and saved unto an eternal heavenly glory. One all-inclusive decree extending in its scope from eternity to eternity and wrought throughout on the plane of Infinity must, of necessity, present unsolvable mysteries to a finite mind -- the permission and manifestation of evil, the advent and sacrifice of the Savior, and the choice of an elect company which through all eternity is to be a demonstration to all created intelligences of the marvels of divine grace. Nevertheless, the revelation of this divine program is made, and is to be believed, even though in all its parts it cannot be understood by the mind of man. However free God may have been in the forming of His all-inclusive plan, we are assured that, having determined upon a plan, He is now bound by the laws of His own unchangeable character to execute that plan to infinite perfection. Thus necessities are confronted and limitations are imposed which are to be respected and observed both by God and man. On the divine side, a Savior must be provided; for there could be no salvation of the lost apart from the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Son of God. According to the original divine arrangement, a blood-shedding sacrifice is a necessity as immutable in its nature as the character of God. Man did not originate the situation expressed by the words, "Without shedding of blood, there is no remission" but God, having so decreed, could not, consistently, deviate from this demand. Again, by the divine arrangement it is originally decreed that there shall be no salvation for men apart from a personal faith in the saving power of God, and there could be no variation in the execution of this requirement. It is imperative, therefore, when descending in thought from the original, all-inclusive purpose of God to the detail of the salvation of a sinner, to recognize the immutability of every aspect of the divine purpose. Of the many transforming blessings which are wrought of God for the sinner at the moment of believing, there is one which, according to its emphasis in the New Testament, is of primary importance. The second chapter of Ephesians opens with the words, "And you hath he quickened [made alive] who were dead in trespasses and sins." In the original Greek the construction is incomplete at this point, being more precisely re-stated in Ephesians 2:5 : "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened [made alive] us together with Christ." The change from the use of "you" to "we" in these verses is significant, indicating, as it does, that this transforming blessing is for Jew and Gentile alike. Likewise, the fact that the verb is in a tense which denotes a transaction completed at some moment in the past, is of doctrinal importance; for by one act of sovereign, saving power, all who have believed were, at the moment of believing, made alive with Christ. No subsequent achievement is implied. This fundamental aspect of salvation is both instantaneous and complete in its character. To have been "made alive with Christ" is an experience which is no less than the reception of and sharing in His resurrection life. The reception of Christ’s resurrection life in conjunction with the baptism with the Spirit by which the believer is joined to the Lord, constitutes the entrance into the far-reaching realities of the New Creation. Though shrouded in mystery, the fact remains that to have partaken of the divine nature is to have been "joined to the Lord," and to have been "joined to the Lord" is to have partaken not only of the divine nature, but to have shared legitimately and eternally in all the fellowship, achievement, and glory of the Triune God. To Jew and Gentile alike the gospel invitation is now addressed, and, by those who believe, the saving power of God is experienced. Measureless, indeed, is this divine power! It is none other than "the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly"; and significant, indeed, in this connection, is the statement found in Ephesians 2:6 : "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly in Christ Jesus." The essential fact, then, that believers are now "made alive with Christ" involves no less a reality than that they are now sharing in the position and exaltation of the resurrected, glorified Christ. But of these heavenly blessings in Christ, more will be seen in later portions of this Epistle. There are two aspects of the gospel appeal: the invitation is both away from the lost estate, and unto a heavenly position and glory. Christ emphasized this two-fold fact when He said that the one who believes on Him "should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16; John 10:28). Both of these aspects of truth are present in Ephesians 2:1-3; though, in this passage, the emphasis falls on that lost condition from which all who believe on Christ have been saved. In Ephesians 2:12, record is given of the universal position of the Gentiles as being without God and without hope; but in Ephesians 2:2-3, the present condition of all -- both Jew and Gentile -- who are out of Christ is disclosed. There are national promises for Israel which can never be broken, and there are prophecies of a coming, earthly glory for the Gentiles. But in the present dispensation, in which God is dealing only with individuals on the basis of their faith in Christ, there is no difference between the unregenerate Jew and the unregenerate Gentile; both are now helpless and hopeless apart from the grace of God as it is in Christ (Romans 3:9; Romans 10:12). The present standing of the unregenerate -- both Jew and Gentile -- is precisely stated in Romans 1:18-32; Romans 3:10-20, which passages, along with Ephesians 4:17-19, may well be considered in connection with Ephesians 2:2-3; for it is of vital importance to those who would know God’s saving grace that they comprehend, as well, the present condition of those who are lost. As but one feature of the estate of the saved is mentioned in Ephesians 2:1-3, out of the many revealed elsewhere in the Scriptures, so, likewise, but four features of the estate of the lost, out of the many, are here recorded. They are dead in trespasses and sins. Just as the imparted life, mentioned in Ephesians 2:1, is a life from God and therefore never to be confused with mere human life (much less a manner of living), so, in like manner, a deeper aspect of sin than that of a habit or practice of sinning is here declared. The charge brought forward in this passage is not that men commit sin, which accusation few would deny; it is rather the more serious charge that men are dead in sin. That is, they are in the state of spiritual death which is caused by sin, and, because they are in that state, they can produce nothing but sin. The true relationship between sin and death will be discovered only from the Word of God. The fundamental character of sin may be defined as any transgression of, or want of conformity to, the character of God. All the present important classifications of sin -- imputed sin, imparted sin, personal sin, and the judicial reckoning under sin -- are traceable directly to the original act of sin on the part of the first sinner. Sin in its every form is exceedingly sinful, and that because of the fact that it is contrary to the character of God. His character is the touchstone for all motive and conduct whether in heaven or on the earth. The first sin, it is revealed, was committed as an act of willfulness on the part of the highest of all created intelligences in heaven. His moral degradation followed (Isaiah 14:12-14). The same angelic being imported sin into the earth at the time when he persuaded Adam and Eve to pursue a similar course of willful disobedience toward God. In the latter instance and according to the divine warning, death followed -- spiritual death on the same day, with both physical death and the second death following in unavoidable sequence. Not only did these three forms of death become the inheritance of Adam, but they, of necessity, became the portion of his posterity; for Adam, whose nature and constitution had descended to the level of a fallen creature, was able, following his fall, to generate only "after his kind." His posterity, each and every individual, is born into a state of spiritual death from which there could be no rescue apart from the quickening, regenerating power of the Spirit of God. Adam, having died spiritually, generated a race that is spiritually dead, both because of the inflexible law of heredity, and because of their share in the sin of their federal head, being as they were, in the loins of their father Adam when he sinned (cf. Hebrews 7:9-10). Innocent infants need redemption, and those infants who die, we are assured, are redeemed, but not on the ground of their innocence; their redemption being on the ground of the grace of God which is exercised toward sinners for whom Christ has died. Every member of Adam’s race, it is revealed, is born into the world in a state which is described as "dead in trespasses and sins." They are walking according to the course of this world. That spiritual death rather than physical death is in view is proven by the statement that those who are here said to be dead, are, nevertheless, "walking according to the course of this world." This world is their sphere since it answers every requirement of their fallen natures. No more illuminating description of the walk, which is according to this world, is found than that recorded in verse three: "Among whom also we all had our conversation [manner of life] in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind." Spiritual death is a separation of soul and spirit from God and is the common heritage of all, unless, through divine grace, they experience regeneration by the Spirit of God. They are walking according to the prince of the power of the air. Reference is made in this Scripture to Satan, who is also "the god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4), "the prince of this world" (John 16:11), and, according to this passage, the one who is in control over the lives of all who are unregenerate. The disobedience to which reference is made is not personal, but collective; for "by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners." Similarly, the doctrinal designation, "children of obedience," does not imply personal obedience, but refers rather to the fact that "by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous" (Romans 5:19). Thus it is declared that each unregenerate person is a "child of disobedience" and is therefore one in whom Satan is now "working" (literally, energizing). Satan is not said to be energizing a limited class who are notoriously evil; he is energizing each and every unregenerate person. In like manner, each and every regenerate person is now energized by God (Php 2:13). They are by nature the children of wrath. The Apostle, a Jew, while addressing Gentiles, includes himself by the words "we all" (Ephesians 2:3). Fallen humanity in its vanity desires ever to "make a fair show in the flesh," and they "comparing themselves with themselves are not wise." Regardless of the opinion of men, it is true that all -- the most zealous legalist, along with the meritless, whether Jew or Gentile -- are "under sin," "dead in trespasses and sins," and "the children of wrath." Hope is never discovered within the range of human virtue or merit. All such confidence is excluded. The fruit cannot be accepted when the tree and its roots are condemned. Only a merciful God can save those who are otherwise so hopelessly lost, and to the mercy of God the Apostle now turns with boundless confidence. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 14: 02.07. EPHESIANS 2:4-10 ======================================================================== Section Seven Ephesians 2:4-10 But God, who is 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 ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Over against the dark picture of human ruin presented in Ephesians 2:1-3, the Apostle now proceeds in Ephesians 2:4-10 to set forth the only existing hope for man, namely, the fact that God is "rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins." With full recognition of the depths to which man has fallen, it is nevertheless declared that there is abundant salvation for all who believe, a salvation which so far exceeds the ruin that it not only reverses all that man lost by the fall, but it lifts him up far above his original unfallen state to the highest conceivable position in heaven, there to share forever the fellowship and the glory of the Triune God. Reference at this point to the divine mercy is not a recognition of an immediate compassion which might be supposed to have been engendered in the heart of God upon His discovery that, through some unforeseen accident, man had fallen from the high estate in which he was created to the lowest depths of depravity; it is rather a reference to that compassion which abides eternally in the very nature of God. Divine mercy antedates the fall of man to the same degree to which God Himself antedates man. In fact the Scriptures clearly indicate (Ephesians 2:7; Romans 11:32; Galatians 3:22) that the sin and ruin of man was permitted, in part, to the end that the eternal mercy of God might be manifested. Certainly the tragedy of sin did not engender a compassion in the heart of God which before was foreign to Him. His Great Mercy There is a threefold, present and immediate exercise of divine mercy. First, God is said to be merciful to those who put their trust in Him. To them He is "the Father of mercies" (2 Corinthians 1:3), and they are invited to draw near to His throne of grace where, they are assured, they will now "obtain mercy" (Hebrews 4:16). Second, the divine mercy will yet be manifested in behalf of Israel when they are regathered into their own land (Isaiah 54:7). Third, mercy is exercised, also, when the individual sinner is called from his lost estate and saved by the grace of God (Romans 9:15, Romans 9:18; 1 Timothy 1:13). However, the mercy of God has had its supreme manifestation in the giving of His Son for the lost of this world. Sinners who believe are not now said to be saved through the immediate and personal exercise of divine mercy; but rather, since the mercy of God has provided a Savior who is the perfect Substitute for them, both as a sin-bearer, that they might be forgiven all trespasses, and as the righteous ground of a complete justification, God is said to be "just" when He justifies the one who does no more than to "believe in Jesus" (Romans 3:26). Thus, from every angle of approach, God is seen to be "rich in mercy." Of the immediate spiritual blessings which are wrought for the individual at the moment he believes, some are to be classified as possessions, and some as positions. Likewise some are wrought in him, and some are wrought for him. These distinctions occur in Ephesians 2:5-6, where, it will be observed, the believer is first seen to be the recipient of divine life, which is a possession and a blessing wrought in him. He is in like manner raised and seated in the heavenly in Christ Jesus, which is a new position and a blessing wrought for him. Thus the Apostle cites two of the many immediate spiritual blessings which accompany salvation as representative of all that enters into the gracious saving work of God -- one belonging to the new possessions and the other belonging to the new positions -- and it is obvious that in each case he has selected that blessing which is supreme within the group to which it belongs. The first of these spiritual blessings -- the impartation of divine life -- has been considered in the previous article in an exposition of Ephesians 2:1, which passage records the first mention in this Epistle of the fact that divine life is imparted. The second blessing, now to be considered -- that of being raised and seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:6) -- provides and secures, for the one who trusts in the Savior, absolute identity with the risen Christ and eternal glory with Him forever. Both as to resurrection and as to seating in the heavenly, the believer is now vitally joined to Christ. The word together, twice used in this verse, relates him, not to the fellowship of the saints as in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, but to the risen and glorified Christ. The Apostle is justified in the confidence that the reader will not have forgotten the setting forth of Christ’s glorious resurrection and exaltation in the verses immediately preceding (Ephesians 1:20-23), and that he will understand to some degree the surpassing, heavenly reality and glory which belong to the one who, because of his union with Christ, is now raised and seated in Christ Jesus, far above all earthly or heavenly comparison (Ephesians 1:21). To be in Christ, which is the portion of all who are saved, is to partake of all that Christ has done, all that He is, and all that He will ever be. It is to have died in His death, to have been buried in His burial, to have been raised in His resurrection, to have ascended in His ascension, and to be seated now with Him (because he is in Him) in glory. Such is the believer’s present position in Christ Jesus. Over against all this, and in no way to be confused with it, is the experimental fact that a bodily resurrection and actual heavenly exaltation await all those who "sleep in Jesus"; and a bodily translation and heavenly exaltation await all who are "alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord"; the present, unalterable fact of the believer’s position in Christ being the guarantee of the yet future experience. A parallel description of this coming glory is found in Colossians 3:1-4. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead [ye died], and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." And Christ has declared, "Because I live, ye shall live also" (John 14:19). That this salvation far exceeds the ruin of sin is seen in the fact that by sin man fell from the level of fellowship with his Creator on the earth; but by saving grace he is exalted to fellowship with God in heaven. The probationary life in Adam was precarious and insecure; but the child of God has a new life imparted, which is Christ in him, and which is in no way related to that Adamic life which was ruined through sin. The life of Christ imparted, like the merit of Christ imputed, is held on no probationary condition, but is the free and unalterable gift of God to all who believe. In Ephesians 2:7 and Ephesians 2:10, the Apostle presents two of the three revealed motives which actuate the heart of God in the salvation of sinners. These three motives are here mentioned in an order beginning with that which, to human estimation, seems least important, and ending with that which seems most important. His Workmanship First, in Ephesians 2:10 it is stated that, "We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them"; the divine objective being, according to this passage, that "good works" may result from that which is wrought of God, and that which is wrought of God is no less than a new "creation in Christ Jesus." Such is the result of "His workmanship." It is of interest to note here that in the Bible there is reference to "wicked works," or "works of darkness," to "dead works," and to "good works." That "good works" do not include any and every good thing one might choose to do is indicated in this passage wherein it is asserted that these "works" are limited to the execution in one’s life of those activities which "God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." In other words, reference is made by this designation to the life and service of the child of God who, being fully yielded to God, experiences the out-working of God’s purpose in his life. It is the discovery of "that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:2). Of a certainty, no "good works" will ever come from the life of an unregenerate person. For that reason and to the end that good works may be realized, God has been moved to the recreation of men in Christ Jesus. But, on the other hand, in the sight of God, how vitally important, according to the Scriptures, are these "good works!" To be saved unto good works is a divine undertaking which should never be confused with the unscriptural notion that one might be saved by good works. In every aspect of it, "salvation is of the Lord"; but it is unto that manner of life which He has before ordained. His Motive Second, in John 3:16 it is revealed that the divine motive in saving men is, "that they might not perish but have everlasting life." Thus the compassion of God for those who are lost and doomed is declared. So great, indeed, is His compassion that He gave His Only Begotten Son to die in their room and stead, "the just for the unjust"; and it is not difficult to recognize how great a problem that sacrificial death solved for the One Who "so loved the world." The sinfulness of men could not be ignored by the Righteous One Whose character is outraged and Whose government is willfully opposed by their sins; but, on the other hand, He could, if He loved the offender sufficiently, provide a substitute to take the unalterable judgments which divine holiness must ever impose upon sin. This is precisely what God did. Christ as Substitute accomplished a propitiation toward God, a reconciliation toward the sinner, and a redemption toward sin. Great, indeed, are the benefits which accrue to the believer through the death of Christ that he "should not perish, but have everlasting life." However, it should be observed that all this has been wrought by God, not merely that human suffering may be relieved or glory experienced, but rather to the end that His compassion might be satisfied. It is all because of the fact that "God so loved the world." There is yet, nevertheless, a higher motive for the exercise of the saving power of God than His compassion for the lost, though that compassion be as boundless as Infinity itself. His Objective Third, it is declared in Ephesians 2:7, that God saves the lost with the objective in view "that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Thus it is disclosed that the supreme purpose of God in salvation is that His grace in all its "exceeding riches" might have an adequate manifestation. This is but a fuller statement of the declaration twice made at the beginning of this Epistle (Ephesians 2:6, Ephesians 2:12) wherein it is revealed that the divine purpose to display the exceeding riches of His grace is according to His election and predestination, being one of the eternal purposes which He purposed in Christ Jesus. To this end, sin was permitted its manifestation, the Savior was provided, and the sinner is brought to the saving knowledge of Christ -- all in the eternal purpose of God. Thus it will be recognized that the manifestation of the exceeding riches of grace indicates a divine motive which not only antedates the exercise of divine compassion as seen in the sacrificial death of Christ, but is itself that divine purpose which required Christ’s sacrifice for its realization. There was that in God which had never been expressed or manifested. His glory, His power, and His wisdom had been declared in some measure through creation; but His compassion for the lost, and all that is in His heart to do for those who are utterly doomed, had never been disclosed. It is not difficult to believe that the desire to exercise this essential part of His nature could not be suppressed forever, and that, when He undertook to demonstrate His infinite kindness toward His enemies, the manifestation would be on the plane of Infinity, and that it would be as perfect and worthy of Himself as are all the works of God. A sharp distinction is properly drawn between the compassionate love of God for sinners, and His grace which is now offered to them in Christ Jesus. Divine love and divine grace are not one and the same. God might love sinners with an unutterable compassion and yet, because of the demands of outraged divine justice and holiness, be unable to rescue them from a righteous doom. However, as has been before stated, if love shall graciously provide for the sinner all that outraged justice and holiness could ever demand, the love of God would then be free to act without restraint in behalf of those for whom the perfect substitutionary sacrifice was made. This is Christ’s achievement on the cross. On the other hand, divine grace in salvation is the unrestrained compassion of God acting toward the sinner on the basis of that freedom already secured through the righteous judgment against sin -- secured by Christ in His sacrificial death. Divine love might desire to save, yet be unable righteously to do so; but divine grace is free to act since Christ has died. It is to be observed, then, that the eternal purpose of God is not the manifestation of His love alone, though His love and His mercy are, like His grace, mentioned in this context and expressed in Christ’s death; but it is rather the manifestation of His grace. The "exceeding riches of his grace" are no less than all that the infinite God can do for the sinner when every barrier is broken down and every moral hindrance is removed. The measureless character of "his kindness" toward the one who puts his trust in the Savior is seen in that transformation by which the sinner is taken from the lost estate and is exalted to the highest conceivable position in heaven, there to be "presented faultless" before the presence of God, "conformed to the image of his Son," and, "without blame before him" (Ephesians 1:4). What greater thing could infinite love desire than that the sinner utterly doomed on earth should be, through riches of grace, "like him" in heaven (1 John 3:2)? His Salvation God alone is able to accomplish the marvelous transformations which enter into the eternal salvation of the sinner. Therefore, it is reasonable to the highest degree, that He must reserve every feature of that transaction to Himself. On this aspect of truth, the Apostle declares (Ephesians 2:8-9), that it is "by grace are ye saved," and "not of works lest any man should boast." Salvation is God’s unrecompensed gift (John 10:28; Romans 6:23), and therefore, although it is a thing in which the saved one may delight forever, he cannot boast as one who has added any feature to it. Even the faith by which it is received is itself a gift from God. As to this fact, each saved person will freely confess that he would not have turned to God had it not been for the drawing, calling and illuminating power of the Spirit. As to who will thus turn to God, God alone must determine; for we are chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). There is no after-thought with God. The Gospel is to be preached to every creature, and it is the divine responsibility, through that preaching, to execute the eternal purpose. This God has done, is doing, and will do to the end. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 15: 02.08. EPHESIANS 2:11-22 ======================================================================== Section Eight Ephesians 2:11-22 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments, contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens, with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. At the beginning of this section of the Epistle (Ephesians 2:11-22), the Apostle again reminds the Ephesian believers of their former estate from which they were saved -- a most commendable consideration, indeed, for all children of God in any generation, and an exercise of mind which the Apostle himself often experienced. The problem of human depravity and failure is never solved by any plan or process which makes light of sin, or which underestimates the lost estate of man. It is rather solved by the discovery of the marvels of divine grace in Christ Jesus by Whom every need of a lost soul is perfectly met. There is slight need of a Savior if we are not wholly lost apart from Him. But, on the other hand, having acknowledged the hopeless condition in which grace found us, there is occasion for unceasing thanksgiving to Him Who saves to the uttermost. In this section we are reminded of the original distinction between Jew and Gentile and here, also, the present union of these two lines of human life in Christ Jesus is set forth. The disclosure of the fact concerning the union between Jews and Gentiles forms the third major revelation in this Epistle regarding this heavenly people. First, at the opening of Ephesians 1:1-23, the Church is described as to her exalted position and heavenly blessing in Christ -- predestined, as she was, before the foundation of the world. Second, at the close of the same Chapter, the Church is seen as that glorious company over which the risen and glorified Christ is now Head and which, in turn, is "the fulness of him that filleth all in all." Third, while in the portion of the Epistle thus far considered, much important truth is added as to the purpose and grace of God toward the individual who believes, the section now under contemplation presents particularly the fact that the corporate Church is composed of a union of both Jews and Gentiles. The Circumcision The Jewish seal of circumcision forms the basis of distinction between the two branches of the human family. No doubt the Apostle from childhood had been familiar with this terminology which he here employs. He distinguishes the Jew as "the Circumcision" and the Gentile as "the Uncircumcision," and this circumcision referred to is that which is physical, typical, and wrought by hands; and it is a foreshadowing of the antitypical, spiritual circumcision which belongs to one and all who are in Christ. Thus the Apostle recognizes again the present threefold classification of the human family: the Uncircumcision, the Circumcision made by hands (Ephesians 2:11), and the Circumcision made without hands (Colossians 2:11). However, the immediate contrast is between the Gentile and the Jew, or "the Uncircumcision" and "the Circumcision made by hands." After nearly two thousand years in which the privileges that constitute the distinction between Gentile and Jew have been divinely set aside, it is difficult in the present time for one to realize the difference which prevailed between these two peoples at the beginning of the present age. Two underlying facts should be observed: first, God, while not releasing His power and sovereignty over the nations, had, nevertheless, declared His favor toward Israel alone, which people formed the acknowledged heritage of God. True, there was a welcome accorded to strangers who chose to ally themselves with Israel, but all were strangers who were not of Israel. There was no other nation or people who were the chosen of Jehovah (Deuteronomy 7:6-11), to whom He was married (Jeremiah 3:14), whom alone He knew among the families of the earth ( Amos 3:2), and whom He had redeemed from Egypt both by blood and by power (2 Samuel 7:23). Probably no passage of Scripture describes the peculiar estate of Israel before God more completely than Romans 9:4-5. We read, "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen." Certainly Israel would have been reprehensible had she failed to acknowledge, or to respond to, this divine election. However, the distinction was national and provided no basis for that Pharisaism which came to prevail in the attitude of the Jews toward individual Gentiles. Second, the prejudice of the Jew toward the Gentile, based upon divine favor, had come to be nothing less than hatred and contempt. To the Jew the Gentile was a "dog," and it was contrary to custom for a Jew to speak to a Gentile, let alone enter his house. Only divine command could persuade Peter to enter the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:20). Probably no other Scripture describes the actual estate of the Gentile before God more completely than Ephesians 2:12. While the lost estate of the individual has been disclosed in Ephesians 2:1-3, the national position of the Gentile, which was really true of the individual, is described in Ephesians 2:12. We read: "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Six disqualifying charges are here preferred. The Gentiles were "without Christ," not only personally Christless, as all unsaved are, but having no national Messianic hope; they were outside Israel’s one divinely recognized commonwealth; they were "strangers from the covenants of promise." This does not deny but what God had predicted great earthly blessings for the Gentiles in the coming Kingdom Age (Daniel 7:13-14; Micah 4:2); it asserts, rather, that He had entered into no covenant with them as He had with Israel: the Gentiles had "no hope" since no covenant promise had been accorded them; and they were without God in the world. They could make no claim to His purpose or favor, and they formed that portion of humanity which was under the curse and was doomed to destruction. The world today knows little of the godless and hopeless condition of human life among the Gentiles in the days to which reference is made. We are told that, at the highest state of Greek culture under Alexander the Great, it was commonly held that the best thing was not to be born at all, and next to that was to die; so fully did the experience of the human heart reflect the actual relation which is unknowingly sustained to God. A New Divine Purpose In the midst of these distinctions between Jew and Gentile which were set up by God, owned of God, and accentuated by human prejudice and hatred, a new divine purpose was introduced; made possible on the ground of the death and resurrection of Christ and the advent of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. That divine purpose is no less than the forming of a new body of heavenly people drawn from both Jews and Gentiles, each individual in that body perfected in Christ, and whole company to be to "the praise of the glory of his grace." Therefore, because it is to the glory of His grace, each individual in this company, whether Jew or Gentile, is called and saved upon that distinct principle of selection -- the sovereign grace of God, apart from all human merit. As a basis for this exercise of sovereign grace apart from human merit, the most startling divine decree was announced; startling, indeed, because never before heard of in the world, and because it is so contrary to the hitherto divinely sanctioned exaltation of Israel over the Gentiles. That decree declares that now there is "no difference" between Jew and Gentile: they are all under sin (Romans 3:9). So, again, there is "no difference" between Jew and Gentile "for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him" (Romans 10:12). According to the first declaration, the former distinction between Jews and Gentiles disappears by the fact that both classes are now, regardless of former relationships to Jehovah, "under sin" (cf. Genesis 3:22). According to the second declaration, the way into this highest heavenly glory is open to all who will believe. The estate "under sin" consists in the fact that God now refuses to accept any human merit, national or personal, as a credit or contribution toward that salvation which is offered the individual in and through Christ. God thus strips each human being of all hope in himself and shuts him up to that perfect salvation alone which is in Christ and which provides the eternal and infinite perfection of Christ. It might seem unkind to take away what little merit one might be supposed to have before God, but in the end it is not unkind. It is rather, "that he might have mercy upon all" (Romans 11:32). The grace of God is not a thing which adjusts itself to the greater or less degree of human merit, it is a standard whole; that is, since all merit is excluded, it requires the same degree of grace to save one individual as it does to save another. And the result is not to the glory of man to the slightest degree: rather, it is all to the praise of the glory of His grace (Ephesians 1:6; Ephesians 2:7-9). There was little for the Gentile to unlearn in connection with this new age-purpose and plan of salvation. He had no ground for hope before, and the Gospel of salvation by grace became to him as life from the dead. But the Jew stumbled over the way of salvation through the cross, and only a few, though their national preference is set aside for this age (Romans 11:1-36), have been able to abandon their assumed national standing with God and to accept the exceeding grace of God in Christ. This somewhat lengthy re-statement of the present ground of salvation by grace for Jew and Gentile alike may clarify the verses which follow in this context. A New Position By the words "but now" at the beginning of Ephesians 2:13, a sharp contrast is drawn between the former estate of these Ephesian Gentiles described in Ephesians 2:12, and their new position in Christ. Here they are told that they, as Gentiles, who were at a previous time "far off" from God, were then, because of their new position in Christ, "made nigh," not by external ordinances or human virtue, but by the blood of Christ. To be nigh to God is one of the exalted positions into which each believer is brought at the moment he is saved. The perfection of this position is seen from the fact that one could not be nearer to God in time or eternity than he is when in Christ. So perfect is the efficacy of the blood of Christ in providing a righteous ground for divine grace that every desire on the part of God, though prompted by infinite love, can now be satisfied completely in behalf of those who believe on Christ! Ephesians 2:13 is closely related to Ephesians 2:17 (cf. Isaiah 59:17). In the former, only Gentiles are in view; but in the latter, both Jews and Gentiles are seen. The Gentiles are identified as those who, because of no former covenant relation to God, were "far off," while the Jews, because of their covenants, were "nigh"; but not nigh to the same degree in which the saved Jew and the saved Gentile are now, being in Christ and redeemed through His precious blood. This new position in Christ, similar to other positions in Christ, has its corresponding experience in life. James said, "Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you" (Ephesians 4:8). However, the experimental aspect, which depends on human adjustment and yieldedness to God, does not bear any relation to the new position in Christ, which position depends only upon the eternal, immutable merit of Christ. In Ephesians 2:14, Christ is declared to be "our peace" and to have broken down the middle wall of partition between Gentile and Jew. The wall of separation, here said to be broken down, was set up by divine arrangement at the time when God entered into covenant relation with Abraham; but now a new thing is introduced ("new" as a declared testimony and actual undertaking, but, in purpose and promise, it is older than the created universe -- cf. Ephesians 1:4). By saving both Jew and Gentile alike, upon the same condition, and into the same heavenly glory, Christ becomes in the fullest sense their Peace; and, by reconciling both to God, becomes thereby the most effective of reconciling agencies. Every distinction is lost in this glorious oneness in Christ. Neither Jew nor Gentile can rightfully claim superiority over the other since they are both perfected forever in Christ (Hebrews 10:14). So, likewise, in addition to the fact that Christ establishes perfect peace between Jews and Gentiles, they being united to Him by faith, He breaks down the middle wall of partition between them. The revelation that Jews were under divine legislation not imposed on Gentiles -- a fact typified by the wall which separated the court of the Gentiles in the Temple from the restricted area reserved only for the Jews -- became a wall of separation between these people. By the death of Christ, the wall was broken down. The Gentiles were not elevated to the level of Jewish privilege; but the Jew was lowered to the level of the hopeless Gentile, from which position either Jew or Gentile might be saved through grace alone into a heavenly position and glory. In His flesh, Christ abolished the enmity, "even the law of commandments" (Ephesians 2:15), and every aspect of law which might seem to provide, because of its meritorious character, a basis of man’s responsibility to God. Thus placing the child of God, whether Jew or Gentile, upon a new obligation; not of striving to establish merit, but rather of living in all devotion to Him Whose perfect merit is vouchsafed to all who believe. This new obligation is elsewhere termed "the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2; cf. 1 Corinthians 9:21). A Partition Removed The removal of both the enmity and the partition between Jew and Gentile is divinely accomplished through the creation of "one new man"; not by renewing individual men, but by forming one new Body -- the Church -- of which Christ is the Head. Thus, in the Church (Ephesians 2:16), He reconciles both Jew and Gentile "unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby"; separated, as they were, by the different relationships they sustained to God. It is through Christ Ephesians 2:8) that we both -- Jew and Gentile -- have access by one Spirit unto the Father. This declaration provides indisputable evidence that we now have peace; and how marvelous is that peace when it is the portion of those who were not only at enmity among themselves with a divinely established partition dividing them, but who were enemies of God (Romans 5:9)! We now approach (Ephesians 2:19-22) the fourth major revelation concerning the Church, which revelation is that the Church is a building of living stones of which Christ is the Chief Corner Stone. However, before this truth is introduced, the Apostle reminds these believers from among the Gentiles that they are "no more strangers and foreigners [as it was asserted in Ephesians 2:12 that they once were], but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God" -- a blessing which, it should be observed, is as much higher than the commonwealth and covenant privileges of Israel as heaven is higher than the earth. Though once excluded from the earthly Jerusalem, the Gentiles are now come with a gracious welcome to the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22-24), in which city, the unregenerate Jew, with all his national preference and title to earthly Jerusalem, is an alien. A New Foundation The phrase, "fellow-citizens with the saints," must be received in its restricted meaning as also the fact that this spiritual structure is built on "the foundation of the apostles and [New Testament] prophets." God has had His saints in all dispensations, but they of the past ages have not formed any part of the Church. Saints are sanctified ones set apart unto God. That New Testament saints are advanced to a higher position of standing than the Old Testament saints (though not necessarily to more faith and piety), is revealed in Hebrews 10:10 Hebrews 10:10, where we read: "We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." This sanctification, or sainthood, could not be realized until Christ died and rose again, for it is characterized by position in Him, which position could be accorded only to those who are by the Spirit united to the risen Christ. It is true that all saints of all the ages will be gathered eventually before God in a new heaven and a new earth (Hebrews 11:38-40; Hebrews 12:22-24); but the Old Testament saints were not part of the New Creation in Christ, nor were they builded upon the foundation of the apostles and New Testament prophets. The more extended consideration of the peculiar character of the Corner Stone and the foundation of this building which "groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord" is reserved for consideration along with the opening portion of the following section. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 16: 02.09. EPHESIANS 2:19 TO 3:13 ======================================================================== Section Nine Ephesians 2:19-22; Ephesians 3:1-13 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit. For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words; Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ,) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord; In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. Ephesians 2:1-22 closes with the presentation of the Church (the whole company of those who are saved in this age) using as an illustration the figure of a building which is now in the process of formation. It is declared that the Church, like a building, is being built upon the foundation of the apostles and New Testament prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief Corner Stone. It is in Him that all the building is being fitly framed together and is thus "growing" into an holy temple in the Lord. In Him the separate and various members are being builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. During the past dispensation the habitation of God was the tabernacle, and later the temple -- the earthly sanctuary or holy place made with hands (cf. Hebrews 8:2; Hebrews 9:1-2, Hebrews 9:24) -- which, though held in antithesis to the heavenly sanctuary into which Christ has now entered, was, nevertheless, the type of the present spiritual habitation of God in a temple of living stones. Indeed, each stone in the present temple is itself an habitation of God through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19) -- a marvelous disclosure belonging to that body of truth which contemplates the individual believer’s present relation to the Spirit of God. An Habitation of God However, at this point the Apostle is not dwelling on the truth which concerns the individual believer, but rather on that which has to do with the corporate Body of Christ; and his declaration is that the Church, as it is now being formed in the world, is being builded as an habitation of God through the Spirit. Israel had a building in which God was pleased to dwell: the Church is a building in which God is pleased to dwell. The figure of a building, with its corner, or capstone as a representation of the Church in her relation to Christ, is one of the seven figures employed in the New Testament to indicate the relation which exists between Christ and the Church; each one setting forth, as it does, its own particular aspect of the Church’s vital union with Christ. This particular figure suggests the fact and location of God’s dwelling place in the world in this age; the importance and interdependence of each and every stone in the building; the fact that it is in the process of making; and, that in relation to it, Christ is all in all. Of these various disclosures, the fact that the building is now in the process of making is perhaps more stressed in this passage than in any other. This is the age of the out-calling of the Church and, whether she be conceived of as a "flock" in relation to the Shepherd, the "branches" in relation to the Vine, a "kingdom of priests" in relation to the High Priest, a "new creation" in relation to the Last Adam, a "body" in relation to its Head, a "bride" in relation to the Bridegroom, or a "building" in relation to the Corner Stone, the thought of development is everywhere represented. The salvation of even one soul is a step forward toward the final consummation of the whole. As to the statement here made (Ephesians 2:20) that these Gentile saints are builded on the foundation of apostles and prophets, it should be recognized that while the apostle is wholly foreign to the old order, the Old Testament prophet, though in the main anticipating Christ’s Messianic ministry to Israel, did nevertheless pre-announce the suffering Savior (Luke 24:25; Acts 3:18, Acts 3:21 Acts 3:24; Acts 10:43; Romans 16:26) but, in this instance, both because of the order in which these ministries are named, and because of the later references (Ephesians 3:5; Ephesians 4:11) of which more will be stated presently, there can be no doubt but what the New Testament prophet is in view. The dominating ministry of the early church prophets in confirming the saints and in forming of sound doctrine cannot be questioned (Acts 15:32). Before the figure of the growing building is introduced, these Gentile saints are reminded that they are "fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19). The citizenship here implied is that of the heavenly city into which blessed abode the saints of all dispensations will yet be gathered (Hebrews 12:22-24; Php 3:20). In every case they are God’s sanctified ones, but not necessarily of the same body or building. The Old Testament saints were holy men because of the "good report" which by faith they obtained (Hebrews 11:39); but, since the manifestation of God’s Holy One, saintship has acquired a distinctive character which could never have been before. Believers are now holy because Christ has become their Sanctification (Hebrews 10:10; 1 Corinthians 1:30). They are not perfected by a "good report," but by the eternal and infinite perfection of Christ, being in Him. True it is that there are many eternal blessings which all saints will share alike (Deuteronomy 33:3), yet it is equally true that to the Church has been accorded the highest position; for of no other company could it be said that, being in Christ, they are "blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly." The Household of God So, likewise, we are, along with the saints of other ages, of the household of God. The household, like the citizenship, is large indeed; and, though the fellowship will doubtless extend to all who enter the heavenly city, of no other group who enter therein, is it said that they are now "raised and seated with Christ" in the highest position and glory of God, nor that they will be His bride in the ages to come to the glory of His grace. At the opening of Ephesians 3:1-212, the apostle reverts to himself and is reminded to do so by the truth he is presenting. He is the divinely chosen Apostle to the Gentiles, and, therefore, is properly responsible to establish his apostolic authority in order that his message may be recognized as being from God; especially is the recognition of his authority called for in connection with the revelation given to him concerning the Church. As to his loyalty to his commission, he reminds these Gentile saints that he is in prison for their sakes. A new age, with its peculiar Gentile privilege, has been ushered in by the death and resurrection of Christ and by the descent of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Jewish prejudice has been aroused to the point of violence, and there can be no doubt but what Paul is recognized by the Jews as the promoter of this Gentile movement. It was the Jewish malice which placed the Apostle in bonds. In this connection it is well to remember that the present equality of gospel privilege for Jew and Gentile alike, though so axiomatic to this generation, was in Paul’s day a startling innovation cutting squarely across the grain of previous divine revelation regarding the prominence and national election of Israel. The new order of privilege was revolutionary, and, if it was to be accepted, its human agent who announced it must possess divine credentials. In proof of the fact that he had divine authority for the apostolic message, the Apostle here (Ephesians 3:2-13) inserts a parenthetical passage of immense importance; resuming again, at Ephesians 3:14, the original channel of his thought. He states that he is chosen of God to receive and declare a revelation of world-transforming import. A message which reduced the favored Jew to the level of the outcast Gentile (Romans 3:9; Romans 10:12); which asserted the utter worthlessness of human merit to those who had been taught to depend on naught else; and which offered a new and higher privilege even to Gentiles than had been previously enjoyed by the exclusive seed of Abraham, must, as it did, stir the unrelenting enmity toward the man who, under God, proclaimed this message. Thus we observe that the revelation of this new divine order for a new age was given to Paul, as it is directly declared in the immediate text (Ephesians 3:2), and this is confirmed by the obvious fact that against him, as against no other, the hatred of the Jew was directed. What then is the precise scope and character of this jealousy-provoking message? The answer is given in Ephesians 3:6. But before approaching this disclosure the Apostle asserts that this special revelation was given to him (cf. Ephesians 3:7-9) and through him to other "holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit." The revelation had been received by him previous to the writing of this Epistle, and that revelation had become the accepted order in the minds of others who, like Paul, were set for the proclamation of the newly revealed message. It was not to Peter, James nor John, though pillars in the Church, but to Paul only, that this distinctive revelation came. Two Revelations As pointed out when considering Ephesians 1:9, two distinct revelations were given to the Apostle Paul: the first, concerning salvation by grace alone through faith apart from human merit, and on the ground of the work and merit of Christ (Galatians 1:11-12); and the second, as set forth in this immediate context. (No consideration need be given here to less emphasized experiences on the part of the Apostle as recorded in Acts 26:19 and 2 Corinthians 12:1-4. Note also the promise of Acts 26:16.) These two major revelations together form that larger body of truth which the Apostle designates as "my gospel" (2 Timothy 2:8). According to Ephesians 3:5, this revelation is the unfolding of a mystery, or sacred secret, "which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit." No better definition of a New Testament mystery will be found than that set forth in this context. A New Testament mystery is a truth hitherto withheld, or "hidden in God" (Ephesians 3:9), but now revealed. The sum total of all the mysteries in the New Testament represents that entire body of added truth found in the New Testament which is unrevealed in the Old Testament. On the other hand the New Testament mystery is to be distinguished from the mystery of the cults of Babylon and Rome, whose secrets were sealed and held on penalty of death; while the New Testament mystery, when it is revealed, is to be declared to the ends of the earth (Ephesians 3:9), and is restricted only to the extent of the limitation of the natural man (1 Corinthians 2:14). The general assertion, sometimes made, that these mysteries did not appear at all in the Old Testament should be modified. They are not there advanced in any clearness or fulness of revelation. However, certain New Testament mysteries are anticipated in Old Testament prophecy and type. That Israel is judicially blinded is declared in Romans 11:25 to be a mystery. Yet that blindness is clearly predicted in Isaiah 6:9-10 (cf. John 12:40-41). Similarly the Church is typified in at least seven of the marriage unions of the Old Testament; is seen as the antitype fullfilment of four out of the seven Feasts of Jehovah; and as the assembly to which reference is made in Psalms 22:22 (cf. Hebrews 2:12). All this, though so evidently anticipating the Church, is not an adequate revelation of the great divine age-purpose in the out-calling of the Body and Bride of Christ, nor of that distinctive fact which in this context is termed the "mystery." If, for the previous bringing in of other divine purposes of an earthly nature, it were necessary to employ "holy men of God who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Peter 1:21), how reasonable is the declaration that "holy apostles and prophets" were used of the Lord for the present bringing in of the revelation of the heavenly purpose! Under these conditions is anyone justified in the assumption that the New Testament apostles and prophets who spoke forth a later revelation were one whit less honored of God as media of divine truth than the "sons of God" -- the "holy men of God" -- who spoke forth the former revelation? Messiah’s kingdom occupied the Old Testament prophets’ vision. They saw not the mystery of that "New Man" (Ephesians 2:15) which bears collectively the name Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12). True, indeed, the Messiah was to die a sacrificial death. This fact had not only been typified, but it had been solemnly promised in every Jewish sacrifice. On the other hand, little had been revealed as to the value that would accrue from His resurrection. That particular event, being more related to the New Creation than to the old, was, to some extent, withheld as a part of the "mystery." The Mystery Revealed What then is the "mystery?" It is stated in Ephesians 3:6 in the simplest of terms: "That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel." This declaration must not be treated lightly. That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body is not a recognition of the Old Testament prediction that, during Israel’s coming kingdom glory, Gentiles will be raised to a subordinate participation in those blessings (Isaiah 60:12). Those predictions were of an earthly calling, and, being revealed in very much Old Testament prophecy, could be no part of the heavenly calling -- the "mystery hid in God." This mystery is of a present uniting of Jews and Gentiles into one body -- a new divine purpose, and, therefore, in no sense the perpetuation of anything which has been before. Wonderful and startling indeed is the fact that heavenly blessings are now accorded to Gentiles. It will be remembered that they were without promise (Ephesians 2:12); but now they have promise in Christ by the Gospel. Just as wonderful and equally as startling is the assertion that Jews are to partake with Gentiles in this "one body." This divine offer of a possible entrance into the New Creation is no part of Israel’s hope. So far as this new divine purpose is concerned, Israel was as much "without hope" as the Gentiles. At that time no disposition existed on the part of the Jew to be united into one body with the Gentile, nor is he naturally so disposed today. No more drastic innovation in the divine dealing with men had ever been announced than was announced by the Apostle Paul at the beginning of this age -- that, as to Gospel privilege and the entrance into the New Creation in Christ Jesus, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile ( Romans 3:9; Romans 10:12). The national covenants which belong to Israel are never said to be realized in the present dispensation of the Church. They are, rather, as originally predicted, to be fulfilled in the coming Messianic Kingdom. On the other hand, the Gospel, which is now proclaimed by the authority of God and in the power of the Spirit, offers the Kingdom to no one -- neither Jew nor Gentile. That the Church is a new purpose of God could not be more clearly stated than it is in Ephesians 3:3-9, yet certain schools of theology contend that the Church in her present form is but a continuation of God’s one purpose from the beginning of the human family. They speak of an "Old Testament church" and seek to relate this to the one body which constitutes the New Testament revelation. The fact that Jews are now invited into fellow-heirship in one body with Gentiles is no warrant for the belief that Old Testament saints are included in this new divine purpose. Arguments for an Old Testament church are usually based on: (1) the fact that the Old Testament sacrifices looked forward to Christ; (2) that Israel was a sanctified nation; (3) that there was a godly remnant in each of Israel’s generations; (4) that the Septuagint translates the word which indicates an assembly or gathering of people by the word _ekklesia; and (5) since all saints go to heaven, they must, because of that fact, constitute one company. These arguments are insufficient at every point. (1) The sacrifice of Christ serves for both dispensations and looks backward as well as forward (Romans 3:25-26). (2) There are multiplied distinctions to be drawn between Israel and the Church whereby they are seen to be different in almost every particular. (3) The remnant were none other than members of the nation with no special privilege. They did, however, cleave closer to God as individuals and thus realized more of the divine blessings. (4) The word _ekklesia is properly used of a gathering of people at any time and anywhere, but this does not constitute any congregation in Israel to be the body and bride of Christ. (5) There will be many gathered together in the heavenly city, but not all will be on the same plane of privilege, nor will they be designated alike. In Hebrews 12:22-24, where the inhabitants of the heavenly city are enumerated, we read of the "spirits of just men made perfect" and also of the "church of the first-born." These could not possibly be one and the same company. Likewise, there are mansions which will be occupied in heaven (John 14:1-3), but not by the Church; for Christ said, "I go to prepare a place for you." Questions That Need an Answer The assertion that the New Testament mystery in Christ is composed of all saints in all the ages seems to lack a consideration of the issues involved. If the Church is a continuous purpose of God throughout the dispensations, why the rent veil? Why Pentecost? Why the distinctive message of the Epistles which is properly identified as Church truth? Why the "better things" of the book of Hebrews? Why were Jewish branches broken off? Why the present headship and ministry of Christ in heaven? Why the visitation of the Gentiles now and not before? Why the present indwelling by the Spirit of all who believe? Why the baptism of the Spirit, unique in the New Testament? Why two companies of redeemed in heaven? Why only earthly promises to Israel, and only heavenly promises to the Church? Why did Christ confine His early ministry to Israel and yet in the end of that ministry direct His disciples to go into all the world? Why should the divinely given rule of life be changed from law to grace? Why is Israel likened to the repudiated wife of Jehovah, and the Church likened to the espoused bride of Christ? Why the new day -- the Day of Christ -- with its rapture and resurrection of believers, with its rewards for service and suffering -- a day never seen in the Old Testament? Why the mysteries in the New Testament, including that new body in Christ? And why the New Creation comprising, as it does, all those who by the Spirit are joined to the Lord and so forever in Christ? How could there be a Church, constructed as she is, until the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the ascension of Christ, and the Day of Pentecost? How could the Church, in which there is neither Jew nor Gentile, be any part of Israel in this or any other age? If these questions, and the many more that might be propounded, are answered from the Scriptures, the conclusion must be that the Church, the New Creation in Christ, which is made up of both Jew and Gentile, is a new purpose of God and constitutes the primary divine objective of this age. In Ephesians 3:7-9, the Apostle contends for his unique position as the one chosen of God for the reception and declaration of the new message concerning the mystery in Christ. In Ephesians 3:10 he declares that it is through the Church that the angelic hosts now know the manifold wisdom of God; as, in Ephesians 2:7, the angels are, in the ages to come, to know by the Church the exceeding riches of the grace of God. All of this disclosure concerning the Church and her present ministry to the principalities and powers as a revelation of God’s wisdom is, likewise (cf. Ephesians 1:9), according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Ephesians 3:11). It is given to the angelic hosts to observe that, through our faith in Christ, we have boldness, free intimacy with God, and introduction into His blessed fellowship; but how great is the privilege granted to those who experience this intimacy and fellowship! This parenthetical passage which discloses the marvels of the new divine purpose in the Church, which offers the highest celestial glory to both Jew and Gentile alike, closes with expressed solicitude of the Apostle (Ephesians 3:12) lest these Ephesian believers faint because of his tribulation for them. He is convinced that, because of the glory which is theirs in Christ, his own sufferings for them are abundantly worth while. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 17: 02.10. EPHESIANS 3:14-21 ======================================================================== Section Ten Ephesians 3:14-21 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. The parenthetical portion (Ephesians 3:1-13) being concluded, the Apostle resumes (Ephesians 3:14) the theme with which Ephesians 2:1-22 closed. The thought of the Church in its corporate whole as a growing building of living stones in which God by His Spirit is pleased to dwell, now shifts to the experience of each individual who, being saved, has a share in that eternal structure. Here the Apostle recites those habitual desires of his heart toward God which enter into his oft-repeated prayers in behalf of the Ephesian believers. In this there is a close similarity to the former passage (Ephesians 1:15-23) where, as before pointed out, the Apostle is not then offering a prayer, but is rather indicating those themes which, being the constant burden of his heart, find expression in all his prayers. The first recital of prayer subjects includes his desire that the Spirit of wisdom and revelation may be given unto them that they may know from the heart what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints; so, also, the exceeding greatness of His power to all who believe. Whereas, in this second recital of his prayer themes he indicates that he prays that they may be able to comprehend, not now the marvels of their own position in Christ, but the marvels of the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ; to this end being strengthened in the inner man by the same Spirit. A Sacred Secret However, in the preceding notable parenthesis much has been added to the sum-total of the revelation concerning the Church. While it is disclosed in Chapter two that a perfect union has been secured between those of Israel and those of the Gentiles who believe, this union constitutes one body of which Christ is the Head, and one building of which He is the Chief Corner Stone. It is revealed in the parenthetical passage that the forming of this one body from these widely separated peoples is a sacred secret hid in ages past and is therefore not a continuation of any former divine purpose. The Church in which the saved from among the Jews and from among the Gentiles are united is one eternal, heavenly fellowship and glory, and is the realization of a celestial, divine purpose far surpassing anything that ever was or ever will be on the earth. If the Church now serves to manifest the "manifold wisdom of God" before principalities and powers (Ephesians 3:10), so she will, in the ages to come, display the "exceeding riches of his grace" (Ephesians 2:7). No such purpose characterized the divine undertaking as set forth in the Old Testament and, aside from the hope of heaven accorded to the individual saint who was renewed by the Spirit of God, there is in view in the Old Testament only an earthly destiny for an earthly people. They are to be regathered to their own land and there experience a marvelous glory, but it is a glory of the earth and not of heaven. No wider distinction could be created in the destinies of men than exists between Israel the nation, centered forever, as she is, in the earth, and the Church, belonging, as she does, only to heaven. If these two divine purposes are confused, there can be little understanding of the distinctive truth which the first section of this Epistle reveals, nor is there any adequate basis of the appeal which follows for a heavenly walk. Much is contemplated by the first phrase of Chapter three, which phrase is again repeated as the parenthesis closes and at the beginning of Ephesians 3:14, "For this cause"; that is, because of the limitless privilege accorded these believers in that they have been saved from the lost estate (Ephesians 2:13) to the heavenly glory (2:4 to 3:13), the Apostle bows his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ of Whom all the family in heaven and earth is named. The object of the prayer which he here recounts is threefold. A New Way to Pray However, before entering into the features of his prayer, attention should be given to the important word with which the record of the prayer is introduced. The Apostle declares that he bows his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Aside from the posture of prayer which is here indicated, the fact that the prayer is addressed to the Father is of great importance conforming, as it does, with the specific teachings of Christ. Anticipating the present age with the heavenly relationships and privileges which are now accorded to the members of His body He said, "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you" (John 16:23). Christ thus reveals the new ground of prayer, namely, that it is now to be addressed to the Father in the name and mediation of the Son. Thus a perfect access to God is secured and a freedom is gained whereby the Father may not only hear us as He hears the Son, but may grant to us His limitless bounty as He would grant it to His Son. Prayer which is addressed to Christ not only ignores His direct teaching that we are not now to ask Him anything, but becomes prayer to the Mediator rather than through the Mediator. Surely this is no slight error, and the Apostle is careful to record that he addresses his prayer to the Father, Who is indeed the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ -- a filial relationship which could have no beginning, nor can it have an ending. The Father is also here declared to be the One of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. The phrase "the whole family" being better rendered "every fatherhood" -- naturally meaning those families wherein He is Father. The breadth of this relationship on the earth, let alone the vast unexplored associations in heaven, cannot be measured. Withal, His Fatherhood is personal and real in the case of the least of all saints, and will continue to be throughout the ages of the ages. In the opening portion of this Epistle, the sovereignty of God has been emphasized. It has there been revealed that all things work according to the counsel of His will. If this truth stood alone there would be little to be gained by prayer, but it does not stand alone; there is a human as well as a divine side to the progress and life of each individual, and like every union of the divine and human -- as in the Person of our adorable Lord, and in the Scriptures of Truth -- the divine is not disqualified by its union with the human, nor is the human exalted by its union with the divine. In the field of prayer, it is clear, on the one hand, that there is that aspect of it in which God’s unalterable purpose is to be realized with the absoluteness of Infinity. To this end, the Spirit, Who knows the mind of God, prays through the believer according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27); and effectual prayer, it is disclosed, must be in the name of the Son, that the Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:13). Conversely, it is equally true that, on the human side, men are enjoined to ask, to seek and to knock; the implication being that "prayer changes things." The Apostle knows full well that the divine purpose in behalf of the Ephesian saints will be executed to perfection, but he also knows that it is a part of that divine purpose that he shall cooperate through the ministry of prayer, and that, from the human side, it is most imperative that he bow his knees and request God to grant these foreordained blessings to those for whom he prays. How much of theological controversy might have been avoided and how much more of divine blessing might have been secured in past days had men been willing to allow both the divine and human aspects of truth to continue side by side unimpaired! Rather, men have too often insisted that, if the purpose of God is foreordained, there can be no room for the human responsibility. Likewise, others have as urgently insisted that, if there is a human responsibility, there is no unchangeable sovereignty in the will of God. There could be no doubt but that the Apostle Paul believed in the divine sovereignty, yet he prayed that God would grant three important blessings to these saints, and he prayed with evident confidence that prayer does change things. First, "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." Thus the Apostle prays that the Holy Spirit may strengthen the inner life of these saints according to the sublime measurement of the riches of divine glory. This is the first mention of that theme -- the life that is energized by the Holy Spirit -- which is yet to occupy so large a place in this Epistle. Too Marvelous for the Mind To be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, and upon the plane of the riches of God’s infinite glory, is a request concerning things too marvelous for the human mind to grasp. Such divine energizing may be unto the exercise of a gift, unto effectual intercession, unto a holy walk, unto celestial joy, or unto a quickened spiritual understanding; but the spiritual understanding is most evidently in view here. During a period of more than three years the disciples were privileged to sit at Christ’s feet and to learn of Him. He taught them most effectively, but within certain limitations; for at the end of this season He said to them, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you" (John 16:12-15). The strong indication is that, until the Spirit came and took up His abode in them, certain truths could not be comprehended. Thus, even the divine instructions are, because of human limitations, classified in two general widely differing divisions -- that which the unaided mind might grasp, and that which cannot be revealed apart from the immediate and personal ministry of the Holy Spirit in taking of the things of Christ and showing them unto us. Hence, it will be observed that the objective in view in this petition was not for divine enablement unto outward activity and service, but rather that the believer might be enabled in general to enjoy the blessed portion which is his in Christ (this portion having been described at length in Ephesians 1:1-23), and that he may be enabled in particular to know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, and so be filled with all the fulness of God. Of all the spheres in which the Spirit energizes the believer, there is none comparable to this that the inner man should be strengthened to know the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to be thus strengthened according to "the riches of his glory." Could there be a greater sin on the part of the believer than that, when such heavenly association on the plane of heavenly glory is provided, he should continue to dwell on the lower level of the carnal man? The Indwelling Christ The second prayer petition which the Apostle here recounts is "that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." There is a logical sequence here. The thing desired in this second petition is the sure result of the realization of the first petition; for when the inner man is strengthened by the Spirit, it is accompanied by the flooding of the heart with a greater realization of the Person and Presence of Christ. It is the Spirit’s ministry to disclose not Himself but Christ (John 16:12-15). By a careful reading of Chapters thirteen to seventeen of John’s Gospel, the almost limitless field of supernatural knowledge concerning Christ which the Spirit will impart is revealed. It is pertinent to inquire at this point as to the precise meaning of the petition "that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." True, the tense of this verb indicates that this is not a mere continuous dwelling, but is rather His coming to dwell as a single, definite act. Does the Apostle imply that all Ephesian believers were, until this time, void of the indwelling Christ? Such a meaning would be impossible. There are two most vital facts which distinguish the Christian as such -- he is in Christ as to position, and Christ is in Him as to the possession of the divine nature. Indeed, the Apostle has written, "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Romans 8:9), and again, "Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" (2 Corinthians 13:5). From what has gone before in this Epistle (Ephesians 2:1, Ephesians 2:5-6, Ephesians 2:13), there can be no question as to the genuineness of the salvation of those to whom he is writing. Therefore, there can be no question as to the fact that Christ was then indwelling each and every one of them. The Apostle is not here making petition that these believers may be indwelt, but rather that they may come by faith into a fuller knowledge of the indwelling Christ. To this end he desires for them that Christ may ever be coming more into their consciousness as the One Who is nearer to each of them than the members of their own bodies. Filled with All Fulness The third petition is the completion of this sequence. It is, "that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:17-19). The love in which they might be rooted and grounded is not some feeble love these believers might experience toward God, but it is the love of God toward them -- the love which has chosen them, which has predestined them, which has adopted them, which has made them accepted in the Beloved, which has redeemed them, which has provided an inheritance for them, which has sealed them by the Spirit, which has quickened them, and which has raised them and seated them in the heavenly in Christ Jesus. To be rooted and grounded in such love is to have entered sympathetically and understandingly into the measureless revelation of that love. So, also, with this experience of understanding of the divine love in general, there is to be a comprehending of the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ in particular. Graphic, indeed, is the language employed here which assigns to this particular love the dimensions of space -- "breadth," "length," "depth," and "height -- but these are dimensions which are infinite. This marvelous understanding and comprehending by a Spirit-strengthened inner man, and upon the plane of celestial glory, can result in nothing less than that those thus enriched will be "filled with all the fulness of God." The fact that they will be "filled with all the fulness of God" needs careful consideration. Only one among all that ever dwelt on earth or in heaven has been really filled with all the fulness of God. In Colossians 2:9-10, we read of Christ that "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," and that the believer is "complete in him." So, again, in John 1:16 it is declared that "of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." God alone is the Container of all things, and not man. Likewise, all fullness dwells in Christ, but not in us. We may be filled with the fulness (Greek, _pleeroma -- a great New Testament word -- cf. Ephesians 1:10, Ephesians 1:23; Ephesians 3:19; and Ephesians 4:13) of God in that sense which is presented in the context. We may come by the Spirit’s strengthening to comprehend the knowledge of Him (Ephesians 1:17; Colossians 1:10), of His will (Colossians 1:9), of His glory (2 Corinthians 4:6), and of His love (Ephesians 3:19); and what God is to us as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be learning throughout eternity. Both the record of these prayer petitions and the entire first section of this Epistle are closed by one and the same doxology (Ephesians 3:20-21), which doxology is eminently fitting. All the glory is to be ascribed to God Who is the Father of the Savior and of the saints. He it is to Whom the Son ascribes all glory forever (John 13:31; John 14:13), and unto His glory and according to His perfect will He is working all things in behalf of those whom He has chosen and redeemed (Ephesians 1:11-12). His eternal purposes, both in the Church and in Christ Jesus, are superlative even in the realms of infinity and heaven. Yet He is able to do all that He has purposed, which is here said to be more, indeed, than we can ask or think (understand); yea, and "exceeding abundantly" above this measure. What He purposed is none other than all that has been revealed in the early portion of this Epistle. Every spiritual blessing in Christ is in view, and these the Apostle has by the Spirit set forth in Chapters one to three. This surpassing glory, which is to be to the Father through the Church -- for she is chosen in Him before the foundation of the world to the praise of His glory -- and in the Son Who ascribes all glory to the Father, is a glory that endures "throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 18: 02.11. EPHESIANS 4:1-6 ======================================================================== Section Eleven Ephesians 4:1-6 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. This Epistle, like other doctrinal letters of the New Testament, divides into two main divisions. Of the six chapters which represent the entire context, the first division is completed in the first three chapters, and the second division is completed in the last three chapters. These two divisions bear a vital relation to each other. Perhaps no better indication of this fact will be found than that the second section, which begins with Ephesians 4:1, is introduced by the words "I therefore." It is thereby indicated that the preceding portion, setting forth the riches of divine grace (Ephesians 1:1-23, Ephesians 2:1-22, Ephesians 3:1-21), is now followed by its sequel in which is set forth that manner of life and conduct which becomes those who are thus enriched in the measureless divine grace. According to the divine purpose, doctrine often finds its expression in a life that is consistent and compatible with the exalted position and privilege which the doctrine connotes. It is easily recognized that the son of a king should so act as to grace his royal position, and, too, it is as easily recognized that this order could not be reversed to the extent that one might become the son of a king by the mere assumption of royal conduct. The relative importance of the exalted position as compared with the consistent life which it imposes is obvious. One is unto a vital and eternal transformation of being, while the other is an ethical and momentary problem of conduct -- an obligation growing normally out of the more or less incidental fact that the saved one continues to live here on the earth after the divine transformation is wrought. It would be simple indeed, and in no way diminishing of the divine transformation, should the Christian at the moment he is saved, like the dying thief, be immediately called away from this world into scenes of glory and thus be deprived of even a moment of Christian life and responsibility on the earth. Incomparable, indeed, at every point are the two issues which are presented in the two main divisions of this Epistle. One represents what God in sovereign grace can do for man; the other represents what man in a life of devotion and service may do for God. One accomplishes the marvels of the infinite and eternal purpose of God; the other but feebly acknowledges this benefit by a life which is characterized by its brevity and which to some degree seeks to be consistent to that benefit. Since the divine benefit is no less than the fact that the saved one is raised and seated in the heavenly in Christ Jesus, the corresponding manner of life is no less than that which would normally be required of any heavenly citizen. A Contrast in Principles At every point of comparison there is sharp contrast to be noted in these heavenly principles of grace and those earthly principles which governed Israel in the land in the age gone by. Israel’s blessing -- always earthly -- depended upon her faithful conduct; the formula of the law is, "Be good and I will bless you"; while for the Church, the divine blessing in saving grace is wrought to an infinite degree before any human merit can be introduced, and the grace relationship is indicated by the formula, "I have blessed you; now be good." In like manner, the legal demands addressed to Israel, though as holy and pure as the God Who gave them, were, in the main, such as might be wrought by unaided man; while the demands under grace are such as can be wrought only by the supernatural power which comes through the energy of the indwelling Spirit. Such considerations as these, added to what has gone before, may well serve to emphasize again the fact that the Church is not identical with Israel. Before entering into the practical appeal, which is the message of the second division of this Epistle, it may be advantageous to review briefly the message of the first division that the order of this sublime truth may again be observed and the force of its appeal may be strengthened. A New Creation Four books in the Bible are characterized by the fact that they each in their opening portions set forth the beginnings of some great work or purpose of God. Genesis records the beginning of the creation of material things, life upon the earth, and all things belonging to the old and ruined order. The Gospel of John records the Logos from all eternity and the beginning of His ever-abiding Theanthropic Person. The Book of Hebrews records the beginning of God’s written Word spoken first through the prophets and afterwards through His Son. The Epistle to the Ephesians records the beginning of the New Creation -- the Church and her relation to Christ. True to the plan and method of sovereign grace, the opening theme of the Ephesian letter, descriptive of the Church, is that before any individual who belongs to her company has wrought anything for God, that individual is graciously blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly in Christ. He is chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, destined to His eternal glory, and to this end is redeemed through the blood of Christ. This redemption has been from the lowest estate of the lost to the most exalted position in heavenly glory, and each individual who shares in the heavenly company is appointed to manifest the wisdom of God now, and "in the ages to come" to manifest the grace of God to all principalities and powers. Drawn from both Jews and Gentiles, each and everyone of those who share in His body is saved unto the ultimate perfection and likeness of Christ, and is energized by the indwelling Spirit. The individual believer is now a child of God, a citizen of heaven, of the family and household of God, and destined to share forever in the heavenly glory with Christ. Such is the testimony of the first division of this Epistle. How ought such an one to walk here on the earth during the moments of time which intervene between his salvation and his final translation into celestial glory? Certainly his motive for right conduct is not now on a legal basis which would be that, by good conduct, he may obtain these riches of grace. The riches, being riches of grace, are divinely conferred on the one who believes and before human conduct is considered. Therefore, the only appeal now is for a walk which is worthy of a calling wherewith the saved one is called. How simple and how sublime and how efficacious is this motive for God-honoring conduct! The believer does not strive to attain a position, but rather to live well-pleasing unto God in the position already attained through divine grace. Thus it is seen that grace not only saves one who trusts in Christ, but that grace automatically sets up a new obligation of a consistent walk and service according to a high standard surpassing any standard ever known before. It is the believer’s life under grace. Of this life and service the second division of this Epistle treats. Having set forth the revelation of the believer’s heavenly position as declared in the first division of the Epistle, the Apostle now turns to the practical appeal which is based upon that revelation. He states, "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord [in the Lord] beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation [calling] wherewith ye are called." In the phrase, the calling wherewith ye are called, two forms of the same word appear. In each instance the calling to which reference is made is no less than the heavenly position into which the believer has been brought through infinite grace, which position naturally prescribes a corresponding holy manner of life. Thus the message of the first division of the book is not now left behind, but is carried on as the impelling principle which motivates every spiritual action. In Ephesians 4:2-3, five distinct virtues are indicated which, in turn, should characterize a life which is so signally exalted and blessed in Christ Jesus. These virtues are: Lowliness As a virtue, lowliness stands first in this list. Indeed, it would be natural for the flesh to be lifted up with pride because of the exalted position obtained. However, to correct effectively such pride it need only be remembered that the exaltation is altogether the workmanship of God through grace, and not of works lest any man should boast. Lowliness, which is an unaffected lowly estimate of self, is reasonable, and because of the fact that to Him alone belongs all the glory forever. Even Christ in the sphere of His humanity was "meek and lowly in heart" (Matt. 11:29 Matthew 11:29); and, upon the human side in His own dependence upon His Father, Christ is the pattern of all true creature-dependence. How much more, then, does lowliness belong to those whom He has redeemed from the lowest estate of the lost! Being dependent upon God for every good, there is no basis for glory in any other than in the One from Whom all blessings flow. It is most significant that the Apostle should name lowliness first as being a true heart-adjustment to an outward manifestation of the heavenly calling. Meekness This word implies patience in trial and persecution; and by so much the believer is momentarily drawn from the contemplation of his high calling to the recognition of the fact that the world is at enmity with God and therefore is at enmity with His redeemed ones. Christ said, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you" (John 15:18 John 15:18). Thus, having first noted that virtue which is the manifestation of a true recognition of the new relation to God in grace, the Apostle then presents meekness as the manifestation of a true recognition of the believer’s new relation to the world. Of all virtues, meekness lends itself less than any other to imitation. It utterly lacks substance or reality when disassociated from the state of mind and heart which recognizes that all one’s springs are in Him (Psalms 87:7). Longsuffering The third virtue in this list is one closely related elsewhere with meekness (cf. Galatians 5:22; Colossians 3:12), and is likewise a divine characteristic (Romans 2:4; Romans 9:22; 1 Timothy 1:16; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 3:15). Longsuffering may be drawn out because of relationship to other believers, or because of relationship to the unregenerate. In each and every case, it becomes the child of God who is redeemed, and who is appointed while in this world to show forth the virtues of Him Who called him out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). It is divine love which "suffers long and is kind," and this virtue belongs to those who are in Him. Forbearing one another in love Forbearance is needed, as is longsuffering, since the children of God are yet in this world and subject to the great limitations that now characterize humanity; limitations, it is true, that may be overcome by the indwelling Spirit, but which, alas, are too often not overcome and therefore are the occasion of forbearance and longsuffering on the part of those who associate with them. The exhortation is not concerning relationship to those outside the household and family of God, but it has in view the fellowship with the saints. The forbearance of God, like His longsuffering, is ever manifest, and these virtues are essential in the lives of those who are His own. Let it be repeated, there surely will be occasion for such forbearance. In the Colossian letter we read: "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye" (Colossians 3:13). This is true Christ-likeness and belongs entirely to those who are "in Him." Endeavoring [diligently striving] to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace The unity of the Spirit which the saints are here enjoined to "keep" is that oneness which has been consummated by the Spirit Who has already united them to Christ in one body thereby making peace (Ephesians 2:15). Nowhere are the children of God appointed to the impossible task of making a union, though this task is too often undertaken in good will by those who have not learned to recognize the sacred bond within the one body, which bond has been secured by Christ. Ours is rather to keep the unity which Christ has made, and in the bond of peace which that unity provides. Practically, this responsibility is intensely individual; it is simply that each Christian is expected to recognize and love every other Christian. Who can doubt the reality of this experience as described in the record of the early Church (Acts 2:44-46; Acts 4:32-37)? So sacred indeed were these bonds of practical unity that Ananias and Sapphira were stricken with instant death because of a mere pretense of a whole-hearted devotion to the Christian community. In the complexity of modern life and the multitude of those who profess the Name of Christ, there are problems arising which did not then exist. Nowhere in the Bible account do we find so many believers in one locality that there needed to be two assemblies in that locality with the attending possibilities of rivalry and sectarian division; and there is no excuse for sectarian strife today. Let each child of God discharge his own responsibility to the end that he love every other child of God with a pure heart fervently. The result so much to be desired will be, not the making of unity nor the making of peace; but rather the keeping of that unity which already exists in the one body, with its attending peace. Such devotion is the never-failing insignia of divine relationship: "By this shall men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35). This is no mere human love; it is rather an imparted divine love which is measured as to its degree by the words, "As I have loved you" (John 13:34; John 15:12, John 15:17). All that the Apostle beseeches -- "walk worthy," "lowliness," "meekness," "longsuffering," "forbearance," and keeping of the unity -- are superhuman traits and anticipate that the believer will give diligence to secure these by the God-provided means through the indwelling Spirit. Beginning with Ephesians 4:4, the Apostle enumerates the features which are the very ground of that unity and peace to which reference has been made. Seven of these are mentioned, and they are basal characteristics of the new relation between the Triune God and His heavenly, blood-bought people -- the Church. There is "one body" The imagery here, as throughout the New Testament, is of a human body with its head and its many members. The Ephesian letter presents the most extensive development of this conception of the Church (Ephesians 1:23; Ephesians 2:15-16; Ephesians 3:6; Ephesians 4:12-14; Ephesians 5:30). If the human body is a means of manifestation of the invisible human life, so the Church is the manifestation of Christ to the world. Likewise, as the many members are privileged to serve, each in its appointed sphere in the human body, so each individual believer serves the living Head. However, the specific truth in view at this point is that of unity; and of this aspect of relationship between Christ and the Church and between the members themselves, there could be no more vivid portrayal than is set forth by the figure of the human body. Here, as in the following verities, the word one is emphatic, signifying that there is but one body -- not two, and certainly not three hundred to correspond to the present number of sects in Christendom. Every saved person is in this unity, and only those who are saved are included in it. There is "one Spirit" The Third Person of the Trinity is in view. He Who convicts (John 16:7-11), Who regenerates (John 3:5-6), Who indwells (1 Corinthians 6:19), Who seals (Ephesians 1:13), Who baptizes (1 Corinthians 12:13), Who fills (Ephesians 5:18), and, whether there be many gifts, there is but "one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:4). Thus it is revealed that the ministries He performs are all unifying to the utmost degree. There is "one hope of your calling" The hope belongs to the new sphere unto which the saints are called (Ephesians 1:18). It embraces all that God has promised of that eternal glory which is to be consummated at the coming of Christ. Here, as usual in the New Testament, the Christian hope is centered in that great event and, as the hope is one as to its provision for each and every believer alike, it becomes itself a unifying hope. There is "one Lord" Doubtless the Second Person of the Trinity is here contemplated and as to His Lordship. As Head over all things to the Church, He is now not only their Authority and Possessor, but He unifies them into one heavenly people. There is "one faith" Not now that uniform need of faith unto salvation or service which must characterize all saints is in view, but the thought is, that there is one body of truth committed to them and only one, which body of truth is designated as the faith (cf. Luke 18:8; Jude 1:3). This body of truth, incorporating as it does the distinctive New Testament revelation, is another unifying agency of measureless effectiveness. There is "one baptism" Not two; though the New Testament distinguishes the real baptism with the Spirit from the ritual baptism with water; and since, according to this passage, there is but one baptism, it is needless to inquire as to which baptism is in view. In explaining this emphasis upon the one baptism, some claim that real baptism is so much more important than ritual baptism that ritual baptism could not be mentioned with propriety in the midst of these heaven-high verities in which the one baptism appears. Others point out that the two baptisms, like substance and shadow, are so closely related to each other as to form one baptism, and thus both are included in the one. On the one hand, to those who believe that ritual baptism is in itself an individual, diverse, and unrelated procedure, having no relation to the baptizing work of the Spirit, this latter view will not be agreeable; and for these, in spite of the statement that there is but one, the question continues unanswered as to which baptism is indicated in this passage. To those who believe that ritual baptism is but the outward sign or symbol of real baptism, there is no difficulty created by this emphasis upon one baptism. Apparently no one ministry of the Spirit accomplishes so much for the believer as does His baptism, by which we are joined to the Lord, and, being thus in Him, we are made partakers of all that He is, even every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. Certainly this all-important real baptism is not here set aside as unworthy of consideration and as secondary to ritual baptism; nor could it be said of any form of ritual baptism that it is a unifying agency. The history of the Church is a counter-witness to this. However, the real baptism which joins all believers to Christ is certainly a unifying agency beyond measure. There is "one God and Father" This, the last of these verities, completes the recognition of the blessed Trinity, and that the unifying effect of one Father’s relation to the Church may be apprehended, it is distinctly declared that He is "above all," "through all," and "in you all." The Apostle thus presents the strongest possible appeal for Christian unity, indicating as he does that it is grounded upon these seven eternal verities. It therefore becomes those who by grace have attained to heavenly positions to manifest that fact by unfeigned love to all who are in Christ. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 19: 02.12. EPHESIANS 4:7-16 ======================================================================== Section Twelve Ephesians 4:7-16 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. The preceding portion of this Chapter has given particular emphasis to those great fundamental facts of the Christian faith which are at once its unifying features. The Apostle now turns to the consideration of that diversity of gifts which characterizes the fellowship of the saints in the prosecution of the ministry committed unto them; which ministry is, by divine intent, unto the building up and completion of the Church -- the body of Christ. The unity is not forgotten; it is rather that which binds together in one incomparable organism all those who, under God, may serve in the exercise of diversified gifts. By the words, "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ" (Ephesians 4:7), the important New Testament doctrine of the Holy Spirit’s divine enablement in service is introduced. The Holy Spirit of God Who, as seen in Ephesians 3:16, is the One Who strengthens with might in the inner man, and in Ephesians 4:3 as one of the potent unifying agencies of the Body of Christ, is the Administrator of those varying gifts which are bestowed by the exalted Son of God. That the Spirit administers and gives strength for the exercise of the gifts is declared in other portions of Scripture. In Romans 12:3-8 we read, "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness"; and again in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord, and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues; but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will"; so, also, 1 Peter 4:10-11, "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." The Diversity of Gifts Thus all true God-appointed service is seen to be the exercise by the Spirit of the gift of Christ, and the emphasis in all this Scripture is on the diversity of the gifts. In fact, since no two of God’s children are situated in identically the same circumstances nor called of Him to identically the same service, there are no two who are precisely alike in their divine appointments. Thus each and every believer confronts the solemn, individual responsibility of completing the task which is to be undertaken by none other than himself, and which he may believe represents a thought of God which is nowhere else to be represented in the world. In the New Testament use of the word, a gift is quite removed from the idea concerning it which obtains in the world. So far from being merely a native ability, it is no less than the Spirit of God doing something and using the individual as His instrument in the accomplishment of it. It is distinctly the Spirit’s undertaking, and therefore partakes of that supernatural and limitless resource which belongs to the Holy Spirit of God. Thus two important facts are disclosed: the gift is appointed and bestowed by the ascended Christ in glory, and it is wrought by the descended Spirit on the earth; for we read in Ephesians 4:8, "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." This is quoted from Psalms 68:18, and the glorified Christ is presented as the One Who, at His ascension, "received gifts for men." The gifts were by Him taken that they might, in turn, by Him be given. In fact the very men for whom the gifts were received and to whom they are given are themselves gifts from the Father to the Son (John 17:2, John 17:6, John 17:9, John 17:11, John 17:12, John 17:24), as the Son is Himself a gift from the Father to men (John 3:16). That it is declared in Psalms 68:18 that Christ received gifts, and in Ephesians it is declared that He gave gifts, indicates that the receiving is unto the giving, and that, when applying a previous revelation to a new dispensation, the Spirit is free to vary or qualify the original declaration as He will. Much, indeed, was given to Christ both at the resurrection and the incarnation (Ephesians 1:20-23; Php 2:9, Php 2:11), and what He has received He will yet share with all who are united to Him. He that ascended (Ephesians 4:9-10) is the same also Who first descended to the lower parts of the earth. The undertaking is as much one achievement as it is wrought by One in all its parts. His descent is to lower regions than heaven, yea, even to the grave itself; and His ascent is to a position "far above all heavens." Previously (Ephesians 1:21) He has been seen in a glory incomparable to principalities and powers; but here He is seen, in the living majesty of His own Person, rising to the highest heaven in the exaltation which belongs to the Creator alone. The magnitude of His condescension and all it accomplished, with the surpassing glory of His exaltation and all that it secures for His redeemed, are both alike passed over in the one purpose to identify this adorable and ever blessed Lord as the Bestower of gifts. Four gifts are here declared (Ephesians 4:11). Some gifts are divine enablements bestowed upon men (cf. Romans 12:6-8), while others assume the more tangible form of gifted men bestowed upon the Church as a whole. Apostles The apostle is the envoy or immediate delegate with the highest authority from the Savior. The term is applied to our Lord Himself (Hebrews 3:1), to the Twelve, to Paul, to Barnabas, and to Matthias. Apostles were chosen by Christ or by the Holy Spirit directly and were heralds of the truth of God under divinely provided credentials. They will yet judge the twelve tribes of Israel in the coming Kingdom (Matthew 19:28). Membership in the company of the apostles was conditioned not only upon divine appointment, but upon having been an eyewitness to the resurrected Christ (Acts 1:21). By this credential Paul established and defended his apostleship (1 Corinthians 9:1). Prophets A prophet of the New Testament order (cf. Ephesians 2:20 and Ephesians 3:5) is defined in 1 Corinthians 14:3 as one who "speaketh unto men to edification, to exhortation and comfort." Beyond this illuminating declaration no explanation is needed. The message of the New Testament prophet is more one of forthtelling than of foretelling. He declares the message of God with exhortation and unto edification and comfort. In the higher meaning of the word, the prophet may be said, along with the apostle, to have ceased with the first generation of the Church; but in a secondary sense, as indicated above, he may be regarded as ministering still. The evangelist, like the apostle, is unknown in previous dispensations. While the apostle’s ministry is evidently limited to the first generation of the Christian era, and while he is given the highest authority to speak as one who has seen the risen Christ, the evangelist’s ministry continues throughout the age; and to him is committed the evangel which is God’s present and incomparable message of saving grace to all who will believe on Christ. The present peculiar conception of the evangelist as a revivalist and promoter of religious interest within the organized church is hardly the evangelist of the New Testament. Probably the foreign missionary or frontier preacher who enters into hitherto unevangelized fields is more the divine conception of the evangelist. Timothy was charged by the Apostle Paul to do the work of an evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5); namely, to proclaim the glorious evangel to those who are lost. Pastors and teachers The omission of the word some before the word teacher would imply that the ministry of the pastor and that of the teacher are, in the divine economy, committed to one and the same person; and it is well that it is so. In His great grace, God has provided for the comforting and guiding of His people through the ministry of the pastor and for their edification in the sanctifying Scriptures through the ministry of the teacher. How important it is, then, that the prophet, the evangelist, and the pastor and teacher shall be fully trained for the great task committed to them; for not only do these men serve God in the direct proclamation of the Truth committed to them, but they are (and particularly the pastor and teacher) appointed to leadership in the Church of Christ. This truth, the importance of which can hardly be estimated, is declared in Ephesians 4:12; for we read that these ministry gifts are "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." Too often it is supposed from this Scripture that three things are here set forth as descriptive of the detailed duties of those pastors and teachers who are God’s gift to the Church. However, the passage assigns to these men the responsibility of "perfecting the saints"; that is, with the view to the equipment of the saints for their work of the ministry. The word here translated perfecting is a noun which is but once used in the New Testament, and it signifies that equipment which all saints should have in their witness and service for Christ. The verb form of the word is found elsewhere (Matthew 4:21, mending nets; and Galatians 6:1, where, as a dislocated joint, the unspiritual believer is to be restored by one who is spiritual. Cf. 2 Corinthians 13:11; Hebrews 13:21; 1 Peter 5:10). In view of the New Testament commission in which all believers are directed into a vital witnessing for Christ (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; John 17:18; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20), there is no strange message introduced here with reference to the fact that the saints have a great service to perform. The new truth which is introduced at this point is that the saints are to be equipped unto this ministry by the gifted men who are divinely appointed to this task. Thus it is ordained of God that the greatest service is to be wrought by the saints; but it is also recognized that the saints are to be specifically trained for their task. This is the original and never-to-be-improved evangelism of the Church. The multiplied ministries of Sunday School teachers, mission workers, and soul-winners should be not only under the direction of God’s appointed leaders, but should be rendered true and effective by faithful instruction. Indeed, the gifted men must themselves be trained for their tasks and, under modern arrangements, such training is supposed to be provided by the theological seminary. There is needed, likewise, those who, under God, are able to train the gifted men. Probably no greater responsibility could be committed to any man than that he should mould the ideals of the gifted men who, in turn, are to mould the ideals of the whole company of the saints. In this light of this sequence in responsibility, it can be declared that no man, who has not a burning passion for lost men and who is not himself an example of tireless soul-winning zeal, is fitted to serve in a seminary as a fountain source from which these streams of effective ministry flow; for the saints will be what their pastors and teachers equip them to be, and the pastor and teacher will be, to a large degree, what his seminary professor equips him to be. This order and ministry is unto a divinely appointed consummation (Ephesians 4:13). It is to go on "till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." There is no thought here of perfecting individual men; it is rather the completion of that body -- the Church -- which must attain to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. Reference has been made in Ephesians 2:15 to this great divine consummation, and again it is declared in Romans 11:25 that the present age-long blindness which has come upon Israel will continue "until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." The Apostle has likewise declared that the Church, which is Christ’s body, is "the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1:23). It is not the purpose of God that the saints shall be so neglected as to vital truth and so unguided as to leadership in service, that they as mere children are to be "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive" (Ephesians 4:14); but according to the divine plan they are, while speaking the truth in love, to "grow up into him [probably unto Him as the Pattern] in all things, which is the head, even Christ" (Ephesians 4:15); not merely veracity, as in Ephesians 4:25, but a faithful declaration of the message which is divinely committed to them, which message must, if to be effective, be spoken in love. Sad, indeed, has been the result when the truth has been spoken without love! The continued emphasis in the New Testament on the importance of advancement in the knowledge of Christ, of growing in grace, of becoming an unashamed workman through the study of the Word, and of a tireless striving for full maturity, should not be unnoticed and unheeded. Likewise, it is true that the Church has lost her testimony and effectiveness in so far as she has turned from these vital, divine injunctions to the substitutes and deceptions which are offered by men. There need be no fear of the ravages of false teachers or their teachings where God’s ordained program for His equipped Church has been executed. God alone must be the Judge of those who, sitting in the seat of authority and charged with the purity of doctrinal streams which alone lead to established Christian character and effective service, have allowed the Church to reach her present state of ineffectiveness as a witnessing, soul-winning company. In the service committed to them, the whole company of believers is likened by the Apostle (Ephesians 4:16) to a growing body in which each and every part is active in its effort to build up the whole unto maturity. Thus increase in the body is secured. Christ is the Source from Whom every vital increase must be derived. He it is Who has undertaken not only to build His Church (Matthew 16:18) by calling out the elect company, but He must, as well, perfect both the individual believer and the corporate body itself. From the beginning it has pleased God to use the members of Christ’s body for the salvation of men, lacking though they often are in educational standing and leadership. Perhaps there is no more suggestive recognition of this self-building character of the Church which is Christ’s body than that disclosed in Revelation 19:7, where we read, "Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." This original divinely given program of personal evangelism is the method by which the early Church gained the triumph over the forces of the world, and by that same method she might have continued to triumph to this present hour. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 20: 02.13. EPHESIANS 4:17 TO 5:14 ======================================================================== Section Thirteen Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:1-14 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 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: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole, steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. Having digressed from the opening theme of the chapter (Ephesians 4:1-3), that he might unfold first, the unifying agencies in the Church which is Christ’s body (Ephesians 4:4-6); second, the diversity of gifts for service (Ephesians 4:7-11); and third, the fact, motive and purpose of the ministry of the redeemed (Ephesians 4:12-16), the Apostle now returns (Ephesians 4:17) to the theme of the consistent walk which should characterize the life of all who are saved. He states emphatically that they should "henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind." The correct reading is not other Gentiles, which would imply that the saints at Ephesus were also Gentiles. Being saved they were no longer thus to be classed as Gentiles any more than those who were saved from among the Jews were to be classed as Jews. All who are saved have come upon new ground where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, but where "Christ is all, and in all" (Colossians 3:11). A New Relationship This important implication as to the new relation of the saints to God should be carefully considered. The Gentile estate has been described twice before (Ephesians 2:1-3, Ephesians 2:11), and here in Chapter four that estate is said to be "in the vanity [emptiness] of their mind, having the understanding darkened (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4; John 3:19), being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness [hardness] of their heart" (Ephesians 4:17-18). Doubtless the reference to alienation is that of the whole race in the Adamic fall. Concerning this Gentile estate it is yet added, "who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness" (Ephesians 4:19). A very strong metaphor is used in the words past feeling since the thought is that of reaching the point in mortification where pain ceases. Similarly, the term lasciviousness is wider in its import than fleshly impurity: it is wantonness and rebellion against all divine authority and truth. And, again, both uncleanness and greediness are to be broadened in their meaning: in the first instance, to impurity of the heart and motive, and in the second instance, to covetousness or lust which knows no restraint in its selfish desires. This description of the moral debauchery of the Gentiles at the time this Epistle was written is, according to what may be known from contemporary history, in no way overdrawn. Such is the universal character of the fallen nature of man. From such moral corruption the Ephesian believers had been saved. Though restrained, indeed, to some extent, by the civilizing influence of the more general knowledge of God and His Truth, the underlying fact of a sin-nature abides unchanged, regardless of its varied manifestations, from the fall of Adam to the present hour. It is fitting then, in view of the evil from which they have been saved, that these saints be reminded that they "have not so learned Christ" (Ephesians 4:20); for having come to Him, and having heard Him, and having been taught by Him as the truth is in Jesus (Ephesians 4:21) in common with all who believe, they are now called to represent the purity and virtues of Christ (1 Peter 2:9). The change that has been wrought in them -- not by mere reformation, but by divine transformation -- is no less than that the former manner of life, which has been so vividly described, and the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, "is put off." That this is not a command for these saints to do something which was not yet accomplished is seen when two other passages are examined along with this. In Romans 6:6 the old man is declared to be crucified in the crucifixion of Christ; and in Colossians 3:9, it is stated of the believers that "ye have put off the old man and his deeds." The disposing of the old man is wrought in that particular aspect of the death of Christ which is unto sin (Romans 6:10), and is also made an actuality by the Holy Spirit in all who believe. It should be observed, however, that the old man now "put off" is not identical with the flesh which, without question, is to abide with each believer to the end of his earthly pilgrimage (Galatians 5:16-17); but it is rather the first Adamic-relationship which, for the believer, passed out of existence with the death of Christ, being replaced by the New-Creation relationship in Christ, the Last Adam. The connection with the first Adam, which was as vital as the life stream itself, has been broken by divine power to the end that a new connection might be established with Christ. The appeal here is in accordance with the injunctions of grace. It is because the old man had been put off that they were to abstain from their former evil ways, rather than that by abstaining from evil ways the old man might be put off. Indeed a renewing of mind by the Holy Spirit is needed (Ephesians 4:23) to the end that the vital importance of this purity of life shall be comprehended at all times and under all circumstances. Similarly, they had been taught as the truth is in Christ that they had also "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). The new man is that which is wrought by the regenerating power of the Spirit -- "a new creature" (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15)--and, being born of God, cannot participate in the former evil which is the tendency of the flesh and which was the practice of the old man. The new man, being thus begotten of God, is said to be "created in righteousness and true holiness." The righteousness referred to is that imputed righteousness which Christ is and which He is made to those who believe (2 Corinthians 5:21), and, likewise, true holiness is theirs on the ground of their new position in Christ (Hebrews 10:14). Sins to Avoid There follows at this point an enumeration of certain cardinal sins which are to be avoided and which would be inconsistent in the lives of those who have put off the old man and have put on the new. Little need be added here to the list of these sins or the divine exhortations which accompany them. "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another" (Ephesians 4:25). The "wherefore" with which this plain injunction is introduced relates this and the following injunctions -- many indeed, which occupy almost the entire text that remains of this Epistle -- to all that has gone before. The appeal is most practical and reasonable in view of the fact that these believers were of one body and fellowship in the Lord. "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth" (Ephesians 4:26-28). By this statement, light is thrown on the question as to what is the true motive for labor and thrift: it is, "that he may have to give to him that needeth." There is no recognition to be allowed among believers of that world-principle which ministers to self or that seeks material things for the mere gratification of desire and possession. "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers" (Ephesians 4:29). Of all the manifestations of the flesh, none is more unfettered than is the liberty of speech; but this must be restrained in the child of God. Words which do not edify are quite sure to injure, and things which cannot be said confidently in His presence are unfit for the hearing of others. It should be remembered that the flesh is always contrary to the Spirit and that it will yield to no other power than the power of God (Galatians 5:16-17). Because of the fact that the flesh and the Spirit are contrary the one to the other, the Apostle goes on to say: "and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). This important text, in addition to its clear implications as to the personality of the Holy Spirit, discloses the engaging fact that the child of God from the moment he is saved is so related to the indwelling Spirit that the sensitiveness of the Spirit supplements the normal functions of conscience. The Christian no longer lives according to his conscience alone, which conscience may be perverted and seared, but with the Holy Spirit Who may be grieved or not grieved by an act, a word, or a thought. That this new standard which the presence of the Spirit creates is higher than the old, and that under these conditions the true believer cannot walk as he walked before, needs no added emphasis (cf. Romans 9:1). So, also, it should be observed that the Spirit Himself indwelling the believer becomes that sealing of God which is unto the day of redemption. That "day," be it said, is not the day of our death: it is rather the Day of Christ -- the day when the body will be raised, redeemed, and reunited to the glorified soul and spirit. It is the day of "our gathering together unto Him" (2 Thessalonians 2:1). Thus, as we grieve the Spirit by turning to seek our consolation in the world and not in Christ, so, contrariwise, we satisfy the Spirit when we live wholly unto Christ and look steadfastly for the day of redemption which ever draweth nigh. The child of God is enjoined to let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking and malice be put away (Ephesians 4:31). This can be done only by the power of the Spirit; hence the import of the word let, which indicates the extent and direction of the believer’s responsibility in the conflict with sin -- a conflict, indeed, which may be even unto blood (Hebrews 12:4). Virtues to Put On As definitely, too, as the evil is to be dismissed, that which is Christ-like is to take its place, and the same divine power which can disannul the evil can also energize unto the good. We read, "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32). The reason for Christian forgiveness, the one toward another, is here seen to be a reversal of the meritorious law-system (cf. Matthew 6:14-15) and to be an appeal on the ground of super-abounding grace. Having thus mentioned a fresh evidence of the knowledge-surpassing goodness of Christ, the Apostle resumes his appeal for the Christ-honoring life, contrasting again the former estate of these believers with the present blessings in Christ into which they have been brought through divine grace. The Epistle to the Hebrews is characterized by contrasts which are drawn between the features of the Mosaic order and those of Christianity, while the Epistle to the Ephesians is characterized by its contrasts between the estate of the lost and the estate of the saved. The fifth Chapter opens with two verses of counsel concerning those characteristics which pertain to a holy life, and these are followed by three verses of counsel concerning those features of corruption which pertain to the flesh. Again, but little comment is needed. It should be noted, however (Ephesians 5:1-2), that the saints, here addressed as His dear children, are to be "followers of God ... and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor." How exalted indeed this ideal appears in the midst of the recognition of the works of the flesh which are mentioned in this passage! The inherent law which obligates the creature to do and to be all that the Creator designed has ever rested upon all humanity, but there is a specific privilege extended to God’s dear children to follow Him according to the pattern which Christ is and to realize this holy privilege through the divinely provided enablement of the Spirit. "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Ephesians 5:3-5). A distinction is demanded between that lawless sinning of the unregenerate, because of which they are characterized by these unholy designations, and the sinning of the child of God who, being overtaken in a fault or open sin, has descended temporarily to the level of those who habitually practice these evils. This distinction is set forth by the Apostle John in 1 John 3:4-10, and there it will be observed that this form of sin which is lawlessness is declared to be no longer possible to the regenerate soul. The Apostle does not teach that Christians do not sin. He rather teaches that they cannot sin lawlessly since there is ever in them the divine presence Who not only restrains but Who, in case the believer sins, creates that agony of soul which is described by the Apostle Paul as that of a "wretched man" (Romans 7:24), and by David as the aching of his bones when his spiritual moisture was turned into the drought of summer (Psalms 32:3-4). Thus the believer who sins even to the terrible length indicated above is not to be classified as an unregenerate sinner. For, though the evil character of the sin is in no way lessened by the fact that a saint commits it, he is not when thus sinning an habitual or lawless sinner, as the agony of his soul will fully prove (cf. 1 John 3:10). Difference Between Dark and Light It is distinctly declared (Ephesians 5:6) that while such deep sin will grieve the Spirit of God, it is these sins in their lawless character which cause the wrath of God to be upon the children of disobedience, which wrath can never come upon the child of God (Romans 8:1, R.V. On the all-inclusiveness of the term children of disobedience, see previous notes on Ephesians 2:2). The child of God must not be a partaker with the lawless sinner, nor indulge in his sins (Ephesians 5:7). In emphasizing this solemn admonition, the Apostle again reminds these saints of the estate from which they were saved and points out the blessing into which they have come by sovereign grace (Ephesians 5:8). Being "light in the Lord" they are to be as children of the light, or as those who are the product of the light. This strong contrast between darkness and light -- terms which are descriptive of the unsaved and saved -- is enhanced when it is observed that the unsaved are not here said to be "in the dark" but that darkness is in them, and that the saved are not merely in the light, but the light is in them. The believer may walk in the dark or in the light (1 John 1:5-6), but that is far different from being darkness, or being light. Certainly the life which is empowered by the Holy Spirit and which bears the fruit of goodness, righteousness and truth is not to be confused with the gross and depraved conduct of the lawless sinner (Ephesians 5:9). The life energized to holy living is "acceptable unto the Lord" (Ephesians 5:10) and becomes the ideal ever before the mind of those who are saved. The unfruitful works of darkness are to be reproved and the shame of them is ever to be recognized. Of these works of darkness the believer is not even to speak (Ephesians 5:11-12). It is the power of light to make manifest and thereby to reprove (Ephesians 5:13). This principle is peculiarly Christian in its character. God does not appoint His witnesses to a ministry of mere contradiction of the evil ideals, practices, or philosophies of the world: He rather directs His ministers to "preach the word" (2 Timothy 4:2), and as witnesses to "hold forth the word of life" (Php 2:16) against which nothing that pertains to the darkness can stand. Darkness cannot be dispelled by argument or denunciation: it is dispelled by the outshining of the light. This section closes with an appeal (Ephesians 5:14) to those in darkness and death, as indeed all were before the Light of Life came upon them. God it is Who calls whom He will to awake from the sleep of spiritual death. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 21: 02.14. EPHESIANS 5:15-33 ======================================================================== Section Fourteen Ephesians 5:15-33 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. As we enter this section of the Epistle it is with a consciousness that the dark picture of the manifestation of the flesh, whether in saint or sinner, has had a faithful portrayal, and that the divinely enabled, God-honoring life is infinitely desirable. The contrast between these two extremes could hardly be drawn by human pen. The Apostle calls again, for the seventh and last time in this Epistle, for a holy walk which is circumspect or punctually accurate in doing in every particular only that which is pleasing to God (Ephesians 5:15). The extremes of folly and wisdom are here represented. As a child may be guided by the wisdom, experience, and love of the parent, so heavenly wisdom is available to the child of God and the walk, as guided and empowered by the Spirit, will be accurate according to the standards of heavenly holiness. Indeed, the days are evil, all of them (Ephesians 5:16), and the time -- so brief -- should be redeemed, or "bought up." The riches of strength and fellowship resulting from the divine Presence will not be experienced apart from certain well-defined concessions; but how little is ever paid in comparison with the treasures secured! A Circumspect Walk There is more here than merely a wise choice on the part of those who are willing to make that choice. The circumspect walk is distinctly the will of the Lord for each and every child of God (Ephesians 5:17). Therefore, the present walk in the flesh is not only a folly of infinite proportion, but is a distinct disobedience and disregard of the revealed will of the One Who has saved us at measureless cost. The antinomian deception is that exactness of conduct is an indifferent thing so long as there is soundness of doctrine; but such error is most serious. True piety is not a thoughtless security, but rather a watchful sobriety which is a daily habit of mind. There is marvelous advantage to the one who knows the doctrines and stands secure in their glorious fulness; but there is need, as well, that the doctrine shall be adorned (Titus 2:10). At this point there is perplexity created sooner or later in every sincere believer’s mind. He has to some degree recognized the necessity and reasonableness of the circumspect life; but, like the Apostle of old, he has been forced to cry, "how to perform that which is good I find not" (Romans 7:18). High and holy ideals which are not attained only tend to the most distressing spiritual discomfort. Such, indeed, is a "wretched man" (Romans 7:24). With the mind he serves the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin (Romans 7:25). Vain has been the effort of saints to crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts. Even the regenerate self cannot control the mind of the flesh. Help must come from God and this He has provided, but not according to the reasonings of men. Turning to the Scriptures, we discover that the "old man" was crucified with Christ (Romans 6:5, R.V.), and that they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts (Galatians 5:24); not some of those who are Christ’s, but all. Such truth can mean nothing less than that the old man and the flesh were divinely judged in the death of Christ. He died as much unto sin (the sin-nature, cf. Romans 6:10) as He died for our sins; the latter making justification a possibility, and the former making sanctification of life a possibility. The latter is the ground on which the Spirit is free to regenerate those who believe in Christ, and the former is the ground on which the Spirit is free to deliver those believers who yield themselves to God and walk by means of, and in dependence on, the Spirit. The problem then is not one of self-crucifixion, as direct and practical as that seems to be; but it is rather that of trusting One Who is able to give moment-by-moment deliverance on the ground of the fact that the old man and the flesh are both alike already judged in the crucifixion of Christ. The two propositions -- one of self-crucifixion, the other of victory by the overcoming power of the Spirit and on the ground of Christ’s crucifixion -- are principles of action as far removed from each other as the east is removed from the west; and one is ever and always a failure because of the impotency of man, while the other, when fully appropriated, is ever and always a success, being ordained of God and sustained by His infinite strength. Being Filled with the Spirit It is not strange, then, that when turning to a fuller recognition of the heavenly virtues which the believer is called to manifest, the Apostle should press an unqualified command, namely to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). To be sure, there is a feeble stimulant to the flesh in wine which, however, only leads to riot of mind and action; but over against the stimulant to the flesh there is an abundant enabling power available from the Spirit which leads to all those graces which are none other than the life which is Christ (Galatians 2:20; Galatians 5:22-23). It is significant that, in the New Testament, wine is thrice held over against the Spirit-filled life (cf. Luke 1:15; Acts 2:12-17), as its opposite or counterfeit. The command to be Spirit-filled is imperative, both as a divine necessity and as a divine authority. There is nothing optional on the human side. However, the tense of the verb is significant indicating, as it does, not a once-for-all crisis-experience, but rather a constant infilling. The New Testament teaches that all believers are indwelt by the Spirit of God (John 7:37-39; Romans 5:5; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 6:19), but it also teaches that those in whom the Spirit abides need always to be getting filled with the Spirit. The Spirit’s filling is more, then, than His abiding Presence; it is His activities realized. To be filled with the Spirit is to have the Spirit fulfilling in us all that He came into our hearts to do. Again, to be getting filled with the Spirit is not to receive more of the Spirit; it is rather that more conformity to His mind and will is accorded to Him by the one in whom He already abides. The Spirit is received at the moment one believes on Christ for salvation ( John 7:37-39), but the believer is filled with the Spirit only at such a time in which he does not grieve the Spirit by unconfessed sin (Ephesians 4:30), nor resist the Spirit by unwillingness to do His will (1 Thessalonians 5:19), and when the heart of such an one exercises that constant dependence upon the Spirit which is elsewhere termed, walking by means of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16; Romans 8:4). Blessed, indeed, are the provisions of God which do not leave the child of God in uncertainty as to what the Spirit will do when He fills the life and heart. How uncertain all understanding of the Spirit-filled life would be if the identification of the precise character of the work of the Spirit were limited to the evidence each believer might gain through experience. The Spirit’s work is to produce Christian character (Galatians 5:22-23), Christian service by the exercise of a gift (1 Corinthians 12:4-7), knowledge of the Scriptures through the teaching ministry of the Spirit (John 16:12-15; cf. Romans 8:14, Romans 8:16, Romans 8:26, Romans 8:27; 1 John 2:27); but in this context it has pleased the Spirit to mention only the fact that the Spirit-filled life is one of ceaseless praise and gratitude (Ephesians 5:19-20). All manifestations of divine power in the heart are in the line of things most vital and are so practical that any child of God will detect the presence or absence of them in his own heart. It is only by a supernatural power that one may always be singing and giving thanks always for all things. There is no reference in this passage to the baptism with the Spirit, by which believers are joined to the Lord as members in one body (1 Corinthians 12:15); the Spirit’s filling, it will be observed, results rather in those inner graces and those outward manifestations in service which are the outliving of the indwelling Christ. A Call to Submission Beginning with Ephesians 5:21, the important duty of Christian submission is presented with those truths which are related to it. Wives are to be subject to husbands, children to parents, and servants to masters. The submission of the wife to the husband is placed on a very high plane -- "as unto the Lord" (Ephesians 5:22) -- and in this relationship, being likened to Christ and the Church which is His body and bride, the wife is ordained of God to be subject to the husband as the Church is subject to Christ (Ephesians 5:23-24). This is not difficult for the wife to do providing the husband is unto her as he is enjoined to be in Ephesians 5:25, where we read that the husband is to love his wife even as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for it. Whatever may be the mind of the modern world regarding the sacred relationship between husbands and wives, the Christian doctrine is not obscure. Misgoverned affections on the husband’s part might unwittingly concede to the wife the ruling place in the home, or her own force of character might assume the place of directing; but it stands unchallenged to the present hour that the highest peace and greatest spiritual blessing result when believing wives and husbands are duly conformed to these plain and wholesome instructions. Nothing need be said here of the duties falling upon husband or wife when, perchance, the other party in the union is unsaved. The Scripture has elsewhere treated fully such a case (1 Corinthians 7:12-17; 1 Peter 3:1). In this context, however, the wife and husband are viewed as each being alike in Christ. How else could the husband be likened to Christ, or the wife be likened to the Church? The similar injunction to both husbands and wives set forth in Colossians 3:18-19 may well be quoted here: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them." At this point in the theme, the Apostle reverts to the order of truth which characterized the opening portion of this Epistle. The Church alone is in view as the one for whom Christ gave Himself to die upon the Cross. It is true also that His death is provisionally for those even who do not claim its gracious blessing, and that His death is the ground on which God will yet do for Israel what He is now doing for the Church (for God will bring that nation into a place of right relation to Himself and purify her dross -- Ezekiel 16:20-63; Ezekiel 36:25-29; Isaiah 1:25); but the fact of His death for the Church is here given the place of supreme importance. Certainly Jehovah’s love for Israel could not be doubted (Jeremiah 31:22), but the fact that these two great divine purposes -- that of Israel’s earthly blessing, and that of the out-calling of the Church -- have so much in common is no argument that these purposes unite in one divine purpose in the past, now, or ever. It is to be expected that Israel’s portion would be proclaimed in those Old Testament Scriptures which are addressed to her; while the portion for the Church will be found in the Epistles of the New Testament. The heavenly blessings which belong to the Church, it will be observed, constitute the message of this section of this Epistle. A Plan for the Church In Ephesians 5:25-27, the past, present, and future of the Church are revealed: (1) "Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it" (2) "that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word," and (3) "that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." No such purpose has been revealed for any other people than the Church as is here described. Though God included Israel in His redemptive purposes and will yet purify her, it is never said that He will present Israel to Himself glorified, not having spot or wrinkle, and holy, and without blemish. Of the Church it is said that each and every member of that glorious company will be conformed to His image, and when those who are His own see Him, they will be like Him. The marvelous heavenly perfections which are determined for the Church in glory could be no less than this, in view of the position and place she is to occupy in that coming glory. Unto her it is given to be forever glorified together with Him (Colossians 3:4), to go wherever He goes, and to reign with Him upon His throne. Nothing but divine transformation reaching to the last detail of perfection in each individual could so consummate this heavenly purpose; and such is Christ’s past, present, and future ministry to the Church. Reverting now (Ephesians 5:28) to the subject from which attention has been drawn but for a moment, the message continues, "So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones" (Ephesians 5:29-30). Of the seven figures used in the New Testament to set forth the relationship which exists between Christ and the Church, two appear in this context, and in each of these Christ’s headship is declared. In the former, the Church is seen to be that body of which He is the Head; in the latter, the Church is seen as the Bride, and, as the Bridegroom, Christ is her Head. It is the Bridegroom headship over the Church which establishes the fact that the husband is head over the wife (Ephesians 1:22; Ephesians 4:15; Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 11:3). There are far-reaching implications under each of these figures as to the authority which is Christ’s over those who are His own -- an authority absolute and final, yet softened by an immeasurable knowledge-surpassing love (Ephesians 3:18-19). With an evident backward look to Genesis 2:24 and in view of the infinite love of Christ for the Church, the Apostle states, "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh" (Ephesians 5:31). "This is a great mystery" (sacred secret). It is a mystery which draws into itself all those marvelous hidden meanings that exist in the eternal union which is now being formed, and is yet to be consummated in the glory, between the heavenly Bridegroom and His perfected and glorified Bride (Ephesians 5:32). The reference in Ephesians 5:31 to the declaration found in Genesis 2:23-24 determines the important fact that this context (Ephesians 5:21-33) refers not primarily to the figure of the Church as the body with Christ as her Head, but rather to the headship of Christ as Bridegroom over the Bride; thus refuting the erroneous claim that Israel, and not the Church, is the Bride of Christ. It is true that Israel is the repudiated, apostate wife of Jehovah yet to be forgiven, purified, and restored (Jeremiah 3:1, Jeremiah 3:14, Jeremiah 3:20; Ezekiel 16:1-54). But such an idea is far removed from the thought of a "chaste virgin" espoused, but not yet married, to the Son of God. Likewise, it is untenable to claim that the earthly people -- Israel -- will be caught away from the earth into heaven and there appear at the marriage of the Lamb as the Lamb’s wife amid those scenes of surpassing glory (Revelation 19:7). That glory belongs to the Church which company He is perfecting to a degree that will qualify her for His eternal companionship in heaven (Romans 8:29; 1 John 3:3). This whole context which presents so much truth concerning the relation that exists between Christ and the Church, and that should exist between husbands and wives, closes with the following injunction: "Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 22: 02.15. EPHESIANS 6:1-24 ======================================================================== Section Fifteen Ephesians 6:1-24 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening, knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds; that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things: Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. The high and holy manner of life which results from the filling of the Spirit is again in view at the opening of Ephesians 6:1-24, and the one theme of submission is emphasized. Children are to be obedient to parents, and servants to masters. Similarly, there is a corresponding responsibility pressed upon the parents and the masters as was declared in the preceding injunctions to husbands and wives (Ephesians 5:21-33). It is to be observed, however, that a different Greek word is used to indicate the obedience of the wife than is used to indicate the obedience of the children and servants -- a word which recognizes a more equal and mature responsibility each to the other on the part of the husband and wife. The counsel given to children to obey their parents (Ephesians 6:1-3) is followed by an injunction to fathers (rendered parents with equal propriety) to "provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). Nurture is discipline, and admonition is faithful warning as to the perils of evil conduct. It will be seen; however, that this instruction to parents (cf. Colossians 3:21) is not included in the instruction contained in the Decalogue. Grace obligations "in the Lord" are mutual in character, not only between husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants, but between the Father of mercies and the child He has redeemed out of bondage. Children and Parents The importance of implicit obedience on the part of the children, though little heeded today, is nevertheless greatly stressed in the Scriptures and on the ground that it is right; which indeed it is, and from every point of consideration. Obedience on the part of children is included as one of the commandments of the decalogue. As a child, Christ was an example of perfect obedience (Luke 2:51); and the opposite, or disobedience to parents, is set forth as one of the most serious of evils which characterize the repulsive degradation of the heathen (Romans 1:30); and the apostasy of the last days (2 Timothy 3:2). Instruction concerning relationship between parents and children, being restricted to those who are "in the Lord" (Ephesians 6:1), will hardly be heeded by the unregenerate; but how binding it is upon those who are saved! A theory, born of the insufficient ideals of the world, which is to the effect that the will of the child should not be crossed but merely guided, is bearing its fruit today in unprecedented lawlessness and disregard of God. That Christian parents are adopting these modern ideals and, by so much, are disregarding the plain instructions of God’s Word, is an error of serious consequences. Where may such a Christian parent expect a child to learn obedience to God if parental discipline has been neglected? In emphasizing this injunction to children, the Apostle cites the fact that the command for obedience was a major feature of the decalogue and is the one command of the ten which was attended by promise. There is no necessity for the assumption that the Apostle is here applying the decalogue to children in the Lord; he is rather strengthening his appeal by indicating the universal import of obedience on the part of children as enjoined by God in all human history. The obedient child under the law was promised long life in the land which God had given. The Christian, who is a stranger and pilgrim (1 Peter 2:11) in this world, neither possesses a land nor is he seeking a long life; to him the days are evil and he awaits the soon coming of his Lord from heaven. Employers and Employees The injunction to masters and servants (Ephesians 6:5-9), here addressed to the slave owner and his slave, is equally applicable to the employer and the employee of these modern times. The Scripture bearing on this particular relationship is extensive (cf. Philemon 1:1-25; Colossians 3:22-25; 1 Corinthians 7:21-22; 1 Timothy 6:1-2; Titus 2:9-10; 1 Peter 2:18-19). It will be observed that these injunctions are restricted to those who are in Christ, whether masters or servants. Service for Christ is the one matter of concern in either case. The master is reminded of his bond servitude to Christ, and the servant is reminded that he is to recognize his lowly position as being the will of God for him and to be faithful, not merely to secure favor with earthly masters, but as one who is "doing the will of God from the heart." The servant must realize that his state not only could be, but would be, changed were it the will of God, and that until it is changed -- if ever -- the glorious privilege of doing God’s will is to be discovered in the very position of servitude in which he finds himself. There is precious comfort to be derived from the fact that the highest of all attainments is not the place of freedom from the authority of men or the place of authority over men; it is rather that of finding and doing the will of God. The heavenly Master is no respecter of persons. The door of opportunity to rise to the sublime heights of doing His will is open no more to earthly masters than it is to earthly servants. Where, indeed, is there any inequality to be observed any longer between a master and his slave if perchance each, by divine grace, is exalted to the place of sonship in the Father’s house? Might it not be that the slave, because of his very stress of servitude borne in gracious obedience to Christ, shall in the end secure a far more honorable recognition in the day of Christ than the master who, possessing this world’s goods, learned little in the school of suffering? In Conclusion Having reached the conclusion of this incomparable letter the Apostle introduces once again the believer’s responsibility with the words: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might" (Ephesians 6:10). Such divine energy, so woefully needed, is provided by the strengthening of the inner man through the Spirit (Ephesians 3:16), and by the filling of the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Thus it is seen that this new and effective resource of triumphant deliverance in daily life, and over the world, the flesh, and the devil, is introduced here only as the consummation of all that has gone before. There should be no uncertainty at this point as to the reality of the conflict -- far surpassing human strength -- nor of the sufficient ability of the Lord to give triumphant deliverance. The problem is rather one of being in such reasonable relation to Him that every moment shall be radiant with His overcoming power. It is the problem of the justified one going on to "live by faith" (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). Triumphant conquest upon a principle of faith is ever the one responsibility of the believer. A Christian is not appointed to fight his foes single-handedly and alone; he is to fight "the good fight of faith." Thus the Apostle could say at the end of his life of wonderful service, "I have fought a good fight" (2 Timothy 4:7); learning, as he had, how to perform that which is good (Romans 7:18). To be "strong in the Lord and in the power of his might" calls for an unceasing dependence upon God, in which dependence all confidence in self is abandoned. The conflict is not a crisis-experience where the deliverance is won in a moment of time forever; it is rather to walk by means of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-18), and there could be no more expressive term employed than to liken this unceasing conflict to a walk by means of the Spirit. Recognizing the Enemy As every breath exhaled is incipient death, so every step is an incipient fall. The very act of taking a step is that of abandoning one’s poise with the confidence that it will be regained by the new step to be taken. Should the expected step fail through tripping, that incipient fall becomes an actual fall. In like manner, the child of God must learn to repose his confidence in the divine power; not once-for-all, but moment-by-moment and unceasingly to the end of his earthly journey. While the conflict is threefold, namely, with the world, the flesh, and the devil, the Apostle presents here only the conflict with the devil. The whole armor of God is to be put on "that he might be able to stand against the strategies of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11). Two important figures of speech are thus employed: first, "the whole armor of God," which is described later in this context, and second, the phrase "to stand," the full meaning of which is disclosed by the accompanying words, "against the strategies of the devil." In this connection, it is interesting to observe that as pilgrims we walk, as witnesses we go, as contenders we run, and as fighters we stand. How absolute are ideals held before the Christian in this conflict with Satan! The day is evil and the odds against him are overwhelming; yet he is to stand (Ephesians 6:13), but only, indeed, in the power of the Lord and in the strength of His might. The phrase wrestling in warfare suggests hand to hand combat and is a figure that is not overdrawn. This wrestling is not against mere men of flesh and blood (it should be remarked that the Apostle is not denying at this point the believer’s conflict with the flesh and its desires, but is rather asserting that this is no mere human combat), but rather "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). As in the case of several passages which convey definite truth relative to the person, power and strategy of Satan, the precise meaning of this verse is obscure through faulty translation. An extended discussion of all the problems of exegesis found in this passage is uncalled for here. However, the force of this important appeal as to victory over this great foe will be found hidden in this one verse. The War in Heaven The reader has already been made familiar with the fact that there are vast multitudes of spirit beings (Ephesians 1:21). These are divided into two classes -- the fallen, and the unfallen. There are those known as the holy angels whose ministries were available to Christ at the time of His death (Matthew 26:53), and there are unnumbered legions of evil spirits who serve the purpose of Satan (Mark 5:9, Mark 5:15; Luke 8:30). These two hosts will yet wage a war in heaven when the evil spirits under the leadership of Satan will be banished from that realm forever, being expelled by the holy angels under the leadership of Michael (Revelation 12:7-10). Though the character of those beings designated "principalities and powers" is not always declared to be evil (Ephesians 1:21; Romans 8:38), in this instance they are evil (cf. Colossians 2:15). The phrase "rulers of the darkness of this world" is better rendered "the world-rulers of this darkness." That this age is one of spiritual darkness, apart from the light which God bestows, need not be argued; but it is a most important truth, here stated, that far-reaching authority is vested in these evil spirits. Such authority on the part of evil spirits will not be doubted by those who with reverent hearts discover the testimony of the Scriptures on this extensive theme (.cf. Matthew 12:26; Luke 4:6; John 14:30; John 16:11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Isaiah 14:12-17). This conflict is declared to be in the sphere of the heavenly, which is the sphere of spiritual associations and realities. How few of God’s children are aroused to this combat! Is it not too often a lost battle when spiritual stress and exercise are in question? Who will not concede that he is often defeated in the ministry of prayer, or in the pursuance of his God-given privilege to witness for Christ? As the "spirit of error," Satan seeks to counteract the testimony of the spirit of truth; while as the "spirit of wickedness," he incites the flesh to protracted rebellion against the holy and ever blessed will of God. Following this most impressive declaration as to the nature of the conflict and the superior character of the foe both as to numbers and strength, it could not be otherwise than that the Apostle would stress again, as he does (Ephesians 6:13), the necessity of standing against this foe in an evil day, and, having done all, to stand. So, again, he refers to the armor of God which God has provided for those who wage this battle. Every effort is made by the Apostle through the Spirit to alarm the child of God into recognizing the serious position in which he is placed. The child of God has died in Christ’s death (Colossians 3:1-3) and a dead man has no enemies, nor should the believer recognize any individuals as personal enemies. The enemy with whom the believer is in conflict is such on the ground of the believer’s relation to God. The enmity is primarily between Satan and God, and Satan’s fiery darts are aimed not at the believer alone, as in personal hatred, but at the divine Person Who indwells the believer. We cannot inherit the treasures of the divine Person without inheriting Satan’s enmity and hatred toward God. It is well to remember that Satan would strike the child of God even unto death if he were permitted to do so (cf. Job 1:1-22 to Job 2:1-10). The recognition of this alarming fact will tend both to cast those that are saved upon God, and to encourage them to render praise to God for His protection, which praise, alas, is too often lacking. At the opening of Ephesians 6:14, the Apostle uses the word stand for the fourth time in this context. This word is full of most impressive suggestion as to the stability and vigor with which the Christian is expected to confront his mortal enemy. In this combat an armor is provided and is essential beyond estimation. The Greek word is _panoplia and when used with the word whole, as in Ephesians 6:11, the clear intimation is of the fact that there is nothing omitted from this divinely provided equipment. Weapons for Warfare The believer is counted upon to appropriate that provision, apart from which he must so certainly fail. To this end it becomes him to recognize each part of this panoply and to reckon it by faith to be his own. These items are: a girdle, a breastplate, a protection for the feet, a shield, a helmet, and a sword. The girdling of the loins with truth is the necessary binding with that strength which comes only through the knowledge of the truth of God. The instructed Christian is girded for battle. The breastplate of righteousness refers to the imputed righteousness of God which is made unto us, being in Christ. No "rags" of human righteousness will serve as a breastplate in this combat. But what limitless defense is provided, and what confidence of safety is imparted through the conscious recognition of an unalterable possession of an absolutely perfect standing in Christ! The feet are shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. This conflict is for those alone who, by grace, are standing in the saving power of Another. The shield of faith is that instrument of conflict which will receive and quench the fiery darts of the wicked one. These darts are directed at the very center of the believer’s spiritual life. There is no other provision whereby they may be held in check. God graciously provides the shield, but how serious it is for that exposed warrior who neglects this feature of his equipment! The helmet of salvation might easily include every aspect of saving grace, even that which protects the head and qualifies the mind in the conflict. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. It is the Spirit’s sword and will be wielded by His strength and skill in the hand of the one who knows that Word and is yielded to God (Ephesians 6:14-17). The inestimable importance of "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" is the message of Ephesians 6:18. Again the child of God is depended upon to exercise his will and to elect that place of dependence upon God which is intended both for his own benefit in the battle and for the benefit of all his fellow-warriors for whom he should pray. Thus fully equipped, the child of God, those of us believers who make up the church, can glorify the God whom we serve, the One who has chosen us to live this new life in Him. The Epistle closes with the personal word of the Apostle -- a plea for unabating prayer in his own behalf that he may be faithful, a message about his representative Tychicus whom he sends unto Ephesus, and the benediction: "Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 23: 03.00. GRACE ======================================================================== GRACE By Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871-1952). Founder/President of Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas; Professor of Systematic Biblical Theology; Editor, Bibliotheca Sacra (C) Copyright 1922, by LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER A study of the biblical doctrine of Grace. It is a quite extensive study on Grace, and his chapter divisions are the theme, salvation by grace, safe-keeping in grace, life under grace, kingdom teachings, contrasts between law and grace teachings, the law done away, the sabbath-a test question, Christ-the Believer’s sphere in Grace, conclusion. ---> Contents <--- Author’s Preface Synopsis Part I 01 CHAPTER ONE. THE THEME: SEVEN FUNDAMENTAL FACTS ABOUT GRACE First, Grace is not Withheld Because of Demerit Second, Grace Cannot be Lessened Because of Demerit Third, Grace Cannot Incur a Debt Fourth, Grace is not Exercised in the Just Payment of a Debt Fifth, Grace is Never the Over-Payment of a Debt Sixth, Grace does not Appear in the Immediate Divine Dealings with the Sins of the Unsaved Seventh, Grace does not Appear in the Immediate Divine Dealings with the Sins of the Saved 02 CHAPTER TWO. SALVATION BY GRACE I. THREE DIVINE MOTIVES IN GRACE First, Men are Said to be Saved that Good Works may Result 1. Works as required under the law 2. Works as the proper test of saving faith 3. Works as indicative of the attitude of heart toward the grace of God Second, Men are Said to be Saved Because of the Benefits which accrue to Them Third, Men are Said to be Saved for the Manifestation of Divine Grace II. THREE PRINCIPLES WHICH CANNOT Co-EXIST WITH GRACE First, Any Recognition of Human Guilt Second, Any Recognition of Human Obligation Third, Any Recognition of Human Merit III. THE GRACIOUS WORK OF GOD FOR MAN First, The Finished Work of Christ Second, The Convicting Work of the Spirit Third, The Saving Work of God Fourth, The Keeping Work of God Fifth, The Delivering Work of God Sixth, The Work of God in Christian Growth Seventh, The Final Presenting Work of God IV. THE GRACE OF GOD IS SOVEREIGN 03 CHAPTER THREE. SAFE-KEEPING IN GRACE I. THE KEEPING POWER OF GOD THROUGH GRACE IS INCLUDED IN EVERY CONSIDERATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF GRACE First, There Must be the Disposal of Every Condemnation which Divine Righteousness Could Impose Because of Sin Second, There Must be a Disposal of Every Human Obligation Third, There Must be a Disposal of Every Human Merit II. THE KEEPING POWER OF GOD THROUGH GRACE IS IMPLIED IN EVERY REVELATION WHEREIN IS PRESENTED THE TRUTH THAT GRACE REACHES INTO THE COMING AGES FOR ITS CONSUMMATION III. THE KEEPING POWER OF GOD THROUGH GRACE IS INDICATED BY THE MANIFOLD PROVISIONS AND SAFEGUARDS WHICH HE HAS MADE To THAT END First, The Power of God Second, The Love of God Third, The Prayer of the Son of God Fourth, The Substitutionary Death of the Son of God Fifth, The Resurrection of the Son of God Sixth, The Present Advocacy of the Son of God Seventh, The Intercession, or Shepherdhood, of the Son of God Eighth, The Regenerating Work of the Spirit Ninth, The Spirit’s Indwelling Tenth, The Baptism with the Spirit Eleventh, The Sealing with the Spirit Twelfth, The New Covenant Made in His Blood 04 CHAPTER FOUR. THE LIFE UNDER GRACE INTRODUCTIVE SECTION ONE. GRACE PROVIDES A PARTICULAR RULE OF LIFE I. THE CHRISTIAN’S DAILY LIFE IS TO BE DIRECTED ONLY BY The TEACHINGS OF GRACE II. THE LAW IS EXCLUDED FROM THE GRACE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST III. THE LAW IS EXCLUDED FROM THE TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES IV. THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE TEACHINGS OF GRACE First, "And unto the Jews I Became as a Jew" Second, "To Them that are Under the Law, as Under the Law" Third, "To Them that are Without Law, as Without Law" Fourth, "Not Being Without Law to God, but Under the Law to Christ" SECTION TWO. THE TEACHINGS OF THE LAW I. AS TO THE MEANING OF THE WORD LAW AS USED IN THE SCRIPTURES First, The Ten Commandments Second, The Whole System of Government for Israel in the Land Third, The Kingdom Rule of Messiah Fourth, The Whole Revealed Will of God for any Individual, or Nation, when Contemplated as a Covenant of Works which is to be Wrought in the Energy of the Flesh Fifth, Any Rule of Conduct Prescribed by Men Sixth, Any Recognized Principle in Operation Seventh, The Necessary Sequence Between a Cause and its Effect II. AS TO THE RELATION THE LAW SUSTAINS TO THE TIME OF ITS REIGN First, The Law Began its Reign at Mount Sinai Second, The Reign of the Law was Terminated with the Death of Christ III. AS TO THE APPLICATION OF THE LAW Part II Synopsis (continued) 05 SECTION THREE. THE KINGDOM TEACHINGS 06 SECTION FOUR. CONTRASTS BETWEEN LAW AND GRACE TEACHINGS I. THEY PRESENT INDEPENDENT, SUFFICIENT, AND COMPLETE SYSTEMS OF DIVINE RULE IN THE EARTH First, The Similarity and Dissimilarity Between the Teachings of the Law of Moses and the Teachings of Grace Second, The Similarity and Dissimilarity Between the Teachings of the Law of Moses and the Teachings of the Kingdom Third, The Similarity and Dissimilarity Between the Teachings of Grace and the Laws of the Kingdom 1. The Beatitudes 2. The similitudes of the righteous in the kingdom 3. Christ interprets the law in its relation to the kingdom 4. Mere externalism, rebuked 5. Prayer for the kingdom, and in the kingdom 6. The law governing riches in the kingdom 7. The Father’s care over the children of the kingdom 8. Warning against judgment of others 9. Warning against false prophets 10. Three determining statements concerning the kingdom II. THE ORDER VARIES AS TO THE SEQUENCE OF THE DIVINE BLESSINGS AND THE HUMAN OBLIGATION III. BECAUSE OF DIFFERENT DEGREES OF DIFFICULTY AND DIFFERENT DEGREES OF DIVINE ENABLEMENT First, The Law of Moses Second, The Laws of the Kingdom Third, The Teachings of Grace 07 SECTION FIVE. THE LAW DONE AWAY I. THE ACTUAL WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS OF BOTH THE TEACHINGS OF THE LAW OF MOSES AND THE KINGDOM ARE DONE AWAY First, The Passing of the Law of Moses is the Explicit Teaching of the New Testament Scriptures Second, The Error of Co-mingling the Law of the Kingdom with the Teachings of Grace 1. The two systems cannot co-exist 2. It is not necessary to combine them II. THE LAW COVENANT OF WORKS, IN ALL OF ITS APPLICATION, WHICH CONDITIONS BLESSING AND ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD ON PERSONAL MERIT, IS DONE AWAY III. THE LAW PRINCIPLE OF DEPENDENCE ON THE ENERGY OF THE FLESH, IN PLACE OF THE GRACE PRINCIPLE OF DEPENDENCE ON THE POWER OF THE INDWELLING SPIRIT, IS DONE AWAY IV. JUDAISM IS DONE AWAY 08 The Sabbath, A test Question SECTION Six. THE SABBATH, A TEST QUESTION I. THE BIBLICAL TESTIMONY REGARDING THE JEWISH SABBATH First, The Period from Adam to Moses Second, The Period from Moses to Christ Third, The Period Represented by the Gospels Fourth, The Period Represented by the Acts and the Epistles Fifth, The Sabbath in Prophecy 1. The cessation of the sabbath 2. The reestablishment of the sabbath Sixth. The Exact Day II. THE BIBLICAL TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE LORD’S DAY First, The Reason for the Observance of the Day 1. The Mosaic system has ceased 2. A new day is divinely appointed under grace 3. A new day is indicated by important events 4. The new day typifies the new creation 5. The new day is typical of unmerited grace 6. The new day began to be observed with the resurrection a. Evidence from the Scriptures b. Evidence from the early fathers 7. The new day has been blessed of God Second, The Biblical Observance of the Lord’s Day 1. The Lord’s day belongs to a particular people 2. The Lord’s Day is not subject to rules 3. The manner of the observance of the Lord’s Day may be extended to all days a. The true sabbath under grace b. The millennial sabbath III. CERTAIN CURRENT ERRORS 09 SECTION SEVEN. CHRIST, THE BELIEVER’S SPHERE IN GRACE I. "YE IN ME First, Christ, the Sphere of the Believer’s Positions Second, Christ, the Sphere of the Believer’s Possessions 1. A new standing in Christ 2. Anew life in Christ 3. The new presence and power of the Spirit 4. A new inheritance 5. A new enemy 6. Access to God 7. The Word of God Third, Christ, the Sphere of the Believer’s Safe Keeping Fourth, Christ, the Sphere of the Believer’s Association 1. With God the Father 2. With Christ the Son 3. With the Spirit of God 4. With Satan and his emissaries 5. With the angels 6. With the world a. To the world-system b. To human governments c. To the unsaved individual 7. With the whole body of Christ a. A Christian’s relation to other Christians in general b. A Christian’s relation to those who are in authority in the assembly of believers c. The relation of Christian husbands and wives d. The relation of Christian parents and children e. The relation of Christian masters and servants f. A Christian’s obligation to an erring brother g. A Christian’s obligation to a weak brother II. "I IN You" First, A New Divine Life Second, A New Enabling Power 1. Christian character a. Is the sin-nature controlled by eradication? b. Is the sin-nature controlled by rules? c. Is the sin-nature controlled by the Spirit? 2. Christian conduct a. The perfect law of liberty b. The law of expediency c. The law of love Third, Christ in You the Hope of Glory 1. Christ, the manifestation of God and of the Church 2. The indwelling Christ 10 Conclusion and Appeal Part III GRACE BY LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER 1871-1952. Founder/President of Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas; Professor of Systematic Biblical Theology; Editor, Bibliotheca Sacra (C) Copyright 1922, by LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO THE LATE CYRUS INGERSON SCOFIELD, D. D., FOR MANY YEARS MY FRIEND, COUNSELOR, TEACHER, WHO IN HIS GENERATION EXCELLED AS CHAMPION AND EXPONENT OF GRACE AUTHOR’S PREFACE THROUGH false emphasis by many religious leaders, Christianity has become in the estimation of a large part of the public no more than an ethical system. The revealed fact, however, is that the supreme feature of the Christian faith is that supernatural, saving, transforming work of God, which is made possible through the infinite sacrifice of Christ and which, in sovereign grace, is freely bestowed on all who believe. God has given instruction to those who are saved, it is true, as to the manner of life which is consistent with their new heavenly calling, and standing in Christ; but in its spiritual blindness, the world, led by its blind leaders, sees in Christianity only the rule of life which is secondary. The blindness of the world at this point, with the consequent neglect of all that is vital in the Christian faith, is both anticipated and explained in the Word of God. The two foundation truths which determine all spiritual perception are that, by divine arrangement, (1) the Spirit is given only to those who are saved, and (2) spiritual understanding is made to depend exclusively on the presence of the Spirit of God in the heart. The precise body of truth which may be understood only through the ministry of the indwelling Spirit is described as, "things" related to the Father, "things" related to the Son, "things" related to the Spirit, "things" to come, and "the kingdom of God." We read: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually [by the Spirit] discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him" (John 14:17). "But 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 glorious gospel of Christ ... should shine unto them" (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). "The world by wisdom knew not God" (1 Corinthians 1:21). "He that is spiritual judgeth [discerneth] all things, yet he himself is judged of no man" (1 Corinthians 2:15). "Now we have received ... the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (1 Corinthians 2:12). "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you" (John 16:13-15). "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him" (1 John 2:27). "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). "Through faith we understand" (Hebrews 11:3). Spiritual understanding is not, therefore, dependent upon human sagacity or learning; it depends only on the teaching of the indwelling Spirit. Possessing this Biblical testimony, misunderstanding at this point is without excuse. Likewise, the terms upon which men may now be saved and thus receive the Spirit are as clearly defined in the Scripture. Salvation is by grace through faith. It is the result of the transforming work of God for man, and not the result of the work of man for God. It is that which God does for the one who trusts the Saviourhood of Christ. By that trust, Christ is personally received as the divine, Redeemer who shed His blood as a sufficient ransom for the guilt and penalty of sin, as the One who reconciles by having taken away the sin of the world, and as the divine Propitiation who, as Substitute, met every indictment brought against the sinner under the holy government of God. Since the Spirit is given only to those who are saved through faith in Christ, they alone are able to receive the particular body of truth which the Spirit teaches. Neglect of this fundamental, unalterable fact is the key-error of all modernism. It is assumed by the modernist that any person whose education has qualified him to be an authority in matters of human learning, regardless of the new birth and the indwelling Spirit, is also qualified, because of that learning, to speak with authority concerning the things of God. That the leaders of modernism are unregenerate men and therefore themselves spiritually blind is self-revealed by their attitude toward that truth which forms the only basis upon which, according to the Scriptures, a soul may be saved. When men avowedly disbelieve that the death of Christ was vicarious and substitutionary, they have rejected the only grounds upon which, according to the Word of God, the saving work of God righteously can be wrought for the sinner. Rejecting the saving truth of the Gospel, these men could not be saved upon any promise or provision of God. Though educated, religious, and sympathetic to the ethical ideals of the Bible, such men, being unregenerate, are of necessity totally blind to all that body of truth which is said to be imparted by the indwelling Spirit. Preaching and teaching under these limitations, Christianity is represented by these men as a system of ethics only. The first step in spiritual understanding is the knowledge of God as Father. "Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him" (Matthew 11:27). "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). Until God becomes real to the heart by the direct ministry of Christ as Saviour, all His ways and works are unreal. Not knowing God, the unregenerate mind is not satisfied with the explanation of the origin of things which declares that God directly created things as they are. To such a mind, it is actually easier to believe in a supposed natural development from nothing to something, and to hide all attending problems resulting from this theory behind the mists of a measureless past. If God is not real, there could be no inerrant Book; the Bible must be fallible as man; nor could God be manifest in the flesh; the Son of God must be of illegitimate birth, and though the greatest of all teachers, to them, He is really no more divine than ordinary mortals. These blind guides are forced to give some explanation to the meaning of the death of Christ. They therefore contend that He died as an heroic martyr, a loyal patriot, as a wonderful moral example of fortitude, or to show the wickedness of sin. They utterly reject the only reason given in the Word of God for the death of Christ -- He died that others might not die. They brand this saving truth as "immoral," and "unworthy of the goodness of God." They understand little of the resurrection of Christ, His present ministry in heaven, and nothing of the revelation that He is coming again. To these religious leaders, there is no supernatural; for God is not real. There could be no immediate salvation through the Spirit. The salvation in which they believe is assumed to be the result of a self-created character, and the life to be lived is represented only as an heroic struggle of the flesh. If unregenerate men could understand anything better than this, the Word of God would be proven untrue. It is equally true, that, those who are spiritually blind are unconscious of their blindness until they are saved by the grace and power of God through Christ. Coming thus into the light, they testify, as all who have ever been saved have testified: "Whereas I was blind, now I see." They, like all the unsaved, could be aware of their blindness if they would receive the testimony of God concerning their own limitations; but this is precisely what they will not do. Therefore, a notable neglect of the most vital truths of Scripture and the denial of the essential glories of divine grace is to be expected from these religious leaders who reject the only grounds of salvation through the substitutionary death of Christ. Modernists content themselves with borrowing some ideals from the Bible while reserving the right to reject whatever is not desired. Those portions which are acceptable to the unregenerate mind are received and taught as being authorative on the basis of the fact that these ideals are in the Bible. Here, indeed, is strange inconsistency on the part of men who pride themselves on their scientific reasonings. The unsaved preacher or teacher, being able to comprehend only the ethical teachings of the Scriptures, is a living proof of the truthfulness of the divine Testimony. He cannot see the kingdom of God. He sees nothing of the glories of divine grace -- the things of the Father, the things of Christ, the things of the Spirit, and things to come. He blindly ignores every dispensational division of the Word of God and is, therefore, free within himself to draw material from the kingdom teachings of Christ and from the law of Moses while constructing his world-improvement, sociological theories which he imposes on a Christ-rejecting world. Men of this character are sufficiently numerous in this day of apostasy to be responsible for the present day impression that the sole objective of Christianity is the improvement of human conduct. Being blind to the real principles and purposes of saving grace, they teach that it makes little difference what is believed, it is the life that counts. Against this is the overwhelming testimony of the Word of God that every aspect of salvation and every blessing of divine grace in time and eternity is conditioned only on what is believed. Influenced by these misunderstandings concerning the Truth, few serious-minded young men will choose to enter the ministerial profession; for it would mean the assumption of the role of a mere moralist. Common modesty generally precludes such an assumption. On the other hand, when the essential message of Christianity is seen to be the measureless, transforming grace of God with all of its eternal glories in the new creation in Christ, it is a challenge to the deepest impulses of the heart, and offers a ministry for which one may well sacrifice all. Christians are ambassadors for Christ and are commissioned to preach the Gospel to every creature. This ministry does not consist in either the education or the moral improvement of lost men while they are on their way to hell; it is the proclamation of the mighty, redeeming, transforming grace of God which offers eternal life and eternal glory to all who will believe. If it shall please God to use this exposition in any measure to the unfolding of the riches of His grace, the labor expended in its preparation will not have been in vain. This very inadequate treatment concerning the grace of God is committed to Him that He may in some way use its message to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. -- Lewis Sperry Chafer. March 1922. AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION The kind reception accorded to the first edition of this book is cause for thanksgiving to God. Appreciation has been general and far exceeding the merit. If there has been any blessing gained from the reading of these pages, praise should be given to Him to whom it alone belongs. As in the days of the Apostle Paul, the great issues of pure grace are sure to call out sincere question from those who, perchance, through a legalistic training do not comprehend its infinite glories. Such has been the kindly criticism of a very few out of the many. After reviewing the book more carefully, could I recast it at all, I should perhaps give still greater emphasis to the exposition of the second of the two fundamental facts concerning the life under grace. The first being that, under grace, a separate, complete, and wholly independent rule of life is purposed for the child of God. Of that enough has been written. The second truth which might profitably be more fully developed is that of the new manner of life which is first wrought as a purpose in the heart by the Spirit and is then lived out in the power of the same Spirit, accompanied by that heavenly joy which always attends the realization of heavenly desires. Everything in the walk under grace contemplates an overflowing, Spirit-filled life, and there is no provision for any other. The carnal Christian is not urged to try to live a spiritual life; he is rather besought to yield himself to God, apart from which there can be no Spirit-filling with its realization of power. The divine provision and plan for a life under grace is a perfect system in itself and rightfully cannot be combined or even compared with any other. The successive steps in this system are: (1) The age-characterizing fact of the Spirit indwelling every believer; (2) The filling with the Spirit resulting in a joyous, abounding delight in the whole will of God; And, (3), the imparted, enabling power of the Spirit which is sufficient for a complete realization of that will. Is this grace-system a success? Is it really practical? Does the impelling love of a mother’s heart provide a better care for her child than would be provided by a heartless obedience to a statute of the State requiring such care? The true answer is obvious. If it is practical and if it be true that the power of inwrought grace is the one and only divine program for the life of the children of God in this age, how important is this body of truth! Under this relationship all human responsibility centers in that adjustment of heart by which alone the divine power may be realized. If this great theme is new its careful and prayerful study with an open mind may lead to the discovery of the only way by which the divine glory may be realized through a human life. May the blessing of God rest increasingly upon this testimony to His infinite grace. -- Lewis Sperry Chafer. December 1922. This book has been scanned, edited, and presented by the Bartimaeus Alliance of the Blind, Inc. P. O. Box 572. South San Francisco, CA 94083-0572. > E-mail: thegems@shellworld. net ======================================================================== CHAPTER 24: 03.01. THE THEME ======================================================================== CHAPTER I. THE THEME THE exact and discriminate meaning of the word grace should be crystal clear to every child of God. With such insight only can he feed his own soul on the inexhaustible riches which it unfolds, and with such understanding only can he be enabled clearly to pass on to others its marvelous, transforming theme. Here is a striking illustration of the fact that very much may be represented by one word. When used in the Bible to set forth the grace of God in the salvation of sinners, the word grace discloses not only the boundless goodness and kindness of God toward man, but reaches far beyond and indicates the supreme motive which actuated God in the creation, preservation and consummation of the universe. What greater fact could be expressed by one word? The meaning of the word grace, as used in the New Testament, is not unlike its meaning as employed in common speech, -- but for one important exception, namely, in the Bible the word often represents that which is limitless, since it represents realities which are infinite and eternal. It is nothing less than the unlimited love of God expressing itself in measureless grace. The word favor is the nearest Biblical synonym for the word grace. In this connection it may be observed that the one thought which is almost exclusively expressed in the New Testament by the word grace, is, in the Old Testament, almost exclusively expressed by the word favor. Grace is favor, and favor is grace. Thus, in considering the Bible teaching on this great theme, equal attention should be given to all passages wherein either the word grace is used or favor is found. Grace means pure unrecompensed kindness and favor. What is done in grace is done graciously. From this exact meaning there can be no departure; otherwise grace ceases to be grace. To arrive at the scope and force of the Bible doctrine of salvation by grace alone we need to follow consistently the path indicated by the exact meaning of the word. SEVEN FUNDAMENTAL FACTS ABOUT GRACE First. Grace is not Withheld Because of Demerit. This fact about grace is more evident, perhaps, than any other. It is the sense of demerit more than anything else which impels a soul to cry out for the kindness and benefits of grace. So, also, grace finds its greatest triumph and glory in the sphere of human helplessness. Grace ceases to be grace if God is compelled to withdraw it in the presence of human failure and sin. In fact, grace cannot be exercised where there is the slightest degree of human merit to be recognized. On the other hand the issue of human sin must be disposed of forever. Christ the Lamb of God, having taken away the sin of the world, has by His cross forever disposed of the condemnation of sin. He has by the cross created an entirely new relation between God and man. Consequently, men are now either accepting or rejecting Christ who has borne their sins. "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). There is no middle ground. All questions of demerit have been banished. Thus God is righteously free to exercise grace in every case. Salvation is by grace alone. Second. Grace Cannot be Lessened Because of Demerit. God cannot propose to do less in grace for one who is sinful than He would have done had that one been less sinful. Grace is never exercised by Him in making up what may be lacking in the life and character of a sinner. In such a case, much sinfulness would call for much grace, and little sinfulness would call for little grace. The sin question has been set aside forever, and equal exercise of grace is extended to all who believe. It never falls short of being the measureless saving grace of God. Thus grace could not be increased; for it is the expression of His infinite love: it could not be diminished; for every limitation that human sin might impose on the action of a righteous God has, through the propitiation of the cross, been dismissed forever. God does not ignore or slight the fact of human guilt and sin; for He has met these issues perfectly and finally for all men in the death of His Son. There remains no demerit, nor degrees of demerit, to be considered or recognized. By grace there is now offered alike to all men all the infinite resources of the saving power of God. The grace of God is, therefore, exercised in perfect independence of human sin, or any degree of human sin. Third. Grace Cannot Incur a Debt. An act is in no sense gracious if under any conditions a debt is incurred. Grace, being unrecompensed favor, is necessarily unrecompensed as to obligations which are past, unrecompensed as to obligations which are present, and unrecompensed as to obligations which are future. Grace must always remain unadulterated in its generosity and benefit. How emphatically this is true of the grace of God towards sinners! Yet how often this aspect of divine salvation is perverted! Infinite and eternal transformations are wrought by the power of God when He exercises His grace. He is thereby glorified and sinners are saved. Such far-reaching results cannot fail to satisfy and delight Him eternally; but He remains unrecompensed for His salvation through grace. What He does He bestows as a gift. Rightfully a benefit cannot be called a gift if it is paid for before, at the time, or after. This is a fundamental truth of the Word of God, and it is imperative that it be kept free from all confusing complications. When a recompense for the gift of God is proposed, every element of salvation is obscured, and the true motive for Christian service is sacrificed as well. The Scriptures everywhere guard these two truths from such perversion; for, in the Bible, salvation is always presented as a gift, an unrecompensed favor, a pure benefit from God (John 10:28; Romans 6:23). And, in like manner, no service is to be wrought, and no offering is to be given, with a view to repaying God for His gift. Any attempt to compensate God for His gift is an act so utterly out of harmony with the revealed Truth, and exhibits such a lack of appreciation of His loving bounty, that it cannot be other than distressing to the Giver. All attempts to repay His gift, be they ever so sincere, serve only to frustrate His grace and to lower the marvelous kindness of God to the sordid level of barter and trade. How faithfully we should serve Him, but never to repay Him! Service is the Christian’s means of expressing his love and devotion to God, as God has expressed His love to those whom He saves by the gracious thing He has done. Christian service for God should be equally gracious. It therefore becomes those who have received His gifts in grace to be jealous for the purity of their motives in service for Him. Unwittingly the grace of God is too often denied by well-meaning attempts to compensate God for His benefits. No semblance of the most vital facts about divine grace can be retained unless salvation is, in its every aspect, treated as a gift from God, and Christian service and faithfulness is deemed to be only the expression of love and gratitude to God. According to the Scriptures, salvation is never conditioned on human faithfulness, or on the promise of human faithfulness. There is no payment required, past, present, or future. God saves unmeriting sinners in unrelated, unrecompensed, unconditioned, sovereign grace. Good works should follow; but with no thought of compensation. Christians are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works" (Ephesians 2:10); they are to be a "peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14); and "they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works" (Titus 3:8). Thus, and only thus, are "good works" related to the gracious salvation from God through Christ Jesus. Grace is out of question when recompense is in question. Fourth. Grace is not Exercised in the Just Payment of a Debt. The fact is self-evident that the payment of an honest debt could never be an act of grace. In no circumstances, however, is the recognition of this truth more important than when grace is declared to be the present divine plan for the salvation of sinners. If God should discover the least degree of merit in the sinner, this, in strict righteousness, He must recognize and duly acknowledge. By such a recognition of human merit, He would be discharging an obligation toward the sinner and the discharge of that obligation toward the sinner would be the payment, or recognition, of a debt. "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt" (Romans 4:4). It is therefore imperative that every vestige of human merit shall be set aside completely if an opportunity is provided whereby pure grace may be exercised in the salvation of men. For the sole purpose that pure grace might be exercised toward men, the human family has been placed under the divine judicial sentence of sin. It is obviously true that all men are sinners both by nature and by practice; but the present divine decree goes far beyond this evident state of sinfulness wherein one man might be deemed to be more, or less, sinful than another; for God, in this dispensation, which began with the cross, has pronounced an equal and absolute sentence of judgment against all, both Jew and Gentile. Men are now "already condemned" (John 3:18); they are "children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2); not on the ground of their own sinfulness, but on the ground of their federal headship in fallen Adam. Men are now judicially reckoned to be "in unbelief" (Romans 11:32); they are "under sin" (Romans 3:9; Galatians 3:22); and they are "guilty" (Romans 3:19). Thus all human merit has been disposed of absolutely and forever, and there is no longer the slightest possibility that, because of personal merit, a divine obligation may now exist toward any individual. The sole divine object in thus universally and judicially disposing of all human merit is clearly revealed: "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all" (Romans 11:32). Also, "But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe" (Galatians 3:22). That God now saves sinners by grace alone and apart from every human merit is the teaching of His Word: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-10). In this passage the only order which can exist between divine grace and human merit is made clear. Man is permitted to do nothing until God has done all that His grace designs. "Good works" grow out of, and are made possible by, the gracious work of God. To this exact order all revelation concerning divine grace is in agreement. A striking emphasis is given to the fact that God now saves by grace alone when the Biblical doctrines of salvation by grace and the believer’s rewards for service are contrasted. Salvation, being always and only a work of God for man, is always and only by grace alone, while rewards, being always and only that which is merited by the faithful service of the Christian, are always and only based on works. Human merit is always in view in the divine bestowment of rewards; and the grace of God is never mentioned in connection with His bestowment of rewards (1 Corinthians 3:9-15; 1 Corinthians 9:18-27; 2 Corinthians 5:10). So, also, human works are never included as forming any part of the divine plan of salvation by grace. An act ceases to be gracious, therefore, when it is a recognition of merit, or the payment of a just debt. "Being justified freely [without cause] by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). Fifth. Grace is Never the Over-payment of a Debt. Grace is no longer grace if it is complicated in the slightest degree with the payment of a just debt. It can never be that which is added to, or a part of, a righteous transaction. A bounty may be added to the payment of a debt, -- an extra amount above the full measure due; but in no case should this extra amount be considered a matter of pure grace. The character of the bounty thus added would, of necessity, be qualified to some extent by the relation of the bounty to the debt. The bounty will be either more, or less, than it would have been had it stood alone. Inevitably it will be affected to some degree by the righteous transaction with which it is combined. In the Word of God, as in common usage, the word grace, in its exact meaning, precludes any complications with other acts or issues however righteous and just. Grace speaks of a gift, not of barter or trade however unequal. It is pure kindness, not the fulfilling of an obligation. An act in order to be gracious must stand disassociated and alone. Divine salvation is, therefore, the kindness of God toward sinners. It is not less than it would be had they sinned less. It is not more than it would be had they sinned more. It is wholly unrelated to every question of human merit. Grace is neither treating a person as he deserves, nor treating a person better than he deserves. It is treating a person graciously without the slightest reference to his deserts. Grace is infinite love expressing itself in infinite goodness. Through the death of Christ by which He took away the sin of the world, and through the divine decree which has constituted all to be "under sin," grace is free to save in every case, and only grace can save in any case. Divine grace is never decreased or increased. It offers a standardized, unvarying, blessing to every individual alike. The blessing is measureless since it represents in every case no less than all that God, being actuated by infinite love, can do. Sixth. Grace does not Appear in the Immediate Divine Dealings with the Sins of the Unsaved. It is probable that no point in the Gospel of God’s saving grace is so misunderstood, and, consequently, so misstated as the revealed truth concerning the immediate divine dealings with the sins of the unsaved. It seems most difficult for the mind to grasp the fact that, as revealed in God’s Word, God does not deal with any sin in mercy, or leniency. The sinner is never forgiven because God is big-hearted enough to remit the penalty, or to waive the righteous judgments. Any presentation of divine forgiveness which represents God as directly exercising clemency toward a sinner is a fatal detraction from the meaning of the cross of Christ, and is a disastrous misrepresentation of the truth contained in the Gospel of His saving grace. Those who dare to preach the Gospel should give to the cross its true place of vital importance as given to it in the Word of God. How can God utter a more alarming warning on this point than is disclosed in the revelation of the unrevoked anathema upon all who pervert the Gospel of grace? "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8-9). Turning from human speculation to the Scriptures of Truth, we discover one basic fact: The Lamb of God has already "taken away" the sin of the world (John 1:29). The fact that Christ, as Substitute, has already borne the undiminished righteous judgments of God against sin, is the sole ground upon which divine forgiveness is now exercised. The forgiveness of God toward sinners, therefore, is not an immediate act of grace; it is rather a judicial pardon of a debtor in view of the fact that his debt has been fully paid by Another. We could not know how much He paid; yet, though unable to measure redemption, we may rejoice in the fact that all, even to the measure of the righteous reckoning of God, is absolutely and eternally paid by Christ. It is not a question of the relative benefits which might possibly accrue to the sinner under one form of forgiveness or another, -- were he forgiven graciously, or in strict justice; it is a question of the basis upon which any divine forgiveness can be extended righteously. This righteous basis has been provided in the cross. By Gospel preaching, sinners are to be told that they may now stand forever pardoned before God: not because God is gracious enough to excuse their sins; but because there is plentiful redemption through the blood that has been shed (Romans 3:24; Ephesians 1:7). Being free to forgive at all, God is free to forgive perfectly. On no other ground can the marvelous statement, -- "having forgiven you all trespasses" (Colossians 2:13), be understood. This Scripture is addressed to Christians and it exactly defines the scope of divine forgiveness which is theirs. It likewise indicates the measure of forgiveness which is offered to the unsaved. When God thus forgives, absolutely and eternally, through the cross of Christ He is acting as Judge. By this judicial decree, He sets aside forever all condemnation. Such judicial forgiveness, which guarantees an unchangeable standing and position in sonship, should not be confused with the Father’s forgiveness toward His sinning child, which is wholly within the family relationship, and which restores lost fellowship and joy to the child of God. Every unsaved person is under the three-fold sentence of sin. He is a sinner by practice, a sinner by nature, and a sinner by divine decree. God deals with this three-fold aspect of sin by a three-fold achievement in grace. There is forgiveness for man in view of the fact that he is a sinner by practice; there is imputed righteousness for man in view of the fact that he is a sinner by nature; and there is the divine decree of justification for man in view of the fact that he is a sinner who, by divine decree, is "under sin." Judicial forgiveness itself is not an act of grace, nor is judicial forgiveness a mere act of divine clemency for some particular sins of present moment to the sinner: judicial forgiveness covers all sin, and by it the sinner is, as to possible condemnation, pardoned forever. This pardon covers all sins past, present, or future. God the Righteous Father will, in infinite faithfulness, correct and chasten His sinning child, and the sinning child will need to confess his sin in order to be restored into fellowship with his Father; but the Father will never condemn His child (John 3:18; John 5:24; Romans 8:1 R. V.; 1 Corinthians 11:31-32). The forgiveness of God toward the sinner is, then, made possible only through the cross and is never an act of immediate grace, and, when it is free to be extended at all, it is boundless. It contemplates and includes all sin. It forever absolves and acquits the sinner. Though divine forgiveness results in a position for the sinner wherein there is no condemnation, this fact should in no wise be confused with the deeper aspect of God’s saving grace wherein He justifies the sinner. Forgiveness cancels every debt before God, but justification declares the sinner to be forever judicially righteous in the eyes of God. One is subtraction, the other is addition; and both are righteously made possible through the cross. Of the various divine undertakings in the salvation of a sinner, some are acts of divine justice, and some are acts of the immediate, super-abounding grace of God. Those acts which deal with human unworthiness and sin are acts of justice. These include forgiveness, justification, death to the law, freedom from the law, and the whole new creation. All this is made possible through the cross of Christ and, therefore, is not accomplished by an act of immediate grace. On the other hand, those aspects of salvation wherein God is revealed as imparting and bestowing His benefits are said to be immediate acts of grace. These include the gift of eternal life, the imputed righteousness of God, and every spiritual blessing. Limitless grace is seen in the love of God which provided the cross; but when that cross is provided, every saving act that is based upon it becomes an act of justice, rather than an act of immediate grace. "That he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:26). (Under grace, the salvation of a sinner is declared in about 115 passages to depend only on believing, and in about 35 passages to depend on faith, which is but a synonym of believing. The Scripture everywhere harmonizes with this overwhelming body of truth. Without due consideration of the precise bearing of this revelation on the doctrine of grace, zealous workers have proposed to add certain conditions to the plan of salvation other than believing. (1) It is not, "believe and pray." In view of His grace, it is in no wise necessary, or fitting, to implore God to save. (2) It is not "believe and confess sin." Confession of sin, which is the one condition upon which a saint may be restored to fellowship, is never imposed on the unsaved. Confession is foreign to the ground on which they stand. (3) It is not "believe and confess Christ before men." This condition, though imposed in the kingdom teachings of Christ (Matthew 10:32), is not, and could not be, a condition of salvation under grace. Romans 10:9 is given its final order and force in verse 10. There confession is seen to be the expression of salvation which has been received by believing. It is primarily the voice of the new-born babe in Christ speaking to its Father, -- "Abba Father." Multitudes have been saved who were deprived of any opportunity of a public confession. (4) It is not "believe and be baptized." Mark 16:16 is the one instance in Scripture where these two conditions are linked together. Not only is the context -- Mark 16:9-20 -- omitted in the oldest manuscripts, the omission of the word baptized from the negative statement, "he that believeth not shall be damned," is evidence that baptism is not the essential condition in the positive statement. (5) It is not "believe and repent." About six times these two conditions are thus joined in the Scriptures which are addressed to the unsaved in this dispensation, and for obvious reasons. Over against this, it should be considered that believe, or faith, is used, apart from the word repentance, no less than 150 times; the Gospel by John which was written that men might be saved, does not use repentance in any form of the word; and the Book of Romans, which was written to unfold the whole doctrine of salvation, like the Gospel by John, does not once condition salvation on repentance, or anything other than believing. Repentance, which means "a change of mind," is never excluded from the terms of salvation; it is included as an essential part of believing. There is no Scriptural warrant for the grace-confusing practice of some who insist that repentance and believing are separate obligations to be imposed on the unsaved. It is impossible for a person to believe who does not repent. In believing, he will experience that change of mind which turns from all else unto Christ as the Object of trust. Measureless harm has been done to souls when it has been taught that a self-imposed repentance must precede faith in Christ. Such insistence ignores every vital aspect of saving grace. Saving faith is more than a belief in historical facts concerning Christ; it is to rely on Christ, to depend on His saving grace, and to receive Him; it is to believe the record God has given concerning His Son. In preaching the Gospel, emphasis should not fall on the mere human act of believing; it should fall, rather, on the precise message which is to be believed.) Seventh. Grace does not Appear in the Immediate Divine Dealings with the Sins of the Saved. The divine dealings with the sins of the saved are similar to the divine dealings with the sins of the unsaved in one particular, namely, what God does in either case is done on the ground of the cross of Christ. By that cross all sin, whether it be that of saint or sinner, has been righteously judged, and the ransom price, which satisfies every demand of infinite holiness, has been paid. By His death, Christ provided the sufficient ground for both the salvation of the unsaved, and the restoration of the saved. It is because of what has already been accomplished in the cross concerning the sin of the world, that the unregenerate are freely forgiven and justified. This is a part of God’s saving grace, and is wrought on the sole condition that they believe; while the regenerate are forgiven and cleansed on the sole condition that they confess. These two requirements indicated by these two words, it will be noted, are wholly different. The human obligation as represented by each word is exactly adapted in each case to the precise relationships which, on the one hand, exist between God and the unsaved, and, on the other hand, exist between God and the saved. The salvation of the sinner is unto union with God: the restoration of the saint is unto communion with God. Believing and confessing are two widely differing human conditions, or obligations, and should never be confused or interchanged. The lost are never saved by confessing, and the saved are never restored by believing. That there is no greater demand imposed upon the unsaved than that he believe, and no greater demand imposed upon the saved than that he confess, is due to that which Christ accomplished on the cross. He wrought in behalf of sinner and saint in bearing the sin of the world, and every requirement of infinite justice is met for all in the finished work of Christ. In the one case, there is nothing left to be done but to believe; while in the other case, there is nothing left to be done but to confess. The revealed attitude of God toward all men is that of grace alone. Therefore He does not need to be coaxed or persuaded. With His hand outstretched to bestow all that His grace can offer, it is highly inconsistent to plead with Him to be gracious, or to coax Him to be good. By the unvarying teaching of God’s Word, and by the inexorable logic of the accomplished value of the cross, the forgiveness and blessing of God to the unsaved is conditioned upon believing, and to the saved it is conditioned upon confessing. 1 John 1:1-10, 1 John 2:1-2 is the central passage in the Bible wherein the divine method of dealing with the sins of Christians is stated. A portion of this most important passage is as follows: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.... My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not [be not sinning]. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." According to this Scripture, four vital elements enter into that divine forgiving and cleansing which constitutes the restoration of a sinning saint: (1) Confession is the one and only condition on the human side; (2) Absolute forgiveness and cleansing is promised on the divine side; (3) The Christian, while sinning, has been safe as to divine condemnation, because of his Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and (4) Divine forgiveness and cleansing is exercised toward the believer in unchallenged faithfulness and justice because Christ is "the propitiation for our sins." In this transaction, as it is thus disclosed, the believer makes no disposition of his own sin; that has been made for him. So, also, the Advocate makes no excuses for the sinning Christian, nor does He plead for the clemency of the Father in behalf of the believer who has sinned. The Advocate presents the sufficiency of His own blood to meet the condemnation of every sin. The Father does not act in gracious kindness when forgiving and cleansing the believer: He acts in strict faithfulness to His covenant and promise of eternal keeping, and in strict justice because of the shed-blood. Such is the unchanging value of the propitiation which Christ made in His blood. It should also be noted that, according to this revelation, the sinning saint is never before any tribunal other than that of his own Father. The eternal relationship between the Father and His child can never be set aside. The Father may correct and chasten His erring child (1 Corinthians 11:31-32; Hebrews 12:3-15), and through confession the child may be restored to the place of fellowship; but all of this is wholly within the inner circle of the family and household of God. Condemnation, which would expel the child from the place of a son, is forever past. Nor does the sinning Christian draw on the mercy and favor of God when he is restored to fellowship in the household of God. How easily mercy and favor might be exhausted and overdrawn! On the contrary, the Christian, sheltered under the blood of propitiation, and standing in the merit of his Advocate, is on a basis where no past offences have accumulated against him; for he is cleansed and forgiven under the legal justice of the Father. The justice of God is made possible and is righteously demanded in view of the shed-blood of His own Son. Let it not be supposed that this divine plan of restoration of the child of God to the Father’s fellowship will react in an attitude of carelessness on the part of the Christian. The sufficient answer to this challenge is three-fold: (1) True confession is the expression of a very real repentance, or change of mind, which turns from the sin. This is the exact opposite of becoming accustomed to the sin, or becoming careless with regard to it. (2) This very revelation is given, we are told, not to encourage, or license us to sin; but rather that "ye sin not" (be not sinning). According to the Scriptures and according to human experience, the believer’s safety in the faithfulness and justice of the Father and the advocacy and propitiation of the Son, is the greatest incentive for a holy life. It is clearly revealed that God has, by other and sufficient means, guarded against all careless sinning on the part of those whom He has eternally saved through the merit of His Son. And (3) God can righteously deal with sin in no other way than through the absolute value of the blood of His Son; but when sin has been laid on the Substitute, it can never be laid back on the sinner, or on any other. In the cross of Christ, the question of a possible condemnation because of sin is adjusted forever. Mercy and grace can never be co-mingled with divine justice. Boundless grace is disclosed in the provision of a perfect propitiation for the sins of the believer; but the application of the propitiation is never gracious; it is none other than the faithfulness and justice of the Father. Therefore grace does not appear in the forgiving and cleansing of the Christian’s sins. RESTATEMENT It may be concluded that the word grace, as used in the Bible in relation to divine salvation, represents the uncompromised, unrestricted, unrecompensed, loving favor of God toward sinners. It is an unearned blessing. It is a gratuity. God is absolutely untrammeled and unshackled in expressing His infinite love by His infinite grace (1) through the death of His Lamb by whom every limitation which human sin could impose has been dispelled, (2) through the provision which offers salvation as a gift by which human obligation has been forever dismissed, and (3) through the divine decree by which human merit has been forever deposed. Grace is the limitless, unrestrained love of God for the lost, acting in full compliance with the exact and unchangeable demands of His own righteousness through the sacrificial death of Christ. Grace is more than love; it is love set absolutely free and made to be a triumphant victor over the righteous judgment of God against the sinner. Having examined into the meaning of the word grace, the three-fold divine ministry and undertaking in grace should be considered. It will be observed that: I. God saves sinners by grace, II. God keeps through grace those who are saved, and, III. God teaches in grace those who are saved and kept how they should live, and how they may live, to His eternal glory. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 25: 03.02. SALVATION BY GRACE ======================================================================== CHAPTER II. SALVATION BY GRACE SCRIPTURE discloses the fact that the power and resources of God are more taxed by all that enters into the salvation of the soul than His power and resources were taxed in the creation of the material universe. In salvation God has wrought to the extreme limit of His might. He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. He could do no more. Four aspects of His saving grace are now to be examined: (1) Three divine motives in grace, (2) Three principles which cannot co-exist with grace, (3) The gracious work of God for man, and (4) Saving grace is sovereign grace. I. THREE DIVINE MOTIVES IN GRACE. In the Bible, three motives are assigned to God for the salvation of sinners. These motives are to be considered in what seems to be the order of their importance; beginning with that which seems to be the least and moving on to that which seems to be the greatest. First. Men are Said to be Saved that "Good Works" may Result. A statement of this truth is found in Ephesians 2:10 : "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Few portions of the Scriptures present more of the essentials of salvation than this passage. It should be considered in its various revelations: "We are his workmanship." Whatever enters into the transformation of the individual at the time he is saved is wholly a work of God for man. It is in no wise related to any work which man might do for God. According to the Scriptures, God alone can save, and God alone can keep. All that will have been done when God’s saving work is completed, will be seen to be "his workmanship." "Created in Christ Jesus." The divine work in behalf of a saved person is nothing less than a new creation. He has passed through the creative hand of God a second time and has become a new creature. The result is a new birth, -- a regeneration by the Spirit. This new creation is organically related to Christ as a branch is in the vine, and as a member is in the human body. So the believer is in Christ. He is "created in Christ Jesus." "Unto good works." Never is the sinner created in Christ Jesus by good works. The divine purpose is here revealed. Good works are possible only to those who are "created in Christ Jesus." This truth is twice stated in the Epistle to Titus: "Who gave himself for us, that he, might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works"; "This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men" (Ephesians 2:14; Ephesians 3:8). So, also, this is the order of truth in the great doctrinal Epistles. The work of God for man is first stated. After this, and growing out of this, is a new obligation which is the appeal for the faithful work of man for God. It is the reasonable demand for a life corresponding to the transformation which God hath already wrought in the believer through His saving grace. "Which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." This phrase limits and qualifies the exact scope of the "good works" which form the new obligation of the one who is "created in Christ Jesus." These works are particular and definite. They are none other than those good works which have been before ordained for each believer. Such "good works" can be discovered and realized only as the life is wholly yielded to the will of God. Three revelations concerning the place and value of human works in relation to salvation should be distinguished: 1. Works as required under the Law. In all this body of Truth, human works are set forth as being meritorious. It was because of human works that divine blessings were bestowed. This was an essential characteristic of law-relationships to God, and it is the exact opposite of grace-relationships. Under grace, it is because of divine blessings that human works are wrought. The law was exactly and appropriately applied by Christ to the lawyer when He said: "This do and thou shalt live" (Luke 10:28. Cf Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34. See, also Matthew 19:16-26; Mark 10:17-30; Luke 18:18-30). 2. Works as the proper test of saving faith. This aspect of truth is taught by James (James 2:14-26). In this Scripture it is declared that true salvation will be manifested outwardly by good works. This should be expected when salvation is said to be "unto good works." Such good works will serve to justify the saved one in the eyes of the world. This is but the counterpart of the more fundamental doctrine that justification before God is by faith alone (Romans 5:1). An important exception to all this is the fact that a saint may, for a time, be walking "in darkness." At such a time there will be abnormal results in his life before God and before the world. 3. Works as indicative of the attitude of heart toward the grace of God. Works which are impelled by the consciousness of a right relation to God through His grace, are treated as works of obedience and unto life eternal; while works of any character which are wrought apart from saving faith are treated as works of disobedience unto indignation and wrath (Romans 2:1-16). One manner of life represents the obedience of faith; the other manner of life represents the disobedience of unbelief. The first purpose of God in saving men to be mentioned, and which seems to be least, is, then, the good works which are made possible only through the salvation that is wrought by His power and grace. If this revelation concerning our salvation "unto good works" stood alone, -- which, alas, it too often is supposed to do, -- the work of God for man would be greatly limited and misrepresented. Under a solitary emphasis on this aspect of the divine purpose in the salvation of men, God is made to appear as a heartless taskmaster directing infinite undertakings and interested in humanity only to the extent of the service that He can derive from man. And, should their productiveness cease through age or weakness, they inevitably must be thrown into the refuse. Happily this divine motive in the salvation of men does not stand alone. Second. Men are Said to be Saved Because of the Benefits which Accrue to Them. This motive is stated in John 3:16 : "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." By this Scripture, God is said to be moved in man’s salvation because of two priceless blessings which will thus be bestowed on the one who believes: (1) That he "should -not perish" and (2) that he should "have everlasting life." This divine motive would seem all-sufficient, and it is, again, and too often, the only motive which is considered by many. Individual salvation with its personal benefits is now challenged by some writers and teachers as being selfish and narrow. This challenge is both unwarranted and wicked. Salvation must be individual by its very nature, and the eternal benefits to the individual who receives the gift and grace of God are beyond comprehension. These personal benefits are the expression of the very essence of the love and favor of God. To challenge them is no less a sin than to discredit the wisdom and goodness of God. The Scriptural safeguard against an over-emphasis on the human advantage and benefit in salvation does not consist in discrediting the tremendous revelations regarding individual salvation; it consists rather, in the exposition of the just balance of truth which is gained from the added revelation concerning the third and far greater motive in the salvation of men, to wit: Third. Men are Said to be Saved for the Manifestation of Divine, Grace. The final and supreme motive of God in the salvation of men is declared in Ephesians 2:7 : "That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Accompanying this declaration of the supreme purpose of God, a statement is made concerning the saving work of God for the individual. By this saving work, men are "made alive" who were "dead in trespasses and sins," and are "raised" and made to "sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," who were "without Christ ... having no hope, and without God in the world." By these two revelations regarding the present estate of the saved, two essential aspects of the divine undertaking in man’s salvation are disclosed: (1) That which is wrought in man, -- represented by the gift of eternal life, and (2) that which is wrought for man, even the eternal positions in Christ, -- represented by the fact that an individual being saved, is now seated in the heavenly in Christ Jesus. What, then, is the supreme motive in the salvation of men? The answer is clear: "That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [by means of] his kindness [that gracious, saving thing he does] toward us through Christ Jesus." God’s supreme motive is nothing less than His purpose to demonstrate before all intelligences, -- principalities and powers, celestial beings, and terrestrial beings, -- the exceeding riches of His grace. This God will do by means of that gracious thing which He does through Christ Jesus. All intelligences will know the depth of sin and the hopeless estate of the lost. They will, in turn, behold men redeemed and saved from that estate appearing in the highest glory, -- like Christ. This transformation will measure and demonstrate the "exceeding riches of his grace." The supreme purpose of God is to be realized through the salvation of men by grace alone. So fully does that supreme purpose now dominate the divine undertakings in the universe that everything in heaven and in the earth is contributing solely to the one end. To gain the realization of this supreme purpose, this age, which continues from the death of Christ to His coming again, was ushered in. These long centuries of human struggle were decreed for this one purpose. No vision which is less than this will prove sufficient. Men with blinded eyes do not see afar off. To such the world is moving on by mere chance, or to the supposed consummation of some human glory in the earth. Eyes thus blinded see naught of the glory of heaven; minds thus darkened understand nothing of the supreme purpose of God in the demonstration of the exceeding riches of His grace. But, when this age is consummated it will be clearly seen by all beings in heaven and in the earth that these centuries of the on-moving universe have been designed for no other reason than the realization of the supreme purpose of God in the salvation of men by grace alone. The out-calling of the "church which is his body" from both Jews and Gentiles is the out-working of God’s purpose to gather into one heavenly company all the redeemed of this age. The supreme purpose is realized in their salvation and this design was the "mystery," or sacred secret, which was hid in other ages, but which is now revealed to "holy apostles and prophets" of this dispensation. The ministry entrusted to the Apostle Paul was, "To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:9-11). Israel must remain blinded until this purpose is realized (Romans 11:25), and the mystery of iniquity must work until this heavenly company is saved and taken away with the removal of the restraining Spirit of God (2 Thessalonians 2:7). It may be added, as well, that the other divine motives in the salvation of men, already mentioned, only contribute to the realization of the one supreme motive. The "good works" of those who are saved are the "effectual working" of every part of the body making "increase of the body" (Ephesians 4:16), and the results of that saving grace which is exercised toward the sinner -- that he should not perish but have everlasting life -- are only to the end that all of the saved ones together may demonstrate in the ages to come the exceeding riches of His grace. And, again, the purpose of God, which is to shew the exceeding riches of His grace, reaches beyond the boundaries of this age and is the supreme divine purpose in the whole creation, preservation, and consummation of the universe. Christ is declared to be the cause, center, purpose and benefactor of all creation. "All things are created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist" (Colossians 1:16-17), but the important aspect of all salvation centers in the fact that "through the blood of his cross" He is to reconcile all things unto Himself. "And you, that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death" (Colossians 1:21-22). Of all the aspects of His eternal Person, the emphasis falls on the fact that, He was a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Even those who are redeemed by His precious blood and who are the outshining manifestation of the grace of God, were chosen in Him "before the foundation of the world"; moreover, the "good works" of those who are saved, which are unto the proclamation of the Gospel of His saving grace, were "before ordained" that they should walk in them. So, likewise, sweeping on into the ages to come, we are told that of all the glories that will belong to the Lord of Glory, that glory which was given unto Him because of His redeeming love will be all-surpassing: "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Php 2:6-11). It is declared of Him that He is "appointed heir of all things"; by Him the ages were programmed; He is the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express Image of His Person; and he upholdeth all things by the word of His power. But to what purpose is this marvelous unfolding of His eternal Being if it is not to relate His Deity to His present saving grace; to accomplish which, it is stated, He, having "by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:2-3)? Thus absolutely does the whole universe throughout the program of the ages center about the sacrificial death of the Son of God, by whom that heavenly company are to be redeemed, purified, transformed, and translated into the eternal manifestation of the riches of grace. The complete manifestation of divine grace which is to be revealed in the glory will be by means of all that combines in Christ -- the Glorious Head, together with His redeemed Body, every member of which will have been transformed into His very image. What a spectacle for angels and archangels, principalities and powers, mankind and demons! Yea, what a spectacle for God Himself; for He will then gaze on that surpassing manifestation of His grace to His own "exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24)! Divine grace could have had no place in this universe until sin had entered. Through creation, the wisdom and power of God had been disclosed; but there had been no unveiling of God’s love for the undeserving, since there had been no occasion for its manifestation. This statement does not imply that we are to sin that grace may abound. There is a wide difference between the fact that God permitted sin to enter the world, and the thought that thereby God licenses man to sin. Whether there have been greater motives which have actuated God in permitting sin to enter the world than He has revealed, none can say. It is certain, however, that the greatest motive that He has been pleased to reveal is to be inferred from the fact that grace cannot be exercised where there is no demerit, and that He designs above all else that His saving grace shall have an actual and adequate demonstration in all the ages to come. How could it be otherwise? What poverty of experience would reign in a universe that had never dreamed of true heart-compassion, the incomparable joy of forgiving and being forgiven, or that never would have heard the victory song of the redeemed! A universe which otherwise would have been with all its magnificence of celestial glory, as cold, unyielding, and unapproachable as the law of infinite righteousness itself, has been colored and warmed by the penitent’s tears, and by the unveiling of the unfathomable grace of God toward the sinful. Highest of all revealed glories, -- and who can measure its relative import? -- the boundless grace of God is being manifested through the salvation of sinners. Such is the spectacle concerning which angelic hosts and human throngs will marvel, and about which they will sing throughout the ages of the ages to come. Returning to Ephesians 3:8-11 we read that the Apostle Paul was sent to preach the "unsearchable riches of Christ." Such riches could be brought to light only by means of the fact of sin and its cure through the cross of Christ. The Apostle was also sent "to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery [sacred secret], which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ." This sacred secret is, according to the preceding context, the calling out and saving in this age of a company from both Jews and Gentiles, which company is the true "church which is his body." By the salvation of these, He purposes to unveil before all heavenly hosts His greatest display of wisdom as it is seen in the manifestation of His bosom of love through the coming of Christ into the world to redeem the lost. For we read: "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." At no point can tolerance be given to the theory that the Innocent Man in the Garden of Eden was God’s first and highest ideal, that sin entered in spite of God, and that redemption is an after-thought -- the best available remedy in view of the wreckage of sin. It is a redeemed sinner who takes the highest place in glory. This redemption was in view before all creation. The finite mind is soon overwhelmed in the contemplation of the eternal facts and purposes of God; but there is much that we may understand when we read, first, concerning the coming of Christ into the world to redeem by His precious blood: "Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you" (1 Peter 1:20); "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8); and, "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain" (Acts 2:23). And, second, when we read concerning the eternal purpose of God in the saved: "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father" (1 Peter 1:2), and, again, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified" (Romans 8:29-30). It is evident, therefore, that the supreme motive of God in the creation, preservation, and consummation of the universe, in the permission of evil to enter the world, and in the mighty undertakings of salvation as it is now offered to sinful men through the death and resurrection of Christ, is that His "riches of grace" may be disclosed to all intelligences within the whole scope of creation. If the supreme motive of God is to reveal His grace, then salvation must be by grace alone, or the eternal purpose of God must fail. Hence we read: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-10); "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Romans 4:4-5); "And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work" (Romans 11:6); "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved" (Acts 15:11). On no other basis can grace be manifested than by salvation which is wholly unrelated to human merit or works. II. THREE PRINCIPLES WHICH CANNOT CO-EXIST WITH GRACE It has been shown that the three essential principles which antagonize and if permitted would frustrate the principle of pure grace are set aside in this age for the sole purpose that grace may prevail uncomplicated and uncompromised. The divine annulling of every opposing principle to pure grace is not only natural, but necessary, if the supreme divine purpose of this age is the manifestation of grace and that purpose is to be realized. The three essential principles already mentioned and which can never co-exist with pure grace are: First. Any Recognition of Human Guilt. God must be free to exercise grace without the slightest limitation because of human demerit and sin; for grace would no longer be grace if its benefits are withheld from the sinner in the least degree because of sin. Grace can only be exercised where every question of unworthiness has been banished forever. This God has accomplished in the cross, and for the purpose that His supreme manifestation of grace may be realized unto infinite perfection. The Lamb of God has taken away the sin of the world, and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. By these and many other Scriptures it is revealed that the grace-opposing principle of sin and demerit has been removed from before the eyes of God for all men. Thus, and only thus, could divine grace be exercised toward all men. But since God through the death of Christ has, in the absolute sense, dealt with the sin of the whole world, He is now free by the exercise of grace, in the absolute sense, to lavish its riches upon the chief of sinners without reservation or diminution. Divine grace thus awaits on divine justice; for only as the last demand of infinite righteousness against sin has been paid can divine grace be exercised. There can be no admixture of these principles wherein divine justice is partly satisfied and to such an extent God is partly free to act in grace. Every vestige of demerit must be removed before God can exercise grace. This vital truth about grace cannot be too strongly emphasized. The operations of divine grace can never overlap or share in any aspect of the operations of divine justice; but when divine justice has finished its work and abandoned the field forever, divine grace is free to occupy the field alone in the full blaze of its infinite glory. Thus grace now "reigns through righteousness"; but it is grace alone that reigns. A righteous throne of awful justice, wrath, and blasting judgments has become "a throne of grace." Such is the marvel of God’s infinite favor. Such is the good news which is to be proclaimed to a ruined world; for it is grace alone that is now offered to hell-deserving sinners. Only by the absolute removal of the condemnation of all sin could the way be made clear for the absolute manifestation of the grace of God. Second. Any Recognition of Human Obligation. No more can grace remain grace, if by its benefits there is created and imposed the slightest obligation for payment or remuneration. Grace is unrecompensed favor. Its riches must be bestowed and received only on the ground that it is an uncomplicated gift. "I give unto them eternal life," and "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (John 10:28; Romans 6:23). In order that the field might be absolutely clear for the manifestation of uncomplicated divine grace, God has perfectly eliminated every work of man -- past, present, and future from the terms of salvation by grace: "not of works, lest any man should boast"; and, "if by grace, it is no more works"; "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted [reckoned] for righteousness"; "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us." Man must take salvation as a gift. He need only believe in order to be saved. The complete setting aside of human obligation as payment for divine blessings is the only ground upon which God can be free to act in unlimited divine grace toward sinners; but every human work and obligation is now set aside and pure grace is offered to all men in the Gospel of the grace of God. Third. Any Recognition of Human Merit. This third opposing principle to divine grace has been disannulled by the fact that humanity is now stripped of every conceivable merit before God. As has been stated, revelation concerning the present relation of fallen man to God goes far beyond a disclosure of the fact that man is a sinner both by nature and by practice. This of itself would be a sufficient cause for condemnation; but, beyond all this, God has now pronounced an all-inclusive, judicial, condemning sentence on the whole race, both Jew and Gentile. By this universal sentence every individual has been reduced to the lowest level, so far as human merit before God is concerned. In the affairs of men, there is a legitimate field in which they may compare themselves one with another as to relative moral character and action; but such comparison is now completely eliminated from all divine estimations of unregenerate men. This important fact is one of the characterizing features of this age and forms an essential factor in the present supreme purpose of God in which He purposes to manifest His grace. Apart from this judicial sentence against all men, the grace of God could never be manifested. The following Scriptures disclose this present universal decree of divine judgment against all men, and in considering them it is important to note that this universal judgment is not a mere estimation of the various degrees of human guilt; it is an arbitrary leveling of every human being to a basis which is absolutely without merit or standing before God. "For we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin" (Romans 3:9); "But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe" (Galatians 3:22); "For God hath concluded them all [Jew and Gentile] in unbelief [disobedience, ] that he might have mercy upon all" (Romans 11:32); "That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God" (Romans 3:19). It is true that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," which indicates that man is a sinner by practice; but it is a far deeper revelation that all, by judicial sentence, are under "sin" and "unbelief" and are all now equally "guilty" before God. In exact agreement with the present universal leveling of all humanity to the place of supreme and unconditioned condemnation is the equally important revelation that, through the substitutionary death of Christ for all men as Sin-Bearer (John 1:29; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 2 Corinthians 5:19), the ground of universal divine condemnation is no longer the sins which men have committed and which Christ has borne; but rather the condemnation is now because of the personal rejection of the Saviour who bore the sin. (Should question be raised at this point as to the fact that a vast portion of humanity have not actually rejected a Saviour since they have had no knowledge of the Gospel, it should be borne in mind that two divine provisions have been determined for this age, and they are interdependent: (1) God has commissioned that the Gospel of His grace shall be preached to every creature, and, (2) every creature will stand or fall, according to his personal attitude toward this Gospel of saving grace. The fact that the messengers have failed to bear the message to every creature has created a situation in the world about which the divine provisions are not revealed; nor could they be revealed reasonably. The essential age-characterizing fact must stand, -- God holds men as condemned, or not condemned, on the sole basis of a personal rejection, or acceptance, of all that is revealed in the Gospel of His grace.) This is set forth in His Word: "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18); "But he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:16). In confirmation of the fact that men are now condemned because of unbelief, it should be noted that when the Spirit of God approaches the unsaved to convince them of sin, He does not shame them, or blame them, concerning the sins they have committed; He rather convicts them of one sin only: "Of sin, because they believe not on me" (John 16:9). So, also, Christians are said to be free from all condemnation on the sole ground that they have believed on the Saviour: "He that believeth on him is not condemned" (John 3:18. Cf John 5:24; Romans 8:1; 1 Corinthians 11:32; 2 Corinthians 5:19). The conclusion to be derived from this investigation into the present standing of man before God is that he is universally "condemned," "under sin," and reckoned to be in "unbelief." This divine decree permits of no variations or gradations. It represents the very lowest level of standing before God to which it is possible for any human being to descend, and all unregenerate men are now placed on that level. At this point God offers but one remedy. That remedy is GRACE. By the complete removal of all consideration of human merit, God is now unconditionally free to act in grace in behalf of man. On no other ground could grace be exercised. Hence all preaching of law-observance, or moral reform, to unregenerate men is unwarranted, misleading, and is contrary to the essential fact of divine grace; for no moral appeal, or appeal to human works, can be made apart from the assumption that, should unregenerate people comply with such appeals, they would not be discredited to the same extent before God as they would otherwise be. (Let it be restated that there is, in the field of human government and social order, a legitimate recognition of varying degrees of moral fitness; but these find no place as a basis of divine grace, or as the ground of salvation.) In this dispensation there is no middle ground for half-good people. Men are either utterly condemned under the universal decree of the Judge of all the earth, or they are perfectly saved and safe in the grace of God as it is in Jesus Christ. It is either Christ or Hell. The divine objective in reducing humanity to the lowest level of all conceivable grades of human standing before God is not merely to give adequate expression to His hatred of evil: it is the expression of His infinite goodness and love; for only thus could the riches of His grace be extended to them. He has reckoned them to be in unbelief "that he might have mercy [grace] upon all"; and "The scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." Only when human merit has thus been removed forever, can divine grace undertake its saving work. The grace of God which is offered so freely to the sinner is not a variable quantity which might be adapted to the different degrees of human sinfulness; it is an unchangeable whole. It is standardized and cannot be increased or diminished. It is all that God can ever do for the sinner in time or eternity. It is as infinite as He is infinite. Such measureless grace is now freely offered to the sinner. He has but to receive Christ in whom all fulness dwells. Men are either "under sin," or "under grace." They are, in the most unequivocal sense, either lost or saved. In order that grace might be measured in all its limitless riches and glory, the objects of that grace are lifted from the lowest level of human standing before God to the highest pinnacle of heavenly glory. Everything has been divinely arranged so that this transition may be a measurement of divine grace. To this end the widest extremes that are possible for God to decree in human positions have been determined. Such is the present low estate of the lost under the universal divine decree, and such will be the exalted estate of the saved in the highest glory when grace shall have completed its work. Of no archangel has the Lord prayed as He has prayed for the objects of His grace: "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me" (John 17:24). These two extremes, represented by the present estate of the lost, on the one hand, and the coming heavenly glory of the saved when finally transformed into the very image of Christ, on the other hand, are the boundaries which measure the infinite grace of God. The positional transference of man from the lowest level that divine judgment can decree to the highest altitude of heaven, the change from a death-doomed, hell-deserving sinner to a son of God and a partaker of the eternal glory, are demonstrations of the measurement of His own grace which God has decreed and with which He is to be forever satisfied. Since God’s grace is to be manifested in glory, it is required that every aspect of the saving transformation shall be wrought in grace alone. All human merit is of necessity excluded. So, also, since the ultimate estate of the saved in glory is to be such that they will then be "like Christ" and "conformed to the image" of God’s Son, and "faultless before the presence of his glory," it is equally demanded that this divine transformation shall be free from every human touch. Such measureless results can be secured and guaranteed only as the work of God is uncombined with any human work. The best human work could but mar and spoil the divine ideal. Therefore it is by grace that ye are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Having in the most absolute sense disposed of the three grace-opposing principles -- human sin, human obligation, and human merit, -- God, in the same absolute sense, is now free to lavish His undiminished grace upon whomsoever He will. He purposes thus to manifest His grace: not merely as a selfish gratification of display on His part; but rather as a satisfaction of His love which knows no bounds. Only as grace is seen to be the realization of the supreme purpose of god, can the expressions used in the Scriptures concerning the outflow of that grace be understood. The resources of language have been exhausted in the attempt to indicate the infinite grace of God in terms of human speech. Probably these resources of language have been more exhausted at this point than concerning any other theme of the Word of God. How could it be otherwise? God through grace purposes the realization of the greatest undertaking and accomplishment in all the universe. The following Scriptures unfold the limitless character of His grace: "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for [added to, or heaped upon] grace" (John 1:16); "Abundance [superabundance] of grace" (Romans 5:17); "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (superabound, Romans 5:20); "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" (superabound, Romans 6:1); "And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding [above measure] grace of God in you" (2 Corinthians 9:14); "The abundant [more than enough] grace" (2 Corinthians 4:15). Grace heaped upon grace, superabounding, and without measure, is the description given of the limitless outflow of divine favor. The grace of God belongs to the realm of the infinite. His measureless love and goodness are released from every restraint. They are unshackled and free. The supreme divine objective is then, that infinite love may manifest itself in superabounding grace. His love is knowledge-surpassing, infinite, and eternal. So, also, is His grace. III. THE GRACIOUS WORK OF GOD FOR MAN The uncomplicated work of God for man, which is to measure His grace, is presented in the Word of God in seven major aspects: First. The Finished Work of Christ. This is no less than the combined values of His redemption, reconciliation, and propitiation, as these aspects of His cross are related to the whole world lost in sin (1 Timothy 2:6; 2 Corinthians 5:19-20; 1 John 2:1-2). This aspect of the divine work is forever "finished" for every soul, and its glorious achievement is the good news of the Gospel of saving grace. Second. The Convicting Work of the Spirit. By this work of God the Gospel of His saving grace is revealed to the mind and heart of the unsaved by the Spirit of God. He convinces of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:7-11). Only by this illuminating work of the Spirit can the Satan-blinded mind of the unsaved (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) understand the way of life in Christ Jesus. Third. The Saving Work of God. This divine undertaking includes every aspect of the work of God that is accomplished at the instant when the sinner believes on Christ. It is no less than many transforming miracles which are wrought instantaneously and simultaneously in the saving power of God. Fourth. The Keeping Work of God. The clear Biblical testimony is to the effect that the believer is kept always and only through the grace and power of God. Because of the work of Christ on the cross, God is presented as not only being free to save meritless sinners; but He is presented as being free to keep those whom He has saved. Under legal relationships men endured in order that they might be saved (Matthew 24:13). Under grace relationships men endure because they are saved (John 10:28). God alone is "able" to keep. Fifth. The Delivering Work of God. The Christian who is perfectly saved from the guilt and penalty of sin needs also to be saved from the reigning power of sin. God alone can save in any case, and therefore deliverance from sin, weakness and failure is provided, not by human effort, but by the power of the indwelling Spirit; and is secured, not on the principle of works, but on the principle of faith. "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). Deliverance, too, is always and only a work of God. Sixth. The Work of God in Christian Growth. Too often Christian growth is confused with spirituality, or deliverance from the power of sin. A very immature believer, as to growth, may be delivered and be in the full blessing of the Spirit. He has yet much to learn from experience and from the Word of God; but this need not limit his immediate blessing of heart and life. In fact only spiritual Christians grow. Carnality in life means perpetual babyhood in spirituality. "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18); "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18). Seventh. The Final Presenting Work of God. It is the final and consummating work of God to present the believer faultless before the presence of His glory to His own exceeding joy. It is promised that when we see Him we shall be "like him." We shall then be conformed to the image of the Son of God. No one will persuade himself that he will assist in this final transformation and translation. No more can any believer assist in any of these aspects of the work of God. Salvation is the work of God alone. It is from Him, by Him, and unto Him. In every stage of the development it is the work of God alone which can avail, and that work is now provided and offered in marvelous grace. Particular emphasis is needed at this point. Salvation is of God; and man’s responsibility is only that of being a recipient of it. Man is called upon to make only such personal adjustment to God as will place him in the normal position to receive the divine blessing. The undertaking is of such a character that man can contribute in no wise to its accomplishment. It aims to reproduce the very perfection of Christ Himself, which perfection would be ruined could man touch it. And it is all to the demonstration of the grace of God in the ages to come and hence, as certainly, precludes the thought of any complication with human merit, else the greatest motive of God which has been working from before the foundation of the world would be defeated, -- a contingency impossible in the light of revelation. According to the Scriptures, the human element is never included beyond the essential adjustment of man to the work of God. This human responsibility is always expressed in terms which suggest that man is the recipient of the benefits of the work of God. Some of these Bible terms are: "Believe," "Receive," "Faith," "By me if any man enter in," "Come unto me," "Whosoever will may come," "Whosoever calleth," "Turned to God," being "Reconciled to God." Thus it is seen that man is saved from the guilt and penalty of sin, not by expiating his own sins, but by believing in the One who has suffered in his stead. After he is thus saved, he is delivered from the power of sin in his daily life, not by anxious striving, but by yielding and by relying on the all-sufficient, indwelling Spirit. He will be saved from the presence of sin into the coming glory and likeness of Christ, not by any effort or human device, but by the power which wrought in Christ to raise Him from the dead, and by which he will be translated instantly from the earth to heaven. In every instance the divine responsibility is seen to be within the sphere of the actual accomplishment of the mighty undertaking; but man’s responsibility is in the sphere of the reception of that work. The whole transaction is free from every consideration of remuneration, barter, or trade. It is the love of God expressing itself in His gracious work for those who, within themselves, will ever be hopelessly undeserving and therefore eternally debtors to infinite grace. Salvation is the work of God for man; it is not the work of man for God. Salvation is the bestowal and actual impartation of eternal life; it is not the beauties and artificial imitations of ethical living. Salvation is the imputed righteousness of God; it is not the imperfect righteousness of man. Salvation is according to the faithful calling of God; it is not according to the fitful carefulness of man. Salvation is a divine reconciliation; it is not a human regulation. Salvation is the canceling of all sin, it is not the cessation from some sin. Salvation is being delivered from, and dead to, the law; it is not delighting in, or doing, the law. Salvation is divine regeneration; it is not human reformation. Salvation is being acceptable to God; it is not becoming exceptionally good. Salvation is completeness in Christ; it is not competency in character. Salvation is possessing every spiritual blessing; it is not professing any special betterment. Salvation is always and only of God. It is never of man. It is the unsearchable riches of Christ. It is unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. IV. THE GRACE OF GOD IS SOVEREIGN Not every member of the human family will be included in the glorious, grace-revealing company of the redeemed in heaven. Nothing is more clearly taught in the Scriptures than this; but the salvation of those who are being gathered into that company, it is revealed, will be according to the sovereign purpose of God, and not according to any merit in the individual. There are two fields of divine undertaking wherein the work of God stands alone: (1) The creation of the universe and (2) the redemption of sinners. Certain aspects of work, however, are entrusted to men. They are appointed to preach the Gospel to the lost, to edify the saints by teaching, and to cooperate in the gathering and care of the assemblies of believers. Yet even this human service is impotent apart from the enabling power of the Spirit of God. So, also, while God is sovereign in the salvation of men, He has allowed sufficient latitude within the larger circles of His unalterable purpose for the exercise of the human will. "Whosoever will may come." This is the invitation to the unsaved. Likewise He addresses the believer concerning the possible blessings of a Spirit-filled life by such words of human responsibility as "yield," "reckon," and "confess." It is equally revealed in the Scriptures that such action of the human will is never apart from the divine enablement. God must move the heart of the unsaved: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him" (John 6:44). He must move the heart of the saved as well: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Php 2:13). There is no Biblical ground for the theory that even the minutest detail of the eternal purpose of God will ever be uncertain because of a supposed unanticipated action of the human will. God cannot be disappointed, defeated, or surprised. The glorious company of the redeemed will, therefore, be gathered according to an "election of grace." Two out-standing facts are disclosed in the Scriptures in regard to the attitude of God toward this world: (1) Back of the secondary question of the human choice for which man is held responsible, is the more important fact that God has permitted men to be born and live who He as certainly knows will reject His grace with all the woe that their choice entails. Thus there is no escape from the fundamental fact of the sovereignty of God by emphasizing the superficial issues of a human choice. And (2) God is under the compelling force of His own boundless love to be the Saviour of all men. He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Thus, if divine love for a lost -world can form any incentive in the heart of God, according to the Scriptures, there is formed an equal incentive toward all. These statements are seemingly contradictory one to the other, and the solution of the problem they present is never found in seeking to minimize the one in the hope of preserving the other. Theological systems have been developed, made their appeal, and failed at this very point. The solution of the problem is never found in the range of human reason; it is perfectly solved in the range of divine righteousness. Being unable to penetrate the infinite issues involved, man may rest on the absolute righteousness of God. The glorified saint, looking back over the steps of the divine accomplishment, will then see that all God did was right. Here faith alone can minister rest to the soul. The consummation of the age will be seen to be according to infinite wisdom, love, and power. It will be to the eternal satisfaction of God whose tender heartedness is boundless and whose justice can never be diminished. It will be all-satisfying to His saints; for it is declared that they will be "satisfied" when they awake in His likeness. The Gospel of the grace of God is to be preached to all men with an appeal to their will. The result will be a selection and election according to sovereign grace. It will be in absolute accord with infinite goodness, and the result will be to His own exceeding joy. Every form of evangelism which tends to force the decision of the will beyond the sovereign movements of the Spirit on the hearts of men is fraught with infinite perils. No emphasis on the importance of preaching the Gospel of grace in its purity can be too strong. Biblical preaching must present saving grace with no admixtures of limitations because of human sin, human obligation, or human merit. Only thus can there be the fullest cooperation of the Spirit of God, and only thus can the messenger be saved from the unrevoked anathema which is pronounced (Galatians 1:8-9) on all those who pervert the Gospel of the grace of God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 26: 03.03. SAFE-KEEPING BY GRACE ======================================================================== CHAPTER III. SAFE-KEEPING IN GRACE NOT only is the believer said to be saved by grace, but he is said to "stand" in grace. The word stand, as used in the New Testament, gives expression to the thought of continuing and enduring, and to "stand" in grace is to abide unchanged, to endure, and to continue in grace. We read: "We have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand" (Romans 5:2), and, "This is the true grace of God wherein ye stand" (1 Peter 5:12). The continued exercise of divine grace toward the Christian is the one and only basis upon which he may hope to endure; for, as certainly as grace is the one and only basis upon which God can save a meritless sinner, so certainly grace alone is the basis upon which God can righteously keep him saved. Having begun in the Spirit, or wholly in the power and grace of God, there is no hope for continuance to be found in the flesh, or the resources of human strength. Human ability can no more maintain a right standing before God than it can attain such a standing. Since the application of divine grace for the salvation of the sinner precedes, in point of time, the application of that grace for the keeping of the one who is saved, it is perhaps permissible to contemplate the operation of divine grace in a two-fold classification-the grace which saves, and the grace which keeps. But, on the other hand, an over-emphasis of this two-fold classification is misleading in the extreme; for in no sense are there two efforts, or operations, of divine grace. The keeping ministry of God in grace is but the realization of that which is purposed, programmed, and wholly provided for in His saving ministry in grace. In reality, God offers no saving ministry of grace which does not include and guarantee His keeping ministry of grace. The varied operations of divine grace in behalf of the sinner which contemplate his every need to the end of eternity are one indivisible purpose of God. The wholly artificial, two-fold classification of the ministries of grace into that which saves, and that which keeps, has been emphasized by certain theological systems. These systems, while professing to believe in the doctrine of salvation by grace, ignore or repudiate at the same time, the doctrine of the keeping power of God through grace. The promoters of these systems have contended that God in grace might save a sinner for the moment; but the endurance in that salvation would, of necessity, be conditioned on human merit and works. In other words, the saved one would remain saved only as long as he remained good. Such a conception of saving grace is so far removed from the fundamental ground upon which all grace must be based, that it must be concluded that the framers and supporters of these doctrines have in no sense discovered the true character of saving grace and are, therefore, unable to advance on the true lines of revelation which lead to the perfectly secured consummation of all saving grace. This consummation is no less than the keeping of the saved one throughout all time and eternity. Multitudes who have been trained in these false doctrines are saved, but they are saved in spite of their doctrines, and those who are saved have in every case been kept from the moment they were saved; not because they remained good, but because of the fact that unmerited favor is provided for every one who is saved by grace. Since there is a difference as to time of application of the indivisible operations of divine grace and since certain theological systems have forced this division to the point of an avowed belief and confidence toward the grace which saves, and to the point of avowed disbelief and discredit toward the grace which keeps, grace will be treated throughout this and remaining chapters as though it were subject to this two-fold classification. The fact that God keeps the saved one on a grace principle alone has been anticipated already in the preceding chapters; but turning to a more specific consideration of the fact and force of divine grace as related to the keeping power of God, the subject may be given a three-fold classification: (1) The keeping power of God through grace is included in every consideration of the principles of grace. (2) The keeping power of God through grace is implied in every revelation wherein is presented the truth that grace reaches into the coming ages for its consummation. (3) The keeping power of God through grace is seen in the manifold provisions and safeguards which He has made to that end. These three viewpoints of the keeping power of divine grace are essential. I. THE KEEPING POWER OF GOD THROUGH GRACE IS INCLUDED IN EVERY CONSIDERATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF GRACE If God has found a way whereby He can righteously save hell-deserving, meritless sinners, apart from all complications with human resources or limitations, He has, by the continued application of those principles, found a way whereby, without reference to merit or demerit, the saved one can be kept saved to the ages of the ages. This, though most reasonable, is purely a question of divine revelation, and, therefore its consideration should not be influenced by rationalistic systems of thought. From observation of the natural workings of the human mind, it may be concluded that it is a greater test of faith for the individual to repose on the keeping power of God through grace, than it is to repose on the saving power of God through grace; yet, as has been stated, to have accepted the true grace principles in salvation is to be committed to those selfsame principles which, in turn, form the very basis of the keeping power of God through grace. To restate, -- The basis upon which God can exercise grace in the salvation of the sinner is three-fold: (1) There must be the disposal of every condemnation which divine righteousness could impose because of sin. This has been perfectly accomplished in the cross of Christ. (2) There must be a disposal of every human obligation. This has been provided in the offer of salvation to man as a gift from God. And, (3) there must be a disposal of all human merit. This has been supplied by the divine decree which places the whole world "under sin" before God. If these great principles of grace, which belong to salvation, shall be applied and continued to the believer after he is saved, there is formed thereby, the same righteous freedom for the infinite love of God to be exercised to its own satisfaction in the eternal keeping of the one who has been saved. With more specific reference to these three principles in grace, it may be observed: First. There must be the Disposal of Every Condemnation which Divine Righteousness could Impose Because of Sin. Since the problem of the keeping power of God is related only to the believer, the crucial question which is confronted at this point may be stated thus: Are the sins which Christians commit after they are saved divinely judged and disposed of in the cross equally with the sins of the unsaved? The Scripture is clear on this point: "And he is the propitiation for our [Christians] sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world"; "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us [Christians] from all sin" (1 John 1:7 1 John 2:2). To these passages may be added all the Scripture which contemplates the universality of the efficacious death of Christ for sin; for sin is sin in any and every case, whether it be committed by the saved or the unsaved, and it can be cured only by the precious blood of the Son of God. All sin taken together formed the unmeasurable burden which was laid on Him. The supposition that the sins of Christians were excluded from the redeeming work of Christ, can be entertained only without serious thought. Equally erroneous is the supposition that God does not deal judicially with the Christian’s sins until they are committed. Every sin that humanity -- saved or unsaved -- had committed, or ever would commit, was dealt with in perfect divine judgment by Christ at the cross. He was God’s Lamb that "taketh away the sin of the world." Being universal, this divine judgment contemplated the sin of the saved as much as the sin of the unsaved. As certainly, then, as grace may be extended to the unsaved on the basis of the fact that Christ has already borne the condemnation of his sin, so certainly grace may be extended and continued to the saved on the basis of the fact that Christ has already borne the condemnation of the Christian’s sin. In this dispensation, the unsaved are not said to be condemned primarily because of their sins which Christ has borne; they are condemned because they do not believe on Christ who bore their sins. "He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). In like manner, the Christian will never be condemned because of the sin which Christ has borne. So, also, the Christian, having accepted Christ, can never be condemned for lack of saving faith. It is therefore said: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that hath sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1; R. V.). "He that believeth on him is not condemned" (John 3:18). By this Scripture it is seen that the cross of Christ is the foundation of the Christian’s eternal security and standing in grace; but it should never be disassociated from the supplementary, though wholly unrelated, truth that God, while never condemning either the saint or the sinner because of sin, since Christ has died, does undertake, upon an entirely different basis, to safeguard the Christian from every practice of sin, and He chastens, where there is need, as only a righteous Father can do. Does sin unsave the Christian? This is a fair question, and if it be answered in the affirmative, there are but two possible positions in which the Christian might stand: he must, at a given time, be either sinlessly perfect, or a lost soul. There could be no intermediate ground. The true reply to this important question will be found (1) in the Scriptures and (2) in human experience. 1. Revelation not only infers, but directly states that Christians sin. It also presents the cure for such sin, which, it may be added, is wholly different from that which is provided for the cure of the sins of the unsaved. This body of truth, both directly and indirectly, constitutes a very large proportion of the Epistles of the New Testament; for the Epistles are written to believers only, and disclose both the believer’s eternal standing and his present state before God. This message, while plainly declaring that Christians do sin, as plainly declares that Christians are not condemned. This seeming moral inconsistency is not adjusted by blindly supposing the Christian to be lost because of his sin; it is adjusted by that higher morality made possible through the death of Christ, which, alas, too few have comprehended or acknowledged, either for their salvation or keeping. 2. Human experience also testifies to the indisputable fact that Christians do remain saved in spite of their evident imperfections and sin. This fact must not be slighted. Christians are now standing, and the continuance of any Christian as such for an hour, or a moment, is a final proof that there is some divine provision for their keeping; for in no sense could it reasonably be supposed that they are standing in any goodness or perfection of their own. The fact that they are now standing, is final proof, also, that they are neither lost when they sin, nor sinless when they remain saved. They are, rather, "kept through the power of God," and that power is not only directly exercised in their behalf; but it has been made righteously free to act through the shed blood of the Lamb of God. Sin does not overcome the blood; it is blood that overcomes sin. Thus grace is extended toward the believer for time and eternity, not on the ground of impossible perfection, nor by slighting the fact of sin; it is extended to him because it is the Father’s good pleasure to keep His child, and the Father is unconditionally free to do this through the blood that has been shed. Second. There Must be a Disposal of Every Human Obligation. It is most evident from the Scriptures that every human work has been set aside and salvation is now offered to men, only as the gift of God. There are no payments to be made, past, present, or future; else grace is no longer grace. This fact is the second foundation principle of grace as grace is exercised toward the sinner. This aspect of divine favor is equally effective when grace is exercised toward the Christian. Do Christians pay their way, or do they, by their good lives and service, make it imperative for God to keep them saved? The answer is evident. There could be no peace of heart under such relations to God. Who could ever assure himself that he had accomplished all his Christian duty, or complied with all the demands found in the holy ideals of God? Who can repay God for the riches of His grace? To attempt to do so, is to place a sordid value on the priceless treasures of heaven’s glory. God proposes to keep every believing soul, for He has said, "I will in no wise cast out." But His keeping will not be on a basis of exchange wherein Christian faithfulness, as important as it is, will be made the purchasing medium of the measureless goodness and blessing of God. He will keep by grace alone. Third. There Must be a Disposal of Every Human Merit. Through the divine decree, as has been seen, every human merit has been set aside in order that pure grace might reign unchallenged and uncomplicated. That salvation might be by grace alone, God has removed every possible conflicting issue which might arise because of human merit. The whole human family is now "under sin"; for only thus are they objects of pure grace. Such grace can be exercised only toward the meritless. Salvation is based on the loving goodness of God and never on the supposed worthiness of the sinner. In like manner, God is now equally free to continue the exercise of His boundless grace toward the Christian without reference to the Christian’s merit. All that the love of God may prompt Him to do in grace, He is free to do. His unconditional covenant of eternal blessings is the guaranty of His abiding purpose. This leads to the consideration of the second classification: II. THE KEEPING POWER OF GOD THROUGH GRACE IS IMPLIED IN EVERY REVELATION WHEREIN IS PRESENTED THE TRUTH THAT GRACE REACHES UNTO THE COMING AGES FOR ITS CONSUMMATION Through the cross of Christ, which has dealt with sin, and through His decree against all human obligation and merit as related to salvation, God is righteously free to preserve His child forever. And since His supreme purpose in all the ages will not be realized until the sinner is saved, transformed into the image of Christ, and lifted up to the highest glory, He will continue the exercise of His grace toward every believer until the divine objective is consummated. How perfectly He has delivered Himself from every limitation! How absolutely gracious are all His ways with those whom He saves! And how irresistible in His purpose and power! The great covenant promises of salvation are not limited to the moment when the sinner accepts the saving grace that is in Christ Jesus; they all reach on and guarantee every step of the way from the first moment of faith to the last moment of fruition. Even the word salvation, in its largest Biblical meaning, covers all that is past, all that is present, and all that is future, in the out-working of the grace of God for the one who believes. "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Php 1:6). "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). In the great promises of grace there is no measurement as to time, nor any human condition imposed other than believing. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power [right] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (John 1:12). "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3:36). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). "And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Romans 1:16). "That he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:26). "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10:4). Such is the unalterable and unconditional covenant of God in grace. III. THE KEEPING POWER OF GOD THROUGH GRACE IS INDICATED BY THE MANIFOLD PROVISIONS AND SAFE-GUARDS WHICH HE HAS MADE TO THAT END The eternal purposes of God in grace can never fail since He has anticipated and provided for every emergency that could arise. Some of these provisions are: First. The Power of God. His power, which is supreme, is ceaselessly engaged in the keeping of His own unto the realization of His eternal purpose. Able is the great New Testament word that is used to indicate the omnipotent power of God. By use of this word, God is said to be of sufficient power to do whatever is predicated of Him. "My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man [nothing] is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand" (John 10:29). "For I am persuaded, 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 [created being], shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). 1 (It should be observed that there is no reference in this list either to things past, or to sin, as having possible power to separate the believer from God. The past and all sin is under the blood and, therefore, not even to be considered.) "Who art thou that thou judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand" (Romans 14:4). And God "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20). "According to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself" (Php 3:21). "For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Timothy 1:12). "For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted" (Hebrews 2:18). "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost [without end] that come unto God by him" (Hebrews 7:25). "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24). "And being fully persuaded that, what he has promised, he was able to perform" (Romans 4:21). "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). Second. The Love of God. Not only is God able to do according to His eternal purpose, but His love as a supreme motive will never fail. "Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end" (without end, John 13:1). "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life" (Romans 5:8-11). As he loved the unsaved enough to give His Son to die for them, even when they were "yet without strength" and "enemies"; "Much more then, being now justified by his blood" and "reconciled," they shall be "saved from wrath through him," and "saved by his life." Such is the unchangeable love of God. "Much more" than His love for the "enemies," which drew out the unspeakable gift of His Son, is His love for His own who are now "justified" and "reconciled." So, also, there is a boundless assurance as to the future: "saved from wrath through him," which points to the unchangeable position of the believer "in Christ," and "saved by his life" which points to the living presence and ministry of Christ in glory. With such provisions, God’s love can know no disappointment concerning those whom He has saved in grace. Third. The Prayer of the Son of God. Christ prayed while here on earth: "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou bast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition." "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word" (John 17:9-12, John 17:15, John 17:20). It is wholly impossible that any prayer of the Son of God should be unanswered. Too much emphasis cannot be placed on this assuring fact. While the "son of perdition," who was never saved, was lost that, in his case, "the Scripture might be fulfilled," the Son of God could say of the saved ones: "And none of them is lost." Thus, since He has prayed, as well, for "them also which shall believe on me through their word," He will yet say, of all believers: "And none of them is lost," and in the same manner will the Scriptures be fulfilled in the presentation of every saved one in glory. As Christ began to pray for his own while He was yet here in the world, so He has continued to pray for them, and will continue to pray for them, in heaven: "Seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). Who can measure the security of the children of God when they are the objects of the ceaseless intercession of the Son of God, whose prayer can never be denied? Fourth. The Substitutionary Death of the Son of God. The death of the Son of God is the sufficient answer to the condemning power of sin; even as sin appears before the righteous throne of God. Not even the unsaved are now condemned because of sin which Christ has borne; how much more are the saved free from condemnation through the death of Christ! Thus the Holy Spirit boldly inquires: "Who is he that condemneth?" The answer He also gives: "It is Christ that died"; "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus"; "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." The eternal purpose of God in grace is assured through the death of the Son of God. Fifth. The Resurrection of the Son of God. When he is saved, every believer partakes of the resurrection life of the Son of God. He receives a new life from God. It is the gift of God which is eternal life, and it is "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Speaking of this imparted life, Christ said: "I am come that they might have life," and, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." So, again, "I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish" (John 3:36; John 10:10, John 10:28). It is the imperishable life of the eternal Son of God which is imparted to every believer. God never gave this gift in blindness, not knowing what might be the future character of the one He thus saved. He knew the end from the beginning. He anticipated every failure and sin; yet, through Christ, He can assure us that, having received the gift of eternal life, we shall never perish. According to the unalterable gift of eternal life, made possible through the death and resurrection of the Son of God, the purposes of God in grace are secured. Sixth. The Present Advocacy of the Son of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is now "appearing" in the presence of the Father as Advocate for every one who is saved by grace. As Advocate, He is concerned with the actual sins of the Christian. He is not there before the Father making excuses for their sins, nor is He imploring the Father to be merciful; He is rather presenting His own blood before that throne as the answer to the condemnation of every sin. "If any man sin, we [Christians] have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1). In Romans 8:34; assurance is given by four great facts that the child of God will never be condemned. One of these is that Christ "is even at the right hand of God." To the same purpose it is declared in Hebrews 9:24; that "Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." In view of the presence of the Advocate before the Father’s throne, meeting the force of every sin, even meeting the challenge of Satan who is there to accuse the brethren night and day before God (Revelation 12:10), there can be no doubt remaining as to the realization of the eternal purposes of God in grace. Seventh. The Intercession, or Shepherdhood, of the Son of God. The intercession of Christ extends beyond His present ministry of prayer for the saved, which has just been considered, and includes, as well, His shepherd-care over them. As Shepherd, He is guarding their path against the snares of the evil one, and guiding their feet in the ways of His blessing and peace. Peter knew nothing of the fact that Satan had designs against him, or that Christ had anticipated those designs and had prayed for him. All this was revealed to him when Christ said: "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you [obtained thee by asking], that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" (Luke 22:31-32). Peter’s ignorance of that which had transpired in heaven concerning him did not change the fact that he was, nevertheless, under the shepherd-care of Christ the Lord. So it is at every moment concerning the child of God. As Shepherd and Intercessor, Christ is now the High Priest in heaven for His own. The priesthood ministry of the old dispensation was continually interrupted by the dying of the priests; but this Priest -- Christ -- hath an "unchangeable priesthood," and that is assured because "he continueth ever" -- Christ will never die again. His priesthood will never cease. Because of this it is also said: "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost [without end] that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:23-25). He will save them as long as He lives, which is forever. David, too, had learned of the shepherd-care of his Lord: for he said, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." His confidence concerning the future which is expressed by the words, "I shall not want," is that which is even more to be expected in the believer of this dispensation, who has all the added revelation regarding the present ministry of Christ in heaven. The instructed believer is thus made certain that the eternal purposes of God in grace will never fail. Eighth. The Regenerating Work of the Spirit. By the regenerating work of the Spirit the believer is made a legitimate child of God. God being actually his Father, he is impelled by the Spirit to say, "Abba, Father." Being born of God, he has partaken of the "divine nature," and, on the ground of that birth, he is an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ (John 1:13; John 3:3-6; Titus 3:4-6; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 3:9). The impartation of a nature is an operation so deep that the nature thus imparted is never said to be removed for any cause whatsoever. This statement may be verified from the Scriptures. The vital fact of relationship through birth is never said to be disannulled. Thus, again, the fulfillment of the eternal purpose of God in grace is to be anticipated with unwavering confidence. Ninth. The Spirit’s Indwelling. The fact that the Spirit of God now indwells every believer may also be verified from the Word of God (John 7:37-39; Romans 5:5; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 John 3:24). It is also clearly revealed that the Spirit has come to "abide" in the heart He has once entered. This abiding presence of the Spirit is in answer to the prayer of the Son of God, which prayer cannot be unanswered. "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever" (John 14:16). The Christian may "grieve," and "quench" (resist) the Spirit; but there is no Scripture which teaches that the Spirit will be grieved away, or quenched away. So long as the Spirit indwells, the eternal purposes of God in grace are sure, and He must abide forever. Tenth. The Baptism with the Spirit. The Christian has been so vitally united to Christ by the baptism with the Spirit that he is said to be "in Christ," and Christ is said to be "in" the believer. According to the Scriptures, there is no other meaning to the baptism with the Spirit than this (1 Corinthians 12:13). Thus, being placed by the Spirit in organic union with Christ, the believer is related to Christ as the branch is to the vine, or as a member of the human body is to its living head. Because of this most vital union to Christ through the baptism with the Spirit, the believer is said to be a partaker in all that Christ is, all that Christ has done, and all that Christ will ever do. This is a limitless theme since it opens before one the eternal realities of an unchangeable identification with Christ. One of these eternal realities is "the imputed righteousness of God." This garment in which every believer is now clothed. and because of which he is now, and will be forever, accepted before God, is reckoned unto him because he is "in Christ": "That we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21); "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us ... righteousness" (1 Corinthians 1:30); "That I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, ... but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Php 3:8-9). "In him" we are made nigh through the blood of Christ, and we are "made accepted in the beloved." There is a righteousness from God which is unto all and upon all who believe (Romans 3:22). This is the imputed righteousness of God. It covers the Christian, because he is "in Christ," and God sees him only as Christ is seen. Being "in Christ" he is in God’s sight what Christ is. This position is that of being accepted as a living member in the body, of which Christ is the living Head. God sees the member only in the body of His Son. As long, then, as Christ abides and is Himself what He is-the very righteousness of God-, so long the member of His body will abide under the imputed righteousness of God. Thus the eternal purposes of God in grace are certain through the baptism with the Spirit. Eleventh. The Sealing with the Spirit. Likewise, every believer is now sealed with the Spirit. The immediate value of this accomplishment seems to be more for the sake of God, than for the sake of the believer. This particular ministry is mentioned only three times in the New Testament; but it is of vital import: "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts" (2 Corinthians 1:22); "Having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1:13; R. V.) "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). It is also said of Christ that He was sealed of the Father (John 6:27. Cf Isaiah 42:1). The sealing of the believer with the Spirit is "unto the day of redemption." It is the very presence of the Spirit in the heart. He is the Seal. The thing accomplished by His sealing is so vital and enduring that it precludes the possibility of interruption or deflection. Thus, as for reasons given above, the eternal purposes of God in grace are to be received without distrust, because of the sealing with the Spirit. Twelfth. The New Covenant made in His Blood. The several great covenants into which God has been pleased to enter with men are either conditional covenants, or unconditional covenants. A covenant is conditional whenever it is made to depend at any point on the faithfulness of man. The law as given by Moses was a conditional covenant. Its terms might be stated in the words, "If ye will do good, I will bless you." On the other hand, a covenant is unconditional when it stands as a simple declaration from God as to what He purposes to do, and without relation to the faithfulness, or unfaithfulness, of man. The Abrahamic, Covenant (Genesis 12:1-4; Genesis 13:14-17; Genesis 15:1-7; Genesis 17:1-8) is an unconditional covenant. It will be seen that God relied at no point on the character or conduct of Abraham. He simply declared to Abraham what He purposed to do. This was based on Abraham’s faith; but not on Abraham’s faithfulness. The covenant was, and is, assured through the faithfulness of God alone. In like manner, the New Covenant made in His blood, by which every Christian is now related to God, is an unconditional covenant. It is God’s declaration of what He proposes to do for the one who places his faith in Christ. Belief in Christ, it should be noted, is not a condition within the covenant; it is the one condition of entrance into the covenant. Turning to the great promises of the keeping of God through grace, it will be discovered that they are always unconditional. These promises are made to depend only on the goodness and faithfulness of God. As a fruitage of the saved life, good works are closely related to the Christian’s life under God, and are the ground of all future rewards; but human works, as important as they are, do not enter as a condition into either the divine plan of salvation by grace, or of divine keeping through grace. This, too, may be verified from the Word of God. Three very brief and unconditional promises of eternal security are here given: "I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37); "They shall never perish" (John 10:28); and, "shall not come into condemnation" (John 5:24). Under such unconditional promises the eternal purposes of God in grace may be received with unwavering confidence. Certain passages, it should be noted, have been interpreted by some writers to teach that, in spite of this overwhelming body of revelation concerning the purpose and power of God in grace, the Christian who is truly saved might be lost again. The passages are worthy of careful consideration but such consideration cannot be entered into here. (See author’s book Salvation for extended analysis of these passages.) Scripture does not present a contradiction, and, as must be concluded from what has gone before, it will be found upon careful examination of these Scriptures, considering their context and dispensational character, that there is no Scripture which lessens the force, or discredits the revelation, concerning the eternal purposes of God in grace. Salvation by grace is, then, the indivisible whole of God’s redeeming purpose in Christ and that which rescues a sinner from the lowest depths of human standing, and transforms, preserves, and presents that sinner in the highest eternal glory. At infinite cost, God has made Himself free to do all of this. His unmeasured love will suffer Him to do no less in behalf of every one who comes to Him through His Son. Divine grace is God’s all. It is the expression of the last degree of His love. In no sense could He exercise a part of His grace. It must be all or none. He must save perfectly for all time and eternity, or not at all. There is no other salvation offered in the Word of God. Failure to trust in Christ alone is disclosed when salvation is supposed to depend on anything other than believing in Christ, and when security is made to depend at any point whatsoever on human faithfulness. Men are saved and kept in sovereign grace through simple faith in Christ alone. This is the heart of the Gospel of divine grace. If any other Gospel than his be preached, it must fall under the unrevoked anathema of God (Galatians 1:8-9). The zeal engendered by modern religious movements which are even accompanied with signs and wonders is no guaranty of sound doctrine. The enthusiasts responsible for these movements almost universally deny that salvation is by simple faith in Christ, and that the grace of God will keep those who are saved as His own forever. Those who discredit the absolute reign of grace in the salvation and keeping of a soul, should ponder well the fact that there is no other way of salvation. We have thus complete evidence that the eternal purposes of God in grace are unalterable, since His keeping power through grace is included in every consideration of the principles of grace, His keeping power is implied in every revelation in which is presented the truth that grace reaches into the coming ages for its consummation, and His keeping power is indicated by the manifold provisions and safeguards which He has made to that end. Should His eternal purpose fail by the slightest degree, the object of salvation, the object of the death and resurrection of Christ, and the object of creation itself, will have failed. It shall not fail; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 27: 03.04. THE LIFE UNDER GRACE ======================================================================== CHAPTER IV. The Life under Grace Introductive The salvation in grace which God accomplishes for those who believe includes, among other things, the placing of the saved one in position as a son of God, a citizen of heaven, and a member of the family and household of God; and, since every position demands a corresponding manner of life, it is to be expected that a rule of conduct as exalted as heaven itself will be committed to the believer. This is precisely what we find; for grace not only provides a perfect salvation and eternal keeping for the one who believes on Christ; but grace provides, as well, the instruction for the daily life of the one who is saved, while he is being kept through the power of God. This instruction for the daily life, it will be found, is a particular revelation from God to Christians only. As it is wholly gracious in character, it is entirely separate from, and independent of, any other rule of life which is found in the Word of God. The Bible, being the one Book from God for all people of all the ages, contains the detailed expression of the will of God concerning the manner of life of various dispensational classes of people as they are related to God in different periods of time, and under the several corresponding covenants. Among these revelations, is the rule of conduct regarding the daily life of those who are saved by grace in this dispensation which occupies the time between the cross and the second coming of Christ. This gracious rule of life is complete in itself and stands alone in the Scriptures, disassociated from any other and uncomplicated. It is the teachings of grace. The remainder of this discussion will be occupied, in the main, with the identification and application of the extended body of Scripture relative to the teachings of grace. The value of knowing this revelation cannot be estimated, (1) because no Christian may hope to live well-pleasing to God who does not know the facts of the revealed will of God for his daily life, and (2) because appalling ignorance exists on every hand concerning these vital truths and distinctions of the Word of God. No careful reader of the New Testament can fail to observe the fact that doctrinal strife obtained at the very opening of the Christian dispensation. This controversy was concerned mainly with the question of whether law or grace furnishes the governing principle for Christian conduct. Although the New Testament contains specific and lengthy warnings against both the legalizers and their teachings, and their systems are therein proven to be opposed to the doctrines of pure grace, their successors from generation to generation to the present time have ever sought to discredit the grace of God. Their messages, though steeped in error, have often exhibited great zeal and sincerity; but zeal and sincerity, greatly to be desired when well directed, fail utterly in God’s sight as substitutes for a consistent presentation of the truth. The only hope of deliverance from the false doctrines of legalizing teachers is through unprejudiced consideration of the exact revelations of Scripture. This examination of the Scriptures should be free from a blind following of the teachings of men, and should be made with a heart willing to receive "reproof" and "correction" from the Word of God as well as "instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). Only the one to whom these teachings are crystal clear can appreciate the transcendent value of understanding the teachings of grace. In presenting this introductory consideration of the extensive theme of the teachings of grace, it is necessary in some instances to assume conclusions the fuller proof of which are taken up in subsequent treatments of the discussion. Likewise, in completing the various lines of argument, repetition at certain points is unavoidable. THE LIFE UNDER GRACE (continued) SECTION ONE GRACE PROVIDES A PARTICULAR RULE OF LIFE In Titus 2:11, we read: "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 [age]; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Two widely different ministries of grace are set forth in this passage: First, the grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men. This, it is clear, refers to the saving grace of God which has come into the world by Christ Jesus, and is now to be proclaimed to all men. It is a message for all men, since its provisions are universal and its invitation is to "whosoever will." Grace upon grace is bestowed both now and unto the consummation of the ages upon those who believe. Second, the passage reveals, as well, that it is the same grace which has brought salvation to all men, that teaches "us." The word us, it should be observed, does not refer to the wider class of all men mentioned before; but it refers only to the company of those who are saved. The importance of this distinction is evident; for whatever grace proposes to teach, its teachings are addressed only to those who are saved by grace. This qualifying aspect of the teachings of grace is not limited to this one passage, though that would suffice; it is an out-standing characteristic of the whole body of grace teachings as they appear throughout the New Testament. These teachings, being addressed to Christians only, are never intended to be imposed on the Christ-rejecting individual, or the Christ-rejecting world. This fact cannot be emphasized too forcibly. The word of God makes no appeal to the unsaved for a betterment of life. There is but one issue in this dispensation between God and the unregenerate man, and that is neither character nor conduct; it is the personal appeal of the Gospel of the grace of God. Until the unsaved receive Christ, who is God’s gift in grace, no other issue can be raised. Men may moralize among themselves, and establish their self-governments on principles of right conduct; but God is never presented in the unfoldings of grace as seeking to reform sinners. Every word regarding the quality of life is reserved for those who are already rightly related to Him on the greater issues of salvation. Could it be demonstrated that God has made the slightest moral appeal to the unregenerate other than that which is implied in the Gospel invitation, then it must be admitted that, should that moral appeal be complied with by any individual, that individual would have moved nearer to God. The works of man would become meritorious, and thereby a third classification of humanity would be created, standing somewhere between those who are "under sin" and those who are "in Christ," or "under grace." In this age, no such intermediate group of people is possible. If such a class existed, they could not be saved; for they would no longer be fit objects of grace. Men are either lost and condemned "under sin," or wholly and eternally saved by grace in Christ Jesus. The common practice of presenting the great standards of Christian living indiscriminately to mixed congregations by preaching, and to people in general through public print, is a tragedy of infinite proportions. If the unsaved are present when the teachings of grace are discussed, there should be a Gospel appeal made by which the unsaved are classified and excluded from any share in those teachings. Apart from this appeal, it is impossible to save the unregenerate from receiving the impression that God is now seeking their reformation before He seeks their regeneration. Nothing is more wholesome for the unsaved than lovingly to be reminded that they, according to the Word of God, have no part in the Christian life, and that they are shut up to the acceptance of Christ. Saving results are sure to follow the continued, clean-cut, discriminating preaching of the Word in its right application to both the saved and the unsaved. It is alarming to the unsaved to be warned that they are lost until they receive Christ, and such faithful preaching, being the Truth of God, is owned and used of the Spirit of God. Nothing need be said here of the crime against high heaven which is committed by men who are purposely urging moral betterment on the unsaved in lieu of the Gospel of grace. The unrevoked anathema of God rests upon them; "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8-9). There is a possibility, however, that, through carelessness or ignorance, some, whose intentions are good, may make the same fatal error in presenting God’s Truth. As certainly as the exercise of pure grace is the supreme divine purpose unto the eternal glory, so certainly to hinder an understanding of that grace, or to mislead one soul by a misstatement, is the supreme blunder. How momentous is the practice of preaching and of personal work, both for those who hear and for those who speak! Well might the high crime of dealing damnation to the souls of men in the name of Christian preaching be treated, from a mere humanitarian view-point, with a thousand-fold greater penalty than the crime of dealing deadly poison to the bodies of men. Sinners are to be saved by grace. It is Satan’s device to complicate this simple fact with the lesser issues of Christian living. The teachings of grace, it will be found, comprise all of the teachings of the Epistles, the Acts, and also certain portions of the Gospels apart from their mere historical features. Returning to the passage already quoted from Titus, we discover that only a portion of the whole appeal of the teachings of grace are mentioned in this Scripture; but here the believer is taught that he is to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, godly, and looking for the personal return of his Lord from heaven. This describes a life of peculiar devotion and sweetness. Thus would God "purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." According to the Scriptures, Christians are confronted with a two-fold danger: On the one hand, they may go in the way of the irresponsible, careless sin of the Gentiles, or, on the other hand, they may go into the legality of the Jews. They may "walk as do the Gentiles," or they may "fall from grace." They are warned as much against the one mistake as against the other. The doctrines of grace may be so perverted that, while there is a holy horror of slipping into careless sin, it is deemed most pious to assume the cursing burden of law. The teachings of grace give equal warning against the sin of turning either in the way of Gentiles or in the way of the Jews. In discovering the fact and scope of the teachings of grace, it will be noted that, (1) The Christian’s daily life is to be directed only by the teachings of grace, (2) The law is excluded from the grace teachings of Christ, (3) The law is excluded from the teachings of the Apostles, and (4) The life and service of the Apostle Paul is an illustration of a life which is lived under grace. I. THE CHRISTIAN’S DAILY LIFE IS TO BE DIRECTED ONLY BY THE TEACHINGS OF GRACE In exact accord with the fact that Christians are to be governed only by the teachings of grace, the Biblical appeal in grace never contemplates an observance of the law. Through the death of Christ, the law is not only disannulled; but, as a rule of life) it is never mentioned, or included in the teachings of grace. It is rather excluded. The believer is to walk by a "rule," but that rule, it will be seen, is never an adaptation of the law (Cf Galatians 6:16; Php 3:16). This important fact should be carefully verified by the reading of all the Epistles. It is impossible to refer here to this extensive body of Scripture beyond a very few illustrative passages. In the following Scriptures, as in all grace teachings, the law, it will be found, is not once applied to believers: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another" (Romans 14:17-19). "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God" (Php 1:9-11). "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you" (Php 4:8-9). "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature [creation]. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God" (Galatians 6:14-16). "For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision but faith which worketh by love" (Galatians 5:5-6). "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets" (Romans 3:21). "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10:4). "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof" (Romans 13:14). "False brethren, ... who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you" (Galatians 2:4-5.) "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well" (Acts 15:28-29). "As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such things" (issues of the law. Acts 21:25). "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). By these passages, selected from the whole body of New Testament teaching concerning the believer’s walk in grace, it is seen that the teachings of grace do not include the precepts of the law as such; but that they exclude those precepts. However, no vital principle contained in the law is abandoned. It will be observed that these principles of the law are carried forward and are restated in the teachings of grace; not as law, but as principles which are revised, adapted, and newly incorporated in the issues of pure grace. II. THE LAW IS EXCLUDED FROM THE GRACE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST Concerning the admixture of the principles of law and grace, it will be seen that these principles are wholly separated in the teachings of Christ. Are Christians to keep the law as the rule of their conduct either because of a command from Christ, or because of the example of Christ? No light will be gained on these questions until the two-fold aspect of the ministry of Christ is distinguished. According to Romans 15:8-9, Christ was, first, "a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers"; and, second, "that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy." This two-fold distinction obtains at every point in the Gospels and Epistles. So, also, it obtains in the Old Testament types and prophecies relating to Christ. Christ sustained a particular and unique relation to the nation Israel as the One who fulfilled the great Messianic covenants given to that people. At the opening of His ministry He said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24); and when, at the same time, sending His disciples out with the Jewish message of "the kingdom of heaven," He instructed them, saying, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 10:5-7). As a Jew, and as the Consolation and Hope of Israel, He personally acknowledged, kept, taught, and enforced the law. As the Saviour and Hope of the world, He established the new manner of life and relationship which belongs to the believer under grace. Speaking to the Jewish ruler, Christ said: "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17). (In the Synoptic Gospels, life, it should be noted, is sometimes that aspect of divine blessing which is provided for those who enter the kingdom of heaven (Note Matthew 18:1-10; Matthew 25:31-46), and being somewhat different, should not be confused with the present gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. One was offered, and is yet to be granted, on the basis of faithful, law-keeping works: the other is gained only through the grace which is by Jesus Christ our Lord. One is provided for the age to come (Luke 15:30). The other is a present possession; for He has said: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3:36). True to the Jewish dispensation, He said with reference to the law of Moses: "This do and thou shalt live"; but when contemplating the cross and Himself as the bread come down from heaven to give His life for the world, He said: "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he [God] hath sent" (John 6:29). These opposing principles are not to be reconciled. They indicate that fundamental distinction which must exist between those principles that obtain in an age of law, on the one hand, and an age of grace, on the other hand. What interpretation should be given, then, to the word commandments as used by Christ or as related to Christ, according to the following passages: "If ye love me, keep my commandments"; "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me"; "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love"; "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments"; "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight"; "He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him"; "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments"; "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you"; and, "Blessed are they that do his commandments" (John 14:15, John 14:21; John 15:1-11; John 2:3 John 3:22, John 3:24; John 5:2; Matthew 28:20; Revelation 22:14)? Is Christ here requiring the commandments as given by Moses? In considering this crucial question, it should be noted that, when dealing with Jews as such, He gave no "commandments" of His own relative to the rule of their lives. He recognized only the law of Moses and the law of the kingdom. In matters of life-relation ship to God He said, "What readest thou in the law?"; but when He began to instruct those who were saved by grace through His cross, He began to announce what He was pleased to term "my commandments." This term is not found in all the Gospels until the record is given of His farewell words in the upper room on the night before His death (John 13:1-38, John 14:1-31, John 15:1-27, John 16:1-33, John 17:1-26). (Matthew 28:20 not only follows the cross, in point of time; but also follows the forty-days post-resurrection teaching concerning the kingdom of God as recorded in Acts 1:3.) This is most significant; for it is evident that the upper-room discourse was addressed, not to Israelites, but to those who were "clean" through the word He had spoken to them. In this portion of the Scriptures, the cross is treated as an accomplished fact (John 16:11; Cf John 12:31); the whole body of teaching is dated by Christ beyond the cross by the words, "And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe" (John 14:29); and, finally, the only reference to the law in this great message of the upper room is so stated as to place those Jews to whom He was speaking outside its authority: "But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their [not your] law" (John 15:25). The upper-room discourse is the genesis of the Epistles of the New Testament; for in it, in germ form, the great doctrines of grace are announced. The phrase my commandments is reserved until this grace-revelation, because this term refers to the teachings of grace, rather than to the law. Added proof that the term, my commandments, refers to the teachings of grace may be seen when the passages which indicate the character of His commandments are considered. Some of these are: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you"; "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you"; "And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave commandments"; "And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also"; "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous"; -- (This could not be said of the law of Moses; for of that law it is written: "Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" (Acts 15:10). Reference is here made to the law of Moses, and to place it on the children of grace is to "tempt God." It is an unbearable "yoke"; but Christ said, when anticipating the relationships of grace, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). Christians are not to be "entangled" with the "yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). So, also, the "old commandment" of 1 John 2:7 is, in 1 John 3:11; seen to be the same message of grace.) "I rejoice greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another." To this the Apostle Paul has added a testimony concerning the commandments of the Lord. By the testimony of Paul, the whole teaching of grace, as set forth by himself, is related to the commandments of the Lord: "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord"; "For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus"; "Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ" (John 13:34; John 15:12; John 13:23 John 4:21; John 5:3 John 4:1-54, John 5:1-47; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 1 Thessalonians 4:2; Galatians 6:2). The "commandments" of Christ are not, therefore, the law, or any aspect of the law; they rather constitute "the law of love," and "the perfect law of liberty." They enter into the teachings of grace as those teachings are set forth by Christ, and by those to whom He gave authority and commandment (Matthew 28:18; Acts 1:3; Luke 24:46-48; Hebrews 2:3-4). III. THE LAW IS EXCLUDED FROM THE TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES From the teaching of the Apostles it will be seen that the principles of law and grace are not to be mixed. There can be no question but that their teachings are exactly according to Christ’s message concerning grace. As an example, and in harmony with the teaching of all the Apostles, it may be observed that the Apostle Paul spoke by the authority of Christ (1 Timothy 1:1; Titus 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Galatians 1:11-12; Ephesians 3:1-11). It is equally evident that he contended only for the blessings of pure grace. At no point would he suffer the principle of law to intrude. The Jewish element in the early church was slow to abandon the law, and there is evidence that, by the provisions of men, a double-standard was suffered to exist for a time -- one, a legality for the Jews, and the other, pure grace for the Gentiles. This fact of a double standard is revealed in connection with the first council of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:19-21. Cf Acts 21:18-26); but the Apostle Paul never countenanced this double standard (Romans 1:16-17). The change from law to grace was revolutionary, and the age-long covenant of works did not readily yield to the new teachings of grace, nor has it wholly yielded to this day. There are some who, ignorant of the dispensational divisions of God’s Word, and seeking to qualify the clear grace teachings of the Apostle Paul, are encouraging themselves in legalism on the strength of the fact that Christ kept and vindicated the law in the days of His particular ministry to Israel. The teaching of these legalists is a circumvention of the whole revelation of divine grace. IV. THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE TEACHINGS OF GRACE The personal position and practice of the Apostle Paul is evidence that the principles of law and grace should not be mixed. The Spirit has prompted the Apostle to make a six-fold exhortation to believers to be followers of himself (1 Corinthians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 11:1; Php 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 2 Thessalonians 3:7, 2 Thessalonians 3:9). This appeal was warranted because his doctrine was revealed to him from Christ (Galatians 1:11-12; Ephesians 3:1-10), and was in fact, therefore, the very teachings of Christ; because he was an Apostle; and because his own attitude toward Judaism and his own experience was a living illustration of the power of a life in grace. The Epistles of Paul are an uncompromising protest against the intrusion of law, or any phase of law, into the reign of grace. Among very many Scriptures, there is one passage in particular which reveals the Apostle’s own position. Speaking of his hope of a reward because of faithful service, he proceeds to describe the details of that service. In this connection he is incidentally led to disclose his own position at that time, as compared to other possible positions before God. We read: "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ), that I might gain them that are without law" (1 Corinthians 9:19-21). These various relationships should be considered: First. "And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews." Was not the Apostle a Jew? Did he not make that his boast (Php 3:4-5)? He was a Jew by origin, birth, and training; but when he became saved by grace he passed over onto new ground where there "is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all" (Colossians 3:11). In like manner, Gentiles when saved, are no longer Gentiles in the flesh: "Wherefore remember, that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, ... now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:11-13). The new creation in Christ is in view here. Through the new birth by the Spirit, a new humanity is being formed, and, though drawn from both Jews and Gentiles, it is neither Jew nor Gentile; it is the Church of God -- the redeemed of all generations from Pentecost until the Lord returns for His own. According to the Scriptures, humanity is now classified under three major divisions: "Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God" (1 Corinthians 10:32). The Apostle made an effort to become "as a Jew, that he might gain the Jews." Thus he left his own position, as it were, to adapt himself to the position of the Jew. To what length he went, it is not revealed. As regarding himself, it is clear, however, that he everywhere disclaimed every Jewish relation to God. There are very many questions which might be discussed between a Jew and a Christian; but the Apostle passed these by that he might get to the heart of the Jew with the one issue of the Gospel of the grace of God. Second. "To them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law." While it is evident that the law was never addressed to any outside the one nation Israel, and also that, since the death of Christ, no Jew, Gentile, or Christian is now under the law either for justification, or as a rule of life (which statement will receive fuller proof at another place), there was a multitude of people in Paul’s day, both Jews and Christians, as there are today, who have placed themselves under the law. This does not suggest that God has placed them there, or that He recognizes them as standing in their self-imposed position. However, having assumed a position under law they are morally obligated to "do the whole law" in the interests of consistency. It is not a mere repetition, then, when the Apostle makes reference first to the Jews and then to those that are under the law. The important point to be observed here is that the Apostle did not consider himself to be under the law; for he represents himself as leaving his own position that he might approach the man who is under the law. What endless discussions might he have waged with the one who was under the law! He set all these questions aside that he might rather present the more vitally important blessings of grace. The supreme issue was not, and is not, one of correcting the outward life by the application of one rule or another: it was, and is, one of believing on Christ unto salvation by grace. When that is accomplished, and because of the very character of salvation, the saved one, of necessity, is subject only to the governing principles of grace. Third. "To them that are without law, as without law, ... that I might gain them that are without law." Thus the Apostle implies that, as to the rule of his life, he is not "without law." The class referred to as being "without law" is not the heathen to whom no missionary has ever gone; it refers, rather, to the great Gentile world to whom the law was never addressed. To these the Apostle went, acknowledging as he went, that he, as a Christian, had no part with the lawless and ungoverned. Fourth. "Not being without law to God, but under the law [literally, inlawed] to Christ." Here the Apostle reveals the exact truth as to his own relation to God as a Christian. It is unfortunate that the theological discussion which has proceeded on the supposition that a Christian must either be under the law of Moses, or else be absolutely lawless and ungoverned, could not have made place for the fact that there is a third ground of relationship to God which is neither the law of Moses, nor the ungoverned lawlessness of the world. To be "inlawed to Christ" is to be under the teachings of grace as a rule of life. These teachings include the "commandments" of Christ which are addressed to Christians as such in the upper room, and these "commandments" of Christ have been taken up, enlarged, and advanced, under the guidance of the Spirit in the book of the Acts and the Epistles of the New Testament. They constitute a separate and sufficient rule of life for the believer which is divinely adapted to his position in grace, and these great governing principles of grace are addressed to the believer alone, and not to the Christ-rejecting world. The message of God to the unsaved world is that they believe on the Saviour who is offered to them in limitless grace. The message to the saved is that they "walk worthy" of the calling wherewith they are called. THE LIFE UNDER GRACE (continued) SECTION TWO THE TEACHINGS OF THE LAW In seeking an understanding of the teachings of grace, it is necessary to give due consideration to the teachings of the law; for, according to the Scriptures, the latter, with its covenant of works, is the one principle which is opposed to the teachings of grace. The law may be considered in a three-f old way: (1) As to the meaning of the word law as used in the Bible; (2-) As to the relation the law sustains to the time of its reign; and, (3) As to the application of the law. I. AS TO THE MEANING OF THE WORD LAW AS USED IN THE SCRIPTURES The foundation of all divine law is the Person of God. What He requires is only the expression of what He is. Since He is holy, just and good, His ideals, standards and requirements must be holy, just and good. The ideals and ways of fallen men are, of necessity, far removed from these divine standards which reflect the character of God. Comparison of these two standards has ever demonstrated the measure of human failure. Throughout the history of God’s dealings with the world this comparison has brought into bold relief the unmeasured gulf which exists between God and man, between holiness and sin, and the complementary revelation of the divine compassion which led God to bridge that gulf. The word law, as commonly used, means a rule which regulates conduct. It naturally implies the adequate authority and power on the part of the law-giver for its enforcement, and the proper penalty to be inflicted in case of its violation. The use of the word in the Bible is, however, much wider than its common usage. At least a seven-fold use of the word law is found in the Word of God. First. The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments have the peculiar distinction of having been written by the finger of God on tables of stone. They are therefore the direct writings of God. They are themselves a crystallization of the entire law given to Moses. They are summarized by Christ when He said to the Jewish lawyer: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:36-40). The Apostle Paul summarized the law in two great statements: "Love is the fulfilling of the law"; and, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Romans 13:10; Galatians 5:14). So, also, James has written: "If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well" (James 2:8). In no sense is the law applied to the believer by these Scriptures; they merely imply that the law is fulfilled by the exercise of that love which is most vitally the duty of every child of God. That this limited declaration of commandments from God is termed "the law," is proven beyond question in Romans 7:7-14. In this passage the Apostle records: "I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." The same precept is also called a commandment; for he goes on to say: "But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence." Further, it is evident that the Decalogue is the heart of the law as the law is stated in the Old Testament. Particular emphasis is given to the fact that the Commandments are a part of the law, because there are those who teach that the whole law might be set aside without affecting the Ten Commandments. They claim that these commandments were never any part of the law, and, though the reign of the law ceased with the death of Christ, the binding authority of the Ten Commandments did not cease. The Bible teaches that the Commandments are a part of the law, and though their principles are restated under grace, the Commandments ceased to be the rule of conduct when Christ fulfilled the law, and it came to its end in Him. Second. The Whole System of Government for Israel in the Land The law in this larger aspect was divided into three major parts: 1. The Commandments, which were the revealed law of God relative to His righteous will. Of this revelation, the Decalogue was the center (Exodus 20:1-17). 2. The Judgments, which were the revealed law of God relative to the social life of Israel (Exodus 21:1-36, Exodus 22:1-31, Exodus 23:1-33, Exodus 24:1-11). 3. The Ordinances, which were the revealed will of God relative to the religious life of Israel (Exodus 24:12-18, Exodus 25:1-40, Exodus 26:1-37, Exodus 27:1-21, Exodus 28:1-43, Exodus 29:1-46, Exodus 30:1-38, Exodus 31:1-18). This three-fold governing system of law covered all divine requirements which were imposed on an Israelite in the land. The three divisions of the system were both interrelated and interdependent. This three-fold system provided its own instruction as to what was good, and its own prohibitions against that which was evil. In the prescribed sacrifices its own divine remedy was provided for the wrong committed. No other provision for a broken law has ever been disclosed to man than that of the animal sacrifices, and the final, and fulfilling sacrifice of the cross where every demand of the law was met forever. The projection of the Commandments into this dispensation disassociated from the ritual and sacrifices to which they are interrelated, is done with seeming plausibility only at the expense of one of the most vital dispensational distinctions in the Word of God. Third. The Kingdom Rule of Messiah The still future dispensation of the reign of Messiah, which will be the fulfillment of all God’s covenants with Israel, is to be a reign of pure law. This, it will be seen at a later point of the discussion, is proven both by the precise statements of Scripture, and by a careful study of the character of those injunctions which constitute the laws of the kingdom, and which find their application in the yet future dispensation of the kingdom. Fourth. The Whole Revealed Will of God for any Individual, or Nation, when Contemplated as a Covenant of Works which is to be Wrought in the Energy of the Flesh The essential principle of the law was embodied in the covenant of works. The divine blessing was conditioned on the performance of the entire law of God. Under the new covenant of grace, the undivided, undiminished, divine blessing is first bestowed by God’s favor, and by this bestowal, an obligation is created for a life corresponding to the divine blessing. When any work is undertaken for God by which it is hoped thereby to gain divine favor, that work is wrought of necessity on the basis of pure law. On the other hand, when any work is undertaken for God because it is recognized that divine favor and blessing already have been received, it is wrought in harmony with pure grace. Thus the highest ideal of grace if prostituted by the motive of securing divine favor, takes on the character of law. Moreover, the will of God for the daily life of the one who is perfectly saved in grace has been clearly revealed by extended and explicit injunctions, or beseechings. These injunctions and beseechings, being gracious and heavenly in character, anticipate the imparted and inwrought enabling power of the indwelling Spirit for their fulfillment. The covenant of grace is a covenant of faith. Thus when the injunctions or teachings of grace are attempted in the strength of the flesh, the very teachings of grace thereby become, in principle, a covenant of works. Therefore any revelation of the righteous will of God for any individual or company of individuals is, apart from the one exception of a personal reliance of faith on the power of the Spirit, a covenant of works, or a law of God. One illustration may suffice: In Romans 8:4 the statement is made that the "righteousness of the law" is to be fulfilled in us, rather than by us. To this end Christ has died, and to this end the energizing Spirit has been sent into the world (Romans 8:2-3). The phrase, "the righteousness of the law," which is here said to be fulfilled in us, proposes more than a fulfillment of the limited demands found in the Mosaic system; it proposes nothing less than the divine energy of the Spirit realizing continuously every aspect of the revealed and unrevealed will of God in the believer. It is conditioned on one thing only: "Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." No better example of a man-made, self-imposed law can be found than the experiences of every unsaved person who is trying, even in the slightest degree, to live the Christian life. He is doing what he does with a view to being accepted of God, not because he is accepted; and he is doing what he does in the energy of the flesh, not in the power of the Spirit. To such an one, the Christian’s manner of life in grace is only a yoke of bondage. Likewise, there is reference to the whole will of God in the following Scriptures wherein that revelation is termed the law: "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man" (Romans 7:22). There is the possibility of a wide difference between what is indicated by the two terms, "The law of Moses," and "The law of God." The law of Moses is the law of God, but the law of God may be much more than the law of Moses. "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). Since the Decalogue contained no reference to the great issues of Christian service and prayer, or the details of the character of the believer’s walk in the world, no one, upon serious thought, will be willing to limit this great definition of sin as merely the transgression of the law of Moses. "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law" (1 Corinthians 15:56). Sin, again, is nothing less than failure in any aspect of the will of God. When this fuller requirement of the will of God is considered in its present application under grace, it is termed "the perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25. Cf Romans 8:21; 1 Corinthians 8:9; 1 Corinthians 10:29; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 2:4; Galatians 5:1-13; James 2:12). Fifth. Any Rule of Conduct Prescribed by Men Here the use of the word law is extended to the regulations men may make among themselves. We read: "But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners" (1 Timothy 1:8-9). "And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully" (2 Timothy 2:5. Cf Matthew 20:15; Luke 20:22). Again, to this classification of law as being manmade, may be added any self-imposed law. Thus the law of Moses or the law of the kingdom, when assumed as a rule of life by Jews, Gentiles, or Christians, becomes a man-made and self-imposed law. It is written: "For when the Gentiles [the same is equally true now of Jews or Christians], which have not the law, do by nature [usage] the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves" (Romans 2:14). The law, though not addressed to them is self-imposed and becomes to that extent a mere man-made obligation. Sixth. Any Recognized Principle in Operation. In this aspect of the meaning of the word law it is seen to be used as the equivalent of power. In common usage, reference is made to the law of gravitation. Which is likewise the power of gravitation. Thus it is used in the Word of God: "For the law [power] of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law [power] of sin and death" (Romans 8:2). Seventh. The Necessary Sequence Between a Cause and its Effect This particular aspect of the use of the word law is seen in Romans 7:21 : "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." Discrimination of these widely different meanings of the word law is imperative for a right understanding of this great theme in the Scriptures. II. AS TO THE RELATION THE LAW SUSTAINS TO THE TIME OF ITS REIGN The Scriptures teach that the law given by Moses, which was a covenant of works, was given from God to man at a particular time. The human family had walked before God upon the earth for upwards of 2500 years prior to the imposition of the law. Thus it had been demonstrated that God is able to deal with men in the earth without reference to the law of Moses. In the Word of God the period between Adam and Moses is particularly contrasted with the dispensation of the law. The revelation is final: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression)" (Romans 5:12-14). Physical death, the unavoidable penalty for sin, antedates the giving of the law, and death reigned from Adam to Moses; but sin was not "imputed" where there was no law. As it does now, death reigned over sinless infants, good people, and bad people alike. Sin, in this connection, is evidently the inbred fallen-nature which all have received from Adam; and not the transgressions personally committed. Thus the penalty -- death -- is due to the fallen-nature which all have received and is not due to individual transgressions. Since the sin-nature from Adam is universal, its penalty is universal. Should one member of the human family be delivered from the possession of the sin-nature, the fact would be proven by a like deliverance from its penalty -- death. None are delivered from physical death so long as Christ tarries. It is "by the offence of one" that "judgment came upon all men to condemnation" (Romans 5:18). The all important distinction between the sin-nature of man, which is the universal possession, and the personal wrongdoing of the individual, is maintained throughout the Scriptures, including the revelation of the cross. There are two aspects of the death of Christ as that death is related to sin: He died "for our sins," which fact is the basis of the divine cure for personal sin by justification (Romans 3:21-31, Romans 4:1-25, Romans 5:1-11); and He died "unto sin," which fact is the basis of the divine cure for the reigning power of the sin-nature (Romans 6:1-23, Romans 7:1-25, Romans 8:1-4). Sin and death reigned from Adam to Moses because sin, in its essence, is the fallen-nature itself, and death is its penalty; but sin, which is the personal wrongdoing of the individual, "is not imputed where there is no law." Thus is the relation of man and God described covering the great period between Adam and Moses. The pertinent question -- "Wherefore then serveth the law?" -- is both propounded and answered in the Scriptures (Galatians 3:19). Continuing we read, the law "was added because of transgressions." That is, it was "added" to give to sin the augmented character of transgression. Sin had always been evil in itself and in the sight of God; but it became disobedience after that the holy commandments were disclosed. The fact of the sin-nature is not changed by the introduction of the law; it was the character of personal wrongdoing which was changed. It was changed from sin, which is not imputed where there is no law, to sin which is the rebellion against the command of God, and which must reap all the punishment attendant upon broken law. Israel, to whom the commandments were given, being a chosen, exalted people, were, by the imposition of the law, constituted a more responsible people before God; but they were wholly unable to keep the law. The giving of the law to Israel did not result in an obedient people; it rather proved their utter sinfulness and helplessness. The law became a ministry of condemnation to every one who failed to keep it. Nor did the giving of the law really tend to their betterment at heart, or retard the power of sin; it provoked them to sin. As the Apostle says: "But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence" (Romans 7:8). There can be no question as to the righteous character of the law; for it is written: "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful" (Romans 7:12-13). Thus the purpose of the giving of the law is stated: "That sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful." Apart from the Man Christ Jesus, there was universal failure in the keeping of the law. This is not to say that the law was imperfect in itself. The universal failure in keeping the law is the revelation of the helplessness of man under the power of "sin in the flesh." Two passages give evidence as to the failure of the law through the weakness of the flesh to which it made its appeal: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh" (Romans 8:3); and, "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly [poverty-stricken] elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?" (Galatians 4:9). The appeal is strong: Why, after having come to know the power of God through the Spirit, do ye turn to a relationship to God which as a means of victory and blessing has always been, and must always be, "weak" and "poverty-stricken"? The law was never given as a means of salvation or justification: "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20. Cf Galatians 3:11, Galatians 3:24). Though given as a rule of conduct for Israel in the land, it, because of the universal failure in its observance, became a curse (Galatians 3:10), condemnation (2 Corinthians 3:9), and death (Romans 7:10-11). The law was effective only as it drove the transgressor to Christ. It became a means of turning the people to God for His mercy as that mercy is provided in Christ. The law was a "schoolmaster," or child trainer, to bring the offender to Christ. This was immediately accomplished in his turning to the sin-offerings which were provided, and which were the type of Christ in His death; but more fully, was this accomplished when the dispensation itself came to its end in the death of Christ. "The law made nothing perfect, ... but the bringing in of a better hope," and the law was a "shadow of good things to come" (Hebrews 7:19; Hebrews 10:1). The reign of the law is limited to a period of about 1500 years, or from Sinai to Calvary -- from Moses to Christ. These boundaries are fixed beyond question in the Word of God. First. The Law Began its Reign at Mount Sinai. The law was never imposed upon any people or generation before it was given to Israel at the hand of Moses. "And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day" (Deuteronomy 5:1-3). When the law was proposed, the children of Israel deliberately forsook their position under the grace of God which had been their relationship to God until that day, and placed themselves under the law. The record is given thus: "And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD (Exodus 19:3-8). While it is certain that Jehovah knew the choice the people would make, it is equally certain that their choice was in no way required by Him. His description of the relation they had sustained to Him until that moment is most tender and pleading: "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself." Such is the character of pure grace. By it the sinner is carried on eagles’ wings and brought to God. It is all of God. Until that hour they had been sustained in the faithfulness of Jehovah and without the slightest reference to their wickedness; but His plan and purpose for them had remained unchanged. He had dealt with them according to the unconditional covenant of grace made with Abraham. The marvelous blessedness of that grace-relationship should have appealed to them as the priceless riches of the unfailing mercy of God, which it was. The surrender of the blessings of grace should have been allowed by these people on no condition whatever. Had they said at the hearing of the impossible law, "None of these things can we do. We crave only to remain in that boundless mercy of God, who has loved us, and sought us, and saved us from all our enemies, and who will bring us to Himself," it is evident that such an appeal would have reached the very heart of God. And the surpassing glory of His grace would have been extended to them without bounds; for grace above all else is the delight of the heart of God. In place of the eagles’ wings by which they were carried unto God, they confidently chose a covenant of works when they said: "All that the LORD hath spoken we will do." They were called upon to face a concrete choice between the mercy of God which had followed them, and a new and hopeless covenant of works. They fell from grace. The experience of the nation is true of every individual who falls from grace at the present time. Every blessing from God that has ever been experienced came only from the loving mercy of God; yet with that same blasting self-trust, people are now turning to a dependence upon their works. It is far more reasonable and honoring to God to fall helpless into His everlasting arms, and to acknowledge that we rely on His grace alone. Upon the determined choice of the law, the mountain where God was revealed became a terrible spectacle of the unapproachable, holy character of God. "And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.... And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish" (Exodus 19:18-21). He who had brought them to Himself under the unconditional blessings of His grace, must now warn them lest they break through unto the LORD and perish. That the burning mountain was a sign of the unapproachableness of God under the new covenant of works, is again declared in Hebrews 12:18-21. Speaking there of the glory and liberty of grace, it is said: "For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burnt with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:). But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." By this passage, the great contrast between the relationship to God under the law covenant of works, and the relationship to God under grace, is set forth clearly. Under their works, Israel could not come unto God lest they die; but under grace they were carried on eagles’ wings unto God, and so, under grace, all come unto God, and to Jesus, and to the blessed association and glory of heaven itself. The children of Israel definitely chose the covenant of works, which is law, as their relationship to God. In like manner, every individual who is now under the law, is self-placed, and that law under which he stands is self-imposed. In every case such relationship is clung to in spite of the appeal of pure grace. Had the legalists minds to understand and hearts to feel, they would realize that there is no access to God by a covenant of works and merit. To such as seek to come to Him by the law, God is as unapproachable as flaming Sinai. Second. The Reign of Law was Terminated with the Death of Christ. The truthfulness of the statement that the reign of the law was terminated with the death of Christ is to be determined by the Word of God, rather than by the traditions and suppositions of men. The law, when given, was only a temporary, or ad interim, dealing "until the seed should come" (Galatians 3:19), and the "seed" is Christ (Galatians 3:16). This conclusive passage (Galatians 3:22-25) continues: "But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." The distinction between Jew and Gentile is broken down and all are "under sin." There is provided and offered in Christ a new access and relationship to God. It is "through Christ" and "in Christ." It is gained upon a principle of faith alone. Christ is the object of faith. It is nothing less than the "promise by faith of Jesus Christ," and it is given to them who "believe." Thus the new covenant of grace through faith in Christ is placed in contrast to the old covenant of works. The passage goes on to state: "But before faith [the new principle in grace] came, we [Paul is here speaking as a Jew of his own time] were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [child leader] to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith [the new principle in grace]. But after that faith [the new principle in grace] is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster" (the law). As a standard of holy living, the law presented the precise quality of life which was becoming a people who were chosen of God and redeemed out of the bondage of Egypt. At the cross, a new and perfect redemption from sin was accomplished for Jew and Gentile alike. The redemption from Egypt was a type of the redemption from sin. As the redemption from Egypt created a demand for a corresponding holy life, so the redemption from sin creates a demand for a corresponding heavenly walk with God. One is adapted to the limitations of the natural man; the other is adapted to the infinite resources of the spiritual man. One is the teaching of the law; the other is the teaching of grace. III. AS TO THE APPLICATION OF THE LAW The law was given only to the children of Israel. This statement admits of no discussion when the Scriptures are considered. A very few passages from the many are here given: "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart" (Mark 12:29-30); "And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I have set before you this day?" (Deuteronomy 4:8); "And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day" (Deuteronomy 5:1-3). The message given from the mount was that great covenant of works of the law contained in the Ten Commandments, which is here included in the "statutes and judgments." This covenant was never made with any other nation or people; for God made no covenants with people other than Israel. "The LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant" (Deuteronomy 9:11). Speaking of the covenants in relation to Israel, it is said: "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever" (Romans 9:4-5). Speaking of the Gentiles it is said: "Wherefore remember, that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, ... that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:11-12). It is expressly declared that the Gentiles have not the law: "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature [usage] the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves" (Romans 2:14). In harmony with this, Pontius Pilate, a Gentile ruler, denied any responsibility to Israel’s law: "Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law" (John 18:31). We conclude, therefore, that the law which was given by Moses was a covenant of works, that it was "added" after centuries of human history, that its reign was terminated by the death of Christ, that it was given to Israel only, and that, since it was never given to Gentiles, the only relation that Gentiles can sustain to it is, without any divine authority, to impose it upon themselves. Additional proof of these facts concerning the law are yet to be presented. CHAPTER IV Introductive The salvation in grace which God accomplishes for those who believe includes, among other things, the placing of the saved one in position as a son of God, a citizen of heaven, and a member of the family and household of God; and, since every position demands a corresponding manner of life, it is to be expected that a rule of conduct as exalted as heaven itself will be committed to the believer. This is precisely what we find; for grace not only provides a perfect salvation and eternal keeping for the one who believes on Christ; but grace provides, as well, the instruction for the daily life of the one who is saved, while he is being kept through the power of God. This instruction for the daily life, it will be found, is a particular revelation from God to Christians only. As it is wholly gracious in character, it is entirely separate from, and independent of, any other rule of life which is found in the Word of God. The Bible, being the one Book from God for all people of all the ages, contains the detailed expression of the will of God concerning the manner of life of various dispensational classes of people as they are related to God in different periods of time, and under the several corresponding covenants. Among these revelations, is the rule of conduct regarding the daily life of those who are saved by grace in this dispensation which occupies the time between the cross and the second coming of Christ. This gracious rule of life is complete in itself and stands alone in the Scriptures, disassociated from any other and uncomplicated. It is the teachings of grace. The remainder of this discussion will be occupied, in the main, with the identification and application of the extended body of Scripture relative to the teachings of grace. The value of knowing this revelation cannot be estimated, (1) because no Christian may hope to live well-pleasing to God who does not know the facts of the revealed will of God for his daily life, and (2) because appalling ignorance exists on every hand concerning these vital truths and distinctions of the Word of God. No careful reader of the New Testament can fail to observe the fact that doctrinal strife obtained at the very opening of the Christian dispensation. This controversy was concerned mainly with the question of whether law or grace furnishes the governing principle for Christian conduct. Although the New Testament contains specific and lengthy warnings against both the legalizers and their teachings, and their systems are therein proven to be opposed to the doctrines of pure grace, their successors from generation to generation to the present time have ever sought to discredit the grace of God. Their messages, though steeped in error, have often exhibited great zeal and sincerity; but zeal and sincerity, greatly to be desired when well directed, fail utterly in God’s sight as substitutes for a consistent presentation of the truth. The only hope of deliverance from the false doctrines of legalizing teachers is through unprejudiced consideration of the exact revelations of Scripture. This examination of the Scriptures should be free from a blind following of the teachings of men, and should be made with a heart willing to receive "reproof" and "correction" from the Word of God as well as "instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). Only the one to whom these teachings are crystal clear can appreciate the transcendent value of understanding the teachings of grace. In presenting this introductory consideration of the extensive theme of the teachings of grace, it is necessary in some instances to assume conclusions the fuller proof of which are taken up in subsequent treatments of the discussion. Likewise, in completing the various lines of argument, repetition at certain points is unavoidable. THE LIFE UNDER GRACE (continued) SECTION ONE GRACE PROVIDES A PARTICULAR RULE OF LIFE In Titus 2:11-14, we read: "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 [age]; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Two widely different ministries of grace are set forth in this passage: First, the grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men. This, it is clear, refers to the saving grace of God which has come into the world by Christ Jesus, and is now to be proclaimed to all men. It is a message for all men, since its provisions are universal and its invitation is to "whosoever will." Grace upon grace is bestowed both now and unto the consummation of the ages upon those who believe. Second, the passage reveals, as well, that it is the same grace which has brought salvation to all men, that teaches "us." The word us, it should be observed, does not refer to the wider class of all men mentioned before; but it refers only to the company of those who are saved. The importance of this distinction is evident; for whatever grace proposes to teach, its teachings are addressed only to those who are saved by grace. This qualifying aspect of the teachings of grace is not limited to this one passage, though that would suffice; it is an out-standing characteristic of the whole body of grace teachings as they appear throughout the New Testament. These teachings, being addressed to Christians only, are never intended to be imposed on the Christ-rejecting individual, or the Christ-rejecting world. This fact cannot be emphasized too forcibly. The word of God makes no appeal to the unsaved for a betterment of life. There is but one issue in this dispensation between God and the unregenerate man, and that is neither character nor conduct; it is the personal appeal of the Gospel of the grace of God. Until the unsaved receive Christ, who is God’s gift in grace, no other issue can be raised. Men may moralize among themselves, and establish their self-governments on principles of right conduct; but God is never presented in the unfoldings of grace as seeking to reform sinners. Every word regarding the quality of life is reserved for those who are already rightly related to Him on the greater issues of salvation. Could it be demonstrated that God has made the slightest moral appeal to the unregenerate other than that which is implied in the Gospel invitation, then it must be admitted that, should that moral appeal be complied with by any individual, that individual would have moved nearer to God. The works of man would become meritorious, and thereby a third classification of humanity would be created, standing somewhere between those who are "under sin" and those who are "in Christ," or "under grace." In this age, no such intermediate group of people is possible. If such a class existed, they could not be saved; for they would no longer be fit objects of grace. Men are either lost and condemned "under sin," or wholly and eternally saved by grace in Christ Jesus. The common practice of presenting the great standards of Christian living indiscriminately to mixed congregations by preaching, and to people in general through public print, is a tragedy of infinite proportions. If the unsaved are present when the teachings of grace are discussed, there should be a Gospel appeal made by which the unsaved are classified and excluded from any share in those teachings. Apart from this appeal, it is impossible to save the unregenerate from receiving the impression that God is now seeking their reformation before He seeks their regeneration. Nothing is more wholesome for the unsaved than lovingly to be reminded that they, according to the Word of God, have no part in the Christian life, and that they are shut up to the acceptance of Christ. Saving results are sure to follow the continued, clean-cut, discriminating preaching of the Word in its right application to both the saved and the unsaved. It is alarming to the unsaved to be warned that they are lost until they receive Christ, and such faithful preaching, being the Truth of God, is owned and used of the Spirit of God. Nothing need be said here of the crime against high heaven which is committed by men who are purposely urging moral betterment on the unsaved in lieu of the Gospel of grace. The unrevoked anathema of God rests upon them; "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8-9). There is a possibility, however, that, through carelessness or ignorance, some, whose intentions are good, may make the same fatal error in presenting God’s Truth. As certainly as the exercise of pure grace is the supreme divine purpose unto the eternal glory, so certainly to hinder an understanding of that grace, or to mislead one soul by a misstatement, is the supreme blunder. How momentous is the practice of preaching and of personal work, both for those who hear and for those who speak! Well might the high crime of dealing damnation to the souls of men in the name of Christian preaching be treated, from a mere humanitarian view-point, with a thousand-fold greater penalty than the crime of dealing deadly poison to the bodies of men. Sinners are to be saved by grace. It is Satan’s device to complicate this simple fact with the lesser issues of Christian living. The teachings of grace, it will be found, comprise all of the teachings of the Epistles, the Acts, and also certain portions of the Gospels apart from their mere historical features. Returning to the passage already quoted from Titus, we discover that only a portion of the whole appeal of the teachings of grace are mentioned in this Scripture; but here the believer is taught that he is to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, godly, and looking for the personal return of his Lord from heaven. This describes a life of peculiar devotion and sweetness. Thus would God "purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." According to the Scriptures, Christians are confronted with a two-fold danger: On the one hand, they may go in the way of the irresponsible, careless sin of the Gentiles, or, on the other hand, they may go into the legality of the Jews. They may "walk as do the Gentiles," or they may "fall from grace." They are warned as much against the one mistake as against the other. The doctrines of grace may be so perverted that, while there is a holy horror of slipping into careless sin, it is deemed most pious to assume the cursing burden of law. The teachings of grace give equal warning against the sin of turning either in the way of Gentiles or in the way of the Jews. In discovering the fact and scope of the teachings of grace, it will be noted that, (1) The Christian’s daily life is to be directed only by the teachings of grace, (2) The law is excluded from the grace teachings of Christ, (3) The law is excluded from the teachings of the Apostles, and (4) The life and service of the Apostle Paul is an illustration of a life which is lived under grace. I. THE CHRISTIAN’S DAILY LIFE IS TO BE DIRECTED ONLY BY THE TEACHINGS OF GRACE In exact accord with the fact that Christians are to be governed only by the teachings of grace, the Biblical appeal in grace never contemplates an observance of the law. Through the death of Christ, the law is not only disannulled; but, as a rule of life) it is never mentioned, or included in the teachings of grace. It is rather excluded. The believer is to walk by a "rule," but that rule, it will be seen, is never an adaptation of the law (Cf Galatians 6:16; Php 3:16). This important fact should be carefully verified by the reading of all the Epistles. It is impossible to refer here to this extensive body of Scripture beyond a very few illustrative passages. In the following Scriptures, as in all grace teachings, the law, it will be found, is not once applied to believers: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another" (Romans 14:17-19). "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God" (Php 1:9-11). "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you" (Php 4:8-9). "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature [creation]. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God" (Galatians 6:14-16). "For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision but faith which worketh by love" (Galatians 5:5-6). "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets" (Romans 3:21). "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10:4). "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof" (Romans 13:14). "False brethren, ... who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you" (Galatians 2:4-5.) "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well" (Acts 15:28-29). "As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such things" (issues of the law. Acts 21:25). "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). By these passages, selected from the whole body of New Testament teaching concerning the believer’s walk in grace, it is seen that the teachings of grace do not include the precepts of the law as such; but that they exclude those precepts. However, no vital principle contained in the law is abandoned. It will be observed that these principles of the law are carried forward and are restated in the teachings of grace; not as law, but as principles which are revised, adapted, and newly incorporated in the issues of pure grace. II. THE LAW IS EXCLUDED FROM THE GRACE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST Concerning the admixture of the principles of law and grace, it will be seen that these principles are wholly separated in the teachings of Christ. Are Christians to keep the law as the rule of their conduct either because of a command from Christ, or because of the example of Christ? No light will be gained on these questions until the two-fold aspect of the ministry of Christ is distinguished. According to Romans 15:8-9, Christ was, first, "a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers"; and, second, "that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy." This two-fold distinction obtains at every point in the Gospels and Epistles. So, also, it obtains in the Old Testament types and prophecies relating to Christ. Christ sustained a particular and unique relation to the nation Israel as the One who fulfilled the great Messianic covenants given to that people. At the opening of His ministry He said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24); and when, at the same time, sending His disciples out with the Jewish message of "the kingdom of heaven," He instructed them, saying, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 10:5-7). As a Jew, and as the Consolation and Hope of Israel, He personally acknowledged, kept, taught, and enforced the law. As the Saviour and Hope of the world, He established the new manner of life and relationship which belongs to the believer under grace. Speaking to the Jewish ruler, Christ said: "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17). (In the Synoptic Gospels, life, it should be noted, is sometimes that aspect of divine blessing which is provided for those who enter the kingdom of heaven (Note Matthew 18:1-10; Matthew 25:31-46), and being somewhat different, should not be confused with the present gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. One was offered, and is yet to be granted, on the basis of faithful, law-keeping works: the other is gained only through the grace which is by Jesus Christ our Lord. One is provided for the age to come (Luke 15:30). The other is a present possession; for He has said: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3:36). True to the Jewish dispensation, He said with reference to the law of Moses: "This do and thou shalt live"; but when contemplating the cross and Himself as the bread come down from heaven to give His life for the world, He said: "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he [God] hath sent" (John 6:29). These opposing principles are not to be reconciled. They indicate that fundamental distinction which must exist between those principles that obtain in an age of law, on the one hand, and an age of grace, on the other hand. What interpretation should be given, then, to the word commandments as used by Christ or as related to Christ, according to the following passages: "If ye love me, keep my commandments"; "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me"; "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love"; "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments"; "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight"; "He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him"; "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments"; "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you"; and, "Blessed are they that do his commandments" (John 14:15, John 14:21; John 15:10; John 12:3 John 3:22, John 3:24; John 5:2; Matthew 28:20; Revelation 22:14)? Is Christ here requiring the commandments as given by Moses? In considering this crucial question, it should be noted that, when dealing with Jews as such, He gave no "commandments" of His own relative to the rule of their lives. He recognized only the law of Moses and the law of the kingdom. In matters of life-relation ship to God He said, "What readest thou in the law?"; but when He began to instruct those who were saved by grace through His cross, He began to announce what He was pleased to term "my commandments." This term is not found in all the Gospels until the record is given of His farewell words in the upper room on the night before His death (John 13:1-38, John 14:1-31, John 15:1-27, John 16:1-33, John 17:1-26). (Matthew 28:20 not only follows the cross, in point of time; but also follows the forty-days post-resurrection teaching concerning the kingdom of God as recorded in Acts 1:3.) This is most significant; for it is evident that the upper-room discourse was addressed, not to Israelites, but to those who were "clean" through the word He had spoken to them. In this portion of the Scriptures, the cross is treated as an accomplished fact (John 16:11; Cf John 12:31); the whole body of teaching is dated by Christ beyond the cross by the words, "And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe" (John 14:29); and, finally, the only reference to the law in this great message of the upper room is so stated as to place those Jews to whom He was speaking outside its authority: "But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their [not your] law" (John 15:25). The upper-room discourse is the genesis of the Epistles of the New Testament; for in it, in germ form, the great doctrines of grace are announced. The phrase my commandments is reserved until this grace-revelation, because this term refers to the teachings of grace, rather than to the law. Added proof that the term, my commandments, refers to the teachings of grace may be seen when the passages which indicate the character of His commandments are considered. Some of these are: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you"; "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you"; "And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave commandments"; "And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also"; "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous"; -- (This could not be said of the law of Moses; for of that law it is written: "Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" (Acts 15:10). Reference is here made to the law of Moses, and to place it on the children of grace is to "tempt God." It is an unbearable "yoke"; but Christ said, when anticipating the relationships of grace, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). Christians are not to be "entangled" with the "yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). So, also, the "old commandment" of 1 John 2:7 is, in 1 John 3:11; seen to be the same message of grace.) "I rejoice greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another." To this the Apostle Paul has added a testimony concerning the commandments of the Lord. By the testimony of Paul, the whole teaching of grace, as set forth by himself, is related to the commandments of the Lord: "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord"; "For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus"; "Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ" (John 13:34; John 15:12; John 13:23 John 4:21; John 5:3; 2 John 1:4-5; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 1 Thessalonians 4:2; Galatians 6:2). The "commandments" of Christ are not, therefore, the law, or any aspect of the law; they rather constitute "the law of love," and "the perfect law of liberty." They enter into the teachings of grace as those teachings are set forth by Christ, and by those to whom He gave authority and commandment (Matthew 28:18; Acts 1:3; Luke 24:46-48; Hebrews 2:3-4). III. THE LAW IS EXCLUDED FROM THE TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES From the teaching of the Apostles it will be seen that the principles of law and grace are not to be mixed. There can be no question but that their teachings are exactly according to Christ’s message concerning grace. As an example, and in harmony with the teaching of all the Apostles, it may be observed that the Apostle Paul spoke by the authority of Christ (1 Timothy 1:1; Titus 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Galatians 1:11-12; Ephesians 3:1-11). It is equally evident that he contended only for the blessings of pure grace. At no point would he suffer the principle of law to intrude. The Jewish element in the early church was slow to abandon the law, and there is evidence that, by the provisions of men, a double-standard was suffered to exist for a time -- one, a legality for the Jews, and the other, pure grace for the Gentiles. This fact of a double standard is revealed in connection with the first council of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:19-21. Cf Acts 21:18-26); but the Apostle Paul never countenanced this double standard (Romans 1:16-17). The change from law to grace was revolutionary, and the age-long covenant of works did not readily yield to the new teachings of grace, nor has it wholly yielded to this day. There are some who, ignorant of the dispensational divisions of God’s Word, and seeking to qualify the clear grace teachings of the Apostle Paul, are encouraging themselves in legalism on the strength of the fact that Christ kept and vindicated the law in the days of His particular ministry to Israel. The teaching of these legalists is a circumvention of the whole revelation of divine grace. IV. THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE TEACHINGS OF GRACE The personal position and practice of the Apostle Paul is evidence that the principles of law and grace should not be mixed. The Spirit has prompted the Apostle to make a six-fold exhortation to believers to be followers of himself (1 Corinthians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 11:1; Php 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 2 Thessalonians 3:7, 2 Thessalonians 3:9). This appeal was warranted because his doctrine was revealed to him from Christ (Galatians 1:11-12; Ephesians 3:1-10), and was in fact, therefore, the very teachings of Christ; because he was an Apostle; and because his own attitude toward Judaism and his own experience was a living illustration of the power of a life in grace. The Epistles of Paul are an uncompromising protest against the intrusion of law, or any phase of law, into the reign of grace. Among very many Scriptures, there is one passage in particular which reveals the Apostle’s own position. Speaking of his hope of a reward because of faithful service, he proceeds to describe the details of that service. In this connection he is incidentally led to disclose his own position at that time, as compared to other possible positions before God. We read: "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ), that I might gain them that are without law" (1 Corinthians 9:19-21). These various relationships should be considered: First. "And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews." Was not the Apostle a Jew? Did he not make that his boast (Php 3:4-5)? He was a Jew by origin, birth, and training; but when he became saved by grace he passed over onto new ground where there "is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all" (Colossians 3:11). In like manner, Gentiles when saved, are no longer Gentiles in the flesh: "Wherefore remember, that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, ... now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:11-13). The new creation in Christ is in view here. Through the new birth by the Spirit, a new humanity is being formed, and, though drawn from both Jews and Gentiles, it is neither Jew nor Gentile; it is the Church of God -- the redeemed of all generations from Pentecost until the Lord returns for His own. According to the Scriptures, humanity is now classified under three major divisions: "Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God" (1 Corinthians 10:32). The Apostle made an effort to become "as a Jew, that he might gain the Jews." Thus he left his own position, as it were, to adapt himself to the position of the Jew. To what length he went, it is not revealed. As regarding himself, it is clear, however, that he everywhere disclaimed every Jewish relation to God. There are very many questions which might be discussed between a Jew and a Christian; but the Apostle passed these by that he might get to the heart of the Jew with the one issue of the Gospel of the grace of God. Second. "To them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law." While it is evident that the law was never addressed to any outside the one nation Israel, and also that, since the death of Christ, no Jew, Gentile, or Christian is now under the law either for justification, or as a rule of life (which statement will receive fuller proof at another place), there was a multitude of people in Paul’s day, both Jews and Christians, as there are today, who have placed themselves under the law. This does not suggest that God has placed them there, or that He recognizes them as standing in their self-imposed position. However, having assumed a position under law they are morally obligated to "do the whole law" in the interests of consistency. It is not a mere repetition, then, when the Apostle makes reference first to the Jews and then to those that are under the law. The important point to be observed here is that the Apostle did not consider himself to be under the law; for he represents himself as leaving his own position that he might approach the man who is under the law. What endless discussions might he have waged with the one who was under the law! He set all these questions aside that he might rather present the more vitally important blessings of grace. The supreme issue was not, and is not, one of correcting the outward life by the application of one rule or another: it was, and is, one of believing on Christ unto salvation by grace. When that is accomplished, and because of the very character of salvation, the saved one, of necessity, is subject only to the governing principles of grace. Third. "To them that are without law, as without law, ... that I might gain them that are without law." Thus the Apostle implies that, as to the rule of his life, he is not "without law." The class referred to as being "without law" is not the heathen to whom no missionary has ever gone; it refers, rather, to the great Gentile world to whom the law was never addressed. To these the Apostle went, acknowledging as he went, that he, as a Christian, had no part with the lawless and ungoverned. Fourth. "Not being without law to God, but under the law [literally, inlawed] to Christ." Here the Apostle reveals the exact truth as to his own relation to God as a Christian. It is unfortunate that the theological discussion which has proceeded on the supposition that a Christian must either be under the law of Moses, or else be absolutely lawless and ungoverned, could not have made place for the fact that there is a third ground of relationship to God which is neither the law of Moses, nor the ungoverned lawlessness of the world. To be "inlawed to Christ" is to be under the teachings of grace as a rule of life. These teachings include the "commandments" of Christ which are addressed to Christians as such in the upper room, and these "commandments" of Christ have been taken up, enlarged, and advanced, under the guidance of the Spirit in the book of the Acts and the Epistles of the New Testament. They constitute a separate and sufficient rule of life for the believer which is divinely adapted to his position in grace, and these great governing principles of grace are addressed to the believer alone, and not to the Christ-rejecting world. The message of God to the unsaved world is that they believe on the Saviour who is offered to them in limitless grace. The message to the saved is that they "walk worthy" of the calling wherewith they are called. THE LIFE UNDER GRACE (continued) SECTION TWO THE TEACHINGS OF THE LAW In seeking an understanding of the teachings of grace, it is necessary to give due consideration to the teachings of the law; for, according to the Scriptures, the latter, with its covenant of works, is the one principle which is opposed to the teachings of grace. The law may be considered in a three-f old way: (1) As to the meaning of the word law as used in the Bible; (2-) As to the relation the law sustains to the time of its reign; and, (3) As to the application of the law. I. AS TO THE MEANING OF THE WORD LAW AS USED IN THE SCRIPTURES The foundation of all divine law is the Person of God. What He requires is only the expression of what He is. Since He is holy, just and good, His ideals, standards and requirements must be holy, just and good. The ideals and ways of fallen men are, of necessity, far removed from these divine standards which reflect the character of God. Comparison of these two standards has ever demonstrated the measure of human failure. Throughout the history of God’s dealings with the world this comparison has brought into bold relief the unmeasured gulf which exists between God and man, between holiness and sin, and the complementary revelation of the divine compassion which led God to bridge that gulf. The word law, as commonly used, means a rule which regulates conduct. It naturally implies the adequate authority and power on the part of the law-giver for its enforcement, and the proper penalty to be inflicted in case of its violation. The use of the word in the Bible is, however, much wider than its common usage. At least a seven-fold use of the word law is found in the Word of God. First. The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments have the peculiar distinction of having been written by the finger of God on tables of stone. They are therefore the direct writings of God. They are themselves a crystallization of the entire law given to Moses. They are summarized by Christ when He said to the Jewish lawyer: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:36-40). The Apostle Paul summarized the law in two great statements: "Love is the fulfilling of the law"; and, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Romans 13:10; Galatians 5:14). So, also, James has written: "If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well" (James 2:8). In no sense is the law applied to the believer by these Scriptures; they merely imply that the law is fulfilled by the exercise of that love which is most vitally the duty of every child of God. That this limited declaration of commandments from God is termed "the law," is proven beyond question in Romans 7:7-14. In this passage the Apostle records: "I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." The same precept is also called a commandment; for he goes on to say: "But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence." Further, it is evident that the Decalogue is the heart of the law as the law is stated in the Old Testament. Particular emphasis is given to the fact that the Commandments are a part of the law, because there are those who teach that the whole law might be set aside without affecting the Ten Commandments. They claim that these commandments were never any part of the law, and, though the reign of the law ceased with the death of Christ, the binding authority of the Ten Commandments did not cease. The Bible teaches that the Commandments are a part of the law, and though their principles are restated under grace, the Commandments ceased to be the rule of conduct when Christ fulfilled the law, and it came to its end in Him. Second. The Whole System of Government for Israel in the Land The law in this larger aspect was divided into three major parts: 1. The Commandments, which were the revealed law of God relative to His righteous will. Of this revelation, the Decalogue was the center (Exodus 20:1-17). 2. The Judgments, which were the revealed law of God relative to the social life of Israel (Exodus 21:1-36, Exodus 22:1-31, Exodus 23:1-33, Exodus 24:1-11). 3. The Ordinances, which were the revealed will of God relative to the religious life of Israel (Exodus 24:12-18, Exodus 25:1-40, Exodus 26:1-37, Exodus 27:1-21, Exodus 28:1-43, Exodus 29:1-46, Exodus 30:1-38, Exodus 31:1-18). This three-fold governing system of law covered all divine requirements which were imposed on an Israelite in the land. The three divisions of the system were both interrelated and interdependent. This three-fold system provided its own instruction as to what was good, and its own prohibitions against that which was evil. In the prescribed sacrifices its own divine remedy was provided for the wrong committed. No other provision for a broken law has ever been disclosed to man than that of the animal sacrifices, and the final, and fulfilling sacrifice of the cross where every demand of the law was met forever. The projection of the Commandments into this dispensation disassociated from the ritual and sacrifices to which they are interrelated, is done with seeming plausibility only at the expense of one of the most vital dispensational distinctions in the Word of God. Third. The Kingdom Rule of Messiah The still future dispensation of the reign of Messiah, which will be the fulfillment of all God’s covenants with Israel, is to be a reign of pure law. This, it will be seen at a later point of the discussion, is proven both by the precise statements of Scripture, and by a careful study of the character of those injunctions which constitute the laws of the kingdom, and which find their application in the yet future dispensation of the kingdom. Fourth. The Whole Revealed Will of God for any Individual, or Nation, when Contemplated as a Covenant of Works which is to be Wrought in the Energy of the Flesh The essential principle of the law was embodied in the covenant of works. The divine blessing was conditioned on the performance of the entire law of God. Under the new covenant of grace, the undivided, undiminished, divine blessing is first bestowed by God’s favor, and by this bestowal, an obligation is created for a life corresponding to the divine blessing. When any work is undertaken for God by which it is hoped thereby to gain divine favor, that work is wrought of necessity on the basis of pure law. On the other hand, when any work is undertaken for God because it is recognized that divine favor and blessing already have been received, it is wrought in harmony with pure grace. Thus the highest ideal of grace if prostituted by the motive of securing divine favor, takes on the character of law. Moreover, the will of God for the daily life of the one who is perfectly saved in grace has been clearly revealed by extended and explicit injunctions, or beseechings. These injunctions and beseechings, being gracious and heavenly in character, anticipate the imparted and inwrought enabling power of the indwelling Spirit for their fulfillment. The covenant of grace is a covenant of faith. Thus when the injunctions or teachings of grace are attempted in the strength of the flesh, the very teachings of grace thereby become, in principle, a covenant of works. Therefore any revelation of the righteous will of God for any individual or company of individuals is, apart from the one exception of a personal reliance of faith on the power of the Spirit, a covenant of works, or a law of God. One illustration may suffice: In Romans 8:4 the statement is made that the "righteousness of the law" is to be fulfilled in us, rather than by us. To this end Christ has died, and to this end the energizing Spirit has been sent into the world (Romans 8:2-3). The phrase, "the righteousness of the law," which is here said to be fulfilled in us, proposes more than a fulfillment of the limited demands found in the Mosaic system; it proposes nothing less than the divine energy of the Spirit realizing continuously every aspect of the revealed and unrevealed will of God in the believer. It is conditioned on one thing only: "Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." No better example of a man-made, self-imposed law can be found than the experiences of every unsaved person who is trying, even in the slightest degree, to live the Christian life. He is doing what he does with a view to being accepted of God, not because he is accepted; and he is doing what he does in the energy of the flesh, not in the power of the Spirit. To such an one, the Christian’s manner of life in grace is only a yoke of bondage. Likewise, there is reference to the whole will of God in the following Scriptures wherein that revelation is termed the law: "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man" (Romans 7:22). There is the possibility of a wide difference between what is indicated by the two terms, "The law of Moses," and "The law of God." The law of Moses is the law of God, but the law of God may be much more than the law of Moses. "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). Since the Decalogue contained no reference to the great issues of Christian service and prayer, or the details of the character of the believer’s walk in the world, no one, upon serious thought, will be willing to limit this great definition of sin as merely the transgression of the law of Moses. "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law" (1 Corinthians 15:56). Sin, again, is nothing less than failure in any aspect of the will of God. When this fuller requirement of the will of God is considered in its present application under grace, it is termed "the perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25. Cf Romans 8:21; 1 Corinthians 8:9; 1 Corinthians 10:29; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 2:4; Galatians 5:1-13; James 2:12). Fifth. Any Rule of Conduct Prescribed by Men Here the use of the word law is extended to the regulations men may make among themselves. We read: "But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners" (1 Timothy 1:8-9). "And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully" (2 Timothy 2:5. Cf Matthew 20:15; Luke 20:22). Again, to this classification of law as being manmade, may be added any self-imposed law. Thus the law of Moses or the law of the kingdom, when assumed as a rule of life by Jews, Gentiles, or Christians, becomes a man-made and self-imposed law. It is written: "For when the Gentiles [the same is equally true now of Jews or Christians], which have not the law, do by nature [usage] the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves" (Romans 2:14). The law, though not addressed to them is self-imposed and becomes to that extent a mere man-made obligation. Sixth. Any Recognized Principle in Operation. In this aspect of the meaning of the word law it is seen to be used as the equivalent of power. In common usage, reference is made to the law of gravitation. Which is likewise the power of gravitation. Thus it is used in the Word of God: "For the law [power] of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law [power] of sin and death" (Romans 8:2). Seventh. The Necessary Sequence Between a Cause and its Effect This particular aspect of the use of the word law is seen in Romans 7:21 : "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." Discrimination of these widely different meanings of the word law is imperative for a right understanding of this great theme in the Scriptures. II. AS TO THE RELATION THE LAW SUSTAINS TO THE TIME OF ITS REIGN The Scriptures teach that the law given by Moses, which was a covenant of works, was given from God to man at a particular time. The human family had walked before God upon the earth for upwards of 2500 years prior to the imposition of the law. Thus it had been demonstrated that God is able to deal with men in the earth without reference to the law of Moses. In the Word of God the period between Adam and Moses is particularly contrasted with the dispensation of the law. The revelation is final: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression)" (Romans 5:12-14). Physical death, the unavoidable penalty for sin, antedates the giving of the law, and death reigned from Adam to Moses; but sin was not "imputed" where there was no law. As it does now, death reigned over sinless infants, good people, and bad people alike. Sin, in this connection, is evidently the inbred fallen-nature which all have received from Adam; and not the transgressions personally committed. Thus the penalty -- death -- is due to the fallen-nature which all have received and is not due to individual transgressions. Since the sin-nature from Adam is universal, its penalty is universal. Should one member of the human family be delivered from the possession of the sin-nature, the fact would be proven by a like deliverance from its penalty -- death. None are delivered from physical death so long as Christ tarries. It is "by the offence of one" that "judgment came upon all men to condemnation" (Romans 5:18). The all important distinction between the sin-nature of man, which is the universal possession, and the personal wrongdoing of the individual, is maintained throughout the Scriptures, including the revelation of the cross. There are two aspects of the death of Christ as that death is related to sin: He died "for our sins," which fact is the basis of the divine cure for personal sin by justification (Romans 3:21-31, Romans 4:1-25, Romans 5:1-11); and He died "unto sin," which fact is the basis of the divine cure for the reigning power of the sin-nature (Romans 6:1-23, Romans 7:1-25, Romans 8:1-4). Sin and death reigned from Adam to Moses because sin, in its essence, is the fallen-nature itself, and death is its penalty; but sin, which is the personal wrongdoing of the individual, "is not imputed where there is no law." Thus is the relation of man and God described covering the great period between Adam and Moses. The pertinent question -- "Wherefore then serveth the law?" -- is both propounded and answered in the Scriptures (Galatians 3:19). Continuing we read, the law "was added because of transgressions." That is, it was "added" to give to sin the augmented character of transgression. Sin had always been evil in itself and in the sight of God; but it became disobedience after that the holy commandments were disclosed. The fact of the sin-nature is not changed by the introduction of the law; it was the character of personal wrongdoing which was changed. It was changed from sin, which is not imputed where there is no law, to sin which is the rebellion against the command of God, and which must reap all the punishment attendant upon broken law. Israel, to whom the commandments were given, being a chosen, exalted people, were, by the imposition of the law, constituted a more responsible people before God; but they were wholly unable to keep the law. The giving of the law to Israel did not result in an obedient people; it rather proved their utter sinfulness and helplessness. The law became a ministry of condemnation to every one who failed to keep it. Nor did the giving of the law really tend to their betterment at heart, or retard the power of sin; it provoked them to sin. As the Apostle says: "But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence" (Romans 7:8). There can be no question as to the righteous character of the law; for it is written: "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful" (Romans 7:12-13). Thus the purpose of the giving of the law is stated: "That sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful." Apart from the Man Christ Jesus, there was universal failure in the keeping of the law. This is not to say that the law was imperfect in itself. The universal failure in keeping the law is the revelation of the helplessness of man under the power of "sin in the flesh." Two passages give evidence as to the failure of the law through the weakness of the flesh to which it made its appeal: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh" (Romans 8:3); and, "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly [poverty-stricken] elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?" (Galatians 4:9). The appeal is strong: Why, after having come to know the power of God through the Spirit, do ye turn to a relationship to God which as a means of victory and blessing has always been, and must always be, "weak" and "poverty-stricken"? The law was never given as a means of salvation or justification: "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20. Cf Galatians 3:11, Galatians 3:24). Though given as a rule of conduct for Israel in the land, it, because of the universal failure in its observance, became a curse (Galatians 3:10), condemnation (2 Corinthians 3:9), and death (Romans 7:10-11). The law was effective only as it drove the transgressor to Christ. It became a means of turning the people to God for His mercy as that mercy is provided in Christ. The law was a "schoolmaster," or child trainer, to bring the offender to Christ. This was immediately accomplished in his turning to the sin-offerings which were provided, and which were the type of Christ in His death; but more fully, was this accomplished when the dispensation itself came to its end in the death of Christ. "The law made nothing perfect, ... but the bringing in of a better hope," and the law was a "shadow of good things to come" (Hebrews 7:19; Hebrews 10:1). The reign of the law is limited to a period of about 1500 years, or from Sinai to Calvary -- from Moses to Christ. These boundaries are fixed beyond question in the Word of God. First. The Law Began its Reign at Mount Sinai. The law was never imposed upon any people or generation before it was given to Israel at the hand of Moses. "And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day" (Deuteronomy 5:1-3). When the law was proposed, the children of Israel deliberately forsook their position under the grace of God which had been their relationship to God until that day, and placed themselves under the law. The record is given thus: "And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD (Exodus 19:3-8). While it is certain that Jehovah knew the choice the people would make, it is equally certain that their choice was in no way required by Him. His description of the relation they had sustained to Him until that moment is most tender and pleading: "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself." Such is the character of pure grace. By it the sinner is carried on eagles’ wings and brought to God. It is all of God. Until that hour they had been sustained in the faithfulness of Jehovah and without the slightest reference to their wickedness; but His plan and purpose for them had remained unchanged. He had dealt with them according to the unconditional covenant of grace made with Abraham. The marvelous blessedness of that grace-relationship should have appealed to them as the priceless riches of the unfailing mercy of God, which it was. The surrender of the blessings of grace should have been allowed by these people on no condition whatever. Had they said at the hearing of the impossible law, "None of these things can we do. We crave only to remain in that boundless mercy of God, who has loved us, and sought us, and saved us from all our enemies, and who will bring us to Himself," it is evident that such an appeal would have reached the very heart of God. And the surpassing glory of His grace would have been extended to them without bounds; for grace above all else is the delight of the heart of God. In place of the eagles’ wings by which they were carried unto God, they confidently chose a covenant of works when they said: "All that the LORD hath spoken we will do." They were called upon to face a concrete choice between the mercy of God which had followed them, and a new and hopeless covenant of works. They fell from grace. The experience of the nation is true of every individual who falls from grace at the present time. Every blessing from God that has ever been experienced came only from the loving mercy of God; yet with that same blasting self-trust, people are now turning to a dependence upon their works. It is far more reasonable and honoring to God to fall helpless into His everlasting arms, and to acknowledge that we rely on His grace alone. Upon the determined choice of the law, the mountain where God was revealed became a terrible spectacle of the unapproachable, holy character of God. "And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.... And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish" (Exodus 19:18-21). He who had brought them to Himself under the unconditional blessings of His grace, must now warn them lest they break through unto the LORD and perish. That the burning mountain was a sign of the unapproachableness of God under the new covenant of works, is again declared in Hebrews 12:18-21. Speaking there of the glory and liberty of grace, it is said: "For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burnt with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:). But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." By this passage, the great contrast between the relationship to God under the law covenant of works, and the relationship to God under grace, is set forth clearly. Under their works, Israel could not come unto God lest they die; but under grace they were carried on eagles’ wings unto God, and so, under grace, all come unto God, and to Jesus, and to the blessed association and glory of heaven itself. The children of Israel definitely chose the covenant of works, which is law, as their relationship to God. In like manner, every individual who is now under the law, is self-placed, and that law under which he stands is self-imposed. In every case such relationship is clung to in spite of the appeal of pure grace. Had the legalists minds to understand and hearts to feel, they would realize that there is no access to God by a covenant of works and merit. To such as seek to come to Him by the law, God is as unapproachable as flaming Sinai. Second. The Reign of Law was Terminated with the Death of Christ. The truthfulness of the statement that the reign of the law was terminated with the death of Christ is to be determined by the Word of God, rather than by the traditions and suppositions of men. The law, when given, was only a temporary, or ad interim, dealing "until the seed should come" (Galatians 3:19), and the "seed" is Christ (Galatians 3:16). This conclusive passage (Galatians 3:22-25) continues: "But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." The distinction between Jew and Gentile is broken down and all are "under sin." There is provided and offered in Christ a new access and relationship to God. It is "through Christ" and "in Christ." It is gained upon a principle of faith alone. Christ is the object of faith. It is nothing less than the "promise by faith of Jesus Christ," and it is given to them who "believe." Thus the new covenant of grace through faith in Christ is placed in contrast to the old covenant of works. The passage goes on to state: "But before faith [the new principle in grace] came, we [Paul is here speaking as a Jew of his own time] were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [child leader] to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith [the new principle in grace]. But after that faith [the new principle in grace] is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster" (the law). As a standard of holy living, the law presented the precise quality of life which was becoming a people who were chosen of God and redeemed out of the bondage of Egypt. At the cross, a new and perfect redemption from sin was accomplished for Jew and Gentile alike. The redemption from Egypt was a type of the redemption from sin. As the redemption from Egypt created a demand for a corresponding holy life, so the redemption from sin creates a demand for a corresponding heavenly walk with God. One is adapted to the limitations of the natural man; the other is adapted to the infinite resources of the spiritual man. One is the teaching of the law; the other is the teaching of grace. III. AS TO THE APPLICATION OF THE LAW The law was given only to the children of Israel. This statement admits of no discussion when the Scriptures are considered. A very few passages from the many are here given: "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart" (Mark 12:29-30); "And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I have set before you this day?" (Deuteronomy 4:8); "And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day" (Deuteronomy 5:1-3). The message given from the mount was that great covenant of works of the law contained in the Ten Commandments, which is here included in the "statutes and judgments." This covenant was never made with any other nation or people; for God made no covenants with people other than Israel. "The LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant" (Deuteronomy 9:11). Speaking of the covenants in relation to Israel, it is said: "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever" (Romans 9:4-5). Speaking of the Gentiles it is said: "Wherefore remember, that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, ... that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:11-12). It is expressly declared that the Gentiles have not the law: "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature [usage] the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves" (Romans 2:14). In harmony with this, Pontius Pilate, a Gentile ruler, denied any responsibility to Israel’s law: "Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law" (John 18:31). We conclude, therefore, that the law which was given by Moses was a covenant of works, that it was "added" after centuries of human history, that its reign was terminated by the death of Christ, that it was given to Israel only, and that, since it was never given to Gentiles, the only relation that Gentiles can sustain to it is, without any divine authority, to impose it upon themselves. Additional proof of these facts concerning the law are yet to be presented. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 28: 03.05. KINGDOM TEACHINGS ======================================================================== Synopsis SECTION THREE THE KINGDOM TEACHINGS According to the Scriptures, all time is divided into seven periods, or dispensations. The Bible is occupied, in the main, with the last three of these periods. All that lies between Exodus 19:1-25, and Revelation 20:1-15, is the unfolding of the exact scope and character of these three ages. These ages are: The age of the law of Moses, which is measured by the duration of the reign of that law, or from Sinai to Calvary; The age of the kingdom, which is measured by the earth-reign of the King, or from the second coming of Christ when He comes to occupy His throne (Matthew 25:31), to the bringing in of the eternal state in the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21:1; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28); And lying between the age of the law of Moses, which is wholly past, and the age of the kingdom, which is wholly future, there is the present age of grace, bounded by the death of Christ, on the one hand, and by His second advent, on the other. The revelation concerning the out-standing ordinance for this age also marks the limit of duration of the age itself with a future event -- dateless, but never-the-less sure: "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come." Due recognition of the essential character of each of these ages is the key to the understanding of the exact manner of the divine rule in each age. The rule of God in each case is adapted to the conditions which obtain. Since the respective characteristics of the ages are widely different, the manner of the divine rule is correspondingly different. The practice of confusing these three ages in respect to their characteristics and the manner of the divine rule in each is common, and is, doubtless, the greatest error into which many devout Bible interpreters fall. It is perhaps easier to confuse the present age with that which immediately precedes it, or with that which immediately follows it, than to confuse it with conditions which are more remote; although there need be no confusion of these immediately succeeding but sharply separated periods of time, for they are divided by age-transforming events. The age of the law of Moses is separated from the present age of grace by the death of Christ, when He bore the curse of the law and finished the work by which man may stand justified before God forever, and justified as he could not have been justified by the law of Moses. The age of grace is separated from the age of the kingdom by the second coming of Christ to the earth -- the time when He comes to reign, to bind Satan, to terminate human governments, and to cause righteousness and peace to cover the earth as the waters cover the face of the deep. The divine government could not remain the same in the earth after the world-transforming, spiritual victories of the cross, as it had been under the law of Moses. So, likewise, the divine government cannot remain the same in the earth after the world-transforming temporal victories of the second coming, as it has been under the reign of grace. All this is reasonable; but, what is far more impelling and compelling, this is what is precisely revealed by God in His Word. There are, then, three separate and distinct systems of divine government disclosed in the Scriptures, corresponding to three separate and distinct ages to be governed. In respect to the character of divine government, both the age before the cross and the age following the return of Christ represent the exercise of pure law; while the period between these two ages represents the exercise of pure grace. It is imperative, therefore, that there shall be no careless co-mingling of these great age-characterizing elements, else the preservation of the most important distinctions in the various relationships between God and man are lost, and the recognition of the true force of the death of Christ and His coming again is obscured. Kingdom teachings will be found in those Psalms and prophecies of the Old Testament which anticipate the reign of Messiah in the earth, and in the kingdom portions of the Gospels. These teachings as found in the Old Testament and the New are purely legal in essence; both by their inherent character, and by the explicit declaration of the Word of God. The legal requirements of the kingdom teachings are greatly advanced, both in severity and detail, beyond the requirements of the law of Moses. This intensification of legal requirements, as it appears in the kingdom teachings, should not be looked upon as a mere continuation of the law of Moses. The kingdom teaching is a system complete and perfect in itself. Moreover, this intensification of legal requirements in kingdom revelations does not move the teachings of the Mosaic law nearer the heart of the teachings of grace. On the contrary, it removes them still farther in the opposite direction, inasmuch as the teachings of the kingdom increase the burden of meritorious workers over that which was required by the law of Moses. In the kingdom law, anger is condemned in the same connection where only murder had been prohibited in the law of Moses, and the glance of the eye is condemned where only adultery had previously been forbidden. The kingdom Scriptures of the Old Testament are occupied largely with the character and glory of Messiah’s reign, the promises to Israel of restoration and earthly glory, the universal blessings to Gentiles, and the deliverance of creation itself. There is little revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures concerning the responsibility of the individual in the kingdom; it is rather a message to the nation as a whole. Evidently the details concerning individual responsibility, were, in the mind of the Spirit, reserved for the personal teaching of the King at the time when the kingdom would be "at hand." As to the reign of the King, two important disclosures are made in the kingdom portions of the Old Testament: (1) His will be a rigid reign of righteousness that shall go forth from Jerusalem with swift judgment upon the sinner (Isaiah 2:1-4; Isaiah 11:1-5); and (2), according to the new covenant which He will have made with his people, He will have put His laws into their minds, and will have written them on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-40; Hebrews 8:7-12). The writing of the law upon the heart is a divine assistance toward the keeping of the kingdom law which was in no wise provided under the reign of the law of Moses. However, the written law on the heart, as it will be in the kingdom, is not to be compared with the power of the indwelling Spirit which is the present divine enablement provided for the believer under grace. Under the new covenant, God will have put away the former sin of the nation forever. This, it is revealed, He is free to do through the blood of His Son who, as God’s Lamb, took away the sin of the world (Matthew 13:44; Romans 11:26-27). The great key words under the Mosaic system were "law" and "obedience"; the great key words in the present age are "believe" and "grace"; while the great key words in the kingdom are "righteousness" and "peace." The following are brief excerpts from the Old Testament Scriptures bearing on the kingdom: "The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2:1-4). "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins" (Isaiah 11:1-5). "And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.... And they shall dwell in their own land" (Jeremiah 23:3-8). "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their King; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days" (Hosea 3:4-5). (Note additional passages: Psalms 72:1-20; Isaiah 4:2-5; Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 14:1-8; Isaiah 35:1-10; Isaiah 52:1-15; Isaiah 59:20-21, Isaiah 60:1-22; Isaiah 62:1-12; Isaiah 66:1-24; Jeremiah 31:36-37; Jeremiah 33:1-26; Joel 3:17-21; Amos 9:11-15; Zephaniah 3:14-20; Zechariah 14:16-21.) Turning to the New Testament Scriptures bearing on the kingdom, it is important first to consider again the two-fold character of the work and teachings of Christ. He was both a minister to Israel to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, and a minister to the Gentiles that they might glorify God for His mercy (Romans 15:8-9). These two widely different revelations are not separated in the Scriptures by a well-defined boundary of chapter and verse; they are intermingled in the text and are to be identified wherever found by the character of the message and the circumstances under which it is given. This, it should be remembered, is the usual divine method of presenting truth. To illustrate: there is no chapter and verse boundary in the prophetic books of the Old Testament between that portion of the Scriptures which presented the immediate duty of Israel, and that portion of the Scriptures which presented their future obligation in Messiah’s kingdom. The prophets, while unfolding both of these widely differing obligations, co-mingle these messages in the text and the different messages are discerned only through an observance of the character of the truth revealed. Likewise, there is, to some extent, a co-mingling in the Gospels of the message of the kingdom and the teachings of grace. Moreover, these teachings were given while the law of Moses was in full authority. In harmony with the demands of that dispensation, many recognitions of the Mosaic system are embedded in the teachings of Christ. The Gospels are complex almost beyond any other portion of Scripture, since they are a composite of the teachings of Moses, of grace, and of the kingdom. In attempting to discover and to identify the kingdom teachings of Christ as they are co-mingled with the teachings of grace, and of the law, it is of value to note the peculiar feature of each Gospel: The Gospel by Matthew is a message to Israel of her King and His kingdom. In that Gospel He is introduced first as the "Son of David" (Matthew 1:1), which title immediately relates Him to the Davidic covenant, and that covenant eternally secures for Israel a throne, a King, and a kingdom. Christ, being the Son of David, is the Messiah-King-the Hope and Consolation of Israel. While this Gospel is primarily of the King and His kingdom, the closing portion is of Christ as the Son of Abraham. The Gospel by Mark presents Christ as the Servant of Jehovah. It records more concerning His service than of His teaching, and, like Matthew’s Gospel, it is almost wholly addressed to Israel. The Gospel by Luke presents Christ in His humanity, and, while written to Jews, the avowed purpose of the writer is to "set in order" and establish the "certainty of those things which are most surely believed among us." This certainty of testimony is thus sealed: "Having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first" ("from above." Cf, John 3:31; John 19:11; James 1:17; James 3:15, James 3:17). The Gospel by John was also written for a particular purpose: "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:31). Thus the saving grace of God in Christ is declared to be the theme of this Gospel. While the ministry of Christ to Israel is acknowledged by the words, "He came to his own, and his own received him not" (John 1:11), the Gospel by John is primarily of the grace of God in salvation through Christ. The Gospel by John divides the teachings of Christ into two parts: John 1:1-51, John 2:1-25, John 3:1-36, John 4:1-54, John 5:1-47, John 6:1-71, John 7:1-53, John 8:1-59, John 9:1-41, John 10:1-42, John 11:1-57, John 12:1-50, the grace of God that saves; and John 13:1-38, John 14:1-31, John 15:1-27, John 16:1-33, and John 19:1-42, John 20:1-31, John 21:1-25, the grace of God that teaches. From this brief consideration of the four Gospels it may be concluded that those teachings of Christ which confirm the covenants made unto the fathers, or Israel, will be found primarily in the Synoptic Gospels, and that these kingdom teachings are crystallized in the first portion of the first Gospel. The position of this kingdom portion in the context of the Scriptures is also significant -- following immediately, as it does, on the Old Testament. The Old Testament closed with its great hopes unrealized and its great prophecies unfulfilled. These hopes were based on covenants from Jehovah, to which He had sworn with an oath. These covenants guarantee to the nation an earthly kingdom in their own land, under the abiding reign of Messiah, sitting on the throne of His father David. No such promise was fulfilled in the Old Testament period. The kingdom as provided for in the faithfulness of Jehovah was revealed in the Old Testament only in predictive prophecy. No such kingdom situation existed when Christ was born. It is expressly declared that Israel’s great hope and consolation was yet in expectation when Christ came (Luke 1:31-33; Luke 2:25). The children of Israel were then largely scattered among the nations and their land was under the authority of Rome. At this point and under these circumstances, a new message went forth: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." It was proclaimed by the forerunner -- John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-2), by Christ (Matthew 4:17), and by His disciples (Matthew 10:5-7). The strongest prohibition was imposed against the giving of this message to any Gentile, or even to a Samaritan (Matthew 10:5-6. Cf Matthew 15:24). The message, though brief, was calculated to arouse all the national longings of the people to whom it was spoken. The messengers needed no analytical training to sense the exact meaning of their theme. As instructed Israelites, the kingdom hope had been their expectation and meditation from birth. Later on, and in contrast to this, their utter slowness of heart to understand the new facts and teachings of grace is most obvious. Even when, after His resurrection, Christ had given forty days of instruction in things pertaining to the kingdom of God, they said: "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6), so little had they grasped the meaning of His death and the immediate purpose of grace. On the other hand, there is no record that the messengers needed or received one moment of exposition as to the meaning of the message relative to the Gospel of the kingdom before they were sent forth to deliver it. It was evidently Israel’s hope. The phrase, the kingdom of heaven, is peculiar to the Gospel by Matthew, and refers to the rule of God in the earth. In that particular, it is to be distinguished from the kingdom of God, which is the rule of God throughout the bounds of the universe. One, in certain aspects, is included in the other, and there is, therefore, much that is common to both. The Messianic rule of God in the earth was the theme of the prophets; for the prophets only enlarged on the covenants which guaranteed a throne, a King, and a kingdom, over regathered Israel, in that land which was sworn to Abraham. The term, the kingdom of heaven, was used by Christ to announce the fact that the covenanted kingdom blessings were "at hand." This good news to that nation was the "gospel of the kingdom," and should in no wise be confused with the Gospel of saving grace. The national hope was centered in the genuineness of the claims of both the King and His forerunner. The evidence was carefully weighed, it may be believed, and it was found unimpeachable; but the wickedness of heart prevailed. They imprisoned the forerunner, who was later beheaded by Herod, and they crucified the King. Both the forerunner and the King fulfilled prophecy in respect to the office of each in every detail. The forerunner was the voice of one crying in the wilderness. The King was of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah, a son of David born of a virgin, in Bethlehem of Judea, He came out of Egypt, and was called a Nazarene. At His birth He was proclaimed, "King of the Jews." In His public ministry He took up the message of a King. At His entrance into Jerusalem He was hailed as Israel’s King. At His trial before Pilate, He claimed to be a King. And He died under the accusation, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." The crown of thorns had no significance in relation to His sacrificial death for sin: it was the emblem of the nation’s derision for His kingship claim. They thus fulfilled by act the very prophecy the King had made: "We will not have this man to rule over us." There should be no confusion at this point. The rulers of the nation who demanded His death were not personally rejecting a Saviour, as sinners are rejecting Him now; they were rejecting their King. They did not say, "We will not believe on the Saviour to the salvation of our souls"; they said, "We have no king but Caesar." The rejection of the King was according to "the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23; for His rejection and humiliation were foreshadowed in the types, and foreseen in the prophecies of the Old Testament; He was the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." At every step in the record His rejection and death are said to be the fulfilling of the Scriptures. It is recorded of Him in sixteen passages that He, by His rejection and death, fulfilled the Old Testament Scriptures. It is also recorded of Him in nine passages that He was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies concerning the King. The first ministry of Christ was, then, to Israel as her King. In this He appeared; not as a personal Saviour, but as her long expected Messiah; not as a Lamb, but as a Lion; not as a sacrifice by which a Church -- the spotless Bride -- might be purchased to Himself from among all nations, but as the Son of David, with every right to David’s throne, over Israel, at Jerusalem, in the land of promise. In the Synoptic Gospels, there is, therefore, no record of any step toward the formation of the Church, or any reference to that great purpose, until, from His own nation, His rejection as King is evident. According to the Synoptic Gospels, the early teachings of the King were of that nation, and were in no wise related to the great results which would afterwards be accomplished through His death and resurrection in the calling out of His Church from all the nations of the earth. Upon His rejection, He began to speak, in anticipation of His death, of the formation of His Church, and of His coming back again to the earth. He likewise related the sure fulfillment of every covenant with Israel to the time of His return. Was, then, the Gospel of the kingdom, as announced by John, by Christ, and by His disciples, a bona fide message? Did it really mean what it announced? Was Israel’s long predicted kingdom at hand? If so, and had they received their King, what would have become of the divine purposes of redemption as they were to be accomplished through His death? These questions are insistently asked today; but the answers are not difficult. The Gospel of the kingdom was a bona fide message to Israel. To treat it otherwise, is to accuse God of trickery and deception. It is likewise a serious misrepresentation of all the related Scriptures to apply the message and teaching of the King to the present purposes of God in this age of grace. All confusion which arises concerning the kingdom message in its relation to the cross arises from the failure to recognize the important distinction between the divine viewpoint and the human viewpoint. It is only another application of the rationalistic trick of playing the free will of man against the sovereignty of God. On the human side, there was a clear-cut issue with unrestrained power to choose, or reject, the King. On the divine side, there was a genuine offer of the kingdom in the Person, presence and ministry of the King; but back of this was the foreknowledge of God which was absolute as to the choice they would make. Their choice would be but the outworking of the eternal purpose of God in Christ, and for that choice they would be held guilty. On the divine side, it is said: "Therefore they could not believe" (John 12:39), and on the human side, it is said: "They hated me without a cause" (John 15:25). Is this the only example of such a problem in the Scriptures? By no means. Every dispensation represents a new divine purpose in the testing of man. In every case man is seen to fail, and to be guilty before God; yet we behold God patiently and faithfully bringing man face to face with the issues involved. After a brief experience in the wilderness, He took Israel to Kadesh Barnea where He provided and offered an immediate entrance into their own land. The choice was theirs; they refused to enter. They were guilty. God knew they would refuse to enter the land; yet His offer was genuine, and His purposes were realized. In chastisement, God sent them back into the wilderness for forty years of added discomfort. In His own time, and by His own power, they finally entered the land. This portion of Israel’s history may be taken to be typical. When Christ came, the nation had then experienced over five hundred years of trial in dispossession of their land and the vacancy of David’s throne. When their Messiah came, they refused the divine provisions centered in the King, and, as typified at Kadesh, they returned to what has now proven to be two thousand years of added affliction. The day is coming, however, when, according to the faithfulness of God, they will receive their King and abide under His undimmed glory. Turning to the Old Testament, the student is confronted with the problem of the right adjustment as to the time of fulfillment of two great lines of prophecy concerning Christ. On the one hand, He was prophesied to come as a Monarch whose reign and kingdom would be everlasting (Cf 2 Samuel 7:16; Psalms 72:1-20; Psalms 89:35-37; Isaiah 9:6-7). The thought of His death is foreign to this body of prophecy. It is no function of a king to die, -- "Long live the king!" But, on the other hand, there is prophecy equally as explicit regarding the sacrificial, substitutionary death of Christ (Psalms 22:1-21; Isaiah 53:1-12). Manifestly, these two lines of undertaking could not be accomplished simultaneously. Christ could not be the resistless, undying King, and be an unresisting sacrifice, at one and the same time. It was this very time-element in the problem which Peter declared was not disclosed to the prophets. He writes: "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow" (1 Peter 1:10-11). Since the present age of grace and its purpose was not revealed to the writers of the Old Testament, the time-element relating these two lines of prophecy could not be disclosed. When the fullness of time came, it pleased God to present His King in fulfillment of prophecy and according to all His covenants to Israel. Both by the "determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God" and by the free choice of the nation, the King was rejected and crucified. It is evident, therefore, that the prophecies concerning the King and His earthly kingdom remain unfulfilled to this hour. They are not forgotten or abandoned. Neither are they receiving a spiritual fulfillment. They are yet to be fulfilled when the King returns to the earth. In like manner, the same clear light as to the divine purpose is revealed through Daniel when he predicts the order of events to be fulfilled in the period between his own time and that of the reign of Messiah. In this prophecy the "cutting off of Messiah" precedes the reign of the King. Thus did God anticipate what would take place; but this in no wise lessens the exercise of free choice on the part of the nation Israel in rejecting the King. It is puerile to assert that the cross of Christ was held in jeopardy until Israel’s choice concerning the King had been consummated. Let those who traffic in such tricks of argument be consistent to the point of applying their rationalism to all the great issues wherein the sovereignty of God and the free will of man are found to meet. The ministry of Christ was genuine. He was a minister to the circumcision to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. He was likewise the open door into the grace of God that Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. Though real, His rejection as King was the necessary step in all redemption, and God in faithfulness will yet fulfill every covenant related to the throne, the King, the nation, and the land. This He will do when the King comes back to the earth again. It has been necessary to outline the relation of the covenanted, earthly kingdom to the first advent of Christ, in order that the kingdom teachings of Christ may be seen in their true setting. Referring to the first section of the Gospel by Matthew (Matthew 1:1-25, Matthew 2:1-23, Matthew 3:1-17, Matthew 4:1-25, Matthew 5:1-48, Matthew 6:1-34, Matthew 7:1-29, Matthew 8:1-34, Matthew 9:1-38, Matthew 10:1-42, Matthew 11:1-30, Matthew 12:1-50), wherein the Gospel of the kingdom is preached to Israel, it will be found that this precise message of the kingdom Gospel was first announced by John the Baptist, of whom it is said: "For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" (Matthew 3:1-3); it was announced by the King Himself (Matthew 4:17); and by the disciples (Matthew 10:5-7). Embedded in this context wherein only the Gospel of the kingdom is in view, and completely bounded by the records of these proclamations, is the "Sermon on the Mount," which is evidently, the Manifesto of the King (Matthew 5:1-48, Matthew 6:1-34, Matthew 7:1-29). In this Manifesto the King declares the essential character of the kingdom, the conduct which will be required in the kingdom, and the conditions of entrance into the kingdom. This kingdom rule of life is purely legal, both in its inherent qualities and by its own claim (Matthew 7:12). It is, however, very different from the law as given by Moses. In the kingdom teachings, as has been stated, the commands, of Moses are advanced into requirements vastly more impossible as to detail, and this does not relieve, but rather intensifies, its character as strictly legal. Christ does not disown the principles of the law in the unfoldings of kingdom requirements any more than He does in all His dealings with Israel before His death. He is rather presenting a new degree and standard of law which is adapted to the conditions which shall obtain in the kingdom, and which He contrasts with the law of Moses. The great kingdom words -- righteousness and peace -- are dominant, and there is never a reference either to salvation, or grace. Nor is there the slightest reference to those great realities of relationship which belong to the new creation wrought by Christ through His death and resurrection. Such a complete omission of any reference to any feature of the present age of grace, is a fact which should be carefully weighed. The minute accuracy of the Scripture is seen in Christ’s use of the phrase my commandments. During the days of His ministry to the nation Israel, He enforced the commandments of Moses, and spoke of the new principles which were to be applied in the kingdom as "these sayings of mine," and "I say unto you"; but at no time did He use the term my commandments until He used it with His disciples in the upper room, and at the time when He was unfolding the new principles which were to condition the daily living of those who should stand on resurrection ground, in the new creation, and under grace. It is also significant that the first use of the term commandment in this grace message is when He said, "A new commandment I give unto you" (John 13:34). There is, therefore, a possible limitation to be placed on the extent of the responsibility imposed by Christ in His great commission wherein He said: "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:20). It is hardly probable that He intends all the Mosaic law, the governing principles of the kingdom, and the teachings of grace, to be combined and applied to those who receive the message of the great commission. In the teachings of the kingdom, the characterizing phrase is, "hear and do" (Matthew 7:24), while the characterizing phrase under grace is "hear and believe" (John 5:24). The essential character of the teachings of the kingdom as they are contrasted with the teachings of Moses, and as they are contrasted with the teachings of grace, will, at another point of the discussion, be considered at length. There is a sense in which the kingdom of God, as the rule of God in the hearts of individuals, is present in the world today. This should not be confused with the Messianic kingdom which is to be set up over a nation, and extended through them to all nations, with the King ruling, not in the individual heart, but on the throne of David, in the city of Jerusalem. As the King came nearer to His death, and the rejection became more evident, He made mention of that aspect of the rule of God in the individual heart which was to characterize the hitherto unannounced age of grace. The following passage (like Matthew 13:1-52), taken from the later teachings of Christ as recorded by Luke, is an example: "And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation [outward show]: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you" (in your midst. Luke 17:20-21). In no sense could it be truthfully said that the kingdom of God was in the hearts of those Christ-rejecting Pharisees. There was, however, a real sense in which the kingdom of God was to be, as it is now, in the hearts of individual believers; but the direct statement of Christ is to the effect that the kingdom was then, in the Person of the King, in their midst. So, also, the phrase, the kingdom of God cometh not with outward show, anticipates the present aspect of the rule of God in the individual heart; but after this, and according to all prophecy, the kingdom of heaven will come with outward show. There is much promise of a transformed earth, which condition will be ushered in, not by unseen forces and processes; but through the resistless power and presence of the returning King. So, also, He could say to Israel: "The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you" (Luke 10:9). As certainly as the King was before the nation, so certainly their kingdom was before them, and this was the appeal of the Gospel of the kingdom which was given to "the children of the kingdom" only. When the King was rejected, His kingdom was rejected. When His kingdom was rejected and its realization delayed until the return of the King, the application of all Scripture which conditions life in the kingdom was delayed, as well, and will be delayed as long as the King tarries. This necessary delay is easily accepted with reference to the earthly, national glory, which is the theme of the kingdom teachings of the Old Testament; but it is equally true that there is a necessary delay in application of the last detail of human obligation related to the earthly kingdom as set forth in the New Testament. The kingdom teachings are a sufficient and complete statement of all that it will be necessary for one to know concerning the terms of entrance into, and conduct in the Messianic kingdom on the earth. Much in these kingdom teachings is similar to that which is found in the teachings of Moses. Much is similar, also, to the teachings of grace; but these facts do not constitute these teachings an indivisible whole, nor do they justify a careless co-mingling of these great systems of rule in the earth. The characterizing elements in each will be found to be those principles which are peculiarly applicable to the dispensation to which they belong, rather than in the principles wherein they are similar. THE LIFE UNDER GRACE (continued) ======================================================================== CHAPTER 29: 03.06. CONTRAST BETWEEN LAW AND GRACE TEACHINGS ======================================================================== SECTION FOUR CONTRASTS BETWEEN LAW AND GRACE TEACHINGS Having considered the fact that God provides different rules of life, as recorded in the Scriptures, to fit His succeeding dispensational dealings with man, it is important to consider the wide difference which exists between the principle of law, and the principle of grace, as applied to the divine government of man. While the purpose of this section is to emphasize the fact that the three systems of divine government are essentially separate, each one from the others, and each one, being wholly complete and sufficient in itself, is in no wise exchangeable for either of the others, and cannot be co-mingled; it should be observed that there are important fields of Bible interpretation and instruction besides the limited aspect of truth which is suggested by the various rules of conduct. The Scriptures unfold many highways of truth with unbroken development from "the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." The important features of this unity in the Scriptures are: 1. The revelation concerning God. He is first revealed in the Old Testament by His names and works, and to this the New Testament adds the fuller emphasis upon the Trinity, the relation of the Persons of the Godhead to mankind, and the various aspects of saving grace. The continuity of the Old Testament testimony concerning Christ was proven by Himself on the Emmaus road, as it is recorded: "Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:27). 2. Prophecy and its fulfillment. Every recorded instance of the fulfillment of prophecy shows that every detail of the prediction was fulfilled to the letter. 3. The union between type and antitype. Almost every important truth of the New Testament was typified and foreshadowed in the Old Testament. This fact proves the symmetry of all Scripture (See 1 Corinthians 10:1-11). 4. The revelation concerning Satan and evil. In this body of revelation, likewise, the Bible story is uninterrupted, save for the new material added in the development of the divine message. 5. The doctrine of man and his sin. The exact manner of the application of the divine remedy for sin varies from dispensation to dispensation; but there is no variation in all the record concerning the essential facts of human failure, and the gracious, divine remedy through blood alone. 6. The requirement of holiness in the conduct of saints. While there is wide difference between the rules of conduct which are imposed in the various ages, there is unity in the revelation that a holy manner of life is the divine requirement in every age. 7. The continuity of purpose in the program of the ages. In this aspect of the truth it should be observed that, while each age possesses a character exclusively its own, the divine purpose throughout all the ages is one, ending in the ultimate consummation which God has decreed. This fact is stated in Hebrews 1:2. Speaking of God as revealed in, and related to, the Son, it is written: "By whom he programmed the ages" (literal). Such is the wonderful unity of the Scriptures throughout; but in no sense are the various systems regulating human conduct the same, and the exact application of these systems must be guarded at every point. If truth for the children of God under grace is to be drawn from the teachings of the law of Moses, or the kingdom, it should be acknowledged that it is taken from a system foreign to grace, and that it is applicable only by way of illustration. These governing principles differ in three particulars: (1) They present independent, sufficient, and complete systems of divine rule in the earth. (2) In these systems the order varies as to the sequence of the divine blessing and the human obligation. (3) These systems differ according to the degree in which the divine enablement has been provided. I. THEY PRESENT INDEPENDENT, SUFFICIENT, AND COMPLETE SYSTEMS OF DIVINE RULE IN THE EARTH As has been stated, there are three of these systems of divine government. (1) The teachings of the law of Moses; (2) The teachings of grace; and (3) The teachings of the kingdom. Naturally there is field here for wide expansion, since these three systems of authority occupy the major portion of the Bible. A brief review only of the essential character of these systems is here given: (1) The Teachings of the Law of Moses. This rule of life was revealed from God and accepted by Israel at Sinai, and was at no time addressed to the nations of the world. It was a peculiar form of government for a peculiar people, and accomplished a peculiar purpose in condemning the failure of man and in leading him to Christ. Its full detail is revealed in the writings of Moses; but the history of Israel under the law occupies the rest of the Old Testament, and the major part of the Gospels up to the record of the death of Christ. In the doctrinal teachings of the New Testament, very much additional light is given to the character and purpose of the law of Moses. There the law is held in contrast with the teachings of grace. There, also, as will be seen more fully in the later discussion, the law is represented as having passed out of force through the death of Christ; and, it may be observed, that, after the death of Christ, the law is in no instance treated as being directly in force. The law of Moses was complete within itself. It was sufficient to regulate the conduct of an Israelite under every circumstance that might arise. No other rule of life had been revealed during the days in which the law of Moses was in effect, hence there was no temptation for Israel to complicate her governing principle with any other. In her relation to God, that nation remained for fifteen hundred years under pure law. "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (2) The Teachings of Grace. Like the teachings of the law of Moses, the teachings of grace have not applied to men in all ages. These teachings were revealed from God through Christ and His apostles. Moreover, they are never addressed to the world as applicable to it in the present age; but are addressed to a peculiar people who are in the world, but are not of the world. These teachings constitute the divine instruction to the heavenly citizen and unfold the exact manner of life that such a citizen is expected to manifest even here in the earth. The full detail of this rule of life is found in portions of the Gospels, portions of the Book of Acts, and the Epistles of the New Testament. As light is given in these particular Scriptures of the New Testament by way of contrast, concerning the character and purpose of the law of Moses, so, in like manner, the very foundations of grace and its relationships are laid in the types and prophecies of the Old Testament. It is revealed that God dealt graciously with the human family from Adam to Moses; but it is also revealed that the precise form of divine government which is the present teaching of grace was not then disclosed, nor was it applied to men until the reign of the law had been terminated in the death of Christ. It is likewise revealed that the death of Christ was the necessary foundation for the present, full manifestation of superabounding grace. It is equally as certain from revelation that the teachings of grace will apply to the children of God under grace as long as they are in the world, and these principles will cease to rule, of necessity, when the people to whom they alone apply are gathered out and taken from the earth at the coming of Christ. This period between the death of Christ and His coming again is not characterized in the Scriptures as a time when the supreme purpose of God is the governing of the nations of the earth; this age is rather spoken of as "the times of the Gentiles" in all matters of human government in the earth. Nor is this age the period in which God is realizing the fulfillment of His unchanging covenants with the nation Israel; that nation is now said to be scattered, peeled, blinded, broken off, and hated of all nations, and they are to remain so to the end of the age. This age is not the time of the salvation of society; that great undertaking is clearly in the purpose of God, but it is reserved for the age which is yet to come. The present age is characterized by a unique emphasis on the individual. The death of Christ contemplated above all else the need of the individual sinner. The Gospel of grace, which the death of Christ made possible, is an appeal to the individual alone, and the very faith by which it is received is exercised only by the individual. The message of grace is of a personal faith, a personal salvation, a personal enduement of the Spirit, a personal gift for service, and a personal transformation into the image of Christ. The company of individuals thus redeemed and transformed, are to be in the ages to come the supreme manifestation of the riches of God’s grace. Unto this eternal purpose the whole universe was created and all ages have been programmed by God. The glory of this dispensation is lost to a large extent when the reign of the law is intruded into this age which followed the death of Christ, or when the social order of the kingdom, promised for a future age, is expected before the return of the King. The Bible affords no basis for the supposition that the Lord will come to a perfected social order. At His coming He will gather the saved to Himself, but the wicked He will judge in righteousness. The transcendent glory of this age is that grace which will have been either accepted or rejected by the individual. The teachings of grace are perfect and sufficient in themselves. They provide for the instruction of the child of God in every situation which may arise. There is no need that they be supplemented, or augmented, by the addition of precepts from either the law of Moses, or the teachings of the kingdom. (3) The Teachings of the Kingdom. The teachings of the kingdom have not been applied to men in all the ages; nay, more, they have not yet been applied to any man. Since they anticipate the binding of Satan, a purified earth, and the personal reign of the King, they cannot be applied until God’s appointed time when these accompanying conditions on the earth have been brought to pass. The kingdom laws will be addressed to Israel and beyond them to all the nations who will enter the kingdom. It will be the first and only universal reign of righteousness and peace in the history of the world. One nation was in view when the law of Moses was in force in the earth; the individual is in view during this age of grace; and the whole social order of mankind will be in view when the kingdom is set up in the earth. The reign of the King, is never said to be ushered in by a gradual process of world improvement; it is introduced suddenly and with great violence. The return of the King to rule is like a smiting stone, and will demolish the structure of world empires, will grind them to powder, and will scatter them as the wind scatters the chaff of the summer threshing floor (Daniel 2:31-45). Satan and the satanic deception will have been removed from the earth, Israel will have realized the glory of her covenants, and the long predicted blessing will have come upon all the Gentiles, and upon creation itself. The church is not once mentioned in relation to the teachings of the kingdom, nor are those teachings applied to her; for her part in the kingdom is not to be reigned over, but to reign with Christ -- her Head. She, being, the Bride of the King, is His consort. She will still be under the heavenly teachings of grace, and her home will be in the bosom of the Bridegroom in the ivory palace of the King. The King will reign with a rod of iron. Sin and iniquity will be rebuked instantly and judged in perfect righteousness. Clear conception of the glory of the kingdom is lost if it is confused with the age of grace which precedes it, or with the sinless new heavens and new earth of the eternal state which follows it. The kingdom closes with a demonstration of the failure of man and thus it adds the last message of the converging testimony to the wickedness of the fallen heart, and to the fact that in the exceeding grace of God alone is their salvation. The teachings of the kingdom are found in portions of the Psalms, the kingdom prophecies of the Old Testament, and the kingdom teachings in the Synoptic Gospels. These teachings are complete and sufficient to direct the life of the children of the kingdom in every condition that may arise under the rule of the King. There is no need that these teachings be supplemented or augmented by additions from either of the other governing systems. Under God’s classification, there are only three major divisions of the human family -- "The Jew, the Gentile and the church of God." Wherever they are mentioned in any portion of the Bible they are recognized as distinctly separate peoples, and it is important to follow the divine record concerning each from its beginning to its end. The Jew, or Israel, began with Abraham, was favored in relationship to God above all the nations of the earth for fifteen hundred years in the promised land, is the object of all of Jehovah’s purposes and covenants in the earth, is now as free from the law, and is as effectually shut up to the Gospel of the grace of God as are the Gentiles, and will yet inherit the limitless blessings of all the kingdom covenants in the earth. The Gentile began with Adam, received no direct instruction or covenant from Jehovah in all the ages past, is now the object of appeal, with the Jew, in the Gospel of grace, and will share in the glory of the kingdom to come, when the divine blessing will be poured out on all the Gentiles (Acts 15:17). The Church began with the death of Christ and the descent of the Spirit, is the divine objective in this age, is a heavenly people taken from both Jews and Gentiles, and will reign with the King as His Bride, in the ages to come. Since there is so wide a difference in the character of these ages -- of law, of grace, and of the kingdom -- and in the peoples of the earth -- the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church -- as they stand related to God throughout the ages, it is to be expected that there will be a variation in the divine government according to the essential character of the several ages. This is not only reasonable; it is the precise teaching of the Bible. Since these great governing systems are wholly separate and sufficient in themselves, and since there is much which is held in common in them all, a brief comparison of the systems is here undertaken: First. The Similarity and Dissimilarity Between the Teachings of the Law of Moses and the Teachings of Grace. In this discussion, the law of Moses will be limited to the Decalogue; for no legalist proposes to carry forward into grace the judgments which governed the social life of Israel, or the ordinances which governed their religious ritual in the land. However, the moral commandments of the Decalogue are almost universally imposed upon the church by these legalists. In justification of this imposition, the plea is usually made that apart from the direct application of the Decalogue there could be no divine authority or government in the earth. In no sense does this question involve the issues of world government; for God has never addressed either the teachings of the law, or the teachings of grace to the whole world. The world has borrowed certain moral precepts from the Bible for its self-government; but it does not follow that God has accepted the world on the basis of the teachings of the law, or the teachings of grace. In reality, the world is shut up to the one appeal of the Gospel of grace. Until this appeal is heeded, the individual is neither under law, nor grace, as a rule of life; but is "under sin." The issue is, therefore, between law and grace as governing principles in the life of the Christian. Must Christians turn to the Decalogue for a basis of divine government in their daily lives? Scripture answers this question with a positive assertion: "Ye are not under the law, but under grace." If this be true, are the great moral values of the Decalogue discarded? By no means; for it will be seen that every moral precept of the Decalogue, but one, has been restated with increased emphasis in the teachings of grace. These precepts do not reappear under grace in the character and coloring of the law, but, rather, in the character and coloring of pure grace. The following brief comparison will demonstrate the fact that the moral values of the law are reincorporated in the teachings of grace. 1. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." -- 1. "We ... preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God" (Acts 14:15). 2. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image; ... thou shalt not bow down to them nor serve them" -- 2. "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21). 3. "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain." -- 3. "But above all things brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath" (James 5:12). 4. "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy." -- 4. No such command is found in the teachings of grace. 5. "Honour thy father and thy mother." -- 5. "Children obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right" (Ephesians 6:1). 6. "Thou shalt not kill." -- 6. "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:15). 7. "Thou shalt not commit adultery." -- 7. "Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers ... shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). 8. "Thou shalt not steal." -- 8. "Steal no more" (Ephesians 4:28). 9. "Thou shalt not bear false witness." -- 9. "Lie not" (Colossians 3:9). 10. "Thou shalt not covet." -- 10. "Covetousness, let it not be named among you" (Ephesians 5:3). While some principles of the Mosaic law are restated under grace, those aspects of the law which are foreign to grace are omitted. The command to keep the seventh day is omitted wholly. This fact and the reason thereof will be considered more at length later in the discussion. So, also, the one promise of the Decalogue is omitted. This promise occurs in connection with the precept concerning the obedience of children. It reads: "Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." The fact that the law presented a promise to obedient children is pointed out in the New Testament (Ephesians 6:1), with no inference that the promise is in effect now; but as a reminder of that which obtained under the law. It would be difficult for any individual, or child, in the Church to establish a claim to a God-given land, or to demonstrate that any law now obtains by which long life is guaranteed to those who are now obedient to parents. Again, concerning Israel and her relation to the land it is written: "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed"; "The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever"; "For the upright shall dwell in the land" (Psalms 37:3, Psalms 37:29; Proverbs 2:21). No land has been given to the Christian. He is a "stranger and pilgrim" here, an "ambassador," a citizen of heaven. If he is taught in the Scriptures, he is not looking for a long life here; but he is looking for the coming of his Lord. He is not clinging to this life; for "to depart, and to be with Christ, ... is far better." The serious manner in which people apply an Old Testament promise, impossible under grace, to themselves is a revelation of the measure of inattention with which the Scriptures are too often read and quoted. Since every adaptable precept of the law is restated in grace, it is not necessary to violate the Scriptures by forcing the law into the sphere of grace. The Decalogue, in its moral principles, is not only restated in grace, but its principles are greatly amplified. This is illustrated, again, by the same precept concerning the obedience of children. In the teachings of grace, the whole issue of obedience is taken up at length, and to this is added the instructions to parents as well. Under the teachings of grace, the appeal of the first commandment is repeated no less than fifty times, the second twelve times, the third four times, the fourth (about the sabbath day) not at all, the fifth six times, the sixth six times, the seventh twelve times, the eighth six times, the ninth four times, and the tenth nine times. Yet further, that which is even more vital should be noted: The teachings of grace are not only gracious in character and of the very nature of heaven itself, but they are extended to cover the entire range of the new issues of the life and service of the Christian. The Ten Commandments require no life of prayer, no Christian service, no evangelism, no missionary effort, no gospel preaching, no life and walk in the Spirit, no Fatherhood of God, no union with Christ, no fellowship of saints, no hope of salvation, and no hope of heaven. If it is asserted that we have all these because we have both the law and grace, it is replied that the law adds nothing to grace but confusion and contradiction, and that there is the most faithful warning in the Scriptures against this admixture. A few times the teachings of the law are referred to by the writers of the Epistles by way of illustration. Having stated the obligation under grace, they cite the fact that this same principle obtained under the law. There is, however, no basis here for a co-mingling of these two governing systems. The law of Moses presents a covenant of works to be wrought in the energy of the flesh; the teachings of grace present a covenant of faith to be wrought in the energy of the Spirit. Second. The, Similarity and Dissimilarity Between the Teachings of the Law of Moses and the Teachings of the Kingdom. As will be seen more fully further on, these two systems of divine government are both legal in character and order. If this is true, it is to be expected that there is much in common between them. (1) They are similar because they are both based on a covenant of works. (2) They are similar because of elements which are common to both. (3) They are dissimilar because of certain points in which they differ. 1. They are similar because they are based on a covenant of works. The nature of a covenant which is based on human works is obvious. Whatever God promises under such a covenant, is conditioned on the faithfulness of man. Every blessing under the law of Moses was so conditioned, and every blessing in the kingdom relationship will be found to be so ordered. Turning to the kingdom teachings of Christ wherein the issues of personal conduct and obligation in the kingdom are taken up, it will be seen that all the kingdom promises to the individual are based on human merit. The kingdom blessings are reserved for the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peace maker. It is a covenant of works only and the emphatic word is "do." "This do and thou shalt live," is the highest promise of the law. As men judge, so shall they be judged. A tree is approved, or rejected, by its fruits. And not every one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of "my Father" which is in heaven. As the individual forgives, so will he be forgiven. And except personal righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, there shall be no entrance into the kingdom of heaven. To interpret this righteousness which is required to be the imputed righteousness of God, is to disregard the teaching of the context, and to introduce an element which is not once found in this whole system of divine government. The kingdom teachings of the "Sermon on the Mount" are concluded with the parable of the house built on the rock. The key to this message is given in the words, "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them." Turning to the law of Moses, we discover that it presents no other relation to God for the individual than this same covenant of works: "And it shall come to pass, that if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day [including the Decalogue], that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee ... Blessed shalt thou be ..." (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). "But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee ... Cursed shalt thou be ..." (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee" (Exodus 20:12). "All that the LORD hath spoken we will do" (Exodus 19:8). "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God ... And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live" (Luke 10:25-28). By these references to the law of Moses and the law of the kingdom, it may be seen that both of these systems are based wholly on a covenant of works. 2. They are similar because of elements which are common to both. In the law of the kingdom, the Mosaic law is carried forward and intensified. "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. ... Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill ... But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. ... Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say unto you, That Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew 5:17-28. Cf Matthew 5:31-48; Matthew 6:1-18, Matthew 6:25-34). "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets" (Matthew 7:12). By these illustrative passages it is clear that the law of Moses and the law of the kingdom are similar in that they contain elements which are common to both. 3. They are dissimilar because of certain points in which they differ. In the law of the kingdom, certain features are added which are not found in the law of Moses. These new features can be mentioned here only in part. It has been revealed in the Scriptures above quoted that the law is intensified in the kingdom teachings. From these no element of the law of Moses has been subtracted. Rather, to the Mosaic revelation are added the kingdom teachings of Christ concerning marriage and divorce, the taking of an oath, and the personal obligation to others. The law demanding "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" is replaced by required submission. The other cheek is to be turned, the second mile is to be traveled, and to him that asketh, there is to be no refusal. Even the enemies are to be loved. These things are to be done "that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven," and are only further evidences that in fact and force they issue from the covenant of works. There is a new appeal for sincerity in alms-giving, in prayer, and in fasting. There is a new revelation concerning prayer; but it is prayer for the kingdom and according to conditions in the kingdom alone. Special instruction is given concerning the use of riches in the kingdom and also concerning anxiety and care. Third. The Similarity and Dissimilarity Between the Teachings of Grace and the Laws of the Kingdom. The importance of an unprejudiced consideration of these Scriptures which disclose the whole field of comparison between the teachings of grace and the laws of the kingdom cannot be too strongly emphasized. The theme is extensive, but an outline-treatment only can be given here. While this study of contrasts should be extended into all the kingdom teachings of the Gospels, the plan will be to follow a brief analysis of the Manifesto of the King as recorded in Matthew 5:1-48, Matthew 6:1-34, Matthew 7:1-29, and to compare the various precepts there revealed with the precepts given to the believer under grace. It will be necessary, also, to compare these precepts with the kingdom teachings of the Old Testament; for it will be found that the teachings of the kingdom presented in Matthew 5:1-48, Matthew 6:1-34, Matthew 7:1-29, are in exact accord with the Old Testament predictions regarding the kingdom, and are almost wholly in disagreement with the teachings of grace. In Luke 16:16 it is written: "The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it." The message of John the Baptist was something new. It was in no sense the preaching of the "law and the prophets" as a direct application of the Mosaic system. Nevertheless, his preaching was purely legal in character. An important exception to this is found in the Gospel by John. In that Gospel, the characterizing words, selected from all the sayings of John the Baptist are, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). The Gospel by John is distinctly of salvation and grace through believing, and the selection of this one message from John the Baptist beautifully illustrates the mind and purpose of the Spirit in the selection of material for the construction of that Gospel of divine grace. This exceptional word from John the Baptist, fitted to the message of grace in the Gospel by John, should not be confused with his legalistic preaching as recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, where his real ministry as the forerunner is set forth. What he preached, is clearly stated in Luke 3:7-14 : "Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance ... And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answered and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages." The intense emphasis on the covenant of meritorious works is obvious in this message; but John did not preach Moses and the prophets. The law and the prophets were until John. It is to be concluded that the preaching of John the Baptist was wholly new, and was according to his mission as herald of the King; but that message is legalistic, and not gracious. It is a covenant of works, and not a covenant of faith. Added light is also given in Luke 16:16 as to the kingdom character of John’s preaching. The divine rule in the earth which Matthew terms "the kingdom of heaven" is by Luke termed "the kingdom of God." This is justified since the kingdom of God includes the kingdom of heaven, or the earth-rule of the King. Since Matthew and Luke are so evidently referring to the same divine rule in the earth, and often reporting the same message when employing these two phrases, it is conclusive that Luke’s use of the term, "the kingdom of God," here, and elsewhere, is with reference to the limited divine rule in the earth. Into that kingdom, men who enter are said to be "pressing in." "To crowd oneself in," is the literal meaning, and the word suggests intense human effort, and implies the need of merit, which is required for entrance into the kingdom. There are at least three major distinctions which will appear when the teachings of grace are contrasted with the teachings of the kingdom. (1) In the kingdom message, hope is, in the main, centered in the kingdom of heaven, and, in Mark and Luke, in that aspect of the kingdom of God which corresponds with the kingdom of heaven. This, it should be remembered, is not heaven: in this connection, it is the rule of the Messiah-King in the earth. However, the larger rule of the kingdom of God is mentioned once (Matthew 6:33), and at a point when all the divine interests are in view, and three times the kingdom message holds the anticipation of heaven itself before its children (Matthew 5:12; Matthew 6:20; Matthew 7:23). In the teachings of grace it is heaven itself which is in view, with never a reference to the kingdom of heaven, other than that the saints shall reign with the King. Christians, on the other hand, are often related to the larger sphere of the kingdom of God (See John 3:3). (2) These two lines of teaching may be identified, also, by the use of the great words they employ. According to both the Old Testament and the New, righteousness and peace are the great words of the kingdom. The "Sermon on the Mount" is the expansion of the full meaning of the personal righteousness which is required in the kingdom. The great words in this age are believe and grace. Not once do these words appear in connection with the kingdom teachings of Matthew 5:1-48, Matthew 6:1-34, Matthew 7:1-29. Mercy is unfolded in grace, rather than in righteousness. (3) The kingdom teachings, like the law of Moses, are based on a covenant of works. The teachings of grace, on the other hand, are based on a covenant of faith. In the one case, righteousness is demanded; in the other it is provided, both imputed and imparted, or inwrought. One is of a blessing to be bestowed because of a perfect life, the other is of a life to be lived because of a perfect blessing already received. Too often it has been supposed that the kingdom reign of Messiah will be a period of sinlessness on the earth, corresponding to the new heavens and new earth which will follow. Every Scripture bearing on the kingdom emphasizes the moral conditions which will obtain in the kingdom. Because of the binding of Satan, and the immediate judgment for sin, the high moral requirements in the kingdom will be possible; but there will be evil to judge, the enemy will persecute, and many who have professed will fail because they have not actually done the will of the King. So great will be the moral advance in world conditions in the kingdom over the present age, that righteousness will then "reign"; while at the present time, righteousness "suffers" (2 Timothy 3:12). The various topics presented in the "Sermon on the Mount," are here considered in order: 1. The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). This kingdom message opens with the record of the nine-fold blessing which is promised and provided for the faithful child of the kingdom. These blessings are won through merit. This is in sharp contrast to the blessings in the exalted position of the Christian to which he instantly attains through Christ at the moment he believes. a. "Blessed are the poor in spirit [humble]: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." As the little child, "of such is the kingdom of heaven." In the Old Testament vision of the coming manifestation of the King, it is said: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones" (Isaiah 57:15). To the Christian it is said: "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind" (Colossians 3:12). These virtues are not put on by the Christian to gain heaven; much less the kingdom of heaven. They are put on because these elements of character belong to the one who is already "elect of God, holy and beloved." Christ is the pattern (Php 2:8), and God resists aught but humbleness of mind (James 4:6). In the teachings of grace, "put on" does not mean to pretend, or assume; it is the manifestation of the life through the power of the Spirit (See Ephesians 4:24; Ephesians 6:11; Colossians 3:12). b. "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." Mourning does not belong to the Bride of Christ. To her a different message has been given: "Rejoice, and again I say, Rejoice." Mourning is the portion of Israel until her King comes, and when He comes, it will be "to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, and the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isaiah 61:2-3. Cf Isaiah 51:3; Isaiah 66:13; Isaiah 35:10; Isaiah 51:11; Zechariah 1:17). c. "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." Under grace, meekness is wrought in the believer by the Spirit, and is never rewarded; but the judgments of the King will be to "reprove with equity for the meek of the earth" (Isaiah 11:4. Cf Isaiah 29:19; Zephaniah 2:3; Psalms 45:4; Psalms 76:9). The earth is to be inherited in the kingdom reign. The glory of the King will be in the earth. It could hardly be supposed that the meek are inheriting the earth now, or that this is any promise to the Church, to whom no earthly promise is made. Those who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, have an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven. d. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." The Christian may crave a closer walk with God; but he is already "made the righteousness of God in him." In distinction to this, righteousness is that quality which must be attained in the kingdom (Matthew 5:20). "For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake will I not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory" (Isaiah 62:1-2. Cf Psalms 72:1-4; Psalms 85:10-11, Psalms 85:13; Isaiah 11:4-5). e. "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." The exact condition revealed in this promise should be carefully considered; for in this passage, mercy from God is made to depend wholly on the exercise of mercy toward others. This is pure law. Under grace the Christian is besought to be merciful, as one who has already obtained mercy (Ephesians 2:4-5; Titus 3:5). The mercy of God will go forth in grace to the nation Israel when He gathers them into their own land (Ezekiel 39:25); but He will, at the same time, deal with them as individuals by law: "But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them" (Psalms 103:17-18). "Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight. With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; and with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; with the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward" (Psalms 18:24-26). Under grace, He is rich in mercy, even when we were "dead in sins." f. "Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God." Opposed to this, and under grace it is written: "But we see Jesus," and "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (Hebrews 2:9; 2 Corinthians 4:6). In Christ, God now is revealed to the believer, while the kingdom promise to the pure in heart is that they shall see God. The kingdom promises continue: "He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; ... Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty" (Isaiah 33:15-18). "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart" (Psalms 24:3-4). g. "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." Peace is one of the two great words in the kingdom. The King who is "the Prince of Peace," shall so reign that righteousness and peace shall cover the earth as waters cover the face of the deep (Cf Psalms 72:3, Psalms 72:7). In that kingdom there will be special distinction given to the one who promotes peace. "They shall be called the children of God." Under grace, no one is constituted a child of God by any works whatsoever. "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:26). h. "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Again, the issue is righteousness. The Christian, on the contrary, suffers with Christ and for His sake, and his reward is in heaven. "But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake" (John 15:21). "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12). i. "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." The believer is called to suffer for Christ’s sake: "For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake" (Php 1:29). "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him" (2 Timothy 2:12). It should be noted that when the children of the kingdom are compared to any class of men in suffering, they are taken back to prophets which were before them, and not to the saints who comprise the body of Christ. Concluding these observations concerning the nine beatitudes, attention should be given to the fact that, in contrast to the nine-fold, self-earned blessing of the kingdom, the believer under grace is to experience a nine-fold blessing which is produced in him by the direct power of the indwelling Spirit. A careful comparison should be made of the nine-fold blessing which is promised under the kingdom, with the nine-fold blessing which is prepared under grace. It will be seen that all that is demanded under the law of the kingdom as a condition of blessing, is, under grace, divinely provided. The two aspects of life which are represented by these two groups of characterizing words are most significant. The total of all the blessings in the kingdom is not comparable with the superabundant "fruit of the Spirit" -- "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (self-control, Galatians 5:22-23). The very tense of the verb used is important. Under grace, the fruit of the Spirit "is," which indicates the present possession of the blessing through pure grace; while under the kingdom, the blessing "shall be" to such as merit it by their own works. 2. The similitudes of the righteous in the kingdom (Matthew 5:13-16). In this portion of Scripture the children of the kingdom are likened to the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. "Salt," as a figure, is not so used in the teachings of Moses or in the teachings of grace. However, the Christian is said to be "light in the Lord," and is exhorted to "walk" as a child of the light (Ephesians 5:8). Again, "Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day" (1 Thessalonians 5:5). But, concerning Israel in her coming kingdom blessing, it is said: "I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light to the Gentiles"; "I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth"; "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning"; "And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising"; "The LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended" (Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 49:6; Isaiah 58:8; Isaiah 60:3, Isaiah 60:20). Still another contrast appears in this connection: The Christian is appointed to manifest Christ (1 Peter 2:9); but the children of the kingdom are appointed to manifest their good works (Matthew 5:16). 3. Christ interprets the law in its relation to the kingdom (Matthew 5:17-48). This Scripture declares that the law shall not pass until it is fulfilled. This has to do with observance, for it is added: "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments ... shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven." It is the law of Moses intensified. In so doing, Christ transfers the obligation from the outward act to the attitude of the heart. This intensifies, rather than relieves, its legal character. It carries with it the most scorching condemnation possible to law. The Christian is not under law. He has no "altar" other than Christ (Hebrews 13:10). The altar is always related either to the Mosaic system, or to the coming kingdom, and is intensely legalistic in character. Concerning the kingdom it is said: "Their burnt-offerings, and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar" (Isaiah 56:7. Cf Isaiah 60:7; Ezekiel 43:13-27; Zechariah 14:20). The child of the kingdom must agree with his adversary quickly, lest he be cast into prison where there is no degree of mercy available (Matthew 5:25-26). To the child of God it is said: "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men" (Romans 12:17-21). The high standard of generous submission is, in the kingdom teachings, substituted in place of the exact equity of the law of Moses (Matthew 5:38-48). In place of the principle of "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," the other cheek is to be turned, the cloak is to be added to the coat, the second mile is to be traveled, no goods are to be withheld from him that asketh, and enemies are to be loved. This is not to be done as an expression of a high position already received in grace: it is to be done meritoriously that "ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven." Such relations between men will be required and practiced in the day when the King shall reign in righteousness and Satan is bound. The teachings of grace concerning murder, adultery, divorce, and swearing, are all clearly stated in the Scriptures. In this portion of the "Sermon on the Mount," the extreme legal penalty for wrong-doing is imposed (Matthew 5:20-22, Matthew 5:29-30). Is any child of God under grace in danger of judgment, or the awful penalty of hell fire? Argument is uncalled for in the light of the Scriptures; "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [judgment] but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24) "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man [created thing] pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:28); "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). It is quite true that believers will be judged by Christ as to the character of their life and service, that the Father chastens every son whom He receiveth, and that the Apostle Paul suggested that he might visit a certain church with a rod; but how different is all this from the penalty of hell fire which is unconditionally imposed on the children of the kingdom because of their sin! How imperfectly believers realize, when they turn from grace, the awful penalties of the law and the meaning of eternal damnation! How precious, too, that such ignorance of the law does not change the abiding, divine covenant of grace into which the believer has been brought through faith in Christ! 4. Mere externalism rebuked (Matthew 6:1-7, Matthew 6:16-18; Matthew 7:21-29). In the kingdom, a spirit of vain show as the actuating motive in alms-giving, offering, of prayer, and professions of devotion, will be judged instantly. On the other hand, these things, if done in secret, will be rewarded "openly." Such recompense should not be confused with the rewards for service which are promised the Christian at the judgment seat of Christ. Humble faithfulness in the kingdom will receive its immediate recognition from the King. 5. Prayer for the kingdom, and in the kingdom (Matthew 6:8-17; Matthew 7:7-11). What is commonly called "The Lord’s Prayer," but what is, in reality, the prayer that the Lord taught His disciples when contemplating the kingdom, is not intended to be a ritual prayer. He said: "After this manner therefore pray ye." The prayer is directly concerned with the issues of the coming kingdom. "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Of the great themes mentioned in this model kingdom prayer, but one is taken up for special comment and emphasis. It is as though the Spirit of God was seeking to save the reader from any confusion at this point. This special comment amplifies the one petition: "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." The divine comment on this reads: "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." This, again, is purely legal. Forgiveness on the part of the Christian is enjoined; but it is enjoined in agreement with the exalted principle of grace: "Tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you"; "Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye" (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13. Cf 1 John 1:9). The legal character of this great kingdom prayer should not be overlooked because of sentimental reasons growing out of early training. Attempts have been made to relate this divine forgiveness, which is conditioned on a forgiving attitude of the sinner, with the Father’s present forgiveness toward the believer who is under grace. Such an interpretation is as foreign to the precise relationships which belong to grace as it would be if the passage were said to teach the present divine forgiveness of the unsaved. Present forgiveness for both the unsaved and the saved is a matter of pure grace, and the divine conditions which are imposed are in perfect harmony with this fact. In this age, the unsaved are forgiven as a part of the entire accomplishment in salvation on the one condition that they believe (Ephesians 4:32), and the saved are forgiven on the one condition that they confess (1 John 1:9). These two words do not represent meritorious works; they represent the simple adjustment of the heart to that which is already provided in the grace of God. The cross has changed things for all. A covenant purely of law-works is stated in the passage in question. Such a covenant is the very foundation of all kingdom teaching; but it is wholly foreign to the teachings of grace. Christ, as some claim, must not be presented as a stern, austere Ruler. The marvel is that He is ever anything else. God’s holiness is not subject to gracious leniency toward sin. Apart from the cross where redemption’s price has been fully paid, there could be nothing but the consuming fire of judgment; but, since God in infinite love has provided a Substitute, there is boundless grace. In this age, God is dealing with men on the ground of His grace as it is in Christ. His dealings with men in the coming age are based on a very different relationship. At that time, the King will rule with a rod of iron. There is no word of the cross, or of grace, in the kingdom teachings. This prayer is, by its own expression, a kingdom prayer. The whole basis of appeal in this prayer, as in Matthew 7:7-11, is the faithfulness of the Father to His children in the kingdom. The basis of appeal in prayer during the days before Christ, or under Moses, was the faithfulness of Jehovah to His covenants. The basis of appeal in prayer under grace is that of the believer’s present union and identification with Christ. Access is provided only through Christ (Hebrews 10:19-20), and the new argument of appeal in prayer is, in the name, and for the glory, of Christ. Long after He had taught His disciples the kingdom form of prayer, and after He had turned to the teachings of pure grace He said: "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24). The kingdom form of prayer omits every feature of the essential note of prevailing prayer under grace. 6. The law governing riches in the kingdom (Matthew 6:19-24). The right use of riches, as under grace, will be rewarded in heaven, and there is no compromise: "Ye cannot serve God and mammon." 7. The Father’s care over the children of the kingdom (Matthew 6:25-34). This portion of the Scriptures is one of surpassing sweetness. As God clothes the lilies of the field, so will He clothe those who rest in Him by faith; but here His care is only for such as seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness: while, under grace, His care is unconditioned by any human work or merit: "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you"; "Be careful for nothing" (1 Peter 5:7; Php 4:6). The same principle of divine care was presented under the law of Moses; but in the form of pure law: "Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved" (Psalms 55:22). 8. Warning against judgment of others (Matthew 7:1-6.). This kingdom law is unyielding: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." One under grace has passed beyond all judgment, by virtue of his acceptance in Christ who died for him (John 5:24). He may be chastened by his Father, which is a form of judgment (1 Corinthians 11:27-32); but such judgment is never said to be the return of his own sin back upon his own head, as is prescribed in this portion of the kingdom teaching. 9. Warnings against false prophets (Matthew 7:15-20.). "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits." The warning here is against false prophets who are to be discerned by the quality of their lives. The warning to the children of God under grace is against false teachers who are to be discerned by their doctrine concerning Christ (2 John 1:7-11); never by their lives; for outwardly, false teachers are said to appear as the "ministers of Christ," and to be directly under the power of Satan who himself appears as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). The attractive personality of the false teacher affords great advantage as a background for the appeal he makes for his doctrine. 10. Three determining statements concerning the kingdom. a. "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). Exposition is unnecessary concerning this passage. It is the foundation of all the demands for entrance into the kingdom of heaven. It should in no wise be confused with the believer’s entrance into heaven through the finished work of Christ: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us" (Titus 3:5). b. "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets" (Matthew 7:12). This passage stands as a conclusion of the whole appeal of this kingdom teaching. It is as a key to all that has gone before. The legal principle, restated in this passage, is not said to be any part of the teachings of grace: it is rather "the law and the prophets." C. "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:13-14). Under the conditions laid down in the kingdom teachings, life is entered by a personal faithfulness (Matthew 5:29-30; Matthew 18:8-9; Luke 10:25-28). When this same exhortation is stated in the Gospel by Luke (Luke 13:24), it opens with the words, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate." The word strive is a translation of agonizomai, which means to agonize. It suggests the uttermost expenditure of the athlete’s strength in the contest. Such is the human condition that characterizes all the kingdom passages which offer entrance into life. An abrupt change is met when turning to the Gospel by John, which Gospel was written to announce the new message of grace, which is, that eternal life may be had through believing. No two words of Scripture more vividly express the great characterizing relationships in law and grace than agonize, and believe. Grace is the unfolding of the fact that One has agonized in our stead, and life is "through his name," and not by any degree of human faithfulness, or merit. There is a dangerous and entirely baseless sentiment abroad which assumes that every teaching of Christ must be binding during this age simply because Christ said it. The fact is forgotten that Christ, while living under, keeping, and applying the law of Moses, also taught the principles of His yet future kingdom, and, at the end of His ministry and in relation to His cross, He also anticipated the teachings of grace. If this three-fold division of the teachings of Christ is not recognized, there can be nothing but confusion of mind and consequent contradiction of truth. Again, it is not unreasonable to recognize that these kingdom teachings should directly apply to a yet future age. The Bible is the one revelation from God to all peoples of all the ages. It is not difficult to understand that much of the Scripture applies to conditions which are now wholly in the past; nor should it be difficult to understand that some of the Scripture applies to conditions which are wholly of the future. How else shall we know of the future? Certain revelations are of the coming tribulation period and are in no sense applicable to the present time. Who has ever prayed that his flight should not be on a sabbath day? Yet Christ commanded that prayer to be prayed (Matthew 24:20). In like manner, the use of the word "whosoever" in Matthew 7:24 does not imply that all the people of all the ages are addressed. It is more reasonable to believe that it applies to the people living under the conditions of the period which the passage describes. The all-inclusive word "he" is used by Christ when He said, "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Matthew 24:13); but nothing could be more contradictory to the teachings of grace than the principle set forth in this passage. There will be a salvation in the tribulation for those who endure its trials to the end. Under grace, the believer endures because he is saved. If the word "whosoever" in Matthew 7:24 includes those who are saved by grace, then they have been thrust into the blasting covenant of works which that passage proposes, and grace is wholly sacrificed. Thus it may be concluded that the teachings of the law, the teachings of grace, and the teachings of the kingdom, are separate and complete systems of divine rule which are perfectly adapted to the varied conditions in three great dispensations. The teachings of Moses and the teachings of the kingdom are purely legal, while the instructions to the believer of this dispensation are in conformity with pure grace. There is much that is held in common within all these rules for conduct; but this is no justification for their admixture. All that in the law appertains to life under grace is preserved and restated from the law in the great injunctions and beseechings of grace. To transgress these bounds, is to frustrate grace, and to complicate the individual with the system of law in such a manner as to make him a debtor to do the whole law. The law cannot be broken or divided. It stands as a unit. To undertake any part of it, is to be committed to it all. Nothing could be more unreasonable, or more unscriptural, than to borrow some portions from the law system, either that of Moses, or of the kingdom, and, at the same time, reject other portions. He who will choose the law must, to be consistent, do the whole law (Romans 10:5), and if he shall break it at one point, he is guilty of all (James 2:10). How precious are the riches of grace in Christ Jesus! How sweet and fitting to the child of God in grace are the heavenly beseechings of grace! II. THE ORDER VARIES AS TO THE SEQUENCE OF THE DIVINE BLESSING AND THE HUMAN OBLIGATION The second major distinction between the teachings of law and the teachings of grace is seen in the varying order between the divine blessing and the human obligation. This variation is found to exist when the principle of grace is compared with the principle of law in any form of the law whatsoever. It is equally true of the law of Moses, the law of the kingdom, or, when legally stated, of the larger conception of the law as being the whole revealed will of God. When the human obligation is presented first, and the divine blessing is made to depend on the faithful discharge of that obligation, it is of and in conformity with pure law. When the divine blessing is presented first, and the human obligation follows, it is of and in conformity with pure grace. The varying orders under law and grace may be stated in the words "do and live"; or "live and do." In the case of the law, it is do something with a view to being something; in the case of grace, it is be made something with a view to doing something. Is the Christian who is under grace saved and kept by good works, or is he saved and kept unto good works? The law said "If you will do good, I will bless you"; grace says, "I have blessed you, now do good." Under the law, man lives well to become accepted of God; under grace man lives well since it becomes one to live well who is already accepted. The law presents first a human work to be done: grace always presents first a divine work to be believed. Law begins with the question as to what man ought to do; grace begins with the question as to what God has already done. Every word of the law revelation is thus made to be a conditional covenant of human works: while every word of the grace revelation is made to be an unconditional covenant of divine works. The instructions given to Israel under Moses, and the instructions proposed for the government of the yet future kingdom in the earth, are purely legal in their character. The farewell word of Moses to Israel as recorded in the closing chapters of Deuteronomy is the crystallization of the whole law of Moses. One passage is the heart of this message: "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be ... But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be." (Deuteronomy 28:1-68). Every teaching of the kingdom which contemplates the responsibility of the individual is, in like manner, based on a covenant of human works, and is, therefore, purely legal in character. This may be observed in all the kingdom teachings of the Old Testament, and the kingdom teachings of the New Testament. Grace is extended to the nation when, apart from all merit, she is placed in her land, and restored to divine blessing; but the rule of the King will be on the basis of pure law, and the responsibility of the individual to that rule necessarily will be in conformity to the same. Beyond what has gone before in the discussion, this fact will need but a passing illustration from the kingdom teachings of the New Testament: "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth"; "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy"; "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven"; "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses"; "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again"; "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven ... Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man" (Matthew 5:5, Matthew 5:7, Matthew 5:20; Matthew 6:14-15; Matthew 7:1-2, Matthew 7:21-24). To this may be added all other kingdom teachings of the New Testament. The kingdom teachings, likewise, are to be distinguished from the teachings of grace by the order which each presents between the divine blessing and the human obligation. The word of the kingdom is, he that heareth my words and doeth them shall be blessed (Matthew 7:24). The word of grace is, he that heareth my words and believeth them shall be blessed (John 5:24). In the teachings of grace, the gracious, divine blessing always precedes, and is followed by the human obligation. This is the order maintained throughout the great doctrinal Epistles of the New Testament. These Epistles are therefore subject to a two-fold division. In the first division, the mighty undertakings of God for man are disclosed: while in the second division the saved one is besought and exhorted to live on the plane to which he has been brought in the exceeding grace of God. The first division of the Book of Romans is the unfolding of the saving grace of God toward sinners, which is extended to them on the sole condition that they believe (Romans 1:16; Romans 3:22, Romans 3:26; Romans 4:5; Romans 10:4); the second division is an appeal for a corresponding manner of daily life, which life is "reasonable" in view of the results which God has already achieved in sovereign grace. This appeal is stated in the first verse of the second section: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1). The Book of Ephesians opens with three chapters in which there is not one requirement for human conduct; it is the unfolding of the marvelous grace of God in bringing the believer to the exalted heavenly positions which are his in Christ. The opening verse of the second section is a condensation of all that follows: "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation [calling] wherewith ye are called" (Ephesians 4:1). So, in like manner, the Book of Colossians opens with a portion which is devoid of even a semblance of an appeal in matters of conduct, since it is occupied with the unfolding of the glory of Christ and the fact of the perfect standing of the believer in Him. The second portion is an appeal: not for the human works which might induce God so to bless the sinner; but for works which are consistent with the present, God-wrought, glorious union with Christ: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (Colossians 3:1). The grace order between the divine blessing and the human obligation is preserved in every offer of salvation to the sinner and in every purpose looking toward the preservation of the saint. Since this is the basis of the divine purpose in the ages and the only hope of the sinner, or the saint, it should not be questioned upon a superficial consideration of the Scriptures. There is the widest possible difference between the two replies of Christ to practically the same question: "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Answer: -- "This do, and thou shalt live." Again: "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" Answer: -- "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom he hath sent." One answer is related to the law of the kingdom: the other is related to grace, wherein Christ is seen as the "living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." It is to be concluded, therefore, that the sinner is saved by grace apart from every human demand other than that he receive that grace as it is for him in Christ, and that the saint is kept by grace unto good works; but not by good works. The righteous Father must insist on the good works in the life of His child; but He does not make these works the condition of His faithfulness. This is the vital distinction, then, between the order relating divine blessing with human obligation in the two systems -- law and grace. One is a covenant of pure works; the other is a covenant of pure grace. (Consideration should be given to the fact that rewards, which are bestowed in addition to the blessing of the saving grace of God, are offered to the saved one on the principle of merit; and, on the other hand, grace was offered to the people under the law, in addition to the demands of the law, in the provisions of the sacrifices. In no case do these added blessings condition the exact character of the covenant of grace, on the one hand, or the covenant of works, on the other hand.) Since the covenant of grace which is based on human faith was established in the promises made to Abraham, the covenant of the law, made four hundred years later, and added only for a temporary purpose, cannot disannul it. The reign of law, with its covenant of works, ceased with the death of Christ. Its purpose had been accomplished, and its appointed time had expired. Thus the by-faith principle which was announced in the Abrahamic covenant is brought again into force through the death of Christ. The divine blessing is now unto him that "worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly." "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." "Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:3, Romans 4:5, Romans 4:24-25). By this Scripture it is announced that the by-faith principle of the Abrahamic covenant is continued and now offered through the sacrificial death of Christ. This fact is restated thus: "So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. ... The law is not of faith" (Galatians 3:9-12). The law was a covenant of works; but the works always failed through the weakness of the flesh, and the law then became, of necessity, a condemnation and curse. According to this same Scripture, the holy will of God is not ignored in grace: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). This, it must be observed, was wrought under the one great purpose: "That the blessing of Abraham [acceptance in the imputed righteousness of God] might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ" (Galatians 3:14). After declaring that the law has passed, either as the grounds of the justification of the sinner (Galatians 3:24), or as the rule of life for the believer (Galatians 3:25), the Apostle challenges the law-ridden Christians at Galatia to consider the fact and force of two great covenants which can in no wise co-exist. He therefore points out that one gave way to the other: "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law [and he is writing to Christians only, concerning the law as a rule of their lives], do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants [the by-works covenant which would depend on the flesh and the by-faith covenant which would depend only on God]; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar [the bondmaid]. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia [where the Mosaic law was given], and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children [Israel]. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all [typified by Sarah, who illustrates the by-faith principle which depends on God alone]. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not [suggesting the utter helplessness of the flesh before God]; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband [or the arm of flesh on which one might depend]. Now we, brethren [Christians], as Isaac was, are the children of promise [we have been saved by faith]. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman [not merely her offspring, but the whole by-works principle which she represents] and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free" (Galatians 4:21-31). It was concerning the promise of the supernatural birth of Isaac that Abraham believed God, and that belief was counted unto him for righteousness. Afterwards, Abraham turned to the flesh in the birth of Ishmael (Genesis 16:1-4). This two-fold fact illustrates, with all the perfection of the Word of God, the two covenants -- one of faith, and the other of works. The lapse in Abraham’s faith typified the intrusion of an age of law. So, also, the relationship with Agar represents what man can do in his effort to be accepted of God. The supernatural relationship with Sarah represents what God can do for one who will believe. The marvels of grace are indicated by the multitudinous offspring of Sarah: not that her physical seed, Israel, are the children of faith; but they, being more exalted than the children of Agar, typify the surpassing victory of God through grace. There can be no co-mingling, or compromising, of these two great covenants. "What saith the Scripture?" should be the end of discussion. The testimony is, "Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman." The by-works principle of the law, and the by-faith principle of grace, cannot co-operate, or co-exist, either in the salvation of the sinner, or in the rule of life for the believer. The by-works principle of the law is not limited to the fleshly effort to do the particular things found in the law of Moses, and the law of the kingdom. It is the fleshly effort to do anything by which one seeks to become acceptable to God. Therefore, when the teachings of grace are attempted with a view to being accepted of God, they become purely legal in their character. In like manner, when the elements which are contained in the law and restated under grace are attempted in the power of the Spirit and on the basis that acceptance with God is already gained through Christ, these precepts become purely gracious in their character. This principle may be extended to the larger sphere of any and all self-imposed law, regardless of Bible injunctions. In which case it will be seen that the doing of any good works with a view to being accepted of God, is purely legal in character; contrariwise, the doing of any good works because one believes himself to be accepted through Christ, is purely gracious in character. The legalist may thus enter the field of the teachings of grace and suppose himself to be subject to the whole Bible, when, in reality, he has no conception of the blessings and relationships in grace. A person either chooses to accept Christ in the confidence that Christ is all he will ever need to make himself acceptable to God, or he chooses to depend on the best that he can do for himself by good works. The latter is the normal bent of the natural mind. The proposition of becoming acceptable to God by being good, appeals to the fallen heart as the only reasonable thing to do, and, apart from that which it has pleased God to reveal concerning grace, it is the only reasonable thing to do. It therefore becomes a question of believing the Record God has given concerning His Son (1 John 5:10). Since there is so much delusion in a counterfeit, the person most difficult to reach with the Gospel of divine grace is the person who is trying to do all that a Christian ought to do, but is doing it as a means of becoming accepted before God. His willing acknowledgment of the value of the Christian life his unquestioned reception into the fellowship of believers, and his real sincerity in all Christian activities, constitute his greatest hindrance. Such an one is more deluded than the person who acknowledges no relationship to God. Both fall short and are lost through their failure to believe on Christ as the all-sufficient Saviour; but, naturally, the person who has no false hope is more apt to become conscious of the fact that he is lost than is the person who believes he is a Christian. The law cannot save, and the one who transforms the teachings of grace into a legal system by attempting to do them in order that he may be right with God, is still unsaved. Turning to meritorious works as a basis of salvation, be those works a precise counterfeit of a true Christian life, is to be under a by-works relation to God, and therefore to be under condemnation; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight. Turning to meritorious works as the basis of keeping after one is saved, or as a rule of life for the saved, is to return to a by-works relation to God, from which one has already been saved. It is to fall from grace, and to lose the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. The by-works principle can no more avail for our keeping, than it can avail for our salvation. As God could provide Abraham with a seed under an unconditional covenant, so, under the same unconditional covenant, He could guarantee the future of that seed even to the time when their number shall exceed the stars of the heavens. Likewise, under the present unconditional covenant of grace made in the blood of Christ, God can guarantee the future security of every child of His under grace. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure (Romans 4:16). Lastly, the covenant of works is "cast out" because it is fulfilled and superseded by the fuller and more perfect covenant of faith. All that the covenant of works contemplated as a result of a lifetime of human struggle, is instantly accomplished in the power of God through the covenant of faith. By faith in Christ, the believer is made the righteousness of God in Him, and made accepted in the Beloved. This is a perfection of relationship with God to which no human works could ever attain, and to which human works can add nothing. Being related to God through the by-faith principle, the whole object of law-works is more than fulfilled. Thus the law is ended in the death of Christ. The bondwoman is cast out. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Amazing indeed, is the blindness of heart that is not instructed by the tragic experience of failure on the part of the countless millions who have been lost under the by-works covenant! Yet men are still turning to their own works, both moral and religious, in the vain hope that through them they may be accepted of God. To such He must ever be as unapproachable as the mountain of awful fire, thunder, lightning, and earthquake; but to the one who turns to the sufficiency which is in Christ, God becomes the Father of all mercies, and His power and grace are exercised in the behalf of that one for all time and eternity. The awful throne of God’s holy judgments becomes a throne of infinite grace. To one thus saved, and whose security is guaranteed, the by-works covenant of the law is in no wise adapted as a rule of life; for that covenant looks beyond to a time of acceptance still future, when the flesh shall have completed its task. Only the teachings of grace are consistent for one who is saved by grace. Those teachings alone counsel him as to that manner of life which is in accord with his present position in grace. The second major distinction between the rule of law and the rule of grace is, then, that these two systems are opposites in reference to the order between the divine blessing and the human obligation, and this holds true for any life or service whatsoever which may be undertaken. III. BECAUSE OF DIFFERENT DEGREES OF DIFFICULTY AND DIFFERENT DEGREES OF DIVINE ENABLEMENT The three rules of life -- the law of Moses, the law of the kingdom, and the teachings of grace -- are widely different because of two facts: (1) The requirements of the manner of life under them are far from uniform, and (2) these systems differ in the degree of divine enablement which is provided in each. These two facts are so closely related with these governing systems that it is necessary to consider these two facts in their relation to each rule of life: First. The Law of Moses. In discussing the law as a regulation for human conduct, attention should be given, 1. As to the measure of requirement which is imposed. The standard of conduct presented by the law of Moses was limited in its requirements to the extent that its demands were imposed on even unregenerate men. The Mosaic law was addressed to the natural man, and, it is evident, its requirements did not exceed his limitations; yet because of the weakness of the flesh, these demands were never actually fulfilled by any person other than Christ. 2. As to the degree of divine enablement. There is no hint in connection with the proclamation of the law of Moses of any divine enablement being provided for the keeping of that law. God addressed those commandments to men, and the result was no more than the unaided flesh would produce. The law dispensation, extending over a period of fifteen hundred years, thus became a demonstration of the universal failure of man under the reign of pure law. Christ, through His death, became the end of the reign of law; as He, through His death, is the end of confidence in self-works for all who put their trust in Him. Second. The Law of the Kingdom. Again, attention should be given, 1. As to the measure of requirement which is imposed. The standard of conduct which will be required under the law of the kingdom is, as has been seen, advanced and intensified in its demands beyond that which is presented under the law of Moses. In the kingdom rule, portions of the Mosaic law are extended beyond the overt act to include the very thought and intent of the heart. Added to this, there are entirely new requirements concerning matters of personal yieldedness and devotion to God which are foreign to the Mosaic system. 2. As to the degree of divine enablement. The degree of divine enablement which will obtain under the rule of the kingdom is seen in three provisions: (a) The environment, (b) the inclined heart, and (c) the outpoured Spirit. (a) The environment in the kingdom will be that of a purified, transformed earth; creation will be delivered from its present bondage and corruption; Satan will be bound and confined to the abyss; and the subjects in the kingdom will realize the immediate power and inspiration of the personal reign of the King, which will be extended over all the earth. (b) Added to this is the revealed fact that the King will have inclined the hearts of His people to do His holy will. This great promise is made to Israel as a vital part of the new covenant under which Israel, during the reign of her Messiah King, will yet live in her own land (Cf Jeremiah 31:33-37; Hebrews 8:7-12). These kingdom blessings will also be extended to the nations of the earth (Isaiah 11:10). In the prophecy by Moses concerning the attitude of heart which Israel will experience when restored to her own land, we read: "And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. ... And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day" (Deuteronomy 30:5-8. Cf Hosea 2:14-23; Zephaniah 3:14-20; Romans 11:26-27). So, again, in the new covenant it is stated: "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:31-34. Cf Hebrews 8:8-12). (c) The promise concerning "the last days" for Israel, according to Joel 2:28-32, is that the Spirit is to be poured out upon all flesh. He records further: "And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call." That this great promise began to be fulfilled at Pentecost, is explicitly stated by Peter in his sermon on that day. It must be borne in mind, however, that Peter’s reference to Joel’s prophecy concerning the kingdom was made in connection with the renewed appeal to Israel, extended at Pentecost, that she repent and receive her Messiah whom she had slain. As the Gospel was extended to Gentiles in the formation of the Church, the abiding ministries of the Spirit became evident, and the final outpouring of the Spirit which, according to Joel, is to characterize the inception of the kingdom in the earth, awaits the return and enthronement of the King. Little is revealed as to the enabling power of the Spirit for the individual’s life and conduct in the kingdom. Doubtless, to some extent, such power will be imparted. The particular emphasis falls on the national glory as suggested by the phrase "all flesh," and the individual is said to be moved to prophesy and to see visions and to dream dreams. Thus will Israel be situated in the kingdom. She will have her added responsibilities in the larger demands of the kingdom law, and she will have the added advantage of the kingdom environment, the inclined heart to do the will of the King, and upon her the Spirit will be poured out. Third. The Teachings of Grace. The standard of conduct prescribed under the teachings of grace is immeasurably more difficult to maintain than that prescribed either by the law of Moses, or the law of the kingdom. It is as much higher than these as heaven is higher than the earth. Similarly, the divine enablement provided under grace is nothing less than the infinite power of the indwelling Spirit. The teachings of grace are addressed only to the supernatural man who is both born of the Spirit and indwelt by the Spirit. These teachings are such as naturally belong to a citizen of heaven. Since the saving -work of God places the believer in the heavenly positions in Christ, and transfers his citizenship from earth to heaven, it is only consistent that he should be required to walk as it becometh a citizen of heaven. This, it is evident must be a supernatural life. Turning to the Scriptures which reveal the position and responsibility of the child of God under grace, it is found that a superhuman manner of life is proposed and that a supernatural power is provided for its exact and perfect execution. These are two of the most vital facts concerning the teachings of grace and they should be observed with great care: 1. As to the character of the requirements which are imposed. The manner of life which is enjoined under grace is superhuman. This aspect of the teachings of grace may be seen at every point. A very few passages will suffice by way of illustration: "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5); "That ye should shew forth the praises [virtues] of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:9); "Giving thanks always for all things unto God" (Ephesians 5:20); "That ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called" (Ephesians 4:1); "Walk in the light" (1 John 1:7); "Walk in love" (Ephesians 5:2); "Walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16); "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God" (Ephesians 4:30); "Quench not the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19). There is no question as to the superhuman character of these injunctions. What human resource is able to reproduce the very virtues of Christ? Who is able to give thanks always for all things? Who will be able so to live that he will not grieve the Holy Spirit, nor quench the Spirit? This demand is for a superhuman manner of life, and the passages quoted are only representative of the whole character of the teachings of grace. These teachings surpass the standards of the law of Moses in the measure in which infinity surpasses the finite. When unfolding the high character of the teachings of grace, Christ said: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another"; "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you" (John 13:34; John 15:12). The new commandment is in contrast to an old commandment of Moses: "Love thy neighbour as thyself." These Scriptures may be taken as a fair illustration of the difference between the standards of the law of Moses, and the standards of grace. Under the Mosaic system, love for others was to be in the degree in which one loved himself : under grace it is to be in the degree in which Christ has loved us and given His life for us (1 John 3:16). The standards of the teachings of grace surpass the standards of the laws of the kingdom. The same example -- of love one for another -- will again illustrate. The requirement in the kingdom on this point is stated thus: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same?" (Matthew 5:43-46). This is a great advance over the standard of love demanded under the law of Moses. There love was required to a limited degree; but nothing was said concerning the necessary attitude toward the enemy. Christ implies that the law of Moses proposed love for the neighbour and hate for the enemy. The degree of love expected under the ideals of the kingdom is only such as might reasonably be expected from the heart that has been inclined to do the kingdom law. It bears no comparison to the standards of love which are proposed under grace. Consider, first, that love under grace is the "fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22). Literally, "the love of God is shed abroad [gushes forth] in our hearts by [out from] the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Romans 5:5). This both guarantees the exact reproduction in the child of God of the love of Christ -- "as I have loved you" -- and destroys every ground of personal reward for such love. The believer is not said to be rewarded for those graces which are not his own, but which are produced in him by the indwelling Spirit. On the other hand, love, according to the standards of the kingdom is distinctly said to be a matter for personal reward. By such love for enemies, the children of the kingdom will be the children of their Father which is in heaven. This, it is evident, is made to depend on self-wrought conformity to the Father who Himself is benevolent to His enemies. In the "Sermon on the Mount," the Spirit is not once mentioned nor is any divine enablement suggested. Consider, also, that love, as anticipated in the teachings of grace, is the very heart of the Evangel and evangelism. By the imparted, divine compassion for the lost which brought Christ from heaven to earth and took Him to the cross to die, under grace, men are to be impelled to win souls. Such divine compassion for souls has been the dynamic of all soul-winning work from Pentecost until now. It was the experience of the Apostle Paul as disclosed in his testimony: "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh" (Romans 9:1-3). There was no occasion for the Apostle to be accursed from Christ, nor did he expect to be; but he was willing to be. Thus was the love of Christ, who bore the sin of others, definitely reproduced in the one in whom the Spirit wrought. True passion for the salvation of men is not a manifestation of love springing out of human nature. It must be imparted from God. Therefore evangelism is neither expected nor required in either the law of Moses, or the law of the kingdom. By this very partial treatment of the varying degrees of difficulty presented in these dissimilar rules of conduct, it may be seen that the standards under grace are infinitely higher than the standards of either the law of Moses, or the law of the kingdom. They are superhuman. 2. As to the divine enablement. A supernatural power is provided for the exact and perfect execution of the superhuman rule of life under grace. There is no aspect of the teachings of grace which is more vital than this, or which so fully differentiates these teachings from every other rule of life in the Bible. Under grace, the all powerful, abiding, indwelling and sufficient Holy Spirit of God is given to every saved person. This statement is abundantly established by revelation (John 7:37-39; Romans 5:5; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 6:19; Galatians 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:8; 1 John 3:24 1 John 4:13), and is assumed in every teaching of grace. (Careful study will disclose the fact that Luke 11:13; Acts 5:32; Acts 8:12-17; Acts 19:1-7; Ephesians 1:13 do not contradict this positive doctrine of Scripture.) The superhuman manner of life under grace is not addressed to some spiritual company alone within the whole body of Christ; it is addressed to all believers alike. The imposition of this superhuman manner of life upon all believers alike, carries with it the revelation that all have the supernatural power by which to live according to the superhuman standards. This, it is evident, is according to the teaching of the Word of God. The character of pure grace is destroyed when the reception of the Spirit into the individual heart is made to depend on any human merit, goodness, or personal consecration whatsoever. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 we read: "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and 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." The law element is excluded here. Under the law, it would have been written: "Glorify God in your bodies and spirit and ye shall become temples of the Holy Spirit." Under grace, believers are temples of the Spirit without reference to merit, and this is true of every aspect of their salvation. The fact that they are temples of the indwelling Spirit is the basis of this appeal for a holy life. A consideration of 1 Corinthians 5:12-13; 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 will give abundant evidence of the meritless condition of the Corinthian saints at the time the Spirit addressed this appeal to them through the Apostle Paul. The earnest supplication is for a daily life which corresponds to the wonderful fact that they are already temples of the Spirit. There is an important distinction to be noted between the indwelling and the infilling with the Spirit. No Scripture asserts that all believers are filled with the Spirit. The filling with the Spirit, which is the requirement for an experience of blessing and the exercise of divine power, is an issue which should be considered wholly apart from the revelation concerning the indwelling Spirit. The fact that the Spirit indwells every believer is peculiar to the age of grace. In the law dispensation, for particular divine purposes, certain individuals were, at times, filled with the Spirit; but there is no revelation stating that every Israelite, being under the law, was a temple of the Spirit. In like manner, under the law, there was no abiding character to the relationship between the Spirit and individuals upon whom He came (Psalms 51:11). The Spirit came upon them, or departed, according to the sovereign purpose of God. Under grace, the Spirit is not only given to every believer, but He never withdraws. This assurance is based on the unfailing prayer of Christ (John 14:16). This is in precise accordance with the conditions embodied in the covenant of grace. Should human merit determine His abiding presence, then, under that relationship, the basic principle of grace would be superseded by the principle of law-works. The entrance of the Spirit into the heart, and His abiding presence there, is a part of the saving and keeping power of God, which is by grace alone. The revelation of the New Testament with regard to the indwelling, abiding Spirit in every believer is in full agreement with the doctrine of pure grace. When considering the question of the enabling power of the Spirit in the individual lives of the children of the kingdom, it will be seen from the Scriptures that, at the opening of that period at least, the Spirit is to come upon all flesh, and the individual will prophesy, dream dreams, and see visions (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:16-22); but there is no revelation to the effect that this will be an abiding presence and ministry, since it is related to mighty signs and wonders in nature which accompany the second advent of Messiah. And, in like manner, there is no revelation concerning the enabling power of the Spirit for conduct in the daily life of the individual in the kingdom. The kingdom teachings of the Scriptures do not emphasize the work of the Spirit. Any divine provision for personal enablement in daily life, it would seem from a careful examination of the Scriptures, is foreign to every aspect of law-rule; whether it be that of Moses, or that of the kingdom. So vital is the fact that the enabling Spirit is now given to every believer as a part of salvation by grace, that it is presented as a fundamental characteristic of this age. This is the dispensation of the indwelling Spirit. We read: "But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit [Spirit], and not in the oldness of the letter" (Romans 7:6). Thus the new enabling power of the Spirit characterizes this age, as the "oldness of the letter" characterized the age that is past. Likewise circumcision is now "of the heart," in the Spirit, and not in the "letter" (Romans 2:29), or as it was in the flesh under the law. Again, "Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit [Spirit]: for the letter killeth, but the spirit [Spirit] giveth life" (2 Corinthians 3:6). Reference in this passage is not made to different methods of interpreting Scripture -- a spiritualizing, or a literal method; but to two dispensations with their different methods of divine rule. "The letter killeth" -- such is the inevitable ministry of the law; "But the spirit giveth life" -- divine life, spiritual vitality, energy, and power is provided for the believer under grace, and for every believer alike. Thus it is revealed that the blessing of the indwelling Spirit is an essential characteristic of this age. If the manner of life under grace is superhuman, so, also, the provided enablement is supernatural, and is as limitless as the infinite power of God. Since God has proposed a humanly impossible manner of life, He has, in full consistency, provided the Spirit who giveth life. Too much emphasis cannot be placed on the fact that, since God has proposed the impossible rule of life and provided the sufficient Spirit, the believer’s responsibility is thereby changed from being a struggle of the flesh to being a reliance on the Spirit. Grace thus introduces a new problem for the believer’s life which is wholly foreign to every aspect of the law. It is the problem of the adjustment of the heart to the holy presence of the Spirit, and of maintaining the unbroken attitude of dependence on the Spirit. The new principle of achievement consists in getting things accomplished in the believer’s daily life and service by trusting the power of Another, rather than by trusting the energy of the flesh. The revelation concerning this new problem of life under grace constitutes the major part of the teaching of the Epistles. Not only is the faith principle directly taught in the Epistles; it is implied and assumed in every injunction under grace. The unfolding of the precise relationship between the personality of the Spirit, and the personality of the believer, is not omitted. Experimentally, the believer, when empowered by the Spirit, will be conscious only of the exercise of his own faculties. The Spirit does not disclose His presence directly; His ministry is to reveal and glorify Christ. His presence will be evidenced, however, by the victory that is wrought, which victory could be wrought only by the Spirit. Thus, either the by-works principle of the law, or the by-faith principle of grace, may be chosen by the believer as a method of achievement even within the deepest issues of Christian conduct and service. If these heaven-high demands are undertaken in the energy of the flesh, they become purely legal in character; if they are undertaken in full reliance on the provided energy of the Spirit, they are purely gracious in character. One is wholly within the scope of the covenant of the law, which covenant is based on works; the other is wholly within the scope of the covenant of grace, which covenant is based on faith. Thus the teachings of grace, when attempted in the energy of the flesh, become a legal code, the demands of which are the most impossible to meet. How very many Christians are under this aspect of law; even those who give some attention to the actual precepts of grace! There are two inseparable revelations given in the grace teachings of the New Testament. Each one is the counterpart, complement, and supplement of the other, and untold violence is done to the whole revealed purpose of God in this age when either one of these themes is made to stand alone. One theme is presented in that body of Scripture which sets forth the character of conduct that is becoming to the one who is already saved and safe in the grace of God; the other theme is presented in that body of Scripture which sets forth the fact that the life in grace is to be lived in sole dependence on the enabling power of the indwelling Spirit. The latter body of Scripture includes all the details and instructions concerning the life of faith, and the walk in the Spirit. It is obviously imperative that these two revelations shall not be separated. Otherwise, on the one hand, the teachings of grace will seem to be an impossible law-code, or, on the other hand, the walk in the Spirit will seem to be an uncharted, aimless procedure. In the grace teachings of the New Testament, these two aspects of truth are never separated. In adducing proof of this, it is impossible in a work of this length to review every Scripture bearing upon this truth. Proceeding from the fact that the superhuman manner of life under grace is taught in all the New Testament books beginning with the Gospel by John, there is space for only one quotation from each of these up to, and including, the Epistle to the Colossians. This body of Scripture discloses the truth that the life in grace is to be lived only by the enabling power of God: John 7:37-39. "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)." Here the superhuman outflow of rivers of living water is distinctly said to be the result of the energy of the Spirit. Acts 1:8. "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me." The revelation here is that, apart from the power of the Spirit, there can be no vital witness unto Christ. Romans 6:14; Romans 8:4. "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." No enabling power was provided for the doing of the law; but such power is provided under grace. "That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." No passage in the teachings of grace is more decisive than this. "The righteousness of the law," referred to, is evidently no less than the whole will of God for His child under grace. This divine will is to be fulfilled in the believer; but never by the believer. 1 Corinthians 12:4-7. "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh [energiseth] all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man [Christian] to profit withal." As all Christian service is by the exercise of a spiritual gift, these gifts are wholly realized by the energy of the power of God. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal [fleshly], but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds); casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." For this superhuman manner of life, the believer is to be "mighty through God." Galatians 5:16. "This I say then, Walk in [by means of] the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." This promise is as sure as it is far-reaching. Ephesians 6:10-11. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." True overcoming strength is none other than the imparted "power of God." Php 2:13. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Here the divine enablement reaches to the very molding of the desires of the heart, and to the full accomplishment of those desires. Colossians 2:6. "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him." In this Scripture the very same faith-principle, by which alone a soul can be saved, is continued as the principle by which alone he is to walk. The whole aspect of grace, which provides a supernatural sufficiency for the superhuman, heavenly conduct, and which is the believer’s reasonable life and service, is summed up in two great doctrines of the New Testament: a. The superhuman manner of life is to be Christlike. He is the pattern: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Php 2:5); "As he is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17); "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye, should follow his steps" (1 Peter 2:21); "For to me to live is Christ" (Php 1:21). To be inlawed to Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21) is to be committed to the very standard of which He is the ideal. Therefore the Christian’s standard is superhuman, and beyond the power of human achievement. b. It is the supreme purpose of the indwelling Spirit to reproduce Christlikeness in the believer. The most comprehensive statement of the reproduction of Christ in the believer is found in Galatians 5:22-23 : "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (self-control). Every word, as here used, represents a superhuman quality of life. It is an exact description of the life of Christ; but Christlikeness is never gained by the energy of the flesh. These virtues are not found in human nature; they are the "fruit of the Spirit." Under the law, that degree of love is required which is possible to the natural man; under grace, the divine love is wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit. This is true of all the superhuman demands under grace. They are wrought into the life by the Spirit. The heavenly standard requires: "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice" (Php 4:4). This is humanly impossible, but the fruit of the Spirit is "joy," and the Lord has said, "That they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves" (John 17:13). The standard of grace requires that "The peace of God" shall "rule in your hearts" (Colossians 3:15). Man has never achieved this, but the fruit of the Spirit is "peace," and Christ has said: "My peace I give unto you" (John 14:27). The nine-fold fruit of the Spirit represents the true Christian graces, since under grace, this fruit is produced in the heart and life by the Spirit. Likewise, Christian service is to be superhuman. It is the outflow of "rivers of living water"; but "this spake he of the Spirit" (John 7:37-39). It is the full proof of "that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:2); but, "it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Php 2:13). It is all supernaturally wrought; for it is the exercise of a spiritual gift-a "manifestation of the Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:7). As Christian character is the composite of the inwrought graces, so Christian service is an imparted "grace." "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ" (Ephesians 4:7); and, "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal" (1 Corinthians 12:7). Divine grace, inwrought and imparted by the indwelling Spirit, results in a manifestation of the very graciousness of God in and through the heart of the believer. It is in no sense an imitation of God’s graciousness; it is a reproduction by the indwelling Spirit of that graciousness in the life and service of the believer. This truth is one of the most extensive doctrines of the New Testament (Cf Romans 12:3-6; Romans 15:15; 1 Corinthians 1:4; 1 Corinthians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Corinthians 1:12; 2 Corinthians 4:15; 2 Corinthians 6:1-3; 2 Corinthians 8:1, 2 Corinthians 8:6-7; 2 Corinthians 9:8, 2 Corinthians 9:14; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Galatians 2:9; Ephesians 3:2-8; Ephesians 4:7, Ephesians 4:29; Php 1:7; Colossians 3:16; Colossians 4:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:12; 2 Timothy 2:1; Hebrews 4:16; Hebrews 12:15; James 4:6; and 2 Peter 3:18). It may be concluded, then, that there are three major distinctions between law and grace: (1) They are unlike because they impose separate and sufficient rules of life, which are, in their character, either wholly legal or wholly gracious; (2) They are unlike because there are in these systems opposite orders between the human obligation and the divine blessing; and (3) They are unlike because the requirements of these systems of divine rule differ, with corresponding revelations concerning divine enablement provided in each. THE LIFE UNDER GRACE (continued) ======================================================================== CHAPTER 30: 03.07. THE LAW DONE AWAY ======================================================================== SECTION FIVE THE LAW DONE AWAY Since law and grace are opposed to each other at every point, it is impossible for them to co-exist, either as the ground of acceptance before God or as the rule of life. Of necessity, therefore, the Scriptures of the New Testament which present the facts and scope of grace, both assume and directly teach that the law is done away. Consequently, it is not in force in the present age in any sense whatsoever. This present nullification of the law applies not only to the legal code of the Mosaic system and the law of the kingdom, but to every possible application of the principle of law. The larger conception of the law, as before defined, is three-fold: (1) The actual written instructions of both the teachings of Moses and the teachings of the kingdom; (2) The law covenant of works in all of its applications, which conditions blessing and acceptance with God on the ground of personal merit; And, (3) the law principle of dependence on the energy of the flesh, in place of the faith principle of a dependence on the power of the indwelling Spirit. It will also be seen that (4) Judaism is done away. That the law, in the widest three-fold meaning of the term, is now set aside, is revealed as a fundamental fact in the divine economy of grace. That the law has now ceased, even in its widest meaning, should be considered with unprejudiced attention. I. THE ACTUAL WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS OF BOTH THE TEACHINGS OF THE LAW OF MOSES AND THE KINGDOM ARE DONE AWAY These actual written commandments, either of Moses or the kingdom, are not the rule of the believer’s life under grace, any more than these systems are the basis of his salvation. The complete withdrawal of the authority of these two systems of law will now be considered: First. The Passing of the Law of Moses is the Explicit Teaching of the New Testament Scriptures. An important and determining feature of this truth is found in the difference which is revealed between the abiding, eternal character of the Abrahamic covenant and the temporal, limited character of the law covenant of Sinai. The Abrahamic covenant anticipated both the earthly seed through Israel, and the spiritual seed that would stand related to God on the principle of faith. This covenant, being without human condition, simply declares the unchanging purpose of Jehovah. It will be achieved in pure grace, apart from every human factor, and its accomplishments are eternal. On the one hand, the covenant of the Mosaic law was a temporary, ad interim, dealing with God, which was deliberately chosen by the nation Israel, and which applied to them only. It was plainly designed to govern that people in their land, and for such time as might intervene between their acceptance of that covenant, and the coming of the promised Seed. The Seed is Christ. The coming of Christ into the world was the realization of the hope contained in the Abrahamic covenant, and, of necessity, the termination of the ad interim reign of the law. We read: "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise [the Abrahamic covenant] made of none effect: because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression [though there is sin]. Therefore it [the promise through Abraham] is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law [believing Israelites], but to that also which is of the faith [even believing Gentiles] of Abraham; who is the father [on a faith principle] of us all. ... And therefore it [the faith] was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead" (Romans 4:13-24). Thus it is demonstrated that the law has no place in the divine dealings under grace. We read again: The law "was added ... till the seed should come" (Galatians 3:19); but when the Seed did come, the authority of the Mosaic law was no longer required, or even possible, as a principle of divine rule. It was the purpose of God to close every door of access to Himself, but one. This fact is next stated in the argument from the Scriptures: "But the scripture hath concluded all [both Jew and Gentile] under sin" (Galatians 3:22). This, it has been seen, is more than a declaration that men are sinners by nature and by practice, and therefore subject to divine displeasure; it is a universal, judicial decree which places the whole race absolutely without merit before God. From that position there is no escape other than through the exercise of pure grace on the part of God. The divine motive in the universal sentence of the race under sin is declared to be, according to that which follows in the text: "That the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe" (Galatians 3:22). Thus the ad interim reign of the law is completely annulled, and the divine blessing is now centered in Christ as the sole object of faith, being promised to them that believe. The law principle is not retained as a possible optional relationship to God: "There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). It is important to observe, however, that, while God has completely terminated the reign of law by the death of Christ, so far as His relation to man is concerned, man is free to reject or distort the truth of God, and to impose the law obligation upon himself. In such a case, it does not follow that God accepts, or even recognizes, any self-imposed legalism. He could not do so. It does follow, however, that the self-constituted legalist, to be consistent with his own choice, should any part of the law be accepted as binding, must observe the whole of the law to do it. The law was a unit. He that offendeth in one point is guilty of all; whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law, and, he is a debtor to do the whole law. Since the law is done away, these statements can only apply to the one who, without divine sanction or recognition, has assumed the obligation of the law. The following Scriptures disclose the fact that the law was never given to any people other than Israel: "Hear, O Israel" (Deuteronomy 5:1); "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law" (Romans 9:4); "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature [practice] the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves" (Romans 2:14); "Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law" (John 18:31); "Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: but if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters" (Acts 18:14-15). The chief captain of the Roman army wrote of Paul, "Whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law" (Acts 23:29). Paul answered for himself: "Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all" (Acts 25:8); "But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their [not your] law" (John 15:25). There is no record of any assumption of the law on the part of Gentiles before the death of Christ. At the cross, it will be seen, the divine application of the law ceased even for the Jews, and all -- Jew and Gentile -- were shut up to grace alone; but the Jews, because of unbelief, still persist in the observance of the law which was given to them from God by the hand of Moses; while Gentiles, because of failure to recognize the meaning of the death of Christ and the essential character of pure grace, are assuming the law obligation. This many are doing, some as a means unto justification before God, and some who are saved by faith in Christ, as a rule of life. These two errors -- that of the Jew and that of the Gentile -- are clearly set forth in Scripture. Of Israel it is said: "But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart." But in the case of an individual Jew receiving Christ it is said: "Nevertheless when it [the heart of a Jew] shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away" (2 Corinthians 3:15-16). Turning to the Gentiles, there are two aspects of their assumption of the law: (1) With reference to the certainty of divine judgments on the Gentiles before the cross, or during the period in which the law was divinely imposed on Israel, it is said: "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law." Then it is added concerning Israel, "And as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law" (Romans 2:12). It is impossible that this Scripture offers an optional choice between justification by the law, and justification which is by faith alone; for the word is final relative to God’s dealing in this age: "By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight" (Romans 3:20). Reference here is, without question, to conditions which did obtain when the law was in force. (2) Regarding assumption of the law by Gentiles it is said: "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature, [practise] the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another" (Romans 2:14-15). Thus the anticipation of assumption of the law by Gentiles is revealed, and the precise effect of the law upon them. The conscience is molded and they stand before a self-imposed condemnation. To such there is no blessing. All that the legal conscience can do is to accuse or excuse for failure. Let it never be supposed that, because of self-imposed legality and misguided conscience, there is any divine recognition of Gentiles as being under the law. God must be true to His eternal purpose as revealed in His Word, and men stand, or fall, before Him now on the sole basis of their attitude toward His saving grace in Christ. Those who are now lost may honestly suppose that they do the will of God in perpetuating the principle of the law with its blasting curse; but they are lost notwithstanding, apart from Christ. It is the people of a past age who will be judged by the law. The Gentiles who now practise the things contained in the law are not said to be subject to divine judgment because of broken law: they are, by that self-imposed law, either self-accused, or self-excused, according as they have created a conscience in regard to the law. The law produces the effect only of discomfort, misdirection, confusion, and limitation of their own conscience. Before turning to the positive teaching of the Scripture relative to the passing of the law, it may be important to restate the three major aspects of the law, which are yet to be considered in this connection more at length: 1. Both the commandments and requirements of the Mosaic system, and the commandments and requirements of the kingdom, are wholly legal in their character, and, together, comprise the written statement of the law; which law, it will be seen, is set aside during the present reign of grace. 2. Every human work, be it even the impossible, heaven-high beseeching of grace, which is wrought with a view to meriting acceptance with God, is of the nature of a legal covenant of works, and, therefore, belongs only to the law. Through the finished work of Christ, acceptance with God is perfectly secured; but that acceptance can be experienced only through a faith which turns from dependence on merit, and rests in Christ as the sufficient Saviour. In like manner, it will be seen, the whole proposition of legal, meritorious acceptance with God has passed during the reign of grace. 3. Again, any manner of life, or service, which is lived in dependence on the flesh, rather than in dependence on the Spirit, is legal in character and has passed during the present period in which grace reigns. It is written: "If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law" (Galatians 5:18). The law made its appeal only to the flesh, and, therefore, to turn to the flesh, is to turn to the sphere of the law. The law, though wholly superseded by grace, may now be self-imposed. This may be done by turning for a rule of life to the written legal code of Moses, or of the kingdom; it may be done by turning to self-works as the basis of acceptance with God; or it may be done by depending on the energy of the flesh for power to live well-pleasing to God. Self-imposed law, of whatever kind, is not acceptable to God; but it, like all human sin, may be chosen by the free will of man, and may be practised in opposition to the revealed will of God. In view of the positive Biblical statements relative to the passing of the law, question may be raised as to the meaning of certain passages: Galatians 3:23. "But before faith came we were kept under the law." This is in no sense the present experience of the unsaved before they accept Christ. The Apostle is here speaking as a Jew, and of those circumstances which could have existed only for the Jew of the early church who had lived under both the dispensation of Moses, and the dispensation of grace. Nevertheless, in the wider meaning of the law before stated, all humanity was delivered by the death of Christ from the obligation of meritorious works, and from the necessity of depending on the flesh. "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them"; "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law"; "God sending his own Son condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us" (Galatians 3:10, Galatians 3:13; Romans 8:3-4). 1 Corinthians 9:20. The Apostle said that he became "to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law." This is plainly a consideration of the whole class of people who have imposed the law upon themselves in any aspect of the law whatsoever (Note Galatians 4:21). Romans 4:14. "For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect." This is equally true of all humanity when the larger aspects of the law are in view; but, it should also be pointed out that, the age-long designation of the Jews as being "of the law," in contrast to Gentiles to whom no law was ever given, still obtained in the early church (Cf Romans 2:23; Romans 4:16). Romans 2:13. "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." This is to state an inherent principle of the law. It was an absolute covenant of works. No one is now to be justified by the law (Cf Romans 3:20; Galatians 3:11). Again, "As it is written. For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law- but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision" (Romans 2:24-25). This, likewise, is a principle which belonged to the law. Failure to keep the law was a discredit to God, and an insult to His righteousness (Cf Isaiah 52:5). The same principle is a warning to all who attempt, or even contemplate, the keeping of the law (See, also James 2:10). Romans 3:31. "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." The law has never been kept by those who tried to keep it. It is kept, however, by those who humbly acknowledge their helplessness to do anything well-pleasing to God, and who turn and find shelter in Christ who has met every demand of the law for them. Such, and only such have ever vindicated the holy law of God. The people who attempt to keep the law have always outraged the law. Romans 7:16. "If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good." The use of the word "law" throughout this whole context (Romans 7:15-25, Romans 8:1-13) is clearly of the wider sphere of the whole will of God, rather than the limited commandments of Moses. Not once is Moses mentioned; but "the law of God" is three times referred to (Romans 7:22, Romans 7:25; Romans 8:7). The complete passing, through the death of Christ, of the reign of the Mosaic law, even for Israel, is the extended testimony of Scripture. A few important passages which declare the fact of the passing of the law here given: John 1:16-17. "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for [added to] grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." According to this passage, the whole Mosaic system was fulfilled, superseded, and terminated in the first advent of Christ. Galatians 3:19-25. "Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made ... that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we [Jews] were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterward be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [child-conductor] to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we [Jews] are no longer under a schoolmaster" (the law). Comment is unnecessary concerning this unconditional declaration as to the passing of the Mosaic system. Romans 6:14. "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." While the direct message of this passage is of the enablement that is provided for the life under grace, which was never provided under the law, the positive statement is made, "Ye are not under the law." Romans 7:2-6. "For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit [Spirit], and not in the oldness of the letter." Several important revelations are given in this passage. The relation of one who had been under the law (which was true of the Apostle Paul) to the teachings of grace was that of a wife to her second husband. The law, or obligation, of the wife to her husband ceases with his death. Should she be married to a second husband, she is then under an entirely new obligation. The sacrificial death of Christ was the ending of the reign of the law, which law is likened to the first husband. "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead." Nothing could be clearer than this. The Christian is now under obligation to Christ. He is "inlawed" to Christ. He has only to fulfil "the law of Christ." Certainly it is most unreasonable to propose that a woman should try to be obligated to two husbands at the same time: yet this is the divine illustration of the error of co-mingling the teachings of law and the teachings of grace. Spiritual polyandry is offensive to God. In the new union which is formed with Christ, there is to be the bringing forth of fruit unto God. This is a reference to the fact that the Christian’s life and service is to be enabled by the power of God and therefore is superhuman. The Christian, it is clearly stated, is not only "dead to the law," but is "delivered from the law," and every aspect of the law, that he should serve in "the newness of the Spirit"; for the teachings of grace are particularly characterized by the fact that they are to be wrought by the enabling power of the Spirit. The Christian is not to live and serve in "the oldness of the letter," which is the law. It is by vital union in the body of Christ as a living member that the believer is both absolved from every other relationship, and is made to be centered only in that which belongs to the living Head. Thus positively is it indicated that the opposing principles of law and grace cannot co-exist as rules of conduct. 2 Corinthians 3:7-13. "But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall not the ministration of the spirit [Spirit] be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: and not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished." It is the law as crystallized in the Ten Commandments which is in view; for that law alone was "written and engraven in stones." In the midst of the strongest possible contrasts between the reign of the teachings of the law and the teachings of grace, it is declared that these commandments were "done away," and "abolished." It should be recognized that the old was abolished to make place for the new, which far excels in glory. The passing of the law is not, therefore, a loss; it is rather an inestimable gain. The striking contrasts which are presented in this whole context are here arranged in parallels: The Teachings of the Law -- The Teachings of Grace 1. Written with ink. -- 1. Written with the Spirit of the living God. 2. In tables of stone. -- 2. In fleshy tables of the heart. 3. The letter killeth. -- 3. The Spirit giveth life. 4. The ministration of death. -- 4. The ministration of the Spirit. 5. Was glorious. -- 5. Is rather glorious. 6. Done away. -- 6. Remaineth. 7. Abolished. -- 7. We have such hope. Galatians 5:18. "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." There is no place left for the law, and hence no occasion for its recognition. To be led of the Spirit is to realize a manner of life which surpasses and more than fulfills every ideal of the law. Ephesians 2:15. "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances." Colossians 2:14. "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." John 15:25. "But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law." This one and only reference in the upper-room discourse to the law of Moses is most significant. As has been shown, Christ, in this discourse, has taken His followers beyond the cross and is unfolding to them the very foundations of the new teachings of grace. These men were Jews; but in this teaching Christ does not speak to them as though the law of Moses was binding on them. He says "their law"; not "your law," thus indicating that these Jews who had come under grace were no longer under the reign of the law of Moses. By this Scripture not only is the whole law system definitely declared to be done away during the dispensation of grace; but it is noticeable that the law, as law, is never once applied to the believer as the regulating principle of his life under grace. This is not an accidental omission; it is the expression of the mind and will of God. Thus it may be concluded that the written law of Moses is not intended to be the rule of the believer’s life under grace. Yet, on the other hand, the abiding principles of the law which are adaptable to grace, are carried forward and restated under the teachings of grace; not as law, but reformed to the mold of infinite grace. This great fact is aptly illustrated by the experience of an American citizen who was in Germany at the breaking out of the recent war. Fleeing through Holland, he reached England with his pocket filled with German gold coin. This coin, bearing the German stamp, was of no value as currency in England; but, when melted and restamped in the mints of England, it bore all the value of coin in that realm. Thus the intrinsic value of the gold of the law is preserved and reappears bearing the stamp of the new teachings of grace. In applying the teachings of grace it is legitimate to point out that a similar principle obtained under the law of Moses, thus to demonstrate that the precept in question represents the unchangeable character of God; but it is both unscriptural and unreasonable to apply the teachings of the Mosaic system directly to the children of grace. Since both the law of Moses and the teachings of grace are complete in themselves, wither one requires the addition of the other, and to combine them is to sacrifice all that is vital in each. Great importance should be given therefore to the positive, unvarying message to the believer which is stated in the words, "Ye are not under the law, but under grace." Second. The Error of Co-mingling the Law of the Kingdom with the Teachings of Grace. If it be accepted that the Messianic, earthly kingdom, with Israel restored to her land in the full realization of all her covenants, under the reign of Christ sitting on the throne of David, has not been established, and there is now no semblance in the light of present world conditions of that kingdom on earth, then it follows that the laws and principles which are to govern in the kingdom, and which could apply only to conditions within that kingdom, are not yet applied by God to the affairs of men in the earth. It is not a question, as in the case of the law of Moses, of discontinuing that which has once been in force under the sanction of God; it is rather a question as to whether the kingdom laws, which have their application of necessity in the future earthly kingdom of Messiah, should be imposed now on the children of God under grace. Definite proofs are needed to establish the fact that there are kingdom laws presented in the Scriptures. These proofs have already been offered. Having granted that the kingdom laws are found in the Scriptures, should they be considered as any part of the divine instruction now governing the daily life of the Christian? Certainly it is no more difficult to believe that Scripture reveals a rule of life which is not yet in force because belonging to a yet future age, than it is to believe that Scripture reveals a rule of life which is not now in force because belonging to an age which is wholly past. In considering the question as to whether the laws of the kingdom are to be applied to the Christian in this age, the fact that there is a complete system of kingdom ruling, and that this ruling is strictly legal in its character, is assumed on the basis of proofs already given. Certain vital issues, though already mentioned, should not be forgotten at this point: 1. The two systems cannot co-exist. The laws of the kingdom, being legal in their character, introduce those principles of relationships to God which can never co-exist with the relationships which obtain under grace. By such co-mingling of opposing principles, all that is vital in each system is sacrificed. On the one hand, the sharp edge of the law, which constitutes its sole effectiveness, is dulled by an admixture of supposed divine leniency; on the other hand, the truth concerning the absolute graciousness of God is corrupted by being commercialized, conditioned on the merit of man, and made subject to the persuasion of man. The principle of pure grace demands that God shall in no wise recognize human merit, and that He invariably shall be graciously disposed toward man, and therefore needing at no time to be persuaded by man. God is never reluctant in the exercise of grace: instead, He seeks, draws, and entreats man. The principles of law and grace are mutually destructive, and doctrinal confusion follows the intrusion of any legal principle into the reign of grace. When law is thus intruded, not only is the clear responsibility of the believer under grace obscured, but the priceless attitude of God in grace, which He purchased at the infinite cost of the death of His Son, is wholly misrepresented. Since the kingdom rule is purely legal, and since the believer is not under law, it follows that he is not under the injunctions of the kingdom. 2. It is not necessary to combine them. The laws of the kingdom are not required to be combined with the teachings of grace, since every item within those laws, which could have any present application, is exactly and amply stated in the teachings of grace. It is not necessary, then, for the believer to assume any law obligation whatsoever. When it is shown by Scriptural exposition that the laws of the kingdom are not applicable to the Christian under grace, opposition is sometimes aroused which is based on wrong personal training, habits of misinterpretation, and prejudice. The cost of unteachableness should be weighed with much care; for the sacrifice of the liberty and blessing which belongs to uncomplicated grace is a loss too great for computation. By the right division of the Scriptures, the truth will be clearly seen that grace reigns uncomplicated and undiminished by law. The kingdom law is a complete and indivisible system in itself. It is therefore unscriptural, illogical, and unreasonable to appropriate convenient and pleasing portions of this law, and to neglect the remainder. It should be considered that, as in the Mosaic system, to adopt some portions of the law is to be committed logically to all its teachings. "For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them"; "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them"; "And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them" (Romans 10:5; Galatians 3:10, Galatians 3:12. Cf Leviticus 18:5); "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law" (Romans 3:19); "For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law" (Galatians 5:3). Not only are some aspects of the kingdom law never attempted by Christians (Cf Matthew 5:42); but its whole character, being legal, is opposed to grace. The law of Moses is interrelated and wholly dependent on the sacrifices and ritual provided for Israel in the land. The laws of the kingdom are only related to the yet future kingdom conditions which shall be in the earth under the power and presence of the King when Satan is bound, creation delivered, and all shall know the Lord from the least unto the greatest. All harmony of truth is shattered when there is the slightest co-mingling of the principles of law and grace. Grace alone now reigns through Christ to the glory of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. II. THE LAW COVENANT OF WORKS, IN ALL OF ITS APPLICATION, WHICH CONDITIONS BLESSING AND ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD ON PERSONAL MERIT, IS DONE AWAY Under this conception of law, its scope is extended beyond the actual writings of the Mosaic system and the law of the kingdom, and includes, as well, any human action, whether in conformity to a precept of Scripture or not, which is attempted with a view to securing favor with God. The law formula is, "If you will do good, I will bless you." It matters nothing what is undertaken as an obligation. It may be the highest ideal of heavenly conduct belonging to the teachings of grace, or it may be the simplest choice of moral action in daily life; but if it is attempted with a view to securing favor with God, such relationship to God is self-imposed, since it ignores His attitude of grace, and such attempt is purely legal in character and result. Let it be restated that the basic principle of grace is the fact that all blessings originate with God, and are offered to man graciously. The formula of grace is, "I have blessed you, therefore be good." Thus it is revealed that the motive for right conduct under grace is not to secure the favor of God, which already exists toward saved and unsaved to an infinite degree through Christ; it is rather a matter of consistent action in view of such divine grace. The unsaved are not urged to secure salvation by meritorious conduct, or even to influence God in their behalf by asking for salvation. Since God is revealed as standing with out-stretched hands, offering His greatest possible blessings in grace, and is moved to do so by His unchanging, infinite love, it illy becomes a sinner to fall before Him in an attitude of coaxing and beseeching, as though he were hoping to move God to be merciful and good. The message of grace is: "But as many as received him, to them gave he the power [right] to become the sons of God" (John 1:12). The eternal saving grace of God is offered to all who will believe. Moreover, the saved do not return to divine fellowship after a relapse into sin because they plead for divine forgiveness; their restoration is conditional on confession. They do not abide in divine fellowship because they seek, or merit, the light; they are instructed to "walk in the light" which is all theirs through riches of grace. In no case are divine blessings to be secured by human merit, or by pleading; they await the faith that will appropriate them. Every gift of divine love is provided and bestowed in pure grace; and not of necessity, nor as a payment, nor a recognition of human merit. Such lavishings of grace create a superhuman obligation for that manner of life which is consistent with the heavenly blessing and position which grace bestows; but the heavenly blessing and position is never earned by even a superhuman manner of life. The determining character of pure law is seen in the fact that it is a covenant of works wherein the divine blessing is conditioned on human merit. No semblance of this principle is to be found under grace, except that rewards are to be bestowed for faithful service upon those who have already entered into every present position and possession provided in grace. It therefore follows that, not only the written rules of the law, but the very principle of the law covenant of works, has been done away in this age of grace. III. THE LAW PRINCIPLE OF DEPENDENCE ON THE ENERGY OF THE FLESH, IN PLACE OF THE GRACE PRINCIPLE OF DEPENDENCE ON THE POWER OF THE INDWELLING SPIRIT, IS DONE AWAY The third and last major distinction between law and grace is seen in the attitude of heart-dependence which is maintained in view of any and all obligation toward God. The law, being a covenant of works and providing no enablement, addressed itself to the limitations of the natural man. No more was expected or secured in return to its commands than the natural man in his environment could produce. The requirements under the law are, therefore, on the plane of the limited ability of the flesh. On the other hand, grace, being a covenant of faith, and providing the limitless enablement of the power of the indwelling Spirit, addresses itself to the unlimited resources of the supernatural man. The requirements to be met under grace are, therefore, on the plane of the unlimited ability of the Spirit. There is no divine injunction addressed to the unregenerate concerning his daily life. The Gospel of the saving grace of God alone is offered to him. The only divine injunctions now in force in the world are addressed to those who are saved, and these heaven-high standards are to be realized on the principle of faith toward the sufficiency of the indwelling Spirit, and never by dependence on the energy of the flesh. Thus, it may be seen, that any aspect of life, or conduct, which is undertaken in dependence on the energy and ability of the flesh is, to that extent, purely legal in its character; whether it be the whole revealed will of God, the actual written commandments contained in the law, the exhortations of grace, or any activity whatsoever in which the believer may engage. Dependence on the arm of the flesh is consistent only with pure law; dependence on the power of God is demanded under pure grace. Since there is no provision for the flesh in the plan of God for a life under grace, the law is done away. IV. JUDAISM IS DONE AWAY It is often inferred that Christianity is an outgrowth or product of Judaism. In reality these two systems are as independent of each other as the two opposing principles of law and grace. Being thus so widely different in their essential elements, they are, like the principles which they embody, as far removed the one from the other as heaven is higher than the earth. One is of the earth, the old creation, and the flesh; the other is of heaven, of the new creation, and the Spirit. As there are elements and threads of truth which run throughout the entire Bible, so certain features which belong to Judaism are seen to reappear in Christianity; but this obvious fact should not be made the basis of a supposition that these systems are the same, or that one was merged into the other. God, holiness, Satan, man, sin, redemption, and the issues of eternity, are not only relevant facts of both Judaism and Christianity, but they are essential facts of all time, from its beginning to its end. It is true that the same God is the God of the Gentile as well as of the Jew, and that the Jew anticipated the value of Christ’s death by sacrifices, as we realize the value of His death through faith; but it does not therefore follow that God’s purposes and ways are the same with Israel as with the Church. When these two systems are confused, it is because the differentiating essentials which constitute the Jewish religion and Christianity are ignored. First. Considering, Them as Rules of Life. The Old Testament system of law is absolutely superseded by the new system under grace. Christians are not under law either for justification or for sanctification. When Christ said, "I came not to destroy, but to fulfil," and that nothing should pass from the law until all was fulfilled (Matthew 5:17-18), He was dealing with Israel while Judaism was still in force, and anticipating the Messianic Kingdom which, it is revealed, will be purely legal in its character. Second. Considering Them under Their Respective Aspects. In the matter of service, there is nothing but contrast between Judaism and Christianity. Israel, under Judaism, went in to perform a sacrifice; we go out to proclaim a sacrifice. "Judaism had its ritual, its forms, and its ceremonies which were typical. Christianity could incorporate none of these since it provides a living union to Christ who is Substance and Antitype of all that Judaism prefigured. Third. Considering Them in Respect to Personal Relationship to God. Under Judaism, the nation was related to Him by the covenant of Sinai, the Abrahamic covenant being temporarily set aside until Christ should come (Galatians 3:19), and individual Israelites were spiritually renewed through their personal faith, though the exact character of their salvation is not revealed. But, under grace, all the positions and possessions of the believer in relation to God transcend the earthly promises of Israel. The message of Ephesians 2:18-22, Ephesians 3:1-10 does not teach that the Church is being built on the prophets of the Old Testament; reference is only to the prophets and apostles of the New Testament (Cf Ephesians 4:11). In like manner, the "mystery" (Ephesians 3:6) is the formation of a new humanity -- the Church -- out of both Jews and Gentiles, and not a combining of Old Testament saints with New Testament saints. The theological term, The Old Testament Church, has no Scriptural warrant (Acts 7:38 is no exception, being merely a reference to an assembly of people). The true Church began at Pentecost, and was made possible through the new outflow of grace in Christ Jesus, -- by His death, resurrection, and ascension, -- and the descent of the Holy Spirit. Similarly, Gentile branches are not grafted into Judaism, but into Christ (Romans 11:17). He is the Vine. Judaism speaks of an earthly people and an earthly walk in the flesh. Christianity speaks of a heavenly people and of a heavenly walk in the Spirit. Since one is of the old creation, its people are under the curse of the First Adam, and its history closes in failure. Since the other is of the new creation, its people are ensphered in the resurrected Christ, and its history will be the consummation of the glory of divine grace. Christianity is indebted to Israel for the humanity of Christ and for the Oracles of God; but Israel, the people, must be distinguished from Judaism, the law system. Israel abides to the present hour, while Judaism, so far as divine recognition goes, ceased with the death of Christ. Israel, like all the nations, was, as a whole, in Adam, lost and undone. While for Israel there was healing for sin and mercy from God, no one under Judaism had any clear vision or revelation of the new life and relationship under grace, which more than all else distinguishes Christianity. The new life and relationship which characterizes Christianity is Christ as the sphere of the new creation. CHRISTIANITY IS CHRIST. It is the unlimited, unrestrained love of God in Christ and its final result will be the unveiling of the glory of His grace in the ages to come. Judaism, through the nation Israel, purposed the highest glory in the earth. Christianity, through the Church, purposes the highest glory in heaven. One is of the "first man" who is "of the earth, earthy." The other is of the second Man, who is "the Lord from heaven." Judaism was based on the law and, like the law, applied only to Israel and passed out of force with the death of Christ. So, likewise, Israel alone was delivered from the written commandments of Moses through the death of Christ. However, both Jew and Gentile were delivered by that death from the hopeless principle of human merit, and from the useless struggle of the flesh. The exalted quality of the law is never questioned. It is the expression of the very character of God. "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Romans 7:12). The law did not die; it was a race that died unto the law in Christ the Substitute. The holy demands of infinite righteousness can never change or pass away; but man may be changed in his exact responsibility to God and to certain particulars of His holy demands. The sanctity of the law is never preserved by those who attempt to keep it. The holy will of God was never wrought by any person other than Christ. The effort of man has universally failed. The supposition that God will be pleased and honored by any fleshly attempt to do His will, is a delusion as old as the race. Those who try to keep the law, or try by their own effort to do the whole will of God, outrage the law at every step by their absolute failure. On the other hand, those who, in recognition of the righteous character of the law, bow before those holy demands, acknowledging their utter failure and inability to fulfil them, and who flee to Christ that they may stand in His redemption and partake of the very righteousness of God in Him and be sheltered under the cross whereon He met every demand of the law for them, are the only ones who really uphold the law, or keep it. "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law" (Romans 3:31). We may conclude, then, that every aspect of the reign of the law has ceased with the death of Christ and the introduction of the reign of grace. There is no longer any obligation to do the things which are written in the law, only as they have been transferred and restated under the teachings of grace; there is no longer any obligation to secure favor with God by human merit; and there is no longer any yoke of bondage, or impossible burden to do what no flesh has ever been able to do. There is perfect liberty and victory in the priceless provisions of grace; For ye are not under the law but under grace. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 31: 03.08. THE SABBATH, A TEST QUESTION ======================================================================== SECTION Six. THE SABBATH, A TEST QUESTION SECTION SIX THE SABBATH, A TEST QUESTION The distinction between the reign of law and the reign of grace is at no point more sharply drawn than in the question of the observance of the seventh day of the week or the first day of the week; for these two days are symbolical of the dispensations to which they are related. Likewise, at no point is personal religious prejudice, which is born of early training and sentiment, more assertive than on the sabbath question. It was His liberal teaching on the observance of the Sabbath which, more than aught else, provoked the wrath of the Jewish leaders against Christ, and, it may be observed, there is no religious subject today which so draws out personal convictions and opinions. The reason is evident. Few have really comprehended the exact character and principle of grace. To many, Christianity is a system of human works and character building from which merit accrues. And the observance of a sabbath day presents extraordinary opportunities for the exercise of meritorious works. The question is a far deeper one than the observance, or the manner of observance, of a day. It is the fundamental question whether grace is to reign supreme in place of law, or whether it is to be co-mingled with law. The roots of this problem reach down to the bedrock issue which forms the very structure of the two opposing principles of pure law and pure grace. For its solution, the question demands more than a superficial opinion. Truly the choice of a particular day and the manner of its observance is a test question as to the individual’s intelligent adjustment to the whole grace revelation. As there can be no proper co-mingling of the reign of law and the reign of grace, there can be no proper co-mingling of elements which, according to the Scriptures, are the essential features of these widely different days. A "Christian Sabbath" is a misnomer, and the very use of the term indicates inexcusable inattention to Bible terms, and an unchallenged freedom of mind and heart which is willing to sacrifice the richest treasures of grace by co-mingling them with law. It is not a problem of interpretation; it is a question of whether personal sentiment, prejudice, or ignorance, shall blindly override the very foundation of the right divisions of Scripture. These two days, typical of two opposing governing principles and two great dispensations, are absolutely unrelated. Of the whole Decalogue, it is the sabbath-day commandment only which is not carried forward in any manner whatsoever into the reign of grace, nor could it be. Failure to base the distinction between these age-representing days upon the essential character of their respective relationships -- pure law and pure grace -- is resulting in an almost universal confusion of mind on the subject among Christians, and this, in turn, provides the opportunity for present-day legalists to promote their Christ-rejecting heresies. Intelligent comprehension of pure law is clarifying to the mind, for its very oppositeness to pure grace safeguards a clear comprehension of grace. On the other hand, the greatest foe of such clear comprehension of pure grace and its issues is the confusing, soul-wrecking and unscriptural admixture of these opposing principles. This admixture is ruinous at every point; but at no point is it more destructive of Scriptural distinctions than in the confusion of a Jewish sabbath with the Christian’s day -- the Lord’s day, or Sunday. Consideration at length might be given to many vital differences between the law obligations and the obligations under grace, such as circumcision, tithing, and sacrifices; but unlike the sabbath question, these issues are self-adjusting when the glory of grace in some measure is comprehended. To many, on the other hand, the sabbath question bulks largest as an essential of their religion. It, therefore, demands particular consideration. The reasons for this discussion are four: (1) It vitally determines the individual’s conception of, and blessing in, grace. (2) It, of necessity, determines the character of the believer’s conduct and measure of comprehension of his Scriptural obligation to God. (3) It is the central issue of a misleading heresy. And, (4) it is now urged as a national reform, in which it is proposed to legislate a Jewish sabbath on a Christ-rejecting world. This consideration of the Sabbath question is based on the preceding analysis of the principles of law and grace and this discussion cannot be followed clearly apart from an understanding of what has gone before. So, also, in so far as an earnest appeal may avail, the reader is besought to leave prejudice behind, and to stand on the uncompromised "Thus saith the Lord." Two major aspects of this subject are here considered. (1) The Biblical testimony regarding the Jewish sabbath, and (2) The Biblical testimony concerning the Christian’s "Lord’s day." To this is added (3) A consideration of certain current errors. I. THE BIBLICAL TESTIMONY REGARDING THE JEWISH SABBATH This theme is to be taken up in subdivisions in which the Jewish sabbath is considered as related to various periods of time: First. The Period from Adam to Moses. Two theories obtain concerning the question of sabbath observance during this period. There are those who contend that the sabbath was committed to man in Eden, and there are those who contend that the sabbath was given to Israel only, at the hand of Moses. The first theory is usually advanced with a view to applying the institution of the sabbath to all men before the law even was given, in order that the sabbath law may be treated as now applicable to all men, even after the termination of the Mosaic law in the cross. This form of argument is not restricted to the Seventh-Day legalists; it is employed by many writers and religious leaders who are attempting to transfer the Biblical authority concerning the Jewish sabbath to the observance of the Lord’s day. These, by Judaizing Christianity, are obscuring the truth about grace. When it is claimed that the sabbath obtained from Adam to Moses it is said: "The sabbath was divinely sanctified at creation." This sanctification, it is true, is clearly stated in Genesis 2:1-3 : "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." When it is assumed that the sabbath was imposed on man at Eden, it is based on the supposition that this passage so teaches; which, however, the passage does not necessarily imply. And it should also be remembered that Genesis was not written until Moses’ time, and, when seeking for Biblical evidence regarding the pre-Mosaic observance of the seventh day it will be found that, unlike other religious activities, such as prayer, circumcision (cf John 7:22), and sacrifices the observance of which is recorded of that period, there is no mention of a sabbath observance from creation to Moses. It is incredible that this great institution of the sabbath could have existed during all these centuries and there be no mention of it in the Scriptures dealing with that time. The words of Job, who lived five hundred years and more before Moses, offer an illustration. His experience discloses the spiritual life of the pre-Mosaic saint, having no written Scriptures, and striving to know his whole duty to God. Job and his friends refer to creation, the flood, and many details of human obligation to God; but not once do they mention the sabbath. Again, it is impossible that this great institution, with all that it contemplated of relationship between God and man, could have existed at that time and not have been mentioned in any portion of the argument of the book of Job. There is little force in the contention that a seven day week was recognized as early as Jacob’s time, and therefore a sabbath day must have existed which marked off the week. The seven-day week is the natural fourth part of a lunar month and does not necessarily demand a sabbath day with religious significance for its measurement. Likewise, there is little force in the suggestion that Chinese history hints at the observance of one sacred day in every week. Such argument, even if true, should not be set over against the positive testimony of the Scriptures. There is one passage which determines this question beyond all discussion. The following quotation from the confession of the priests and Levites under Nehemiah definitely fixes the time of the institution of the sabbath: "Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: and madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant" (Nehemiah 9:13-14). The Sabbath given to Israel as a sign (Exodus 31:12-17), was never given to Gentiles. There is no record that Gentiles ever recognized the Sabbath, either between Adam and Moses, or between Moses and Christ. The Sabbath is of the law; but the law did not begin to reign until Moses (Romans 5:12-14). It is to be concluded, then, that the Sabbath was imposed upon Israel only and as a part of the law as given by Moses. Second, The Period from Moses to Christ. The Sabbath began to be observed by Israel from the time of its institution through Moses. Invested with the character of a sign between Jehovah and the nation Israel, it was in no sense extended to Gentiles. These facts are disclosed in the following Scriptures: "The LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed" (Exodus 31:12-17). Nothing but blind prejudice could apply this or any other Old Testament Scripture concerning the sabbath, to the Gentiles. The sabbath was a part of Israel’s law, and it was the possession of that law which distinguished that nation from all other peoples of the earth. It is equally erroneous to insist that the sabbath was always celebrated on the last day of the week. The sabbath, but for necessary exceptions, was the seventh in a series of seven, whether days or years. Of necessity it often fell on other days of the week as well as on Saturday. There were at least fifteen sabbaths which were fixed dates in their given month, and these sabbaths fell on those particular dates regardless of the day of the week. (From Leviticus 23:37-38, it has been claimed by some that these fixed sabbaths were extra sabbaths which were added to the regular sabbaths. This claim, however, is not supported by Numbers 28:9-10. The comparison of these important Scriptures reveals the fact that the word "besides" of Leviticus 23:37-38, does not indicate more sabbaths; but rather refers to additional offerings to be made over and above the regular sabbath offerings.) In one instance, seven sabbaths were counted from the fifteenth day of the month, and the day following that last sabbath of the seven, was Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-16). These seven sabbaths, it is evident, became pre-determined dates by arbitrary reckoning from the first sabbath. So, likewise, the day that Christ was in the tomb was a fixed sabbath. It was the fifteenth of Abib, which by divine arrangement in that particular year fell on a Saturday. That this was a fixed sabbath is proven by the fact that the day before was "preparation" day (Mark 15:42), which day was determined for the fourteenth of that month (Exodus 12:2, Exodus 12:6). Again, certain working days were established days. The lamb must be taken on the tenth day of the first month and be killed, roasted with fire, and eaten on the fourteenth day of the month. Likewise, Abib sixteenth could in no wise have been a sabbath for that date was appointed as the beginning of harvest (Deuteronomy 16:9. Cf Leviticus 23:15). All these labors would have been direct violations of the sabbath law; yet these ceremonies were appointed for certain pre-determined dates, and from time to time must inevitably have been in conflict with the pre-determined sabbaths. By all of this it is evident that the sacred character of the day belonged to its relative place in a series of seven days, and not to a particular day of the week. During the period from Moses to Christ in which the sabbath obtained under the direct sanction of God, it was, as the word sabbath indicates, a day of physical rest. It was binding on the whole nation Israel, and death was the penalty for its violation. No fire was to be kindled, no food prepared, no journey undertaken, no buying or selling permitted, and no burden to be borne. Even the land was to have its sabbaths, (Exodus 31:12-17; Exodus 35:3; Exodus 16:22-26; Nehemiah 10:31; Nehemiah 13:15-21; Leviticus 25:4; 2 Chronicles 36:21). The sabbath law, like all of the law, was so poorly observed that Jehovah finally carried the nation into captivity with the declared purpose that the land might enjoy its sabbaths. The sabbath was inter-related with the law, just as it is embedded in the heart of the Decalogue. The exact manner of its observance is revealed only in the teachings of Moses, and since the law was a covenant of human works, the sabbath was the divine provision for rest under that covenant. The modern conception of a sabbath, isolated from the laws which governed it, and adapted to the Christian dispensation as the day of religious activity, public meetings, Christian service, and worship, is entirely out of harmony with every Scripture bearing on the sabbath. It is taught by some that although the laws which conditioned the manner of sabbath observance have ceased, the recognition of the day, whether it be Saturday, or Sunday, remains as a binding obligation. The result of such teaching is the imposition of the observance of a day without any exact instruction as to the manner of such observance. This teaching is both inconsistent and unscriptural. Moreover, the unscriptural inconsistency is greatly increased when the celebration of the sabbath is changed from Saturday to Sunday, and is imposed on Gentiles. The sabbath was a vital institution under the reign of the law. It depended on the entire law system for its proper observance, and the law system depended on the sabbath for its normal action. The complete legal system stands, or falls, together. The Mosaic age was given over to the uncomplicated functioning of the entire law system; but that age, and all that characterized it, was, when Christ died, superseded by the reign of grace. Third. The Period Represented by the Gospels. Much confusion concerning the sabbath is due to a failure to recognize the peculiar character of the period represented by the Gospels. It should be remembered that Christ was first a "minister of the circumcision"; He was "made under the law"; and He lived and wrought under the law. The law did not pass at His birth. It passed at His death. During the days of His ministry, He recognized, kept, and enforced the sabbath as an integral part of the whole Mosaic system. True, He insisted that the Mosaic system, and the sabbath in particular, be delivered from the encrusted teachings of men which had been superimposed on the law of Moses. These man-made additions to the law were held by the Jews to be as binding and sacred as the very Word of God. Because He ignored all else but the Word of God, Christ appeared as a liberalist on the question of the sabbath. He also claimed to be "Lord of the sabbath," which He was, and by virtue of that position, He had authority to change the sabbath, or, if He chose, to abolish it forever. A greater than Moses, through whom the law came, was in their midst. It is certain that He purposed to rescue the sabbath from being an enslaving institution and to restore its functions as a benefit to man. This He announced when He said: "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath." That is, man was not made to be sacrificed for a day; but the day was made for the blessing of man. Before His death, the sabbath was one of the most important issues in the experience and ministry of Christ. However, it is both obvious and suggestive that He never mentioned that day in the upper-room discourse, nor is that day once mentioned as an obligation in all of His post-resurrection ministry. It is inconceivable that the sabbath, which was so vital a part of the Mosaic system, should be omitted from these great age-characterizing teachings of Christ, if it was the purpose of God that this Jewish day should have any place in the present reign of grace. It has also been claimed that Christ extended the sabbath-keeping obligation to all men, when He said: "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath." This issue turns on the exact meaning of the word man as here used. Did Christ signify by this statement that the Jewish sabbath was by His authority extended to all men? Or did He use the word man in its more limited sense as applying only to the nation Israel? Two facts determine the answer: (1) The sabbath is never by any subsequent Scripture applied to Gentiles, and (2) the word man is used in the Old Testament no less than 336 times, when referring to Israel alone, and many times in the New Testament when referring only to Christians. It is said: "Christ is the head of every man"; the Spirit "is given to every man"; "If any man build on this foundation"; "Every man shall have praise"; "That we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." In all these Scriptures the word man has only the limited meaning. It is therefore evident that Christ said, in harmony with all Scripture, that the sabbath was made for Israel; for there is no Biblical evidence that Christ ever imposed the Jewish sabbath on either Gentiles or Christians; but true to the law, He did recognize its important place and obligation in relation to Israel until the reign of the law should be terminated through His death. Fourth. The Period Represented by the Acts and the Epistles. In considering the sabbath question, great importance must be attributed to the exact character of those teachings of the New Testament which come after the founding of Christianity through the death and resurrection of Christ, and by the advent of the Spirit on Pentecost. It should be observed first that the law, as a rule of conduct, is not once applied to the Christian, and that these Scriptures by overwhelming revelation, assert that the law has passed, through the death of Christ. They assert that the law has ceased both as a means of justification, and as a rule of life for the one who is justified (John 1:16-17; Romans 6:14; Romans 7:1-6; 2 Corinthians 3:1-18; Ephesians 2:15; Colossians 2:14; Galatians 3:19-25). If it is claimed that the Decalogue, in which the sabbath is embedded, was not of the law, and therefore was not terminated with the death of Christ, this contention is disposed of completely by the reference in Romans 7:7-14 to the last of the commandments, in which Scripture this commandment is explicitly mentioned as "the law." So, also, according to 2 Corinthians 3:7-14, that which was "written and engraven in stones" -- the Decalogue, including the sabbath day -- is "done away" and "abolished." It should be observed next that, if an issue so vital as was the sabbath under the law, is imposed on the Church, it is incredible (1) that the early Christians would not be reported as having at some time discharged their personal obligation to the sabbath, or (2) that the necessity of recognizing the sabbath would not be somewhere incorporated in the new teachings of grace. Turning to these Scriptures we discover: 1. The sabbath in the Book of The Acts. The word sabbath is used nine times in the Acts, and wherever it is referred to as a day which is observed, it is related only to the unbelieving Jews, who, as would be expected, perpetuated, and who still perpetuate, the observance of the sabbath day. Not once in this Book is it stated, or even implied, that Christians kept a sabbath day. It is said that the Apostle Paul went into the synagogue of the Jews and reasoned with them every sabbath; but this can imply nothing more than that he took advantage of their gathering together on that day in order that he might preach to them. Such may be the experience of any missionary to the Jews today. 2. The sabbath in the Epistles. Turning to the Epistles, it will be seen in this portion of the Scriptures, as in the Book of Acts, that no Christian is said to have observed a sabbath day. It is highly probable that some in the early church who were drawn into the observance of the law were also complicated with issues of sabbath keeping; but the Spirit of God has omitted every such incident, if such there was, from the pages of Scripture. Thus the Inspired Record does not reveal the complication of one believer with the Jewish sabbath, even as an error in conduct; nor are sinners termed Sabbath breakers. Upon examination of the direct injunctions and doctrinal teachings of the Epistles, it is discovered that the word sabbath is used but once, the term seventh day mentioned in one passage only, and the legalistic observance of a day is referred to but once. These passages deserve particular attention: Colossians 2:16-17. In the context in which this Scripture is found, the Apostle warns believers against any complicity with the law, or works-covenant, since they have been transferred to a position under grace. The passage states that they have been made "complete" in Christ, to which estate nothing could ever be added; hence for the one who is "in Christ," the objective of all meritorious works is already gained, and the legal obligation to do good works is forever met (Colossians 2:10). The believer is also said to be "circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." Therefore, since the flesh, the one thing the law proposed to control, is, in the sight of God, put away, there is no need of the law. The Jewish child was circumcised on the eighth day, which was the first day of a new week following the passing of a completed week. The circumcision on the eighth day, or first day of a new week, typified the deliverance from the old creation which would be accomplished for believers through the resurrection of Christ from the dead; for in that death He bore all the curse of the old creation. For this reason the believer under grace is not called upon to celebrate any aspect of the old creation which was represented by the sabbath (Colossians 2:11). The one who is saved has been "buried with him in baptism, wherein [the baptism] also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God [his own faith in God’s power], who hath raised him from the dead." The use of the aorist tense In connection with the reference to a burial with Him in baptism, places that burial as being contemporaneous with the circumcision just mentioned. Therefore it is evident that the baptism with the Spirit which vitally relates the believer to Christ is in view (1 Corinthians 12:13. cf Galatians 3:27). In that baptism, as in no other, the Christian partakes of all that Christ is, and all that Christ has done. He shares in Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:1-10). With the old creation thus buried in the tomb of Christ, the believer is in no wise obligated to any observance related to the old creation (Romans 6:12). Again, the believer has been delivered from the law by no less an undertaking than the nailing of the law with its handwritings and ordinances to the cross. After this great transaction, how can the child of God reasonably recognize the law in any respect whatsoever (Romans 6:14)? To the one who is thus complete in Christ, circumcised in Christ, buried with Christ, and delivered from the authority of all handwritings and ordinances, the Apostle writes: "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days [day]: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [substance] is Christ." All these were essential features of the law (1 Chronicles 23:31; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 2 Chronicles 31:3), and as such were to cease in the present age of Israel’s chastisement (Hosea 2:11), and are to be reinstated in the coming kingdom (Ezekiel 45:17). They were but shadows of the Substance Christ. Having the Substance, the believer is warned against turning to the mere shadow. According to this Scripture, the law, which included the sabbath day, is abolished. If it is objected that the reference in this passage is to extra ceremonial sabbaths, the contention cannot be sustained; for the words here used are _ton _sabbaton, which are the exact words that are invariably used to designate the regular Jewish sabbath. It is significant, then, that in all the Epistles, wherein the believer’s obligation under grace is set forth, the only use of the word sabbath is under absolute prohibition concerning its observance, and that it is there held to be in conflict with the most vital and superseding elements of grace. Hebrews 4:4. In this passage the one reference in all the Epistles to the seventh day is found. We read: "For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works." As before, the occasion for this reference to a seventh day is explicit in the context. In the whole passage (Hebrews 4:1-13) Hebrew Christians are warned lest, as their fathers failed to enter into rest under Joshua (Hebrews 4:8), they themselves should fail to enter, experimentally, into the rest provided in the finished work of Christ, of whom Joshua was but a type. In the application of this passage, it may be noted that the rest under Christ is not for one day in the week, nor is it that sabbath-rest which was due after a six-day strain of meritorious works. It is rather the abiding rest of faith in Another who, as Substitute, has wrought all the "works of God." This blessed rest is promised "to him that worketh not." Likewise, it is in no sense the rest of death. It is rather the rest of Christ’s imparted, resurrection life, and that life is ceaselessly active. The extent and character of the activity of the new life in Christ is a violation of every commandment which enjoins a sabbath day of rest. Galatians 4:9-10. At this point in this Epistle, the Apostle chides the Galatian believers for observing "days" which are borrowed from the law, and tells them that by the keeping of legal days they have turned from grace to the law: "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years." The phrase, "weak and beggarly elements," is a description of the character of the law. As a means of securing moral and spiritual conduct, the law was "weak" since its correct observance was impossible through the "weakness of the flesh" (Romans 8:3). As a source of heart-blessing, the law was "beggarly" (lit. poverty stricken) as compared to the riches of grace in Christ Jesus. From this consideration of the Scriptures which describe and define the life of the believer after the cross, it is notable that in these Scriptures there is no example of the observance of a sabbath day by any believer, and no injunction for such observance. On the other hand, there is the most conclusive teaching concerning the complete ending of the law by the death of Christ, and the most faithful warnings lest the believer shall become ensnared by complicity with sabbath-day observance. Fifth. The Sabbath in Prophecy. There are two distinct aspects of the sabbath in prophecy: (1) Concerning its cessation in this age of Israel’s chastisement, and (2) concerning its reestablishment when the present purpose in the Church is accomplished. 1. The cessation of the sabbath. It is clear from Hosea 2:11 that the chastisement which was to fall on Israel, and which she is now experiencing, would be characterized by the cessation of all her solemn feasts and sabbaths: "I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts." Such is the unalterable decree of God, and had one word of this prophecy failed, He would have been proven untrue. These Jewish observances which were to cease included all her sabbaths. They ceased at the beginning of this age of grace, so far as any recognition from God is concerned. Otherwise, when will this prophecy be fulfilled? Uninstructed people may impose a solemn feast, or a Jewish sabbath, upon themselves; but this will accomplish no more than the creation of an abnormal conscience which either accuses or excuses but never satisfies the heart. Such is the invariable effect of self-imposed law (Romans 2:14-15). 2. The reestablishment of the sabbath. Upon the completion of the present divine purpose in the Church, Israel’s sabbaths will be reinstated. This is assured both for the great tribulation which must precede the glorious coming of Christ, and for the kingdom age which follows that coming. Concerning the great tribulation it is said: "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day" (Matthew 24:20). No Christian has ever been inclined to offer this prayer. The time of its fulfillment does not concern him, nor does he have any relation to a sabbath day. It will be in the "time of Jacob’s trouble," and Israel’s sabbaths will then be observed again. Concerning the kingdom age we read: "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD" (Isaiah 66:23); "Thus saith the LORD GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened" (Ezekiel 46:1). This is according to all prophecy concerning the kingdom. It is then that Israel shall "do all his commandments," including the sabbath (Deuteronomy 30:8). The sabbath must be reinstated; for it is a "perpetual covenant" and sign between Jehovah and Israel, except for such time as He shall cause it to cease in His chastisement of that people (Exodus 31:16). Sixth. The Exact Day. The supposition that an exact continuation of weekly sabbaths is now being kept by all who observe the seventh day, is without foundation. It should be noted: (a) No day is holy in itself. From the natural standpoint, all days are alike and are equally subject to the same physical conditions. A day is holy by divine decree, and that decree is subject to change at the appointment of God. By no means did the day always fall on Saturday, nor were the sabbaths always separated by six full working days. (b) The sabbath was to begin with sunset and end with sunset. This was simple enough when ordered for Israel in the small geographical boundaries of Palestine. It is far different when applied to the whole earth, and, as some dare to claim, to heaven as well. No uniformity of the observance of an exact day is possible over the whole earth. While some are keeping Saturday on one hemisphere, others are keeping Sunday (as sabbath) on the other. Should two persons start from a given point to go around the earth in opposite directions, and both observe each sabbath from sundown to sundown, upon their return to the starting point, one would be observing Friday and the other Sunday. The question of observing an exact day from sunset is even more perplexing in the far North. The sun sets there but once in six months. In that region, to be Biblical and exact, there must be a twelve-month sabbath, and a week of seven years. (c) The exact day in which God finished creation and rested is quite unknown. He rested on the seventh day; but it could hardly be proven that sundown on Friday night at a given place on the earth is the perpetuation of the exact moment when God began to rest from His work of creation. Who can trace the exact moment, day, or year, through Eden, the flood, the bondage in Egypt, and the dark ages? Yet apart from the assurance that Saturday at a given place on the earth is the exact day in rotation of weeks from creation, there is no basis for the claim to the sacredness of the exact time to be observed. Ignorant people are too often encouraged in the belief that they are actually celebrating the rest of God in creation when they observe the hours as they fall on Saturday in the locality where they chance to live. It is therefore the manner of the observance of the day, and not the exact time, which is in question. Shall it be the seventh day, or the first day! It must be one or the other; for there is nothing more unreasonable, illogical, and unbiblical, than the observance of the seventh day with confusion of Christian issues of worship and service, which is the practice of every sabbatarian, or the observance of the first day with confusion of the sabbath law, which is the present practice of Christendom. There would be little occasion for discussion of the question if the simple distinctions between law and grace were recognized. II. THE BIBLICAL TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE LORD’S DAY This aspect of truth will be considered under two general divisions: (1) The reason for the observance of the day, and (2) The manner of observance of the day. First. The Reason for the Observance of the New Day. Even a cursory reading of those portions of Scripture which condition the daily life of the Christian will reveal the fact that, while every other fundamental principle of righteousness found in the Decalogue is restated in the teachings of grace, the sabbath is not once imposed upon the believer. On the contrary, as before shown, there is explicit warning against the observance of a sabbath day. This is a fact of revelation which should not be overlooked. Throughout the history of the church, a new day has been observed which superseded the Jewish sabbath, and this change of days has not been contrary to the teaching of the Scriptures, as some insist; it has, rather, been according to the revealed plan and purpose of God. There are certain Biblical reasons for this change: 1. The Mosaic system has ceased. The whole Mosaic system, including its sabbath day, has given way to the reign of grace. To this important truth sufficient proof has already been presented, but in spite of the clearest Biblical statement on this subject, there are two groups of professing Christians who evidently do not receive this divine testimony. (a) Those who persist in the observance of the seventh day; and (b) those who observe the first day, but who invest it with the character of the Jewish sabbath, and observe it on the authority of the law which was given to Israel by Moses. The position of these two classes should be considered separately: (a) Those who persist in the observance of the seventh day, do so on the claim that, while the law passed away in the death of Christ, the Decalogue is not a part of the law and therefore it, with its sabbath day, has not been abolished. The answer to this subtle argument is clear and conclusive. Not only is the Decalogue included and embedded in the Old Testament statement of the law, but, in the New Testament, the Decalogue, as has already been shown, is distinctly said to be "the law." In Romans 7:7; the Apostle Paul has written of the tendency of his own heart toward sin. He states: "I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Thus he refers to the Tenth Commandment as "the law." Furthermore, it is impossible now for any Jew or Gentile to keep the Ceremonial law of Moses, and thus it is evident that the New Testament warnings against law observance could not be a warning against an observance of the Ceremonial law. The Ceremonial law required for its observance the presence of Jehovah in the holy of holies, an altar, a priesthood and a temple in Jerusalem. All these prerequisites for the observance of the Ceremonial law were withdrawn at the beginning of the present age. The church of Rome, in its attempt to continue the law system, proposed to meet this difficulty by creating its own altar, temple service, and priesthood, and alleges that the Lord is present in the consecrated bread. The warnings which are found under grace against the keeping of the law are of necessity applicable only to the Decalogue, and not to the Ceremonial law. The Ceremonial law governed the precise manner of the observance of the sabbath and there is great unreasonableness, with attending confusion, when the attempt is now made to keep the Jewish sabbath apart from the Ceremonial law. The class of legalists who now try to observe the seventh day, having no way to introduce the Ceremonial law, borrow the features of the new day of grace. They hold services, worship, and do much religious work on the seventh day, which, being strictly a day of rest, was never designed to be a day of activity, religious or otherwise, nor was such activity ever allowed on this day during the reign of the law. (b) There is even greater inconsistency in the position of those who recognize the first day of the week, but invest that day with the character of the sabbath, and keep the day on the authority of the law of Moses. Not only has the whole Mosaic system ceased with its sabbath and every requirement related to that day; but there could be no consistency in borrowing even one of the features of the Jewish sabbath. This error of borrowing certain features of the Jewish sabbath is committed by both of these classes of legalists. The law of Moses was never subject to a partial observance. It is a unit; for "what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law;" and, "the man which doeth those things shall live by them;" and again, "cursed, is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of law to do them." There is no Scriptural warrant for a partial acceptance of the law, or a partial recognition of its sabbath day. The observance of the day with all its requirements must be perfectly kept, or not at all. The slightest recognition of the least of all the features of the sabbath commits a person who attempts it to keep the whole law. It therefore follows that the Christian who, while keeping the first day of the week, is influenced in the slightest degree by the law of Moses concerning a sabbath day, is, both by Scripture and reason, committed to keep every feature of the Jewish sabbath, as well as the whole Mosaic system. For example, the person who adopts even one feature of sabbath observance on the ground that it is enjoined by the law, is bound by that same sabbath law to stone to death every person who fails to keep any feature of that law. In fact, if he himself had been so guilty as to observe the first day of the week in place of the seventh, he must bow to the death penalty, in vindication of the righteous judgments of God. This death penalty is the uncompromising provision made in God’s Word for sabbath breakers. The original heresy of the church was the attempted admixture of law and grace teachings. It is one of the most destructive heresies of the present hour, and at no point of contact do the opposing principles of law and grace become more clearly crystallized than in the question of the exact day which is to be observed. There is no "Christian Sabbath." The new day which belongs to grace is in no way related to the sabbath. Observance must be either of one day or the other. To co-mingle them, as every legalist does, is to frustrate grace. 2. A new day is divinely appointed under grace. This new day is also a particular day of the week and has been given a name which is in accordance with its character. Its divine appointment is first recorded in a prophetic message: "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it (Psalms 118:22-24). In this Scripture, both the death and the resurrection of Christ are in view. He was the rejected Stone, and His Father, through the resurrection, has made Him the Head Stone of the Corner. The resurrection was appointed to take place on a certain day which the Lord had determined, and that day was by divine intention to be celebrated with joy and gladness. The divine commentary on this passage is given through the Apostle Peter as recorded in Acts 4:10-11 : "Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner." Therefore the day which the Lord had appointed when the rejected Stone would become the Head Stone of the Corner, is the day of His resurrection. This is the "day which the LORD hath made." It is therefore the Lord’s day. In that day we are to "rejoice and be glad." This new day is the day to which the Apostle John makes reference when he said, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day" (Revelation 1:10). These words of John were written fully sixty years after the death of Christ and at a time when the new day had become the accepted day among all believers. The Lord’s day should in no wise be confused with "The Day of the LORD." One is the first day of every week, which is observed as a commemoration of the resurrection of Christ. The other is a prophetic period, which is still future, and which concerns Israel and the whole creation. The first Lord’s day was the pattern of all the Lord’s days that should follow. It being "very early in the morning" when the risen Lord said, "All Hail" (lit. rejoice)! It continued with His precious fellowship, and closed with His benediction of peace. From that early morning to its close it was a day of worship, activity, and joy. The sabbath, on the other hand, with no less symbolical significance, began with the setting sun, which spoke of complete cessation of activity, and of perfect rest. The Christian has an unchangeable day. He may extend its observance to all days, but He cannot change the one day, which is divinely appointed, any more than Israel, or any one else, could change the divinely appointed seventh day. A change of the first day to another breaks the symbolic meaning of the day as it represents the true relationships under grace. It results in robbing Christ of that glory which is His alone. This is one of the wrongs committed by all those who persist in an attempted seventh-day observance. The two days do not present an optional choice to the Christian. The choice between these days is one which carries either acceptance or rejection of the most vital relationships between Christ and the believer under grace. 3. A new day is indicated by important events. Beginning with the resurrection, and following it, every event recorded in the New Testament which had important religious significance fell on the first day of the week, or the Lord’s day. No greater emphasis through events could be given to this new day than that found in the teachings of grace, and, added to this, is the fact that in these same Scriptures the sabbath day is wholly set aside. If it be claimed that there is no direct commandment for the keeping of the Lord’s day, it should be observed that there is explicit command against the observance of the sabbath day, and that the lack of commandments concerning the Lord’s day is both in accordance with the character of the new day, and the entire order of grace which it represents and to which it is related. Mention should be made of the great events which fell on the first day of the week. a. On the first day of the week Christ arose from the dead. His resurrection is vitally related to the ages past, to the fulfillment of all prophecy, to the values of His death, to the Church, to Israel, to creation, to the purposes of God in grace which reach beyond to the ages to come, and to the eternal glory of God. Fulfillment of the eternal purposes related to all of these was dependent upon the coming forth of the Son of God from that tomb. He arose from the dead, and the greatness of that event is indicated by the importance of its place in Christian doctrine. Had not Christ arisen -- He by whom all things were created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, He for whom things were created, who is before all things, and by whom all things consist (hold together) -- every divine purpose and blessing would have failed, yea, the very universe and the throne of God would have dissolved and would have been dismissed forever. All life, light, and hope would have ceased. Death, darkness, and despair would have reigned. Though the spiritual powers of darkness might have continued, the last hope for a ruined world would have been banished eternally. It is impossible for the mind to grasp the mighty issues which were at stake at the moment when Christ came forth from the tomb. At no moment of time, however, were these great issues in jeopardy. The consummation of His resurrection was sure, for omnipotent power was engaged to bring it to pass. Every feature of the Christian’s salvation, position, and hope was dependent on the resurrection of his Lord. Very much depended on the death of Christ, but every value of that death would have been sacrificed apart from the resurrection. When Christ arose from the dead, Christianity was born, and the new creation was brought into existence. There is nothing in the old order for the believer. He stands on resurrection ground. He belongs only to the new creation. God is faithful to all that He has wrought in Christ and He, according to His Word, will not suffer the child of the new creation to go back and celebrate the beginning of the old and fallen creation from which His child has been saved through infinite riches of grace. If the children of grace persist in relating themselves to the old creation by the observance of the sabbath, it is evidence of their limitations in the knowledge of the Word and will of God; it is to fall from grace. Since the day of Christ’s resurrection is the day in which the new creation was formed, and all that enters into the Christian’s life and hope was brought into being, both according to Scripture and according to reason, the Christian can celebrate no other day than the Lord’s day. b. On the first day of the week Christ met His disciples in the new power and fellowship of His resurrection life. c. On the first day of the week Christ symbolized the new resurrection fellowship by breaking bread with His disciples. d. On the first day of the week He gave them instructions in their new resurrection ministry and life for Him. e. On the first day of the week He commanded the disciples to preach the new message to all the world. f. On the first day of the week Christ ascended into heaven as the "Wave Sheaf." In fulfilling the Old Testament type and the eternal purpose of God, it was necessary that He should appear in heaven as the earnest of the mighty harvest of souls whom He had redeemed and who came out of that tomb with Him to share His eternal life and glory. So, also, He must, having accomplished the sacrifice for sin, present His own blood in heaven (Leviticus 16:1-34; Hebrews 9:16-28). Having not yet ascended, He said to Mary, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God" (John 20:17). How little the mighty import of this message from Christ was understood then, and how little it is understood even now! That He ascended on that day is evident; for He said unto them at evening of that day, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see" (Luke 24:39). He had ascended to heaven, accomplished His work there, and returned to earth to complete His postresurrection ministry. g. On the first day of the week He breathed on His disciples and imparted the Holy Spirit to them. h. On the first day of the week the Spirit descended to take up His age-characterizing ministries in the world. i. On the first day of the week the Apostle Paul preached to the assembled believers at Troas. The Spirit of God has distinctly emphasized the fact that the Apostle was in Troas seven days. Of necessity, then, the stay in that city included both a seventh day and a first day of the week. The Apostle was thus free to choose either day for his public ministry to the assembled saints. The record reads: "We ... came unto them to Troas ... where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them" (Acts 20:6-7). j. The Apostle commanded the Corinthian believer to "lay by him in store," on the first day of the week, "as God hath prospered him" (1 Corinthians 16:2). k. On the first day of the week Christ appeared to John on Patmos in that revelation of Himself in all His present resurrection, heavenly glory. He appeared to John on the Lord’s day. 4. The new day typifies the new creation. The rite of circumcision, being accomplished on the eighth day, was a suggestion of the spiritual circumcision of the flesh which Christ wrought by His death and resurrection. The eighth day was the first day following a completed week. It is thus a picture of that new order which came through the death and resurrection of Christ. The Apostle writes: "In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ" (Colossians 2:11). Not only has the old nature been judged in the crucifixion, death, and burial of the Son of God, and the new victory in the resurrection life of Christ been made possible; but, for the believer, the old creation went into that tomb and a new creation with its heavenly power and glory came out. The old creation was abolished and with it the sabbath which commemorated it. Only a new standing in the resurrected Christ abides and this both demands and provides a new day. That new day is the eighth day, or the first day following the ending of the old creation. 5. The new day is typical of unmerited grace. The first day of the week is a type of the facts and relationships which are under grace; while the seventh day is a type of the facts and relationships which are under the law. On the seventh day man rested from all his work. This is in harmony with the law covenant of works, which required a man to do good in order that he might receive the blessing of God. Under the law, six days of faithful labor are followed by one day of absolute rest. On the other hand, the observance of the first day of the week is typical of the believer’s position under unmerited grace. He begins with a day of blessing before any works are wrought, and then he is expected to live the following six days in the power and blessing he has received on that day. This is the order of the grace covenant of faith in which all saving grace is first bestowed as a gift from God, and is then followed by a life which is lived in the power of that new relationship with God. A day of rest belonged to a people who were related to God by works which were to be accomplished. A day of ceaseless worship and service belongs to a people who are related to God by the finished work of Christ. The seventh day was governed by an unyielding, ironclad law. The first day is characterized by the latitude and liberty belonging to grace. The seventh day was observed with the hope that by it one might be accepted of God. The first day is observed with the assurance that one is already accepted of God. The keeping of the seventh day was wrought by the flesh. The keeping of the first day is to be wrought by the indwelling Spirit. 6. The new day began to be observed with the resurrection of Christ. It is claimed by a certain group of sabbatarians that the sabbath was kept by the early church until the day was changed by the Emperor Constantine in the year 321 A. D., or even later by the Pope of Rome. There is no ground for this erroneous and misleading teaching. The sabbath was never changed. It could not be. A new and far different day in significance, which alone could belong to this age of grace, superseded it. When this age is completed and law reigns again in the earth, the sabbath will be observed; but in no wise will man have changed the day. There is conclusive evidence that the first day of the week has been observed by the church from the very resurrection of Christ. This evidence is found both (a) in the Scriptures and (b) in the writings of the early fathers: (a) Turning to the Epistles of the New Testament, wherein is conditioned the believer’s life under grace, we discover that there is prohibition against the observance of a sabbath day, and that there is not one record that any Christian kept a sabbath day, even in error. On the other hand, there is abundant evidence, as has been seen, that the first day of the week was observed in the manner consistent with its significance. (b) The testimony from the early fathers is also conclusive. (These quotations from the early fathers are taken from Bowman’s Historical Evidence of the New Testament, Pgs. 130-135; The Encyclopedia Britannica under "Sunday;" and Mosheim’s "Ecclesiastical History," Vol. I. Pg. 135.) Eusebius 315 A. D., says: "The churches throughout the rest of the world observe the practice that has prevailed from Apostolic tradition until the present time so that it would not be proper to terminate our fast on any other day but the resurrection day of our Saviour. Hence there were synods and convocations of our Bishops on this question and all unanimously drew up an ecclesiastical decree which they communicated to churches in all places that the mystery of the Lord’s resurrection should be celebrated on no other than the Lord’s Day." Peter, Bishop of Alexandria 300 A. D., says: "We keep the Lord’s Day as a day of joy because of him who rose thereon." Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage 253 A. D., says: "The Lord’s Day is both the 1st, and the 8th day." Tertullian, of Carthage 200 A. D., says, speaking of the "sun-worshippers": "Though we share with them Sunday, we are not apprehensive lest we seem to be heathen." Clement of Alexandria 194 A. D., says: "The old sabbath day has become nothing more than a working day." Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons 178 A. D., says: "The mystery of the Lord’s resurrection may not be celebrated on any other day than the Lord’s Day." Bardesanes 160 A. D., says: "Wherever we be, all of us are called by the one name of the Messiah, namely Christians, and upon one day, which is the first day of the week, we assemble ourselves together and on the appointed days we abstain from food." Justin Martyr 135 A. D., says: "Sunday is the day upon which we all hold our communion assembly, because it is the first day on which God having wrought a change in the darkness and matter made the world and Jesus Christ our Saviour, on that day, rose from the dead and on the day called Sunday all who live in cities or in the country gather together in one place and the memoirs of the Apostles, or the writings of the prophets are read as long as time permits." "On the Lord’s Day all Christians in the city or country meet together because that is the day of our Lord’s resurrection; and then we read the apostles and prophets. This being done, the president makes an oration to the assembly exhorting them to imitate and to practice the things which they have heard, and then we all join in prayer, and after that we celebrate the Lord’s Supper." Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch 110 A. D., says: "If then those who walked in the ancient practices attain unto newness of hope no longer observing sabbaths, but fashioning their lives after the Lord’s Day, on which our life also arose through him, that we may be found disciples of Jesus Christ, our only teacher." Barnabas, one of the Apostolic fathers, writing 70 A. D., says: "Finally He saith, ’Your present sabbaths are not acceptable to me. I shall make a new beginning of the eighth day, that is the beginning of another world,’ wherefore also we keep the Lord’s Day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose from the dead." Also, the "Didache of the Apostles" 70 A. D., says: "On the Lord’s own Day gather yourselves together and break bread and give thanks." By this line of unbroken testimony the evidence concerning the observance of the Lord’s day is carried back to the days of the writings of the New Testament. It is quite true that Emperors and Popes have made decrees regarding the first day of the week. Everything was done that could be done to persecute the Jew, and to abolish Jewish practices; but the Jewish sabbath passed, and the new day came to be, not by the decree of man, but by the resurrection of Christ which brought in all that the Lord’s day signifies. 7. The new day has been blessed of God Christians have observed the Lord’s day under the evident blessing of God for nearly 2000 years. Among them have been the most devout believers, the martyrs, the missionaries, and a countless throng of those who would have passed through any trial or persecution to know and do the will of God. It is a very serious charge to say that all these faithful saints have been disobedient, or as some sabbatarians now call all Christians who do not keep sabbath, "heretics," "deceivers," "having the mark of the Beast," and "blinded by Satan." The Gospel of grace is by these people substituted by "another gospel" which is to the effect that only those who keep the sabbath will be saved, and they also teach that God has "forsaken His church" and that she is "abandoned to Satan who rules her." In spite of the fact that God has never once imposed the sabbath upon the age of grace, they make the preaching of the sabbath their major theme, and in seeming bitterness, do not hesitate to hinder the good works of all who love and keep the Lord’s day. Along with the error of preaching the law in place of the Gospel, these sabbatarians hold and teach other misleading heresies and unbiblical doctrines. Being so much in error concerning many fundamental doctrines of the Bible, it is not strange that they persist in sabbath legality. The reasons for keeping the Lord’s day, or the first day of the week, are clear and sufficient to those who will receive the teachings of God’s Word without prejudice. Second. The Biblical Observance of the Lord’s Day. The manner in which the first day of the week should be observed is clearly indicated by the very name which is given to it in the Scriptures. Being the Lord’s day, it is to be lived in that manner which will most honor and glorify the Lord. Whatever enters into the present relationship between the believer and his Lord, such as prayer, joyful worship, and service, will naturally characterize the observance of the day. Particular care should be exercised that no element of a Jewish sabbath be incorporated into the manner of the keeping of the Lord’s day. Not only does such an intrusion create confusion in the mind as to the meaning and purpose of the day, but it is a co-mingling of the elements of law and grace, and this, it is certain, is not according to the mind of God. The two days are similar only in one respect: they both sustain the ratio of one particular day in seven. There is not the slightest reason for any combination of their respective features. Should this exhortation to watchfulness lest these days be confused seem to be extreme, it should be remembered that only thus can a believer stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made him free, and not be entangled again in a yoke of bondage. Only thus can he be saved from violating the most precious aspect of his own relation to God under grace, and from disregarding the most vital injunctions of those Scriptures which condition his life under grace. Christians have been saved from the curse of the law by the death of Christ (Galatians 3:13). This marvelous deliverance has cost the sacrifice of the Son of God, and it cannot be an unimportant issue in the mind of God, The believer who would really keep the day in conformity to the revealed will of his Lord, should duly consider the fact that every aspect of sabbath observance is purely legal, and related only to law, and that Christ has died to save him from any complicity with the law. The observance of the Lord’s day as recorded in the New Testament, is free from every relationship to the Jewish sabbath. When contemplating the Scriptural observance of the Lord’s day, three considerations arise: (1) It belongs to a particular people; (2) it is not subject to rules; and (3) its observance is not limited to one day. 1. The Lord’s day belongs to a particular people. As the sabbath under the law belonged only to the nation Israel, so, in like manner, the new day in grace belongs only to those who are regenerated by the Spirit. In arriving at the full force of this statement, it should be noted: a. The Lord’s day, like every other aspect of grace, is an appeal to the individual believer only. As men are now saved by a personal faith, and afterwards their service is in the power of an individual gift by the Spirit, they walk alone in the Spirit, and they receive their own reward for faithfulness to God. In conformity with this truth, therefore, the observance of the day is to be personal. The exact manner of its observance is a matter between the individual believer and his Lord. The Scriptures presuppose that the believer is a normal Christian to the extent that he is yielded to God and walking in the Spirit, that it will be his delight to do the will of God, and to rejoice above all else in the larger freedom which the Lord’s day affords for worship and service. If perchance he is not thus yielded to God, no forced, outward observance of the day will correct his carnal heart, nor would such an observance of a day be pleasing to God. No day has been committed to the Church as a body. Apart from the two exceptions that the believer is to consider his possible influence upon a weaker brother, and his own conduct in the light of expediency, the day is to be observed by the individual out of the fullness of his own heart. Beyond this there are no rules, nor could there be; for apart from this there is no possibility of continuing in those exact relationships which belong to grace. Concerning the observance of the Lord’s day the Apostle said: "Let every man [Christian] be fully persuaded in his own mind" (Romans 14:5). b. The Lord’s day is not for the unregenerate. The unsaved sustain no relation to the Lord’s day, since that day belongs only to the new creation, and therefore the pressing of the observance of a religious day upon the individual who is unsaved, is misleading in the extreme; for it tends to the utter confusion of the Gospel of grace. God is not calling on the unsaved to keep a day to which they could in no way be related. The issue between God and the sinner is the one issue which the new Gospel of grace has raised and imposed. It is a question as to whether he will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ unto forgiveness and eternal life. The person who observes a day while rejecting Christ as Saviour, is no nearer salvation or acceptance with God than he would otherwise be. That supposed merit, gained by keeping a day, may be the one thing that hinders him from discovering Christ as the Saviour for a meritless sinner. Men are not saved by any works whatsoever, and any teaching which misdirects them at this point is "another gospel" and subject to the anathema of God (Galatians 1:8). If the motive in pressing the religious observance of a day upon the unregenerate be for the moral and civic good of the community, the question should be answered as to whether the moral and civic betterment of the world is more important than the salvation of men. c. The Lord’s day is not a national day. When a day is imposed upon the nation it is, without exception, upon the authority of the Jewish sabbath of rest, and not on the authority of anything which obtains in the new creation. The error of this legalism needs no further exposition. God is certainly not imposing a legal sabbath on any nation, or the world, when He has given His Son to remove that whole law-curse and to place men where they might be saved apart from works of their own. In this age God is represented as dealing with the individual only. In matters of human government, it is the "times of the Gentiles," with all that is involved, and no individual or nation is now accepted of God on the basis of human works. It is most imperative that a day of rest for man and beast be maintained by civic authority. No intelligent person could vote otherwise; but the day should be enforced as all other humanitarian laws and other portions of the Decalogue are enforced, and not as a meritorious religious observance. At any cost the sabbath-observance stumbling-stone should be kept from the path of the unsaved. d. The Lord’s day and the children. The question often arises in the Christian home as to the manner in which the Lord’s day should be observed by children. Upon this subject a suggestion may be advanced: Until he is of age, the child is properly under the direction of the parents and the government of the home. He should live in conformity to the wishes and customs of the parents, but it is vitally important that the child should be brought to know Christ as a Saviour at the earliest possible moment. Then the Lord’s day becomes to him a matter of his own privilege and personal delight, and not a law prescribed by the parents. Care should be taken, as well, that the day of grace should not become a subject of dislike and prejudice in the mind of the child. 2. The Lord’s day is not subject to rules. Such is the character of all the teachings of grace, and at this point the grace teachings are wholly in contrast to the teachings of all law. The law contemplated the people to whom it was addressed as being children and thus subject to "tutors and governors." Every detail of their prescribed life was a matter of explicit law. The flesh was in no way depended upon to direct itself. The believer under grace is an adult son in the Father’s house, with the wider latitude which belongs to the full-grown, self-responsible man. Therefore the teachings of grace are not explicit as to detail. They anticipate the immediate inner judgment by the indwelling Spirit. Under grace, great principles are announced, but the outworking of those principles is to be according to the leading of the Spirit in the individual. Liberality is enjoined, but the object and amount of the gift is a matter of prayerful dependence on the Spirit. As to service, every Christian is to be instant in season and out of season, but the gifts for service and the manner and place of their exercise is "as he will." Prayer is to be offered without ceasing, but we know not what to pray for as we ought. However in this again, the Spirit helpeth our infirmities and He maketh intercession for us according to the mind of God. The believer’s life under grace is a "walk in the Spirit." Step by step, every detail is to be wrought in the heart by the Spirit, and there are no more detail-rules for the observance of the Lord’s day than for the outworking of any other responsibility or privilege under grace. The flesh is not now to be controlled by laws; but by the Lordship of the Spirit. Not having specific rules for the keeping of the Christian’s day, and not duly considering the divine provision for a spiritual life in the power of the Spirit, men, hoping to keep control of the flesh, have turned to the Jewish sabbath laws and forced them onto the Lord’s day. In so doing, they have repudiated one of the most vital accomplishments of the death of Christ, they have robbed believers of their liberty in grace, and, so far as their influence goes, they have degraded the full-grown sons of God to the level of mere children who are under "tutors and governors." The real question is not, How shall we preserve the sacredness of the day unless we have laws and enforce them? It is rather, can the believer, to whom the day belongs, be trusted, when filled with the Spirit, to glorify God on the Lord’s day? Evidently there will be no failure to observe the day on the part of the Spirit-filled believer. But what of the great company of carnal Christians? Should they not be held by laws to the keeping of the day? In reply to this important question it should be stated: The position of a carnal Christian is different from that of the unsaved. The Lord’s day belongs to the Christian, but it does not belong to the unregenerate. The Christian alone faces the problem related to the Lord’s day. The problem, therefore, resolves itself into this: Is God satisfied when the Christian’s life is merely a forced, outward conformity to unpleasant ideals? The answer is obvious. One of the essential glories of grace is that God-honoring manner of life which is an outflow and overflow of the heart. No painful observance of law will ever correct a carnal heart. The cure is found only in the right adjustment of the heart to the Spirit. Too often the Christian life is presented as being a matter of observing certain rules and sustaining a superficial outward conduct, to the neglect of the divinely provided, victorious, overflowing life in the Spirit. Notwithstanding the consternation of the untaught legalist who proposes to regulate Christian conduct by precept, the truth stands that the Lord’s day imposes no rules, and yields to no law. True to grace, there are, however, certain well-defined principles to be stated: a. It, being the Lord’s day, is to be lived well-pleasing to Him. This principle is the embodiment of all other principles related to the keeping of the Lord’s day; but the detail of this heaven-high ideal, as has been seen, cannot be determined by rules, nor can it ever be wrought by the flesh. There is but one exception: It has pleased the Lord to give minute instruction as to the manner of the observance of His memorial supper. b. The Lord’s day celebrates the resurrection of Christ. If this be true, then all obligation to observe the day of rest, which is related to the old creation, is excluded. The day is to be celebrated in the new life and service of the resurrected Christ. c. The Lord’s day yields to no law. Like all law, the law of a certain day has been kept and fulfilled for the believer by Christ. There remains for the believer only overflowing praise and joyful service. The element of necessity has likewise passed. Men are not compelled to keep a day to be accepted of God. They, if saved, are already accepted "in the beloved." The day should be kept because of perfection in Christ, and not unto perfection in Christ. d. It is a day of personal delight. When the Lord’s day becomes a burden to the individual, to him it is no longer a day of grace. It is characterized by that attitude of heart which delights to do the will of God. When this day was prophetically announced, it was said: "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." So, also, the first word from the lips of the resurrected Christ on the morning of His resurrection was, "All hail!" (The word here is _chairo, and means rejoice, or, O joy!.) The Lord’s day should be celebrated in the fullest experience of the "joy of the Lord. " e. The Lord’s day is a day for the largest Christian activity. The risen Lord revealed the character of the day on that same early morning when He said: "Go tell." This is the obligation toward the new evangel, the giving of which is to occupy every believer. As the Old Testament priests went in to perform a sacrifice, the New Testament priests, -- all believers under grace, -- are to go out to the ends of the earth to tell of the sacrifice which has been performed. The Lord’s day is not a day for selfish entertainment or amusement. It is not a day for idleness and rest. Its privileges should be, and will be, preserved by all who delight to do His will. It becomes an opportunity for many who are held by secular work during the days of the week, to offer the fuller service of prayer, worship, and testimony which belongs to their Lord. The instructed Christian no longer labors to be accepted of God, which was the obligation under the law; but he, being accepted in grace, labors to glorify his Lord who saves him. He has ceased from his own works, and though ceaselessly active, is working in the power and energy of the Spirit. His activity is not limited to one day, or to six days: it is "in season and out of season" according to the mind and will of the Spirit. Spirit-filled believers have always violated every feature of a strict Jewish sabbath of rest when serving as "able ministers of the new covenant." If led of the Spirit thus to serve, the resulting violation of the sabbath is in reality the work of the Spirit. It would be a herculean task, indeed, to attempt to prove that all Christian service and activity exercised on the first day of the week for nineteen centuries has been offensive to God because it violated the demands of a sabbath of rest, or that the neglect of the seventh day by all the believers of the Christian era, has, in the mind of God, merited the penalty of death. Yet this is the logical charge to be made against all these believers unless it be admitted that they had individually entered, as a prerequisite to service, into the sabbath rest of that which is finished forever in the cross. f. The Lord’s day observance is to be governed by the law of expediency, and the law of love. The law of expediency permits the undertaking on the Lord’s day of only those things which are advisable, advantageous, and suitable. Judgment in these things should be formed only in view of the Biblical teachings concerning the Lord’s day responsibility, -- not the Jewish sabbath, -- and in view of the need of others, and the possible influence which any particular action might have upon others. The Christian objective is not a slavish conformity to certain laws governing a day. It is concerned rather with the question as to what will most glorify Christ and advance the cause of His saving grace in the earth. When adjusted to the law of love, the Christian will not exercise his own liberty in such a manner as to hinder and offend a weaker brother who through false teaching has developed a conscience toward a Jewish sabbath, nor will he rob others of the exercise of their own worship and service. Such issues have to be given due consideration when dealing with all questions of travel and of relationship to those who serve. 3. The manner of the observance of the Lord’s day may be extended to all days. The Lord’s day observance alone is capable of being extended to all days; for in no wise could a Jewish sabbath be thus extended. It is evident, therefore, that the Apostle’s reference to the keeping of a day, as found in Romans 14:1-12 is a reference to the Lord’s day and not to a sabbath day. He writes: "Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. ... For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ... So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God." The primary teaching of this passage puts the emphasis on the fact that Christian conduct is largely a matter to be settled between the believer and his Lord. There need be no fear; "God is able to make him stand." The passage might be understood as presenting a contrast between a man who keeps one day, and a man who keeps no day at all. In such a case, God will deal with the wrong in His child, if wrong there be. In attempting to adjust such a situation, men might compel the erring one to observe a day, or, as a penalty for failure, exclude him from their fellowship. The divine method is to change the heart. This God alone can do. But in this particular instance it will be observed that concerning the man of whom it is said that he does not regard the day, it is also said that "unto the Lord he doth not regard it." It is as much a matter of devotion to God in the case of the one man as it is in the case of the other. It is therefore probable that the contrast is between the man who keeps one day as unto the Lord, and another man who keeps all days as unto the Lord. There must be sufficient room in the Christian fellowship for these two equally sincere men to live in joyful companionship in Christ. It would be quite human for each of these men to form mutually exclusive denominations for the conservation of his own peculiar convictions. This, however, would not be in harmony with the life under grace. The man who esteems all days alike, extends the joyous worship, praise, and service belonging to the Lord’s day into every day. This leads to the consideration of the fact that there is (a) a true sabbath under grace, and (b) there is yet to be a millennial sabbath in the earth. a. The true sabbath under grace. The sabbath under the law was a day. The sabbath under grace is a life. The law, even of the sabbath, was but "a shadow of good things to come," but Christ is now the Substance. The sabbath under grace knows no shadow. It is radiant with the glory of the resurrected Christ. In Hebrews 4:1-16 there is full revelation concerning the sabbath under grace. This whole message is gathered up in one brief portion of the passage: "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His" (Hebrews 4:9-10). There is no reference in this Scripture to the rest into which the Christian enters at death. It is rather, "For we which have believed do enter into rest" (Hebrews 4:3). It is the rest of "him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly" (Romans 4:5), and the rest of the one who, "walking in the Spirit," discovers that he does not fulfill the lust of the flesh, and who enters into the realization of the provision through the indwelling Spirit that the whole will of God is to be fulfilled in him, rather than by him. This great blessing is not restricted to a sabbath day; it is an unbroken sabbath life. The sabbath of the law was, then, a day of absolute rest; the sabbath under grace is a life which is delivered from all works of the flesh since Christ has wrought, and is free from every dependence on the flesh since the Spirit has been given. No burden was allowed to be borne on the sabbath under the law; every burden is to be cast on the Lord in the sabbath of grace. The sabbath of the law was a day of rest for self; the sabbath of grace is a rest from self. It is a life which is to be lived to the glory and praise of Another. In the sabbath under the law, man was to cease from doing his own will for one day in seven; in the sabbath under grace the believer is to be constantly and wholly yielded to God.* * [There is significance in the fact that the Greek word for week is _sabbaton, which also means sabbath. Thus in Matthew 28:1; referring to the day of Christ’s resurrection, we have the possible literal reading: "At the end of the sabbath as it began to dawn on the first day of sabbaths" (cf Mark 16:2, Mark 16:9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, John 20:19; Acts 13:14; Acts 16:13). At least three expositions of this passage are possible. 1. That there is no significance in the fact that the resurrection day is called sabbath since it is the same Greek word for week. This is evidently the position taken by translators generally. The one passage, "I fast twice in the week" (Luke 18:12) would be difficult under a sabbath interpretation unless it be taken to mean, "I fast twice on the sabbath." 2. That the use of the word _sabbaton in connection with the day of resurrection warrants the use of the phrase, Christian Sabbath, but the strong objection to this usage is the absolute prohibition in the Epistles against the sabbath day under any form whatsoever. 3. That the resurrection morning was the first day of all the days which were to enter into the age of grace, and that age, so far as a sabbath is concerned, is a period in which the believer has entered into rest. Under this interpretation, the resurrection day was the first day of sabbaths, which series was to include every succeeding day until the Lord returns. ] Every vestige of the system which provided for the giving of one-seventh of the time in conformity to the will of God, is removed, and in its place the everyday, unchanging experience of that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God has been substituted. It is inconceivable that Christ was more devoted to His Father on one day than on another. To intrude the legal sabbath into the present order of fellowship with God, is to rob Him of six-sevenths of His glory in grace. It is true that the Christian has a day which is given to him from God, and this day is to be observed; but its observance is never a matter of greater piety, devotion, or yieldedness to God than of any other day. Its observance consists in a larger freedom, because of the cessation of temporal cares, to do all that his heart is yearning to do all the days. The sabbath in grace is, therefore, an experience of all that enters into the highest ideals of the Christian’s life and devotion to God. Blessed indeed are the children of God who learn to turn from holy days, from lenten seasons, and from all mere forms, if these even suggest the thought of fitfulness in fellowship and service with Christ. Doubtless, in spite of the glory of the true sabbath under grace, there will always be those who will continue to give their tenth, in place of giving themselves and all that they are and have, and who will give a mere fraction of their time for devotion to God, rather than their lives. The true sabbath under grace is well stated in these words: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31) "Be instant in season, out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2) "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17); "Giving thanks always for all things" (Ephesians 5:20); "Rejoice evermore" (1 Thessalonians 5:16); and, "Be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58). b. The millennial sabbath. The sabbath, as a type, will have its final earthly fulfillment in the coming kingdom-reign of Christ. It seems probable that it will be at the end of its six thousand years of labor and oppression under the power of sin and Satan, that the earth will celebrate its predicted thousand-year, jubilee sabbath of rest. During that period the Church will be reigning with the King as His Bride, and Israel will again keep her seventh-day sabbath, but in the new enabling power which is to be provided in that age of the divine glory in the earth. Of that kingdom-age it is written: "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD" (Isaiah 66:23). III. CERTAIN CURRENT ERRORS A brief recapitulation of what has already been covered of the current errors on the sabbath question is here given in conclusion of this aspect of the teachings of grace. First. That the Sabbath Obtains from Creation to the End of Time. There is no Scripture upon which this claim may be based, either for the period from Adam to the giving of the law, or from the death of Christ until the end of the present age of grace. Second. That the Sabbath was Ever Given to Gentiles. The disastrous results of the prevalent custom of borrowing certain features from Judaism, including its sabbath, and intruding them into Christianity cannot be too strongly emphasized. This error carries with it the obligation to keep the law in its totality, disregards one of the most vital accomplishments of Christ in His death, and creates a condition of hopeless confusion in all matters related to the right divisions of the Scriptures. The whole seventh-day error is a logical outcome of an assumed freedom to apply Jewish Scriptures to the Church of God. Third. That the Decalogue was Never a part of the Law, and Therefore the Sabbath of the Decalogue is Now Binding Though the Law is Done Away. This claim is silenced by the Scriptures. The Decalogue is included, incorporated, and embedded in the Old Testament statement of the law; and in the New Testament, the Decalogue is explicitly declared to be "THE LAW" (Romans 7:7). Fourth. That the Jewish Sabbath was Changed to the Lord’s Day. Emperors, Popes, church councils, and creeds have declared the obligation to observe the first day of the week as the sabbath. Such decrees have never changed the sabbath to the Lord’s day. The sabbath could not be changed. An entirely different day has been established by God Himself. This new day belongs to the transcendent realities of the new creation which was brought into existence through the resurrection of Christ. The Lord’s day is different from the sabbath in every consideration but one, namely, like the Jewish sabbath, it is a reservation of one particular day in seven. Fifth. That the Lord’s Day Should he Called the Christian Sabbath. The practice of speaking of the Lord’s day as the Christian sabbath is wholly without Scriptural warrant, and is no doubt more often the result of careless habit, or lack of due consideration of the Bible teachings, than of unbelief. Sixth. The Practice of Adopting Rules from the Jewish Sabbath Law to Supplement the Precious Absence of Rules for the Lord’s Day. This blasting error should be judged without mercy, for it, in effect, drives every grace-aspect of the Lord’s day from the field, and induces one "to tempt God" (cf Acts 15:10). The toleration of this error not only reveals a total misconception of the glories of grace, but it darkens counsel, and complicates the saving Gospel of Christ. Seventh. That the Universal Observance of a Sabbath, or Lord’s Day, Should be Required by Legislation of a Town, a State, or a Nation. This teaching, likewise, is foreign to Scripture. Let those who are pursuing this idea pause to consider whether their energy might not be employed in a manner which is more pleasing to Christ by heeding His last command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, rather than to attempt to compel unwilling, Christ-rejecting hearts into a mere religious formality which only develops self -righteous Pharisees who are as surely doomed without Christ as though they had never heard of a holy day. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 32: 03.09. CHRIST, THE BELIEVER'S SPHERE IN GRACE ======================================================================== THE LIFE UNDER GRACE (concluded) SECTION SEVEN CHRIST, THE BELIEVER’S SPHERE IN GRACE There is probably no word of Scripture which more clearly defines the essential fact concerning the Christian than the phrase, "In Christ," and as the Christian is the most important fact of all creation, there has never been a word uttered which was so far-reaching in its implication, or which is fraught with greater meaning to humanity than the phrase, "In Christ." This phrase, with its equivalents, "In Christ Jesus," "In Him," "In the Beloved," "By Him," "Through Him," and "With Him," appears in the grace teachings of the New Testament no less than 130 times. This most unusual emphasis upon one particular truth is arresting, and its import must not be slighted. Over against the emphasis which is given to this truth in the teachings of grace, is the corresponding fact that there is no hint of a possible position in Christ in any teaching of the law or of the kingdom. The believer’s present position in Christ was not seen even in type or prophecy. In the ages past it was a secret hid in the mind and heart of God. He who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ, "hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery [sacred secret] of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fulness of time he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ." Who can comprehend the full scope of these eternal wonders? Knowing the limitation of the human heart, at this point the Apostle breaks forth into prayer: "Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding [heart] being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." Having thus prayed that the Christian may know by divine illumination the hope of his calling and the riches of the glory of the inheritance which God now has in the saints, he continues to pray that they may also know by the same divine revelation, "the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1:2-23). Growing out of this glorious relationship in Christ, is a most natural responsibility to walk worthy of the calling; but the issues of a daily life and the character of the conduct which should enter into it, though important in their place, are lost and forgotten in the blaze of the eternal glory of that unchangeable grace which has brought the believer into the new creation in Christ Jesus. To be in Christ is to be in the sphere of His own infinite Person, power, and glory. He surrounds, He protects, He separates from all else, and He indwells the one in Him. He also supplies in Himself all that a soul will ever need in time or eternity. The union which is formed in Christ is deeper than any relationship the human mind has ever conceived. In His priestly prayer, in which He had advanced onto resurrection ground, and where He contemplated the glory of His finished work as having been already accomplished (cf John 17:11), Christ spoke of three unities within the sphere of one relationship: (1) The unity within the Persons of the Blessed Trinity, (2) the unity between the Persons of the Trinity and all believers, and (3) the unity between the believers themselves, since they are in Him. We read: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. ... I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one" (John 17:20-23). Who can fathom the depths of the revelation that the believer is related to Christ on the very plane of that oneness which exists between the Father and the Son? Again, Christ likens the union which exists between Himself and the believer to the vital, organic relation that exists between the vine and its living branch. The branch is in the vine and the life of the vine is in the branch; but the branch possesses no independent life in itself. It cannot exist apart from the vine. The human child may outgrow dependence upon its parents and, in turn, support and sustain them; but the branch can never become independent of the vine. In like manner, the fruit and every manifestation of life in the branch is due to the ceaseless inflow of the vitality of the vine. The fruit is as much the fruit of the vine as it is the fruit of the branch (cf John 15:5; Romans 7:4; Galatians 5:22-23). Thus it is with the one who is in Christ. Considering the same fact of unity, the Apostle Paul likens Christ to the head and the believers to members in a body. This figure illustrates the same vital, dependent relationship. The member in the body partakes of the merit and honor of the head, and the life and power of the head is imparted to the member. So perfect is this unity between the Head and the members of the body, that it is probable that Christ will never be seen in glory apart from His body, and the body will never be seen apart from Him (cf 1 Corinthians 12:12). From these illustrative Scriptures it will be observed that the unity between Christ and the believer is two-fold: The believer is in Christ., and Christ is in the believer. The believer is in Christ as to positions, possessions, safe-keeping, and association; and Christ is in the believer giving life, character and dynamic for conduct. It has already been pointed out that the upper-room conversation, recorded in John 13:1-38, John 14:1-31, John 15:1-27, John 16:1-33, presents the grace teachings of Christ, and is the germ of all the truth that is found in the Epistles, which, in turn, contain the revelation of the essential fact of the new creation and the resulting obligation as to daily life. The doctrinal truth of the Epistles, which is the doctrinal truth of grace, is subject to the same two-fold division -- what the saved one is in Christ, and the character and power of the daily life that will be experienced when the victorious energy of the indwelling Christ is imparted. At one point in the midst of the upper-room discourse, Christ compressed the whole doctrinal structure of grace into one brief phrase. This phrase is notable because it is the key to all the facts and relationships under grace, and because of its simplicity and brevity of language: "Ye in me, and I in you" (John 14:20). These two aspects of the truth under grace will be considered separately. (1) "Ye in me," (2) "I in you." 1. "YE IN ME" Every child of God is vitally united to Christ. He is placed in Christ by the baptism with the Spirit, which ministry of the Spirit is not only a part of salvation and therefore already accomplished for all who are saved, but it is distinctly said to be a ministry that is wrought for all who believe on Christ. The Scriptures state: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13). This is the one passage in the Word of God which reveals the precise meaning and objective of the baptism with the Spirit. Since its meaning is clear, there is no excuse for the prevalent errors connected with this truth. Being accomplished for "all," the baptism with the Spirit includes the one who has just been saved. Thus the time of its accomplishment is revealed. It is, of necessity, synchronous with salvation itself, and therefore a part of it. Likewise, the same passage presents the divine objective which is accomplished by the Spirit’s baptism. It is "into one body," and that believers may be "made to drink into one Spirit." There was a time when the individual was not in Christ, which is the present estate of all who are unsaved. There follows a time when the individual, being saved, is in Christ. This great change consists in the fact that he has been placed in that vital organic union with Christ by the baptism with the Spirit. By the Spirit he has been baptized into the very body of Christ, and this ministry of the Spirit, likewise, unites all who are saved into a unity of their own; for they are "made to drink into one Spirit." There is no other work of God for the individual which seems to accomplish so much as the baptism with the Spirit; for by it the living union with Christ is established forever, and by virtue of that union the believer has entered the sphere of all heavenly positions and all eternal possessions which in grace are provided for him in Christ. To the Christian, Christ has become, in the divine reckoning, the sphere of his being, and this reckoning contemplates all that the Christian is and all that he does. Certain aspects of this truth, among many, are to be noted: First. Christ is the Sphere of the Believer’s Positions. A sphere is that which surrounds an object on every side and may even penetrate that object. To be within a sphere is to partake of all that it is and all that it imparts. Thus the bird is in the air and the air is in the bird; the fish is in the water and the water is in the fish; the iron is in the fire and the fire is in the iron. Likewise, in the spiritual realm, Christ is the sphere of the believer’s position. He encompasses, surrounds, encloses, and indwells the believer. The believer is in Christ, and Christ is in the believer. Through the baptism with the Spirit, the Christian has become as much an organic part of Christ as the branch is a part of the vine, or the member is a part of the body. Being thus conjoined to Christ, the Father sees the saved one only in Christ, or as a living part of His own Son, and loves him as He loves His Son (Ephesians 1:6; John 17:23). As an accompanying result of this vital union in Christ certain facts of relationship are created which are the believer’s new positions _in _Christ, and are the consequence of the work of God in grace. To present fully all the new positions into which the Christian is brought in Christ, would necessitate an analysis of all the great doctrinal portions of the Epistles. By way of illustration, a brief selection from these positions is here presented. (A more complete analysis of the believer’s positions will be found in the author’s book Salvation.) Of the saved one it is said that he is: Elect and called of God (1 Thessalonians 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:24). Redeemed by God through the blood of His Son (Colossians 1:14). Reconciled to God by the death of His Son (2 Corinthians 5:19). Sheltered eternally under the propitiation made in the blood of Christ (1 John 2:2). Forgiven all trespasses, past, present, and future (Colossians 2:13). Condemned no more forever (Romans 8:1). Justified freely by His grace (Romans 3:24). Sanctified positionally, or set apart unto God in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30). Perfected forever (Hebrews 10:14). Made meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12). Made accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6). Made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Made nigh to God in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:13). A child and son of God (John 1:12; 1 John 3:3). Free from the law and dead to the law (Romans 7:4, Romans 7:6). Delivered from the power of darkness (Colossians 1:13). Translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son (Colossians 1:13). Founded on the Rock Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 3:11). God’s gift to Christ (John 17:11-12, John 17:20; John 10:29). Circumcised in Christ (Colossians 2:11). An holy priest, chosen and peculiar (1 Peter 2:5, 1 Peter 2:9). Object of divine love, grace, power, faithfulness, peace, consolation (Ephesians 2:4, Ephesians 2:8; Ephesians 1:9; Hebrews 13:5; Colossians 3:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:16). Object of Christ’s intercession (Hebrews 7:25). His inheritance (Ephesians 1:18). Seated in the heavenly in Christ (Ephesians 2:6). A citizen of heaven (Php 3:20 R. V.). Of the family and household of God (Ephesians 2:19; Ephesians 3:15). Light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8). In God, in Christ, and in the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 1:1; John 14:20; Romans 8:9). Possessed with the first fruits of the Spirit. Born (John 3:6), baptized (1 Corinthians 12:13), indwelt (1 Corinthians 6:19), and sealed (Ephesians 4:30). Glorified (Romans 8:30). Complete in Him (Colossians 2:10). Possessing every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). Of these and all other positions which are the present possession of the child of God through his vital union with Christ, it may be said that they are: 1. Invisible. The believer’s positions, like all things related to the Spirit, are invisible; but as is true of spiritual things, they are more real and abiding than visible things. "For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:15), and, "Whom having not seen, ye love" (1 Peter 1:8. cf 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Timothy 6:16; Hebrews 11:27; 1 John 4:12). Even the present revelation by the Spirit is such as "Eye hath not seen." 2. Unexperienced. The positions in Christ are never subject to human experience. They produce no sensation by which they may be identified. They are taken by faith, and joyous appreciation may come as a result of believing. 3. Apprehended by faith. Faith is the new and effectual faculty of the spiritual life. By it what is said in the Word of God is received as true. Such apprehension is, at best, only partial; but, notwithstanding the limitations of human knowledge, the positions are all perfect through Christ. Of this perfection, "the half has never been told." 4. Contested. Scripture presents the warfare of Satan as being waged in the sphere of "the heavenly." There is abundant assurance that Satan’s power can never spoil any aspect of the believer’s actual positions in Christ; but Satan is able, except as the believer lays hold by faith of the power of God, to hinder the life of blessing which should flow out of that vital union with Christ. 5. Unmerited. Human merit, as in all the operations of grace, is excluded from the divine reckoning concerning these positions in Christ. They rest on the perfect merit of Christ. This is the very heart of the new standing before God. "In Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13). 6. Unchangeable. The standing and position of the child of God in Christ cannot be increased or decreased. It abides as He is, "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Hebrews 13:8). 7. Eternal. Finally, since these positions in Christ are related to, and depend only on Christ, they will endure as long as He endures: "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost [without end] that come unto God by him" (Hebrews 7:25). These great positions and relationships in Christ are the result of the unrestrained outflow of the exceeding grace of God. They, therefore, do not appear in any teaching of the law of Moses or of the kingdom. These positions could not be gained by law-works or by any human merit. Correspondingly, the manner of life which they propose cannot be lived according to the law in the energy of the flesh. The whole system of grace is both inter-related and complete within itself and cannot yield to the principle of the law at any point whatsoever. Second. Christ is the Sphere of the Believer’s Possessions. Again the enumeration must be partial: 1. A new standing in Christ. The new standing in Christ includes all the positions under grace, a portion of which have just been enumerated. These positions are "the riches of grace in Christ Jesus." The possession for a day even of one of these glories of grace would be well worth the trials and struggles of a lifetime. But in contrast to such a valuation, they are all gained, and all retained without struggle or trial; they are God’s gift in grace. Such wealth cannot be comprehended by the unaided human mind. The Apostle prayed: "The eyes of your understanding [heart] being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:18); "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:19); "That ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (Colossians 1:9). There are no limits to be placed on the possibility of the illumination of the mind by the Spirit. 2. A new life in Christ. The Scriptures lay great emphasis upon the fact that the Christian possesses a new life from God. That life is imparted. Christ said: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). The satanic counterfeit of this fundamental truth is the teaching that the new life consists in a new manner of life, -- a new standard or ideal. A new life imparted will naturally result in a new manner of life; but no manner of life, old or new, constitutes the means through which the imparted life is gained. "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23); and, "I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish" (John 10:28). Life from God is bestowed through a new birth, results in sonship, and secures the Fatherhood of God. 3. The new presence and power of the Spirit. It is stated in Romans 5:5 that "the Spirit is given unto us." This is true of every person who is saved. The Spirit is the birth-right in the new life. By Him alone can the character and service that belongs to the normal daily life of the Christian be realized. The Spirit is the "All-Sufficient One." Every victory in the new life is gained by His strength, and every reward in glory will be won only as a result of His enabling power. 4. A new inheritance. The inheritance of the old creation in Adam was beyond description in its horror. It was to be "without Christ ... having no hope, and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12). With Christ, God hath freely given us all things else (Romans 8:32). The Christian’s inheritance is nothing short of "all things"; for he is an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ (Romans 8:17). Peter writes: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:3-4). The present blessings of the presence and power of the Spirit are but an "earnest of our inheritance" (Ephesians 1:14. cf Acts 20:32; Acts 26:18; Colossians 1:12; Hebrews 9:15). This inheritance is a present possession which is sealed to the child of God under grace. In addition to the "all things" of Christ, it includes the "all things of the Father" (John 16:12-15), and these are to be revealed to the heart now by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-10); "The living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy" (1 Timothy 6:17); "Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s" (1 Corinthians 3:21-23). 5. A new enemy. To be in Christ is to experience the same enmity and opposition from Satan which he entertains toward Christ. There is no enmity on Satan’s part toward the unsaved. They form a part of his world system and are said to be under his power (Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 1:13; 1 John 5:19, R. V.; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4). Satan’s enmity is against God and against the people of God because God, by His divine nature, is in them, and they are in Christ. We read: "Finally, be strong in the Lord, and the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:10-12. R. V.). 6. Access to God. A mediator is required between God and man since God is holy and man is unholy. Job, who lived many centuries before Moses, gave utterance to his own sense of need of a mediator. Speaking of God he said: "For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both" (Job 9:32-33). There could be none to mediate between God and man unless God Himself should provide. This He did in the Person of His Son. It is written: "Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one" (Galatians 3:20). A mediator must stand between two parties; for there is no occasion that he mediate for one. The teaching of the Scriptures is that God mediated His own case. That is to say, He stood between Himself and sinful man. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2 Corinthians 5:19). God undertook through the death of His Son to protect the sacredness of His own holy standards and law which had been outraged by sinful man, and at the same time to secure the welfare of the offender. This is the work of a mediator. Every demand of His holiness was met in Christ who, as Substitute, bore the judgment which God in righteousness must impose, and every interest of the sinner was provided for in the marvels of saving grace which were set free through the death and resurrection of Christ. Christ has thus become the one and only ground of meeting between God and man. "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). The present wide-spread tendency to slight the fact of the holy demands of God against sin and to assume that the sinner is free to come to God on the basis of divine goodness and mercy, is not only a gross misrepresentation of the truth of God’s Word, it is a satanic device to keep men from the salvation that is in Christ. The goodness and mercy of God can never be questioned, but that goodness and mercy has been exercised to the last degree of divine ability in the provision of a Mediator who is mighty to save. Christ said: "I am the light," "I am the door," "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." There is, therefore, no approach to God for saint or sinner other than through the Mediator whom God has provided. All the types of the Old Testament which forshadowed the work of Christ for man were equally clear on this great truth. As the shed-blood of the animal sacrifices typified the efficacious blood of Christ, no individual of the Old Testament dispensation was permitted to come into the presence of God apart from the shedding and sprinkling of blood. Christ is the Mediator of a new and better covenant. His shed-blood is the antitype of all that was required in the sacrifices of the Old Testament; but in the present relation between God and man, the truth takes on an added reality and intensity which is beyond estimation. No man is now free to thrust himself into the presence of God simply because he wills to do so. Every door is closed but One. If God does not destroy the offender as He did in the old dispensation, it is not because the offense is any less worthy of death; it is because of His present attitude of longsuffering through grace. So much the more is man now obligated to respect the unchangeable truth that Christ is the only way to God. "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). This mediation of the Son of God is seen in certain aspects: a. Access into the grace of God. It is through Christ and Him alone that we have access into the grace of God. "By whom also we have access into this grace" (Romans 5:2). This is as true for the saved as it is for the unsaved. The unsaved are saved only through the grace which is in Christ Jesus. Likewise, the saved are kept and stand only through Christ, and all their relationship to God is through Christ alone. b. Access into fellowship with God. All communion and fellowship with God is on the basis alone of the Person and work of Christ. As the high priest of the old order went into the holy of holies once a year and communed with God, likewise, the priest of the new order -- the child of God -- is free to enter the presence of God and there to abide. But as the priest of the old order was received before God only because be was under the sprinkled blood, with the same divine discrimination, the priest of the new order is received only because he is under the precious blood of Christ. God receives His children into fellowship on the sole basis of the efficacious blood of Christ whether they understand this fact or not. How vitally important it is, however, that they should understand and give continual heart-acknowledgment of all that Christ is to them! "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:19-22). c. Access to God in prayer. Christ is the only access to God in prayer. How misleading is the supposition that any one can reach the ear of God who will simply speak to Him! Apart from the Mediator Christ Jesus, there is no access to God in prayer and there can be no real prayer. The new basis of prayer in the present relationship to God is that, prayer is to be made in the Name of Christ. This is revealed by Christ in the upper room and is a part of His unfolding of the glories of grace. "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it"; "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 14:14; John 16:23-24). God receives all His children when they pray; but He receives them in Christ, and their prayer is effectual and prevailing only as it is in the Name that is above every name, and on the ground of the blood that has been shed. How important, again, that the saved one understand this truth and that he come to God with full heart-acknowledgment of the Mediator -- Christ! The unsaved have no access to God in prayer. "But," it is often asked, "how then can they be saved, if they cannot ask God to save them?" The answer is simple: No person is ever saved because he asks God to do it. He is saved through grace only when he believes. God is offering salvation to men. He does not need to be implored or moved in their behalf. He has been moved to give His Son to die. What more could He do? This marvelous gift of His grace is for all who will believe. 7. The Word of God. The written Word of God is one of the priceless possessions of the child of God in Christ. It is the unfolding of all the revelation concerning the majesty and grace of the Father, the salvation and glory that is in the Son, and the power and blessing that is in the Spirit, the facts about heaven and earth, about sin and salvation, about angels and Satan, about life and death, and all that is future and all that is past. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:16); "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalms 119:105). The Word of God is as a title deed to all that the Christian possesses in Christ. It is a covenant guaranty from God which is sealed in heaven. Assurance of the divine grace and blessing is never left to depend on the changeable feelings, or vain misunderstanding and imaginations of the human heart. "It is written." "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, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:13). Third. Christ, the Sphere of the Believer’s Safe-Keeping. As the First Adam transmitted what he was to those who were born after the flesh, so the Last Adam transmits what He is to those who are born after the Spirit. The Christian’s standing is in Christ, and there will be no fall in the Last Adam. He is as secure as God can make him secure, for the preservation of the believer is not conditioned by the thought which he has about the matter; it is according to the purpose of God. As has been stated, all the eternal purposes of infinite grace are involved in the issue of the safe-keeping of each one who is in Christ. In like manner, the security of the Christian is not merely the preservation of the possessions which together total his own inheritance; the believer is a part of the divine inheritance. God has an inheritance in the Christian (Ephesians 1:18). The real question becomes one, therefore, as to whether God is able to keep that which is His inheritance and whether He is disposed to keep. Against His power nothing can prevail, and He has paid the price -- the blood of His own Son -- to redeem this possession to Himself. Since He is free through the cross to do so, and His love is unending, it is inconceivable that He will not keep the one He has saved. He has sealed His inheritance unto the day of redemption. An illustration of the safe-keeping which results from being in Christ, is seen in the panoply which God has provided under which the believer may "stand" against the strategies and warfare of Satan. "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:13-17). The fact that Christ is the armour is a hidden beauty in this passage. He is the Truth, our Righteousness, our Peace, our Faith, our Salvation, and the Word of God. Christ encompasses the believer and insulates him from the power of every foe. Fourth. Christ, the Sphere of the Believer’s Association. The believer’s association extends to every relationship he sustains, and the character of these associations is molded in conformity to his position in Christ. Some of these relationships are: 1. With God the Father. Through the death of Christ, and through the regenerating work of the Spirit, an individual who believes is made a son of God by receiving the divine nature and is made to stand before God forgiven, righteous, and justified forever. He has entered the family and household of God, and the Father’s tender care, which is all that infinite grace can provide, is over him. The unsaved do not know God; He is not in all their thoughts. They may know about God; but this is far short of knowing God. Such knowledge is only gained by the personal introduction to the Father by the Son: "Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him" (Matthew 11:27). And to know the Father signifies the possession of eternal life: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). God was not usually known as Father under the past dispensation. He was honored and trusted as a "covenant-keeping God." The Psalmist wrote: "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him" (Psalms 103:13). 2. With Christ the Son. The extent of this relationship is limitless since it contains all that enters into the new sphere in Christ. It includes all that He is as Saviour and Lord; all that He is in partnership with the believer in service, in suffering, and in betrothal; and all that He is in the Christian’s fellowship, "and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3). Christ is the object of ceaseless devotion and praise. 3. With the Spirit of God. At this point, association is nothing less than identification itself in all matters of life, character, and service; for the believer is appointed to live only by the power of the indwelling Spirit. The association with the Spirit is immediate and intimate because He indwells every believer. The presence of the Spirit is not disclosed through human emotions and feelings; it is rather detected by the things which He does. 4. With Satan and his emissaries. As has been stated, the believer is brought, through his new position in Christ, into a sphere wherein Satan’s enmity is directed against him as it is directed against God. "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, Against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12. R. V.). The victory is provided only through the indwelling Spirit: "because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). 5. With the angels. The angels are messengers or ministering spirits "sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Hebrews 1:14). While their care attends the child of God, it has not pleased God to give the Christian fellowship with them. Their ministry as messengers is revealed throughout the Word of God. 6. With the world. The Christian is not of this world. He has been translated into the kingdom of Christ. He is a citizen of heaven, and his only relation to this world is that of an ambassador and witness. He is in the enemy’s land; for Satan is "the god of this world." The kingdoms of this world are given unto Satan under the permission and purpose of God (Luke 4:6). The Christian is related to the world and all that is in the world only as he is related to it through Christ. This relationship is three-fold: a. To the world system. This is the whole sphere of human life with its institutions, ideals, and projects. Concerning this world-system the believer is thus warned: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" (1 John 2:15-17); "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Ephesians 5:11); "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man" (Colossians 4:5-6). b. To human governments. According to the Bible, these are under the direct authority of the Gentiles. The present is the times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24). Human government is of God only to the extent of His permissive will and the realization of His purpose; but the citizen of heaven is instructed to be in subjection to governments: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation [judgment]. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For, for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour" (Romans 13:1-7); "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king" (1 Peter 2:13-17). c. To the unsaved individual. The consistent attitude of the Christian is the same as that of his Lord who died for lost men. As He is, so are we, and therefore we are to manifest His spirit in this world. Of his own attitude toward lost men, the Apostle Paul wrote: "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead [all died in the Substitute] ... Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more" (2 Corinthians 5:14-16). Having beheld Christ as God’s Lamb which taketh away the sin of the world, and the One who died for all, and in whose death all have partaken, the Apostle says: "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh." The usual distinctions among men, of Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, bond and free, are submerged in the overwhelming estimation of that which is accomplished for all men through the death of Christ. The Apostle now recognizes them only as men for whom Christ has died. This conception of the estate of the unsaved is the normal one for all Christians, and it leads on to a reasonable service for Christ in soul-winning. 7. With the whole body of Christ. The Epistles of the New Testament disclose the basis for a fellowship and kinship within the company of the redeemed which exists in no other association of people in this world, and this union calls for a corresponding manner of conduct from the Christian toward fellow-believers. This relationship is seven-fold: a. A Christian’s relation to other Christians in general. Love is revealed as the underlying principle of this relationship. It is embodied in the first commandment of Christ in the grace teachings of the upper room: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:34-35). This same truth is set forth in many passages. "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14); "And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it" (1 Corinthians 12:26); "And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us" (Ephesians 5:2); "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God"; "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another" (1 John 4:7, 1 John 4:11); "Let brotherly love continue" (Hebrews 13:1); "Let love be without dissimulation." This is one of the great passages on Christian love and care one for another. The whole context should be read (Romans 12:9-16). "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye" (Colossians 3:12-13). "Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing" (1 Peter 3:8-9); "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging" (1 Peter 4:8-9). The Christian is called upon to recognize the vital union into which he has been brought by the baptism with the spirit: "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3). Special emphasis is given as well to Christian kindness: "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:31-32); "That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified;" "But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another" (1 Thessalonians 4:6, 1 Thessalonians 4:9); "Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do" (1 Thessalonians 5:11); "Speak not evil one of another, brethren" (James 4:11). Christians are to submit one to another and in honor prefer one another: "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God" (Ephesians 5:21); "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" (Php 2:3-4); "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5). The Christian’s gifts are to be especially directed to the need of the children of God: "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10); "But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" (1 John 3:17). Prayer is to be offered for all saints: "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18); "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed" (James 5:16). b. A Christian’s relation to those who are in authority in the assembly of believers. On this important question the Word of God is explicit and comment is unnecessary: "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation" (Hebrews 13:7); "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you" (Hebrews 13:17); "And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them very highly for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves" (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13). To this body of truth should be added all of the pastoral Epistles. c. The relation of Christian husbands and wives. The grace teaching on this aspect of Christian relationship is also explicit: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;" "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord" (Ephesians 5:22, Ephesians 5:25. cf Ephesians 5:21-33; Colossians 3:18-19; 1 Peter 3:1-7). d. The relation of Christian parents and children. "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord;" "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right" (Ephesians 6:1, Ephesians 6:4. cf Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:20-21). From this body of revelation it will be seen that the children of Christian parents are to be governed as in the Lord. One of the conditions which will characterize the last days of this age will be the disobedience of children (2 Timothy 3:2). e. The relation of Christian masters and servants. "Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God;" "Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven" (Colossians 3:22-25, Colossians 4:1 cf Ephesians 6:5-9). f. A Christian’s obligation to an erring brother. "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted" (Galatians 6:1); "Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men" (1 Thessalonians 5:14); "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which ye received of us"; "For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies ... yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother" (2 Thessalonians 3:6, 2 Thessalonians 3:11-15). A sharp distinction must be drawn at this point between a disorderly brother who is a busybody, shirking his honest toil, and careless in matters of Christian conduct, on the one hand, and a sincere believer who may disagree with another on a matter of interpretation, on the other hand. Endless confusion and disgraceful contention has followed the exercise of unwarranted freedom among sincere believers in separating from each other over minor questions of doctrine. Should one fail to hold the true doctrine of Christ (2 John 1:9-11), that one can have no rightful place in a Christian communion; but men have divided over secondary issues and have gone so far as to exclude earnest Christians from their fellowship with whom perchance they disagree in a minor question of doctrine. Such separation is unscriptural, a violation of the priceless unity of the Spirit, and foreign to the order of grace. There is Scripture teaching concerning Christian discipline, but it does not necessarily impose a penalty of separation. The brother who may have been overtaken in a fault is to be restored, and only by one who is himself spiritual. This he must do in the spirit of meekness considering his own utter weakness apart from the enabling power of God. No other may undertake this important service. If the erring brother proves to be persistent in his fault, it is required that he be debarred from the fellowship of believers until he has seen the error of his way. Equally sincere brethren must not break fellowship, however, over minor issues. Of those who are thus disposed, the Apostle writes: "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple" (Romans 16:17-18). g. A Christian’s obligations to a weak brother. The tender conscience of a weak brother must be considered. This important principle applies to very many questions of the day. In the Apostles’ time there was a grave question concerning the eating of meat which had been offered to idols and was afterwards placed in the public market for sale. There were those who had only recently been saved and rescued from the grip of the power of idol worship. There were others who were so deeply prejudiced by their former experiences with idols that, while saved and free, they were not willing even to touch anything connected with an idol. It would be natural to say that the first class should know better than to be drawn back to idols, and that the second class should be made to give up their prejudice; but this is not according to the "law of love." It is written: "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand" (Romans 14:1-4). From this passage it is clear that instruction is also given to the weaker brother to the intent that he shall not "judge" the Christian who, through years of Christian training and deeper understanding of the liberty in grace, is free to do what he himself in his limitations may not be able to do. There is hardly a more important exhortation for Christians today than this. The cure is clearly revealed: God reserves the right to correct and direct the life of His own child. Much hurtful criticism might be avoided if Christians would only believe this and trust Him to do with His own child what He purposes to do. God is the master before whom alone the servant standeth or falleth. The passage continues: "But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. ... For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offense [to his own convictions]. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned [condemned] if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:15-23). "Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). Due regard for the conscience and liberty of others is two-fold: On the one hand, let the strong be charitable toward the weak. On the other hand, let the weak desist from judgment of the strong. The result will be a mutual fellowship and an exercise of all the liberties of grace. 2. "I IN YOU." The believer’s new sphere consists not only in his place in Christ with its positions, possessions, safekeeping, and associations; it consists as well, in the fact that Christ is in the believer. The Scriptures teach that God the Father (Ephesians 4:6), that God the Son (Colossians 1:27), and that God the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19) indwell every child of God. No doubt the mystery of the unity of the Godhead is involved in this revelation; for it is also said that the Christian has partaken of the divine nature, and this divine nature is not identified as being one only of the three Persons of the Trinity. The divine nature is evidently the indwelling presence of God -- Father, Son, and Spirit. There is a body of truth which teaches that God, in the unity of the three Persons, dwells in the heart of the child of God. Likewise there is an even greater body of Scripture which emphasizes the indwelling of the believer by the individual Persons of the Godhead. When the full unity of God is in view, it is usually spoken of as the indwelling Christ. As indwelling the Christian, the Spirit of God is once spoken of as "the Spirit of Christ" (Romans 8:9). It may be concluded, therefore, that the phrase "I in you" is to be received as referring to the whole divine Person -- Father, Son, and Spirit. The result of this indwelling of Christ is three-fold: (1) A new divine life, (2) A new enabling power, and (3) A new "hope of glory." First. A New Divine Life. The branch is in the vine and the vine by its life and vitality is in the branch. Thus the believer is in Christ and Christ is in the believer. The new imparted life is Christ, and is therefore eternal because He is eternal. When only the question of an unbroken manifestation of that new life is under consideration, it is said to depend on abiding in Christ as the sole condition. The believer’s place, or position, in Christ is neither attained, nor maintained, through abiding in Him. That position is instantly wrought by the power of God through grace for every one who believes. Nor is the possession of the divine life, which is the indwelling Christ, secured by abiding in Him; it is the "gift of God." However, the normal manifestation of that life does depend on abiding in Him. Abiding is simply the right adjustment between the Christian and his Lord. "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love" (John 15:10). How important, then, it is that the Christian should understand precisely what is included and required in the commandments of Christ! As pointed out before, the commandments of Christ are only His grace teachings; this term being not once employed by Christ before He began in the upper room to unfold the believer’s life and walk in grace. Eternal, divine life, therefore, is Christ indwelling the believer by His Spirit and that life is the present possession of all who believe. The victories, joys, and fruits of that life depend upon abiding in Him which abiding is accomplished only by doing His will. Second. A New Enabling Power. The theme of the enabling power of God, being one of the most vital in the divine plan of grace, though before mentioned, should at this point be reviewed in its two-fold aspect: 1. Christian character. Under the law relationship between God and man, character was the product of the energy and struggle of the flesh. This, too, is the conception of human character which is held by the world, and, alas, through false teaching, it is the only one in the minds of many Christians. It is commonly preached that the sum-total of an individual’s acts will determine his habits, the sum-total of his habits will determine his character, and the sum-total of his character will determine his destiny. Whatever may have been true under the law, this doctrine is foreign to grace. Destiny is not now determined by self-promoted character; it depends only on the faith which receives the saving grace of God. Heaven’s glory will not be a display of human character; it is to be the unveiling of the riches of grace in Christ Jesus. Nor is Christian character a product of the flesh; it is "the fruit of the Spirit." The divine record of all that enters into true Christian character is stated thus: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (self-control, Galatians 5:22-23). These graces are elements of divine character which are never found unless divinely wrought. They are "the fruit of the Spirit." They are never gained by struggle, long or short; they are the immediate experience of every believer who comes into right adjustment with the Spirit. Therefore the way to a victorious life is not by self-development; it is through a "walk in the Spirit." In the context in which the above passage appears, the Apostle also states: "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit [by means of the Spirit], and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). The believer’s responsibility is not the walk; it is rather that of yieldedness to the Spirit who promotes the walk. When thus yielded, the result is instant and perfect: "Ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." So long as the walk is continued by the power of the Spirit, this spiritual life will be experienced. Should the adjustment to the Spirit cease, the walk must cease, and the flesh will again be manifested. The New Testament term, "the flesh," indicates the sum-total of what the natural man is -- body, soul and spirit. Within this whole, and as a part of it, is the fallen Adamic nature -- sin. Three means for the control of the sin-nature are taught -- two of which are the product of human reason and one the revealed provision of God: a. Is the sin-nature controlled by eradication? Though this theory is advanced by certain schools of thought it lacks the support of even one passage of Scripture. It is accepted because it seems reasonable, the thought being that if the source of sin is checked, would not the flow cease? Doubtless it would; but God has revealed no such program. If eradication of the sin-nature were accomplished, there would be no physical death; for physical death is the result of that nature (Romans 5:12-21); parents who had experienced eradication would, of necessity, generate unfallen children. But if eradication were secured, there would still be the conflict with the world, the flesh (apart from the sin-nature), and the devil; for eradication of these is obviously unscriptural and is not included in the theory itself. As God purposes to deal with the world, the flesh, and the devil, thus He proposes to deal with the sin-nature which is a part of the flesh. The full deliverance is by the overcoming power of the Spirit through the work of Christ on the cross. The work of Christ on the cross secured the judgment of the old nature (Romans 6:6); but it also secured the judgment of the world (Galatians 6:14), the flesh (Galatians 5:24), and the devil (Colossians 2:15). The work of Christ is a divine judgment which has made it righteously possible for God to control the world, the flesh and the devil as they may affect the believer. Within the flesh, and as a part of it, is the sin-nature. This nature is no more subject to eradication than is the world, the flesh, or the devil. The divine plan for the deliverance of the believer from the power of the sin-nature is exactly the same as for the deliverance from the other opposing principles. It is by the overcoming power of the Spirit made possible through the death of Christ. This provision brings the child of God into moment-by-moment dependence upon his Lord. It drives him to the most intimate relationship with God. Eradication, if it were true, would tend to wean the Christian from Christ in the measure in which it would fit him to get on alone. In the midst of the description of the divine ideal for a spiritual walk, it is said that the victory is due to the fact that the Spirit is lusting against the flesh, therefore, when walking by means of the Spirit, "ye cannot do the things that ye otherwise would" (Galatians 5:17). It is evident from this passage wherein the highest ideal of life is presented that the flesh is contemplated as being present, but it is under the control of the Spirit. b. Is the sin-nature controlled by rules? It is proposed by others that the flesh shall be controlled by rules and regulations. The seeming sanction of the Scriptures for this theory is gained by turning to the law; for under the law, the flesh was to be governed by rules. The law-history of 1500 years, however, is sufficient evidence of the failure of this method; yet it seems impossible for many to be delivered from the belief that a spiritual life may be gained by the keeping of rules. It is supposed that the divine ideal has been realized when people have been induced to attempt to regulate their lives by rules. c. Is the sin-nature controlled by the Spirit? According to the Scriptures, such is the divine plan for the control of the flesh in the believer’s life under grace. It provides all that God desires or requires in any life, and brings the saved one into the closest fellowship with God, and into constant dependence upon the Spirit. It is the only victory possible for the Christian to experience; for it only is according to the purpose and Word of God. If the quality of the believer’s daily life is to be improved, what steps are to be taken? Will carnality and coldness of heart be corrected by enforcing rules of conduct? When a carnal Christian does not wish to do the will of God, will God be satisfied if that Christian merely complies externally with the law of God? The answer is obvious. God looks on the heart. In the provisions of grace, God proposes to change the desires of the heart and to empower unto the full realization of these God-wrought desires. The law could work no change in the heart, nor can the attempt to keep rules; but the Spirit can change the desires. The law could give no enabling power; but the Spirit can. Therefore it is said: "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law" (Galatians 5:18); and against the "fruit of the Spirit," "there is no law" (Galatians 5:23); again, "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Romans 6:14). 2. Christian conduct. The manner of the Christian’s life, including every activity of the child of God, is described in the Scriptures by the words walk and conversation. This aspect of the truth is to be distinguished from the believer’s character. The walk refers to that which is outward; while character -- "the fruit of the Spirit" -- is inward. In point of importance, character is supreme for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Under grace, God proposes by the Spirit first to create the heavenly motives and desires, and then, by the same Spirit, to empower the life unto the full realization of those desires. While these heavenly desires are said to be "the fruit of the Spirit," the resulting activities are said to be the exercise of a "gift" through the Spirit. A "gift," like the "fruit" of the Spirit, is never a product of the flesh nor any ability within the flesh. The Spirit may choose to use the native ability, but a "gift" is the direct undertaking of the Spirit in and through the human instrument. It is the Spirit doing a work and using the one in whom He dwells to do it. Thus both Christian character and Christian conduct are dependent on the enabling ministration of the Spirit. This divine provision is not merely for crisis-moments in the experience of the Christian; it is for every moment, whether it be one of activity or one of rest. The divine standards for the believer’s character and conduct are superhuman. This is reasonable since he is a citizen of heaven. The superhuman manner of life becoming to a heavenly citizen is to be lived by the enabling, supernatural power of the Spirit. The Spirit has taken up His abode in the heart in order that He may undertake this for the child of God, and if He does not accomplish His work, it is because He is hindered by the carnality of an unyielded life. The problem of improvement in the conduct of a Christian is never solved by the application of laws, nor by exhorting and stimulating the flesh; it is only solved by adjustment to the Spirit. When Spirit-filled, the child of God is both moved to glorify God in every moment of life, and is enabled to realize that heavenly ideal. There is much said in the Scriptures about the Christian life being a "warfare," a "fight," and a "race." The Christian is to be watchful, steadfast, and unmovable. He is not exhorted to attempt to do what the Spirit alone can do; he is rather to maintain the attitude of co-operation with, and yieldedness to, and dependence on, the Spirit. The grace-manner of life in the Spirit will be lived according to the grace teachings. These teachings, or principles of life, are written both to prepare the Christian for an intelligent walk in the Spirit, and to furnish a norm by which he may compare his daily life with the divine ideal. The grace teachings are not laws; they are suggestions. They are not demands; they are beseechings. They are not followed in order to gain acceptance or favor; they are acknowledged and followed in the glad assurance of present acceptance and completeness in Christ through grace. There are three laws, or principles, which characterize the teachings of grace concerning the manner of the daily life of the believer: a. The perfect law of liberty. The child of God is free. He has been delivered from every aspect of the law -- as a rule of life, as an obligation to make himself acceptable to God, and as a dependence on the impotent flesh. Likewise, he has been delivered from ideals and conventionalities of the world. He is as free in himself as though he had already passed on into heaven. He has been brought into the priceless liberty of grace. Against the spoiling of this liberty the Christian is to contend: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). The actual experience of contending for the preservation of liberty which is in Christ Jesus is foreign to the great mass of nominal Christians. Pressing in on every hand are the false teachings of a law-ridden church, the fleshly ideals of the world and its god, the natural rationalism of the human mind, and the ever-present tendency to depend on self. Against all this, the fact of true liberty in Christ is little known. It is therefore important that the scope and character of Christian liberty be defined, and, in so doing, no aspect of liberty is in view other than the liberty which belongs to the child of God under grace. The word liberty is defined thus: "The state of being exempt from the dominion of others, or from restricting circumstances." It is freedom to do according to one’s own preference and choice. It is emancipation. The thought of necessity and servitude is of the law. Grace glories in liberty and freedom. Is it not imperative that the children of God should be placed within the bounds of reasonable law? Absolutely No! The Christian’s liberty to do precisely as he chooses is as limitless and perfect as any other aspect of grace. But God has provided a sufficient safeguard which consists in the fact that the divine ideal is first wrought in the heart: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Php 2:13). In this one passage, the whole divine scheme for the believer’s life under grace is crystalized. God can propose absolute liberty to the one in whom He is so working that the innermost choice is only that which He wills for him. Having molded the desires of the heart, He can give His child unbounded freedom. There is no other freedom in the world but this. By the inwrought "fruit of the Spirit," God Himself has determined the desires of the heart. The outworking of those desires will be according to His own energizing power. Thus the character and the daily life of the Christian is wrought on the basis of pure grace. As God saves and keeps in grace apart from every human assistance and merit, so, in like manner, He proposes to produce the character and conduct of His child apart from every assistance or intrusion of the flesh. "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3). In harmony with the whole program of divine grace, no other manner of life could be imposed on the believer than the one in which God alone undertakes and accomplishes. To be true to His own purposes in grace, He must not only create the motive and choice of the heart but He must provide the sufficient power for its execution. Should it be objected that this is an idealism which is effective only with a limited company of believers who are so yielded to God as to be Spirit-filled, and that the great mass of carnal Christians must be held by rules, the reply would be that carnal Christians are no more subject to law than are the spiritual Christians. God does not countenance the attitude of the carnal Christian to the extent of providing a rule of government for him. As He holds only one issue before the unsaved -- the acceptance of Christ as Saviour -- likewise, He holds only one issue before the carnal Christian. That issue is not, "Will you live in a way which is in harmony with your carnality?" It is, rather, "Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Romans 6:13). The carnal Christian is abnormal. His position is perfect in Christ, but in character and conduct he violates the most precious principles and provisions of grace. The divine ideal for the believer’s life under grace remains unchangeable. When God is molding the desires of the heart, there is liberty. When He is empowering the life, there is victory. Thus it may be seen that grace is not a way of escaping obedience to God; it is the only possible way in which true obedience can be secured. The Spirit-filled believer is never abandoned to self-will; he is "inlawed to Christ." God in grace does not lower standards; He proposes and gloriously realizes the very character and conduct of heaven. b. The law of expediency. Because of the Christian’s position and circumstances in the world, the law of personal liberty in Christ is subject to the law of expediency. That which is expedient is to be chosen for two reasons which are stated in the Scriptures: "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any"; "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not" (1 Corinthians 6:12; 1 Corinthians 10:23). Thus it is seen that the law of expediency contemplates the danger to the believer’s own life in the matter of personal habits or injury, and the responsibility to others in the matter of edification. Much that he is free to do, so far as his relation to God is concerned, he is not free to do when contemplating his own personal good and the good of others. His manner of life must be adapted to the ignorance and prejudice of men to whom he is a witness for his Lord and whom he would seek to lead to Christ or to build up in the faith. Any sacrifice of personal liberty will be made willingly if Christ thereby may be made known. When considering the law of expediency, one does not ask, "What harm is there in this, or that?" He rather seeks to know what is the good. In all your precious liberty, "see then that ye walk circumspectly" (Ephesians 5:15). c. The law of love. Again the liberty of the Christian will be qualified by the love which he has for others. The sympathy of the unsaved must be gained and the conscience of the weaker brother must be considered: "But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. ... Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend" (1 Corinthians 8:8-13). Liberty is easily set aside by those who would be "all things to all men that by all means" they might save some. The supreme example of the sacrificial principle of grace was manifested by Christ in His death: "He saved others; himself he cannot save" (Mark 15:31). Third. Christ in You the Hope of Glory. The word mystery as used in the New Testament refers to a sacred secret, or something which was not revealed in the ages past, but is revealed in the present time. The body of truth which has been unfolded in the revelation contained in the mysteries is the present plan and purpose of grace. Among these mysteries are two which are primary and around these the other mysteries are gathered. 1. Christ the manifestation of God and of the Church. That portion of this truth which directly concerns and involves the child of God is regarding Christ as the Head of the Church which is His body, and the believers as "members in particular." This figure speaks of identity. Being in Christ, the member of His body partakes of all that the Head has ever been, all that He is now, and all that He will ever be. So, also, being in Christ, the member of His body partakes of all that Christ has ever done, of all that He is doing, and all that He will ever do. No human mind is able to grasp this revelation. Its inexhaustible riches will occupy the heart throughout the ages to come. In the letter to the Colossians the Apostle Paul, by the Spirit, unfolds the glory of Christ. He presents Christ as the manifestation of God, the One in whom all divine purposes center, and the One in whom, by the mystery of unity, the saved one is forever complete. He writes of the "mystery of God" which is Christ (Colossians 2:2). From all Scripture it may be discovered that Christ is both the manifestation of God and the manifestation of the saints who are in Him. What God is, may be seen in Christ. So, likewise, what the saved one is may be seen in Christ. The Son of God is not only the Mediator between God and man and the Saviour of the lost; He is the manifestation of all that God is, and, at the same time, the manifestation of all that the believer is in Him. Christ has brought God to man, and He has brought man to God. Man now sees God in Christ, and God now sees saved men in Christ. To the Christian, Christ is not only a position; He is also a possession. Through the marvels of divine grace, in the reckoning of God, whatever Christ is, the Christian is _in _Christ, -- "Ye in me." 2. The indwelling Christ. Accordingly, the second primary sacred secret is that of the indwelling Christ, -- "I in you." Turning again to the Colossian Epistle, we read: "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). Being in Christ, is a position which can have no corresponding experience. This is not true of the mystery of the indwelling Christ. His presence may be discerned and thus become an assurance and guaranty of every position and possession in Christ. The believer’s heavenly glories will be unveiled when the Lord returns to receive His own: "For ye are dead [ye died], and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:3-4). Not only is Christ Himself the "hope of glory," but, according to His own promise (John 14:1-3), that moment in which He will appear is a "blessed hope." The presence of "Christ in you" is the imperishable "hope of glory." "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Both for want of space and that the thread of truth might not be broken, there has been but little mention in this section of the truth that these great features and properties of grace, which grow out of the fact that Christ is now the sphere of the believer’s life, are not found, even to the slightest degree, in either the law of Moses or the kingdom teachings. These wonderful accomplishments in grace are what differentiate Christianity from Judaism. One is of the old creation with its earthly purpose and promise; the other is of the new creation with its heavenly glories. The believer could not be under law; he is "inlawed to Christ." He has been saved out of the world and is no longer a partaker of its past, its present, or its future. Its past is a record of sin and death; its present is a record of confusion under the permitted rule of "the god of this world"; and the future will be a record of judgment. Law is adapted to the earth. It is the divine method of dealing with the people of the earth whether it be in the age which is past, or in the age which is to come. The child of God has been delivered from every aspect of the law. The code of rules contained in the law has been superseded by the injunctions and beseechings of grace. The legal necessity of becoming accepted of God by human merit, has been superseded by the divine accomplishment through grace wherein the Christian is already accepted and safe in Christ forever. And possessing the presence of God through the indwelling Spirit, the child of God is saved from that struggle and defeat of the flesh which characterized the law and because of which defeat, the law became a curse and an instrument of death. In place of the law there is grace. In place of condemnation there is salvation. In place of death there is life. In place of ruin in Adam there is resurrection in Christ. In place of bondage there is liberty. In place of defeat there is victory. In place of hell there is heaven. "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 33: 03.10. CONCLUSION AND APPEAL ======================================================================== CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND APPEAL GRACE, more than any other single word, is the expression of the sum-total of all that enters into Christianity. The various divine undertakings in grace have been stated in these pages and it has been seen that, through the work of Christ on the cross and through the divine purposes and decrees for this dispensation, it is through grace that hell-deserving sinners are saved, it is through grace that they are preserved and are to be presented like Christ in glory, and it is "under grace" that the saved one now lives. Being under grace, he is "dead" to the law, and "delivered" from the law, whether the law is conceived of as being a rule of life, an obligation to establish merit before God, or a reliance upon the energy of the flesh. On the other hand, the Christian is in no wise an outlaw. Since he is in Christ as the new sphere of both his standing and his state, he is now inlawed to Christ and is therefore under the governing principles of grace. These principles provide both an explicit and complete rule of conduct which is superhuman, and the enabling power of the indwelling Spirit which is supernatural. This manner of life which is to be lived in the power of the Spirit is addressed to, and designed for, the people of the new creation in Christ. These teachings of grace may be defined as, that superhuman rule of life which grows out of acceptance with God and which is first wrought in the heart and then achieved by the enabling power of the Spirit. Grace makes all conformity to the will of God to be voluntary. Christian conduct and service must arise from within and be the expression of a free choice. Only such action is acceptable to God since it alone is in harmony with the new facts of relationship under grace. By faith in Christ the believer is instantly made complete in Him and the possessor of every spiritual blessing, the Spirit is given to indwell him, and he is "made accepted" in the Beloved. The Christian’s life must be keyed to these new facts, and when this new relationship under grace is really comprehended, it is seen that there remains no ground for legality in any form whatsoever. The people who are now saved by grace are of a new order of beings. They are a new creation. The people of the old creation are ruined by sin; the people of the new creation are renewed by the Spirit. The people of the old creation are wholly lost; the people of the new creation are perfectly saved. The people of the old creation are doomed forever; the people of the new creation are entirely safe in Christ Jesus. The people of the old creation have always failed to realize the holy will of God in their daily lives; the people of the new creation may now live well-pleasing to God by the new provisions in grace. They may know unbroken victory even on the plane of the high ideals and standards of heaven. A clear understanding of the doctrines of grace will result in a discrimination between the transforming accomplishments of divine power through grace on the one hand, and the corresponding consistent manner of life which grows out of the salvation on the other hand. The relative importance of these two aspects of grace is also revealed. Failure on the part of religious leaders to recognize the all important, supernatural salvation which is in Christ for all who believe, is largely responsible for the present tendency to treat Christianity as though it is merely an ethical system, and as though its standards of living were designed of God to be applied to a Christ-rejecting world. The unregenerate can hardly be expected to see more in Christianity than its ethical teachings, but the people of God should be led on to the full knowledge of the great realities in grace. For those who attempt to explain the truth of God to others, there is need of a constant consideration of the measureless responsibility which accompanies any presentation of the Gospel. No amount of attention or painstaking study will be too great for the adequate preparation of a Gospel messenger. In the light of eternal issues it would be better that a tongue should be stilled in death rather than to voice misstatements concerning the way of salvation through Christ. Dealing with the destiny of men is a responsibility as limitless as eternity to which they hasten. The law of the state demands that a medical doctor who proposes to deal with the temporal, physical ills of man shall be fully educated for his task, subject to the closest examination by the government, and shall be held under severe legal penalty for any malpractice. All this is most reasonable and commendable; but how much greater is the responsibility of the person who traffics in those issues which determine the destiny of the soul! The state could not assume to educate, examine, and, in turn, punish the failure of those who assume to preach the Gospel to dying men. No human authority is capable of such action and no human sentence would be a proper penalty for the damage done through such failure. God alone must be the judge. Three passages when taken together state the divine appeal and warning: "And hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation"; therefore, ",Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth"; for, "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" (2 Corinthians 5:18; 2 Timothy 2:15; Galatians 1:8-9). The order and force of this truth needs no comment. It is deplorable that Christian sentiment is not aroused to greater appreciation of the responsibility which is assumed by those who dare to preach, or to direct the steps of the lost. Good intentions and zeal cannot be substituted for the accurate knowledge of the exact facts which enter into the divine way of salvation by grace alone. The commission is given to every Christian and with it both the appeal for painstaking study, and the warning as to the terrible consequences for the misstatement of the Gospel. Pause, reader, and consider! Are you attempting to explain the Gospel to others without the exact knowledge of your theme? Would you choose to take a remedy which had been compounded by a blind druggist? Are you persisting in error because of indolence, carelessness, or mere theological prejudice? Failure to state accurately the Gospel of saving grace may result in the damnation of the misguided, and the meriting, at least, of the anathema of God on the part of the blind guide. After due consideration, no sane person will treat these facts lightly. Again, the daily life and service of the one who is alive unto God must be recognized as assuming infinite proportions when its issues are seen. Nothing short of that manner of life which is normal under grace glorifies God. Nothing short of this will be fruit-bearing with its eternal rewards. Nothing short of this will result in that personal experience of overflowing love, joy, and peace, without which the empty heart remains as a living witness against the truth of God. The importance of a daily life lived in the full measure of divine blessing provided under grace is likewise beyond human estimation. "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory now and for ever. Amen." THE END ======================================================================== CHAPTER 34: 04.00. HE THAT IS SPIRITUAL ======================================================================== HE THAT IS SPIRITUAL by Lewis Sperry Chafer, D.D., LITT. D. Copyright 1918 00.1 Preface 01 Three classes of men (The Natural Man; The Carnal Man; The Spiritual Man) 02 The Ministries of the Spirit THE CHANGING RELATIONSHIPS 1. The Spirit According to the Old Testament 2. The Spirit According to the Gospels and The Acts to Acts 10:43 - The Day of Pentecost 3. The Spirit According to the Remainder of the Acts and the Epistles THE MINISTRIES OF THE SPIRIT 1. The Ministry of the Spirit in Restraining 2. The Ministry of the Spirit in Reproving 3. The Ministry of the Spirit in Regenerating 4. The Ministry of the Spirit as Indwelling the Believer a. According to Revelation b. According to Reason 5. The Ministry of the Spirit in Baptizing 6. The Ministry of the Spirit in Sealing 7. The Ministry of the Spirit in Filling 03 The filling of the Spirit, or true spirituality * What is the Spirit’s filling? * Seven manifestations of the Spirit 1. The Spirit Produces Christian Character a. Love 2. The Spirit Produces Christian Service 3. The Spirit Teaches 4. The Spirit Promotes Praise and Thanksgiving 5. The Spirit Leads 6. The Spirit Witnesseth With Our Spirit 7. The Spirit Maketh Intercession for Us * WHAT SPIRITUALITY IS, AND WHAT IT IS NOT * SPIRITUALITY A TRIUMPH OF GRACE 04 GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT * The First Condition of True Spirituality * WHAT IT IS THAT GRIEVES THE SPIRIT * THE CURE OF THE EFFECTS OF SIN IN A CHRISTIAN * THE SEVEN MAJOR PASSAGES 1. Christ alone can Cleanse from Sin (John 13:1-11) 2. Confession is the one Condition of Fellowship, Forgiveness and Cleansing (1 John 1:1-10 to 1 John 2:1-2) 3. Self-judgment Saves from Chastisement (1 Corinthians 11:31-32) 4. Chastisement is the Father’s Correction and Training of His Sinning Child (Hebrews 12:3-15) 5. An Example of Christian Repentance (2 Corinthians 7:8-11) 6. The Repentance, Confession and Restoration of an Old Testament Saint (Psalms 51:1-19) 7. The Three-fold Illustrative Parable in the Gospels (Luke 15:1-32) 05 QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT * The Second Condition of True Spirituality * WHAT IS IT THAT QUENCHES THE SPIRIT? * THE YIELDED LIFE * CHRIST THE PATTERN * KNOWING THE WILL OF GOD * WHAT IS A SACRIFICIAL LIFE? 06 WALK IN THE SPIRIT * The Third Condition of True Spirituality * WHAT IS MEANT BY "WALK IN THE SPIRIT"? * THREE REASONS FOR RELIANCE UPON THE SPIRIT 1. The Impossible Heavenly Standard of Life in Contrast to the Standards of the World 2. The Christian Faces a World-Ruling Foe 3. The Adamic Nature * The Doctrine of Perfection * The Doctrine of Sanctification * The Doctrine of the Adamic Nature I. From What Source Does Sin Proceed in a Christian? * "Flesh" * "Old Man" * "Sin" The Believer’s Death With Christ The Summarizing Scripture II. The Divine Remedy * Two Theories Contrasted: Eradication, or Divine Control * WHAT IS SPIRITUALITY? 07 AN ANALOGY AND THE CONCLUSION I. AN ANALOGY: (a) SALVATION FROM THE PENALTY OF SIN, WITH (b) SALVATION FROM THE POWER OF SIN 1. The Estate of the One Who Needs to Be Saved (a and b) 2. The Divine Objective and Ideal in Salvation (a and b) 3. Salvation Is of God Alone (a and b) 4. God Can Save Only by and Through the Cross (a and b) 5. Salvation Is by Faith (a and b) II. THE CONCLUSION Former President of Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas Former Professor of Systematic Theology Former Editor of Bibliotheca SacraCopyright 1918 by Lewis Sperry Chafer, D.D., LITT. D. Former President of Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas Former Professor of Systematic Theology Former Editor of Bibliotheca Sacra Copyright 1918 by Lewis Sperry Chafer, D.D., LITT. D. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 35: 04.00.1. PREFACE ======================================================================== PREFACE The importance of the subject of this book is beyond estimation. True spirituality is that quality of life in the child of God which satisfies and glorifies the Father. it brings celestial joy and peace to the believer’s own heart. Upon it all Christian service depends. Since God purposes to work through human means, the fitness of the instrument determines the progress made. There is general agreement that the daily life of Christians should be improved; but improvement cannot be had other than in God’s way. Merely to exhort an unspiritual Christian is a loss of time and energy. When that Christian becomes spiritual, he will need no exhortation; but himself becomes an exhorter both by precept and example. Christians, as a whole, are satiated with ideals. Their real difficulty is stated in the words: "How to perform that which is good, I find not." The divine way to sufficiency and efficiency must be understood and acted upon, else we fail. The Bible doctrine concerning the Christian’s nature and daily practice, and the relation of these to the death of Christ, is subject to some disagreement. it is not the primary purpose of this book to correct details of doctrine. The object has been rather to state the outstanding revelation of the divine provision for the overcoming life. May we be delivered from controversy over secondary things in the face of our present failure to "walk as it becometh saints." It is my prayer that this statement of the fact and force of the spiritual life may be helpful to those who are called upon to manifest Christ to a dying world, and who hope to hear the Master say, "Well done." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 36: 04.01. THREE CLASSES OF MEN ======================================================================== CHAPTER I THREE CLASSES OF MEN THERE IS AN OBVIOUS difference in the character and quality of the daily life of Christians. This difference is acknowledged and defined in the New Testament. There is also a possible improvement in the character and quality of the daily life of many Christians. This improvement is experienced by all such Christians who fulfill certain conditions. These conditions, too, form an important theme in the Word of God. The Apostle Paul, by the Spirit, has divided the whole human family into three groups: (1) The "natural man," who is unregenerate, or unchanged spiritually; (2) the "carnal man," who is a "babe in Christ," and walks "as a man"; and (3) the "spiritual" man. These groups are classified by the Apostle according to their ability to understand and receive a certain body of Truth, which is of things "revealed" unto us by the Spirit. Men are vitally different one from the other as regards the fact of the new birth and the life of power and blessing; but their classification is made evident by their attitude toward things revealed. In 1 Corinthians 2:9-16 to 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 this threefold classification is stated. The passage opens as follows: "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit." A distinction is here drawn between those general subjects of human knowledge which are received through the eye-gate, the ear-gate, or the "heart" (the power to reason), and other subjects which are said to have been "revealed" unto us by His Spirit. There is no reference here to any revelation other than that which is already contained in the Scriptures of Truth, and this revelation is boundless, as the passage goes on to state: "For the Spirit [who reveals] searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." Men are classified according to their ability to understand and receive the "deep things of God." Into these "deep things of God" no unaided man can go. "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" (knows them). An unaided man may enter freely into the things of his fellow man because of "the spirit of man which is in him." He cannot extend his sphere. He cannot know experimentally the things of the animal world below him, and certainly he cannot enter a higher sphere and know experimentally the things of God. Even though man, of himself, cannot know the things of God, the Spirit knows them, and a man may be so related to the Spirit that he too may know them. The passage continues: "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we may know the things [the "deep things of God," which eye hath not seen, etc.] that are freely given us of God." "We [that is, all saved, excluding none] have received the Spirit which is of God." Here is a great potentiality. Being so vitally related to the Spirit of God as to have Him abiding within, it is possible, because of that fact, to come to know "the things that are freely given to us of God." We could never know them of ourselves: the Spirit knows, He indwells, and He reveals. This divine revelation is transmitted to us in "words" which the Holy Spirit teacheth, as the Apostle goes on to state: "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." God’s Book is a Book of words and the very words which convey "man’s wisdom" are used to convey things which "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man." Nevertheless unaided man cannot understand these "deep things of God," though couched in words most familiar to man, except as they are "revealed" by the Spirit. Just so, in coming to know these revealed things, progress is made only as one spiritual thing is compared with another spiritual thing. Spiritual things must be communicated by spiritual means. Apart from the Spirit there can be no spiritual understanding. NATURAL MAN "But the natural man receiveth not the things [the revealed or deep things] of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." In this passage the natural man is not blamed for his inability. it is simply an accurate statement of the fact of his limitations. The passage also goes on to assign the exact cause of these limitations. We have just been told that revelation is by the Spirit. It therefore follows that the "natural man" is helpless to understand things revealed because he has not received "the Spirit which is of God." He has received only "the spirit of man which is in him." Though he may, with "man’s wisdom," be able to read the words, he cannot receive their spiritual meaning. To him the revelation is "foolishness." He cannot "receive" it, or "know" it. The preceding verses of the context (1 Corinthians 1:18, 1 Corinthians 1:23) have defined a part of the divine revelation which is said to be "foolishness" to the "natural man": "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks [Gentiles] foolishness," Much more than the mere historical fact of the death of Christ is here meant. It is the divine unfolding of redemption through grace and includes all the eternal relationships that are made possible thereby. The moral principles and many of the religious teachings of the Bible are within the range of the capacity of the "natural man." From these sources he may eloquently preach; yea, and most seriously, not even knowing that "the deep things of God" exist. Satan, in his counterfeit systems of truth, is said to have "deep things" to reveal (Revelation 2:24) and "doctrines of devils" (1 Timothy 4:1-2) which things, on the other hand, are as certainly not received by the true child of God; for it is said, "And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers" (John 10:5). Yet the "deep things" of Satan are strangely adapted to the blinded, " natural man" and are, therefore, received by him. Every modern cult is evidence establishing the truthfulness of this statement. The unsaved man, though educated with all of "man’s wisdom," and though religious and attentive, is blind to the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) and if called upon to formulate a doctrinal statement, will naturally formulate a new theology" which is so "re-stated" as to omit the real meaning of the cross with its unfolding of the "deep things of God." The cross, as a substitutionary sacrifice for sin, is "foolishness" unto him. His very limitations as a "natural man" demand that this shall be so. Human wisdom cannot help him, for "the world by wisdom knew not God." On the other hand, the boundless "deep things of God" are to be "freely" given to the one who has received "the Spirit which is of God." The true child of God may, therefore, be taught the divine revelation, having received the Spirit. A trained mind, it may be added, will greatly assist; but apart from the presence of the indwelling Teacher, a trained mind avails nothing in coming to know the spiritual meaning of the revealed things of God. Measureless evil has arisen through the supposition that because a man is well advanced in the "wisdom of this world," his opinions are of value in spiritual matters. The "natural man," with all his learning and sincerity, will find nothing but "foolishness" in the things which are revealed by the Spirit. The knowledge of science cannot be substituted for the indwelling of, and right relation to, the Holy Spirit of God. Apart from the Spirit there can be no regeneration, and the "deep things of God" are unknowable. When an unregenerate teacher openly rejects the vital saving truths of God’s Word, those truths will usually be discredited and discarded by the pupil. This is the colossal blunder of many students in universities and colleges today. It is too generally assumed that the teacher or preacher who is an authority in some branch or branches of human knowledge is, by virtue of that knowledge, equally capable of discernment in spiritual things. It is not so. An unregenerate person (and who is more assuredly unregenerate than the one who denies the foundation and reality of the new birth?) will always be incapable of receiving and knowing the simplest truths of revelation. God is not a reality to the natural man. "God is not in all his thoughts." The unsaved man is therefore distressed and burdened to dispose of the supernatural. A baseless theory of evolution is his best answer to the problem of the origin of the universe. To the regenerate man, God is real and there is satisfaction and rest in the confidence that God is Creator and Lord of all. The ability to receive and know the things of God is not attained through the schools, for many who are unlearned possess it while many who are learned do not possess it. It is an ability which is born of the indwelling Spirit. For this reason the Spirit has been given to those who are saved that they might know the things which are freely given to them of God. Yet among Christians there are some who are under limitations because of their carnality. They are unable to receive "meat" because of carnality, rather than ignorance. There are no divine classifications among the unsaved, for they are all said to be "natural" men. There are, however, two classifications of the saved, and in the text under consideration, the "spiritual" man is named before the "carnal" man and is thus placed in direct contrast with the unsaved. This is fitting because the "spiritual" man is the divine ideal. "HE THAT IS SPIRITUAL" (1 Corinthians 2:15) is the normal, if not the usual, Christian. But there is a "carnal" man and he must be considered. THE CARNAL MAN The Apostle proceeds in chapter 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 with the description of the "carnal" man: "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?" Some Christians, thus, are said to be "carnal" because they can receive only the milk of the Word, in contrast to the strong meat; they yield to envy, strife and divisions, and are walking as men, while the true child of God is expected to "walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16), to "walk in love" (Ephesians 5:2), and to "keep the unity of the Spirit" (Ephesians 4:3). Though saved, the carnal Christians are walking "according to the course of this world." They are "carnal" because the flesh is dominating them (See Romans 7:14). A different description is found in Romans 8:5-7. There the one referred to is "in the flesh," and so is unsaved; while a "carnal" Christian is not "in the flesh," but he has the flesh in him. "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." The "carnal" man, or "babe in Christ," is not "able to bear" the deep things of God. He is only a babe; but even that, it is important to note, is a height of position and reality which can never be compared with the utter incapacity of the "natural man." The "carnal" man, being so little occupied with true spiritual meat, yields to envy and strife which lead to divisions among the very believers. No reference is made here to the superficial fact of outward divisions or various organizations. It is a reference to envy and strife which were working to sunder the priceless fellowship and love of the saints. Different organizations may often tend to class distinctions among the believers, but it is not necessarily so. The sin which is here pointed out is that of the believer who follows human leaders. This sin would not be cured were all the religious organizations instantly swept from the earth, or merged into one. There were present the "Paulites," the "Cephasites," the "Apollosites" and the "Christites" (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:12). These were not as yet rival organizations, but divisions within the Corinthian church that grew out of envy and strife. History shows that such divisions end in rival organizations. The fact of division was but the outward expression of the deeper sin of loveless, carnal lives. For a Christian to glory in sectarianism is "baby talk" at best, and reveals the more serious lack of true Christian love which should flow out to all the saints. Divisions will fade away and their offense will cease when the believers "have love one for the other." But the "carnal" Christian is also characterized by a "walk" that is on the same plane as that of the "natural" man. "Are ye not carnal, and walk as men (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:2-5). The objectives and affections are centered in the same unspiritual sphere as that of the "natural" man. In contrast to such a fleshly walk, we read: "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." This is spirituality. THE SPIRITUAL MAN The second classification of believers in this passage is of the spiritual man. He, too, is proven to be all that he is said to be by one test of his ability to receive and know the divine revelation. "He that is spiritual discerneth all things." The progressive order of this whole context is evident: First, the divine revelation is now given. It is concerning things which, "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man." It is revealed by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). Second, the revelation is of the "deep things of God," which no man can know. However the Spirit knows them (1 Corinthians 2:10). Third, believers have received the Spirit who knows, in order that they too may know the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:12). Fourth, the divine wisdom is hidden in the very words of God’s Book; but the spiritual content of these words is understood only as one is able to compare spiritual things with spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:13). Fifth, the "natural man" cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are only by the Spirit discerned. He has not received the Spirit which is of God (1 Corinthians 2:14). Sixth, a carnal Christian is born again and possesses the indwelling Spirit; but his carnality hinders the full ministry of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:1-4). Seventh, "HE THAT IS SPIRITUAL" discerneth all things. There is no limitation upon him in the realm of the things of God. He can "freely" receive the divine revelation and he glories in it. He, too, may enter, as any other man, into the subjects which are common to human knowledge. He discerneth all things; yet he is discerned, or understood by no man. How could it be otherwise since he has "the mind of Christ?" There are two great spiritual changes which are possible to human experience -- the change from the "natural" man to the saved man, and the change from the "carnal" man to the " spiritual" man. The former is divinely accomplished when there is a real faith in Christ; the latter is accomplished when there is a real adjustment to the Spirit. Experimentally the one who is saved through faith in Christ, may at the same time wholly yield to God and enter at once a life of true surrender. Doubtless this is often the case. It was thus in the experience of Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:4-6). Having recognized Jesus as his Lord and Saviour, he also said, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" There is no evidence that he ever turned from this attitude of yieldedness to Christ. However, it must be remembered that many Christians are carnal. To these the word of God gives clear directions as to the steps to be taken that they may become spiritual. There is then a possible change from the carnal to the spiritual state. The "spiritual" man is the divine ideal in life and ministry, in power with God and man, in unbroken fellowship and blessing. To discover these realities and the revealed conditions upon which all may be realized is the purpose of the following pages. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 37: 04.02. THE MINISTRIES OF THE SPIRIT ======================================================================== CHAPTER II :THE MINISTRIES OF THE SPIRIT A CHRISTIAN IS A CHRISTIAN because he is rightly related to Christ; but "he that is spiritual" is spiritual because he is rightly related to the Spirit, in addition to his relation to Christ in salvation. It therefore follows that any attempt to discover the fact and conditions of true spirituality must be based upon a clear understanding of the Bible revelation concerning the Spirit in His possible relationships to men. It seems to be the latest device of Satan to create confusion concerning the work of the Spirit, and this confusion appears among the most pious and earnest believers. The quality of the believer’s life is a tremendous issue before God, and Satan’s power is naturally directed against the purpose of God. Satan’s ends could be gained in no better way than to promote some statement of truth that misses the vital issues, or establishes positive error, and thus hinders the right understanding of the divinely provided source of blessing. This general confusion on the Bible teachings regarding the Spirit is reflected in our hymnology. Bible expositors are united in deploring the fact that so many hymns on the Spirit are unscriptural. This confusion is also reflected today in the unbalanced and unbiblical theories which are held by some sects. THE CHANGING RELATIONSHIPS It is not within the purpose of this book to undertake a complete statement of the Bible teachings concerning the Spirit of God, but certain aspects of the whole revelation must be understood and received before the God-provided life and walk in the Spirit can be comprehended or intelligently entered into. The Bible teaching concerning the Spirit may be divided into three general divisions: (1) The Spirit according to the Old Testament; (2) The Spirit according to the Gospels and as far in the Scriptures as The Acts 10:43; (3) The Spirit according to the remainder of The Acts and the Epistles. 1. THE SPIRIT ACCORDING TO THE OLD TESTAMENT Here, as in all the Scriptures, the Spirit of God is declared to be a Person, rather than an influence. He is revealed as being equal in deity and attributes with the other Persons of the Godhead. However, though ceaselessly active in all the centuries before the cross, it was not until after that great event that He became an abiding Presence in the hearts of men (John 7:37-39; John 14:16-17). He often came upon people as revealed in the events which are recorded in the Old Testament. He came upon them to accomplish certain objects and left them, when the work was done, as freely as He had come. So far as the record goes, no person in that whole period had any choice, or expected to have any choice, in the sovereign movements of the Spirit. Elisha and David are sometimes thought to be exceptions. It is not at all clear that Elisha’s request to Elijah, "let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me," was, in the mind of the young man Elisha, a prayer for the Spirit of God. David did pray that the Spirit should not be taken from him; but this was in connection with his great sin. His prayer was that the Spirit should not depart because of his sin. His confession was before God and the occasion was removed. During the period covered by the Old Testament, the Spirit was related to men in a sovereign way. In the light of subsequent revelation in the New Testament the prayer of David, "and take not thy Holy Spirit from me," cannot reasonably be made now. The Spirit has come to abide. 2. THE SPIRIT ACCORDING TO THE GOSPELS AND THE ACTS TO Acts 10:43 The essential character of the Spirit’s relation to men during the period of the Gospels is that of transition, or progression, from the age-long relationships of the Old Testament to the final and abiding relationships in this dispensation of grace. The early instruction of the disciples had been in the Old Testament, and the statement from Christ that the Spirit might be had by asking (Luke 11:13) was so new to them that, so far as the record goes, they never asked. This new relationship, suggested by the statement, "How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him," characterizes a forward step in the progressive relationship of the Spirit with men during the Gospel period. Just before His death Jesus said: "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" (John 14:16-17). The words, "I will pray," may have suggested to the disciples that they had failed to pray. However, the prayer of the Son of God cannot be unanswered and the Spirit who was "with" them was soon to be "in" them. After His resurrection and just before His ascension, Jesus breathed on His disciples and said unto them, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). They possessed the indwelling Spirit from that moment; but that relationship was evidently incomplete according to the plan and purpose of God, for He soon "commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me" (Acts 1:4, cf. Luke 24:49). The "promise of the Father" was of the Spirit, but evidently concerning that yet unexperienced ministry of the Spirit coming "upon" them for power. There was, then, a period, according to the Gospels, when the disciples were without the Spirit as the multitudes of the Old Testament time had been; but they were granted the new privilege of prayer for the presence of the Spirit. Later, the Lord Himself prayed to the Father that the Spirit who was then with them might be in them to abide. He then breathed on them and they received the indwelling Spirit; yet they were commanded not to depart out of Jerusalem. No service could be undertaken and no ministry performed until the Spirit had come upon them for power. "Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me." This is a revelation of conditions which are abiding. It is not enough that servants and witnesses have received the Spirit: He must come upon them, or fill them. THE DAY OF PENTECOST At least three distinct things were accomplished on the Day of Pentecost concerning the relationship of the Spirit with men: (1) The Spirit made His advent into the world here to abide throughout this dispensation. As Christ is now located at the right hand of God, though omnipresent, so the Spirit, though omnipresent, is now locally abiding in the world, in a temple, or habitation, of living stones (Ephesians 2:19-22). The individual believer is also spoken of as a temple of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). The Spirit will not leave the world, or even one stone of that building until the age-long purpose of forming that temple is finished. The Ephesian passage reads thus: "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built [being built, into the temple, cf. Ephesians 2:21] upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets [New Testament prophets, cf. Ephesians 4:11], Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded [are being builded] together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." The Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost and that aspect of the meaning of Pentecost will no more be repeated than the incarnation of Christ. There is no occasion to call the Spirit to "come," for He is here. (2) Again, Pentecost marked the beginning of the formation of a new body, or organism which, in its relation to Christ, is called "the church which is his body." Though the Church had not been mentioned in the Old Testament, Christ had promised that He would "build" it. "Upon this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). The Church, as a distinct organism, is not mentioned as in existence until after the advent of the Spirit at Pentecost. It is then stated "And the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41. While the Greek word for the church does not appear in this text, as it does in Acts 2:47, -- "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved," the unity which is here being formed is none other than the Church. See also Acts 5:14; Acts 11:24.) According to these passages, the Church, which in the Gospels was yet future, is already brought into existence and to it (the believers united to the Lord), are being added "such as should be saved." It is said that "the Lord was adding to the church." Certainly there is no reference here to a human organization, for no such thing had been formed. It is not a membership created by human voice, for it is the Lord who is adding to this Church. A body had begun to be formed of members who were vitally joined to Christ and indwelt by the Spirit and these very facts of relationship made them an organism and united them by ties which are closer than any human ties. To this organism other members were being "added" as they were saved. That formation and subsequent building of the "church which is his body" is the baptism with the Holy Spirit as it is written: "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body" (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). Thus the meaning of Pentecost includes, as well, the beginning of the baptizing ministry of the Spirit of God. (See The Ministry of the Spirit in Baptizing) This ministry is evidently accomplished whenever a soul is saved. (3) So, also, at Pentecost the lives that were prepared were filled with the Spirit, or the Spirit came upon them for power as promised. Thus they began the age-long ministry of witnessing. The mighty effect of this new ministry of the Spirit was especially revealed in the case of Peter. Before, he had cursed and sworn for fear in the presence of a little maid: now he not only fearlessly accuses the rulers of the Nation of being guilty of the murder of the Prince of Life, but the power of his testimony is seen in the salvation of three thousand souls. Thus the full meaning of Pentecost was revealed in the advent of the Spirit into the world to abide throughout this dispensation; in the baptism of many members into Christ; and the empowering of those whose lives were prepared for the work of witnessing unto Christ. A careful student of the Scriptures may distinguish yet one further step in the whole transition from the relationships of the Spirit as revealed in the Old Testament to that which is the final relationship in the present dispensation. Much that has been mentioned thus far is made permanent in this age. The last step here mentioned is in regard to the fact that during the well defined period in which the Gospel was preached to Jews only, which was from Pentecost to Peter’s visit to Cornelius, or about eight years, the Spirit, in one case at least, was received through the Jewish rite (Hebrews 6:2) of the laying on of hands (Acts 8:14-17). Though this human rite was continued in a few instances in connection with the filling of the Spirit and for service (Acts 6:6; Acts 13:3; Acts 19:6; 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6), the Spirit was to be received, under the final provisions for this age, by believing on Christ for salvation (John 7:37-39). This final condition for receiving the Spirit began with the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles in Cornelius’ house (Acts 10:44. cf. Acts 15:7-9, Acts 15:14) and has continued throughout the age. There is no record that hands were laid on believers in Cornelius’ house. The Spirit "fell upon them" (this phrase is evidently synonymous with receiving the Spirit) when they believed (Acts 8:18; Acts 10:43-44; Acts 11:14-15). The events in Cornelius’ house undoubtedly marked the beginning of a new and abiding order. 3. THE SPIRIT ACCORDING TO THE REMAINDER OF THE ACTS AND THE EPISTLES The final and abiding relationships of the Spirit with men in this age are revealed under seven ministries. Two of these are ministries to the unsaved world; four are ministries to all believers alike; and one is a ministry to all believers who come into right adjustment with God. THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT These seven ministries are: First, The Ministry of the Spirit in Restraining. The one passage bearing on this aspect of the Spirit’s work (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8) is not wholly free from disagreement among Bible students. In the passage, the Apostle has just disclosed the fact that, immediately before the return of Christ in His glory, there will be an apostasy and the "man of sin" will be revealed "who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped." He then goes on to state: "And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked [one] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." "The man of sin" must appear with all the power of Satan (2 Thessalonians 2:9); but he will appear at God’s appointed time, -- "that he may be revealed in his time," and this will be as soon as a hindering One be gone out of His place. Then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall destroy at His coming. The name of the restrainer, here referred to, is not revealed. His sovereign power over the earth and all the forces of darkness identifies Him with the Godhead, and since the Spirit is the present active force in this dispensation, it follows that the reference in the passage is to the Spirit of God. Satan might have sufficient power; but hardly would it be exercised against himself. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." It is evident that it is the Spirit of God who hinders Satan’s man and Satan’s projects until the divinely appointed time. There is no hint that Satan will withdraw, or be removed out of the way before this "man of sin" can be revealed; but there is a sense in which the Spirit will be removed. That particular relationship or Presence which began with the Church and has continued with the Church will naturally cease when the Church is removed. As the Omnipresent One, the Spirit will remain, but His present ministry and abode in the Church will have been changed. The Spirit was in the world before Pentecost; yet we are told that He came on that day as had been promised. He came in the sense that He took up a new abode in the Church -- the body of believers -- and a new ministry in the world. This ministry will cease when the Church is gathered out and His abode will be ended when His temple of living stones is removed. Thus it may be concluded that His going will be but the reversal of Pentecost and will not imply His entire absence from the world. He will rather return to those relationships and ministries which were His before this dispensation began. There are clear assurances of the presence and power of the Spirit in the world after the departure of the Church. The restraining power of the Spirit will be withdrawn and the Church removed at a time known to God, and then will the forces of darkness be permitted to come to their final display and judgment. An evidence of the Spirit’s power to restrain may be seen in the fact that with all their profanity men do not now swear in the name of the Holy Spirit. There is a restraining power in the world and it is evidently one of the present ministries of the Spirit. Second, The Ministry of the Spirit in Reproving the World of Sin, Righteousness and Judgment. This ministry, by its very nature, must be a dealing with the individual, rather than with the world as a whole. The passage reads: "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged" (John 16:8-11). This passage indicates a threefold ministry. (1) The Spirit enlightens the unsaved with regard to one sin only: "Of sin, because they believe not on me." The full judgment of sin has been taken up and completed at the cross (John 1:29). Hence a lost man must be made aware of the fact that, because of the cross, his present obligation to God is that of accepting God’s provided cure for his sins. In this ministry, the Spirit does not shame the unsaved because of their sins; but He reveals the fact of a Saviour, and One who may be received or rejected. (2) The Spirit illuminates the unsaved with respect to righteousness and that "because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more." How can a sinner be made righteous in the eyes of a Holy God? It will not be by any attempted self-improvement. There is a righteousness for him from God, which is unto all and upon all who believe. It is foreign to the wisdom of this world that a perfect righteousness can be gained by simply believing, and believing on an invisible Person who is at the right hand of God; yet every lost soul must, in some measure, sense this great possibility if he is to be constrained to turn to Christ from self. (3) So, also, the Spirit, in this threefold ministry, illuminates the unsaved concerning a divine judgment which is already past; for "the prince of this world is judged." By this illumination the unsaved are made to realize that it is not a problem of getting God to be merciful in His judgments of their sins: they are rather to believe that the judgment is wholly past and that they have only to rest in the priceless victory that is won. Every claim of Satan over man because of sin has been broken, and so perfectly that God, who is infinitely holy, can now receive and save sinners. Principalities and powers were triumphed over in the cross (Colossians 2:13-15). Undoubtedly it is the purpose of God that the Spirit shall use such instrumentalities as He may choose in illuminating the world with respect to sin, righteousness, and judgment. He may use a preacher, a portion of the Scriptures, a Christian’s testimony, or a printed message; but back of all this is the effective operation of the Spirit. Thus the Spirit ministers to the world, actualizing to them otherwise unknowable facts which, taken together, form the central truths of the Gospel of His grace. Third, The Ministry of the Spirit in Regenerating. This and the three following ministries of the Spirit enter into the salvation of the one who believes on Christ. He is born of the Spirit (John 3:6) and has become a legitimate child of God. He has "partaken of the divine nature" and Christ is begotten in him "the hope of glory." As he is a child of God, he is also an "heir of God, and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ." The new divine nature is more deeply implanted in his being than the human nature of his earthly father or mother. This transformation is accomplished when he believes, and is never repeated; for the Bible knows nothing of a second regeneration by the Spirit. Fourth, The Ministry of the Spirit as Indwelling the Believer. The fact that the Spirit now indwells every believer is one of the outstanding characteristics of this age. It is one of the most vital contrasts between law and grace. (See Though not under the law)* It is divinely purposed that under grace the believer’s life is to be lived in the unbroken power of the Spirit. The Christian has but to contemplate his utter helplessness, or consider carefully the emphasis given to this truth in the New Testament to become aware of the greatness of the gift which provides the indwelling Spirit. This gift was considered by the early Christians to be the fundamental fact of the believer’s new estate. We read in the account of the first preaching of the Gospel to the Jews at Pentecost that the gift of the Spirit was the new fact of surpassing importance. In this same period of Jewish preaching as recorded in Acts 5:32 the Spirit is said to be given to all who obey the Gospel invitation and command. So, also, the transcendent fact of the gift is emphasized in the records of the first preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles. Pentecost could not be repeated; but there was a very special demonstration of the Spirit in connection with this preaching. This demonstration was evidently given in order to provide against any conclusions to the effect that the Spirit was not given as fully to Gentiles as to Jews. We read: "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" (Acts 10:44-47). In connection with Peter’s explanation to the Jewish believers of his ministry to the Gentiles, we read: "And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?" (Acts 11:15-17). Though there are other issues connected with the filling of the Spirit for power, it is evident that the gift of the Spirit is God’s priceless gift to every one who has been saved. The Biblical importance placed upon this gift far exceeds the importance which Christians usually place upon it. The fact of the indwelling Spirit is not revealed through any experience whatsoever; nevertheless that fact is the foundation upon which all other ministries to the child of God must depend. It is impossible for one to enter into the plan and provision for a life of power and blessing and ignore the distinct revelation as to where the Spirit is now as related to the believer. It must be understood and fully believed that the Spirit is now indwelling the true child of God and that He indwells from the moment the believer is saved. (1) The Bible explicitly teaches this, and (2) reason demands it in the light of other revelations: (a) According to Revelation The fact that the Spirit indwells the believer is now to be considered without reference to the other ministries of the Spirit. Any ministry of the Spirit taken alone would be incomplete; but it is of particular importance that the Spirit’s ministry of indwelling be seen by itself. A few passages of Scripture may suffice to indicate the Bible teaching on this important theme. John 7:37-39, "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly [inner life] shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.)" This passage contains the distinct promise that all in this dispensation who believe on Him receive the Spirit when they believe. Acts 11:17, "Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?" This is Peter’s account of the first preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles. He states that the Gentiles received the Spirit when they believed as the Jews had done. The one condition was believing on Christ for salvation and the Spirit was received as a vital part of that salvation. Romans 5:5, "Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit which is given unto us." Romans 8:9, "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." This is a clear reference to the indwelling Spirit. Not only is the very fact of salvation to be tested by His presence; but every quickening of the "mortal body" depends on "His Spirit that dwelleth in you" (verse Romans 8:11). Romans 8:23, "And not only they [all creation], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit." There is no reference here to some class of Christians. All Christians have the "firstfruits of the Spirit." 1 Corinthians 2:12, "Now we have received ... the Spirit which is of God." Again the reference is not to a class of believers: all have received the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of God, and 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." This, again, is not a reference to some class of very holy Christians. The context reveals them to be guilty of most serious sin, and the fact of the indwelling Spirit is made the basis of this appeal. They are not told that unless they cease from sin they will lose the Spirit. They are told that they have the Spirit in them and are appealed to on this sole ground to turn to a life of holiness and Purity. There were much deeper realities for these sinning Christians in their relation to the Spirit; but receiving the Spirit was not their problem. He was already indwelling them. 1 Corinthians 12:13, "And have been all made to drink into one Spirit." The same very faulty Corinthian Christians are included in the word "all" (see also, verse 7). 2 Corinthians 5:5, "God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit." Again, it is not some Christians, but all. Galatians 3:2, "This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" It was by faith and the Spirit has been received by all who have exercised saving faith. Galatians 4:6, "And because ye are sons [not because ye are sanctified], God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." 1 John 3:23, "And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given unto us." 1 John 4:13, "Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." The indwelling Spirit is an "unction" and an "anointing" for each child of God; for these words are not used concerning a class of believers (1 John 2:20, 1 John 2:27). There are three passages which have seemed to some to confuse the clear teaching of the Scriptures just given and these should be considered. (1) Acts 5:32, "And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey him." This is not the daily life obedience of a Christian. It is an appeal to unsaved men for "the obedience of faith." The passage teaches that the Spirit is given to those who obey God concerning faith in His Son as Saviour. The context is clear. (2) Acts 8:14-17, has already been considered. It falls within the brief period between Pentecost and the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles. The conditions existing at that time should not be taken as the final relationship between the Spirit and all believers throughout this age. (3) Acts 19:1-6, "And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples [not necessarily Christians], he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Spirit since ye believed [or, did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? See all versions]? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Spirit. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? and they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." These "disciples" were disciples, or proselytes, of John the Baptist. They knew little of Christ, or of the way of salvation by believing, or of the Holy Spirit. Paul had immediately missed the evidence of the presence of the Spirit in these disciples and so struck at the vital point with the question, "Upon believing did ye receive the Spirit?" After they heard of salvation through Christ, and believed, the Apostle is said to have "laid his hands upon them," and "the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied." The laying on of hands, like the signs which followed, is Biblically related to the Spirit as being upon them, or filling them; but should not be confused with the fact that they had received the Spirit when they believed. There is, therefore, no Scripture which contradicts the clear testimony of the Bible that all believers of this dispensation have the Spirit in them. (b) According to Reason A holy life and walk, which must always depend on the enabling power of the Spirit, is as much demanded of one believer as of another. There is not one standard of life for one class of believers, and another standard of life for another class of believers. If there is a child of God who has not the Spirit in him, he must, with all reason, be excused from those responsibilities which anticipate the power and presence of the Spirit. The fact that God addresses all believers as though they possess the Spirit is sufficient evidence that they have the Spirit. It may be concluded, then, that all believers have the Spirit. This does not imply that they have entered into all the possible blessings of a Spirit-filled life. They have the Spirit when they are saved and there is no record that He ever withdraws. His is an abiding presence. Fifth, The Ministry of the Spirit in Baptizing. Reference has already been made to this particular ministry of the Spirit as related to the Day of Pentecost. The full Bible teaching of this theme is presented in a very few passages (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5; Acts 11:16; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 4:5; Colossians 2:12). Of these passages, only one unfolds the meaning: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13, cf. Romans 6:3). In no Scripture is this ministry of the Spirit directly related to power or service. it has to do with the forming of the body of Christ out of living members, and when one is united vitally and organically to Christ, he has been "baptized into one body," and has been "made to drink into one Spirit" (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:12). Being a member in the body of Christ, anticipates service; but service is always related to another ministry than the baptism of the Spirit. Since the baptism with the Spirit is the organic placing of the believer into Christ, it is that operation of God which establishes every position and standing of the Christian. No other divine undertaking in salvation is so far reaching in its effect. It is because of this new union to Christ that a Christian can be said to be "in Christ," and being "in Christ" he partakes of all that Christ is, - His life, His righteousness, and His glory. The unbeliever, who is "without Christ," enters completely into this union with Christ the moment he believes. (In two synoptic Gospels the promise of the baptism with the Spirit is accompanied with a promise of a baptism with fire (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16). Just what is meant by a baptism with fire has been the subject of much discussion. "Cloven tongues like as of fire" sat on a few on the Day of Pentecost; but this has not been the experience of all believers. The judgment of the believer’s works at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:9-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10) is the only contact with fire which is determined for all who are saved. it is therefore probable that this judgment is the baptism with fire. There is a deep correspondence between the baptism with the Spirit and this baptism with fire. As the baptism with the Spirit provides the saved one with a perfect standing for time and eternity, so the baptism with fire will provide the saved one with a perfect state which will fit him for heaven itself. At the judgment seat of Christ, His eyes of fire (Revelation 1:14) will burn away all the dross and only that which is heavenly will abide.) The organic relationship to the body of Christ is accomplished as a part of the great divine undertaking in salvation which is performed when saving faith is exercised. There is no indication that this baptizing ministry of the Spirit would be undertaken a second time. A possible distinction as to whether the baptism of the Spirit was accomplished at Pentecost provisionally for all who accept Christ in this dispensation, or whether it is individual when they believe is of no moment in this discussion. It is important to discover the exact meaning of the word as representing a particular ministry of the Spirit. back Sixth, The Ministry of the Spirit in Sealing. "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30, See also, 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13). The ministry of the Spirit in sealing evidently represents the Godward aspect of the relationship, -- authority, responsibility, and a final transaction. It is "unto the day of redemption." The Spirit Himself is the seal, and all who have the Spirit are sealed. His presence in the heart is the divine mark. This ministry of the Spirit is also performed when faith is exercised for salvation, and this ministry could not be repeated since the first sealing of any believer is "unto the day of redemption." There are, then, four ministries of the Spirit for the believer which are wrought at the moment he is saved and are never accomplished a second time. He is said to be born, indwelt (or anointed), baptized, and sealed of the Spirit. It may also be added that these four operations of the Spirit in and for the child of God are not related to an experience. The Spirit may actualize all this to the believer after he is saved, and it may then become the occasion for most blessed joy and consolation. These four general ministries which are performed in and for believers alike constitute the "Earnest of the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 1:22; 2 Corinthians 5:5), and the "Firstfruits of the Spirit" (Romans 8:23). Seventh, The Ministry of the Spirit in Filling. The fact, extent and conditions of this ministry of the Spirit constitute the message of this book and will occupy the following chapters. What has gone before has been written that the filling of the Spirit might not be confused with any other of His operations. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 38: 04.03. THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT, OR TRUE SPIRITUALITY ======================================================================== CHAPTER III THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT, OR TRUE SPIRITUALITY BY VARIOUS TERMS the Bible teaches that there are two classes of Christians: those who "abide in Christ," and those who "abide not"; those who are "walking in the light," and those who "walk in darkness"; those who "walk by the Spirit," and those who "walk as men"; those who "walk in newness of life," and those who "walk after the flesh"; those who have the Spirit "in" and "upon" them, and those who have the Spirit "in" them, but not "upon" them; those who are "spiritual" and those who are "carnal"; those who are "filled with the Spirit," and those who are not. All this has to do with the quality of daily life of saved people, and is in no way a contrast between the saved and the unsaved. Where there is such an emphasis in the Bible as is indicated by these distinctions there is a corresponding reality. There is, then, the possibility of a great transition for those who are carnal into the reality of true spiritual living. The revelation concerning this possible transition, with all of its experiences and blessings, is taken seriously only by earnest believers who are faithfully seeking a God-honoring daily life. To such there is boundless joy and consolation in this gospel of deliverance, power and victory. The transition from the carnal to the spiritual, is treated at length in the Bible. However, it is possible to know the doctrine and not to have entered into its blessings; as it is possible, on the other hand, to have entered in some measure into the experience and not to have known the doctrine. This gospel of deliverance has suffered much from those who have sought to understand its principles by analyzing some personal experience apart from the teaching of the Scriptures. The danger in this error is obvious: No one experience would ever be a true, or complete representation of the full purpose of God for every Christian; and if it were, nothing short of the infinite wisdom of God could formulate its exact statement. For want of Bible instruction many, when attempting to account for an experience, have coined terms and phrases which are not Biblical and are therefore invariably as faulty as any of the conclusions of the finite mind when attempting to deal with the divine realities. It would be useless to attempt to classify experiences; but when one has found peace, power and blessing through a definite yielding to God and reliance on His strength alone, the Bible clearly assigns the cause to be a larger manifestation of the presence and power of the Spirit. Such an one is "filled with the Spirit." WHAT IS THE SPIRIT’S FILLING? In the Bible, the meaning of the phrase "filled with the Spirit," is disclosed, and the filling of the Spirit is also seen to be the experience of the early Christians. From the Word of God, then, we can hope to arrive at some clear understanding of what is meant by the phrase, the "filling of the Spirit"; but there is no instruction to be gained from such man-made, unbiblical terms as "second blessing," "a second work of grace," "the higher life," and various phrases used in the perverted statements of the doctrines of sanctification and perfection. An unlimited field lies before us when we are told that we may be "changed from glory to glory" even into the image of Christ, and that by the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18). What this transformation may mean to a believer and the exact conditions upon which it may be realized, must be understood, not from the imperfect analysis of experience, but from the exact words of revelation. It is quite possible for any child of God to make full proof of "that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God" for him. And God has promised to work in the believer "both to will and to do of his good pleasure." By His power the very "virtues of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light" and the "mind of Christ" may be reproduced in the one who is saved. These blessings and the conditions God imposes for their attainment are clearly set forth in the word of God. The Spirit does not speak from Himself. His purpose is to reveal and glorify Christ (John 16:12-15). The Spirit is made known to us by descriptive titles, such as "The Holy Spirit," or "The Spirit of God"; but His name is not disclosed. Though He does not reveal Himself, He is, nevertheless, the cause of all true spirituality. His work is to manifest "the life that is Christ" so completely that one can say: "For to me to live is Christ"; but the sufficient power back of this possible out-living of Christ is the in-living Spirit of God, and this is a result of the Spirit’s filling. Paul had been saved on the Damascus road and there, we may believe, had received the Spirit as the "earnest" and the "firstfruits." Later, after having entered into the city, Ananias came to him and placing his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Two results were to be accomplished: Saul was to receive his sight, and he was to be filled with the Spirit, This, it should be remembered, was no part of his salvation. We are then told that "immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith." There is no record of an emotion, or experience, which might be taken as evidence that he had been filled with the Spirit. He was filled, nevertheless, as definitely as he regained his sight. The evidence is conclusive; for the record goes on to say: "and straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God" (Acts 9:17-20). There is no evidence that the Apostle was conscious of the Spirit; he was altogether occupied with Christ. Nevertheless, he was "filled with the Spirit" and so, in the Spirit’s own time and way, entered into the priceless result of an out-lived Christ. The Spirit is the cause while the experience of the glory and reality of Christ is the effect. According to the Scriptures, the Spirit-filled believer is the divine ideal, whether it be by example, or precept. First, as to example: Christ was "full of the Spirit" (Luke 4:1); each of the members of one family, Zacharias, Elisabeth and John, were "filled with the Spirit" (Luke 1:15, Luke 1:41, Luke 1:67); and the disciples and others were filled again and again after their real ministry had begun (Acts 2:4; Acts 4:8, Acts 4:31; Acts 6:3; Acts 7:55; Acts 9:17; Acts 11:24; Acts 13:52. Note, also, all passages where the Spirit is said to have been "upon" believers). Second, as to precept: One direct New Testament command is given: "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit" (or, more literally, "be being kept filled by the Spirit." Ephesians 5:18). Here the form of the verb used is somewhat different from that which is used in connection with the other ministries of the Spirit. The Christian has been born, baptized, indwelt, and sealed by the Spirit: he must be getting (being kept) filled by the Spirit. It is the revealed purpose of God that the Spirit shall be constantly ministered unto the Christian: "He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit" (Galatians 3:5). A Christian, to be spiritual, must, then, be filled and kept filled by the Spirit. An experience may or may not accompany the first entrance into the Spirit-filled life; but, even when there is an experience, the Bible knows nothing of a "second blessing," or "second work of grace," wherein there will be any less need of the mighty enabling power of God tomorrow than there has been today. One may learn better how to "walk in the Spirit"; but he will never come to a moment in this life when he will need to walk less by the Spirit. The divine resources for a moment by moment triumph in Christ are limitless; but the utter need of the helpless creature never ceases. It is important to note that three times in the New Testament the effect of strong drink is put over against the Spirit-filled life (Luke 1:15; Acts 2:12-21; Ephesians 5:18). As strong drink stimulates the physical forces and men are prone to turn to it for help over the difficult places, so the child of God, facing an impossible responsibility of a heavenly walk and service, is directed to the Spirit as the source of all sufficiency. Every moment in a spiritual life is one of unmeasured need and super-human demands, and the supply of enabling power and grace must be as constantly received and employed. "As thy day, so shall thy strength be." To be filled with the Spirit is to have the Spirit fulfilling in us all that God intended Him to do when He placed Him there. To be filled is not the problem of getting more of the Spirit: it is rather the problem of the Spirit getting more of us. We shall never have More of the Spirit than the anointing which every true Christian has received. On the other hand, the Spirit may have all of the believer and thus be able to manifest in him the life and character of Christ. A spiritual person, then, is one who experiences the divine purpose and plan in his daily life through the power of the indwelling Spirit. The character of that life will be the out-lived Christ. The cause of that life will be the unhindered indwelling Spirit (Ephesians 3:16-21; 2 Corinthians 3:18). The New Testament is clear as to just what the Spirit would produce in a fully adjusted life, and all of this revelation taken together forms the Bible definition of spirituality. These undertakings are distinctly assigned to the Spirit, and are His manifestations in and through the Christian. SEVEN MANIFESTATIONS OF THE SPIRIT There are seven manifestations of the Spirit, and these are said to be experienced only by the Spirit-filled believer; for in the Scriptures, these results are never related to any other ministry of the Spirit than that of filling. The seven manifestations of the Spirit are: 1. THE SPIRIT PRODUCES CHRISTIAN CHARACTER "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (self-control, Galatians 5:22-23). Compressed into these nine words we have not only the exact statement as to what Christian character is, but a description, as well, of the life that Christ lived while here on the earth. It is also a statement of that manner of life which He would have the Christian experience here and now. These nine words form a Bible definition of what is meant by the phrase, "For to me to live is Christ." Though the world strives at a shadow of what these nine words represent, the reality is foreign to human nature, even when that nature is at its best. These graces, as here presented, are exotics and are never found in human nature unless produced there by the power of God. They are the "fruit of the Spirit." Christian character, therefore, is not developed, or "built" through human attention and energy. The method of attaining unto a character by attention and energy, which is now elaborately explained and constantly recommended by many, is the best the world can do, and that method may have some realization within the sphere of the shadows the world has chosen as its ideals. The child of God is not facing the mere shadows which are the ideals of the world, though in ignorance he might suppose that he is. He is facing the problem of showing "forth the praises [virtues] of him" who hath called us "out of darkness into his marvelous light." He will find little encouragement in the Bible to attempt the "building" of these characteristics of the Infinite. Human nature in its most favorable conditions has never been expected to do this. If the aim were no higher than the standards of the world, it might seem reasonable to try to build a Christian character; but even then, there would be no Scripture to warrant the human struggle. True Christian character is the "fruit of the Spirit." The very position of a child of God as a heavenly citizen demands that these nine graces which are the "fruit of the Spirit" shall be present in his daily life. He is to "walk worthy" of the calling wherewith he is called, "with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love." So, also, on the other hand, his priceless fellowship "with the Father and with his Son" must depend on the presence of these divine characteristics. There must be some quality of life and character in the Christian with which God can have fellowship. But if God finds anything like Himself in a human life, He must place it there; for He knows full well that such divine graces can never appear in a life apart from His own power. Thus if He, by His very nature, demands the heavenly graces as the only possible basis for communion with His Spirit-born child, He is not unreasonable in such a demand, for He does not expect these graces from the flesh, but has made full provision that they may be produced by the Spirit. The fact, however, that He has designed that they shall be the "fruit of the Spirit" changes the whole human responsibility. It is no longer something for the human strength to attempt, nor is it to be done by the human strength plus the help of the Spirit. It is not something that man can do, even with help. It is "the fruit of the Spirit." True Christian character is produced in the believer, but not by the believer. Doubtless the Spirit employs every faculty of the believer’s being to realize this priceless quality of life; yet there is nothing in the believer, of himself, which could produce this result. There is not even a spark of these graces within the human nature which might be fanned into a fire. All must be produced in the heart and life by the Spirit. Thus the new problem is naturally that of maintaining such a relationship to the Spirit as shall make it possible for Him to accomplish continually what He came into the heart to do. What the flesh can, will and must do has been stated in the preceding verses of the passage under consideration: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions; heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like." "But," in contrast to all this, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (self-control). "The flesh," according to its use in this and similar passages is more than the physical body. The term represents all, -- spirit, soul and body -- that the person was before he was saved. From that source there can come no real spiritual "fruit." In this very context it is stated that "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other." (See link) There are, then, two principles of life which are open to the child of God: the carnal walk which is by the energy of the flesh, or "as men," and the spiritual walk which is by the energy of the Spirit, or as Christ. This passage in Galatians states: "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit [literally, by means of the Spirit], and ye shall not fulfill the lust [desire] of the flesh." These two principles are absolutely opposed to each other and therefore cannot be mingled. Walking by means of the Spirit, or "being led of the Spirit," is not the flesh being helped in some degree by the Spirit. It is said to be a direct accomplishment of the Spirit in spite of the apposition of the flesh. When walking by the Spirit the results are celestial: "Ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh"; "So that ye cannot [when walking by the Spirit] do the things that ye [otherwise] would"; "If ye are led of the Spirit ye are not under the law"; and "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (self-control). Such results are priceless. The world looks on to the end of a long process of self-training and self-repression for the realization of the human virtues the sum of which is called "character." The Christian may realize at once the heavenly virtues of Christ: not by trying; but by a right adjustment to the indwelling Spirit. This is a revelation, quite foreign indeed to man’s habits of thinking and acting, and it is to many a "hard saying." This tremendous possibility, as revealed from God, will not seem reasonable to one who is not yet done with doubt as to the possibility of the supernatural being experienced in every moment of life. Such doubters should not contend that, because to them unreal, the walk by means of the Spirit is not God’s gracious provision for His children. The revelation that true Christian character is directly produced as a fruit of the indwelling Spirit stands on the pages of God’s Word. Clear statements are made and the Bible teaching on this subject is direct and uncomplicated. Not only so, but there are many who are joyous witnesses that it is a reality in their personal experience. The effects of Christian growth are not included in this immediate victory. It is simply the result of entering into the whole of the present will of God for our lives. The nine words which define Christian character may be traced through the New Testament and, when so traced, it will be found (1) that they are always presented as being divine characteristics, though they sometimes have a shadow of their reality in the relationships and ideals of the world; (2) they are assuredly expected by God in the believer’s life; and (3) they are always produced only by the Spirit of God. Each of these nine words might profitably be considered at length; but space can be given to one only. What is found to be true of the one word may measure, to some extent, what would be found to be true of all these words. LOVE There is a very real human love; but all Christian love, according to the Scriptures, is distinctly a manifestation of divine love through the human heart. A statement of this is found in Romans 5:5, "because the love of God is shed abroad [literally, gushes forth] in our hearts by [produced, or caused by] the Holy Spirit, which is given unto us." This is not the working of the human affection; it is rather the direct manifestation of the "love of God" passing through the heart of the believer out from the indwelling Spirit. It is the realization of the last petition of the High Priestly prayer of our Lord: "That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them" (John 17:26). It is simply God’s love working in and through the believer. It could not be humanly produced, or even successfully imitated and it, of necessity, goes out to the objects of divine affection and grace, rather than to the objects of human desire. A human heart cannot produce divine love, but it can experience it. To have a heart that feels the compassion of God is to drink of the wine of heaven. In considering this imparted love of God it should be noted: First, The love of God imparted is not experienced by the unsaved: "But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you" (John 5:42). Second, The love of God reaches out for the whole world: "For God so loved the world" (John 3:16); "That he by the grace of God should taste death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9); "And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). This is a divine love for the world of lost men. It is God’s affection which knows no bounds. What is sometimes called "the missionary spirit" is none other than that compassion, which brought the Son of God from heaven, "gushing forth" through a human heart. Interest in lost men is not secured by an attempted development of human affections: it is immediately realized in a Christian heart when there is a right relation to the Spirit of God. A desire for the salvation of others is the first thought of many after they are born again. Third, The love of God abhors the present world system. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" (1 John 2:15-16). Such purified love will always be the experience of the one in whom the love of God is imparted. Fourth, The love of God is toward His Spirit-born children. "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life" (Romans 5:9-10); "Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it" (Ephesians 5:25). He loves His own even though they are wandering away, as is revealed in the return of the "prodigal son." "If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us" (1 John 4:12). By this divine compassion the Christian proves his reality before the world: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:34-35). Such divine love is also the test of our brotherhood in Christ: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" (1 John 3:16-17); "We know we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14). Fifth, The love of God is without end: "Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end" (eternally, John 13:1). The love of God in the believer is said to "suffer long" and then is kind. Sixth, The love of God is toward Israel: "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3). So the Spirit-filled believer will learn to rejoice in the great prophecies and purposes of God for that people with whom He is in everlasting covenants, and for whom He has an everlasting love. Seventh, The love of God is sacrificial: "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). Such an attitude on the part of the Son of God toward the eternal riches must, if reproduced in the Christian, affect largely his attitude toward earthly riches. Not only is the love of God sacrificial as to heavenly riches; it is sacrificial as to life itself. "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us." It therefore follows: "And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16-17). The Apostle Paul testified: "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh" (Romans 9:1-3). The Apostle knew full well that there was no occasion for him to be accursed since his Lord had been made a curse for all; but he could still be willing to be made a curse. Such an experience is the direct outworking in a human life of the divine love which gave Jesus to die under the curse and judgments of the sin of the world. When this divine compassion for lost men is reproduced in the believer, it becomes the true and sufficient dynamic for soul-saving work. Thus the mighty heart of God may be manifested in a human life, and this one word "love," together with the other eight words which indicate the fruit of the Spirit, is a representation of true Christian character. The other eight words, when traced in the Scriptures, will also prove to be divine graces which are realized in the human heart only as they are imparted. "My joy shall be in you." "My peace I give unto you." These divine graces are not produced in every Christian’s heart. They are produced in those who are "by the Spirit walking." 2. THE SPIRIT PRODUCES CHRISTIAN SERVICE Here again, turning from human reason to Bible doctrine, we discover Christian service to be a direct exercise of the energy of the Spirit through the believer. "From within him shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit" (John 7:38-39, R.V.). Human energy could never produce "living waters," and certainly not in "rivers." This statement is keyed to the Infinite. The human, at best, could be no more than the channel, or instrument, for the divine outflow. The very service of the Christian, like his salvation, has been designed in the eternal plan and purpose of God: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). According to this passage, God hath before ordained a very special service for each individual to perform, and the doing of these particular and individual ministries constitutes "good works" according to the divine estimates. Any service other than that which was foreordained for the individual, though valuable in itself, cannot be called "good works" because it is not the personal outworking of the will of God. The discovery and realization of "good works" is not experienced by all believers, but only by those who have presented their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God; who are not "conformed to this world," but are "transformed" (transfigured) by the renewing of their minds (Romans 12:1-2). Christian service, according to the New Testament, is the exercise of a "gift." The Bible use of the word "gift" should not be confused with the world’s conception of a "gifted person." The thought of the world concerning a gifted person is of one who by physical birth, is especially able to accomplish certain things. Such natural ability the Spirit will doubtless employ; but a "gift," in the Bible use of the word, is a direct undertaking, or manifestation, of the Spirit working through the believer. It is the Spirit of God doing something, and using the believer to accomplish it; rather than the believer doing something, and calling on God for help in the task. it is the "work of the Lord" in which we are to "abound." According to the Word, the Spirit produces Christian service as He produces the graces of Christ in and through the believer. Every faculty of the human instrument will be employed in the work. That human instrument will know what it is to be weary and worn in the service. Human energy, however, could never produce the divine results which are anticipated, and the Scriptures jealously contend that true Christian service is a direct "manifestation of the Spirit": "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit." Though no two Christians are doing the same service, the Spirit produces the energy and accomplishes the individual and particular work in each. "And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh [energizes] all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every [Christian] man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh [are wrought by] that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will" (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). A "gift," then, is a "manifestation of the Spirit," or service divinely produced by the Spirit, and "as he will." Thus it is clear that there can be no exercise of a gift through an unyielded life. It is probable that the "gifts" enumerated in the Bible were the outstanding manifestations of the Spirit according to the conditions and time when the record was written. Some have proved abiding to the present hour. Other manifestations of the Spirit have evidently ceased. This is not due to failing piety after the first generation of Christians. There is no evidence of a decrease of piety. Those manifestations of the Spirit which have ceased were doubtless related to the introduction rather than the continuation of the work of the Spirit in this age. This is not without precedent: When Christ was born, a star was seen in the East, the voices of the angelic host were heard and most unusual conditions obtained. The star did not continue to shine. The angel voices were not always heard. So it was at the advent of the Spirit and the introduction of His new work in the world. That these early manifestations have ceased according to the purpose of God, has been the belief of the most devout saints of all past generations. Yet in these last days when Satan is employing every available issue to confuse and divide the Christian body, to divert their energy and prevent their testimony, there are those who demand a return to Pentecostal manifestations as the only realization of the full ministry of the Spirit. Such professing Christians are bold to condemn the spirituality of saints of all generations who have not accepted their teachings. They are evidently lacking in the knowledge and regard for those gifts which in the Scriptures are said to be of primary importance in contrast to lesser gifts. Whatever is done to revive Pentecostal manifestations should be done in view of all that is taught in 1Corinthians 14. If God is calling His people to a renewal of all the early manifestations of the Spirit, why is it confined to a little sect, when there are tens of thousands outside that group who are yielded and ready to do His will but are never led into such manifestations? If Satan is using the fact of these early manifestations of the Spirit as an occasion to confuse and divide Christians, all his supernatural power will be displayed and his most subtle deceptions will be imposed to produce what might seem to be the work of God. Many who have been delivered from these "Pentecostal" beliefs and manifestations have since found the more vital things of the Spirit and are deeply concerned for those whom they deem to be yet blinded and self-satisfied in error. Christian service is not always essential to spirituality. If it is His will for us, we are just as spiritual when resting, playing, ill or infirm as when we are active in service. Our one concern is to know and do His will; but normally, true spirituality is expressed and exercised in the ministries committed to believers and which can be accomplished only by the imparted power of God. The ministry of restoration is limited to spiritual believers only, according to Galatians 6:1: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." How many heartaches would be avoided if this plain instruction were heeded! The exact service and individual responsibility of the Christian will never be the same in any two lives and so, in a very real way, no two manifestations of the Spirit will be exactly the same. There is an individual service "foreordained" for each child of God, and there are particular "rivers of living water" to flow from each inner life. Any Christian may enter into his own "good works," since the enabling Spirit is already indwelling him; but only those who are yielded to God do enter in; for it is service according to His will. How little this great fact is appreciated! How often Christians are exhorted to expend more energy and employ all their natural powers with the hope that they may render Christian service! There is evidently a more effectual way to secure the "abiding fruit" in Christian lives. In the Scriptures we read that the "reasonable service," even the "good and acceptable and perfect will of God," is rendered when the child of God presents his whole body to God. Such yielded believers need little exhortation, for the Spirit is mighty through them, and He will employ every available faculty and resource of their lives. Other Christians who are unyielded are little changed by human appeal. Brazen courage enough to force one into fleshly undertakings is not the condition of true Christian service. The one issue is that of a yielded heart and life through which the indwelling Spirit will certainly manifest His mighty power. Spirituality is not gained by service: it is unto service. When one is truly spiritual, all effort is diverted from self struggle to real service. Spirituality is a work of God for His child: service is a work of the child for his God, which can be accomplished only in the power of the indwelling Spirit. 3. THE SPIRIT TEACHES The teaching manifestation of the Spirit in the believer is described by Christ in John 16:12-15 "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of [from] himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you." Here is a promise that the child of God may enter the highest realm of knowable truth as revealed in the Word of God. "All things that the Father hath" are included in the things of Christ and "things to come," and these form the boundless field into which the believer may be led by the divine Teacher. This storehouse of divine reality will no doubt engage our minds and hearts for ever; but Christians may be even now entering and progressing in these realms of truth and grace. "Now we have received ... the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (1 Corinthians 2:12). "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him" (1 John 2:27). Beyond all the range of human knowledge there are things "which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man; ... but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit." However, such truth is revealed by the Spirit only to spiritual Christians. To some who were truly saved the Apostle wrote: "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able" (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). This is a sad disclosure of the state of some believers. Though born again and possessing the Spirit, their carnality of life precludes them from understanding, or progressing in, the "deep things of God." Some, regardless of educational qualifications, go to the Scriptures of Truth as "those that find great spoil." His Word, to them, is "sweeter also than honey and the honey comb." To others, regardless of educational qualifications, there is no discovery and revelation of Truth. The Bible is read by these as a duty, if read at all. This is a tragedy in the realm of infinite issues. It is not alone the question of personal pleasure and profit in the marvels of divine Truth: it involves the realities of knowledge, or ignorance; obedience, or disobedience for want of understanding; power, or weakness; helpfulness, or hurtfulness in the life and testimony of the one who, because of the indwelling Spirit, might be coming to know and to impart to others something of the boundless Truth of God. No amount of human education can correct this defect. The root trouble is carnality, and when this is cured, the "eyes of the heart" will be enlightened, and the inflow of sanctifying Truth will be continuous and unbroken. "He that is spiritual discerneth all things." Christian growth and the deeper knowledge of the Truth are to be distinguished from spirituality. It is possible to be filled with the Spirit when immature in growth, experience and understanding. Christian growth is largely conditioned on the study of the Word, prayer, and service; while spirituality does not wait on these things, but is conditioned upon immediate adjustments to the Spirit. Since the Spirit is always our Teacher, it is imperative that we always remain teachable. We should be willing humbly to hear His voice through any and every instrument. 4. THE SPIRIT PROMOTES PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING Immediately following the injunction of Ephesians 5:18 to be "filled with the Spirit," there is given a description of the normal results of such a filling: "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." All things are working together for good to the child of God, and it is reasonable that he should give thanks always for all things. This can be done through the Spirit who knows the "all things" of God. The living creatures in the divine Presence cease not to cry, "Holy! Holy! Holy!" It is equally becoming the heavenly citizen that he render unbroken and endless praise and thanksgiving to God. It follows, then, that thanksgiving for all things and praise unto God are the direct products of the Spirit in the one whom He fills. These great realities are foreign to the finite heart at its best. Not all Christians experience them; but all Christians may experience them as certainly as the power has been provided through the indwelling Spirit. The value of this particular manifestation of the Spirit can scarcely be known by the human mind. Praise and thanksgiving are distinctly addressed to God. We cannot know what their full outflow may mean to Him, or what His loss may be when this manifestation is not realized in the believer’s life. "Hallelujah!" "Praise ye the Lord!" "Rejoice ever more!" 5. THE SPIRIT LEADS Since the whole discussion concerning the believer’s life in the Spirit, according to the Epistle to the Romans, is consummated in the beginning of the eighth chapter, that which follows in the chapter should be considered as being true only of those who have been adjusted to the larger life and walk in the Spirit. Three distinct manifestations of the Spirit are found in this portion of the Scriptures, and these serve to complete the whole revelation as to the exact work of the Spirit in and through the one whom He fills. In Romans 8:14 it is stated: "For as many as are led of the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." This, it may be concluded, is the normal Christian experience according to the plan and purpose of God. It is equally true that some Christians are abnormal to the extent that they are not constantly led of the Spirit; for it is said also in Galatians 5:18, "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." The walk in the Spirit, or the life that is led of the Spirit, is one of the great new realities of this age of grace; yet some believers are so far removed from this blessing that their daily lives are shaped and adapted to the order and relationships of the past dispensation. It is one of the supreme glories of this age that the child of God and citizen of heaven may live a superhuman life, in harmony with his heavenly calling, by an unbroken walk in the Spirit. The leading of the Spirit is not experienced by all in whom the Spirit dwells; for such leading must depend on a willingness to go where He, in His infinite wisdom, would have us go. (See Knowing the Will of God) 6. THE SPIRIT WITNESSETH WITH OUR SPIRIT In Romans 8:16 it is stated, "The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." The primary meaning of this Scripture is that the Spirit witnesseth with our spirits unto God. It is also clear that He witnesseth to our spirits concerning all that we have in our sonship relation to God. The witnessing work of the Spirit is mentioned again in Galatians 4:6. "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Not only does He actualize this relationship unto us, but He would actualize every great fact which we have taken by faith. "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:16-19). "And they said one to another, Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" The supreme passion of the Apostle Paul was stated in five words: "That I may know him." By this particular manifestation of the Spirit, unseen things become blessedly real. There is such a thing as "ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth." Truth must become real to us. We may know by faith that we are forgiven and justified forever: it is quite another thing to have a heart experience wherein all is as real as it is true. We may believe in our security and coming glory: it is different to feel its power in the heart. We may believe in "things to come" through the exact teaching of the Word: it is a precious experience to have it made actual to us by the Spirit that "the Lord is at hand," and that our eternal glory with Him may be but a moment removed. Such heart experience is provided in the boundless grace of God for each of His children; but only those who abide in Him can know this ecstasy of life. 7. THE SPIRIT MAKETH INTERCESSION FOR US Such a promise is recorded in Romans 8:26 and refers to a particular form of prayer. Intercession must be considered as being limited to that ministry wherein one stands between God and his fellow man. It is simply praying for others. Under those conditions, we know not what to pray for, but the Spirit helpeth our infirmities. Prayer on behalf of others is doubtless the greatest ministry committed to the child of God and a ministry for which he is, and always will be, least prepared within himself. We may become familiar with the truth we preach; but the field of intercession is new, unknown and unknowable. A few Christians have entered this boundless ministry of prayer. Not all have entered; but all Christians may enter. WHAT SPIRITUALITY IS, AND WHAT IT IS NOT It may be said in conclusion, that a spiritual Christian is a Spirit-filled Christian in whom the unhindered Spirit is manifesting Christ by producing a true Christian character, which is the "fruit of the Spirit"; by energizing true Christian service through the exercise of a "gift of the Spirit"; by personal instruction in the Word of God; by inspiring true praise and thanksgiving; by leading the believer in an unbroken "walk in the Spirit"; by actualizing into celestial heart-ecstasy that which has been taken by faith concerning the positions and possessions in Christ; and by inclining, illuminating and empowering the believer in the prayer of intercession. True spirituality is a seven-fold manifestation of the Spirit in and through the one whom He fills. It is a divine output of the life, rather than a mere cessation of things which are called "worldly." True spirituality does not consist in what one does not do, it is rather what one does. It is not suppression: it is expression. It is not holding in self: it is living out Christ. The unregenerate would not be saved if he should cease sinning: he would not be born of God. The Christian would not be spiritual if he should abstain from worldliness: he would possess none of the manifestations of the Spirit. The world and "worldly" Christians turn to so-called "worldly" things because they discover in them an anesthetic to deaden the pain of an empty heart and life. The anesthetic, which is often quite innocent in itself, is not so serious a matter as the empty heart and life. Little is gained toward true spirituality when would-be soul doctors have succeeded in persuading the afflicted to get on without the anesthetic. if these instructors do not present the reality of consolation and filling for heart and life which God has provided, the condition will not be improved. How misleading is the theory that to be spiritual one must abandon play, diversion and helpful amusement! Such a conception of spirituality is born of a morbid human conscience. It is foreign to the Word of God. It is a device of Satan to make the blessings of God seem abhorrent to young people who are overflowing with physical life and energy. It is to be regretted that there are those who in blindness are so emphasizing the negatives of the Truth that the impression is created that spirituality is opposed to joy, liberty and naturalness of expression in thought and life in the Spirit. Spirituality is not a pious pose. It is not a "Thou shall not": it is "Thou shalt." It flings open the doors into the eternal blessedness, energies and resources of God. It is a serious thing to remove the element of relaxation and play from any life. We cannot be normal physically, mentally or spiritually if we neglect this vital factor in human life. God has provided that our joy shall be full. It is also to be noted that one of the characteristics of true spirituality is that it supersedes lesser desires and issues. The Biblical, as well as practical, cure for "worldliness" among Christians is so to fill the heart and life with the eternal blessings of God that there will be a joyous preoccupation and absent-mindedness to unspiritual things. A dead leaf that may have clung to the twig through the external raging storms of Winter, will silently fall to the ground when the new flow of sap from within has begun in the Spring. The leaf falls because there is a new manifestation of life pressing from within outward. A dead leaf cannot remain where a new bud is springing, nor can worldliness remain where the blessings of the Spirit are flowing. We are not called upon to preach against "dead leaves." We have a message of the imperishable Spring. It is of the outflow of the limitless life of God. When by the Spirit ye are walking ye cannot do the things that ye otherwise would. It is the Spirit’s work to produce in the believer a life which is heavenly in character. This life is inimitable; yet it is commonly supposed that spirituality consists in struggling to observe a particular set of rules, or the imitation of a heavenly ideal. Spirituality is not gained by struggling: it is to be claimed. It is not imitation of a heavenly ideal: it is the impartation of the divine power which alone can realize the ideal. "The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." The written Word reveals the character of the spiritual life and exhorts to its fulfillment; but it as faithfully reveals that the life can be lived only by the in-wrought power of God. We are to "serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." There is little blessing for any Christian until he abandons the principle of living by rules and learns to walk by the Spirit in God-ordained liberty and in fresh and unbroken fellowship with his Lord. The divine precepts will then be kept by the power of God. SPIRITUALITY A TRIUMPH OF GRACE In 1 Corinthians 9:20-21 the Apostle classifies men in three divisions in view of their relation to the authority of God. He speaks of some who were "under the law": some who are "without law": and himself -- a representative of all believers -- as neither "under the law" (a Jewish position), nor "without law" (a Gentile position); but "under the law to Christ," which phrase is better translated, "inlawed to Christ." The Epistles abound with many and varied expressions of this latter relationship: "the law of love"; "so fulfill the law of Christ"; "if we keep his commandments"; "stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage"; "the law [the yoke of bondage] was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." The believer’s relation to the divine authority will be found in the fact that he is "inlawed to Christ." The Bible presents at least three separate and complete rules for daily living. First, The Law of Moses Every aspect of the life of an Israelite was anticipated in the law with the statutes and the ordinances. Those governing principles were in effect over Israel, and Israel only, from Moses to Christ (John 1:17). Second, The Law of the Kingdom The law of the kingdom incorporates and anticipates the principles of government in the kingdom when it shall be set up in the earth. The body of truth containing this aspect of law is found in the Prophets of the Old Testament, in the preaching of John the Baptist, and in the early teachings of Christ. It is always pure law in character; but in much finer detail. The law of Moses condemned adultery; but the law of the kingdom condemns the slightest glance of the eye. The law of Moses condemned murder; but the law of the kingdom condemns a thought of anger. While the law of Moses is a separate system from the law of the kingdom, they are alike in the one particular that they represent only pure law. Third, The Teachings of Grace There is a divine counsel for life which is addressed to saved people of this dispensation. It is the teachings of grace. Grace teachings represent a complete system for living which covers every possible contingency in the believer’s life and which is independent and separate from every other system for living which is found in the Bible. It presents heavenly standards because it is addressed to born-again heavenly people. There is much in common between these three complete and separate bodies of truth and this fact has led some to suppose that the various commands and injunctions found in all these governing codes were to be combined into one vast obligation resting upon the believer. To combine these systems, and to apply them all to the believer of this age, is to present obligations which are in themselves, at some points, contradictory and confusing, and to ignore the vital distinctions between law and grace. Grace not only presents the divine way of saving and keeping unworthy sinners: it also teaches those who are saved how they should live. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared ... teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world [age]; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:11-14). Grace teachings which anticipate all the walk and warfare of the believer will be found in portions of the Gospels and The Acts and throughout the Epistles of the New Testament. It is a complete system and requires no additions from the law. It incorporates many of the principles which were in the law, but these are always so restated as to be in exact harmony with the position and liberty of the one who is "inlawed to Christ." No Christian is under the law as a rule of life. How often this is stated in the New Testament! It is equally true that no Christian is "without law." This too is the constant theme of the Epistles. Discussions on these themes would cease if all believers understood what it means to be "inlawed to Christ." To be "inlawed to Christ" is to be under the teachings of grace with their provisions for victory. It is not difficult to dismiss the law as a rule of life when we discover that there has been provided another complete system which is in exact harmony with the positions in grace. There are two aspects of the teachings of grace which are fundamental: First, they anticipate a manner and quality of life which is superhuman. These standards are none other than "the life which is Christ." In view of the present heavenly position of the redeemed, there could be no less required of them. The Mosaic law, or the law of the kingdom, though complete in themselves as governing principles, and though perfectly fulfilling the mission assigned to them, never aimed at the reproduction of the Christ-life. Their standards, though holy, just and good, are of the earth. In the demands of the lam, there is no consideration of the most vital activities which are anticipated under grace -- prayer, a life of faith, and soul-winning service. The teachings of grace are heavenly and are as far removed from the law as heaven is higher than the earth. The teachings of grace, though presenting a much more difficult standard of living than any law, do not anticipate that the believer will attempt them in his own strength. That would plunge him still deeper into the principle of law with its utter and hopeless failures. Christ is to be perfectly manifested under grace. To this end the most minute details of heavenly conduct are given; but never apart from another and equally age-characterizing fact: Second, the new life which is "inlawed to Christ" is to be lived by the enabling power of the indwelling Spirit. As has been seen, no help was ever provided under the law. Sin had dominion over law-observers and the law condemned them. Under grace it is provided that "sin shall not have dominion over you." "If ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law." This fact that the enablement for daily life is provided in one case and is not provided in the other is the final and most important distinction between law and grace. Though not under the law as a rule of life, a Spirit-filled Christian is, however, in a position wherein he cannot do the things which he otherwise would (Galatians 5:17). This again is due to the fact that he is "inlawed to Christ." Being in the power and control of the Spirit, he cannot do the things which he otherwise would do because of the transformed desires of a heart which the Spirit has filled. The power of God is working in such a believer, "both to will and to do of his good pleasure." So, also, the Apostle prays for the Hebrews: "Now the God of peace ... make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ" (Hebrews 13:20-21). The Spirit-filled Christians are the only persons in the world who know the blessings of true liberty. Liberty means perfect freedom to do as one is prompted by his own deepest desires. Apart from the energizing power of the Spirit, this liberty may easily become the occasion for the manifestations of the flesh. "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another" (Galatians 5:13). Under grace, the normal Christian is to be Spirit-filled. Thus it is divinely intended and provided that every heart-desire of the child of God shall be prompted by the indwelling Spirit. This is the divine provision for prevailing prayer: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7). Under these definite conditions, the fullest liberty can be granted. It is thus designed that the Spirit-filled Christian is to be free to do in perfect liberty all that his heart prompts him to do; for, when Spirit-filled, he pleases only "to will and to do of his good pleasure." This is "fulfilling the law of Christ." It also fulfills, supersedes, and surpasses all that is contained in any other law. A "carnal" Christian is a violation of all the divine plan and provisions of grace. He is under grace by position only, for he is not yielded to the will and power of God. He is in a state upon which no divine favor can rest, and he is falling short of the marvels of divine grace. It should never be concluded that the life in grace is circumscribed and narrow. This is the view which is taken by both the "natural man" to whom the things of the Spirit are only "foolishness," and the "carnal" man who "cannot bear" spiritual things. Neither the "natural man" nor the "carnal" man should ever be expected to understand the triumph of the spiritual life in grace. The glory of these divine realities have too long been confuse and distorted by the opinions of such men. To be "inlawed to Christ" is to enter the door into the things which are infinite. It is like the exit of the grub from the dark confinements of the chrysalis state into the glorious sun-kissed, world-wide, heaven-high freedom of the butterfly. The butterfly needs no law to prohibit him from returning to the former state; but sadly indeed do we discover that there is the presence in us of the flesh which must be kept in all subjection by the power of God. For this victory our God is sufficient. We are told to stand fast in the blessed liberty in Christ. Our liberty consists not only in the freedom from the law, but also in the fact of the quickening and enabling power of the Spirit. Apart from whole dependence upon God we shall be entangled in fleshly efforts which is a return to the principles and requirements of the law. How important is the injunction, "Be filled with the Spirit"! How great is the contrast between human nothingness and divine sufficiency -- the one just as real as the other!Back It is possible to be born of the Spirit, baptized with the Spirit, indwelt by the Spirit, and sealed with the Spirit and yet to be without the filling of the Spirit. The first four of these ministries are already perfectly accomplished in every believer from the moment he is saved; for they depend upon the faithfulness of the Father to His child. The last of these ministries, the filling of the Spirit, has not been experienced by every Christian; for it depends on the faithfulness of the child to his Father. Spirituality is not gained in answer to prevailing prayer; for there is little Scripture to warrant the believer to be praying for the filling of the Spirit. It is the normal work of the Spirit to fill the one who is rightly adjusted to God. The Christian will always be filled while he is making the work of the Spirit possible in his life. {In a review of the first edition of this book, which appeared in The Princeton Theological Review for April, 1919, the reviewer, Dr. Benjamin B. Warfield, D.D., objects to this statement, and to all similar teachings in this book. This teaching, he points out, "subjects the gracious working of God to human determination." Is this teaching Biblical? The Scripture gives unquestionable emphasis to the sovereignty of God. God has perfectly determined what will be, and His determined purpose will be realized; for it is impossible that God should ever be surprised or disappointed. So, also, there is equal emphasis in the Scriptures upon the fact that lying between these two undiminished aspects of His sovereignty -- His eternal purpose and its perfect realization -- He has permitted sufficient latitude for some exercise of the human will. In so doing, His determined ends are in no way jeopardized. There is difficulty here, but what, in Scripture, is difficult for the finite mind to harmonize, is doubtless harmonized in the mind of God. Though it is revealed that God must impart the moving, enabling grace whereby one may believe unto salvation (John 6:44, cf. John 12:32), or whereby one may yield unto a spiritual life (Php 2:13), it is as clearly revealed that, within His sovereign purpose and power, God has everywhere conditioned both salvation and the spiritual life upon these human conditions. Both believing and yielding are presented as injunctions. The fact that "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him" is invariably true; yet it is equally true that some resourcefulness of the human will, though it be divinely enabled, is appealed to by the words, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." So, again: "This is the will of God, even your sanctification," is a revelation which is invariably true; yet it is equally true that the believer’s will is appealed to when he is besought to "yield himself unto God." One aspect of this truth without the other will lead, in the one case, to fatalism, wherein there is no place for petition in prayer, no motive for the wooing of God’s love, no ground for condemnation, no occasion for evangelistic appeal, and no meaning to very much Scripture: in the other case, it will lead to the dethroning of God. Though the will be moved upon by the enabling power of God, spirituality, according to God’s Word, is made to depend upon that divinely-enabled human choice; Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19 and 1 John 1:9 being sufficient evidence. Men are said to be "condemned" "because they have not believed" (John 3:18), and sin will reign in the Christian’s life unless the appeal is heeded: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body." To state that spirituality is made possible, on the human side, by well-defined human acts and attitudes may seem "a quite terrible expression" (to quote the reviewer) as viewed by an arbitrary theological theory; however, it is evidently Biblical. The same reviewer objects to the teaching that there is any sudden change possible from the carnal state to the spiritual state. To quote: "He who believes in Jesus Christ is under grace, and his whole course, in its process and in its issue alike, is determined by grace, and therefore, having been predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s Son, he is surely being conformed to that image, God Himself seeing to it that he is not only called and justified but also glorified. You may find Christians at every stage of this process, for it is a process through which all must pass; but you will find none who will not in God’s own good time and way pass through every stage of it. There are not two kinds of Christians, although there are Christians at every conceivable stage of advancement towards the one goal to which all are bound and at which all shall arrive." Doubtless there are varying degrees of carnality as there are varying degrees of spirituality, but the positive denial of the statement that there are two well-defined classes of believers -- "carnal" and "spiritual" -- would be better supported by conclusive exposition of a large body of Scripture in which this two-fold classification of Christians seems to be taught. In this reviewer’s mind, the change from carnality to spirituality is evidently confused with Christian growth. Christian growth is undoubtedly a process of development under the determined purpose of God which will end, with the certainty of the Infinite, in a complete likeness to Christ; but spirituality is the present state of blessing and power of the believer who, at the same time, may be very immature. A Christian can and should be spiritual from the moment he is saved. Spirituality, which is the unhindered manifestations of the Spirit in life, is provided to the full for all believers who "confess" their sins, "yield" to God, and "walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." When these conditions are complied with, the results are immediate; for no process is indicated. Jacob, an Old Testament type, was completely changed in one night. Christian experience bears unfailing testimony to two outstanding facts: (1) There is an abrupt change from the carnal to the spiritual when the Biblical conditions are met. And (2) there is an abrupt loss of spiritual blessing whenever there has been a yielding to sin.} So, also, spirituality, or the filling of the Spirit, does not depend upon patient waiting. The disciples waited ten days for the advent of the Spirit into the world, and He came as they were taught to expect. They were not waiting for their own personal filling alone; but rather for the whole new ministry of the Spirit to begin, as it did on the Day of Pentecost. When He came, all who were prepared in heart and life were instantly filled with the Spirit and no believer has had occasion to wait for the Spirit since that day. Neither prayer nor waiting, therefore, are conditions of spirituality. Of the three Biblical conditions upon which a Christian may be spiritual, or Spirit-filled, two are directly connected with the issue of sin in the believer’s daily life, and one with the yielding of the will to God. These three conditions are now to be considered. "Our blest Redeemer, ere He breathed His tender last farewell, A Guide, a Comforter, bequeathed With us to dwell. And every virtue we possess, And every victory won, And every thought of holiness, Are His alone." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 39: 04.04. GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT ======================================================================== CHAPTER IV "GRIEVE NOT THE HOLY SPIRIT" THE FIRST CONDITION OF TRUE SPIRITUALITY CHRISTIANS ARE APPOINTED to live every moment of their lives with the Holy Spirit of God. Life for them is a moment by moment vital union with One who is infinitely holy. Sin, therefore, in a Christian, is the very opposite of any true manifestation of the Spirit in the life. WHAT IT IS THAT GRIEVES THE SPIRIT Sin destroys spirituality. It is necessarily so; for where sin is tolerated in the believer’s daily life, the Spirit, who indwells him, must then turn from His blessed ministry through him, to a pleading ministry to him. The Bible does not teach that the Spirit withdraws because of sin in the one whom He indwells: He is rather grieved by the sin. A child of God lives either with a grieved or an ungrieved Spirit. It may reasonably be questioned, in the light of God’s Word, whether the saved person, having received the Spirit, ever lives by the dictates of his conscience. The standards of human conscience must give way to a standard of moral judgment which is infinitely higher. A Christian’s manner of life either grieves or does not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. The Apostle Paul writes of the fact that his conscience bore Him witness in the Holy Spirit, and it is quite probable that the Spirit uses the conscience as a human faculty; but He as certainly imparts to it the new standard of the infinite holiness of God. The injunction to the one in whom the Spirit dwells is, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). A true spiritual life must depend then, to a large degree, upon the right understanding and adjustment concerning the issues of sin in the believer’s daily life. About this God has spoken explicitly, and it will be found that the Bible teaching on the subject of the sins of Christians is twofold: (1) God has provided that the sin of His child may be prevented (See Chapter 6), and (2) He has also provided that the effect of sin, if it has been committed, may be cured. It is imperative that this two-fold classification of the purpose of God in dealing with sin in His children be recognized. THE CURE OF THE EFFECTS OF SIN IN A CHRISTIAN Having sinned, what must a Christian do? What is the divine condition for the cure of the havoc of sin in the spirituality of the believer? No attempt should be made here to name sins which hinder the Spirit. He is grieved by any, and all, sin, and He is abundantly able to convince the one in whom He dwells of the particular sin, or sins, which grieve Him. So, also, it is an issue only of known sin; for no person can deal intelligently with unknown sin. This first condition of true spirituality is centered upon definite matters. It is sin that has, by the grieving of the Spirit, become a distinct issue; for the term "grieving the Spirit" refers as much to the heart experience of the one in whom He dwells as to the personal attitude of the Spirit toward sin. The issue is, therefore, a well-defined wrong, about which the child of God has been made conscious by the Spirit. Such known sin must be dealt with according to the exact direction of the Word of God. Should spiritual darkness be experienced apart from the consciousness of any particular sin having been committed, it is the privilege of the Christian to pray for a clearer understanding. Physical conditions very often enter into the mental state and when this is true it is most misleading to suppose that a morbid or unhappy state of mind is necessarily a result of sin. If one is conscious of the fact that he is depleted in nerve strength, or is physically depressed, allowance should be made for that fact. In the Bible, the divine offer and condition for the cure of sin in an unsaved person is crystallized into one word, "believe"; for the forgiveness of sin with the unsaved is only offered as an indivisible part of the whole divine work of salvation. The saving work of God includes many mighty undertakings other than the forgiveness of sin, and salvation depends only upon believing. It is not possible to separate some one issue from the whole work of His saving grace, such as forgiveness, and claim this apart from the indivisible whole. It is, therefore, a grievous error to direct an unsaved person to seek forgiveness of his sins as a separate issue. A sinner minus his sins would not be a Christian; for salvation is more than subtraction: it is addition. "I give unto them eternal life." Thus the sin question with the unsaved will be cured as a part of, but never separate from, the whole divine work of salvation, and this salvation depends upon believing. In like manner, also, in the Bible, the divine offer and condition of cure for the effects of sin in the Christian’s life is crystallized into one word, "confess." The vital meaning of this one word and its bearing on the question of the cure of sin in a child of God is an important, though much neglected, doctrine of the Word of God. The way back to blessing for a sinning saint is the same, whether before the cross, or after the cross, and the Bible teaching on the restoration of a believer is contained in seven major passages. THE SEVEN MAJOR PASSAGES FIRST, CHRIST ALONE CAN CLEANSE FROM SIN (John 13:1-11) The fact that the sins of Christians must be cleansed by Christ alone is revealed in John 13:1-11. The passage is at the very beginning of the Upper Room Conversation. A few hours before, Christ had given His farewell address to the nation Israel; but in the upper room He is speaking His farewell words to His disciples, not as Jews, but as those who are "clean every whit. Of them He also said, "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." In this conversation He is anticipating the new conditions and relationships which were to obtain after His cross (John 16:4). It is important to note that His first teaching concerning a Christian’s present relationship to God was concerning the cleansing of defilement, thus signifying its importance in the divine estimation. The way of salvation has been revealed in the preceding chapters of this Gospel; but beginning with chapter thirteen, He is speaking to those who are saved, and speaking to them of the divine cleansing from their defilement. He arose from supper, laid aside His outer garments, girded Himself with a towel (the insignia of a servant), poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet. This is a miniature of a much larger undertaking, when He arose from the fellowship with His Father in heaven and laid aside the garments of His glory and humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, in order that we might be washed with the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5). In the larger undertaking there is the whole cleansing: in the other there is a partial cleansing which is typified by the cleansing of the feet only of the one who is otherwise "clean every whit." This twofold cleansing was also typified by the prescribed cleansing for the Old Testament priest. When he entered his ministry he was given a ceremonial bath, which was of his whole body, once for all (Exodus 29:4). Yet he was required to bathe his hands and feet at the brazen laver before every ministry and service (Exodus 30:17-21). So the New Testament believer, though once for all cleansed as to his salvation, must also be cleansed from every defilement, and Christ alone can make him clean. SECOND, CONFESSION IS THE ONE CONDITION OF FELLOWSHIP, FORGIVENESS AND CLEANSING (First John 1:1 to 2:2) 1 John 1:1-10 to 1 John 2:1-2 is the second major passage concerning the Father’s dealing with His children who have sinned. John, the expert witness with regard to the blessedness of unbroken communion and fellowship with the Father and with His Son, writes these things that we also may have fellowship. "God is light," or perfect holiness. If we should say that we have fellowship with Him and are, nevertheless, walking in darkness (sin), we lie and do not the truth. On the other hand, if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. Sinless perfection is not demanded by this passage. It is not a command for the Christian to become the light, or what God alone is: it is rather that there may be an immediate adjustment to the light which God has shed into the life by the Spirit. He has required of us confession. When He convinces us of sin, or is grieved by sin, that sin is to be dealt with at once. The passage goes on to state that there is only one condition for the cure of the effect of sin in the believer’s life: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (verse 9). It is not mercy and kindness: He is faithful and just to forgive, and it is all granted on the one condition of confession. He is "faithful" to His child; for we are dealing always and only with our Father (2:2). He is "just" because the atoning blood has been shed to cover the condemning power of every sin (John 5:24). Thus in perfect righteousness the Father’s forgiveness is exercised toward His child. Divine forgiveness is never an act of leniency. God can righteously forgive only when the full satisfaction of His holiness has been met. The root meaning of the word forgive, in the Scriptures, is remission. It represents the divine act of separating the sin from the sinner. Human forgiveness is merely a lifting of the penalty: divine forgiveness is exercised only when the penalty, according to the terms of His infinite righteousness, has first been executed on the sinner, or his Substitute. This was true in the Old Testament: "The priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him" (Leviticus 4:35). The forgiveness was possible with God, only when there had been a full atonement for sin. So in the New Testament, or after the sacrifice has been made at the cross for us, we are told that the blood of Christ has become the sufficient atonement for our sins. "This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28). All divine forgiveness whether toward the unsaved or the saved, is now based on the shed blood of Christ. His blood answers the last demand of a holy God. When we were saved He forgave us "all trespasses" (Colossians 2:13). This is judicial forgiveness and means the removal of the grounds of condemnation forever. There is still parental forgiveness to be exercised toward the sinning child. It is not exercised in order to rescue the child from destruction and condemnation; but it is exercised in order to restore him from a state wherein he is out of fellowship, into the full blessing of communion with the Father and with His Son. It is wholly within the family circle and the restoration is unto the full enjoyment of those blessings. It is not restoration to sonship, -- of that the Bible knows nothing. It is restoration to fellowship. The defilement of a Christian may be forgiven and cleansed on the one condition of a confession which is prompted by true heart-repentance. We are not forgiven our sins because we ask to be forgiven. It is when we confess our sins that we are forgiven. It will not do to substitute prayer for confession, though prayer may be the means of expressing a true sorrow for sin. Multitudes are praying for forgiveness who have made no confession of their sin. There is no Scripture for the child of God under grace which justifies such a substitution. The truth embodied in this passage cannot apply to unsaved people. They are forgiven as a part of their whole salvation when they believe. The child of God is forgiven when he makes a full confession. THIRD, SELF-JUDGMENT SAVES FROM CHASTISEMENT (1 Corinthians 11:31-32) The third major passage related to the cure of the effects of sin in the believer’s life is found (without reference to the important context) in 1 Corinthians 11:31-32 "For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." The important additional revelation gained from this passage, is in the order it discloses. The Father is here seen to be waiting for the self-judgment, or confession, of His sinning child; but if the child will not judge himself by a full confession of his sin, then the Father must judge him. When the child is thus judged by the Father, he is chastened. This, it should be noted, is with a definite purpose in view: "That we should not be condemned with the world." There may be chastisement for the child of God; but there can be no condemnation. His wonderful grace as a Father is seen in His willingness to wait until His child has judged himself; but as a righteous Father, He cannot pass over the unconfessed sin of His child. If self-judgment is neglected, He must administer chastisement. FOURTH, CHASTISEMENT IS THE FATHER’S CORRECTION AND TRAINING OF HIS SINNING CHILD (Hebrews 12:3-15) The central passage in the Bible on chastisement is found in Hebrews 12:3-15 and should be included as one of the major passages upon the cure of the effect of sin in a Christian’s life. By this Scripture we understand that chastisement is the Father’s correction of every child; for He has said, "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth," and, in chastisement, "God dealeth with you as with sons." Such correction as is accomplished by chastisement has in view "that we might be partakers of his holiness." (See On the Divine side) Chastisement is more than correction and punishment. The meaning of the word includes training and development. It therefore may be administered by the Father for the teaching, refining and training of the child. Light is given us in God’s revelation as to what general form His chastisement may take. It is reasonable to conclude that the Father deals individually with His children and that His ways are manifold. In 1 Corinthians 11:30 we read concerning the judgments of the Father because of sin in His children: "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." Weakness, sickliness and even death may then be included within those means which the Father may employ with His unyielding child. It must not be concluded that all weakness, sickliness and death among believers is a chastisement from God. The passage teaches that chastisement may take these particular forms. In John 15:1-17 there is teaching concerning the importance of abiding in Christ. This is but another term meaning the life of true spirituality. In this Scripture some of the results of not abiding in Christ are disclosed. The branch that does not bear fruit is lifted up out of its place. It does not cease to be a branch; but is evidently taken from this relationship to be "with the Lord." This statement corresponds with the statement that "many sleep." Failure to abide in Christ results, also, in loss of effectiveness in prayer, loss of power in fruit-bearing and service, and loss of joy and fellowship in the Lord. (See CHRIST THE PATTERN) The very weight of the hand of God may be exceedingly heavy. David describes his experience when he "kept silence" or refused to acknowledge his sin: "When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and my iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgression unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found" (Psalms 32:3-6). The weight of the hand of God is like an unceasing ache of the soul. It is none other than a grieved Spirit; but His loving hand may be still heavier in correction if we fail to say as did David: "I acknowledge my sin unto thee." (See all of Chapter 4.) FIFTH, AN EXAMPLE OF CHRISTIAN REPENTANCE (2 Corinthians 7:8-11) In 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 an example of true sorrow for sin on the part of a Christian is recorded. The Apostle, in his first letter to the Corinthians, has been used of the Spirit to convince them of sin, and in this fifth major passage we are given an account of their sorrow for sin and the effect of this sorrow in their lives. Much light is here given on the transforming effect of repentance and confession in a Christian’s life. The passage follows: "For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold the self-same thing, that ye sorrowed with a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge!" Such is the transforming power and abiding effect of true repentance and confession in the life of a believer. SIXTH, THE REPENTANCE, CONFESSION AND RESTORATION OF AN OLD TESTAMENT SAINT (Psalms 51:1-19) As recorded in Psalms 51:1-19, David is the outstanding example of true repentance and confession on the part of an Old Testament saint. In the Scriptures his sin is laid bare and with it his broken and contrite heart. He was saved (howbeit under the Old Testament relationships); for he prayed, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation." He did not pray, restore unto me my salvation. He knew that his salvation, which depended only on the faithfulness of God, had not failed. He was pleading for a return of the joy which had been lost through sin. He had lost his testimony as well. Anticipating his restoration he said, "Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee." Being saved, even though of the Old Testament order, David’s way back to God was by way of confession. There are portions of this major passage which, although true of an Old Testament saint, could not be rightly applied to a Christian in this new dispensation of Grace. We need never pray, "And take not thy Holy Spirit from me"; for He has come to abide. So, also, we need not plead for forgiveness and restoration. Since the blood has been shed on the cross, the blessings of forgiveness and cleansing are instantly bestowed through the faithfulness and justice of God upon the believer who makes a full confession. SEVENTH, THE THREEFOLD ILLUSTRATIVE PARABLE IN THE GOSPELS (Luke 15:1-32) The last of the seven major passages bearing on the cure of the effects of sin upon the spiritual life of a saint, whether of the Old Testament, or the New, is found in Luke 15:1-32. This portion of the Scriptures contains one parable in three parts. It is of a lost sheep, a lost piece of silver, and a lost son. Though three incidents are told, there is but one underlying purpose. The particular value of this passage, in the present connection, is in its revelation of the divine compassion as seen in the restoration of a sinning saint. It is the unveiling of the Father’s heart. The emphasis falls upon the shepherd, rather than upon the sheep; upon the woman, rather than upon the lost piece of silver; and upon the father, rather than upon either son. In considering this passage, it must be borne in mind that what is here recorded is under the conditions which obtained before the cross. It, therefore, has to do primarily with Israel. They were the covenant people of the Old Testament, "the sheep of his pasture," and their position as such was unchanged until the new covenant was made in His blood. Being covenant people, they could return to the blessings of their covenant, if those blessings had been lost through sin, on the grounds of repentance and confession. This, according to the Scriptures and as has been seen, is true of all covenant people. Israel’s covenants are not the same in character as "the new covenant made in his blood"; but the terms of restoration into the blessings of the covenant are the same in the one case as in the other. The fact of the covenant abides through the faithfulness of God; but the blessings of the covenant may be lost through the unfaithfulness of the saint. The blessing is regained, too, not by forming another covenant, but by restoration into the unchanging privileges of the original covenant. The threefold parable is about Israelites and was addressed to them. Whatever application there may be in the parable to Christians under the new covenant is possible only on the ground of the fact that the way of restoration by repentance and confession is common to both covenants. In the parable, therefore, we have a picture of the heart of God toward any and all of His covenant people when they sin. The parable opens thus: "Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." Here is the key to all that follows. "Publicans and sinners" were not Gentiles. Publicans were Israelites under the covenant "made unto the fathers" who had turned traitor to their nation to the extent of becoming tax-gatherers for Rome. "Sinners" were Israelites under the same covenant who had failed to present the sacrifices for sin as prescribed by the law of Moses. An Israelite was counted "blameless" before the law when he had provided the required offerings. Thus Paul could say of himself concerning his former position as a Jew under the law: "Touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." The Apostle is not claiming sinless perfection: he is testifying to the fact that he had always been faithful in providing the sacrifices prescribed in the law of Moses. The Pharisees and scribes were Israelites who gave their whole lives to the exact fulfillment of the law of Moses. Paul was a Pharisee, "an Hebrew of the Hebrews." These men were not Christians and should not be judged as such. There is little in common here with Christians. These Israelites were blameless through the animal sacrifices which anticipated the death of Christ. Christians are blameless through faith in the blood of Christ which has already been shed. One is a justification by works, on the human side; the other is a justification by faith concerning a finished work of God. The Pharisees and scribes murmured when they saw that Jesus received publicans and sinners and ate with them. He, therefore, spoke this parable unto them. The parable is explicitly addressed to murmuring Pharisees and scribes rather than to everybody, anywhere. And there can be little understanding of the truth contained in it unless the plain purpose for which it is told is kept in mind. In turning to an interpretation of the parable, some consideration must be given to the well-nigh universal impression that this parable is a picture of salvation. While it is a blessed picture of the heart of God, it most evidently had to do with restoration rather than regeneration. The first division of the parable is of a man who had an hundred sheep. "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?" This is not a picture of ninety-nine sheep and one goat: it is of one hundred sheep, and "sheep," according to the Scriptures, are always covenant people. Israelites were sheep, so, also, are the Christians of this dispensation. Jesus, when speaking of those to be saved through His death, said to the Jews: "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold" (John 10:16). Another important distinction should be noted in this parable: The sheep, the piece of silver and the son were "lost"; but they were lost in such a way as that they needed to be "found." This is hardly the same as being lost in such a way as needing to be saved. The Biblical use of the word "lost" has at least these two widely different meanings. "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost"; but in all three parts of this parable, it is seeking and finding, rather than seeking and saving. The word "saved," it should be observed, does not once appear in this parable. Should this parable be accepted as a teaching in regard to salvation, there is no escaping the error of "universalism"; for this Shepherd seeks until He finds that which is lost. The passage, on the other hand, presents a blessed unfolding of the heart of God toward His wandering child who needs to be found rather than to be saved. "Ninety and nine" who are safe in the fold to one that is lost is a poor picture of the proportions which have always existed between the saved and unsaved. Were the parable to teach the salvation of a sinner, far better would it have been had it presented "ninety and nine" who were lost to one that was safe in the fold. The parable continues: "And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." The sinner here referred to can be none other than one of the covenant sinners of the first verse of the passage and concerning whom the parable was told. He, being a covenant person, is here pictured by the Spirit as returning on the grounds of repentance, rather than being saved on the grounds of saving faith. So, again, we could hardly find any class of persons within the church corresponding to the "ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance." Such a case was possible, nevertheless, under the law of Moses, the Apostle Paul being a good example. The very Pharisees and scribes to whom the parable was addressed were of that class. Within the outward demands of the law of Moses, they needed no repentance. Repentance, which means a change of mind, is a vital element in our present salvation; but it is now included in the one act of believing; for fully one hundred and fifty passages in the New Testament condition our present salvation on believing, or its synonym, faith. The Gospel by John, written especially that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ and that believing we might have life through His name, does not once use the word "repentance." The unsaved today are saved through believing, which evidently includes such repentance as can be produced by those who are "dead in trespasses and sins." Repentance means a change of mind and no one can believe on Christ as his Saviour and not have changed his mind with respect to his sin, his lost condition and the placing of his saving trust in the One who is "mighty to save." The second division of the parable is of the woman and the lost piece of silver. It is the same story of seeking and finding that which was lost. The special emphasis in this division of the parable falls on the joy of the one who finds. It is the joy of the One in whose presence the angels are. The story, again, is of a repenting sinner, rather than of a believing sinner. The third division of the parable is of "A certain man." This story is evidently told to reveal the heart of the father. Incidentally he had two sons, and one of them was a "publican and sinner, and the other a "Pharisee and scribe." One left the blessings of his father’s house (but did not cease to be a son): the other murmured when the sinner was restored. No greater depths of degradation could be pictured to a Jewish mind than to be found in a field feeding swine. Here we have the Lord declaring, in the terms of His own time and people, that a wandering son may return by confession, even from the lowest depths of sin. It was there, in that field with the swine, that the son "came to himself" and purposed to return to his father with a confession, which is only the normal expression of a true heart-repentance. There is no mention of regeneration. Nothing is said of faith, apart from which no soul could hope to be saved into sonship. He was a son and returned to his father as a son. The sentiment, that an unsaved person, when turning to Christ, is "returning home" as is sometimes expressed in sermons and gospel songs, is foreign to the teachings of the Word of God. Sons, who have wandered away, may return home, and, being lost in the state of wandering, may be found. This could not apply to one who has never been a child of God. Such are certainly lost but need rather to be saved. In this dispensation, unsaved people may turn to God, but they do not return to God. When the returning son was a great way off the father saw him and had compassion on him and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. The father saw him because he was looking that way. He had not ceased to look since the hour the son departed. Such is the picture of the Father’s heart, expressed, as well, in the searching both by the shepherd and by the woman. All righteousness would require that this returning boy be punished most severely. Had he not dishonored the father’s name? Had he not squandered his father’s substance? Had he not brought himself to ruin? But he was not punished. The fact that he was not punished unfolds to us of this dispensation the blessed truth that, because of the work of Christ on the cross, the Father can and will receive His child without punishment. The terms of restoration are only a broken-hearted confession. The guilt of the sin has fallen on Another in our stead. The confession of this son was first toward heaven and then to his father. This is the true order of all confession. It must be first to God and then to those who would be wronged by the withholding of our confession. Great is the power of a broken-hearted confession. No one would believe that the wandering son, after having been restored, and after resting again in the comforts of that fellowship and home, would immediately ask his father for more of his goods that he might return to the life of sin. Such action would be wholly inconsistent with the heart-broken confession he has made. True confession is real and transforming in its power (see 2 Corinthians 7:11). He was a son during all the days of his absence from home. Had he died in the field with the swine, he would have died as a son. So far as this illustrates the estate of a sinning Christian, it may be concluded from this and all the Scriptures on this subject, that an imperfect Christian, such as we all are, would be received into the heavenly home at death, though he suffers loss of all rewards and much joy, and though, when he meets his Lord face to face he is called upon there to make his hitherto neglected confession. From these seven major passages it may be concluded that the cure of the effects of sin on the spiritual life of a child of God is promised to the one who in repentance of heart makes a genuine confession of his sin. Sin is always sin in the sight of God. It is no less sin because it is committed by a Christian, nor can it be cured in any case other than through the redemption which is in Christ. It is because the redemption-price has already been paid in the precious blood of Christ that God can save sinners who only believe and restore saints who only confess. Not one degree of the punishment that fell upon our Substitute can ever fall on saint or sinner. Since Christ bore it all for us, believing or confessing is all that can righteously be demanded. Until confession is made by the one who has sinned, he is contending for that which is evil and thus is at disagreement with the Father. "Two cannot walk together except they be agreed." God cannot agree with sin. The child can agree with the Father and this is true repentance which is expressed in true confession. Repentance is a change of mind. By it we turn from sin unto God. The blessing does not depend upon sinless perfection: it is a matter of not grieving the Spirit. It is not an issue concerning unknown sin: it is an attitude of heart that is willing always instantly to confess every known sin. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The Christian who fully confesses all known sin will have removed one, if not all, of the hindrances to the fullest manifestation of the Spirit. "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 40: 04.05. QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT ======================================================================== CHAPTER V "QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT" THE SECOND CONDITION OF TRUE SPIRITUALITY "QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT" (1 Thessalonians 5:19) is another explicit command to the believer concerning his relation to the One who indwells him. WHAT IS IT THAT QUENCHES THE SPIRIT? The Spirit is "quenched" by any unyieldedness to the revealed will of God. It is simply saying "no" to God, and so is closely related to matters of the divine appointments for service; though the Spirit may be "quenched" as well, by any resistance of the providence of God in the life. The word "quench," when related to the Spirit, does not imply that He is extinguished, or that He withdraws: it is rather the act of resisting the Spirit. The Spirit does not remove His presence. He has come to abide. According to the Scriptures, the believer’s responsibility in realizing true spirituality is again crystallized into one crucial word, "yield." "But yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Romans 6:13). Such an attitude of heart toward the will of God becomes those who "are alive from the dead," and any other attitude is no less than rebellion in the family and household of God. Our Father is never mistaken. His will is always infinitely best. Therefore we must not "quench the Spirit." We must not say "no" to God. When we have entered heaven by His grace, and have gained the larger vision and understanding of that sphere, we shall look back over our pilgrim pathway on the earth and have either joy, or regret, as we contemplate the life we have lived. There is a life of no regrets. It consists in having done the will of God. That divine plan and purpose will be recognized through all eternity as that which was God’s very best for us. THE YIELDED LIFE To be yielded to Him is to allow Him to design and execute the position and effectiveness of our life. He alone can do this. Of all the numberless paths in which we might walk, He alone knows which is best. He alone has power to place our feet in that path and to keep them there, and He alone has love for us that will never cease to prompt Him to do for us all that is in His wisdom, power and love to do. Truly the life is thrice blessed that learns to yield to the will of God. Nothing could be more misdirected than a self-directed life. In our creation God has purposely omitted any faculty, or power, of self-direction. "O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jeremiah 10:23). It is the divine plan that the element of guidance shall be supplied in us by God Himself. One of the results of the Adamic fall is the independence of the human will toward God; yet man is most spiritual and most conformed to the design of his Maker when he is most yielded to the divine will. What greater evidence of the fall do we need than that we must struggle to be yielded to Him? How much we feel we have gained when we can say, "Thy will, not mine be done." It is because our daily life will be helpless and a failure apart from the leading of the Spirit, and because the Spirit has come to do this very work, that we cannot be rightly adjusted to Him, or be spiritual, until we are yielded to the mind and will of God. A full dedication of our bodies to be a "living sacrifice" is the "reasonable service" and is an issue of first importance for the child of God. Following the doctrinal statement of the twofold work of God for us in our salvation, as recorded in Romans, chapters 1-8, and after the dispensational portion of the Epistle concerning Israel, the message of the book turns at chapter 12 to an appeal for the manner of life that becomes one who has been thus saved from the guilt of sin and for whom salvation has been provided from the power of sin. It is at the very beginning of this great portion of the Scriptures that this practical appeal is made. The passage states: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present [the same word as ’yield,’ in Romans 6:13] your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed [transfigured] by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." The words "I beseech you" are far removed from being a command. It is a pleading for that manner of life which becomes the children of God. It is not something that we must do to be saved: it is something we should do because we are saved. The first exhortation in this practical portion of this Epistle of salvation is for dedication of the whole body as a living sacrifice. This should not be called "consecration"; for consecration is an act of God. The believer may lay down, yield, or dedicate; but God must take up and apply what is presented. That is consecration. Again, there is little Scripture to warrant a supposed "reconsecration." We cannot partly choose the will of God as the rule of our lives. We have not chosen to do His will until we have really become willing to do His will. True dedication, therefore, does not call for a reconsecration to God. There is no mention here of some particular service that might be made an issue of willingness. it is only self-dedication to whatsoever God may choose for us, now, or ever. Such is our "reasonable service," if it is "holy and acceptable unto God." When we are not conformed to this world and when we are transfigured by the renewing of our minds, we will make full proof in our lives of "that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God" for us. Thus yieldedness is presented as the first and all-important issue for the one that is saved. Following in this portion of the Scriptures there is much teaching about service; but even the appeal for service could be of no avail until there has been a presentation of the whole body as a living sacrifice. CHRIST THE PATTERN One of the human perfections of the Lord Jesus was His complete yieldedness to the will of His Father. The Scriptures bear abundant testimony to this. In Hebrews 10:5-7 we have the record: "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me), to do thy will, O God." He was yielded to His Father’s will. His yieldedness included even His human body ("but a body hast thou prepared me"), the sacrifice of which was to give value to every acceptable animal sacrifice that had gone before, and to supersede any attempted sacrifice that might follow. When He was nearing His cross He said: "Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." Again, it is recorded of Him in Psalms 22:1-8 that He said to His Father: "But thou art holy," and this He said at the darkest hour of His crucifixion when He was crying, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Yet again, in Php 2:8, we are told that He "became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." The absolute yieldedness of the Son to do the Father’s will is not only the supreme example of a normal attitude of a child of God toward his Father, but such an attitude is to be imparted and maintained in the believer’s heart by the Spirit, after the first act of dedication has been accomplished. The following passage is an exhortation to this end: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Php 2:5). The first word of this passage is most illuminating; for in this little word "let" is compressed the whole Bible teaching concerning the believer’s responsibility toward the possible manifestation of Christ in the daily life by the Spirit. We could not produce such a manifestation; but we can "let" it be done in us by Another. The issue, it is clear, is not that of resolving to do anything: it is rather that of an attitude of willingness that Another may do according to the last degree of His blessed will. Then, lest we might not realize the exact character of the mind of Christ which we are to "let" be reproduced in us and might be unprepared for the out-working of those particular elements in our daily life, an explicit and detailed description of the elements of "the mind of Christ" is recorded. These elements are fundamental: "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him" (verses 6-9). It should be noted that these particulars which taken together form the "mind of Christ" are not mentioned merely to relate facts about Jesus Christ: they are presented that we may be fully aware of just what is to be reproduced in us, and just what we are to "let" Him do in us and through us. The divinely produced manifestation in the believer’s life will be "the mind of Christ"; but this, we are assured from all Scripture, is wrought by the power of the Spirit. "For to me to live is Christ." That is an effect. The cause is the power of the Spirit of God. Out of much that the passage reveals, at least three things may be mentioned: First, Christ was willing to go where His Father chose. He was at home in the glory. It was His native environment; but He came into this world with a mission and message of grace. "God had an only Son and He was a foreign missionary." Such was His Father’s will for Him, and His attitude may be expressed by the familiar words: "I’ll go where You want me to go, dear Lord." Second, Christ was willing to be whatever His Father chose. "He made Himself of no reputation." He was not only willing to lay aside the garments of His glory, but He was willing, as well, to be set at naught, to be spit upon and to be crucified. That was the Father’s will for Him and His attitude may be expressed in the words: "I’ll be what You want me to be." Third, Christ was willing to do whatever His Father chose. He became obedient unto death, and in so doing, His attitude may again be expressed in the words: "I’ll do what You want me to do." (See Knowing The Will of God) Many sing the words of the hymn above quoted who may never have faced the question of a positive surrender to the will of God. There can be no true spirituality until this surrender is made. But when it is done, God imparts the sufficient power for the realization of all His will. This passage closes with these words: "For it is God which worketh [energizes] in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Thus He undertakes and continues the flow of every spiritual reality in the life that is normally adjusted to Him (Galatians 3:3). Our Lord when dealing with this great theme of the Christian’s responsibility in being wholly yielded to God, spoke of it as abiding in Him (John 15:1-17). The results of an abiding life are threefold: (1) Prayer is effectual: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you"; (2) Joy is celestial: "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full"; (3) Fruit is perpetual: "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain." These results include all that is vital in a spiritual life and are conditioned by Christ upon obedience to all that He has said: "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love." Abiding, then, is simply yielding to the known will of our Lord, just as He was yielded to His Father’s will. A yieldedness to the will of God is not demonstrated by some one particular issue: it is rather a matter of having taken the will of God as the rule of one’s life. To be in the will of God is simply to be willing to do His will without reference to any particular thing He may choose. It is electing His will to be final, even before we know what He may wish us to do. It is, therefore, not a question of being willing to do some one thing: it is a question of being willing to do anything, when, where and how, it may seem best in His heart of love. It is taking the normal and natural position of childlike trust which has already consented to the wish of the Father even before anything of the outworking of His wish is revealed. This distinction cannot be over-emphasized. It is quite natural to be saying: "If He wishes me to do something, let Him tell me and I will then determine what I will do." To a person in such an attitude of heart He reveals nothing. There must be a covenant relationship of trust in which His will is assented to once for all and without reservation. Why should it not be so? Might not our reluctance sometimes be stated in the words, "I know thee, hard taskmaster!" Is He a hard taskmaster? Is there any hope whatsoever that we of ourselves might be wise enough to choose what is best if we keep the directing of our lives in our own hands? Will the Father, whose love is infinite, impose upon His child? Or will He ever be careless? We make no promise that we will not sin or violate the will of God when we yield to Him. We do not promise to change our own desires. The exact human attitude has been expressed in the words: "I am willing to be made willing to do His will." Let it be stated again that this question, so simple in itself, instantly becomes complicated when related to any concrete issue of obedience. It is the question only of the will of God in the abstract in which we have the assurance that in every detail He will work in us that which is well pleasing in His sight. He will work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. We may experience long waiting to ascertain what His will may be; but when it is clearly revealed, there can be no room for debate in the heart that would not quench the Spirit. Back to link*Return to top KNOWING THE WILL OF GOD There is often a desire to understand more fully just how we may know the will of God. To this it may be answered: First, His leading is only for those who are already committed to do as He may choose. To such it may be said: "God is able to speak loud enough to make a willing soul hear." Second, The divine leading will always be according to the Scriptures. To His Word we may always go with prayerful expectation; yet it is most perilous to treat the Bible as a magic lottery. We do not learn the meaning of a passage by "casting lots." We do not find out the will of God from the Bible by opening the Book and abiding by the sentiment of the first verse we may chance to read. It is not a matter of chance, nor is our relation to His Word so superficial that we may expect to find His blessed mind for us by blindly reading one chance verse. We are to study and know the Scriptures that every word of His testimony may instruct us. Third, He does not lead His children by any rules whatsoever. No two of His children will be led alike and it is most probable that He will never lead any one of His children twice in exactly the same way. Therefore rules are apt to be misleading. True spirituality consists in a life which is free from law and which is lived, to the minutest detail of individuality, by the power of the Spirit. Fourth, The divine leading is by the Spirit who indwells the Christian. It follows, therefore, that true leading, in this dispensation, will be more by an inner consciousness than by outward signs. After we have faithfully met the conditions for a spiritual life, we have "the mind of the Spirit." He is both able to convince us of what is wrong and to impart a clear conviction as to what is right. Because of our present unique relation to the Spirit, it is hardly necessary, or wise, to depend much on "fleeces" or a "pillar of cloud"; though sometimes He may lead through these external things. It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. We must learn the reality of the indwelling Spirit and what it means to "walk" in Him. To be guided by the Spirit is to be moved through the most delicate relationships the heart can know. The "bit and bridle" must give way to the glance of the eye (Psalms 32:8-9). At this point Satan, appearing as "an angel of light," will seek to confuse the mind by presenting his counterfeits of the leading of God. Every Christian should be aware of this danger. To misdirect the believer’s life, Satan makes use of a morbid conscience, a mistaken impression as to duty, or a lack of understanding as to the exact teachings of God’s Word. However Satan’s leadings are to be detected since they are irksome, painful, and disagreeable. The leading of the Spirit is sweet and satisfying to the heart of the one who is yielded to God. We must remember that the will of God is said to be "good," "acceptable," and "perfect" (Romans 12:2), and that when we are walking with Him, He works in us "both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Php 2:13). He it is Who is working in us "that which is wellpleasing in his sight" (Hebrews 13:21). On the divine side, the yielding of the human will is seen to be imperative. The Father cannot suffer rebellion in His household, nor can He realize His blessed designs for His child until His judgment is freely acknowledged to be best. There is a distinction to be noted between chastisement for correction, which may often be repeated, and the once for all "scourging" which every son must receive (Hebrews 12:6) One is unto correction as often as it is needed; but the other is the once for all conquering of the human will. When our will is thus conquered, it does not follow that our will is weakened in relationships with our fellow men. The will has been yielded to God. How simple all this might be; yet what years of scourging many have suffered only because they would not be normal in relation to the mind of God for them! Not all affliction is to be counted as scourging. When it is scourging, we shall be conscious of our own stubbornness in not yielding. There need be no uncertainty concerning this matter. Yielding to the mind and will of God is a definite act which opens the gate into the divinely appointed path, wherein we may walk in all fellowship and service with Christ. A child of God cannot consider himself to be in the appointed path if, within the range of his understanding of himself, he has no consciousness that he is subject to the will of God. "I came not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me" was the pattern of yieldedness as revealed in Christ. It is recorded of Christ in Psalms 40:6 that He said to His Father: "Mine ears hast thou opened" (literally, bored). This is doubtless a reference to the law of the bond-servant who, having been set free, yielded himself to his master forever (Exodus 21:5-6). "And that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again" (2 Corinthians 5:15). WHAT IS A SACRIFICIAL LIFE? The highest motive for yielding to the will of God is not the mere desire for victory in life, or for power, or blessing. It is that we may live the sacrificial life which is the Christ life. Sacrificial does not mean painful; it is simply doing Another’s will. Some pain may be in the path; but the prevailing note is joy, and the blessing of the heart is peace. Every child of God, then, must definitely yield to the will of God. Not concerning some one issue of the daily life; but as an abiding attitude toward God. Apart from that there can be no true spirituality and no escape from the Father’s scourging hand; for He cannot, and will not, suffer His child to live on without the priceless blessings that His love is longing to bestow. Satan’s sin against God in the primal glory was a fivefold expression of the two defiant words: "I will" (Isaiah 14:13-14), and every unyielded life is perpetuating the crime of Satan. To be spiritual we must not say "no" to God. "Quench not the Spirit." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 41: 04.06. WALK IN THE SPIRIT ======================================================================== CHAPTER VI "WALK IN THE SPIRIT" THE THIRD CONDITION OF TRUE SPIRITUALITY TRUE SPIRITUALITY also depends upon a positive attitude of reliance upon the presence and power of the indwelling Spirit. The two previously mentioned conditions have been negative in character. They represent things the believer, to be spiritual, must not do. He must not grieve the Spirit by retaining unconfessed any known sin. He must not quench the Spirit by saying "no" to God. The third, and last, condition is positive in character. It is something the believer, to be spiritual, must do. WHAT IS MEANT BY "WALK IN THE SPIRIT"? There are several passages of Scripture in which this vital issue appears; but it is, perhaps most directly stated in Galatians 5:16 "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." The passage is better rendered: "This I say then, By means of the Spirit be walking, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." The child of God has no power within himself whereby he can enter, promote, or maintain a "walk in the Spirit." This Scripture, when rightly rendered, does not make the impossible demand upon a Christian that he, in his own strength, is to accomplish a "walk in the Spirit." It is rather revealed that the Spirit will do the walking in the Christian. The human responsibility is that of a whole dependence upon the Spirit. Walking by means of the Spirit is simply walking by a definite reliance upon the ability and power of the One who indwells. The same truth, though differently presented, is stated in verse 18: "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." In no sense does the believer lead, or direct, the Spirit. He can, however, be dependent on the Spirit, and this is his exact responsibility as revealed in this passage. The third condition of true spirituality is, then, an unbroken reliance upon the Spirit to do what He has come to do and what He alone can do. Such is the Father’s provision that sin may be prevented in the life of His child. The results of the outworking of this divine provision are beyond our powers of estimation: "Ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." It is often the "beginning of days" in a Christian’s life when he really believes and heeds the Word of God enough to be made aware of his own limitations, and seriously considers the exact revelation as to what he of himself can or cannot do, and what the Spirit who indwells him has come to do. We seldom attempt to do the work we have engaged another to do. We naturally rely on the person we have engaged to do it. Have we ever learned to depend on the Spirit for anything? Are we intelligently counting on the Spirit to undertake those particular things which, according to the Scriptures, He is appointed to do? Do we really believe we are just as helpless as His Word declares us to be? Do we really believe He is able and waiting to do every thing we cannot do? Having begun in the Spirit, so far as the divine undertaking in salvation is concerned, are we now to be perfected by the flesh? In meeting the impossible issues of a true Christian life, are we consciously living upon a works-principle, or upon a faith-principle? The Bible emphatically declares the believer to be upon a faith-principle when he is really within the plan of God for his daily life. These uncomplicated teachings are on the pages of God’s Book and an attentive Christian can hardly avoid them. The God-honoring quality of life is always the divine objective in the believer’s daily life. Its realization is never by a human resolution or struggle or the resources of the flesh: it is by "fighting the good fight of faith." There is a wide difference between "fighting" to do what God alone can do, and "fighting" to maintain an attitude of dependence on Him to do what He alone can do. The child of God has an all-engaging responsibility of continuing in an attitude of reliance upon the Spirit. This is the point of his constant attention. This is his divinely appointed task and place of co-operation in the mighty undertakings of God. The locomotive engineer will accomplish little when pushing his ponderous train. He is not appointed to such a service. His real usefulness will begin when he takes his place at the throttle. The important conflict in the believer’s life is to maintain the unbroken attitude of reliance upon the Spirit. Thus, and only thus, can the Spirit possess and vitalize every human faculty, emotion and choice. It is in every sense the Christian’s own life which is lived and his only consciousness will be that of the use of his own faculties: but all these will be empowered by the Spirit as they otherwise could not be. The empowering work of the Spirit does not set aside the normal functions of the human soul and spirit. He works through unto fullness of power which realizes the blessed will of God. "If by means of the Spirit ye are walking, ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." "Faith is the victory that overcomes the world." Rationalism is directly opposed to faith. There are those who rebel at the teaching that salvation is by faith alone. They rebel either because they do not know, or do not believe, the Word of God. There are those, likewise, who rebel at the teaching that an unbroken victory in the believer’s daily life is by faith alone, and this, too, is either because they do not know, or do not believe, the Scriptures. The doctrine concerning a divinely produced sanctity of life does not rest upon one or two proof texts. It is one of the great themes, if not the most extensive, theme in the Epistles; for not only is the doctrine taught at length, but every injunction to the Christian is based upon the exact principles revealed in the doctrine. It is one of the most vital elements in the age-characterizing provisions in grace. THREE REASONS FOR RELIANCE UPON THE SPIRIT The Bible assigns at least three outstanding causes which hinder spirituality in the child of God, making necessary implicit and constant reliance upon the indwelling Spirit: (1) "The world," or the opposite of the heavenly standards; (2) "The flesh," or that within the Christian which opposes the Spirit by "lusting" against the Spirit; and (3) "The devil," who opposes every plan and purpose of God. These are now to be taken up more at length, but in a different order: FIRST, THE IMPOSSIBLE HEAVENLY STANDARD OF LIFE IN CONTRAST TO THE STANDARDS OF THE WORLD God has but one Book and that Book includes all people of every dispensation. In it we find His will and purpose for Israel in the age before the cross, and His will and purpose for Israel and all the Gentile nations in the age to come. So, also, we find His will and purpose for the heavenly people of the present dispensation. The children of Israel were redeemed and delivered out of Egypt and He gave to them their rule of life which should govern them in their land. These particular rules were never addressed to any other people than Israel, and these rules addressed to Israel made their appeal to the "natural man." They ceased to be in effect, as the required rule of life, after the death of Christ (John 1:17; Romans 6:14; 2 Corinthians 3:1-13; Galatians 5:18). There is also revealed a rule of life which is to govern Israel when she is regathered and reestablished in her own land under the earth-wide rule of her Messiah King. His reign will be legal in character, or of the character of the law. Its principles are stated and anticipated by the prophets of the Old Testament and are also further revealed by passages in the New Testament. The Bible also contains a rule of life which applies to the heavenly citizens of the present dispensation, who, though heavenly in position and responsibility, are called upon to live as "pilgrims and strangers" in the earth, and as witnesses in the enemy’s land. Their governing principles will be found stated in The Acts and the Epistles and portions of the Gospels. These heavenly standards are not imposed upon the unregenerate world. They have not received the Spirit and therefore have no enablement whereby they might live according to the standards which are committed to the Christian. It is both useless and unreasonable to apply Christian standards to an unregenerate world. Again, the heavenly standard of life is as much higher in character than Israel’s law, as heavenly citizenship is higher than a citizenship in the earth. Israel’s law incorporated many of the eternal principles growing out of the very character of God. These principles, as such, do not pass away; but the exact manner of their statement is changed that they may be adapted to the new relationships which the heavenly people sustain to God. Thus the believer is "not under the law"; though nine commandments of Moses in the Decalogue are carried forward and reappear with a different character and emphasis within the injunctions under grace. Neither is he "without law," being inlawed to Christ. There is priceless value in knowing all that God has spoken to any people at any time; but the Christian is primarily concerned with the exact purpose and plan of God for him. The heavenly citizen will not find the full revelation of the will of God for him in any portion of the Scriptures spoken to people of other ages; though he may find much that is in common. There can be no clear apprehension of God’s Book apart from this distinction. In the Scriptures the Christian is addressed as a supernatural man and a superhuman manner of life is placed before him. This is reasonable. Christians are citizens of heaven from the moment they are saved and it is naturally required of them that they "walk worthy of their heavenly calling." From such a consistent life they cannot be excused. They are not made citizens by any manner of life, but being made citizens by the power of God, it becomes them to live according to the position that God has given them. The following passages will serve to illustrate the superhuman character of the present rule of life for the child of God under grace: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34); "This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you" (John 15:12). The law required love to be to another "as thyself." To love as Christ has loved us is infinitely higher, and humanly impossible. "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God" (Ephesians 4:30). "And bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20). "That ye should show forth the praises [virtues] of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9). "Rejoice evermore, Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17). "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3). Though these passages present impossible demands upon the human resource, God most evidently expects them to be realized in every believer’s daily life. He knows better than we that we could never produce any such quality of life; yet He is not unreasonable in His expectation, since He stands ready to supply all that He demands. The Spirit indwells the believer for this very purpose. Of our own selves, we are not asked even to attempt these standards. The Epistles are full of assurances that the imparted energy of God through the Spirit is sufficient for all that God has required. "It is God which worketh [energizes] in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." The new rule of life which is placed before the child of God under grace is, then, impossible from the human standpoint, and its realization must depend on a definite reliance upon the indwelling Spirit to do the whole will of God. A Christian, to be spiritual, must "walk by means of the Spirit." SECOND, THE CHRISTIAN FACES A WORLD-RULING FOE The Bible represents Satan as the enemy of the saints of God and especially is this seen to be true of the saints of this age. There is no controversy between Satan and unsaved people; for they are a part of his world-system. They have not been delivered from the powers of darkness and translated into the kingdom of the Son of God. Satan is the energizing power in those who are unsaved (Ephesians 2:2), as God is the energizing power in those who are saved (Php 2:13). Every human being is either under the power of Satan, or under the power of God. This is not to say that Christians may not be influenced by Satan and the unsaved not influenced by the Spirit of God; but their position is in one domain or the other, and Satan’s domain is not in all matters characterized by things that are inherently evil as those things are estimated by the world. Satan’s life-purpose is to be "like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:14), and he appears "as an angel of light," and his ministers "as the ministers of righteousness" (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). His ministers, being ministers of righteousness, preach a gospel of reformation and salvation by human character, rather than salvation by grace alone, unrelated to any human virtue. Therefore the world, with all its moral standards and culture, is not necessarily free from the power and energizing control of Satan. He would promote forms of religion and human excellence apart from the redemption that is in Christ, and the world is evidently energized to undertake that very thing. He has blinded the unsaved; but concerning one thing only: they are blinded by Satan lest the light of the gospel should shine unto them (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). The enmity of Satan has always been against the Person of God alone, and not against humanity. It is only when we have "partaken of the divine nature" that we are possessed with a new and mighty foe. The thrusts of his "fiery darts" are aimed at God who indwells us. However, the conflict is real and the foe is superhuman. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles [strategies] of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:10-12). These world-rulers of the darkness of this age, the spiritual powers of wickedness, who are here said to wage a ceaseless conflict against us, cannot be overcome by human strategy or strength. The Bible lends no sanction to foolish suppositions that the devil will flee at the mere resistance of a determined human will. We are to "resist the devil," but it must be done "steadfast in the faith," and while "submitting" ourselves unto God (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9). Satan, being by creation superior to all other creatures cannot be conquered by one of them. Even Michael the archangel, we are told, "when contending with the devil ... durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee." Michael the archangel does not contend with Satan. He must depend on the power of Another; thus acting on a principle of faith, rather than on a principle of works. Certainly a Christian, with all his limitations, must appeal to the power of God in the conflict with this mighty foe, and he is directed to do this: "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked [one]" (Ephesians 6:16). (A more extended treatment of the Bible teachings on this subject will be found in the author’s book "Satan.") The believer’s conflict with Satan is as fierce and unceasing as that mighty being can make it. Before him we of ourselves are as nothing; but God has anticipated our helplessness and provided a perfect victory through the indwelling Spirit: "Because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). A Christian, because of the power of the new enemy, must "walk by means of the Spirit" if he would be spiritual. THIRD, THE ADAMIC NATURE Careless Christians are not concerned with the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, or with the exact distinctions which condition true spirituality; but these distinctions and conditions do appeal to those who really desire a life that is well pleasing to God. We find that Satan has pitfalls and counterfeit doctrines in the realm of the deepest spiritual realities. The majority of these false teachings are based on a misapprehension of the Bible teaching about sin, especially the sin question as related to the believer. The Scripture is "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect [full grown], thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:16-17); but in the same Epistle we are also urged to "study" and "rightly divide" the Word of Truth. It should be noted that two out of four of the values of the Scriptures in the life of the "man of God," as recorded in the above passage are "reproof" and "correction"; yet how few, especially of those who are holding an error, are of a teachable spirit. It seems to be one of the characteristics of all Satanic errors that those who have embraced them seem never inclined honestly to reconsider their ground. They read only their sectarian, or misleading literature and often carefully avoid hearing any corrective teaching from the Word of God. This difficulty is greatly increased when their error has led them to assume some unwarranted position regarding a supposed deliverance from sin, or personal attainments in holiness. A "correction," or "reproof," to such seems to be a suggestion toward "backsliding," and no zealously minded person will easily choose such a course. Much error is thriving along these lines with no other dynamic than human zeal, and the Word of God is persistently distorted to maintain human theories. Many of these errors are reproved and corrected when the fundamental distinction is recognized between the Christian’s position in Christ and his experience in daily life. Whatever God has done for us in Christ is perfect and complete; but such perfection should not be confused with the imperfect daily life. There are five Biblical doctrines which are closely related to the question of sin in the believer which are most commonly misunderstood, and which, if perverted, may be used of the enemy to drive even serious minded believers into most misleading presumption and harmful error. These doctrines are: (1) The fact of the continued presence of the Adamic nature in the believer, which is the present theme; (2) The divine cure for the effects of sin in the spiritual life of a Christian, already considered; (3) The Bible teaching about perfection; (4) The Bible teaching about sanctification; and, (5) the Bible teaching about the believer’s death in Christ. That there may be a clearer understanding of the present theme, the Bible teaching about perfection and sanctification are first to be considered briefly. The Bible teaching about the believer’s death in Christ will be taken up at a later and more appropriate point in this discussion. THE DOCTRINE OF PERFECTION In the Word of God, perfection is presented in seven aspects: (1) The Old Testament use of the word as applied to persons. The word in the Old Testament has the meaning of "sincere" and "upright." Noah was "perfect" (Genesis 6:9); Job was "perfect" (Job 1:1, Job 1:8); In avoiding the sins of the nations, Israel might be "perfect" (Deuteronomy 18:13); The end of the "perfect" man was peace (Psalms 37:37); So, also, the saints of the Old Testament order will appear in heaven as "the spirits of just men made perfect" (Hebrews 12:23). The Bible does not teach that these people were sinless. (2) Positional perfection in Christ. "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14). This is clearly the perfection of the work of Christ for us and must not be related to the Christian’s daily life. (3) Spiritual maturity and understanding. "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect" (full grown, 1 Corinthians 2:6, cf. 1 Corinthians 14:20. See, also, 2 Corinthians 13:11; Php 3:15; 2 Timothy 3:17). (4) Perfection which is progressive. "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made [to be made] perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3). (5) Perfection in some one particular. (a) In the will of God: "That ye stand perfect and complete in all the will of God" (Colossians 4:12). (b) In imitating one aspect of the goodness of God: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). The context is of the Father’s love for His enemies and the injunction is that this aspect of the Father’s goodness should be reproduced. (c) In service: "Make you perfect in every good work" (Hebrews 13:21). (d) In patience: "But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect [mature] and entire, wanting nothing" (James 1:4). (6) The ultimate perfection of the individual in heaven. "Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ" (Colossians 1:28, cf. Colossians 1:22; Php 3:12; 1 Peter 5:10; 1 Thessalonians 3:13). (7) The ultimate perfection of the corporate body of believers in heaven. "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13. See also, Ephesians 5:27; John 17:23; Jude 1:24; Revelation 14:5). The word "perfection" as found in the New Testament is a translation from either one of two Greek words, one meaning "mature" and the other meaning "adjusted." And it is obvious that neither of these words etymologically considered has any reference to sinlessness. These facts should be estimated most carefully by any who have attempted the formation of a doctrine on the somewhat misleading use of the English word "perfect." At this very point we may possibly discover the Scriptures to be unto us a word of "reproof" or "correction." There is a complete deliverance by the Spirit for every child of God, but this should not be confused with any use of the word "perfect" when the incapacity to sin is implied by the use of that word. THE DOCTRINE OF SANCTIFICATION Again the doctrine must not be made to exceed that which is actually expressed by the Biblical use of the word "sanctify." To discover the full scope and meaning of this word it is necessary to include all passages in the Old and New Testament wherein it is used and to add to these as well all passages wherein the words "saint" and "holy" are used, since these three words are translations, both from the Hebrew and from the Greek, of the same root word. The root meaning of "sanctify," "saint" and "holy" is that a person or thing is thereby said to be set apart, or classified; usually as pertaining unto God. Though these words and the truth they express are found throughout the whole Bible, this discussion is concerned only with that aspect of the teaching which applies to the child of God under grace. (This subject is treated more fully in a pamphlet by the author entitled, "Sanctification.") Here we find that believers are the objects of a threefold sanctification: First, Positional sanctification "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us ... sanctification" (1 Corinthians 1:30); "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10). Thus, also, the Apostle addresses all believers as "saints," and in the Scriptures reference is made to "holy prophets," "holy brethren," "holy priests," "holy women," "holy nation." Such they are by their position in Christ. He even addressed the Corinthian believers as "saints" and as already "sanctified" (1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 6:11); yet this very letter was written to correct those Christians because of terrible sin (1 Corinthians 5:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:1, 1 Corinthians 6:7-8). They were "saints" and "sanctified" in Christ, but were far from being such in daily life. Second, Experimental sanctification This aspect of the work of God for the believer is progressive in some of its aspects, and is quite in contrast to the positional sanctification which is "once for all." It is accomplished by the power of God through the Spirit and through the Word: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17. See, also, 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 5:25-26; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Peter 3:18). Experimental sanctification is according to various relationships. (1) In relation to the believer’s yieldedness to God. By presenting his body a living sacrifice, the child of God thereby is set apart unto God and so is experimentally sanctified. The presentation may be absolute and thus admit of no progression, or it may be partial and so require a further development. In either case it is experimental sanctification. (2) In relation to sin. The child of God may so comply with every condition for true spirituality as to be experiencing all the provided deliverance and victory from the power of sin, or, on the other hand, he may be experiencing a partial deliverance from the power of sin. In either case he is set apart and is thus experimentally sanctified. (3) In relation to Christian growth. This aspect of experimental sanctification in every case is progressive. It should in no way be confused with incomplete yieldedness to God or incomplete victory over sin. Its meaning is that the knowledge of truth, devotion and experience are naturally subject to development. By virtue of their present development, as Christians, believers experimentally are set apart unto God. That development should be advanced with each passing day. And thus, again, the Christian is subject to an experimental sanctification which is progressive. Third, Ultimate sanctification. Even experimental sanctification will be perfected when the saints are gathered into His presence in glory. "When he shall appear, we shall be like him," and "conformed to the image of his Son" (John 3:2; Romans 8:29). The Bible teaching in regard to sanctification, then, is (1) that all believers are positionally sanctified in Christ "once for all" at the moment they are saved. This sanctification is as perfect as He is perfect. (2) All believers are being sanctified by the power of God through the Word and this sanctification is as perfect as the believer is perfect. So, also, (3) all believers will be sanctified and perfected in the glory into the very image of the Son of God. The Bible, therefore, does not teach that any child of God is wholly sanctified in daily life before that final consummation of all things. THE DOCTRINE OF THE ADAMIC NATURE The third and last reason to be mentioned as to why the believer must consciously rely on the Spirit, as has been stated, is that he still possesses the Adamic nature over which he, of himself, has no sufficient control. The Christian is saved and safe in the grace of God; but he cannot command himself into a God-honoring manner of life. For this he must rely upon divine power in order that he may be saved from the power of sin, as he has already relied on the power of God to save him from the penalty of sin. Salvation into safety, or sanctity, is all a work of God in and for the one who trusts Him. The fact that the unregenerate possess a fallen nature is generally admitted. The misunderstanding is with regard to the Christian. The Bible teaching is clear, and yet some professing Christians are misled into assuming that they do not any longer possess the tendency to sin. (See Salvation Is by Faith) This question may be discussed both from the experimental and from the Biblical standpoint. Experimentally, the most saintly of God’s children have been conscious of the presence and power of a fallen nature. This may be called the normal consciousness of the devout believer. Such a consciousness is not an evidence of immaturity: it is rather the evidence of true humility and clear vision of one’s own heart. It does not imply a lack of fellowship with God occasioned by a grieving of the Holy Spirit through sin. Who can hate sin more than the one who is aware of its presence and power? And who is in greater danger of its havoc in his spiritual life than the one who in unwarranted presumption has assumed that the disposition to sin has been removed? The contention that one has no disposition to sin must be based upon a shocking lack of self-knowledge as to the motives and impulses of the heart, or such an assumption is made through failure to comprehend the true character of sin itself. If an individual can convince himself that sin is something different from anything he ever does, or is inclined to do; beyond anything he ever thinks, feels or undertakes, he can doubtless convince himself that he has not sinned. If, in his own mind, one can modify the character of sin, he can, by that process, relieve himself from the consciousness of sin. There are not a few such people in the world today. Truth can not stand when based upon a human experience. It must be based upon revelation. Sin is not what some prejudiced, misguided person claims it to be: it is what God has revealed it to be. Sin has been well defined, from a study of the whole testimony of the Word of God, to be "any violation of, or want of conformity to, the revealed will of God." It is "missing the mark." But what mark? Surely the divine standard. Have we done all and only His will with motives as pure as heaven and in the unchanging faithfulness of the Infinite? God has provided a perfect victory; but we have all often failed in its realization. If possessed with any degree of the knowledge of God and self-knowledge, we are aware that we are too often far from sinless in the eyes of God. The consciousness of sinfulness at times has been the testimony of the most spiritual believers of all generations as they have been enabled to see the Person of God. Job, the upright in heart, abhorred himself before God. Daniel, against whom no sin is recorded, said, "My comeliness was turned in me into corruption." In considering the Biblical testimony concerning the sins of the Christian two questions may reasonably be asked: (1) "From what source does sin proceed in the child of God?" and, (2) "What is the divine remedy?" There is abundant answer to these questions in the Word of God. I. FROM WHAT SOURCE DOES SIN PROCEED IN A CHRISTIAN? Sin is the fruit of a fallen nature. This has always been so, with the exception of the first sin which resulted in the fall. We sin because of a fallen nature received from Adam, and from countless generations of sinning parents. This is true of the unregenerate: it is equally true of the regenerate. Yet it is claimed by some that a Christian who is supposed to have been delivered from the sin nature, can still continue sinning as Adam sinned, -- from an unfallen nature. Adam sinned but once from an unfallen nature, and no one else has so sinned from that time until now. Could we now be placed in the same state as our first parents, we would not be able to sin and still maintain that position. The first sin we committed would result in our return to a fallen state. Where would such a person be spiritually after he has sinned, if the experience of Adam is of any value as evidence in the case? The Bible teaching on the subject of the Christian’s sin may be better understood if three important words are defined: "FLESH" (Greek, sarx) The word, in its general use, refers to the physical body. It however has a moral, or ethical, meaning as well and with this we are concerned. "Flesh," when used in the Bible with a moral meaning, refers to more than the physical body; it includes in its meaning the whole of the unregenerate person, -- spirit, soul and body. It includes the body, but it also includes the human spirit and soul as animating the body. A physical body is "flesh" whether dead or alive. But the moral use of the word implies that it is alive and includes that which makes it alive and that which expresses itself through the physical body. The life impulses and desires are called "lusts of the flesh." "If by the Spirit ye are walking, ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16. See also, Ephesians 2:3; 2 Peter 2:18; 1 John 2:16; Romans 13:14). That the Bible use of the word "lust" is not limited to inordinate desires is evidenced by the fact that the Holy Spirit is said to "lust against the flesh," according to the next verse in this context (see, also, James 4:5). The Scriptures are still more explicit concerning the breadth of the meaning of this word. Reference is made to "fleshly wisdom" (2 Corinthians 1:12); "fleshly tables of the heart" (2 Corinthians 3:3); "fleshly mind" (Colossians 2:18, cf. Romans 8:6). The Apostle does not say that either his body or nature are "fleshly"; he says, "I am fleshly" (Romans 7:14), and, "in me (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing" (Romans 7:18). "Flesh" is self. The unregenerate self is, within itself, hopelessly evil and condemned; but it is subject to the mighty re-creation and ultimate transformation provided for in the grace and power of God. Into this whole "natural man" a new divine nature is imparted when we are saved. Salvation is more than a "change of heart." It is more than a transformation of the old: it is a regeneration, or creation, of something wholly new which is possessed in conjunction with the old nature so long as we are in this body. The presence of two opposing natures (not two personalities) in one individual results in conflict. "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other" (Galatians 5:17). There is no hint that this divine restraint upon the flesh will ever be unnecessary so long as we are in this body; but there is clear Bible testimony that the believer may experience an unbroken "walk in the Spirit," and "not fulfill the lust of the flesh." To secure all of this, no removal of the "flesh" is promised. The human spirit, soul and body abide, and the victory is gained over the "flesh" by the power of the indwelling Spirit. "OLD MAN" (Greek, palaios anthropos) This term is used only three times in the New Testament. Once it has to do with the present position of the "old man" through the death of Christ (Romans 6:6). In the other two passages (Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:3, Colossians 3:9) the fact that the old man" has been put off for ever is made the basis of an appeal for a holy life. In Romans 6:6 we read: "Knowing this, that our old man is [was] crucified with him." There can be no reference here to the experience of the Christian: it is rather a co-crucifixion "with him" and most evidently at the time and place where He was crucified. (See The Believer’s Death With Christ) In the context this passage follows immediately upon the statement concerning our transfer in federal headship from the first Adam to the Last Adam (Romans 5:12-21). The first Adam, as perpetuated in us, was judged in the crucifixion of Christ. Our "old man," the fallen nature received from Adam, was "crucified with him." This co-crucifixion, it will be seen, is of the greatest importance, on the divine side, in making possible a true deliverance from the power of the "old man." A righteous judgment must be gained against the sin nature before any divine work can be undertaken toward our deliverance. The judgment is now secured, and the way is open for blessed victory through the Spirit. In the second passage in which the term "old man" is used, the fact that the old man is already crucified with Christ is the basis for an appeal: "That ye [did] put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye [did] put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:22-24). In the third passage the position suggests again the corresponding experience. "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him" (Colossians 3:9-10). Positionally, the "old man" has been put off for ever. Experimentally, the "old man" remains as an active force in the life which can be controlled only by the power of God. We avail ourselves of that divine sufficiency when we renounce entirely the thought of compromise with, or toleration of, the fruit of the old nature and by faith apply the divinely provided counter-agency for victory through the Spirit. The result of so "reckoning" and "mortifying our members" will be to make way for the Spirit to work out in the life the manifestations of the "new man," Christ Jesus. (See Chapter III, The Spirit Produces Christian Character) We could not judge the "old man." That has been done for us by Christ. Nor can we control the "old man." That is to be done for us by the Spirit. "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof" (Romans 13:14). The fruit of the "old man" and the fruit of the "new man," it will be remembered, are clearly contrasted in Galatians 5:19-23 "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. ... But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (self-control). There is no Biblical ground for a distinction between the Adamic nature and a "human nature." The unregenerate have but one nature, while the regenerate have two. There is but one fallen nature, which is from Adam, and one new nature, which is from God. The "old man," then, is the Adamic nature which has been judged in the death of Christ. It still abides with us as an active principle in our lives, and our experimental victory over it will be realized only through a definite reliance upon the indwelling Spirit. The "old man is a part, then, but not all, of the "flesh." "SIN" (Greek, hamartia) The third Bible word related to the source of evil in the child of God is "sin." In certain portions of the Scriptures, notably Romans 6:1-23 to Romans 8:1-13 and 1 John 1:1-10 to 1 John 2:2, there is an important distinction between two uses of the word "sin." The two meanings will be obvious if it is remembered that the word sometimes refers to the Adamic nature, and sometimes to evil resulting from that nature. Sin, as a nature, is the source of sin which is committed. Sin is the root which bears its own fruit in sin which is evil conduct. Sin is the "old man," while sins are the manifestations in the life. Sin is what we are by birth, while sins are the evil we do in life. There is abundant Biblical testimony to the fact that the "flesh," the "old man," or "sin," are the sources of evil, and are the possession of the child of God so long as he remains in this earthly body. He has a blessed "treasure" in the possession of the "new man" indwelling him; but he has this treasure "in an earthen vessel." The earthen vessel is the "body of our humiliation" (2 Corinthians 4:7; Php 3:21). Personality -the Ego- remains the same individuality through all the operations of grace, though it experiences the greatest possible advancement, transformation and regeneration from its lost estate in Adam, to the positions and possessions of a son of God in Christ. That which was, is said to be forgiven, justified, saved, and receives the new divine nature which is eternal life. That which was, is born again and becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus, though it remains the same personality which was born of certain parents after the flesh. Though born of God and possessing a new divine nature, the weakness of the flesh and the dispositions of the sin-nature abide until the final change from earth to heaven. In 1 John 1:8-10 we have clear warning against any presumption concerning sin. First, Christians are warned against saying that they have no sin nature:"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." This is distinctly concerning the sin nature of the Christian and has no application whatever to the unsaved. It is addressed to believers, and to all believers. It will not do to suppose that reference is made in the passage to some unfortunate, unenlightened, or unsanctified class of Christians. There is no class distinction here. It is the testimony of the Spirit of God with reference to every born-again person. For any such to say that he has no sin nature means that the person is self-deceived and the truth is not in him. This passage is evidently intended for "correction" to those Christians who are claiming to be free from the sin nature and who may have made themselves believe that they are free. A self-satisfied mind is not necessarily the mind of God. In the same passage Christians are also warned against saying that they have not sinned as a fruit of the old nature: "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us" (1 John 1:10). Nothing could be more explicit. It is possible that a Christian may have been instructed to say that he has not sinned; but here is a word of "reproof," when he confronts the testimony of the Spirit of God. Again, this is not concerning some unsanctified class of Christians: it is concerning all Christians. To depart from the clear teaching of this great corrective passage is to make Him a "liar" and to disclose the fact that "his word is not in us." The source of sin is, then, the sin nature, rather than the new divine nature. This important truth is pointed out in this same Epistle in a passage which primarily teaches that the Christian does not now practice sin as he did before he received the new divine nature, but which also teaches that sin cannot be traced to the divine nature as its source. "Not anyone that has been begotten of God practices sin, because his seed [the divine nature] in him abides, and he [with particular reference to the ’seed’] is not able to sin, because of God he [the ’seed’] has been begotten" (3:9, literal). It is evident that the new nature is that which has been begotten of God, and because of the presence of this nature the one in whom it dwells does not now practice sin as he did before he was saved, nor can sin ever be produced by the new nature which is from God. The passage does not teach that Christians do not sin, or even that some Christians do not sin; for there is no class of Christians in view, and what is here said is true of all who have been "begotten of God." It is further taught in the Scriptures that, since there are two natures in the believer, there is a conflict between the new nature, through the Spirit, and the old nature through the flesh. "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that [when walking by the Spirit] ye cannot do the things that ye [otherwise] would" (Galatians 5:16-17). Another aspect of this truth is taken up at length in Romans 7:15-25 to Romans 8:1-4. In this passage the old "I" is seen to be in active opposition to the new "I." It is sometimes claimed of this passage that it refers to an experience in the Apostle’s life before he was saved. This is open to serious question. No such conflict can Biblically be related to the life of Saul of Tarsus, nor to any other unregenerate man. Saul of Tarsus was not a "wretched man": he was a self-satisfied Pharisee, living "in all good conscience" and "before the law blameless." It was only when he began to "delight in the law of God after the inward man" that this deeper conflict was experienced. So, also, the claim is sometimes made that this passage had to do only with Paul as a Jew under the law of Moses and so could not apply to any Gentile, since the law of Moses was not addressed to Gentiles. It is quite true that the law was not given to Gentiles. The primary purpose of this passage is not to set forth some distinguishing characteristic of a Jew under the law: it plainly represents a saint confronted with the impossibility of living according to the revealed will of God, not only because of the human impotence, but because of an active opposing principle in the "flesh." The law of Moses, if there referred to exclusively, it would seem, is referred to as an illustration of a clear statement of the mind and will of God. The mind and will of God for the believer under grace as has been seen, is infinitely more impossible to human strength than the law of Moses. So much the more are we found to be "wretched" men when attempting our present conflict in the "arm of the flesh." The "law" of God, as referred to in the New Testament, sometimes means His present will for His people rather than simply the "law of Moses." It is clear that the conflict in this passage is over "evil" and "good" in general terms, rather than over the law of Moses. If believers under grace are not in view in Romans seven, neither are they in Romans eight; for in passing from one chapter to the other there is no break in the development of the doctrine or its application. (In meeting this claim it has been pointed out that there is a particular crisis indicated by the words in 7:25, "I thank God through our Lord Jesus Christ." However this is not a word of thanksgiving for salvation: it is praise for deliverance from the reigning power of sin. And it is deliverance for one who could say: "So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." This scarcely describes the experience of an unregenerate man.) Earlier in the context the law of Moses has been set aside (6:14; 7:1-6), and the new law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 5:2; John 15:10), the "life in Christ Jesus" (8:2), or that which is produced in the believer by the Spirit (8:4), has come into view. No mention of the Spirit is made in this passage. It is therefore not a conflict between the Spirit and the "flesh": it is rather a conflict between the new "I" and the old "I." It is the new "I" -- the regenerate man -- isolated, for the time being, from the enabling power of the Spirit, and seen as confronting the whole law of God (verse 16), the unchanging "flesh" (verse 18), and the capacities of the new man (verses 22, 23, 25). A vital question is raised -- Can the regenerate man, apart from the Spirit, fulfill the whole will of God? The answer is clear. Though he "delight" in the law of God (in which no unregenerate man delights, see Romans 3:10-18; 1 Corinthians 2:14), he must discover the divinely provided power to live through the death of Christ (verse 25), and through the power of the Spirit (8:2). Apart from this there is only continued defeat (verse 24). The passage, with some interpretations, is as follows: "For that which I [the old] do I [the new] allow not: for what I [the new] would, that do I [the old] not; but what I [the new] hate, that do I [the old]. If then I [the old] do that which I [the new] would not, I consent unto the law [or will of God for me] that it is good. Now then it is no more I [the new] that do it, but sin [the old] that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me [the old] (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I [the new] would I [the old] do not: but the evil which I [the new] would not, that I [the old] do. Now if I [the old] do that I [the new] would not, it is no more I [the new] that do it, but sin [the old] that dwelleth in me. I find then a law [not a law of Moses), that, when I (the new] would do good, evil [the old] is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members [the old], warring against the law of my mind [the new that delights in the law of God], and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin [the old) which is in my members. O wretched [Christian] man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" The answer to this great question and cry of distress with which the above passage closes is given in a following verse (8:2): "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." This is more than a deliverance from the law of Moses: it is the immediate deliverance from sin (the old) and death (its results, see Romans 6:23). The effect of this deliverance is indicated by the blessedness recorded in the eighth chapter as in contrast to the wretchedness recorded in the seventh chapter. It is all of the helpless and defeated "I" in the one case, and of the sufficient and victorious "I," by the Spirit, in the other. We are, then, to be delivered by the "law," or power, of the Spirit. But attention must be called to the fact, stated in 7:25, that it is "through Jesus Christ our Lord." We are delivered by the Spirit; but it is made righteously possible through Jesus Christ our Lord, because of our union with Him in His crucifixion, death, and burial. THE BELIEVER’S DEATH WITH CHRIST Substitution is the only reason assigned in the Bible for the death of Christ. He was taking the place of others. It was an infinite undertaking which accomplished infinite results. There is nothing more fundamental in a believer’s understanding than that he apprehend to some degree just what the death of Christ wrought. There should be more teaching on this great theme. One result of the act of remembering the Lord’s death in the breaking of bread is the deepening of the personal consciousness of the meaning and value of that death. It is noticeable that those Christians who are frequently exercised in spirit toward His death in the breaking of bread are most awake concerning the value of the sacrifice of Christ for them. The disciples met on the first day of the week to break bread (Acts 20:7). They knew the real desire of the Lord for them in this important matter and they knew the value of this ordinance in their own lives. A child of God should always be increasing in heart appreciation of his Saviour’s finished work. Provision for this has been made in the faithful remembering of His death at His table. Through His sufferings unto death the Son of God bore the penalty of our sins, making it righteously possible for a holy God to receive sinners into His saving grace without punishment for their sins. Sinners, because of His substitution for them, have only to believe and be saved. Men are now facing the one issue of personal trust in the Saviour, and are condemned only because of their failure to believe on the Son of God (John 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:19). In like manner, a positive reality concerning the sin nature was accomplished for the believer in the death of Christ. By that death it has been made righteously possible for a holy God to take control of the old nature without any present judgments of that nature, and for the believer to be delivered from its power. By the death of Christ the penalty of sins committed was borne for all men, and the power of sin was judged and broken for the children of God. The accomplishment of all this was a problem of infinite dimensions; for sin is primarily against God and He alone can deal with it. The Bible pictures sin as seen from the divine standpoint. It also unfolds God’s problem which was created by sin and records His exact manner and method of its solution. The theme under consideration is concerned with the death of Christ as that death is related to the divine judgments of the sin nature in the child of God. The necessity for such judgments and the sublime revelation that these judgments are now fully accomplished for us is unfolded in Romans 6:1-10. This passage is the foundation as well as the key to the possibility of a "walk in the Spirit." Herein it is declared that Christians need not "continue in sin," but may "walk in newness of life." "Sin shall not have dominion over you," and we need no longer be the "bond-slaves to sin." To this end He hath wrought in the cross. How important in His eyes, then, is the quality of our daily life; for His death not only contemplated our eternal blessedness in the glory, but our present "walk" as well! The old nature must be judged in order that God may be free to deal with it in the believer’s daily life and apart from all judgments. What destruction would fall on the unsaved if God had to judge them for their sins before they could be saved! "O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing" (Jeremiah 10:24). How great is His mercy! He has already taken up the sin question and solved it for all men in the death of the Substitute. Because of this He can now save from the penalty of sin. Even so, to what lengths His mercy has gone since He has also entered into righteous judgments of our "old man"! And because of this He is now able to deliver His child from the power of sin. The "old man" is said to have been "crucified with him," and we are "dead with him," "buried with him" and are partaking in His resurrection life. All this, it is revealed, was to one great purpose, that "we also should walk in newness of life," even as Christ "was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father." What a deliverance and walk may be experienced since it is according to the power and glory of the resurrection! Resurrection, it may be added, is not the mere reversal of death; it is the introduction into the power and limitless boundaries of eternal life. In that new sphere and by that new power the Christian may now "walk." The passage opens thus: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin [We who have died to sin. So, also, verses 7, 8, 11; Colossians 2:20; Colossians 3:3], live any longer therein?" In the preceding chapters of this Epistle salvation into safety has been presented. At the beginning of this passage the question of salvation into sanctity of daily life is taken up. This second aspect of salvation is provided only for the one who is already saved into safety. "Shall we [who are now saved and safe in grace] continue in sin?" It would not become us to do so, as the children of God, and it is not necessary for us to do so since we are now "dead to sin." But who is "dead to sin"? Is it true that any Christian ever experienced a death to sin? Never was there one. But the death which is mentioned in this passage is said to be accomplished for every believer. All Christians are here said to have died unto sin. A death which is all-inclusive could not be experimental. It is positional. God reckons all believers, as to their sin nature, to have died in Christ and with Christ; for only thus can they "walk in newness of life" as those who are " alive unto God." It is no longer necessary to sin. We cannot plead the power of a tendency over which we have no control. We still have the tendency, and it is more than we can control; but God has provided the possibility of a complete victory and freedom both by judging the old nature and by giving us the presence and power of the Spirit. We are dependent upon God alone for any deliverance; but He could not deliver until He had first righteously judged our sin nature. This He has done and He has also given us the Spirit who is ever present and wholly able. Thus the necessity to sin is broken and we are free to move on another plane and in the power of His resurrection life. Then follows the important explanation of the believer’s present relation to the death of Christ as forming the grounds of his deliverance from the power of sin. First an outline is given (verses 3, 4), and then the same truth is repeated, but more in detail (verses 5-10). It is not within the scope of this discussion to consider the importance of a sacrament that purports to represent the truth of our death with Christ. Such, at best, is but the shadow of the substance. No ordinance performed by man can accomplish what is here described. Our baptism into Jesus Christ can be none other than the act of God in placing us in Christ (cf. Galatians 3:27). This evidently is our baptism into His body by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13); for in no other sense are we all "baptized into Jesus Christ." Being by the baptism of the Spirit vitally united and placed "in Him" we partake of what He is, and what He has done. He is the righteousness of God and the Scriptures teach that we are made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21), and are made accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6). All this is true because we are "in Him." So, also, He has substituted for us, and what He has done is reckoned unto us because we are "in Him," -- or because we are baptized into Jesus Christ. The argument in this passage is based on this vital union by which we are organically united to Christ through our baptism into His body: "Know ye not [Or are ye ignorant] that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" As certainly as we are "in Him" we partake of the value of His death. So, also the passage states: "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death" (cf. Colossians 2:12). thus we are actually partakers of His crucifixion (verse 6), death (verse 8), burial (verse 4), and resurrection (verses 4, 5, 8) and as essentially as we would partake had we been crucified, dead, buried and raised. Being baptized into Jesus Christ is the substance of which co-crucifixion, co-death, co-burial and co-resurrection are attributes. One is the cause: while the others are the effects. All this is unto the realization of one great divine purpose. "That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life," or by a new life principle. Our " walk," then, is the divine objective. Christ died in our stead. The judgment belonged to us; but He became our Substitute. We are thus counted as co-partners in all that our Substitute did. What He did, forever satisfied the righteous demands of God against our "old man" and opened the way for a "walk" well pleasing to God (see 2 Corinthians 5:15). As the passage proceeds, this truth of our co-partnership in Christ is presented again and with greater detail: "For if [as] we have been planted [conjoined, united, grown together, the word is used but once in the New Testament] together in the likeness [oneness, see Romans 8:3; Php 2:7] of his death, we shall be [now, and forever] also in the likeness of his resurrection." We are already conjoined to Christ by the baptism of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) which places us positionally beyond the judgments of sin and we are therefore free to enter the experience of the eternal power and victory of His resurrection. "Knowing this [because we know this] that our old man is [was] crucified with him [for the same divine purpose as stated before], that the body of sin might be destroyed [Our power of expression is through the body. This fact is used as a figure concerning the manifestation of sin. The body is not destroyed; but sin s power and means of expression may be disannulled. See verse 12], that henceforth we should not serve [be bond-slaves to] sin [the "old man"]. For he that is dead is freed [justified] from sin [they who have once died to sin, as we have in our Substitute, now stand free from its legal claims]. Now if we be dead with Christ [or, as we died with Christ], we believe we shall also live with him [not only in heaven, but now. There is as much certainty for the life in Him as there is certainty in the death in Him]: Knowing [or, because we know] that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him [we are thereby encouraged to believe as much concerning ourselves]. For in that he died, he died unto sin [the nature] once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God" (and so we may live unto God). Such facts are recorded in the Scriptures concerning the meaning and value of the death of Christ and our present position in Him that we may be led to believe that it is all for us and is actually true of us now. Believing this, we will fearlessly claim our position in His boundless grace and dare to enter the life of victory. Thus far in this passage nothing has been said touching any human obligation, nor has reference been made to any work of man. It is all the work of God for us, and the conclusion of this great passage is to the effect that it is His plan and provision that we should know that we have already provided for us a deliverance from the bond-servitude to sin. Based on this knowledge gained from His Word concerning all that God has done in Christ, an injunction immediately follows which presents our responsibility: "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." We are not exhorted to reckon the sin nature to be dead; but we are exhorted to reckon ourselves to be dead unto it. Did the death of Christ literally destroy the power of the "old man" so that we can have no disposition to sin? No, for the passage goes on to state: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof." Evidently, then, the "old man" will remain active, apart from sufficient control. The union with Christ has provided a possible deliverance; but it must be entered into and claimed by such human acts of faith as are expressed in the word "reckon," and the additional words which follow in the passage: "But yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin [the nature] shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law [which provides no power for its fulfillment], but under grace" (which provides the sufficient Substitute and limitless enablement of the Spirit of God). Every provision has been made. "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof." Who can measure the truth that is compressed in the one word "therefore"? It refers to all of the divine undertaking in the death of Christ by which we have been conjoined to Christ in order that we may receive the eternal values of His crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection. All this was accomplished for us before we were born. "Therefore," because of all this that is now accomplished and provided, we have limitless encouragement to enter into His plan and purpose for our deliverance. Faith, which believes the victory to be possible because it reckons the "old man" to have been judged, is the normal result of such a revelation. We are nowhere enjoined to enact His crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection; but we are encouraged by the revelation of what has been done to reckon the divine requirements for our deliverance from the "old man" to have been met perfectly and to believe that, because of this, we can now "walk in newness of life." Will any Scripture justify the claim that some Christians have died to sin as a personal experience? Several New Testament passages refer to the believer as being already dead. None of these, however, refer to an experience: they refer rather to a position into which the believer has been brought through his union with Jesus Christ in His death. "Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ" (Colossians 2:20); "For ye are dead [ye died], and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3); "I am crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20); "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Galatians 6:14); "And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Galatians 5:24). In the last passage, as in the others, reference is made to some thing that is accomplished in all those who are Christ’s. It could not, therefore, refer to some experience, the result of a special or particular sanctity on the part of a few. These passages, since they refer to all believers, can have but one meaning: in their union with Christ the "flesh with the affections and lusts" has positionally been crucified. The word crucify as related to believers is always in the past, implying the judicial fact and not a spiritual experience. The believer may "mortify" which means to reckon to be dead; but he is never called upon to crucify. Even mortifying is possible only by the enabling power of the Spirit. "But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live" (Romans 8:13). We are plainly told the crucifixion is accomplished once for all. In view of this divine accomplishment, the child of God is to "reckon," "yield," "mortify" (count to be dead), "put off," "let," "put away," "take unto you the whole armour of God," "set your affection on things above," "put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him," "deny himself," "abide" in Christ, "fight," "run the race," "walk in love," "walk in the ======================================================================== CHAPTER 42: 04.07. AN ANALOGY AND THE CONCLUSION ======================================================================== CHAPTER VII AN ANALOGY AND THE CONCLUSION I. AN ANALOGY THE BIBLE TREATS our deliverance from the bond-servitude to sin as a distinct form of salvation, and there is an analogy between this and the more familiar aspect of salvation which is from the guilt and penalty of sin. In the first five chapters of the letter to the Romans we have presented our salvation from the guilt and penalty of sin into justification and security through the redemption that is in Christ. Beginning with chapter six, a new question is raised: "Shall we [who have been saved into safety] continue in sin?" The major portion of three chapters, as has been stated, is then devoted to a statement of the facts and conditions of salvation from the reigning power of sin in the daily life of the child of God. The analogy between these two aspects of salvation may be considered in five particulars: FIRST, THE ESTATE OF THE ONE WHO NEEDS To BE SAVED A. From the penalty of sin. The Word of God presents an extended description of the estate of the unregenerate in their need of salvation from the guilt and penalty of sin. They are said to be "lost," "condemned," and spiritually "dead"; "there is none righteous, no, not one"; "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." But back of all this is the revelation that in themselves they are helpless and without power to alter or improve their condition. Their only hope is to depend completely on Another for His saving power and grace. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." B. From the power of sin. In like manner the Scriptures reveal the estate of the regenerate in relation to the power of the sin nature, to be that of impotence and helplessness: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing"; "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." The hope of the child of God in salvation from the power of sin is also a complete dependence upon the power and grace of Another. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." "If by the Spirit ye are walking, ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." SECOND, THE DIVINE OBJECTIVE AND IDEAL IN SALVATION A. From the penalty of sin. The greatest possible contrast exists between what an unregenerate person is before he is saved, and that estate to which he is brought in the saving power of God. Eternity will hardly suffice to give opportunity to discover the manifold marvels of His saving grace, "When we see him, we shall be like him." Even now "are we the sons of God." We are to be "conformed to the image of his Son." B. From the power of sin. So, also, the Christian, in the purpose of God, is to find a perfect victory through Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Spirit. "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." "Grieve not the Spirit." "Quench not the Spirit." "Walk in the light." "Abide in me." THIRD, SALVATION IS OF GOD ALONE A. From the penalty of sin. Salvation must be of God alone; for every aspect of it is beyond human power and strength. Of the many great miracles which taken together constitute salvation from the guilt and penalty of sin, not one of them could even be understood, let alone be accomplished, by man. "It is the power of God unto salvation"; "That he might be the justifier of him which believeth." B. From the power of sin. It is equally true that the believer is helpless to deliver himself from the power of sin. God alone can do it, and He proposes to do it according to the revelation contained in His Word. There is no power in man to deliver from "the world, the flesh and the devil." "If by the Spirit ye are walking, ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh"; "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure"; "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death"; "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might"; "Through Jesus Christ our Lord." FOURTH, GOD CAN SAVE ONLY BY, AND THROUGH, THE CROSS A. From the penalty of sin. There would not be a sinner left to save, if God had to deal with the sin question in us, as to its guilt and penalty, at the moment He would exercise saving grace. It is only that He has already dealt with the penalty of sin in the death of Christ that He can save the sinner apart from consuming judgments. Now, the sinner has only to believe that such saving grace is open to him through the Son of God. The Lord Jesus suffered unto death "for" our sins. "He bore our sins in his body on the tree"; "He was delivered for our transgressions"; "Because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then all died" (in the One). By this death He so perfectly met the condemnation of sin for us that God is now free even to justify any sinner without penalty or condemnation. A moral hindrance in a sinner’s life is no longer an issue in his salvation. By the death of His Son, God has rendered Himself free to save the chief of sinners. In such salvation He is righteous and just because the Lord Jesus has suffered for our sins. B. From the power of sin. There could not be any salvation for the Christian from the power of sin if God had not first taken the "old man" into judgment. Our condition would be hopeless if God had first to judge the sin nature in us before He could take control in our lives. He has already judged the "old man" by our co-crucifixion, co-death, and co-burial with Christ. The Lord not only suffered for our sins. He also died unto sin. He suffered under the penalty for our sins: He also died unto our sin nature. "For in that he died unto sin once." "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him." Because Christ has died unto sin, God is righteously free to take control of the "flesh," and the Adamic nature, and exercise His power for our salvation from the bond-servitude to sin; exactly as He is righteously free to save the unregenerate from the penalty of sin because Christ has met every judgment for the sinner. FIFTH, SALVATION IS BY FAITH A. From the penalty of sin. Since salvation is always and only a work of God, the only relation man can sustain to it is that of expectation toward the One who alone can undertake and accomplish it. Salvation from the guilt and penalty of sin is wrought for us the moment we believe. It is conditioned on the act of faith. Men are not saved, or kept saved, from the consequences of sins because they continue their faith. Saving faith, as related to the first aspect of salvation, is an act of faith. We are saved by grace through faith. B. From the power of sin. Salvation unto sanctity of daily life is equally a work of God, and the only relation the child of God can sustain to it is an attitude of expectation toward the One who alone is able. There should be an adjustment of the life and will to God, and this salvation must then be claimed by faith; but in this case it is an attitude of faith. We are saved from the power of sin as we believe. The one who has been justified by an act of faith must now live by faith. There are a multitude of sinners for whom Christ has died who are not now saved. On the divine side, everything has been provided, and they have only to enter by faith into His saving grace as it is for them in Jesus Christ. Just so, there are a multitude of saints whose sin nature has been perfectly judged and every provision made on the divine side for a life of victory and glory to God who are not now realizing a life of victory. They have only to enter by faith into the saving grace from the power and dominion of sin. This is the reality of a "walk," a "race," a "warfare." It is a constant attitude. We are to "fight the good fight of faith." Sinners are not saved until they trust the Savior, and saints are not victorious until they trust the Deliverer. God has made this possible through the cross of His Son. Salvation from the power of sin must be claimed by faith. (Discussing this aspect of this same analogy, Bishop Moule, of England, writes: "The first case is in its nature one and single: an admission, an incorporation. The second is in its nature progressive and developing: the discovery, advancing with the occasion for it, of the greatness of the resources of Christ for life. The latter may, not must, thus include one great crisis in consciousness, one particular spiritual act. It is much more certain to include many starting-points, critical developments, marked advances. The act of self-surrendering faith in the power of Christ for inward cleansing of the will and affections may be, and often indeed it is, as it were a new conversion, a new ’effectual calling.’ But it is sure, if the man knows himself in the light of Christ, to be followed by echoes and reiterations to the end; not mere returns to the beginnings from the old level {certainly it is not the plan of God that it should be so}, but definite out-growths due to new discovery of personal need and sin, and of more than corresponding ’riches’ in Christ. With each such advance the sacred promise of Fullness of the Spirit will be received with holy and happy realization." "Outlines of Christian Doctrine," page 199.) The Spirit, when saving from the reigning power of sin does not set aside the personality of the one He saves. He takes possession of the faculties and powers of the individual. It is the power of God acting through the human faculties of the will, emotions, desires and disposition. The experience of the believer who is being empowered is only that of a consciousness of his own power of choice, his own feelings, desires and disposition as related to his own self. The strength which he possesses is "in the Lord and in the power of his might." back to link*Return to top II. THE CONCLUSION Because thus far this discussion has dealt primarily with the theory, or doctrine of the spiritual life, the addition of a few practical suggestions may not be amiss. Since a life in the power of the Spirit depends upon a continuous attitude of reckoning and appropriation, it is important for most Christians to have a time of definite dealing with God in which they examine their hearts in the matter of sin and their yieldedness, and in which they acknowledge both their insufficiency and His sufficiency by the Spirit. There, at that time, they may claim His power and strength to supplant their weakness. The Bible makes no rules as to time or conditions. It is the individual child, in all the latitude of his own personality, dealing with his Father. Spirituality is not a future ideal: it is to be experienced now. The vital question is, "Am I walking in the Spirit now?" Answer to this question should not depend on the presence or absence of some unusual manifestation of the supernatural. Much of life will be lived in the uneventful commonplace; but, even there, we should have the conviction that we are right with God and in His unbroken fellowship. "Beloved, if our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God" (1 John 3:21). Likewise, we should not mistake worn nerves, physical weakness or depression for unspirituality. Many times sleep is more needed than prayer, and physical recreation than heart searching. Be it remembered, too, that His provisions are always perfect; but our entrance into these provisions is often imperfect. There is doubtless a too general reference to human attitudes and actions in relation to God as being "absolute": such as "absolute surrender," "absolute consecration," and "absolute devotion." If there are well-defined conditions upon which we may be spiritual, let us remember that, from the standpoint of the Infinite God, our compliance with those conditions is often imperfect. What He provides and bestows is in the fullest divine perfection; but our adjustment is human and therefore is usually subject to improvement. The fact of our possible deliverance, which depends upon Him alone, does not change. We shall have as much at any time as we make it possible for Him to bestow. Normally, the spiritual Christian will be occupied with effective service for his Lord. This is not a rule. We need only to know that we are yielded and ready to do whatever He may choose. To "rest in the Lord" is one of the essential victories in a spiritual life. "Come ye apart and rest awhile." We are just as spiritual when resting, playing, sleeping or incapacitated, if it is His will for us, as we are when serving. The spiritual life is not passive. Too often it is thus misjudged and because of the fact that one, to be spiritual, must cease from self-effort in the direction of spiritual attainments and learn to live and serve by the power God has provided. True spirituality knows little of "quietism." It is life more active, enlarged and vital because it is energized by the limitless power of God. Spirit-filled Christians are quite apt to be physically exhausted at the close of the day. They are weary in the work, but not weary of the work. The Spirit-filled life is never free from temptations; but "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able: but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." The plain teaching of this promise, in harmony with all Scripture on this subject, is that temptations which are "common to man" come to us all, but there is a divinely provided way of escape. The child of God does not need to yield to temptation. There is always the possibility of sin; but never the necessity. It has been well said that spiritual believers are honored with warfare in the front line trenches. There the fiercest pressure of the enemy is felt. But they are also privileged to witness the enemy’s crushing defeat; so abundant is the power of God, and thus highly is the spiritual believer honored. Living in unrealities is a source of hindrance to spirituality. Anything that savors of a "religious pose" is harmful. In a very particular sense the one who has been changed from the natural to the spiritual sometimes needs to be changed to a naturalness again, -- meaning, of course, a naturalness of manner and life. The true spiritual life presents a latitude sufficient to allow us to live very close to all classes of people without drawing us from God. Spirituality hinders sin, but should never hinder the friendship and confidence of sinners (Luke 15:1). Who can see the failures of others more than the one who has spiritual vision? And because of this fact, who needs more the divine power to keep him from becoming critical, with all that follows with it? We need to study most carefully the adaptation practiced by the Apostle Paul as revealed in 1 Corinthians 9:19-22. If our kind of spirituality makes Christ unattractive to others, it needs some drastic changes. May God save His children from assuming a holy tone of the voice, a holy somberness of spirit, a holy expression of the face, or a holy garb (if by the garb they wish to appear holy). True spirituality is an inward adorning. It is most simple and natural and should be a delight and attraction to all. It will not do to impersonate ideals or to imitate others. Just here is the great danger in analyzing experiences. Some are so easily induced to try to imitate someone else. That which gives us our priceless distinctiveness is our own personality, and we cannot please Him more than by being what He designed us to be. Some Christians are disposed to "traffic in unlived truth"; repeating pious phrases the truth of which they have never really experienced. This must always grieve the Spirit. We are dealing always with our Father. Too often the walk in the Spirit is thought to be a mechanical thing. We are not dealing with a machine: we are dealing with the most loving and tender-hearted Father in all the universe. The deepest secret of our walk is just to know Him, and so to believe in His Father-heart that we can cry out our failures on His loving breast, if need be, or speak plainly to Him in thanksgiving for every victory. When we know the consolation and relief of such communion we shall have less occasion to trouble any one else. It is ours to tell Him just what we feel, just how bad we are at heart, and even our darkest unbelief. To do this only opens our hearts to Him for His blessed light and strength. Separation from close-up communion is the first thing that we should fear, and the "first aid" in every spiritual accident is the simple act of telling Him everything. Having made our confession, we should reckon our forgiveness and restoration fully accomplished and immediately take our place in His fellowship and grace. The teaching that "the bird with the broken pinion never soars so high again" is most unscriptural. Through the sacrifice of Christ, no penalty because of sin remains for saint or sinner. Rather "the bird with a broken pinion may higher soar again"; but there should be no complacency with failure and defeat. We are never wonderful saints of whom God may justly be proud: we are His little children, immature and filled with foolishness, with whom He is endlessly patient and on whom He has been pleased to set all His infinite heart of love. He is wonderful. We are not. Believe what is written. Remember the vital words of Romans 6:6, Romans 6:9 "Knowing this," or "because we know this." We are always justified in acting on good evidence. Where is there a safer word of testimony than the imperishable Word of our God? From that Word we know that God has provided a finished judgment for our sins and for our sin, and that the way is open for an overflowing life in the power of the blessed Spirit. We know that such a life is His loving purpose for us. Ours is to believe His unfailing promise. So far from imposing on Him by claiming His grace, to fail to claim all that His love would bestow will hurt Him more than all else. We need give no direct attention to the increase of our faith. Faith grows as we contemplate the faithfulness of God. Count His Word to be true when He says, "My grace is sufficient for thee." So count on every provision and promise of God. True spirituality is a reality. It is all of the manifestations of the Spirit in and through the one in whom He dwells. He manifests in the believer the life which is Christ. He came not to reveal Himself but to make Christ real to the heart, and through the heart, of man. Thus the Apostle Paul could write: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 43: 05.00.1. MAJOR BIBLE THEMES ======================================================================== Major Bible Themes BY LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER 1871-1952 In the Public Domain ======================================================================== CHAPTER 44: 05.00.2. PREFACE TO THE E-SWORD EDITION ======================================================================== Preface to the e-Sword Edition When I first discovered the amazing power of e-Sword, I was connected to the internet with a 56k fax modem. My enthusiasm for the program and its plethora of resources motivated me to stay up all night downloading its riches. I spent the next several days exploring the amazing variety of study material. As a busy pastor, I’ve tried to assemble a classic research library. As a busy pastor of a small church, I’ve tried to inexpensively assemble a classic research library. E-Sword immediately added many valuable assets that I hadn’t yet purchased; and those resources that e-Sword duplicated were much easier and faster to use than the paper versions. Since that wonderful first week, I’ve discovered many more treasures through Google searches. Then one day I realized that I owed a debt. I made a contribution to Rick Meyers (Rick - you are the modern day Gutenberg; should the Lord not return in the near future like I believe He will, you will do for Bible study the next 100 years what Gutenberg did in the 1500’s), and then started looking for public domain resources to convert to .topx files. And so my personal journey has come full circle: from the excitement of discovering e-Sword to the excitement of creating .topx files for others. Like Rick quotes from Matthew 10:8, "freely ye have received, freely give." Thank you, Dear Family, for understanding my debt and graciously tolerating my near compulsive computer use for hours on end. My thanks to the creator of e-Sword, Rick Meyers - www.e-sword.net. Thank you, Lewis Sperry Chafer, for putting your studies into print. A very special thanks goes out to Grant Metcalf at www.bartimaeus.us, where I found it! Visit them for more great stuff! I would also be remiss to neglect to mention Mr. Jason Briggs, Mr. Ed Sandlin, & Mrs. Pamela Marshall, who have so enriched my own ministry. And of course most of all, thank You Lord Jesus for saving my soul for all eternity. This Edition There have been no changes made to Chafer’s work, except for the following: Scripture references have been converted to Scripture hyperlinks using the "Format Scripture ToolTip." A few obvious Scripture reference errors may have been corrected, as well as some obvious spelling errors. The copy and paste process may have unfortunately removed some of the italicized print. While the words have not been changed, some of Chafer’s emphasis may be missing. It is with regret that I have not taken the time to correct this. The sense is still accurate. [By the way - would you understand this paragraph without italics? Of course!] Also, the italicizing of the foreign words may have been lost. It is my hope that the reader will be able to follow the flow regardless of these flaws. They - the flaws - are mine, not Chafer’s. I am quite sure my edition of Chafer’s work is rather imperfect. I pray that, nonetheless, it will be productively useful in the study of God’s Word. Finally If you enjoy this module, check out my website - www.DoctorDaveT.com - where there are over 200+ modules much like this one: conservative, evangelical, bible believing and Christ honoring. May the Lord bless you as study His word. Dr. David Thomason Florida, 2010 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 45: 05.00.3. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION ======================================================================== Copyright Information The following information comes from Dallas Theological Seminary, the copyright holder on "Major Bible Themes." From TAllen@dts.edu Wed Aug 24 18:57:11 2005 Subject: A HISTORY OF THE WORKS OF LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER ** High Priority ** Below is a listing of the WORKS of Lewis Sperry Chafer that are on file at DTS. SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, ALL VOLUMES: Systematic Theology I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII, were originally copyrighted by Lewis Sperry Chafer, 3909 Swiss Avenue, Dallas, TX, and were registered in the Copyright Office of the United States on July 8 and 11, 1949. Dr. Chafer owned the above copyrights on the date of his death in 1952 at which time he transferred all copyrights owned by him, including the above copyrights to Dallas Theological Seminary, pursuant to his Last Will and Testament. The above copyrights were renewed in November of 1975 by Charles Fred Lincoln, Executor of the Estate of Lewis Sperry Chafer. This copyright will remain in effect for 67 years from the date of renewal, which will be the year 2042. We assigned our rights to Kregel Publications in April 1992, and permission for quotes must be obtained from them. They publish the WORKS and in turn pay the Seminary royalties. ("The AUTHOR [DTS] assigns to the PUBLISHER [KREGEL PUBLICATIONS a division of KREGEL, INC.], the exclusive rights to: a. print in all languages, publish and sell the WORK during the term of the copyright registrations and renewals thereof; b. continue the copyright of the WORK in the PUBLISHER’S name; c. broadcast over the radio, make mechanical renditions, videos and recordings, publish book club, Braille, electronic and microfilm editions, make translations and other versions, serialize before or after publications, syndicate, quote and otherwise utilize the WORK and any material based thereon or license others to do so; ...") Anyone wishing to obtain permission to quote, copy, or translate any part of these WORKS must contact the permissions department of Kregel Publications, P.O. Box 2607, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501-2607, telephone (616) 451-4775, or fax (616) 459-6049. OTHER WORKS: Grace, True Evangelism, Satan, and Salvation are in the public domain and published by Kregel. The original versions of He that is Spiritual and Major Bible Themes are in the public domain, but revised editions were copyrighted (He that is Spiritual in 1967 and Major Bible Themes in 1974) and are now being published by Zondervan. Permission to copy or use any part of the revised editions must go through Zondervan at 5300 Patterson SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49530. As far as I am able to determine, Dispensationalism, The Ephesian Letter, and The Kingdom and Prophecy are out of print. The Ephesian Letter was printed by Kregel in the past, but is not in print at this time. They are in the public domain. The only other work we have on file for Lewis Sperry Chafer is the STUDENT EVALUATION FORM, which was registered for copyright in February 1978, and is therefore still under copyright protection. If there are any WORKS that I have not found, or any new WORKS that might be published in the future, please be aware that DTS will still have the rights to these WORKS based on the wishes of Lewis Sperry Chafer as stated in his Last Will and Testament. " ... all copyright rights and all renewals and extensions of copyright rights to any book or books or other writing by me or in which I had participated, also the title to any book or books or writings owned by me at the time of my death, all royalties due or to become due me or my estate on account of the publishing and sale of any book or books written by me, or any other writing or writings, whether finished or unfinished, at the time of my death, ... to Dallas Theological Seminary, Texas; to have and to hold forever." Please let me know if I can help further.Theresa Allen Executive & Legal Assistant Office of the Vice President for Business & Finance and General Counsel Dallas Theological Seminary 3909 Swiss Avenue Dallas, TX 75204 Telephone: (214) 841-3618 Fax: (214) 841-3642 Email: tallen@dts.edu Clearly the original edition of "Major Bible Themes" is stipulated to be in the public domain. This eSword module is not the Walvoord revision of 1974, but rather the text of Chafer’s original work "Major Bible Themes." My thanks to Theresa Allen of DTS for claifying this very important issue. Thanks also to Grant Metcalf for keeping great records! ======================================================================== CHAPTER 46: 05.00.4. DEDICATION ======================================================================== Dedication THIS BOOK IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED TO GEORGE C. STEBBINS WHOSE INTIMATE COMPANIONSHIP HAS FOR THIRTY YEARS BEEN TO ME AN ABIDING INSPIRATION AND WHOSE INCOMPARABLE GOSPEL MUSIC LIKE CELESTIAL WINGS HAS CARRIED TO MULTITUDES OF SOULS IN EVERY LAND THE GREAT TRUTHS OF GOD’S WORD. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 47: 05.00.5. TABLE OF CONTENTS ======================================================================== Table of Contents 00.6 - Author’s Introduction 01 - The Bible: The Word of God 02 - The Bible: Inspired of God 03 - The Bible: Its Subject and Purpose 04 - God the Trinity: His Person and Deity 05 - God the Father 06 - God the Son: His Pre-existence 07 - God the Son: His Incarnation 08 - God the Son: His Substitutionary Death 09 - God the Son: His Resurrection and Ascension 10 - God the Son: His Priestly Ministry 11 - God the Son: His Coming for His Saints 12 - God the Son: His Coming with His Saints 13 - God the Holy Spirit: His Personality 14 - God the Holy Spirit: His Advent 15 - God the Holy Spirit: His Anointing 16 - God the Holy Spirit: His Ministry 17 - God the Holy Spirit: His Baptism 18 - The Dispensations 19 - The Covenants 20 - The Angels 21 - Satan: His Personality and Power 22 - Satan: His Work and Destiny 23 - Man: His Creation 24 - Man: His Fall 25 - Sin: Its Character and Universality 26 - Sin: God’s Remedy for It 27 - Law and Grace 28 - Salvation from the Guilt and Penalty of Sin 29 - Salvation from the Power of Sin 30 - Four Aspects of Righteousness 31 - Sanctification I 32 - Sanctification II 33 - Security 34 - Assurance 35 - The Church: Her Membership 36 - The Church: Her Mission 37 - The Sabbath 38 - The Lord’s Day and the New Creation 39 - Love 40 - Prayer 41 - Service 42 - Thanksgiving 43 - Stewardship 44 - Prophecy in the Old Testament 45 - Prophecy in the New Testament 46 - Judgment of the Believer’s Works 47 - Judgment of the Nations 48 - Judgment of the Wicked 49 - The Eternal Estate of the Redeemed ======================================================================== CHAPTER 48: 05.00.6. AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION ======================================================================== Author’s Introduction Much of the material in this book was published in the Sunday School Times (April to December, 1925) as the author’s notes on the Whole Bible Lessons. Since the original series was incomplete as a representation of the more important doctrines of the Scriptures, several chapters have been added. Those chapters which were originally written as Bible class lessons are outlined and named according to the direction given by the lesson committee and are based on the Scripture selections suggested by them. This book is in no sense intended to be a treatise on systematic theology. In its preparation, a limited number of the most vital and practical themes have been chosen, and an attempt has been made to adapt these brief discussions to the needs of the untrained Christian. To each chapter a list of questions has been added which, it is hoped, may make the studies more useful both to individuals and to groups. The student who would be versed on these subjects should look up every passage cited and continue the study of each theme until all the questions can be answered from memory. Although the writer presumably has made a careful study of the various subjects treated, it is not his prerogative to dictate what another shall believe; but rather to point out what the Bible teaches. Faith should always rest on a personal understanding of the Scriptures, rather than on the teaching of men. Bible doctrines are the bones of revelation and the attentive Bible student must be impressed with the New Testament emphasis on "sound doctrine" (Matthew 7:28; John 7:16-17; Acts 2:42; Romans 6:17; Ephesians 4:14; 1 Timothy 1:3; 1 Timothy 4:6; 1 Timothy 4:16; 1 Timothy 6:1; 2 Timothy 3:10; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Timothy 4:2-3; 2 John 1:9-10). Not knowing the doctrines of the Bible, the child of God will be, even when sincere, "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive"; the many well-meaning believers who are drawn into modern cults and heresies being sufficient proof. On the other hand, the divine purpose is that the servant of Christ shall be fully equipped to "preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." These chapters are released with the prayer that they may honor Him whose glory and grace are supreme, and that some among the children of God may be helped more accurately "to speak the things which become sound doctrine." --Lewis Sperry Chafer ======================================================================== CHAPTER 49: 05.01. THE BIBLE: THE WORD OF GOD ======================================================================== The Bible: The Word of God CHAPTER I It is a marvelous thing that we have an infallible Book from the hand of God. Every student and teacher should be fully convinced of this fact. There are two lines of evidence to be traced: (1) That which is internal, or the Bible’s own claim concerning itself, and (2) that which is external, or outward, obvious facts concerning the Scriptures. I. THAT WHICH IS INTERNAL By hundreds of passages the Bible both directly declares and assumes itself to be the Word of God (note Psalms 12:6; Psalms 93:5; Psalms 119:18; Psalms 119:98-100; Psalms 119:105; Psalms 119:130; Isaiah 55:10-11; Jeremiah 23:29; Romans 10:17; 2 Timothy 2:15). Psalms 19:7-11 declares that the Old Testament is the Word of Jehovah. Six perfections of that Word are named with six corresponding transformations which that Word accomplishes. Likewise, Hebrews 1:1-2 states that God is speaking in the Old Testament through the prophets and in the New Testament through His Son. II. THAT WHICH IS EXTERNAL Considering the external evidence that the Bible is the Word of God, the Book is a phenomenon and as such presents a challenge to the most skeptical among men. Certain facts should be noted: 1. Its Continuity. The Bible appears in one volume in which there is a perfect continuity of historical sequence from the creation to the new heavens and the new earth; a perfect unfolding of doctrine from the blade to the full corn in the ear; from type to antitype; from prophecy to its fulfillment; and the anticipation, presentation, realization, and exaltation of the most perfect Person on earth or in Heaven. Yet this one volume which exhibits the most perfect continuity of thought that the world has ever seen is, nevertheless, a collection of sixty-six books ¦written by about forty authors -- kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, physicians, statesmen, scholars, poets, and plowmen -- who could have known but little of each other, since their lives were lived in various countries and their writings were distributed over sixty generations of human history, representing a period of about sixteen hundred years. 2. The Extent of its Revelation. In its unfolding of truth, the Bible is inexhaustible. Like a telescope it sweeps the universe from the heights of Heaven to the depths of hell, and traces the works of God from their beginning to their end. Like a microscope it reveals the minutest details of the plan and purpose of God and the perfection of His creation. Like a stereoscope it places all beings and objects whether on earth or in Heaven in right relation the one to the other. Though written in the earlier days of human knowledge when the present world discoveries could not reasonably have been disclosed, it is in harmony with every discovery made by man. 3. Its Output. In fullest satisfaction the Bible is claimed by all races as their own, and is, as no other book, translatable into every tongue. It has already been translated into over seven hundred and seventy different languages and dialects. Thirty societies are now specializing in its publication, and over thirty million copies are printed annually. Of this number the British Bible Society publishes every hour more than two thousand copies. The French infidel Voltaire who died in 1778 predicted that the Bible would become obsolete within a hundred years. Contrary to the statement of this skeptic, the Bible abides. For nineteen hundred years it has endured the systematic, destructive attacks from Satan and men; but never has its predicted endurance been more tested than now when those who pose as its friends and exponents are subtly denying its most vital truths and its supernatural character. Its influence is transforming. To the unsaved it is the "sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17), and to the saved it is a cleansing, sanctifying, and reflecting power (Ephesians 5:25-26; John 17:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18); it is the basis of all true civilization, law, and morality. 4. Its Subject Matter. The supernatural character of this Book is seen in the fact that it deals as freely with the unknown and otherwise unknowable as it does with that which is known, and those who follow its teachings are unfailingly led in the paths of God’s eternal Truth. Likewise, as no other book, the Bible accounts for those who do not receive its teachings. Of them it records that they are unregenerate men who receive not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can they know them because only by the Spirit are these things discerned (1 Corinthians 2:13). Its qualities are real, for those who know it best love it most. 5. As Literature. Merely as literature, the Bible is supreme. It satisfies the simple-minded and entrances the sage; yet here, again, consideration should be given to the limitations of its human authors. To God alone be the glory! 6. Unprejudiced Authority. This Book is not prejudiced in favor of men. It unhesitatingly records the sin, the weakness of the best of men and the doom of all who rely alone on those virtues and merits which are their own. Men do not so speak of themselves. It assumes to be a message from God to man rather than a message from man to man. It speaks with authority of things in Heaven and things on earth; of the seen and of the unseen; of God, of angels, and of men; of time and of eternity; of life and of death; of sin and of salvation; of Heaven and of hell. Apart from its message, there is no knowledge of these eternal issues in all the world: with its message, there is certainty, assurance, and peace. 7. The Supreme Character. Above all else in this supernatural Book is its revelation of the Person and glory of God as manifested in His Son. Let no one suppose that this Character is a mere fiction -- the invention of a mortal mind; for His perfections have never been comprehended by the wisest and holiest of this earth. If He were a mere fiction, let the mind which conceived Him be extolled and adored! 8. The Bible and Christ Compared. Because of the combination of supernatural qualities which enter into the Bible, a similarity may be observed between the Bible as the Written Word and the Lord Jesus Christ as the Living Word. They are both supernatural as to their origin, presenting an inscrutable and impeccable blending of that which is divine and that which is human. They both exercise a transforming power over those who believe, and are alike allowed of God to be set at naught and rejected by those who do not believe. The untainted, undiminished divine perfections are embodied in each. The revelations which they disclose are at once as simple as the demands of a child, as complex as the infinite treasures of divine wisdom and knowledge, and as enduring as the God whom they reveal. QUESTIONS 1. What are the two general lines of evidence that the Bible is the Word of God? 2. Name six transformations it accomplishes as stated in Psalms 19:7-11. 3. Since the Bible was written by so many different authors and in various ages, how do you account for its marvelous continuity? 4. Recount the various classes of men who are the human authors. 5. Does the Bible revelation conflict with modern discoveries? 6. To what extent is the Bible being circulated? 7. What was Voltaire’s prediction in 1778? 8. Has the Bible ever been more assailed by its enemies than now? 9. Does the Bible hesitate to speak with authority on supernatural and eternal things? 10. What does it say of the limitation of man? 11. What is peculiar about its literary appeal? 12. What evidence is suggested by the fact that the Bible discloses the sins of all men? 13. What character is its supreme revelation? 14. Indicate the outstanding similarity between Christ and the Scriptures. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 50: 05.02. THE BIBLE: INSPIRED OF GOD ======================================================================== The Bible: Inspired of God CHAPTER II The Bible rightfully assumes to be God’s message to man. The books of the world assume to be no more than man’s message to his fellow-man. The Bible therefore deals with things eternal, infinite, and otherwise unknowable as freely as other books deal with things temporal, finite, and known. In forming the Scriptures, it is true that God employed human writers, but these men, though they may have understood but little of the whole to which they were contributing, did nevertheless, under the mighty hand of God, produce a single Book in which there is infinite continuity and which manifests every evidence of being the work of one Writer who alone is its Author. The true doctrine of inspiration contends that God so directed the human authors that, without destroying their own individuality, literary style, or personal interest, His complete and connected thought toward man was recorded. Various opinions have been advanced as to the extent of the divine control over the human authors. These have been called "theories of inspiration," and all students of the Bible should be clear in their own minds with regard to these vital issues. I. GENERAL THEORIES OF INSPIRATION 1. Naturalistic. -- This, as the name implies, is the theory that the Bible is only a human product and therefore void of any supernatural elements. This view, which discredits and degrades the Word of God, is held only by infidels and unregenerate men. 2. Partial. -- By this term a theory of inspiration is indicated which suggests that only certain parts of the Scriptures, are inspired. When this theory is accepted, of necessity each person is left to determine for himself what portions of the Bible are inspired and what are not. All authority is broken down since people are not naturally inclined to receive and apply to themselves those words of reproof and correction which are contrary to their own wishes. Those who hold this theory usually make much of the words of Christ as being more authoritative than other portions of the Scriptures; disregarding the fact that Christ wrote nothing and that His words are, at best, the report of the very men whose writings they, in other connections, discredit. However, it should be remembered that Christ declared His own acceptance of every word of the Old Testament to be the Word of God, and that He provided for the full authority of every word of the New Testament. 3. Gracious. -- This theory of inspiration suggests that the writers of the Bible were inspired in the same way, though to a fuller degree, as Spirit-filled men are empowered today. The writings of the Apostle Paul are said to be comparable with the writings of John Calvin or Martin Luther, and equally liable to be marred by human error. This and the "Partial" theory of inspiration are the theories which are held by Modernists today. 4. Verbal. -- This theory, as its designation implies, maintains that the Bible is, even to its very words, an inspired book. This claim is made for the original writings only and not for copies, translations, or quotations, even though they may date back to the early days of the Christian era. However, though no original manuscripts are now in existence, it is important to observe that the most careful study of those copies, translations and quotations which are available yields clear evidence that our present text of the Bible is a very close reproduction of the original. It is sometimes claimed that it was not the very words but the thought, or concept, which was inspired. The sufficient answer to this suggestion is that, apart from the exact words, there could be no precision in a mere conception, particularly such precision as is demanded in the Scriptures. So, also, the declaration of the writers who knew the facts is that they were responsible for words rather than the mere concept (note Moses, Exodus 34:27; David, 2 Samuel 23:2; Psalms 45:1; Solomon, Proverbs 30:6; Isaiah, Isaiah 6:5-8; Jeremiah, Jeremiah 1:7; Jeremiah 36:1-2; Zechariah, Zechariah 7:7, Christ, Matthew 8:17; John 14:10; John 8:47; John 12:48; John 17:8; Paul, 1 Corinthians 2:4; Jude, Jude 1:17-18 : R.V.) Nor does the Bible’s own claim to be inspired, even in its very words, limit the choice of words or the flow of style on the part of the human writers, for God is abundantly able to secure the exact expression He demands even within the literary limitations of a fisherman. II. THE TESTIMONY OF CHRIST Beyond its own claims, the Old Testament was declared by Christ to be the inspired Word of God. When He spoke, none of the New Testament had been written, therefore He could have referred only to the Old Testament (John 17:17). Likewise, the New Testament was written according to His provision and promise. He had said that He would leave a revelation and that it would be completed after His departure (John 16:12-13). This revelation was committed to Certain men (John 15:27; Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19; Luke 10:22), and He gave their words the same authority as His own (Matthew 10:14-15; Luke 10:16; John 13:20; John 17:14; John 17:18; Hebrews 2:3-4). III. TWO IMPORTANT PASSAGES 1. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy 3:16). The word which is here translated inspiration is used but once in the New Testament. It means "God-breathed," and, according to this verse, this divine element extends to all the Scriptures. 2. "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Peter 1:21). The phrase, "moved by the Holy Ghost," is the vital element in this revelation and its literal meaning is that the writers were "borne along" by the Spirit of God. Such is the Bible’s own claim to inspiration. IV. QUALIFYING CONSIDERATIONS 1. Inspiration provides that the exact divine message be given. If it is God’s Truth which is reported, it is recorded exactly. If it is Satan’s lie, it is presented as a lie, for inspiration does not change a lie into truth. If it is history, it is true to the facts. If it is prophecy, it indicates precisely what will come to pass. 2. Inspiration aims at inspired writings and not at inspired men. The very infallible Scriptures themselves record the sins and failures of the human authors. 3. Since we depend upon the Bible alone for the knowledge of the most vital facts of our existence, there is every reason to contend for the divine accuracy of God’s Word and to be grateful that it is "God-breathed" and therefore not merely as fallible as its human writers, but is as infallible as its divine Author. QUESTIONS 1. Wherein does the Bible assume to be God’s message to man? 2. For what does the doctrine of Inspiration contend? 3. Define the Naturalistic Theory of Inspiration. 4. Define the Partial Theory of Inspiration. 5. Define the Gracious Theory of Inspiration. 6. Define the Verbal Theory of Inspiration. 7. Which of these do you accept? 8. Why is it that inspiration cannot be limited to the thought or concept? 9. What theory of inspiration does the Bible claim for itself? 10. Indicate Christ’s attitude toward the inspiration of the Old Testament Scriptures. 11. What provision did He make for the inspiration of the New Testament? 12. State the meaning of the word inspiration as used in 2 Timothy 3:16 and of the words moved by the Holy Ghost as used in 2 Peter 1:21. 13. Indicate the effect of inspiration on the recorded words of God, of Satan, of men, of history, and of prophecy. 14. Does inspiration aim at inspired men or inspired writings? What proof can be given for your answer? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 51: 05.03. THE BIBLE: ITS SUBJECT AND PURPOSE ======================================================================== The Bible: Its Subject and Purpose CHAPTER III Revelation from God is reasonable. In the presence of the fact of the material universe, a belief in a sufficient Creator is demanded of all rational beings. And, having recognized the Creator and man as the consummation of creation, it is reasonable to expect that the Creator will communicate with the creature, revealing His purpose and will. God the Creator has done this having revealed Himself in various ways: 1. Through Nature. -- The eternal power and Godhead, we are told are revealed by the things which are created (Romans 1:20), but, while the revelation is limited in that it discloses nothing of those divine attributes which have to do with redemption and the destiny of men, it is sufficient to the extent that the heathen world is without excuse if they do not recognize that there is a God. 2. In Christ. -- In the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4), God became manifest in the flesh. The Son of God came into the world to declare God to men in terms of human understanding. By His incarnation, otherwise inscrutable facts concerning the eternal God have been translated into the limited range of human comprehension. This revelation contemplates not only the Person and power of God which was already set forth to a limited degree in the things created, but more particularly the love of God as set forth in the sacrificial death of Christ. Christ is an exact portrait of God (Hebrews 1:3), and we should always consider Christ as God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). 3. The Written Word. -- This chapter has to do with the written Word as a manifestation. The Bible not only presents God as its supreme subject, but also unfolds His purposes. The written revelation is all-inclusive. It not only restates all the facts concerning God which are revealed through nature, and gives the only record concerning God’s manifestation in Christ, but it enlarges the divine revelation into infinite detail regarding God the Father, the Son, the Spirit, angels, demons, man, sin, salvation, grace, and glory. In recognizing the unique character of the Bible, two things especially noted in the title of this chapter may be emphasized: I. THE PURPOSE OF THE BIBLE We understand from the written Word of God that there is one supreme purpose which actuates God in all He has done or will do from the beginning of creation to the farthest reaches of eternity whether it is in Heaven or on earth. For this one purpose angels were created; so, also, the material universe and man, and, though hidden behind an inscrutable mystery, we know that even sin was permitted and redemption was provided with a view to the realization of this supreme purpose. This supreme purpose is the Glory of God. That God should bring all things to pass that He might be glorified would seem self-seeking to an infinite degree, from a mere human view-point; but this theme cannot be limited to the range of human conceptions. In the light of Scripture revelation, we conclude that because God is infinite in His being, His perfections, and His blessedness He is worthy of infinite glory, and it would be an injustice of infinite proportions should His creation withhold from Him that honor and glory which are rightfully His. God is not self-seeking; He who is the fountain source of all truth must be true to Himself as Creator and Lord of all. It is man who is self-centered and who can conceive of nothing more desirable than that man should be exalted and glorified. It is man who does not understand the normal relation which should exist between the Creator and the creature, and does not ascribe to the Creator that glory which is rightfully due Him because of His person, His position, and His character (Exodus 24:10; Exodus 24:17; 1 Chronicles 16:17-29; Psalms 57:11; Isaiah 6:1). Since the Bible is God’s message to man, its supreme purpose is His supreme purpose; which is, that He may be glorified. The Bible records: 1. That "all things ... that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him" (for his glory, Colossians 1:16). Angels and men, the material universe and every creature, are all created for His glory. "The heavens declare the glory of God" (Psalms 19:1). 2. The nation Israel is for the glory of God (Jeremiah 13:11; Isaiah 43:7; Isaiah 43:21; Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 60:1; Isaiah 60:3; Isaiah 60:21; Isaiah 62:3). 3. Salvation is unto the glory of God (Romans 9:23), even as it will be a manifestation of the grace of God (Ephesians 2:7), and is now a manifestation of the wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10). 4. All service should be unto the glory of God (Matthew 5:16; John 15:8; 1 Corinthians 10:31; 1 Peter 2:12; 1 Peter 4:11; 1 Peter 4:14). The Bible itself is God’s instrument by which He prepares the man of God unto every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). 5. The Christian’s new passion is that God may be glorified (Romans 5:2). 6. Even the believer’s death is said to be to this one end (John 21:19; Php 1:20). 7. The saved one is appointed to share in the glory of Christ (John 17:22; Colossians 3:4). II. THE SUBJECT OF THE BIBLE The Lord Jesus Christ is the supreme subject of the Bible. Like a glass this book reflects "the glory of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18); but the Lord Himself has been manifested that He, in turn, might reflect the glory of God. "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). QUESTIONS 1. On what ground is it reasonable to expect that God would reveal Himself to man? 2. What passage of Scripture indicates that God has revealed Himself to man through nature? 3. What concerning God is thus revealed? 4. Is nature’s revelation complete? 5. By what means has God made a perfect revelation of Himself to man? 6. Wherein is this revelation superior to that of nature? 7. Indicate the various aspects of the divine revelation as set forth in the Bible. 8. What is the supreme purpose of God as revealed in the Scriptures? 9. Why is it in no way self-seeking on the part of God to wish to accomplish His own glory? 10. Wherein is real self-seeking disclosed? 11. Name seven ways which are indicated in the Scriptures whereby God is said to be glorified. 12. Point out the Scriptures which state that all creation is for the glory of God. 13. In what way is God glorified through the salvation of a soul? 14. Describe how Christ is the manifestation of God’s glory. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 52: 05.04. GOD THE TRINITY: HIS PERSON & DEITY ======================================================================== God The Trinity: His Person & Deity CHAPTER IV Man recognizes the existence of God by intuition or innate knowledge. This means that the fact of God’s existence is self-evident to a degree that attempted proofs are unnatural to the mind, and therefore uncalled for. Those facts which are received by intuition are more evident than others. Men do not ask for proofs of their own existence nor of the existence of material things which they recognize by their senses. Though God is unseen as to His person, His existence and immanence are so evident that men generally require no proofs of the fact of His being. However, man’s innate conceptions of God are greatly strengthened by the contemplation of His works in creation, preservation, and providence. So, also, man’s thoughts of God are enlarged by tradition, or those accumulated impressions which are passed from father to son; but the knowledge of God is perfected when due consideration is given to that complete revelation which He has given of Himself in the Scriptures of Truth. The ancient philosophers were deprived of any knowledge of the Bible revelation, and there are those, also, who through prejudice or unbelief will not receive the testimony of God. Both of these classes of men are of necessity left to mere speculation regarding the person of God and His creation. The theorizings of men throughout the ages have resulted in certain systems of philosophy: (1) Polytheism, with its many gods; (2) Hylozoism, which suggests that God Himself is that life principle which is found in all creation; (3) Materialism, which contends that matter is self-functioning, and toward this theory all modern evolution tends; and (4) Pantheism with its claim that matter is God and God is matter, that God is impersonal and therefore coeternal with matter. The arguments of men by which they have attempted to prove the existence of God apart from the Scriptures are also in four classes: (1) Ontological, which contends that God must exist because men universally believe that He exists; (2) Cosmological, which contends that every effect must have its sufficient cause and therefore the universe must have a Creator; (3) Teleological, which contends that every design must have its designer, and therefore the whole creation must have a designer; and (4) Anthropological, which contends that the very existence of man as a living person is assurance that there is a living God. The child of God turns from these human arguments to the divine revelation with a sense of relief; for in the Word of God he discovers complete and satisfying revelations concerning God and His creation. In the Scriptures there are, however, certain distinctions to be noted: I. THE UNITY OF GOD AND THE TRINITY The Old Testament emphasizes the unity of God in particular (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 44:6; Exodus 20:3), with intimations as to the Trinity (.Gen :1:26; Genesis 3:22; Genesis 11:7; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6-7; Psalms 2:7; Genesis 1:2; Isaiah 48:12-16; Isaiah 63:9-10). The New Testament emphasizes the Trinity -- the Father, Son, and Spirit -- in particular (note Matthew 28:19; John 14:16), with intimations as to the unity of God (John 14:9; John 10:30; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 1:15; Colossians 2:9). The Old Testament references to Deity by various names are not references to the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit unless so specified, but to these Three in One. The fact that there are three Persons in One is a revelation which belongs to the sphere of Heaven’s perfect, understanding (1 Corinthians 13:12), and while we can now believe and receive all that God has said to us, these truths cannot be compressed into the limited sphere of human understanding. There is one God who subsists in a threefold personality. The Father says "I," the Son says "I," and the Spirit, also, is in every sense a person; yet these Three are not three Persons, but they are One. They are equal, and to them should be ascribed the same attributes, titles, adoration, worship, and confidence; yet they are not three Gods, but they are one God. In this divine relationship, three Persons are seen to be One; yet without blending or confounding the separateness of their infinite Beings. And in like manner, One Person is seen to be Three without a dividing of substance. The Trinity consists in three essential distinctions in the substance of the one God; yet these distinctions are presented as separate persons to the extent that the Father sends the Son into the world (John 17:18), and the Son sends the Spirit into the world (John 16:7). This procession or exercise of authority, it should be observed, is never reversed. If all this seems incomprehensible, it is only because the finite mind is unable to grasp infinite truth. II. THE OLD TESTAMENT NAMES In the Old Testament, when referring to Deity, three primary names are used. This fact alone suggests the Trinity. These names as translated in the Authorized Version of the Bible are: "God," "LORD," and "Lord." The name LORD when printed in capital letters means Jehovah, and the name Lord when printed in small letters means Master. These primary names are often combined as LORD God, and Lord God. (The meaning of these names and all other divine titles will be found in the notes of the Scofield Reference Bible, or in any good Bible dictionary). III. THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD From the Scriptures it is revealed that there are certain qualities belonging to God. In no sense has He acquired these attributes; they are what He is, and ever has been, and ever will be, and He is the beginning or fountain source of each and all of them. God is a spirit (John 4:24), God is life (Jeremiah 10:10), God is self-existent (Exodus 3:14), God is infinite (Psalms 145:3), God is immutable (Psalms 102:27; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17), God is truth (Deuteronomy 32:4; John 17:3), God is love (1 John 4:8), God is eternal, (Psalms 90:2), God is holy (1 Peter 1:16; 1 John 1:5), God is omnipresent (Psalms 139:8; Jeremiah 23:23-24), God is omniscient (Psalms 147:4-5), and God is omnipotent (Matthew 19:26). The greatness of God cannot be fully comprehended by man, but it can at least be said that God is greater than the universe to the extent that the Creator is greater than the thing which He creates; yet His very greatness includes His ability and desire to care for the smallest detail of His creation. Not a sparrow falleth without His knowledge and by Him every hair of the head is numbered. His greatest undertaking is seen in the provisions He has made for the eternal salvation of sinners whom His infinite holiness must otherwise condemn for ever. IV. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD God is supreme over all. He yields to no power, authority, or glory. He represents perfection to an infinite degree in every aspect of His being. He could never be surprised, defeated, or uncertain. However, without sacrificing His authority or jeopardizing the final realization of His will, it has pleased Him to release some measure of freedom of choice to men in the limited sphere of their own experience, and for its exercise He holds them responsible. The Bible states that men do not turn to God apart from the moving of His Spirit in their hearts (John 6:44; John 16:7-11); yet it is declared that, on the human side, they must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved. Likewise, it is written that it is God who works in the believer both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:13); yet He appeals to them to yield themselves to Him (Romans 12:1-2). Since God is supreme and since He controls the hearts and wills of men, it is necessary to believe that, when the history of the universe is completed, God’s purpose and plan will have been wrought out according to His will even to the last degree. "He doeth all things well." V. THE DECREES OF GOD There are certain divine decrees, or undertakings, in which no other being can share; being wrought by God alone in His sovereign wisdom and power. The major decrees are: His creation, His preservation, His providence, His unconditional covenants, the dispensations, and His grace. QUESTIONS 1. What things do we recognize by intuition? 2. Is God, even though unseen, so recognized? 3. Name various ways by which we learn more about God. 4. Compare what men know apart from the Bible revelation with that which is known through that revelation. 5. Name and describe each of the four systems of philosophy regarding the Person of God. 6. Name four general arguments by which men have sought to prove the existence of God. 7. Regarding the Unity of God and the Trinity, where in the Scriptures are these two aspects of truth especially emphasized? 8. To what conception of God do His Old Testament names generally refer? 9. Why cannot man understand the doctrine of the Trinity? 10. Give a general statement of what may be known of the Unity of God and the Trinity. 11. Give the three primary names of God found in the Old Testament. 12. Name the attributes of God. 13. Has God acquired His attributes or are they an essential part of His Eternal Person? 14. Why is it reasonable to believe that God is greater than the sum total of all that He has created? 15. What is divine sovereignty? How is it exercised in the saving of men? 16. Name the decrees of God. Why are they termed decrees? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 53: 05.05. GOD THE FATHER ======================================================================== God The Father CHAPTER V Three Persons are indicated in the blessed Trinity -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit -- and these three are one God. The Father is not the Trinity, the Son is not the Trinity, nor is the Spirit the Trinity. Since the Old Testament reference to Deity is almost universally to the Triune God, there is comparatively little mention in that portion of the Scriptures of the three Persons in the Trinity. But when the processes of redemption are in progress, as recorded in the New Testament, the clearest distinctions are drawn as to the Person and work of each. The Father is presented as electing, loving, and bestowing; the Son is presented as suffering, redeeming, and upholding; while the Spirit is presented as regenerating, energizing, and sanctifying. This chapter is concerned with the person of the Father -- the first of the blessed Trinity -- who is set forth in the New Testament in two aspects: I. THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST The relationship which exists between the first and second Persons of the Trinity is, in the Scriptures, likened to that relationship which exists between a father and a son. The relationship, though nowhere clearly explained, is fundamental in the divine being and has always existed. He who was "the firstborn of every creature" was "the only begotten Son" from all eternity (John 17:5; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:5-10), and He who in the fullness of time that He might be incarnate was begotten by the overshadowing power of the Highest and born of a virgin (Luke 1:35), was with the Father and was coequal with Him from the beginning (John 1:1-2). While the relationship between the first and the second Persons of the Trinity is actually that of a father to a son and a son to a father (2 Corinthians 1:3; Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 1:2), the fact of this relationship is an illustration of vital truth which accommodates itself to the mode of thought of a finite mind. The truth that the Father is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, though slightly mentioned in the Old Testament (Psalms 2:7; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6-7), is one of the most general teachings of the New Testament. 1. The Son of God is said to have been begotten of the Father (Psalms 2:7; John 1:14; John 1:18; John 3:16; John 3:18; 1 John 4:9). 2. The Father acknowledged the Lord Jesus Christ to be His Son (Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5; Luke 9:35). 3. The Father is acknowledged by the Son (Matthew 11:27; Matthew 26:63-64; Luke 22:29; John 8:16-29; John 8:33-44; John 17:1). 4. The fact that God the Father is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is acknowledged by men (Matthew 16:16; Mark 15:39; John 1:34; John 1:49; Acts 3:14). 5. The Son acknowledges the Father by being subject to Him (John 8:29; John 8:49). 6. Even the demons recognize this relationship between the Father and the Son (Matthew 8:29). II. THE FATHER OF ALL AMONG MEN WHO BELIEVE ON CHRIST The student should be warned against the modernistic teaching which is now so general and which claims that God the Father is the Father of all mankind, and that there is therefore a universal brotherhood among men founded upon a supposed universal fatherhood of God. It is true that the human race at its beginning was "the offspring of God" (Acts 17:28-29). But, when tracing the genealogy of Christ, Luke declared each and every generation until Adam to be the offspring of the preceding generation; Adam alone is called "the son of God" (Luke 3:38). On the other hand, the Scriptures teach that all who believe on Christ unto salvation are sons of God; not on the ground of their first or natural birth into the Adamic family, but on the ground of their second or spiritual birth into the family of God (John 1:12; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:19; Ephesians 3:15; Ephesians 5:1). By the regenerating work of the Spirit the believer is made a legitimate child of God. God being actually his Father he is impelled by the Spirit to say "Abba, Father." Being born of God, he is a partaker of the divine nature, and on the ground of that birth, he is heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ (John 1:12-13; John 3:3-6; Titus 3:4-6; 1 Peter 1:4; Romans 8:16-17). The impartation of the divine nature is an operation so deep that the nature thus imparted is never said to be removed for any cause whatsoever. When the teachings of the Scriptures relative to the present power and authority of Satan are considered, added proof is given that all men are not children of God by their natural birth. In this connection the most direct and faithful sayings of Christ are in evidence. Speaking of those who disbelieved He said: "Ye are of your father the devil" (John 8:44). Likewise, when describing the unregenerate He said, "The tares are the children of the wicked one" (Matthew 13:38). The Apostle Paul wrote of the unsaved as being "The children of disobedience," and "The children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:2-3). Emphasis should be placed on the fact that it is not in the power of any one to make himself a child of God. God alone can undertake such a transformation, and He undertakes it only on the one condition which He Himself has imposed, that Christ shall be believed upon and received as Saviour (John 1:12). The following passages give clear instruction regarding the Fatherhood of God: John 20:17; 1 Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:12-13; Colossians 1:19; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 John 1:3; 1 John 2:1; 1 John 2:22; 1 John 3:1. QUESTIONS 1. Where does the emphasis fall in the Scriptures on God as One Person, and where on the separate Persons of the Trinity? 2. What ministries are exercised by the Father, by the Son, and by the Spirit? 3. What human relationship is used in the Scriptures to illustrate the relationship which exists between the First and Second Persons of the Trinity? 4. What Scriptures indicate that this relationship existed from all eternity? 5. What Old Testament passages teach the relationship of Father and Son in the Godhead? 6. Name six ways in which the divine Father and Son relationship is acknowledged and asserted in the New Testament. 7. To whom other than Christ is God said to be Father? 8. Is the doctrine of the Universal Fatherhood of God and the Universal Sonship of Man taught in the Scriptures? 9. How may man be said to be the offspring of God? 10. By what process does he become a child of God? 11. What is imparted through the new birth? 12. Do the Scriptures imply that the new nature could ever be removed? 13. Indicate some Bible passages which describe the relationships which the unsaved sustain to Satan and to God. 14. Who alone is sufficient to accomplish a regeneration of lost men? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 54: 05.06. GOD THE SON: HIS PRE-EXISTENCE ======================================================================== God The Son: His Pre-Existence CHAPTER VI Being at the same time perfectly human and perfectly divine, the Lord Jesus Christ was both like and unlike to the sons of men. The Scripture is clear regarding His likeness to men (John 1:14; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14-17), presenting Him as a man among men, who was both, who lived, who suffered, and who died. The Scriptures are equally clear as to His unlikeness to men; not only in the sinless character of His human life, His sacrificial death, His glorious resurrection and ascension, but in the fact of His eternal pre-existence. On the human side he had a beginning; He was conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of a virgin. On the divine side He had no beginning; He was from all eternity. In Isaiah 9:6, we read: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." The distinction is obvious between the child which was born and the Son which was given. In like manner, it is stated in Galatians 4:4, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law." He who was the eternal Son was, in the fullness of time, "made [the offspring] of a woman." The fact of the pre-existence of the Son of God is established by two distinct lines of revelation -- (1) as directly stated, and (2) as implied: I. AS DIRECTLY STATED The pre-existence of Christ is asserted in an extensive body of Scripture which is of great importance since it enters vitally into the revelation of the fact of His Deity. By these Scriptures the Son of God is seen to be in His infinite Person and eternal existence coequal with the other Persons of the Godhead, and this fact is unaffected by His incarnation. The Scriptures state: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God" (John 1:1-2); "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2; note also, Isaiah 7:13-14; Isaiah 9:6-7); "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58; note also, Exodus 3:14; Isaiah 43:13); "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was" (John 17:5). The following passages are of equal import: John 13:3; Php 2:6; Colossians 1:15-19; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 13:8. II. AS IMPLIED The Word of God constantly and consistently implies the pre-existence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Among the obvious proofs of this fact several may be noted: 1. The works of creation are ascribed to Christ (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:10). He therefore antedates all creation. 2. The Angel of Jehovah whose appearance is often recorded in the Old Testament is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Though He appears at times as an angel or even as a man, He bears the unmistakable marks of Deity, He appeared to Hagar (Genesis 16:7), to Abraham (Genesis 18:1; Genesis 22:11-12; note John 8:58), to Jacob (Genesis 48:15-16; note also, Genesis 31:11-13; Genesis 32:24-32), to Moses (Exodus 3:2; Exodus 3:14), to Joshua (Joshua 5:13-14), and to Manoah (Judges 13:19-22). He it is who fights for, and defends, His own (2 Kings 19:35; Zechariah 14:1-4; 1 Chronicles 21:15-16; Psalms 34:7). 3. The titles of the Lord Jesus Christ indicate His eternal Being. He is precisely what His names imply. He is "The Son of God," "The Only Begotten Son," "The First and the Last," "The Alpha and Omega," "The Lord," "Lord of All," "Lord of Glory," "The Christ," "Wonderful," "Counsellor," "The Mighty God," "The Father of Eternity," "God," "God with us," "Our Great God," and "God Blessed Forever." These titles relate Him to the Old Testament revelation of Jehovah-God (comp. Matthew 1:23 with Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 4:7 with Deuteronomy 6:16; Mark 5:19 with Psalms 66:16; and Psalms 110:1 with Matthew 22:42-45). Again, the New Testament names of the Son of God are associated with titles of the Father and the Spirit as being equal with them (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 14:1; John 17:3; Ephesians 5:5; Revelation 20:6; Revelation 22:3), and He is explicitly called God (Romans 9:5; John 1:1; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8). 4. The pre-existence of the Son of God is implied in the fact that He has the attributes of God -- Life (John 1:4), Self-existence (John 5:26), Immutability (Hebrews 13:8), Truth (John 14:6), Love (1 John 3:16), Holiness (Hebrews 7:26), Eternity (Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:11), Omnipresence (Matthew 28:20), Omniscience (1 Corinthians 4:5; Colossians 2:3), and Omnipotence (Matthew 28:18; Revelation 1:8). 5. In like manner the pre-existence of Christ is implied in the fact that He is worshiped as God (John 20:28; Acts 7:59; Hebrews 1:6). Therefore it follows that since the Lord Jesus Christ is God, He is from everlasting to everlasting. This chapter, which of necessity has emphasized the Deity of Christ, should be closely connected with the following chapter, which emphasizes the humanity of Christ through the incarnation. QUESTIONS 1. What two widely distinct natures united in Christ? 2. Wherein was He like unto men? 3. Wherein was He unlike to men? 4. Name the two distinct lines of revelation which establish the pre-existence of Christ. 5. Indicate the important Old Testament passages which teach the pre-existence of Christ. 6. Indicate the important New Testament passages which teach the pre-existence of Christ. 7. Since it is recorded that He is the Creator, could it be possible for Him to have been created? 8. Point out the various ministries of Christ on earth as the "Angel of Jehovah." 9. Repeat from memory the various divine titles which are ascribed to Christ in the Old Testament. 10. Repeat from memory the various divine titles which are ascribed to Christ in the New Testament. 11. Name the attributes of God which are ascribed to Christ with Scripture references. 12. Is there any divine attribute which is not ascribed to Him? 13. What Scriptures prove that Christ was and is worshiped as God? 14. Are you fully convinced as to the pre-existence and absolute Deity of the Son of God? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 55: 05.07. GOD THE SON: HIS INCARNATION ======================================================================== God The Son: His Incarnation CHAPTER VII John states (John 1:1) that Christ who was one with God and was God from all eternity, became flesh and tabernacled among us (John 1:14). Paul likewise states that Christ, who was in the form of God, took upon Him the likeness of men (Php 2:6-7); and "God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16); and He who was the effulgence of God’s glory and the express image of His person (Hebrews 1:3), took upon Himself the seed of Abraham and was in all things made like unto His brethren (Hebrews 2:16-17). Luke, in greater detail, presents the historical fact of His incarnation, both as to the conception and birth (Luke 1:26-38). When considering the result of the incarnation, two important truths should be recognized: (1) Christ became at the same time and in the absolute sense very God and very man, and (2) in becoming flesh, He, though laying aside His glory, in no sense laid aside His Deity. The Bible presents many contrasts, but none more striking than that one Person should be at the same time very God and very man. Illustrations from the Scriptures of these contrasts are many: He was weary, yet He called the weary to Himself for rest. He was hungry, yet He was "the bread of life." He was thirsty, yet He was "the water of life." He was in an agony, yet He healed all manner of disease and soothed every pain. He "grew, and waxed strong in spirit," yet He was from all eternity. He was tempted, yet He, as God, could not be tempted. He became self-limited in knowledge, yet He was the wisdom of God. He said (with reference to His humiliation, being made for a little time lower than the angels), "My Father is greater than I," yet He also said, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father," and, "I and my Father are one." He prayed, yet He answered prayer. He wept at the tomb, yet He called the dead to arise. He asked, "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" yet He "needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man." He said, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" yet it was the very God to whom He cried who was at that moment "in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." He died, yet He is eternal life. He was God’s ideal man, and man’s ideal God. From this it may be seen that the Lord Jesus Christ sometimes functioned His earth-life within the sphere of that which was perfectly human and sometimes within the sphere of that which was perfectly divine. His divine Being was never limited in any degree by the fact of His humanity, nor did He minister to His human need from His divine resources. He could turn stones into bread to feed His human hunger, but this He never did. The student should observe (1) the fact of Christ’s humanity, and (2) the Biblical reasons for His incarnation. * I. THE FACT OF CHRIST’S HUMANITY 1. The humanity of Christ was purposed from before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). The significance of the Lamb-type is in the sacrificial, blood-shedding, physical body. 2. Every type and prophecy of the Old Testament concerning Christ was an anticipation of the incarnate Son of God. 3. The fact of the humanity of Christ is seen in His annunciation and birth (Luke 1:31-35). 4. His life here on earth revealed His humanity, (1) by His human names: "The Son of man," "The man Christ Jesus," "Jesus," "The Son of David," and the like. (2) By His human parentage: He is mentioned as "the fruit of the loins," "her firstborn," "of this man’s seed," "seed of David," "seed of Abraham," "made of a woman," "sprang from Judah." (3) By the fact that He possessed a human body, soul, and spirit (1 John 4:2; 1 John 4:9; Matthew 26:38; John 13:21). And (4) by His self-imposed human limitations. 5. The humanity of Christ is seen in His death and resurrection. It was a human body that suffered death on the cross and it was the same body which came forth from the tomb in resurrection glory. 6. The fact of the humanity of Christ is seen in that He ascended to Heaven and is now, in His human glorified body, ministering for His own. 7. When He comes again it will be the "same Jesus" coming as He went in the same body, though glorified, in which He became incarnate. II. THE BIBLICAL REASONS FOR THE INCARNATION * 1. He came to reveal God to men (John 1:18; John 14:9; Matthew 11:27; Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:16). By the incarnation, the incomprehensible God is translated into terms of human understanding. 2. He came to reveal man. He is God’s ideal man and as such is an example to believers (1 Peter 2:21); but He is never an example to the unsaved since God is not now seeking to reform the unsaved, but rather to save them. 3. He came to provide a sacrifice for sin. For this reason He is seen thanking God for His human body and this in relation to true sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:1-10). 4. He came in the flesh that He might destroy the works of the Devil (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8; Colossians 2:13-15; John 12:31; John 16:11). 5. He came into the world that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God (Hebrews 2:16-17; Hebrews 8:1; Hebrews 9:11-12; Hebrews 9:24). 6. He came in the flesh that He might fulfill the Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7:16; Luke 1:31-33; Romans 15:8; Acts 2:30-31; Acts 2:36). In His glorified human body He will appear and reign as "King of Kings, and Lord of Lords," and will sit on the throne of His father David. 7. As incarnate, He becomes Head over all things to the Church, which is the New Creation, the new humanity. In the incarnation, the Son of God took upon Himself not only a human body, but also a human soul and spirit. Thus becoming both the material and immaterial sides of human existence, He became entire man, and so closely and permanently related to the human family that He is rightly called "The Last Adam," and "the body of his glory" (Php 3:21) is now an abiding fact. He who is the eternal Son, Jehovah-God, was also the Son of Mary, the Boy of Nazareth, the Teacher and Healer of Judea, the Guest at Bethany, the Lamb of Calvary. He will yet be the King of Glory, as He is now the Saviour of men, the High Priest, the Coming Bridegroom and Lord. QUESTIONS 1. Is it reasonable to believe that God in the Person of His Son for self-manifestation and for redemption should for a little time take upon Himself the form of flesh? 2. Name several passages which state both the Deity and the humanity of Christ. 3. In considering the Incarnation, what two truths should be recognized? 4. Indicate some of the strong contrasts between the divine and human natures of Christ which are presented in the Records of His life here on earth. 5. Did He ever minister to His human limitation from His divine sufficiency? 6. What relation do the blood-shedding types of the Old Testament bear to the humanity of Christ? 7. Suggest some proofs of His humanity from His birth and life here on the earth. 8. What proofs of His humanity are presented in the death and resurrection, the ascension, and the second coming of Christ? 9. How did He reveal both God and man through His humanity? 10. Was a human body essential in the sacrifice for sin? 11. Was a human body evidently essential in the work of destroying the works of the devil? 12. In fulfilling the high-priest type, was His incarnation essential? 13. As fulfiller of the Davidic covenant, was it necessary for Christ to be born into the human family? 14. Since He is Head over the New Creation which is composed of the redeemed from earth, is it essential that He shall be Himself incarnate? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 56: 05.08. GOD THE SON: HIS SUBSTITUTIONARY DEATH ======================================================================== God The Son: His Substitutionary Death CHAPTER VIII Whether in Bible doctrine or in common speech, the word substitution means the replacement of one person or thing for another. Though not a Bible word, its specific meaning when related to the Scriptures is concerning the work of Christ on the cross, and by it is indicated the fact that those unmeasured, righteous judgments of God against the sinner because of his sin were borne by Christ substituting in the sinner’s room and stead. The result of this substitution is itself as simple and definite as the transaction -- the Saviour has already borne the divine judgments against the sinner to the full satisfaction of God. There is therefore nothing left for the sinner to do or for him to persuade God to do; but he is asked to believe this good news, relating it to his own sin, and thereby claim his personal Saviour. The word substitution fails to represent all that is accomplished in the death of Christ. In fact there is no all-inclusive term. By popular usage, the word atonement has been pressed into this service; but the word atonement:, which does not once appear in the original text of the New Testament, means, as used in the Old Testament, only to cover sin. However, the word atonement does clearly indicate the divine method of dealing with sin before the cross. In the Old Testament, while requiring no more than a symbolic animal sacrifice for the remission of sins (Lit. toleration, Romans 3:25), and winking at sin (Lit. to overlook and not punish, Acts 17:30), God was acting in perfect righteousness since He was awaiting the coming of His own Lamb who would in no way pass over or cover sin, but who would take it away for ever (John 1:29). In attempting to consider the full value of the death of Christ we should distinguish: 1. That the death of Christ assures us of the love of God toward the sinner (John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:16; 1 John 4:9); added to this, there is, naturally, a reflex influence or moral appeal through this truth upon the life of the one who really receives it (2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Peter 2:21-24); but this appeal concerning the manner of daily life is never addressed to the unsaved. 2. The death of Christ is said to be a redemption or ransom paid to the holy demands of God for the sinner and to free the sinner from just condemnation. It is significant that the one discriminating word for, meaning "instead of," or "as a price paid for," is used in every passage wherein this aspect of truth appears (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:6). In like manner, the death of Christ was a necessary penalty which He bore for the sinner (Romans 4:25; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:4; Galatians 3:13; Hebrews 9:28). So, also, the death of Christ was an offering for sin, not as the animal offerings of the Old Testament which could only cover sin in the sense of delaying the time of righteous judgment; but as taking it to Himself, bearing it, and bearing it away forever (John 1:29; Isaiah 53:7-12; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Ephesians 5:2; Hebrews 9:12; Hebrews 9:22; Hebrews 9:26; 1 Peter 1:18-19). 3. The death of Christ is represented on His part as an act of obedience to the law which sinners have broken; which act is acceptable to God in their stead (Galatians 4:4; Php 2:8; Romans 5:19; Romans 10:4). 4. The death of Christ was a priestly mediation by which the world was reconciled unto God. Reconciliation results when enmity is removed, and, while it is never implied that the world’s enmity toward God is removed, it is declared that the judicial state of the world is so altered before God by the death of Christ that He is said to have reconciled the world unto Himself. So complete and far-reaching is this provision that it is added in the Scriptures that He is not now imputing their trespasses unto them (2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 2:20). 5. The death of Christ removed all moral hindrances in the mind of God to the saving of sinners. By that death God is propitiated and thus declared to be righteous when He, (1) anticipating the value of the sacrifice of His Son, passes over the sins of His people who lived before the cross (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 9:15, R.V.), and (2) to be just at the present time when He justifies those who do no more than believe in Jesus (Romans 3:26). This aspect of the death of Christ is to be distinguished from all others because of its effect upon God. Since, in that death, His infinite love and power are released from restraint by the accomplishment of every judgment which His righteousness could demand against the sinner, God is more advantaged by the death of Christ than all the world combined. 6. Christ, in His death, became the Substitute bearing the penalty belonging to the sinner (Leviticus 16:21; Luke 22:37; Isaiah 53:6; John 10:11; Romans 5:6-8; 1 Peter 3:18; Matthew 20:28). This fact is the ground of assurance for all who would come unto God for salvation. It presents something for every individual to believe concerning his own relation to God on the question of his own sin. A general belief that Christ died for the whole world is not sufficient; a personal conviction that one’s own sin has been perfectly borne by Christ the Substitute is required -- a belief which results in a sense of relief, joy, and appreciation (Romans 15:13; Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 10:2). Salvation is a mighty work of God which is wrought instantly for the one who believes on Christ. 7. The death of Christ is often misinterpreted. Every Christian will do well to understand thoroughly the fallacy of those misstatements which are so general today: a. It is claimed that the doctrine of substitution is immoral on the ground that God could not in righteousness lay the sins of the guilty on an innocent victim. This statement might be considered if it could be proved that Christ was an unwilling victim; but the Scriptures present Him as being in fullest sympathy with His Father’s will and actuated by the same infinite love (Hebrews 10:7; John 13:1). Likewise, in the inscrutable mystery of the Godhead, it was God Himself who was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). So far from the death of Christ being an immoral imposition, it was God Himself, the righteous Judge in infinite love and sacrifice, bearing the full penalty that His own holiness required of the sinner. b. It is claimed that Christ died as a martyr and that the value of His death is seen in the example He presented of courage and loyalty to His convictions even unto death. The sufficient answer to this error is that, since He was God’s provided Lamb, no man took His life from Him (John 10:18; Psalms 22:15; Acts 2:23). c. It is claimed that Christ died to create a moral effect which is that, since the cross displays the divine estimate of sin, men who consider the cross will be constrained to turn from lives of sin. This theory, which has no foundation in the Scriptures, assumes that God is now seeking the reformation of men; while, in reality, the cross is the ground of regeneration. QUESTIONS 1. What is the meaning of substitution when related to the death of Christ? 2. If this work of Christ’s is already accomplished, what obligation now rests on the sinner? 3. What is the Bible meaning of the word atonement, and what relation does atonement sustain to the sacrifice of Christ? 4. a. What assurance is given the sinner by the death of Christ? b. Is there any appeal by the cross to the unsaved as to conduct? 5. a. Describe the death of Christ as a ransom. b. To whom was the ransom paid? c. Describe that death as a necessary penalty. d. Describe that death as an offering for sin. 6. Describe Christ’s death as an act of obedience. 7. a. Describe Christ’s death as a priestly mediation. b. Who was reconciled, and to what extent, in the death of Christ? c. Why is God not now imputing sin unto sinners? 8. What effect did the death of Christ have upon God in respect both to the sins before the cross and the sins after the cross? 9. In view of Christ’s substitution for sinners, what became of the necessary divine penalty imposed on men because of sin? 10. In the light of Satan’s purposes, is it reasonable to expect that the doctrine of saving grace through the cross will be misunderstood by the unsaved? 11. What answer should be given to one who claims that the doctrine of Christ’s substitution is immoral? 12. What answer should be given to one who claims that Christ died as a martyr? 13. What answer should be given to one who claims that Christ’s death was only to produce a moral influence on men? 14. What answer do you give when the Word of God states that Christ died as a substitute for you? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 57: 05.09. GOD THE SON: HIS RESURRECTION & ASCENSION ======================================================================== God The Son: His Resurrection & Ascension CHAPTER IX I. THE RESURRECTION "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22). However, in John 5:25-29, wherein the universal resurrection is also mentioned, a sharp contrast is drawn between the resurrection which is unto life, and that which is unto condemnation (note Acts 24:15; Daniel 12:2). The order between these two aspects of resurrection and the resurrection of Christ is set forth as a procession (1 Corinthians 15:20-24): (1) Christ in His resurrection is said to precede all others and to be the "firstfruits." None other has been raised as He was raised (1 Timothy 6:16; 2 Timothy 1:10). (2) "They that are Christ’s at his coming." This group, it should be observed, is strictly limited to, and all-inclusive of, those who are Christ’s, and in point of time their resurrection follows that of Christ by at least the present period which has already continued two thousand years. (3) "Then cometh the end," meaning the last resurrection in the order of procession, and is the resurrection unto condemnation which includes all the remainder of the human race. The time of the resurrection is declared to be "when he [Christ] shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he [Christ] shall have put down all rule and all authority and power." This kingdom reign of Christ, it is stated, will be for a period of one thousand years (Revelation 20:4; Revelation 20:6), and, in accordance with the above passages, will be followed by the resurrection of the dead, both small and great, who shall then be judged at the Great White Throne and there condemned for ever (Revelation 20:11-15). As added evidence that there will be a partial resurrection at the coming of Christ, it is stated that "the dead in Christ shall rise first" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17), and Paul testified that he desired to attain to that particular resurrection which is out from among the dead (Php 3:11). From the Scriptures which are cited above, it is seen that, in spite of the almost universal impression to the contrary, there is no so-called "general resurrection" including all the dead to be raised at one time. The resurrection of Christ is unique. Others who were actually dead have been restored to life (2 Kings 4:32-35; 2 Kings 13:21; Matthew 9:25; Luke 7:12-15; John 11:43-44; Acts 9:36-41); but all such were only returned to their former existence and were thus subject again to the first death. The resurrection of Christ was into a new sphere as the "last Adam," the Head of a new race or a new species. Christ came forth with the new, deathless, glorified body which is the pattern of that body which shall be given to every believer when Christ comes again (Php 3:20-21). Though the soul and spirit are endless in their existence, it is only the resurrection body which is said to be immortal. Therefore, since Christ alone has received the resurrection body, it is written of Him that He only hath immortality, dwelling in light (1 Timothy 6:16). The saints before the cross believed in the resurrection (Genesis 22:5; Psalms 16:9-10; Psalms 17:15; Isaiah 25:8; Isaiah 26:19; Hosea 13:14), though the word does not appear in the Old Testament. We have also the testimony of Job (Job 14:14-15; Job 19:25-27), and of Martha who voiced the conviction of the people of her day (John 11:24). So, also, the resurrection is mentioned as one of the major features of Judaism (Hebrews 6:1-2). The Old Testament revelation was incomplete, for it was Christ who "brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:10). Since the import of the resurrection transcends all dispensational bounds and is eternal in its issues, it is to be classed as one of the seven greatest divine undertakings -- (1) the creation of the angelic hosts (Colossians 1:16); (2) the creation of the material universe including the first Adam; (3) the incarnation; (4) the death of Christ; (5) the resurrection; (6) the second coming of Christ; and (7) the final bringing in of the new heavens and the new earth (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1; Isaiah 66:22). Of these great undertakings, two are closely related to the resurrection of Christ: First. -- His resurrection is related to His death as being the consummation of all that was undertaken and accomplished by the cross both in Heaven and on earth. He "was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:25). Second. -- His resurrection is related to the first creation, which was ruined by sin, only to the extent that He is the Head of a New Creation which came into being when He arose from the dead and which partakes of His infinite perfection. The New Creation is composed of all those who have believed and being regenerated are united to Christ by the baptism with the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Corinthians 6:17; Galatians 3:26), and are, therefore, accepted before God as He is accepted (Ephesians 1:6), and destined to share His infinite glory (Colossians 3:4; John 17:24). As the Sabbath was instituted to commemorate the accomplishment of the first creation (Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 16:29-30; Nehemiah 9:13-14), so the observance of the first day of the week commemorates the accomplishment of the New Creation. There is no commandment to observe, or any record of observance, of the seventh day after Christ rose from the dead (note Hosea 2:11; Colossians 2:16). There is but one general reason revealed for the death of Christ and that reason is because of sin; but there are at least seven reasons given for His resurrection: (1) He arose because of what He is -- being the Eternal Son, it is not possible for Him to be holden of death (Acts 2:24); (2) He arose because of who He is -- being the Son of David, He must yet sit upon David’s throne (2 Samuel 7:16; Luke 1:31-33; Acts 2:25-31; Romans 1:3-4); (3) He arose to be Head over all things to the Church which is His body (Ephesians 1:22-23); (4) He arose to be the giver of resurrection life (John 12:24); (5) He arose to impart His resurrection power (Matthew 28:18; Romans 6:4; Ephesians 1:19-20); (6) He arose that sinners might be justified (Romans 4:25); and (7) He arose that He might appear in Heaven as the pattern, or first-fruits, of all who, being saved and conformed to Him, will yet appear with Him in glory (1 Corinthians 15:20-23; Php 3:20-21). II. THE ASCENSION The Scriptures indicate two ascensions of Christ into Heaven: First. -- On the day of His resurrection, Christ ascended into Heaven as the "Wave Sheaf." In fulfilling this Old Testament type and the eternal purpose of God, it was necessary that He should appear in Heaven as the earnest of a mighty harvest of souls whom He had redeemed and who, in the divine purpose, came out of that tomb with Him to share His eternal glory. So, also, He, having accomplished the sacrifice for sin, must present His own blood in Heaven (Leviticus 16:1-34; Hebrews 9:16-28). Not having yet ascended, He said to Mary, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God" (John 20:17). That He ascended on that same day is evident; for He said unto them at evening, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see" (Luke 24:39). He returned to earth from Heaven to accomplish His post-resurrection ministry. Second. -- After forty days He ascended to Heaven and was seated on His Father’s throne, and there took up His present heavenly ministry as Head over all things to the Church: (1) As the bestower of gifts (Ephesians 4:8-11), (2) as Intercessor (Hebrews 7:25), and (3) as Advocate (1 John 2:1-2). QUESTIONS 1. What proportion of those who die will experience resurrection? 2. a. What event stands first in the order of resurrection? b. What time period falls between the first and the second events? 3. a. What event stands second in the order of resurrection? b. What time period stands between the second and the third events? 4. What event stands third and last in the order of resurrection? 5. a. Indicate the distinction that should be made between a resurrection and a restoration. b. Have any, other than Christ, experienced a real resurrection? 6. a. What is immortality? b. Why is it yet limited to Christ? 7. What evidence have we that the Old Testament saints believed in a resurrection? 8. Name the seven greatest divine undertakings. 9. What relation does Christ’s resurrection sustain to His death? 10. a. What relation does Christ’s resurrection sustain to the New Creation and the recognition of the first day of the week? b. How many celebrations of the resurrection of Christ has God appointed for each year? 11. Name the seven reasons indicated in the Scriptures for the resurrection of Christ. 12. What evidence have we that Christ twice ascended into heaven ? 13. State what was accomplished in the first ascension. 14. What ministries did Christ undertake at His final ascension? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 58: 05.10. GOD THE SON: HIS PRIESTLY MINISTRY ======================================================================== God The Son: His Priestly Ministry CHAPTER X As High Priest over the true tabernacle on high, the Lord Jesus Christ has entered into Heaven itself there to minister as Priest in behalf of those who are His own in the world (Hebrews 8:1-2). The fact that He, when ascending, was received of His Father in Heaven is evidence that His earth-ministry was accepted. The fact that He sat down indicated that His work for the world was completed. The fact that He sat down on His Father’s throne and not on His own throne reveals the truth, so constantly and consistently taught in the Scriptures, that He did not set up a kingdom on the earth at His first advent into the world; but that He is now "expecting" until the time when that kingdom shall come in the earth and the divine will shall be done on earth as it is done in Heaven. "The kingdoms of this world" are yet to become "the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15), and the kingly Son will yet ask of His Father and He will give Him the heathen for His inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession (Psalms 2:8). However, Scripture clearly indicates that He is not now establishing that kingdom rule in the earth (Matthew 25:31-46), but that He is rather calling out from both Jews and Gentiles a heavenly people who are related to Him as His Body and Bride. After the present purpose is accomplished He will return and "set up the tabernacle of David which is fallen down" (Acts 15:13-18). Though He is a King-Priest according to the Melchisedec type (Hebrews 5:10; Hebrews 7:1), He is now serving as Priest and not as King. He who is coming again and will then be King of kings, is now ascended to be "head over all things to the church which is his body" (Ephesians 1:22-23). His present priestly ministry is threefold. I. HE IS THE BESTOWER OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS According to the New Testament, a gift is a divine enablement wrought in and through the believer by the Spirit who indwells him. It is the Spirit working to accomplish certain divine purposes and using the one whom He indwells to that end. It is in no sense a human undertaking aided by the Spirit. Though Certain general gifts are mentioned in the Scriptures (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11), the possible variety is innumerable since no two lives are lived under exactly the same conditions. However, to each believer some gift is given; but the blessing and power of the gift will be experienced only when the life is wholly yielded to God. (In Romans 12, the truth of Romans 12:1-2 precedes that of Romans 12:6-8.) There will be little need of exhortation for God-honoring service to the one who is filled with the Spirit; for the Spirit will be working in that one both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:13). In like manner, certain men who are called his "gifts unto men" are provided and locally placed in their service by the ascended Christ (Ephesians 4:7-11). The Lord did not leave this work to the uncertain and insufficient judgment of men (1 Corinthians 12:11; 1 Corinthians 12:18). II. THE ASCENDED CHRIST AS PRIEST EVER LIVES TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR HIS OWN This ministry began before He left the earth (John 17:1-26), is for the saved rather than for the unsaved (John 17:9), and will be continued in Heaven so long as His own are in the world. As Intercessor, His work has to do with the weakness, the helplessness, and the immaturity of the saints who are on the earth -- things concerning which they are in no way guilty. He who knows the limitations of His own, and the power and strategy of the foe with whom they have to contend, is unto them as the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls. His care of Peter is an illustration of this truth (Luke 22:31-32). The priestly intercession of Christ is not only effectual, but is unending. The priests of old failed because of death; but Christ, because He ever liveth, hath an unchanging priesthood. "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost [without end] that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). David recognized the same divine shepherding care and its guaranty of eternal safety (Psalms 23:1). III. CHRIST NOW APPEARS FOR HIS OWN IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD The child of God is often guilty of actual sin which would separate him from God were it not for his Advocate and what He wrought in His death. The effect of the Christian’s sin upon himself is that he loses his fellowship with God, his joy, his peace, and his power. On the other hand, these experiences are restored in infinite grace on the sole ground that he confess his sin (1 John 1:9); but it is more important to consider the Christian’s sin in relation to the holy character of God. Through the present priestly advocacy of Christ in Heaven there is absolute safety and security for the Father’s child even while he is sinning. An advocate is one who espouses and pleads the cause of another in the open courts. As Advocate, Christ is now appearing in Heaven for His own (Hebrews 9:24) when they sin (1 John 2:1). His pleading is said to be with the Father, and Satan is there also ceasing not to accuse the brethren night and day before God (Revelation 12:10). To the Christian, the sin may seem insignificant; but a holy God can never treat it lightly. It may be a secret sin on earth; but it is open scandal in Heaven. In marvelous grace and without solicitation from men, the Advocate pleads the cause of the guilty child of God. What the Advocate does in thus securing the safety of the believer is so in accordance with infinite justice that He is mentioned in this connection as "Jesus Christ the righteous." He pleads His own efficacious blood and the Father is free to preserve His child against every accusation from Satan or men and from the very judgments which sin would otherwise impose, since Christ through His death became the propitiation for our (Christians’) sins (1 John 2:2). The truth concerning the priestly ministry of Christ in Heaven does not make it easy for the Christian to sin. On the contrary, these very things are written that we be not sinning (1 John 2:1); for no one can sin carelessly who considers the necessary pleading which his sin imposes upon the Advocate. The priestly ministries of Christ as Intercessor and as Advocate are unto the eternal security of those who are saved (Romans 8:34). QUESTIONS 1. Where is Christ said to be throughout this present age? 2. What ministry does He now exercise? 3. Name the three services Christ is now undertaking in Heaven. 4. What is a spiritual gift and what is accomplished by it? 5. When did Christ’s priestly intercession begin, and how long will it continue? 6. What aspect of the Christian’s life does Christ’s intercession affect? 7. Wherein does it guarantee the believer’s safe-keeping? 8. How long will Christ’s priestly ministry continue? 9. What aspects of the Christian’s life does Christ’s advocacy affect? 10. a. What is the penalty of sin in the Christian’s life? b. What must he do to be restored to fellowship and blessing? 11. a. How does Christ now fulfill the place of an advocate? b. What effect would the Christian’s sin produce were it not for Christ? 12. What is the significance of the title, "Jesus Christ the righteous"? 13. For whose sins is Christ the propitiation? 14. Why is it more difficult to sin after we understand we are eternally secure through the advocacy of Christ? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 59: 05.11. GOD THE SON: HIS COMING FOR HIS SAINTS ======================================================================== God The Son: His Coming For His Saints CHAPTER XI The doctrine chosen for this chapter is one of the most important themes of unfulfilled prophecy. The student should be reminded that prophecy is God’s pre-written history and is therefore as credible as other parts of the Scriptures. Almost one-fourth of the Bible was in the form of prediction when it was written. Much has been fulfilled, and in every case its fulfillment has been the most literal realization of all that was prophesied. As pre-announced many centuries before the birth of Christ, He, when He came, was of the tribe of Judah, a son of Abraham, a son of David, born of a virgin in Bethlehem. In like manner, the explicit details of His death foretold in Psalm 22, a thousand years before, were precisely fulfilled. The Word of God also presents much prophecy which at the present time is unfulfilled and it is reasonable as well as honoring to God to believe that it will be fulfilled in the same faithfulness which has characterized all His works to the present hour. The fact that Christ is to return to this earth as He went -- "this same Jesus," in His resurrection body, and on the clouds of heaven (Acts 1:11) -- is so clearly and extensively taught in the prophetic Scriptures that this truth has been included in all the great creeds of Christendom. However, the doctrine of the return of Christ demands most careful and discriminating consideration. In common with Bible students generally, distinction is made between two yet future events. We therefore assign the study of one -- Christ coming for His saints -- to this chapter, and the study of the other -- Christ coming with His saints -- to the following chapter. Though but one aspect of truth is indicated by each of these titles, the Scriptures reveal that much more will be accomplished in each of these events than the titles suggest. Conforming to the incomplete statement of truth proposed by these titles, we observe that in the body of Scripture assigned to this chapter, Christ is seen descending into the air and there receiving to Himself the saints who are caught up from the earth to meet Him -- some of these to be raised from the dead and some to be translated from the living state (1 Corinthians 15:22-23; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52). However, in that body of Scripture assigned to the next chapter, He is seen descending to the earth (Zechariah 14:4-7) with His glorified saints as His bride attending (Revelation 19:7-8; Revelation 19:14; Jude 1:14), to sit upon the throne of David (Luke 1:32), which is also "the throne of His glory" (Matthew 25:31). Though these two events differ in every particular, they are often confused, and for this reason this chapter should be closely compared with the one which is to follow. In contemplating the prophetic doctrine of Christ’s coming for His saints, it should be noted: First. -- The order of these two events is obvious: Christ cannot come to the earth with His saints until He shall have come for them. They must be gathered together "unto him" (2 Thessalonians 2:1) before they can "appear with him" in glory (Colossians 3:4). Though these events are probably separated by only a brief period of time, according to prophecy, there is much to be fulfilled between these events which is world transforming (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; Rev Ch 4:1 to 19:10). Second. -- The long predicted second coming of Christ to this earth will be completely fulfilled when He comes with His saints, and, therefore, the coming of Christ for His own sustains no relation to it whatsoever. The two events are not two phases or aspects of one divine undertaking. The Scriptures present the coming of Christ for His own as a mystery or sacred secret (1 Corinthians 15:51) -- meaning something hitherto unrevealed, but to be understood after it is divinely disclosed (Deuteronomy 29:29; Matthew 13:35). The New Testament revelation concerning Christ’s coming for His own could not have been seen in the Old Testament since it is only one aspect of truth (God’s way of taking His people out of the world) related to the Church; which Church is a sacred secret, having been nowhere directly anticipated in the Old Testament. Likewise, the Church could not have been revealed in the Old Testament since it is only one of the divine purposes in the present age; which age is itself a sacred secret, not having been revealed in the Old Testament (Matthew 13:11). In contrast to all this, the second coming of Christ is in no sense a mystery or sacred secret, since it is one of the most important themes of the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 30:3; Psalms 2:1-9; Psalms 24:1-10; Psalms 50:1-5; Psalms 96:10-13; Isaiah 11:10-11; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Ezekiel 37:21-22; Daniel 7:13-14; Zechariah 2:10-12). Third. -- As revealed in the Scriptures, His coming for His saints is the next event in the order of the fulfillment of prophecy, and is, therefore, that for which the child of God should be waiting (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10), and looking (Php 3:20; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 9:28), and which he should be loving (2 Timothy 4:8). The Scriptures bearing on the coming of Christ for His own are explicit: In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 it is revealed that when Christ comes the "dead in Christ" will rise first and the living saints, together with them, will be caught up in the air to meet the Lord and to be forever with the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, the same fact of the resurrection of the "dead in Christ" and the transformation of the living is set forth; but with the added revelation that the translation and transformation of the living saints will be as suddenly as "the twinkling of an eye," and at the sounding of the "last trump." In John 14:1-3, it is disclosed that Christ will receive His own unto Himself: not into the mansions, but into the place which He has gone to prepare. Again, in Php 3:20-21, it is stated that at His coming "he shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." In like manner, the time of Christ’s coming for His own will be the time when they shall appear before His judgment seat to receive their rewards for service (1 Corinthians 3:11-15; Matthew 16:27; Luke 14:14; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Timothy 4:8; 2 Corinthians 5:10). As certainly as the coming of Christ for His saints is not revealed in the Old Testament, so certainly it has no relation to the unsaved. To the Christian, however, it is, in the purpose of God: 1. A Comforting Hope. -- Comfort is derived from the fact that Christ may come at any time and that there is not a whole lifetime, necessarily, or until death, before the believer may see his Lord, and also from the fact that when He shall come the child of God will be instantly in the presence and fellowship of those loved ones who were saved and who have gone on before (1 Thessalonians 4:18). 2. A Purifying Hope. -- No one can contemplate the fact that Christ may come at any moment and not have his conduct affected by that belief (1 John 3:1-3). 3. A Blessed Hope. -- There is nothing comparable to the expectation that, through riches of grace, the saved one will see his Lord face to face, be with Him, and be like Him (John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; 1 John 3:3). QUESTIONS 1. a. What portion of the Scriptures was prophecy at the time it was written? b. Is prophecy as credible as history? c. In what manner has prophecy been fulfilled? 2. What may we conclude as to the literal fulfillment of unfulfilled prophecy? 3. What are the major differences between the events prophesied to accompany the coming of Christ for His Church and His coming to this earth with His Church? 4. a. Why must one of these predicted events precede the other? b. Are they separated by an extended period of time? 5. What relation do these events sustain to each other? 6. What is the meaning of the word mystery as used in the Scriptures? 7. Why is the coming of Christ for His own a mystery while the coming with His saints is not? 8. According to prophecy what is the next event to be fulfilled? 9. What attitude should the child of God sustain toward the next event? 10. What is predicted to take place when the Lord comes for His own? 11. Is the coming of Christ for His saints a doctrine of the Old Testament? 12. What relation do the unsaved sustain to the coming of Christ for His own? 13. Name three impressions this truth should make on each believer. 14. What practical effect does this truth have on your own life? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 60: 05.12. GOD THE SON: HIS COMING WITH HIS SAINTS ======================================================================== God The Son: His Coming With His Saints CHAPTER XII Since the theme of this chapter is so commonly confused with that of the preceding one, it is important that the two be studied together in order that the contrasts which appear at almost every point may be discerned. The title of this, as of the previous chapter, is based on one aspect of truth within the whole doctrine which this chapter is supposed to cover. The doctrine to be considered contemplates all that enters into the world-transforming event of the Second Coming of Christ, while the fact that the saints will return to this earth with Him when He comes is, comparatively, a limited portion of the whole revelation. I. CERTAIN VITAL FACTS ARE TO BE NOTED IN CONNECTION WITH THIS DOCTRINE: 1. The Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ, will return to this earth (Zechariah 14:4), personally (Revelation 19:11-16; Matthew 25:31), and on the clouds of heaven (Matthew 24:30; Acts 1:11; Revelation 1:7). It should not be difficult to believe the testimony of these Scriptures, since God has promised it and since He who went on the clouds of heaven has already spent forty days on the earth in His glorified, resurrection body. 2. The general theme concerning the return of Christ has the unique distinction of being the first prophecy uttered by man (Jude 1:14-15) and the last message from the ascended Christ as well as being the last word of the Bible (Revelation 22:20-21). 3. Likewise, the theme of the Second Coming of Christ is unique because of the fact that it occupies a larger part of the text of the Scriptures than any other doctrine, and it is the outstanding theme of prophecy in both the Old and New Testaments. In fact all other prophecy largely contributes to the one great end of the complete setting forth of this crowning event -- the Second Coming of Christ. II. THE COMING OF CHRIST PRODUCES FAR-REACHING EFFECTS: 1. The nation Israel, God’s chosen earthly people, to whom at least five-sixths of the Bible is addressed and with whom the great covenants are made (Romans 9:4-5) -- which covenants secure to that nation a land, a nation, a throne, a King, and a kingdom -- are now scattered throughout all the nations of the earth (Deuteronomy 4:26-28; Deuteronomy 28:63-68; Jeremiah 16:13), and are to remain scattered until they are gathered into their own land (Deuteronomy 30:3-6; Isaiah 11:11-12; Isaiah 14:1-3; Isaiah 60:1-22; Jeremiah 23:6-8; Jeremiah 32:37-44; Jeremiah 33:7-9; Ezekiel 37:21-25; Micah 4:6-8) under the reign of Messiah at His return. Though every covenant with His earthly people was in full force when Christ came the first time, and had been for hundreds of years, not a semblance of their fulfillment was experienced at that time; but the Scriptures declare that all these covenants will be fulfilled when He comes the second time. These covenants are of endless duration and are as secure as the faithfulness of God who has sworn with an oath concerning them. The nation will possess their land at the coming of their King, and He will sit on David’s throne (Luke 1:31-33). The Deliverer coming out of Sion shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob (Romans 11:26-27. See, also, Ezekiel 37:1-14). The return of Christ to the earth and its blessing to the nation Israel is the great burden of Old Testament prophecy. 2. The redeemed ones of this age -- the Church which is His body -- are seen coming with Christ when He comes again (Revelation 19:7-16; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Jude 1:14). The Church is the Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25-33; Revelation 19:7; Revelation 21:9) and as such will have right and title with Him as consort in His reign (2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 20:6; Revelation 22:5). Until the Church is taken to meet the Lord, she is His espoused awaiting her wedding day; her marriage will be in Heaven, and she will return with Him after the wedding (Luke 12:36). 3. The nations of the earth will be brought into judgment when Christ comes and when He sits on the "throne of his glory" (Matthew 25:31-46. Note, also, the "Smiting Stone" of Daniel 2:31-45). Three classes are in view at the judgment of the nations -- the sheep, the goats, and "my brethren." Though the sheep and the brethren are both under divine favor, it must be observed that they are not the same. The sheep are to enter the kingdom on the ground of their treatment of the brethren. So also, the goats are to be rejected on the same basis. The Church is not in view. This judgment occurs after the Church has been received into Heaven, and after the "Great Tribulation" (Matthew 24:21) when Israel -- "my brethren" -- will have experienced her supreme suffering at the hands of the nations (Deuteronomy 4:29-30; Psalms 2:5; Jeremiah 30:4-7; Daniel 12:1; Matthew 24:9-28; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12; Revelation 3:10; Revelation 7:13-14; Revelation 11:1-19, Revelation 12:1-17, Revelation 13:1-18, Revelation 14:1-20, Revelation 15:1-8, Revelation 16:1-21, Revelation 17:1-18, Revelation 18:1-24, Revelation 19:1-6). This judgment will determine the nations which are to enter the kingdom of Messiah on the earth. Again, this judgment should be distinguished from that of "The Great White Throne" which follows a thousand years later, and after the kingdom rule of Christ in the earth. 4. All creation will be restored to its Edenic glory when Christ returns (Romans 8:19-23). 5. Satan will be bound and confined to the abyss for a thousand years when Christ returns (Revelation 20:1-3). III. TWO EVENTS DISTINGUISHED The two events -- Christ’s coming for His saints and his coming with His saints may be distinguished thus (for brevity, the first event will be indicated by a, and the second event by b): (a) "Our gathering together unto him"; (b) "The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 2:1). (a) He comes as the "Morning Star" (Revelation 2:28; Revelation 22:16; 2 Peter 1:19); (b) as "The Sun of Righteousness" (Malachi 4:2). (a) The "Day of Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 1:14; Php 1:6; Php 1:10; Php 2:16); (b) "The Day of the Lord" (2 Peter 3:10). (a) A signless event: (b) its approach to be observed (1 Thessalonians 5:4; Hebrews 10:25). (a) A timeless event -- at any moment; (b) fulfillment of prophecy to precede it (2 Thessalonians 2:2-3; note, "Day of Christ" should be "Day of the Lord" in 2 Thessalonians 2:2). (a) No reference to evil; (b) evil ended, Satan judged, the Man of Sin destroyed. (a) Israel unchanged; (b) all her covenants fulfilled. (a) The Church removed from the earth; (b) returning with Christ. (a) The Gentile nations unchanged; (b) judged. (a) Creation unchanged; (b) delivered from the bondage of corruption. (a) A "mystery" not before revealed; (b) seen throughout the Old and New Testaments. (a) Hope centered in Christ -- "the Lord is at hand" (Php 4:5); (b) "the kingdom is at hand" (Matthew 24:14). (a) Christ appears as Bridegroom, Lord, and Head to the Church; (b) He appears as King, Messiah, and Immanuel to Israel. (a) His coming unseen by the world; (b) coming in power and great glory. (a) Christians are judged as to rewards; (b) nations judged as to the kingdom. Important Scripture: (a) John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Php 3:20-21; 2 Corinthians 5:10. (b) Deuteronomy 30:1-10; Psalms 72:1-20. Note all the prophets; Matthew 25:1-44; Acts 1:11; Acts 15:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; 2 Peter 2:1-22, 2 Peter 3:1-18; Revelation 19:11-21, Revelation 20:1-6. QUESTIONS 1. Describe the manner in which, according to prophecy, Christ will return to this earth. 2. What length of time has He already been here in His glorified human body? 3. What is the first prophecy uttered by man? 4. What is the last prophecy from the lips of Christ and the last word of the Bible? 5. What theme of prophecy occupies more of the text of the Scriptures than any other? 6. a. With what nation are the great covenants of the Scriptures made? b. What do these covenants secure? c. When are these covenants to be fulfilled? 7. What is the greatest burden of Old Testament prophecy? 8. a. What position does the Church occupy in the second coming of Christ? b. What service is she appointed to render after His return? 9. a. What judgment awaits the nations at the coming of Christ? b. What is the contrast between this judgment and that of the Great White Throne? 10. What Scripture announces the deliverance of creation at the second coming of Christ? 11. What changes are in store for Satan at the second coming of Christ? 12. Indicate fourteen contrasts between the coming of Christ for, and the coming of Christ with, His saints. 13. Do you recognize anything in common between these two events? 14. Is the coming of Christ for His saints mentioned in the Old Testament? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 61: 05.13. GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT: HIS PERSONALITY ======================================================================== God The Holy Spirit: His Personality CHAPTER XIII The Godhead subsists in three Persons -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Having in previous chapters considered the Bible teaching concerning both the Father and the Son, it yet remains for us to consider the Bible teaching concerning the Holy Spirit. This and the four following chapters are assigned to this subject. In teaching the fundamental truths relative to the Holy Spirit, special emphasis is always required on the fact of His personality. This is due, no doubt, to the effect produced through the divine arrangement by which the Spirit does not now speak from Himself or of Himself; He rather speaks whatsoever He hears (John 16:13. Comp. Acts 13:2 with Ephesians 4:7), and He is said to have come into the world to glorify Christ (John 16:14). In contrast to this, the Scriptures represent both, the Father and the Son as speaking from themselves and of themselves, not only with final authority and by the use of the personal I, but they are presented as being in immediate communion, cooperation, and conversation -- the One with the Other. All this tends to make less real the personality of the One who does not speak either from or of Himself. This reserve on the part of the Spirit may account in a measure for the fact that some creeds have slighted the Person and work of the Spirit; treating Him as though He were a mere influence or emanation from God. The corrective for this error and the preventive against it is the due consideration of all that the Bible teaches and implies relative to the Person and work of the Spirit. I. THE SPIRIT’S PERSONALITY IS INDICATED IN THE SCRIPTURES 1. Since the Spirit is said to do that which is possible only for a person to do: (1) He reproves the world, "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8). (2) He teaches, "He shall teach you all things" (John 14:26; Nehemiah 9:20; Note, also, John 16:13-15; 1 John 2:27). (3) The Spirit speaks, "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6). (4) The Spirit maketh intercession, "But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26). (5) The Spirit leads, "led of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:18. Comp. Acts 8:29; Acts 10:19; Acts 13:2; Acts 16:6-7; Acts 20:23; Romans 8:14). (6) The Spirit appoints the service of men, "The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them" (Acts 13:2. Comp. Acts 20:28). (7) The Spirit is Himself subject to appointment (John 15:26). (8) The Spirit ministers: He regenerates (John 3:6), He seals (Ephesians 4:30), He baptizes (1 Corinthians 12:13), He fills (Ephesians 5:18). 2. He is affected as a person by other beings: (1) The Father sends Him into the world (John 14:16; John 14:26), and the Son sends Him into the world (John 16:7). (2) Men may vex the Spirit (Isaiah 63:10), they may grieve Him (Ephesians 4:30), they may quench (resist) Him (1 Thessalonians 5:19), they may blaspheme against Him (Matthew 12:31), they may lie to Him (Acts 5:3), they may do despite unto Him (Hebrews 10:29), they may speak against Him (Matthew 12:32). 3. All Bible terms related to the Spirit imply His personality: (1) He is called "Another Comforter" (Advocate), which indicates that He is as much a person as Christ (John 14:16-17; John 14:26; John 16:7; 1 John 2:1-2). (2) He is called a Spirit and in the same personal sense as God is called a Spirit (John 4:24). (3) The pronouns used of the Spirit imply His personality. In the Greek language, the word spirit is a neuter noun which would naturally call for a neuter pronoun and in a few instances the neuter pronoun is used (Romans 8:16; Romans 8:26); but more often the masculine form of the pronoun is used thus emphasizing the fact of the personality of the Spirit (John 14:16-17; John 16:7-15). II. THE SPIRIT IS ONE OF THE PERSONS OF THE GODHEAD AND AS SUCH IS COEQUAL WITH THE FATHER AND THE SON 1. He is called God. This fact will be seen by comparing Isaiah 6:8-9 with Acts 28:25-26; Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Hebrews 10:15-17 (Note, also, 2 Corinthians 3:18, R.V., and Acts 5:3-4 -- "Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? ... thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God"). Though the judgments of God have fallen so drastically on some who have lied against the Spirit (Acts 5:3) and though men are evidently not permitted to swear in the name of the Holy Spirit and though He is called The Holy Spirit, it is certain that He is not more holy than the Father or the Son; absolute holiness being the primary attribute of the Triune God. 2. He has the attributes of God (Genesis 1:2; Job 26:13; 1 Corinthians 2:9-11; Hebrews 9:14). 3. The Holy Spirit performs the works of God (Job 33:4; Psalms 104:30; Luke 12:11-12; Acts 1:5; Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 12:8-11; 2 Peter 1:21). III. APPEAL Through meditation on the Word of God and through the experience gained by trusting the Spirit for His power, His guidance, and His instruction, the believer may come to realize the personality and sufficiency of the Holy Spirit, the importance and value of which is beyond all estimation. QUESTIONS 1. What has tended to discredit the personality of the Holy Spirit? 2. What is the corrective against all false theories concerning the person and work of the Spirit? 3. Name eight activities predicated to the Spirit which prove that He is a person. 4. Name the proofs that He is a person which are based on His relation to other beings. 5. What are some of the titles by which the Spirit is designated which prove His personality? 6. Is it any discredit to the personality of God that He is called a spirit? 7. What are the proper pronouns to be used in speaking of the Spirit? 8. a. What is the gender of the word Spirit in the Greek language? b. How has this affected translations? 9. Indicate important passages which assign absolute deity to the Holy Spirit. 10. Who was punished for lying against the Spirit? 11. a. Is the Spirit more holy than the Father or the Son? b. Are men permitted to swear in His name? c. Do they swear in His name? 12. Indicate the Scriptures wherein the attributes of God are assigned to the Spirit. 13. Indicate the Scriptures wherein the Spirit is said to perform the works of God. 14. How may the Spirit become more real to the child of God? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 62: 05.14. GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT: HIS ADVENT ======================================================================== God The Holy Spirit: His Advent CHAPTER XIV The Spirit’s advent into the world, like His predicted departure from the world, can be understood only as it is seen in relation to the various dispensations and revealed purposes of God. In ages past, the Holy Spirit was in the world as the Omnipresent One; yet He is said to have come into the world on the Day of Pentecost. Beginning with the Day of Pentecost, He is to remain in the world for a divinely determined and unrevealed time. When He shall have departed out of the world, He, as the Omnipresent One, will still be in the world. In arriving at the understanding of the order and harmony of these facts consideration should be given to four aspects of the Spirit’s relation to the world: I. IN THE AGES PRECEDING THE FIRST ADVENT OF CHRIST Throughout the extended period before the first advent of Christ, the Spirit was present in the world in the same sense in which He is present everywhere, and He wrought in and through the people of God according to the divine will (Genesis 41:38; Exodus 31:3; Exodus 35:31; Numbers 27:18; Job 33:4; Psalms 139:7; Haggai 2:4-5; Zechariah 4:6). II. DURING THE THREE-YEAR PUBLIC MINISTRY OF CHRIST ON EARTH It is reasonable to suppose that the incarnate, active presence of the Second Person of the Trinity in the world would affect the ministries of the Spirit, and this we find to be true. 1. In relation to Christ, the Spirit first wrought as the generating power by which the God-man was formed in the virgin’s womb. The Spirit is also seen descending in the form of a dove upon Christ at the time of His baptism. And again, it is revealed that it was only through the Eternal Spirit that Christ offered Himself to God (Hebrews 9:14). 2. The relation of the Spirit to men during the earth ministry of Christ was progressive. We first read of the assurance which Christ gave to His disciples that they might receive the Spirit by asking (Luke 11:13). Though the Spirit had previously come upon men according to the sovereign will of God, His presence in the human heart had never before been conditioned upon asking, and this privilege, being so new, was, so far as is revealed, never claimed at that time by any one. At the close of His ministry and just before His death, Christ said: "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth" (John 14:16-17). Likewise, after His resurrection the Lord breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John 20:22); but in spite of this reception of the Spirit they were to tarry in Jerusalem until they should be endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4). III. DURING THE PRESENT AGE OF THE CHURCH As promised by the Father (John 14:16-17; John 14:26) and by the Son (John 16:7), the Spirit, who as the Omnipresent One, had always been in the world, came into the world on the Day of Pentecost. The force of this seeming repetition of ideas is seen when it is understood that His coming on the Day of Pentecost was that He might make His abode in the world. "We are led to believe that God the Father, though omnipresent (Ephesians 4:6), is, as to His abode, "Our Father which art in heaven" (Matthew 6:9). Likewise, we know that God the Son, though omnipresent (Matthew 18:20; Colossians 1:27), as to His abode now, is seated at the right hand of God (Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 10:12). In like manner, the Spirit, though omnipresent, is now, as to His abode, tabernacling here on the earth. The taking up of His abode on the earth was the sense in which the Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost. His dwelling place was changed from Heaven to earth. It was for this coming of the Spirit into the world that the disciples were told to wait. The new ministry of this grace-age could not begin apart from the coming of the Spirit. Two revelations are given concerning the Spirit’s abode in the world: 1. He is said to indwell each and every child of God (1 Corinthians 6:19). This fact, which is age-characterizing, is to be the theme of a succeeding chapter. 2. He is said to be tabernacling in a structure of living stones -- the habitation of God through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:18-22). This temple of living stones is now "growing" and is none other than the whole company of the saved ones of this age. By the salvation of souls through the power of the Spirit this tabernacle is growing to its completion. The redeemed who form the Church are mentioned in the Scriptures under various figures -- the sheep, the branches, the stones of the building, the new generation, a kingdom of priests, the body, and the bride. Of these figures, the body and the building lend themselves to the thought of growth or gradual increase unto completion, and are so used in the Word of God (Ephesians 2:18-22; Ephesians 4:13-16). When the elect number of this heavenly company of redeemed ones shall have been saved, the Spirit will have accomplished the purpose of His advent into the world and will then depart from the world as definitely as He came. He will, however, continue His ministry and presence as the Omnipresent One with His abode changed from earth to Heaven. Though His name is not revealed, His departure is indicated in 2 Thessalonians 2:7. He is most evidently the Restrainer who continues to restrain the evil of the world so long as He remains in the world. It should be observed that though the Spirit may remove His abode from the earth, as He will, He cannot depart without taking the saved ones with Him; for they cannot be separated from Him (John 14:16-17). IV. DURING THE KINGDOM AGE As the Omnipresent One, the Spirit will have a peculiar ministry in the world during the Kingdom age, which period will immediately follow the present age of the out-calling of the Church (Isaiah 11:1-3; Joel 2:28-32). QUESTIONS 1. In what sense was the Spirit present in the world before the first advent of Christ? 2. a. What was the ministry of the Spirit in connection with the birth of Christ? b. What was His ministry at the beginning of Christ’s public service? c. What was His ministry in connection with the cross? 3. Why, may we believe, did the disciples fail to pray for the Spirit? 4. a. What is the petition concerning the advent of the Spirit in Christ’s prayer as recorded in John 14:16-17? b. Could any prayer of Christ be unanswered? 5. In what sense did the Spirit, who is always omnipresent, come into the world on Pentecost? 6. Where is the home of the Father, and of the Son? 7. Where is the home of the Spirit during this age of grace? 8. Were the disciples appointed to wait for their own filling by the Spirit, or for the advent of the Spirit into the world? 9. What two aspects of the Spirit’s present abode are mentioned in the Scriptures? 10. What Scripture indicates each? 11. By what process is the Spirit’s temple growing? 12. What will be the consummation of the development? 13. a. When will the Spirit depart from this world? b. Can He go without the Church? 14. What is said of the Spirit’s ministry in the coming age? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 63: 05.15. GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT: HIS ANOINTING ======================================================================== God The Holy Spirit: His Anointing CHAPTER XV In His relation to the believer, the Holy Spirit is three times spoken of in the Scriptures as the Anointing (2 Corinthians 1:21; 1 John 2:20; 1 John 2:27 R.V.); however, as the Presence indwelling each child of God, which is the equivalent of the Anointing, He is many times mentioned. Since every Christian has received the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), every Christian has received the Anointing. This is clearly indicated in the three passages in which the word appears: 1. "Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts" (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). Four immediate results of the Spirit’s indwelling are here suggested: (1) The baptism with the Spirit places the believer "in Christ"; thus each child of God is said to be established ... "in Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:13; 1 Corinthians 6:17; Galatians 3:27). (2) Likewise, by giving us the Spirit, God hath anointed us. (3) Again, God through the Spirit hath sealed us (Ephesians 4:30), and the Spirit Himself is the seal. (4) So, also, God is here said to have given us the Spirit as an "earnest," and since an earnest is a part of the purchase money, or property, given in advance as security for the remainder, the Spirit is seen to be the earnest of the whole heavenly inheritance which belongs to every believer through infinite grace (2 Corinthians 5:5; Ephesians 1:14; 1 Peter 1:4). 2. "And ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things" (1 John 2:20 R.V.). Here, again, it is implied that every Christian, being anointed, is indwelt by the Spirit and therefore is in the way of knowing those "deep things" of God which are alone imparted by the indwelling Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 2:15; John 16:12-15). 3. "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him" (1 John 2:27). In this passage, the important truth disclosed is that the Anointing abides. He may be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), but He is never grieved away. He may be quenched, or resisted (1 Thessalonians 5:19), but He never departs (John 14:16). In view of the prevalence of the unscriptural teachings which assert that the Holy Spirit does not indwell every believer and that He is secured in the heart as a second work of grace, or second blessing, which is to be sought by the Christian after he is saved, it is important that the Bible teaching on this subject should be considered carefully. There is a "filling with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18) which is conditioned upon the adjustment of the life of the believer to the Spirit of God, and this filling has to do with the believer’s experience of power and blessing (Acts 1:8; Acts 2:4; Ephesians 5:18-20). The filling with the Spirit, which is often repeated, should not be confused with the once-for-all indwelling, or anointing, of the Spirit. It is only those who are indwelt by the Spirit who can be filled with the Spirit. The fact that the Spirit is present in every believer is stated in the following Scriptures: John 7:37-39. -- "But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive" (compare Acts 11:17; Galatians 3:2). Romans 5:5. -- "The Holy Spirit which is given unto us." This passage, like many more (note, Romans 8:23; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 2 Corinthians 5:5; Galatians 4:6; 1 John 3:24; 1 John 4:13; 1 John 2:20; 1 John 2:27), is inclusive of all believers, and not of some class of especially sanctified individuals. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. -- "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" This, again, is not a reference to some class of holy Christians; the text shows that those addressed are guilty of the most serious sin (1 Corinthians 5:1; 1 Corinthians 6:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:7-8). They are not told that they will receive the Spirit if they are holy; rather, they are told that having the Spirit which is a gift of divine grace to all believers alike, they should live holy lives. Careful study will disclose the fact that Luke 11:13; Acts 5:32; Acts 8:12-17; Acts 19:1-7 and Ephesians 1:13, when rightly translated, and when given their dispensational application, or when rightly understood, do not contradict the positive doctrine of the indwelling Spirit. The fact that the Spirit is given to every believer when he is saved and as a vital part of his salvation, is not only Scriptural, but it is reasonable. The superhuman manner of life which the Christian must live if he honors his Lord is impossible apart from the enabling Spirit, and, since God has addressed this superhuman requirement to all believers, it is evident that He has provided the sufficiency for all. The fact of the Spirit’s indwelling or anointing is a characterizing feature of this age (Romans 7:6; Romans 2:29; 2 Corinthians 3:6). By the indwelling of the Spirit, the individual is sanctified or set apart for God. In the Old Testament the anointing oil typifies the present anointing by the Spirit; oil being one of the seven symbols of the Spirit. 1. Anything touched with the anointing oil was thereby sanctified (Exodus 40:9-15). In like manner, the Spirit now sanctifies (1 Corinthians 6:11; Romans 15:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2). 2. The prophet was sanctified with oil (1 Kings 19:16), likewise Christ was a prophet by the Spirit (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18), and the believer is a witness by the Spirit (Acts 1:8). 3. The priest was sanctified with oil (Exodus 40:15), likewise Christ in His sacrifice by the Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), and the believer by the Spirit (Romans 12:1; Romans 8:26; Ephesians 5:18-20). 4. The king was sanctified with oil (1 Samuel 16:12-13), likewise Christ by the Spirit (Psalms 45:7), and by the Spirit the believer is to reign. 5. The anointing oil was for healing (Luke 10:34), suggesting the healing of the soul in salvation by the Spirit. 6. The oil made the face to shine, which was as the oil of gladness (Psalms 45:7), and fresh oil was required (Psalms 92:10). The fruit of the Spirit is joy (Galatians 5:22). 7. In the fittings for the tabernacle, oil for the lights is specified (Exodus 25:6). The oil suggests the Spirit, the wick the believer as a channel, and the light the outshining of Christ. The wick must rest in the oil; so the believer must walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). The wick must be free from obstruction; so the believer must not resist the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). The wick must be snuffed; so the believer must be cleansed by the confession of sin (1 John 1:9). The holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:22-23) was composed of four spices added to oil as a base. These spices represent peculiar virtues found in Christ. This compound thus symbolizes the Spirit taking up the very life and character of Christ and applying it to the believer. This oil could in no case be applied to human flesh (John 3:6; Galatians 5:17). It could not be imitated, which indicates that God cannot accept anything but the manifestation of the life which is Christ (Php 1:21). Every article of furnishing in the tabernacle must be anointed and thus set apart unto God, which suggests that the believer’s dedication is to be complete (Romans 12:1-2). QUESTIONS 1. Name five ministries of the Spirit which are mentioned in 2 Corinthians 1:21-22. 2. What is the value to the believer of each of these ministries? 3. Name three passages in which there is reference to the Spirit’s anointing. 4. Indicate the Scriptures which teach that the Spirit indwells every child of God. 5. What are the contrasts between this ministry and that of His filling? 6. What motive is appealed to in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 for a God-honoring life? 7. Why is it reasonable as well as scriptural to believe that the Spirit is given to every child of God? 8. What Scripture presents the fact of the indwelling Spirit as a characteristic of this age? 9. Name the various meanings of oil as a symbol of the indwelling Spirit. 10. What three truths are taught by the figure of the light in the tabernacle? 11. What is suggested by the compounding of the four spices in the anointing oil? 12. What is suggested by the law that this oil should not be imitated? 13. What is suggested by the anointing of every article of furnishing in the tabernacle? 14. When, and on what condition, is the Spirit given to the believer? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 64: 05.16. GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT: HIS MINISTRY ======================================================================== God The Holy Spirit: His Ministry CHAPTER XVI The law dispensation continued to the very hour of the death of Christ (John 1:17; Galatians 3:14), and since the present peculiar and varied ministries of the Spirit could not have begun until the Pentecostal advent, there is imperative need that the relationships belonging to the past age shall in no wise be made the basis of doctrine which is applicable to this age. The experience of the disciples and the relationships which obtained before the death of Christ contribute little to the precise form of "present truth" (2 Peter 1:12). It is therefore obvious that no other believers of this dispensation are called to the same progressive experience as that of the disciples; but, on the contrary, the experience of all other believers will, of necessity, be wholly within the limits of that which characterizes the present age. The present ministries of the Spirit, taken together, form a perfect system, or whole, which is wonderfully adjusted to the peculiar facts of salvation by grace and the believer’s life under grace. The day of Pentecost with all its provisions for this age has "fully come" (Acts 2:1), and that day marks the new grace-ministries of the Spirit. These are seven: I. AS THE ONE WHO RESTRAINS THE WORLD The fact and force of this ministry rests upon but one passage of Scripture, in which the Spirit is said to be restraining the lawlessness of the world until He (the Restrainer) be taken out of the way (2 Thessalonians 2:7). It is believed that the Spirit is the Restrainer since the restraining work is evidently undertaken by one of the Persons of the Godhead and the Spirit is the active power of God in the world during this age. The context indicates that Satan’s supreme manifestations which are to be permitted in the Great Tribulation are now restrained by the Spirit until the Spirit shall have finished His work in the world and is taken out of the way. II. AS THE ONE WHO REPROVES THE WORLD Again the scope of an important ministry of the Spirit is limited to the statement of one passage (John 16:7-11). This ministry likewise is to the whole world. The reproving of the world is more than a mere deepening of personal sorrow for sin; it is an indivisible threefold enlightenment of the Satan-blinded mind (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) in respect to sin, righteousness, and judgment. The sin is that of unbelief in the Saviour, the righteousness is that righteousness which is from God and is upon all who believe (Romans 1:16-17; Romans 3:22; Romans 4:5), the judgment is that finished work of Christ which is past, whereby He suffered in our place. By His reproving ministry, the Spirit causes the unsaved individual who is blinded by Satan to comprehend these three vital facts in the Gospel relative to the divine provisions for the lost. III. AS THE ONE WHO REGENERATES By the regenerating power of the Spirit, the one who exercises saving faith in Christ passes immediately from spiritual death to spiritual life, is made a partaker of the divine nature, Christ is begotten in him the hope of glory, God legitimately becomes his Father, and he becomes the legitimate child of God, an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ. IV. AS THE ONE WHO INDWELLS This ministry of the Spirit, which was the theme of the last chapter, is one of the most vital facts concerning the Christian (John 7:37-39; Romans 5:5; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 6:17; Galatians 4:6). V. AS THE ONE WHO BAPTIZES Not only is the divine life in the believer through the indwelling Spirit, but the believer is so vitally joined to the Lord by the baptism with the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13; 1 Corinthians 6:17; Galatians 3:27) that he is said to be "in Christ." To be in Christ is to have been taken out of the old creation in Adam and placed eternally in the new Creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Christ becomes the new Federal Head and all that Christ is or has done is imputed to the believer. As a branch is grafted into the vine, or a member might be joined to a body, so the believer is vitally joined to Christ by the baptism with the Spirit. According to Scripture usage, that which has power to receive into itself, to impart its own qualities, or to exercise a controlling influence, has power to baptize, and such baptism is never a "dipping into," but rather secures an abiding position and union. The believer is brought eternally under the limitless influence of Christ by the baptism with the Spirit, and the baptism with the Spirit being a part of salvation is common to all believers. The baptism with the Spirit is the theme of the following chapter. VI. AS THE ONE WHO SEALS Every child of God has been sealed by the Spirit unto the day of redemption (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30). The Spirit Himself is the Seal and His presence speaks of divine ownership and of eternal security. It may be concluded that the Spirit’s ministries in regenerating, indwelling, baptizing, and sealing are ¦wrought for the Christian when he believes, and form the very structure of his salvation, and since these blessings are never abrogated they are never wrought a second time. VII. AS THE ONE WHO FILLS The filling with the Spirit is unto Christian experience, power, and service. In contrast to the once-for-all regenerating, indwelling, baptizing, and sealing, there are many fillings (Acts 2:4; Acts 4:8; Acts 4:31; Acts 6:3; Acts 6:5; Acts 7:55; Acts 11:24; Acts 13:9). According to the one great command (Ephesians 5:18), the believer is to be "getting filled" continuously. To be filled with the Spirit is to have the Spirit fulfilling in the heart and life all that He came into that life to do. It is not to acquire more of the Spirit, but, rather, that the Spirit acquires more of the believer. To be filled with the Spirit is to be a normal, if not a usual, Christian. The Spirit came to do all that He does in filling, hence He needs not to be implored; He is imploring the unadjusted believer to the end that every hindrance may be removed. The Spirit’s filling results in certain manifestations: (1) Christ-like character -- the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23); (2) Christian service -- the exercise of a gift (1 Corinthians 12:4-31; Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:7-11; 2 Timothy 1:6); (3) the Spirit’s teaching (John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10; 1 John 2:27); (4) true praise and thanksgiving (Ephesians 5:18-20; (5) the Spirit’s leading (Romans 8:14; Acts 13:2; Galatians 5:18); (6) the Spirit actualizing the unseen (John 16:13-15; Romans 8:16); and (7) the Spirit interceding (Romans 8:26-27). Spirituality does not consist in negatives only. We are not spiritual because we do not do worldly things. Spirituality is a vital output or accomplishment in and through the believer from the indwelling Spirit. In order to be filled with the Spirit, it is required that all sin shall be confessed (1 John 1:9; Ephesians 4:30); the whole life shall be surrendered to him (Romans 6:13; Romans 12:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:19); and that there shall be moment-by-moment reliance upon the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). QUESTIONS 1. Is the experience of the disciples who lived in two dispensations and through the transition from one to the other a safe guide for the Christian now? 2. Name the seven present ministries of the Spirit. 3. Who is the Restrainer and what is His undertaking as such according to 2 Thessalonians 2:7? 4. Describe the reproving work of the Spirit. 5. What is the result of regeneration by the Spirit? 6. a. In whom, according to the Scriptures, does the Spirit dwell? b. By what other term is this ministry indicated? (see preceding chapter) 7. a. Into what is the believer baptized by the Spirit? b. What New Testament figures illustrate this vital union to Christ? c. Is the Spirit’s baptism unto an abiding result? d. Who is baptized with the Spirit? 8. What does the sealing of the Spirit indicate? 9. a. What is the filling with the Spirit? b. In what particulars is this ministry different than His regenerating, His indwelling, His baptizing, and His sealing? c. What is the precise command of Ephesians 5:18? 10. What are the seven manifestations of the Spirit which together form the Spirit-filled life? 11. Does spirituality consist only in the things a Christian does not do? 12. What is the first condition of a Spirit-filled life? 13. What is the second condition of a Spirit-filled life? 14. What is the third condition of a Spirit-filled life? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 65: 05.17. GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT: HIS BAPTISM ======================================================================== God The Holy Spirit: His Baptism CHAPTER XVII Since all the positions and possessions of the believer are his on the sole ground of his place in Christ through the baptism with the Spirit, misunderstanding of this doctrine is fraught with serious results. The safeguard here, as always, is in adhering strictly to the Word of God. In all the Scriptures, there are not more than eleven direct references to the baptism with the Spirit. In taking them up in order we discover: 1. A plain prediction by John the Baptist, mentioned once in each of the four Gospels, that there would be a baptism with the Spirit (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33). This four-fold prediction is important; but there is no light from these Scriptures as to what constitutes that baptism with the Spirit. 2. In Acts 1:4-5 we read: "And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." Revelation here advances only to the point of assurance that this ministry of the Spirit would be "not many days hence." This we believe anticipates the Day of Pentecost; but no light is yet shed on the exact meaning of this work of the Spirit. 3. In Acts 11:15-18, we have Peter’s defense concerning his unjewish action in going to the house of Cornelius the Gentile. Peter states: "And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?" Particular attention should be given to this passage, for here, more than anywhere else in the Scriptures, false interpretations as to the meaning of the baptism with the Spirit are founded. It should be noted that in this passage Peter makes three references to the Spirit: He states that (1) the Spirit fell on them; (2) Peter was reminded of the promise of the baptism with the Spirit (Acts 1:4-5.); And (3) the Spirit was given to the Gentiles as He had been given at Pentecost to the Jews. The error concerning this passage arises from supposing that the Spirit "falling on them" is identical with the baptism with the Spirit. Turning back to Acts 10:44-48, where the first account is given of Peter’s experience in Cornelius’ house, we find that no reference is made to the baptism with the Spirit; but the Spirit, it is written, "fell on them," and as a direct result they "spake with tongues." "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God." It is equally important to read the account of the advent of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost as stated in Acts 2:1-4. "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." It should be observed that they spake with tongues on the Day of Pentecost as a direct result of the Spirit’s filling, and that, according to Acts 10:44-48, they spake with tongues as a direct result of the Spirit falling on them. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the Spirit falling upon them and the Spirit filling them are one and the same thing. In each case the result was identical; but if this be true, it is evidently unscriptural to relate any outward manifestations of the Spirit, such as speaking with tongues, to the baptism with the Spirit. Not discerning this error, multitudes today are "seeking the baptism of the Spirit," and are assured that if "it" can be gained, they, too, will speak with tongues. 4. Of five remaining passages which by any interpretation give direct teaching concerning the baptism with the Spirit (Romans 6:1-4; Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 4:5; Colossians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 12:13), 1 Corinthians 12:13 alone gives any revelation as to the meaning and purpose of this ministry. The passage is as follows: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." Every great theme of Scripture will be found to be taken up exhaustively in one central passage, and 1 Corinthians 12:13 is evidently the one clear revelation as to the meaning of the phrase, "the baptism with the Spirit." This passage clearly indicates that the baptism with the Spirit is the divine operation by which believers are made members in the Body of Christ, and are vitally united to Christ by partaking of one Spirit. The unsaved sustain no living relation to Christ; but the saved are all said to be "in Christ." There was a time when they were not in Christ, but now they are "in Him." If we inquire as to how and when they became thus related to Christ, the answer from God’s Word would be that they were placed "in Christ" by the baptism with the Spirit, and that it occurred at the moment they believed and were saved. "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body ... and have been all made to drink into the Spirit." In considering this great passage, certain crucial revelations which are contained in it should be noted in particular: 1. The pronoun "we," as used here, and throughout the Epistles, is an accurate classification of all saved people, in contrast with the unsaved. The word "we" excludes every unregenerate person and, as certainly, includes every regenerate person. No greater violence could be done to this Scripture than to interpret this word "we" as though it represented some inner group or favored class of Christians. And to give the strongest possible emphasis to the fact that every saved person is included, the word "all" is also employed. 2. When members are added to the body of Christ it is accomplished by the ministry of the Spirit, and this ministry is none other than the baptism with the Spirit. By that operation those who believe on Christ are vitally placed "in Him." As a living union is formed by the process of grafting, and the branch thus united is organically in the vine, and the vine by all its vitality and life is in the branch, so the believer thus united to Christ by the baptism with the Spirit is "in Christ" and Christ is "in him." Again, as a member might be vitally joined to a human body and thus be in that body as to position and relationship, and the life of the head flowing into that new member be imparting its life-giving energy and vital force, so, we being "in Christ," by the baptism with the Spirit, are vitally joined to Christ, and are in Christ as to position and relationship, and He is in us as the supply of our eternal life and every vital force. Whatever the former position or relationship was of either the branch before it was grafted in, or the human member before it was newly joined to the human body, such relationship forever ceases, and the branch when grafted in, becomes a living part of the vine, and the member if joined to the human body, becomes a vital part of the very personality of the one to whom it might be joined. It is important to note the unvarying fact that all that the believer is and all that he has depends on his place "in Christ" through the baptism with the Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:6; Ephesians 2:18). Thus we may conclude that the baptism with the Spirit is in no way related to the outward manifestations of power in the life of the believer, which manifestations follow the Spirit’s filling; it is rather the placing of the believer in that vital union with Christ wherein it may be said of him that he is "in Christ" and Christ is "in him" (John 14:20). There are upwards of one hundred passages which emphasize the fact that the believer is "in Christ." Being in Christ is the essential fact of the believer’s position in the New Creation. Therefore, the baptism with the Spirit is the divinely ordained method whereby he enters that marvelous sphere of relationship wherein Christ is the new Federal Head -- the Last Adam. QUESTIONS 1. How many direct references to the Baptism with the Spirit are found in the Scriptures? 2. State the information on this theme presented in the four Gospels and Acts 1:4-5. 3. State the information on this theme and use of terms in Acts 11:15-18; Acts 10:44-48; and Acts 2:1-4. 4. Do any of these passages define the thing accomplished by the Spirit’s baptism? 5. Name the remaining passages bearing on this theme and indicate the one which presents a definition. 6. What is accomplished by the baptism with the Spirit? 7. What class is included in this baptism? 8. When is this ministry undertaken by the Spirit? 9. What relation do the unsaved sustain to it? 10. State why you believe this ministry is not limited to some, or a portion of the believers. 11. What two illustrations are employed in the Scriptures in setting forth the joining of the believer to Christ? 12. Do all former relationships cease when one is baptized into Christ’s body? 13. Are those thus placed in Christ ever taken out? 14. a. How is the New Creation formed? b. Who is its Federal Head? c. Will the Head of the New Creation ever fall? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 66: 05.18. THE DISPENSATIONS ======================================================================== The Dispensations CHAPTER XVIII As to time, the Bible may be apportioned into well-defined periods. These periods are clearly separated and the recognition of their divisions with their divine purposes constitutes one of the important factors in true interpretation of the Scriptures. These divisions of time are termed dispensations, which word is somewhat different than the word age in that the word age is more general, being used of any brief division of time or generation of men, though the word age is rightly used as synonymous with the word dispensation. It is probable that the recognition of the dispensations sheds more light on the whole message of the Scriptures than any other aspect of Bible study. Often the first clear understanding of the dispensations and God’s revealed purposes in them results in the beginning of useful Bible knowledge and in the fostering of a personal interest in the Bible itself. Man’s relation to God is not the same in every age. It has been necessary to bring fallen man into divine testing. This, in part, is God’s purpose in the ages, and the result of the testings is in every case an unquestionable demonstration of the utter failure and sinfulness of man. In the end, every mouth will have been stopped because every assumption of the human heart will have proven its unwisdom and wickedness by centuries of experience. Each dispensation, therefore, begins with man divinely placed in a new position of privilege and responsibility, and closes with the failure of man resulting in righteous judgments from God. While there are certain abiding facts such as the holy character of God which are of necessity the same in every age, there are varying instructions and responsibilities which are, as to their application, limited to a given period. In this connection, the Bible student must recognize the difference between a primary and a secondary application of the Word of God. Only those portions of the Scriptures which are directly addressed to the child of God under grace are to be given a personal or primary application. All such instructions he is expected to perform in detail. In the matter of a secondary application it should be observed that, while there are spiritual lessons to be drawn from every portion of the Bible, it does not follow that the Christian is appointed by God to conform to those governing principles which were the will of God for people of other dispensations. The child of God under grace is not situated as was Adam, or Abraham, or the Israelites when under the Law; nor is he called upon to follow that peculiar manner of life which according to the Scriptures will be required of men when the King shall have returned and set up His kingdom on the earth. Since the child of God depends wholly on the instructions contained in the Bible for his direction in daily life, and since the principles obtaining in the various dispensations are so diverse, and at times even contradictory, it is important that he shall recognize those portions of the Scriptures which directly apply to him if he is to realize the will of God and the glory of God. In considering the whole testimony of the Bible it is almost as important for the believer who would do the will of God to recognize that which does not concern him as it is for him to recognize that which does concern him. It is obvious that, apart from the knowledge of dispensational truth, the believer will not be intelligently adjusted to the present purpose and will of God in the world. Such knowledge alone will save him from assuming the hopeless legality of the dispensation that is past or from undertaking the impossible world-transforming program belonging to the dispensation which is to come. Because of imperfect translations, some important truth is hidden to the one who reads only the English text of the Bible. This is illustrated by the fact that the Greek word aion, which means an age, or dispensation, is forty times translated by the English word world. Thus when it is stated in Matthew 13:49, "So shall it be in the end of the world," there is reference not to the end of the material earth, which in due time must come (2 Peter 3:7; Revelation 20:11; Isaiah 66:22), but rather to the end of this age. The end of the world is not drawing near, but the end of the age is. According to the Scriptures there are in all seven major dispensations and it is evident that we are now living in the extreme end of the sixth. The kingdom age of a thousand years (Revelation 20:4; Revelation 20:6) is yet to come. A dispensation is more or less marked off by the new divine appointment and responsibilities with which it begins and by the divine judgments with which it ends. The seven dispensations are: 1. The Dispensation of Innocence. The duration of this period is unrevealed. It began with the creation of man, was characterized by those conditions which obtained in the time of man’s innocence, it includes the sin of man and ends with a divine judgment by which man received a sentence from God and was expelled from Eden (Genesis 1:28-31, Genesis 2:1-25, Genesis 3:1-22). 2. The Dispensation of Conscience. Possessed with the knowledge of both good and evil, man, for about eighteen hundred years, was required to act according to his own conscience -- choosing the good and rejecting the evil. His failure is recorded in the history of that period. In this time man became so wicked that the age was closed with the judgment of the flood (Genesis 3:22-24, Genesis 4:1-26, Genesis 5:1-32, Genesis 6:1-22, Genesis 7:1-23). 3. The Dispensation of Human Government. Continuing more than four hundred years, the history of this dispensation records that man was given the new responsibility of government in the earth with the power of taking human life (Genesis 9:1-8), which power has never been withdrawn. Man’s failure to govern for God and his success in governing for himself is seen in the ungodly assumptions with which the age ended. The divine judgment on this age was the confusion of tongues (Genesis 8:20-22, Genesis 9:1-29, Genesis 10:1-32, Genesis 11:1-9). 4. The Dispensation of Promise. In this period of more than four hundred years, extending from the call of Abraham to the giving of the law at Sinai, the new nation which began with Abraham is alone in view. By the terms of this dispensation they are under the gracious promise and covenants of Jehovah with varied instructions as to their relation to God, to the land of promise, and as to their walk before God. The period ends with that people in bondage in Egypt from which they are delivered by the mighty hand of God (Genesis 12:1 to Exodus 19:8). 5. The Dispensation of the Law. This lengthened period began with Israel’s assumption of the law at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:8), was characterized by fifteen hundred years of unfaithfulness and broken law, and terminates with the Great Tribulation in the earth. Its course was interrupted by the death of Christ and the thrusting in of the hitherto unannounced age of the church. Thus the church age, while complete in itself, is parenthetical within the age of the law. At the removal of the Church when the Lord comes again to receive His own, the law age will be resumed and continue for that period known as Daniel’s seventieth week (Daniel 9:24-27) -- which week is generally conceded to be Seven years.* Israel’s judgments began with her dispersions, were continued in the destruction of Jerusalem and her final scattering among the Gentiles, and will end with that hour of her greatest afflictions in the coming tribulation. The greatest of her sins is the rejection of her Messiah at the first advent of Christ. *(In determining the dispensation to which the Tribulation period belongs, it should be observed that it bears no relation to the features of this church age, nor has it the characteristics of a dispensation in itself. Though it is the consummation of divine judgment upon all men and their institutions, it is especially Israelitish. The continuity of that Jewish age which began at Sinai is incomplete apart from the events which belong to the Great Tribulation. As stated by Daniel, the seventieth week is required for the finishing of Israel’s transgression and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness (Daniel 9:24-27). The transgression to be "finished" could be no part of this age of grace, but is rather of the preceding age. The fact that the general features which obtain in the Tribulation are similar to those principles which were peculiar to the law age is also conclusive. The sabbath is re-established (Matthew 24:20), the temple worship is renewed -- though in unbelief -- (Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:4), the Old Testament kingdom-hope will again be announced (Matthew 24:14), and the legal principle of merit and reward for endurance will again obtain throughout that brief period (Matthew 24:13). Not only does the law dispensation require the yet future Tribulation period for the execution of those divine judgements which belong to it, but, by the recognition of the sequence connecting these two periods of time, the continuity of purpose is preserved wherein the Messianic, earthly kingdom, which follows the Tribulation, is seen to be both the legitimate expectation and the logical consummation of the dispensation of the law. By so much it may be observed that the present unforeseen dispensation of grace is wholly parenthetical within the dispensation of the law.) 6. The Dispensation of the Church. Beginning with the death of Christ and the day of Pentecost, a new responsibility is imposed on all men -- both Jews and Gentiles. This responsibility is personal and calls for the acceptance by each individual of the grace of God toward sinners as it has been provided in Christ, with good works as the fruit of salvation. While the primary purpose of God in this dispensation will be perfectly accomplished in the gathering out of the Church, the course and end of this age is characterized by an apostate church and a Christ rejecting world. The judgment will be personal as has been the responsibility. The dispensation of the Church continues from the cross of Christ and the advent of the Spirit to Christ’s coming again to receive His own. 7. The Dispensation of the Kingdom. As predicted in all the Scriptures, Christ will return to this earth and reign sitting on the throne of David. In that time Israel’s covenants will be fulfilled and her earthly blessings will overflow. However, the age ends with a revolt against God and the judgment of fire from heaven (Revelation 20:7-9). The duration of this dispensation is clearly declared to be a thousand years (Revelation 20:4; Revelation 20:6), or from the second coming of Christ to the new heaven and the new earth. As there was a dateless period before the creation of man in which there was both heaven and earth, so there will be a new heaven and a new earth after all dispensations have ceased. QUESTIONS 1. According to the Scriptures into how many major divisions is time divided? 2. Define the meaning of the words dispensation and age. 3. What is the value of dispensational distinctions in Bible interpretation? 4. What is the divine purpose in the dispensation? 5. How is the beginning and the end of each dispensation indicated? 6. What is the primary and what is a secondary application of Scripture? 7. What relation does the believer sustain to the age of the law and its governing principles? 8. What lessons may be drawn from portions of the Bible which are subject to a secondary application? 9. Are we drawing near the end of the world? 10. Describe the first four dispensations. 11. a. Into what two portions of time is the age of the law dispensation divided? b. What evidence is there that the period of the Great Tribulation is the continuance and completion of the age of the law? 12. What is the primary divine purpose in the dispensation of the church? 13. a. What will characterize its ending? b. Are its judgments national, or personal? 14. Describe the age of the kingdom. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 67: 05.19. THE COVENANTS ======================================================================== The Covenants CHAPTER XIX The Bible discloses the fact that it has pleased God to enter into covenants with men. Eight of these covenants are recorded and they incorporate the most vital facts in man’s relation to God throughout the history of the race. Each covenant represents a divine purpose and the majority of them constitute an absolute prediction as well as an unalterable promise as to the accomplishment of whatever God has designed. Reckoning from the time a covenant is made, it always anticipates the future and is intended to be a message of assurance to those to whom it is addressed. The covenants of God are grouped into two classifications: 1. Those that are Conditional. A conditional covenant is one in which God’s action is made to be contingent upon some action on the part of those to whom the covenant is addressed. A conditional covenant guarantees that God "will do His part with absolute certainty when the human requirements are met; it also declares with equal certainty that He will not do according to the expectation of the covenant should the human responsibility fail. 2. Those that are Unconditional. An unconditional covenant is simply a declaration on the part of God as to what He is going to do and is made without reference to human action, purpose, or merit. This form of covenant is illustrated in Genesis 15:1-18. Believing fully in the promise of Jehovah concerning a seed (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:16-22), Abraham sought to have that promise ratified by an outward seal in action. Thus Jehovah directed in the preparation of the bodies of the animals to be used in this ratification, and though it was no doubt the custom that both parties thus entering into covenant should walk together between the pieces of the carcasses, God caused Abraham to become utterly inactive by a deep sleep while He passed through alone. Since this was an unconditional covenant in which Abraham had no responsibility, it was fitting that he should in no way appear in the ratification of the covenant. Jehovah had not said, So shall thy seed be, if; but He had said, "So shall thy seed be." Since all human life is lived under some qualifying conditions belonging to the covenants of Jehovah, and since every passage of Scripture draws its color to some degree from the covenant under which it belongs, the importance to the Bible student of a clear understanding of these age-characterizing, world-transforming declarations of Jehovah cannot be estimated. The eight major covenants are: 1. The Covenant with Man in Eden (Genesis 1:26-31; Genesis 2:16-17). According to this record, God entered into a conditional covenant with Adam in which life and blessing or death and cursing were made to depend on the faithfulness of Adam. Human failure followed and the terms of the covenant were executed in righteousness. 2. The Covenant with Man after the Fall (Genesis 3:16-19). This is an unconditional covenant in which God declares to man what his lot in life will be because of his sin. There is no appeal allowed, nor is any human responsibility involved. 3. The Covenant with Noah and His Sons (Genesis 9:1-18). In declaring the far-reaching details concerning the course and destiny of the human family as represented in the sons of Noah, in faithfully promising that there would be no recurrence of the flood, and in establishing the authority of human government on the earth, God again entered into an unconditional covenant. However, this covenant anticipated the most minute control of all human life and destiny and could in no case be realized apart from the cooperative action of uncounted numbers of human wills; yet by the terms of this covenant God is committed to accomplish everything He has promised even to the molding and moving of the will of each individual who makes up the countless myriads of humanity who were to appear on the earth. There is an insoluble mystery presented in every effort to reconcile the facts of divine sovereignty and human choice; but in an unconditional covenant, God is seen to be in absolute authority over all the forces of the world as well as over every thought and intent of the human heart. Yet in the outworking of the covenant no human being is conscious of divine coercion or of restraint upon his own freedom of choice. "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance" (Isaiah 40:15). 4. The Covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-4; Genesis 13:14-17; Genesis 15:1-7; Genesis 17:1-8). In like manner, this covenant reaches on through all time and into eternity and involves the blessedness of all the families of the earth. It is unconditional in the most absolute sense, being set forth in seven I wills of Jehovah, and is confirmed to Isaac (Genesis 26:24) and to Jacob (Genesis 35:12). This covenant anticipates the sovereign will of God in Abraham’s personal blessing, in the everlasting mercy to Israel, and the coming of the Seed which is Christ. Again, it should be observed that in the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant God is committed to marvelous accomplishments which extend over the whole history of the race and into eternity. To guarantee this, which is infinitely more than merely foreseeing what man would do, man must be moved by a sovereign hand even to the controlling of every thought and purpose which has any part in the fulfillment of this covenant. Yet in its outworking, not one of the whole human family will be conscious of doing other than his own free choice may prompt him to do. The sufficiency of God to perform even as He has determined is not now a question of abstract speculation. Thousands of years of human history have witnessed a perfect fulfillment to the present hour; yet in the midst of this stupendous divine achievement man has not ceased to disbelieve in the sovereignty of God nor to belittle God in all his thoughts. The sphere of man’s thought is limited to the circle in which his own will seems to him to be supreme. 5. The Covenant with Moses (Exodus 20:1-26, Exodus 21:1-36, Exodus 22:1-31, Exodus 23:1-33, Exodus 24:1-18, Exodus 25:1-40, Exodus 26:1-37, Exodus 27:1-21, Exodus 28:1-43, Exodus 29:1-46, Exodus 30:1-38, Exodus 31:1-18). In transmitting the three-fold law (the commandments, Exodus 20:1-17; the judgments, Exodus 21:1-36, Exodus 22:1-31, Exodus 23:1-33, Exodus 24:1-11; and the ordinances, Exodus 24:12-18, Exodus 25:1-40, Exodus 26:1-37, Exodus 27:1-21, Exodus 28:1-43. Exodus 29:1-46, Exodus 30:1-38, Exodus 31:1-18) to Israel through Moses, Jehovah entered into a conditional covenant with that nation. The terms of the law may be stated in the phrase -- If ye will I will, and if ye will not I will not. In Deuteronomy 28:1-62, as in various portions of the Old Testament, these stipulations which condition the covenant of the law are expanded in greater detail as to their application. Though the covenant was made to depend on the faithfulness of Israel, Jehovah foretold their failure and the suffering that would follow (Deuteronomy 28:63-68). History has only confirmed the divine prediction as to their failure. It should be noted that no child of God under grace is subject to this hopeless conditional covenant of law works (Romans 6:14). 6. The Covenant with Israel concerning Their Land (Deuteronomy 30:1-10). This unconditional covenant looks on to Israel’s final possession of the land. Nothing will hinder this blessing. Even Israel herself will be willing in the day of His power, regardless of what the modern Jew or the foe of Zionism may be saying today. Coming up out of Egypt, that nation came to Kadesh-barnea where Jehovah made it a matter of their own choice as to whether they would at that time enter the promised land. By so much He then put them upon a basis similar to that of a conditional covenant. They rebelled and were turned back into the wilderness for thirty-eight more years of wilderness wandering. Later, and without the slightest reference to any choice on the part of Israel, Jehovah took them into their land with a high hand. He did not take them in against their wills, but He so controlled their wills that they went in with songs of rejoicing. The time is coming when that nation, though scattered over all the earth, will be regathered into their own land to possess it forever. At that time Israel will not limit Jehovah by her own choice in the matter. God will regather them with sovereign power. Nor are their wills to be coerced; for it is written that they shall enter with songs of praise, and "everlasting joy" shall be on their heads (Isaiah 35:10; Isaiah 51:11; Isaiah 55:12; Isaiah 61:3; Isaiah 61:7). The heart-attitude of Israel toward Jehovah in the kingdom is also anticipated in this covenant, which attitude is fully stated under the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-33). The final yet future placing of Israel in her own land is thus assured by an unconditional covenant of Jehovah which can never be changed or broken (Jeremiah 23:8; Ezekiel 37:21-28). 7. The Covenant with David (2 Samuel 7:4-16). This covenant, likewise, is unconditional. By its terms David is promised an unending royal lineage, a throne, and a kingdom, all of which are to endure for ever. In the declaration of this covenant, Jehovah reserves the right to interrupt the actual reign of David’s sons if chastisement is required (2 Samuel 7:14-15; Psalms 89:20-37); but the perpetuity of the covenant cannot be broken. As the Abrahamic covenant guaranteed to Israel an everlasting entity as a nation (Jeremiah 31:36) and an everlasting possession of the land (Genesis 13:15; 1 Chronicles 16:15-18; Psalms 105:9-11), so the Davidic covenant guarantees to them an everlasting throne (2 Samuel 7:16; Psalms 89:36), an everlasting King (Jeremiah 33:21), and an everlasting kingdom (Daniel 7:14). From the day that the covenant was made and confirmed by Jehovah’s oath (Acts 2:30) to the birth of Christ, David did not lack for a son to sit on his throne (Jeremiah 33:21), and Christ the Eternal Son of God and Son of David, being the rightful heir to that throne and the One who will yet sit on that throne (Luke 1:31-33), completes the fulfillment of this promise to David that a son would sit on his throne forever. 8. The New Covenant Made in His Blood (Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; Jeremiah 31:31-33; Ezekiel 37:26; Hebrews 8:6; Hebrews 8:10-13; Hebrews 10:16). This, again, is an unconditional covenant and it is most important for every child of God to recognize this fact since this covenant forms the very basis of his own relation to God. What may be proposed for Israel or the nations may be of interest to the believer, but it does not directly apply to him; but the covenant of divine grace is of infinite import to all who are saved. The New Covenant guarantees all that God proposes to do for men on the ground of the blood of His Son. This may be seen in two aspects: (a) That He will save, preserve, and present in Heaven conformed to His Son, all who have believed on Christ. The fact that it is necessary to believe on Christ in order to be saved does not form a condition in this covenant. Believing is not a part of the covenant, but rather is the ground of admission into its eternal blessings. The covenant is not related to the unsaved, but it is made with those who believe, and it promises the faithfulness of God in their behalf. "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Php 1:6), and every other promise concerning the saving and keeping power of God is a part of this covenant in grace. There is no salvation contemplated for man in this age that does not guarantee perfect preservation here, and a final presentation of the saved one in glory. There may be an issue between the Father and His child as to the daily life, and, as in the case of David’s sons, the Christian’s sin may call for the chastening hand of God; but those questions which enter into the daily life of the believer are never made to condition the promise of God concerning the eternal salvation of those whom He has received in grace. There are those who emphasize the importance and power of the human will and who contend that both salvation and safe-keeping must be made conditional on the cooperation of the human will. This may seem reasonable to the human mind; but it is not according to the revelation given in the Scriptures. In every case God has declared unconditionally what He will do for all those who put their trust in Him (John 5:24; John 6:37; John 10:28). This is a very great undertaking which must of necessity involve the absolute control of the very thoughts and intents of the heart; but it is no more unreasonable than that God should declare to Noah that his seed would follow the absolute channels which He had decreed, or that He should declare to Abraham that He would make of him a great nation and that of his seed Christ should be born. In every case it is the manifestation of sovereign authority and power. It is evident that God has given latitude for the exercise of the human will. He appeals to the wills of men, and men who are saved are conscious that both their salvation and their service are according to their own deepest choice. We are told that God controls the will of man (John 6:44; Php 2:13) and at the same time appeals to and conditions His blessing on the will of man (John 5:40; John 7:17; Romans 12:1; 1 John 1:9). The Scriptures give unquestionable emphasis to the sovereignty of God. God has perfectly determined what will be, and His determined purpose will be realized; for it is impossible that God should ever be either surprised or disappointed. So, also, there is equal emphasis in the Scriptures upon the fact that lying between these two undiminished aspects of His sovereignty -- His eternal purpose and its perfect realization -- He has permitted sufficient latitude for some exercise of the human will. In so doing, His determined ends are in no way jeopardized. One aspect of this truth without the other will lead, in the one case, to fatalism, wherein there is no place for petition in prayer, no motive for the wooing of God’s love, no ground for condemnation, no occasion for evangelistic appeal, and no meaning to very much Scripture; in the other case it will lead to the dethroning of God. It is reasonable to believe that the human will may be under the control of God; but most unreasonable to believe that the sovereignty of God is under the control of the human will. Those who believe are saved and safe forever because it is according to the unconditional covenant of God. (b) The future salvation of Israel is promised under the unconditional New Covenant (Isaiah 27:9; Ezekiel 37:23; Romans 11:26-27). This salvation will be accomplished only on the ground of the shed blood of Christ. Through the sacrifice of Christ, God is as free to save a nation as He is free to save an individual. Israel is represented by Christ as a treasure hid in the field. The field is the world. It was Christ, we believe, who sold all that He had that He might purchase the field, and in order that He might possess the treasure (Matthew 13:44). Conclusion. In contemplating the eight covenants, too much emphasis cannot be placed on the fact of the sovereignty of God as it is related to those covenants which are unconditional, and the absolute failure of man as it is revealed in the outworking of those covenants which are conditional. Whatever God undertakes unconditionally will be completed in all the perfection of His own infinite Being. QUESTIONS 1. Into how many major covenants has God entered with man? 2. Define a conditional covenant. 3. Define an unconditional covenant. 4. State how Genesis 15:1-18 illustrates an unconditional covenant. 5. What importance may be attached to the study of the covenants? 6. Name and describe those covenants which are conditional. 7. Name the covenants, giving Scripture references, which are unconditional. 8. a. What did the covenant with Noah promise? b. What does it reveal as to divine sovereignty? 9. a. What did the covenant with Abraham promise? b. What does it teach as to divine sovereignty? 10. a. What did the covenant with David promise? b. What does it teach as to divine sovereignty? 11. What truth is illustrated by Israel’s experience at Kadesh-barnea? 12. a. Name two objectives in the New Covenant. b. Is that covenant conditional? c. What relation does believing on Christ sustain to the New Covenant? 13. Distinguish between divine sovereignty and human choice. 14. On what basis will God be free to save the nation Israel as promised under the New Covenant? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 68: 05.20. THE ANGELS ======================================================================== The Angels CHAPTER XX The Bible reflects God’s knowledge of the universe rather than man’s; therefore, in the Scriptures, the angels, concerning whom man of himself could know nothing, are introduced with perfect freedom, being mentioned about one hundred and eight times in the Old Testament and one hundred and sixty-five times in the New Testament. The word angel means messenger, and in its Biblical use is sometimes employed of God, when as the Angel of Jehovah, He Himself serves as a messenger to men (Genesis 16:1-13; Genesis 21:17-19; Genesis 22:11-16); it is used of men (Luke 7:24; James 2:25; Revelation 1:20; Revelation 2:1; Revelation 2:8; Revelation 2:12; Revelation 2:18; Revelation 3:1; Revelation 3:7; Revelation 3:14); and of departed spirits of men (Matthew 18:10; Acts 12:15). Of the latter use of the word it should be noted that, though the departed spirits of men may be called angels, the angels are not departed spirits of men, nor do men at death become angels. The angels are a distinct order of creation and have been given a heavenly position, or sphere, above the sphere of man (Psalms 8:5; Hebrews 2:7; Revelation 5:11; Revelation 7:11). Three heavens are mentioned in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 12:2), and in the Old Testament the word heaven is plural. When entering the human sphere, Christ was thereby, for a little time made lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:9); when returning to Heaven, Christ again passed through the angelic sphere (Hebrews 4:14; Hebrews 9:24) and was seated far above principalities and powers (Ephesians 1:20-21). Since we know that there are many forms of created beings of a lower sphere than man, it is reasonable to believe that, though invisible, there are beings of a higher order than man. Like all beings, other than the Godhead, the angels are created. In Colossians 1:16 mention is made of their creation, and in Ezekiel 28:13; Ezekiel 28:15, the creation of Satan -- one of the angelic order -- is mentioned in particular. The angels are always referred to in the masculine gender, and as to their number we read of "an innumerable company" (Hebrews 12:22, which word should be translated "myriads." Note Matthew 26:53; Daniel 7:10; Revelation 5:11). It is also implied that there is no increase of their number by generation (Matthew 22:30) and we know of no cessation of their existence by death. If the angels have bodies, their bodies are of a spiritual order (1 Corinthians 15:44). When seen of men they have, for the time being, a material appearance (Matthew 28:3; Revelation 15:6; Revelation 18:1). On the other hand, those of the angelic company known as demons are seen to be seeking entrance into the bodies of the creatures of earth (Luke 11:24-26). Two classes of angelic beings are to be distinguished: I. THE UNFALLEN ANGELS 1. Their nature. The unfallen angels are the "ministering spirits" (Hebrews 1:14) who kept their first estate and are therefore designated as the "holy angels" (Matthew 25:31). In the Scriptures, these are in view in almost every reference to the angels. Of the holy angels, several are mentioned in particular as well as certain classes: (1) Michael the Archangel, whose name means "who is like unto God" (Daniel 10:21; Daniel 12:1; Jude 1:9; Revelation 12:7-10). (2) Gabriel, whose name means "the mighty one," and to whom has been entrusted various heavenly messages (Daniel 8:16; Daniel 9:21; Luke 1:19; Luke 1:26-38). (3) The Elect Angels (1 Timothy 5:21). (4) Principalities and Powers, which term is sometimes used of all angels, and sometimes of only the fallen angels (Romans 8:38; Ephesians 1:21; Ephesians 3:10; Colossians 1:16; Colossians 2:10; Colossians 2:15; 1 Peter 3:22; Luke 21:26). (5) Cherubim, or living creatures, who defend God’s holiness from the pollution of sinful beings (Genesis 3:24; Exodus 25:17-20; Ezekiel 1:1-18. Note also the original purpose for which Satan was created, Ezekiel 28:14). (6) Seraphim (Isaiah 6:2-7). (7) The Angel of Jehovah, which title belongs only to God and is used in connection with the divine manifestations in the earth and therefore is in no way to be included in the angelic hosts (Genesis 18:1 to Genesis 19:29; Genesis 22:11-12; Genesis 31:11-13; Genesis 48:15-16; Genesis 32:24-32; Joshua 5:13-15; Judges 13:19-22; 2 Kings 19:35; 1 Chronicles 21:12-30; Psalms 34:7). The strongest contrasts between Christ, who is the Angel of Jehovah, and the angelic beings is presented in Hebrews 1:4-14. 2. Their ministry. Of the ministry of the unfallen angels revelation declares: (1) They were present at creation (Job 38:7), at the giving of the law (Galatians 3:19; Acts 7:53; Hebrews 2:2; Revelation 22:16), at the birth of Christ (Luke 2:13), at the temptation (Matthew 4:11), in the garden (Luke 22:43), at the resurrection (Matthew 28:2), at the ascension (Acts 1:10), and they will yet appear at the second coming of Christ (Matthew 24:31; Matthew 25:31; 2 Thessalonians 1:7). (2) The angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14; Psalms 34:7; Psalms 91:11). Though we have been given no communication or fellowship with the angels, yet we should recognize the fact of their ministry which is constant and effective. (3) The angels are spectators and witnesses of the things of earth (Psalms 103:20; Luke 12:8-9; Luke 15:10; 1 Corinthians 11:10; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 1:12; Revelation 14:10). (4) Lazarus was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22). II. THE FALLEN ANGELS The fallen angels have been divided into two classes: (1) those that are free and (2) those that are bound. Of the fallen angels, Satan alone is given particular mention in the Scriptures. It is probable that when Satan fell (John 8:44) he drew after him a multitude of lesser beings. Of these, some are reserved in chains unto judgment (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6; 1 Corinthians 6:3); the remainder are free and are the demons, or devils, to whom reference is constantly made throughout the New Testament (Mark 5:9; Mark 5:15; Luke 8:30; 1 Timothy 4:1). They are Satan’s aids in all his undertakings and share his doom (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10). QUESTIONS 1. What is indicated as to the authorship of the Scriptures when they treat of angels as freely as they do of men? 2. a. What is the meaning of the word angel? b. Of what classes is the title used? 3. Where is the abode of the angels in relation to man and in relation to Christ’s present position? 4. What is revealed as to the gender of angels, as to their number, as to their increase, and as to their death? 5. Have the angels bodies? 6. What are the two general classes of angels? 7. Name the particular angels and classes of angels referred to in the Scriptures. 8. Who is the Angel of Jehovah? 9. In connection with what great events are the angels said to appear? 10. What relation do they sustain to the child of God? 11. What is said of the angels as witnesses? 12. What ministry was committed to them in connection with Lazarus the beggar? 13. Into what two classes are the fallen angels divided? 14. Describe the position and service of each of these classes. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 69: 05.21. SATAN: HIS PERSONALITY & POWER ======================================================================== Satan: His Personality & Power CHAPTER XXI This chapter introduces the highest being among all the creatures of God. However, an immeasurable gulf exists between the uncreated, self-existent, eternal Persons of the Godhead, and this the chief of God’s creatures. I. THE PERSONALITY OF SATAN Since he does not appear in corporeal form, Satan’s personality, like that of the Godhead and like all the angelic hosts, must be accepted upon the evidence set forth in the Scriptures. Considering this evidence we may note: 1. Satan was Created as a Person. The fact of the creation of all things that are in heaven and in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, and that these were created by Christ and for Christ, is stated in Colossians 1:16. The time of the creation of the angelic host is not stated beyond the fact that their creation probably preceded that of all material things, and was itself preceded by that eternity of existence on the part of the Godhead, which existence is declared in John 1:1-2. Among all the heavenly hosts, Satan’s creation alone is mentioned in particular. This fact suggests the supreme place which Satan holds in relation to all the invisible creatures of God. In Ezekiel 28:11-19 there is recorded a lamentation addressed to "The king of Tyrus," and while this may have had some partial and immediate application to a king in Tyrus, it is evident that the supreme one among all the creatures of God is in view; for the one here addressed was said to be the "sum" of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. He had been in "Eden, the garden of God" (probably the primal Eden of God’s original creation, rather than the Eden of Genesis 3), and by divine design was created and anointed as a covering cherub over the holy mountain of God, which, in Biblical imagery, represents the throne or center of God’s governing power. No king of Tyrus could answer this description. In fact, this description could apply to none other than Satan as he existed before his sin and fall. 2. Satan Exercises all the Functions of a Person. Of many Scriptures which set forth the personality of Satan, the following may be noted: Isaiah 14:12-17. Contemplating Satan as having completed his course and having been judged finally at the end of time, the prophet addressed him in this passage under the heavenly title of "Lucifer, son of the morning," and sees him as fallen from his primal estate and glory. He who "didst weaken the nations" is also guilty of opposing his own will against the will of God in five particulars, and in this passage, as in Ezekiel 28:15, his sin is said to be a secret purpose hid within his own heart which God discovered and disclosed (note 1 Timothy 3:6). Genesis 3:1-15. By the events recorded in this passage, Satan gains the title of "Serpent," for through the serpent he appeared to Adam and Eve. Every word here spoken and design revealed is an evidence of Satan’s personality (note 2 Corinthians 11:3; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; Revelation 12:9; Revelation 20:2). Job 1:6-12; Job 2:1-13. A revelation peculiar to these texts is that Satan has access to God (note Luke 22:31; Revelation 12:10) as well as to men (1 Peter 5:8; Ephesians 6:10-12), and that he exhibits every feature of a true personality. Luke 4:1-13. Again the personality of Satan is revealed when in the wilderness he comes into conflict with the Son of God -- the Last Adam. He who purposed to become like the Most High (Isaiah 14:14), and who recommended this purpose to the first man and woman (Genesis 3:5), is now seen offering all his earthly possessions to Christ if only He will worship him. This proffered authority and power which Christ refused will yet be received and administered by the Man of Sin (1 John 4:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10). Ephesians 6:10-12. The strategies and warfare of Satan against the children of God as declared in this passage are proof positive of the personality of Satan. There is no mention in the Scriptures of a warfare by Satan against the unregenerate: they are his own, and therefore under his authority (John 8:44; Ephesians 2:2; 1 John 5:19, R.V.). II. THE POWER OF SATAN Though morally fallen and now judged in the cross (John 12:31; John 16:11; Colossians 2:15), Satan has not lost his position, and he has lost but little of his power. His power both as to personal strength and authority is disclosed in two forms: 1. His Personal Strength. His personal strength cannot be estimated. According to his own declaration, which Christ did not deny, he has power over the kingdoms of this world, which kingdoms he said were delivered unto him, and which power he bestows on whom he will (Luke 4:6). It is said of him that he hath the power of death (Hebrews 2:14), but that power has been surrendered to Christ (Revelation 1:18). Satan had the power over sickness in the case of Job (Job 2:7), and was able to sift Peter as wheat in a sieve (Luke 22:31; 1 Corinthians 5:5). Likewise, Satan is said to have weakened the nations, to have made the earth to tremble, to have shaken kingdoms, to have made the earth a wilderness, destroying the cities thereof, and not to have opened the house of his prisoners (Isaiah 14:12-17). Against the power of Satan even Michael the archangel durst not contend (Jude 1:9); but there is victory for the child of God through the power of the Spirit and the blood of Christ (Ephesians 6:10-12; 1 John 4:4; Revelation 12:11). Satan’s power and authority are exercised always and only within the permissive will of God. 2. Satan is Aided by Demons. Satan’s power is increased by the innumerable host of demons who do his will and serve him. Though he is not omnipresent, omnipotent, nor omniscient, through the wicked spirits he is in touch with the whole earth. QUESTIONS 1. On what ground must the personality of Satan be received? 2. By whom and for whom were all things created? 3. What is suggested by the fact that among all the heavenly hosts Satan’s creation is mentioned in particular? 4. a. Give the passages in which Satan’s creation and early condition are described. b. What things are said of his first estate? 5. What evidence of his personality and power are indicated in Isaiah 14:12-17? 6. What evidence is indicated in Genesis 3:1-15 and Job 1:6-12; Job 2:1-13; Luke 22:31; Ephesians 6:10-12; 1 Peter 5:8 and Revelation 12:10? 7. Mention the facts set forth in Luke 4:1-13. 8. Against whom does Satan wage his warfare? 9. a. In what sense is Satan fallen? b. Is he cast out of Heaven (see Revelation 12:9)? 10. Is Satan’s professed authority over the kingdoms of the earth the statement of fact? 11. Where is the power of death now invested? 12. What evidence have we of Satan’s power as seen in Job, in Peter, and over the nations? 13. a. Did Michael contend with Satan in his own strength? b. How, then, may the Christian be victorious? 14. How is Satan assisted in his undertakings by the innumerable demons? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 70: 05.22. SATAN: HIS WORK AND DESTINY ======================================================================== Satan: His Work and Destiny CHAPTER XXII Two errors regarding Satan are current and since he alone is advantaged by them it is reasonable to conclude that he is the author of them. 1. Many believe that Satan does not really exist and that the supposed person of Satan is no more than an evil principle, or influence, which is in man and in the world. This conception is proved to be wrong by the fact that there is the same abundant evidence that Satan is a person as there is that Christ is a person. The Scriptures, which alone are authoritative on these matters, treat one to be a person as much as the other, and if the personality of Christ is accepted on the testimony of the Bible, the personality of Satan must also be accepted on the same testimony. 2. Likewise, others believe that Satan is the direct cause of sin in every person. This impression is not true (1) because Satan is not aiming to promote sin in the world. He did not purpose to be a fiend, but rather to be "like the most High" (Isaiah 14:14); he is not aiming to destroy, so much as he is to construct, and to realize his own ambition for authority over this world system, which system proposes culture, morality, and religion (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). The impression that Satan is the direct cause of sin is not true (2) because human sin is said to come directly from the fallen human heart (Mark 7:18-23; James 1:13-16; Genesis 6:5). I. THE WORK OF SATAN The following are only a few of the many passages bearing on the work of Satan: Isaiah 14:12-17. This passage reveals Satan’s original and supreme purpose. He would ascend into Heaven, exalt his throne above the stars of God, and be like the most High. To this end he will use his unmeasured wisdom and power; he will weaken the nations, make the earth to tremble, make the world as a wilderness, destroy the cities thereof, and refuse to release his prisoners. Though every phrase of this passage is a startling disclosure, two in particular may be noted: 1. "I will he like the most High." As recorded in the Scriptures, the activities of Satan following his moral fall can be traced only in the line of this supreme motive. It was this purpose which in all seriousness he recommended to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:5), and they, by adopting Satan’s ideal, became self-centered, self-sufficient, and independent of God. This attitude on the part of Adam and Eve became their very nature and has been transmitted to all their posterity to the extent that their posterity are called the "children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3; Ephesians 5:6; Romans 1:18), they must be born again (John 3:3), and, when saved, have a struggle to be yielded wholly to the will of God. Again, Satan’s desire to be "like the most High" is seen in his passion to be worshiped by Christ (Luke 4:5-7). When the Man of Sin enters the holy place and is worshiped as God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15; Revelation 13:4-8), for a brief moment, Satan’s supreme desire will be realized under the permissive will of God. 2. He "opened not the house of his prisoners." The entire prophecy from which this phrase is taken is concerning the work of Satan as it will have been completed in the days of his final judgment. Doubtless there is a larger fulfillment yet future; however, we know that Satan is now doing all in his power to keep the unsaved from being delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son (Colossians 1:13). Satan is the one who energizes the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2), blinds the minds of the unsaved lest the light of the Gospel shall reach them (2 Corinthians 4:3-4), and holds the unconscious world in his arms (1 John 5:19, R.V.). It is also revealed that Satan in his warfare will counterfeit the things of God, which undertaking will likewise be in accord with his purpose to be "like the most High." He will promote extensive religious systems (1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15). In this connection, it should be observed that Satan can promote forms of religion which are based on selected Bible texts, which elevate Christ as the leader, and which incorporate every phase of the Christian faith excepting one -- the doctrine of salvation by grace alone on the ground of the shed blood of Christ. Such satanic delusions are now in the world and multitudes are being deceived by them. Such false systems are always to be tested by the attitude they take toward the saving grace of God through the efficacious blood of Christ (Revelation 12:11). Satan’s enmity is evidently against God alone. He is in no way at enmity with the unsaved, and when he aims his "fiery darts" at the children of God, he attacks them only because of the fact that they are indwelt by the divine nature, and through them he is enabled to secure a thrust at God. Likewise, the attack against the children of God is not in the sphere of "flesh and blood," but in the sphere of their heavenly association with Christ. That is, the believer may not be drawn away into immorality, but he may utterly fail in prayer, in testimony and in spiritual victory. Such failure, it should be seen, is as much defeat and dishonor in the sight of God as those sins which are freely condemned by the world. II. THE DESTINY OF SATAN As the Word of God is explicit regarding the origin of Satan, so it is explicit regarding his career and destiny. Five progressive judgments of Satan are to be distinguished: 1. Satan’s Moral Fall. Though the time in the dateless past is not disclosed, Satan’s moral fall, with its necessary separation from God, is clearly indicated (Ezekiel 28:15; 1 Timothy 3:6). It is evident, however, that he did not lose his heavenly position, the larger portion of his power, or his access to God. 2. Satan’s Judgment through the Cross. Through the cross a perfect judgment has been secured (John 12:31; John 16:11; Colossians 2:14-15), but the execution of that sentence is yet future. This sentence with its execution was predicted in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15). 3. Satan will be cast out of Heaven. In the midst of the coming Tribulation and as a result of a war in Heaven, Satan will be cast out of Heaven and be limited to the earth. He will then act in great wrath knowing that he has but a short time to continue (Revelation 12:7-12. Note, also, Isaiah 14:12; Luke 10:18). 4. Satan will be confined, to the Abyss. For the thousand-year reign of Christ upon the earth, Satan will be sealed in the abyss, after which he must be loosed for a "little season" (Revelation 20:1-3; Revelation 20:7). 5. Satan’s Final Doom. Having promoted an open rebellion against God during the "little season," Satan is then cast into the lake of fire to be tormented day and night for ever and ever (Revelation 20:10). QUESTIONS 1. What are the two general errors regarding Satan? 2. Give the evidence from the Scriptures that Satan exists as a person. 3. What is Satan’s supreme motive? 4. From what source does human sin arise? 5. What are the outstanding facts regarding Satan as recorded in Isaiah 14:12-17? 6. Whom is Satan seeking to imitate? 7. Trace his passion to be like the Most High in two events of history and one of prophecy. 8. What is Satan’s attitude toward the unsaved as to their salvation? 9. How does he accomplish his ends? 10. What undertakings are predicted for Satan, in his counterfeiting the truth of God? 11. What one theme does he of necessity omit from his false systems? 12. Against whom, primarily, is Satan at warfare? 13. In what sphere does he attack the children of God? 14. Trace the five aspects of divine judgment upon Satan. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 71: 05.23. MAN: HIS CREATION ======================================================================== Man: His Creation CHAPTER XXIII Discovering himself in the midst of a wonderful universe and being the highest order of its visible creatures, it is natural that man should seek to understand his own origin as well as the origin of all existing things; yet man, unaided, can discover nothing as to his origin. It is therefore reasonable to expect that God would reveal these facts to man. This He has done in the Bible. However, since God is revealed and becomes real only to those who are saved through Christ (Matthew 11:27-29), men who are not saved and to whom God is not real have turned from the Scripture records of the origin of all things, and have sought to account for existing things on the basis of supposed laws of evolution. According to these human theories, there was originally a primordial cell from which has evolved every existing form of life whether it be whale or hummingbird, elephant or mosquito, man or tadpole. Over against these theories are the clear teachings of the Scriptures, wherein it is not only directly stated (Genesis 1:1-31, Genesis 2:1-25; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 11:3), but it is everywhere implied, that every living thing was created by the immediate power and will of God. As to their theories concerning the origin of things, men are thus divided into two general classes. It is not a division between learned and unlearned men, or between good and bad men; but it is a division between men to whom God is sufficiently real and those to whom He is not sufficiently real to be accepted as the Creator of all things. There is an unalterable law which accounts for the capacity or incapacity of man to grasp the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 2:14; John 3:3). "By faith we understand" (Hebrews 11:3); but the man without faith does not understand, nor can he ever understand until he is saved in Christ. And since the unregenerate cannot understand, God has commissioned the Gospel to be preached to them rather than a ministry of useless controversy. According to the testimony of the Scriptures (which testimony every Christian will receive, since he is indwelt by the same Spirit who wrote the Scriptures -- 1 Corinthians 2:12), man, in his present human form, was created by God as the conclusion and consummation of all creation. Of man it is said that he was made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26), and that God breathed into him the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). These distinctions classify man above all other forms of life which are upon the earth. Speaking generally, man’s creation included that which was material -- "the dust" (symbolizing the use of elements appropriate to the forming of a material body), and immaterial -- "the breath of life." This general two-fold distinction is elsewhere indicated as the "outward man" and the "inward man" (2 Corinthians 4:16); "the earthen vessel" and "this treasure" (2 Corinthians 4:7). Likewise, contemplating the soul or spirit as representing that which is immaterial in man, we read that the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit unto God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7); and there are those who are able to kill the body who are not able to kill the soul (Matthew 10:28). It was when God breathed the breath of life into the material body that man became a "living soul" (Genesis 2:7; note, also, 2 Corinthians 5:8; 3 John 1:2). 1. When considering the immaterial part of man, it should be observed that the Scriptures, while sometimes using the terms interchangeably (Comp. Genesis 41:8 with Psalms 42:6; John 12:27 with John 13:21; Matthew 20:28 with Matthew 27:50; Hebrews 12:23 with Revelation 6:9), even applying these terms to God on the one hand (Isaiah 42:1; Jeremiah 9:9; Hebrews 10:38), and to the brute creation on the other hand (Ecclesiastes 3:21; Revelation 16:3), do distinguish between the spirit and the soul of man (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12). Though the highest functions of the immaterial part of man are sometimes attributed to the spirit and sometimes to the soul (Mark 8:36-37; Mark 12:30; Luke 1:46; Hebrews 6:18-19; James 1:21), the spirit is usually mentioned in the Scriptures as that part of man which is capable of contemplating God, and the soul as that part of man which is related to self and the various functions of the intellect, sensibilities and will. There are three main theories as to the origin of the soul and spirit: (1) The Pre-existence theory, which contends that the soul and spirit of man have existed eternally, and is only incarnated in the body at the beginning of the human existence. This doctrine is not held by evangelical bodies. (2) The Creation theory, which contends that the soul and spirit of man are directly and individually created by God at the beginning of human existence. This theory, though held by some evangelical Christians, fails, since by it the body alone is supposed to be propagated, and therefore is solely responsible for the continuance of the effect of the Fall. (3) The Traducian theory, which contends that the soul and spirit, like the body, were potentially created in Adam, and are alike propagated by the natural laws of generation. This theory is Biblical. God is said to have breathed only once into man the breath of life, and after this He ceased creation (Genesis 2:2). Thus, and only thus, the fall of man, which so evidently affects the soul and spirit, is transmitted from generation to generation. 2. When considering the Scripture teaching regarding the material part of man, we note certain facts: (1) The terms "the body" and "the flesh" are not synonymous. The body is only the house of the soul, while the flesh (when that term is used in its ethical sense) includes spirit, soul, and body -- or all that composes the unregenerate man. (2) The body of the saved one is especially considered (2 Corinthians 5:6; 2 Corinthians 5:8; 2 Corinthians 12:2-3; James 2:26). It is a "temple" (1 Corinthians 6:19; John 2:21; Php 1:20), an "earthen vessel" (2 Corinthians 4:7), a body of limitations (Php 2:21), to be mortified (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5), it was buffeted by Paul (1 Corinthians 9:27), and it is to be changed at the return of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:51-53). The body, as well as the soul or spirit, is to be sanctified, saved, redeemed, and finally glorified forever (Luke 24:39; Romans 8:13; 1 Corinthians 6:13-20; Php 3:20-21), This mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruptible shall put on incorruption. (3) Mention is also made of Christ’s physical body, which was "broken" for us, and His spiritual body, which is the Church. QUESTIONS 1. Is unaided man able to discover anything concerning the origin of things? 2. a. Not knowing God nor being able to make Him real, what is the best solution of the origin of things that the unregenerate have proposed? b. What is the teaching of the Scriptures with regard to the origin of all things? c. If it is not a question of human learning, on what principle are men divided? 3. a. Where in the order of creation did man appear? b. Into what image and likeness was he created? 4. a. What is the general two-fold distinction concerning man? b. Indicate the contrasts between these factors as set forth in the Scriptures. 5. a. What Scriptures distinguish between the soul and spirit in man? b. Does it follow that soul and spirit are identical because sometimes used interchangeably for the immaterial part of man? c. What may be said of the soul and what of the spirit of man? 6. a. Name the three theories as to the origin of the soul and spirit. b. Which of these theories is Biblical? 7. Distinguish between the body and the flesh as used in the Scriptures. 8. What is said in the Scriptures regarding the body of the Christian? 9. What great change is promised this body? 10. What is the meaning of mortal and immortal? 11. What is the meaning of corruptible and incorruptible? 12. Name two uses of the word body as belonging to Christ. 13. For whom was His physical body broken? 14. What do you understand to be the spiritual body of Christ (see Ephesians 1:22-23)? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 72: 05.24. MAN: HIS FALL ======================================================================== Man: His Fall CHAPTER XXIV The student of the Scriptures should consider the estate of Adam (1) before the fall, and (2) after the fall, and (3) the effect upon the race of Adam’s fall. I. ADAM BEFORE THE FALL In words of peculiar simplicity, the Bible introduces the first man and the woman whom God provided to be his helpmeet. These two were joined as one and in the divine consideration the unit is that which is formed by this union. Both the man and the woman sinned and fell, but this combined fall is referred to in the Bible as the fall of man. No calculations are possible as to the length of time in which the first man and first woman remained unfallen; but they remained unfallen long enough, it is evident, to become accustomed to the situation in which they were placed, to regard carefully and name the living creatures, and to have experienced fellowship with God. It is said that man as created, like all the works of God, was "very good"; that is, they were well pleasing to the Creator. This implies no more than that they were innocent, which is a negative term and suggests that they had not committed sin. Holiness, which is the primary attribute of God, is a positive term and indicates that He is incapable of sinning. While man was made in the image of God in respect to personality and spiritual capacity, he was and is a creature. And though the Creator, being holy, cannot sin, the creature, whether it be angel or man, is by the divine plan in creation made with the ability to sin. Among the angels, Satan sinned (Ezekiel 28:15; Isaiah 14:12-14), and many other angels sinned, of whom it is written that they "kept not their first estate" (Jude 1:6). We should also observe that, in reality, man did not originate sin; it was recommended by Satan and adopted by man (Genesis 3:4-7). By this action, the moral nature of man -- intellect, sensibilities, and will -- is manifested, and, hearing the voice of God, his conscience prompted him to hide from the divine presence. It is therefore clear that at the beginning man was in possession of these faculties as he is today. II. ADAM AFTER THE FALL. By sinning, the first man lost his blessed estate as he was created and became subject to certain far-reaching changes: 1. He became subject to both spiritual and physical death. God had said, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17); and this divine declaration was fulfilled. Adam and Eve passed immediately into spiritual death, which means separation from God. In due time they also suffered the penalty of physical death, which means the separation of the soul from the body. 2. The very creation itself was changed by the sin of man. Briars and thorns were introduced, labor and sorrow were added, and the enjoyment of Eden was withdrawn. III. THE EFFECT UPON THE RACE OF ADAM’S FALL In contemplating the effect upon the race of Adam’s sin, we are confronted with the doctrine of "Imputation," which is one of the most profound doctrines in the Scriptures. It is an advantage to consider this doctrine in general before any particular form of the imputation of sin is studied. Three imputations are set forth in the Scriptures: (1) The sin of Adam is imputed to his posterity (Romans 5:12-14); (2) the sin of man is imputed to Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21); and, (3) the righteousness of God is imputed to those who believe (Genesis 15:6; Psalms 32:2; Romans 3:22; Romans 4:3; Romans 4:8; Romans 4:21-25; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philemon 1:17-18). It is obvious that there was a judicial transfer of the sin of man to Christ the Sin-Bearer. Jehovah hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:5; John 1:29; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Peter 3:18). So, in like manner, there is a judicial transfer of the righteousness of God to the believer (2 Corinthians 5:21); for there could be no other grounds of justification or acceptance with God. This imputation belongs to the new relationship within the New Creation. Being joined to the Lord by the baptism with the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17; 1 Corinthians 12:13; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 3:27), and vitally related to Christ as a member in His body (Ephesians 5:30), it follows that every virtue of Christ is extended to those who have become an organic part of Him. The believer is "in Christ" and thus partakes of all that Christ is. In like manner, the facts of the old creation are actually transferred to those who by natural generation are "in Adam." They become possessed of the Adamic nature and themselves are said to have sinned in him. This is as real in constituting a sufficient ground for divine judgment as the imputation of the righteousness of God in Christ is a sufficient ground for justification, and the result is the divine judgment upon the race whether they have sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression or not. Though men contend, as they do, that they are not responsible for Adam’s sin, the divine revelation stands that because of the far-reaching effect of representation through the federal headship, Adam’s one initial sin is immediately and directly imputed to each member of the race with the unvarying sentence of death resting upon all (Romans 5:12-14). Likewise by the fall of Adam the effect of the one initial sin is transmuted in the form of a sin nature mediately, or by inheritance, from father to son throughout all generations. The effect of the fall is universal; so, also, the offer of divine grace. Men do not now fall by their first sin; they are born fallen sons of Adam. They do not become sinful by sinning, but they sin because by nature they are sinful. No child needs to be taught to sin, but every child must be encouraged to be good. It should be observed that, though the fall of Adam rests upon the race, there is evident divine provision for innocent infants and all who are irresponsible. The holy judgments of God must rest upon all men out of Christ, (1) because of imputed sin, (2) because of an inherited sin nature, (3) because they are under sin, and (4) because of their own personal sins. Though these holy judgments of God cannot be diminished, the sinner may be saved from them through Christ. This is the good news of the gospel. The penalty resting on the old creation is (1) physical death, which is separation of the soul from the body; (2) spiritual death, which (like Adam’s) is the present estate of the lost and is the separation of the soul from God (Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 4:18-19); and (3) the second death, which is the eternal separation of the soul from God and banishment from His presence forever (Revelation 2:11; Revelation 20:6; Revelation 20:14; Revelation 21:8). QUESTIONS 1. Into what three-fold classification does the Bible teaching concerning Adam divide? 2. To what extent does God evidently consider the man and woman to be one? 3. a. What is implied by the words that man was created "very good"? b. Contrast this estate with the holiness of God. c. How is it that unfallen man can sin when God cannot? 4. What faculties did man as created evidently possess? 5. a. What effects immediately followed the fall? b. What is spiritual death? c. What is physical death? d. What was the effect upon creation? 6. Name the three acts of imputation as set forth in the Scriptures. 7. What passages state the imputation of man’s sin to Christ? 8. To what extent and by what means is the merit of Christ imputed to the believer? 9. Is it equally reasonable to believe that the demerit of Adam is imputed to his posterity? 10. Since men are not responsible for their fallen natures, is it reasonable for them to seek God’s provided remedy? 11. Do men become sinners by sinning? 12. Do you believe that God in grace has made provision for the salvation of innocent infants and the irresponsible? 13. Why must divine judgment fall on all men out of Christ? 14. Name the three kinds of death mentioned in the Scriptures. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 73: 05.25. SIN: ITS CHARACTER AND UNIVERSALITY ======================================================================== Sin: Its Character and Universality CHAPTER XXV Being one of the greatest and most determinative facts in the world, sin, like the other important facts in its class, is not only a major theme of the Word of God, but it is the subject of almost endless human speculation. Sin is a fact to be accounted for. The failure of human speculation as compared to the finality of divine revelation on this theme should be familiar to all. Since the fact and effect of sin reach back into the unknown past and on into eternity as qualifying factors of all human experience, we should not be surprised to discover that, even with the aid of divine revelation, we confront some mysteries which are insoluble to the finite mind. I. HUMAN SPECULATION 1. It was the belief of the Ancients and continues with many until now that sin is merely sensuousness. The body was thought to be the occasion of all temptation and the executor of all evil desire. This was a feature of Plato’s philosophy, and the suggested cure of sin was to weaken its instrument; hence it was taught that the body should be despised and neglected. But the worst of human sins -- avarice, envy, pride, malice, cruelty, self-righteousness, unbelief and hatred of God -- are wholly sins of the soul and are not related to the body. 2. It is claimed by so-called modernists that sin is merely finiteness, or that which is incident to imperfect development. As men creep before they walk, so they sin before they learn righteousness. The fall, therefore, was upward. If this theory were true, the cultured and civilized would be more righteous than the ignorant; a world war could not be begun by the most educated nation on earth; and Satan, who is "full of wisdom" (Ezekiel 28:12), must be as holy as he is wise. By this theory, the blame for sin is subtly transferred from man to God. 3. That sin is merely selfishness is the claim of others. It is true that selfishness is sin; but it is far from sufficient to say that sin is merely selfishness. Those who seek to establish this theory -- and it is often presented by earnest advocates of God’s truth -- say that since the chief commandment is to love God, so the chief sin, and root sin, must be to love self. But, again, there may be no selfishness in unbelief, malice, or hatred of God. II. THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF SIN While various sins are defined in the Word of God, we conclude from the teaching of the Scriptures that sin is any want of conformity to the character of God, whether it be in act, disposition, or state. Sin is sinful because it is different from what God is; and God is holy because holiness is infinitely desirable. Holiness is an eternal fact. Should God desire to be sinful He would not thereby make sin to become holiness nor holiness to become sin. However, though holiness is an unchanging virtue, we are not dealing with an abstract virtue, but rather with the living God who has caused these things to be. Sin is always against God (Psalms 51:4; Luke 15:18). To sin is to be unlike God, therefore it is to displease God. Sin cannot rightfully be limited to those things merely which are contrary to the revealed law of God; at best we can know but little of all that God is. Sin, therefore, goes beyond all laws and includes all that is not in conformity with the character of God. There are four distinct classifications of sin, which, in turn, form the basis of the divine condemnation of mankind. 1. Sin Which Is Imputed (Romans 5:12-18). Imputation means to reckon over to, or to attribute something to, a person. The original Greek word occurs eleven times in the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. There are three major imputations set forth in the Scriptures: (a) the imputation of Adam’s sin to the race, on which fact the doctrine of original sin is based; (b) the imputation of the sin of man to Christ, on which fact the doctrine of salvation is based; and (c) the imputation of the righteousness of God to those who believe on Christ, on which fact the doctrine of justification is based. Again, imputation may be either (a) actual, or (b) judicial. Actual imputation is the reckoning to one of that which is antecedently his own. Though He might righteously do so, yet because of the reconciling work of Christ, God is not now imputing to man the sin which is antecedently his own (2 Corinthians 5:19). Judicial imputation is the reckoning to one of that which is not antecedently his own (Philemon 1:18). Though there has been disagreement as to whether the imputation of Adam’s sin to each member of the race is actual or judicial, Romans 5:12 clearly states that the imputation is actual, since in the federal-head representation, Adam’s posterity sinned when he sinned. The next two verses are written to prove that this is not a reference to personal sins. (See Hebrews 7:9-10.) However, Romans 5:17-18 imply that this imputation is also judicial where it is stated that by one man’s sin judgment came upon all men. Only the one, initial sin of Adam is in question. Its effect is death -- both to Adam and directly from Adam to each member of the race. The divinely provided cure for imputed sin is the gift of God which is eternal life through Jesus Christ. 2. The Sin Nature (Romans 5:19). Adam’s one initial sin caused him to fall and in the fall he became an entirely different being, depraved and degenerate, and only capable of begetting posterity like his fallen self. Therefore, every child of Adam is born with the Adamic nature, is ever and always prone to sin, and, though this nature was judged by Christ on the cross (Romans 6:10), it remains a vitally active force in every Christian’s life. It is never said to be removed or eradicated in this life, but for the Christian there is overcoming power provided through the indwelling Spirit (Romans 8:4; Galatians 5:16-17). Though both imputed sin and the sin nature are the direct result of Adam’s one, initial sin, it is important to distinguish between imputed sin which is the immediate cause of death in the case of each individual person, and an imparted sin nature which is received by inheritance and remains a vital force for evil throughout this life. 3. The Judicial State of Sin. By a divine reckoning the whole world, including Jew and Gentile, are now "under sin" (Romans 3:9; Galatians 3:22; Romans 11:32). To be under sin is to be divinely reckoned to be without merit which might contribute toward salvation. Since salvation is by grace alone and grace excludes all human merit, God has decreed, as regards their salvation, all to be "under sin," or without merit. This judicial reckoning is evidently limited to this age of grace, since of no other age could it be said that there is no difference in the divine estimation of Jew and Gentile (cf. Ephesians 2:12-13, with Romans 9:4-5). This estate under sin is remedied only when the individual, through riches of grace, is reckoned to stand in the merit of Christ. 4. Personal Sin (Romans 3:23). This form of sin includes everything in the daily life which is against, or fails to conform to, the character of God. It is that form of sin concerning which men are conscious and, being also universal, there is but one cure -- divine forgiveness and justification through Christ. QUESTIONS 1. What importance should be given the fact of sin? 2. Of what value is human speculation regarding sin? 3. Name and define three human theories respecting sin. 4. Why do these theories fail? 5. What is sin? 6. Why is sin more than a violation of God’s law? 7. Name the four major aspects of sin. 8. Name the three great imputations. 9. What is actual imputation? 10. What is judicial imputation? 11. Is the imputation of Adam’s sin actual or judicial? 12. What is the penalty of Adam’s sin? 13. Define the beginning, character and cure of the sin nature. 14. Define the phrase "under sin" and explain its present application to Jew and Gentile alike. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 74: 05.26. SIN: GOD'S REMEDY FOR IT ======================================================================== Sin: God’s Remedy For It CHAPTER XXVI While in the Biblical doctrine of sin there are certain distinctions, two universal facts should first be noted: 1. Sin is always equally sinful whether it be committed by the heathen or the civilized, the unregenerate or the regenerate. The question of many stripes or few is one of the judgments to be imposed upon the sinner; but any sin in itself is unvaryingly sinful because it outrages the holiness of God. 2. Sin can be cured only on the ground of the shed blood of the Son of God. This was as true of those who anticipated the death of Christ by animal sacrifices as it is now of those who look back to that death by faith. Divine forgiveness has never been a mere act of leniency in remitting the penalty of sin. If the penalty is remitted, it is because Another as a substitute has met the holy demands against the sinner. In the old order it was only after the priest had offered the atoning blood-sacrifice, which anticipated the death of Christ, that the sinner was forgiven (Leviticus 6:7; Leviticus 4:20; Leviticus 4:26; Leviticus 4:31; Leviticus 4:35; Leviticus 5:10; Leviticus 5:13; Leviticus 5:16; Leviticus 5:18; Leviticus 19:22; Numbers 15:25-26; Numbers 15:28). Likewise, after Christ has died the same truth obtains. We read: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:14; Ephesians 1:7). The substitutionary work of Christ upon the cross is infinitely perfect in its sufficiency, therefore the sinner who trusts in Christ not only is forgiven, but he is even justified forever (Romans 3:24). God has never treated sin lightly. Forgiveness may impose no burden on the sinner, but he is forgiven and justified only because the undiminished divine penalty has been borne by Christ (1 Peter 2:24; 1 Peter 3:18). I. SIN BEFORE AND AFTER THE CROSS 1. The divine method of dealing with sin before the cross is said to have been by atonement, which word, in its Biblical use, means simply to cover. The blood of bulls and goats could not, and did not, take away sin (Hebrews 10:4). The offering of sacrificial blood indicated on the part of the sinner the acknowledgment of the just penalty of death (Leviticus 1:4), and, on the part of God, the sacrifice anticipated the efficacious blood of Christ. By symbolizing the shed blood of Christ, the atoning blood of the sacrifices served to cover sin, as it were, in covenant promise until that day when Christ would deal in finality with the sin of the world. Two New Testament passages throw light upon the meaning of the Old Testament word atonement or covering: (1) In Romans 3:25 the word "remission" has the meaning of "passing over" and in this connection it is stated that when Christ died He proved God to have been righteous in having passed over the sins which were committed before the cross and for which the atoning blood of the sacrifices had been shed. God had promised a sufficient Lamb, and had forgiven sin on the strength of that promise. Therefore, by the death of Christ, God was proven to have been righteous in all that He had promised. (2) In Acts 17:30 it is stated that, before the cross, God "winked at" sin. This word should be translated "overlooked." 2. The divine method of dealing with sin since the cross is stated in Romans 3:26. Christ has died. No longer is the value of His sacrifice a matter of expectation to be taken in covenant and symbolized by the blood of animals; the blood of Christ has been shed, and now all that can be asked of any person, regardless of his degree of guilt, is that he believe in the thing which, in infinite grace, has been accomplished for him. This passage declares that Christ upon the cross so answered the divine judgment against every sinner that God can remain just, or uncompromised in His holiness, when at the same time and apart from all penalties, He justifies the sinner who does no more than believe in Jesus. As before stated, the word atonement, which occurs only in the Old Testament, indicated the "passing over," "overlooking," and "covering" of sin; but Christ in dealing with sin on the cross did not pass it over or cover it. Of His sufficient sacrifice it is said: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29; Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 10:4; 1 John 3:5). "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). There was no temporizing or partial dealing with sin at the cross. This great issue between God and man was there dealt with in a manner which is satisfying even to the infinite holiness of God, and the only question that remains is whether man is satisfied with the thing which satisfies God. To accept the work of Christ for us is to believe upon the Saviour to the saving of the soul. II. SIN OF THE UNSAVED AND THE SAVED 1. The forgiveness of sin is accomplished for the sinner when he believes upon Christ and is a part of his salvation. Many things which constitute salvation are wrought of God at the moment one believes; but forgiveness is never received by the unsaved apart from the whole work of saving grace, and on the ground of believing on Christ as Saviour. 2. In the divine dealing with the sins of the Christian, it is the sin question alone that is in view, and the Christian’s sin is forgiven, not on the ground of believing unto salvation, but on the ground of confessing the sin (1 John 1:9). The effect of the Christian’s sin, among other things, is the loss of fellowship with the Father and the Son, and the grieving of the indwelling Spirit. The child of God who has sinned will be restored to fellowship, joy, blessing, and power, when he confesses his sin. While the effect of sin upon the believer is the loss of blessing, which blessing may be renewed by confession, the effect of the believer’s sin upon God is a far more serious matter. But for the value of the shedblood of Christ and the present advocacy of Christ in Heaven (1 John 3:1-2; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 9:24), sin would separate Christians from God forever. However, we are assured that the blood is efficacious (1 John 2:2) and the Advocate’s cause is righteous (1 John 2:1). The sinning saint is not lost because of his sin, since, even while sinning, he has an Advocate with the Father. This truth which alone forms the basis on which any Christian has ever been kept saved for a moment, so far from encouraging Christians to sin, is presented in the Scriptures to the end that the Christian "sin not," or "be not sinning" (1 John 2:1). Beholding the Saviour advocating for us in Heaven must cause us to hesitate before every solicitation to sin. QUESTIONS 1. What is the first universal fact concerning sin? 2. What is the second universal fact concerning sin? 3. How was the second fact illustrated in the Old Testament order? 4. On what ground does God forgive sin? 5. What is the meaning of the word atonement? 6. What light is thrown on atonement in Romans 3:25 and Acts 17:30? 7. What is now required of the sinner in view of the fact that his sin has already been borne by Christ? 8. What did Christ do with sin on the cross if he did not atone for it, or cover it? 9. How much sin did He take away? 10. God having been satisfied with the solution of the sin question at the cross, what is left for the sinner to do? 11. With what else must the sinner’s forgiveness be combined, and on what ground may it be received? 12. On what ground is the Christian forgiven and how may forgiveness be received? 13. a. What is the effect of a Christian’s sin upon himself? b. What is the effect upon God? 14. a. Describe the work of Christ as Advocate. b. At what time in relation to the Christian’s sin does Christ advocate in his behalf? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 75: 05.27. LAW & GRACE ======================================================================== Law & Grace CHAPTER XXVII The words law and grace represent widely differing methods of divine dealing with men. It is therefore well first to consider them separately: I. THE BIBLICAL MEANING OF THE WORD "LAW" 1. Law as a Rule of Life. When used to indicate a rule of life, the word "law" has various meanings: (1) The Ten Commandments, which were written by the finger of God on tables of stone (Exodus 31:18). (2) The whole system of government for Israel when in the land which included the Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), the Judgments (Exodus 21:1-36, Exodus 22:1-31, Exodus 23:1-33, Exodus 24:1-11), and the Ordinances (Exodus 24:12-18, Exodus 25:1-40, Exodus 26:1-37, Exodus 27:1-21, Exodus 28:1-43, Exodus 29:1-46, Exodus 30:1-38, Exodus 31:1-18). (3) The governing principles of the yet future kingdom of the Messiah in the earth, which are in no way gracious in character, but rather are said to be the fulfilling of the law and the prophets (Matthew 5:1-48, Matthew 6:1-34, Matthew 7:1-29. Note Matthew 5:17-18; Matthew 7:12). (4) Any aspect of the revealed will of God for men (Romans 7:22; Romans 7:25; Romans 8:4). (5) Any rule of conduct prescribed by men for their own government (2 Timothy 2:5; Matthew 20:15; Luke 20:22). The word "law" is also used a few times of a force in operation (Romans 7:21; Romans 8:2). 2. The Law as a Covenant of Works. Under this conception of the law, its scope is extended beyond the actual writings of the Mosaic system and the Kingdom law, and includes any human action which is attempted (whether in conformity to a precept of the Scriptures or not), with a view to securing favor with God. The law formula is "If you will do good, I will bless you." Thus the highest ideal of heavenly conduct, if undertaken with a view to securing favor with God instead of being undertaken because one has already secured favor through Christ, becomes purely legal in its character. 3. The Law as a Principle of Dependence on the Flesh. The law provided no enablement for its observance. No more was expected or secured in return from its commands than the natural man in his environment could provide. Therefore, whatever is undertaken in the energy of the flesh is legal in its nature, whether it be the whole revealed will of God, the actual written commandments contained in the law, the exhortations of grace, or any spiritual activity whatsoever. For the child of God under grace, every aspect of the law is now done away (John 1:16-17; Romans 6:14; Romans 7:1-6; 2 Corinthians 3:1-18; Ephesians 2:15; Colossians 2:14; Galatians 3:19-25). (1) The legal commands of the Mosaic system and the commands which are to govern in the kingdom are not now the guiding principles of the Christian. They have been superseded by a new and gracious rule of conduct which includes in itself all that is vital in the law, but restates it under the peculiar order and character of grace. (2) The child of God under grace has been delivered from the burden of a covenant of works. He is not now striving to be accepted, but rather is free to live as one who is accepted in Christ (Ephesians 1:6). (3) The child of God is not now called upon to live by the energy of his own flesh. He has been delivered from this feature of the law, and may live in the power of the indwelling Spirit. Since the written law was addressed to Israel, she alone could be delivered from the written commandments of Moses by the death of Christ. However, both Jew and Gentile were delivered by that death from the hopeless principle of human merit, and from the useless struggle of the flesh. II. THE BIBLICAL MEANING OF THE WORD "GRACE" This word, which in salvation truth has but the one meaning of unmerited favor, represents a divine method of dealing with men which has obtained from Adam until the present time, except for the intrusion of the law system which was in force in the time between Moses and Christ. Under grace, God does not treat men as they deserve, but He treats them in infinite grace, without reference to their deserts. This He is free to do on the ground of the fact that the righteous punishment for sin which His holiness would otherwise impose upon sinners as their just desert was to be borne, or has been borne, for the sinner by the Son of God. In Exodus 19:3-25 a record is given of Israel’s choice by which they passed from a grace relationship to God into a law relationship. In each instance they were sinners, but through sovereign grace and in spite of their sin God had been able to bear them on eagles’ wings and bring them to Himself (Exodus 19:4). God proposed the law to them, but did not impose the law on them (Exodus 19:5-7), which law the people accepted (Exodus 19:8). Thus they deliberately forsook their priceless position under grace, which was according to the covenant made with Abraham, and assumed the impossible responsibility of law by which they must stand or fall before God on the basis of their own merit. Immediately upon this choice God became unapproachable (Exodus 19:9-24), though before, He had brought them to himself on eagles’ wings. The nation thus fell from grace by choosing a covenant of works in place of the gracious mercy of God. The experience of that nation is the experience of every individual who trusts in his own good works or merit, and does not depend on the boundless grace of God, which in Christ Jesus is provided for and offered to all. Divine grace is three-fold in its operation: 1. Salvation by Grace. God saves sinners by grace, and there is no other way of salvation offered to men (Acts 4:12). Saving grace is the limitless, unrestrained love of God for the lost acting in compliance with the exact and unchangeable demands of His own righteousness through the sacrificial death of Christ. Grace is more than love; it is love set free and made to be a triumphant victor over the righteous judgments of God against the sinner. When saving a sinner by grace, it is necessary that God shall have dealt with every sin, which would otherwise demand judgment and thereby hinder His grace. This He has wrought in the death of His Son. It is also necessary that every obligation shall be cancelled, and to this end salvation has been made an absolute gift from God (Ephesians 2:8; John 10:28; Romans 6:23). Likewise, it is necessary that every human merit shall be set aside, lest the thing which God accomplishes shall be in any measure based on the merit of men, and not on His sovereign grace alone (Romans 3:9; Romans 11:32; Galatians 3:22). Since every human element is excluded, the Gospel of grace is the proclamation of the mighty, redeeming, transforming grace of God, which offers eternal life and eternal glory to all who will believe. 2. Safe-keeping through Grace. It is through grace alone that God keeps those who are saved. Having provided a way whereby He can act in freedom from His own righteous demands against sin, having disposed of every human obligation for payment, and having set aside eternally every human merit, God has only to continue the exercise of grace toward the saved one to secure his safe-keeping forever. This He does, and the child of God is said to stand in grace (Romans 5:2; 1 Peter 5:12). 3. Grace Provides a Rule of Life for the Saved. God teaches those who are saved and kept how they should live in grace, and how they may live to His eternal glory. As the law provided a complete rule of conduct for Israel, so God has provided a complete rule of conduct for the Christian. Since each and all rules of life which are presented in the Bible are complete in themselves, it is not necessary that they shall be combined. Therefore the child of God is not under law as a rule of life, but he is under the counsels of grace. What he does under grace is not done to secure the favor of God, but it is done because he is already accepted in the Beloved. It is not undertaken in the energy of the flesh, but it is the outliving and manifestation of the power of the indwelling Spirit. It is a life which is lived on the principle of faith. "The just shall live by faith." These principles are stated in portions of the Gospels and the Epistles. QUESTIONS 1. What is represented by the words law and grace? 2. Name the three-fold principle of the law. 3. Name five aspects of the law as a rule of life. 4. Define what is involved in the law as a covenant of works. 5. Define what is involved in the law as a principle of dependence on the flesh. 6. What aspects of the law are done away for the child of God under grace? 7. What particular deliverance came to the nation Israel, and what two deliverances came to all mankind through the death of Christ? 8. a. What is the Biblical meaning of the word grace? b. How long has grace obtained? c. When and for how long did it cease? 9. a. Describe the experience of Israel as recorded in Exodus 19:3-25 in passing from grace into law. b. At that time did God propose or impose the law? 10. How does Israel’s experience illustrate the position of every self-trusting sinner? 11. Wherein is divine grace more than divine love? 12. a. What has been divinely accomplished by the death of Christ regarding the three major principles of the law? b. What alone is imposed on the sinner as the condition of eternal salvation? 13. Describe the exercise of grace in the safe-keeping of those who are saved. 14. a. By what rule are those who are saved by grace expected to live? b. Is this a rule complete in itself? c. What is the motive which should actuate its observance? d. Where in the Scriptures is the grace rule presented? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 76: 05.28. SALVATION FROM THE GUILT AND PENALTY OF SIN ======================================================================== Salvation From The Guilt And Penalty of Sin CHAPTER XXVIII The divine revelation concerning salvation should be mastered by every child of God, (1) since personal salvation depends on it, (2) it is the one message which God has committed to the believer to proclaim to the world, and (3) it alone discloses the full measure of God’s love. I. THE MEANING OF SALVATION According to its largest meaning as used in the Scriptures, the word salvation represents the whole work of God by which He rescues man from the eternal ruin and doom of sin and bestows on him the riches of His grace, even eternal life now and eternal glory in Heaven. "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9). Therefore, it is in every aspect a work of God in behalf of man, and is in no sense a work of man in behalf of God. Certain details of this divine undertaking have varied from age to age. We are assured that, beginning with Adam and continuing to Christ, those individuals who put their trust in God were spiritually renewed and made heirs of Heaven’s glory. Likewise, the nation Israel will yet be spiritually born in a time as brief as the beat of a foot (Isaiah 66:8 Lit.). It is also said of the multitudes who are to live on the earth during the coming kingdom that all shall know the Lord from the least unto the greatest (Jeremiah 31:34). However, the salvation which is offered to men in the present age is not only more fully revealed in the Bible as to its details, but it far exceeds every other saving work of God in the marvels which it accomplishes; for, as offered in the present age, salvation includes every phase of the gracious work of God. II. THE THREE TENSES OF SALVATION 1. The Past Tense of Salvation. There are certain Scriptures which, when speaking of salvation, refer to it as being wholly past, or completed for the one who has believed (Luke 7:50; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 2:15; Ephesians 2:5; Ephesians 2:8), and so perfect is this divine work that the saved one is said to be safe forever (John 5:24; John 10:28-29; Romans 8:1, R.V.). 2. The Present Tense of Salvation. This aspect of salvation, which is the theme of the next chapter, has to do with present salvation from the reigning power of sin (Romans 6:14; Php 1:19; Php 2:12-13; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Romans 8:2; Galatians 2:19-20; 2 Corinthians 3:18). 3. The Future Tense of Salvation. The believer will yet be saved into full conformity to Christ (Romans 8:29; Romans 13:11; 1 Peter 1:5; 1 John 3:2). The fact that some aspects of salvation are yet to be accomplished for the one who believes does not imply that there is ground for doubt as to its ultimate completion; for it is nowhere taught that any feature of salvation depends upon the faithfulness of man. God is faithful, and, having begun a good work, He will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Php 1:6). III. TWO ASPECTS OF THE WORK OF GOD When contemplating the work of God for lost men, it is important to distinguish between the finished work of Christ for all, which is completed to infinite perfection, and the saving work of God which is wrought for, and in, the individual at the moment he believes on Christ. 1. The Finished Work of Christ. "It is finished" is the last recorded word of Christ before His death (John 19:30). It is evident that He was not referring to His own life, His service, or His suffering; but rather to a special work which His Father had given Him to do, which did not even begin until He was on the cross and which was completed when He died. This was distinctly a work for the whole world (John 3:16; Hebrews 2:9), and, in a provisionary sense, provided redemption (1 Timothy 2:6), reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19), and propitiation (1 John 2:2) for every man. The fact that Christ died does not save men, but it provides a sufficient ground upon which God in full harmony with His holiness is free to save even the chief of sinners. This is the good news which the Christian is appointed to proclaim to all the world. The blood of God’s only and well-beloved Son was the most precious thing before His eyes, yet it was paid to ransom the sinner. The offense of sin had separated the sinner from God, yet God provided His own Lamb to bear away the sin forever. The holy judgments of God were against the sinner because of his sin, yet Christ became the propitiation for the sin of the whole world. The fact that all of this is already finished constitutes a message which the sinner is asked to believe on the testimony of God. One can scarcely be said to have believed who, having heard this message, has not experienced a sense of relief that the sin question has thus been adjusted, and a sense of gratitude to God for this priceless blessing. 2. The Saving Work of God. The saving work of God which is accomplished the moment one believes includes various phases of God’s gracious work: redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, forgiveness, regeneration, imputation, justification, sanctification, perfection, glorification. By it we are made meet (Colossians 1:12), made accepted (Ephesians 1:6), made the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21), made nigh (Ephesians 2:13), made sons of God (John 1:12), made citizens of heaven (Php 3:20, R.V.), made a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), made members of the family and household of God (Ephesians 2:19; Ephesians 3:15), and made complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10). The child of God has been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son (Colossians 1:13), and he now possesses every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). IV. THE GUILT AND PENALTY OF SIN REMOVED Among the stupendous works of God just mentioned, the guilt and penalty of sin is seen to have been removed; for it is said of the saved one that he is both forgiven all trespasses and is justified forever. God could not forgive and justify apart from the cross of Christ; but since Christ has died, God is able to save to the uttermost all who come to Him by Christ Jesus. V. SALVATION CONDITIONED UPON ONE THING ALONE In the New Testament in about one hundred and fifteen passages, the salvation of a sinner is declared to depend only upon believing, and in about thirty-five passages to depend on faith, which is a synonym of believing. The Scriptures everywhere harmonize with this overwhelming body of truth. God alone can save a soul and God can save only through the sacrifice of His Son. Man can sustain no other relation to salvation than to believe God’s message to the extent of turning from self-works to depend only on the work of God through Christ. Believing is the opposite of doing anything; it is trusting another instead. Therefore, the Scriptures are violated and the whole doctrine of grace confused when salvation is made to depend on anything other than believing. The divine message is not "believe and pray," "believe and confess sin," "believe and confess Christ," "believe and be baptized," "believe and repent," or "believe and make restitution." These six added subjects are mentioned in the Scriptures and there they have their full intended meaning; but if they were as essential to salvation as believing they would never be omitted from any passage wherein the way to be saved is stated (note John 1:12; John 3:16; John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:29; John 20:31; Acts 16:31; Romans 1:16; Romans 3:22; Romans 4:5; Romans 4:24; Romans 5:1; Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:22). Salvation is only through Christ, and men are therefore saved when they receive Him as their Saviour. QUESTIONS 1. Name three reasons why the truth concerning salvation should be understood by every Christian. 2. What is salvation according to the Scriptures? 3. What nation and what peoples will experience the saving power of God? 4. What is peculiar regarding present salvation by grace? 5. Name and describe the three tenses of salvation. 6. What are the two aspects of the work of God? 7. What three-fold work has been accomplished in the "finished work" of Christ? 8. Define each of these accomplishments. 9. Indicate what God does at the moment a soul is saved. 10. How does the cross of Christ make possible the removal of human guilt and the lifting of the divine penalty? 11. Upon what one thing is salvation made to depend? 12. Name two reasons why we believe that prayer, confession of sin, confession of Christ, baptism, repentance, and restitution are not essential to personal salvation. 13. State in simple terms what the sinner must believe in order to be saved. 14. What would be the natural sense of relief experienced by the one who really believes? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 77: 05.29. SALVATION FROM THE POWER OF SIN ======================================================================== Salvation From The Power of Sin CHAPTER XXIX Since salvation from the power of sin is God’s gracious provision for those whom He has already saved from the guilt and penalty of sin, this doctrine, in its application, is limited to Christians. Though saved and safe in Christ, Christians still have the disposition to sin, and do sin. To these facts both the Scriptures and human experience give abundant proof. Based upon the fact that Christians sin, the New Testament proceeds to explain the divinely provided way of deliverance. Having supposed that a Christian would neither sin nor be disposed to sin, many young believers are confused and alarmed -- even doubting their own salvation -- when they discover the reigning power of sin in their lives. Well may they be alarmed at sin, for it outrages the holiness of God; but in place of doubt as to salvation or yielding to the practise of sin they should learn God’s gracious provisions whereby there is deliverance. I. AN EXACT REVELATION FROM GOD As it is in the preaching of the Gospel, so it is in the presentation of the doctrine of divine deliverance, the need of accuracy of statement is as imperative as the value of a soul. The state demands extended preparation and examination before men are permitted to prescribe for the ills of the body. How much more serious it is to prescribe for the ills of the soul; yet how carelessly and inaccurately these eternal issues are often presented! Next to the way of salvation there is no more important theme to be mastered by the human mind than the divine plan whereby a Christian may live to the glory of God. Ignorance and error may result in a spiritual malpractise with its blasting effects reaching on into eternity. II. FROM WHAT SOURCE IN A CHRISTIAN DOES SIN PROCEED? Having received the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) while still retaining the old nature, every child of God possesses two natures; one is incapable of sinning, and the other is incapable of holiness. The old nature, sometimes called "sin" (meaning the source of sin), and "old man," is a part of the flesh; for, in Scriptural usage, the term flesh, when used in a moral sense, refers to the spirit and soul, as well as the body -- especially of the unregenerate man. Therefore, the Apostle Paul states: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing" (Romans 7:18). On the other hand, when considering the imparted divine nature, the Apostle John writes: "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit [practise] sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). This Scripture teaches that every Christian, being born of God, does not practise sin. Reference is made in the text to the divine Seed which is in him, which Seed cannot sin. However, it should be observed that it is this same Epistle which warns every child of God against professing that he has no sin nature (1 John 1:8), or that he has not sinned (1 John 1:10). These two sources of action in the believer are again considered in Galatians 5:17, where both the Holy Spirit and the flesh are seen constantly to be active and in unceasing conflict: "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other." The Apostle is not writing here of the carnal Christian, but of the most spiritual, even of the one who is not fulfilling the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). In such a one this conflict exists, and though he is delivered from the lust of the flesh, it is because he is walking in dependence upon the Spirit. III. THE CHRISTIAN’S WAY OF VICTORY Various teachings are abroad which purport to secure deliverance for the Christian from the power of sin: 1. It is claimed that the Christian will be compelled to live to the glory of God if he observes sufficient rules,. This law-principle is doomed to fail because it depends upon the very flesh from which deliverance is sought (Romans 6:14). 2. It is widely claimed that the Christian may seek and secure the eradication of the old nature, being thus permanently free from the power of sin. There are objections to this theory: (a.) There is no Scripture upon which the theory of eradication may be based. (b.) The old nature is a part of the flesh and will naturally be dealt with as God deals with the flesh. The flesh is one of the Christian’s mighty foes -- the world, the flesh, and the devil. God does not eradicate the world, or the flesh, or the devil; but He provides victory over these by His Spirit (1 John 5:4; 1 John 4:4; Galatians 5:16). In like manner, He provides victory over the old nature by the Spirit (Romans 6:14; Romans 8:2). (c.) No actual human experience confirms the theory of eradication, and were that theory true, parents of this class would give birth to unfallen children. (d.) Likewise, when this theory is accepted, there remains no place for, and no meaning to, the ministry of the indwelling Spirit. On the contrary, the most spiritual Christians are warned concerning the necessity of walking by the Spirit, reckoning, yielding, not letting sin reign, putting off, mortifying, and abiding. 3. Again, sometimes the Christian supposes that, apart from the Spirit and simply because he is saved, he can live to the glory of God. In Romans 7:15-25, Romans 8:1-4 the Apostle records his own experience with this theory. He states that he knew what was good, but he did not know how to perform what he knew (Romans 7:18). He therefore concluded (1) that at his best he was always defeated because of an ever-present law of sin in his members warring against his mind (Romans 7:23); (2) such an estate is wretched (Romans 7:24); (3) though saved, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made him free, and not his own works (Romans 8:2); (4) the whole will of God is fulfilled in the believer, but never fulfilled by the believer (Romans 8:4). In Romans 7:25 it is stated that deliverance from the power of sin is through -- not by -- Jesus Christ our Lord. Since a problem related to the holiness of God is involved, deliverance can only be through Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit could not take control of an unjudged fallen nature; but it is stated in Romans 6:1-10 that the believer’s fallen nature has been judged by co-crucifixion, co-death, and co-burial with Christ, making it morally possible for the indwelling Holy Spirit to give victory. Under these provisions, the believer may walk in the power of a new life principle which is by dependence upon the Spirit alone, and should reckon himself to be dead indeed unto sin (Romans 6:4; Romans 6:11). Thus it is that deliverance is by the Spirit through Christ. IV. VICTORY BY THE SPIRIT "If by means of the Spirit ye are walking, ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16, lit.). Salvation from the power of sin, like salvation from the penalty of sin, is of God, and depends, on the human side, upon on attitude of faith; as salvation from the penalty of sin depends on an act of faith. The justified one shall live by faith -- faith which depends on the power of another -- and the justified one will never know a time in this life when he will need to depend less on the Spirit. V. THREE REASONS FOR A LIFE OF DEPENDENCE ON THE INDWELLING SPIRIT 1. Under the teachings of grace, a believer faces an impossible heavenly standard of life; being a citizen of Heaven (Php 3:20), a member of the Body of Christ (Ephesians 5:30), and of the household and family of God (Ephesians 2:19; Ephesians 3:15), the child of God is called upon to act in accordance with his heavenly position. Since this is a superhuman manner of life (John 13:34; Ephesians 4:30; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Ephesians 5:20; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17; Ephesians 4:1-3), he must depend on the indwelling Spirit (Romans 8:4). 2. The Christian faces Satan -- the world-ruling foe. Because of this, he must be "strong in the Lord" (Ephesians 6:10-12; 1 John 4:4; Jude 1:9). 3. And, as has been seen, the Christian possesses the old nature which he is powerless to control. QUESTIONS 1. Why is salvation from the power of sin limited in its application to those who are already saved from the penalty of sin? 2. a. Is the doctrine concerning God’s provided cure for the Christian’s sin a separate and distinct teaching of the Scriptures? b. How important is accuracy in all the doctrines of salvation? 3. a. Does the child of God possess two natures? b. From what source in the believer does sin proceed? 4. If there is a conflict between the flesh and the Spirit, is it limited to carnal Christians? 5. Name three unscriptural theories of getting victory over sin which are proposed by men. 6. Why does the law method fail? 7. Name four reasons why the eradication method fails. 8. Why cannot the saved person by his own new life and apart from the Spirit live to the glory of God? 9. What was the Apostle Paul’s experience at this point? 10. Name four important conclusions stated in Romans 7:15-25, Romans 8:1-4. 11. Since deliverance from the power of sin is by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:2), what is meant by the statement that this deliverance is through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 7:25)? 12. a. Distinguish between an act of faith and an attitude of faith. b. Will the need to depend wholly on the Spirit be growing less as the believer grows in grace and the knowledge of Christ? 13. What is the position of the believer through grace and how does this impose a high and holy manner of life which is humanly impossible? 14. Name the three super-human demands which are laid on every Christian. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 78: 05.30. FOUR ASPECTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS ======================================================================== Four Aspects of Righteousness CHAPTER XXX A vital difference between God and man which the Scriptures emphasize is that God is righteous (1 John 1:5) while the fundamental charge against man as recorded in Romans 3:10 is that "there is none righteous, no, not one." So, also, one of the glories of divine grace is the fact that a perfect righteousness, likened to a spotless wedding garment, has been provided and is freely bestowed upon all who believe (Romans 3:22). The Scriptures distinguish four aspects of righteousness: I. GOD IS RIGHTEOUS (Romans 3:25-26) This attribute of God is unchanging and unchangeable. He is infinitely righteous in His own Being and infinitely righteous in all His ways. 1. He is Righteous in His Being. It is impossible for Him to deviate from His righteousness by so much as the "shadow of turning" (James 1:17). He cannot look on sin with the least degree of allowance. Therefore, since all men are sinners both by nature and by practise, the divine judgment has come upon all men unto condemnation. The acceptance of this truth is vital to any right understanding of the Gospel of divine grace. 2. He is Righteous in His Ways. It must also be recognized that God is incapable of slighting sin, or merely forgiving sin in leniency. The triumph of the Gospel is not in the belittling of sin on the part of God; it is rather in the fact that all those judgments which infinite righteousness must of necessity impose upon the sinner have been borne in substitution by God’s provided Lamb, and that this is a plan of God’s own devising which according to His own standards of righteousness is sufficient for all who believe. By this plan God can satisfy His love in saving the sinner without infringing upon His own unchangeable righteousness; and the sinner, utterly hopeless in himself, can pass out from all condemnation (John 3:18; John 5:24; Romans 8:1; 1 Corinthians 11:32). It is not unusual for men to conceive of God as a righteous Being; but they often fail to recognize the fact that, when He undertakes to save the sinful, the righteousness of God is not and cannot be diminished. II. THE SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS OF MAN (Romans 10:3) In complete accord with the revelation that God is supremely righteous, there is the corresponding revelation that, in the sight of God, the righteousness of man is as "filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). Though the sinful estate of man is constantly declared throughout the Scriptures, there is no description more complete and final than is found in Romans 3:9-18, and it should be noted that this, as all other estimates of sin which are recorded in the Bible, is a description of sin as God sees it. Men have erected legitimate standards for the family, for society, and for the state; but these are no part of the basis upon which man must stand and by which he must be judged before God. In their relation to God, men are not wise when thus comparing themselves with themselves (2 Corinthians 10:12); for not merely those who are condemned by society are lost, but those who are condemned by the unalterable righteousness of God (Romans 3:23). There is therefore no hope for any individual outside the provisions of God’s grace; for none can enter Heaven’s glory who are not as acceptable to God as Christ. For this need God has made abundant provision. III. THE IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD (Romans 3:22) The Bible doctrine of Imputation transcends all other themes concerning the Christian, and because it has no comparisons in things of this world, it is not easily comprehended. 1. The Fact of Imputation. As Adam’s sin is imputed to the human race to the end that all are constituted sinners by nature (Romans 5:12-21), and as the sin of man was imputed to Christ to the end that He became a sin-offering for the whole world (2 Corinthians 5:14; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:9; 1 John 2:2), so, also, the righteousness of God is imputed to all who believe to the end that they may stand before God in all the perfection of Christ. By this divine provision those who are saved are said to have been "made" the righteousness of God (1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Since it is the righteousness of God and not of man and since it is said to be apart from all self works or deeds of law observance (Romans 3:21), obviously this imputed righteousness is not something wrought out by man. Being the righteousness of God, it is not increased by the goodness of the one to whom it is imputed, nor is it decreased by his badness. 2. The Results of Imputation. In like manner, this righteousness, though it is termed "the righteousness of God" is in no way to be confused with the fact that God is Himself righteous. It is rather a quality which is imputed to the believer from God on the basis of the fact that the believer is, through the baptism with the Spirit, in Christ. Through that vital union to Christ by the Spirit, the believer becomes related to Christ as a member in His body (1 Corinthians 12:13), and as a branch in the True Vine (John 15:1; John 15:5). Because of the reality of this union, God sees the believer as a living part of His own Son. He therefore loves him as He loves His Son (John 17:23), He accepts him as He accepts His own Son (Ephesians 1:6; 1 Peter 2:5), and He accounts him to be what His own Son is -- the righteousness of God (Romans 3:22; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Christ is the righteousness of God, therefore those who are saved are made the righteousness of God by being in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). They are complete in Him (Colossians 2:10), and perfected forever (Hebrews 10:10; Hebrews 10:14). 3. Biblical Illustrations of Imputation. Garments of skin which necessitated the shedding of blood were divinely provided for Adam and Eve. A righteous standing was imputed to Abraham because he believed God (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:9-22; James 2:23), and as the priests of old were clothed with righteousness (Psalms 132:9), so the believer is robed in the wedding garment of the righteousness of God and in that garment he will appear in glory (Revelation 19:8). The attitude of the Apostle Paul toward Philemon is an illustration both of imputed merit and imputed demerit. Speaking of the slave Onesimus, the Apostle said: "If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself" (the imputation of merit), "If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account" (the imputation of demerit -- Philemon 1:17-18. Note, also, Job 29:14; Isaiah 11:5; Isaiah 59:17; Isaiah 61:10). 4. Imputation Affects the Standing and not the State. There is, then, a righteousness from God, apart from all human works which is unto and upon all who believe (Romans 3:22). It is the eternal standing of all who are saved. In their daily life, or state, they are far from perfect, and in this aspect of their relation to God they are to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). 5. Imputed Righteousness the Ground of Justification. According to the New Testament usage, the words righteousness and justify are from the same root. God declares the one justified forever whom He sees in Christ. It is an equitable decree since the justified one is clothed in the righteousness of God. Justification is not a fiction, or a state of feeling; it is rather an immutable reckoning in the mind of God. Like imputed righteousness, justification is by faith (Romans 5:1), through grace (Titus 3:4-7), and made possible through the death and resurrection of Christ (Romans 3:24; Romans 4:25). It is abiding and unchangeable since it rests only on the merit of the eternal Son of God. Justification is more than forgiveness, since forgiveness is the cancellation of sin; while justification is the imputing of righteousness. Forgiveness is negative -- the removal of condemnation; while justification is positive -- the bestowing of the merit and standing of Christ. James, writing of a justification by works (James 2:14-26), has in view the believer’s standing before men; Paul writing of justification by faith (Romans 5:1), has in view the believer’s standing before God. Abraham was justified before men in that he proved his faith by his works (James 2:21); likewise he was justified by faith before God on the ground of imputed righteousness (James 2:23). IV. RIGHTEOUSNESS IMPARTED BY THE SPIRIT (Romans 8:4) When filled with the Spirit, the child of God will produce the "fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-23), and will manifest the gifts for service which are by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7). These results are distinctly said to be due to the immediate working of the Spirit in and through the believer. Reference is made, therefore, to a manner of life which is in no way produced by the believer; it is rather a manner of life which is produced through him by the Spirit. To those who "walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit," the righteousness of the law, which in this case means no less than the realization of the whole will of God for the believer, is fulfilled in them. It could never be fulfilled by them. When thus inwrought by the Spirit, it is none other than a life which is the imparted righteousness of God. QUESTIONS 1. What testimony do the Scriptures give relative to the righteousness of God, of man, and of the believer? 2. Name the four aspects of righteousness as found in the Scriptures. 3. How can God be righteous and at the same time forgive and justify sinners? 4. What estimation does the Bible make of man’s righteousness? 5. Name three forms of imputation. 6. By whom is imputed righteousness said to be "made"? 7. On what reasonable basis can the righteousness of God be imputed? 8. Restate the Biblical illustrations of imputation. 9. Distinguish the believer’s standing from his state. 10. On what basis does God justify a sinner? 11. How may justification be eternal? 12. What are the contrasts between forgiveness and justification? 13. Distinguish between justification by works and justification by faith. 14. a. How may righteousness be imparted? b. Who among believers experience imparted righteousness? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 79: 05.31. SANCTIFICATION I ======================================================================== Sanctification I CHAPTER XXXI Though clearly stated in the Bible, no doctrine has suffered from misunderstanding and misstatement more than the doctrine of Sanctification. Because of this, the theme calls for special consideration. Three laws of interpretation obtain which if carefully followed will preclude the errors usually connected with this doctrine. First, The Doctrine of Sanctification must be Rightly Related to every other Bible Doctrine. Disproportionate emphasis on any one doctrine, or the habit of seeing all truth in the light of one line of Bible teaching, leads to serious error. The doctrine of Sanctification, like all other doctrines of the Scriptures, represents and defines an exact field within the purpose of God, and since it aims at definite ends, it suffers as much from overstatement as from understatement. Second, The Doctrine of Sanctification cannot be Interpreted by Experience. Only one aspect of sanctification out of three deals with the problems of human experience in daily life. Therefore an analysis of some personal experience must not be substituted for the teaching of the Word of God. Even if sanctification were limited to the field of human experience, there would never be an experience that could be proven to be its perfect example, nor would any human statement of that experience exactly describe the full measure of the divine reality. It is the function of the Bible to interpret experience, rather than the function of experience to interpret the Bible. Every experience which is wrought of God will be found to be according to the Scriptures. Third, The Right Understanding of the Doctrine of Sanctification Depends upon the Consideration of all the Scriptures Bearing on this Theme. The body of Scripture presenting this doctrine is much more extensive than appears to the one who reads only the English text; for the same root Hebrew and Greek words which are translated "sanctify," with their various forms, are also translated by two other English words, "holy" and "saint" with their various forms. Therefore if we would discover the full scope of this doctrine from the Scriptures, we must go beyond the passages in which the one English word "sanctify" is used, and include, as well, the passages wherein the words "holy" and "saint" are used. Leviticus 21:8 illustrates the similarity of meaning between the words "sanctify" and "holy" as used in the Bible. Speaking of the priest, God said: "Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the Lord, which sanctify you, am holy." Here the root word used four times is twice translated "sanctify" and twice translated "holy." I. THE MEANING OF THE WORDS 1. Sanctify, With Its Various Forms. This word, which is used one hundred and six times in the Old Testament and thirty-one times in the New Testament, means to "set apart," or the state of being set apart. It indicates classification in matters of position and relationship. The basis of the classification is usually that the sanctified person or thing has been set apart, or separated from others in position and relationship before God from that which is unholy. This is the general meaning of the word. 2. Holy, With Its Various Forms. This word, which is used about four hundred times in the Old Testament and about twelve times, of believers, in the New Testament, refers to the state of being set apart, or being separate, from that which is unholy. Christ was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." Thus was He sanctified. So, also, there are certain things which the words holy and sanctify, in their Biblical use, do not imply: (a) Sinless perfection is not necessarily implied, for we read of a "holy nation," "holy priests," "holy prophets," "holy apostles," "holy men," "holy women," "holy brethren," "holy mountain," and "holy temple." None of these were sinless before God. They were holy according to some particular standard or issue that constituted the basis of their separation from others. Even the Corinthian Christians who were "utterly at fault" were said to be sanctified. Many inanimate things were sanctified, and these could not even be related to the question of sin. (b) The word does not necessarily imply finality. All these people just named were repeatedly called to higher degrees of holiness. They were set apart again and again. People, or things, became holy as they were set apart for some holy purpose. Thus they were sanctified. 3. Saint. This term, used of Israel about fifty times and of believers about sixty-two times, is applied only to human persons and relates only to their position in the reckoning of God. It is never associated with their own quality of daily life. They are saints because they are particularly classified and set apart in the plan and purpose of God. Being sanctified they are saints. In three Epistles, according to the Authorized Version, believers are addressed as those who are "called to be saints." This is most misleading. The italicized words "to be" should be omitted. Christians are saints by their present calling from God. The passages do not anticipate a time when they will be saints. They are already sanctified, set apart, classified, "holy brethren," who therefore are saints. Sainthood is not subject to progression. Every born-again person is as much a saint the moment he is saved as he ever will be in time or eternity. The whole church which is His body is a called-out, separate people. They are the saints of this dispensation. According to certain usages of these words, they are all sanctified. They are all holy. Because they do not know their position in Christ, many Christians do not believe they are saints. The Spirit has chosen to give us the title of "saints" more than any other but one. We are called "brethren" one hundred and eighty-four times, "saints" sixty-two times, and "Christians" but three times. II. THE MEANS TO SANCTIFICATION First, Because of infinite holiness, God Himself -- Father, Son and Spirit -- is eternally sanctified. He is classified, set apart, and separate from sin. He is holy. He is sanctified (Leviticus 21:8; John 17:19; Holy Spirit). Second, God -- Father, Son and Spirit -- are said to sanctify persons. 1. The Father sanctifies (1 Thessalonians 5:23). 2. The Son sanctifies (Ephesians 5:26; Hebrews 2:11; Hebrews 9:12; Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 13:12). 3. The Spirit sanctifies (Romans 15:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:13). 4. God the Father sanctified the Son (John 10:36). 5. God sanctified the priests and the people of Israel (Exodus 29:44; Exodus 31:13). 6. Our sanctification is the will of God (1 Thessalonians 4:3). 7. Our sanctification from God is: By our union with Christ (1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 1:30); by the Word of God (John 17:17; cf. 1 Timothy 4:5); by the blood of Christ (Hebrews 13:12; Hebrews 9:13); by the Body of Christ (Hebrews 10:10); by the Spirit (1 Peter 1:2); by our own choice (Hebrews 12:14; 2 Timothy 2:21-22); by faith (Acts 26:18). Third, God sanctified days, places and things (Genesis 2:3; Exodus 29:43). Fourth, Man may sanctify God. This he may do by setting God apart in his own thought as holy. "Hallowed be thy name." "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts" (1 Peter 3:15). Fifth, Man may sanctify himself. Many times did God call upon Israel to sanctify themselves. He says to us, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." Also, "If a man therefore purge himself from these [vessels of dishonour and by departing from iniquity] he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use" (2 Timothy 2:21). Self-sanctification can only be realized by the divinely provided means. Christians are asked to present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God (Romans 12:1). They are to "Come out from among them," and be separate (2 Corinthians 6:17). Having these promises, they are to cleanse themselves "from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness [sanctification] in the fear of God" (2 Corinthians 7:1). "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). Sixth, Man may sanctify persons and things. "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband, else were your children unclean; but now are they holy" (sanctified, 1 Corinthians 7:14). "And the priests shall sanctify the people." "So they sanctified the house of the Lord." Seventh, One thing may sanctify another thing. "For whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?" "For whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?" (Matthew 23:17; Matthew 23:19). From this very limited consideration of the Scriptures on the subject of Sanctification and Holiness, it is evident that the root meaning of the word is to set apart unto a holy purpose. The thing set apart is sometimes cleansed and sometimes it is not. Sometimes it can itself partake of the character of holiness and sometimes, as in the case of an inanimate thing, it cannot. Yet a thing which of itself can be neither holy nor unholy, is just as much sanctified when set apart unto God as is the person whose moral character is subject to transformation. It is also evident that where these moral qualities exist, cleansing and purification are sometimes required in sanctification; but not always (1 Corinthians 7:14). QUESTIONS 1. What laws of interpretation must necessarily be followed in order to arrive at the right understanding of the doctrine of sanctification? 2. Wherein does human experience fail as a guide? 3. What three words are vitally a part of this doctrine? 4. What is the meaning of the word sanctify? 5. Are the words sanctify and holy used only of sinless conditions? 6. Is sanctification ever repeated? 7. Who are the saints so called in the Epistles? 8. a. When do they become saints? b. On what ground are they called saints? 9. What persons are said to sanctify? 10. Name the means used in sanctifying the believers. 11. By what means may a person sanctify himself? 12. In what particulars is it possible for one person to sanctify another? 13. Is sanctification limited to those objects which are capable of partaking of holiness? 14. Does the sanctifying of a person always imply a change in character? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 80: 05.32. SANCTIFICATION II ======================================================================== Sanctification II CHAPTER XXXII Beyond the brief study in the preceding chapter of words and means related to the doctrine of Sanctification, consideration should be given to the deeper aspects of the truth as stated in the New Testament. Though the exact meaning of the words sanctify, holy, and saint is unchanged, there is a far deeper reality indicated by their use in the New Testament than is indicated by their use in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is a "shadow of good things to come." This chapter is primarily concerned with the New Testament revelation, which may be considered in three divisions: I. POSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION This is a sanctification, holiness, and sainthood which is accomplished by the operation of God through the body and shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. We, who are saved, have been redeemed and cleansed in His precious blood, forgiven all trespasses, made righteous through our new headship in Him, justified, and purified. We are the sons of God. All of this indicates a distinct classification and separation, deep and eternal, through the saving grace of Christ. It is based on facts of position which are true of every Christian. Hence every believer is now said to be positionally sanctified, holy, and is therefore a saint before God. This position bears no relationship to the believer’s daily life more than that it should inspire him to holy living. The Christian’s position in Christ is, however, according to the Scriptures, the greatest incentive to holiness of life. The great doctrinal Epistles observe this order. They first state the marvels of saving grace, and then conclude with an appeal for a life corresponding to the divinely wrought position. (Note Romans 12:1; Ephesians 4:1; Colossians 3:1.) We are not now accepted in ourselves: we are accepted in the Beloved. We are not now righteous in ourselves: He has been made unto us righteousness. We are not now redeemed in ourselves: He has been made unto us redemption. We are not now positionally sanctified by our daily walk: He has been made unto us sanctification. Positional sanctification is as perfect as He is perfect. As much as He is set apart, we, who are in Him, are set apart. Positional sanctification is as complete for the weakest saint as it is for the strongest. It depends only on his union and position in Christ. All believers are classified as "the saints." So, also, they are classified as "the sanctified" (note Acts 20:32; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Hebrews 10:10; Hebrews 10:14; Jude 1:1). The proof that imperfect believers are nevertheless positionally sanctified and are therefore saints, is found in the First Epistle to the Corinthians. Corinthian Christians were unholy in life (1 Corinthians 5:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:1-8), but they are twice said to have been sanctified (1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 6:11). By their position, then, Christians are rightly called "holy brethren" and "saints." They have been "sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10), and are "new men" who are "created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). Positional sanctification and positional holiness are "true" sanctification and holiness. In his position in Christ, the Christian stands righteous and accepted before God forever. Compared to this, no other aspect of this truth can have an equal recognition. But let no person conclude that he is holy, or sanctified, in life because he is now said to be holy, or sanctified, in position. While all believers are sanctified positionally, there is never a reference in any of these Scriptures to their daily lives. The daily-life aspect of sanctification and holiness will be found in another and entirely different body of truth which may be termed, II. EXPERIMENTAL SANCTIFICATION As positional sanctification is absolutely disassociated from the daily life, so experimental sanctification is absolutely disassociated from the position in Christ. Experimental sanctification may depend (1) on some degree of yieldedness to God, (2) on some degree of separation from sin, or (3) on some degree of Christian growth to which the believer has already attained. 1. Experimental Sanctification the Result of Yieldedness to God. Whole self-dedication to God is our reasonable service: "That ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1). By so doing the Christian is classified and set apart unto God by his own choice. This is self-determined separation unto God and is an important aspect of experimental sanctification. "And being servants unto God, ye have fruit unto holiness" (sanctification, Romans 6:22). Sanctification cannot be experienced as a matter of feeling or emotion any more than justification or forgiveness. A person may be at peace and be full of joy because he believes he is set apart unto God. So also, by yielding unto God, a new infilling of the Spirit may be made possible which will result in a blessedness in life hitherto unknown. This might be either sudden or gradual. In any case it is not the sanctification that is experienced: it is the blessing of the Spirit made possible through sanctification or a more complete separation unto God. 2. Experimental Sanctification the Result of Freedom from Sin. The Bible takes full account of the sins of Christians. It does not teach that only sinless people are saved, or kept saved; on the contrary, there is faithful consideration of, and full provision made for, the sins of saints. These provisions are both preventive and curative. (a) There are three divine provisions for the prevention of sin in the Christian: The Word of God with its clear instructions (Psalms 119:11), the present interceding, shepherding ministry of Christ in Heaven (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25. Note, Luke 22:31; John 17:1-26), and the enabling power of the indwelling Spirit (Galatians 5:16; Romans 8:4). However, should the Christian sin, there is (b) the divinely provided cure, which is the present advocacy of Christ in Heaven by which He pleads His own sufficient sacrificial death. Thus, and only thus, imperfect believers are kept saved. The divine prevention of sin is imperative in the case of every child of God, since so long as he is in this body he retains a fallen nature which is ever prone to sin (Romans 7:21; 2 Corinthians 4:7; 1 John 1:8). The Scriptures promise no eradication of this nature, but there is a moment-by-moment victory promised through the power of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-23). This victory will be realized just so long as it is claimed by faith and the conditions for a Spirit-filled life are met. The sin-nature itself is never said to have died. It was crucified, dead, and buried with Christ; but since this was accomplished two thousand years ago, the reference is to a divine judgment against the nature which was gained by Christ when He "died unto sin." There is no Bible teaching to the effect that some Christians have died to sin and some have not. The passages include all saved persons (Galatians 5:24; Colossians 3:3). All believers have died unto sin in Christ’s death; but not all believers have claimed the riches which were provided for them by that death. We are not asked to die experimentally, or to enact His death; we are asked to "reckon" ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin. This is the human responsibility (Romans 6:1-14). Every victory over sin is itself a separation unto God and is therefore a sanctification. Such victory should ever be increasing as the believer comes to know his own helplessness and the marvels of divine power. 3. Experimental Sanctification in Relation to Christian Growth. Christians are immature in wisdom, knowledge, experience and grace. In all these things they are appointed to grow, and their growth should be manifest. They are to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." Beholding the glory of the Lord as in a glass, they are "changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." This transformation will have the effect of setting them more and more apart. They will, to that extent, be more sanctified. A Christian may be "blameless," though it could not be truthfully said of him that he is "faultless." The child laboring to form his first letters in a copybook may be blameless in the work he does; but the work is not faultless. We may be walking in the full measure of our understanding today, yet we know that we are not now living in the added light and experience that will be ours tomorrow. There is perfection within imperfection. We who are so incomplete, so immature, so given to sin, may "abide in him." III. ULTIMATE SANCTIFICATION This aspect of sanctification which is related to our final perfection, will be ours in the glory. By His grace and transforming power He will have so changed us -- spirit, soul and body -- that we will be "like him," and "conformed to his image." He will then present us "faultless" before the presence of His glory. His bride will be free from every "spot and wrinkle." It therefore becomes us to "abstain from every appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." QUESTIONS 1. Is the exact meaning of the words sanctify, holy, and saint ever changed as used in the Scriptures? 2. In what sense are all believers said to be sanctified? 3. State on what ground they are thus sanctified and to what degree of perfection. 4. Is positional sanctification real and abiding? 5. What relation does it sustain to the believer’s daily life? 6. What are the aspects of experimental sanctification? 7. How may one promote his own experimental sanctification? 8. a. What is promised as to the prevention of sin in a Christian? b. What is promised as to the cure of sin in a Christian? 9. In what sense is a victory over sin a sanctification? 10. What is the relation between Christian growth and sanctification? 11. May an immature and inexperienced Christian be experimentally set apart unto God? 12. What difference is possible between being blameless and being faultless? 13. May experimental sanctification increase as we receive more light? 14. Describe ultimate sanctification. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 81: 05.33. SECURITY ======================================================================== Security CHAPTER XXXIII This chapter is concerned with the Biblical answer to the question, "Could a person once saved ever be lost again?" Since fear of eternal perdition must destroy the believer’s peace, and since to suppose that one once saved might be lost again, of necessity, limits the saving grace of God as it is in Christ, the subject of this chapter is of utmost importance. The claim that one who is once saved might be lost again is usually based on a form of rationalism which, emphasizing certain passages of Scripture, does not consider sufficiently the testimony of all the Word of God. Concerning this question, church creeds have taken opposing sides; but it will be observed that belief or disbelief in the security of all who are saved is more personal than creedal. While the great body of New Testament Scriptures which bear directly or indirectly on this question declare the believer to be secure, there are upwards of twenty-five passages which have been cited in evidence by those who maintain that the believer is insecure. It is certain that an individual could not be at the same time both secure and insecure. Therefore, of these two bodies of Scripture, one body of Scripture must of necessity conform to the other. From careful study it will be seen that the so-called "insecurity passages" are not such in reality, that they do not oppose the positive doctrine of security, and that they seem to teach insecurity only when they are misunderstood or misapplied. Certain, of these do not apply to the Christian since they belong to another dispensation (Matthew 24:13; Ezekiel 33:7-8; Matthew 18:23-35; Matthew 25:30). Other passages refer only to false and unregenerate teachers of the "last days" (1 Timothy 4:1-2; 2 Peter 2:1-22; Jude 1:17-19). One passage describes that which is merely a moral reformation (Luke 11:24-26). Several of these Scriptures bear on the important fact that Christian profession is justified by its fruits. Salvation which is of God will, under normal conditions, prove itself to be such by its own fruits (1 John 3:10; John 8:31; John 15:6; 2 Peter 1:10; James 2:14-26; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 3:14). In addition to this, there are certain passages that contain warnings which, when rightly interpreted, do not imply the insecurity of the believer under grace. Jews are warned that since their sacrifices have ceased they must turn to Christ or be lost (Hebrews 10:26), in like manner, unsaved Jews as well as Gentiles are warned against "falling away" from the illuminating, converting work of the Spirit (Hebrews 6:4-9). So, also, unspiritual Jews are warned that they will not be received into the coming kingdom (Matthew 25:1-13), and Gentiles are given a corporate warning which has no reference to the individual believer (Romans 11:21). Again, the one who is saved and safe may lose his reward (1 Corinthians 3:15; Colossians 1:21-23), and be disapproved concerning his service for Christ (1 Corinthians 9:27). Likewise, he may lose his fellowship because of sin (1 John 1:6), and he may be chastened of God (1 Corinthians 11:29-32; John 15:2; 1 John 5:16). And, finally, it is possible for the believer to "fall from grace" (Galatians 5:1-4), which, however, is never accomplished by sinning; for the Christian falls from grace only when he turns from his true liberty under grace to the bondage of the law. The positive doctrine of security rests upon an extended body of truth in which no less than twelve unchangeable facts of divine grace and its accomplishments are declared; any one of which alone would suffice to form an adequate basis for perfect rest and peace. I. THE COVENANT OF GOD The direct, unqualified promises of security (John 5:24; John 6:37; John 10:28) form an unconditional covenant in which God simply declares what He is going to do, which is also an expression of His unchangeable will. In Romans 8:29-30 this eternal purpose is revealed and its realization is assured through sovereign grace and apart from every human work and merit. II. THE POWER OF GOD As being absolutely free from every limitation the Scriptures assert that God is able to keep all who are saved through Christ (John 10:29; Romans 4:21; Romans 8:31; Romans 8:38-39; Romans 14:4; Ephesians 3:20; Php 3:21; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25; Jude 1:24). III. THE LOVE OF GOD Not only is God revealed as one who is able to do according to His eternal purpose, but His love for His own is a motive which can never fail. In Romans 5:8-11 that love is declared to exceed even His love for sinners because of which He gave His Son to die (John 3:16). The argument is simple: If He loved men enough to give His Son to die for them when they were "sinners" and "enemies," He will love them "much more" when, through redeeming grace, they are justified in His sight and reconciled to Him. Such knowledge-surpassing love for those whom He has redeemed at such limitless cost is sufficient assurance that they could never be plucked out of His hand until every resource of His infinite power has been exhausted. IV. THE PRAYER OF THE SON OF GOD While here on earth Christ prayed that those whom the Father had given Him should be kept (John 17:9-12; John 17:15; John 17:20) and this prayer which had its beginning on earth, we may believe, is continued in Heaven (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25. Note, also, Luke 22:31-32). Considering this, there is abundant assurance of security in the fact that no prayer of the Son of God could ever be unanswered. V. THE EFFICACIOUS SUBSTITUTIONARY DEATH OF THE SON OF GOD The death of Christ is the sufficient answer to the condemning power of sin (Romans 8:34). When it is claimed that the saved one might be lost again, that claim is usually based on the fact of possible sin. Such an assumption of necessity proceeds on the supposition that Christ has not borne all the sins the believer will ever commit, and that God, having saved a soul, might be disappointed and surprised by unexpected, subsequent sin. On the contrary, the omniscience of God is perfect. He foreknows every sin or secret thought that will ever darken the life of His child, and for those sins the sufficient, sacrificial blood of Christ has been shed and by that blood God has been propitiated (1 John 2:2). Because of that blood which avails for the sins of both saved and unsaved God is as free to continue His saving grace toward the meritless as He is to save them at all. He keeps them forever; not for their sakes alone, but to satisfy His own love and manifest His own grace (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:7-10). It is because of the fact that salvation and safe-keeping depend only on the sacrifice and merit of the Son of God that all condemnation is forever removed (John 3:18; John 5:24; Romans 8:1. R.V.; 1 Corinthians 11:31-32). VI. THE RESURRECTION OF THE SON OF GOD The eternal security of the believer is made certain through two vital facts connected with the resurrection of Christ: 1. The gift of God is eternal life (John 3:16; John 10:28; Romans 6:23), which life is the resurrection life of Christ (Colossians 2:12; Colossians 3:1), eternal as He is eternal, and as incapable of dissolution or death as Christ is incapable of dissolution or death. 2. Likewise, by union with the resurrected Christ by the baptism with the Spirit and the impartation of His eternal life, the child of God is made a part of the New Creation in which he stands in the federal headship of the Last Adam. Since the Last Adam cannot fall, there is no fall possible for the weakest one who is in Him. VII. THE INTERCESSION AND SHEPHERDHOOD OF THE SON OF GOD The present ministry of Christ in glory has only to do with the eternal security of those on earth who are saved. Christ both intercedes and advocates. As Intercessor, He has in view the weakness, ignorance, and immaturity of the believer -- things concerning which there is no guilt. In this ministry, Christ not only prays for His own who are in the world and at every point of their need (Luke 22:31-32; John 17:9; John 17:15; John 17:20; Romans 8:34), but on the grounds of His own sufficiency in His unchanging priesthood, He guarantees that they will be kept saved for ever (Hebrews 7:25; Romans 5:10; John 14:19). VIII. THE ADVOCACY OF THE SON OF GOD The present ministry of Christ as Advocate has to do with the Christian’s sin -- that concerning which there is guilt. Since sin is always sinful in the sight of God and can be cured only on the ground of the blood of Christ, the death of Christ is efficacious as much for the sins of the saved as for the unsaved (1 John 2:2). God is infinitely holy; therefore the Christian’s sin in every case merits eternal condemnation, and that judgment would of necessity be executed were it not for the fact that, a Advocate, Christ pleads the saving value of His own blood before the throne of God (1 John 2:1; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 9:24). This He does, not after the Christian sins, which would imply that there might be even a moment of insecurity in the believer’s position before God; but when he is sinning he has an Advocate with the Father. IX. THE REGENERATING WORK OF THE SPIRIT By the regenerating work of the Spirit the believer is made a child of God (John 1:13; John 3:3-6; Titus 3:4-6; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 3:9), an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ (Romans 8:16-17). Having thus been born of God, he has partaken of the divine nature and that nature is never said to be removed or disannulled. X. THE SPIRIT’S INDWELLING The fact that the Spirit now indwells every believer (John 7:37-39; Romans 5:5; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 John 3:24) and never leaves him (John 14:16) should be recognized by every Christian. The Spirit may be grieved by unconfessed sin (Ephesians 4:30), or He may be quenched in the sense that He is resisted (1 Thessalonians 5:19); But He, as the divine Presence in the heart, is never removed. For this reason, the child of God continues as such forever. XI. THE BAPTISM WITH THE SPIRIT By the Spirit’s ministry in baptizing, the believer is joined to that body of which Christ is the Head (1 Corinthians 12:13; 1 Corinthians 6:17; Galatians 3:27) and he is therefore said to be in Christ. To be in Christ, constitutes a union which is both vital and abiding. In that union, old things -- as to position and relationship which might be the ground of condemnation -- are passed away, and all positions and relationships have become new and are of God (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). Being accepted for ever "in the beloved," the child of God is as secure as the One in whom he is and in whom he stands. XII. THE SPIRIT’S SEALING Finally, it is declared that all true Christians are sealed with the Spirit unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30; 2 Corinthians 1:22; and Ephesians 1:13 which should read "having believed ye were sealed"). Since this sealing is of God for His own purpose and glory, and since it is unto the day of redemption, this ministry of the Spirit also guarantees the eternal security of all who are saved. CONCLUSION It may be concluded, then, from this extensive body of truth that the eternal purpose of God which is for the preservation of His own can never be defeated. To this end He has met every possible hindrance. Sin which might otherwise separate has been borne by a Substitute who, in order that the believer may be kept, pleads the efficacy of His death before the Throne of God. The believer’s will is held under divine control (Php 2:13), and every testing is tempered by the infinite grace and wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 10:13). It cannot be too strongly emphasized that, while, in this chapter, salvation and safe-keeping have been treated as separate divine undertakings as an adaptation to the usual ways of speaking, the Bible recognizes no such distinction; for, according to the Scriptures, there is no salvation purposed, offered, or undertaken under grace which is not infinitely perfect and that does not abide for ever. QUESTIONS 1. What is the fundamental question involved in the doctrine of Security? 2. Could both the doctrine of Security and the doctrine of Insecurity be true? 3. In what ways are the so-called "insecurity passages" misinterpreted and misapplied? 4. What form of covenant do the promises of saving grace constitute? 5. In what ways do the power of God and the love of God guarantee the believer’s safe-keeping? 6. What peculiar certainty is there in the prayer of Christ? 7. How does the death of Christ provide for the Christian’s eternal security? 8. Name two assurances of security which are provided in the resurrection of Christ. 9. Distinguish between Christ’s intercession and advocacy. 10. Might the divine nature within the believer be disannulled? 11. a. Does the Spirit indwell every true Christian? b. Does He ever leave the one in whom He dwells? 12. In what way does the baptism with the Spirit guarantee the security of the child of God? 13. What time limit is placed on the Spirit’s sealing? 14. Why is it that the believer’s sin, his own will, or his own liability to be tempted are unable to break his eternal security in Christ? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 82: 05.34. ASSURANCE ======================================================================== Assurance CHAPTER XXXIV The theme of this chapter should be distinguished clearly from that of the preceding chapter. Security relates to the absolute, eternal safety of those who are in Christ, while assurance relates to a personal confidence in a present salvation. According to the Scriptures, that assurance of salvation which is justifiable rests upon two lines of evidence: (a) normal manifestations of the indwelling Christ, and (b) the veracity of the Word of God. I. NORMAL MANIFESTATIONS OF THE INDWELLING CHRIST Among the various divine accomplishments which together constitute the salvation of a soul, the impartation of a new life from God is, in the Bible, given the supreme emphasis. Upwards of eighty-five New Testament passages attest this feature of saving grace. Consideration of these Scriptures disclose the fact that this imparted life is the gift of God to all those who believe on Christ (John 10:28; Romans 6:23); it is from Christ (John 14:6); it is Christ indwelling the believer (Colossians 1:27; 1 John 5:11-12), and therefore is as eternal as He is eternal. On the basis of the fact that Christ indwells him, the believer is appointed to judge himself as to whether he is in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5); for it is reasonable to expect that the heart wherein Christ dwells will, under normal conditions, be aware of that wonderful Presence. However, the Christian is not left to his own misguided feelings and imagination as to the precise manner in which the indwelling Christ will be manifested, it being clearly defined in the Scriptures. For the Christian who is subject to the Word of God, this particular revelation serves a two-fold purpose: it protects against the assumption that fleshly emotionalism is of God -- a belief far too prevalent at the present time -- and sets a standard of spiritual reality toward which all who are saved should ceaselessly strive. It is obvious that an unsaved person, be he ever so faithful in outward conformity to religious practise, will never manifest the life which is Christ. In like manner, the carnal Christian is abnormal to the extent that he can in no way with accuracy prove his salvation by his experience; for all normal Christian experience (but never the imparted divine life) is limited, if not dissipated, by that which is carnal (1 Corinthians 3:1-4). It should be recognized that a carnal Christian is as perfectly saved as the spiritual Christian; for no experience, or merit, or service can form any part of the grounds of salvation. Though but "a babe" he is, nevertheless, in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1). His obligation toward God is not one of the exercise of saving faith, but rather one of adjustment to the mind and will of God. It is of fundamental importance to understand that a normal Christian experience is vouchsafed only to those who are Spirit-filled. The manifestations of the indwelling Christ which are mentioned in the Scriptures are: 1. The Knowledge of God as Father. In Matthew 11:27 it is declared that no one knoweth the Father save the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal Him. It is one thing to know about God, which, experience is possible to the unregenerate; but quite another thing to know God, which can be realized only as the Son reveals Him, "And this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God" (John 17:3). Fellowship with the Father and with the Son is known only by those who "walk in the light" (1 John 1:6). A normal Christian experience includes, therefore, a personal appreciation of the Fatherhood of God. 2. A New Reality in Prayer. Prayer assumes a very large place in the experience of the spiritual Christian. It becomes increasingly his most vital resource. By the indwelling Spirit the believer offers praise and thanksgiving (Ephesians 5:18-19), and by the Spirit he is enabled to pray according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27; Jude 1:20). It is reasonable to believe, also, that since Christ’s ministry both on earth and in Heaven was and is so much one of prayer, the one in whom He dwells will if normal be moved to prayer. 3. A New Ability to Understand the Scriptures. According to the promise of Christ, the child of God will understand through the Spirit the things of Christ, the things of the Father, and things to come (John 16:12-15). On the Emmaus road Christ opened the Scriptures to His hearers (Luke 24:32) and their hearts to the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). Such an experience, though so wonderful, is not designed alone for favored Christians; it is the normal experience of all who are right with God (1 John 2:27), since it is a natural manifestation of the indwelling Christ. 4. A New Sense of the Sinfulness of Sin. As water removes that which is foreign and unclean (Ezekiel 36:25; John 3:5; Titus 3:5-6; 1 Peter 3:21; 1 John 5:6-8), so the Word of God displaces all human conceptions and implants those ideals which are of God (Psalms 119:11), and by the action of the Word of God as applied by the Spirit the divine estimate of sin displaces the human estimate. It is impossible that the sinless Christ who, on becoming a sin offering, sweat drops of blood, should not, when free to manifest His presence, create a new sense of the sinfulness of sin in the one in whom He dwells. 5. A New Love for the Unsaved. The fact that Christ has died for all men (2 Corinthians 5:12) is the grounds upon which the Apostle Paul could say "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh" (2 Corinthians 5:16). Apart from all earthly distinctions, men were seen by his spiritual eyes only as souls for whom Christ had died. Likewise, for the lost he ceased not to pray (Romans 10:1), to strive (Romans 15:20) and for them he was willing to be "accursed from Christ" (Romans 9:1-3). As a result of the divine presence in the heart the divine compassion should be experienced by every Spirit-filled believer (Romans 5:5; Galatians 5:22). 6. A New Love for the Saved. In 1 John 3:14, love for the brethren is made an absolute test of personal salvation. This is reasonable, since by the regenerating work of the Spirit the believer is brought into a new kinship in the household and family of God, wherein alone the true Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man exist. The fact that the same divine Presence indwells two individuals relates them vitally and anticipates a corresponding bond of devotion. The Christian’s love one for the other is therefore made the insignia of true discipleship (John 13:34-35), and this affection is the normal experience of all who are born of God. 7. A Manifestation of the Character of Christ. The believer’s subjective experiences which are due to the unhindered divine Presence in the heart are indicated in nine words: "Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Galatians 5:22-23), and each word represents a flood tide of reality on the plane of the limitless character of God. This is the life which Christ lived (John 13:34; John 15:11; John 14:27); it is the life which is Christ-like (Php 2:5-7), and it is the life which is Christ (Php 1:21). Since these graces are wrought by the Spirit who indwells every believer, this experience is provided for all. 8. A Consciousness of Salvation through Faith in Christ. Saving faith in Christ is also a definite experience. The Apostle related of himself, "I know whom I have believed" (2 Timothy 1:12). A personal reliance upon a Saviour is so definite an act of the will and attitude of the mind that one could hardly be deceived regarding it. But it is the purpose of God that the normal Christian shall be assured in his own heart that he is accepted of God. To the spiritual Christian the Spirit beareth witness that he is a son of God (Romans 8:16). Similarly, having trusted in Christ, the believer will have no more the consciousness of condemnation because of sin (Hebrews 10:2; Romans 8:1; John 3:18; John 5:24). This does not imply that the Christian will not be conscious of the sin which he commits; it rather has to do with a consciousness of an eternal acceptance with God through Christ (Ephesians 1:6; Colossians 2:13), which is the portion of all who believe. In concluding the enumeration of the essential elements of a true Christian experience, it should again be stated that mere fleshly emotionalism is excluded, and that the experience of the believer will be normal only as he is "walking in the light" (1 John 1:6). II. THE VERACITY OF THE WORD OF GOD Above and beyond all that the believer may experience -- which experience is too often indefinite and overshadowed because of carnality -- there is given the abiding evidence of the dependable Word of God. In addressing believers the Apostle John states, "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 5:13). By this passage assurance is given to every believer, carnal or spiritual alike, that they may know that they have eternal life. This assurance is made to rest, not on a changeable experience, but upon the things which are written in the unchangeable Word of God (Matthew 24:35; Psalms 119:89; Psalms 119:160; Matthew 5:18; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 Peter 1:25). The written promises of God are as a title deed (John 6:37; John 5:24; John 3:16; John 3:36; Romans 1:16; Romans 3:22; Romans 3:26; Romans 10:13; Acts 16:31) which challenge confidence. These promises of salvation form the unconditional covenant of God under grace and call for no human merit, nor are they proven to be true through any human experience. These mighty realities are to be reckoned as accomplished on no other ground than the veracity of God. God hath spoken. It becomes man to believe, and all lack of assurance concerning personal salvation will be found to be due to one or the other of two forms of unbelief: 1. Doubting One’s Own Committal. Multitudes are in no way certain that they ever have had a personal transaction with Christ regarding their own salvation. And while it is non-essential that one should know the day and the hour of his decision, it is imperative that he should know that he is now trusting Christ without reference to the time it began. The Apostle states that he is persuaded that God is able to keep (Lit., guard his deposit) that which he had committed unto Him (2 Timothy 1:12). Obviously the cure for any uncertainty as to one’s acceptance of Christ is to receive Christ now, reckoning that no self-merit or religious works are of value -- Christ alone can save. 2. Doubting the Faithfulness of God. Others who lack assurance of their own salvation do so because they, though having come to Christ, are not sure that He has kept His word and received them. This state of mind is usually caused by looking for a change in their feelings rather than looking to the faithfulness of Christ. Feelings and experiences have their place; but, as before stated, the final evidence of personal salvation, which is unchanged by these, is the truthfulness of God. What He has said, He will do, and it is not pious or commendable to distrust one s salvation after having definitely cast one’s self upon Christ. QUESTIONS 1. State the difference between the doctrine of Security and that of Assurance. 2. State the lines of Biblical assurance. 3. What one aspect of salvation is made the test of the believer’s experience? 4. Wherein may this experience fail or be misleading? 5. Prove that a carnal Christian is saved and safe in Christ. 6. State the meaning of Matthew 11:27. 7. How might the indwelling Christ inspire the believer to pray? 8. State the normal effect of the indwelling Christ on the believer’s knowledge of the Scriptures, upon his sense of sin, and his love for the unsaved. 9. a. On what basis is 1 John 3:14 a reasonable test of a real Christian experience? b. Why is it reasonable to expect Christ-likeness in the believer? 10. What passages indicate that a spiritual Christian will be conscious of his acceptance with God? 11. Is a normal Christian experience essential to salvation? 12. On what certainty does assurance rest apart from experience? 13. What should one do who doubts his own trust in Christ? 14. What should one do who doubts Christ’s promise to receive even after having trusted Him? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 83: 05.35. THE CHURCH: HER MEMBERSHIP ======================================================================== The Church: Her Membership CHAPTER XXXV Next to salvation truth, it is vitally important for the believer to know the Bible doctrine of the Church. Following the eclipse of nearly all truth in the Dark Ages, it was given to Martin Luther in the sixteenth century to reinstate the doctrine of salvation through faith alone, and, in the last century, it was given to J.N. Darby of England to reinstate the doctrine of the Church. Protestant theology has concerned itself largely with salvation truth to the neglect of the doctrine of the Church. I. THE MEANING OF THE WORD As used in the New Testament, the word church means a called-out or assembled company of people. It has two distinct applications: (1) In its less important usage it refers to a local gathering of people, not necessarily Christians, who have been called out and assembled in one place (1 Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 1:2; Php 1:2. Note, Acts 7:38; Acts 19:32). (2) In its more important usage it refers to a company of people called out from the old creation into the new, being gathered by the Spirit into one organism or body of which Christ is the Head. This company includes all those, and only those, who have been saved in the period between the day of Pentecost and the return of Christ to receive His own. So, also, there are organized churches in the world with their memberships, but these should not be confused with the one Church of which Christ is the Head and all believers members in particular. There is little said in the Bible regarding the organization of churches, though there is nothing written to oppose it; and, since an organization is not in view, there is nothing written in the Bible as to membership in organized churches. The Bible emphasis is upon the true Church and that membership ¦which is formed by the baptism with the Spirit. II. A NEW TESTAMENT REVELATION The word church is not found in the Old Testament because of the fact that the Church did not then exist, and being a mystery or sacred secret of the New Testament (Ephesians 3:3-6), it is not even a subject of Old Testament prophecy. Likewise, the word church is used but twice in the four Gospels: once of a local assembly of people (Matthew 18:17), and once in a prophecy by Christ of the true Church which was yet to be formed (Matthew 16:18). The true Church could not have existed until Christ died; for she must be redeemed by His blood (Ephesians 5:25-27). The true Church could not have existed until His resurrection; for she partakes of His resurrection life, and she is the harvest of which He, in resurrection, is the "Firstfruits" in the New Creation. The true Church could not have existed until His ascension; for He must first become "head over all things to the church." Likewise, the true Church could not exist until the advent of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost; for she can be formed only by the present ministry of the Spirit in baptizing all members into one body and causing them to drink into one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:14). Therefore we turn to the Epistles for the unfolding of the doctrine of the Church. This revelation was given to the Apostle Paul (Ephesians 3:3-6), as before stated, and is set forth by him particularly in the Ephesian and Colossian letters. III. THE JEW, THE GENTILE, AND THE CHURCH The Bible recognizes three major divisions of the human family in the present dispensation -- the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God (1 Corinthians 10:32). 1. The Jew. The Jews, or the Children of Israel, are that nation which sprang from Abraham in the line of Isaac and Jacob, and who according to divine purpose and promise are the chosen earthly people of God. This nation has been miraculously preserved to the present time, and, according to prophecy, will yet be the dominant, glorified people of the earth in the coming kingdom age (Isaiah 62:1-12). The eternal promises of Jehovah to this people cannot be altered. These promises include a national entity (Jeremiah 31:36), a land (Genesis 13:15), a throne (2 Samuel 7:13), a King (Jeremiah 33:20-21), and a kingdom (2 Samuel 7:16). In the faithfulness of God, their promises, which are all earthly in character, have been fulfilled to the present hour, and will be fulfilled to all eternity; for each of these covenants is said to be everlasting as to its duration). Four words describe the out-working of the divine purpose in this people -- chosen, scattered, gathered, blessed. It is obvious that they were chosen, and are now scattered among all the nations of the earth. As certainly they will yet be gathered and blessed. The peculiar ministry of this people is stated in Romans 9:4-5. 2. The Gentile. The Gentiles are that vast unnumbered company, excluding the Israelites, who have lived on the earth from Adam until now. Apart from certain individuals, there is no record that during the period from Adam to Christ God sustained any special relation or extended any immediate promises to them. However, the prophecies of the Old Testament predict great earthly blessings to come upon the Gentiles in the yet future kingdom on the earth, and in the present age they partake alike with the Jews in the privileges of the Gospel. 3. The Church of God. It should be noted that by the phrase "the Church" reference is made, not to the membership of the organized churches, but to the whole company of the redeemed who will have been saved in the present age. They are a distinct people (1) because each individual in that company being born again enters the kingdom of God (John 3:5), and is destined to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). (2) They are no longer in Adam partaking of the ruin of the old creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), but they are in Christ partaking in the New Creation of all that Christ is in His resurrection life and glory (Ephesians 1:3; Colossians 2:10). (3) In the sight of God, their nationality is changed; for they have come upon new ground where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, but Christ is all in all (Colossians 3:11). (4) They are now citizens of Heaven (Php 3:20; Colossians 3:3), and all their promises, their possessions, and their positions are heavenly (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). By so much this heavenly people are distinguished from all other people of the earth. IV. FORMED FROM BOTH JEWS AND GENTILES The respective earthly positions of the Jews and the Gentiles have already been pointed out. To this it should be added that God, during the present age and for the purposes of grace, has placed both Jews and Gentiles upon a common ground (Romans 3:9). They are now said to be "under sin," which means that they are now shut up to salvation by grace alone. At the death of Christ the change in the divine program from the recognition of a favored nation to an appeal to individuals, both Jews and Gentiles alike, was most difficult to be understood by the Jew. He did not understand that his covenants were set aside for a time, but not abrogated. The nation’s struggles with this problem are recorded in the Book of Acts. The Jew is unadjusted to this age-program to the present time, and it is predicted of him that he will remain blinded in part until the Church is called out (Romans 11:25), after which the Deliverer will come out of Zion and will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. This, it is stated, is God’s covenant with them when He will take away their sins (Romans 11:26-27). Nevertheless, through the preaching of the Gospel, both Jews and Gentiles are now being saved and the Church is being completed. The Apostle directed that the Gospel should first be preached to the Jew (Romans 1:16) and his own ministry was ordered according to this program (Acts 17:1-3). As has been suggested, two revelations were given to the Apostle Paul: one, of the Gospel of the grace of God -- probably while in Arabia at the beginning of his ministry (Galatians 1:11-12), and the other, of the Church which is the body of Christ -- probably while in prison (Ephesians 3:3-6). The vital feature of the second revelation was that out of the two sources -- Jews and Gentiles God is now forming one new body (Ephesians 2:15). This was a mystery, or hitherto unrevealed divine secret. That God had purposes for Israel, or for the Gentiles, was no secret since it is the theme of Old Testament prophecy; but the secret "hid in God" was the making of a new heavenly order of beings from both Jews and Gentiles. V. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP The answer to the question, "Could a person be saved and not be a church member?" depends upon the meaning which is given the word church. It is obviously true that a person may be a Christian and not be a member of a local organized church. In fact, all should be saved before they join a church; and, if saved, it is normal for the individual to choose the fellowship of the people of God in one form or another. On the other hand, it is impossible to be saved and not be a member of the Church which is Christ’s own body; for a part of the divine work in salvation is the uniting of the saved one to Christ by baptism with the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). As used in connection with the work of the Spirit, baptize is a word of discriminating meaning which reaches far beyond the limits of the outward ordinance of water baptism and represents that ministry of the Spirit for the believer which is more far-reaching in its effects than any other divine undertaking in salvation. It is not surprising that Satan has undertaken to distort the plain meaning of the baptism with the Spirit and the divine ministry it represents; for only on the ground of this ministry can we understand the riches of divine grace or enter into the celestial joy, with its impulse to a holy life, which these riches impart. On the earth, the Church is seen to be a pilgrim band of witnesses. They are not of this world even as Christ is not of this world (John 17:16), and as the Father has sent the Son into the world, so has the Son sent these witnesses into the world. As to what they really are through riches of grace, "it doth not yet appear" (Colossians 3:4; 1 John 3:2). Being the heavenly people, as in contrast to Israel the earthly people, the glory of the Church, as also the realization of her divine purpose, is seen in Heaven where she appears as the Bride of the Lamb, co-reigning with the King, and partaker forever in the glory of the eternal Son of God. QUESTIONS 1. a. What is the general meaning of the word church as used in the New Testament? b. What are its two applications? 2. Upon which use of the word church does the Bible emphasis fall? 3. a. What evidence can be given that the church is a New Testament revelation? b. Why could it have not existed before Pentecost? c. In what part of the New Testament is this doctrine set forth? 4. Name the present major three-fold division of the human family. 5. What is Israel’s history in four words? 6. Who are the Gentiles and when according to prophecy are they to receive blessing from God? 7. Name four characteristics of all those who form the Church. 8. From what sources is the Church being taken out? 9. What is the new-age condition stated in Romans 3:9? 10. Describe the two revelations given to the Apostle Paul. 11. What answer would you give to the question, Can a person be saved and not belong to the church? 12. What ministry of the Spirit relates the believer to the true Church which is Christ’s Body? 13. What can be said as to the place the true Church now holds on earth? 14. What can be said as to her future place in Heaven? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 84: 05.36. THE CHURCH: HER MISSION ======================================================================== The Church: Her Mission CHAPTER XXXVI Strictly speaking, the Church has no mission; for God has never commissioned her as a corporate body to undertake any task whatsoever. It is true that by means of the Church, God is now making known His wisdom, and will yet make known His grace to the angelic hosts (Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians 2:7); but this calls for no effort or sacrifice on her part. All divine commissions are to the individual believer; and this is reasonable, since Christian service is the exercise of a personal gift in the power of the indwelling Spirit. It is noticeable that no service program for the church succeeds until it becomes a service program for the individual. Another error to be avoided in connection with this subject is the supposition that the divine purpose in this age is the conversion of the world. It is true that the world will be converted and there is yet to be a kingdom of righteousness in the earth; but, according to the Bible, that day of a transformed earth, so far from being the result of Christian service, is said to follow rather than precede the return of Christ, and is said to be made possible only by His personal presence and immediate power. It is after the smiting of the Stone -- a symbol of the return of Christ -- that the God of Heaven sets up an everlasting kingdom in the earth (Daniel 2:44-45). It is after the Lord returns and sits on the throne of His glory that He directs the sheep on His right hand to enter the earthly kingdom prepared for them (Matthew 25:31-34). In like manner, it is after He is seen descending from Heaven that Christ reigns a thousand years on the earth (Revelation 18:11-24, Revelation 19:1-21, Revelation 20:1-9. Note, also, Acts 15:13-19; 1 Corinthians 15:20-25). I. THE PRESENT DIVINE PURPOSE IN THE WORLD When anticipating the peculiar features of this age (Matthew 13:1-50), the Lord made mention of three major characteristics: (1) Israel’s place in the world should be as a treasure hid in the field (Matthew 13:44); (2) evil should continue to the end of the age (Matthew 13:4; Matthew 13:25; Matthew 13:33; Matthew 13:48); and (3) the children of the kingdom who are likened to wheat, to a pearl of great cost, and to good fish, shall be gathered out (Matthew 13:30; Matthew 13:45-46; Matthew 13:48). Of these three characteristics of the age, it is disclosed that the last, or the gathering out of the children of the kingdom, constitutes the supreme purpose of God in this age. In accordance with this, it is stated in Romans 11:25, that Israel’s present blindness is only "until" the completion of the Church (note Ephesians 1:22-23). Likewise, the "mystery of iniquity," or evil in the present age, is declared to continue, though restrained, until the Restrainer -- the Spirit of God -- is taken out of the way (2 Thessalonians 2:7), and, as the Spirit will depart only when He has completed the calling out of the Church, the immediate purpose of God is not the correction of the evil in the world, but the out-calling of all who will believe. Israel’s covenants will yet be fulfilled (Romans 11:27), and evil will be banished from the earth (Revelation 21:1); but the present purpose of God, for which all else most evidently awaits, is the completion of the Church. In Acts 15:13-19 we read the substance of James’ address at the conclusion of the first council of the Church in Jerusalem. The occasion of this council was to determine this same question as to the present purpose of God. The early church was largely composed of Jews, and these were confused with regard to their own national position in the light of the fact that the new Gospel was flowing out to Gentiles. James states that, according to Peter’s experience in the house of Cornelius the Gentile, God is first visiting Gentiles (a like visitation of the Jews is assumed) to take out of them a people for His name. "After this," James continues, the Lord will return and then will fulfill all His purposes for Israel and the Gentiles. The practical bearing of all this upon the subject of this study is that, in the present age, never is the individual believer (much less the Church) appointed of God to a world-improvement program; but the believer is called to be a witness in all the world to Christ and His saving grace, and through this ministry of Gospel preaching the Spirit of God will accomplish the supreme divine purpose in the age. II. THE FORMATION OF THE CHURCH Christ prophesied that He would build His Church (Matthew 16:18), and the Apostle Paul likens the Church to a structure of living stones which "groweth" and is "being builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:21-22, R.V.). Likewise, the believer’s ministry of soul-winning and edification of the body of Christ continues, not for ever, but "till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). The "stature of the fulness of Christ" does not refer to the development of Christ-like men; but rather to the development of the body of Christ to its completion (note Ephesians 1:22-23). The same aspect of truth is restated in Ephesians 4:16, where the members of the body, like living cells in the human body, are represented as being unceasingly active in soul-winning, and are thereby making "increase of the body." III. THE BELIEVER’S MINISTRY Christ gave a prediction that the seed sowing which is to characterize the present age would result in but a fourth portion becoming "wheat" (Matthew 13:1-23). Nevertheless, though the preaching of the Gospel is a savor of death unto death as well as of life unto life (2 Corinthians 2:16), the child of God is commissioned to be instant in season and out of season in his efforts to win the lost. He is appointed to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15), knowing that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). It is also stated in 2 Corinthians 5:19 that God who was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20). This ministry rests upon every believer alike and may be exercised in three different ways: 1. The Gospel may be presented to the unsaved through sacrificial gifts. Evidently there are many earnest believers who would rejoice to win a soul for Christ who have not awakened to the effectiveness of giving their substance to this end. The messenger cannot go except he be sent, but the one who sends him is a partner in the service and has taken stock which will pay eternal dividends. 2. Again, the Gospel may be presented to the unsaved in answer to prayer. He who has said, "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it" (John 14:14) will certainly thrust laborers into the harvest in answer to prayer. It is easily proven that there is no more fruitful ministry possible to the child of God than prayer; yet how very few seem to realize that souls are saved through that service. 3. So, also, the Gospel may be presented to the unsaved by word of mouth. Since all are commissioned to this task, there are certain imperative conditions to be observed: (1) The messenger must be willing to be placed where the Spirit wills. (2) The messenger should be instructed as to the precise truths which constitute the Gospel of grace which he is appointed to declare. And (3) the messenger must be Spirit-filled, else he will lack that impelling passion for the lost which alone prompts one to fearless and tireless soul-winning service. "After that the Holy Ghost is come upon you," Christ said, "ye shall be witnesses unto me" (Acts 1:8). Apart from this filling there will be no disposition to witness. But, being filled, there is no staying the outflow of divine compassion (Acts 4:20). QUESTIONS 1. a. What has God commissioned the Church to do? b. Who alone is responsible for all true service and why? 2. What is the present divine purpose? 3. Show from the prophecies that Christ must return before a kingdom of righteousness will be set up in the earth. 4. Name three characteristics of this age as stated in Matthew, Chapter 13. 5. Of these three which is proven to be the present purpose of God in the world? 6. What order of events is given in Acts 15:13-19? 7. By what agency and service will the Church be gathered by the Spirit of God? 8. Do the terms and figures used as to the development of the Church imply that this development will go on without end? 9. Define the responsibility of those who are called to preach. 10. a. Are all believers called to this ministry? b. What results are they to anticipate? 11. Indicate as to how the Gospel may be preached through sacrificial giving. 12. Indicate as to how the Gospel may be preached through prayer. 13. Name three essentials of fitting for the one who would preach the gospel by word of mouth. 14. Are all Christians called alike to the three-fold service of giving, praying, and preaching? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 85: 05.37. THE SABBATH ======================================================================== The Sabbath CHAPTER XXXVII Beginning with His own work in creation, God has chosen to sanctify, or set apart, one-seventh of all time. To Israel He commanded the seventh day as a day of rest; the seventh, or sabbatic year in which the land was to rest (Exodus 23:10-11; Leviticus 25:2-7); and the fiftieth year as a year of jubilee in recognition of seven times seven years. In various details both the sabbatic year and the year of jubilee were typically prophetic of the kingdom age which is the seventh and last of the dispensations, and which is characterized by the enjoyment of a sabbatic rest for all creation. Though in the present age the day to be celebrated is divinely changed from the seventh to the first day of the week because of the New Creation’s beginning, the same proportion in the division of time -- one day in seven -- is perpetuated. The word sabbath means cessation, or perfect rest, from activity. Apart from the continual burnt offerings and feasts, the day was in no sense one of worship or service. In view of the wide-spread confusion which exists regarding the sabbath and especially in view of the effort which is made to recognize it as in force in this present age, it is imperative that the precise teachings of the Scriptures concerning the sabbath shall be carefully weighed. A degree of clarity is gained when the sabbath is considered in its relation to various periods of time: 1. The Period From Adam to Moses. It is recorded that God rested at the close of His six creative days (Exodus 2:2-3; Exodus 20:10-11; Hebrews 4:4); but there is no intimation in the Word of God that man was appointed to observe, or ever did observe, a sabbath until Israel came out of Egypt. The book of Job discloses the religious life and experience of the patriarchs, and though their various responsibilities to God are therein discussed, there is never a reference to a sabbath-day obligation. On the other hand, it is distinctly stated that the giving of the sabbath to Israel by the hand of Moses was the beginning of sabbath observance among men (Exodus 16:29; Nehemiah 9:10-12; Ezekiel 20:12). Likewise, it is evident from the records of the first imposition of the sabbath (Exodus 16:1-35), that on the particular day which was one week, or seven days, previous to the first recorded sabbath, the children of Israel took a sabbath-breaking journey of many miles from Elim to the wilderness of Sin. There they murmured against Jehovah, and on that day the supply of food from Heaven began which was to be gathered for six days, but was not to be gathered on the seventh day. It is evident, therefore, that the day of their journey which would have been a sabbath had a sabbath obligation, been in force, was not observed as a sabbath. 2. The Period From Moses to Christ. In this period the sabbath was rightfully in force. It was embedded in the law (Exodus 20:10-11) and the divine cure for its non-observance was likewise provided in the law of the offerings. In this connection, it is important to observe that the sabbath was never imposed on the Gentiles, but was peculiarly a sign between Jehovah and Israel (Exodus 31:12-17). Among Israel’s sins, her failure to keep the sabbath and to give the land its rest, are especially emphasized. In the midst of this period of the law, Hosea predicted that, as a part of the judgments which were to come upon Israel, her sabbaths would cease (Hosea 2:11). This prophecy must at some time be fulfilled, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. As the preceding age continued to the death of Christ, His earth-life and ministry was under the law. For this reason, He is seen as keeping the law, expounding the law, and applying the law. Finding the sabbath law obscured by the traditions and teachings of men, He pointed out that the sabbath was given as a benefit to man and man was not to be made a sacrifice for the sabbath (Mark 2:27). Christ was faithful to the whole Mosaic system, which included the sabbath, because that system was in force during His earth-life; but that obvious fact is no basis for the claim that a Christian who is under grace and living in another dispensation is appointed to follow Christ in His sabbath observance either in example or precept. 3. The Period of the Church. Following the resurrection of Christ, there is no record in the New Testament that the sabbath was observed by any believer, even in error. Doubtless the multitude of Judaized Christians did observe the sabbath; but no record of such observance was permitted to appear in the Word of God. In like manner, following the resurrection of Christ, there is no injunction given to Jew, Gentile, or Christian to observe the sabbath, nor is sabbath breaking once mentioned among the numerous lists of possible sins. On the contrary, there are warnings against sabbath observance on the part of those who are the children of God under grace. Galatians 4:9-10 condemns the observance of "days and months and times and years." These were usually observed with a view to meriting the favor of God and by those who would be thoughtful of God at one time and careless at another. Hebrews 4:1-13 contemplates the sabbath as a type of the rest (from his own works) into which the believer enters when he is saved. Colossians 2:16-17 plainly instructs the child of God not to be judged with respect to a sabbath day, and infers that such an attitude toward the sabbath is reasonable in view of all that Christ has become to one who is now of the New Creation (Colossians 2:9-17). In this passage, most evidently reference is made to the weekly sabbaths, rather than to those special or extra sabbaths which were a part of the ceremonial law. Romans 14:5 declares that when the believer is "persuaded in his own mind" he may esteem all days alike. This does not imply a neglect of faithful worship, but rather suggests that, to such an one, all days are full of devotion to God. Because of the fact that in the New Testament the sabbath is never included as any part of the Christian’s life and service, the term Christian sabbath is a misnomer. In this connection it may be noted that in place of the sabbath of the law there is now provided the Lord’s Day of the New Creation which far exceeds the sabbath in its glory, its privileges, and its blessings. 4. The Sabbath in the Coming Age. In full harmony with the New Testament doctrine that the new Lord’s Day is related only to the Church, it is prophesied that the sabbath will be reinstated -- thus superseding the Lord’s Day -- immediately upon the completion of the out-calling of the Church and her removal from the world. Even in the brief period of the Tribulation which must intervene between the end of this age and the age of the kingdom, the sabbath is again in view (Matthew 24:20); but prophecy especially anticipates the sabbath as a vital feature of the coming kingdom age (Isaiah 66:23; Ezekiel 46:1). QUESTIONS 1. What portion of time has God sanctified? 2. Name the apportionments of time prescribed for Israel. 3. In what particular is the apportionment of the present age similar to the age that is past? 4. a. What is the meaning of the word sabbath? b. How was the sabbath observed? 5. What evidence have we that the sabbath was not observed in the time of Adam and Moses? 6. a. When rightfully in force in the period between Moses and Christ, to whom did the sabbath law apply? b. Did God treat the failure to keep the sabbath laws as a serious sin? 7. At what time in the history of the world would Hosea’s prophecy (Hosea 2:11) naturally be fulfilled? 8. a. What was Christ’s attitude toward the law and the sabbath? b. Is His sabbath precept and example binding on the Christian? 9. What evidence have we that the sabbath is not to be kept after the resurrection of Christ? 10. What Scriptures bear on sabbath keeping in this age? 11. What is their teaching? 12. What day has now superseded the sabbath? 13. What Scriptures disclose the fact that the sabbath will be observed in the Tribulation? 14. What Scriptures disclose the fact that the sabbath will be observed in the Kingdom? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 86: 05.38. THE LORD'S DAY & THE NEW CREATION ======================================================================== The Lord’s Day & The New Creation CHAPTER XXXVIII The first day of the week has been celebrated by the church from the resurrection of Christ to the present time. This fact is proven by the New Testament records, the writings of the early fathers, and the history of the church. There have been those in nearly every century who, not comprehending the present purpose of God in the New Creation, have earnestly contended for the observance of the seventh-day sabbath. At the present time, those who specialize in urging the observance of the seventh day combine these appeals with other unscriptural doctrines. Since the believer is appointed of God to observe the first day of the week under the new relationships of grace, confusion arises when that day is invested with the character of, and is governed by, the seventh-day sabbath laws. All such teachings ignore the New Testament doctrine of the New Creation. I. THE NEW CREATION The New Testament reveals that the purpose of God in the present unforeseen dispensation is the out-calling of the Church (Acts 15:13-18), and this redeemed company is the New Creation, a heavenly people. While it is indicated that there are marvelous glories and perfections which are to be accomplished for this company as a whole (Ephesians 5:25-27), it is also revealed that they individually are the objects of the greatest divine undertakings and transformations. Likewise, as the corporate body is organically related to Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12), so the individual believer is vitally joined to the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:17; Romans 6:5; 1 Corinthians 12:13). Concerning the individual believer, the Bible teaches that, (a) as to sin, each one in this company has been cleansed, forgiven, and justified; (b) as to their possessions, each one has been given the indwelling Spirit, the gift of God which is eternal life, has become a legal heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ; (c) as to their positions, each one has been made the righteousness of God by which he is accepted in the Beloved forever (2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:6), a member of Christ’s mystical body, a part of His glorious bride, and a living partaker in the New Creation of which Christ is the Federal Head. "We read: "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [creation]: old things [as to positions, not experience] are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all [these positional] things are of God" (2 Corinthians 5:17-18; Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 4:25; Galatians 6:15). Peter, writing of this company of believers, states: "But ye are a chosen generation" (1 Peter 2:9), which means a distinct heaven-born race, or nationality -- a stock, or kind -- which has been directly created by the power of God. As the first Adam begat a race which partook of his own human life and imperfections, so Christ, the Last Adam, is now begetting by the Spirit a new race which partakes of His eternal life and perfection. "The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening [life-giving] spirit" (1 Corinthians 15:45). Having partaken of the resurrection life of Christ, and being in Christ, the believer is said to be already raised (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12-13; Colossians 3:1-4). However, as to his body, the believer is yet to receive a glorious body like unto the resurrection body of Christ (Php 3:20). In confirmation of this we also read that when Christ appeared in Heaven immediately following His resurrection, it was as the "firstfruits," implying that the whole company that are to follow will be like Him (1 John 3:3) even to their glorified bodies. In the Word of God, the New Creation -- which began with the resurrection of Christ and consists of a born-again, heavenly company who are in Christ -- is everywhere held in contrast to the old creation, and it is from that old and ruined creation that the believer is said to have been saved and delivered. As the sabbath was instituted to celebrate the old creation (Exodus 20:10-11; Exodus 31:12-17; Hebrews 4:4), so the Lord’s day celebrates the New Creation. Likewise, as the sabbath was limited in its application to Israel as the earthly people of God, so, also, the Lord’s day is limited in its application to the Church as the heavenly people of God. II. THE LORD’S DAY. In addition to the fact that the sabbath is nowhere imposed on the children of God under grace, there are abundant reasons for their observance of the first day of the week. 1. A New Day is Prophesied and Appointed under Grace. According to Psalms 118:22-24 and Acts 4:10-11, Christ in His crucifixion was the Stone rejected by Israel the "builders"; but, through His resurrection, He has been made the Head-Stone of the corner. This marvelous thing is of God, and the day of its accomplishment is divinely appointed as a day of rejoicing and of gladness. In accord with this, Christ’s greeting on the resurrection morn was, "All hail!" (Matthew 28:9, which is more literally, "O joy!"), and being "the day which the Lord hath made," it is rightfully termed "The Lord’s Day." 2. Observance of the First Day is Indicated by Various Events. a. On that day Christ arose from the dead (Matthew 28:1). b. On that day He first met His disciples in the new fellowship (John 20:19). c. On that day He gave them instruction (Luke 24:3-45). d. On that day He ascended into heaven as the "firstfruits," or wave sheaf (John 20:17; 1 Corinthians 15:20; 1 Corinthians 15:23; Leviticus 23:10-12). e. On that day He breathed on them (John 20:22). f. On that day the Spirit descended from Heaven (Acts 2:1-4). g. On that day the Apostle Paul preached in Troas (Acts 20:6-7). h. On that day the believers came together to break bread (Acts 20:6-7). i. On that day they were to "lay by in store" as God had prospered them (1 Corinthians 16:2). j. On that day Christ appeared to John on Patmos (Revelation 1:10). 3. The Eighth Day was the Day of Circumcision. The rite of circumcision, which was performed on the eighth day, typified the believer’s separation from the flesh and the old order by the death of Christ (Colossians 2:11), and the eighth day, being the first day after a completed week, is symbolical of a new beginning. 4. The New Day is of Grace. At the end of a week of toil, a day of rest was granted to the people who were related to God by law-works; while to the people under grace, whose works are finished in Christ, a day of worship is appointed, which being the first day of the week, precedes all days of work. In the blessing of the first day the believer lives and serves the following six days. A day of rest belongs to a people who are related to God by works which were to be accomplished; a day of ceaseless worship and service belongs to a people who are related to God by the finished work of Christ. The seventh day was characterized by unyielding law; the first day is characterized by the latitude and liberty belonging to grace. The seventh day was observed with the hope that by it one might be acceptable to God. The first day is observed with the assurance that one is already accepted of God. The keeping of the seventh day was wrought by the flesh; the keeping of the first day is wrought by the indwelling Spirit. 5. The New Day has been Blessed of God. Throughout this age the most Spirit-filled, devout believers to whom the will of God has been clearly revealed, have kept the Lord’s day apart from any sense of responsibility to keep the seventh day. It is reasonable to suppose that had they been guilty of sabbath breaking, they would have been convicted of that sin. 6. The New Day is Committed only to the Individual Believer. a. It is not committed to the unsaved. It is certainly most misleading to the unsaved to give them grounds for supposing that they will be more accepted of God if they observe a day; for apart from the salvation which is in Christ, all men are utterly and equally lost. For social or physical reasons a day of rest may be secured to the benefit of all; but the unregenerate should understand that the observance of such a day adds nothing to their merit before God. b. It is not committed to the Church as a body. The responsibility relative to the observance of the first day is of necessity committed to the individual believer only, and not to the Church as a whole, and the manner of its celebration by the individual is suggested in the two sayings of Christ on the morning of His resurrection: "O Joy!" and "Go Tell." This calls for ceaseless activity in all forms of worship and service; and such activity is in contrast to the seventh-day rest. 7. No Command is Given to keep the First Day. Since it is all of grace, a written requirement for the keeping of the Lord’s day is not imposed, nor is the manner of its observance prescribed. By this wise provision, none are encouraged to keep the day as a mere duty; it is to be kept from the heart. Israel stood before God as immature children under tutors and governors and needing the commandments which are given to a child (Galatians 4:1-11); while the Church stands before God as adult sons. Their life under grace is clearly defined, but it is presented only as the beseechings of God with the expectation that all shall be done willingly (Ephesians 4:1-3; Romans 12:1-2). There is little question as to how a well-instructed, Spirit-filled believer (and the Scripture presupposes a normal Christian to be such) will be occupied on the day which commemorates Christ’s resurrection and the New Creation. If perchance the child of God is not yielded to God, no unwilling observance of a day will correct his carnal heart nor would such observance be pleasing to God. The issue between God and the carnal Christian is not one of outward actions, but of a yielded life. 8. The Manner of the Observance of the Lord’s Day may be Extended to All Days. Christ was not more devoted to His Father on one day than on another. Sabbath rest could not be extended to all days alike; but, while the believer may have more time and freedom on the first day of the week, his worship, joy and service, which characterizes the keeping of the Lord’s day, should, so far as possible, be his experience all the days (Romans 14:5). QUESTIONS 1. On what evidence is it claimed that the first day of the week has been celebrated since the resurrection of Christ? 2. a. What is the present divine purpose? b. What may be said of the relation the believer sustains to Christ? 3. What has been accomplished for the Christian? 4. What passages refer to the New Creation? 5. To what extent was Adam a type of Christ? 6. Define the believer’s relation to Christ in His resurrection. 7. When did the New Creation begin? 8. What prophecy anticipates the celebration of the Lord’s day? 9. Name the important events which are said to have transpired on the first day of the week. 10. In what particular does the Lord’s day symbolize grace as in contrast to law? 11. Why should not the Lord’s day observance be imposed on the unsaved? 12. How is the Lord’s day to be observed? 13. a. Explain why there are no commands for the keeping of the Lord’s day. b. What is God’s contention with a carnal Christian? 14. Does the Lord’s day call for more piety and devotion to God than the other days of the week? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 87: 05.39. LOVE ======================================================================== Love CHAPTER XXXIX The attributes of God partake of His very Being. His holiness, wisdom, power, and love are as infinite as Himself. The truth that no one hath fully seen God (John 1:18) applies as much to comprehending His character as it does to seeing His form. Like all His attributes, it is as impossible to measure the love of God as it is to measure the Person of God, and all true love is from Him. The Bible alone discloses the source and nature of love. Turning to its pages, we discover (1) the direct, and (2) the indirect manifestations of the love of God. I. THE DIRECT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE LOVE OF GOD While the finite mind can at best comprehend but little of the infinite God, it can, nevertheless, comprehend to the full within the sphere of its own limitations. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3; Ephesians 3:19). Five characteristics of divine love may be mentioned: 1. Its Eternal Duration. "God is love." He has not attained to love by self-effort or culture, nor does He hold love as a detached possession which might be abandoned at will. Love is a vital part of His Being. It began when He began. If His love were to cease, a very essential part of the Person of God would cease. He is what He is, to a large degree, because of His love. The love of God can know no change. To Israel He said, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3); and of Christ it is written, "Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end" (Lit., without end; John 13:1; John 15:9). In God’s love toward an individual, there is neither fluctuation nor cessation. 2. Its Ceaseless Activity. Though the love of God was once and for all manifested in the sacrifice of His well-beloved Son (Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:16), that which was manifested in a moment of time is, nevertheless, the revelation of the eternal attitude of God toward men. Could we have gazed into the heart of God before the creation of the material universe, we would have seen every provision then made for His Lamb to be slain for the sin of the world (Revelation 5:6). Could we now gaze into the heart of God we would see the same undiminished compassion for the lost that was expressed in the death of His Son. The momentary death of Christ was not a spasm in the divine affection; it is the announcement to a lost world of the fact of God’s eternal, unchangeable love. 3. Its Transparent Purity. Concerning this aspect of the love of God no human words avail. There is no selfishness in divine love. God has never sought benefits for Himself. He receives nothing; He bestows everything. Peter exhorts believers to love God with a pure heart fervently (1 Peter 1:22); but how very few love God for what He is in Himself apart from all His benefits! How different it is -with God’s love! Judging by ourselves, we are sure He needs our money, our service, or our influence. He needs nothing from us; but He needs us, and only because His infinite love cannot be satisfied apart from us. The title "Beloved" when addressed to believers is most expressive; for, in their relation to God, their highest function is to be loved. 4. Its Limitless Intensity. The most costly thing in the universe was the blood of God’s only Son; yet God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. The sacrifice of His Son for men when they were "sinners" and "enemies" seems to reach to the outmost bounds of infinity, however, we are told of a "much more" love even than this. It is God’s love for those who have been reconciled and justified through Christ’s death (Romans 5:8-10) -- yea, nothing "shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39). 5. Its Inexhaustible Benevolence. There is no hope for this world apart from the marvelous fact that God loves even sinners. But divine love is not passive. Moved to an infinite degree by His love, God undertook in behalf of those whom He otherwise would have had to banish from His presence forever. God could not ignore the just condemnation of the sinner which His own holiness imposed; but He could take upon Himself the curse which belonged to the sinner -- "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13) -- and this He did in order that, without violating His own holiness, He might be free to save the guilty (Romans 3:26). Being free through the substitutionary death of Christ, God knows no limitations and does not cease working until, to His own satisfaction, He places the justly doomed sinner in Heaven’s highest glory, even conformed to the image of Christ. Saving grace is more than love; it is God’s love set absolutely free and made to triumph over His righteous judgments against the sinner. "By grace are ye saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8; Ephesians 2:4; Titus 3:4-5). There is also in God a perfect hatred for sin which, like a counterpart of His love, prompts Him to save the sinner from his doom. In like manner, this same hatred for sin, combined with His love, makes of God a Father who chastens His child. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten" (Revelation 3:19), and "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth" (Hebrews 12:6). Because of his living union with Christ (1 Corinthians 6:17), the believer is loved of the Father even as Christ is loved (John 17:23), and this infinite love is never decreased even in the hour of correction or trial. II. THE INDIRECT MANIFESTATION OF THE LOVE OF GOD There is little reference in the New Testament to human love. Its emphasis falls rather upon the imparted divine love which is experienced only by the Spirit-filled believer. The message of Romans 5:5 is that the love of God gushes forth out from the Spirit which is given unto us. Since this divine love is "the fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22), He is its source. Thus passing through the believer’s heart the divine love is indirectly manifested. The First Epistle by John emphasizes the truth that, if born of God, we will love as God loves, and 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, is a description of the superhuman character of that love. There is no ecstasy in this life comparable to that of experiencing the unhindered outflow of the love of God. It should be observed that love for God is not under consideration; rather it is the love which is God’s own. Concerning this love, certain things should be noted: 1. It is experienced in answer to the prayer of Christ (John 17:26). 2. God loves the lost world (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:4), and as certainly He abhors the world-system which is evil (1 John 2:15-17). 3. God loves those whom He has redeemed (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 5:25; 1 John 4:12; John 13:34-35; John 15:12-14; 1 John 3:16). 4. God loves the nation Israel (Jeremiah 31:3). 5. God loves those who have wandered from Him (Luke 15:4; Luke 15:20). 6. God’s love is eternal (John 13:1). 7. God’s love is sacrificial, even giving His own Son (1 John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 8:9; Ephesians 5:2). In the mystery of this imparted divine compassion, the Apostle Paul was willing to be accursed from Christ for his brethren -- his kinsmen after the flesh (Romans 9:1-3). 8. The exercise of divine love is the first commandment of Christ under grace (John 13:34-35; John 15:12-14), and should be the outstanding characteristic of every Christian (Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:2; Ephesians 4:15; Ephesians 5:2; Colossians 2:2; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:9). 9. The imparted love of God cannot be cultivated, nor can it be produced by the flesh. It is the normal experience of those who, having met the simple conditions, are filled with the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). QUESTIONS 1. Why may it be said that the attributes of God are infinite? 2. Into what two classifications does the truth concerning the love of God divide? 3. To what extent can we expect to comprehend the One who is infinite? 4. Intimate the abiding character of the love of God. 5. To what extent is the cross an expression of the abiding love of God? 6. Point out the unselfish character of God’s love. 7. What do we know of the intensity of God’s love? 8. State the manner in which God’s love has cooperated in the demands of His holiness to the end that sinners otherwise doomed might be saved. 9. What may be said of the divine hatred for sin? 10. Where in the love of God does union with Christ place the believer? 11. What passages teach the fact that the outflow of divine love is a possible experience of the Christian? 12. State exactly the love which is to be reproduced in the believer by the Spirit. 13. Name nine facts concerning this imparted love of God. 14. Who among the children of God are given the normal experience of the imparted love of God? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 88: 05.40. PRAYER ======================================================================== Prayer CHAPTER XL Prayer, whether it be petition or praise, is the direct communion of man with God, and, according to the Scriptures, is subject to a four-fold classification: I. PRAYER BEFORE THE FIRST ADVENT OF CHRIST Though individual and private prayer was offered by godly men in all the ages, it is evident that prayer, in the main, was offered by the patriarch in behalf of his household (Job 1:5), and during the period between Moses and Christ, by the priests and rulers in behalf of the people. Throughout these centuries, the ground of prayer consisted in pleading the covenants of Jehovah (1 Kings 8:22-26; Nehemiah 9:32; Daniel 9:4), and His holy character (Genesis 18:25; Exodus 32:11-14), and followed the shedding of sacrificial blood (Hebrews 9:7). II. PRAYER IN EXPECTATION OF THE KINGDOM The Messianic claim of Christ and the acceptance of the kingdom at His hand were rejected by the nation Israel; but during the early days of His preaching and when the kingdom alone was in view He taught His disciples to pray for the kingdom to be set up in the earth. The "manner" of this prayer is stated in Matthew 6:9-13, and the prayer is adapted in every particular to the kingdom expectation. Its appeal is for the glory of God by the manifestation of His power in the realization of the kingdom on the earth (Matthew 6:13. Note, also, added teaching relative to prayer in the kingdom, Matthew 7:7-11; Luke 11:2-13). III. THE PRAYER OF CHRIST In this aspect of prayer we recognize the utmost freedom in communion between the Father and the Son, and, as in the High Priestly prayer recorded in John 17:1-26, the theme of His prayer is of those eternal issues between the Father and the Son relative to the saved ones on the earth. Record is given that Christ spent long seasons in prayer (Matthew 14:23), even all night (Luke 6:12), and it is probable that the form of His prayer was the same familiar communion with His Father. There is no ground of appeal in the prayer of Christ. He pleads no mediation or covenant. The privilege of "listening in" when Christ is in prayer concerning us is most blessed (John 17:13). IV. PRAYER UNDER THE RELATIONSHIPS OF GRACE As already pointed out, prayer is not the same throughout all the ages; but, like all other human responsibilities, it is adapted to the various dispensations, and prayer in the present age is no exception. Among the seven outstanding features of the believer’s life under grace which Christ mentioned in the upper room (John 13:1-38, John 14:1-31, John 15:1-27, John 16:1-33, John 17:1-26), prayer is included as one of them; and the teaching of Christ on this most vital theme is given in three passages (John 14:12-14; John 15:7; John 16:23-24). According to this word of Christ, the present possibility of prayer under grace is lifted out of earthly limitations into the sphere of the infinite relationships which obtain in the New Creation. This form of prayer may be considered under four aspects: 1. As to Its Office. Rationalism teaches that prayer is unreasonable since God must know what is required better than the man who prays. Perhaps God did not need to arrange it thus; but it is revealed (John 14:13-14) that prayer has now been divinely constituted an office, or trust. When Christ can say of prayer, "Whatsoever ye shall ask ... that will I do," He has elevated its importance to a point where, to a large degree, God has conditioned His own action on the faithful prayer of the believer. It is no longer a question of reasonableness; it is a question of adjustment. This responsibility in partnership has been established. It is probable that we cannot know all that is involved, but we do know that, in the ministry of prayer, the child of God is brought into vital partnership in the work of God in a manner in which he could not otherwise partake. Since the Christian may share in the glory that follows, he is given this opportunity of sharing in the achievement. This responsibility in partnership is not extended to the believer as a special concession; it is the normal function of one for whom the sacrificial blood has been shed (Hebrews 10:19-20), and who has been vitally joined to Christ in the New Creation. It is not unreasonable that one who is a living part of Christ (Ephesians 5:30) should share both in His service and in His glory. It should be noted that it is in connection with this announcement of the new office of prayer as a co-partnership in achievement that Christ stated, "Greater works than these shall he [the believer] do" (John 14:12), which word is immediately followed by the assurance that He alone undertakes to do in response to this ministry of prayer. So vital is this blending of endeavor between prayer and that which is divinely wrought in its answer that the believer is said by Christ to be the doer of the "greater works." 2. As to Its Appeal. The privilege of praying in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, which under grace is extended to every child of God, lends to prayer a characteristic which lifts it to an infinite degree above every other form of prayer that ever was or ever will be. Likewise, the present form of prayer supersedes all preceding privileges; for when Christ said, "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name" (John 16:24), He dismissed every other ground of prayer that had ever been. We may be sure that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ commands the attention of the Father, and that the Father will not only listen when that name is used, but will be inclined to do whatsoever is asked to be done for the sake of His beloved Son. The name of Christ is equivalent to the Person of Christ, and the name is not given to believers merely as something with which to conjure. Praying in the name of Christ means recognition of one’s self as a living part of Christ in the New Creation and therefore limits the subjects of prayer to those projects which are in direct line with the purposes and glory of Christ. It is praying a prayer which Christ might pray. Since prayer in the name of Christ is like signing His name to our petition, it is reasonable that prayer in His name should be thus limited. Having pointed out that sometimes spiritual poverty is due to the fact that we "ask not," James goes on to state that, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts" (James 4:2-3). Prayer thus may become either an appeal for the things of self, or for the things of Christ. The believer having been saved from self and vitally united to Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17-18; Colossians 3:3), is no longer concerned with self. This is not to say that the believer’s best interests are abandoned; but it is to say that these interests are now looked upon as belonging to the new sphere wherein "Christ is all in all." Being in Christ, it is normal to pray in His name, and abnormal to pray for the mere desires of self which are apart from the glory of Christ. Since prayer is possible only on the ground of the shed blood and by virtue of the believer’s vital union with Christ, the prayer of the unsaved cannot be accepted of God. 3. As to Its Scope. The scope of prayer under grace is stated in the one word "whatsoever"; but not without its reasonable limitations. It is whatsoever ye ask in the name, according to the purposes and glory, of Christ. Before true prayer can be offered, the heart must be conformed to the mind of Christ. Thus it is said, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will" (John 15:7), and this is true; for under such heart adjustment, the child of God will ask only for those things which are in the sphere of God’s will. Under grace, there is perfect liberty of action given to the one in whom God is working both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:13). Likewise, there is unlimited freedom of petition to the one who prays in the will of God. To the Spirit-filled believer it is said: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27). The scope of prayer under grace is not narrow: it is as infinite as the eternal interests of the One in whose name we are privileged to pray. 4. As to Its Practise. It is well for believers to listen to their own manner of prayer that they may correct irreverent phrases, useless repetitions, and be conformed to the divine order. There is a divine order prescribed for prayer under grace. This is stated in the words, "In that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you" (John 16:23), and prayer is to be "in the Holy Spirit" (Jude 1:20). This order is not arbitrarily imposed. However, to pray to Christ is to abandon His mediation by praying to Him, rather than through Him; thereby sacrificing the most vital feature of prayer under grace -- prayer in His name. To pray to the Spirit of God is to pray to Him, rather than by Him; and implies that we are, to that degree, depending on our own sufficiency. It may be concluded then, that prayer under grace is to be offered to the Father, in the name of the Son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. QUESTIONS 1. Name the four-fold classification of prayer. 2. Before the first advent of Christ by whom was prayer offered? 3. "What was the ground of prayer in the Old Testament? 4. State the essential character of prayer for and in the kingdom. 5. a. Indicate the peculiar character of the prayer of Christ. b. Could any prayer of Christ be unanswered? 6. Was His prayer as recorded in Luke 22:42 answered? 7. To what level is prayer under grace lifted? 8. Describe the office of prayer and the extent of its possibilities. 9. What is the new appeal or ground of prayer under grace? 10. Indicate the vital fact of union which underlies the Christian’s privilege of prayer in the name of Christ. 11. Why cannot the unsaved pray as the believer prays under grace? 12. Point out the scope of prayer and the extent of its liberty under grace. 13. a. What is implied when prayer is made to the Second Person of the Trinity? b. What is implied when prayer is made to the Third Person of the Trinity? 14. What is the true order of prayer under grace? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 89: 05.41. SERVICE ======================================================================== Service CHAPTER XLI Service is any work performed for the benefit of another. When tracing this theme through the Bible a series of similarities and contrasts between the Old and New Testament orders will be observed. Almost every doctrine of the New Testament is anticipated in the Old Testament and almost every doctrine of the Old Testament is incomplete until perfected in the New Testament. The theme of service is no exception; for its study will prove to be largely a recognition of the Old Testament type with the New Testament antitype. Service which God appoints, whether of the Old or New Testament order, is committed only to a divinely fitted priesthood. In the Old Testament order the priesthood was a hierarchy over the nation and in their service they were under the authority of the High Priest. In the New Testament order every believer is a priest unto God (1 Peter 2:5-9; Revelation 1:6) and the whole ministering company of New Testament priests is under the authority of Christ who is the true High Priest, of whom all other High Priests were but types. Therefore, according to the New Testament order, service is committed to all believers alike and on the ground of their priestly relation to God. In their priestly ministry, the priests of the New Testament, like the priests of the Old Testament, were appointed to serve both God and man. I. SERVICE TOWARD GOD As there was no evangel to be preached to the nations of the earth, service, in the period covered by the Old Testament, consisted only in the performance by the priests of the divinely appointed ritual in the tabernacle or temple. In contrast to this, the New Testament priestly ministry is much broader in its scope, including not only a service to God and fellow-believers, but to all men everywhere. 1. The Service of Sacrifice. At this point there is a striking similarity to be observed. The Old Testament priest was sanctified or set apart both by the fact that he was born into the priestly family of Levi and by the fact that he, with due ceremony, was inducted into the priestly office, which appointment continued so long as he lived. Likewise, at the beginning of his ministry he was ceremonially cleansed by a once for all bathing (Exodus 29:4). In fulfilling the antitype, the believer priest is wholly and once for all cleansed at the moment he is saved (Colossians 2:13; Titus 3:5), and, by virtue of his salvation is set apart unto God. So, also, he is set apart by the new birth into the family of God. In addition to all this, it is peculiarly required of the New Testament priest that he shall willingly dedicate himself to God. Concerning his self-dedication we read: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1). The phrase, "the mercies of God," refers to the great facts of salvation which have been set forth in the preceding chapters of the book of Romans, into which mercies every believer enters the moment he is saved; while the presentation of the body as a living sacrifice is the self-dedication to the will of God of all that the believer is and has. That which is thus yielded, God accepts and places where He wills in the field of service (Ephesians 2:10). According to the Scriptures, this divine act of accepting and placing is consecration. Therefore, the believer priest may dedicate himself, but never consecrates himself, to God. In connection with the divine act of consecration, it should be observed that, the present work of Christ as High Priest -- receiving, directing, and administering the service of believers -- fulfills that which was typified by the ministry of the Old Testament priest in the consecration of the sons of Levi. Having yielded to God and being no longer conformed to this world, the believer priest will experience a transfigured life by the power of the indwelling Spirit, and by that power he will make full proof of "what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:2). According to the New Testament order, priestly service in sacrifice toward God is three-fold: (a) The dedication of self which is declared to be a "reasonable service" (Romans 12:1), or more literally, "a spiritual worship." As Christ was Himself both a Sacrificer and a Sacrifice, so the believer may glorify God by the offering of his whole body as a living sacrifice to God. (b) The sacrifice of the lips which is the voice of praise and is to be offered continually (Hebrews 13:5). (c) The sacrifice of substance (Php 4:18). Referring to the cleansing of the priests, it should be noted again that the Old Testament priest upon entering his holy office was once for all cleansed by a whole bathing, which bathing was administered to him by another (Exodus 29:4); however, afterwards, though thus wholly bathed, he was required to be cleansed repeatedly by a partial bathing at the brazen laver, and this before undertaking any and every priestly service. In fulfilling the typical significance of this, the New Testament priest, though wholly cleansed and forgiven when saved, is at all times required to confess every known sin in order that he may be cleansed and qualified for fellowship with God (1 John 1:9). As the appointment of the Old Testament priest was for life, so the New Testament priest is a priest unto God forever. 2. The Service of Worship. As worship was a part of the service of every priest of the old order, so every believer is now appointed to worship. In like manner, as the furnishings of the holy place symbolized the worship of the priest in the Old Testament order and every feature and furnishing of that place spoke of Christ, so the believer’s worship is by and through Christ alone. Again, in service unto God, the believer’s worship may be the offering of one’s self to God (Romans 12:1), the ascribing of praise and thanksgiving to God from the heart (Hebrews 13:15), or the sacrificial gifts that ar« offered to Him. In connection with the worship of the Old Testament priests, there were two prohibitions recorded and these, also, are of typical meaning. No "strange" incense was to be burned (Exodus 30:9) -- which speaks typically of mere formality in service toward God; and no "strange" fire was allowed (Leviticus 10:1) -- which symbolizes the substitution of fleshly emotions in our service for true devotion to Christ by the Spirit, or the love of lesser things to the exclusion of the love for Christ (1 Corinthians 1:11-13; Colossians 2:8; Colossians 2:16-19). 3. The Service of Intercession. As the prophet is God’s representative to the people, so the priest is the people’s representative to God, and priesthood, being a divine appointment, the necessary access to God is always provided; however, no priest of the old dispensation was permitted to enter the holy of holies other than the High Priest, and he but once a year on the ground of sacrificial blood (Hebrews 9:7). In this dispensation, in addition to the fact that Christ as High Priest has with His own blood now entered into the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 9:24; Hebrews 10:19-22) and is now interceding for His own who are in the world (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25), when Christ died, the veil of the temple was rent -- which signifies that the way into the holiest is now open, not to the world, but to all who come unto God on the ground of the shed blood of Christ (Hebrews 10:19-22). Having unhindered access to God on the ground of the blood of Christ, the New Testament priest is thus privileged to minister in intercession (Romans 8:26-27; Hebrews 10:19-22; 1 Timothy 2:1; Colossians 4:12). II. SERVICE TOWARD MAN There is a divine arrangement in the order of the truth as found in Romans 12:1-8. Here, as in all the Scriptures, Christian service is not mentioned until the great issues of dedication and consecration are presented. Immediately following the message concerning these fundamental issues, the subject of divinely bestowed gifts for service is introduced, and in this connection it is important to observe the wide difference between the Biblical use of the word gift and that meaning which is given to it in common speech. A gift is generally understood to refer to some native ability received by birth enabling one to do special things. According to the Scriptural use of the word, a gift is a ministry of the indwelling Spirit. It is the Spirit performing a service and using the believer as an instrument. In no sense is it something which is wrought by the believer, or by the believer when assisted by the Spirit. Christian service is said to be a "manifestation of the Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:7), just as Christian character is a "fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-23). Though every believer possesses some divinely bestowed gift (1 Corinthians 12:7; Ephesians 4:7), there is a diversity of gifts (Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Ephesians 4:11). Christians are not all appointed to do the same thing. In this there is a contrast with the priestly office wherein all believers sacrifice, worship, and intercede. Though certain representative gifts which are general are named in the Scriptures (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:8-11; Ephesians 4:11) and though some of these have evidently ceased (1 Corinthians 13:8), it is probable that the ministry of the Spirit through the believers is as varied as the circum« stances in which they are called to serve. Gifts are bestowed that the servant of God may be "profitable" (1 Corinthians 12:7), and it is therefore implied that service which is wrought in the energy of the flesh is not profitable. The Spirit’s manifestation in the exercise of a gift is as "rivers of living water" (John 7:37-39), and is the realization of those "good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). Without being urged, Spirit-filled believers are constantly active in the exercise of their gifts; while carnal believers, though, possessing a gift, are not active in its exercise, nor do they respond to human exhortations. However, when they become adjusted to God by confession of sin, yieldedness of life, and a walk in dependence on the indwelling Spirit, immediately they are Spirit-filled and as a result they desire to do the will of God, and, by His sufficient power working in them, become profitable in that service to which they have been before ordained of God. Christians are not Spirit-filled because they are active in service; they are active in service because they are Spirit-filled. Likewise, it is sometimes the will of God that all activity shall cease and that the weary servant shall rest. It was Christ who said, "Come ye apart ... and rest." QUESTIONS 1. a. What is service? b. Name two general classes of service. 2. To what extent was the Old Testament service restricted? 3. Who are the priests of the New Testament? 4. Name three forms of service toward God which are committed to the New Testament priest. 5. Name three ways in which the Old Testament priest was sanctified, or set apart, which had typical meaning concerning the New Testament priest. 6. Indicate how these three types are fulfilled in the believer and give Scripture for each. 7. What distinction should be recognized between self-dedication and consecration? 8. Name three aspects of priestly service in sacrifice toward God. 9. State the typical meaning of the whole bathing and partial bathing of the Old Testament priest in the experience of the believer. 10. a. In what ways may the service of worship be offered to God? b. State the typical meaning of the two things prohibited in Old Testament worship. 11. On what ground is there access to God in intercession? 12. Define the word gift as used in the New Testament. 13. Distinguish between the exercise of gifts, and priestly service. 14. a. To what purpose are gifts bestowed? b. How may the manifestation of a gift be realized? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 90: 05.42. THANKSGIVING ======================================================================== Thanksgiving CHAPTER XLII True thanksgiving is the voluntary expression of heartfelt gratitude for benefit received. Its effectiveness depends upon its sincerity, as its intensity depends upon the value which is placed upon the benefit received (2 Corinthians 9:11). Thanksgiving is peculiarly personal. There are obligations belonging to us which may be assumed by another; but no one can offer for us our word of thanksgiving (Leviticus 22:29). Thanksgiving is in no way a payment for the benefit received; it is rather a gracious acknowledgment of the fact that the one who had received the benefit is indebted to the giver. Since no payment can be made to God for His unmeasured and uncounted benefits, the obligation to be thankful to Him is stated throughout the Scriptures and all thanksgiving is closely related to worship and praise. Under the old order, the spiritual relationships to God were expressed in material ways. Among these, provision was made for the offering, or sacrifice, of thanksgiving (Leviticus 7:12-13; Leviticus 7:15; Psalms 107:22; Psalms 116:17). Similarly, in this age, it is the privilege of the believer to make sacrificial offerings of thanksgiving to God. However, if while offering the sacrificial gift of thanksgiving the motive should include the thought of compensation, the essential value of thanksgiving is destroyed. The subject of thanksgiving is mentioned about forty times in the Old Testament, and thirty of these references are found in the Psalms. In the Old Testament Scriptures explicit direction is given for the thanksgiving offerings (Leviticus 7:12-15), and praise and thanksgiving were especially emphasized in the revival under Nehemiah (Nehemiah 12:24-40). Likewise, the prophetic message of the Old Testament anticipates thanksgiving as a special feature of worship in the coming Kingdom (Isaiah 51:3; Jeremiah 30:19). So, also, there is ceaseless thanksgiving in Heaven (Revelation 4:9; Revelation 7:12; Revelation 11:17). An important feature of Old Testament thanksgiving is the appreciation of the Person of God apart from all His benefits (Psalms 30:4; Psalms 95:2; Psalms 97:12; Psalms 100:1-5; Psalms 119:62). Though so constantly neglected, this theme of thanksgiving is most important and such praise is reasonable and fitting. "It is a good thing to give thanks unto Jehovah" (Psalms 92:1). Turning to the New Testament, we find that the theme of thanksgiving is mentioned about forty-five times and that this form of praise is offered for both temporal and spiritual blessings. Christ’s unfailing practice of giving thanks for temporal bread (Matthew 15:36; Matthew 26:27; Mark 8:6; Mark 14:23; Luke 22:17; Luke 22:19; John 6:23; 1 Corinthians 11:24) should prove an effectual example to all believers. The Apostle Paul was also faithful in this particular (Acts 27:35. Note also Romans 14:6; 1 Timothy 4:3-4). Thanksgiving on the part of the Apostle Paul is worthy of close attention. He uses the phrase "thanks be unto God" in connection with Christ as the "unspeakable gift" (2 Corinthians 9:15), concerning the victory over the grave which is secured by the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:57), and because of the present triumph which is ours through Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14). His thanksgiving to God for believers (1 Thessalonians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 3:9), for Titus in particular (2 Corinthians 8:16), and his exhortation that thanks be given for all men (1 Timothy 2:1) is likewise an object lesson to all the children of God. Two important features of thanksgiving according to the New Testament should be noted: 1. Thanksgiving Without Ceasing. Since the adorable Person of God is unchanged and His benefits never cease and since the abundant grace of God will redound to the glory of God through the thanksgiving of many (2 Corinthians 4:15), it is reasonable that thanksgiving shall be given to Him without ceasing. Of this form of praise we read: "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name" (Hebrews 13:15. Note also Ephesians 1:16; Ephesians 5:20; Colossians 1:3; Colossians 4:2). This feature of thanksgiving is also emphasized in the Old Testament (Psalms 30:12; Psalms 79:13; Psalms 107:22; Psalms 116:17). 2. Thanksgiving for All Things. Again we read: "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20); "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18. Note also Php 4:6; Colossians 2:7; Colossians 3:17). Giving thanks always for all things is far removed from giving thanks sometimes for some things. However, having accepted the truth that all things work together for good to them that love God, it is fitting that thanks shall be rendered to God for all things. Such God honoring praise can be offered only by those who are saved and who are Spirit-filled (Ephesians 5:18-20). Daniel gave thanks to God in the face of the sentence of death (Daniel 6:10), and Jonah gave thanks to God from the belly of the great fish and from the depths of the sea (Jonah 2:9). The common sin of ingratitude toward God is illustrated by one of the events which is recorded in the ministry of Christ. Ten lepers were cleansed, but only one returned to give thanks, and he was a Samaritan (Luke 17:11-19). It should be noted here that ingratitude is a sin, being included as one of the sins of the "last days" (2 Timothy 3:2). It is probable that there is true sincerity on the part of many unsaved who try to be thankful to God for temporal benefits; but their utter failure to appreciate the gift of His Son leaves them most unthankful in His sight. It should be remembered that Thanksgiving Day was established in this country by believers and for believers and with the recognition of the fact that the Christ-rejecting sinner cannot give acceptable praise unto God. QUESTIONS 1. What is thanksgiving and why is it personal? 2. a. Should thanksgiving be considered a payment of obligation? b. How may a thank-offering be related to true thanksgiving? 3. Indicate the scope of thanksgiving in the Old Testament. 4. In what particular does the Old Testament emphasize the Person of God in thanksgiving? 5. Should a Christian be thankful to God for God Himself apart from all His benefits? 6. According to the New Testament what are the reasons for thanksgiving? 7. What example in thanksgiving did Christ set? 8. Indicate various things for which the Apostle Paul was thankful. 9. What lessons may be drawn from his thanksgiving? 10. Name two important features of thanksgiving according to the New Testament. 11. What abiding blessings call for unceasing thanksgiving? 12. What Scripture calls for unceasing thanksgiving? 13. a. Is it humanly possible to give thanks always for all things? b. By what sufficiency may such thanksgiving be offered? 14. a. What incident in the ministry of Christ illustrates the sin of ingratitude? b. Wherein do the unsaved fail in true gratitude to God? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 91: 05.43. STEWARDSHIP ======================================================================== Stewardship CHAPTER XLIII Money which is earned by toil is human life in concrete form and since money, however gained, is so vital a factor in both spiritual and material progress, the child of God because of his right or wrong use of it will be tried by fire, as he will concerning all his service (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). The element of self is especially evident in matters of Christian finance; for too often money is acquired, held, or dispensed by the child of God without due recognition of that fundamental relationship which he sustains to God. The Christian’s responsibility in stewardship may be considered under three phases: I. THE ACQUIRING OF MONEY Though the motives which actuate people in their efforts to get money are many, there is but one which is worthy of the Christian’s relation to God, which motive is expressed in the words, "Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). This injunction, it may be seen, is far-reaching in its scope. It is divinely arranged that all shall engage in toil (Genesis 3:19; 2 Thessalonians 3:10), and the Christian is not excepted. However, to the spiritual, instructed believer, labor is more than merely earning a living: it is doing the will of God; for every employment, be it ever so menial, should be accepted by the child of God as a specific appointment from God, and to be done for Him, else not done at all. The incidental fact that God is pleased to give His child food and raiment through daily labor should not obscure the greater truth that God in infinite love is committed to the care of His children, and this without reference to their earning power (Php 4:19; Hebrews 13:5). The saying, "God provides for those only who cannot provide for themselves," is untrue. He cares for His own at all times, since all that they have is from Him (1 Samuel 2:7). In the relationships among men there are agreements and salaries to be recognized, for "the labourer is worthy of his hire"; but in relation to his Father, the Christian’s highest ideal concerning his toil is that whatever he does, he does at the appointment of his Father, for His sake, and as an expression of devotion to Him. Likewise, whatever is received is not earned, but is rather the expression of the Father’s loving care. Such an attitude is not sentimental or impractical; it is the only basis upon which the believer can sanctify all his toil by doing it for the glory of God, or be able to "rejoice evermore" (1 Thessalonians 5:16) in the midst of the burdens of life. II. THE POSSESSING OF MONEY In view of the appalling need on every hand and the unmeasured good that money may accomplish, every spiritual Christian is facing the practical question relative to retaining property in his own possession. It is doubtless often the will of God that property shall be kept in store; but the yielded Christian will not assume this. His property will be held only as God directs and it will be subject to His control. The motives which actuate men both rich and poor -- the desire to be rich (1 Timothy 6:8-9; 1 Timothy 6:17-18; James 1:11; Hebrews 13:5; Php 4:11), the desire to provide against a day of need (Matthew 6:25-34), and the desire to provide for others -- are commendable only as they fulfill the specifically revealed will of God in each individual’s life. III. THE DISPENSING OF MONEY Self and money are alike the roots of much evil, and in the dispensing of money, as in its acquisition and possession, the Christian is expected to stand upon a grace relationship to God. This relationship pre-supposes that he has first given himself to God in unqualified dedication (2 Corinthians 8:5), and a true dedication of self to God includes all that one is and has (1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Corinthians 7:23; 1 Peter 1:18-19) -- his life, his time, his strength, his ability, his ideals, and his property. In matters pertaining to the giving of money, the grace principle involves the believer’s recognition of God’s sovereign authority over all that the Christian is and has, and is in contrast to the Old Testament legal system of tithing which system was in force as a part of the law until the law was done away (John 1:16-17; Romans 6:14; Romans 7:1-6; 2 Corinthians 3:1-18; Ephesians 2:15; Colossians 2:14; Galatians 3:19-25; Galatians 5:18). Though certain principles of the law were carried forward and restated under grace, tithing, like sabbath observance, is never imposed on the believer in this dispensation. Since the Lord’s day superseded the legal sabbath and is adapted to the principles of grace as the sabbath could not be, so tithing has been superseded by a new system of giving which is adapted to the teachings of grace as tithing could not be. Christian giving under grace as illustrated in the experience of the saints at Corinth, is summarized in 2 Corinthians 8:1-24, 2 Corinthians 9:1-15. In this passage we discover: 1. Christ was their pattern. The Lord’s giving of Himself (2 Corinthians 8:9) is the pattern of all giving under grace. He did not give a tenth; He gave all. 2. Their giving was even out of great poverty. A striking combination of phrases is employed to describe what the Corinthians experienced in their giving (2 Corinthians 8:2): "In a great trial of affliction," "the abundance of their joy," "their deep poverty abounded," "the riches of their liberality." Likewise, concerning liberality in spite of great poverty, it should be remembered that "the widow’s mite" (Luke 21:1-4), which drew out the commendation of the Lord Jesus, was not a part, but "all that she had." 3. Their giving was not by commandment, nor of necessity. Under the law, a tenth was commanded and its payment was a necessity; under grace, God is not seeking the gift, but an expression of devotion from the giver. Under grace no law is imposed, and no proportion to be given is stipulated; and, while it is true that God works in the yielded heart both to will and to do His good pleasure (Php 2:14), He finds pleasure only in that gift which is given cheerfully, or more literally, hilariously (2 Corinthians 9:7). If a law existed stipulating the amount to be given, there are those, doubtless, who would seek to fulfill it, even against their own wishes and thus their gift would be made "grudgingly," and "of necessity." If it be said that to support the work of the Gospel we must have money whether given hilariously or not, it may also be said that it is not the amount which is given, but rather the divine blessing upon the gift that accomplishes the desired end. Christ fed five thousand from five loaves and two fishes, and there is abundant evidence to prove that wherever the children of God have fulfilled their privilege in giving under grace, their liberality has resulted in "all sufficiency in all things" which has made them "abound unto every good work," for God is able to make even the grace of giving to "abound" to every believer (2 Corinthians 9:8). 4. They gave themselves. Acceptable giving is preceded by a complete giving of one’s own self (2 Corinthians 8:5). This suggests the important truth that giving under grace, like giving under the law, is limited to a certain class of people. Tithing was never imposed by God on any other than the nation Israel. So, Christian giving is limited to believers, and is most acceptable when given by believers who have yielded their lives to God. 5. They gave systematically. Like tithing, there is suggested systematic regularity in giving under grace. "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him" (1 Corinthians 16:2). This injunction is addressed to "every man" (every Christian man), and thus excuses none; and giving is to be from that which is already "in store," rather than a promise or pledge concerning funds which they have not yet received. It may be observed that very much giving at the present time is a direct violation of this principle. Believers are everywhere urged to make their "pledge" based on what they hope to receive. 6. God Sustains the Giver. God will sustain grace-giving with limitless temporal resources (2 Corinthians 9:8-10; Luke 6:38). In this connection it may be seen that those who give as much as a tenth are usually prospered in temporal things; but, since the believer can have no relation to the law (Galatians 5:1), it is evident that this prosperity is the fulfillment of the promise under grace, rather than the fulfillment of promises under the law. No blessings are thus dependent on the exact tithing. The blessings are bestowed because a heart has expressed itself through a gift. It is manifest that no gift will be made to God from the heart which He will not graciously acknowledge. There is no opportunity here for designing people to become rich. The giving must be from the heart, and God’s response will be according to His perfect will for His child. He may respond by bestowing spiritual riches, or in temporal blessings as He shall choose. 7. True Riches are from God. The Corinthian Christians were made rich with heavenly riches. There is such a thing as being rich in this world’s goods and yet not rich toward God (Luke 12:21). All such are invited to buy of Him that gold which is tried in the fire (Revelation 3:18). Through the absolute poverty of Christ in His death, all may be made rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). It is possible to be rich in faith (James 2:5), and rich in good works (1 Timothy 6:18); but in Christ Jesus the believer receives "the riches of grace" (Ephesians 1:7), and "the riches of glory" (Ephesians 3:16). QUESTIONS 1. Name three general phases of stewardship. 2. What, according to the Scriptures, should be the Christian’s supreme motive in acquiring money? 3. What attitude should a yielded Christian assume toward his daily toil? 4. What attitude should he assume toward the money he receives? 5. How may all work be done to the glory of God and with increasing joy? 6. On what ground should a spiritual Christian hold property? 7. What fact underlies all giving under grace? 8. Is tithing imposed on the children of God in this dispensation? 9. a. What proportion of a Christian’s property is now under the authority of God? b. What portion did Christ give? 10. Is poverty a legitimate excuse for not giving? 11. a. What is meant by the phrases "giving grudgingly" and "giving of necessity"? b. What in giving is more important than the money? 12. a. Of whom did God expect a tenth? b. Of whom does He expect gifts under grace? 13. a. What principle of giving is violated by pledges? b. Explain the fact that divine blessings follow the giving of a tenth. 14. Indicate some of the true riches and State the way they may be received. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 92: 05.44. PROPHECY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ======================================================================== Prophecy In The Old Testament CHAPTER XLIV In all ages it has pleased God to pre-announce certain things He proposed to do. Those announcements are termed prophecies. All prophecy is history pre-written and it is as credible as any word God hath spoken (2 Timothy 3:16). While prophecy is found in almost every book of the Bible, sixteen books of the Old Testament and one book of the New Testament are wholly prophetic in character. In all, nearly one-fourth of the Bible was predictive when it was written. A portion of the Bible prediction has now been fulfilled, and, it should be noted, in every case its fulfillment has been literal or precisely as predicted. It is reasonably concluded, therefore, that all remaining prophecy will be as literally fulfilled. It is probable that, to some degree, prophecy has been divinely sealed (Daniel 12:9) until the end of the age and it is therefore significant that to this portion of the Scriptures so much study is now being given with gratifying results. However, throughout its history the Protestant church has retained in a large measure the Roman Catholic assumption that the church is the kingdom and is therefore appointed to conquer and govern the earth. A right understanding of prophecy is demanded if the student is rightly to divide the Word of Truth and to discern his own place and divine appointments in the world. While it is not difficult to believe the record of events given in the Bible which have already taken place, it is a test upon faith to believe the record of events which are yet future and known only through the prophecies of the Bible. A consistent interpretation of prophecy requires that all words such as Israel, Zion, Kingdom, and Church shall be given their natural and obvious meaning, and that no place shall be allowed for the supposition that there are various and equally acceptable ways of interpreting the Scriptures. The Bible lends itself to but one program of events and to this program all Scripture is in perfect accord. While men may earnestly contend for the "Post" or the "Non," or the "Pre"-millenarian interpretation, but one of these could be according to truth. It is evident that all Bible interpretation will be incomplete without the knowledge of prophecy, and it is equally true that the right understanding of the New Testament is wholly dependent upon the right understanding of Old Testament prediction. The Apostle Paul stated regarding himself that he could gain the enviable title of "a good minister of Jesus Christ" (1 Timothy 4:6) only as he in all faithfulness put his hearers in remembrance of things which were yet future (1 Timothy 4:1-5). The prophet was God’s representative to man, as the priest was man’s representative to God. There is a beautiful order in the fact that he was first called "the man of God," then "the seer," and finally "the prophet" (1 Samuel 9:8-9). There were many "false prophets" who uttered only their own messages; the true prophets of God were moved (Lit., borne along) by the Spirit of God (1 Peter 1:21), though not all of them were called upon to write their predictions. All true prophets were patriots and reformers, and it is noticeable that their ministry was exercised at such times as the nation Israel, to whom they spoke, was drifting away from God. While the study of prophecy is as inexhaustible as the Scriptures themselves, there are certain major themes of prophecy in both the Old and the New Testaments. The major themes of prophecy in the Old Testament are: I. CONCERNING THE GENTILES Old Testament prophecy relative to the Gentiles begins with the allotment of the portion of the sons of Noah (Genesis 9:25-27), which prediction has been fulfilled to the present hour. Another extensive Gentile prophecy of the Old Testament concerns the judgments of God upon the nations surrounding Israel -- Babylon and Chaldea (Isaiah 13:1-22; Isaiah 14:18-27; Jeremiah 50:1-46, Jeremiah 51:1-64), Moab (Isaiah 15:1-9; Isaiah 16:1-14; Jeremiah 48:1-4), Damascus (Isaiah 17:1-14; Jeremiah 49:23-27), Egypt (Isaiah 19:1-25; Jeremiah 46:2-28), Philistia and Tyre (Isaiah 23:1-18; Jeremiah 47:1-7), Edom (Jeremiah 49:7-22) Ammon (Jeremiah 49:1-6), Elam (Jeremiah 49:34-39) -- which likewise have largely been fulfilled (see, also, Amos 1:1-15). Additional Gentile prophecy is recorded in the Old Testament as to world-ruling monarchies and their authority during the "times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24). This succession of governments was revealed to Daniel (Daniel 2:37-45; Daniel 7:1-14) and subsequent history has proven these kingdoms to have been Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece and Rome. Old Testament prophecy also anticipates the final judgment of the Gentile nations (Joel 3:2-16; Zephaniah 3:8). However, Old Testament prophecy gives assurance that the Gentiles will come into great blessing in the kingdom age (Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 49:6; Isaiah 49:22; Isaiah 60:3; Isaiah 62:2). II. CONCERNING ISRAEL’S EARLY HISTORY This group of predicted events which began with Abraham covers Israel’s life both in the land and in bondage, and the detailed predictions are found in the Pentateuch and the Books of history. All of these prophecies have been fulfilled and in the most literal manner. Some of these predictions are: (a) Israel’s Egyptian bondage and release (Genesis 15:13-14); (b) The character and destiny of Jacob’s sons (Genesis 49:1-28); (c) Israel in the land following the Egyptian bondage (Deuteronomy 4:26-30; Deuteronomy 31:14-23); (d) Israel’s three dispossessions of the land (Genesis 15:13-14; Genesis 15:16; Jeremiah 25:11-12; Deuteronomy 28:62-67. See, also, Psalms 106:1-48; Deuteronomy 30:1-3; Leviticus 26:3-46; Nehemiah 1:8; Jeremiah 9:16; Jeremiah 18:15-17; Ezekiel 12:14-15; Ezekiel 20:23; Ezekiel 22:15; James 1:1). III. CONCERNING THE NATION ISRAEL Beginning with the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12:1-4; Genesis 13:14-17; Genesis 15:1-7; Genesis 17:1-8), and continuing throughout the Old Testament there is prediction concerning the chosen earthly people of God. To them has been promised: a national entity (Jeremiah 31:36), a land (Genesis 13:15), a throne (2 Samuel 7:16; Psalms 89:36), a King (Jeremiah 33:21), and a kingdom (Daniel 7:14). All of these divine blessings are endless in their duration; yet reservation is made whereby these blessings may be interrupted as a chastisement upon the nation, but never can they be abrogated. The importance of the chosen people in the reckoning of God and the extent of the Scriptures bearing upon their past, present, and future, is disclosed when it is seen that all Scripture from Genesis 12:1 to the end of Malachi relates to them directly or indirectly. As to their future, this people will, according to prophecy, take the leading place among all the peoples of the earth, planted forever upon their own land under the gracious reign of David’s Greater Son sitting on David’s throne. IV. CONCERNING THE LAST DISPERSION AND REGATHERING OF ISRAEL By the Assyrian captivity of the Northern Kingdom and the Babylonian captivity of the Southern Kingdom and as a national punishment for sin, the whole house of Israel was taken from off the land and in due time was scattered among the nations of the earth. This was in fulfillment of multiplied prophecies (Leviticus 26:32-39; Deuteronomy 28:63-68; Psalms 44:11; Nehemiah 1:8; Jeremiah 9:16; Jeremiah 18:15-17; Ezekiel 12:14-15; Ezekiel 20:23; Ezekiel 22:15; James 1:1). In no case would Israel’s national entity be lost even through centuries of dispersion (Jeremiah 31:36; Matthew 24:34). They refused the divine offer and provision for their regathering and kingdom glory which was made by their Messiah at His first advent (Matthew 23:37-39), and, as at Kadesh-barnea where their wilderness experience was extended (Numbers 14:1-45), their chastisement was continued, and will be continued until He comes again. At that time He will regather His people into their own land and cause them to enter into the glory and blessedness of every covenant promise of Jehovah concerning them (Deuteronomy 30:1-10; Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 23:3-8; Ezekiel 37:21-25; Matthew 24:31). V. CONCERNING THE ADVENT OF MESSIAH From 1 Peter 1:10-11 it is clear that the prophets of the Old Testament were unable to distinguish two advents of the Messiah. So perfectly was the present age a secret in the counsels of God that, to the prophets, these events which were fulfilled at His first coming and those which are yet to be fulfilled, at His second coming were in no way separated as to the time of their fulfillment. Isaiah 61:1-2 is an illustration of this. When reading this passage in the synagogue of Capernaum, Christ ceased abruptly when He had concluded the record of those features which were predicted for His first advent (Luke 4:18-21), making no mention of the remaining features which are to be fulfilled when He comes again. In like manner, the Angel Gabriel, when anticipating the ministry of Christ, combined as in one the undertakings which belong to both the first and the second advents (Luke 1:31-33). According to Old Testament prophecy, Christ was to come both as a sacrificial, unresisting Lamb (Isaiah 53:1-12), and as the conquering and glorious Lion of the tribe of Judah (Isaiah 11:1-12; Jeremiah 23:5-6). Considering these two extensive lines of prediction, there is little wonder that there was perplexity in the minds of the Old Testament prophets as to the "manner of time" when all this would be fulfilled (1 Peter 1:10-11). Prophecy stipulated that the Messiah must be of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10), of the house of David (Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 33:21), born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), in Bethlehem of Judea (Micah 5:2), that He must die a sacrificial death (Isaiah 53:1-12), by crucifixion (Psalms 22:1-21), rise again from the dead (Psalms 16:8-11), and come to earth the second time (Deuteronomy 30:3) on the (clouds of Heaven (Daniel 7:13). Jesus of Nazareth has fulfilled, and will fulfill, every requirement of prophecy concerning the Messiah as no other claimant can ever do. VI. CONCERNING THE TRIBULATION Closely related to the present age-long chastisement of Israel, Old Testament prophecy anticipates a time of unprecedented tribulation in the earth (Deuteronomy 4:29-30; Psalms 2:5; Isaiah 24:16-20; Jeremiah 30:4-7; Daniel 12:1). Though this line of prediction is greatly enlarged in the New Testament, the Old Testament prophecy indicates the one essential feature of this period. It is said to be "the time of Jacob’s trouble" (Jeremiah 30:4-7), and comes to that nation as the consummation of their sufferings at the hand of Jehovah for their sins. VII. CONCERNING THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM AND THE DAY OF THE LORD In respect to the amount of the Scriptures involved, there is no theme of Old Testament prophecy comparable with that of the Messianic kingdom. Lying beyond all the predicted chastisements that are to fall on Israel is the glory which will be theirs when regathered into their own land, with unmeasured spiritual blessings under the glorious reign of their Messiah-King. This vision was given to all the prophets and as certainly and literally as Israel, in fulfillment of prophecy, was removed from the land and caused to suffer during these many centuries, so certainly and literally will she be restored to marvelous blessings in a redeemed and glorified earth (Isaiah 11:1-16; Isaiah 12:1-6; Isaiah 24:22-23, Isaiah 25:1-12, Isaiah 26:1-21, Isaiah 27:1-13; Isaiah 35:1-10; Isaiah 52:12; Isaiah 54:17, Isaiah 55:1-13; Isaiah 59:20-21, Isaiah 60:1-22, Isaiah 61:1-11, Isaiah 62:1-12, Isaiah 63:1-19, Isaiah 64:1-12, Isaiah 65:1-25, Isaiah 66:1-24; Jeremiah 23:3-8; Jeremiah 31:1-40; Jeremiah 32:37-41; Jeremiah 33:1-26; Ezekiel 34:11-31; Ezekiel 36:32-38; Ezekiel 37:1-28; Ezekiel 40:1-49, Ezekiel 41:1-26, Ezekiel 42:1-20, Ezekiel 43:1-27, Ezekiel 44:1-31, Ezekiel 45:1-25, Ezekiel 46:1-24, Ezekiel 47:1-23, Ezekiel 48:1-35; Daniel 2:44-45; Daniel 7:14; Hosea 3:4-5; Hosea 13:9-16, Hosea 14:1-9; Joel 2:28-32, Joel 3:1-21; Amos 9:11-15; Zephaniah 3:14-20; Zechariah 8:1-23; Zechariah 14:9-21). Old Testament predictions concerning the kingdom are often a part of the predictions concerning the return of the King and when these two themes are combined into one, it is termed The Day of the Lord, which phrase refers to that lengthened period extending from the second coming of Christ and the accompanying judgments in the earth, to the end of His millennial reign (Isaiah 2:10-22; Zechariah 14:1-21). Because of the fact that none of the great prophecies were fulfilled in the days covered by the Old Testament, that portion of the Bible is in itself incomplete and therefore to that extent disappointing. By the second coming of Christ who is the fulfiller of her prophecies (Matthew 5:17), the "consolation" of Israel is to be realized (Luke 2:25). QUESTIONS 1. What relation does prophecy sustain to history? 2. What portion of the Bible is prophetic? 3. What may be said regarding the interpretation of prophecy? 4. What may be said concerning the men who were prophets? 5. Name four features of Old Testament prediction concerning the Gentiles. 6. Name four features of Old Testament prediction concerning Israel’s early history. 7. Name five covenant blessings which according to Old Testament prophecy are to come to Israel. 8. Name some of the predictions which speak of Israel’s present dispersion and her future regathering. 9. Under what limitation did the Old Testament prophets write concerning the advent of Messiah? 10. Name the specifications which the true Messiah must fulfill. 11. Could any individual other than Christ meet these conditions today? 12. What essential features of the Great Tribulation are mentioned in Old Testament prophecy? 13. What time and what events are included in the Day of the Lord? 14. In what sense is the Old Testament incomplete? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 93: 05.45. PROPHECY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT ======================================================================== Prophecy In the New Testament CHAPTER XLV As the Old Testament closes with the expectation unrealized concerning the coming of Israel’s King and His kingdom, so the New Testament opens with the advent of the King and the offer to that nation of His kingdom (Matthew 2:1-2; Matthew 4:17). They rejected the King (Matthew 23:37-38), and answered His claims by crucifixion. Before His death, He spoke in prophecy concerning that death, His resurrection, His departure from this world (John 16:5) and of His coming again (Matthew 24:27-31; Matthew 25:31). Likewise, He spoke in prophecy of a new hitherto unannounced age which was to intervene between His rejection and His return, and which was to introduce new and far-reaching divine purposes in the earth (Matthew 13:1-50). Thus at the very beginning of the New Testament, the message of prophecy contained in the Old Testament is advanced and broadened with great rapidity. Though prophecy is included in nearly every book of the New Testament, the consummation of prophecy for the New Testament and for all the Scriptures is set forth in the last book of the Bible. That Book, though containing but twenty-two brief chapters is the termini of all highways of prophecy which like great trunk lines have threaded their way through all the Word of God. Because of its relation to all that has gone before, the Book of Revelation cannot be understood apart from all preceding prophecy, nor can the preceding prophecy be understood until it is traced for its consummation to this closing portion of the Scriptures. Some of these highways of prophecy are: The Person of Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King; The destiny of Israel, of the Church, of the Gentiles, of human institutions and governments, of Satan and his hosts both of earth and of Heaven. The extent of this Book is disclosed in the fact that in it this age and the future ages are also unfolded. It records the history of the Church on the earth in the present dispensation and unfolds the coming days of the Tribulation. It reaches on to the glorious millennial reign of Christ on the earth and unfolds the blessedness of the redeemed and the woes of the lost in the eternity to come. The continuity of the whole Bible is shown in many ways, but in none is it seen more clearly than in the fact of prophecy and its fulfillment. The New Testament takes up unfulfilled Old Testament prophecy and carries it on to its consummation; it also introduces new themes of prediction and advances them to their fulfillment. The major themes of the New Testament are: I. THE NEW AGE The present dispensation which has extended already nearly two thousand years and which lies between the two advents of Christ, was never anticipated in any Old Testament prophecy. Also, in being mentioned as a "mystery" (Matthew 13:11), it is declared to be one of the sacred secrets hidden in the counsels of God until the appointed time of its revelation; for a "mystery" in the New Testament use of the word is something hitherto unrevealed (note Romans 11:25; 2 Thessalonians 2:7; Colossians 1:27; Ephesians 3:1-6; Ephesians 5:25-32; 1 Corinthians 15:51). The phrase "The kingdom of heaven" refers to any rule God may exercise at any time in the earth. Being limited to the earth, it is to be distinguished from the kingdom of God, which embraces not only the sphere of the kingdom of heaven, but all that is in Heaven, and the whole universe. While the long predicted millennial reign of Christ in the earth is the final form of the kingdom of heaven and that which was foreseen by all the prophets and announced by Christ in His early ministry, the present dispensation, being that form of divine rule in the earth in which God is ruling to the extent that He is realizing the accomplishment of those things which are termed "mysteries," is rightly called "the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 13:11). The first twelve chapters of the Gospel by Matthew present Christ as Israel’s Messiah and record the first indication of His rejection by that nation. Following these indications of His rejection, He, as recorded in Matthew 13:1-58, announces by seven parables the features of the new age and indicates its character at its beginning, its course, and its end. At the opening of Matthew 13:1-58, the sphere of the divine purpose is changed from the nation Israel to the whole world, and Israel is seen only as a "treasure" hid in a field (Matthew 13:44). The seed of the Gospel is sown in the whole world and the harvest is an out-calling of those who believe. These will be received and preserved as the children of God, while those who do not believe are to be rejected and judged. This new age at its beginning was said to be evil (Galatians 1:4), and its course is characterized by the parallel development of both the evil and the good (Matthew 13:24-30; Matthew 13:36-43). Its "last days" and their evil character are set forth in one of the most extensive bodies of the New Testament Scriptures (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; James 5:1-10; 2 Peter 2:1-22, 2 Peter 3:1-8; Jude 1:1-24; Revelation 3:14-22). In no sense does the Bible predict a converted earth in this dispensation (Matthew 13:1-50; Matthew 24:38-39; 2 Timothy 3:16); but it does anticipate the perfect realization of the purpose of God. II. THE NEW DIVINE PURPOSE The New Testament introduces the Church as a new classification of humanity in addition to the Jews and the Gentiles who have been seen throughout the Old Testament (1 Corinthians 10:32). By the word Church (note its first use -- Matthew 16:18) reference is made to those from all kindreds and tribes who in this age are born again, and thus, by receiving the new resurrection life of Christ and by being baptized with the Spirit, are in Christ forming the New Creation. Into this company both Jews and Gentiles are gathered (Ephesians 3:1-6) through the preaching of the Gospel of divine grace. This redeemed company are now related to Christ as, His sheep (John 10:6-16), the branches in the Vine (John 15:1-5), the stones in a building (Ephesians 2:18-22), a kingdom of priests (1 Peter 2:5; Hebrews 8:1), the New Creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), the body (Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 3:6), and they will be related to Him as His bride in Heaven (Revelation 19:7-8; Revelation 21:9). When the divine purpose in the out-calling of the Church has been completed, Christ will come to receive His own (John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). Those who may have died will be raised (1 Corinthians 15:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17), and those then living will be translated (1 Corinthians 15:51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17), and all, whether by resurrection or translation, shall receive a new body like unto His glorious body (Php 3:20). New Testament prophecy carries the Church through all the pilgrim experiences on the earth (Revelation 2:1-29, Revelation 3:1-22), sees her received into Heaven at the Coming of the Lord, and sees her returning with Him to reign with Him on the earth (Revelation 19:14; Revelation 20:6). III. THE NATION ISRAEL New Testament prophecy takes up the nation Israel where Old Testament prophecy leaves them -- a disorganized and partly scattered people a portion of whom are living in the land but without right or title. Dispensationally, they are nationally set aside, but individually they are on the same plane with the Gentiles (Romans 3:9) and alike shut up to the offer of salvation by grace alone. Christ predicted that the wrath of God would fall upon them and that their beloved city would be destroyed (Luke 21:20-24) which prophecy was fulfilled by the siege under Titus in the year 70 A.D. Likewise, He predicted the sorrows of the Tribulation (Matthew 24:8-22), their sifting judgments preparatory to their entrance into their kingdom glory (Matthew 24:44-51, Matthew 25:1-30; note also, Ezekiel 20:38), and His own occupancy of the throne of David (Matthew 25:31; note, also, Luke 1:31-33; Acts 15:16-17) when their blessings under the Davidic covenant will be realized. The Apostle Paul prophesied of Israel’s national conversion (Romans 11:26-27) and the Apostle John prophesied of their place in the Tribulation (Revelation 7:4-17; Revelation 12:13-17) and of their coming kingdom in the earth (Revelation 20:4; Revelation 20:6). At its beginning it was predicted that, throughout this dispensation the nation Israel would be hid (Matthew 13:44), blind (Romans 11:25), broken off (Romans 11:17), without their national center (Luke 21:24), and scattered (Matthew 10:6; James 1:1); that in the Tribulation they are to be hated (Matthew 24:9); and in the kingdom they are to be regathered (Matthew 24:31) and saved (Romans 11:27). IV. THE GENTILES "The times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24), which began in the last dispersion six hundred years before Christ, are characterized by a succession of world empires (Daniel 2:37-45; Daniel 7:1-14), continue their course throughout the present dispensation and are ended by the coming of Christ. Fulfilling Daniel’s prophecy of the "smiting stone" (Daniel 2:36-45), He comes in "the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God" (Revelation 19:15), conquering the God-defying nations of the earth in the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19:17-21; Revelation 17:8-18). Then, also, the nations are to be judged and from among them appointments made of those who shall be counted worthy to enter the coming kingdom (Matthew 25:34), and those who shall be dismissed into everlasting fire (Matthew 25:41-46). The divine purpose in the present dispensation is that the Gospel shall be preached to Gentiles as well as to Jews (Acts 9:15; Acts 13:47; Acts 15:14; Romans 3:9; Romans 3:29; Romans 11:11; Romans 15:9-27; Ephesians 3:6). V. THE TRIBULATION Continuing with greater detail the Old Testament predictions concerning the Tribulation, the New Testament is both explicit and extensive. Christ spoke of that time in relation to Israel (Matthew 24:8-31), the Apostle Paul writes of it in its relation to the forces of evil (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12), while the Apostle John records at length the tremendous divine program which will be enacted in those days (Revelation 3:10; Revelation 6:1-17, Revelation 7:1-17, Revelation 8:1-13, Revelation 9:1-21, Revelation 10:1-11, Revelation 11:1-19, Revelation 12:1-17, Revelation 13:1-18, Revelation 14:1-20, Revelation 15:1-8, Revelation 16:1-21, Revelation 17:1-18, Revelation 18:1-24, Revelation 19:1-6). In this brief period which is probably at most but seven years (Daniel 9:24-27, and shortened a little, Matthew 24:22), judgments are accomplished in the earth, the forces of evil are first released and then terminated, ¦while both ecclesiastical and political Babylon are destroyed. VI. SATAN AND FORCES OF EVIL Prophecy concerning Satan begins in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 28:11-19; Isaiah 14:12-17) and concludes with his expulsion from Heaven into the earth (Revelation 12:7-12), his binding and confinement to the abyss (Revelation 20:1-3), and, after he has been released from the abyss for a little season and has led the last revolt against the authority of God (Revelation 20:7-9), his final doom in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). Closely related to prophecy concerning Satan is that of the Man of Sin which prophecy also begins in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 28:1-10; Daniel 7:8; Daniel 9:24-27; Daniel 11:36-45) and includes the prophecy by Christ in which the coming of that wicked one is pointed out as a sign to Israel of the end of the age (Matthew 24:15). Likewise, the Apostle Paul foresees him desecrating the restored temple, declaring himself to be God, and then to be destroyed by the glorious appearing of Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12); while the Apostle John sees him in both his governmental power and his final doom (Revelation 13:3-10; Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:10). VII. THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST This the greatest theme of all prophecy was the subject of the first prediction by man (Jude 1:14-15), and is the last message of the Bible (Revelation 22:20). It is the dominant feature of all Old Testament prophecy concerning the Day of the Lord and, likewise, is the major theme of New Testament prophecy. Beginning with the first evidence of Israel’s rejection of His Messianic claims, this great event was continually upon the lips of Christ (Matthew 23:37-39, Matthew 24:1-51, Matthew 25:1-46; Mark 13:1-37; Luke 21:5-38). Again, it is emphasized by the Apostle Paul (Romans 11:26; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-4; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-24, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12), by James (James 5:1-8), by Peter (2 Peter 2:1-21, 2 Peter 2:1-22, 2 Peter 3:1-17), by Jude (Jude 1:14-15), and by John throughout the Revelation. VIII. THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM Continuing this major theme of the Old Testament prophecy, the New Testament adds many details. The kingdom teachings of Christ, addressed to Israel as recorded! in the Synoptic Gospels, portray the character and glory of that coming age, while the Apostle John reveals it duration to be a period of one thousand years (Revelation 20:4; Revelation 20:6). IX. THE ETERNAL STATE While little is written in the Old Testament, the final estates of both the saved and the lost are in view throughout the New Testament. Of those who testify regarding these future conditions, Christ and the Apostle John have spoken with greatest emphasis (Matthew 25:46; John 14:1-3; Revelation 20:14-15; Revelation 21:1-27, Revelation 22:1-15). QUESTIONS 1. Indicate the manner in which prophecy relates the Old and New Testaments. 2. What relation to all Bible prophecy does the one prophetic book of the New Testament sustain? 3. Is the continuity of the Bible indicated by prophecy and its fulfillment? 4. a. Distinguish the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. b. What is meant by the "mysteries" of the kingdom of heaven? 5. a. What are the essential details of Christ’s prophecies in Matthew 13? b. What is the divine purpose in this dispensation? 6. a. What are the essential features of the Church? b. How is the Church to be removed from this world? 7. What additional facts does New Testament prophecy add to the message of Old Testament prophecy concerning Israel? 8. What additional facts does New Testament prophecy add to the message of Old Testament prophecy concerning the Gentiles? 9. What additional facts does New Testament prophecy add to the message of Old Testament prophecy concerning the Tribulation? 10. What does prophecy reveal concerning the origin and destiny of Satan and the Man of Sin? 11. What additional facts does New Testament prophecy add to the message of Old Testament prophecy concerning the Second Coming of Christ? 12. What additional facts does New Testament prophecy add to the message of Old Testament prophecy concerning the Messianic Kingdom? 13. What Scriptures predict the eternal state of man? 14. What are the subjects of prophecy which are peculiar to the New Testament? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 94: 05.46. JUDGEMENT OF THE BELIEVER'S WORKS ======================================================================== Judgement of the Believer’s Works CHAPTER XLVI With reference to sin, the Scriptures teach that the child of God under grace shall not come into judgment (John 3:18; John 5:24; John 6:37; Romans 5:1; Romans 8:1, R.V.; 1 Corinthians 11:32); for, as to his standing before God, and on the ground that the penalty for all sin -- past, present, and future (Colossians 2:13) -- has been borne by Christ as the perfect Substitute, the believer is not only placed beyond condemnation, but, being in Christ, is accepted in the perfection of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:6; Colossians 2:10; Hebrews 10:14), and loved of God as Christ is loved (John 17:23). But with reference to his daily life and service for God, the Christian must give an account before the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Ephesians 6:8), which judgment will occur at the coming of Christ to receive His own (1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Timothy 4:8; Revelation 22:12. Note also Matthew 16:27; Luke 14:14). When standing before the Great White Throne for their final judgment, the unsaved are to be judged "according to their works" (Revelation 20:11-15). It is not the purpose of this judgment to determine whether those standing there are saved or lost; it rather determines the degree of penalty which, because of their evil works, shall rest upon those who are lost. Likewise, the saved, when standing before the judgment seat of Christ at His coming, are judged according to their works, and this judgment does not determine whether they are saved or lost; it rather determines the reward or loss of reward for service which will be due each individual believer. Those who shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ will not only be saved and safe, but will already have been taken into Heaven; not on the ground of their merit or works, but on the ground of divine grace made possible through the saviourhood of Christ. Since, under grace, the character of the believer’s life and service does not, and cannot, in any way condition his eternal salvation, by so much, the life and service of the believer becomes a separate and unrelated issue to be judged by Christ -- whose we are and whom we serve. When gathered before "the throne of his glory," there is also to be a reckoning of reward on the basis of merit both for Israel and the nations, but apart from the issues of personal salvation (Matthew 25:31. Note Matthew 6:2-6; Matthew 24:45-46; Matthew 25:1-46). There are two central passages on the subject of the believer’s rewards which are conclusive: First. 1 Corinthians 3:9-15. In determining the force of this passage, it should be observed (1) that only those who are saved are in view. The personal pronouns we and ye include all who are saved and exclude all who are not saved, and likewise, the word man refers only to the one who is building on the Rock Christ Jesus. (2) Having presented to the Corinthians the Gospel by which they were saved -- which salvation provides the Rock on which the saved one stands -- the Apostle Paul likens himself to a wise master-builder who has laid the foundation; but in strong contrast to this, he indicates that each believer for himself is building the superstructure upon the one foundation which is provided through the grace of God. The appeal, therefore, is to each one to take heed how he builds thereon. This is not a reference to so-called "character building," which theme finds no basis in those Scriptures which are addressed to the saints of this dispensation; their character is said to be "the fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-23) and is realized not by fleshly effort, but when walking by means of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). The believer is represented as building a superstructure of service, or works, which is to be tested by fire -- possibly by the eyes of fire of the Lord before whom he will stand (Revelation 1:14). (3) The "work" which the Christian is building upon Christ Jesus may be of wood, hay, or stubble which fire destroys; or it may be of gold, silver, and precious stone which fire does not destroy, and which, as in the case of gold and silver, is purified by it. (4) To the one whose "work" shall abide which he hath built on Christ, a reward shall be given; but the one whose "work" shall be burned shall suffer loss: not his salvation which is secured through the finished work of Christ, but his reward. Even when passing through the fire which is to test every Christian’s work and though suffering the loss of his reward, he himself shall be saved. Second. 1 Corinthians 9:16-27. Having reference to his own service in preaching the Gospel, the Apostle inquires, "What is my reward then?" The true answer to this question most naturally depends upon the nature and quality of the service he has rendered to God. The Apostle therefore proceeds to recount his own faithfulness in works (1 Corinthians 9:18-23). No one will deny the truthfulness of his report. He then likens Christian service to a race in which all believers are running, and, as in a foot race, but one receiveth the prize -- and that through a superior effort. Similarly, in Christian service the believer should exert all his strength that he may obtain his full reward -- run, as it were, to surpass all others. Again, as the athlete is temperate in all things that he may obtain a corruptible crown, so the Christian should be temperate in all things that he may obtain an incorruptible crown. The Apostle’s temperateness is seen in the fact that he kept his own body under and brought it into subjection lest that in some unworthy and half-hearted service for others he himself should be disapproved. The word here translated "castaway" is adokimos, which is the negative form of dokimos, and as dokimos is translated "approved" (Romans 14:18; Romans 16:10; 1 Corinthians 11:19; 2 Corinthians 10:18; 2 Timothy 2:15), so adokimos should be translated "disapproved." Since the Apostle’s salvation is in no way in question, he was not fearing lest he would be dismissed from God forever; but he did fear being disapproved in the sphere of his service. The Christian’s reward is sometimes mentioned as a "prize" (1 Corinthians 9:24), and sometimes as a "crown" (1 Corinthians 9:25; Php 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 2 Timothy 4:8; James 1:12; 1 Peter 5:4; Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:11). These crowns may be classified under five divisions representing five distinct forms of Christian service and suffering, and the child of God is also warned lest he lose his reward (Colossians 2:18; 2 John 1:8; Revelation 3:11). The doctrine of rewards is the necessary counterpart of the doctrine of salvation by grace. Since God does not, and cannot, reckon the believer’s merit or works to the account of his salvation, it is required that the believer’s good works shall be divinely acknowledged. The saved one owes nothing to God in payment for salvation which is bestowed as a gift; but he does owe God a life of undivided devotion, and for this life of devotion there is promised a reward in Heaven. QUESTIONS 1. On what ground is it stated in the Bible that the believer shall not come into judgment? 2. Concerning what must the believer give an account before the Judgment Seat of Christ? 3. What comparison may be drawn between the judgment of the unsaved at the Great White Throne and that of the believer at the Judgment Seat of Christ? 4. Why is the question of the Christian’s life and service a separate issue from his salvation? 5. To whom is the Apostle writing in 1 Corinthians 3:9-15? 6. Why is this passage not related to so-called "character building"? 7. What is the believer building on the Rock? 8. What is the loss which the believer may suffer? 9. What subject is in view in 1 Corinthians 9:16-27? 10. Was the Apostle Paul faithful? 11. In what sense is the Christian running in a race? 12. a. What is temperance and why should the Christian be temperate? b. What is his judgment if he is not temperate? c. What did the Apostle Paul fear for himself? 13. Give Scriptures on the promise of crowns and a prize. 14. What is the relation between the doctrine of rewards and the doctrine of grace? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 95: 05.47. JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS ======================================================================== Judgment of the Nations CHAPTER XLVII While but three judgments are considered particularly in this series, the Bible distinguishes seven in all, which fact is in marked disagreement with the almost universal conception that there is but one final and all-inclusive judgment. The seven judgments described in the Scriptures are: 1. The judgment of the cross wherein Christ as Substitute bore that righteous judgment from God which was due the sinner because of his sins (John 5:24; Romans 5:9; Romans 8:1; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Hebrews 9:26-28; Hebrews 10:10; Hebrews 10:14-17; 1 Peter 2:24). At that judgment the Substitute was executed and perfect deliverance was secured for all who will believe. 2. Chastisement from the Father upon the believer because of persistent and willful sin (1 Corinthians 11:31-32), which judgment may be avoided if in true penitence and confession the believer will judge himself before God. 3. The judgment of the nation Israel at the close of the Great Tribulation and in connection with the Second Coming of Christ. The object of this judgment is to determine those among that nation who will be accounted worthy to enter the covenanted, earthly kingdom (Ezekiel 20:37-38; Matthew 25:21). 4. The judgment of the believer’s works at the coming of Christ to receive His own (Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Ephesians 6:8; 2 Timothy 4:8; Revelation 22:12) -- the theme of the last chapter. 5. The judgment of the nations which is the subject of this study. 6. The judgment of the fallen angels (Jude 1:6). 7. The judgment of the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-15) which is the theme of the next chapter. Among the world-transforming events which are to occur at the Second Coming of Christ, Israel will be judged first. This is the order which obtains in Matthew 24:1-51 and Matthew 25:1-46. It is there stated that at His coming He will gather His elect people -- Israel -- (Matthew 24:31) from among the nations (note Deuteronomy 30:3-6; Isaiah 11:11-12; Isaiah 14:1-3; Isaiah 60:1-22; Jeremiah 23:6-8; Jeremiah 32:27; Jeremiah 32:38; Jeremiah 33:7-9; Ezekiel 36:16-38; Ezekiel 37:21-25; Micah 4:6-8), and while it is true that all Israel shall be saved (Romans 11:26), it is equally true that He will purge out the "rebels" (Ezekiel 20:37-38), and that only the spiritual among Israel will enter the covenanted, earthly kingdom. Of two grinding at the mill, or two in the field, one shall be taken away in judgment and one shall be left to enter the kingdom glory (Matthew 24:40-51). Five virgins will enter the marriage feast, and five will be excluded (Matthew 25:1-13). So, likewise, Israel will be judged as to the use of God-given talents, and from one shall be taken even that which he hath, and he shall be cast into outer darkness (Matthew 25:14-30). Following the judgment of Israel, the nations are to be judged by Christ who, accompanied by the holy angels, will have returned to the earth with power and great glory, and who will have been seated on the throne of His glory (Matthew 25:31-46). At the present time, Christ is seated on His Father’s throne awaiting the appointed time of His return to the earth (Revelation 3:21). His own throne (Revelation 3:21) is the throne of David (Luke 1:31-33), which is the throne of His glory on the earth. In the context of Matthew 24:1-51 and Matthew 25:1-46, and continuing to Matthew 25:31, Christ is seen executing judgment over regathered Israel. Beginning with Matthew 25:31, He is seen judging the nations, which judgment is to determine who among the nations shall enter the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34. Note Psalms 72:11; Psalms 72:17; Psalms 86:9; Isaiah 55:5; Daniel 7:13-14; Micah 4:2; Zechariah 8:22). The test in this judgment will be the treatment the nations will have accorded to Israel, who are here called by the Lord "my brethren." This is not a reference to the Church; that company will have been with the Lord in Heaven and will have returned with Him to reign (Revelation 19:7-14) before He sits upon the throne of His glory. The "brethren" are Israel -- His brethren according to the flesh. While there has been for many centuries a degree of persecution of Israel by the nations, the present world condition in this respect lends little basis for the understanding of the issues that will exist at the end of the Great Tribulation. Among other features, that period is to be characterized by the witness to the nations on the part of a godly remnant among Israel concerning the returning King and His kingdom. The Tribulation period will be characterized also by the persecution of Israel on the part of some of the nations. Because of this fact, that period is termed "the time of Jacob’s trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7). At that time, the persecution of Israel will no longer be a passing event in the affairs of the world; the Gentile peoples will have been divided over the national interests of Israel and unprecedented violence will be Israel’s portion. There are two general reasons why the force and meaning of the judgment of the nations is so often misunderstood: (1) Failure in recognizing the world conditions, especially concerning Israel in her relation to the nations, which, according to prophecy, are to be consummated at the end of the Tribulation; and (2) failure in recognizing the unique place which the chosen people occupy in the love and purpose of God. They are dear to Him as the apple of His eye, and are graven on His hand (Isaiah 49:16). We read in connection with the judgment which Jehovah will bring on the nations who persecute Israel: "He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye" (Zechariah 2:8), and, "The Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye" (Deuteronomy 32:9-10). To this people Jehovah has said: "I have loved thee with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3). He has never asked the nations to persecute Israel, and the Scriptures predict a sore judgment to fall on those nations who do persecute her. The kingdom belongs to Israel, and only the nations who have proven themselves to be kindly disposed to that people are to be permitted to share their earthly glory. In the Scriptures, the term "sheep" is used of any people who are in covenant with, or in provisional relation of blessing to, Jehovah. The Gentile "sheep" who enter the kingdom on the ground of their merit in relation to Israel are not to be confused with the Christians of this age who enter Heaven on the ground of the finished work of Christ. Nor are those who are termed "goats" and who are dismissed into everlasting fire because of their own sinfulness and their hatred of that people who are graven on the hand of Jehovah to be confused with those of this age who are condemned because of a personal rejection of Christ as Saviour (John 3:18). The judgment of the nations, which prepares for the kingdom, is too often confused with the final Great White Throne judgment with which the kingdom ends. The judgment of the nations is distinctly said to be at the Second Coming of Christ. There is no resurrection, the throne of judgment is on the earth, three classes of people are in view, and no books are opened. All of this is in contrast to those conditions which are predicted for the judgment of the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-15). The issues of the judgment of the nations are stupendous: the righteous character of God is declared, a transformed social order is set up in the earth, and the prayer, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven," will then be answered. QUESTIONS 1. Name the seven judgments mentioned in the Scriptures. 2. Describe the judgment of the cross. 3. a. Describe the judgment of the believer which is due to persistent sin. b. When does this judgment take place? 4. Which judgment will be first in order of those occurring at the Second Coming of Christ? 5. Indicate the passages and parables which describe Israel’s judgment. 6. a. Where is Christ now seated? b. Upon what throne will He reign on the earth? 7. Indicate the passages which describe the judgment of the nations. 8. What evidence can you give that the Church will not be judged among the nations? 9. What will Israel’s condition be in the world just before the coming of Christ in power and great glory? 10. a. Give two reasons why it is not usually understood that "my brethren" of Matthew 25:40 refers to Israel. b. Indicate the Scriptures which declare Jehovah’s love and care for Israel. 11. To whom will the earthly kingdom belong? 12. What classes of people in the Scriptures are called "sheep"? 13. In what particulars is the judgment of the nations to be distinguished from the judgment of the Great White Throne? 14. State the major issues in the judgment of the nations. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 96: 05.48. JUDGMENT OF THE WICKED ======================================================================== Judgment of the Wicked CHAPTER XLVIII Whatever of uncertainty the present human limitations in understanding may cast over the difference which now exists between the saved and the unsaved, from the Scriptures it is obvious that in their destinies these two classes are widely separated. While, as to their bodies, all who have died are now in their graves, the hour is coming when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. These are the words of Christ, and He goes on to say: "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [condemnation]" (John 5:25; John 5:28-29). From this Scripture it is clear that all -- both good and evil -- are to be raised from the dead at the command of the Son of God, and while, at the present time, there is some difference to be observed between the saved and the lost, it is not until the resurrection that men find themselves separated into an unalterable two-fold classification with eternal destinies assigned which are removed from each other as Heaven is removed from hell. The fact that Christ, when speaking of the universality of the resurrection and the two classes to be raised, omitted any reference to the relative time of resurrection for each group, affords no basis for the prevalent theory that there is to be but one general and simultaneous resurrection. Confusion here is needless since other Scriptures supply the time element and without the slightest contradiction. The saved of this and past ages will be raised at the coming of Christ to receive His own (1 Corinthians 15:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). This resurrection, which evidently is extended in point of time to include those who are saved and who die during the Tribulation (Revelation 20:4-5), is termed "the first resurrection," and in distinction to this it is said that the rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years were finished. Thus it is revealed that the first resurrection precedes, and the final resurrection follows, the millennial kingdom on the earth. "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years" (Revelation 20:6). That all of the dead are not raised at the first resurrection is clearly stated in the Bible (1 Corinthians 15:24; Php 3:11, margin; 1 Thessalonians 4:17). Having declared the fact of the first resurrection, the Scriptures go on to state that "the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished" (Revelation 20:5), and it is this company of the dead, both small and great, who, having been raised from the dead, shall stand before the Great White Throne to be judged according to their works (Revelation 20:11-15). Included in this company are all the people of every dispensation who were not raised in the first resurrection. The Scriptures are silent as to the divine method of receiving the saints of the kingdom into their eternal reward. It is obvious that none of these are found standing before the Great White Throne; and all who stand there are said to pass into their unutterable doom. At this judgment the books are opened in which are recorded the evil works of the lost. In like manner another book is opened which is the book of life: not that any standing there will be found written therein; but rather to give full proof that none are written therein. Having been judged, this unnumbered throng are dismissed into the lake of fire, which is the second death, and the word death here, as in all the Scriptures, does not mean a cessation of existence. Physical death is a separation of soul and spirit from the body, while spiritual death is a separation of soul and spirit from God. The second death means continued and conscious existence separated from God in what is termed a "lake of fire." It is implied that the Beast and the False Prophet who are living men are alive and conscious in this "lake of fire," though they were cast therein a thousand years before (Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:10). In this judgment, the wicked are subject to various degrees of retribution since they are judged according to their works. In other ages human works have more directly related men to God; but in the present age both that which is good and that which is evil in the sight of God has been crystallized into one issue. Following the great event of Christ’s death for the sin of the world, there could be but one question remaining -- Do men believe the thing which God has wrought for them? Christ stated: "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6:29), and again, "He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). The rejection of Christ is the all-inclusive sin. It not only does "despite" to the Spirit of grace, rejecting the infinite love of God (Hebrews 10:29); but, if it were possible, the Christ rejecter would take his sin off from the Lamb of God and lay it back upon himself to his eternal condemnation. As to the destiny of the heathen to whom no knowledge of the Gospel has come, Scripture again is silent, except that it teaches that all men are lost who do not believe on Christ. Two features characterize this age: (1) The Gospel is to be preached to every creature, and (2) those to whom it is preached are to be judged according to their reception of it. The woeful failure of the children of God to take the Gospel to every creature has created a condition for which Scripture does not and could not provide a revelation. However, it is to be concluded that the heathen are eternally lost apart from the knowledge of divine grace, since the importance of preaching the Gospel to them is stressed by Christ beyond any other issue in this age. If the doctrine of the judgment of the wicked is to be understood, the terms employed in the Scriptures to describe the final state of the lost should be carefully considered. 1. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word sheol (sometimes translated "grave," "pit," and "hell"), like the New Testament Greek word hades (translated "hell," and "grave"), refers to the place of departed spirits, and three shades of meaning are giving to it: (1) The grave where activity ceases (Psalms 88:3); (2) The end of life so far as mere human knowledge can go (Ecclesiastes 9:5; Ecclesiastes 9:10); (3) A place of conscious sorrow (2 Samuel 22:6; Psalms 9:17; Psalms 18:5; Psalms 116:3). 2. In the New Testament the Greek words geenna, hades, and tartaros are translated "hell." Geenna is a name which speaks of human sacrifice and suffering; hades indicates the place of departed spirits; and tartaros refers to the lowest abyss, and to it the wicked spirits are consigned (2 Peter 2:4). Additional English words found in the New Testament are: (1) "perdition," meaning utter loss and ruin; (2) "damnation," which is usually more accurately translated judgment, or condemnation; (3) "torment," which speaks of physical pain (Luke 16:28); "second death," which is the same as the "lake of fire" (Revelation 20:14); "everlasting fire" (Matthew 18:8); and "everlasting punishment" (Matthew 25:46). The Greek word for "everlasting" -- more often translated "eternal" -- is _aionios, and may be used to indicate the ages of time, implying a time of termination; but this word is almost universally used in the New Testament to express that which is eternal. The new life which the believer has received is forty-seven times said to be "eternal" or "everlasting." We read of the "eternal Spirit," the "everlasting God," "eternal salvation," "eternal redemption," "eternal glory," "everlasting kingdom," and the "everlasting gospel." Seven times this word is used in connection with the destiny of the wicked (Matthew 18:8; Matthew 25:41; Matthew 25:46; Mark 3:29; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Hebrews 6:2; Jude 1:7). Some are asserting that aionios is limited as to duration when referring to the suffering of the lost; but, if this were true, every promise for the believer and the very existence of God would be limited as well. Men are pleased to receive the Bible revelation concerning Heaven, but do not heed its warning regarding hell. Human sentiment, opinion, and reason are valueless concerning these eternal issues. It is wisdom to heed the voice of the Son of God, and He more than any other has stressed the woes of the lost (Matthew 5:22; Matthew 5:29-30; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 18:9; Matthew 23:15; Matthew 23:33; Mark 9:43; Mark 9:45; Mark 9:47; Luke 12:5). If eternal punishment cannot be comprehended, it should be remembered that infinite holiness and the sin by which infinite holiness is outraged are equally unmeasurable by the human mind. God is not revealed as one who causes good people to suffer in hell; but He is revealed as one who at infinite cost has wrought to the end that sinners, believing in Christ, may not perish, but have everlasting life. QUESTIONS 1. Are all, both saved and unsaved, to be raised from the dead? 2. When does the real difference between these two classes especially appear? 3. Is there grounds for believing in but one general resurrection? 4. a. What is meant by "the first resurrection"? b. When does it occur? c. Who are included in this resurrection? d. Who are excluded? 5. a. When are the wicked dead to be raised? b. Into what judgment will they go? 6. a. What is the result of this judgment? b. Define the meaning of "second death." 7. a. What is the basis of man’s relation to God in this age? b. Describe the wickedness of rejecting Christ. 8. What two features were to characterize this age? 9. What is the state of the heathen world? 10. What are the three shades of meaning of the words sheol and hades? 11. Name and define the words used in the New Testament to describe the condition of the lost. 12. Why do we believe that the word aionios means eternal as to duration? 13. What complications arise when the word is made to indicate a limited time? 14. a. Who alone speaks with authority as to the destiny of men? b. What is the attitude of God toward men? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 97: 05.49. THE ETERNAL ESTATE OF THE REDEEMED ======================================================================== The Eternal Estate of the Redeemed CHAPTER XLIX Probably no Bible theme is more agreeable to the mind of man than that of Heaven. This is especially true of those who through advancing years of physical limitations are drawing near to the end of the realities of earth. In their writings, various religions, other than the Christian, present their conceptions of an eternal estate; but in every instance they offer that which is evidently the invention of the human imagination. In contrast to this, the Bible presents the facts of eternity past, the issues of the present, and the realities of eternity to come with never a descent to the plane of human conception, but always evidencing the high and holy distinguishing qualities of a divine revelation. Human proof relative to divine revelation cannot proceed beyond the range of human life and experience; therefore that portion of the Bible revelation which transcends the limitations of this sphere is not subject to human verification; but, within the limited human sphere, every teaching of the Scriptures is found to be perfectly true. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that all divine revelation is equally true, and that both the eternal estate of the redeemed and the eternal estate of the lost are as accurately stated in the Scriptures as are the present things of time. Though it is not the divine purpose that those who go out of this life shall return; yet the unseen worlds have not been left without a witness. On the statement of the Son of God whose veracity is unquestionable and who is Himself the Truth, we know that a certain rich man when he died went to a place of torment, and that a certain beggar when he died went to a place of bliss (Luke 16:19-31). We observe, also, that Christ was as familiar with the unseen as He was with the seen. This was true in His teachings concerning God (John 4:24; John 5:36-37; John 5:45; John 10:15; John 10:18), concerning the fallen and unfallen angels (Matthew 22:30; Mark 1:32-34), and concerning the destinies of men (Matthew 5:22; Matthew 25:34; Matthew 25:46). Again, the Apostle Paul was caught up into the highest Heaven and heard unspeakable words which, he declared, were not lawful for a man to utter (2 Corinthians 12:1-4), and long after that experience he testified that to depart and be with Christ is far better (Php 1:23), and that he was willing to be absent from the body that he might be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). Added to all this, we have the divinely appointed witness of the Apostle John who, in his Patmos vision, went into Heaven’s glory and returned with the commission to write for the comfort and encouragement of the servants of God the things which he had seen. Thus, since the divine revelation concerning the future state is presented to us by the message of the Son of God and by the testimony of both the Apostle Paul and the Apostle John as eye-witnesses, we are assured of the certainty of every word that has been spoken. We are told that, at death, the believer immediately departs to be with the Lord and that this estate is "far better" (Php 1:23); and though it is indicated that there is an intermediate body which is from Heaven and which is provided in order that the child of God shall not be unclothed, or bodiless (2 Corinthians 5:1-4), the glorified body, which is by resurrection, is not given until it is given to all the saved at the coming of Christ. It is the teaching of the Word of God that the future estate of the believer, regarding his own person, is to be one in which he will be conformed to the image of the resurrected Christ in glory (Romans 8:29; 1 John 3:1-3; Php 3:20-21). He will then know even as he is now known (1 Corinthians 13:12); that is, his every capacity for knowledge will be expanded to the measure of Christ’s present knowledge of us. By this we are assured that we are to be deprived of no present knowledge, but rather, all this is to be increased to an infinite degree. Loved ones will be nearer and dearer than ever before, and while Christ is the center of all attraction in Heaven, at the coming of Christ, believers who have fallen asleep in Jesus will be joined to those who are alive and remain, and together they will all go on to meet the Lord in the air, and thus be together with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). Heaven is a place (John 14:1-3) of surpassing beauty and celestial glory (Revelation 21:1-27, Revelation 22:1-7). It is to be inhabited by "God the Judge of all," by "Jesus the mediator of the new covenant," by "an innumerable company of angels," by "the spirits of just men made perfect," and by "the general assembly and church of the firstborn" (Hebrews 12:22-24). The phrase, "the spirits of just men made perfect," doubtless refers to the saints of other dispensations since the "church of the firstborn" is so obviously limited to the saints of the present age of grace (Ephesians 3:3-6). In like manner, Christ stated that there are many mansions in the Father’s house -which, we believe, will be occupied; but He has gone to prepare a place for the Church which is His bride whom He will receive unto Himself when He comes again (John 14:1-3). In attempting to portray to the mind of man the glories of the celestial sphere, language has been strained to its limits; yet we may believe that no considerable portion of that wondrous glory has ever been revealed. Who can comprehend the blessedness that will be experienced by the redeemed in Heaven, or that has already come to human hearts in anticipation of that wonderful place! It is characterized as a place of abundant life (1 Timothy 4:8), of rest (Revelation 14:13), of knowledge (1 Corinthians 13:8-10), of holiness (Revelation 21:27), of service (Revelation 22:3), of worship (Revelation 19:1), of fellowship with God (Revelation 21:3), of fellowship with other believers (1 Thessalonians 4:18), and of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). "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 have passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new" (Revelation 21:4-5). The student of the Scriptures should distinguish between "the kingdom of heaven" -- a phrase peculiar to Matthew’s Gospel which refers to the divine reign on the earth, -- "the heavenly" -- a phrase peculiar to the Ephesian Epistle which refers to the present sphere of the believer’s association with Christ, -- and "heaven" which refers to the unseen realms of celestial glory. The Bible, which alone discloses the wonders of Heaven, is equally explicit in its declarations concerning the conditions upon which sinners of this fallen race may enter there. Notwithstanding this, multitudes are assuring themselves that they will be privileged to enter Heaven who, at the same time, are giving no heed to those counsels of God in which He states the only way given among men whereby they must be saved. Not every person will be found in Heaven; that glory and bliss is for the redeemed. Redemption, which involves no impossible human condition is, nevertheless, absolutely dependent on a personal acceptance of the Redeemer. Such acceptance is a transaction most simple, and yet so vital and conclusive that the trusting soul will be assured above all else that he is depending only on Christ for salvation. QUESTIONS 1. What is peculiar in the Bible teaching about Heaven not found in other religions? 2. Though Heaven is unseen, what reasonable proof have we that the Bible records concerning Heaven are true? 3. Who are the three experienced witnesses who have written of Heaven? 4. What did Christ say concerning Heaven? 5. a. Under what circumstances did Paul see Heaven? b. What was his own attitude toward death after having seen Heaven? 6. a. Under what circumstances did John see Heaven? b. What record did he leave? 7. a. Of what body does the Apostle write in 2 Corinthians 5:1-4? b. When does the believer receive his resurrection body? 8. What may be believed as to the extent of the Christian’s knowledge of Heaven? 9. Is Heaven a place or a state? 10. Who are the inhabitants of Heaven? 11. Name things which are to characterize Heaven. 12. Distinguish between Heaven and the heavenly, also the kingdom of heaven. 13. On what one condition is Heaven promised to men? 14. Is that one condition unreasonable? THE END ======================================================================== CHAPTER 98: 06.00. PREFACE TO THE E-SWORD EDITION ======================================================================== Preface to the e-Sword Edition When I first discovered the amazing power of e-Sword, I was connected to the internet with a 56k fax modem. My enthusiasm for the program and its plethora of resources motivated me to stay up all night downloading its riches. I spent the next several days exploring the amazing variety of study material. As a busy pastor, I’ve tried to assemble a classic research library. As a busy pastor of a small church, I’ve tried to inexpensively assemble a classic research library. E-Sword immediately added many valuable assets that I hadn’t yet purchased; and those resources that e-Sword duplicated were much easier and faster to use than the paper versions. Since that wonderful first week, I’ve discovered many more treasures through Google searches. Then one day I realized that I owed a debt. I made a contribution to Rick Meyers (Rick - you are the modern day Gutenberg; should the Lord not return in the near future like I believe He will, you will do for Bible study the next 100 years what Gutenberg did in the 1500’s), and then started looking for public domain resources to convert to .topx files. And so my personal journey has come full circle: from the excitement of discovering e-Sword to the excitement of creating .topx files for others. Like Rick quotes from Matthew 10:8, "freely ye have received, freely give." Thank you, Michelle, Jeremiah, Isaiah & Micah, for understanding my debt and graciously tolerating my near compulsive computer use for hours on end. My thanks to the creator of e-Sword, Rick Meyers - www.e-sword.net. Thank you, Lewis Sperry Chafer, for converting your studies to eternal print. And of course - most importantly - my thanks to the Lord Jesus who saved my soul for all eternity. This Edition There have been no changes to Chafer’s work, except for the following: Scripture references have been converted to Scripture hyperlinks using the "Format Scripture ToolTip." A few obvious Scripture reference errors have been corrected, as well as some obvious spelling errors. The copy and paste process has unfortunately removed most of the italicized print. While the words have not been changed, some of Wilson’s emphasis may be missing. It is with regret that I have not taken the time to correct this. The sense is still accurate. [By the way - would you understand this paragraph without italics? Of course!] Also, the italicizing of the foreign words have been lost. It is my hope that the reader will be able to follow the flow regardless of these flaws. They - the flaws - are mine, not Chafer’s. I am quite sure my edition of Chafer’s work is rather imperfect. I pray that, nonetheless, it will be productively useful in the study of God’s Word. Finally Feel free to contact me with comments. You can reach me via e-mail at dm5thomason@bigfoot.com Also, if you convert a classic resource to e-Sword .topx file (or .dctx, .cmtx, etc.), send me your work! I’d love to utilize it! If you haven’t joined the e-Sword Users group, visit www.e-sword-users.org and check it out. This is a free group, with lots of third-party resources (like this one!) and help from other e-Sword users. May the Lord bless you as study His word. Dr. David S. Thomason Florida, USA ======================================================================== CHAPTER 99: 06.00.1. SALVATION ======================================================================== SALVATION BY LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER BIBLE TEACHER Author of "Satan," "True Evangelism," "The Kingdom in History and Prophecy," "He that is Spiritual," etc, ======================================================================== CHAPTER 100: 06.00.2. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION ======================================================================== Originally copyrighted in 1917, this text has now lapsed into public domain. This public domain text was brought in from blueletterbible.org. Here is their recommendation for citation: Chafer, Lewis Sperry. "Salvation." Blue Letter Bible. 1917. 14 August 2009. The actual .pdf scan of an original hardcover adds this information: PHILADELPHIA, PA SUNDAY SCHOOL TIMES COMPANY 1922 {next page} COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER Those responsible for scanning included this copyright statement: Digitized for Mircosoft Corporation by the Internet Archive in 2007. From University of California Libraries. May be used for non-commercial, personal, research, or educational purposes, or any fair use. May not be indexed in a commercial service. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 101: 06.00.3. TABLE OF CONTENTS ======================================================================== Table of Contents * Table of Contents * Preface * Introduction * Chapter One * Chapter Two * Chapter Three * Chapter Four * Chapter Five * Chapter Six * Chapter Seven * Chapter Eight * Chapter Nine * Chapter Ten * Chapter Eleven * Chapter Twelve ======================================================================== CHAPTER 102: 06.00.4. DEDICATION ======================================================================== To My Wife, MY DEAREST AND MOST FAITHFUL COMPANION BOTH IN LIFE AND IN THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD OF GOD, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 103: 06.00.5. PREFACE ======================================================================== PREFACE THIS book is presented as a simple Gospel message and is in no way intended to be a contribution to theological discussion. It is evangelistic in purpose. The writer has hoped that this statement of God’s saving grace may be adapted to the spiritual understanding of the unsaved that they may grasp the way of salvation from these pages and so be led to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. It is hoped, as well, that many who have believed may find some new consolation and upbuilding in Christ even through this brief unfolding of the saving grace of God. That this book may be used of God to the eternal glory of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, is the prayer of the author. LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER. East Orange, N. J. October 1, 1917. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 104: 06.00.7. INTRODUCTION ======================================================================== By W. H. Griffith Thomas WHEN the young girl at Philippi described Paul and Silas as "servants of the Most High God which shew unto us the way of salvation," she unwittingly described them and their work in the truest and best possible way. There is nothing greater or nobler than to be "servants of the Most High God," and nothing more glorious than to "shew the way of salvation." This little work by my good friend, Mr. Chafer, is in the true "Apostolic Succession," for it depicts in clear and Scriptural language the Gospel of Divine salvation through the Person and Work of Christ. I rejoice in his faithful and forcible message, and am glad of the privilege of calling attention to a presentation of the way of salvation which is certain to lead all who read it earnestly to a living faith in Christ, and then to a constant joy because of the abundant and assured provision of God for the Christian life. It is only on the familiar principle of "Grace before Meat," so often associated with a clergyman, that I feel justified in accepting the invitation to commend these admirable chapters from one whose services as a Bible teacher are continually becoming better known and more warmly appreciated in the United States and Canada. W. H. GRIFFITH THOMAS. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 105: 06.01. THE WORD SALVATION ======================================================================== Chapter One The Word Salvation THE word salvation is used in the Bible to indicate a work of God in behalf of man. In the present dispensation its use is limited to His work for individuals only, and is vouchsafed to them upon one definite condition. Too much emphasis cannot be placed on the fact that now, according to the Bible, salvation is the result of the work of God for the individual, rather than the work of the individual for God, or even the work of the individual for himself. Eventually the one who is saved by the power of God may, after that divine work is accomplished, do "good works" for God; for salvation is said to be "unto good works" (Ephesians 2:10) and those who "believed" are to be "careful to maintain good works" (Titus 3:8). Good works are evidently made possible by salvation; but these good works, which follow salvation, do not add anything to the all-sufficient and perfect saving work of God. As used in the New Testament, the word salvation may indicate all or a part of the divine undertaking. When the reference is to all of the work of God, the whole transformation is in view from the estate wherein one is lost and condemned to the final appearance of that one in the image of Christ in glory. This larger use of the word, therefore, combines in it many separate works of God for the individual, such as Atonement, Grace, Propitiation, Forgiveness, Justification, Imputation, Regeneration, Adoption, Sanctification, Redemption and Glorification. The two following passages describe the estate from which and the estate into which the individual is saved: "Wherefore remember, that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:11-12). "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:1-2). There could be no greater contrast of possible estates for man than those described in these passages. This transformation, it must be conceded, rather than representing the greatest thing impotent man can do for God, represents the greatest thing the infinite God can do for man; for there is nothing to be conceived of beyond the estate to which this salvation brings one, namely, "like Christ" and "conformed to the image of his Son." Much of the whole divine undertaking in salvation is accomplished in the saved one at the moment he exercises saving faith. So, also, some portions of this work are in the form of a process of transformation after the first work is wholly accomplished. And, again, there is a phase of the divine undertaking which is revealed as consumating the whole work of God at the moment of its completion. This last aspect of salvation is wholly future. Salvation, then, in the present dispensation, may be considered in three tenses as it is revealed in the Scriptures: the past, or that part of the work which already is wholly accomplished in and for the one who has believed; the present, or that which is now being accomplished in and for the one who has believed; and the future, or that which will be accomplished to complete the work of God in and for the one who has believed. The following passages are clear statements of these various aspects of the one divine undertaking: I. The child of God was saved from the guilt and penalty of sin when he believed: "And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace" (Luke 7:50); "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house" (Acts 16:30-31); "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18); "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved; and in them that perish" (2 Corinthians 2:15); "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8); "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (2 Timothy 1:9). II. The child of God, constituted such through belief, is being saved from the power and domination of sin on the same principle of faith: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17); "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Romans 6:14); "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Php 2:12-13); "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2); "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). III. The child of God, begotten as such through belief, is yet to be saved from the presence of sin into the presence of God: "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" (Romans 13:11); "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resur rection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:3-5); "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:1-2). So, again, there are passages in which these various time aspects in salvation are all combined: "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Php 1:6); "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30); "Even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25-27). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 106: 06.02. THE DIVINE ESTIMATE OF THE LOST ======================================================================== Chapter Two The Divine Estimate of the Lost AT NO point is faith more tested than in receiving the divine estimate of the present estate and destiny of all who are not saved; yet the record stands on the sacred page and is as much a part of God’s revelation of truth as is the more winsome disclosure concerning the saved and heaven. In vain does man struggle to deliver himself from the dread and shadow of the former while still attempting to retain the comfort and light of the latter. Even a blinded, unregenerate mind must be convinced of the unreasonableness of selecting only desirable elements out of the unitive whole of divine revelation. If man can dispose of the dark picture which describes the estate of the lost, he has, by that process, surrendered all claim to authority and all ground of assurance in those Scriptures which describe the estate of the saved. Man is prone to disregard the plain boundary lines of distinction between the saved and the unsaved as indicated in the Bible. He is naturally occupied with the temporal things that are seen, and is by nature blind to the eternal things (1 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4; John 3:3) which are not seen. He is inclined to conceive of salvation as resulting from a manner of daily life, both moral and religious, rather than a state wrought by the creative power of God. An appeal for a reformed manner of life is to him "practical" and "reasonable," and he sees little value in the Biblical appeal for personal faith in the saving power and grace of God. A saved person, by his new life from God, may live on a higher plane, and certainly will; but to attempt to live on a higher plain will not, and cannot, impart the new life, or save a lost soul. The unsaved, according to the Bible, include all who have not been accepted by God through a personal trust in the crucified and risen Saviour. All moral and religious people are not, therefore, according to the divine conditions, to be counted among the saved. Paul prayed for Israel "that they might be saved" (Romans 10:1-2), and those for whom he prayed, it should be remembered, were the very ones of whom he wrote in this same passage that they had "a zeal for God" and went about "to establish their own righteousness." We know, also, that they fasted, and prayed, and gave a tithe of all they possessed; yet, in spite of all this, the faithful, inspired Apostle prays that they might be saved. To be saved was evidently, in the Apostle’s mind, more than the diligent effort along the lines of moral and religious practices. The Bible sharply distinguishes between the saved and the unsaved, and in its classification, of necessity, wholly ignores what may seem reasonable or unreasonable in the sphere of human life. It bases its distinctions on the eternal necessities and provisions within the larger sphere of the kingdom of God. Here the important issues of conduct and service are not first to be considered. The deeper reality of an entire new nature is rather the primary objective, and no good works can take its place. It is as terrible for a church member, or minister, to be lost as for anyone else. Certainly there is nothing in the fact of church membership, ordinances, or the preaching profession that can take the place of the Biblical requirement for’ salvation, or mitigate the final doom that is assured to those who reject the Saviour. The five virgins who possessed every outward appearance and profession were, nevertheless, without the oil which is the symbol of the divine life. In spite of all their religious externals they heard it said, "I know you not." "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:21-23). "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6:29). The estate of the unsaved is described in the Bible by positive terms: "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10); "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"; "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved" (John 3:16; John 3:18-20). "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36). "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44); "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2); "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man" (Mark 7:21-23). In Ephesians 2:1-2 the contrast between the saved and the unsaved is first drawn at the point of possessing or not possessing the divine life: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." This death is not physical, for the dead ones are said to be "walking according to the course of this world," the aspirations of which walk are centered in the things of the world system. They are also said to be "walking according to the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit that now worketh in (energizeth) the children of disobedience." This classification, "the children of disobedience," includes all who have not been "made alive" by the power of God. Disobedience here is a state of being and is federal rather than personal. "By one man’s disobedience (Adam) many were made sinners." So, also, "by the obedience of one (Christ) shall many be made righteous." Thus the acceptableness of the saved one is also a state and is federal rather than personal. He being in Christ is a child of obedience; the unsaved one being in Adam is a child of disobedience. In Adam disobedient and lost; in Christ obedient, righteous and acceptable to God (Romans 5:19; Ephesians 1:6). "He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Before the infinite holiness of God no person, saved or unsaved, can rightfully claim, within his own merit, to be obedient and righteous in the sight of God; yet the weakest person who stands in Christ is, by virtue of that position, a child of obedience in the sight of God. In all the children of disobedience, regardless of professions or conduct, Satan is here said to be the energizing power. The energy of this mighty being may inspire refinement, education, culture, and the externals of religion, for it is not against these external virtues that Satan is opposed. His enmity is intelligently directed against the saving grace of God, which is a widely differing issue from that which the problems of personal conduct present. Satan is said to be energizing the unsaved within all the spheres of their present activity. In like manner, the saved are said to be energized by God: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Php 2:13). The testimony of these two passages is to the effect that there is now no such thing as an independent human life. Men are either energized by God or by Satan, and accordingly as they are saved or unsaved. The estate of the unsaved is revealed again in Colossians 1:13 : "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Until this divine transformation is wrought, man must be considered as yet in the "powers of darkness." This revelation is given in other passages: "Jesus answered and said unto him, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3); "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14); "But 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 glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (2 Corinthians 4:3; 2 Corinthians 4:4); "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the evil one" (1 John 5:19, R. V.); "At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12); "Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them" (Romans 1:29-32); "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:10-18); "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like" (Galatians 5:19-21); "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5); "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Psalms 51:5); "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9); "From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness" (Mark 7:21-22); "That which is born of the flesh is flesh" (John 3:6); "Because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be" (Romans 8:7, R. V.); "And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, * * * and were by nature the children of wrath even as others" (Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 2:3); "There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not" (Ecclesiastes 7:20); "We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). After this manner the Bible reveals the present estate of the unsaved, and upon the above lines of distinction which are outside the sphere of this world. Every condition presented in these passages demands a superhuman power for its cure. Men are not said to be lost in the eyes of their fellow-men, or as measured by the standards of the institutions of the world. They are lost in the sight of a Holy God, with Whom they finally have to do, and under the conditions that exist and are effective in a larger sphere. In like manner, men are not saved by an adjustment to the estimates and conclusions of the limited world of fallen humanity, or by what may seem to them to be reasonable or unreasonable. Salvation is not a human undertaking. It did not originate in this sin-cursed world. It is of God and unto God, and hence moves along lines and under conditions and necessities which are of a higher realm. To be saved one must see himself as God sees him, and adapt himself to the divine principles of another world, which principles have been faithfully revealed in the written Word. A man of faith is one who thus adapts himself to the revelation of God; one who is instructed by and acts on the unfolding of facts revealed by God which would otherwise be unknown through human understanding. It was this divine estimate of humanity, described by the words "lost," "perish," "condemned," "under the wrath of God," "blind," "in the powers of darkness," "dead in trespasses and sins," which brought the Saviour from heaven to earth. It was this dark picture that impelled Him to give His life a ransom for many. His saving work was a practical accomplishment. It has provided every needed cure that could be demanded by the infinite purity and holiness of God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 107: 06.03. THE THREE-FOLD MESSAGE OF THE CROSS ======================================================================== Chapter Three The Three-fold Message of the Cross THE Epistle to the Hebrews opens with a reference to the messages of God which have been projected into this world, and which have widened the possible scope of man’s understanding and action from the limitations of the things of this world and the conclusions of finite minds to the issues of the entire sphere of God’s redemptive purposes and the verities of the Infinite. God has spoken. The effect of the message has been far reaching. Men generally believe in certain facts the knowledge of which could come only from the Scriptures of Truth; but men do not always pause to consider all of God’s message and its personal application to them with its necessary demands upon their faith. They believe in the Bible heaven, but do not carefully consider the only condition the Bible reveals upon which any soul can enter therein; they believe in the fact of sin, but seem to care little for the priceless cure divinely set forth for it; they believe there is a holy God and that men are sinners, but do not estimate what problems were involved in bringing about a possible reconciliation between that holy God and the meritless sinner: yet how faithfully God has spoken on all these issues! It is not enough to believe generally that God has spoken. What He has said must be carefully weighed and personally applied. His message is as a shaft of light from the eternal sphere shining into a world where sin’s darkness and blindness are supreme. Happy indeed is the man who humbly receives every word God has spoken both of sin and salvation, and is thus able to look into the realms of glory along this radiant shaft of divine revelation. The following are the opening words to the letter to the Hebrews: "God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son." The message from God spoken to the fathers by the prophets is contained in the Old Testament. The message spoken to us by His Son and which was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him, is contained in the New Testament. This latter message is primarily of "So great salvation" which in no wise can be neglected with impunity. God has disclosed His own essential being through His Son. In this revelation which He has made through His Son, God is said to be Light, Life and Love, or Wisdom, Power and Love. Christ was an outshining of these elements which are in the being of God, and that manifestation of His being through the Son was made in terms which the finite mind might grasp. Men of Christ’s time, from their study of Him, were able to say: "No man ever spake as this man," and "We know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do the miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." So the wisdom and power of God were recognized in Christ; but the wisdom and power of God had already a sufficient revelation in the very things that were created, so that even the heathen world is without excuse. "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:19-20). At least three messages from God through His Son are revealed in the cross: LOVE In John 1:18 a special manifestation of God through the Son is mentioned: "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." "No man hath (fully) seen God at any time" would indicate that while His power and wisdom had been revealed to some extent by the things created, the complete revelation had not been given and there was to be a very special unfolding of His bosom of love. The Son was in the bosom of the Father (the seat of the affections; from that bosom He never departed). "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son." Every moment of the earth life of Jesus was a manifestation of God’s love, but one event in the ministry of Jesus is especially designated as the means by which the bosom of God was unveiled. "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us" (1 John 3:16); "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10); "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). In the cross of Christ, therefore, God hath declared His love, and this declaration is addressed as a personal message to every individual. It may be concluded that when that divine message really reaches a heart that individual will thereby become conscious of a fact far beyond the range of human knowledge and so far reaching in its value that it transcends all other issues in life and death. It becomes intensely personal according to the testimony of the apostle: "Who loved me and gave himself for me." That knowledge-surpassing love is proven and expressed to "me" by the fact that He gave Himself for "me." The vital question at once becomes, what did He do for "me"? The Scriptures make it plain that He did enough to demonstrate finally and perfectly the infinite love of God. "Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us." This is more than a moral example: it is a distinct service rendered, and on so vast a scale that it adequately expresses the deepest message from the Father’s bosom. The message must be understood by those to whom it is addressed, but not necessarily by the processes of mere human reason. The cross of Christ was the final answer to the great necessities and problems which sin had imposed on the very heart of God. This is revealed, and is knowable only to the extent to which God has spoken, and never because man has examined and analyzed the heart of the Infinite. Human philosophy and blind unbelief have woven many veils which have tended to obscure God’s plain revelation. The conditions which moved the heart of God exist in the higher realm and have no comparisons or counterparts in the range of human knowledge, hence human reason cannot be deemed sufficient to judge or challenge that which God has seen fit to reveal. Anything which adequately represents the infinite love of God will hardly be compressed into the limitations of man’s wisdom. It is most probable that eternity itself will prove to be but a ceaseless unfolding of that fathomless expression of boundless love. Even now that divine expression of love in the cross becomes the source of supreme ecstasy to the one who has received the message into his heart. "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." In striking contrast to this, the unsaved person, either Jew or Gentile, finds no attraction whatever, in the same cross. "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." That something of eternal value to lost humanity was accomplished in the cross is clearly revealed. Just how much was accomplished could not be fully revealed. However, some things are made plain. The eternal issue of sin was called into question at Calvary’s cross, and a sufficient Substitute stood in the sinner’s place until all grounds of condemnation were forever past and every righteous judgment of God was perfectly met. Human wisdom has sometimes challenged this revelation on the supposed grounds that it would be immoral for God to lay on an innocent victim the condemnation that belongs to another. This might be true if it could be discovered that the innocent One was an unwilling victim; but on this point every doubt is forever dispelled. In Hebrews 10:1-14, where the sin-offerings of the Old Testament are held in contrast to the one offering of Christ, the Lord is recorded as saying, "Then said I, Lo, I am come, to do thy will O God." So at the time of His crucifixion, He said to His Father: "Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." But there is a still deeper truth to be considered when the challenge is made that the substitutionary death of Christ is an "immoral thing." "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." Shall not the infinite God be morally free to bear on His own breast the doom of the one His infinite love would save? Would not a mother be morally justified who had flung herself between her child and the fire? Would the child be justified in later years, when gazing on those frightful scars, to deem that love-act as an immoral thing? What Christ bore we are saved from bearing. His work was effective. "He died for me": not to shew me how to die. He died that I might not die. God’s love, in expressing itself to human hearts, provided a substitute for them in their sin judgments the issues of which reach out into infinity. This, we are told, is what divine love did. Who can measure the blasphemy of those who speak of this love-expression as an "immoral thing"? So fallen is the heart of unregenerate man that he will even attempt to incriminate by a charge of immorality the very God Who seeks to save him from his doom. The cross of Christ, though unveiling the heart of God in a moment of time, was, nevertheless, the expression of that which is eternal in that heart. Christ was "a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." What God did for sinners, therefore, is an expression of His constant attitude toward them. The cross is an assurance of the undiminished love of God at this very hour. Only in the cross has God perfectly revealed His love to sinful man: not in nature, nor in the things and relationships of this life; for these may fail. And when they fail the stricken heart that has trusted these outward benefits alone as the evidence of God’s love is heard to say, "it cannot be true that God loves me." God’s perfect and final revelation of His love is in and through the cross, and the heart to whom this message has come is possessed with all the consolations of grace in the midst of the trials and afflictions of life. Such a one can say, "though He slay me yet will I trust Him." In these last days God is speaking through His Son of His personal love for each individual. Reader, has God said anything to you through His Son? Can you say in the joy of that greatest of all messages, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ"? If the cross has not become this to you, is it not evidence to you that you are neglecting this great salvation in spite of all professions and good intentions, and from the unhappy end of such failure there can be no escape? SIN While Christians are grateful to Christ for what He did in His death for them on the cross, should they not be grateful also in some degree to the Roman soldiers who put Christ to death? This question has been raised by unbelief and may well be answered by first discovering just what part the soldiers took in that great event as it is viewed in the Bible. In John 10:17-18 we read that Jesus said: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." He evidently made no resistance at the moment of His crucifixion, which was doubtless in great contrast to the violent struggles of the two thieves and wholly opposed to the highest ideal of that time when self-preservation and self-advancement were the first consideration of all men. Whatever else took place, no man took His life from Him. So, also the last words recorded as falling from His lips on the cross were of victory and authority. "Father, into thy hands. I commend (deposit) my spirit." This language distinctly indicates that His death was in no way a defeat through human force. Not one reference in the Bible, outside the mere historical statement of the crucifixion, ever assigns this death to human sources. It is rather indicated that God the Father was acting in that death. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6); "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood" (Romans 3:25); "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). The soldiers might take a human life; but God alone could accomplish a reconciliation through Christ’s death and thereby solve the great problems created by human sin. Christians are saved by the divine reconciliation alone, and no gratitude is due the human factors in the death of Christ. The deed of the soldiers is not without meaning, however. From the first sin of man to the present hour every unregenerate person is said to be at enmity toward God. That enmity is usually covered and latent, but as assuredly exists as the Word of God is true. It was the will of God that at the exact time and place when and where His infinite love was being unveiled there should be an unveiling, as well, of the desperate wickedness of man. Every human act in the crucifixion was a revelation of the fallen creature; yet to crown it all, one man, as though representing a fallen race, took a spear and drove it into the heart of God. The deep significance here lies in the inexplicable fact that "God was in Christ" and that this human act was in reality against the person of God, as well as a rejection of the human presence of Christ and the blessings of grace He presented. So all those who tarry in unbelief are warned that in so doing they "crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." Thus no man can be ignorant of the true nature of his own sinful heart who has honestly faced the meaning of the sin of rejecting Christ as enacted in the crucifixion. On this point God has spoken through His Son. Oh the sin of even hesitating to receive the marvels of God’s grace as offered to lost men in the cross of Christ! RIGHTEOUSNESS The cross of Christ is also a message from God in that it is said to be a declaration of the righteousness of God. "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:25-26). The English word "declare," as used in this passage, is also used in the passage in John 1:18 already considered, wherein the bosom of God is said to have been "declared." The Greek words from which these two translations are made are not the same. In the passage in John the word presents the idea of announcement (cf. Luke 24:35; Acts 10:8; Acts 15:12; Acts 15:14; Acts 21:19), while in the passage in Romans the word indicates the legal aspect of a full proof of something in question (cf. 2 Corinthians 8:24, "Proof"; Php 1:28, "Evident token"). In Romans 3:25 of the passage under consideration the evident proof of the righteousness of God was made in the cross concerning the sins committed before the death of Christ. God had always anticipated a perfect and sufficient sacrifice for sin. The blood of bulls and goats had never taken away sin, but had been the divinely appointed symbol of the blood that was to be shed. In view of the sacrifice that was to be, God had passed over, or pretermitted, the sins aforetime on the condition that the offender present the symbolic innocent sacrifice for his sins. Although the offender may have comprehended but little of all the divine meaning and purpose, the sacrifice stood as a covenant with Jehovah that He would, in the fulness of time, meet all the need of the sinner. When the true and sufficient sacrifice was accomplished, that sacrifice stood as a full proof that God had been righteous in all the generations wherein He had freely acted in view of that great event which was yet to come. In Romans 3:26 the declaration, or full proof, of the righteousness of God is made in the cross in relation to the sins committed since the cross and in this time when the human responsibility for adjustment and cure for sin is not the providing of a symbolic sacrifice, as in the Old Testament, but is rather conditioned on a personal trust in the sufficient sacrifice fully accomplished on the cross. Such justification, according to this verse, is for "him which believeth in Jesus." This verse also states what we may believe to be the deepest divine problem. How can the righteous God deal righteously with the sinner and at the same time satisfy His own compassion and love in saving him from the doom His own righteousness must ever impose on one who commits sin? Though He love the sinner, there are unalterable conditions to be met in upholding His justice and personal character. Sin cannot be treated otherwise than sin, else all standards of holiness and justice fail. This is not a remote and exceptional problem; but is one as far reaching and important as the very fact of the existence and destiny of the human family itself. It must also be considered as claiming the utmost attention of all intelligences of the universe. Can sin be righteously treated as sin and still a way be provided for the salvation of the sinner? Any theory which tends to lessen the imperative for judgment which was created by sin, does not fully weigh the fact of the unalterable character of the righteousness of God. Is He not all-powerful and all-sufficient and can He not waive aside the sin of those creatures His hands have made? Is He bound by any law whatsoever? The answer is not of human origin, any more than is the question, though the human mind may comprehend it. Even God cannot change the character of righteousness by altering or lessening to the slightest degree its holy demands. What is done for the satisfaction of His love in saving any whom His righteousness condemns must be done in full view of all that His righteousness could ever require. The cross is said to be the message of God through His Son in answer to this divine problem. He might not change the demands of righteousness, but He has sufficient power and resource to meet perfectly those demands for every sin-doomed soul. The dying Christ was "set forth" in order that God might be just and at the same time satisfy His heart of love ill being the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. As the righteous Judge, He pronounced the full divine sentence against sin. As the Saviour of sinners, He stepped down from His judgment throne and took into His breast the very doom He had in righteousness imposed. The cross declares the righteousness of God, and because of that cross His righteousness cannot suffer or ever be called in question, even when He wholly pardons the chief of sinners and floods him with the riches of grace. All that righteousness can demand has by the very Judge been supplied; for it was God Who was "in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." The problem was within the very nature of God Himself. How can He remain just and still justify the sinner whom He loved with an everlasting love? He was the mediator between His own righteous Being and the meritless, helpless sinner. The redemption price has been paid by the very Judge Himself. This is revealed to finite man as being now accomplished by the infinite God. God has not thus acted because man requested Him to do so. It was His own solution of His own problem determined by Him before any man came into being. It was made actual in the cross in "the fulness of time." Man is only asked to believe and act on the facts thus revealed. Redemption by the cross was not God’s second best as contrasted with the innocency of Adam in the garden. It was in the divine councils from the foundation of the world and its accomplishment is unto a heavenly state above angels and archangels, yea, into the very image of Christ. This is the good news of the Gospel. Sin’s judgments are already perfectly met. "He loved me and gave Himself for me." While the cross is to the unsaved Jew "a stumbling block" and to the unsaved Gentile "foolishness," it is to those that are saved "the power of God and the wisdom of God." These extremes in the conclusions concerning the cross by equally intelligent people can be accounted for on no other ground than that some, by the Spirit, have apprehended and accepted the declaration of God’s love and righteousness which He has made in the cross. They have seen that the very power of God in saving grace has been set free, and that God’s own wisdom has been disclosed in solving His own problem of saving sinners by that cross. The new song of such a heart is, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." All praise be unto Him! Christ was God’s Lamb "that taketh away the sin of the world." "He became a curse for us." "He bore our sins in his body on the tree." "He was made sin for us." "Jehovah hath caused to rest on him the iniquity of us all." "He is the propitiation for our sins." "He tasted death for every man." It is, therefore, now possible for the righteous God to deal graciously with a sinner because that sinner, through the substitutionary death of Christ, is, in the estimation of God, placed beyond his own execution, and the ground of condemnation is forever past. God has, for His own sake, removed every moral hindrance which His infinite holiness might see in sinful man, and so it is now possible for Him to exercise the last impulse of His love without reservation or limitation. When thus unshackled and untrammeled in His love, He, through His own lavishings of love and grace, places the sinner in the eternal glory finally perfected into the very image of His Son. There is nothing in the highest heaven beyond that. It is the greatest possible thing that God can do. It is the infinite demonstration of His grace. God’s grace in action is more than love. It is love operating in full recognition and adjustment to every demand of righteousness. "Even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." The conclusion from these revelations is that by the cross God has declared our sin, His own righteousness and His own unmeasured love. He has spoken to us through His Son. The reasonable requirement is that we believe that message. This is the only condition given in the Bible upon which one may enter into God’s saving grace. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 108: 06.04. THE PRESENT VALUES OF THE CROSS TO THE UN... ======================================================================== Chapter Four The Present Values of the Cross to the Unsaved EVERY thoughtful person is compelled to assign some reason for the death of Christ. The problem consists in the fact that the sinless, harmless Man Who most evidently was able to defend Himself against all human strength, and being very God could have dismissed the universe from His presence by one word; nevertheless allowed Himself to be crucified in seeming weakness, and afterward appeared in resurrection life and power. Since both the death of Christ and His resurrection are fully established facts of history, the question demands solution. Why did He suffer Himself thus to be put to death? It is certain He did not need to die either because of His own sinfulness or weakness. This problem does not remain a mere abstract riddle. The death of Christ is explained in the Scriptures and the personal acceptance or rejection of that divine explanation is declared to be the point which determines the destiny of each individual. Men are said to stand, or fall, not by their moral, or religious standards, but by their personal choice in relation to the death and saving grace of Christ. The question is as important, therefore, as the destiny of man. The Scriptures know but one solution to the problem of the death of Christ—one, and only one, whether it be in type in the Old Testament, or in the exact unfoldings of the history and doctrine of the New Testament. The Bible lends no sanction to differing human theories on this point. Such speculations are but shadows of the divine revelation and their promulgation is, like any counterfeit, a misleading substitute for the real Gospel of saving grace. Almost every passage related to the cross could be called into evidence in determining the divine reason for the sacrifice on the part of the Son of God. In these divine records two great truths are evident: He died as a substitute for some one else, and that some one else is each and every individual in all the lost world of mankind. "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:5-6); "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29); "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16); "Because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead" (2 Corinthians 5:14); "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:1); "That he by the grace of God should taste death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9); "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). In the clearest terms this death is here said to be a substitution. He did not die to show men how to die gracefully, or bravely: He died that they might not die. What He did, therefore, does not need to be done again. It is something accomplished for every person and in such perfection as to be fully satisfying to the infinite God. In like manner these passages are characterized by such universal words as "all," "every man" and "the whole world." From this it must be believed that the death of Christ has already provided a great potential and provisional value for every guilty sinner, which is now awaiting his personal recognition. Preceding the dismissal of His spirit as He hung upon the cross Jesus said, "It is finished." This could hardly have referred to the fact that His own life or sufferings were at an end. It was rather the divine announcement of the fact that a complete transaction regarding the judgment of sin and the sufficient grounds of salvation for every sinner was accomplished. It is important to consider what, according to the Scriptures, was then finished. To know the meaning of three Bible words which relate the cross of Christ to the sinner will throw some light upon the character and extent of the work that is said to be "finished" for the whole unsaved world. First—Reconciliation: This word, or the doctrine it represents, does not directly appear in the Old Testament. There the thought is always of an immediate and personal atonement by shedding of blood. In the New Testament its meaning is that of a complete and thorough change accomplished by the actual removal of the cause of enmity, so making reconciliation. The most illuminating passage on this truth is found in 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 R. V. "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died; and he died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again. Wherefore we henceforth know no man after the flesh: even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more. Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation. We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God. Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him." The subsequent truth in this passage grows out of the primary statement of 2 Corinthians 5:14, wherein it is said that the death of Christ was for all, and, therefore, in a legal sense, all have died in that death. The logic is irresistible. If it be admitted that He died for all (and the Scriptures know no limitation in the universal provision in that death), then the value of that death has been secured and provided for all, and since this is an undertaking which began in the councils of God and was ordained to meet the righteous requirements of His own Being, these values have been secured on a plane which answers the highest demands of the Infinite. That Jesus died for an individual constitutes the greatest thing that can be said of that person, and, to a truly spiritual understanding, the minor classifications of the human family cease before the overwhelming revelation. "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh." He is only to be known as one for whom Jesus died. In like manner, on the ground of the perfect divine provision and accomplishment in the cross it is added: "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature (creation): old things have passed away; behold, all things are become new. But all things are of God, who reconciled us (or thoroughly changed us in relation) to himself through Christ." The Apostle then adds, "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses." The world is thus thoroughly changed in its relation to God by the death of His Son. God Himself is not said to be changed: He has thoroughly changed the world in its relation to Himself by the death of Christ. God Himself has undertaken the needed mediation between His own righteous Person and the sinful world. The provision of a Mediator and the grounds of mediation for the whole world does not save the world, but it does render the salvation of the individual possible in the righteousness of God. Those who are thus saved have received a ministry from God. "We are ambassadors, therefore, on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God." From this Scripture we may conclude that there is a two-fold aspect of reconciliation: first, that which God hath already wrought in Christ by which He has thoroughly changed the relation of the whole world to Himself so that He does not reckon their trespasses unto them, and, second, a reconciliation for which we may plead and which must take place in the attitude of the unsaved individual through the revelation given to him in the Gospel concerning the sacrifice of Christ. Salvation is made to depend upon such a personal response to this appeal from God. Blessed indeed is the one who can say, "the love and grace of God, in removing forever my judgments and doom by the sacrifice of His Son, are wholly satisfying to me and I rest only in the Saviour thus given." The fact of the universal divine reconciliation may remain unappreciated and unconsidered, but when its eternal riches dawn on a sin-blinded soul that one, in his attitude and experience, is thoroughly changed toward God and finds a wholly new joy and peace through believing what God has already done in His boundless grace. Second—Redemption: Divine redemption, whether in the Old or the New Testament, is to deliver by paying the demands of the offended righteousness of God against sin. The price of such redemption is always blood alone. "When I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Exodus 12:13); "It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul" (Leviticus 17:11); "This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28); "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things * * * but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18); "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7); "Thou wast slain, and hath redeemed us to God by thy blood" (Revelation 5:9). The full redemption by blood has been paid in the death of Christ and so in a provisional way has affected the estate of the whole world. "Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (1 Timothy 2:6); "Even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28); "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Redemption is also by power. This was seen in the redemption of Israel from Egypt and is equally true of all redemption. The price may be paid for the slave, but he must be taken out of the slave position and set free. This is individual and such redemption by blood and power is the blessed experience of all who put their trust in the divine Redeemer. Forgiveness, which in the Scriptures is individual, is made possible through the blood of redemption. "The priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him" (Leviticus 4:35); "This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28); "Without shedding of blood is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22); "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Ephesians 1:7). Redemption, then, may also be considered in these two aspects: that which has been already accomplished through the blood of the cross, and that which may yet be done for the one who believes, through the immediate power of God. The ransom price has been paid for all; yet for the one who believes there is a further work of redemption which is manifested in the transforming and sanctifying power of the Spirit. Happy is the individual who believes what God has written, and rests in the redeeming work of Christ as his only deliverance from the hopeless estate of the lost. Third—Propitiation: The meaning of this word is inexpressibly sweet. It refers to a divinely provided place of meeting, a place of propitiation. The mercy-seat of the Old Testament is spoken of in Hebrews 9:5 as a place of propitiation. There, covering the broken law, was the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, and there was the Shekinah light which spoke of the presence of God. There, too, because of the blood and what it typified, a holy God could meet a sinful man without judgments and, in turn, a sinful man could meet a holy God without dread or fear. So we find in Romans 3:25-26, that Christ was "set forth" by His Father God to be a propitiation through faith in His blood. So, also, in 1 John 2:2, "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world." The very blood-sprinkled body of the Son of God on the cross has become the divinely provided place of meeting where now a guilty sinner can come to God without fear, and the righteous God can receive that soul apart from all judgments and condemnation. The publican who went up to the temple to pray, according to Luke 18:9-14, would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote on his breast, and said: "God be thou propitiated to me the sinner." The significance of the Greek text is not "God be merciful to me a sinner," but is more correctly expressed by the R. V. marginal rendering, "God be propitiated to me the sinner." There is a most vital distinction here. It is one thing to call on God for an exercise of immediate mercy: it is quite another thing to ask to be covered by atoning blood. How different the issue is before the unsaved now since the atoning blood has been shed! Certainly it is not a matter with them of securing some special leniency from God: it is rather a matter of believing that every needed grace has been already exercised. On the ground of a divinely provided propitiation the publican went down to his house justified, which was vastly more than being forgiven. In like manner, every soul has been as freely justified who has believed. It is a question of intelligently electing to receive and stand in the saving work of Christ which is simply to receive the Christ as a personal Saviour. The sinner thus acknowledges Christ as the divinely appointed propitiation and there in confidence rests his case before the righteous throne of God. From these three Bible words we may conclude that there is a work now fully accomplished in the cross for every unsaved person. Such have been thoroughly changed in their relation to God by His great act of reconciliation, and He is said to be waiting for them to be thoroughly changed by the message of the Cross in reconciliation toward Him. He has redeemed them by the blood of Christ Who was "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world," but is now awaiting their act of faith toward the Christ that He might with the power of the Spirit transform them into the very sons of God. He has been propitiated toward "the whole world," but must await the willingness of the individual to stand only on the fact that the righteous judgments for sin have already been accomplished in the cross of Christ. That cross was a propitiation toward God; a reconciliation toward man; and a redemption toward sin. And this in relation to every member of the fallen human race. If men go to perdition it will be because every possible mercy from God has been resisted. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son"—this much is universal and so is true of all—"that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life"—is individual and personal. No one is saved by these universal things alone; but because of these universal things anyone who believes may be saved. To every unsaved person, therefore, the message may be given in the full confidence in its truth that God has already completed the grounds of salvation, and they are but to believe on Him through Whom all this grace has been so perfectly wrought. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 109: 06.05. THE ONE CONDITION OF SALVATION ======================================================================== Chapter Five The One Condition of Salvation NOTWITHSTANDING all that has been divinely accomplished for the unsaved, they are not saved by it alone. Salvation is an immediate display of the power of God within the lifetime and experience of the individual, and is easily distinguished from those potential accomplishments finished nearly two thousand years ago in the cross. As has been stated, salvation is a work of God for man, rather than a work of man for God. No aspect of salvation, according to the Bible, is made to depend, even in the slightest degree, on human merit or works. Great stress is laid on the value of good works which grow out of a saved life, but they do not precede salvation or form any part of a basis for it. It, therefore, is revealed that the first issue between God and an unsaved person in this age is that of receiving Christ, rather than that of improving the manner of life, however urgent such improvement may be. This insistence seems to mere human reason to be an indirect, if not aimless, means of obtaining the moral improvement of men. The need of moral improvement is most evident, and simply to try to help men to be better would seem to be the direct and logical thing to do. However, the divine program strikes deeper and purposes a new creation out from which good works can flow and apart from which there can be no acceptable works in the sight of God. Unsaved men are thus shut up to the one condition upon which God can righteously make them to be new creatures in Christ Jesus. With regard to the necessity of a new creation the unregenerate are blind in their minds (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). So also about this need a multitude of professing Christians are poorly taught, resulting in a well nigh universal misconception of the demands of the gospel. When dealing with the unsaved, false issues are often raised and these unscriptural demands appear in many forms. Satan’s ministers are said to be the ministers of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). They waive aside the Bible emphasis on a new birth, which is by the power of God through faith and which is the only source from which works acceptable to God can be produced, and devote their energy to the improvement, morally and righteously, of the individual’s character. Such workers, in spite of their sincerity and humanitarian motives, are by the Spirit of God said to be "the ministers of Satan." The fact that the unregenerate are blinded by Satan in regard to the true gospel of grace is the explanation of the age-long plea of the moralist: "If I do the best I can God must be satisfied with that, else He is unreasonable." Granting that anyone has ever done his best, it would still be most imperfect as compared with the infinite holiness of God. God cannot, under any conditions, call that perfect which is imperfect, and He is far from unreasonable in demanding a perfect righteousness, impossible to man, while He stands ready to provide as a gift all that His holiness requires. This is exactly the offer of the Gospel. The Scriptures do not call on men of this age to present their own righteousness to God; but invite unrighteous men to receive the very righteousness of God which may be theirs through a vital union with Christ. The appeal is not self-improvement in the important matters of daily life, but that "the gift of God which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" might be received. When this eternal issue is met the more temporal matters of conduct are urged; but only on the grounds of the fact that divine salvation has been wrought for sinful man wholly apart from his own works. The question confronting each individual, therefore, is that of the basis upon which this new creation can be gained. In such an undertaking man is powerless. All his ability must be forever set aside. It must be accomplished for him, and God alone can do it. He alone can form a new creation; He alone can deal with sin; He alone can bestow a perfect righteousness; He alone can translate from the powers of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son. If it were only a question of power to transform men the creative power of God has always been sufficient; but there was a greater difficulty caused by the fact of sin. Sin must first be judged, and no favor or grace can be divinely exercised until every offense of righteousness has been fully met. God cannot look on sin with the least degree of allowance, and so He can grant His favor only by and through the cross wherein, and only wherein, the consequences of sin have been forever met in His sight. Thus salvation can be accomplished, even by the infinite God, only through Jesus Christ. Hence it is that a simple trust in the Saviour opens the way into the infinite power and grace of God. It is "unto every one that believeth," "For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." This one word "believe" represents all a sinner can do and all a sinner must do to be saved. It is believing the record God has given of His Son. In this record it is stated that He has entered into all the needs of our lost condition and is alive from the dead to be a living Saviour to all who put their trust in Him. It is quite possible for any intelligent person to know whether he has placed such confidence in the Saviour. Saving faith is a matter of personal consciousness. "I know whom I have believed." To have deposited one’s eternal welfare in the hands of another is a decision of the mind so definite that it can hardly be confused with anything else. On this deposit of oneself into His saving grace depends one’s eternal destiny. To add, or subtract, anything from this sole condition of salvation is most perilous. The Gospel is thus often misstated in various and subtle ways. The more common of these should be mentioned specifically: First, The unsaved are sometimes urged to pray and hope for an attitude of leniency on the part of God toward their sins: whereas they should be urged to believe that every aspect of favor and expression of love has already been wrought out by God Himself. They are not believing God when they beseech Him to be reconciled to them, when He is revealed as having already accomplished a reconciliation. The Gospel does not inspire a hope that God will be gracious: it discloses the good news that He has been gracious and challenges every man but to believe it. A criminal pleading for mercy before a judge is not in the same position as a criminal believing and rejoicing in the assurance that a full pardon is granted and that he can never be brought again into judgment. Second, It is a most serious error to intrude any form of human works into a situation wherein God alone can work. People are sometimes led to believe that there is saving value in some public confession of Christ, or profession of a decision. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." This is salvation. "With the mouth confession is made unto salvation." This is the voice of the newborn child speaking to and of its Father. The only condition on which one may be saved is to believe. Third, It is equally as great an error to give the unsaved the impression that there is saving virtue in promising to try to "lead a Christian life." No unregenerate mind is prepared to deal with the problems of true Christian living. These problems anticipate the new dynamic of the imparted divine nature, and could produce nothing but hopeless discouragement when really contemplated by an unregenerate person. There is danger, as well, that by forcing the issues of future conduct into the question the main issue of receiving Christ as Saviour may be submerged in some difficulty related to the proposed standards of living. There is an advantage in a general morality, "Sabbath observance," temperance and attendance on public and private worship; but there is no saving value in any, or all, of them. It is true that a person who enters into these things might be more apt to hear the saving Gospel of grace than otherwise; but on the other hand, the sad fact is that these very things are often depended upon by the religiously inclined to commend themselves to God. A clear distinction is found in the Bible between conversion and salvation. The former is there found to indicate no more than the humanly possible act of turning about, while the latter refers to that display of the power of God which is manifested in the whole transformation of saving grace. Fourth, A person is not saved because he prays. Multitudes of people pray who are not saved. Praying is not believing on the Lord Jesus Christ; though the new attitude of belief may be expressed in prayer. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." In no Scripture is salvation conditioned on asking or praying. It is faith in the Saviour Who gave His precious blood a ransom for all. The publican, living and praying before the cross, pleads that God would be propitiated to him a sinner. The issue now can only be one of believing that God has been so propitiated. Fifth, No person is now required to "seek the Lord." In Isaiah 55:6 it is said to Israel, "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found," but in the New Testament relationship we are told to believe that the "Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Sixth, It is an error to require repentance as a preliminary act preceding and separate from believing. Such insistence is too often based on Scripture which is addressed to the covenant people, Israel. They, like Christians, being covenant people, are privileged to return to God on the grounds of their covenant by repentance. There is much Scripture both in the Old Testament and in the New that calls that one nation to its long-predicted repentance, and it is usually placed before them as a separate unrelated act that is required. The preaching of John the Baptist, of Jesus and the early message of the disciples was, "repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"; but it was addressed only to Israel (Matthew 10:5-6). This appeal was continued to that nation even after the day of Pentecost or so long as the Gospel was preached to Israel alone (Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19. See also Acts 5:31). Paul mentions also a separate act of repentance in the experience of Christians (2 Corinthians 7:8-11. See also Revelation 2:5). The conditions are very different, however, in the case of an unsaved Gentile, who is a "stranger to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world," and equally different for any individual Jew in this age. In presenting the Gospel to these classes there are one hundred and fifteen passages at least wherein the word "believe" is used alone and apart from every other condition as the only way of salvation. In addition to this there are upwards of thirty-five passages wherein its synonym "faith" is used. There are but six passages addressed to unsaved Gentiles wherein repentance appears either alone or in combination with other issues. These are: God "now commandeth all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30); "Repent and turn to God" (Acts 26:20); "Repentance unto life" (Acts 11:18); "Repentance and faith" (Acts 20:21); "The goodness of God that leadeth to repentance" (Romans 2:4); "All should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). That repentance is not saving is evidenced in the case of Judas, who repented and yet went to perdition. It is worthy of note that there are twenty-five passages wherein "believe," or "faith," is given as the only condition of Gentile salvation to one passage wherein repentance appears for any reason whatsoever. It would seem evident from this fact that repentance, like all other issues, is almost universally omitted from the great salvation passages, that such repentance as is possible to an unsaved person in this dispensation is included in the one act of believing. The statement in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 may serve as an illustration. Here it is said: "Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven." This represents one all-inclusive act. Such is the accuracy of the Bible. Had the record been that they turned from idols to God, the act of turning from idols would have stood alone as a preliminary undertaking and would suggest a separate work of repentance. In Acts 11:21 it is stated that many "believed and turned to God." This is not difficult to understand. The born-again person might thus turn to God after believing; but there is no revelation that God is expecting works meet for anything from that which He has termed to be dead in trespasses and sins. To believe on Christ is to see and believe the all-sufficiency of His saving grace. This most naturally includes abandoning all other grounds of hope, and the experiencing of such sorrow for sin as would lead one to claim such a Saviour. It is doubtful if the sinner of "this present evil age" can produce greater sorrow than this, and of what avail would greater sorrow be? No estimate is possible of the wrong that has been done in demanding the unsaved of this age to experience some particular degree of sorrow for sin, over which they could have no control, before they could be assured that the way was open for them to God. Multitudes have been driven into unrealities or into hopeless doubt as they have thus groped in darkness. The good news of the Gospel does not invite men to any sorrow whatsoever, or to works of repentance alone: it invites them to find immediate "joy and peace in believing." Repentance, according to the Bible, is a complete change of mind and, as such, is a vital element in saving faith; but it should not now be required, as a separate act, apart from saving faith. The Biblical emphasis upon Gentile repentance or any repentance in this age will be more evident when the full meaning of the word "believe" is understood. Seventh, Moreover, no Scripture requires confession of sin as a condition of salvation in this age. A regenerate person who has wandered from fellowship may return to his place of blessing by a faithful confession of his sin. 1 John 1:9 is addressed only to believers. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The unsaved person must come to God by faith. "For by grace are ye saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8). Believing is related in the Bible to two other actions: "Hear and believe" (Acts 15:7; Romans 10:14); "Believe and be baptized" (Acts 8:13; Mark 16:16 R. V.). In the latter passage it may be noted that baptism is not mentioned when the statement is repeated in the negative form. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; and he that disbelieveth shall be condemned." The unsaved person is condemned for not believing rather than for not being baptized. Thus believing here, as everywhere, is the only condition of salvation. The far-reaching importance of believing may also be seen in the fact that men are said to be lost in this age because they do not believe. "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). "He that disbelieveth shall be condemned" (Mark 16:16 R. V.). Likewise when the Spirit is said to approach the unsaved to convince them of sin, He is not said to make them conscious or ashamed of their personal transgressions. One sin only is mentioned: "Of sin, because they believe not on me" (John 16:9). "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). The sin sacrifice of the cross is forever satisfying to God. What God does is based on His own estimate of the finished work of Christ. The facts and conditions of salvation are based on that divine estimate rather than upon the estimate of men. That men are not now condemned primarily because of the sins which Christ has borne is finally stated in 2 Corinthians 5:14; 2 Corinthians 5:19 R. V.: "We thus judge, that if one died for all, therefore all died"; "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses." The greatest problem for the infinite God was to provide the reconciliation of the cross: the greatest problem for man is simply to believethe record in its fulness. To reject the Saviour is not only to refuse the gracious love of God, but is to elect, so far as one can do, to remain under the full guilt of every sin as though no Saviour had been provided, or no sacrifice had been made. No more terrible sin can be conceived of than the sin of rejecting Christ. It gathers into itself the infinite crime of despising the divine mercy and grace, and, in intent, assumes the curse of every transgression before God. Thus men are electing to stand in their own sins before God. It will be seen that this personal choice becomes a part of the final judgment of those who believe not. Jesus said: "If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins" (John 8:24). At the judgment of the wicked dead before the Great White Throne, those standing there are said to be judged "according to their works." There is additional evidence recorded against them at that judgment seat: their names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life. This might be taken as evidence that they have rejected the "Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." It should be added that it was the divine program in this age that the Gospel should be preached to every creature. And thus every person should have heard and either accepted or rejected the message of Grace. God alone can righteously judge those who have never heard because of the failure of His messengers. The Apostle John in his Gospel uses the word "believe" in its various forms about eighty-six times and never related to repentance or human works and merit. This Gospel, which so clearly states the present way of life, is said to be written for a definite purpose: "But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 110: 06.06. THE RICHES OF GRACE IN CHRIST JESUS ======================================================================== Chapter Six The Riches of Grace in Christ Jesus IN CONSIDERING the Bible doctrine of salvation it is important to distinguish between those things which have already been done for all, and those things which are done for the individual at the instant he believes. The sum total of that which has been done for both classes constitutes "the riches of grace in Christ Jesus." But the things divinely accomplished at the instant of believing alone form that aspect of salvation which is already accomplished in and for the one who believes. This is salvation in its past tense aspect, i. e., salvation from the guilt, penalty and condemnation of sin. This portion of the doctrine of salvation, like the other tense aspects, includes only what God is said to do for man, and nothing whatsoever that man is said to do for God, or for himself. There is an important distinction to be made, as well, between the drawing, convincing work of the Spirit for the unsaved when He convinces of sin, righteousness and judgment, and "the things that accompany salvation." The former is the work of God in bringing the unsaved who are blinded by Satan (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) to an intelligent decision for Christ; the latter is the outworking of that salvation after they believe. So, also, there is a difference to be noted between the work of God in the past tense aspect of salvation and the growth and development of the one who is thus saved. He is to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." He is to be "changed from glory to glory." These, too, are divine undertakings for the individual, and are in no way a part of that which is wrought of God the moment one believes. Most of the great doctrinal epistles of the New Testament may be divided into a general two-fold division: namely, first, that which represents the work of God already accomplished for the believer, and, second, that which represents the life and work of the believer for God. The first eight chapters of Romans contain the whole doctrine of salvation in its past and present tense aspects: the last section, beginning with chapter twelve (chapters nine to eleven being parenthetical in the present purpose of God for Israel) is an appeal to the saved one to live as it becomes one thus saved. This section opens with the words, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Such a manner of life is naturally to be expected from the one who has been divinely changed. It is a "reasonable service." So the entire closing section of Romans is an exhortation to that manner of life befitting one who is saved. The first three chapters of Ephesians present the work of God for the individual in bringing him to his exalted heavenly position in Christ Jesus. Not one exhortation will be found in this section. The helpless sinner could do nothing to further such an undertaking. The last section, beginning with chapter 4, is altogether an appeal for a manner of life befitting one raised to such an exalted heavenly position. The first verse, as in the opening words of the hortatory section of Romans, is an epitome of all that follows: "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." The first two chapters of Colossians reveal the glory of the Son of God and the believer’s present position as identified with Him in resurrection life. This is followed by the two closing chapters, which are an appeal that may again be briefly condensed into the first two verses of the section: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above." It is important to note the divine order in presenting these most vital issues. The positions to which the believer is instantly lifted by the power and grace of God are always mentioned first and without reference to any human merit or promises. Following this is the injunction for a consistent life in view of the divine blessing. It is obvious that no attempt to imitate this manner of life could result in such exalted positions; but the positions, when wrought of God, create an entirely new demand in life and conduct (in the Word of God these demands are never laid upon unregenerate men). Such is always the order in grace. First, the unmerited divine blessing; then the life lived in the fullness of power which that blessing provides. Under the law varying blessings were given at the end according to the merit: under grace full measure of transformation is bestowed at the beginning and there follows an appeal for a consistent daily life. It is the divine purpose that a Christian’s conduct should be inspired by the fact that he is already saved and blessed with all the riches of grace in Christ Jesus, rather than by the hope that an attempted imitation of the Christian standard of conduct will result in salvation. In turning to the Scriptures to discover what it has pleased God to reveal of His saving work in the individual at the instant he believes, it will be found that there are at least thirty-three distinct positions into which such an one is instantly brought by the sufficient operation of the infinite God. All of these transformations are superhuman, and, taken together, form that part of salvation which is already the portion of every one who has believed. Of these thirty-three positions at least five important things may be said: First, They are not experienced. They are facts of the newly created life out of which most precious experiences may grow. For example, justification is never experienced; yet it is a new eternal fact of divine life and relationship to God. A true Christian is more than a person who feels or acts on a certain high plane: he is one who, because of a whole inward transformation, normally feels and acts in all the limitless heavenly association with his Lord. Second, The Christian positions are not progressive. They do not grow, or develop, from a small beginning. They are as perfect and complete the instant they are possessed as they ever will be in the ages to come. To illustrate, sonship does not grow into fuller sonship, even though a son may be growing. An old man is no more the son of his earthly father at the day of his death than he was at the day of his birth. Third, These positions are in no way related to human merit. It was while we were, yet sinners that Christ died for the ungodly. There is a legitimate distinction to be made between good sons and bad sons; but both equally possess sonship if they are sons at all. God is said to chasten His own because they are sons, but certainly not that they may become sons. Human merit must be excluded. It cannot be related to these divine transformations of grace; nor could they abide eternally the same if depending by the slightest degree on the finite resources. They are made to stand on the unchanging Person and merit of the eternal Son of God. There are other and sufficient motives for Christian conduct than the effort to create such eternal facts of the divine life. The Christian is "accepted (now and forever) in the beloved." Fourth, Every position is eternal by its very nature. The imparted life of God is as eternal in its character as its Fountain Head. Hence the Word of His grace: "I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish." The consciousness and personal realization of such relationship to God may vary with the daily walk of the believer; but the abiding facts of the new being are never subject to change in time or eternity. Fifth, These positions are known only through a divine revelation. They defy human imagination, and since they cannot be experienced their reality can be entered into only by believing the Word of God. These eternal riches of grace are for the lowest sinner who will only believe. That God may in some measure be glorified, some. if not all, of these position are here given. "The half has never been told." The reader is humbly invited to remember that these things are now true of each one who believes, and if there should be the slightest doubt as to whether he has believed, that question can be forever settled even before the following pages are read: I. In the Eternal Plan of God: 1.Foreknown, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Romans 8:29. See also 1 Peter 1:2). 2.Elect, "Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God" (1 Thessalonians 1:4. See also 1 Peter 1:2; Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12; Titus 1:1). 3.Predestinated, "Being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the council of his own will" (Ephesians 1:11; Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:5). 4.Chosen, "For many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14; 1 Peter 2:4). 5.Called, "Faithful is he that calleth you" (1 Thessalonians 5:24, etc.). II. Reconciled: 1.Reconciled by God, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Colossians 1:20). 2.Reconciled to God, "Much more being reconciled to God" (Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:20). III. Redeemed: 1.Redeemed by God, "In whom we have redemption through his blood" (Colossians 1:14; 1 Peter 1:18; Romans 3:24, etc.). 2.Out of all condemnation, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1; John 5:24; 1 Corinthians 11:32; John 3:18). IV. Related to God Through a Propitiation: 1. "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our’s only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2; Romans 3:25-26). V. All Sins Covered By Atoning Blood: 1. "Who his own self bare our sins in his body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24; Romans 4:25, etc.). VI. Vitally Conjoined to Christ for Judgment of the "Old Man" Unto a New Walk: 1."Crucified with Christ," "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him" (Romans 6:6). 2."Dead with Christ," "Now if we be dead with Christ" (Romans 6:8); "We being dead to sin" (1 Peter 2:24). 3."Buried with him," "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death" (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12). 4.Raised with Christ to walk by a new life, principle, "That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4; Colossians 3:1). VII. Free from the Law: 1."Dead," "Wherefore, my brethren, ye, also are dead to the law by the body of Christ" (Romans 7:4). 2."Delivered," "Now we are delivered from the law" (Romans 7:6; Galatians 3:25; Romans 6:14; 2 Corinthians 3:11). VIII. Children of God: 1."Born again," "Ye must be born again"(John 3:7; John 1:12; 1 Peter 1:23). 2."Quickened," or made alive, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13). 3."Sons of God," "Beloved, now are we the sons of God" (1 John 3:3; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Galatians 3:26). 4."A new creation," "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" (creation) (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 2:10). 5."Regeneration," "But according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5; John 13:10; 1 Corinthians 6:11). IX. Adopted (placed as adult sons): 1. "Ye have received the Spirit of adoption" (Romans 8:15, etc. So, also, a future adoption, see Romans 8:23, etc.). X. Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ: 1. "Made the righteousness of God in him," "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe" (Romans 3:22; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Php 3:9). 2.Sanctified positionally, "Christ Jesus, who is made unto us * * * sanctification" (1 Corinthians 1:30; 1 Corinthians 6:11). This is in no way to be confused with experimental sanctification as mentioned in John 17:17, or the final perfection of the believer (Ephesians 5:27; 1 John 3:3). 3."Perfected for ever," "For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14). 4."Made accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6; 1 Peter 2:5). 5."Made Meet," "Giving thanks to the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light" (Colossians 1:12). XI. Justified: 1. "Therefore being justified by faith" (Romans 5:1; Romans 3:24; Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Titus 3:7). XII. Forgiven All Tresspass: 1. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:14; Colossians 2:13; Colossians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 4:32. A distinction is necessary here between the complete and abiding judicial forgiveness and the oft-repeated forgiveness within the family of God. See 1 John 1:9). XIII. Made Nigh: 1. "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13. With this there is a corresponding experience; see James 4:8; Hebrews 10:22). XIV. Delivered from the Powers of Darkness: 1. "Who hath delivered us from the powers of darkness" (Colossians 1:13; Colossians 2:13-15). XV. Translated into the Kingdom: 1. "And hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Colossians 1:13). XVI. On the Rock Christ Jesus: 1. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11; Ephesians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 1:21). XVII. A Gift from God to Christ: 1. "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me" (John 17:6; John 17:11; John 17:12; John 17:20; John 10:29). XVIII. Circumcised in Christ: 1. "In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ" (Colossians 2:11; Php 3:3; Romans 2:29). XIX. Partakers of the Holy and Royal Priesthood: 1. "Holy priesthood," "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood" (1 Peter 2:5). 2. "Royal priesthood," "But ye are * * * a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6). XX. A Chosen Generation and a Peculiar People: 1. "But ye are a chosen generation, * * * a peculiar people" (1 Peter 2:9; Titus 2:14). XXI. Having Access to God: 1. "For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18; Romans 5:2; Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 10:19-20). XXII. Within the "Much More" Care of God (Romans 5:9-10): 1.Objects of His love, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us" (Ephesians 2:4; Ephesians 5:2, etc.) 2.Objects of His grace, 1.For salvation, "For by grace are ye saved" (Ephesians 2:8). 2.For keeping, "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand" (Romans 5:2). 3.For service, "But to every one of us is this grace given" (Ephesians 2:7). 4.For instruction, "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 age" (Titus 2:12-13). 3.Objects of His power, "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward" (Ephesians 1:19; Php 2:13). 4.Objects of His faithfulness, "For be hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5; Php 1:6). 5.Objects of His peace, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which ye are called in one body" (Colossians 3:15). 6.Objects of His consolation, "Our Father which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation" (2 Thessalonians 2:16). 7.Objects of His intercession, "Seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 9:24). XXIII. His Inheritance: 1. "That ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:18). XXIV. Our Inheritance: 1. "An inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4; Ephesians 1:14; Colossians 3:24; Hebrews 9:15). XXV. A Heavenly Association (Ephesians 2:6): 1.Partners with Christ in life, "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear" (Colossians 3:4; 1 John 5:11-12, etc.) 2.Partners with Christ in position, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6). 3.Partners with Christ in service, "God is faithful, by, whom ye were called into fellowship (partnership) with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:9); "Workers together with God" (1 Corinthians 3:9); "Workers together with him" (2 Corinthians 6:1); "Ambassadors" (2 Corinthians 5:20); "Ministers of God" (2 Corinthians 6:4); "Ministers of the New Testament" (2 Corinthians 3:6); "Epistles" (2 Corinthians 3:3). 4.Partners with Christ in suffering, "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him" (2 Timothy 2:12; Php 1:29; 1 Peter 2:20; 1 Peter 4:12-13; 1 Thessalonians 3:3; Romans 8:18; Colossians 1:24). 5.Partners with Christ in betrothal, "That I may present you a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-27). XXVI. Heavenly Citizens: 1. "For our citizenship is in heaven" (Php 3:20, R.V.; Ephesians 2:19; Hebrews 12:22; Luke 10:20). XXVII. Of the Family and Household of God: 1. "Fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19; Ephesians 3:15; Galatians 6:10). XXVIII. Light in the Lord: 1. "Now are ye light in the Lord" (Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:4). XXIX. Vitally United to the Father, Son, and Spirit: 1."In God" (1 Thessalonians 1:1). 2."In Christ" (John 14:20). 1.A member in His body (1 Corinthians 12:13). 2.A branch in the Vine (John 15:5). 3.A stone in the building (Ephesians 2:19-22). 4.A sheep in His flock (John 10:27-29). 5.A part of His bride (Ephesians 5:25-27). 6.A priest of the kingdom of priests (1 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 2:9). 7.A saint of the "new generation" (1 Peter 2:9). 3."In the Spirit" (Romans 8:9). XXX. Blessed with the "First Fruits" and the "Earnest" of the Spirit: 1."Born of the Spirit" (John 3:6, etc.). 2."Baptized with the Spirit," "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13; 1 Corinthians 10:17). 3.Indwelt by the Spirit. "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own" (1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Corinthians 2:12; John 7:39; Romans 5:5; Romans 8:9; 2 Corinthians 1:21; Galatians 4:6; 1 John 3:24). 4."Sealed by the Spirit," "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30; 2 Corinthians 1:22). XXXI. Glorified: 1. "And whom he justified, them he also glorified" (Romans 8:30). XXXII. Complete in Him: 1. "And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2:10). XXXIII. Possessing Every Spiritual Blessing: 1. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). Such is the work which is now fully accomplished in and for the lowliest sinner who has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is all superhuman and God alone could do it: nay, if man could even have any part in that work it would at that point of contact be imperfect, and therefore be blasted and ruined forever. These marvels of grace constitute that "good work" which He has but begun in those who trust Him. To this much more is yet to be added according to Php 1:6. "He that hath begun a good work in you, will perform it, until the day of Jesus Christ." The "riches of grace" are the beginning; the final presentation in glory in the likeness of Christ will be the completion. Such a final perfection and such an eternal being is the greatest divine undertaking for the one who has been lost in sin. Nothing less than this would satisfy the infinite love of God. That He might thus be free to satisfy His boundless love for us He met all the issues of sin for a lost and ruined world, and so perfectly has He wrought that man need now but believe and thus receive the bounty of His grace. It is "Grace reigning through righteousness." "For God has concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 111: 06.07. TWO CARDINAL FACTS ======================================================================== Chapter Seven Two Cardinal Facts OF THE foregoing thirty-three positions into which a believer is brought by the sufficient power and sovereign grace of God, two should be considered at length; both because of their prominence on the Sacred Pages and because of their fundamental character. They are both stated in John 14:20, and are the words of Christ: "Ye in me, and I in you." Though the choice of words here would remind one of the first page of a child’s primer, these words, nevertheless, contain, in germ form, two great lines of truth which are subsequently developed in the Epistles of the New Testament. True these words present a paradox to human minds; but this may be but added evidence of their divine character. There are no paradoxes with God. In this passage the saved one is first said to be "in Christ." This particular phrase, with its equivalent "in Him," is used many times in the New Testament and with deep meaning. It is found twenty-eight times in the first chapter of Ephesians alone. The phrase states a position in Christ which means nothing less than an organic union with Christ. This union is formed through the power of God when one is saved. It is the work of the Spirit by which a member is baptized into the one body. Two figures are used in the Bible to illustrate this union: The vine and the branches, and the head with its members in the body. We are familiar with the process of grafting a branch into a tree, but not so familiar with the thought of joining a member into a human body; yet this is the exact meaning of this Scripture. There is a time when the individual is without Christ; and again a time when, through believing, he is "in Christ." This stupendous change is described in 1 Corinthians 12:13 : "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." This organism which is composed of Christ the Head and all the members joined to Him by the Spirit is that which in the Bible is called "the church which is his body." This must be distinguished from all outward, or visible, organizations. To this organism, His body, every believer is perfectly and eternally joined by the baptism of the Spirit at the instant he believes. He is then "in Christ." To be in Christ is to possess a new standing before God; a standing which is no less than the infinite righteousness of God. The word "righteousness" is used with four distinct meanings in the New Testament and the various meanings should always be held in mind. (1) God Himself is said to be righteous (Romans 3:25-26); (2) Self-righteousness, expressed by Paul as "mine own righteousness" (Php 3:9), "Their own righteousness" (Romans 10:2); (3) A righteousness of daily life which is produced in the believer by the unhindered Spirit (Romans 8:4); (4) The righteousness of God which is said to be reckoned to the one who believes: "A righteousness from God which is unto all and upon all who believe" (Romans 3:22). The fourth meaning of the word is that aspect of righteousness which is now under consideration and that which provides the child of God with a perfect standing. This righteousness must be absolutely disassociated from all other forms of righteousness. It is not an attribute of God; it is in no way produced in life by the Spirit; and is as certainly unrelated to self-righteousness in every form. It is in no way related to right conduct. It is that which we become when we are vitally joined to Christ. A human member severed from a body is both meritless and loathsome in itself; but if it were instantly and perfectly joined to a living body it would at once lose its former character, and from that time forth it would be recognized and honored as a part of the new body in which it is found. If that new organism was the body of the most honored person in the world, the new standing of that new member would be that of the one to whom it is joined. In like manner if that new person to whom a member is joined is the Christ of God, that new member will have a standing which is none other than the righteousness of God. This, it must be repeated, is not a righteousness of man’s making: it is distinctly said to be "made" unto the believer by God Himself. This is clear from the following passages: "Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us * * * righteousness" (1 Corinthians 1:30); "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21); "For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth" (Romans 10:2-4); "That I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Php 3:8-9); "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe" (Romans 3:21-22); "For what saith the scriptures? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also described the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works" (Romans 4:3-6); "And therefore it was imputed to him (Abraham) for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed unto him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:22-25); "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us," and "He hath made us accepted in the beloved" (Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:6); "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, * * * For therein is the righteousness, of God revealed (a righteousness from God) from faith to faith" (Romans 1:16-17). Such are the marvels of His grace. Of ourselves we could be only conscious of our failure and sin, and wholly unable to provide a cure. He is able to make us the very righteousness of God in Christ. As we are made righteous in His sight, He is able to justify us now and forever "from all things from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses." "We are justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." This bestowed righteousness, then, is Christ who is the very righteousness of God, and He is made the righteousness of God unto us when we are found in Him. Such is the standing before God of every saved person whether he has come to understand his position or not. There are practical values, however, in coming to know that we are now made the righteousness of God, and that this righteousness is so unrelated to our own merit, or demerit, and so related to Christ that it can and will abide without change through all eternity. Such knowledge will result in indescribable peace of soul. Oh the burden and yoke of a law that is always broken! The thought of a God Who is never satisfied! A standing that is always hopeless because of our utter helplessness! Then to know the liberty into which we have been brought that we need no longer vainly strive to make ourselves acceptable to God, but can believe that we are "made acceptable to God by Jesus Christ," and on no lower plain than that of the infinite Person of our Lord! There is indescribable rest and peace in realizing that we are already "accepted in the beloved." Such rest and peace would come to a multitude of God’s children if they but knew and believed the word of His grace. To know our perfect standing in Christ does not lead to laxity in daily life: it is the strongest possible incentive to holy living that human heart can know. Let there be no idle speculation here. It is the testimony of the Spirit of God we are dealing with, and that testimony is to the effect that man’s merit, or demerit, cannot become a qualifying factor in the bestowed righteousness of God. It is distinctly for the one who "worketh not." Carelessness of life has never resulted from believing this revelation. God is most evidently concerned with the quality of the daily life of His child; but such an issue cannot be raised here. The divine order cannot be safely ignored, which is first to reveal the grace position, and then to appeal for the corresponding manner of daily life. God’s children are too often fed on mere injunctions with no reference to the corresponding and related positions. This will always result in a hardening of heart and carelessness of life. God has clearly related the position to the conduct and in a positive order, and it is perilous to omit any aspect of the truth or to change the divine order of its application. True heart-searching and moral judgments follow almost without exhortation in those who come to understand the exceeding grace of God in their behalf. The second vital fact mentioned in John 14:20 is stated in the words of Christ, "I in you." Not only is the believer "in Christ," but Christ is in the believer. This is the fundamental Biblical fact concerning the Christian. He has received a deposit of eternal life, something entirely new to him, which is not known to any human being excepting those who have believed on Christ. Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life." This is a new life imparted, rather than a mere inspiration or example for living. It is on this sole point of possessing the new life that all Christian profession is to be judged. "Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" (2 Corinthians 13:5). There are upwards of eighty-five New Testament passages referring directly to this fact of a new imparted divine life. When these are considered, it will be found that this life is never possessed by an unsaved person; but it is revealed to be as certainly the present possession of every saved person, even the least of all believers. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." It is also revealed that this new life is none other than the indwelling Son of God. "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (1 John 5:12); "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear" (Colossians 3:4); "Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20); "Christ in you the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). This indwelling One being the Son of God and eternal, the life is eternal. "I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish" (John 10:28); "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). This is the great supernatural fact of regeneration. By this regeneration legitimate children of God are formed who are by all right and title the true sons of God, and if sons, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. They form a "new generation" or species, and their destiny is, in consonance with their new divine nature, in the eternal glory of the household and family of God. The practical value of knowing this relation to God, or to be able to say, "Christ liveth in me," is but to be impelled to go on to the place wherein it may also be said, "and the life I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." As certainly as a member is vitally joined to the body, so certainly the life of the Head flows into that member, and by this new vitality it is alive and in possession of every vital power. It also follows that such a member should be wholly submissive to the mind and will of the Head. How imperative, reasonable and blessed it is to be wholly yielded to Him that every thought of His great heart may find instant and perfect expression through every member in His own body! ======================================================================== CHAPTER 112: 06.08. ASSURANCE ======================================================================== Chapter Eight Assurance FROM the testimony of the Scriptures, a Christian should know that he is saved. There is abundant Biblical witness on this point, and it can hardly be deemed commendable to be in doubt on this vital question; yet to many it may seem to be presumptuous in the extreme for one to be assured of his own salvation. Where there is a lack of assurance there is usually an impression that so long as the daily life is quite imperfect (and how immodest it would be to claim that it is otherwise) it is unreasonable to do any more than hope that through some special exercise of mercy on God’s part it will not be as bad in the end as it might otherwise be. Unwittingly such attitudes of mind disclose the appaling fact that persons who hold such views have never turned from dependence on their own works and merit to a dependence on the all-sufficient work and merit of Christ. If salvation depends in any degree on personal goodness, there could not be even a saved person in the world, and therefore no ground in it for assurance. Salvation is not offered to those who have purposed to be good, or religious, nor is it guaranteed to those who hope God will Himself be good and gracious in the end. It is offered to all meritless, helpless sinners who are willing to believe that God has already been good in that He has provided, in Christ, not only what they need now, but all they need in time and for eternity. This, too, is believed on no other evidence than that God has said it in His Word. In looking away from self and one’s failure to Christ and His saving grace, one will find adequate grounds for a God-honoring certainty as to posi tion and destiny in Christ Jesus. No life would ever be good enough to merit anything but condemnation from a holy God if judged on the grounds of moral equity. On the other hand, no sinner has fallen so low, or is so weak in himself, that he cannot find absolute rest and assurance of his salvation in looking away to Christ and the finished provisions of His grace. The attitude one may hold on the question of assurance may thus become somewhat of a test as to whether he has really believed on Christ, although it should not be assumed that such is invariably the case. There are certain general facts about Christian assurance which may well be stated. The evidence underlying a positive conviction, or assurance as to personal salvation, is primarily the fact of the faithfulness of God as revealed in the Word. When God has made an unconditional declaration of His faithfulness, it is hardly becoming in one of His children to entertain any uncertainty in those things which He has promised. He has promised to save and keep all who put their trust in Him. Having put one’s trust in Him for salvation, one must either believe Him to do what He has said, or in the measure in which one fails to do so suppose Him to be untrue. At this point a doubt is sometimes expressed as to whether one has really believed in the saving way. As a matter of fact, such a doubt is still one in regard to himself rather than of God. This, of course, is another question altogether; but one so important that nothing else can be undertaken or determined until it is settled. The only cure for this uncertainty is to end it with certainty. Let such an one face his own utter sinfulness and meritlessness with the revelations of the cross and discover, as he must, no hope in himself, and then and there, once for all, appropriate the provisions of divine grace for every need of a sin-cursed soul. If need be, note the very day and hour of such a decision and then believe in the decision itself enough to thank God for His saving grace and faithfulness, and in every thought, act and word thereafter treat the decision as final and real. It is the crying need of a multitude of religious people that they bring themselves to some final dealing with the Son of God with regard to their sins and His salvation. They should be positive enough in this matter to face the eternal question before Him as to whether they choose to stand in His grace alone, or in something within themselves, even in the slightest degree. No very deep conviction of assurance can grow in any heart where the mind is still wondering whether it has really believed in a saving way, and where no impressions of certainty are allowed to take root. Confidence in the faithfulness of God will not thrive when one is constantly singing hymns which have been written to voice the position of the unsaved, such as the hymn in which one is assuming to be "coming to the cross." Let that issue be sealed and past, so far as salvation is concerned, and rather let one be occupied with those blessings which are vouchsafed to those who have believed. It would be much more reasonable to sing "In the cross of Christ I glory." Assurance is born of confidence in Christ. He has said: "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Having come, there is but one question remaining: "Has He cast me out?" This, it will be noted, is a serious question involving the very trust-worthiness of Christ. To doubt salvation at this point is not modest or commendable: it is the sin of distrusting God, or making Him untrue. Without faith it is impossible to please God. On the other hand, it is quite possible for one in facing this question to seal his confidence in God by a faithful "Amen" to every word God has spoken as to His plan and purpose in salvation. Who can look at the cross of Christ and not be convinced that God’s love has been manifested toward us and that He Who paid such a price to redeem us will not instantly receive any soul that trusts in Him? The word of Scripture becomes the title deed, or official writings, as to the certainty of the transaction. "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." Such wonderful knowledge, therefore, is to be gained through the things written. The written things are His exceeding great and precious promises; but these promises can be of no avail to the heart that will not believe Him, or take Him at His word. Normal Christian experience and the joy and peace that results from believing can never even begin in the heart until God has been trusted to the extent that the record of His saving grace has been believed and received. There is a normal Christian experience. There are new and blessed emotions and desires. Old things do pass away, and behold all things do become new; but all such experiences are but secondary evidence, as to the fact of salvation, in that they grow out of that positive repose of faith which is the primary evidence. There is very much Scripture about the results that are sure to appear in a transformed life. True salvation must result in just such realities. It is inconceivable that Christ should come to live in a human heart and its experiences remain unchanged. There must be, under such conditions, a new and vital relationship to God the Father, to fellow-Christians and to Christ Himself, a new attitude toward prayer, toward the Word, toward sin and toward the unsaved. This is the view-point of the Apostle James when he contends so earnestly for works that will justify. It must be remembered, however, that James is here concerned with the appearance our professions make to the outside world, rather than of our acceptance before God. Men can judge only by the outward appearance, and works alone can justify the Christian profession in their sight. God looks on the heart and before Him no works can avail. Before God man must be justified by faith alone. This, James clearly asserts to be true as illustrated in the case of Abraham (James 2:23). The First Epistle of John is full of references to the outward evidence of the inward fact of the newly imparted divine life. This little book, standing near the end of the Bible, may be taken, in one sense, as an examination of the believer. "Hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments" (there is no reference here to the commandments of Moses); "In this the children of God are manifested, and the children of the devil: whoso doeth not righteousness is not of God (cf. John 6:28; John 6:29), neither he that loveth not his brother"; "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren"; "Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother"; "And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us"; "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love"; "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God" (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:3). Such a precious experience as is described by these passages may become clouded by sin or lost in the depression of some physical weakness, and were we depending upon the experience as pri mary evidence that we are saved, all grounds of assurance would be swept away. The primary evidence is clearly stated in the same Epistle as the final word of testing here given and the final grounds of confidence: "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. 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 the life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life. These things (about having the life) have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:9-13). The possession of the indwelling Son of God is the abiding fact of the newly created life in Him, and should never be confused with some imperfect and changeable experience in the daily life. He is received by faith. His presence most naturally leads to blessed new realities in experience. Certainly experience never leads to the realities of the presence of the indwelling Son of God. The Bible use of the word "assurance" will be found in several passages: "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (Hebrews 10:22). This is the confidence that grows out of a repose of faith in the faithfulness of God that He will fulfil every word He has spoken. "And unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding" (Colossians 2:2). This is the breadth of confidence that grows as one increasingly enters into the vastness of God’s revelation of His grace in Christ Jesus. Some are so limited in spiritual vision when they believe that their first step in faith is centered on one promise alone. To such there will be a growing understanding and a corresponding increase of confidence and assurance as other promises and facts of grace are apprehended. "And we desire that everyone of you do shew the same diligence of the full assurance of hope unto the end" (Hebrews 6:11). Here is a reference to that assurance which is the full conviction that every promise and revelation concerning the future will be surely fulfilled. This, like all assurance, is simply the result of believing God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 113: 06.09. REWARDS, OR THE PLACE OF CHRISTIAN WORKS ======================================================================== Chapter Nine Rewards, or the Place of Christian Works TRUE Christian living and service flow out of the new creation which is the result of the saving work of God and are divinely recognized by the promise of rewards. The Bible revelation concerning rewards not only presents a great incentive to holy and faithful living, but is a necessary counterpart of the doctrines of free grace. The divine plan of salvation under free grace is to save men "without money and without price." This means that no exchange is made. Man receives all that he has as a gift and only as a gift. It also means that there are no after payments to be made "on the installment plan," as though some attempted correctness of life and conduct could qualify the transaction of grace. What is done for man is done graciously. God will not suffer His gift to be confused with useless attempts to pay, or return, anything to Him in exchange. It is equally evident that it is not His purpose that Christian service shall be rendered as an attempt to return something for what He has done, notwithstanding the fact that such motives in service are sometimes urged by the misinformed. God is said to be actuated by at least three motives in saving men: First, they are said to be "created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that they should walk in them." This, it is evident, is the least of all. It is, however, the only motive that is sometimes presented. "We are saved to serve" is a common phrase which if taken alone would represent the Father as seeking our service only and as debased to the level of the most sordid commercialist. It is true rather that we are saved in order that we may serve. There can be no true service apart from salvation. Service then becomes a divinely provided privilege. Second, we are saved that "we might not perish, but have everlasting life." This would seem of greatest importance, for it represents our unmeasured and eternal blessing in Him. But there is a third divine motive infinitely beyond these which, we may believe, is the highest motive of saving grace: namely, we are saved "that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." The result of that kindness toward us will be seen to be the final form in which we appear in the glory when we are "conformed to the image of his Son." Every being in the universe will know what we were and will behold the spectacle of what we are in that final and eternal glory. This transformation will have measured the grace of God for us, and on that scale which will be wholly satisfying to Himself. He will have. made a demonstration of His grace before all created beings which will be to His own exceeding joy. It may be concluded, then, that God is moved to act in our behalf from the sole motive of love toward us and not for gains of any kind whatsoever. It is all to unfold His grace alone. Thus the new-born for what He has done. A gift is not appreciated as such by the recipient when there is the slightest intention even to pay for it. Yet the stupid human heart is so often proposing to repay God for His mercy. Such words are put into the lips of Christ in the hymn, "I gave my life for thee, what hast thou given for me?" The question "what hast thou given for me?" may well be asked of us all; but never as though it was a "dun" for a long unpaid debt to Him. The only true motive for Christian life and service is the very one motive which has actuated God in His service for us. It is just LOVE. Salvation was to reveal and satisfy His love for us. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us" (1 John 3:16). It then follows that "we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren"; but never to pay Him for laying down His life for us. It is rather that we act on the same principle of love. We can make no claim on Him whatsoever. At best, from our own standpoint, we are "unprofitable servants." He will reward every faithful service; but He will not demand the service. His recognition of Christian service will be but another manifestation of His marvelous grace. No child of God is "earning his way." Such a thought might satisfy a sordid commercial instinct of an untaught heart, but the thought is foreign to a normal relation of the child to his Father. "He hath given us all things richly to enjoy." The Father’s supply of our temporal needs may come through the very channel in which our service is rendered, but it must not be deemed a payment for that service or all truth is subverted. His care for us is in pure love which can be claimed by the most helpless invalid as much as by the most active person. He does not promise to care for us if we "deliver the tale of bricks." Such doctrine belongs to the Egyptian taskmasters of old. God is just as much committed to care for us, by His loving promises, after our vitality is exhausted as when we are in the prime of life and strength. "They that serve in the gospel shall live by the gospel" is a divine exhortation to those who have the privilege of love gifts to the gospel ministry. It is not addressed to the minister. "Give and it shall be given to you" is an assurance that you cannot approach the Father with an expression of your love to Him that He will not meet you with a vastly greater response of His overflowing grace. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" is not an injunction to seek an increase in salary, even as a secondary consideration. It is forgetting all else but Him, and the divine response is to the end that "All these (temporal) things shall be added unto you." Every service for God, then, should be, like His, a service expressing love, and all occupation in life should be deemed by the Christian as a service for God (1 Corinthians 10:31; Ephesians 6:6-8; Colossians 3:22-24). God does not need our paltry gifts: He wants us. He is not looking for free labor from us: He is looking for evidence of our love for Him. Service for a salary is a poor return: service for His own sake is most precious in His eyes. There is no commercialism in the household of God, for there the standard of value is only love. "He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love." "She hath loved much" was a priceless verdict of Christ. For such service of love there will be a divine recognition in the coming glory. This will be shown by the bestowal of rewards. It should also be stated that Christian service is not any good act we may choose to perform. The child of God has been "created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." This means that there is a design and field of service divinely planned for each one, and "good works" in the Bible sense can only be the finding and doing of that which He has ordained. The works are "good" in that they are "that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" for each believer. These can only be entered into by His divine direction, which will be realized by all who wholly yield to Him. Service must be "where he will." God has promised by many Scriptures to recognize all service that is rendered as a love-expression to Him and all that is within the gracious plan of life He has made for every child of His. There will be rewards, crowns and prizes. No one can define them. They most evidently speak of His loving appreciation of our little suffering and faithfulness for Him. They will be inexpressibly sweet, and they will abide for all eternity. Salvation is not a reward for the believer’s service. Salvation is God’s work for us. Rewards are always connected with the believer’s works and merit. The rewards are to be bestowed at "the judgment-seat of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:10). This is when the saints are gathered to meet their Lord in the air (1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Timothy 4:8; Revelation 22:12; Matthew 16:27; Luke 14:14). It will be a moment of discovery as to who hath loved much and who was much occupied with Him. It is most comforting to read of that very time of judgment, "and then shall every man have praise of God" (1 Corinthians 4:5). Of the many passages in the Bible on rewards, two may be considered here. The first, 1 Corinthians 9:18-27, is the divinely recorded illustration of true service as seen in the life of the Apostle Paul. This passage opens with the question: "What is my reward then?" This is followed by a description of the tireless service and faithfulness of the Apostle. At the twenty-fifth verse he presents an illustration based on the Grecian games. "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain." The most violent effort of the runner in the race is, in the illustration, the standard of effort for the servant of God. "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things." There is the greatest care of the body that it may be found at its highest state of efficiency in agility, strength and endurance. "Now they (the athletes) do it (sacrifice their desires and every indulgence and carefully train) to obtain a corruptible crown." What was more transitory than the wreath of leaves that was placed on the victor’s brow? "But we (sacrifice our desires and indulgences and train ourselves for) an incorruptible crown." If only such were true! Few have so lived before God as did the Apostle Paul. How shame must cover us when we think of the ceaseless effort of the worldly athlete to gain a fading crown that soon will be forever forgotten, while God is offering to us an incorruptible crown the effulgence of which will be increasing in brightness when all the contests of earth are forgotten in the ages of the ages! This passage closes with a personal testimony from the Apostle. "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway" (disapproved). There is no reference to salvation in this passage. It begins with the words: "What is my reward then?" and is of rewards throughout. The fear that is expressed at the end is of being disapproved of the Lord. It is not fear of being found unsaved. This would be opposed to the unvarying and always consistent teaching of the Apostle concerning the grounds of salvation. He testifies that there is a half-hearted preaching which would disappoint His Lord. He is striving that he may be approved as a faithful servant in that ministry to which he was called. The second Scripture to be mentioned on rewards is 1 Corinthians 3:9-15. This presents the fact of rewards as certainly promised by God. "For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." This is not the building of character, which undertaking is unknown in the Scriptures. It is rather the building of service unto a reward. Christ is the foundation and to be on Him is to be saved. It is possible to build on Him of very different spiritual substances, but all built on the same foundation, Christ. Such are the possibilities in service for all who are saved in Christ. "Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work (not his salvation) shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built there upon (Christ), he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work (built on Christ the Foundation) shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." Fire is the symbol of the judgment by which the super-structure of Christian works is to be tested. Jesus made use of another symbol of judgment, the floods of water, that shall test the foundation. Woe to those who are found building on the sand! Not only will their superstructure of self-righteousness collapse, but their foundation, the fallen nature, will be swept by the waters of judgment into everlasting darkness. Although secure against the floods, established on the Rock Christ Jesus, great sorrow and shame will come upon those saved ones who have had all the days of grace and the enabling power of God and a field so white for harvest and in the end present a completed service of "wood, hay, stubble" only. Thus it may be concluded that we are saved in the boundless grace of God and His attitude toward us is ever and always one of love. We are the objects of His bounty and care. Being saved, we are privileged to enter some service of His eternal design. This is not a field in which to compensate Him for His love. It is our divinely given opportunity to express our love to Him to the praise of the Glory of His grace. He recognizes such ministries of love by that which He has been pleased to call "rewards." What more could He do than He has done? How more faithfully could He appeal for our heart’s devotion to Him? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 114: 06.10. ETERNAL SECURITY OF BELIEVER, DOUBFUL PAS... ======================================================================== Chapter Ten The Eternal Security of the Believer, Part 1 The So-called "Doubtful Passages" Part I THE question here raised and which has been so long under theological controversy is simply stated in the words, "Can a person once saved be lost again?" To this question two widely differing answers have been given, which are as simply stated in the two words, Yes and No. There is no middle position, or ground for compromise, for both answers cannot be true at the same time. One cannot really be secure if he is insecure as to his eternal keeping by the slightest degree. The subject of security is somewhat different from the question of assurance already considered. Eternal security is a doctrine of Scripture, a divine revelation of an abiding fact which exists, whether it is believed or not. Assurance is only the personal confidence in a present salvation. The two schools of belief regarding eternal security have existed for several centuries and certain church creeds have taken positive sides on the question. The belief, or disbelief, in security is, however, more of a personal matter than credal; depending much on the extent of personal Bible study and heart response to the whole revelation of God. Because one is enrolled under a "Calvinistic" creed does not guarantee that he will himself be free from the distractions of mere human reason: on the other hand, because one is enrolled under an "Arminian" creed is no guaranty that he will not eventually learn to rest in every revelation and promise of God. The question resolves itself to one issue: did Christ do enough on the cross to make it possible for God righteously to keep one saved, as well as righteously to save at all? Since this question strikes at the very heart of the revelation regarding the cross, its importance cannot be overestimated. The solution of the question involves the very foundation of personal rest and peace, and must qualify Christian service as well. No one can rest while in terror of eternal damnation, nor can one be normal in service if he is confronted with the superhuman task of self-keeping in the realm of the new creation. A careful survey of the whole field of discussion regarding the security of those who are saved will reveal that one group return constantly in their discussions of this subject to the conclusions of human reason, to the uncertain evidence of human experience, and such Scripture as is cited by them, they "wrest to their own destruction." The other group are guided by revelation alone, believing that there is nothing about any phase of salvation that can be explained within the circumscribed limits of unaided reason or knowledge. Salvation began with God in another sphere, and its conditions, character and results are altogether in harmony with the eternal being of God, rather than with the vain imaginations of fallen man. Not one step can be taken toward salvation until the individual is prepared to project his confidence beyond the sphere of human understanding, and believe something of the unseen and otherwise unknowable as it is disclosed in the Word of God. This discussion is undertaken with the hope that it may enable some who have hesitated to go all the way in faith to be more able to do so to the glory of our covenant-keeping God. It need hardly be added that this discussion has only to do with the security of those who are saved in the true and Biblical sense. There is no divine promise of keeping for the mere professor who does not truly believe. There are a few passages which have been thought by some to teach that salvation is insecure. These are to be taken up first. Following the consideration of these the more positive teachings of the Scriptures will be presented. In taking up these so-called "insecurity passages," which number about twenty-five, it will be found that they have been given the character of doubt as to the keeping power of God only through misinterpretation. Thus they are made to contradict the much larger body of Scripture in which an absolute security is promised. The misinterpretation will usually be easily discovered by a careful examination of the whole context. Some of the passages to be taken up, it may be stated, have always been considered difficult, this being evidenced by the various renderings and expositions. It should not be concluded, however, that teaching of insecurity is warranted from the difficulties in these passages. The various renderings and expositions made by creditable expositors do not present teachings foreign to the whole counsel of God. God forbid that any effort should be made to "harmonize the Word of God." It is a consistent whole in its testimony, and only awaits our right understanding of all that it teaches. It will not do, therefore, to discredit the clear testimony of a "verily" of the Scriptures with an "if." The passages in question may best be treated under classified groupings, and for want of space consideration of every passage will not be undertaken. What is true of one passage within a group will be found in the main to be true of the others. I. Passages Dispensationally Misapplied. Matthew 24:13 (see also Mark 13:13; Matthew 10:22): "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." This passage occurs in the midst of the "Olivet discourse," which was addressed to Israel only. They alone are "hated of all nations" (Matthew 24:9). The context is a description of "sorrow" and "the great tribulation" (Matthew 24:8; Matthew 24:21), which period cannot even begin on the earth until the Church has been removed (1 Thessalonians 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). It cannot, and does not, apply to any saint of this dispensation. There is a sweet promise here for those in that terrible time who endure to its end. Ezekiel 33:7-8 was true under the law; but is not true under grace. Matthew 18:23-35 (cf. Matthew 25:30; Matthew 20:1-16) is of "servants" in God’s vineyard, Israel. This is to be distinguished from the present preaching of the gospel in the "field" which is the world. Forgiveness under the law was as ye forgive (Matthew 6:14-15). Forgiveness under grace is, like all gifts of grace, first, divinely bestowed, and then becomes an incentive in the believer’s heart to exercise the same toward others (Ephesians 4:32). It must be noted that "servants" are not necessarily saved. II. The False Teachers of "the Last Days." 1 Timothy 4:1-2 : "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron." There is no reference here to personal faith. Those mentioned are said to depart from the faith. This is "the faith which was once delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3).Very much of 2 Thess., 2 Tim., 2 Pet., 2 Jon., 3 Jon. and Jude concerns the "last days" just before the Church is removed from the earth. None of the New Testament Epistles are concerned with the Great Tribulation which follows the taking away of the Church; for the Tribulation has to do with Israel and the Nations. The Church is warned by an overwhelming body of Scripture against a coming apostacy and that false teaching which is to characterize her "last days" upon the earth. The false teacher who has turned from the Truth is never said to be saved; but God’s judgment of him is sure. The above-named Epistles should all be studied with this in mind, especially 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 2 Peter 3:3-4; 2 John 1:9-11, and Jude 1:4-19. Jude writes of these false teachers as "they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit." III. Moral Reformation. Luke 11:24-26 : "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first." The Lord’s object in thus presenting this truth was evidently to set forth the futility of mere moral reformation. Such a situation could never describe a Christian who from the moment he is saved is indwelt by the Spirit and by Christ. IV. Christian Profession is Proven by Its Fruits. 1 John 3:10 : "In this the children of God are manifested, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God (note the fundamental divine requirement as stated in John 6:28-29), neither he that loveth not his brother." There is an important distinction to be made between enduring in order to be saved and enduring because one is saved. The Bible consistently presents the latter test. "If ye continue in my words, then are ye my disciples indeed" (John 8:31). Of all the seed sown in the field but a small fraction became "wheat," the children of the kingdom. The rest sprang up, and was withered, or was caught away, or was choked. The present age is characterized by much merely formal profession. Within the mass of professors is the true "wheat." The divine test is always with regard to the essential character of the true child of God. As compared with the impotent, unregenerate nature, the divine nature does not sin, but tends to new aspirations and characteristics in daily life. It is so, and it must be so. The child of God still has the flesh, and this is said to "lust against the Spirit." The new nature does not commit sin: the old nature can do nothing else. Proof that one is saved is not found in sinless perfection; but is found in the fact that there are new desires and powers in the new creation. These can prevail over the old desires by the power of the Spirit. The Bible simply demands that there shall be some real evidence of the new life from God. 2 Peter 1:10 : "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things (mentioned in 2 Peter 1:6-8) ye shall never fall" (stumble). Election is certainly of God (Romans 8:29). Peter, here, calls on the saints to make full proof, or to give real evidence of their election by the presence of certain virtues in their lives which he has just mentioned in the preceding verses. So, also, Romans 8:16-18 states that true children of God will suffer with Christ, rather than that they become children, or remain children by suffering. Romans 8:13 : "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die" (ye are on the way to die) is qualified by verse nine: "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." It is this chapter of this great Epistle of salvation, it should be remembered, which presents the most unqualified revelations of security for the one who believes. John 15:6 : "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." This difficult passage may best be understood in its probable relation to professors. The reference is to "a man" and not to a branch, as in verse two. In such a case "abide not in me" could hardly mean more than a pretense, or false profession which "men" disallow as they would gather and burn dead branches. This, like James 2:14-26, is a matter of justification before men by works which testify to the fact of the presence or absence of the new life. Men are judged only by the outward: "God looketh on the heart," and "He knoweth them that are his." The whole Epistle of 1 John is filled with these practical tests of the Christian’s life and conduct. To this may be added 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 and Hebrews 3:6; Hebrews 3:14. V. Various Warnings. 1. Christians are warned: Romans 14:15, "Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died." The effect of this sin is defined in 1 Corinthians 8:11-12 : "But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ." The effect of such sin is, therefore, the wounding of the weak conscience. The sin is most serious; but a true child of God will "never perish," and "will never die" (John 10:28; John 11:26). 2. Professors are warned: Matthew 25:1-13 is of the ten virgins. Five had no oil, the symbol of divine life, though they had every outward appearance. They heard the judgment "I know you not," which could not be said of the least child of God. 3. Jews are warned: Hebrews 10:26, "If we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins." The old Jewish sacrifices had passed and there was no longer that cure for sins. It was either to take Christ, who had died the sacrificial death for all, or to come into terrible judgment. Hebrews 6:4-9, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak" (Hebrews 6:9). Much is said here as having been divinely accomplished in certain individuals, but it is not a sufficient description of the true child of God; who is light; who is already a citizen of heaven; who has been sealed by the Holy Spirit; who bas been regenerated by the washing of the Word; and who has been recreated by the power of God. The passage is addressed to Hebrews and the first part of the chapter concerns their duty of passing from the elements of Jewish faith to Christ, and the warning is of their particular danger of substituting half truths for the full truth in Christ. That the passage is not for Christians is most evident from the closing verse of the context (Hebrews 6:9), which is preceded. by the illustration found in verses seven and eight. 4. Gentiles are warned: Romans 11:21, "For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee." This message is addressed to Gentiles as contrasted to Israel, and is a distinction between God’s dealing with Israel in one dispensation and with the mass of Gentiles in another dispensation, rather than a warning to saved individuals. 5. Two general warnings: Revelation 22:19, "And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book." The warning is most general. That no child of God would be permitted to do this, or to come under this judgment, is assured in 1 Corinthians 10:13 and John 10:29. 1 Corinthians 3:17, "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy (corrupt); for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." Another general warning of judgments which could never be the fate of the child of the Father (John 17:11). VI. Christians May Lose Their Rewards, Walk in the Dark, or be Chastened. 1. Rewards may be forfeited, or lost, but this cannot be said of salvation. 1 Corinthians 9:27 : "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway" (disapproved). The context is only of rewards and not at all of salvation. The word here translated "castaway" is adokimos, which is the negative form, by the prefix a, of dokimos. The negative form is translated by three English words in the New Testament: "castaway," once; "rejected," once; and "reprobate," six times. Three of the translations of "reprobate" are given a marginal rendering "void of judgment." Four meanings given to the word by the lexicons are "unable to stand test," "rejected," "refuse" and "worthless." The less severe form of the word is by the lexicons given first, which corresponds with the meaning given to it in the numerous translations in the Bible. The moderate meaning of the negative form of this word is demanded in the passage in question for at least four reasons. (1) The affirmative form of the word dokimos, used in the New Testament six times, is always translated in the Bible and defined by the lexicographers, as well, as meaning "approved," or "to stand test." "For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men" (Romans 14:18); "Salute Apelles approved in Christ" (Romans 16:10); "For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you" (1 Corinthians 11:19); "For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth" (2 Corinthians 10:18); "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15); "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him" (James 1:12). If dokimos is always "approved," or "tested" as to rewards, it follows that its negative form is naturally "disapproved" or "failure under testing." (2) To give adokimos the severest possible meaning of being "cast off forever" would be to ignore wholly the meaning in the context. This is of rewards to the believer for faithful service. The passage opens with the words (1 Corinthians 9:18) "What then is my reward ?" And Paul’s fear, as has been before stated, is lest through half-hearted ministry he should be disapproved. Salvation is not in question, for salvation is not once related in the Scriptures to dokimos, the affirmative form of this word. (3) To give adokimos the severest meaning in this passage would be to bring it into direct opposition to all the great promises of God concerning His purpose and power in salvation. (4) It is to choose a meaning of the word which is remote and in no way the usual use made of it in the Scriptures. Conybeare and Howson render the passage: "But I bruise my body and force it into bondage; lest, perchance, having called others to the contest, I should myself fail shamefully of the prize" (Life of St. Paul, Chapter 12). 1 Corinthians 3:15. "If any (Christians) man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." The whole context, again, is of rewards for Christian service. The work of God must stand. The child of God will himself be saved, though all his works are burned. Colossians 1:21-23. "And you, that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death" (this is the work of God in salvation), "to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight" (depends, not on His salvation, but); "if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard." 2. Christian fellowship may be lost through sin: "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do pot the truth" (1 John 1:6). This passage has to do with loss of fellowship (not salvation) through sin. The cure for a Christian’s sin is not in a second regeneration and justification by faith, but rather, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). This is the believer’s way back into blessed joy and fellowship with his Lord, and should never be confused with the establishment of the eternal grounds of salvation. The unregenerate are not saved by confessing, but by believing. Thus the Prodigal Son, representing the possible return of the Jewish publicans and sinners under the Jewish covenants and relationships, returned to his father on the ground of confession, and not by a birth, or generation. He was lost and was found, which has not the same significance as being lost and saved. He never ceased to be a son, and was restored to the former relation to his father by confession: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." The same underlying truth will be found in the other parts of the same parable: "The lost sheep" and "The lost coin." Thus a saint of this dispensation, being under the new covenant, may return to his place of blessing by confession (1 John 1:9). David did not pray that his salvation might be restored after his great sin; but he did pray: "Restore unto me the joys of my salvation," and that after his full confession had been made. 3. Christians may be chastened: 1 Corinthians 11:29-32. "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation (judgment) unto himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world." This passage has to do with a possible eating and drinking at the Lord’s table in an unworthy manner, and the table is referred to in this passage as being an outward evidence of the believer’s true fellowship with his Lord. He is thus warned against going to that table when there is unconfessed sin in his life, by that act assuming to be in fellowship with his Lord when he is not. The Father’s method of dealing with His sinning child is then revealed. The sinning child may first judge himself, which he does by confessing his sins. If he judge not himself, he must be judged of his Father; but the Father’s judgment is always chastisement and never condemnation with the world. The chastisement for the unyielding child, according to this passage, is that he may become "weak," "sick," or "sleep" (physical death). John 15:2. "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away." The reference is evidently to true branches, which is not the case in verse six. From the fact that the Greek word airo has the meaning "lifting up out of its place," here translated from airei, "taketh away," it would seem probable that the reference is to the last form of chastisement mentioned in 1 Corinthians 11:30. Such branches are taken home to be with the Lord (see, also, 1 Timothy 5:12, "Having judgment" which is chastisement for a child of God). VII. Christians May Fall From Grace. Galatians 5:1-4. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath set us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace." "Falling from grace," it will be seen from this passage, is not caused by sinning. It is simply departing from the liberty wherewith Christ hath set us free. It is returning to the yoke and bondage of the law from which the death of Christ hath delivered us. Returning to the law, the liberty which is ours in Christ is lost, and Christ, as the grounds of liberty, is of no effect. It is all a question of the enjoyment of that priceless liberty in grace. There is not the slightest hint in the passage that God withdraws His grace, or that any aspect of salvation has been canceled. It is probable that many believers have never had a vision of their liberty in Christ; but this passage is of those who have known such liberty and then have been drawn back into the yoke and bondage of law observance. From the foregoing it may be concluded that there is no Scripture, when rightly divided and related to the whole testimony of God, that teaches that a Christian may be lost. Nor is there any such example in the Bible. Of all the incidents and parables, none can be made to teach the loss of salvation. Moreover, if it were possible to lose it, there is no promise, or hint, in the Bible that it could be regained. The Bible reveals nothing concerning repetition of regeneration. There are at least five general and common questions of doubt that are often raised which should also be considered before turning to the positive revelation regarding eternal security. 1. What if a believer’s faith should fail? Faith, it may be answered, is not meritorious. We are not saved because we possess the saving virtue of faith. We are saved through faith, and because of the grace of God. Incidentally faith is the only possible response of the heart to that grace. Saving faith is an act: not an attitude. Its work is accomplished when its object has been gained. 2. What if a Christian dies with unconfessed sin? It is quite impossible that any believer knows, remembers, or has confessed every sin. Confession, after all, is but telling Him, and this could better be done, perhaps, in His gracious presence than otherwise. It is impossible that any would see His face if whole confession, or sinless perfection, should be made the condition of entering that blessed Presence. This question grows out of a very imperfect understanding of the finished work of Christ. Christ has died that sin might not keep us from God. 3. Does not the doctrine of security license people to sin? Biblically, No; Experimentally, No. There is no greater incentive to holiness of life than to know one’s own eternal position in Christ Jesus. It is, according to the Bible, God’s superlative appeal for true Christian living. To the question, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" the unregenerate would answer "yes"; for that would be the voice of the fallen nature: but the regenerate will answer, "God forbid." To claim that teaching the doctrine of security will license people to sin is to ignore the mighty revelations of the believer’s positions and the effect of these upon the life. It is to ignore the fact of the new divine nature which indwells each child of God. It is to ignore the new dispositions and tendencies flowing out of that new life. It is to ignore the imparted energy of God, "for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." It is to challenge every revelation concerning God’s plan of dealing with His child. Experimentally no truly born-again persons have been known to live on a lower plane after they were saved than the plane on which they lived before they were saved, and very few have been known to take advantage of grace. Mere conversion, or reformation, may result in a return to a worse estate (Luke 11:24-26). On the other hand, to hold over people the superhuman obligation of self-keeping in Christ, is but to discourage them utterly in the purpose of true Christian living and incline them to discount the very standards of God. Such must ever be called from a back-slidden state. The Puritans were not self-named. The name was given them because of their great carefulness of life and piety. Yet every Puritan believed in security, and they may be classed with a multitude of the most devoted saints who have lived and believed according to the testimony of God. 4. Cannot we rebel and be released from Christ if we so choose? A most unscriptural emphasis upon the supposed power of the human will has been made by some. The human will never acts alone (saved persons, Php 2:13; unsaved persons, Ephesians 2:2), and God has undertaken to keep His own from all such sin. "And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom" (2 Timothy 4:18); "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13); "I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish" (John 10:28); "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:5). Having really tasted the riches of His infinite grace and then preferring to be lost again would be the clearest evidence of insanity. We may be assured that God keeps any child of His who is so unfortunate as to lose his reason, and if such an one were to ask to be unsaved, and if it were possible, that one would be kept by the power of God through the dark night of insanity. For this he would give unceasing thanks to the Father through the ages to come. 5. Why the failure of so many converts? No one can really judge another; but it is evident that converts who fail are either misguided professors who went out from us because they were not of us" (1 John 2:19), or they are saved and perhaps so poorly taught, or so neglected in shepherd care, that they are utterly confused and are "walking in darkness" (1 John 1:6). Conversion is but a human act of turning about. It can be done many times and even a believer may be converted (Luke 22:32). Being born again is a different experience entirely. With it there is no repetition whatever, nor occasion for repetition. Some modern revival converts who have heard nothing but appeals for reformation and a general exhortation to be identified with religion, can hardly be expected to come under the same gracious keeping of God, as the one who has come to God by Jesus Christ, and who has intelligently rested in the saving grace of God as revealed in His Son. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 115: 06.11. ETERNAL SECURITY OF BELIEVER ======================================================================== Chapter Eleven The Eternal Security of the Believer, Part 2 The Doctrine of the Scriptures Part II THE eternal security of the believer is revealed in a well-defined body of Scripture the interpretation of which is not subject to question as to its exact meaning, or as to the fact that it refers only to salvation, if the plain teaching of the Word of God is taken to be the final statement of truth. Those passages which have been thought by some to teach that a Christian might be lost again, together with certain questions of doubt, have been considered in the preceding chapter, and the way is clear, so far as this discussion is concerned, to give undivided attention to the positive words of certainty regarding the divine keeping guaranteed in the Word to every child of God. Complete exposition of this extensive body of Scripture would be impossible within the limits of this chapter. As in the preceding chapter, the passages may best be grouped under certain general heads, and representative passages of the Scriptures in this body of truth considered in each of these divisions. According to His Word, the true child of God is secure in the divine keeping for at least seven reasons: I. The Purpose, Power and Present Attitude of God the Father. 1. The Purpose of God. The divine revelation unfolds the eternal past, the present order in time, and the eternal future. To all these the saved one is closely related. From the beginning he was in the thought and purpose of God; he is now in the day of decision and grace; and the eternity to come is made glorious by the sure realization of the design of God for him. "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren, moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified" (Romans 8:29-30). "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him" (Ephesians 1:4). These passages sweep the whole eternity. They reveal a divine purpose in the dateless past and reach on to its realization in the eternity to come, and all without reference to human conditions. Still another passage, related only to the ages to come, reveals that this will all be accomplished as a sufficient display, to all created beings, of the grace of God: "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6-7). The solemn question confronts every thoughtful person, therefore, whether the infinite God can realize His eternal purpose, or is He baffled and uncertain in the presence of the object of His own creative power? To this question the Scriptures give no uncertain answer. 2. The Power of God. God has not only revealed Himself as Creator and Lord of all, but it has pleased Him to give the most minute and exact assurance of His ability to do for His child that which He purposed in the ages past. Speaking of what He would have us know, it is said: "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly (Ephesians 1:19-20). "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any (created thing) pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:27-28). This is true of "my sheep." No power created is sufficient to pluck them out of His hand. Even the "free will" of the sheep cannot, and will not, bring him to the point of perishing. "Who are thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand" (Romans 14:4). "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him (guard my deposit) against that day" (2 Timothy 1:12). "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling (stumbling) and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24). Such is the testimony of the Holy Spirit concerning the sufficient power of God for the believer’s eternal keeping. 3. The Attitude of God. Could it be possible that God would so love an individual as to give His only Son to die for him and still love him to the extent of following him with the pleadings and drawings of His grace until He has won that soul into His own family and household and created him anew by the impartation of His own divine nature, and then be careless as to what becomes of the one He has thus given His all to procure? Here, again, the Scriptures make positive reply. "But, God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life" (Romans 5:8-10). "Much more" is a term of comparison. He gave His Son to die for us while we were yet sinners and most abhorent, as such, to His absolute purity and holiness. Such is the boundless love which He has commended to us through the cross. But much more than His attitude of love toward sinners will be His attitude of love toward those whom He has cleansed, transformed, redeemed and created anew as His own beloved children in grace. If He will save sinners at the price of the blood of His only begotten Son, much more, when they are justified, will He save them from wrath through Him. This great comparison is repeated in the text apparently for emphasis. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be (kept) saved through His life (or the fact that He is now alive and appearing for us at the right hand of God. See Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). The testimony of the Bible, then, is that the attitude of love and care of God for those whom He has saved will be much more than the attitude of love, surpassing knowledge, for enemies and sinners as it has been manifested in the cross. Not only is it revealed that God is disposed to keep the one whom He has saved, but the true child of God is also a gift of the Father to the Son (John 10:29; John 17:6; John 17:9; John 17:11) and has been committed to the keeping power of the Father by the prayer of the Son. "Holy Father keep." That prayer will be answered. Thus it may be concluded that should the saved one be lost, the eternal purpose of God will have been thwarted. Admitting this, it must be concluded that He Who can design a universe whose remotest star shall not deviate by a second from its appointments throughout the ages; Who can plan the universe from the highest arch-angel to the marvelous organism of the smallest insect; Whose purpose has never yet been known to fail—that such a God may be defeated by the mere creature His hands have made. If the saved one is finally lost, it must also be concluded that God is, to that degree, lacking in power. He Who has testified that not one of His sheep will ever perish, must yet retract His bold assertions and humbly submit to a power that is greater than His own. He Who created and holds the universe in His hands; Who calls things that are not as though they were; Who could speak the word and dismiss every atom of matter and life from existence forever must retire before the over-lordship of some creature of His hand. And, lastly, admitting the revelation concerning God’s eternal purpose and His infinite power to accomplish that purpose, if it could still be proven that the saved one might be lost we would be shut up to the one and final conclusion that it could be so only because the All-powerful God did not sufficiently care to keep those whom His power had created as new-born children. But what do we find? The revelation is full of testimony concerning that very care. Who can measure the revealed devotion of His boundless love toward the objects of His saving grace? Who will dare claim that He will not answer the prayer of His Son? II. The Substitutionary, Sacrificial Death of God the Son. There is no spiritual progress to be made until one is convinced that something final was accomplished at the cross in regard to sin. Nor will it do to believe that the thing accomplished applies only to such sins as have already been committed, or for which forgiveness has already been granted. Something has been done concerning every sin that ever has been committed, or that will yet be committed by man, and conse quently every person has been vitally affected by the cross. It does not baffle our God to deal with sins before they are committed. Had He not done this there could now be no grounds of salvation for any sinner in this age. So complete has been the sacrificial work of the Son of God that the Spirit has testified: "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world"; "He tasted death for every man"; "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world"; "He died for all." Because of the thing which He has accomplished by His death, the present condemnation of sinners is said to be no longer due primarily to the fact of their sins, but to the fact that they will not receive the remedy God has in infinite love provided: "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:18-19). "He that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:16). "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2 Corinthians 5:19). "Of sin, because they believe not on me" (John 16:9). To this sin of rejecting the lavishing of God’s mercy and grace must be added the fact that those who thus reject have chosen, in practical effect, to stand under the burden of their own sins, as though Christ had not died. It is a matter of revelation that even the unsaved are not now condemned because of the sins which Christ has borne. How much less could a true child of God be condemned because of his sins! "There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." The saved one will be brought into judgment concerning his life and service (2 Corinthians 5:10), and be chastened of the Father (Hebrews 12:6); but never will he "be condemned with the world" (1 Corinthians 11:31-32). "Verily, verily, I say unto you,’ he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that hath sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). "He that believeth on him is not condemned" (John 3:18). Although the child of God will not be condemned, God is not indifferent concerning the manner of his daily life. He has other and more effective ways of prompting His children to normal living under grace than to hold over them the terrors of instantly perishing as the result of sin. A wise mother, even, has other resources in correcting and developing her child than instant murder for the slightest deviation from her will. Sin is never mitigated, because it is committed by a Christian; it is terrible in God’s holy eyes: but it is still His child that sins and He has Himself provided that even sin shall never hinder the exercise of His eternal love. He has forever swept sin’s judgments out of His own way. The child in the Father’s house may lose his fellowship, joy, peace and power and even come under the Father’s chastening hand, because he is a son, but he is not to be condemned. When he is chastened it is not a question of making, or breaking, his sonship: it is all because he is a son. Even of the world it is said that God is "not imputing their trespasses unto them." The child of God is said to "stand in grace." This is far removed from standing in works or any personal merit. Because of the cross, our God is able to save us in spite of the fact that we have sinned and are without merit before Him. Because of that same cross and on the same grounds of justice, He is able also to keep us saved who may be sinning and who can claim no worthiness in His sight. The very same provisions of grace which made it possible to save us at all, make it equally possible for us to be kept saved for all eternity. To claim that the child of God is not safe because of the supposed unsaving power of sin, is to put sin above the blood and to set at naught the eternal redemption that is in Christ Jesus. If there is real solicitude as to the moral effect of this revelation, let it be rememberd that, according to the Bible, this truth, so far from being considered a license to sin, is the greatest divine incentive to true holiness, and as important as the believer’s life and conduct is, it is under other and more effective divine care. III. The Sealing by God the Spirit. The believer has been sealed by the Spirit of God unto the day of redemption. "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30, see also Ephesians 1:13; 2 Corinthians 1:22). Nothing could be more final than this. The Spirit Himself is the seal. His blessed presence in every true child of God is the divine mark of ownership, purpose and destiny. The Spirit Who was sent to abide in us will not withdraw. He may be grieved, or quenched (resisted), but He abides. This He does as the divine guaranty that there shall be no failure in any purpose of God and the sealed one will reach his eternal glory and the eternal blessedness of "the day of redemption." It is easily concluded by some, and because to them it seems reasonable, that the divine Person cannot remain in a heart where there is sin. Such are soon driven either to judge themselves to be absolutely without sin, or else to be lost. They evidently do not realize the value of the cross as the divinely provided answer to every challenge of righteousness that may arise because of sin, nor do they seem to have considered deeply that body of Scripture which reveals the fact that God can and does get on with imperfect Christians. Out of such imperfect material He must people heaven, so far as humanity is concerned, else that blessed place will stand empty throughout eternity. The Spirit can righteously abide in every Christian. He does thus abide, for God has said it. His sealing will endure unto the "day of redemption." To claim that the child of God may yet be lost is to ignore the power and sufficiency of the infinite Spirit Who has sealed every saved one unto the day of redemption by His unchanging abiding Presence. IV. The Unconditional New Covenant Made in His Blood. Of all the covenants God has made with man some are conditional and some are unconditional. The conditional covenant is made to depend upon the faithfulness of man: "if ye will do good I will bless you." The unconditional covenant is a direct declaration of the purpose of God, and depends on Him alone. "I will make of thee a great nation, and in thee all the families of the earth shall be blessed." This was God’s unconditional covenant with Abraham. It was unconditional in that God in no way related its accomplishment to Abraham’s conduct or faithfulness. Jehovah was certainly interested in Abraham’s conduct; but He in no degree made conduct a part of the basis of the great undertaking stated in the covenant. In ratifying a portion of the covenant made to Abraham, God alone passed between the pieces of the carcasses while Abraham lay motionless in a very deep sleep (Genesis 15:4-17). Abraham had nothing to do with it. He was committed to nothing whatsoever, and was wholly set aside. Such is the fact and force of an unconditional covenant. "The new covenant made in his blood" is in like manner unconditional. It is especially mentioned in Hebrews 8:7-10:25 and includes every promise of God for salvation and keeping for believers in this age of grace. This "new covenant made in his blood" is unconditional, since it wholly passes over every question of human merit, or conduct, and consists in the mighty declarations of what God is free to do and will do in sovereign grace for the one who believes on His Son. We enter this covenant by believing. This should not be confused with the conditions within the covenant. The new covenant is not conditioned by our believing, but is unconditionally declared to those who do believe. No human conditions are found in the following passages: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24); "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37); "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man (creation) is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand" (John 10:28-29); "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified" (Romans 8:28-30); "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Php 1:6); "And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (2 Timothy 4:18). These declarations do not once descend to the level of human life and conduct: they define the divine intent and purpose. Were they to be conditioned in the slightest degree upon human merit, the ultimate goal of Christlikeness could never be realized for any fallen being. It is sometimes asserted that a condition of good conduct is implied in these passages which together form the new covenant. Nothing is implied whatsoever. If God shall choose to make an unconditional covenant how could He more clearly state it? Or how could His exact truth be preserved if men are free to qualify His Word? To claim that a Christian may be lost through the issues of his daily life is to make an eternal, unconditional covenant, made by God in sovereign grace, seem to be a mere legal demand with which no human being could ever hope to comply. It would be tampering with the word of His grace. V. The Intercession and Advocacy of Christ. Many have placed an emphasis out of all due proportion upon the three years’ ministry of Christ on the earth as compared with His present ministry at the right hand of God. So little is this latter ministry considered that it is almost unknown to many Christians; but no one can enter intelligently into the revelation concerning the fact, purpose and value of the present ministry of Christ and not be assured of the eternal security of all who have put their trust in Him. Whatever else lies within the purpose of the Eternal Son at the right hand of God, the Scriptures reveal only that He is there for the keeping of His own who are in the world. The present heavenly ministry of Christ is both intercessory and advocatory. As Intercessor He prays for all that the Father hath given Him, or every member of His blessed body. This prayer is concerning their weakness and helplessness. His intercessory ministry began with His High Priestly prayer which He prayed before His death, as recorded in John 17:1-26. This petition, it should be noted, is not only limited to His own in the world, but altogether for their keeping and fitting for their heavenly destiny. He also continues to pray onlyfor His own, and concerning their keeping and destiny (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). No child of God will ever know before reaching heaven from what dangers and testings he has been saved by the faithful and unfailing intercession of his Lord. He is the Great Shepherd of the Sheep, brought again from the dead through the blood of the everlasting covenant Who is guarding His own, and of them He will say: "And I have lost none of them, save the son of perdition that the Scriptures might be fulfilled"; while they can say of Him, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." It is inconceivable that the prayer of the Son of God should not be answered. It was answered in the case of Peter. "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." He did not pray that Peter should be kept out of Satan’s sieve. He did pray that Peter’s faith might not fail, and it did not fail. What consolation it yields to contemplate the fact that He, with all His understanding of every weakness and danger before us, is praying this moment, and every moment, for us! His is not a prayer that will not avail. His praying is perfect and the result is absolute. Moreover, His intercession is without end. The Aaronic priesthood was most limited in its continuance because of the death of the priest. "But this man (Christ), because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:24-25). He is able to save to the uttermost (Greek, panteles, meaning forever, or perfectly in point of time). Such security is vouchsafed only to those "who come unto God by Him," and such security is assured to these on no other grounds, in this passage, than that "He ever liveth to make intercession for them." As Advocate He now "appear; in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24). This ministry has to do only with the believer’s sin. "If any (Christian) man sin, we have an advocate with the Father (not an advocate with God), Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1). In exercising this ministry He does not continue to atone for sins as they are committed: sin has been atoned for "once for all," and what He does is in the value of that finished work of the cross. He does not seek to excuse the sinning Christian before the Father’s presence. Sin is ever that soul-destroying stain that can be cleansed only by His precious blood; but the blood has been shed. Nor is He appealing for the pity and leniency of God the Father toward the Christian’s sin. God cannot be lenient toward sin; but having perfectly satisfied every demand of His own righteousness against sin by the cross; He can be eternally gracious toward the sinner who has come unto Him by Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is now appearing before the face of God for us and He appears there with His glorified human body in which are the scars of His crucifixion (Zechariah 13:6). It is the presence of that very death-scarred body which answers the condemning power of every sin of the child of God. It is also a sufficient answer to every accusation of Satan who accuses the brethren before God day and night. "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God." It is Christ, superior to all finite beings, Who died. The death of such as He is the undisputable answer to the condemning power of every sin; and He is risen. Oh blessed Presence! Oh eternal safety! No condemnation can ever pass His nail-scarred body. What priceless consolation to the imperfect and sin-conscious saint! We have been kept to the present hour by the living Intercessor Who ceases not to shepherd our wandering feet, and by the living Advocate Who ceases not to appear for us before the right hand of the Father. The same Intercessor and Advocate will yet prevail until that blessed day when we shall see Him as He is and be like Him. To challenge the eternal security of the believer is to deny that the prayer of the Son of God will be answered and to deny the eternal efficacy of His atoning blood. In ignorance, perhaps, such insult has been heaped upon the blessed Saviour; yet still He is faithful. He prays and appears before the Father in behalf of just such ignorant or sinning believers. VI. The Eternal Character of Salvation. Thirty-three divine transformations, which together constitute the present fact of the Christian’s existence as in distinction to the unsaved, have been named already in a preceding chapter. These, it has been seen, are all eternal by their very nature. They are wholly disassociated from every human element that might endanger them, and they are made to rest alone on the merit of the eternal Son of God. We are said to be reconciled, redeemed, dead to the law and to sin, acceptable to God, and made nigh, all by virtue of His blood and not by any merit within ourselves. Sonship is eternal. It is the result of a birth which secures the impartation of a new divine nature. It is impossible to remove from a child the nature of his human father. It is a deeper and more abiding reality to have partaken of the divine nature. The born-again one thus possesses "eternal life" by a legitimate birth, and can "never perish." Such terms are themselves final. It could not be eternal life that is imparted with no possibility of perishing and then be lost by no greater force than the feeble act of man, that act moreover already having been covered with atoning blood. Salvation is also a new standing, or headship in the "last Adam." Removed from headship of the "first Adam" and the doom of his fall, the saved one is now "in Christ" and a partaker of the character and standing of his new Head, the Son of God. There can be no fall in the "last Adam." To deny the eternal security of the believer is to challenge the eternal character of the riches of divine grace, and to assume that the very Son of God may fall in Whom we stand. VII. The Believer’s Heavenly Perfection. Having removed by the cross every moral question that could ever arise in connection with the salvation and keeping of the believer, the God of all grace has been pleased to reveal the final estate to which He will bring us in satisfying His own infinite love. There is nothing greater in the power of God for us than that we should be "conformed to the image of his Son." Such a blessedness could be assured only on the very conditions which would at the same time guarantee the eternal security of the believer. That final perfection, "like him," is possible only as every human element is set aside. Were we able to effect our salvation by the slightest degree it would, in so much, fail of the divine purpose. He, of necessity, has kept it all in His own power, and nothing can now hinder Him in the fullest satisfaction of His knowledge-surpassing love. That final perfection, "like him," is also to be a manifestation, to all created beings, of the grace of God. It is to be manifested by means of "His kindness toward us through Jesus Christ." By His redeemed ones He proposes to show His grace and to show it on a scale that will be wholly satisfying to Himself. Grace is unmerited, unrecompensed favor, and if He is to show His grace finally and perfectly by the salvation and keeping of His own redeemed children, it can be such a display of His grace only as it is wholly removed from human works and merit. Being completely removed from the failing grounds of human merit, there is nothing that can happen in the believer’s life, under the gracious care of God, that can remove him from His eternal purpose. The first eight chapters of the letter to the Romans present the exhaustive divine statement concerning salvation, and this great portion of Scripture closes with an absolute declaration of security for the one who believes. It is like the closing chords of a great symphony. The Spirit of God, through the Apostle, approaches this final declaration through seven questions, the answers of which will be found to be a condensed statement of the divine revelation concerning the keeping power of God. This statement will be found in Romans 8:29-39, and the questions are: First, "What shall we say to these things?" The things referred to are the successive steps of sovereign grace and power which are taken in bringing the believer to his final glory. In this passage time is lost sight of and human worthiness is passed over in the resistless onward movement of the eternal purpose of God. "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. "What can we say to these things? What wisdom have we to speak? We can only yield our hearts and believe what He has spoken. Second, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" God is certainly for us. He spared not His own Son in our behalf. Is there any power in the universe which can thwart its Creator? The very thought is almost blasphemy. Third, "How shall he not with him freely give us all things ?" Not only has He proven Himself inclined to give, by the superlative gift of the Son of His Love, but having gained us at such a price, He will not spare any pains to keep the treasure thus purchased; nor will He withhold a lesser gift. Fourth, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?" Such a charge must be preferred before God and He does nothing but justify. He may chasten, as a Father in His own household; but nothing can be laid to the charge of His elect before Him Who is now free to justify. Fifth, "Who is he that condemneth?" It is Christ that died. This means much more than the death of any other could mean. He is the Son of God, and His sinlessness and infinite being made Him a perfect sin-bearer. It is not the death of a man or an angel. It is the atoning death of the Christ of God. He has not only died, but is alive for evermore; yea, is even at the right hand of God. Because of His presence there, every demand of an offended law is satisfied in Him. Who can condemn with Christ at the right hand of God? Sixth, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" Not now the love of the Father, or our poor love for Him; but who can make us unlovely in His eyes? He loved us while we were yet sinners. He loves us still, with an everlasting love. Seventh, "Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" These are the outward experiences in life, and the trusting heart can say, "I will not fear what man can do unto me"; yea, "all things work together for good to them that love God." Such suffering is the portion of the child of God in this world. "As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." But there are the greater issues of death, life, angels, principalities, powers, things present and things to come, height, depth and every unknown creation. Can we boldly speak of security in the face of such unknown and unknowable forces? To this the Apostle’s clear testimony is added. "I am persuaded, 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 (creation) shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus." Twice the Apostle employs the phrase, "I am persuaded." In the other instance, as here, it expresses his confidence in his eternal security and keeping in the power and grace of God. "For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Timothy 1:12; cf. Romans 4:21). Such is the faith of the Apostle Paul. He was persuaded that he was saved for time and eternity. Those who are not so persuaded can hardly claim to hold the faith of the Apostle, or to honor the clear testimony of God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 116: 06.12. AN APPEAL ======================================================================== Chapter Twelve An Appeal SHOULD you, reader of this book, be uncertain of your salvation, or know that you are not saved, will you not respond to the loving invitation of your God and come to Him by the way He has provided in the Person and cross of His Son? Think not that He expects anything from you but your whole trust in Him until He has first saved you by His grace. He will faithfully do according to His Word the moment you have chosen positively to rest your salvation in His saving power and grace alone. After you have thus believed, He purposes to supply all the enabling power to meet all the problems and the needs of your daily life. You need not fear, only believe His Word. His wisdom, strength and bounty are sufficient for you. Having cast yourself upon His saving grace as it is in Christ Jesus, you have the right to believe that He has saved you, and you should, in honoring His faithfulness, immediately take the place of a son before Him and draw moment by moment on His exhaustless bounty and love. Should you, on the other hand, be confident that you have believed and are assured that you are a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ, will you not praise Him anew for "so great salvation" and so yield yourself to Him that He may more perfectly use you as His ambassador to tell His truth to others? Will you not, in these dark days of confusion as to the truth of God, take great care to be accurate in the presentation of this priceless Gospel message to others? It is quite possible to mislead souls unintentionally by misstating the divine conditions that lead to life eternal. "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." The privilege of preaching the Gospel to one soul is priceless. So, in like manner, any blunder in its presentation may contribute to an eternal disaster and woe. Carelessness in preaching is criminal and ignorance is inexcusable. The Gospel is plain. Earnestness is important, but no amount of earnestness can be substituted for the exact statement of God’s message to lost men. It is too often supposed that preaching about sin is preaching the Gospel. Sometimes the purpose of such preaching is to deepen conviction concerning sins of the past. Such a message could be of value only as it prepares the way for the Gospel. By itself, this message is in no way the good news of saving grace. Men do not have to arrive at some prescribed degree of consciousness of sin in order to be saved. They need only to know that whatever sin God may have seen in their lives has been already laid on His atoning Lamb. They are now asked to believe that glorious message. Sometimes preaching against sin is with a view to encouraging men to cease sinning. This is superficial indeed and unbiblical. The unsaved are "dead in trespasses and sins," and are" in the power of darkness." Sin is a nature as well as a practice. Fallen man would be lost had he not sinned. He must be born again; not as a means of correcting the effects of his past practices, but because of his fallen Adamic nature. Being spiritually dead, he must be given spiritual life. No reformation can change the fallen state. When preaching against sin, it is well to remember that the unsaved cannot cease sinning. When they receive the Saviour, they will receive both the power to discontinue and the disposition to turn from sinning. It is sometimes supposed that to preach Christian-living is preaching the Gospel. Sinners are thus told to "walk in the light," to pray, to study the Bible, to make confession of sin, or to repent. On the contrary, they have no light in which to walk, no access to God in prayer, no understanding of the Scriptures apart from the message of saving grace which the Spirit will use to their salvation. They are on no grounds of relationship before God where confession could be of any avail. They are already condemned. They cannot change their own mind, or repent. They can believe on Christ by the Spirit and such believing includes that change of mind, or repentance, which is possible to the unsaved. They stand confronted with the revelation concerning a Saviour Who waits to save. He is to be believed upon. Other issues can serve only to postpone the day of salvation. Encouraging men to believe that God will be merciful is not preaching the Gospel. All such preaching really ignores the cross. Salvation is not a present act of generosity and leniency on the part of God. Salvation is possible because the love of God has already provided all that a sinner can ever need. The sinner is not saved by pleading with God for His kindness: he is saved by believing that God has been kind. Such is the exact place of the cross in the message of the Gospel. Preaching the Gospel is telling men something about Christ and His finished work for them which they are to believe. This is the simplest test to be applied to all soul-saving appeals. The Gospel has not been preached until a personal message concerning a crucified and living Saviour has been presented, and in a form which calls for the response of a personal faith. The Saviour said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 117: 07.00. PREFACE TO THE E-SWORD EDITION ======================================================================== Preface to the e-Sword Edition When I first discovered the amazing power of e-Sword, I was connected to the internet with a 56k fax modem. My enthusiasm for the program and its plethora of resources motivated me to stay up all night downloading its riches. I spent the next several days exploring the amazing variety of study material. As a busy pastor, I’ve tried to assemble a classic research library. As a busy pastor of a small church, I’ve tried to inexpensively assemble a classic research library. E-Sword immediately added many valuable assets that I hadn’t yet purchased; and those resources that e-Sword duplicated were much easier and faster to use than the paper versions. Since that wonderful first week, I’ve discovered many more treasures through Google searches. Then one day I realized that I owed a debt. I made a contribution to Rick Meyers (Rick - you are the modern day Gutenberg; should the Lord not return in the near future like I believe He will, you will do for Bible study the next 100 years what Gutenberg did in the 1500’s), and then started looking for public domain resources to convert to .topx files. And so my personal journey has come full circle: from the excitement of discovering e-Sword to the excitement of creating .topx files for others. Like Rick quotes from Matthew 10:8, "freely ye have received, freely give." Thank you, Michelle, Jeremiah, Isaiah & Micah, for understanding my debt and graciously tolerating my near compulsive computer use for hours on end. My thanks to the creator of e-Sword, Rick Meyers - www.e-sword.net. Thank you, Lewis Sperry Chafer, for converting your studies to eternal print. And of course - most importantly - my thanks to the Lord Jesus who saved my soul for all eternity. This Edition There have been no changes to Chafer’s work, except for the following: Scripture references have been converted to Scripture hyperlinks using the "Format Scripture ToolTip." A few obvious Scripture reference errors have been corrected, as well as some obvious spelling errors. The copy and paste process has unfortunately removed most of the italicized print. While the words have not been changed, some of Wilson’s emphasis may be missing. It is with regret that I have not taken the time to correct this. The sense is still accurate. [By the way - would you understand this paragraph without italics? Of course!] Also, the italicizing of the foreign words have been lost. It is my hope that the reader will be able to follow the flow regardless of these flaws. They - the flaws - are mine, not Chafer’s. I am quite sure my edition of Chafer’s work is rather imperfect. I pray that, nonetheless, it will be productively useful in the study of God’s Word. Finally Feel free to contact me with comments. You can reach me via e-mail at dm5thomason@bigfoot.com Also, if you convert a classic resource to e-Sword .topx file (or .dctx, .cmtx, etc.), send me your work! I’d love to utilize it! If you haven’t joined the e-Sword Users group, visit www.e-sword-users.org and check it out. This is a free group, with lots of third-party resources (like this one!) and help from other e-Sword users. May the Lord bless you as study His word. Dr. David S. Thomason Florida, USA ======================================================================== CHAPTER 118: 07.00.1. SATAN ======================================================================== Satan By Lewis Sperry Chafer ======================================================================== CHAPTER 119: 07.00.2. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION ======================================================================== Chafer’s original copyright information - 1909. Now in the public domain. This e-S text is from Project Guttenberg here - http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12586 Project Guttenberg copyright statement: This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net ======================================================================== CHAPTER 120: 07.00.3. TABLE OF CONTENTS ======================================================================== Contents Foreword, by Dr. C. I. Scofield Author’s Introduction 1. The Career of Satan 2. The Ages 3.The Course of This Age 4.This Age and the Satanic System 5. The Satanic Host 6. Satan’s Motive 7. Satan’s Methods 8. The Man of Sin 9. The Fatal Omission 10. Modern Devices 11. The Believer’s Present Position 12. The Believer’s Present Victory ======================================================================== CHAPTER 121: 07.00.4. FOREWARD ======================================================================== Foreword If any word of mine shall add to the number of the readers of this book I shall be glad to have written it; and I sincerely wish that all believers, and especially all ministers and Christian workers, might in some way be led to read it. The subject is vital to any right understanding of the age in which we live, and of the personal conflict which we wage; for the existence, personality, and power of Satan are awful facts and of immense present significance. We walk in the midst of his snares, hear on every hand his doctrines proclaimed by men of blameless lives "transformed as the ministers of righteousness," and are allured by the pleasure, place and power of his perfectly organized world-system. I know of no other book on Satan in which the dispensational aspects of the subject are so clearly stated, nor any other so severely Biblical. C. I. Scofield. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 122: 07.00.5. INTRODUCTION ======================================================================== Introduction The world has been willing to comply with the wishes and projects of Satan to the extent of ceasing to believe that he really exists; this unbelief being most advantageous to his present undertakings. Yet the opinions of men have never changed the facts of revelation, and, according to Scripture, Satan exists; still possessed with great power and influence over the affairs of men—a power and influence to be increasingly dreaded as this present age advances. The teachings of Scripture on this important subject are but little understood by Christians and seem to be entirely outside the thought of the world. It is, therefore, to be expected that any attempt to present this truth will seem, to many, mere folly and fiction. The name Satan has by no means been lost. It has, however, been associated with a most unscriptural fancy. Without reference to revelation, the world has imagined a grotesque being, fitted with strange trappings, who has been made the central character in theatrical performances; and by this relation to the unreality of the theatre, the real character of Satan has come to be only one of the myths of a bygone age. Scripture reveals a detailed description of the person and career of Satan; beginning with his creation; his original condition; his fall, and on to his kingdom with all its developments, and his final defeat and banishment. It presents a personage so mighty and so prominent in the world to-day that the Christian heart would fail, were it not for faith in the One who has triumphed over all principalities and powers. This attempt to outline the Scripture teaching on this character will be undertaken under certain general conditions: First—The authority of the Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testaments will be accepted without question. Second—Evidence will be drawn from the Word of God alone, since no final light can be found on this subject other than it has pleased God to reveal in the Bible. Third—There will be no discussion as to the actual existence of Satan; this being both assumed and taught from Genesis to Revelation. These pages are prepared especially for believers; knowing that this body of truth will be wholly unnoticed or rejected by the Satan-blinded world (2 Corinthians 4:4). There has also been a deep sense of the seriousness of the undertaking: both because Satan, by his present direct power, would, if possible, hinder any larger understanding of his projects and purposes; and because so great a warning has fallen from the lips of Christ against the sin of ascribing to Satan the things which are really of God (Matthew 12:22-32). The work has, therefore, been undertaken with some degree of reliance upon the keeping and guiding power of the Spirit of God, and is presented with the prayer that believers may have a clearer understanding of this important body of truth and be able to say with Paul, "We are not ignorant of his devices." It is also desired that some clearer vision of this mighty foe may be had which will cause the child of God to realize the overwhelming power of his adversary and be constrained to "be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might;" that greater victory may be had in the realization of the whole will of God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 123: 07.01. THE CAREER OF SATAN ======================================================================== Chapter 1 The Career of Satan This chapter is a brief outline of the past, present and future of Satan, which is taken up at this point both that the following chapters may be more easily studied and because of the fact that those passages which deal most directly with his earliest condition are closely interwoven with predictions of his future and final defeat. Revelation in regard to Satan begins with that dateless period between the perfect creation of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1) and the desolating judgment which ended that period, when the earth became waste and empty (Genesis 1:2; Isaiah 24:1; Jeremiah 4:23-26). One passage, Ezekiel 28:11-19, deals at length with Satan and his relation to that age. In this Scripture Satan is evidently described under the title of "The King of Tyrus." Like the Messianic Psalms,—wherein the Psalmist is apparently referring to himself, though statements are made and conditions described that could only be connected with the Messiah, the Son of God,—so, here, that which is addressed to "The King of Tyrus" is, by its character, seen to be a direct reference to the person of Satan; for no similar person to whom this description could apply is revealed in Scripture. In the previous as well as the following chapters the final judgment of Jehovah is pronounced upon the enemies of His chosen people. Satan is distinctly numbered among these enemies in 1 Chronicles 21:1; and his record and judgment naturally appear in this list. Every sentence of this extended passage is a distinct revelation and is worthy of long and careful study. Only a passing reference can be made to it here. The passage is as follows: "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the King of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before Kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thy iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more." This passage describes much of the early and latter career of Satan. Twice is his creation referred to. In verse fifteen it is stated that he was created perfect, and in verse thirteen that perfection is set forth in detail by the suggestive symbols of precious gems. He was also "full of wisdom," "perfect in beauty," filling up the sum of perfection. In verse fourteen he is called the "anointed cherub that covereth." By this the purpose of the Creator is revealed. The general interpretation of this verse is that Satan was created as a guard or protector to the throne of the Most High. This is reasonable. Like the golden cherubim, covering the visible mercy seat in the Holy of Holies of the earthly tabernacle, he was created a guard and covering cherub to the heavenly center of Glory. It is expressly stated that he was located by the Most High upon the holy mountain of God, the mountain of God being a symbol of the center of God’s power, government, and eternal throne (Psalms 48:1; Psalms 68:15; Isaiah 2:2). Over this exalted throne Satan was set as a covering cherub. He is also said to have been in "Eden, the garden of God," which is evidently another Eden than that in which Satan appeared as a serpent. It is probably a reference to the primitive creation, and the whole passage suggests a position of great authority for which he was created and anointed; a position from which he fell, drawing with him a host of beings over whom he had governing influence and power. Again, it is stated that Satan was perfect in all his ways from the day he was created. It is important to notice both that he was created, and that he was created perfect. Since he was created, he is not self-existent, and never can be free from his dependence upon the Creator. He may vainly propose to become independent, and even be permitted for a time to act under that delusion; but that would only delay the inevitable judgment that awaits him. He was created perfect, or was a perfect fulfilment of the Creator’s intention. Satan was a free moral agent; capable of choosing evil, but not obliged to do so. That he chose evil must ever be his own condemnation; for the Creator had surrounded him with sufficient motives to choose the good. The crime of Satan is partly revealed in verse sixteen and this is followed by an exact description of his final judgment as it is predicted in the book of Revelation. The important teaching of this passage is of Satan’s first position and power—a power and wisdom sufficient to guard the throne of God from every possible enemy, and a glory and beauty that would become the highest officer in the Court of Heaven. By this revelation his present position and power may be estimated. The revelation next in importance is that of his crime; this is clearly set forth in Isaiah 14:12-20. Before reading this passage it should be noticed that the prophet’s vision of Satan, here recorded, is from the time of his final judgment, and the prophet is looking backward over Satan’s whole career. Much that is still future is, therefore, referred to as though it were past. The passage is as follows: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet." Here Satan appears under a different title. When he is seen in the primal glory, as described in Ezekiel 28:11-19, he bears the earthly title of "The King of Tyrus" and when fallen from that sphere, he bears the heavenly title of "Lucifer, Son of the Morning." It is as though, being out of harmony with the Creator by his sin, he is out of harmony with every sphere in which he may appear. This glorious heavenly title, "Lucifer, Son of the Morning," speaks of his first place in the celestial sphere, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy (Job 38:7). It would indicate a position near to the unsurpassed glory of "The Bright and Morning Star," "The Sun of Righteousness" who shall yet arise with healing in His wings. Satan is here again said to be fallen from heaven. Of this fall Jesus speaks in Luke 10:18, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." The reference in both of these passages is not to Satan’s moral degeneration but rather to a great event when he was, because of his sin, driven from his place in glory and made to inhabit the earth and air (Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 6:12; 1 Peter 5:8). Yet he was granted the privilege of access to the presence of God (Job 1:6; Revelation 12:10). Referring to these texts: In the first two chapters of the book of Job, Satan is seen appearing in the midst of other heavenly beings, before the presence of Jehovah; and there seems to be nothing unusual in the presence of Satan in this celestial company. To the question of Jehovah, "Whence cometh thou?" he replies, "from going to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down in it." From this revelation the important information is given that Satan, while inhabiting the earth and air, is free to appear in the presence of God. His occupation of the earth and air is also taught in Ephesians 6:11-12. Here believers are addressed as follows: "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenlies" (R.V.). Another injunction to believers is contained in 1 Peter 5:8-9 : "Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom withstand steadfast in your faith." These two latter passages, taken together, restate with greater emphasis the revelation in regard to the present abode of Satan. That the earth and the air are his present abode must be accepted on the testimony of Scripture: in spite of the almost universal impression that he is now in hell. In addition to this statement in regard to Satan’s fall, the passage in Isaiah, which is under consideration, reveals two aspects of his present activity. He is first seen seeking to establish a throne for himself, and then as the promoter of confusion and terror in the Divine purpose in the world. This is followed with another statement of the certainty of his final judgment and banishment. The crime of Satan is concisely stated in the fourteenth verse as being a purpose in his heart to become like the Most High. His heart was lifted up because of his beauty; he who was created and placed as the "Covering Cherub," with the high honor of guarding the throne of God, has corrupted his wisdom by reason of his brightness; he has struck at the throne he was set to protect. It was a purpose in his heart which would require the time of the ages to wholly destroy. There could be but one Most High, and the purpose of Satan to become like him could, naturally, be nothing less than an attempt to dethrone the Almighty. The secret purpose in his heart reveals his method to be, not a violent attack upon the throne: but, like Absalom’s, to steal the hearts of the unfaithful in the kingdom, and, through subtlety, to gain a government. He would thus become an object of worship, and attract attention from other beings to himself. To accomplish this, a hindering attitude must be assumed toward the purpose and projects of the Most High. No adequate appreciation can be formed of Satan’s present projects and devices, and the motive that prompts them, without a clear understanding of his age-abiding attitude toward the Person of God. There are two prominent events revealed in the history of Satan, falling within the period of time when he proposed in his heart to become like the Most High, and his yet future banishment and execution. The first of these was his meeting with and triumph over the first Adam; when he wrested the scepter of authority from man, by securing man’s loyal obedience to his own suggestion and counsel. This earthly scepter Satan held by the full right of conquest, seemingly without challenge from Jehovah, until the first advent of the Second Adam; this meeting of the Second Adam, Christ, with Satan being the second great event which is revealed during this period in his career. Only the unfolding of the coming ages can reveal the magnitude of this terrible conflict. A glimpse is revealed from time to time of the unceasing effort of Satan to triumph over the Second Adam, as he had done over the first. He met Him in the wilderness, offering Him all he had gained from the first Adam, even the kingdom of this world; if only he might become like the Most High, and receive the obedient worship and adoration of the Second Adam, the Son of God. Again he is seen voicing his attempt to dissuade the Christ from His sacrificial death, through the impetuous Peter; and still again in the crushing attack upon the very life of Jesus in the Garden, when, it would seem, Satan attempted to take that life before it could be offered for the sins of the world. However victorious Satan may have been over the first Adam, it is certain that he met a complete and final judgment and sentence in the Second Adam; and that bruising of the serpent’s head was realized which was a part of the Adamic covenant. Referring to His Cross, Jesus said, "Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out" (John 12:31). And again in John 16:11, "Of judgment because the prince of this world is judged." Still another Scriptural testimony to this great defeat of Satan is recorded in Colossians 2:13-15 : "Having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." It is, therefore, clear that, though Satan may have triumphed over the first Adam and thereby become the god and prince of this world; he himself was perfectly and finally triumphed over and judged by the second Adam in the Cross. It is quite possible, however, that a sentence may be pronounced and made known some time before that sentence is actually executed. During such an interval a criminal is said to be under sentence awaiting his execution, which some higher authority has decreed. This period of sentence is that in which Satan appears in the present age; which age had its beginning with the Cross. Execution of this sentence would have banished him forever. That he is not banished is revealed in the fact that he, even after his judgment in the Cross, is referred to in Scripture as still being in authority over this world. An illustration of Satan’s present relation to this world may be taken from the history of Saul and David. It is natural that David, the first to occupy the Davidic throne, should be a type of Christ, the last and most glorious occupant of that throne (Luke 1:31-33). As there was a period between the anointing of David and the final banishment of Saul, in which Saul reigned as a usurper, though under Divine sentence and David was the God-appointed king: in like manner there is now a similar period in which Satan rules as a usurper, though under sentence; and the actual occupation of the throne by Christ is still future. In this period Satan, the rejected monarch, still rules; hunting to the death all those who have allied themselves with Christ, the God-anointed King. Why Satan is thus allowed to continue his reign is perhaps but partly revealed. The real Church which is the Bride of Christ, is to sit with Him upon His throne (Revelation 3:21; 1 Corinthians 6:2-3; Matthew 19:28), and the present age must continue until that glorious heavenly people are gathered out from the world by regeneration. Again, it seems the course of Divine wisdom to make a sufficient and final trial of every claim of His adversaries; and when this age, with all its developments, shall have passed by, every mouth will be stopped, and the whole world and Satan will know their own failure and sin before God. They will stand self-condemned; and nothing could accomplish this but the testing, by actual trial, of all the self-sufficient claims of Satan and man. The sin of man has brought him under sentence too; and grace alone withholds his immediate execution (John 3:18; Romans 5:18-19). Though the day of execution is, in the purpose of God delayed; it is, nevertheless, sure; and the time is fast approaching when an awful destruction of self-enthroned beings will be executed; and He alone shall reign, whose right it is to reign; "for He must reign until He hath put all enemies under His feet" (1 Corinthians 15:25). The Kingly Son shall yet arise and claim the nations of the earth and "break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces as a potter’s vessel" (Psalms 2:9). It would seem that Satan cherishes the expectation of actually accomplishing his purpose until near the end of his career (though the demon testimony of Matthew 8:29 is suggestive on this point). Preceding his banishment to the pit, he is violently cast out of heaven and into the earth, according to Revelation 12:7-12; and his activity, from that time on is limited to that sphere. He is no longer granted access to God. The passage is as follows: "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was there place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accuseth them before God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Here Satan is pictured as being in great wrath as he is banished from heaven into the earth, "knowing that he has but a short time." After this short time, which is a terrible tribulation in the earth, Satan is bound and cast into a pit; this being an event in the glorious return of Christ to the earth, where He will reign on the throne of His Father David for a thousand years. Satan is confined to the pit during the same period, at the end of which he is released for "a little season." He then gathers an army for a last and terrible attack upon the government and people of God, which ends in his being banished to the lake of fire, where he meets his final and long predicted doom. These events are clearly stated in their order in the nineteenth and twentieth chapters of Revelation. Satan is thus revealed as having been first created perfect in all his ways, mighty in power, and full of beauty and wisdom. While thus privileged, he proposed a stupendous project in his heart—himself to become like the Most High. Though cast down and yet having access to God, he is seen wresting the world scepter from man; and ruling as the god of this world, until the judgment of the Cross; and after that he still rules as a usurper. At the end of the age he is cast out of his access to heaven, into the earth; from thence to the pit; and, finally, is banished to the lake of fire forever. This review of the career of Satan is made at this point in order to call attention to the direct and mighty influence he exerts upon the affairs of this world according to his varying positions and freedom. After Satan rebelled, humanity, too, was thrown into an abnormal and almost universal attitude of independence toward God; and this continues beyond the Cross with increasing confusion and darkness, to the end of the age. The only exception to this rebellion is the little company of believers; and how terribly real is the tendency to the self-governed life of the old nature, even among these! When Satan is cast out of heaven and limited to the earth, there is tribulation upon the earth of which Jesus speaks in Matthew 24:21, and which is also referred to in Daniel 12:1. When Satan is bound and put in the pit, and the promised Kingdom of Christ has come, there is peace covering the earth as waters cover the face of the deep. Can it be doubted that this mighty being is a living power, acting directly over the affairs of men, even in this self-glorying age? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 124: 07.02. THE AGES ======================================================================== Chapter 2 The Ages It is a conspicuous fact that the comparatively few errors and inconsistencies in translation, found in the English Authorized Version of the New Testament, serve to hinder, directly or indirectly, any clear understanding of the teachings of Scripture in regard to the conditions and relationships of the world at the present time. Even the revision did not greatly relieve this confusion beyond the addition of some helpful marginal renderings. It would seem, if it were possible, that Satan, the author of confusion and the only one advantaged by it, had been able in some subtle way to keep in darkness that which would otherwise be light; thus preventing a revelation of his own projects. The continuation of these misleading translations is most evident in the unqualified use of the English word "world." The word which, in common usage, has a limited meaning is used, by the translators, as the one English rendering for at least four widely differing ideas in the original. So that, if the truth contained in this important body of Scripture is to be understood, the student must not only know the various meanings which are expressed by the one word, but also be able to determine the correct use of the word in any single instance. This necessary effort to understand the real meaning of many passages has, therefore, placed the simple truth they contain beyond the average reader of the Bible. The English word "world" as used in the New Testament may mean a distinct period of time, commonly known as an age (as its original is a few times translated); or it may refer to the things created: the earth, its inhabitants, or their institutions. Two of these original meanings are used in connection with this present time. First, as to an age, or period of time: The ages are often referred to in Scripture, and the study of the exact conditions and purposes of each of them is not fanciful: but is rather the only adequate foundation for any true knowledge of the Bible. Not all the ages can be taken up in this Chapter, but only such as may be confused with the present one. The age of law, which began with the giving of the law at Mount Sinai and ended, approximately, with the death of Christ, is mentioned by Zacharias in his prophecy at the birth of John: "As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the age began" (Luke 1:70). The same period is referred to by Peter in Acts 3:21 : "Whom the heavens must receive until the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his prophets since the age began." These references, it will be seen, are not to the creation of the world, as the English rendering would indicate; but to the beginning of that particular period in which the prophets spake. The present age of grace, in which the grace of God has had its appearing unto salvation, began where the age of law ended, or with the death of Christ; and will continue until He comes again. The duration of this age is suggested by the communion table, which, being peculiar to this age, will continue to its end. Of this sacrament it is said: "As oft as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come" (1 Corinthians 11:26). As a distinct period of time this age is mentioned by the word "world" no less than forty times in the New Testament. A few of these passages follow: "And whosoever speaketh a word against the son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world (age), neither in the world (age) to come" (Matthew 12:32). "And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world (age)?" (Matthew 24:3). "The field is the world (men); the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world (age); and the reapers are the angels" (Matthew 13:38-9). "And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (age)" (Matthew 28:20). "For the children of this world (age) are in their generation wiser than the children of light" (Lu. 16:8). "And set him at his own right hand in the heavenlies, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world (age), but that which is to come" (Ephesians 1:20-21). "We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world (age)" (Titus 2:12). By these and many other passages, it may be seen that the present age is a particular limited period of time in which special conditions are to prevail, and definite purposes are to be realized. Judging from the mass of Christian writings and from utterances in public address and prayer, this age is assumed by many, without question, to be the Kingdom of Christ; though no Scripture is found to warrant that conclusion. There is a kingdom of God which embraces the entire universe, over which God is enthroned, and to this kingdom every enemy must finally be brought back to original subjection and adjustment, or be banished forever. This final victory is described in 1 Corinthians 15:24-25 : "Then cometh the end, when He (Christ) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under His feet." There is a still more extensive body of Scripture which anticipates a literal kingdom of righteousness and peace upon the earth; this theme being the burden of the Old Testament prophets, and was announced by John Baptist, by Christ and His disciples. This announcement was simple and plain: "The kingdom is at hand." The expression "at hand" here used is significant; indicating not necessarily the immediate future, though the kingdom was definitely offered to that generation; but that the earthly kingdom was the next event which had been clearly announced by the prophets. When the Messiah had been positively rejected by the Jews, He began, alone, without even the sympathy of His disciples, to unfold this forthcoming mystery-age, which had been kept secret in the councils of God, and which was more perfectly revealed to Paul, the first messenger to the Gentiles. Of this revelation of a hitherto unknown age, Paul writes in Ephesians 3:1-11 : "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given to me to you-ward: how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel: whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." The same truth is emphasized in Romans 16:25 : "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began." This new age of the Gentiles was also to have its hope centered in Jesus Christ, but in His sacrificial death rather than His kingly reign. It was to be an age in which the Gentiles were to be visited and a people called out from them for His own Person (Acts 15:14); and these people, who are the real Church, were to be built together upon a rock (Matthew 16:18); their glorious salvation and final heavenly perfection were to rest only on His perfect and finished work for them. By this Divine transformation, He would secure, out of all nations, both Gentiles and Jews, a heavenly people; wholly fitted in quality to be His own body, His heavenly bride, and a kingdom of priests unto God. All this, though not revealed in past ages, was known in the councils of God (Acts 15:18) and is parenthetical in the history of the Jew. It is a delay of their earthly kingdom and in no way its fulfillment or substitute. Want of knowledge of the right divisions of truth is also evident in the general impression that God has cast off His people, the Jews, and that the Gentiles are their rightful successors and the recipients of the blessings of their unfulfilled prophecies. This confusion is due to a failure to distinguish between this and the following age. Two distinct lines of seed were promised to Abraham. One, an earthly seed, to be like the dust of the earth, without number (Genesis 13:16), centered wholly in the earth by a relationship of physical generation: the other seed were likened to the stars of heaven, without number (Genesis 15:5), centered wholly in the heavenlies by a relationship of Spirit regeneration, which is the present answer of God to all true Abrahamic faith (Romans 4:1-5). The earthly people found their origin in the physical fatherhood of Abraham: while the heavenly people find theirs in the shed blood of Christ. One had an earthly history from Abraham to their dispersion among the Gentiles—a history which will yet be resumed and the everlasting covenants fulfilled in the faithfulness of God: the other has a transient earthly pilgrimage from the Cross to their completion; when they will be caught up to meet and marry their Bridegroom, and be forever with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). To one, Christ is the coming glorious Messiah, who will actually sit upon the throne of His father, David (Luke 1:31-33), in a literal earthly kingdom (else all Scripture language fails): to the other, He is the glorious Head of the Body, and coming Bridegroom. One of these lines of seed are the favored subjects in the earthly kingdom: while the other is to be in His bosom as a bride, and be associated with Him in His reign (1 Corinthians 6:2; Revelation 3:21). As these two lines of seed are everywhere distinct, there must be at least two separate ages for the accomplishment of these ends. What, then, are these ages? If it is believed that an earthly kingdom, with Messiah as King, is promised the Jew, it must also be admitted that the Jew is not now enjoying that kingdom; nor has he had any semblance of a kingdom in all the centuries since his dispersion among the Gentiles. This age cannot, therefore, be the predicted earthly kingdom of Christ. Turning to Acts 15:13-18, a description of the present age and that which will follow is found. The passage is here given: "And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, after this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up; that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world." It is recorded that, after His resurrection, Jesus was seen for forty days by His apostles whom He had chosen; and during this time He was speaking to them concerning the Kingdom. It was natural, therefore, for them to inquire, at the end of those days, "Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom unto Israel?" (Acts 1:6) and they had full warrant from the prophets to expect that great event when their Messiah came. They had not, however, grasped the meaning of the then dawning age of the gathering out of the Bride, and in this passage they are seen adjusting themselves to the newly revealed Divine program, and recognizing the God-appointed delay in the predicted earthly kingdom. In Acts 15:13-18 just referred to, the purpose and order of two distinct ages is set forth. The first age is described as the "visiting of the Gentiles," that from among them a heavenly people may be called out, and is a description of this present age, which had its beginning in the very generation in which this passage was written; for no previous age could meet these conditions. The second age, here described, is that of a distinct rebuilding of the Davidic order, which is clearly separated from the former age by the return of Christ. This same order of events is also carefully maintained wherever these events are referred to in Scripture, and any confusion of the order is a positive violence to the truth. The revealed consummation of this Gentile age is always the return of Christ, who comes first to receive His own; and then to render judgment upon all the nations and to bind the enemy and place him in the pit. The same return of Christ is the necessary preliminary event before any kingdom of righteousness and peace can be realized upon the earth. No amount of enlightened sentiment can establish a kingdom without a king; and no universal blessedness can be experienced in this world until the enemy is dethroned and banished. Sadly has the world failed to include these two necessary Divine movements, in its vain dream and godless attempt at a perfected universe! The purpose of this age is then clearly defined as the visiting of the Gentiles to call out of them a people for His name; the called out people being the true Church (as that word signifies), which is made up of all the saved ones who have been saved since the Day of Pentecost, at which time the Spirit came to unite them into one body and to indwell them. They are the heavenly people, regenerate and complete in Christ, their Bridegroom and living Head. When this age is considered as the Kingdom of Christ it is usually thought of as in a state of development. This is a necessary conclusion in view of the presence of sin and failure in the world. But the setting up of the earthly kingdom is never described as the result of a process. Scripture deals conclusively with this question. In Daniel 2:34-35, an image is described, which is defined as being a symbol of the then dawning Gentile world power (which is still continuing, Lu. 21:24). The image is here made to represent both the development of world rule and its terrible and final ending. The image is seen to be gradually developing from one world government to another until the form of the image is wholly completed. Its ending is then precipitated by a shattering blow from a Stone, "cut out without hands." By the same inspired interpretation, the "Stone" becomes both a symbol of superhuman power, being "cut out without hands;" and a type of Christ, the Ancient of Days, in His coming to the earth as a resistless Monarch; banishing all rule and authority. A portion of the whole passage reads thus: "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth" (Daniel 2:34-35). This being a Divinely interpreted prophecy as to the extent and ending of the present Gentile age, it should be noted that the Stone (Christ) strikes the image (the world power) with one destructive blow, and at the time when it has become fully developed. The blow is struck on the part of the image which is last formed. The great image is thus instantly and violently broken to pieces and is even blown away "like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor." In like manner, according to this prophecy, the whole Gentile rule will suddenly be broken and will vanish. It should also be noted from these symbols that the Stone does not "become a mountain and fill the whole earth" until the great image has been scattered to dust. From this it is certain that there can be no development of the Kingdom of Christ on the earth before the final breaking of the kingdoms of the earth. This same order is recognized throughout all prophecy. The king suddenly returns as lightning shining from one part of heaven to the other; Satan is violently seized and cast into prison; and a nation is born at once. The second Psalm connects the kingly reign of Christ—the time when He is set upon the holy hill of Zion—with the time when He shall claim the nations of the earth and "break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces as a potter’s vessel." Also in Matthew 25:31, "when He sits on the throne of His glory" the "blessed of the Father" are called to enter the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. And in Revelation 12:7-12, where Satan is cast out into the earth and the execution of his sentence is begun, the announcement is made by a great voice in heaven, "Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ." There is no evidence of a gradual process here; all is sudden and decisive. Again, this age is not the coming earthly kingdom for nowhere are the promised conditions of that kingdom now to be found. The Old Testament prophecies contain long and detailed descriptions of that glorious time; God’s ancient people shall become the chosen nation, restored to their own land; the enemy shall be banished; the earth shall be purified, and blossom as a rose. "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:6-9). "And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely" (Hosea 2:18). "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim" (Joel 3:18). "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee" (Zechariah 2:10-11). "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; in those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you" (Zechariah 8:23). "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them" (Isaiah 65:17-21). "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert" (Isaiah 35:5-6). "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more" (Jeremiah 31:33-34). "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon the kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this" (Isaiah 9:6-7). "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His Father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:32-33). "And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth" (Isaiah 11:12). "And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it" (Micah 4:3-4). Though blessings abound in the individual heart where Christ is enthroned, yet not one trace of this glorious transformed earth can be found in the present Gentile age. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 125: 07.03. THE COURSE OF THIS AGE ======================================================================== Chapter 3 The Course of This Age It is necessary to distinguish between rightly dividing the word of truth, and a critical attitude toward that word; the former being an important duty in the believer’s life, according to 2 Timothy 2:15, while the latter may easily become a wicked and misleading display of unbelief and the wisdom of this world (1 Corinthians 1:19). Personal interest in the Word of God usually begins with the first understanding of its real divisions; and no one is prepared to understand the providence of God who does not first come to know something of the purpose of God as marked off by these great divisions. Especially is this necessary, as has been stated, for any clear understanding of the present age. Again, the power and force of the whole body of Scripture must depend, in a large measure, upon a belief in unfulfilled prophecy. Such a belief is not general, even among Christians. They believe that Christ camp in the flesh, suffered, died, and rose again, because that is all now a matter of history; but that belief is not greatly influenced by the fact that this was all exactly foretold by the prophets. Let those who are free to condemn the pious Jew for not recognizing the fulfillment of prophecy in the first advent of Christ, beware lest they fail to rightly interpret the signs of these times, or look with positive unbelief upon the stupendous events that, according to prophecy, are imminent to-day. It seems a sore test of faith to believe that which is predicted for the present age, though those predictions are being fulfilled in every particular. This prevailing attitude of unbelief usually arises from one of two errors; either Satan has been so estimated that it seems impossible for him to be the promoter of anything that is moral or good (of this error more will be said in the following chapters): or the exact meaning and purpose of this age has been disbelieved or misunderstood; and because of these conditions many enthusiastic Christians are found to be, not only working toward unscriptural and hopeless ends, but are actually contributing to the confusion and darkness that is prevalent to-day. The purpose and course of this age are not matters of prediction alone. Almost two thousand years of history may be considered in the light of these predictions; and while the age is not yet complete, and much that is reserved for the last days is still future, enough of prophecy has now been fulfilled to indicate the certain fulfillment of all. Since there has been no universal conversion of men in even the most favored locality, it is evident that, thus far, there has been a separating and calling out of a few from the many; and the Divine purpose, as revealed in Scripture, which is to gather out a people from the Gentiles for His own name, has been verified. The blessing of God has been upon world-wide evangelism: rather than upon any fruitless attempts at world-wide conversion; for the individual or church that has become self-centered has, to that degree, sacrificed the power and blessing of the presence of Christ which was promised in Matthew 28:20 : "Go ye therefore, and disciple all nations"—"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age." Again, the formation of the Kingdom has not been discernible in the present age. The Jews, to whom alone the promises of an earthly kingdom belong, have continued a separate people under the unseen hand of God, without a country, or a vestige of national life. Certainly none of the predicted and necessary events accompanying the establishment of their kingdom have been experienced, nor is there any trace of its promised blessings. The fact that some Jews are now organizing and looking toward their native land, argues nothing for this age, more than that its end is very near, and that the way for their coming Messiah and national glory is being prepared. Just so, the conspicuous fact that all the marvelous present development of the resources of the earth has been limited to about the last eightieth of the present history of the age is evidence that the earth’s return to her former glory is already in preparation. Belief in the revealed course of this age is, therefore, based upon history as well as the predictions of Scripture. The present age is different from all others by reason of the admixture of opposing classes of people; there being two distinct divisions (not including the Jew as a nation) living and acting together, who are, nevertheless, removed from each other by a degree that is immeasurable. This fact necessitates many careful distinctions and special injunctions which are peculiar to the age. The fact that these two widely differing classes are present together, and are to continue so to the end of the age, is the teaching of the seven parables in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew. Very much, therefore, depends upon the correct interpretation of these parables. Their meaning has been somewhat hidden by the use of the word "world" where reference is made to this period of time; and the fact that the conditions described are true of this age only, has not been generally realized. These seven parables are but a description of the unfolding and development of these mixed elements to be found in Christendom throughout this age. The same program is again proclaimed by Christ, from the Glory, in the messages to the seven churches of Asia (Revelation 2:1-29 and Revelation 3:1-22). Here are seven letters to organized existing churches; yet these messages also reveal an exact outline of the history of Christendom for this entire age; and there is perfect agreement in order and detail between the parables of Matthew 13:1-58 and the letters of Revelation 2:1-29 and Revelation 3:1-22. The first two parables are interpreted by Christ Himself, and the interpretation of these sheds light on all that remains. Christ is the sower in both the first and second of these parables, and the sowing is continued by His messengers throughout this age. The field is the world of men, which reveals a marked change from the responsibility of the Jewish age that was then closing; and the results of the sowing are most definite: not all the good seed sown comes to fruitage; and the wheat and the tares grow together until the end of the age. This interpretation is not fanciful, for it is given by Christ Himself; and the following parables must necessarily agree with these. The third and fourth are of the mustard seed and the measure of meal. Though commonly interpreted to mean the world-wide development of the Church and the permeating influence of the Gospel, in the light of the interpretation of the previous parables they can mean only the mixture of evil with that which began as small as a mustard seed and as pure as meal. The fifth parable is of a treasure hid in a field, which pictures the earthly people in the world; while their real relation to Christ is covered until the accomplishment of that which is revealed in the sixth. Here the same man, the Lord Jesus Christ, sells all that He hath to purchase the Church, the pearl of great price, for He "loved the Church, and gave Himself for it" (Ephesians 5:25); the pearl, by its formation and its power to reflect the light, being a wonderful type of the Church in her present formation and future place in glory. Both the treasure and the pearl are found in the world, but do not include all of the world. The last parable but restates the truth that the mixture of the good and the evil is to continue to the end of the age. The highest ambition of the great missionary, Paul, was to be all things to all men that he might save some, not all. He found that his preaching was a savor of "death unto death" as well as of "life unto life" (2 Corinthians 2:15-16), and he clearly states in 2 Timothy 3:13, "And evil men shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." Christ also predicted that the end of this age should be marked by such sin as provoked the judgment of the flood: "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matthew 24:37-39). This truth is often rejected as being pessimistic and disloyal to the progress of the world: yet has not the history of the age verified the teaching? And is not the coming glory nearer and more certain when depending upon His promised return in resistless power and splendor, than when depending upon any human progress the world has ever known? One is the majestic movement of the Divine program in fulfillment of every covenant: while the other is the vain dream of the world in its ignorance and disregard of the testimony of God. Because of the presence of these two classes in the world in this age, there are two very distinct lines of Scripture descriptive of them. One body of Scripture directly applies to and governs the "wheat" or heavenly people, and one applies to the "tares," the "children of the evil one." The marvelous revelation of the believer’s relation to Christ and the heavenlies, and his deliverance from any actual identification with this age, though in it, will be the subject of another chapter. Only the relation of the unregenerate to this world and to Satan will be continued here. As it has pleased Satan to hide himself and all his projects from the unbelieving world, that which God has revealed in all faithfulness will be received only by those who have unquestioning confidence in His Word. According to Scripture, the relation of the unbelieving to Satan is far more vital than a mere pleasure-seeking allegiance. On two occasions Jesus spoke of the unsaved as the "children of Satan" (Matthew 13:38; John 8:44), and Paul so addressed Elymas, the sorcerer, according to Acts 13:10. The same class is also twice called the "children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 3:6), and once it is called the "children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3). It is evident that these are descriptions of the same class of people, since both terms are employed together in Ephesians 5:6 : "Let no man deceive you: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience." The exact cause of that wrath is stated in Romans 1:18 (R.V.): "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness;" the word "hinder" being the same as is used in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, where the Holy Spirit is said to be restraining the working of lawlessness in this age. Therefore, the willing neglect and disregard for the testimony of God by the world, has allied them with Satan, and placed them under the wrath of God, which must find its righteous execution in due time if grace is not accepted. Again, Satan is revealed as directing and empowering the children of disobedience: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in times past ye walked according to the course of this age, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:1-2). The real force of this passage, also, is dependent upon the meaning of one word; the word "worketh" being the same as is used in Php 2:13, where God is said to impart His wisdom and strength to the believer: "For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Additional light may be had as to the reality of this relationship from the following passages in which the same original word is used: "And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God that worketh all in all" (1 Corinthians 12:6); "But all these (gifts) worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will" (1 Corinthians 12:11); "And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenlies" (Ephesians 1:19-20); "For He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles" (Galatians 2:8); "Whereunto I also labor, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily" (Colossians 1:29); "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to his power that worketh in us" (Ephesians 3:20). It is also said in regard to the energizing power of Satan, using the same original word: "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work" (2 Thessalonians 2:7); "For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death" (Romans 7:5). In the last two passages quoted, the meaning is, like the preceding passages, of an imparted energy, and is, therefore, most suggestive. It may then be concluded from the testimony of Scripture that Satan imparts his wisdom and strength to the unbelieving in the same manner as the power of God is imparted to the believer by the Holy Spirit. There is, however, no revelation as to the comparative degree of strength imparted by each. It should be further noted in this connection that this impartation of energizing power from Satan is not toward a limited few who might be said, because of some strange conduct, to be possessed of a demon; but is the common condition of all who are yet unsaved, and are, therefore, still in the "power of darkness." The relation between the unregenerate and Satan is still more vital, according to the original from which 1 John 5:19 is translated. The Revised Version renders it, with marginal note, as follows: "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the evil one." In this passage there are two startling revelations in regard to this relationship. First: the word "in" is the same as is used everywhere of the believer when he is said to be in Christ, and in the case of the believer it signifies an organic union to Christ—as a branch is in the vine, so the believer is in Christ. Though the word, when used of the unregenerate, probably cannot mean the same degree of organic life-relationship as exists between Christ and the believer, yet it does denote a deep relationship; and Satan is the light, inspiration, and power, of all those whom he energizes. The second revelation in the passage is found in the word "lieth"—"The whole world lieth in the evil one." It might as well be translated "lieth asleep;" for its condition is not only a fixed position in the evil one, but is also a condition of unconsciousness. The saved ones are said to be in the Father’s hand where no created thing can pluck them out (John 10:29), and underneath are the everlasting arms: so the great mass of unsaved humanity is in the arms of Satan; and by his subtlety they are all unconscious of their position and relation. This is not at all strange. Even the believer has no present power to discern his glorious position and security in the Father’s hand, apart from the assurance of the written Word. Much less, then, can the unbeliever come to realize his own position in the arms of Satan, when, under the direction of Satan, he gives no heed to the testimony of God. Still another passage should be noted in this connection. In 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, Satan is described as the god of this world, blinding the minds of the unbelieving. The whole passage is as follows: "And if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish: in whom the god of this age hath blinded the thoughts of the unbelieving that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God should not dawn upon them" (R.V. with margin). In this passage the unconscious condition is said to be the direct result of the power of Satan, and the blindness of their thoughts, it is stated, is along one particular line. To them the gospel is veiled; and the gospel here referred to is not the whole life story of Jesus, nor is it the "Gospel of the Kingdom;" but the message of good news or favor; the exact terms of Salvation by grace alone. This Paul here calls "our gospel," for to him it was first unfolded in its completeness. The unregenerate are, then, unconscious of their position in the arms of Satan, and blind in their thoughts toward the gospel of mercy and favor,—their only hope for time or eternity. Satan, like a fond mother, is bending over those in his arms, breathing into their minds the quieting balm of a "universal fatherhood of God" and a "universal brotherhood of man;" suggesting their worthiness before God on the ground of their own moral character and physical generation; feeding their tendency to imitate the true faith by great humanitarian undertakings and schemes for the reformation of individuals and the betterment of the social order. God’s necessary requirements of regeneration are carefully set aside, and the blinded souls go on without hope, "having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in there, because of the blindness of their heart" (Ephesians 5:18). How important, as a preparation for salvation, is the illuminating work of the Spirit in conviction, by which He lifts the veil and opens the mind to a new vision of the redemption and glory that is in Christ! Without this God-given vision there can be no understanding of the way of life, nor any intelligent decision for Christ. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 126: 07.04. THIS AGE AND THE SATANIC SYSTEM ======================================================================== Chapter 4 This Age and the Satanic System It may also be concluded from the study of the ages that God has not been pleased to meet the presumptuous claims of Satan or of man by a simple denial of those claims; He has chosen, rather, to bring everything to an experimental test. One advantage of this method is obvious: every mouth will be stopped, and the entire universe of beings will see clearly the utter folly of that which might have been arbitrarily denied. Man can no longer claim that his conscience is sufficient to guide him to his highest destiny; since the whole race, when standing on that basis before God, so utterly failed that their destruction, by a flood, was necessary: in like manner, by the history of a most favored people in the age preceding the first advent of Christ, man has demonstrated his own inability to do right or to keep the law. In the present age, man proves his separation from his Creator by his spirit of self-sufficiency and positive rejection of God. The present issue between God and man is one of whether man will accept God’s estimate of him, abandon his hopeless self-struggle, and cast himself only on God who alone is sufficient to accomplish his needed transformation. All Divine love, wisdom, and power have wrought to make these conditions open to man; and when this last and supreme effort of God has been rejected, the final pleading with man must be forever past, and the long delayed judgment upon sin be executed in righteousness. It has already been pointed out that Satan purposed in his heart to attempt all the functions of God; and, according to Scripture, that which he purposed is being permitted, to the extent of his ability, throughout the course of this age. Though his failure and defeat have been predicted from the beginning, yet it has pleased God to permit the Satanic ambition to come to its own destruction, and to demonstrate its own weakness and wicked folly. No other solution is given of the present power of Satan and the terrible manifestations of his increasing authority yet to be experienced in the closing scenes of this age. His present authority is by no means complete. In 2 Thessalonians 2:7 it is stated: "The mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way." This is a description of the work of the Holy Spirit as He restrains and hinders the development of the power of evil. Nor can Satan direct the affairs of that part of humanity who have been delivered from the power of darkness and are now united to Christ (unless they yield to his wishes); though they are in the world and their earth lives are mingled in much of its history. These saved ones are the antiseptic salt, hindering, like the Spirit who indwells them, the untimely dissolution of humanity. Again, Satan’s dominion is limited in that "there is no power but of God: and the powers that be are ordained of God" (Romans 13:1). In this Scripture it is revealed that Satan, though in authority, is not wholly free from his Creator, and that any direction of the governments of the world which he exercises is by permission from God. Therefore, the efforts of Satan and man are not supreme, but must come to their predicted end when the eternal purpose of God has had its realization in the gathering out from the Gentiles of the heavenly people for His own name. A few tremble in the face of the social and industrial problems of the day; while the vast majority are confident that the sagacity of man is not only controlling iniquity, but is gradually developing an improved social order. Thus, man, in his vanity, assigns to himself that which is of God alone, for all the elements of corruption and tribulation are latent in the world to-day, and the mighty effort of God is required to stay its bursting into flame until the appointed time. Tribulation will, therefore, instantly begin when the hand of God is removed from the unregenerate and Satan-ruled humanity. Though under the restraining hand of God, Satan, according to Scripture, is now in authority over the unregenerate world, and the unsaved are unconsciously organized and federated under his leading. The fact that there is such a federation, although stated in Scripture, is obscured in translation. In at least thirty important passages the English word "world" is again used without qualification. In these passages reference is made to a great evil system or order over which Satan is in authority, the word "world" referring to the world of men, their evil undertakings, ideals and federation. This federation includes all of the unsaved and fallen humanity; it has the co-operation of the fallen spirits, and is but the union of all who are living and acting in independence of God. This Satanic system has its own ideals and principles which are in sharp contrast to the ideals and principles given the redeemed: yet these two classes must mingle together as closely as the ties of human life can come. The whole truth concerning this federation is contained in those passages wherein the Satanic system is mentioned. First, Satan is its governing head. Three times Jesus referred to Satan as the prince of the Satanic system: "Now is the judgment of this world: Now shall the prince of this world (Satanic system) be cast out" (John 12:31). "Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world (Satanic system) cometh, and hath nothing in me" (John 14:30). "Of judgment, because the prince of this world (Satanic system) is judged" (John 16:11). Paul also refers to Satan as the "prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2), and again as the "god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4). In the latter passage, mention is made of the age or period of time only, as in Ephesians 6:12 : "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the age rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenlies" (R.V.). From these Scriptures it must be conceded that the offer, which Satan made to Christ, of the then inhabited earth, was very real. The Scripture is as follows: "And the devil, taking Him up into an high mountain, showed Him the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto Him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine" (Luke 4:5-7). It has sometimes been held that the claim of possession of the earth was a lie, this being asserted on the ground that Satan is exposed in Scripture as a liar. Such a conclusion is impossible for at least two reasons. It would have been no temptation had he not possessed the kingdoms he offered; and any such false claim would have been immediately branded as a lie by the Son of God. He is still further revealed as the recognized head of this world system in two additional passages: "Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world (Satanic system)" (1 John 4:4). "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world (Satanic system) lieth in the wicked one" (1 John 5:19). Returning to Isaiah 14:12-19, wherein Satan is described as "Lucifer, the son of the morning," and where the prophet in vision sees the whole career of Satan in retrospect, it will be seen that Satan holds a mighty grip upon the world. Here it is said of him that he was the one who "didst weaken the nations" and who "made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms, that made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners." Every phrase in this remarkable passage is a revelation. Undoubtedly there is reference here both to the fall of man and to the authority of Satan in the earth, as well as to his attitude of resistance toward salvation which is by the grace of God, since it is said of Satan that he "made the world as a wilderness; he opened not the house of his, prisoners." Second, the Satanic system, according to Scripture, is wholly evil. This is a hard saying; and is usually denied by those who do not realize that all Scripture estimates are made from the standard of the holiness of God; and that the Satanic system, of itself and apart from the influence of God and His people, has never improved their own moral condition, but that they are individually under condemnation before God (John 3:18); their borrowed interest in morality and charity being a poor commendation, in view of their fallen and Christ-rejecting attitude before God. They are also incapable of comprehending the standards of God, whose thoughts and ways are above their thoughts and ways as the heavens are higher than the earth (Isaiah 55:8-9). The quality and incapacity of the fallen race is accurately described in Romans 3:10-18; this description of them being as they appear before the holiness of God, stripped of all externals: "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes." So, fallen humanity, federated under Satan, will appear and act when the restraining hand of God is removed. Though the unsaved are moral, educated, refined, or religious, they are not righteous in God’s sight; for the charge here brought against them is that "there is none righteous, no, not one;" and "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." The following Scriptures which directly refer to the character of the Satanic system are, therefore, the estimate of God upon those conditions which the world holds to be ideal: "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world (Satanic system)" (2 Peter 1:4). "For if after they have escaped the pollution of the world (Satanic system) through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning" (2 Peter 2:20). "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world (Satanic system)" (James 1:27). "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world (Satanic system) is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world (Satanic system) is the enemy of God" (James 4:4). "For whosoever is born of God overcometh the world (Satanic system)" (1 John 5:4). "Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world (Satanic system) cometh, and hath nothing in me" (John 14:30). "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world (Satanic system)" (1 John 4:3). In like manner the believer is said to have been "delivered from the present evil age" (Galatians 1:4) and "delivered from the power of darkness" (Colossians 1:13) and is not to be conformed to this age (Romans 12:2). These judgments are made from the view-point of the purity and holiness of God. In His sight the highest moral, educational, and religious ideals that the unregenerate world can comprehend are but a part of the confusion and darkness of this age when coupled with a rejection of His testimony in regard to His Son as their atoning Saviour. Thus, it is presented from the Scripture that the present age and its great federation is, in God’s sight, most unholy. Third, Satan is also set forth as having direct control of the physical well-being of his subjects, and at the same time as being able, by special permission, to gain access to the people of God: "For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He (Christ) also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14). "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all them that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him" (Acts 10:38). "And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?" (Luke 13:16). "And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand" (Job 1:9-12). "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: but I have made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not; and do thou, when once thou hast turned again, establish thy brethren" (Luke 22:31-32 R.V.). "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure" (2 Corinthians 12:7). By these passages, the emphasis of Scripture on the power and authority of Satan in this age may be seen. And though the exact limits of his power under the restraining hand of God are not revealed, it would be unreasonable to deny that he is the god of this age, the head of the great world system; and, though all unknown to them, the director of the affairs of unregenerate men. Fourth, The works of the Satanic order are clearly outlined in several descriptive passages which also present that which is highest in ideal, and deepest in motive in the Satan energized mass of humanity. One passage, alone, contains the entire revelation: "For all that is in the world (Satanic system), the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world (Satanic system)" (1 John 2:16). The satisfaction of these same cravings was the temptation placed before Eve in the Garden: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did give also unto her husband with her; and he did eat" (Genesis 3:6). The real nature of these cravings is easily recognized as wholly self-centered and without thought of God or of any true character. All "wars and fightings" among men are only a natural result of the evil qualities of this great federation. Jesus said to Pilate: "My kingdom is not of this world (Satanic system): if my kingdom were of this world (Satanic system), then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered unto the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence" (John 18:36). It is a noticeable fact that the governments of the world depend upon physical power and a display of armament to maintain their position and authority, and the superior law of love does not seem to be adapted to, or understood by, the elements that make up the Satanic order. Fifth, All earthly property is of the Satanic order, which property the believer may use, but must not abuse: "But whoso hath this world’s good (Satanic system), and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" (1 John 3:17). "And the cares of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful" (Mark 4:19). "But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and those that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world (Satanic system), as not abusing it" (1 Corinthians 7:29-31). Sixth, The same world that crucified the Christ will also hate the saved one in whom He dwells: "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world (Satanic system) hate you" (1 John 3:13). Seventh, The impotency and limitations of the world order are most evident. Its leader, though mighty, is inferior to Christ: "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world (Satanic system)" (1 John 4:4). Its knowledge and understanding are limited: "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this cause the world (Satanic system) knoweth us not, because it knew him not" (1 John 3:1 R.V.). "Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, and He Himself is judged of no man" (1 Corinthians 2:14-15, R.V.). "There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God" (Romans 3:11). "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish: in whom the god of this age hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them" (2 Corinthians 4:3-4, R.V.). "They are of this world (Satanic system): therefore speak they as of the world, and the world (Satanic system) heareth them" (1 John 4:5, R.V.). All the sorrow of this order is without hope: "For godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, a repentance which bringeth no regret: But the sorrow of the world (Satanic system) worketh death" (2 Corinthians 7:10, R.V.). And, finally, the whole order is temporal and passing: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (2 Peter 3:10). "And the world (Satanic system) passeth away and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever" (1 John 2:17). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 127: 07.05. THE SATANIC HOST ======================================================================== Chapter 5 The Satanic Host Christ inferred, in one of His controversies with the Pharisees (Matthew 12:22-30), that Satan is a King; and as such is in authority over a kingdom. This particular discussion was in regard to the fact that Christ had healed one "possessed with a demon, blind and dumb." The Pharisees claimed that the demon had been cast out by Beelzebub the prince of demons, or the one whom Jesus, later in the narrative, calls Satan. The passage is as follows: "Then was brought unto Him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb; and He healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: and if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." By this Scripture it may be seen that the kingdom of Satan is a host of bodiless spirits. Although their origin cannot be definitely traced, it is probable that they were created as subjects of Satan in the primal glory, as he, also, was created as their prince and king. Satan, being in authority over these beings, doubtless drew them after him in his sinful attempt to thrust himself into the place of God. It would seem that Satan is in authority over two distinct orders of beings—the Satanic order of the earth, and the Satanic host of the air. It is clear that he secured the scepter of government in the earth from Adam, by right of conquest: while his authority over the Satanic host is, undoubtedly, that which he has been permitted to retain from his creation. If Satan has thus kept his authority over these spirits from the beginning, it follows that they are in full sympathy with him and render him willing service. The following Scriptures emphasize the authority of Satan over these beings: "And if Satan cast out Satan, how then shall his kingdom stand?" (Matthew 12:26). "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). The reality and personality of this host of evil spirits is taught in Scripture; and a careful study of the numerous passages in which they are mentioned will reveal how God has provided complete instruction in His Word concerning this theme on which so much of the believer’s welfare depends. These spirits are usually referred to in both the Authorized and Revised Versions of the New Testament as "devils," but the word might better have been translated "demons." In considering the service these beings render to Satan, it is important to distinguish between demon possession or control, and demon influence. In the one case the body is entered and a dominating control is gained: while in the other case a warfare from without is carried on by suggestion, temptation, and influence. Investigation of the Scriptures in regard to demon possession reveals: First: That this host is made up of bodiless spirits only. The following Scripture verifies this statement: "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and tak’eth with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first" (Matthew 12:43-45). "And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them" (Mark 5:12). Second: They are, however, not only seeking to enter the bodies of either mortals or beasts (for their power seems to be in some measure dependent upon such embodiment); but they are constantly seen to be thus embodied, according to the New Testament. A few of these passages are given here: "When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick" (Matthew 8:16). "As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake" (Matthew 9:32-33). "And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed" (Acts 8:6-7). "And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying" (Acts 16:16). "And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea" (Mark 5:1-13). Third: They are wicked, unclean, and vicious. Many passages might be quoted in proof of this statement: "And when he was come to the other side of the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way" (Matthew 8:28). "And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease" (Matthew 10:1). "There met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones" (Mark 5:2-5). "And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming" (Mark 9:20). It might be added that there seem to be degrees of wickedness represented by these spirits: for it is stated in Matthew 12:43-45 that the demon, returning to his house, "taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself." The question is often raised whether demon possession obtains at the present time. Although the authentic records of such control are almost wholly limited to the three years of the public ministry of Jesus, it is incredible that demon possession did not exist before that time, or has not existed since. In this connection it should be remembered that these beings are not only intelligent themselves, but that they are directly governed and ordered by Satan, whose wisdom and cunning are so clearly set forth in the Scriptures. It is reasonable to conclude that they, like their monarch, are adapting the manner of their activity to the enlightenment of the age and locality. It is evident that they are not now less inclined than before to enter and dominate a body. Demon possession in the present time is probably often unsuspected because of the unrecognized fact that demons are capable of inspiring a moral and exemplary life, as well as of appearing as the dominating spirit of a spiritist medium, or through the grosser manifestations that are recorded by missionaries from heathen lands. These demons, too, like their king, will appear as "angels of light" as well as "roaring lions," when by the former impersonation they can more perfectly further the stupendous undertakings of Satan in his warfare against the work of God. Demon influence, like the activity of Satan, is prompted by two motives: both to hinder the purpose of God for humanity, and to extend the authority of Satan. They, therefore, at the command of their king, willingly co-operate in all his God-dishonoring undertakings. Their influence is exercised both to mislead the unsaved and to wage an unceasing warfare against the believer (Ephesians 6:12). Their motive is suggested in what is revealed by their knowledge of the authority and deity of Christ, as well as by what they know of their eternal doom. The following passages are important in this connection: "And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" (Matthew 8:29). "And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him" (Mark 1:23-25). "And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?" (Acts 19:15). "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble" (James 2:19). Of the methods of demons in the latter days of the age, the Scriptures bear special testimony. They will cover their lies with the empty form of religion, and by every means make them to appear as the truth, that they may draw both the saved and the unsaved from their hope in Christ: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron" (1 Timothy 4:1-2). A departure from the true faith is thus predicted to be the evidence of the influence of demons in the last days. This is none other than the great apostasy that must precede the "Day of the Lord" according to 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3. The believer’s security in this unceasing warfare is treated at length in another chapter. It may be noted here, however, that the God-appointed means for this victory are prayer and bodily control, "Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:21); and in the appropriation of the Person of Christ as the believer’s sufficiency, as He is set forth in His saving power by the various parts of the "whole armour" of Ephesians 6:13-18. Satan, though proposing to supersede the Almighty, is not Omnipotent: but his power, and the extent of his activity are immeasurably increased by the co-operation of his host of demons. Satan is not Omniscient: yet his knowledge is greatly extended by the combined wisdom and observation of his sympathetic subjects. Satan is not Omnipresent: but he is able to keep up an unceasing activity in every locality by the loyal obedience of the Satanic host, who are so numerous as to be called "Legion." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 128: 07.06. SATAN'S MOTIVE ======================================================================== Chapter 6 Satan’s Motive According to Scripture, the supreme motive of Satan is his purpose to become like the Most High and, though that purpose was formed even before the age of man, it has been his constant actuating motive from that time until now. It is also the teaching of Scripture that this present period of time is that in which Satan is in especial authority; he being permitted the exercise of his own power in order that he, and all his followers, may make their own final demonstration to the whole universe of the utter folly of their claims and of their abject helplessness when wholly independent of their Creator. This is definitely predicted in 2 Timothy 3:9 as the final outcome of the atttitude of the world in its independence toward God: "They shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest to all men." It has also been stated that the unsurpassed tribulation only awaits the withdrawal of the restraining hand of God, for all the required elements for such a condition are latent in the unregenerate heart (Romans 3:9-18). In this terrible period of tribulation the greatest power of Satan will be exercised, and the wickedness of man will be revealed in his attempt to live in whole separation from God. Even fallen humanity would not, at first, acknowledge Satan as its object of worship and federal head; and such a condition of society wherein Satan will be received as supreme (as he will be in the person of the first Beast of Revelation 13:1-18), must, therefore, be developed by generations of increasing irreverence and lawlessness toward God. Thus it has been necessary for Satan to conceal his person and projects from the very people over whom he is in authority and in whom he is the energizing power. For this reason this class of humanity believes least in his reality, and ignorantly rejects its real leader as a mystical person. When he is worshipped it is through some idol as a medium, or through his own impersonation of Jehovah; and when he rules it is by what seems to be the voice of a King or the voice of the people. However, the appalling irreverence of the world to-day is the sure preparation of the forthcoming direct manifestation of Satan, as predicted in Daniel 11:1-45, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 and Revelation 13:1-18. Satan’s policy of deception is described as extending to all the nations, and to the whole world: "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world" (Revelation 12:9). "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season" (Revelation 20:2-3). "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth" (Revelation 20:7-8). He who was the measure of perfection, full of beauty and wisdom; he who made the earth to tremble; who shook kingdoms; has been willing to be ridiculed by the world as a being without reality, that he might, in the end, realize his own deepest desire. Again, his own subjects have strangely neglected the plain teachings of Scripture on his real power and authority. To them he has been an imaginary fiend, delighting only in the torment of unfortunate souls; making his home in hell, and himself the impersonation of all that is cruel and vile: when, on the contrary, he is real, and is the very embodiment of the highest ideals the unregenerate world has received; for he is the inspirer of all those ideals. With his own he is not at enmity, and he, like the most refined of the world, is in no sympathy with the grosser forms of their sin. He would hinder those manifestations of evil if he could. And certainly he does not prompt them; for they are the natural fruit of an unrestrained fallen nature, according to James 1:14-15 : "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man" (Mark 7:21-23). The dying drunkard, the fallen woman, and the suffering of the innocent are the evidences of Satan’s failure rather than the realization of his purpose. His own terrible sin before God would not be condemned in the eyes of the world, for it is that which they most idealize and praise. In his sin he aspired to that which is highest, and proposed to realize his ideal by his own self-sufficiency and strength. True, he has lowered his Creator, in his own mind, to a level where he supposes himself to be in legitimate competition with Him, both for authority over other beings and for their worship. Yet this unholy ambition and disregard for the Creator is a most commendable thing according to the standards of the Satanic order. In the language of the world, Satan is simply "self made" and every element of his attitude toward his Creator is, as a principle of life, both commended and practiced by the world. Though hiding himself, Satan has had the satisfaction, under limitations, of governing the affairs of men; and the delight, to a large extent, of receiving their worship. The greatest care was taken in the law governing God’s ancient people that they should not offer their sacrifices unto devils, which was the practice of surrounding nations (Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:17). In violation of these special laws, Rehoboam instituted special priests for the devils (2 Chronicles 11:15), while the worship of devils, according to the New Testament, is to continue throughout the age: "But this I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table and the table of devils" (1 Corinthians 10:20-21). "And the rest of the men that were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk" (Revelation 9:20). Again: Satan’s ambition is leading him to make this age of his special opportunity as near perfect as his wisdom and power will permit. And in this connection it may be noted that Satan’s ambition was not to become a fiend, but rather to become like the Most High. He will, therefore, strive for all that is moral and good: yet at the same time do all in his power to draw men from their natural reverence of God, that, in due time, they may acknowledge himself without fear. The Satanic ideal of this age is, then, an improved social order, a moral and cultured people, who are devout worshippers of himself, though for the present they may imagine they are worshipping Jehovah through their empty religious forms and ceremonies, while they are really in a state of God-dishonoring unbelief, and all their thoughts are energized by Satan alone. The Satanic message for this age will be reformation and self-development, while the message of God is regeneration by the power of the Spirit. Satan, in his imitation of the Most High, is also working toward a universal kingdom of morality and peace upon earth, which will be temporarily realized under the reign of the Beast (Revelation 13:1-18). The difference between Satan’s ideal and the purpose of God, apart from the utter folly of the one and the glorious certainty of the other, is of both method and time. According to the Satanic program, the present order of society, with himself on the throne, is to be developed into an ideal brotherhood, in which all men will practice that which is moral and good. According to the program of God, this is an evil age of darkness and pollution, in which the folly of Satan and man is to be proven, and out of which He is to gather the heavenly people for His own name. The kingdom of righteousness is then to follow, being ushered in by Christ-enthroning and Satan-dethroning events. There will then be a perfect humanity and social order for "all shall know the Lord from the least unto the greatest" and "righteousness and peace shall cover the earth as the waters cover the face of the deep." The master passion of Satan leads him, not only to strive for the success of his own projects, but also to wage an unceasing warfare against Jehovah. These two lines of activity are inseparable; for he cannot establish and develop his own kingdom, and, at the same time, permit his subjects to be translated out of his kingdom into another, especially when they remain in the midst as a living power and testimony against him. Nor can he reasonably allow the accomplishment of any of the projects of God; for it is predicted that at the completion of these his own doom will be at hand. The present time is, therefore, to Satan, the struggle for his own existence, as well as the realization of all that has been his ambition in the ages past. The warfare is no mere passing amusement for him, for he, in desperation, is facing a terrible and awful judgment if he cannot succeed in his purpose. The spectacle now presented to all enlightened beings of the universe, is that of a mighty celestial being, the god of the earth, who is by creation the full measure of perfection, both in wisdom and beauty, making his last and most desperate warfare, both to realize his own ambition and to thwart every movement of the Most High; knowing that in failure there is no ground for mercy, but only the terrible destruction that has been so long predicted. He knew when he formed this God-dishonoring purpose that it must either wholly succeed or he himself fall into terrible judgment. On the other side of the conflict there is perfect calmness and certainty as to the end, for the judgment and sentence are past; yet every true believer is implored to be instant in season and out of season in the present projects of grace, that the sufferings and separations of earth may be cut short in righteousness. Well may believers study their own motives in service in view of these vastly differing programs; and question whether there is in them a humble willingness to co-operate in the present purpose of God in preparing the Bride for the returning King: or whether they have carelessly fallen in with the Satanic ideal, which rejects the coming Kingdom of Christ by an unholy attempt to establish the present kingdom of Satan. The program of Satan, which the world calls "optimistic" rests on the Satanic purpose of a reformed society: the program of God, which is called "pessimistic" in that it discredits this age, rests upon the infinite wisdom, love and power of God; and is so certain and near that the believer is taught to watch, wait, and be ready for the first Divine movement toward this glorious end. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 129: 07.07. SATAN'S METHODS ======================================================================== Chapter 7 Satan’s Methods The two great activities of Satan, already mentioned, are referred to in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 in connection with the Man of sin, who will be Satan’s last and greatest manifestation. This being is spoken of as he "who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped." These two activities are inseparable in that, while Satan is seeking to exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, he can keep his subjects or prolong his own existence only by an unceasing warfare in which he opposes himself against God. Whether Satan now believes that he may yet succeed in spite of the decree of the Cross and the evident superior power of God, is not revealed. It is still further revealed that the enmity of Satan is not only toward the person of God, from whom he has everything to fear, but also toward every true child of God. Too much emphasis cannot be placed on this fact. Satan has no controversy or warfare with his own unregenerate people, but there is abundant Scripture to prove that he makes unceasing effort to mar the life and service of believers. The motive for this effort is all-sufficient: they have "partaken of the Divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4), and afford, therefore, a possible opportunity for Satan to thrust his fiery darts at the Divine Person. Thus the believer becomes a medium of connection between the Divine Person and the Satanic Order; for God literally loves the unsaved through the believer (Romans 5:5): and on the other hand, the prince of the Satanic system, as well as many of his subjects, is seeking an opportunity for a thrust at the person of God. Several important passages on the latter point may here be noted: "These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12). "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you" (1 John 3:13). "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world" (1 Peter 5:7-9). "Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (literally, artifices) of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but again the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:10-12 R.V.). The teaching of these passages clearly indicates the Satanic enmity toward the believer, and the believer’s utter helplessness apart from the Divine sufficiency. They also reveal a degree of enmity which would result in the believer’s life being crushed out, were it not for the evident answer to the prayer of Jesus: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one" (John 17:15). Certainly there is abundant reason for the believer to expect the fiercest opposition from the Satanic host in all his life and service; and faith alone insures his victory over the world. The believer is also the object of the Satanic attack because of the great fact that unto him is committed the great ministry of reconciliation; that by his testimony both in life and word, and by his prayers, the facts of redemption may be given to the world; and if Satan can but cripple the believer’s service, he accomplishes much in resisting the present purpose of God. No other explanation is adequate for the dark ages of Church history, the appalling failure of the Church in world-wide evangelism, or her present sectarian divisions and selfish indifference. This blighting Satanic opposition can be detected in every effort for the salvation of the lost. It may be seen in the fact that no personal appeal is ever made to the vast majority even in this favored land; or, when an appeal is made, it is easily distracted or diverted into the discussion of unimportant themes. The faithful pastor or evangelist is most sorely assailed, every device of Satan being used to distort the one all-important message of Grace into something that is not vital. The evangelist’s call for decisions is often cumbered with that which is misleading or is a positive misstatement of the terms of Salvation; thus the appeal is lost and the whole effort fails. The action of Satan may also be detected in that a humble messenger who is loyal to Christ and His Salvation by grace alone, will be almost unheeded at the present time: while the vast throng will be found supporting that which is religious only in its externals, but which is, in reality, a gospel of morality and subtle denial of the redemption that is in Christ. Again, the opposing power of Satan may be seen in the matter of Christian giving. Millions are given without solicitation for education, culture, and humanity’s physical comfort, but real world-wide evangelization must ever drag on with its shameful limitations and debts. This warfare of Satan is even more noticeable in the believer’s prayer life; this being his place of greatest usefulness and power, is subject to the greatest conflict. In this connection it may be stated safely that there is comparatively no prevailing prayer to-day; yet the way is open and the promises are sure. Then, also, if the believer cannot be beguiled into indifference or a denial of Christ, he is tempted to place an undue emphasis upon some minor truth, and, in partial blindness, to sacrifice his whole influence for good through the apparent unbalance of his testimony. Satan’s warfare against the purpose of God is still more evident in his direct hindering of the unsaved. Not only are they constantly blinded to the Gospel, but, when the Spirit would draw them, their minds are often filled with strange fears and distorted visions. Their inability to cast themselves upon Christ is a mystery to themselves, and nothing but the direct illuminating power of the Spirit in conviction can open their eyes and deliver them from their gross darkness. Satan has always adapted his methods to the times and conditions. If attention has been gained, a complete denial of the truth has been made; or, when some recognition of the truth is demanded, it has been granted on the condition that that which is vital in redemption should be omitted. This partial recognition of the truth is required by the world to-day, for, while the direct result of the believer’s testimony to the Satanic system has been toward the gathering out of the Bride, there has been an indirect influence of this testimony upon the world which has led them to see that all that is good in their own ideals has been already stated in the Bible and exemplified in the life of Jesus, and that every principle of humanitarian sympathy or righteous government has been revealed in the Scriptures of truth. Thus there has grown a more or less popular appreciation of the value of these moral precepts of Scripture and of the example of Christ. This condition has prevailed to such a degree that any new system or doctrine which secures a hearing to-day must base its claim upon Scripture, and include, to some extent, the person and teachings of Jesus. The fact that the world has thus partly acknowledged the value of the Scriptures is taken by many to be a glorious victory for God; while, on the contrary, it cannot be proven that fallen humanity is any more inclined to accept God’s terms of salvation than in the generations past. It is evident that this partial concession of the world to the testimony of God has opened the way for counterfeit systems of truth, which, according to prophecy, are the last and most to be dreaded methods in the Satanic warfare. In this connection it must be conceded that Satan has really granted nothing from his own position, even though he be forced to acknowledge every principle of truth save that upon which salvation depends. Rather is he advantaged by such a concession; for the value and delusion of a counterfeit lies in its greatest likeness to the real. By advocating much truth, in the form of a counterfeit system of truth, Satan can satisfy all the external religious cravings of the world, and yet accomplish his own end by withholding that on which man’s only hope depends. It is, therefore, no longer safe to blindly subscribe to that which promises general good, simply because it is good, and is garnished with the teachings of Scripture; for good has ceased to be all on one side and evil all on the other. In fact, that which is evil in purpose has gradually appropriated the good until but one issue distinguishes them. Part-truth-ism has come into terrible and final conflict with whole-truth-ism, and woe to the soul that does not discern between them. The first, though externally religious, is of Satan, and leaves its followers in the doom of everlasting banishment from the presence of God: while the latter is of God, and "has promise for the life that now is and that which is to come." It is also noticeable that the term "infidel" has, within a generation, disappeared from common usage, and that manner of open denial of the truth has been almost wholly abandoned. Yet the real Church has by no means lost her foes, for they are now even more numerous, subtle, and terrible than ever before. These present enemies, however, like the unclean birds in the mustard tree, have taken shelter under her branches, and, like the leaven in the pure meal, they are penetrating and appropriating her most sacred altars and institutions. These vultures are fed by a multitude, both in the Church and out, who, in Satanic blindness, are committed to the furtherance of any project or the acceptance of any theory that promises good to the world or is apparently based upon Scripture; little realizing that they are often really supporting the enemy of God. A counterfeit is Satan’s most natural method of resisting the purpose of God, since by it he can realize to that extent his desire to be like the Most High. Every material is now at hand, as never before, for the construction of those conditions that are predicted to appear only in the very end of the age. In 2 Timothy 3:1-5 one of these predictions may be found: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of them that are good, traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." Every word of this prophecy is worthy of most careful study in the light of the present tendency of society. The fifth verse is especially important in connection with the subject of counterfeits to the truth: "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." Here it is stated that in these last days forms of godliness shall appear which, however, deny the power of God; and from these leaders the believer is warned to turn away. The important element in the true faith which is to be omitted in these "forms" is carefully defined elsewhere in Scripture: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16). "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:23-24). Therefore, that which is omitted so carefully from these forms is the salvation which is in Christ. This is most suggestive, for "there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved," and it is by salvation alone that any deliverance can be had from the power of darkness. Without this salvation Satan can still claim all his own. It is perhaps necessary to add that, judging from all his writings, this salvation, of which Paul confesses he was not ashamed, was no less an undertaking than regeneration by the Spirit; and whatever other theories may be advanced, this is the teaching of the Spirit through the Apostle Paul. It, therefore, follows that one feature of the last days will be a form of godliness which carefully denies the power of God in salvation. Again, Satan is "in the latter times" to be the promoter of a system of truth or doctrine: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;" (1 Timothy 4:1-2). These predicted Satanic systems are here carefully described. Their offers will be so attractive and externally so religious that into them will be drawn some "who shall depart from the faith;" they being enticed by seducing spirits. These attractive systems are not only from Satan, but are themselves "lies in hypocrisy," being presented by those whose conscience has been seared with a hot iron. No more illuminating terms could be used than these. A lie covered by hypocrisy means, evidently, that they are still attempting to be counted among the faithful; and the conscience seared would indicate that they can distort the testimony of God and carelessly point other souls to the bottomless pit, without present remorse or regret. The doctrine of devils is again referred to in Revelation 2:24 as "the deep things of Satan" and this is Satan’s counterfeit of "the deep things of God" which the Spirit reveals to them that love Him (1 Corinthians 2:10). Thus there is predicted for the last days of this age, both a form of godliness which denies the power of salvation that is in Christ; and a system known as "the deep things of Satan" or "doctrines of devils," which calls some adherents from the true faith and speaks lies in hypocrisy. Can there be any doubt that these two Scriptures describe the same thing, since they also refer to the same time? The lies of one can be but the covered denial of salvation in the other. Again, Satan has his assembly or congregational meeting which is his counterfeit of the visible Church. This assembly is referred to, both in Revelation 2:9 and Revelation 3:9, as the "synagogue of Satan;" an organized assembly being as important for the testimony in the deep things of Satan as it has been in the things of God. In Matthew 13:1-58 the tares appear among the wheat and their appearance is said to be after the sowing of the wheat. So, also, the "children of the Wicked one" appear and are often included and even organized within the forms of the visible Church. The assembly of Satan, calling itself a part of the visible Church, is to have its ministers and teachers. This is stated in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 : "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." Here is a remarkable revelation of the possible extent of the Satanic counterfeit: "False apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ" and "ministers of righteousness;" yet these are shown to be only agents of the great deceiver, Satan, who is himself transformed into an angel of light. It is evident that the method of this deception is to imitate the real ministers of Christ. Certainly these false apostles cannot so appear unless they gather into their message every available "form of godliness" and cover their lies with the most subtle hypocrisy. Evil will not appear on the outside of these systems; but they will be announced as "another gospel" or as a larger understanding of the previously accepted truth, and will be all the more attractive and delusive since they are heralded by those who claim to be ministers of Christ, who reflect the beauty of an "angel of light," and whose lives are undoubtedly free from great temptation. It should be noted, however, that these false ministers do not necessarily know the mission they have. Being unregenerate persons of the Satanic system, and, so, blinded to the real Gospel, they are sincere; preaching and teaching the best things their energizing power, the angel of light, is pleased to reveal unto them. Their gospel is one of human reason, and appeals to human resources. There can be no appreciation of Divine revelation in them, for they have not come to really know God or His Son, Jesus Christ. As all this is true, how perilous is the attitude of many who follow attractive ministers and religious guides only because they claim to be such, and are sincere, and who are not awake to the one final test of doctrine by which alone the whole covered system of Satanic lies can be distinguished from the truth of God. In this connection John writes the following warning: "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed" (2 John 1:10). There yet remains one mighty element in the program of Satan’s counterfeits in addition to his outward forms, deep doctrines, church and ministers,—that is, the Man of Sin, the blasphemous counterfeit of the blessed Christ; who is yet to appear; who will be the very incarnation of Satan; and "whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish" (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). As the whole purpose of God in the ages has its consummation in the yet future coming of Christ, so Satan, in imitation of the program of God, has appointed a coming one (2 Thessalonians 2:9), who will be his greatest manifestation, and upon whom he will bestow his greatest wisdom, power and attractiveness. The study of this mighty and imposing character can only be suggested in the following pages. The titles of Satan would indicate that he is attempting, also, in his own person, to counterfeit the Persons of the blessed Trinity. He appears as "the god of this world" in imitation of God the Father; he appears as the "prince of the world" in imitation of God the Son; and "the spirit that now energizeth in the children of disobedience" is his imitation of God the Spirit, who dwells in and energizes the true believers. Thus his desire to be like the Most High has led him to a blasphemous attempt to imitate all the separate manifestations of the three Persons of the Godhead. But, since redemption, which he proposes to hinder, is the work of the second Person, God the Son, Satan more often appears as a counterfeit of Christ, both in title and undertaking; and this is the character in which he makes his last and most desperate effort before he is banished to the pit and his final judgment is begun. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 130: 07.08. THE MAN OF SIN ======================================================================== Chapter 8 The Man of Sin Reference has already been made to a period of tribulation yet to come upon the earth. That period is referred to in Scripture by various figures: "The great tribulation," "the time of Jacob’s trouble," and "a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness." It is also described as the culmination of the great apostasy which is predicted for the end of this age and which is emphasized in the later Epistles of the New Testament. These Epistles not only recognize a complete apostasy yet to come in this age, but teach that the beginning of that apostasy was apparent even then at the time when they were written. This teaching of the apostles finds its natural culmination in the last book of the Bible wherein the exact development of the apostasy and the conditions to prevail in the tribulation are recorded at length. All other references, both in the Old and the New Testaments, perfectly agree with this extended description. In reference to the time of the tribulation which is thus predicted, Paul states in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day (’the day of the Lord’) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of Sin be revealed, the son of perdition," thus showing that the tribulation precedes the day of the Lord; and in Revelation 19:1-21 that day is seen to be the termination of the tribulation, which is previously described in that book. This period of tribulation is, therefore, to come before the Kingdom Age, and to be ended by the glorious appearing of Christ, the King. Again, the tribulation is to come after the true Church has been removed; for it should be remembered that the true believers are to be saved out of the "hour of trial which shall come upon the earth to try those that dwell therein" (Revelation 3:10), (the believer, being a citizen of the heavenlies is, therefore, not included among those who dwell in the earth). This aspect of the Lord’s return is often misunderstood. He comes first, not to the earth, but into the air to meet His Bride and gather her to Himself; both those that are sleeping and those that are awake: "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which 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 Thessalonians 4:16-17). This phase of his coming is, and has been, imminent since the promises of his return were given; and it is for this particular preliminary event that the Church is taught to hope and pray, for it will be the time of her rapture and blessedness. As has been before stated, the utter dissolution of humanity is latent in the unregenerated heart (Romans 3:10-18), and its own tribulation only awaits this removal of all Divine restraint. It is, therefore, both Scriptural and reasonable to conclude that tribulation will instantly begin upon the earth after the first aspect of the return of Christ when He comes for His Church. Thus it may be seen that this period of unsurpassed trial upon the earth, when the blasphemous claims of Satan and man are to be proven and God’s testimony is to be vindicated, is bounded by the two events in the Second Coming of Christ: when He comes for His saints (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17), to gather to Himself His heavenly people, and when He comes with His saints (Revelation 19:11-21) to be the complete fulfillment of all the covenants of God with His earthly people. The actual duration of this period is marked off in Daniel 9:24-27 : "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after the three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." There are three distinct periods of time here indicated. First: Seventy weeks between the time of the vision, and the age of "everlasting righteousness" and anointing of the most Holy; or, from the time of the vision, to the earthly kingdom of Christ, which is yet future. Second: Sixty-nine weeks; beginning to reckon from the same time, or from the command of the King of Babylon to restore Jerusalem, and continuing unto the death of Christ, which is referred to as the "cutting off of the Messiah." And lastly: One week, for the overspreading of abomination and that which is determined to be poured upon the desolate. History fortunately interprets the time here indicated: for, from the command of the King to rebuild Jerusalem, to the death of Christ was 483 years, or sixty-nine weeks of seven years each. This leaves but the one additional week of the seventy before the bringing in of the everlasting righteousness. That one week is here described as the time of most terrible desolation and overspreading of abomination, when the people are under a covenant with another prince. This present age is as a parenthesis in Jewish history and, as no account is made of it in these reckonings, the last unfulfilled week (seven years) of the seventy, before the kingdom is established upon the earth, must be the time between the gathering out of the Church—an event which completes the purpose of this parenthetical age—and the final bringing in of the kingdom. The last period of seven years of desolation is, however, to be shortened, according to the words of Christ: "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened" (Matthew 24:21-22). It should be noticed that this period cannot be confused easily with any other, for it is referred to as the time more terrible than any other that has ever been, or ever will be (Daniel 12:1; Joel 2:2; Matthew 24:21-22). Reference has been made at length to the tribulation period in order to make clear the exact conditions in which the Man of Sin is to appear; for this mighty world-ruler makes his advent in those days of earth’s darkness and gloom when all the light of God has been withdrawn, and the world is left in its own helpless confusion. He appears in the tribulation as the agent of Satan after that mighty head of the Satanic system has been cast out of heaven into the earth (Revelation 12:7-12). The time of the destruction of the Man of Sin is also revealed in that it is mentioned as one of the events in the glorious coming of Christ (Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:11-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 19:20). He, therefore, appears as the culmination of the Satanic effort, and a careful study of his person and character will reveal the fact that he is the most stupendous work of Satan in his enmity against God. In connection with the time of the Man of Sin, it is also to be noted that the believer is not directly warned against his person, but is, rather, warned against the conditions that are to prevail as a preparation for his coming. This is due to the fact that the true believers are to be gathered to their Lord before that "Wicked one" appears, and they are, therefore, only in danger of being influenced by that which precedes and prepares for his coming. His description is set forth at length only in such passages as deal with the whole and final development of the age. It should also be remembered that the description of this person, like that of the person and work of Satan, is from the standpoint of the holiness of God; and that which the world will hail as its glorious ideal of perfection is, in God’s sight, the personification of rebelliousness, blasphemy, and treason. The order of the governments and rulers of the world in this Gentile age is revealed to Daniel in visions which are recorded and interpreted in the book of Daniel. In these visions the Man of Sin appears as the "little horn" of Daniel 7:1-28 and is the last and most God-dishonoring world-ruler. He also later appears as the "desolator" of Daniel 9:27; the "willful King" of Daniel 11:36; the "abomination of desolation" of Matthew 24:15; the "Man of Sin" of 2 Thessalonians 2:4-8; the rider on the white horse of Revelation 6:2; and the first Beast of Revelation 13:1-18. His identity is certain, even though he appears under various figures and titles; for he, like Satan, is so unique in his character, time, and undertakings, that he cannot be confused easily with any other. In Daniel 2:1-49 the order of the kingdoms is set forth by the figure of the great image which, at the last, is suddenly and violently shattered by the "stone cut from the mountain without hands": which Stone is Christ, the Corner Stone; and the Stone which the builders rejected. The feet and toes of this image are said to be the last manifestation of human government, and it is this part of the image that is violently shattered by the Stone. Of this termination of earthly rule it is recorded in Daniel 2:44-45 : "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. For as much as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the King what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." From this chapter it may be seen that the setting up of the Messianic Kingdom is to be both sudden and destructive to all human governments, and that it is in no way the result of an age of development and progressive improvement. In Daniel 7:1-28 the Man of Sin appears, as has been stated, as the "little horn" among ten horns; which, like the ten toes of the great image, indicate the extreme end of human authority and power. In this vision the latter end of the kingdoms of the earth is seen to culminate in the one most daring ruler, the "little horn", who has "a mouth speaking great things" and whose look is more imposing than all others; and he it is who makes war with the saints and prevails over them until the coming of the Ancient of days. The inspired interpretation of the vision is given in Daniel 7:23-27 : "Thus he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into His hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominion shall serve and obey Him." In Daniel 11:1-45 the reign of the Man of Sin, the willful king, is prophesied in detail; and the fact is stated that the reign and the blasphemous attitude of this last great ruler are both in the purpose of God. A portion of this remarkable passage is here given: "And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every God, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper until the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain." This last verse is more clearly translated "and he will practice in the strongholds of fortresses with a strange god; whoso acknowledgeth him will be increased with glory; and he shall cause them to rule over the many, and shall divide the land to them for a reward" (Daniel 11:36-39). Beside the collossal disregard for God, this passage presents several important revelations. First: The expression "the God of his fathers" would seem to indicate that the Man of Sin would come from a lineage of Christians. Second: His disregard for the desire of women is evidence of his hatred of the true Messiah; for this reference is probably to the desire of every Jewish woman to be the mother of Messiah. Third: Those who acknowledge the strange god, (Satan), whom he honors, will be prospered, and the land will be divided unto them and he will give them authority and glory. In the New Testament the Man of Sin is described as "the one who comes in his own name," whom men will receive (John 5:43); "that man of sin," "the son of perdition" (2 Thessalonians 2:3); "that Wicked one" (2 Thessalonians 2:8); and the "beast" (Revelation 13:1), and to him Satan gives all the power and glory he offered to Christ (Luke 4:5-6). Of the many references to him, two passages deal with him at length. In the first (2 Thessalonians 2:1-10), his coming is mentioned as directly following the removal of God’s present restraint from the earth; and in the second (Revelation 13:1-8), as has been shown, his coming is said to directly follow the casting of Satan from heaven into the earth (Revelation 12:7-12), and continues until the glorious appearing of Christ, which is described in Revelation 19:1-21 and Revelation 20:1-15. The former passage (2 Thessalonians 2:1-10) is as follows: "Now, we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And, now, ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth (restrains) will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked (one) be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming; even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." In this passage it is predicted of this mighty person that he will assume to be very God, "sitting in the temple as God," and winning the worship of the multitude by his miraculous power, signs, and lying wonders; deceiving all who perish, and who would not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. Still another and more striking description of this person is given in the second passage just mentioned (Revelation 13:1-8): "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon (Satan) gave him his power, and his seat, and his great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon (Satan) which gave power unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." The first, and, it would seem, most important thing that is stated of this being in this Scripture is that one of his heads was, as it were, wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed. Some have claimed this to be a reference to a previous political defeat followed by reinstatement to power. The expression is, however, most suggestive and significant as an attempt on the part of Satan to imitate, in the Man of Sin, that which was the supreme miracle of the Christ—His death and resurrection. The effort is plainly effective; more so than a mere shifting of political fortune could possibly be; for the statement follows: "All the world wondered after the beast who had received the deadly wound and yet lived." After they wondered, they worshipped. First they worshipped Satan, who performed the mighty miracle; and then they worshipped the beast, saying, "Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?" The terrible blasphemy of the Man of Sin has been emphasized in all Scripture references to him, and is here still more vividly pictured. The time he is to continue is said to be forty and two months, which would be one-half the tribulation period; and this statement is probably not at all figurative. By his overwhelming supernatural power and wisdom he gains authority over every living thing in the Satanic system, excepting those recorded in the Lamb’s book of life. These are not brought under his governing power. The latter part of the chapter presents still another mighty person, who is also called a "beast," but later appears as the false prophet (Revelation 19:20); and who exercises all the power of the first beast, and receives his power from the dragon, Satan. Much is said of this second "beast," but his mission is in no way to attract attention to himself. He co-operates in gaining world-wide worship and authority for the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. The second beast seems to deal directly with the people and by his mighty signs and miracles, as well as by his authority, he compels loyalty to the first beast. Fire is called down from heaven; and a dumb idol is made to speak and live. He is able to establish a union of all people in trade, imposing a death penalty upon them. And by all these means he furthers the interests of the first beast. The Scripture here referred to is as follows: "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon (Satan). And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth, by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred three score and six" (Revelation 13:11-18). There is a deep suggestion, in the person of this second beast, of a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit of God. He who came not to speak of Himself, but to glorify Christ and to unite all believers; leading them in worship and praise. This second beast is probably identical with "Anti-christ," who appears under that title only in the writings of John, and who is there seen as the consummation of a long succession of false religious teachers who have denied the Christ and His sacrificial work. When the testimony of all Scripture upon the Man of Sin is considered, he is seen to be a person whose superhuman power is plainly ascribed to Satan. He appears upon the scene, after the removal of the heavenly people and during the great tribulation, as the climax of all Satanic exaltation and opposition to God. He is the last and greatest of earthly rulers, and, from his position of unsurpassed influence, speaks great words and manifests great wisdom. He is externally religious, and the promoter of great righteous projects and principles which in God’s sight are only hypocrisy and blasphemy because of the subtle Christ-denying motive which prompts it all. His hold upon the public mind is by a process which is natural. Great miracles are performed by himself and by his prophet,—fire is called down from heaven; a dumb idol is made to speak and live; and he himself has been wounded to death and yet lives. By such supernatural works his assumption to be very God is accepted, and he becomes the world’s ideal of all that is supreme. The people are said to first marvel and wonder; then to worship at his feet; and at last, in mad devotion, they challenge the universe to produce his equal—"Who is like the beast?" they cry. He has been wounded to death and yet lives; he performs as great miracles as the world has ever seen; his teachings are based upon Scripture; and he must, therefore, be God manifest in the flesh. His wisdom, beauty and majesty are a seeming warrant for every element of adoration. Thus the Man of Sin will appear as the culmination of all the counterfeit methods of Satan; which method had its beginnings in the last days of the age, even before the calling away of the true Church, the Body of Christ. The subtle doctrines of devils will be adopted as creeds in assemblies and so called churches, and these deep things, with the Satanic ambition for moral improvement, will be voiced by ordained ministers who appear as apostles of Christ and ministers of righteousness. Yet in God’s sight it is all a deep lie and hypocrisy, for they are distorting His truth and subtly denying His redemption. All this, as has been stated, is but the Satanic preparation of humanity that they may wholly acknowledge him as their god, and that he may himself become like the Most High. This program is permitted in the purpose of God, for "that that is determined shall be done" (Daniel 11:36). It will be only for a moment; for the resistless coming of the "Ancient of Days" will unveil all this deception, banish the enemies, and bring in His own long-predicted and glorious reign of everlasting blessedness upon the earth. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 131: 07.09. THE FATAL OMISSION ======================================================================== Chapter 9 The Fatal Omission To some extent it has been necessary to anticipate the subject of this chapter in dealing with those counterfeits which are predicted for the last days, when there will be found a "form of godliness, denying the power thereof," and also the deep "doctrines of devils" which are "lies in hypocrisy." This chapter deals with that which is so vital in the true faith, and which is to be so carefully omitted in the false; that which makes the true so potent, and without which the false becomes an immeasurable deception. Everything depends upon this one point of distinction; for, according to prophecy, it is the only difference that is finally to exist between the false and the true. The issue is, therefore, as important as life itself. It has already been seen that the method of counterfeiting, if successful, will require Satan to appropriate and incorporate in his false systems every available principle of the true; for the deception of the counterfeit depends wholly upon its likeness to the real. Herein is revealed the reason for calling that a lie or deception which is externally so like the truth. Certainly there could be no greater pitfall for souls than a system which seems to be the truth of God, and yet robs its followers of any basis for a true hope, and it will be found that the most terrible condemnation of Scripture is uttered against such systems and their promoters. In seeking to discover the actual point of difference between the false and the true, it will be well, first, to consider the present perverted relation which exists between the Creator and the fallen human creature; for herein is revealed the necessity of that which God proposes to accomplish by redemption. Two important points in Satan’s doctrine were announced by him in the Garden of Eden when he first approached the woman, and these two declarations have been an important part of the world’s creeds throughout the history of man. The first was a bold denial of a positive statement of God, when Satan said: "Ye shall not surely die." Whether Satan intended here simply to deny the truth of God’s statement, or whether he overestimated his own resources and proposed to shield them from their God-appointed doom, is not clear. Certainly the latter view is in keeping with Satan’s original purpose, as well as with his evident sincerity. It is quite reasonable to conclude that, if he could be so misguided as to attempt to be like the Most High, he would willingly have undertaken to protect man from judgment which followed as a result of loyalty to himself. Satan is striving, at any rate, to direct the lives of those who are under his power into a degree of self development that will be a substitute for the revealed purpose of God for men. The second announcement of Satan assured the woman that they would, by this independent action, "be as God;" and this, so far from promising death, seemed to them the immediate realization of the highest human ideal. It was undoubtedly the original purpose of God in creation that humanity should eventually become like Himself. By what process of development this was to have been accomplished, had not sin entered, has not been revealed. It is enough to know that even after man had fallen from his high estate through sin, this Divine purpose was not abandoned, though the problems involved were immeasurably increased: and now, through the unsearchable riches of His grace, the realization of that which surpasses all human dreams has been made possible, even to fallen and polluted man. The consummation of the transforming work of God is thus described: "For whom He did foreknow, He did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29). "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Colossians 3:4). "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24). "For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby He is able even to subject all things unto Himself" (Php 3:20-21 R.V.). It is natural that Satan should suggest to humanity that which had been the object of his own unholy ambition; and especially is it natural, since by such a separation of humanity from its God, he could claim that authority over them, and secure that worship from them, which he so much craved. There are, then, at least two distinct methods proposed for the uplifting of humanity, and these are brought into sharp contrast; for one is of Satan, and the other is of God. Since both these methods claim to aim at the same end—though one ideal is not worthy to be compared with the other—the method, alone, forms the first point for discussion. Under the Satanic control, man has always been strangely influenced in the matter of his relation to his Creator. He, too, has been willing to assume a hopeless position of independence toward God; and, under that abnormal relation, he has gone out alone to grope his way; blindly seeking to build his own character, and by education and cultivation to improve his natural heart, which God has pronounced humanly incurable. He has also bent his inventive skill to the development of means by which God-imposed labor may be avoided; and much of his selfish greed springs from a desire to purchase a substitute who shall bear for him the discomfort of a sweating brow. "God is not in all his thoughts;" nor has he any disposition to claim the help of God upon the terms upon which it is offered. The Satanic method for life prompts him to become a god by a process of self-help and development of the finite resources. It is very possible and natural to introduce much of religious form into the world system of self-help; for there is a great field for religious exercise for the one who is attempting to make himself Godlike, and there is endless material for supplication and prayer that all available assistance may be secured to aid one in that humanly impossible task. A devout spirit is, therefore, a natural part of the Satanic doctrine, and the predicted "forms of godliness" will naturally appear. There is a vast difference between an individual supplicating God to save him: and one supplicating God to help him save himself. The latter is a natural part of the Satanic plan and has no promise of Divine favor upon it. All such religious exercise, though full of outward forms and deep sincerity, leaves its moral aspirants doomed, alike with the most degraded, to as everlasting separation and banishment from the presence of God: "which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh" (Colossians 2:23 R.V.). Such prayer and religious practice do not really place the saving work in the hands of God, but mockingly ask Him to give His sanction and assistance to that which wholly dishonors and really disregards Him, and which is also both unreasonable and impossible. Though the process by which unfallen man would have reached a higher development has not been revealed, it is certain that he would have been then, as now, wholly dependent upon the Creator. Man’s present independence toward God is the blindest delusion of the fallen nature; for complete independence cannot even be assumed in the least of all temporal things: how much less is it possible in that which is spiritual! Again, the self-saving principle is utter folly, since God must demand a quality which no human can present. God’s requirement is not unreasonable, however, for He also proposes to bestow, in grace, all He ever demands. The absolute holiness of God demands no less than holiness in all who are acceptable to Him; yet He has never mocked man by asking him to make himself acceptable, or even to attempt to do it by Divine help. True salvation is wholly a work of God. It is said to be both a finished work and a gift, and, therefore, it lays no obligation upon the saved one to complete it himself, or to make after payments of service for it; though the saved one is called upon to serve from another and more glorious motive. The Divine terms of obtainment into Godlikeness are clearly stated in the Scriptures; but the hopeless estimate God has placed upon human nature at its best, and the logical necessity that man shall receive, as a gift, all that he has, and be forever a debtor to the Divine giver,—these things have always been rejected by self-sufficient and Satan-inspired humanity. These terms are the only possible or reasonable relations that could rightfully exist between fallen humanity and its Creator. Here Satan has blinded the minds of the lost lest they should believe, and he has made that which is reasonable and natural seem to be unreasonable and unnatural. They are unable to abandon their Satan-inspired sense of self-sufficiency and independence of God and receive from Him, as a gift, every possession commendable in His sight. The controversy between Satan-ruled man and God is one of method; whether it shall be one of self-righteousness and character building: or one of bestowed righteousness and character by the fruit of the Spirit. Will man try to save himself: or humbly submit to being saved by Another? Will he try to conform himself to what little he knows to be good and true: or will he be transformed by the power of God into that which is no less than the image of Christ? Will he present the sacrifice of a sincere effort to be moral and religious: or accept the God-provided sacrifice for all sin, in the shed blood of Christ? Will he try to establish himself before God on the ground of his own works: or rest in the finished work of Christ for him? Will he try to improve his fallen nature: or partake of the Divine nature and become a Son of God by the power of God, through faith in Christ Jesus? One method, it may be seen, depends wholly upon self for its realization; promises glory to man alone; and has its origin at that unknown time when Satan proposed in his heart to become like the Most High. The other method is dependent upon God alone, and, therefore, demands an attitude of faith toward him for its realization. It issues in glory to the Creator, Who alone is worthy to be praised. The latter, in contrast with Satan’s method, had its origin in the purpose of God, which He purposed before the foundation of the world. Therein, transcendent blessings are offered; stores of grace are unfolded; and the omnipotent power of God is seen working for the transformation of His human creatures. These two methods are confused only because they seem to aim at the same general result. In reality their results, like their methods, are not only incomparable, but they are as far removed from each other as God’s ways are higher than man’s ways. The revelation of God in regard to salvation might have been limited to the fact that He, rather than man, was to accomplish the work; and while much that is involved in the mighty undertaking of redemption has not been, and probably cannot be, reduced to the level of human understanding, He saw fit to reveal much that was necessary, on both the Godward and the manward side, in providing this way of salvation. No human conception of the atonement is complete, yet, as the all-sufficient sacrificial death of Christ is clearly stated in Scripture, its value, though unanalyzed, may be appropriated; for man is not saved by what he comprehends or understands, but his salvation is made possible by his attitude of willingness and expectation toward the transforming power of God. In determining the exact point of the truth that is to be omitted from the Satanic counterfeit, it is important to distinguish between the Person and work of Christ. In the one is included His teachings and example, both in His life and death: in the other is included His substitutionary, sacrificial, and atoning death for the sin of the world. There is no controversy as to the value of the teachings and example of Jesus; but the wisdom of this world is displayed in ever-increasing antagonism against the blood of the Cross. This enmity has never been founded on the Word of God, for Scripture does not deny itself. The opposition appeals to pride and human reason, and dares to challenge the plain statements of Scripture on this particular point. Very much is thus omitted; for all the meaning of sacrifice in the Old Testament and all the promises of redemption in the New Testament, are inseparably related to the blood of the Cross. It may be to the Jew a stumbling block, and to the Greek foolishness; yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, "it is the power of God and the wisdom of God." In Ephesians, the eternal purpose of God is said to be the complete perfection of souls: "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love" (Ephesians 1:4). And that transformation is also said to be by the blood of Christ: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7). In like manner the object of this transformation is said to be that the Church may be the present and eternal manifestation of the wisdom, love and power of God: "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God" (Ephesians 3:10). "That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:7). "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenlies" ( Ephesians 1:19-20). There is also a strong contrast of figures used in the Old Testament which accurately emphasizes the mighty power of the Creator in the regeneration of a soul. In Psalms 8:3 the creation of the solar system is mentioned as the work of the fingers of God: "When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained," but in Isaiah 53:1, where the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ is referred to, it is spoken of as the effort of the Creator’s arm: "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" The suggestion here given, that the creation of a universe is the work of His fingers, and the regeneration of souls is the work of His mighty arm, is not overdrawn; for the price of redemption cannot be measured by corruptible things, such as gold and silver: but is purchased at the price of the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (1 Peter 1:19). The Scriptures abound in statements that regeneration, and the whole transforming work of redemption, are accomplished on the ground of the sacrificial blood of the Cross; and if these statements of Scripture are rejected, the discussion never can be one of interpretation of Scripture, but becomes a question of the authority of the testimony of the Bible. A few of these passages are here given: "Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:4-6). "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood" (Romans 3:25). "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him" (Romans 5:8-9). "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). "Who gave himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father" (Galatians 1:4). "And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool. For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified" (Hebrews 10:11-14). "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Peter 2:24). "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit" (1 Peter 3:18). "And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). From the foregoing passages it may be seen that, according to the Scriptures, the stupendous transformation of regeneration is not only the greatest Divine undertaking, but is directly accomplished by the sacrificial death and shed blood of Christ, and is sealed in security by the Holy Spirit of promise. The sacrificial death of Christ presents the only gateway for fallen man from the power and final doom of Satan to the glory and transcendent light of God; and there is nothing strange in the Satan-inspired "offence of the Cross" which is often garnished with culture, worldly wisdom, and religious forms. Even in Paul’s time there were those who were enemies of the Cross of Christ: "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ" (Php 3:18). These were evidently recognized leaders in the Christian fellowship, who were undoubtedly ardent admirers of the Person of Jesus, as revealed in His earthly life and example: yet Paul does not hesitate to mention his own tears at the fatal omission in their preaching; for they were enemies of the Cross of Christ. Again, it is predicted in 2 Peter 2:1 -2 that a fierce enmity against the Cross should appear: "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." Here again the denial is against the purchase or redeeming work of Christ rather than His Person or character. They are offended at the Lord who bought them, though they may be devoted to the Lord who taught them. These Satanic agents are here, as before, described as those who seem to be teachers in the true faith, yet they bring in damnable heresies, in all covered subtlety, which crystallizes in a denial of the redemption that is in Christ. Being only blinded unregenerate men, they may suppose themselves to be ministers of righteousness and apostles of Christ; their humanitarian dreams may inspire tireless effort and zeal; their doctrine may become world-wide in its influence; and they may drive their mighty ecclesiastical machinery by the injunctions of Scripture: yet if the curtain could be lifted, their "angel of light" would be found to be Satan; working through them to resist the purpose of God; and themselves the ministers of Satan; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared as with a hot iron, daring in their exalted position to devitalize the Gospel of its power unto salvation, and dragging immortal souls after them into hell. It is not strange that there is resentment against the mystery of the Cross which does not exist against any other inexplicable fact in the world. It is not strange that the ministers of Satan, appearing as the apostles of Christ and ministers of righteousness, should fortify their lies and hypocrisies by contending for every phase of revealed truth; grounding their authority so positively in the Scriptures of truth: yet subtly omitting, or violently denying, the one and only point upon which the interests of God and Satan divide. It is not strange that there is a wide call for a "restatement of the truth," which usually proposes to omit the new birth and substitute self-effort to be good, and character building, in its place. It is not strange that the wise and cultured of this world feel their aesthetic natures shocked by the blood of the Cross, yet entertain no sense of their own abhorrent pollution in the sight of the infinitely holy One. It is not strange that the world assumes to have advanced beyond that which is repeatedly said to be the manifestation of the wisdom of God; branding as bigots, insincere, or ignorant, all who still hold to the whole testimony of God. It is not strange that the atonement by blood is omitted, for it is Satan’s hour and the power of darkness, and the true child of God must patiently bear the ever-increasing reproaches of his crucified Lord, until the glory dawns and the shadows flee away. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 132: 07.10. MODERN DEVICES ======================================================================== Chapter 10 Modern Devices It has been the privilege and duty of the Church throughout her history to be looking for the return of the One to whom she has been espoused. Had her eyes never wandered from that expectant gaze, she would have been saved much sorrow and shame at His coming, for she has lost her Scriptural character and much of her witnessing power whenever she has said "My Lord delayeth his coming." It is then that she has fallen to beating the manservants and the maidservants, and has become drunken with the wine of this world. True devotion to Christ must naturally issue in a deep desire to be with Him and to see Him face to face; and though it is quite possible to have been misled or untaught in regard to the conditions of His coming, the contemplation of such a promise from Him can but kindle a glowing hope in a truly devoted heart. It is a direct contradiction to claim supreme affection for Him, and yet be careless of His promised return, or wholly contented while separated from Him. The world, that cannot comprehend such devotion to Christ, will easily chide the believer, and denounce him for what they now call his "other worldness" when his affections are set on things above, "where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God," and when his heart rejoices in the certain hope that "when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." It was necessary for Satan to rob the Church, to a great extent, of her "blessed hope" of Christ’s return, before he could attract attention to his own attempts at world improvement, and establish his own authority as ruler over this age. Expectation along the God-appointed lines must be abandoned, for the most part, before humanity can be federated, and religious institutions be made to co-operate in the Satanic program. This vital key-truth of the imminent return of Christ was, therefore, first discredited, and then followed by an attack upon the deity of the Son of God and His sacrificial death; which attack is ever increasing, and must increase to the very end. The body of truth concerning the Lord’s return is so extensive that there have always been some humble and devout souls who have dared to believe His promises, and thus the real Church, to some extent, her watch has been keeping. The mighty tool in Satan’s hands for the destroying of the hope of Christ’s coming has been a simple one: zealous souls have been found who, ignoring the statements of Scripture, would attempt to fix the day of His coming. Then, as their prophecy failed, the world and many in the Church have laughed them to scorn. Unfortunately they came to laugh also at the very promise of God, saying, "Where is the promise of his coming?" and in so doing they have fulfilled some of the very things that are predicted for the end of the age: "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts (desires), and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation" (2 Peter 3:3-4). Thus Satan’s authority is being established. The exact time of Christ’s return has not been revealed; nor will it be announced by a prophet. Nevertheless, the "children of light and the children of the day" "are not in darkness that that day should overtake them as a thief" (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5). It is their privilege to rejoice in every promise of His coming, and to recognize every new indication of His nearness, as eagerly as the betrothed awaits her beloved. The true believer’s glory, as well as his union with loved ones in Christ, is imminent, and by faith he can look beyond the days of the earth’s greatest anguish, and, seeing the triumph of all blessedness, he can rejoice in the hope of His Lord’s coming, and be praying, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." It is, therefore, impossible to know how much of time yet remains for the gathering out of the Bride and the development of Satan’s rule; yet it is evident that within the last generation the exact fulfillment of those things which are predicted for the last days has begun, and is even now developing faster than the mind can comprehend. Not all the signs of the times have a place in these pages, but only such as are directly connected with the working of Satan. Since the blood redemption of the Cross is the central truth and value of the true faith, it being the "power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:23-24), any counterfeit system of doctrine which would omit this essential, must force some secondary truth into the place of prominence. Any of the great Scriptural subjects which are of universal interest to humanity, such as physical health, immortality, morality, or religious forms, may be substituted in the false systems, for that which is vital. And while those subjects are all found in their proper relations and importance in the true faith, the fact that people are universally inclined to give attention to them furnishes an opportunity for Satan to make a strong appeal to humanity through them; using these subjects as central truths in his false and counterfeit systems. Many are easily led to fix their attention upon the secondary things, and to neglect wholly the one primary thing; especially is this true since the secondary things are tangible and seen: while the one essential thing is spiritual and unseen; and Satan has blinded their eyes toward that which is of eternal value. A system of doctrine may, then, be formed which includes every truth of Scripture save one; exalting the Person of Christ, but not His atoning work, and emphasizing some secondary truth as its central value. This system will be readily accepted by blinded humanity, though the real power of God unto salvation has been carefully withdrawn. Naturally it would be supposed that such Satan-inspired systems would have no value or power, since there could be no Divine favor upon them. Such a supposition would be possible only because of the prevailing misunderstanding as to the real power of Satan. If the description given of him in Scripture is accepted, he will be seen to be possessed with miraculous power; able to perform such marvels that the whole world is led to wonder and then to worship. He is free also to bestow this miraculous power upon others (Revelation 13:2). So it is no marvel if his ministers, who appear as the ministers of righteousness, are able to exert superhuman power when it is directly in the interest of the Satanic projects. The great power of Satan has doubtless been active along these lines during all the ages past; for it is impossible that humanity should have worshipped other gods blindly without some recompense, and it is Satan himself who has been thus worshipped (Leviticus 17:7; 2 Chronicles 11:15; Revelation 9:20). It is not final evidence, therefore, that a system of doctrine is of God simply because there are accompanying manifestations of superhuman power; nor is it final evidence that the Almighty has responded, simply because any form of supplication has been answered. The Divine movements are, of necessity, limited by the laws of His own holiness, and access into His presence is by the blood of Jesus alone; by a new and living Way which was consecrated for us through His flesh (Hebrews 10:19-20). Assuming to come before God in prayer, but ignoring this truth, is but to insult, with pollution, Him who is infinitely Holy and pure. Satan, who is aspiring to the place of the Almighty, may answer the prayer of his own subjects, even though that prayer is blindly addressed to the Supreme Being. Surely the Satan-ruled world does not come before God by the blood of Jesus. Though false systems of doctrine have always existed, counterfeits in hypocrisy are a distinct characteristic of the last days of the present age. And it is a most significant fact that within the last generation such systems have appeared and are rapidly multiplying: systems that borrow every phase of the true faith, but one, and are conspicuous in that they emphasize some secondary truth with what seems, at times, to be miraculous power. Multitudes are being won to these creeds, both because of their apparent religious aspect, and by the actual results they accomplish. There is probably no subject of more universal interest than that of physical health; and but recently "Christian Science" has appeared, which chiefly emphasizes physical health. While it gathers into itself some elements that are foreign both to Christianity and to Science, and appropriates much from the field of psychology, it assumes to be an infallible interpretation of Scripture, and makes Jesus its highest exponent and teacher. Yet it positively denies even the reality of sin and the need of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Its followers are won and held by these religious claims, and by the actual physical and mental transformations that are secured. Nothing but ignorance will attempt to deny that, to some extent, its claims are real. That it has assemblies, ministers, and mysteries deep and profound, and that it is able to demonstrate its claims of physical transformation, does not lift it above the level of Satan’s power. That it denies even the need of the blood of the Cross, separates it, in spite of its claims, from the God of the Scriptures, and brands it with every characteristic of Satan’s counterfeit. Another subject, already mentioned, which is of common interest to humanity, is immortality. How persistently man has sought to see beyond the veil! And yet how little of fact has been discovered, beyond that which it has pleased God to reveal in His Word! How strong is the desire of the heart to follow the departed into the great unseen! And how subtle is "Spiritism" in its election of a phase of the immortality question as its bait to beguile sorrow-crushed souls into a disregard of their only hope in the blood of Christ. This system has existed from the earliest ages and has the unqualified condemnation of Scripture; yet in the last half-century it has taken new interest and dignity to itself under the modern title of "Psychical Research." With boldest assumption it claims to be the only safe exponent of truth, and to be working in the interests of science; changing science being accepted as more trustworthy than revelation. It offers as final evidence for its assumptions, what are represented to be the statements of deceased people. Less is made of the Scriptures in this system: yet here, as might be expected, there is violent opposition to the doctrine of Regeneration. It cannot possibly be denied that there is an intelligent response to the human appeal from the Unseen; and messages are being received and mysterious acts are being performed with increasing frequency. It cannot, however, be proven that this response is from the spirit of the person named, for a lying spirit could easily know enough of any person’s life to represent him in every detail. That the whole system could be of Satan is evident, and since it denies man’s only hope of redemption, it is no part of the real truth of God. It, too, bears all the marks of the workings of Satan. Another system of thought called "New," but which is as old as human philosophy, appropriates every phase of metaphysical belief. The central idea of the "New Thought" is the complete development of man,—body, soul, and spirit. Every possible human power is utilized; there is recognition of the Creator; the Word of God is appropriated in convenient texts; and Christ is claimed by its followers to be the complete example and embodiment of all their ideals. Newly stated theories of psychology are included in this system, and the whole teaching stands as the embodiment of all the ideals of the one who first suggested to humanity that they, by their own efforts, become as God. The system wholly denies Scriptural regeneration, both as to its necessity and as a fact; and is a veritable worship of self, as predicted for the last days (2 Timothy 3:2). It substitutes the development of the will as a power for victory in the life, in place of the God-provided victory over sin by the Spirit. Its followers seem to be utterly blind to the plainest truths of the Scriptures, and are marvelling at what they suppose to be a discovery; when, perchance, they are able to comprehend some secondary truth of the Word of God. This system, like "Christian Science," numbers its followers by the hundreds of thousands. They support many periodicals, and their teachings are read and accepted throughout the world. In all these doctrines there is included much of the precious truth of God, but this is employed only as a bait to cover the relentless hook of Satan, by which he seeks to draw human souls away from God and into perdition. Not one positive word is said of the future state of man, or of his fitness to meet his God, and any belief in immortality is borrowed from the revelation of God; for the systems themselves are given over to distracting and diverting man from the thought of his need of a Divinely wrought preparation for eternity. It is commonly stated by the followers of these systems that it is of little importance what one believes, for it is the life that counts. Thus the great and necessary fact that any true character as well as any eternal blessedness depends upon what one believes, rather than on the life, is discredited. These systems are mentioned only as examples of the almost innumerable doctrines that are sweeping the world to-day. They often reappear under new and misleading titles. The truth they acknowledge, and many forces they employ, are God’s gracious provision for His saints; yet when these truths and forces are used alone, where the real purpose of God is skillfully omitted, they become only the hypocrisy that covers and garnishes a lie. Again, many are deluded by the emphasis upon the mere outward forms of the visible Church. When these forms are analyzed, they appear to represent a church ministered to by a recognized ordained minister who depends upon his own personality for his power; and who preaches ethics and morality drawn from Scripture texts and other ethical writings. Prayers are offered, imploring the Almighty to aid humanity in its attempts to commend itself to Him by a more or less faithful practice of religion. The pleasures of music as an art are provided at fabulous cost, in place of the praise that is inspired by the Spirit of God. Social gatherings are held, to take the place of the unity of the Spirit and the love of the brethren. Humanitarian appeals for the betterment of the world are made, in place of the evangelical regeneration by the Cross; and not one reference to the real Gospel is made from one year to the next, unless it be in a covered denial. The sleeping congregations are seemingly satisfied with a mockery of the truth, and are content with a doctrine that proposes to educate souls into hell, and which encourages them to make a few efforts toward self-development while on their certain road to perdition. It is no longer good form in society to be without some church relations, yet the one and only true basis for salvation may never have been comprehended or accepted by a multitude of these members. Truly the god of this world is accomplishing his end, and his blinded followers are coming to be numbered with the faithful. The evil birds are flocking to the mustard tree, and the corrupting leaven is permeating the measures of meal. The last development of the earth history of the visible Church is predicted to be a condition in which the Church is saying, "I am rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing." The passage continues, "and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thy eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:17-20). If Scripture language and figure mean anything, this is a description of an unregenerate Church over which the Lord is pleading. It is from this Church that He has withdrawn; and is seen outside, standing and knocking. His hope is not centered upon reforming the whole mass of professing members; for his offer is to the individual "any man" with whom He will then have personal communion and fellowship. Sad is the spectacle of these churches; meeting week after week to be beguiled by the philosophy of men, and raising no voice in protest against the denial of their only foundation as a church, and of their only hope for time and eternity! Far more honorable were the infidels of the past generation than these ministers. They were wholly outside the Church. But now, behold the inconsistency! Men who are covered by the vesture of the Church, ministering its sacraments, and supported by its benevolence, are making an open attack upon that wisdom of God which made Christ Jesus the only ground for all righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The predictions for the last days are thus not only being fulfilled by false systems and doctrines, but they are found in the visible Church itself. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Great religious activities are possible without coming into complications with saving faith. It is possible to be more concerned over the untimely death of one hundred thousand drunkards than with the Christ-less death of twenty million human beings; or to be wholly concerned with the educational and physical needs of the heathen, and to neglect their greatest need in regeneration. Thus Satan may gain his own ends, even through some so-called missionary undertakings, for in this manner he can beguile untaught saints to limit their work to the lines of his highest ideals. It is possible to fight against sin and not present the Saviour; or to urge the highest Scriptural ideals and yet offer no reasonable way of attainment. There is a strange fascination about these undertakings which are humanitarian, and are religious only in form and title. And there is a strange attraction in the leader who announces that he is not concerned with the doctrines of Scripture, because the helping of humanity is his one passion and care: yet all his passion is lost and his care is to no real end unless coupled with a very positive message of a particular way of Salvation, the true understanding of which demands a series of most careful distinctions. Recently the word "pragmatism" has been brought into popular use to denote the test by which the pragmatists measure all systems, theories and doctrines. The pragmatic inquiry when applied to any system, theory, or doctrine may be understood to mean, "does it meet its claims in practice?" Although much is being made of this phase of pragmatism, the test is as old as the race, and verified by Scripture, for Jesus said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." However, the burden of testing claims has never before been so great, for the world was never so filled with new and strange theories as now. And these modern systems that deny true salvation in Christ are growing mightily under this test. They offer comparatively little and are usually able to meet their claims. "Christian Science" does, to some extent, change the condition of mind and body. "Spiritism" offers a demonstration from the invisible, and the demonstrations appear. "New Thought" proposes a development of the whole natural man, and thrives by the practical test of "pragmatism." The same is true of all other similar systems and doctrines, and will be true of those that may yet appear, since it is the very program of Satan as it is revealed in his last blasphemous counterfeit of the Son of God; for it is written in Revelation 13:3-4 that they first wondered at the miracles of the Man of Sin, and then worshipped. Woe to the untaught soul who stands wondering to-day at the marvels of this evil age, if he be without a sense of the importance and value of the priceless blood of the Cross! The step is not far, for such an one, to the place where he falls in worship: worship of a being who is supposed to have forgotten abhorrence of sin and abandoned all eternal covenants of mercy by blood alone; a being who is supposed to be glad that the world has outgrown the old unbearable estimates of sin and redemption, and into whose presence the worshipper is supposed to be free to come on the ground of his fallen human nature, or the "universal fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man." Who can be the god of these systems? the energizing power in these people? and the answerer of their prayers? Surely not the God of the Scriptures, who cannot deny himself, and whose word cannot be made to pass away! Revelation sets forth but one other being who is capable of these undertakings; and it not; only assigns to this being a great and sufficient motive for all such activity, but clearly predicts that he will thus "oppose" and "exalt himself" in this very day and age. Much of the secondary truth is the present inheritance of the child of God: yet, if there is a choice to be made, the deepest wisdom will perceive that all the combined secondary values that Satan can offer are but for a fleeting time; and are not worthy to be compared with the eternal riches of grace in Christ Jesus. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 133: 07.11. THE BELIEVER'S PRESENT POSITION ======================================================================== Chapter 11 The Believer’s Present Position Since the Bible contains God’s message to the people of the ages, it must be rightly divided if the body of truth concerning any particular age or people is to be clearly understood. There are, undoubtedly, many things in common in the various ages, and, because of that fact, the superficial use of the Scriptures has been to treat the entire book as a direct message to all people of all time. This method, as has been stated, has resulted in great confusion as to the Divine program. When that portion of Scripture which directly applies to the present age has been discovered, that, too, must be divided; for the present time is a period of mixture among the people of the earth—the saints of God tenting among the citizens of the Satanic system, and having nothing in common with them beyond the ordinary things of this earth life. Again, that particular body of truth which applies to the child of God in this age may be divided, and a portion be called "Positional Truth" in that it unfolds the believer’s present relation to the Godhead, the heavenlies, and the present world; while another may be known as "Life Truth" in that it is a particular statement of his present responsibility in conduct and service, and also includes the provisions of God whereby he may fully accomplish the whole will of God. A partial study of Life Truth is reserved for the next and last chapter; while this chapter is to be devoted to the believer’s present position and separation from the world. The importance of Positional Truth is suggested by the fact that, in the context of Scripture, it precedes the statement of Life Truth; forming the basis of its appeal. As an illustration of this it may be seen that the order of the doctrinal Epistles is first, to state a great Positional Truth, which is then followed by an appeal for a life consistent with the truth revealed. The first great section of the book of Romans (Romans 1:1-32, Romans 2:1-29, Romans 3:1-31, Romans 4:1-25, Romans 5:1-21, Romans 6:1-23, Romans 7:1-25, Romans 8:1-39), sets forth the fact of a great and full salvation; this is followed (omitting the dispensational parenthesis of Romans 9:1-33, Romans 10:1-21, Romans 11:1-36) by the closing section (Romans 12:1-21, Romans 13:1-14, Romans 14:1-23, Romans 15:1-33, Romans 16:1-27), which is a detailed description of the life a saved person should live, and which opens with this appeal: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." So, in the first section of the letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 1:1-23, Ephesians 2:1-22, Ephesians 3:1-21), the believer’s position is unfolded, and this is followed by a section (Ephesians 4:1-32, Ephesians 5:1-33, Ephesians 6:1-24), which is a series of injunctions for a heavenly walk; this section opens as follows: "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." No appeal for faithfulness in the Christian life will be found to be adequate or effective that does not follow this same order, or that is not based upon some great revealed fact of the new life in Christ. It is probable that the present neglect and disregard for Positional Truth has, in spite of moral exhortation, borne its legitimate fruit in a time-serving worldly Church. It is a beautiful example of the harmony of the Scriptures that, while the evil of the present age is so-clearly described, the true child of God is most carefully separated from its relationships, and is seen to be in a position so independent of all the authority of the world, that he can walk with the Lord in unbroken communion and fellowship, even while surrounded by this spiritual darkness. And, though the Scriptural statements as to the ever increasing darkness of this age be rejected, no meaning can be given to these passages that separate the believer from this world, without the recognition of the black background of the failure and sinfulness of this age. It is noticeable that the modern systems take no notice of the difference between the saved and the unsaved, as they also make little of the future state. This is in accordance with the fact that both of these truths are wholly dependent upon regeneration; and that is the one truth these systems are originated by Satan to resist. The believer’s position is set forth in at least seven positive revelations, three of which concern his change from the darkness of Satan to the light of God; two concern his relationship to the heavenly sphere; and two concern his relationship to the Satanic order. A careful study of these important passages will reveal the great reality of Redemption. The first Divine movement for the salvation of an individual, after the prayer of intercession by the Spirit, is illumination by the Spirit. This same work is also mentioned as the "convicting" or "convincing" of the Spirit. In this part of the Divine undertaking, the blinding by Satan is temporarily removed and the soul beholds, by Divine vision, the Lord of glory and the way into eternal life through Him: but woe to the soul thus favored, who repeatedly turns from that vision in rejection! Of such it is written: "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessings from God: but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak" (Hebrews 6:4-9). Here there is pronounced a permanent return to the awful blindness of Satan for the one who rejects the illumination of the Spirit; but there is also offered an ever-widening of vision and glory to the one who accepts the Lord as He is revealed by the Spirit, for he then comes into possession of the "things that accompany salvation." This illuminating work of the Spirit is mentioned by Paul in his words to King Agrippa, wherein he describes his own commission to service. He claimed to have been appointed by the Lord who spoke to him from the Glory. He relates that by this commission he was sent "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). This is the exact order of the Divine movements in redemption; the illumination of the Spirit is placed before everything else. There is probably no more neglected truth in modern evangelism than this preliminary work of the Spirit: yet it is the Divine preparation for the intelligent action of the human will; and if the right choice is made, it unveils the eyes for all the coming ages. This important illuminating work of the Spirit is completely described in John 16:8-11 as being a revelation of the judgment, by the Cross, of all sin and condemnation; the vision of the glorious righteous Christ, now in heaven; and the realization of the sin of rejecting Him. The passage is here given: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." The true child of God is, then, one in whom the Spirit has wrought in lifting the blinding by Satan and revealing to some extent, even now, the surpassing glory of Christ. Sin, too, has become a terrible reality, and the Cross and the precious blood have become the basis of his confidence toward his God. Another revelation of the present position of the believer is that he has partaken of the Divine nature through regeneration by the Spirit. This truth is stated in many passages, a few of which are here given: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13). "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:5-8). "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature" (Galatians 6:15). "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5). "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:4). The reality of this mighty transformation is in no way evident in present visible things, but must be accepted by faith. It is no less than a translation from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of Christ, "who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Colossians 1:13). And by it one is said to be delivered from this present evil age: "Who gave himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of God and our Father" (Galatians 1:4), and, also, according to the above passage, "to have escaped the corruption that is in the world" (Satanic system). The new life that is thus imparted is none other than the very life of Christ: "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Romans 8:9). "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20). "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" (2 Corinthians 13:5). The third great fact of the believer’s present position in separation from this world is that the Holy Spirit is given unto him, at the moment of his regeneration, to indwell him, in place of the energizing power of Satan who "worketh" with energy in the children of disobedience: "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that is given unto us" (Romans 5:5). "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (1 Corinthians 2:12). "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:19). Another phase of the believer’s position is revealed in the fact that he is said to be a citizen of heaven; his home center or citizenship having been moved there from the earth. His name would, therefore, appear only among the celestial beings, in any true census of the universe. The reality of this unseen relationship is brought out in several passages: "For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory, according to the working whereby He is able even to subject all things unto Himself" (Php 3:20 R.V.). "For ye know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, Who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:1-8). Again, as to the believer’s position in that which is termed in Ephesians "the heavenly places,"—though the supplying of the word "places" is very misleading. The meaning of the word "heavenly" here is not so much of locality as of experience: as is indicated by the use of the same word in other passages where the believer is said to be "heavenly" in standing and relationship (Hebrews 3:1; Ephesians 2:6. See also Matthew 18:35; John 3:12; 1 Corinthians 15:48). Dr. C. I. Scofield makes the following statement on this important phase of the believer’s position: "The Christian is ’heavenly’ by calling (Hebrews 3:1), by citizenship (Php 3:20), by inheritance (1 Peter 1:4) and by resurrection life (Ephesians 2:6), as a member of that body of which the Head is actually in heaven. The heavenly (or ’in heavenly places,’) therefore, is the sphere of the believer’s present association with Christ. This is shown by the constant context, ’in Christ Jesus.’ The believer is now associated with Christ in life (Colossians 3:4; 1 John 5:11-12), position (Ephesians 2:6), suffering (Romans 8:18; 2 Timothy 2:11-12; Colossians 1:24; Php 1:29); service, (John 17:18; Matthew 28:18-20), and betrothal (2 Corinthians 11:1-3). "The believer is to be associated with Christ in Glory (John 17:22; Romans 8:18; Colossians 3:4), inheritance (Romans 8:17), authority (Matthew 19:28; Revelation 3:21), and marriage (Ephesians 5:22; Ephesians 5:33; Revelation 19:1-9). "The believer’s ’spiritual blessings’ (Ephesians 1:3), therefore, are to be possessed or experienced only as he lives in the sphere of his joint life, joint position, joint suffering, joint service and joint marriage pledge with Christ. In so far as he lives as a natural man whose interests are earthly, and avoids the path of co-service and (if need be) co-suffering, he will know nothing experimentally of the exalted blessings of Ephesians. ’It is sufficient that the servant be as his Master.’ Christ took account of Himself as a heavenly Being come down to earth to do His Father’s will." (Scofield Bible Correspondence Course, Book 2; page 288.) Thus it may be seen that the believer is not only a citizen of heaven, but that he has also been brought into a position where many privileges of the heavenly experience are open to him. In like manner, the believer’s position in relation to this world is not only a separation from the world by nature and purpose; but he is also said to be a stranger and a pilgrim among the inhabitants of this dark age. "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in times past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles" (1 Peter 2:9-12). The same expression of "strangers and pilgrims" is used, also, in regard to the faith descendants of Abraham: "these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims upon the earth" (Hebrews 11:13). This same wide difference between the people of this world and the people of God is also stated in passages where the world is understood to be the system over which Satan now rules: "He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world (Satanic system) shall keep it unto life eternal" (John 12:25). "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore who will be a friend of the world (Satanic system) is the enemy of God" (James 4:4). Love not the world (Satanic system), neither the things that are in the world. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever" (1 John 2:15-17). The word "lust," constantly used in description of the Satanic system, has a much larger meaning in the Scripture than its present popular use, where it refers only to that which is sensual. In these passages quoted, it refers to the whole Satan-inspired ambition of humanity, and includes their principle of self-help, and their struggle for all that, to them, is highest and best. It is unlawful, in that it disregards the truth of God; and it is related to that which is physical, because it magnifies the finite being and its resources. Two other striking passages concerning the relation of the believer to the world are here given: "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world (Satanic system)" (1 John 4:17). "As thou hast sent me into the world (Satanic system), even so have I also sent them into the world (Satanic system)" (John 17:18). The last revelation of the believer’s position to be mentioned here, is in regard to his service for the world. The unbounded love of God has called him into fellowship with Christ in the great work of this age; and in that connection he is under commission to evangelize, by a process of witnessing, to the uttermost parts of the world. In this undertaking he is promised the immediate presence of Christ, to whom all power, both in heaven and in earth, has been given (Matthew 28:18-20). The language of the inspired Book describes such witnesses as "Ambassadors for Christ": "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20). And the ambassador’s message is also given in the next verse of the same passage: "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (we who knew no righteousness). Nowhere does the saint need more direct teaching of the Spirit than in regard to the relatioin he sustains to this world. In spite of the similarity of his earth life to that of the world’s people, he must reckon himself to be dead in Christ and raised to newness of life. Expecting the world to misunderstand him and even to hate him, he must "wisely walk before them who are without." He is called upon to "use this world but not to abuse it;" and that which is of itself pure and good may become undesirable to him at times, because its use would further the interests of Satan. Some have taken the extreme position of assigning to Satan the material universe and everything that is in the world to-day; not recognizing the fact that no material or physical thing is evil of itself. God created all things good. Satan has created nothing, and his present relation to the world is only as a permitted usurper who appropriates and devastates the things of God in the interests of his own ambition. He is the file-leader in a great and terrible rebellion against the government of God: but the natural universe, like all the powers of the human mind and will, belongs primarily to God, the Creator; and by title of inheritance, they belong also, to the child of God: "therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s" (1 Corinthians 3:21-23). Yet, since Satan is making use of many good things to cover his evil purpose, the child of God must, for the present, discern the hidden evil and, in loyalty to his Lord, reject everything that may further the workings of Satan. The Scripture is very clear on this point, and discusses one issue as an example of all similar issues. This discussion in Scripture is of food which of itself is perfectly good, but may be a means of great harm when associated with the purposes of evil. The passages are as follows: "Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. Let not then your good be evil spoken of: for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak" (Romans 14:13-21). "What say I then? that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than He? All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof. If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsover is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof: conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience? For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved" (1 Corinthians 10:19-33). The question becomes a practical one, in view of the present progress in discovery, science, and psychology. A theory must not be rejected because it is new or mysterious; for the marvelous inventions of the age are often as useful in spreading the Gospel as in furthering the interests of Satan. The newly acquired knowledge of the universe may be as valuable to the progress of good as to the advancement of evil. There can be but one final test as to what shall be accepted and what shall be rejected, and that must be made by the individual alone before God (Romans 14:22). In connection with any such question we may ask, "Is the real work of redemption hindered, or its true basis rejected? Is this a direct denial of the truth, by which souls will be hindered, or is it a counterfeit which may decoy them away from their only hope in the priceless blood of the Cross?" Beyond this, a child of God may safely be "all things to all men that he may save some." The Christian can see more of beauty in the world, make larger use of its learning, and more fully appreciate its good, than can the children of this age: yet he must now, above all things else, be content with his limited commission, and be jealous of the interests of his Lord and King. Much of his present perplexity would be relieved if he could but realize that he is temporarily tenting where an enemy rules, and where he is the object of that enemy’s fiery darts, yet hedged about by the omnipotence of God; called to bear the one message of redemption by the Cross, in the capacity and hidden dignity of an ambassador from the throne of the Most High; even now possessing a glory which shall soon be unveiled in the presence of his Lord; waiting that morning when his Lord shall come again and receive him unto Himself. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 134: 07.12. THE BELIEVER'S PRESENT VICTORY ======================================================================== Chapter XII The Believer’s Present Victory An exalted position is usually accompanied with great responsibility. This is certainly true, according to Scripture, in the case of the believer in his heavenly position. For when he is seen as a citizen of heaven, and a partaker of those associations, he is also required, both by Scripture and by reason, to "walk worthy of the calling wherewith he is called." The statement of these heavenly demands upon the child of God forms a distinct body of truth, and there are at least three such bodies of truth in Scripture, each appearing as a rule of conduct for some special people in some particular time. The Mosaic Law was given primarily to God’s ancient people through Moses; but it has a message still, as it reflects the holiness of God and prepares for the salvation which is in Christ. So the "Sermon on the Mount," with the injunctions of John Baptist, and the early teachings of Christ were given with the coming kingdom age in view and, therefore, form an important revelation in regard to that time when "all shall know the Lord from the least unto the greatest." Though there are some common principles running through all these separate teachings, that Scripture which applies directly to the people of this parenthetical age of the Church will be found only in portions of the Gospels and in the Epistles of the New Testament. No appreciation of the provisions of God for a victorious life can be had until the demands which the believer’s position imposes are realized. These demands are in no way the standards of the world, for the believer is not only a citizen of heaven in position, but is called upon even now to fulfil all the standards of that sphere. As an illustration of this fact, a very few of these heavenly ideals and injunctions are given here: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1). "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." "Abstain from all appearance of evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; 1 Thessalonians 5:22). "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23). "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3). "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:17-20). "Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" (Ephesians 6:13). "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:1-2). These requirements are evidently heavenly in character, and demand nothing less than that which is becoming to that sphere. They are, therefore, beyond human strength; for what human power is able to "give thanks always for all things"? Or to avoid grieving the Holy Spirit? Who can be filled with the Spirit, or rejoice in tribulation? In fact, these demands are often treated as impractical ideals, rather than present requirements; while in reality they are binding on every child of God. To fail in them at any point, will not unsave one (Psalms 130:3; Romans 4:5); but that failure will profane the heavenly citizenship, dishonor God in whose grace he is standing (Romans 5:2), and give the enemy occasion to accuse the brethren before God; for Satan judges the Christian on the basis of the heavenly ideals rather than the standards of earth. No one can contemplate these impossible responsibilities without a sense of utter helplessness and insufficiency. Again, the believer must not only meet the impossible demands of a heavenly position, but he is called upon to face a world-ruling foe, who, with all his kingdom and power, is seeking to break and mar that life into which the Divine nature has been received. The revelation that Satan is going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, presents a truth that should disarm the believer of all self-confidence and cause him to dread, above all things else, the subtle devices of this foe. In this connection Ephesians 6:10-12 may well be restated: "Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenlies." In view of this opposition of Satan, it is still more evident that the requirements of the Christian life are beyond any human power. So, also, there is a fallen human nature within the child of God, which is prone to dishonor God, and is itself beyond the control of the human will. This important and much misunderstood truth is taken up at length in Romans 7:14-25 : "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." This battle between the old nature and the new is, then, never gained for God by human power or by religious exercise: but through Christ alone. Thus the believer is confronted with a threefold impossibility as he contemplates his heavenly responsibility. First: The heavenly position demands a manner of life that is beyond any human possibility. Second: The enemy is stronger than he, and can thwart every resolution. Third: His own fallen nature entices him to do positive evil when he would do good. Notwithstanding this threefold impossibility, there is a clear call to a victorious life, wherein every thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), and if he fails by one degree, he will dishonor the God who has called him. Where, then, is the relief from this dilemma? It is found only in the power of God. He has provided a complete salvation from the dominion and power of evil, which is a real victory—the only victory for the believer in this present life and conflict. It is a second form or tense of salvation, for it is possible to be saved from the condemnation and penalty of sin, and still for a time to be under its dominion and power. Salvation from the power of the world, the flesh, and the devil, may be secured as freely and completely as the salvation from the penalty of sin, and on the same terms; yet its terms and conditions are so unlike the methods of the world that often it seems unreal, even to Christians. No instructed person expects to be free from condemnation, or justified before God, by virtue of his moral character; nor can there be freedom from the power of sin by virtue of the resolutions of the human will. Though the Christian life is impossible to human strength, it is within the power of God; and He offers to supply all that He requires, even to a completely victorious life. Since it is necessarily a Divine undertaking, the human part can be no more than an attitude of expectation or faith toward God,—an attitude which reckons self to be helpless, and God alone to be sufficient. It is a perpetual realization of the principle of faith and, therefore, at every point, contradicts Satan’s principle of self-help. Here, as in every human effort to be God-like, Satan’s ideals and methods are so thrust upon the world that the natural dependence of the creature upon the Creator is made to seem a weak and unreasonable thing. This worldly mind has found a place in the Church and to a large extent, in spite of the teachings of Scripture; and it is often as difficult to inspire true expectation toward God in the Christian mind in the matter of daily victory, as it is to move the self-righteous and self-sufficient sinner to believe on Christ for regeneration. True dependence upon the sufficiency of God is thus born of a vision of the utter inability of the natural man to meet the demands of the heavenly citizenship. The world citizen may wrestle against flesh and blood to realize his moral ideals: but he has no heavenly standards to fulfill; no mighty foe to face; and no conflict of natures. Therefore, his low ideals may often be reached by virtue of his own resolution and will. Especially will this method be adequate for the unregenerate, as the energizing power of Satan is working in him to cause him both to will and to do the purpose of Satan (Ephesians 2:2): but the faith principle is the only possible way to victory for the child of God; and it must be faith alone. As the soul may be eternally lost, while calling upon God to help him save himself: so the saint who only seeks the assistance of God in the exercise of his own power toward a correct manner of life, may be a dishonor to God constantly. The principles of faith and of works can no more be mixed in the one case than in the other. They both present human impossibilities and, therefore, demand the power of God. The Scriptures are clear on this point, both in precept and example: First: The power of God is the believer’s sufficiency in meeting the heavenly demands: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Php 2:13). "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God" (2 Corinthians 3:5). "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10). "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3). "Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might" (Ephesians 6:10). The latter passage is but the natural culmination of the whole revelation of the believer’s citizenship and its responsibilities. Therefore, the final counsel is to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Second: The conflict with the enemy can be a victory only by the power of God. A remarkable revelation is given in the Scriptures of the attitude of the angels toward Satan, and this attitude can well be considered by fallen man. In Jude 1:9, Michael, the archangel, is seen in controversy with Satan over the body of Moses. There is no revelation as to the time or the occasion of this controversy. It is stated that Moses was buried in secret and was later seen in his transfigured and glorified body, so that it is possible that the removal of the body of Moses from the domain of Satan was the occasion here referred to. The passage is as follows: "But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee." In like manner in 2 Peter 2:10, the false teachers of the end of this age are said to disregard the heavenly powers (evidently evil) which angels dare not do. "But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise dominion. Presumptuous are they, self willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord." There is probably a just regard, on the part of the angelic beings, for the fact that Satan is the "anointed" of God (Ezekiel 28:14). As David would not lift up his hand against Saul because he was the "Lord’s anointed" (1 Samuel 24:6). Christ is said to be anointed (Psalms 2:2); so also is the believer (1 John 2:27). But it is also shown here that the superior wisdom and strength of even Michael, the archangel, and all other celestial beings, is never lifted in conflict with Satan. They rely only upon the same power that is promised the believer, and well may the believer be instructed by their example. There are two passages where the child of God is directed to resist the devil. The context, however, in both passages warns him that it must be in utter dependence upon the power of God. He must be wholly submitted to God and it must be done through a steadfastness of faith. The passages are as follows: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith" (1 Peter 5:8-9). And the faith principle is mentioned among the believer’s armor in Ephesians 6:16 as the "shield of faith" by which all the fiery darts of the enemy are to be quenched. Third: True character may be realized by the power of God, in spite of the tendency of the fallen nature. This character, however, is that which is directly promised by the power of God: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self control" (Galatians 5:22-23). "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth" (Ephesians 5:9). "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). Thus the true God-honoring character is seen to be the result of the power of God, and it is only possible to the one who has "ceased from his own labors and has entered into rest." "This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4). This victory demands a constant exercise of faith. Faith is never finished here, and any true progress in the Christian life is "from faith to faith," and it is also said of the one whom God has constituted just, that he shall "live by faith." The same objection is often raised against the application of the faith principle as a means to the consummation of a victorious life, as is raised against the same principle for regeneration. In this objection it is inferred that when this method is adopted, there is no adequate incentive or motive left for the individual. Such objections arise from a misunderstanding of this truth. It is useless to undertake the impossible in any case; and in the matter of salvation from the penalty of sin, the only work which it is possible for God to accept as the ground of redemption is that which is already undertaken and fully completed by Christ on the Cross. By this finished work the believer is provided with a perfect standing before God, and is raised to the exalted position of an ambassador for Christ. That privilege of service does not affect the grounds of his salvation, but opens to him the glorious possibility of rewards (1 Corinthians 3:9-15). In the matter of salvation from the power of sin, the human will may be employed as an instrument through which the power of God may be manifested. The following passages reveal how directly He proposes to be the real power in the believer’s life: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Php 2:13). "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). "I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me" (Php 4:13). "For apart from me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). It is assumed that the believer has recognized the perfectness of the will of God and has thrown his whole being open to His power and guidance. As a little child may avail himself of the wisdom and experience of his parents through obedience, so the believer has become willing to do whatever the infinite wisdom and love of God may choose for him. When thus committed to the will of God, and in true faith depending on Him, the mighty power of the Spirit will work in him and through him to the glory of God. "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2). Salvation in any form is, therefore, "not of works, lest any man should boast." It remains to be seen, in view of the perilous position of the believer in the enemy’s land, that God has not only provided every needed force for conquest and victory, but has given positive promises for the security of the one He has received on the ground of the shed blood of Christ, "Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?" (Job 1:10). "My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man (nothing), is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand" (John 10:29). "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, 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." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 135: 08.00.1. SEVEN BIBLICAL SIGNS OF THE TIMES ======================================================================== SEVEN BIBLICAL SIGNS OF THE TIMES BY LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER BIBLE TEACHER Author of “Satan,” “True Evangelism,” “The Kingdom in History and Prophecy,” “He that is Spiritual,” “Salvation,” etc. An address delivered at the Laymen’s Missionary Move­ment Convention, Atlanta, Ga., June 10, 1919. PRICE 20 CENTS CHICAGO THE BIBLE INSTITUTE COLPORTAGE ASS’N 843-845 NORTH WELLS STREET 1931 Copyright, 1919, by LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER ======================================================================== CHAPTER 136: 08.00.2. E-SWORD MODULE PREPARED BY BIBLESUPPORT.COM ======================================================================== e-Sword Module Prepared by BibleSupport.com Text Digitalization and Funding BibleSupport.com managed this project. The funding for the digitalization of the text came from donations to the BibleSupport.com website. Text Modification The text has been changed slightly from the print edition. Scripture references were formatted for electronic presentation in e-Sword. Most implicit scripture references were made specific to reference the actual book chapter:verse rather than expecting the reader to deduce the chapter or book. Footnotes are presented after each paragraph. Connect With Us Download thousands of free e-Sword modules, find answers to e-Sword problems, access e-Sword user forums, and fellowship with other e-Sword users. BibleSupport.com is also home to the only e-Sword User’s Guide, the most comprehensive documentation available for e-Sword. Want to know when this module is updated? Want to know when we release other modules? Want to show your support? Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/BibleSupport Follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/BibleSupport ======================================================================== CHAPTER 137: 08.01. THE SEVEN BIBLICAL SIGNS OF THE TIMES ======================================================================== THE SEVEN BIBLICAL SIGNS OF THE TIMES The Lord Jesus appointed one particular thing for Christians to do in this age,— the good news of His saving grace is to be preached to every creature. This ministry is not committed to His Church: it is committed to the individuals who form His Church. Nor is it committed to the “clergy”: it is committed to every member in His blessed body. The undertaking has too long been considered the responsibility of an indefinite com­bination of people, with the resulting woeful effect that what is everybody’s business is nobody’s busi­ness. Fond hopes have been entertained that if each individual did a little, the corporate whole would somehow discharge its commission. On the contrary, we are not even sent out two by two. In every particular it is a personal obligation. It is a personal ministry which is to be accepted by the one who has been saved as his supreme re­sponsibility and business in life. We have made no adequate adjustment of our lives to the mind and will of God for us until we have recognized that our own first and highest business in life is to preach the Gospel to every creature. Failing to put these eternal responsibilities first, we may ex­pect to be powerless, fruitless, prayerless, joyless, and lacking in spiritual vision and understanding. These priceless blessings are wrought in the Chris­tian by the Spirit, but He cannot manifest Himself in us and through us if we are not willing to walk with God. I call upon every saved person to rid himself of the blighting impression that some Organic church as a whole is appointed to do this work, and to look upon himself as a God-appointed witness to the Gospel of His Grace. Put yourself back of God’s great project. By prayers and gifts we can reach the whole world; but there are smaller worlds within the world. We may preach the Gospel in the world of business, of profession, of labor, of home cares. Our avocation may pay expenses; our calling, though it may be limited to personal work, is to witness to His grace. Be a tent-maker if God so calls, but, like the tent-maker of Tarsus, be able to say, “Woe is me if I preach not the gospel.” No substitutes can be accepted in this service. It is our individual service to God. It is our own expression of love to Him. He has told His love to us by the gift of His life. So, also, we may tell Him of our love by the gift of our lives. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 138: 08.02. OUR OBJECT IN SERVICE ======================================================================== OUR OBJECT IN SERVICE We are appointed to announce the Gospel to every creature. We have no commission to chris­tianize the world. So long as man can act in free will and reject God’s grace, this can never be done. We cannot force men to be saved. Salvation must be the free choice of the heart. Nor is our object to reach all people of some one generation with the Gospel. The ideal is unbiblical. Nothing vital would be gained by it since countless millions have already gone down to death who did not hear the Gospel. Preaching the Gospel to every creature is a world-wide ministry which must be repeated with each succeeding generation. It goes on and on: not until the world is saved, or until some one gen­eration has heard; but this preaching is to continue until the bride of Christ, the heavenly Church, is gathered out. The seed is to be sown in the whole field, but only a fourth part is said to develop into wheat,— the children of God. The evangelizing work will some day be completed. The last mem­ber of His body will be gathered in. He will then come, and by His resistless power He will banish evil and establish His kingdom of righteousness in the earth. This is the consistent teaching of the Book of God. (Note Matthew 24:1-51, Matthew 25:1-46; Acts 15:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Revelation 19:11 to Revelation 20:6.) ======================================================================== CHAPTER 139: 08.03. IS THE END IN VIEW? ======================================================================== IS THE END IN VIEW? The tempest-tossed mariner takes heart when he sights the land. I ask you, O child of God, whether your eyes can see the haven? Can you see as do the great spiritual seers of this generation that we, who are of the same company of the re­deemed who have suffered and labored from the apostles until now, are nearing the end of the age, the end of the pilgrim voyage of the Church,— the body of Christ? Do you see the shore? To the question, “Watchman, what of the night?” many are replying, “The night is far spent. We hail the Morning Star.” The most spir­itual, conservative students of God’s Word are now hailing the morning. They discern the nearing shore through the unprecedented signs of the times. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:3.) Might some of us be as blind and as deserving of this reproof today? Surely the present world sit­uation is full of interest to all, but how all-absorb­ing and startling it is to the one who sees it in the light of God’s Word! Turning to the Bible we dis­cover that ======================================================================== CHAPTER 140: 08.04. CHRISTIANS MAY DISCERN THE APPROACHING END ======================================================================== CHRISTIANS MAY DISCERN THE APPROACHING END Hear the Word of God: “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assemb­ling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching" (Hebrews 10:24-25). “But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For 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. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4). These Scriptures give us sufficient evidence that the instructed child of God may see the approach­ing of that day. But what day? There is nothing indefinite in the Scriptures as to the goal toward which the world is moving. The great prophetic hope of the Old Testament is to­ward “The day of the Lord” (indicated also by various phrases as “That day,” or “The day of vengeance,” etc.). It is one of the major themes of the prophets. Isaiah alone speaks of it over sixty times. It is also a great theme of the New Testament ; but here it is held in contrast to an­other day,— a new day which is not seen in the Old Testament. The new day is “The day of Christ.” Read with your concordance and you will discover that “The day of the Lord” is Israel’s day and a day for the whole world. It extends from the glorious appearing of Christ to the end of the millennium. “The day of Christ” con­cerns only the Church. It is the time of her judg­ments and rewards. In the second passage just read the Apostle writes: “But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.” “Times and seasons” is another prophetic phrase, the Bibli­cal meaning of which is made clear. The Jewish disciples came to Jesus after His resurrection and just before His ascension saying: “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Is­rael?” They had every right to ask this question. That kingdom is covenanted to Israel by explicit promises which cannot be broken. Christ did not say to them that their national, earthly kingdom had been abandoned and merged into a spiritual con­quest of the whole earth. He said, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” The prophetic term, “times and seasons,” then, indicates the time when Israel’s kingdom will be established in the earth. When the Apostle wrote, “Of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you,” he made reference to the day of Israel’s blessing which is also the day of blessing for the whole earth (Psalms 72:1-20). Of that great theme there was no need that he should write, for it is every­where in the Old Testament. Since this passage begins with the word “But,” it is evident that this statement about “The day of the Lord" is mentioned in contrast to something which has gone before. Turning back we dis­cover a description of the events connected with “The day of Christ,"—the new day, the day of the departure of His redeemed from the earth to be forever with Him. Of this day he writes: “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, [Ignorance of this day was more likely since it is not revealed in the Old Testament], concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [go before] them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). This great event is one of the mysteries, or sa­cred secrets, of God, which means that it was not before revealed as it is here and now. Other pass­ages on this same event read thus: “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 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; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-3). In contrast to this last passage and but a few hours before, Christ spoke of Israel’s day. He then pictured His return to the earth on the clouds of heaven, the tribes mourning, the regathering of His elect (Israel), and His judgments of the na­tions when He sits on the throne of His glory (Matthew 24:3-51, Matthew 25:1-46). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 141: 08.05. TWO PROPHETIC DAYS MUST BE DISTINGUISHED ======================================================================== TWO PROPHETIC DAYS MUST BE DISTINGUISHED Endless confusion in our understanding of the Bible results when “The day of Christ” and “The day of the Lord” are not distinguished. They are wholly different as to time, people involved, events, and movement. “The day of Christ” is the next prophesied event. It is that for which we are taught to wait, to look, and which we are to love. It is imminent, and has been since the first promise regarding it was given. It concerns only the saved of this dispen­sation, whether Jews or Gentiles. At that day sleeping saints are raised and living saints are trans­lated, and all together leave the earth to meet the Lord in the air. It is “timeless, sign-less, and un­related,” excepting to that which is to follow. “The day of Christ” is not the second coming of Christ. It is not a phase of it. It is simply God’s way of getting His people out of the world before His judgments begin (note 1 Thessalonians 5:9). On the other hand, “The day of the Lord” follows “The day of Christ” by about seven years, if Daniel’s prophecies are rightly interpreted (Daniel 9:24-27). It ends the Great Tribulation, delivers Israel and regathers her into her Own land, brings judgments on all the nations, binds Satan, and ex­tends throughout the earth. “The day of the Lord” is preceded by signs. Paul, speaking of “The day of the Lord,” says: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed" (2 Thessalonians 2:3). The seven signs to which our thought is now to be directed are signs anticipating the farther day, —“The day of the Lord.” We may understand that if “The day of the Lord” is seen to be draw­ing near, then as certainly “The day of Christ” is even nearer. The mariner sees the distant moun­tain before he sees the shore. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 142: 08.06. REAL ISSUES TO BE CONSIDERED ======================================================================== REAL ISSUES TO BE CONSIDERED We are not to draw on our imaginations, nor to be led into idle speculations. We who are saved are “the children of the light” and “children of the day.” If that day draws near, we, who have been attentive to God’s Word, should be conscious of its approach. God has indicated some positive conditions leading up to that day. We cannot ig­nore them. Having considered His faithful Word of prediction, we have but to open our eyes upon this fast consummating age to be solemnized by the evidence of His nearness. Like the mariner of old, we shall also be heartened by the sight of land. Oh that the promise of His return and the victory which it brings might be to us, as it has been to multitudes of God’s faithful saints, the vision which impels us to our task and which inspires us to strip off our coats and bend to the oars! Thus has this great hope of His return affected the peo­ple of God who have understood it and believed it. Mr. Moody said it was the unceasing inspiration of his ministry. It has been and is the living hope of the great missionaries, evangelists and soul-winners of all generations. Some of these have rowed faithfully when but little of the land could be seen. What shall be said of us before whose eyes the rugged mountains are looming so near? Scrip­ture is being fulfilled on every hand. Brother, will you lift your eyes and see? Will you give heed to the Word of God? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 143: 08.07. THE SEVEN MAJOR BIBLICAL SIGNS OF THE TIMES ======================================================================== THE SEVEN MAJOR BIBLICAL SIGNS OF THE TIMES Students of industry may study the signs of the times in the business world, and students of politi­cal economy may study the signs of the times in the light of present governmental conditions; but it is our task to study the signs of the times in the light of God’s Word. If we touch these world situa­tions, it will be only to relate them to the unfold­ing of God’s divine program in the earth. We believe He will do as He has promised. We ask but one question: Is prophecy about to be ful­filled? In answering this our theme is limited as to its application, but is as wide in its scope as are the purposes of the Eternal. In considering each sign, first, we shall observe what God has predicted in His Word, and second, we shall estimate the present con­ditions about us as to whether they fulfill these pre­dictions. I cannot hope to do more than to indi­cate these great themes: ======================================================================== CHAPTER 144: 08.08. THE JEWISH SIGN ======================================================================== I. THE JEWISH SIGN Whatever importance man may give to the va­rious nations, it is evident that God, in His pro­gram for this earth, has primarily but one nation before His eyes. Gathered about Israel are all the eternal purposes of God for this earth, and other nations are recognized and considered in the Book of God only as they are related to the one-nation Israel. The Church, on the other hand, is heavenly. Her people are said to be “strangers and pilgrims in the earth,” “ambassadors” in the enemy’s land, “citizens of heaven,” and heaven is their home. The nation Israel occupies five-sixths of the Bible. This is certainly a great emphasis upon one sub­ject and no one can expect to understand God’s Book who is not prepared to give Israel the im­portant place assigned to her of God,— past, pres­ent, and future. It is an unworthy judgment and most misleading to suppose that, because this earthly people is now scattered, peeled and afflicted, she has been abandoned of God, or that her earthly covenants have been transferred to the Church. This nation is to abide for all time and she is to possess her own land for ever (Genesis 13:15; Genesis 17:6-8). It was also predicted that this nation should three times be dispossessed of her land and three times be restored to the land (Genesis 15:13-14; Genesis 15:16; Jeremiah 25:11-12; Deuteronomy 28:62-65; Deuteronomy 30:1-10). Bible history tells us that Israel is now in the third dis­possession of her land. Every prophecy that has been fulfilled up to this hour has been fulfilled literally. They were “plucked off from the land” and “scattered through all the nations” as has been predicted in twelve great prophecies. They are yet to be restored, and for the last time, as predicted in many im­portant prophecies. To this end they are be­ing miraculously preserved as a separate people. To their final restoration all earth movements are tending. As God has literally taken them off the land, so will He literally place them back in the land which He has given them for an everlasting pos­session. In Matthew 24:31-34 we read in connection with “The day of the Lord,” when He will return in power and great glory: “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation [nation] shall not pass, till all these things be ful­filled.” This passage is about Israel. She is the “elect” to be gathered. She is typified by the fig tree. She is preserved until all these things are fulfilled. As a. fig tree was cursed, she has for many centuries been dry, withered and fruitless. In this passage it is prophesied of her that she will yet put forth the tender shoots of her national life. Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones is an­other prophecy of the restoration of Israel (Ezekiel 37:1-14). Here we are told that the dry bones are “the whole house of Israel” and the vision is said to be concerning their restoration to national life and to their own land (Ezekiel 37:13-14). Such is a small portion of the body of prophecy concerning the future of God’s chosen people. Are there any indications that we are nearing the fulfillment? It is estimated that there were about fourteen million Jews in the world at the close of the war. To have been without a national home during these past four years has meant the most terrible dis­tress to these people. They are mostly of the poor and suffering people of Europe; yet, as a nation, they are fast becoming the people of greatest in­fluence in the world. Today, out of all proportion, they are the financiers, statesmen, scientists, artists and leaders. We are told that, at the opening of the war, England did not possess the formulas for high explosives and that a prominent Jewish scien­tist provided her with them. When asked to name his reward, he requested only that Palestine be given back to the Jew. There has always been a Jewish question among the nations since this home­less people left their own land. The question will never be settled until that nation is restored to that land. Then this and all other national problems will be settled, for Israel’s King will then reign in righteousness and peace over the whole earth as King of kings and Lord of lords (Psalms 72:11; Psalms 72:17; Psalms 86:9; Isaiah 55:5; Micah 4:2). Within our generation the Zionistic movement has been started. It has as its purpose the re­storation of Israel to Palestine. This movement made feeble progress until the convulsions of the world-war. Through the various steps of its de­velopment we need not now pass. Today we be­ hold the victorious Allies at work adjusting the nations and their possessions. All of these Allies are committed to the restoration of Palestine to the Jew. Though there may be delays which we cannot foresee, Palestine will be given to Israel again, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Zionism will triumph. Since the days of Christ nothing of such Biblical importance has happened to this people as a nation. The fig tree is budding and the dry bones of the valley are arising. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 145: 08.09. THE GENTILE GOVERNMENT SIGN ======================================================================== II. THE GENTILE GOVERNMENT SIGN Daniel was given to see from his own day until the setting up of Messiah’s kingdom in the earth.[1] This period Christ termed, “The times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24). It began with the dis­persion of Israel from her land and continues until her King returns and re-establishes her in her own everlasting kingdom. It is characterised by Gentile over-lordship, Israel’s absence from the land, and her beloved city being trodden down by Gentiles. Two revelations concerning this period were given to Daniel. One was through his in­terpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, recorded in chapter two; the other was through his own dream, recorded in chapter seven. Nebuchadnez­zar’s dream was of a colossal image in four differ­ent metal sections. Daniel’s dream was of four beasts. The four sections of the image and the four beasts exactly correspond and represent four successive Gentile world-empires that were to be. From a careful study of these, and other Scrip­tures, we conclude that these empires are, Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece (under Alexander), and Rome. The Roman portion is divided by the two legs of the image. So the Roman empire was divided into its Eastern and Western divisions. Finally there are ten toes to this image, as there are ten horns to the last beast. The following is Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream. (The whole context should be studied): [1] Abraham saw from his day about 430 years to the de­liverance of his family out of Egypt (Genesis 15:13-16). Moses took up the vision where Abraham’s vision ceased and saw about 1000 years from the delivery of the people from Egypt to the great dispersion, 500 years before Christ (Deuteronomy 28:1-68). Both Abraham and Moses saw the yet future and final establishment of the people in their land under the covenant blessings of God (Genesis 13:15; Deuteronomy 30:1-10). Where Moses’ vision ceased, Daniel’s vision began. He completed the prophecy to the “cutting off of Messiah.” Daniel discloses but little detail from the cut­ting off of Messiah to the end of Gentile rule. He pre­dicts the conditions immediately preceding the end of the Gentile period and also sees the setting up of Messiah’s glorious reign in the earth. The details of the time from the cutting off of Messiah to His return are presented by Christ (Matthew 13. Note, “world” should read “age” in Matthew 13:22; Matthew 13:39-40; Matthew 13:49). “This is the dream; and we will tell the interpreta­tion thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever (Daniel 2:36-44). At the extremity of this image, there are feet and toes which are of iron mingled with brittle clay. This, we are told, is also a manifestation of a form of Gentile government. In this form of government the people do not cleave one to the ’other as iron and clay are not mixed. This is a picture of democracy, or individualism, in govern­ment as opposed to autocracy,— the autocracy rep­resented in the successive sections of the great image. If all this be true, and history permits of no other interpretation, this prophecy teaches that the “times of the Gentiles” will end with the return of Christ at the time when democracy is established in the earth; for it is in the days of these ten-toe governments over the divided territory of the old Roman Empire that the God of heaven will set up His everlasting kingdom in the earth. What do we now see? It has long seemed almost impossible that many of the imperial governments of Europe could ever become democratic; but it is now accomplished. A more or less uncertain and feeble form of dem­ocratic rule is now being exercised over the terri­tory of the Roman Empire as well as over the whole world. Men are not cleaving one to another. There is no final unit of government that ignores the individual and subordinates him against his will. In democracy the individual is the sovereign. The present adjustment of Europe, we may believe, is being guided by an unseen hand; for the very boundaries of the Roman Empire are re-appearing. The prophecy of Daniel indicates that the shatter­ing blow to the whole fabric of Gentile govern­ment by the return of Christ is not far removed. “For 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.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 146: 08.10. THE JERUSALEM SIGN ======================================================================== III. THE JERUSALEM SIGN. Looking at the world in the light of the Scrip­tures, we discover that Jerusalem is the abiding city. She is to be the center of governmental au­thority when Jehovah establishes His everlasting kingdom in the earth. Jerusalem was the city of David. It is the seat of his throne, which, by the covenant of Jehovah, is to continue for ever (2 Samuel 7:16; Psalms 89:34-37). As Messiah-King, Jesus, the Son of David, came to Jerusalem and was rejected. While weeping over that city He told her that she knew not the time of her visitation. He prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed, that she would even be leveled to the ground. She was destroyed in the year 70 by Titus. Christ also prophesied that Jerusalem would be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. We should note the word “until,” for Jerusalem will not always be trodden down. It is only until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Jerusalem in the hands of Gentiles is God’s sign concerning the fact and continuance of Gentile rule. What is said of the future of this city? Do not form opinions from the politics of the world. Look into God’s unerring Word. It matters little what statesmen may decree. The future of this city is made clear by the Word of God. Her future is one of the great themes of prophecy. Isaiah ut­tered at least twenty-five predictions regarding this city which are yet unfulfilled. No prophecy of the Old Testament pertains to the “New Jerusalem”: it is all concerning the literal city in Judaea. Ac­cording to prophecy, it was the literal Jerusalem which was to be laid in heaps. So, also there is very much Scripture given to prophecies concerning the present literal desolateness which she has so long experienced. But it is this same literal Jerusalem which is to be built again and from which the word of Jehovah is to go forth (Isaiah 2:3). During these days of her dispersion, Israel’s thought and prayer is always for Jerusalem: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning” (Psalms 137:5). “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night; ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth” (Isaiah 62:6-7). “At that time [in the kingdom] they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 3:17). “For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth” (Isaiah 62:1. See, also, Isaiah 62:2-12). Such is the message of prophecy regarding Jeru­salem. The present indication of fulfilment is found in the fact that Jerusalem and Judaea have been wrested from the Turk and are now held by a people who are committed, both by their own desires and by the obligations of a sacred trust, to restore these possessions to the children of Abraham to whom they were given for an everlasting possession. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 147: 08.11. THE UNVEILED PROPHECY SIGN ======================================================================== IV. THE UNVEILED PROPHECY SIGN At the close of Daniel’s prophecy we read that the heavenly messenger said to him: “Go thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed un­til the time of the end” (Daniel 12:9).. This phrase, “the time of the end,” as used in the Old Testa­ment, refers to “The day of the Lord,” and the days of tribulation which immediately precede that day (Matthew 24:29). We may not understand all prophecy as it will yet be understood, but we are aware that prophecy is now being unveiled as it has never been before. The study of prophecy has been much neglected. These great themes were not preached or discussed a few years ago. It is different today. Witness the large conventions and conferences for the study of prophecy. Note the flood of expositional liter­ature unfolding these themes. Let no one here be so foolish as to suppose that these people are fanatics, or that these teachers and writer! do not know the meaning of the truth they utter. Some older ministers and laymen, whose training goes back to the days when men were indifferent to prophecy, are unable to adjust themselves to this new manifestation of the Spirit in unvoting the prophetic Scriptures. They often confess that they do not understand or preach these Scriptures; but this is no evidence that other men do not know them or that other men are not called of God to preach them. Our theme is the most fitting introduction to the consideration of missions. The great missionary passion is born of an intelligent understanding of the plan and program of God. I challenge you to awake to the unveiling of prophecy. It is a sign of the times. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 148: 08.12. THE MATERIAL EARTH SIGN ======================================================================== V. THE MATERIAL EARTH SIGN Of many passages that anticipate the material glory and blessings which will be in the earth dur­ing the kingdom age, I will quote three: “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excel­lency of our God. . . . Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water” (Isaiah 35:1-7). “Creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21, R. V.). “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4). Such is prophecy relating to the “end time” and the kingdom which will follow. Material things are to be transformed. Every figure of speech has been employed to give expression to this. Within our own generation we have begun to experience a day of invention and material transformation the end of which we cannot foresee. The world is on wheels and wings. Every latent resource of the material earth is being unlocked. Knowledge, if not wisdom, is increased until the old-time general education has had to be set aside for this fast- moving age of specialists. The present material changes and inventions have their origin in the world-system, and are only a shadow of the prophesied glory that will yet fill the earth. Though the present knowledge and discov­ery be of the Satanic order, that in it which is true will doubtless abide and contribute to the perfect order that will be. The present inrush of material change cannot be accounted for by human experi­ence of the past. Is it not a signal, though but a shadow, of the coming glory which God will yet accomplish in the earth? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 149: 08.13. THE APOSTACY SIGN ======================================================================== VI. THE APOSTACY SIGN Speaking of “The day of the Lord,” the Apostle states: “Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, . . . that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, or yet be troubled, ... as that the day of the Lord is just at hand; let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, R. V.). By this passage we understand that “The day of the Lord” cannot come until two signs are ful­filled : The “man of sin” must be revealed. We are not now concerned with this sign because he cannot be revealed before the Church is removed from the earth (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8) ; but we are concerned with the apostacy, or “falling away” which is here predicted. Very much is prophesied in the New Testament regarding this apostacy of the “last days” and “latter times,” meaning the last days’ of the presence of the true Church in the world. “Last days,” when referring to the Church, are days of spiritual darkness: while “last days," when referring to Israel, are days of her kingdom bless­ings. The second Epistles, excluding 2 Corin­thians and including 3 John and Jude, are writ­ten largely to picture conditions of the “last days” for the Church. The message of these Epistles is of the most vital importance today. Only the briefest quotations can be made here: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy” (1 Timothy 4:1-2). “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, . . . having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:1-5). “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall be fol­lowers of their pernicious ways” (2 Peter 2:1-2). “Knowing this first that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4). “But evil men and seducers [imposters] shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13). Far from predicting a converted world at the end of this age, these passages predict the over­running of false teaching and doctrine by the power of Satan. That world-ruling enemy of God is al­ways seeking to be “like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14) and is, by such Scriptures as these, pro­phesied to be the author of counterfeit systems of religious faith in the “last days.” A counterfeit is effective only as it is like the real. Satan does not set up a new body of truth; he borrows some truth from the Bible and blasphemes the name and person of Jesus Christ by placing Him at the head of his false religions. In these counterfeits Christ is made out to be a Christian Science healer, a spiritist medium, the unresurrected Christ of Russellism, the ideal man of New Thought and New Theology. Within our one generation these sys­tems have appeared. They are sweeping the earth and even opposing God’s Truth on our mission fields. They are not of God. It matters little what they may call themselves. They, without excep­tion, deny the efficacy of the blood of Christ and His redemption by which alone a lost soul may be saved. Thousands are caught in these systems to­day believing them to be of God because they do quote some Scripture and do recognize the per­son of Christ, though they deny His redemptive work on the cross. To choose these teachings, is to have given up every hope of heaven; for there is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved. They continue a “form of godli­ness,” but they “deny the power thereof." The power of the Gospel is the blood and cross of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 1:23-24). If there was spiritual darkness in the middle cen­turies, ours is Egyptian darkness. They were blinded with superstition and priest-craft, but they never denied the inspiration of the Bible, the Deity of Christ, the virgin birth, His substitutionary death, His bodily resurrection, or His second ad­vent; yet today every one of these truths is being denied in our leading colleges and universities. This infidelity is being preached from thousands of our so-called Christian pulpits. Truth has always had its enemies, but they have remained outside. Now the Tom Paines and Ingersolls have put on the vestments of the church. They are preaching their doctrines from her sacred desks. The new situation consists in the attempt of the enemy to keep the outward form of our faith, quoting Scripture and eulogizing Christ, but deny­ing every word of saving grace. This gigantic monster of confusion originated in Germany and has been largely accepted over the civilized earth. Germany’s military conquest is small compared with her spiritual conquest. Her armies may be de­feated, but her unbelief is cursing the world. These “doctrines of devils” which devitalize truth by denying redemption through the blood of Christ were all predicted and were to be God’s sign to us of the presence of the “last days.” What more evidence do we need that these days are already here? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 150: 08.14. THE COMMERCIAL SIGN ======================================================================== VII. THE COMMERCIAL SIGN The last Biblical sign of the times to be men­tioned is presented in James 5:1-8. It is of the “heaping up” of treasures in “the last days.” The days are to be characterized by the increase of wealth and poverty. This is not a discussion of the problems of capital and labor. It is a declar­ation of the Word of our God. The passage reads: “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” Within the memory of most of us, a man who possessed a million dollars had an international reputation. There were three such men in Amer­ica in my boyhood. The times have changed. Just before the war one denomination enrolled seventeen hundred millionaires. We created nine thousand new millionaires in this country during the first three years of the war. Men do not stop now with a million. One man in New York City has four hundred million dollars more than Adam would have had if he had lived from his time until now (6,000 years), and had received one-hun­dred thousand dollars a year, and kept it all with­out interest. Adam would have had six-hundred million, but this man has one billion dollars. The passage continues: “Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. . . . establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 151: 08.15. CONCLUSION ======================================================================== CONCLUSION We have considered seven major Biblical signs. They are God’s description of conditions immed­iately preceding “The day of the Lord.” The Jew arises to national life; Gentile governments turn to democracy; Jerusalem is released from the over-lordship of Gentiles; Prophecy is unveiled; Knowledge increases, and men run to and fro; An apostacy must appear which retains the outward form of godliness, but denies the power thereof; And treasure must be heaped together for the “last days.” These are God’s signs and, though they have had no fulfillment since the Scriptures were writ­ten, they are being fulfilled at this moment. The rugged mountains appear; but our blessed haven in the presence of our Lord is even nearer. May this solemn truth lead us to be instant in season and out of, season in the work which He has given us to do! “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. ... Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and ever. Amen.” “Just a few days — and our tears will have ended; Just a few hours — and our task will be done; Yet still hear them calling, From darkness appalling, While we rest in the light of the fast-setting sun. “Just a few days —and the gifts we’ve withholden, Just a few hours —and the call we refuse — Will rust on forever, Or return to us never, And Eternity’s crown we no longer may choose. “Just a few days —and then nought will avail us, The thought of the crown that we might yet have won; And ah I what the sorrow If we miss on the morrow Our share in that joy, when He whispers, ‘Well done!’ “Just a few days — Oh Lord, strengthen our courage; Just a few moments — to publish Thy Name. In our weakness enfold us, Through darkness uphold us, ‘Till He Come,’ make us faithful Thy love to proclaim.” ======================================================================== CHAPTER 152: 09.00.1. THE KINGDOM IN HISTORY AND PROPHECY ======================================================================== The Kingdom in History and Prophecy by Lewis Sperry Chafer Bible Teacher Author of "Satan," "True Evangelism," "He that is Spiritual," "Salvation," etc. ***** This module is brought to you by www.DoctorDaveT.com For more Bible Study modules that are conservative evangelical Bible believing Christ honoring make sure you stop by www.DoctorDaveT.com! We have hundreds of modules easily organized by topics, like these: Old Testament Exposition (topic modules) New Testament Exposition (topic modules) Doctrinal Theology (topic modules) Commentary Modules Dictionary Modules and a whole lot more! Please visit www.DoctorDaveT.com! Dave ======================================================================== CHAPTER 153: 09.00.2. PREFACE TO THIS DIGITAL EDITION ======================================================================== Preface to this Digital Module I’ve been using computer Bible study software since the days of MS-DOS - early 1990’s. From the first time I did a "CTRL-S" maneuver, I’ve never cracked open a Strong’s again! (And no regrets about that!) As a busy preacher, I’ve tried to assemble a classic research library inexpensively. Access to the free digital materials included in the Bible study software packages I used increased my study library in amazing ways. The amount of free stuff I’ve accumulated would have cost a small fortune. Then one day I realized that I owed a debt. So I started looking for public domain resources to convert to digital Bible study modules. Now my personal journey has come full circle: from the excitement of discovering free computer Bible software to the excitement of helping and being a blessing to others. Thank you, Michelle, Jeremiah, Isaiah & Micah, for understanding my debt and graciously tolerating my near compulsive computer use for hours on end. Thank you, Lewis Sperry Chafer, for converting your studies to eternal print. A special thank you to Brother Virgil Butts of BaptistBibleBelievers.com. Brother Virgil has painstakingly brought this text into the digital world. Make sure you visit his site to see more great titles. And of course - most importantly - my thanks to the Lord Jesus who saved my soul for all eternity. This Edition There have been no changes to Chafer’s work, except for the following: 1. Scripture references have been converted to Scripture hyperlinks using the "Format Scripture ToolTip." 2. A few obvious Scripture reference errors have been corrected, as well as some obvious spelling errors. 3. The copy and paste process has unfortunately removed most of the italicized print. While the words have not been changed, some of Chafer’s emphasis may be missing. It is with regret that I have not taken the time to correct this. The sense is still accurate. [By the way - would you understand this paragraph without italics? Of course!] Also, the italicizing of the foreign words have been lost. It is my hope that the reader will be able to follow the flow regardless of these flaws. They - the flaws - are mine, not Chafer’s. 4. I am quite sure my edition of Chafer’s work is rather imperfect. I pray that, nonetheless, it will be productively useful in the study of God’s Word. Finally Feel free to contact me with comments. You can reach me via e-mail at doctordavet@gmail.com If you convert a classic resource to be used with eSword or TheWord, send me your work! I’d love to utilize it! Also - make sure you stop by www.doctordavet.com - for more digital Bible study modules. May the Lord bless you as study His word. Dr. David S. Thomason Florida, USA 2012 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 154: 09.00.3. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION ======================================================================== Copyright Information Copyright © 1915 by Lewis Sperry Chafer edited for 3BSB by Baptist Bible Believer in the spirit of the Colportage Ministry of a century ago *** http://www.baptistbiblebelievers.com/ *** ~ out-of-print and in the public domain ~ No Evidence of a Current Copyright for the Printed Book Found This book was originally published prior to 1924, it is therefore in the public domain and free to be posted in its entirety despite recent publication. Dedicated to the memory of my father The Rev. Thomas Franklin Chafer with the Lord since 1882 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 155: 09.00.4. TABLE OF CONTENTS ======================================================================== Contents 00.5. Introduction 00.6. Preface 00.7. Bibliography Chapter I. The Theme Chapter II. The Kingdom Covenanted Chapter III. The Kingdom Prophesied Chapter IV. The Kingdom Offered Chapter V. The Kingdom Rejected and Postponed Chapter VI. Present Truth Chapter VII. The Church Which is His Body Chapter VIII. The Bride, the Lamb’s Wife Chapter IX. The Mystery of Iniquity Chapter X. The Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven Chapter XI. The Call of the Bridegroom Chapter XII. The Olivet Discourse Chapter XIII. The Return of the King Chapter XIV. "Thy Kingdom Come" ======================================================================== CHAPTER 156: 09.00.5. INTRODUCTION ======================================================================== Introduction A CLEAR and thoroughly Biblical book on the kingdom in the Scriptures has long been a desideratum. Perhaps no truth of the divine revelation has suffered more at the hands of interpreters than that concerning the kingdom. Following the Roman Catholic interpretation, Protestant theology has very generally taught that all the kingdom promises, and even the great Davidic Covenant itself, are to be fulfilled in and through the Church. The confusion thus created has been still further darkened by the failure to distinguish the different phases of kingdom truth indicated by the expressions "kingdom of heaven," and "kingdom of God." In the light of plain Scripture all of these confusions are inexcusable, for at no point is the Biblical revelation more clear and explicit. Founded upon the covenant of the Lord with David, a covenant subsequently confirmed by the Lord’s oath, the great theme of predictive prophecy is that kingdom. Even the order of the setting up of the kingdom, relatively to the great Gentile world-empires, is declared. The events attending the setting up of the kingdom of the heavens on the earth are described. The New Testament carries forward the Old Testament foreview of the kingdom into greater detail, but without change. The very first mention of Christ in the first verse of the first chapter in the New Testament identifies Him with the Davidic Covenant, and the promise of Gabriel to His virgin mother is a new confirmation in express terms of that covenant. The New Testament reveals the present age as a parenthesis in the prophetic program during which the Church is called out from among the Gentiles, a stranger and pilgrim body, belonging to the kingdom of GOD, but in no sense identical with the kingdom of Heaven. I welcome therefore this present book on these fundamental truths. Having had the privilege of seeing it in manuscript, I bespeak for it the candid attention of all who are concerned for the truth of GOD. C. I. SCOFIELD "Greyshingles," Douglaston, N. Y. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 157: 09.00.6. PREFACE ======================================================================== Preface MANY valuable books have been written on the general subjects related to the kingdom. A partial list of these is appended herewith; but no similar work covering, in brief form, the historic and prophetic aspects of the kingdom in their relation to the present age-purpose was known to the writer: hence this volume. It is hoped that this book will prove a comprehensive, if not exhaustive, treatise on this important theme. It has not seemed expedient to deal with all problems of interpretation when they first appear in the discussion. Therefore the general difficulties arising in this study are taken up, so far as the writer is able, in what may seem to him to be the most appropriate place, and the reader to whom this interpretation is new is requested to withhold all judgments and conclusions until the various aspects of this revelation, here dealt with, have been considered. May the Spirit, whose office work it is to guide into all truth and to show us things to come, guide in the study of what it has pleased our GOD to reveal of His purpose and plan in the realization of His kingdom in the earth. Lewis Sperry Chafer ======================================================================== CHAPTER 158: 09.00.7. BIBLIOGRAPHY ======================================================================== Bibliography Theocratic Kingdom Peters Israel and the Church Brookes Maranatha; or, The Lord Cometh Brookes Scofield Reference Bible Scofield Scofield Correspondence Course Scofield Addresses on Prophecy Scofield Annotated Bible Gaebelein MatthewGaebeleinThe Prophet DanielGaebelein Hath GOD Cast Away His People? Gaebelein Harmony of the Prophetic WordGaebeleinThe RevelationGaebelein Zechariah Gaebelein GOD’s Oath Ottman Unfolding of the Ages Ottman Imperialism and CHRISTOttmanThe Evolution of the KingdomRiley Lectures on the ApocalypseSeissThe Second Coming of CHRISTHaldeman Signs of The Times Haldeman GOD’s Method with Man Morgan Sunrise; or, Behold, He Cometh Morgan Christianity and Antichristianity Andrews What the Bible TeachesTorreyThe Coming PrinceAnderson Synthetic Bible StudyGray Christian Workers’ CommentaryGrayThe RevelationScottThe RevelationGrant Second Coming of CHRIST Moody Ecce Venit Gordon History Unveiling ProphecyGuinnessOn This RockGuinness Even So ComeMacNeilThe Great PropheciesPemberThe Coming of the LordPierson Twelve Sermons on the Second Coming of CHRIST Spurgeon Addresses of Chicago Prophetic Conference Man’s DayMauroThe Number of ManMauroThe RevelationKelly CHRIST Coming Again Kelly Light on the Last Days Blanchard Outline Studies in the Books of the Old TestamentMoorehead Plain Papers on the Lord’s Coming C. H. M. Synopsis of the Bible Darby Plain Papers on Prophecy Trotter Wanders of Prophecy Urquhart ======================================================================== CHAPTER 159: 09.01. THE THEME ======================================================================== The Theme Chapter One THE Bible revelation regarding the Kingdom presents the purpose, process and final realization of a divine government in the earth. This objective is the heart of the Kingdom prayer: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." The Kingdom revelation is a distinct body of Scripture running through both the Old Testament and the New and its study, of necessity, leads to some definite conclusions touching the meaning of much unfulfilled prophecy, the two advents of CHRIST, the present age of Grace and the future of both Jews and Gentiles. Considering only Kingdom passages, both historical and prophetic, such definite conclusions are not difficult from the fact that this revelation is presented in those Scriptures which are more easily harmonized than the familiar body of truth from which are drawn the doctrines of salvation. Salvation revelations are sufficiently clear; but upon them the theological discussions of centuries have been centered. On the other hand, such general study has not been given to Kingdom truths. In fact, many students of theology are confessedly ignorant on this subject. However, there is no conflict between Salvation and Kingdom themes. They cover widely different fields of Biblical doctrine. In view of these facts, it may be helpful to note some of the essential values accruing from, and conditions governing, the study of Kingdom truth: 1. Bible interpretation is incomplete without it. It stands to reason, since one-fourth of the Bible is in prophetic form, and five-sixths of the Bible is addressed to one nation to whom the Kingdom promises are given, that any plan of study which avoids prophecy and ignores, or "spiritualizes," GOD’s covenants with His chosen earthly people will be incomplete, misleading and subject to mere human assumptions. The accurate study of the Kingdom in the Old Testament and the New affords the only comprehensible approach to the New Testament doctrines of "This present evil age" (Galatians 1:4), "The church which is his body" (Ephesians 1:22-23), and "Things to come" (John 16:13). It has been pointed out that two distinct revelations were given to the Apostle Paul. In Arabia he received directly from GOD the gospel of grace (Galatians 1:11-12) which he has presented, in the main, in the Roman and Galatian letters. This is a revelation of a new order, a new relationship to GOD, which is neither a perpetuation of Judaism, nor a modification of that system. Judaism remains intact and follows its predicted course, according to Scripture, to the end. The new revelation of "the grace of God which hath appeared," and which is made possible only by the Cross, should not be colored by the Judaic teaching. It is a complete system in itself and, like Judaism, continues intact to its predicted end. For what else is Paul contending in Galatians if it is not that these two distinct systems shall not be mixed? And yet to what seeming avail are those pleadings to law-ridden, Judaized Protestantism to-day? The second revelation came, in the main, from Paul’s two years of imprisonment. This body of truth embraces the plan of the ages, the whole doctrine of the Church and the present out-calling of a heavenly body and Bride as recorded in the Ephesian and Colossian letters. It is this advance body of truth which is never comprehended apart from the exact lines of distinctions laid down in Kingdom revelations. Theology, as usually presented, is disproportionately concerned with the Arabian revelation and a grave harm is done when such theology, creeds or catechisms, built largely on one aspect of New Testament teaching, are supposed to be adequate interpretations of the whole divine revelation. The theological student who enters his ministry with such presuppositions and limitations, inaccurate in many of his conceptions and prejudiced toward whole bodies of truth about which he knows little, will be incompetent to minister the whole Word. An illustration of this may be drawn from 1 Timothy 4:1-6. It is set forth here that the young Timothy may win the high title of "a good minister of Jesus Christ," if he is faithful in putting the brethren in remembrance of the awful apostasy with which the present age must end (see also 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10). How shall any minister discern an age-closing apostasy with its divinely ordered relations to the final triumph of GOD in the earth if he does not know these exact revelations which form the whole program of the Kingdom according to Scripture? No minister, therefore, can "preach the Word" in its right proportions, or be a "good minister of Jesus Christ" who habitually ignores the great prophetic themes. Nor is he excused in his neglect, or prejudice, by virtue of the fact that he represents a majority, or that other ideals have been set before him by his teachers. What is the particular knowledge that gives proficiency to the minister of CHRIST if it is not a thorough understanding of the Scriptures? Successful men of other professions apply themselves continually to the acquirement of accurate knowledge covering every phase of their chosen calling. Are these the accepted standards of the ministerial profession? Would we choose to be operated on by a physician who knows no more of surgery than the average theological student knows about prophecy? Yet the knowledge of prophecy, in its main features, is distinctly a part, and a very large and qualifying part, of the material committed to those who are called to "preach the Word." 2. Knowledge of prophetic truth qualifies all intelligent Christian life and service. The careful student who distinguishes the various purposes of GOD in the ages has discovered that there is a distinct rule of life and program for service in the present age which can never, reasonably, be confused with that which has gone before, or that which is to follow. It is a serious mistake to press law-observance in the face of repeated revelations that the believer of this age is not under law as his rule of life (Romans 6:14; Romans 10:4-5; Galatians 5:18; 2 Corinthians 3:11; 2 Corinthians 3:17). So also it will be found that, at present, service is the accomplishment of divine undertakings never before revealed, and its motives are alone the mighty governing principles of grace. A real zeal in service will result and a beginning of interest in Bible study will develop when these plain distinctions are carefully taught and observed. 3. Kingdom and prophetic truths are being falsely represented. The country is being swept by "Russellism" (so-called" Millennial Dawn," "International Bible Students’ League," etc.), and the appalling progress of this system which so misrepresents the whole revelation of GOD can only be accounted for in the unsatisfied hunger of the people for the prophetic portions of Scripture. Such a false system, mixing truth with untruth, and designed to interpret all of the divine revelation, is evidently more engaging to the popular mind than only the Scriptural presentation of the fundamental doctrines concerning GOD, Man and Redemption. Satan’s lies are always garnished with truth and how much more attractive they seem to be when that garnishing is a neglected truth! And insurance against the encroachment of such false teaching lies only in correctly presenting the whole body of truth rather than in treating any portion of it as impractical or dangerous. No minister need greatly fear any false system when he is intelligently and constantly feeding the people on the Word in all its symmetry and due proportions. This is not only true concerning the teachings of "Millennial Dawn," but is equally true of the teachings of "Christian Science," "New Thought," "Spiritism," "Seventh Day Adventism" and all unscriptural doctrines of Sanctification. 4. Unfulfilled prophecy is as credible as history. No one will question that faith is taxed in the study of prophecy more than in the study of history. It is not difficult to believe what has assuredly taken place: it is quite another thing to believe confidently that unprecedented events will occur when based only on the bare predictions of Scripture. This failure in faith doubtless underlies much neglect of the prophetic Scriptures and accounts for a prevalent habit of allegorizing and qualifying prophecy until it is reduced to the limitation of a human opinion. Under this pressure men otherwise clear on the interpretation of the Bible have gone so far as to assert that what Paul wrote in his early ministry was abandoned or qualified in his later ministry. Revelation requires no such surgery. Such efforts reveal a state of mind which finds it easier to diminish Biblical authority than to increase personal confidence in the accuracy of Scripture. The mighty revelations of the purpose of GOD cannot be apprehended until the issue of believing His Word has been faithfully met. 5. Prophetic language is equally as accurate as other scriptures. While some prophecy is couched in symbolic language, those portions which trace the forward movements of the Kingdom in the earth are largely free from problems presented by such symbolism, and that body of truth appears in language and terms the meaning of which cannot reasonably be questioned. The pity is that Origen ever conceived the allegorizing method of interpretation, and that his misleading and violent liberty with the text has since found such fertile soil in which to propagate. A mixture of the teachings concerning Israel, as a nation, with the revelations concerning the Church, the body of CHRIST, is groundless in Scripture. It is hopelessly confusing and grotesque, for under this plan only Israel’s blessings are borrowed; her curses and penalties are, naturally, not wanted. No progress can be made in the Kingdom studies unless plain words are taken in their obviously plain meaning. In the Bible: - "Israel" is not the "Church"; - "Zion" is not the body of saints of this dispensation; - the "throne of David" is not Heaven, nor will it ever be; - the "land of your fathers" is not "Paradise" and - the "house of Jacob" is not a host of Gentiles ignorantly attempting to force an entrance into Judaism. All such borrowed habits of interpretation must be faithfully judged and abandoned if ever the Kingdom portions of GOD’s Word are to assume any order or meaning. 6. Scripture must be rightly divided and applied. It has been said "All Scripture is for us, but all Scripture is not about us." It all bears a message to us, but is not all our rule of life. It will not do for Gentile believers to read themselves into the great portion of the Bible which treats distinctly of a chosen nation, still a separate people in the earth, under the special unbroken purpose of GOD and exactly where GOD intended them to be at this very hour. So with CHRIST: He was "a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers" (Romans 15:8). This describes a strictly Jewish mission and purpose. He was also the grounds of personal justification to the Gentile believers (1 Corinthians 1:3-8; 2 Corinthians 5:21); but the two are separate. Because He was great enough to fulfill the predicted requirements for both Jew and Gentile is no warrant for Gentiles to attempt to intrude into those divine ministrations which were evidently only for the Jews. A right division and application of Scripture demands that a portion of the earthly life and ministry of JESUS be recognized as belonging to the divine covenants with one nation in which Gentiles have no part (Ephesians 2:11-12). During these ministrations Gentiles were not in view (Matthew 10:5) nor can they be made to so appear by any fair method of interpretation. 7. There can be but one true system of interpretation. It is for the faithful student to discover this for himself. Accepted inferences of so-called Postmillennialism and Premillennialism as possible coexisting systems of interpretation constitute a serious challenge against the dignity and purpose of the Bible itself. Either the divine revelation follows a definite order in the development of the Kingdom in the earth, or it does not. If it does, there could hardly be two distinct programs coexisting in the mind and purpose of GOD. If there is but one order, an individual who confessedly knows nothing of the Kingdom body of truth falls far short of being an approved workman, rightly dividing the Word of Truth, when he, through prejudice or preconceived conclusions, is not willing to be moved and molded by the exact and accurate words of revelation. And how much greater is his failure when guilty of withholding these mighty transforming themes from others! ======================================================================== CHAPTER 160: 09.02. THE KINGDOM COVENANTED ======================================================================== The Kingdom Covenanted Chapter Two THE Bible teaches that GOD will ultimately triumph over all sin and rebellion in the earth. This is stated in many passages; notably 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 : "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." Thus does the divine record predict the restoration of this universe to its primal blessedness under the unchallenged authority of GOD, when the Son shall have put down all authority and banished every foe. This purpose, as recorded in the Bible, appears in various stages, or aspects, all leading with the certainty of the infinite to the glorious consummation. The reestablishment of the authority of GOD is first mentioned in Genesis 3:15, where it is stated that the Seed of the woman should bruise the head of Satan, the file leader of all the permitted present confusion in the government of GOD. In this mighty undertaking, too, Satan must bruise his heel. There are successive methods and various degrees of divine government in the earth following this first reference in Genesis and leading up to the eternal Kingdom covenant made with David. In the Davidic Covenant the final consummation is again foreseen in that this covenant is unlimited in respect to time. It is the detail and duration of this covenant that gives it preeminent value as the logical starting-point for all Kingdom study in the Scriptures. The portion of the Davidic Covenant which has to do with eternal rule and government is as follows: "Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his Kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: but my mercy shall not depart a way from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever" (2 Samuel 7:11-17). This covenant, as herein stated, secures an established kingly order which will continue for ever. The element of perpetuity in this kingly rule was not conditioned in the Lord’s oath by sin in the Davidic house. Chastisement was provided in ease of disobedience,- chastisement which fell upon the nation in the captivities and the dispersion,- but the eternal purpose of the covenant is not abrogated: "Thy throne shall be established for ever." Of this eternal covenant and the one condition of chastisement it is written in Psalms 89:20-37 : "I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: with whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven." The certainty of this covenant is again stated in Jeremiah 33:20-21 : "Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne." Peter, by the Spirit, in his Pentecostal sermon reveals also that it was the eternal element in this covenant, to which the Lord had sworn with an oath, that led David to foresee the Lord always before his face and to demand in his faith, even the resurrection of CHRIST, that the oath of his GOD should not fail. Thus Peter spoke of David: "For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption, Thou hast made known to me the ways of life: thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption" (Acts 2:25-31). So, yet again, when the reign of peace through David’s Greater Son is pictured to the House of .Jacob, over whom he is to rule, the same eternal covenant is mentioned with a chastisement: "In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment," which moment, however, has already extended at least twenty-four centuries; but what is this compared with that which follows: "But with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer" (Isaiah 54:8)? The history of the kings from David on, with the sin of the nation, is too familiar to need description. Their complete apostasy ended in chastisement in which they were taken off from the land and scattered among the nations and there was a cessation of the line of kings. These exact events Moses had prophesied a full thousand years before. This prophecy forms a part of the farewell address of Moses to the nation for whom he had wrought, and with whom, because of the judgments of the Lord, he could not enter the land. Moses foresaw the national apostasy, the chastisement by exile, and on beyond a period already extended 3,500 years, to that nation’s blessings which are yet future, when their chastisement shall have ended and they are regathered in to their own land under the unchanging covenant of the Lord. These prophecies are recorded in Deuteronomy 26:1-19; Deuteronomy 27:1-26; Deuteronomy 28:1-68; Deuteronomy 29:1-29; Deuteronomy 30:1-20. Only a portion is here given: "And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even to the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say. Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you" (Deuteronomy 28:63-68). "And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; that then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. that thou mayest live. And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and all them that hate thee, which persecuted thee. And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every good work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over your fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul" (Deuteronomy 30:1-10). There is no more important Scripture relating to Israel than this, and every word of this prophecy covering the time to the present hour has been literally fulfilled. Shall it not be so to the end? Shall they not be regathered as actually as they have been scattered? And that in relation to, and by virtue of, a "return," or second coming (Deuteronomy 30:8) of the divine Person to the earth? Is there any other explanation of the miraculous preservation of that nation than that the Lord’s oath cannot be broken? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 161: 09.03. THE KINGDOM PROPHESIED ======================================================================== The Kingdom Prophesied Chapter Three IT is significant that the Old Testament prophets spoke, in the main, in one comparatively brief period. This was the time in which Israel was approaching and entering her national dispersion under the chastening hand of GOD. It was in the darkest hour of their history that these seers, as by contrast, set forth the unprecedented light of the nation’s coming glory. This consensus of prophetic vision has never had a semblance of fulfillment; yet the nation is still divinely preserved, and that, evidently, with this consummation in view (Jeremiah 31:35-37; Matthew 24:31-34). Some of the prophets spoke before the exile, some during the exile, while others spoke after a remnant, but not the nation, had returned to their land. While they spoke with individual purpose and style, they were united as one voice on certain great themes. They condemned the nation’s sin and predicted the coming chastisement. They saw the judgments about to fall upon the surrounding nations; but these Gentile judgments are in view only as they are related to Israel. Above all they saw their own future blessings, the form and manner of which are too accurately described by them to be misunderstood. Their prophecies expanded into magnificent detail the covenanted reign of David’s Son over the House of Jacob for ever. In tracing these passages scarcely a comment is necessary if the statements are taken in their plain and obvious meaning. Passages are here selected from the many that were spoken by all the prophets concerning the coming King and His Kingdom, and from these Scriptures it will be seen that: 1. Immanuel’s Kingdom will be theocratic. The King will be (a) "Immanuel, God with us"; (b) by human birth a rightful heir to David’s throne; (c) born of a virgin in Bethlehem. (a) The King will be "Immanuel, God with us": "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). "Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" (Matthew 1:22; Matthew 2:1). (b) The King will be heir to David’s throne: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth : and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins" (Isaiah 11:1-5). "Behold, the day is come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth" (Jeremiah 23:5). "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd" (Ezekiel 34:23). "And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them" (Ezekiel 37:24). "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim; afterward shall the children of Israel return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days" (Hosea 3:4-5). (c) The King was to be born of a virgin in Bethlehem: "Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). "But, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2). (2). Immanuel’s Kingdom will be Heavenly in character. "And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2:4). "But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins" (Isaiah 11:4-5). "Behold, the day is come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, I will cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness. For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel" (Jeremiah 33:14-17). "And in that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safety" (Hosea 2:18). 3. Immanuel’s Kingdom will be (a) in the earth; (b) centered at Jerusalem, (c) over regathered and converted Israel, (d) and extending to the nations. (a) Immanuel’s Kingdom will be in the earth: "Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession" (Psalms 2:8). "For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9). "He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law" (Isaiah 42:4). "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth" (Jeremiah 23:5). "And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one LORD, and his name one" (Zechariah 14:9). (b) Immanuel’s Kingdom will be centered at Jerusalem: "The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:1-8). "For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the Bridegroom rejoiceth over the Bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth" (Isaiah 62:1-7). "Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. Yea many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you" (Zechariah 8:20-23). "And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). (c) Immanuel’s Kingdom will be over regathered and converted Israel: "That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: and the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live" (Deuteronomy 30:3-6). "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall set his hand the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth" (Isaiah 11:11-12). "For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors" (Isaiah 14:1-3; see also Isaiah 60:1-22). "In his day Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is the name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them: and they shall dwell in their own land" (Jeremiah 23:6-8). "Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in my anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again into this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God" (Jeremiah 32:37-38). "And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honor before all nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it" (Jeremiah 33:7-9; see also Ezekiel 36:16-38). "And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms at all: neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: But I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever" (Ezekiel 37:21-25). "In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; and I will make her that halteth a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. And thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the Kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem" (Micah 4:6-8). (d) Immanuel’s Kingdom shall extend to the nations in the earth: "Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed" (Psalms 72:11; Psalms 72:17). "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name" (Psalms 86:9). "Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee" (Isaiah 55:5). "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a Kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Daniel 7:18; Daniel 7:14). "And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem" (Micah 4:2). "Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD" (Zechariah 8:22). "And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God" (Amos 9:15). 4. Immanuel’s Kingdom will be established by the power of the returning King. "That then the LORD will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee" (Deuteronomy 30:3). "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice" (Psalms 50:3-5). "For he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth" (Psalms 96:13). "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD, and many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee. And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation" (Zechariah 2:10-12). "BEHOLD, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his earning? And who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years" (Malachi 3:1-4). 5. Immanuel’s Kingdom will be spiritual: Not incorporeal, or separate from that which is material; but spiritual in that the will of GOD will be directly effective in all matters of government and conduct. The joy and blessedness of fellowship with GOD will be experienced by all. The poetical, temporal Kingdom will be conducted in perfect righteousness and true holiness. The Kingdom of GOD will again be "in the midst" (Luke 17:21) in the Person of the Messiah King and He will rule in the grace and power of the sevenfold Spirit (Isaiah 11:2-3). Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and the nations shall walk in the light of GOD. "Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. The trees of the field shall clap their hands for joy." These passages, which might be multiplied many times, may serve to outline the prophet’s vision of the features of Messiah’s earthly Kingdom which was covenanted to David. This Kingdom has ever been Israel’s only hope and was the consolation for which she waited when CHRIST was born (Luke 2:25). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 162: 09.04. THE KINGDOM OFFERED ======================================================================== The Kingdom Offered Chapter Four IN subject matter the division between the Old Testament and the New occurs at the Cross of CHRIST, rather than between Malachi and Matthew. The Gospels, in the main, carry forward the same dispensational conditions that were in effect at the hour when CHRIST was born. Especially is this true of the Gospel of Matthew, CHRIST being set forth in that Gospel, first of all, as a King with His Kingdom in full view. The Spirit has faithfully selected those deeds and teachings of CHRIST from the complete manifestation in the flesh which portray Him in the dominant character reflected in each Gospel. - in Matthew He is presented as the King; - in Mark as the Lord’s servant; - in Luke as the perfect human; and - in John as the very Son of GOD. In all these narratives, this one Person is seen acting and teaching under the same conditions which existed for centuries before the Cross. There is some anticipation of what would follow the Cross as there is reference after the Cross to what had gone before. Whatever preceded the Cross, in the main, fell under those conditions and colorings of "the law which came by Moses," and JESUS not only held up Moses as the authority for the time, but also expanded his teachings. A great division between the Old Testament and the New, therefore, lies in the fact that "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ," and became effective with the Cross of CHRIST rather than with His birth. Matthew opens with an emphasis upon CHRIST as the Son of David: "The book of the generation (genea, nationality or line of descent, cf. Matthew 24:34) of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham." Although, in this Gospel, JESUS is presented as the "son of Abraham" in sacrificial death, the primary purpose of the writer is to set forth the nation’s King. This being the only office that is ever assigned to a "Son of David." The tracing of the divinely appointed Kingdom thus proceeds from the Old Testament into the New without a change other than the appearance of the long expected King, accompanied by His forerunner, whose predicted ministry had occupied the closing words of the Old Testament revelation. There is no break in the narrative. The fact that JESUS was David’s Greater Son, the fulfiller of all the nation’s Kingdom blessings is not based on human opinion. It was announced by the angel Gabriel before the birth of CHRIST as recorded in Luke 1:18-33 : "And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." This treats distinctly of the "Throne of David" over the "House of Jacob," and proclaims of this Kingdom that "there shall be no end." No Gentile blessings are in view here; nor need the Gentiles seek to intrude. Gentile blessings will eventually flow out of this very throne; but these are not in view, nor are any Gentile blessings endangered by a. faithful recognition of this distinctly Jewish purpose. The same is clearly stated in Romans 15:8 : "Now this I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision (Israel) for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers." He did not come to annul those promises; but He did come to confirm them. The promises made unto the fathers are well defined: no promises were made to Gentiles. The term "the fathers" can mean none other than GOD’s chosen men of Israel. By these promises Israel was to be redeemed and placed in her own land and that by Immanuel who should be the final Prophet, Priest and King. He should be her King over her covenanted Kingdom. These promises made unto the fathers were this nation’s only hope, as is clearly indicated: "We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel." "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom unto Israel?" In CHRIST, then, the Kingdom covenant made to David had its confirmation as well, it being one of the promises made unto the fathers. How certainly that covenant must stand to-day! It is recorded of JESUS that He was "born King of the Jews" (Matthew 2:2). To this throne He made final claim at His trial (Matthew 27:11). And under this accusation He suffered (Matthew 27:29) and died (Matthew 27:37). One needs only to search the Scriptures to discover the fact that He is never mentioned as King of the church, nor King of the nations until He comes again as "King of kings, and Lord of lords" (Revelation 19:16). He fulfilled every prediction that described Israel’s Messiah King and the manner of His coming, at a time when all the records and genealogies were intact. He came of the tribe of Judah, a Son of David, born of a virgin in Bethlehem of Judea. Such claims could not then be made by an impostor without arousing the violent opposition of the rulers of the nation. His claim to be King was never challenged, so far as title was concerned. He met every prediction concerning Israel’s Immanuel King. He was that King. Four centuries before the birth of JESUS Malachi had prophesied the coming of a forerunner to the King: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:5-6). This had a certain fulfillment in John the Baptist according, again, to angelic testimony: "But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:13-17). Thus also another Messianic claim was. met in the faithful ministry of John. The first message of this divinely foreseen witness is recorded thus: "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:1-2). This, too, was the first message recorded of CHRIST: "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). So, again, it was the only message committed to His disciples when He first sent them forth to preach: "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 10:5-7). This message, it will be seen, had no application to Gentiles: The messengers were to go "only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." It can scarcely be unnoticed that while every detail of the manner of their journey was subject to the most careful instruction by the King, there is no record of instruction having been given them as to the meaning of this first, or Kingdom, message committed to them. Evidently they did not need such instruction concerning the Kingdom. - had not the Kingdom hope been passed from father to son for generations? - had it not been sung to them at their mother’s knee? - had it not been the one great theme of the synagogue instruction? - was it not their national hope? How much in contrast to this was the prolonged inability on the part of these same disciples to grasp, later on, the new message and world-wide commission of the Cross! This focusing of the testimony of JESUS, of John and of the disciples upon one solitary message, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand," places that message under unusual emphasis and its actual meaning should be carefully considered. The phrase "The kingdom of heaven" is found only in Matthew, the Gospel of the King, and there it appears with different shades of meaning. One only of these shades of meaning is used in Chapters 1 to 12 of this Gospel. Here it seems to refer to the Same earthly Davidic Kingdom with which the Old Testament had closed. As has been stated, whatever was meant by this announcement of the "kingdom of heaven," it was clearly understood by the preachers who proclaimed it and by the hearers. No other Kingdom message could have thus been received by those people in that day. So, also, it was addressed to one nation, Israel, and to them as a whole, rather than to individuals. Thus the "kingdom of heaven" as a message must ever be distinguished from the message of the gospel of grace which came by the Cross. The gospel of grace Israel, as a nation, has never understood, and it is addressed to all peoples and to them as individuals only. The message of the "kingdom of heaven" as first set forth by Matthew had, therefore, a limited and national meaning,- limited as to time of its application, because a new message has come in; and national, because, for the time being, it was addressed to Israel alone. The message of the "kingdom of heaven" did not concern itself so much with the Person of the King as it did with His Kingdom. But Israel had never dreamed of a Kingdom apart from the presence and power of the expected King. Thus JESUS could say of Himself, in the light of the accepted close relation between the Person of the King and His Kingdom: "The kingdom of God is within you" ("in the midst," in the Person of the King, Luke 17:21). To assert the imminency of the Kingdom was, to them, to assert the imminency of the King. This Kingdom message conforms in another respect, also, to the conditions of the Old Testament Kingdom. There must be a great national heart-turning, or repentance to GOD as an immediate preparation for the Kingdom as seen in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 30:1-3; Isaiah 24:7; Hosea 3:4-5; Hosea 14:7; Zechariah 12:10-14; Zechariah 13:1; Malachi 3:7). Repentance, therefore, became an imperative part of the message concerning the imminency of the Kingdom. So each of these Kingdom messengers called upon that nation to repent: - "a generation of vipers" must "bring forth fruits meet for repentance." - they must turn about in heart as a condition of this covenanted Kingdom blessing. This they, by His grace, are yet to do, "in His time." It is to be regretted that this required national repentance of Israel has been so often misapplied as a necessary preliminary step in an individual’s salvation by Grace. As certainly as the message of the "kingdom of heaven" was a claim upon the nation’s hope, so, also, the rule of life presented in connection with this claim by both John the Baptist and CHRIST was in harmony with the Old Testament Kingdom rule of life. The Kingdom as foreseen in the Old Testament had ever in view the righteousness in life and conduct of its subjects (Isaiah 11:3-5; Isaiah 32:1; Jeremiah 23:6; Daniel 9:24). The" kingdom of heaven" as announced and offered in the early part of Matthew’s Gospel is also accompanied with positive demands for personal righteousness in life and conduct. This is not the principle of grace: it is rather the principle of law. It extends into finer detail the law of Moses; but it never ceases to be the very opposite of the principle of grace. - law conditions its blessings on human works: Grace conditions its works on divine blessings. - law says: "If ye forgive, ye will be forgiven," and in that measure only (Matthew 6:14-15): while grace says: "Forgiving one another even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32). - so, again, law says: "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). This is not a present condition for entrance into Heaven. Present conditions are wholly based on mercy: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by his mercy he saves us" (Titus 3:5). So the preaching of John the Baptist, like the Sermon on the Mount, was on a law basis as indicated by its appeal which was only for a correct and righteous life: "Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the roots of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answered and said unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages" (Luke 3:7-14). This, like the Sermon on the Mount, is an appeal for a righteous life and cannot be confused with the present terms of salvation without nullifying the grounds of every hope and promise under grace. The present appeal to the unsaved is not for better conduct: it is for personal belief in, and acceptance of, the Saviour. There are directions concerning the conduct of those who are saved by trust in the Saviour; but these cannot be mixed with the law conditions of the Old Testament, or the New, without peril to souls. Later on the same people said to CHRIST: "What shall we do that we might work the works of GOD?" and to this He replied: "This is the work of GOD that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6:28-29), John the Baptist looked forward to the blessings of grace when he said: "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world"; but his immediate demands were in conformity with pure law, as were the early teachings of JESUS. Thus the legal principles of conduct of the Old Testament Kingdom are carried forward into the revelations of the same Kingdom as it appears in the New Testament. The right division of Scripture does not destroy these legal passages; but it does fully classify them with the other Scriptures relating to the Kingdom, both in the Old Testament and the New. There are many elements found in this body of truth that, indicate the required manner of life in the kingdom: which will be found likewise under the consistent walk in grace; but whatever is carried forward to be a life-governing principle under grace is there restated in its own place and with its own new emphasis. Thus the two widely differing systems are meant to be kept distinct in the mind of the faithful student of GOD’s Word. It should be borne in mind that the legal Kingdom requirements as stated in the Sermon on the Mount are meant to prepare the way for, and condition life in, the earthly Davidic Kingdom when it shall be set up upon the earth, and at that time when the Kingdom prayer, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven," has been answered. These Kingdom conditions appear in the early ministry of JESUS since He was at that time faithfully offering the Messianic Kingdom to Israel. It has been objected that such stipulations as: - "resist not evil"; - "if one shall smite you on the one cheek"; - "one shall compel you to go a mile"; and - "persecutions for righteousness’ sake," could not be possible in the Kingdom. This challenge may be based upon a supposition that the earthly Messianic Kingdom is to be as morally perfect as Heaven. On the contrary, the Scriptures abundantly testify that, while there will be far less occasion to sin, for the sufficient reason that Satan is then bound and in a pit and the glorious King is on His throne, there will be need of immediate execution of judgment and justice in the earth, and even the King shall rule, of necessity, with a "rod of iron." It is said that "all Israel shall be saved" and "all shall know the Lord from the least even unto the greatest"; but it is also revealed that at the end of that millennium, when Satan is loosed for a little season, he is still able to solicit the allegiance of human hearts and to draw out of the multitudes within the Kingdom an army for rebellion against the government of the King (Revelation 20:7-9). In that Kingdom age "a sinner being an hundred years old shall be cursed" (Isaiah 65:20). The saints of that age will doubtless have Heaven before their eyes and be looking there for their reward. And they will be the "salt of the earth." These Kingdom commands and principles were given to Israel only and it is that same distinct nation that shall stand :first in that Kingdom when it is set up in the earth. JESUS was first "a minister to the circumcision," and is it an unnatural interpretation of Scripture to understand that He was performing this divinely appointed ministry at that very time when He was offering the Kingdom to that nation and when He, with His forerunner, was depicting the principles of conduct that should condition life in that Kingdom? Nothing is lost by such an interpretation; on the contrary, everything is gained, for the riches of grace, which, alas, so few apprehend, are thus kept pure and free from an unscriptural mixture with the Kingdom law. It may be concluded that the term" kingdom of heaven" as used in the early ministry of JESUS referred to the Messianic, Davidic, earthly Kingdom seen in the Old Testament. As has been noted, the Jewish preachers needed no instruction in the details of that message. It was the hope of their nation, and it was addressed to that nation alone. So, also, an appeal was made with this message for the anticipated national repentance which must precede the setting up of their Kingdom in the earth, and the requirements set forth were legal rather than gracious. Israel’s Kingdom was faithfully offered to them by their King at His first appearing. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 163: 09.05. THE KINGDOM REJECTED AND POSTPONED ======================================================================== The Kingdom Rejected And Postponed Chapter Five THE fact that the other Gospels present certain revelations as related to the Kingdom of GOD which Matthew has related to the Kingdom of Heaven has been accepted by some as grounds for concluding that these terms are synonymous. There can be no question that there is much in common between whatever may be represented by these two terms, else they would not be used interchangeably. The common ground between them lies, it would seem, in the fact that both refer to a certain divine authority, or government. A study of the passages involved will reveal that there is a wide difference between the Kingdom of GOD and the Kingdom of Heaven. This will be seen to be in the extent of government which is implied in each. The term "kingdom of God," it will be found, is employed when there is nothing stated that would limit its authority over all the universe. The term "kingdom of heaven," it will also be found, is used when the divine government is considered as limited to the earth. There is an important difference, as well, in the possible moral character of each. It is not said of the Kingdom of GOD, as it is of the Kingdom of Heaven, that there are divine judgments required for wrongdoers within its bounds, or that the false wheat, or tares, and bad fish are a part of it. Entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, in its Messianic form, may be by so low a standard as that which merely exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees (Matthew 5:20): while entrance into the Kingdom of GOD is by a new birth alone (John 3:3). The Kingdom of Heaven is the divine government in the earth which passes through changing phases until every foe has been conquered, and it is finally merged, perfected, into the all-inclusive Kingdom of GOD (1 Corinthians 15:24-28). For this final consummation we plead when we pray: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Whatever within this divine government in the earth is consonant with the perfect character of the Kingdom of GOD may be considered as a part of that Kingdom; though some of its subjects, who are perfect in standing, may be quite imperfect in life and conduct. The Kingdom of Heaven has been defined by C. I. Scofield, D. D., in the Scofield Reference Bible thus: (1) "The phrase, Kingdom of heaven (lit. of the heavens), is peculiar to Matthew and signifies the Messianic earth rule of JESUS CHRIST, the Son of David. It is called the Kingdom of Heaven because it is the rule of the heavens over the earth (Matthew 6:10). The phrase is derived from Daniel, where it is defined (Daniel 2:34-36; Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:23-27) as the Kingdom which ’the God of heaven’ will set up after the destruction by the ’stone cut out without hands’ of the Gentile world-system. It is the Kingdom covenanted to David’s seed (2 Samuel 7:7-10); described in the prophets (Zechariah 12:8, note); and confirmed to JESUS CHRIST, the Son of Mary, through the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:32-33). (2) "The Kingdom of Heaven has three aspects in Matthew: (a) ’at hand’ from the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:2) to the virtual rejection of the King, and the announcement of the new brotherhood (Matthew 12:46-50); (b) In seven ’mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,’ to be fulfilled during the present age (Matthew 13:1-52), to which are to be added the parables of the Kingdom of Heaven which were spoken after those of Matthew 13:1-58, and which have to do with the sphere of Christian profession during this age; (c) The prophetic aspect - the Kingdom to be set, up after the return of the King in glory (Matthew 24:29-51; Matthew 25:1-46; Luke 19:12-19; Acts 15:14 -l7)." - Scofield Reference Bible, page 996. So, again: "The Kingdom of GOD is to be distinguished from the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 3:2, note) in five respects: (1) The Kingdom of GOD is universal, including all moral intelligence willingly subject to the will of GOD, whether angels, the Church, or saints of past or future dispensations (Luke 13:28-29; Hebrews 12:22-23); while the Kingdom of Heaven is Messianic, Mediatorial, Davidic, and has for its object the establishment of the Kingdom of GOD in the earth (Matthew 3:2, note; 1 Corinthians 15:24-25). (2) The Kingdom of GOD is entered only by the new birth (John 3:3; John 3:5-7); the Kingdom of Heaven, during this age, is the sphere of a profession which may be real or false (Matthew 13:3, note; Matthew 25:1, Matthew 25:11-12). (3) Since the Kingdom of Heaven is the earthly sphere of the universal Kingdom of GOD, the two have almost all things in common. For this reason many parables and other teachings are spoken of the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew, and of the Kingdom of GOD in Mark and Luke. It is the omissions which are significant. The parables of the wheat and tares, and of the net (Matthew 13:24-30; Matthew 13:36-43; Matthew 13:47-50) are not spoken of the Kingdom of GOD. In that Kingdom there are neither tares nor bad fish. But the parable of the leaven (Matthew 13:33) is spoken of the Kingdom of GOD also, for, alas, even the true doctrines of the Kingdom are leavened with the errors of which the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians were the representatives. (See Matthew 13:33, note). (4) The Kingdom of GOD ’cometh not with observation [outward show]’ (Luke 17:20), but is chiefly that which is inward and spiritual (Romans 14:17); while the Kingdom of Heaven is organic, and is to be manifested in glory on the earth. (5) The Kingdom of Heaven merges into the Kingdom of GOD when CHRIST, having ’put all enemies under His feet,’ ’shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father’ (1 Corinthians 15:24-28)." - Ibid., page 1003. The various uses of the term Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew’s Gospel represent the progressive stages through which the government of GOD in the earth must pass in arriving at the determined end. The first use of the term is in connection with the offer of a Kingdom to Israel which had been covenanted to David and described by the prophets of the Old Testament and that which forms the hope of Israel to this hour. This offer of the Kingdom which was extended through CHRIST, John, and the disciples to the nation was rejected by that nation, not withstanding the fact that it was in complete fulfillment of every divinely given prediction. It was a bona fide offer and, had they received Him as their King, the nation’s hope would have been realized. However; it was in the perfect councils and foreknowledge of GOD that the offer would be rejected, and thereby the way was made for the realization of the great unrevealed purpose of GOD, which was to be accomplished before the final manifestation of the Kingdom in the earth. This first offer of the Kingdom had been typified by the events at Kadesh-Barnea. There this same nation, which had already tasted the discomforts of the desert, were given an opportunity to immediately enter their promised land. Thus left to choose, they failed to enter, and returned to forty years more of wilderness wandering and added judgments. They might have entered the land in blessing. GOD knew they would not; still it was through their own choice that the blessing was postponed. Later they were brought again to the land after their judgments and afflictions in the wilderness. This time, however, it was without reference to their own choice. With the high hand of the Lord GOD they were placed in their own land. So Israel, already five hundred years out of the land, and without a king, rejected the King and the Kingdom as offered in CHRIST, and still continues the wilderness afflictions among all the nations of the earth whither the Lord GOD hath driven them. But He will yet regather them, else the oath of the Lord will fail, and that regathering will be without reference to their own choosing, or merit. Under an unconditional covenant He has pledged to place them in Kingdom blessings, under the glorious reign of their Immanuel King and in their own land (Deuteronomy 30:3-5; Isaiah 11:10-13; Jeremiah 23:3-8; Ezekiel 37:21-25). This, too, shall be done by no human processes, but by the mighty power of GOD. The first evidence of Israel’s rejection of her Kingdom as offered by her King is seen in the record that John the Baptist had been placed in prison (Matthew 11:2). What could the imprisonment of the forerunner mean other than a step toward the rejection of the King? Immediately the King utters His first words of judgment and doom: "Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee" (Matthew 11:20-24). Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum were the cities in which He had given greatest proof of His Messiahship and they were therefore most guilty in His rejection. In connection with this first evidence of rejection there is introduced a note wholly foreign to the Kingdom theme, and with great significance: "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28-29). Everything is in contrast: this is not an offer of a Kingdom to a nation, but of soul rest to the individual who will come to Him. A rest which results from coming to know the Father through the Son (Matthew 11:27), whom to know aright is eternal life (John 17:3). The reality contained in this offer could only be realized by His Cross. CHRIST was evidently associating, even then, His rejection with His Cross. It was as though He was comforting His own heart with a moment’s reflection upon the "joy that was set before him" for which He would "endure the Cross and despise the shame." Who shall measure the joy of His heart in bringing rest to one sin-sick soul (Isaiah 53:11)? This flash-light on the coming redemption by His Cross immediately passes and the King continues to present Himself to the nation as their King. He proves again by the mighty Works of the following chapter that He is none other than their long looked for Messiah; yet in the midst of these infallible proofs it is recorded: "And the Pharisees went out and held a council how they might destroy him" (Matthew 12:14). The death of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:1-13) is also followed by a rebuke to the Pharisees and by words of judgment upon them (Matthew 15:1-20). Another glance forward toward His Cross is recorded in connection with His evident rejection in Matthew 16:13-18 : "When Jesus came into the coasts of Cesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The rejection is seen in the report of the disciples that CHRIST was accounted for by the men of the nation to whom He had come as being John the Baptist, Elias, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. How impressed they were with His Personality and power! Yet how preposterous that He should be confused with John with whom He had so recently stood among them! They were evidently willing to account for Him by any subterfuge that would relieve them of the acknowledgment of Him as their King. In connection with this new evidence of rejection He again reflects upon the joy that was to be His through His Cross: "On this rock I will build my church." The church, His precious Bride, which He loved and for which He gave Himself; that "he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25-27). This, again, is the joy that was set before Him and which would be realized only by His rejection and sacrificial death. Continuing the narrative of the Gospel of the King to its end, He is seen still offering Himself to the nation as their King, riding meek and lowly into Jerusalem that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, and dying under the fatal and final claim to be the "King of the Jews." Along with this is the record of the ever increasing animosity and rejection of the nation, leading up to the climacteric expression of their hatred, the crucifixion of their King between two thieves. Thus the supreme wickedness of man descended to its lowest depths of sin against GOD; yet by this death the flood-gates of life were opened and the very sin of His crucifixion was laid back upon His own breast, as He met all the doom that must fall upon "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." When the nation began to reject her King, He not only began to anticipate His sacrificial death and the blessings to flow out of it, but He began, also, to speak of returning to this earth again, and to associate the realization of His earthly Kingdom with that event. That the Kingdom was to be realized through a return of the divine Person was certainly in the foreknowledge of GOD and was foretold by prophets (Deuteronomy 30:3; Daniel 7:13-14). However, in the main, the prophets did not distinguish the fulfilling of the Lamb, or sacrificial type, in the first advent from the fulfilling of the Lion, or kingly type, in the second advent. On the other hand, by the Spirit, who inspired them, they never confused these great issues, although the time relations that were to exist between these two vastly different ministries of CHRIST were not revealed to them. Of this Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:10-11 thus: "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." The unsolved problem was the time intervening between the sufferings of CHRIST in connection with His first coming, and His manifestation in glory when He should come the second time. To conclude that these literal earthly blessings for Israel were transferred into spiritual blessings for all nations because Israel rejected and crucified her King at His first appearing, compels one to ignore the bulk of Old Testament prophecies and the plain promises and teachings of JESUS. The oath of the Lord still stands, and He knows no defeat. His plan has not been changed, To speak of the Kingdom as postponed is to consider it within the perspective of Israel’s final glory. If the oath, covenant and promises of the Lord cannot be trusted, what assurance can be drawn from any word He has spoken? Purposing to instruct us as to a yet future earthly Kingdom for Israel, and for the nations through them, what more positive, or meaningful language could He have employed? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 164: 09.06. PRESENT TRUTH ======================================================================== Present Truth Chapter Six AT least seven realities not seen by the Old Testament writers were brought into view and made possible through the Cross. These, with all correlated truth, form the distinct revelation of "grace and truth" that "came by Jesus Christ" and "the New Testament in his blood." Peter writes of this body of Scripture as "present truth" (2 Peter 1:12), doubtless from the fact that it sets forth the divine blessings and relationships which are obviously effective within the present age. These new unfoldings of "grace and truth," it will be seen, are in no way related to, or a part of, those earthly Kingdom revelations which had been previously recorded by the sacred writers. Much is in contrast between these two bodies of truth; but it is even more important to see that a great difference lies in the fact that one treats of a celestial sphere of spiritual reality which is as much above the temporal, earthly covenants of the other as Heaven is higher than the earth. These new conditions flowing from, and made possible by, the Cross are not a readjustment of defeated Old Testament purposes, or the merging of the old order into the new. What was purposed in the earthly Kingdom is still following its own divine order and development to its own mighty consummation. Its present form is exactly what GOD intended it to be at this hour, and all this will lead as certainly to the fulfillment of every predicted manifestation in the earth. Christianity is totally opposite to Judaism and any mixture of the two must result in the loss of all that is vital in the present plan of Salvation. One made its appeal to the limited resources of the natural man and conditioned his life on the earth: the other sets aside the natural man, secures a whole new creation in CHRIST JESUS, and counsels that new being in his pilgrim journey to his heavenly home. Israel’s Kingdom revelation, dealing with the past or present, does not gather into itself the distinct relationships that form the elements of "present truth," which are for this age only. On the other hand, the Kingdom realization awaits the return of the King. The prolonged dispersion of Israel among the nations, with the divine preservation of that people, is not only clearly anticipated in Scripture (Hosea 3:4-5; Luke 21:24; Romans 11:25; Acts 15:13-18; Luke 19:11-13), but is one of the most evident facts of history. With the Gentile world opposing the Jew, at times bent upon their extermination, behold them now! Although comparatively few in number, they are rapidly rising to the place of command among the peoples of earth in finance, in the professions, in science and the fine arts. What this augurs to the devout student of Jewish prophecy is obvious. The new issues, growing out of the Cross, which confront the Bible student are: 1. Life from GOD through a new birth by the Spirit. What relation to GOD was accorded to Old Testament saints is not clearly revealed. Doubtless they were individually renewed by the Spirit as they came to believe in GOD for their personal salvation. Whatever may have been the result of their spiritual change, they knew nothing of a new life and sonship as it is set forth in the New Testament. Nicodemus, than whom the nation could then produce no better, and representing the very highest product of the "Jew’s religion," needed to be told that even he "must be born again." So foreign was this to his knowledge of truth that he could only reply: "How can these things be?" Paul, who had lived "in all good conscience" within the revelations of the nation’s faith, must be transformed into a new creature on the Damascus road. After this he ceased not to pray for like members of his own nation who had a "zeal for God" that they, too, might be saved. One passage upon this point may be sufficient: "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because we are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ" (Galatians 4:4-7). The new life by the Spirit is presented in the Scriptures as the fundamental and distinguishing fact of the Christian. Upwards of a hundred New Testament passages emphasize this truth. - in these passages a "new creation," or species, is said to be formed by the mighty creative power of GOD (Ephesians 2:10). - this newly created one is not of this earth, but is a citizen of Heaven (Php 3:20). - he is a legitimate son of GOD by a legitimate birth through the Spirit (John 3:1-6); possessing the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), "which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 3:23). - being properly a son of GOD, he is said to be an heir of GOD and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17; Galatians 4:7). GOD alone is sufficient for the miracles that together produce a Christian, and the reasonableness of the way of salvation is seen in that it must be received as a gift and on the basis of trusting Him for its accomplishment. This fact of regeneration is the only present issue between GOD and an unsaved person. When this is accomplished the obviously desirable reformation in life and conduct will be outwardly manifested by the new in wrought divine nature and power. How short the vision is which can see no farther than to strive for the reformation of an individual in matters of purpose and conduct, as desirable as such reformation may be, when the divine plan to produce a whole new being with its new heart, disposition and power is so plainly revealed! It is puerile to be obsessed with a by-product of the fact of eternal life. Certainly this is not an abstract issue: having passed from death unto life has been, and will be, the abiding miracle in the life of individuals of all generations from the Cross of CHRIST until He comes again. As certainly, also, such efforts toward reformation cannot be justified from Scripture; for interpretations which would suggest conduct to be the primary issue between GOD and the unsaved cannot be found unless Israel’s law is borrowed, or the humanly impossible walk of the regenerate is imposed upon the unregenerate. 2. A new standing. It was never said of any Old Testament saint that he was "a member of the body of Christ," or that he was "accepted in the beloved"; but the New Testament saint is all this, and has been "made the righteousness of God in him" (Romans 3:21-22; Romans 10:3-4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:6). 3. A new sufficiency. As truly as the Christian is a new creature and a heavenly citizen, so every condition within the new life is supernatural. The human limitation has been perfectly anticipated and provided for in the fact. that the all-sufficient Spirit indwells every saved person (Romans 5:5; Romans 8:9; John 3:6; John 7:39; John 14:16-17; Galatians 6:4; 1 Corinthians 6:19). This universal abiding presence of the Spirit in a saved person, providing nothing short of the sufficiency of GOD for the least of His children, is a vastly different relationship than had been known before (John 7:37-39). 4. A. new service. Service, in the Old Testament, consisted largely in going into the temple, or tabernacle, to offer a sacrifice for sin: in the New Testament it is going out to the uttermost parts of the earth to witness to a perfect sacrifice fully accomplished. The former had self with its personal needs in view: the latter has found rest for self, and from self, and moves out to others in the mighty empowering "gifts of the Spirit." 5. A new rule if life. The Epistles of the New Testament present a distinct heavenly rule of life which is gracious in contrast to law. They instruct a heavenly citizen in his normal walk and life. Attempted obedience to these precepts will never make a heavenly citizen: they are rather set before him because he is already a. heavenly citizen through the power of GOD. Therefore they do not carry a legal imperative; but are presented as "beseechings," and under the suggestive phrase, "as it becometh saints." The law was given to Israel alone and only when she had been redeemed out of Egypt. The law of Moses did not redeem Israel: it became her rule of life after she was redeemed. That redemption out of Egypt anticipates, in type, the Blood redemption of the Cross. So, also, a new governing rule of life is given to those who are looking back in saving faith to Calvary. Obedience to the new principle of life under grace would not save one. It only suggests the normal manner of life for those who have already become heavenly in being through the alone sufficient power of GOD. - The new principle of life through grace is superhuman (Ephesians 4:1-3; Ephesians 4:30; Ephesians 5:18-22; 2 Corinthians 10:4-5; 1 Peter 2:9, etc.); but according to the purpose of GOD it is to be perfectly fulfilled by the power of the indwelling Spirit (Galatians 5:16; Romans 8:2). - The law said, "Love thy neighbor as thyself" (Leviticus 18:18; Matthew 19:19; Matthew 22:39; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8). JESUS said, "A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you" (John 13:34-35; John 15:12-13). There could not be a more impossible requirement than that we, of ourselves, should love as He has loved us; but such divine love is produced in us by the unhindered Spirit (Romans 5:5; Galatians 5:22). 6. A new purpose. Most evidently GOD is not now offering an earthly Kingdom to any one nation; nor is He saving every individual of all nations. There is a process of selection going on (if it be held that GOD is now accomplishing His own will), and, while the Gospel might be preached to all, there is no evidence from history that all who have heard it have been saved, or teaching in the Scripture that all would be saved. GOD is seen to be dealing with individuals, both Jews and Gentiles, and in such a manner that each one thus dealt with is to be finally changed into the image of CHRIST, and collectively as His Body and Bride to be forever with Him. 7. A new prospect. Centuries before the Cross the King and His Messianic Kingdom was rightfully expected by the nation to whom the manifestation of the King and the establishment of the Kingdom had been promised, and this Kingdom was still in view when the new revelation concerning the return of CHRIST was presented. While the promises to Israel are suffering prolonged delay, the heavenly Bride is being called out, and unto her is given a new hope and prospect; "The Lord is at hand" (Php 4:5). In the light of these seven "present truth" realities we are enabled to recognize how great is the effect of the change from "the law which came by Moses" and "grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ." And when these changed, age-long conditions have run their course we are assured that there will ho a return to the legal Kingdom grounds and the exaltation of that nation to whom pertain the covenants and promises. The last two elements of "present truth" presented above will each in turn be the basis for a further study of kingdom truth. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 165: 09.07. THE CHURCH WHICH IS HIS BODY ======================================================================== The Church Which Is His Body Chapter Seven THE new purpose of GOD in this age is seen to be the out-calling of a heavenly people. They form a part of the Kingdom in its present mystery form (Matthew 13:1-58); but are in no way related to the Messianic earthly Kingdom of Israel other than that they, as the Bride of the King, will be associated with Him in His reign (Ephesians 5:29-32; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 20:6; Revelation 21:9-21). The disciples, being Jews, needed no instruction as to the message of the Kingdom; but in marked contrast to this they did not once grasp any reference JESUS made to His sacrificial death by which He was to open the flood-gates of the grace of GOD. Even after His resurrection and forty days of instruction concerning the Kingdom of GOD (Acts 1:3) they questioned Him as to the realization of the nation’s hope: "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6). His reply is suggestive: "It is not for you to know the times and seasons, which the Father has put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth" (Acts 1:7-8). He does not tell them their Kingdom is abandoned, or merged into a spiritual conquest of all nations: He plainly infers that every promise of GOD is still intact; but assigns to them the immediate ministry of the new Gospel age. Even this they failed to comprehend; for it was not until Peter by divine compulsion had first preached the Gospel to Gentiles in Cornelius’ house, and Paul and Barnabas had returned to Jerusalem reporting the same outflowing salvation to Gentiles as had been given to Jews that they were able to grasp the meaning of the new age. This new light came in connection with the deliberations of the first church council, called by the mother church at Jerusalem, and recorded in Acts 15:13-18. The issue before this council was of the present obligation of believers toward circumcision, the sign of Judaism. Any departure from that divinely given sign naturally required a new revelation of the scope and character of the new divine purpose. Apparently the Jewish system was being set aside. The conclusion of this first council is recorded thus: "And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world (ages)." There is no more important prophetic Scripture than this because of the arresting fact that it states the present-age purpose of GOD in relation to the future purposes, and places these in an exact order. The answer to the question of these Jewish Christians as to what was superseding Judaism (the new order having set aside its last distinction, circumcision), is given by James, the pastor of the church in Jerusalem. In this concluding discourse of the council he first states the divine purpose in the new age: "God at the first (in the house of Cornelius, as Peter had just stated) did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name" (Acts 15:14-15). The realization of the purpose to gather out a people is to be followed by a "return" of the divine Person to the earth and the reestablishment of the Davidic order, and with this the long awaited world-wide blessing. The meaning of the word "church " is the "called out ones," and this, it will be seen, is identical with the present-age purpose "to take out a people for his name." The word "church" appears for the first time in the Bible at Matthew 16:18, and here JESUS speaks of it as a then future thing: "On this rock I will build my church." An entirely new word is used, it would seem, that there should be no confusion of what this word represents with any Old Testament revelation. The general use of the word in the Scriptures is of a collection, or assembly, of people. Thus Israel, separated and called out of Egypt, is termed by Stephen as "the church in the wilderness" (Acts 7:38), and Luke uses the same word in mentioning the assembly of people in the town meeting at Ephesus (Acts 19:29). When the word is now used to denote a company of professing Christians, or united worshippers, the reference is to an organization of people of one generation united by human ties, and not all, necessarily, saved ones. The deeper and more important use of the word, however, is the designation of the born-again ones of all generations since Pentecost as "baptized into one body and made to drink into one Spirit," each one so perfectly in the saving and transforming power of GOD that be will rightfully appear in glory in the exact likeness of CHRIST; and the whole company, finally perfected, "without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing" will be His Bride and His Body, "the fullness of him that filleth all in all." Such a perfect organism, with its heavenly destiny and glory, could hardly be confused with Israel in the wilderness, called out and separated from Egypt, or the ungovernable assembly of the town meeting at Ephesus, called out for the time being from their homes. The latter are merely incidental: the former is no less than the primary purpose of GOD in this age of grace. Little would be known of the out-called heavenly body from the teachings of JESUS, and nothing could be known from any portion of the Old Testament, where it is not once directly mentioned. As recorded, JESUS spoke of the church but three times, and then as something yet to be realized by virtue of His own power; for He said, "I will build my church." That this was a reference to His own Body and Bride, rather than any local assembly, is evident from His following sentence: "And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." How woefully they have prevailed against the professing, visible church! Not so, however, against His Body and Bride. The fuller revelation of "the church which is his body" (Ephesians 1:22-23) was committed to the Apostle Paul. Her formation, being and destiny is the theme of the prison revelation and forms the basis of the prison epistles, especially Ephesians and Colossians. The Apostle, writing of this special revelation given to him concerning the purpose of GOD in this dispensation of grace, records that there was a mystery, or a sacred secret, not made known to other ages, but revealed to himself and the other Apostles that Gentiles were to become fellow heirs with the Jews in one body. A Gentile blessing had been a foreview of the Old Testament and was associated with the earthly Kingdom glories of Israel; but Paul’s revelation is of a new formation, into a new body, a new creation, "partakers of his promises in Christ by the Gospel," which is not found in the Old Testament. The whole passage is as follows: "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of GOD which is given me to you-ward: how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should he fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel: whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:1-11). From this passage it may be seen that the mystery, or sacred secret, concerning this age was the forming of a new body out of both Jews and Gentiles. This was the "eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Preceding this passage, the Apostle has, in Ephesians 2:11-18, not only defined the state of the Gentiles before GOD, but has made clear that, during this age, all hindrances that might arise from such distinctions have been put away that He might of the two, Jews and Gentiles, make one "new man." "Reconciling both unto God in one body by the cross." The two elements of this body, then, are Jews and Gentiles,- Gentiles that were "far off," "made nigh by the blood of Christ," and Jews that, by covenant, were "nigh," with Gentiles, "reconciled unto God in one body by the cross": "’Wherefore remember, that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made with hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:11-18). The risen and ascended CHRIST is "head over all things to the church which is his body." And they in turn are "the fullness of him that filleth all in all." This is revealed in Ephesians 1:18-23 : "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all." The accomplishment of this age purpose Paul also mentioned in connection with its time relation to the Kingdom covenanted to Israel in Romans 11:25-27 : "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." All this, it will be seen, is in complete accord with the conclusions of the council at Jerusalem: "God at the first did visit Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things" (Acts 15:1-17). This heavenly body is being formed by a process: It had a distinct time of beginning. - it could not have existed before the Cross; for it must be reconciled unto GOD by that Cross. - it could not have existed before His resurrection; for its members must partake of His resurrection life. - it could not have existed before His ascension; for it would have been a body without its Head (Ephesians 1:22-23). - it could not have existed before Pentecost; for until then there could have been no organic union by the baptism of the Spirit into one body (1 Corinthians 12:13). "The church which is his body" began to be formed at Pentecost through the new ministries of the Spirit. Believers, at that time and through the baptism of the Spirit, became an organism by virtue of a divine life indwelling all, and that life was CHRIST. This is fitly illustrated in Scripture by the figures of the vine and the branches and the head and the body. One life animates every branch of the vine and every member of the body: "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many" (1 Corinthians 12:12-14). "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another" (Romans 12:5). "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones" (Ephesians 5:30). Thus the formation of the body began at Pentecost and since that time "the Lord has added unto the church daily such as should be saved." It remains to be seen, then, that since the Lord is adding to this body, it is growing, or increasing, unto its perfection during the course of this age. Special ministry gifts, unknown in other ages, are bestowed in this age to serve at divine appointments and in divine power for a limited time, or "until" the body is completed: "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men . . . And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:7-13). This, it should be noted, is not the individual perfection of many; but rather the perfection of one body by the adding of many individuals until there is formed "the full measure of the stature of Christ." The Apostle continues with regard to the growing of this body: "But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love" (Ephesians 4:15-16). So, again, the church is said to be a growing temple eventually to reach its completion, according to another passage in the same Epistle: "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built (lit. are being built) upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:19-22). "On this rock I will build my church." The outward visible church is not equivalent to "the church which is his body." To that imperfect organization these revelations concerning organic union with CHRIST and perfection in CHRIST could hardly be applied. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 166: 09.08. THE BRIDE, THE LAMB'S WIFE ======================================================================== The Bride, The Lamb’s Wife Chapter Eight EACH of the seven figures used in the New Testament regarding the church suggest some distinct vital relationship between CHRIST and His heavenly body of people. - as sheep they are utterly dependent upon the Shepherd; - as branches they draw the vital life from the Vine; - as stones in a building they rest on the Cornerstone and are mutually dependent on one another; - as newly created beings they stand in the Last Adam, the Head of the new race; - as a Kingdom of priests they are the subjects of intercession of the High Priest and through Him receive their own priestly ministry; - as members of His body they are the visible representatives of the Head and the instruments of His manifestation and service; and - as the Bride of the Lamb they are yet to share in and manifest the ineffable glory and majesty of the Bridegroom-King. The consummation of the relationships between the Bridegroom and the Bride is still to her an anticipation yet to be realized. He has espoused her to Himself: the wedding day awaits His imminent return. It would be normal for her to be looking and longing for His return. Such an attitude is rightly to be expected where any real love for Him exists. His return, however, and the celestial union with His Bride will not await the results of the meager power of her poor love for Him. All the divine purpose in calling her out, the present tender grace expended in her behalf, like His certain return, are dependent only on His love for her. This is a "love that passeth knowledge." Here is sufficient motive to insure the accomplishment of all that the divine wisdom and power can perfect. By no less a perfection will His Bride appear in glory. She, because He is able, will be presented faultless before the presence of His glory to His own exceeding joy (Jude 1:24). That the church is to be His Bride and then, as now, the objects of His measureless love, wisdom and power is stated. in Ephesians 5:25-32 : "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself, For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church." In this passage there is reference to the church as His Body: "We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." There is also abundant reference to the church as His Bride: "I speak," Paul writes, with reference to husbands and wives, "concerning Christ and the church." He loved the church and gave Himself for it that He might present it unto Himself a glorious church. So shall she be "manifested together with him in glory." The eternal purpose of GOD in the marvels of His present saving grace is said to be for the realization of these heavenly glories. "He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love" (Ephesians 1:3). "To the praise of the glory of his grace" (Ephesians 1:6). So again the purpose of GOD as it sweeps from one eternity to the other is revealed in another Scripture: "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:6-8). He hath saved us unto good works, or service (Ephesians 2:10), and that we might not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16): but the passage quoted above seems to indicate that the primary motive of GOD in redemption is not to provide that which accrues to man; rather, He is redeeming His people in order that by them in "the ages to come" He may display the "riches of his grace" as manifested in "his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ." When this heavenly people are perfected into the "measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ," "conformed into his image," and "like him," it will be a demonstration, before all created beings, of the marvels of His grace, and upon such a scale and in such ranges of glory as will wholly satisfy Him. It is His "exceeding joy" that is in view. Salvation in CHRIST will manifest His grace; for it is by grace ye are saved. The very purpose of GOD limits the method by which it must be done. His purpose is to declare His grace and so salvation is by grace alone. Where in this marvellous declaration is there any place for human device or merit? Who would compare this revealed destiny with any that has ever been imagined by the human mind? Has not GOD so stripped man of every self-glorifying moral quality in His sight that He might, beginning with such utter nothingness, perform an incomparable display of His unmerited favor and grace? It is significant that JESUS likened the Bride, for whom He gave Himself that He might purchase her unto Himself, to a "pearl of great price," for which the merchant man sold all that he might possess it. And the very formation of the pearl is suggestive: It is said that the pearl is built up, layer upon layer, by the secretions which flow out of the wound in the side of the shell-fish inflicted by the sharp points of the minute grain of sand lodged under the shell. The pearl, though formed in the triple darkness of the shell, the mud and the sea, and never having been affected by the light of the sun, has power when brought up to the light to catch its rainbow splendor and reflect it back in all its glory. So the church, the "pearl of great price," is being formed, through the blood that flowed from His riven side, down here in the sea of the nations in this "dark age"; but "it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him." The church will then "be to the praise of the glory of his grace," "in the ages to come" shewing forth the riches of His grace and glory. "The Lamb is the light thereof." Referring again to the conclusions of the council at Jerusalem (Acts 15:13-18), it is there stated that a Gentile company is being called out for His name. The "name" when used to designate Deity seems to carry with it the thought of the Person - "Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them." So this body of people thus called out may be said to be a people for His Person. As the Bride is for the person of the Bridegroom, so the church is for the Person of her Lord. This is especially disclosed in John 14:1-3. "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me. 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, that where I am, there ye may be also." From this passage it will be seen that the Bride of the Lamb does not occupy any mansion in the Father’s house: He is preparing a place for her and as certainly will come again and receive her, not into the mansions, but unto Himself. He loved the church and gave Himself for it that He might purchase it unto Himself. "That where I am there ye may be also." "Father, I will that they also may be with me where I am." "And so shall we ever be with the Lord." "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." - to Israel He is Messiah, Immanuel and King - the covenants and destinies of Israel are all earthly - to the church He is Lord, Head and Bridegroom - the covenants and destinies of the church are all heavenly. As Bride and consort the church will rightfully share with Him His reign (1 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 5:10; Revelation 20:6). The purpose of this age, evidently, is not to form a Kingdom by securing subjects of the King: it is the calling out and perfecting into His very image those who will be co-reigners with Him in His yet future Kingdom. The queen is never a. subject of the king: her place is to share with him his authority and glory and to rest in the bosom of the Bridegroom in the palace of the king. All the mansions in the Father’s house will be occupied. In Hebrews 12:22-24 the inhabitants of Heaven are recorded. In this passage it will be noted that there are both "angels" and the "spirits of just men made perfect" in addition to "the church of the first born": "But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Here are seen the redeemed of all the ages in Heaven; but not all are of the church. The "innumerable company of angels," and the "spirits of just men made perfect" are mentioned as separate from, but accompanying "the church of the first born": Here is room for the saints of all the ages who may occupy the "many mansions" without necessarily including the "Bride of the Lamb" as an undistinguished part of that whole company; for it is said of her, "I go to prepare a place for you." Even John the Baptist, who was certainly of the Old Testament order, must designate himself as "the friend of the Bridegroom": "He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom: but the friend of the Bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the Bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled" (John 3:29). Abraham, too, was called "the friend of God" (Luke 13:28-30). A real wedding feast, the feast of the ages, would hardly be attended by the Bridegroom and Bride alone. Every element of it feast of such a character we are thus assured will be represented; but it is also clear that one seat will be reserved on His right for His spotless Bride. Certainly it is not necessary to conclude that saints of other ages are excluded from Heaven, or from the Kingdom of GOD, because they are nowhere represented as organically related to the Body and Bride of CHRIST. To merge all the redeemed into one company, or to neglect the distinctions of Scripture, is to do violence to very much of divine revelation. The church is seen typically, though not directly, in the Old Testament. - She, as a royal priesthood, is foreshadowed in the priesthood of the Old Testament; as a new generation, or race, she is the antitype of that first race which began and fell in Adam; - she is the present tabernacle of GOD, His present abode in the Spirit; - she constitutes the true branches of the True Vine; and the sheep that know His voice and will not follow the voice of a stranger. The church is that body formed out of the wound of the side of her living Head, as Eve was formed from Adam. The bride of Isaac typified the church as did the Brides of other marriage unions recorded in the Old Testament. When Isaac was forty years of age Abraham, fearing lest he might marry some woman of the land, sent his trusted servant, far away into the old home country to secure a bride for Isaac. When he had made the long journey he was divinely led to select Rebecca to whom that strange offer was to he made. She was asked to go with him, a servant she had never known, to a country she had never seen, to a land from which she would never return, and become the bride of a man she had never met. Truly this was a most unusual request; but she was able to say, "I will go." Then was placed before her some real tokens of Isaac’s wealth as foretastes of that inheritance. She decided her future course and lot wholly on the urgent appeal and description given by the servant of Abraham, They began the long journey back, and she did not know whether to go north, or south, east, or west; she must be wholly led by this servant in whom so much confidence had been imposed. As they journeyed during the many days it can be easily believed that he never lost an opportune moment to picture to her new attractions and beauties in the prince Isaac to whom she journeyed. At last she lifted her eyes and exclaimed with a cry of delight: "What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us?" And the last ministry of that faithful servant was to witness: "It is my master." She sprang down from the beast and ran to meet him and no more blessed marriage union is recorded in all the records of the Old Testament. GOD the Father, typified in Abraham in various ways (see Genesis 22:1-14), sent His Servant, the Holy Spirit to call out a Bride for His well-beloved Son. The Servant does not speak of Himself (John 16:13), but glorifies the Son before our eyes, and if we can say: "whom having not seen ye love," there is given unto us an earnest of our coming inheritance and glory with Him (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:14). How little we then know of Our pilgrim journey! But, "as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God." And while we thus journey that faithful Guide does not cease to unfold the riches of grace and glory that meet in JESUS our Lord (John 16:12-15), and the day is not far away, we believe, when we shall lift our eyes and exclaim, "Who comes yonder?" and the final ministry of our Guide will be to present us to Him without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, "and so shall we ever be with the Lord." No human thought needs to be added to GOD’s own description of the blessed estate of those He is now calling out and redeeming by His Blood as they will appear glorified together with Him: "And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life. And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 21:8-27; Revelation 22:1-5). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 167: 09.09. THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY ======================================================================== The Mystery Of Iniquity Chapter Nine THE term "Kingdom of heaven" may rightfully be applied to any phase of the divine government in the earth. It has already passed through several distinct stages as recorded in history. GOD ruled through the patriarchs, judges and kings of Israel. The last rightful King of that nation was crowned with thorns. His rejection and crucifixion was the closing of the past dispensation and the grounds of blessing in the new age. Even before the Cross His rejection was foreseen and the rejected King began from that time to speak of His death, the new dawning age, and of His return to this earth in power and glory. Then the rejected and postponed Kingdom blessings were to be realized for Israel and all Gentile nations through them. All this, even His rejection and the delay in the earthly Kingdom, was in the foreknowledge and plan of GOD. CHRIST, as foreseen by prophets, was pictured in the figure of the coming "Lamb" sacrifice to be slain, as well as in the figure of the coming "Lion" King to reign; though the larger proportion of prophecy concerned itself with the latter. The prophets uttered these conflicting themes; they saw the sufferings and the glory; they did not comprehend the centuries of this church age that were to intervene. They saw the mountain peaks, but not the expanse of the valley of this age of grace. It pleased GOD to keep this period of time and its purpose as a sacred secret, or mystery, until the time of its realization. It is imperative that this fact should be understood, else an approach to Scriptural knowledge of the Kingdom program is impossible. CHRIST treated the present unannounced age as a sacred secret, or mystery, demanding explanation. Since His revelatory discussions on the subject it, like all other New Testament mysteries, remains no longer a mystery when explained. The preview of the facts of this mystery age are given in the seven parables of the thirteenth chapter of Matthew. It is also significant that this revelation of a new unforeseen age should follow immediately upon the first evidence of His rejection as Messiah King. These parables reveal the elements and conditions which characterize this age and which had been withheld in the councils of GOD. They are therefore spoken of as "the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 13:11), and this whole age may be rightfully termed "the Kingdom of Heaven in its mystery form." These parables treat of the beginning, course and end of the age which was then wholly future, but much of which has been faithfully fulfilled in the history of the Christian era. The present period will therefore be seen to be that in which the Kingdom of Heaven in its mystery form is manifested and the divine unfolding of these mysteries to be a revelation of the present divine government and purposes in the earth. There are various other mysteries in the New Testament, some of which lend contributing elements to the one all-inclusive mystery age. Those New Testament mysteries which are related to the Kingdom in its present form may be classified into three groups, each group representing a distinct purpose of GOD in the present age: First, Israel’s present position and age-long blindness is said to be a mystery: "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn a way ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant with them when I shall take away their sins" (Romans 11:25-27). Second, The church is involved in four mysteries: (a) As the body now being formed out of both Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 3:1-10; Romans 16:25; Ephesians 6:19; Colossians 4:3). (b) As the Bride of CHRIST (Ephesians 5:28-32). (c) As an organism by virtue of the indwelling CHRIST (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:26-27). (d) As to the manner of her departure from this earth (1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Third, The present age manifestation of the "mystery of iniquity" (2 Thessalonians 2:7; Matthew 13:33; Revelation 17:5; Revelation 17:7). The central passage of this aspect of truth is here given: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked (one) be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:3-10). Paul, standing at the threshold of the new age, could say, "the mystery of iniquity doth already work." He then declares that this will continue until its culmination in the "wicked one," the "man of sin." This permitted development of the whole course of evil, he shows, will be under divine restraint in order that it may be consummated at the exact time divinely predetermined. Thus Israel’s present blindness, the out-calling of the church and the final manifestations of evil will all be concluded in age-ending scenes; and these, taken together, form the distinguishing elements of the entire mystery age. Iniquity had a definite beginning; it runs a well defined course; it comes to a predicted end. It has been the evident purpose of GOD to put every assumption of Satan and fallen man to an experimental test. This was illustrated in the case of Job. GOD did not deny the challenge of Satan as to the faithfulness of Job; He rather gave Satan authority to make full trial. Another plan might have been easier for Job, but we must believe that enough was gained by the trial to warrant the plan. The experimental trial on the part of GOD of all issues flowing out of any challenge of the Creator on the part of the creature, explains, in part, the various testings of the ages. Much suffering and sorrow might have been averted had sin been wholly crushed at its beginning, but again we must believe that much more has been gained by the long delayed termination of evil. From the above passage it would seem that evil would have long concluded its own course in the lawlessness of fallen hearts had its natural energy not been restrained. It has been restrained, we are led to believe by the evidence, that the Body and Bride of CHRIST may be made complete. The end of this age is outlined in an important body of Scripture which is found in portions of Old Testament prophecies, of the Gospels, and is a large portion of the writings of the second Epistles and Revelation. In all these records the disclosures concerning persons, times and events are in perfect agreement, though found in such widely separated sources, and to ignore them, or to form different conclusions than those which they predict, discredits the validity of the testimony of the one inspiring Spirit. The age is to end with a tribulation period which is not difficult to distinguish, chiefly from the fact that it is spoken of as the incomparable sorrow upon the earth: "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened" (Matthew 24:21-22). "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book" (Daniel 12:1). "A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been even the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations" (Joel 2:2). "And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it" (Jeremiah 30:4-7). Three distinct divine purposes may be discovered in this tribulation time. The passages here referred to are of great importance, but cannot be quoted in full: First, It is the time of "Jacob’s trouble." Special and final judgments upon the chosen people, which have long been foretold, will end their agelong afflictions (Jeremiah 25:29-38; Jeremiah 30:4-7; Ezekiel 30:3; Daniel 12:1; Amos 5:18-20; Obadiah 1:15-21; Zephaniah 1:7-18; Zechariah 12:1-14; Zechariah 14:1-3; Malachi 4:1-4; Matthew 24:9-31; Hebrews 7:13-14). Second, This period will be a time when judgment will fall on the Gentile nations and the sin of the whole earth (Job 21:30; Psalms 2:5; Isaiah 2:10-22; Isaiah 13:9-16; Isaiah 24:21-23; Isaiah 26:20-21; Isaiah 34:1-9; Isaiah 63:1-6; Isaiah 66:15-24; Jeremiah 25:29-38; Ezekiel 30:3; Joel 3:9-21; Zechariah 12:1-14; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 3:10; Revelation 11:1-19, Revelation 12:1-17, Revelation 13:1-18, Revelation 14:1-20, Revelation 15:1-8, Revelation 16:1-21, Revelation 17:1-18, Revelation 18:1-24). Third, This time is also characterized by the appearance and reign of the "Man of Sin" whose career, like the period in which he appears, cannot begin until the divine restraint is removed (2 Thessalonians 2:6-10), and will end with the return of CHRIST coming in "power and great glory" (2 Thessalonians 2:8). This world-ruler is the fitting manifestation of the last efforts of Satan in his opposition against GOD and his attempted self-exaltation above the Most High. Again, The church is nowhere seen nor in any way related to the tribulation period, which is constantly represented and distinctly said to be the time of "Jacob’s trouble." There is great salvation during the tribulation and a mighty harvest of saints from it are seen in the glory, even a multitude which no man can number (Revelation 7:9-17). It does not follow that these are a part of "the church which is his body" any more than that the saints of the Old Testament are a part of that body: rather the church is to be saved out of the hour of trial that shall come upon the earth to try all men (Revelation 3:10). Not only is this true in Old Testament types (judgment cannot fall on Sodom until Lot and his family are removed) but the tribulation is not once mentioned in the Epistles wherein the instruction and warnings are given to the church, nor does the church or the first resurrection appear in those passages which are descriptive of the tribulation. In the reckoning of GOD, most evidently, the tribulation, or time of Jacob’s trouble, does not concern the church. The character of the tribulation and its terrible display of the wrath of GOD is described in the successive judgments predicted in Revelation 6:1-17, Revelation 7:1-17, Revelation 8:1-13, Revelation 9:1-21, Revelation 10:1-11, Revelation 11:1-19, Revelation 12:1-17, Revelation 13:1-18, Revelation 14:1-20, Revelation 15:1-8, Revelation 16:1-21, Revelation 17:1-18, Revelation 18:1-24, Revelation 19:1-21, but of the church it is said, "we are not appointed unto wrath" (1 Thessalonians 5:9; see also Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:10). To contend that the church must pass through that unprecedented period virtually destroys every promise of His imminent return; for in such a case the church to be consistent must have her eyes on earth condition: when she is rather enjoined to be looking for her Lord from Heaven. By such a theory the blessed hope is lost. So, also, the very martyrdom of loyal saints, in that period (Revelation 13:15), would render groundless any hope for the translation of living saints at its end. And so, again, much that is most precious in church truth is confused and lost when related to "the time of Jacob’s trouble." As the Lord appears from Heaven in power and great glory (Revelation 19:11), He is accompanied by the armies of Heaven, their identity being revealed by the white linen they wear (cf. Revelation 19:14 with Revelation 19:7-10). At some previous time, the Bride has met the Bridegroom, else how could she thus return with Him to reign? Is there not a danger in all this of saying, "My Lord delayeth his coming"? The beginning, course and end of evil may be traced in four crises in the career of Satan. Sin began with him before recorded time when he said within the secret of his heart, "I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:14). It began as an assumption against GOD and a purpose to be like Him as an independent being, to gain the worship of other beings, and the authority and government that belongs to GOD alone. Satan’s sin appears again when he met the first man and woman in the garden. Here he pressed upon them the secret purpose of his own heart and the motive of his own action when he said, "be as gods." In the fall which has followed that choice we have a race wholly independent of GOD, assuming self-sufficiency, self-seeking and self-worship. The satanic principle of assumption toward GOD is therefore the present attitude of the fallen nature in its relation to GOD. Again, Satan met the last Adam in the wilderness. There was no occasion there for him to advise the Lord of Glory to assume to be GOD. Satan knew full well that He was Very GOD; yet his own heart’s passion could not be restrained, for he said, "worship me." In the permissive providence of GOD, and under the evident experimental test of the mighty assumptions of Satan, the whole course of evil with its human governments and independence of GOD has developed. It was at work at the beginning of the age. It is to have its final manifestation and defeat at the end of the age. The last permitted demonstration of this timeless purpose of Satan will be by his masterpiece the world-ruling, world-worshipped "Man of Sin" sitting in the restored temple and declaring himself to be very GOD (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). CHRIST warns those of His own nation who will be alive at the time of those terrible scenes that this "abomination of desolation," sitting in the holy place, is a sign of the end and that the testing of evil by the Lord will then be consummated (Matthew 24:15). To Daniel was given the vision of the course and end of the entire Gentile world period extending from the last captivity until the setting up of the covenanted Kingdom in the earth. He also sees the final form of iniquity as gathered up in the reign of the "Little Horn" (Daniel 7:8; Daniel 7:20-26; Daniel 8:24-25; Daniel 9:26-27) and the "willful king" (Daniel 11:36-45; Daniel 12:11). Ezekiel sees the same world-ruler as the "Prince of Tyrus" (Ezekiel 28:1-10), and there closely related to Satan as the "King of Tyrus" (Ezekiel 28:11-19). CHRIST speaks of him, quoting from Daniel, as the "Abomination of Desolation" (Matthew 24:15; Daniel 9:27), and, again, as the one who will come in his own name (John 5:43). John sees him as the rider on the white horse (Revelation 6:2), and the "Beast" (Revelation 13:4; Revelation 13:10). Paul sees him as the "Man of Sin" (2 Thessalonians 2:3). In all these prophecies this coming one is set forth as being the superlative representation of Satan’s power and the incarnate realization of his timeless secret purpose. Satan offered all his world power and authority to CHRIST in the wilderness (Luke 4:5-6), but it was rejected. This world power will be received and administered by the "Man of Sin" during the closing scenes of the age. It is not possible in the space allowed here, nor is it germane to the purpose of this book, to trace the details of revelation regarding the tribulation and the "Man of Sin." This has been faithfully done by others and to some extent in the author’s previous work, "Satan." It may be concluded that the final demonstration of Satan’s claim, with its certain failure, will prove him to have utterly failed in his ultimate aim, and then will every mouth be closed before the GOD of the whole earth. The righteous judgments of GOD against all wickedness, assumption and blasphemy will be accepted and His ways, which are past finding out, will be vindicated. "The mystery of iniquity doth already work," but it must proceed to its determined end and this mighty development of evil is one of the divine purposes of the entire period of this mystery age. GOD incarnate in the Son is a New Testament mystery (1 Timothy 3:16), and Satan, seeking to be as GOD, and incarnate in the "Man of Sin" will, in that being, execute the final manifestation of the age-long "mystery of iniquity." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 168: 09.10. THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ======================================================================== The Mysteries Of The Kingdom Of Heaven Chapter Ten UNTO Daniel, a prophet of the exile, was given the vision of the course of the whole Gentile period extending from the last captivity to the second coming of CHRIST,- that period spoken of in Scripture as "the times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24). Daniel forecasts the movements of the successive Gentile world powers during this period. He first interprets King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2:37-45) as descriptive of four successive world powers. The same is again revealed in Daniel’s dream (Daniel 7:1-28) by the vision of four beasts, and again in the dream as recorded in Daniel 8:1-27. By all these revelations the Gentile world governments then in view and which are to occupy the power and authority during the "times of the Gentiles," are seen to be Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. The latter of these is seen to be divided and subdivided as are the legs and toes of the great image, thus anticipating the present division of that territory as gathered about the two centers, Constantinople and Rome and the final ten governments yet to hold sway simultaneously on the original Roman empire. Daniel also sees the same period as continuing seventy weeks of years, or heptads (Daniel 9:24-27). In this vision this Gentile time of seventy heptads is divided into two distinct periods. - one, the time before the "cutting off" of Messiah, in other words, the rejection of CHRIST; and - the other, the time after that event. Sixty-nine weeks, or heptads, were required for the fulfillment of the first period. This began with Daniel’s time, or when the edict to restore Jerusalem was sent forth, and ended with the cutting off of Messiah. This was exactly fulfilled in the 483 years (69 x 7) before CHRIST. As the prophets in their foreview evidently took no account of time during which Israel was to be cut off from national blessings, the present church age, which began with the Cross of CHRIST and ends at an unrevealed time, is in no instance considered in their foreview, and the remaining moments of the prophesied time will not be counted off until this mystery age of the church has been completed. The remaining predicted period, the seventieth week, or heptad, which is the time of the great tribulation (Daniel 9:27) has yet to run its course to complete the whole time required to "finish transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." Thus it would seem clear that a period of seven years (shortened a little, Matthew 24:22) will follow the present unpredicted period of the out-calling of the church and precede the setting up of Messiah’s Kingdom. Notwithstanding the fact that the mystery age of the church did not come into the prophet’s view, the time of the final heptad, or period of seven, was seen to be much delayed; for it was given to him to understand "what shall befall thy people in the latter days; for yet the vision is for many days." Daniel sees the entire period of the "times of the Gentiles" extending from the captivity, through 483 years to the Cross, and on beyond to the dateless coming of the "Ancient of Days" and the setting up of a Kingdom by the GOD of Heaven which shall never be destroyed. "It shall break in pieces and consume all other Kingdoms and it shall stand for ever" (Daniel 2:44-45; Daniel 7:13-14). The portion of "the times of the Gentiles" following the Cross, including as it does the church age, is clearly indefinite aside from the events assigned to Daniel’s last "week" (comp. Daniel 9:26 with Matthew 24:6-14). This, as might be expected, is the divine method of accurately forecasting Israel’s future while reserving any clear light on the sacred secret of this mystery age. There was no secret regarding the "times of the Gentiles," with the attending present position of Israel in the world; but hidden within that era is a briefer period, "the fullness of the Gentiles" (Romans 11:25) about which nothing had been revealed. It is the church that is the "fullness of him that filleth all in all," and that body completed is the "perfect stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 1:23; Ephesians 4:13; Acts 15:13-14; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13). It is clear, therefore, that a mystery age has been thrust, as a parenthesis, into that which had been previously revealed for the fulfillment of the purpose of GOD. The moral character of this mystery age at its beginning, like its moral development and end are clearly presented in the New Testament. At the very beginning the inspired writers spoke of it as an evil age: "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world" (age, Galatians 1:4). "And be not conformed to this world" (age, Romans 12:2). "For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world" (age, 2 Timothy 4:10). "In whom the god of this world (age) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" (2 Corinthians 4:4). So the church was fully warned from the beginning as to this age, and taught concerning her pilgrim character while here and her holy calling and separateness from the "evil age." A portion of the time during which Israel was to be dispersed and deprived of national blessing had been divinely accounted for by the "seventy weeks" revelation given to Daniel. The fact and purpose of this present mystery age was not mentioned in this revelation; hence there was need that this sacred secret should be revealed when its time had fully come. This JESUS does in the seven parables of Matthew 13:1-58, it being ever GOD’s method to give a foreview of all His great purposes and undertakings. The course and moral development of this age is here divinely presented in these parables and this, together with Daniel’s seventy weeks, completes the revelation with respect to the entire period known as "the times of the Gentiles." In these parables this parenthetical age covering the timeless period between Daniel’s sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks is treated as the mystery form of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the government of GOD over a period of various mystery purposes in the earth, to wit; the continued blindness of Israel throughout the age, the consummation, at the end, of all forms of evil, and the out-calling of the Church. Each of the age-characterizing mysteries is said to be terminated by the same event. The blindness of Israel, mentioned in Romans 11:25, is followed by the promise: "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out or Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins" (Romans 11:25-27). So the career of the "Man of Sin," who is said to be the consummation of the "mystery of iniquity," is ended thus: "whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming" (2 Thessalonians 2:8). So, also, it is written concerning the completion of the calling out of the church: "After this I will return" (Acts 15:13-16). These great sacred secrets, it will be noticed, constitute the very elements in the parables which define the character and object of the age. In the first of the parables a sower goes forth to sow; but only a fourth part of the seed thus sown comes to full development. The parable is interpreted by CHRIST and so permits of no speculation: "Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When anyone heareth the word of the Kingdom. and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he that received seed by the wayside. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation and persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty" (Matthew 13:18-23). In full agreement with experience during the past nineteen hundred years of Christian history the parable teaches that a great portion of those to whom the Word is preached are not saved by it, and lest it might be concluded by His hearers that, while this was the condition at the beginning of the age it would not be so at the end, the second parable, that of the wheat and the tares, immediately follows. This, like the first, is interpreted by CHRIST Himself and its meaning is made plain: "He answered and said unto them, He that sowed the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the Kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world (age); and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of the world (age). The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Matthew 13:37-43). In this parable the born-again ones, the members of His Body, are seen as the "wheat," or the "children of God" amidst the whole sphere of religious profession and assumption. It is important to note the age-closing scenes according to this interpretation: "So shall it be in the end of the age." Certainly this does not depict a regenerated world. It clearly pictures an out-called people together with the full ripening of iniquity in the unregenerate portion of humanity. The third parable is not interpreted, nor is any following it explained; but enough has been revealed by the two interpretations to form a key to all that follow. They present aspects of the Kingdom of Heaven in the one mystery form and so must be in fullest agreement. In the third parable He presents truth through the figure of the mustard seed and tree. Again the testimony of history and the teaching of the parable agree. The very small beginning in the early days of the church has developed out of all due proportion in mere members and includes all professing Christendom. The great tree now shelters even the birds of the air. It is significant that the birds of the first parable are represented as catching away the good seed. The truly saved ones are still a "little flock" compared with the multitude of nominal church supporters. The fourth parable is of the three measures of meal which all became leavened. Throughout the Bible leaven symbolizes evil, and JESUS fully defined His use of the word on other occasions. He used the word to represent evil doctrine to the extent of formality (Matthew 23:14; Matthew 23:16; Matthew 23:23-28), unbelief (Matthew 22:23; Matthew 22:29; Mark 8:15), and worldliness (Matthew 22:16-21; Mark 3:6). Paul uses the same word with reference to "malice and wickedness" (1 Corinthians 5:6-8). Its process of working is by a subtle permeating of the mass into which it is introduced. This much misunderstood parable teaches, in accord with the other parables and all related Scripture, that which has proven to be consonant with experience in the history of the age, namely, that even the true believers, and certainly the mass of professors, will be sadly influenced by these various forms of evil. There can be no question but that this has been true to the present hour. The fifth parable is evidently a teaching concerning Israel, His "treasure" (Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 4:20), including all the tribes, hid in the field, which is the world. When He shall call forth His "treasure" it will be by virtue of the fact that He hath, as the Lamb of GOD, taken away the sins of the world. One, we are told, sold all and purchased that field. What the Lord may do now, or at any time in behalf of any people, will be because of the atoning value of the priceless blood of His Son. The Only Begotten Son was given for the world. The mystery of the church, the pearl of great price, as set forth in the sixth parable, has already been considered. She is not now hid in the field, the world; but is being formed there, and is awaiting her coming glory when, in the ages to come, she shall display His glory and grace. She too is redeemed at the same priceless cost (1 Peter 1:18). The last parable restates the fact of the outworking of the two great mysteries,- the out-called church and the mystery of iniquity, as co-existing to the time of the end. The good fish shall be gathered into vessels and the bad shall be cast away. "So shall it be in the end of the age." Thus the three great mysteries of this mystery age were related in the teachings of JESUS to the beginning, course and end of the present age. The following Scriptures give added light on the thought and expectation of CHRIST and the apostles concerning the course and end of this age: "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows" (Matthew 24:4-8). "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matthew 24:37). "I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22). "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" (1 Timothy 4:1). "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come" (2 Timothy 3:1). "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived" (2 Timothy 3:13). "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Timothy 4:3-4). "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (2 Peter 3:4). To this may be added the other parables of JESUS regarding the Kingdom in its mystery form and the whole divinely given history of the church as reviewed in Revelation 2:1-29, Revelation 3:1-22. So, also, the more detailed description of the age-ending scenes as given by Daniel and in Revelation 4:1-11, Revelation 5:1-14, Revelation 6:1-17, Revelation 7:1-17, Revelation 8:1-13, Revelation 9:1-21, Revelation 10:1-11, Revelation 11:1-19, Revelation 12:1-17, Revelation 13:1-18, Revelation 14:1-20, Revelation 15:1-8, Revelation 16:1-21, Revelation 17:1-18, Revelation 18:1-24, Revelation 19:1-21, Revelation 20:1-3. There is an age of universal blessing coming upon the earth; but it is in no way represented in Scripture to be any part, or product, of this mystery age. On the other hand, it is revealed that it will be ushered in by the same divine movements that form the closing scenes of this age. The impelling motive of the service of saints at the present time must be nothing less than the world-wide testimony to the Gospel of GOD’s grace through which CHRIST may finish the gathering out of a people for His name (person) and soon complete His Bride. The great soul-winners of past generations have been actuated by this vision and purpose, and there could hardly be a ministry in the mind and power of the Spirit that did not wholly agree with the revealed purpose of GOD in the present mystery age. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 169: 09.11. THE CALL OF THE BRIDEGROOM ======================================================================== The Call Of The Bridegroom Chapter Eleven IMMEDIATELY before His death JESUS delivered two great discourses which served to culminate His teaching ministry. Though spoken at about the same time and to the same disciples there is the widest difference between them. One, "The Olivet discourse" (Matthew 24:4-51; Matthew 25:1-46, and Luke 21:20-24), was spoken from the very Mount of Olives where His feet shall stand when He returns to the earth (Zechariah 14:4). In this discourse only His own nation Israel is in view, and His instruction to them is of the events leading up to, and accompanying, His coming to the world in mighty judgments as King of kings and Lord of lords, and of the establishment, at that time, of the long delayed earthly Kingdom. These great events had been before the eyes of prophets and seers from Moses to CHRIST, and will fulfill all covenants and promises for Israel including a world-wide Gentile blessing through them. This discourse naturally appears in the Gospel of the King, and completes the testimony committed to Matthew. The other closing discourse was given in the upper room and continued on the way to the garden (John 13:1-38; John 14:1-31; John 15:1-27; John 16:1-33; John 17:1-26). The subjects He presents to the disciples are those blessings that flow out of His death and resurrection; for here He speaks as though His Cross was an accomplished fact. Thus the disciples are not now addressed as of the nation Israel; but as of the heavenly company who, by that Cross, have come into heavenly union with Him (John 14:20). Matthew records that John the Baptist announced JESUS as King: - John records that he announced JESUS as "The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." Matthew has a nation in view, with its covenanted earthly Kingdom: - John has the individual in view, with the heavenly glory of the Bride of CHRIST. In Matthew’s Gospel the coming judgments and sorrows of earth with the following earthly glory are in view. - In John’s presentation the sacrificial atoning judgments of the Cross and the heavenly glory are in view. In the one, the return of the King to the earth is presented: in the other, the call of the Bridegroom when He shall receive His Bride from the earth into the mansion He has gone to prepare is recorded. One discourse is addressed to and concerns Israel in the earth: the other is addressed to and concerns the born-again ones of all nations who, by His grace, are already citizens of Heaven. Each writer draws from the doings and teachings of CHRIST the particular materials required to present the picture divinely assigned to him. No event, unless it be the Cross, is more emphasized in Scripture than the personal return of CHRIST to this earth. This truth occupies at least one verse in twenty of the New Testament, and is not only the subject of the last words of JESUS to His own in the world, but is the subject of the closing words and promise of the Bible itself. John, who had been with JESUS on earth and in the glory, who had heard His promise to return again and who, in the Spirit, had witnessed those representations of the age-closing scenes as recorded in the Revelation, could say in answer to that final promise of CHRIST: "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." John certainly had all the facts before him, and if any child of GOD does not find the same response in his heart to the last promise of JESUS would it not be well to discover the unhappy cause? The general fact of a return of CHRIST has, of necessity, found its way into all evangelical creeds; but individual readers who have hesitated to believe the literal promises of unfulfilled prophecy, have invented numerous interpretations of this body of Scripture. As must follow, every false interpretation utterly fails, at some point or points, to adequately deal with all the facts of revelation. If CHRIST’s promised return was fulfilled at Pentecost by the coming of the Spirit then the two Persons of the Godhead are confused and every New Testament writer is found to be a false witness in that they each, writing long after Pentecost, presented the return of CHRIST as a then future event. If His return is said to be fulfilled in the death of a believer, because of the fact that he then goes to be with CHRIST, there is a sad ignoring of every predicted event accompanying that return and a hopeless confusion of what the Scriptures call the "last enemy" and "the blessed hope." If His return is represented as fulfilled by the results of evangelization, on the ground that CHRIST is said to come into the life of every saved one, then a process has been substituted for that which in Scripture is said to be visible, sudden and personal, and every recorded circumstance and event accompanying His return has been ignored, or forgotten. If He is to return only after a millennium of a saved and sanctified earth, ushered in by the present form of Christian ministry and service, the numerous injunctions to be personally "watching," "waiting," "looking" and "loving" could well be taken as irony in the light of the fact that even a tendency toward such a man-made millennium is not discernible after two thousand years of GOD’s dealings in grace with the children of men. If Satan, "loosed a little season" (Revelation 20:3), can utterly spoil a full ripened millennium, what human agency can hope to establish that millennium while Satan still usurps the throne of this world (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)? Scripture plainly predicts the sudden and violent imprisonment of that mighty age-ruler by the power of the returning CHRIST before any universal Kingdom blessings can be secured on the earth (Revelation 19:11-21; Revelation 20:1-3; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10). It is not at all a question of whether the Holy Spirit, now present in the world, could bind Satan and set up a Kingdom in the earth, nor is it belittling to the work of the Spirit to point out that this is not the revealed purpose: rather, the whole question turns, and turns only on what the revealed purpose of GOD is, which purpose must be determined in the light of every promise and event contained in the whole body of Scripture. A system of interpretation which does not account for every detail of revelation fails, in so far as it does not so account, to expose the meaning of the Word of GOD. If the same liberty were taken in the interpretation of redemptive truth that is often taken in prophetic truth, the doors would be instantly flung open to every soul-destroying heresy of the present time. The thoughtful reader of Scripture has observed that the passages usually supposed to relate to the return of CHRIST naturally gather into two classes, or groups, totally different as to time, purpose and events. In one class of passages it is not represented that CHRIST will appear on the earth, or to any but His own redeemed people. These passages affirm that at this appearing the bodies of sleeping saints will come forth from the graves and, together with saints living on the earth, are to be caught up to meet Him in the air and thus are to be forever with the Lord. In the other class of passages, His return is to the earth, visibly, suddenly, in power and great glory, accompanied with the national judgments and followed by the setting up of His kingdom in the earth. In this group of prophecies the Lord is seen to bring a mighty army of redeemed with Him and they are to share with Him His kingly reign. Very much must yet be fulfilled, according to Scripture, before the events connected with the visible return of CHRIST to the earth are to occur (2 Thessalonians 2:1-10). In contradistinction, however, no prophecy remains unfulfilled which in its order precedes the coming into the air to call for His own (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), other than that the outgathered Bride shall have made herself ready; and, therefore, that coming to call His own is the next event in the prophetic program. Of that day and hour no man could know; but all generations of saints have been instructed to "watch," "wait," "look," "love" and "be ready." These words are descriptive of the attitude of heart of a Bride awaiting the return of the one on whom all her life and love is centered. Especially would this be true if she knew not the day nor hour when he would return. This call of the Bridegroom for His Bride is an event that should never have been considered even as an aspect of the second coming of CHRIST. It is a mystery, or sacred secret, and, as such, is but a part of the whole mystery of the Body and Bride of CHRIST. It is only one item in the program of the out-calling and final gathering of the church. No revelation had been given to the Old Testament prophets of that great age purpose, and certainly no hint had been made as to the manner in which she would be taken out of the earth into her heavenly bliss. On the other hand, the return of CHRIST to the earth in power and glory was seen by all the prophets from Moses to CHRIST. They beheld it as the consummation of all earthly blessings. The one, revealed only when the time for explaining the mystery was ripe, concerns a redeemed and heavenly people as to the manner of their final departure from this world: the other, foreseen by all the prophets, concerns Israel and the nations as to their judgments and final positions in a Kingdom on the earth. Of the first event it is written: "Behold, I shew you a mystery; Ye shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). This mystery, that not all should die, but that some should be changed "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump," was never before revealed. So again in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 : "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." The dead in CHRIST will be raised first and the living saints caught up, and together they shall all go on in clouds to meet the Lord in the air (see Genesis 5:24; 2 Kings 2:11) and to be forever with the Lord. In the two passages quoted above Paul, by the use of the pronoun "we," has five times included himself as possibly to be among the living ones at the time of the Lord’s call for His Bride. This precludes a doubt as to the belief of the great Apostle in the imminent, personal, premillennial return of CHRIST. This hope was evidently his greatest motive for true character and service. So it has been to the great missionaries and soulwinners since his day. A great moral effect was divinely intended in the promise of the imminent appearing of CHRIST. The church that has lost hope to the extent that she could say, "My Lord delayeth his corning," has soon been drunk with the wine of this world. It was this blessed expectation that was intended to teach us that, "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:12-13). Only an apostate age could doubt this promise, Peter tells us: "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (2 Peter 3:3-4). The eternal blessings of seeing His face and the reunion with loved ones gone before are by this hope but a moment removed. It is therefore the "blessed hope" and the comforting hope. We did not turn to GOD from idols to serve the living and true GOD and to wait for death; but rather to "wait for his Son from heaven" (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). How natural for one who has really come to love Him to also "love his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8) above all the things of earth. The sweetest experiences foreshadowed in the bridal unions of the Old Testament and those experiences which are anticipated in the New Testament await that unannounced, signless and timeless summons to be forever at rest in His bosom of love: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 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; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:1-3). "I know not when the Lord will come, Or at what hour He may appear. Whether at midnight, or at morn, Or at what season of the year. I only know that He is near, And that His voice I soon shall hear." If the pastor is mourning over the cold, unspiritual condition of his church, let him consider the warm, glowing love and devoted service that has always accompanied the right understanding of this "blessed hope." If the church is given to carelessness and worldliness, let him recall that for this there has been provided the "purifying hope." As under-shepherds shall we not go down on our faces before GOD and there question whether we have been giving these dependent ones their "meat in due season"? ======================================================================== CHAPTER 170: 09.12. THE OLIVET DISCOURSE ======================================================================== The Olivet Discourse Chapter Twelve IT has pleased the Spirit to present in the Gospel by Matthew the final revelations of the Kingdom. These begin with the birth of the King, follow through His rejection, picture the mystery form of the Kingdom, and predict the return of the King to the earth, the sphere of the Kingdom of Heaven. Like the Old Testament prophets, this Kingdom traces only the movements of Israel, her failures, her sorrows, and her coming blessings under the reign of her returning Messiah King. In this Gospel the church appears incidentally as one of the several mysteries of a mystery age. In this body of Scripture the walk and destiny of the church are not once in view. The events leading up to the realization of the Kingdom in the earth are given by Matthew in their exact order. - he begins with the lineage and birth of the King. - this is followed by the announcement by the King, by John the Baptist and by the disciples, of the Kingdom as at hand, with a call for the great predicted national repentance. - during this season of the offered Kingdom, the King announces the principles of righteousness that must obtain when the Kingdom comes. He teaches them to pray: "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Revelation 11:1-30 records the first evidence of the rejection of the King,- the imprisonment of His forerunner. From this time the Jews take counsel to kill the King and the national rejection of His kingly claims is seen to deepen, as He faithfully continues to offer Himself, until their final answer to that offer is His crucifixion by the rulers of the nation. Yet even after His ascension, the unmeasured grace of GOD is seen in the final renewal of the Kingdom offer to that nation through the Apostle Peter in his second sermon in Jerusalem. Peter begins by declaring that GOD’s Covenants will all be fulfilled, and that the death of CHRIST was anticipated by the prophets, and is now accomplished. He presents CHRIST as having been received into Heaven to remain until the restitution of all things spoken of by the prophets. This is not a Gentile church enlarged to encompass the earth; but the mighty restoration of the Davidic order and the everlasting reestablishment of the chosen nation in their own land, in full Kingdom blessing, all of which GOD hath sworn with an oath to perform. This final appeal, like those which preceded it, was made with the same repentance in view: "Repent, that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." The answer of the nation to this appeal was the imprisonment of the messengers and the placing of the official ban upon their message. As the evidence of rejection began to appear, according to Matthew, JESUS began to speak of His decease, of the hitherto unannounced mystery age, and that to be followed by His return to the earth as King in world-transforming scenes of judgment and the final establishment of the kingdom in the earth. Yet it must be remembered that only Israel is addressed and in this Gospel nations are seen only as related to her. Thus this Gospel is presented true to the exact scope of the Kingdom of Heaven. Preceding the "Olivet discourse" of Matthew 24:4-51; Matthew 25:1-46 a picture is given of the love of CHRIST for His nation and Jerusalem, the city of the great King. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matthew 23:37-39). He would oft have gathered them (as He will yet do according to Matthew 24:31); but they would not. Their house is left unto them desolate; but not forever. "Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." The "Olivet discourse," it should be noted, was the Lord’s reply to three questions asked of Him by His disciples: First, "When shall these things be?" referring to His preceding prophecy as to the leveling of the stones of the temple to the ground. This first question is not answered in Matthew’s account, but is found in Luke 21:20-24. "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days, for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." This catastrophe, we are told, occurred in the year 70 A. D. The second question: "What shall be the sign of Thy coming?" and the third: "and of the end of the age?" are answered in .Matthew’s account beginning with Matthew 24:4. In opening this discourse CHRIST first describes the character of the whole age leading up to His return in power and great glory (Matthew 24:30). The emphasis here is wholly on its end-time and its character, according to the request of His disciples. He, however, forecasts the whole time from the hour He was speaking through to the end. He divides this time into two periods. The first of these, extending over nearly the whole period, or up to the last seven years, is characterized by war, famine, pestilence and earthquake which are doubtless to become increasingly violent as the time of the end draws near. He distinctly states that these age-long characteristics are common to the whole age, rather than constituting the end, or a sign of the end. The passage is as follows: "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet" (lit. "but not yet is the end," or "this is not the end"). For nation shall rise against nation, and Kingdom against Kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilence, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows" (Matthew 24:4-8). This prophecy of the character of the age has been proven by nearly two thousand years of history. It is now seen to be as accurate a description of the age as a present-day historian, looking back over the centuries, could write. In spite of the dreams of peace for the "great enlightened twentieth century," so fresh in our minds, it stands without a parallel, even in its fifteenth year, as the superlative in all that the Lord Himself assigned as characterizing features of this age. These positive predictions, among many others, which find no possible Biblical interpretation against them, fell from the lips of the Son of GOD and have been verified by the terrible facts of history up to the present hour; yet men dream of peace by man-made treaties and agreements as though our GOD had never spoken, or centuries of human greed and cruelty had not been experienced. War plainly belongs to the Kingdom of Satan. It will cease for a thousand years while he is in the pit; but it will be instantly revived with all its horrors as soon as he is loosed a little season (Revelation 20:1-9). JESUS said to Pilate: "My Kingdom is not of this world (world system): if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight" (John 18:36). War results from the fallen nature or man, and is under the power of Satan, and will be until that mighty being is chained and put in the pit and the world-transforming Kingdom of Messiah is set up in the earth. "Unto the end wars and desolations are determined" (Daniel 9:26). The war, famine, pestilence and earthquake features, which characterize this entire age, were spoken of by CHRIST as "the beginning of sorrows," or more literally, the beginning of birth pains (Matthew 24:8). This evidently anticipates a time of sorrow, or of birth. He then proceeds to describe this coming period as the "great tribulation," which, as has been seen, is no other than the long predicted "time of Jacob’s trouble," the time for the consummation of the "mystery of iniquity" and the final judgments on the whole Gentile world, to be terminated, as set forth in all other passages on the subject, by the resistless power and glory of the coming King. The description of this sorrow, or tribulation time, begins with the ninth verse. The time word "then," with which this verse opens, serves to shift the scenes from what has characterized the age to those conditions which will "then" prevail: "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake" (Matthew 24:9). This was distinctly addressed to Jews; for they alone could be "hated of all nations." It is the "time of Jacob’s trouble" and they are the "elect" mentioned throughout the passage. He then said: "And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Matthew 24:10-13). This is not a condition of final salvation and or grace: it was addressed to a nation who were to experience great tribulation, and forms a promise that will be most precious to those to whom it shall apply. So, also, the verse that follows is often confused with the present Gospel of grace: "And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Matthew 24:14). A call to national repentance and the final announcement of the kingdom must yet again be taken up, as it will be by "an hundred and forty and four thousand" sealed ones, and by the two witnesses, before the King returns (Revelation 7:4-17; Revelation 8:1-13; Revelation 9:1-21; Revelation 10:1-11; Revelation 11:1-19). There is no such geographical demand on the preaching of grace in this age: on the contrary, the preaching here referred to cannot begin until the preaching of grace has accomplished its end in the calling out of His Bride, which event and people are not at all in view in this great discourse. His Bride will have been taken to Himself (before Matthew 24:9), for she is to be kept from the hour of trial that shall come on all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth (Revelation 3:10). There will doubtless be great numbers saved during the tribulation (Revelation 7:12-17). They will not, however, have part in the special blessings of the Bride; for when she shall have entered in, the door will be shut. JESUS then anticipates the "Man of Sin" standing in the "holy place" as foreseen by Daniel and later more fully described by Paul (2 Thessalonians 2:1-9), and John (Revelation 13:3-10). This is followed by special warnings which are very similar to those given to the same nation with regard to the destruction of Jerusalem which took place in 70 A. D. The conditions of siege and the tribulation will be so similar that the warnings are almost identical; but it does not follow that they anticipate the same event. One is but a foreshadow of the other. The passage reads thus: "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chamber; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matthew 24:15-31). In this passage it is important to note that the coming of CHRIST in power and great glory is the termination of the tribulation and time of Israel’s regathering, as has been predicted by the prophets from Moses to CHRIST. The same order obtains in all similar passages (see Acts 15:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; so of the prophets and the Revelation). Israel, as a nation, not one generation, is to be divinely preserved until all be fulfilled: "verily I say unto you, This generation (genea, race, or stock, Israel) shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:34-35). The returning CHRIST will find it on the earth as it was in the days of Noah (Matthew 24:38), when some shall be taken away in judgment and some left for Kingdom blessing. This is the opposite of the calling away of the Bride, then some are taken for blessing and some are left in judgments and sorrow. The return of CHRIST is then presented as a testing of all profession under the parable of the ten virgins, and the test of all service under the parable of the talents. So, also, "when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divineth his sheep from the goats" (Matthew 25:31). This is in no way comparable with the Great White Throne judgment of Revelation 20:11-15. That is at the end of a thousand years of Kingdom blessing: this is before. All is different in time, place and subjects, as well as conditions. This judgment is of nations at the end of the time of Jacob’s trouble, and concerns their treatment of "my brethren" according to the flesh. The issue is to those on His right hand: "Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 171: 09.13. THE RETURN OF THE KING ======================================================================== The Return Of The King Chapter Thirteen THOSE passages which describe the calling of the Bride to meet the Bridegroom in the air are enriched with words of certainty and assurance. It is as though that event which had not been made known until the present age, and which portends such immediate blessings for the child of GOD should need an especial emphasis upon its certainty to strengthen the feeble faith of those to whom it is addressed. "If it were not so, I would have told you." "This we say unto you by the word of the Lord." "This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Paul, when praying that we might know what is the hope of His calling and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, adds the word of assurance that this will all be accomplished by "His mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come" (Ephesians 1:19-21). There could be no greater power than this and on this power this personal assurance may rest. In distinction to this, those passages which picture the return of CHRIST to the earth as the Messiah-King are laden with emphasis upon the fact that He comes with power and great glory. "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with power and great glory" (Luke 21:27; Matthew 19:25; Matthew 24:30; Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38; Mark 13:26; Luke 9:26). In the final picture at the end of the divine record the culminating event of all past ages is set forth in such majesty as it is possible for language to describe or human minds to comprehend (Revelation 19:11-21; Revelation 20:1-15). The Lord of Glory proceeds forth from His wedding, out from Heaven, followed by His spotless Bride. He comes in "power and great glory." Behold Him as lightning shining from the one part of Heaven even unto the other. He has a "rod of iron" in His hand with which to dash the nations "in pieces like a potter’s vessel." "His eyes are as a flame of fire" and "out of his month goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations." That wicked one He shall consume with the spirit of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. He is "revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God. and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering. All nations are before him as nothing; and they are counted to him as less than nothing, and vanity . . . And he shall blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirl wind shall take them away as stubble." "God comes from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covereth the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise. And his brightness is like the sun; rays stream from his hand; and there is the hiding of his power. Before him goes the plague, and burning pestilence follows his feet. He stands and measures the earth: he looks and makes nations tremble; the everlasting mountains are broken in pieces, the eternal hills sink down: His ways are everlasting." "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him." "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with deep red garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore is redness in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples not a man was with me: and I have trodden them in my anger, and trampled them in my fury; and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all mine apparel. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed was come." Here is the Messenger of the covenant, a Refiner’s fire, a purifier of the sons of Levi. "He shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." "And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." "For he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth." "They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him." "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle." Here is an unfolding of the sufficiency of GOD in His power to transform the earth and to change the shadow of darkness and sin to the ineffable light of His glory. What He hath promised will He not fulfill? All of the lines of hope from the first promise of final victory given in Eden to the present hour are focused upon the return of the King in His power, majesty and strength, and He will compass every issue of the ages and vindicate every purpose of GOD. It is not a marvel that He should come in renovating judgments to the earth: the marvel must ever be that He, the King of Glory, should bow the Heavens and come down to this earth as an unresisting Lamb. The great conquerors of the earth have been mere men who by personality, or favorable conditions, were able to marshal the allegiance of an army of sufficient strength to execute their will; but this One will not be dependent upon a majority and the brute force it represents. His power by which all things were created is sufficient to transform the whole universe, to bind all the forces of darkness and to consummate the hopes of the ages. Beginning with Revelation 19:11 there is given the final picture of the return of CHRIST in power and great glory. Preceding this the Patmos Seer has recorded the events of the great tribulation, the appearance and reign of the Beast, the Man of Sin, and the casting of Satan and his host into the earth. Into the midst of this indescribable anarchy, wickedness and confusion the King appears. And He appears in all His glory. That glory is fourfold. Ezekiel had seen the celestial beings who are ever before the face of the Lord and who reflect His glory. Their faces were four: the face of a man, the face of a lion, the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle. There is striking agreement here with the divine manifestation as revealed in the four Gospels. Matthew portrays the Lion King, Mark the Servant Ox, Luke the Man Christ Jesus, and John the Son of GOD, fittingly symbolized by the eagle. CHRIST is the sum total of these four revelations. In each manifestation there is a particular glory to be seen: - As the Son of GOD, He had a glory with the Father before the world was; His eternal glory. - As the Son of David, He will have another glory, of which the glory of Solomon was only a feeble type. - As the Servant of the Lord, He has a personal glory; for "it is more blessed to give than to receive," and He was among them as one who served. - As the Son of Man He had an acquired glory, a name above every name is given unto Him because of His obedience unto death. It is Luke who unfolds the mysteries of the physical birth, childhood and development of the Man CHRIST JESUS. In this Gospel every coloring is of the "Son of man who came to seek and to save that which is lost." The four names ascribed to CHRIST in the final description of His return in power and glory again imply His fourfold glory, and His return is in that full glory of the only begotten of the Father. - in this description He is first mentioned as "Faithful and True." This is the Lord’s Servant the Ox, the portrait given to Mark. Under this title it is said of Him that "He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns." - a second title ascribed to Him is "The Word of God." The eternal Logos of the Gospel of John. To this title no words seem to be added other than that His saints, His Bride, are seen following Him clothed in the spotless white; the "righteousness of God in Him" (cf. Revelation 19:7-8); for they shall see Him as He is and be like Him. - the third title ascribed to Him is of a "Name which no man knew, but he himself." And with this title it is said "He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood" (cf. Isaiah 63:1-4). These three characters of the CHRIST are again seen in Php 2:5-11. - as the Word of GOD He was equal with the Father, but deemed that equality no prize to be seized upon. - as the Servant of the Lord, He made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of a man. - under the unrevealed title, "A name which no man knew, but he himself," He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. In Hebrews 10:5-7, He is seen freely yielding His own body to the will of the Father as a sacrifice, thus bringing into full contrast the insufficiency of the former offerings of bulls and goats: "But a body thou hast prepared me: in burnt-offerings, and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, a God." Returning to the passage in Php 2:5-11, it may be seen that because of this "obedience unto death, even the death of the Cross . . . God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." "Jesus" then is the name which no man can know. "His name shall be called Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins," locked up in this name are the fathomless mercies of GOD. Who can know the meaning of that obedience, or of that, cross? Who can understand His atoning sacrificial death? Eternity cannot suffice to unfold His manifold grace. Truly "Jesus" is a name the full meaning of which "no man can know, but he himself." CHRIST is lastly seen in the final picture of His return under the fourth title of "King of kings and Lord of lords," and gathers into Himself a far greatest glory, as David’s Son, than has yet been known by all the royal families of the earth. Thus when He shall come in power and great glory that power will be for the transformation of a sin darkened earth, and in that glory will be combined the ineffable glory of the Servant of the Lord, the Word of GOD, the acquired glory of the Cross, and the earthly glory of the Son of David, King of kings and Lord of lords. In such a glory His Bride will share. For "when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory," But that outward glory is incompatible with the consolation of the secret chamber where the Bride will be at home in the bosom of the Bridegroom. Every tear will be wiped away and with undimmed eye we shall gaze upon His face and go out no more for ever. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 172: 09.14. "THY KINGDOM COME" ======================================================================== "Thy Kingdom Come" Chapter Fourteen THE return of CHRIST, as anticipated in Scripture, is the consummation of all the great purposes of GOD. It is impossible to seriously trace the mighty movements developed in Scripture without finding that their ultimate issues and realization are dependent upon one of the great events connected with the second coming of CHRIST. It cannot therefore be expected that a thorough knowledge of the Bible, or a deep interest in its teachings, will be gained apart from the key to Scriptures which His coming forms. Certain historical and doctrinal passages may become familiar, and a self-satisfied mind, which insulates itself from all added light, may result; but this is far removed from the vision which is gained by a life study of the whole text of Scripture. Real study of the Bible is a habit which is not acquired through educational courses, nor is it apt to be gained later on when the cares of a mature life and the strategy of Satan in keeping these to the fore hinder the gaining of such a blessed, power-giving, sanctifying habit in the child of GOD. We wrestle against Satan in the higher sphere of heavenly association and realities rather than in the lower sphere of flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:10-12), and few are awake to claim their deliverance from his withering touch in the most vital issues of their new life and being. A multitude of ministers must confess that they do not actually and habitually study the Bible for themselves, though they may occasionally read it for others. Weak indeed it is for such an one to hastily denounce the only interpretation that will fairly account for the whole study of Truth and which has been the unanimous conclusion of the most eminent Bible expositors throughout the age (knowledge of theology which may depend upon certain proof texts is incomparable with the fuller knowledge of the Scriptures required for exposition); nor is it safe under present conditions, in the face of personal ignorance, to blindly hide behind the opinion of a supposed, and actual majority. All true ministry and service must have a goal, or objective as an incentive in view naturally this should be the determination to realize the present purpose of GOD. The servant, at best, will be as his Lord, and thus be intelligently aiming at the immediate divine objective, knowing that the ultimate blessings can be seemed by no other program. There is to be a Kingdom of righteousness in the earth: it does not follow, however, that its establishment is the present purpose of GOD, or that the saved ones of this age are to form its subjects. Such a conclusion might be gained from human guesses, or superficial reading, but could hardly be the result of careful study of "present truth" as presented in the New Testament. There will be no establishment of an earthly Kingdom apart from the coming and presence of the King and that event, in turn, must await the accomplishment of all divine purposes in this mystery age. To be intelligently adjusted to the present divine undertakings is to be committed to a very special form of service and to be working toward a very different goal than the bringing in of a Kingdom by undertaking world-wide conversion. It is a matter of obedience to the more simple direction to evangelize all nations, which is not to be done once for all as an objective, but must be done anew with each succeeding generation until the real objective is accomplished,- the out-calling of the church. Apart from the question of divine command, the earthly blessings will be conceded to be nearer when depending on His imminent return than when resting upon any approach to world-wide conversion that has yet been displayed. Is not the testimony of nineteen centuries sufficient witness to the divine purpose in this age apart from revelation? If we believe that GOD is able to realize His own will and purpose at a given time, we must conclude that world-wide conversion has not been His present age purpose. It is needless to add that He is suffering no such defeat, but is faithfully following the exact plan He has disclosed in His Word. It is for every child of GOD to know the exact plan. He has disclosed and to be wholly subject to it, else his ignorant service may but play into the hands of the enemy of GOD and add to the final bonfire of wood, hay and stubble. In the Scriptures the return of CHRIST is presented as a full development of the purpose of GOD: First, It accomplishes the cessation of much of the present form of evil. A theory that evil will grow less and less until it vanishes from the earth is not a doctrine of the Scriptures. There sin is faithfully traced from its beginning in the fall of Satan, and is seen to run its course and to be suddenly terminated in the hour of its fullest manifestation; and all this is in the permissive will and restraining power of GOD. The following Scriptures show that the return of CHRIST will terminate the sin and confusion of the earth: 2 Thessalonians 2:7-10; Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:13-14; Malachi 4:1; Jude 1:14-15; Matthew 24:15-30; Revelation 11:7-19; Revelation 12:1-17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 19:11-21; Revelation 20:1-3. Second, As certainly as the saved ones of this dispensation have all their hope and blessing in the heavenly glory so certainly it all awaits His coming to claim His own. Even those who have fallen asleep in JESUS await their immortal bodies and that blessed marriage to Him. All saints await His coming to receive His Bride (John 14:1-3). Their rewards will then be bestowed (2 Timothy 4:8; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Their marriage bliss awaits His call (Revelation 19:7-8). So, also, the appointments to authority as co-reigners with Him (Revelation 2:26-27; Revelation 20:6). How can the church, if she be true to the spiritual vision: do otherwise than to pray, "Amen, oven so, come Lord Jesus"? Third, The final Gentile blessings await His return, as well as their judgment as nations. Two Gentile purposes are now revealed: first, He is visiting the Gentiles to call out a Bride; and second, there will be universal Gentile blessing when the Kingdom is finally manifested in the earth (Acts 15:14-18; Romans 15:8-12; Malachi 1:11; Jeremiah 16:19; Isaiah 11:10). Fourth, Creation must groan and travail until His return: "For the earnest expectation of creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God," - but when will they be manifested? - "When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we appear with him in glory," - "For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who subjected the same in hope. Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but we ourselves, groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our bodies" (Romans 8:19-23). This, too, is a well defined time, "For our citizenship is in heaven from whence we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change this body of our humiliation that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." All creation, then, awaits the deliverance and blessing that will be wrought by His return. Fifth, His return in glory ushers in the earthly Kingdom and ends the long night of Israel’s affliction. Their Messiah truly cometh, but in His own time. From the following passages, which might be greatly multiplied, it may be concluded that there is no divine expectation of the long awaited earthly Kingdom a part from the return of the King as He comes in power and great glory: Deuteronomy 30:3; Psalms 1:1-6; Daniel 2:4-45; Daniel 7:13-14; Zechariah 2:10-12; Zechariah 14:4-8; Malachi 4:1-4; Matthew 24:30-31; Matthew 24:34; Romans 11:25-27; Revelation 12:9-10; Revelation 19:11-21; Revelation 20:1-6. Three accounts are given in the Scriptures of the transfiguration, and each is preceded by the significant words: "There be some standing here, that shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his Kingdom." The meaning of the transfiguration is given by Peter, an "eyewitness": "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which cane from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount" (2 Peter 1:16-18). Here Peter affirms by the Spirit that the scene on the holy mount was a revelation of the "power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ." The essential elements of the future earthly Kingdom were all represented in this scene. CHRIST appears in His heavenly glory; two were with Him, sharing in the glory. One had gone to be with the Lord by death, and one by translation; but both were equally glorified together with the Lord. Upon the earth were representatives of the chosen nation. These were not in the transfiguration glory, but were in such blessing that one could say, "It is good for us to be here." So shall it be in the final manifestation of the Messianic Kingdom in the earth. The church will be with Him and share His glory and reign. The nation, and through them all nations, will live in His millennial blessing and reign. There were some standing there who did not taste death until they saw the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom. To fully outline the character and blessedness of that coming age would require the quotation of a great portion of the messages of the prophets in which language seems to fail them to fully paint the glory of the transformed earth. A selection of passages, indicating the character of the Messianic Kingdom, has been given in Chapter Three. By these Scriptures this Kingdom is seen to be: 1. Theocratic. The King will be Immanuel and by human birth a rightful heir to David’s throne. Himself born of a virgin in Bethlehem of Judea. 2. Immanuel’s Kingdom will be heavenly in character in that the GOD of Heaven will rule in the earth. His will to be done in earth as it is done in Heaven. 3. Immanuel’s Kingdom will be in the earth, rather than in Heaven, and centered at Jerusalem. His blessed reign will be over regathered and converted Israel and extend through them to the nations. 4. Immanuel’s Kingdom will be realized only by virtue of the power and presence of the returning King. 5. Immanuel’s Kingdom, though material and political, will be spiritual in that its subjects will walk on the earth in the undimmed light of GOD. The animal Kingdom will be subdued: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:6-9). So, also, the physical creation shall be changed: "For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off" (Isaiah 55:12-13). "When the poor and the needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together. That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it" (Isaiah 41:17-20). "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14). "The meek shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5). "And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Micah 4:3). "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert" (Isaiah 35:5-6). "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God and they Shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and will remember their sins no more" (Jeremiah 31:33-34). "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this" (Isaiah 9:6-7). "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isle shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him, His name shall endure for ever: his name shall he continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen" (Psalms 72:8-11; Psalms 72:17-19). Such is Immanuel’s Kingdom in the earth. Such is the covenant of peace with Israel for ever. At the close of this millennium of peace and righteousness there is the dark picture of the final testing of all willing separation from GOD in the loosing at Satan for a "little season" and the war that follows. The Great White Throne is set; its judgment is past; and lo, the new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. The revolt of earth and the powers of darkness against the sovereignty of GOD is for ever past. "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet." "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 173: 10.00. TRUE EVANGELISM ======================================================================== TRUE EVANGELISM or Winning Souls by Prayer BY LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER 1871-1952 Founder/President of Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas; Professor of Systematic Biblical Theology; Editor, Bibliotheca Sacra (C) Copyright, 1919, by LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER CONTENTS Introduction Foreword to the First Edition Foreword to the Revised Edition 01 Chapter I: False Forces in Evangelism 02 Chapter II: Salvation, the Objective in Evangelism 03 Chapter III: Conviction by the Spirit 04 Chapter IV: The Prayer of Intercession 05 Chapter V: Suffering with Christ 06 Chapter VI: The Cleansing of the Priests INTRODUCTION To the First Edition If there is sufficient warrant for this book, in addition to the many already written on Evangelism, it lies in the effort which is here made to place an emphasis upon the fact that evangelism is the service of the whole company of believers, and that when they intelligently cooperate with the Spirit in this work, there is less demand for the modern evangelist or his methods. What is here written is the result of evangelistic experience and study covering a period of almost a score of years. During this time the trend of the writer’s conviction has been away from emotional and superficial methods, which are too often thought to be the only possible expression of earnestness and enthusiasm in soul-winning, and toward an entire dependence upon the Spirit to do every phase of the work that has been assigned to Him in the purpose of God. It is not a pleasant task to offer criticism of any faithful effort in evangelism; for a sincere attempt to reach the lost, though misguided, is preferable to the spiritual death and formalism which knows no burden or sacrifice for the unsaved. What may seem as criticism has been introduced only where it is needed to emphasize true evangelism by way of contrast. It is intended that this work shall be constructive rather than critical. If some of the difficulties in soul-winning, with the divine provisions to overcome them, are herein revealed, and any new light shall fall on the exact responsibility of the individual Christian in cooperation with Christ, and that new light be acted upon, the going forth of this testimony in the name of Christ and for His glory will not have been in vain. -- THE AUTHOR. FOREWORD to the First Edition By Mr. Henry Varley Your welcome letter from Northfield found me in much physical pain and weakness. The more welcome may I say on this account, for should my brotherly words in reference to your timely volume prove to be my latest, I would be grateful for their occasion. The proof pages read at the early stages of convalescence have been greatly valued and enjoyed. The standard is, as it should be, high, true, clear, and unmistakably loyal to the revelation of God. Your volume, in my judgment, is of great value. I praise God for your writing. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is clearly revealed in the luminous pages of "True Evangelism." I heartily endorse and rejoice in the prominence to the unchanging character of human salvation effected at the instance and by the power of the living God in Christ Jesus the Lord. The distinct revelation given from the Word of God is admirable. You have not failed to "hold fast the form of sound words," which the Spirit of God maintains in the New Testament. These can never be changed, modified, or made to teach the crude fallacies of "modern criticism," or "New Theology." Needless to say, you have revealed the cause of much failure in past evangelistic effort. Despite these failures, we will never forget that it is written of the exalted Lord that He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints to the work of the ministry, to the edifying of the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12). That the god of this age will counterfeit the real gifts is certain, the modern sacrificing priest and the mere professional evangelist yielding conclusive proof. Many years since, in conversation with our glorified friend, C. H. Spurgeon, the question came up, of what our part was, or could be, in connection with the salvation of men, seeing that the fact and glory of their salvation belonged entirely to Christ. I remember expressing the following, "that real and personal fellowship in the compassionate love and sufferings of Christ in regard to the salvation of others might yield partnership in that glory which by right alone belongs to Our Lord." With the structure and the furtherance of your theme, as indicated by the titles of the successive chapters, I am in hearty agreement. Your searching words in relation to certain phases of modern evangelism, both as to men and methods, should cause deep searching of heart; nor must we fail to point out what poor "soul-winners" at best we all are. Our cry must be: "O Lord, be with us, and help us, for without Thee we can do nothing." Author’s note-- The above foreword proved to be the last written words of Mr. Varley. He passed on two days later to be with Christ. FOREWORD to the Revised Edition If the reputation of the author be not yet continentally established, a foreword to his book may be useful. "True Evangelism," when first published, bore on its pages a reassuring and discriminating appreciation from one of the most trusted and successful evangelists of our time. Rev. Lewis Sperry Chafer since then has achieved outstanding distinction both as Bible teacher and author. What further good purpose can another foreword to this new and revised edition serve? To "born again" ones who read the book studiously and reverently (and no other can understand it, whatever their education, theological or otherwise, 1 Corinthians 2:14) little or none; but to those who may be in a similar mental condition toward books on evangelism as that in which the undersigned found himself when he first glanced through this book in a book store, it may be like the voice the great Augustine heard, "Take and read" -- and if it induces them to read, then they will know the profit. At that time I had not the joy and enrichment of a personal acquaintance with the author, whose friendship, love and brotherly counsel have been one of God’s choicest gifts to me in the past four years. The title attracted me, for my estimation of the surpassing importance of the subject had led me to purchase almost every book on this theme that had come to my notice. However, so often I had been disappointed with the unsatisfactory and unscriptural character of many of these, that I had passed the buying-at-sight stage. Arrested by the thoughtful and evangelical tone of the foreword, I began to sample its pages and found that it promised to be a book with a distinctive, timely, and Scriptural message on this vital theme. A careful reading followed, which more than justified the forecast I had made. So many other books on this subject were disappointing, not because they were lacking in style, vivacity or popular phraseology, but because vitally lacking in spiritual interpretation, -- especially concerning the two great master ideas of God’s Holy Word, -- Sin, -- Redemption. Jerome, in the fourth century, declared that "light views of sin induced false views of God," and the late master-preacher, McLaren of Manchester, stated that "ninety per cent of all doctrinal errors have grown up around defective views of sin." Any theory that minimizes sin minimizes the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ and the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit. Such theory also must make a large appeal to men (almost betimes as frantic as that of the Prophets of Baal on Carmel’s summit), and clever little devices have been invented to induce men to "take Christ," or "step over the line," and which offer to settle the great eternal question by an oral acceptance of a simple synthesis, or of a little formula on a small printed card. One turns from these naturalistic, legalistic, colorless conceptions of sin and salvation to this precious book with its grave, thorough, Biblical treatment of Man’s sin and God’s salvation, and finds his heart full of praise to God for empowering His humble and honored servant to send forth a message so virile, timely, and throbbing with power. May the Triune God, Whose Word and grace it magnifies, speed this unpretentious book on its beneficent mission, that by His grace and power it may accomplish what He pleases, and hasten the coming and Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. --A.B. Winchester. Toronto, May 20, 1919. Reformatted for e-Sword by ======================================================================== CHAPTER 174: 10.01. FALSE FORCES IN EVANGELISM ======================================================================== CHAPTER I: FALSE FORCES IN EVANGELISM The Lord Jesus described His mission by the words: "For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10), and this concise statement included both His finished work upon the cross (John 19:30), and His unfinished work in the world (Acts 1:1). While the work of saving the lost must ever be a divine undertaking accomplished only through His finished work on the cross, there are aspects of the work of seeking them which were committed to His followers, and which are a part of His unfinished work in the world. The work of seeking the lost, like the work of saving them, is in reality a divine undertaking. It is distinctly stated that the Son of Man is come to seek. Thus He is again pictured in the Parable of the Lost Sheep: "When he hath found it, he layeth it upon his shoulders, rejoicing." It is the "goodness of God that leadeth to repentance," and the whole undertaking of finding lost men is but "the power of God unto salvation"; for no human effort or service can be effectual apart from the power of God. Seeking the lost is more than a mere attempt to locate unsaved men, for they are present on every hand. The term "seeking the lost," therefore, suggests a divine preparation of the unsaved that will bring them into adjustment with the necessary conditions of salvation. It will be found, in the course of these studies, that there are successive aspects of the divine seeking of the lost to be traced in the Scriptures, and every phase of this work, is undertaken and wholly accomplished by God the Holy Spirit. To recognize these divine movements and to be willing humbly to cooperate with them is the true basis of all soul-saving work. While it has pleased God to appoint to His saints (not as a corporate body, but as individuals) a portion in the work of seeking, the human part in that work is not worthy to be compared with the divine. Yet man, who by nature comprehends and measures only visible things, is ever prone to disregard the invisible working of the Spirit, and to place an undue emphasis upon the comparatively small human share in those undertakings. It is under these distorted estimates of the factors in the work of salvation that those things which may be called "false forces" in evangelism are substituted for the true. What are here termed "false forces" are, in some measure, God-appointed means in true evangelism. They become false forces only when they receive too much emphasis, or are strained to perform a function beyond that assigned to them in the purpose of God. Thus it may be seen that failure in evangelism is not always due to an entire neglect of some part, or parts, of the divine appointments for the work; but may be due to an unbalanced estimate of the relative values of these forces. This discussion of false forces in evangelism will be limited to three general aspects -- viz., Men, Methods, and Messages. Men. -- By this term reference is made to a class of men in the ministry called "evangelists," and on whom the church has come to depend so largely for her activity in evangelism. The word "evangelist" is used but three times in the Scriptures, and but one of these passages is to any extent descriptive. It is as follows: "Wherefore he saith, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." ... "And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:8, Ephesians 4:11-13, R.V.). Here the evangelist is seen, with the apostle, prophet, pastor and teacher, to be a gift of the ascended Christ to His church in the world. This ministry gift of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor and teacher should be distinguished from the enduement for service bestowed upon the individual believer (1 Corinthians 12:4-31; Romans 12:3-8). In the one case the servant of God who has been endued for ministry is Christ’s gift to the whole church; while in the other case a special enablement for service is given to the individual believer by the sovereign Spirit "as he will." In this same connection still another distinction should be made, in that the believer, in addition to the exercise of gifts, is appointed to the ministry of the priestly office; and since evangelism will be found to depend so largely upon the exercise of the believer’s gifts and his ministry in the priestly office, a violation has been done to the plan of God, as revealed in His Word, insomuch as the work of evangelism has been taken from the whole company of believers and entrusted to a few. The evangelist of the Scriptures is, without question, the messenger to the unevangelized, preparing the way for the pastor and teacher in his more constant ministry in the church. The evangelist, therefore, finds his fullest divine mission as a pioneer missionary to the hitherto unevangelized. The modern "revival" -- the work of the "revivalist" who comes under the title of an evangelist, but works as a religious promoter in the organized church -- is unexpected in the Scriptures, except as the word "revival" is used to denote a forward movement in the spiritual life of the church, without including the idea of attempting to regain some spiritual position once held, but now lost. The use of the word usually means, however, a getting up after having fallen down, or a waking after sleeping, or a coming to strength after a period of weakness; while, on the other hand, the Scriptures pre-suppose a continual erect, wakeful and aggressive position for service on the part of every Christian (Ephesians 6:10-17). A "revival" is abnormal rather than normal. It may have a function when needed, but in no way should become a habit, much less a sanctioned method of work. Having regained vitality, believers are not warranted in returning habitually to an anemic state. The re-adjustment of a powerless church into a normal position of fruit-bearing fellowship with God is, without question, an undertaking that is warranted in the Scriptures. Such a transformation, however, can be accomplished only through a ministry of teaching and pastoral care. Thus it falls naturally within the sphere of service committed to the pastor and teacher whose ministry is not necessarily located in one place, since he is a gift to the whole body of believers. Such a ministry may be undertaken by a pastor and teacher who is a specialist in such work, and who may visit the field to assist temporarily the resident pastor in his work. If this adjustment of the church is accomplished, the pastor or special assistant may then "do the work of an evangelist." There is an important distinction, however, between being an evangelist by calling, and doing the work of an evangelist as occasion may arise in the pastoral office. The efficiency of the whole company of believers must depend upon their proper adjustment to God in the cleansing and fitting of their individual lives. Just here there is a grave danger lest the church shall ignore her God-appointed work, and the necessary individual preparation for it, and attempt to substitute the wholesale machinery and appeal of the modern "revival" in its place. The fact that a "revival" is planned for is a confession on the part of a church of a condition which would render the normal movements of the Spirit in salvation impossible. The special help of a Scriptural evangelist might be imperative in gathering the abundant fruit produced by the faithful evangelizing efforts of a church. It will be admitted, however, that such conditions do not often exist. On the contrary, the sincere and intelligent evangelist, almost without exception, must first do the work of a pastor and teacher by seeking to revive the church itself. The unfruitful condition of the church has created a great temptation for the evangelist to be superficial in his aim and undertakings. His reputation, and often his remuneration, are dependent upon apparent results. If the evangelist understands the divine program in soul-winning, and proposes to be thorough with unspiritual churches, he must do a teaching work that he may build the necessary Scriptural foundation for abiding fruit. In undertaking a thorough foundation work in the churches, the evangelist would thus be forsaking his own calling, and would be assuming the work of the pastor and teacher; and might be a disappointment to those who had called him and upon whom he depends, humanly speaking, for his support. His temptation is to secure the apparent results that are expected. The work of the evangelist is a vital ministry in this age, but it, like all ministry, should be kept within the sphere divinely appointed for it. The discussion of the fundamental error of the church, in unduly magnifying the work of the evangelist and neglecting her own God-appointed ministry in salvation, will be the theme of succeeding chapters. Methods. -- Likewise, an undue emphasis upon methods in modern evangelism is almost universal. The erroneous impression exists that evangelistic efforts should be confined to stated times and seasons, and that impression has led to a far more serious one, namely, that God is only occasionally "on the giving hand"; whereas the Scriptural forces in true evangelism depend upon the unchanging promises of God, the constant abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church, and His continual working through the members of the body of Christ. Frequent gatherings may be of unmeasured value in the life of any company of believers; but such meetings should not become the only time of soul-winning expectation. The conditions are most unreasonable when the unbelievers of any locality have come to realize that to avoid the spasmodic solicitude of the church for a period of a few days is to be free from such appeals for the rest of the year, or for, perhaps, a term of years. This unreality is one of the fruits of an evangelism that depends upon times and seasons. Again, the false or undue emphasis on methods is disclosed by the imperative demand for some public action in connection with conversion, such as standing or going forward in a meeting. Great confusion has been wrought by the intrusion of such public acts into the condition for salvation; thereby making salvation seem to be by faith in Christ, plus a supposedly meritorious public act. These required public acts are usually justified from one or two passages of Scripture, which are here quoted: "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32), and, "That 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" (Romans 10:9-10). A careful study of the whole context of the former passage will reveal that the passage occurs in a body of Scripture which is primarily applicable to the yet future kingdom age, and it, like all that truth, bears only a moral or secondary application to the age of the church. From this particular passage, therefore, confession cannot be made a present condition of salvation. The second passage quoted above (Romans 10:9-10), is perhaps more important, since it falls within the teachings and conditions which belong primarily to the soul under grace. The force of the positive statement in Romans 10:9, "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," is explained in Romans 10:10 : "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." In the latter verse the true meaning and use of the word "confess" is suggested. Of this word in this same passage the late Dr. Arthur T. Pierson wrote: "That word means to speak out of a like nature to one another. I believe and receive the love of God. In receiving His love I receive His life, in receiving His life I receive His nature, and His nature in me naturally expresses itself according to His will. That is confession. Dr. McLaren has said: ’Men do not light a candle and put it under a bushel, because the candle would either go out or burn the bushel.’ You must have vent for life, light and love, or how can they abide? And a confession of Christ Jesus as Lord is the answer of the new life of God received. In receiving love, you are born of God, and, being born of God, you cry, ’Abba, Father,’ which is but the Aramaic word for ’Papa’ -- syllables which can be pronounced before there are any teeth, because they are made with the gums and lips -- the first word of a new-born soul, born of God, knowing God, and out of a like nature with God speaking in the language of a child." Confession, then, does not provide a reason for salvation, but rather proves its reality. It is clearly the believer’s privilege, and is of no value until Christ has been received and the new life begun. So with the heart, or inner consciousness, man believes unto righteousness, which is the one condition of acceptance before God; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, which is but the normal answer of the new-born soul to God. That these passages do not demand a public act as a condition of salvation is obvious for at least two other reasons. First, such an interpretation would disagree with all other passages of Scripture on salvation, since it would cause grace to be no more grace, inasmuch as there was saving merit in a human deed; and it is difficult to demand confession in connection with conversion without making it seem to be meritorious, and, to that extent, a frustrating of the whole doctrine of grace. And second, a public confession cannot be a necessity in salvation, since an innumerable company have found fullest peace with God through Christ Jesus who were deprived of the supposed value of any such action. In coming to a positive decision, the human mind is undoubtedly aided by some physical action which serves to strengthen the impression. This psychological fact usually underlies the demands that are made for public acts in connection with the acceptance of Christ. The only issue which is raised here concerning the combining of public acts with the acceptance of Christ, is that such acts, if urged at all, should be so presented that they could not be thought of by any individual as forming a part of the one condition of salvation. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is the very opposite of doing anything: it is resting in the work and saving grace of Another. Because of Satanic blindness to the Gospel of Grace (2 Corinthians 4:3-4), unregenerate man cannot comprehend the true basis of salvation, and is therefore ever prone to do the best he knows. This is to attempt to work out his own standing before God by his own efforts. It is this natural tendency to do something of merit that prompts many to respond to any appeal for a public action. It was an expression of sincerity that inquired of Jesus: "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" And His answer then is His answer now: "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6:28-29). It may be conceded that genuine results are sometimes obtained even where misleading methods are employed; but there may be great harm done as well. Far too little has been said on this point. Some of these evils should be mentioned. Let it be remembered, however, that this is a discussion of the possible evils that may follow the wrong use of methods in which a public action is demanded as a necessary condition of salvation. I. -- A False Issue The leader who has accustomed himself to years of public service can hardly realize the almost impossible task that is placed before the majority of people when they are asked to do some conspicious act. People usually find such acts very difficult; and while they might be willing to receive Christ as a personal Saviour, they often shrink from taking a public step because of their natural timidity. Thus the real issue is many times subordinated to another; and that new issue is not only unreal, but is entirely foreign to the all-important question. In this connection it is often urged that the unsaved should be sufficiently in earnest to comply readily with any method or custom that may be employed. But is it not evident, in addition to the fact that such demands may be a denial of the doctrine of grace, that they are both unwarranted and unreasonable, since God has provided no enabling power whereby unregenerate people may do commendable acts for Him? A public confession is a far different task to the same timid person after he has received the new divine life; for he can then say by faith, and in all humility: "I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me" (Php 4:13). The one necessary step -- the acceptance of Christ as Saviour -- can be performed only in the secret of the heart itself, by a personal choice and action of the will. This is a dealing with Christ alone, and as the time of this decision is the most critical moment in a human life, reason demands that it should be guarded from every distracting and confusing condition. II. -- A False Assurance A leader with a commanding personality may secure the public action of many when the issue is made one of religious merit through some public act. Under such an impression, a serious person may stand in a meeting who has no conception of what is involved in standing by faith on the Rock Christ Jesus; or he may be persuaded to abandon his natural timidity when he knows nothing of abandoning his Satanic tendency to self-help, and resting by faith on that which Christ has done for him. If questioned carefully, the basis of assurance with all such converts will be found to be no more than a consciousness that they have acted out the program prescribed for them. III. -- "Backsliding" Careful students of evangelism have noticed that where the necessity of public action as a part of conversion has been most emphasized there has been a corresponding increase in the God-dishonoring record of so-called "backsliding"; and this is natural. The covenant of God is to keep eternally all who are truly saved, and there are no other provisions than the one way of salvation by Christ’s willing substitution, whereby God can be just and still be the justifier of a sin-cursed soul. To attempt to "come unto God" on the grounds of a public performance, even with great earnestness, is but to fail, and the misguided soul who makes that attempt, when his hope has proven false, is often the hardest to reach thereafter. IV. -- Discredit to the Covenant of God As has just been stated, the essential and Scriptural doctrine of the eternal keeping by God of every regenerate soul has been brought into discredit and almost lost. This has come to pass through an attempt to reconcile His covenants with "actual experience" in evangelism today. It has been necessary to question this otherwise clear doctrine of the Scriptures to allow for the appalling percentage of failures in the ranks of supposed converts. But when it is remembered that the modification of that positive doctrine, and the forced interpretation of the Word of God to that end, has been attempted largely by those who have insisted on a spectacular conversion, their challenge of that glorious truth may be set aside without discussion. Although an innumerable multitude may have been misguided by responding to false issues and have returned, sooner or later, to their own place outside Christian fellowship, the covenant of God is not involved. "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost [eternally] that come unto God by him" -- Christ (Hebrews 7:25); He "is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24). And the soul that believes in Christ "shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). Nor can any "pluck them out of my Father’s hand" (John 10:29), or separate them "from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39). It is quite possible for a newly-saved person so to misunderstand the forces and habits of the old life and the possible power and victory of the new life as to be overtaken in sin and appear, for a time, to be "in a far country"; yet, if he has ever been in the Father’s house as a son, he, like the prodigal is still a son, and therefore will be constantly constrained by the Spirit to arise and go to his Father. Incalculable harm has been done to all Christendom by this widespread denial of the grace and faithfulness of God. Because of this denial, saints have been occupied with futile attempts at self-keeping to the neglect of true service for God, and intelligent sinners have feared to take the Christian’s position when reason warned them that such a position would be impossible for them to maintain. V. -- Dishonor to the Spirit of God The aim of all public demands in modern evangelism is to terminate indifference and hesitation by a positive decision. But this is sometimes undertaken without due regard for the whole process of preparation by the Spirit for the intelligent exercise of saving faith. Thus the all-important work of the Spirit for the unsaved has often been neglected and the Spirit dishonored in the vain attempt to hasten decisions and to secure visible results. A true decision must depend upon the action of the will of the individual as he is moved by his own clear vision of his place in the saving work of Christ, and that vision must be created by the Spirit. When this is accomplished, there will be little occasion to argue and plead, and methods which are calculated to force a decision will be found to be superfluous; and any method which is superfluous is usually resented by intelligent people. Such methods create a sense of unreality where there should be a growing reality. Many serious men have concluded that to send out workers to plead with individuals in a miscellaneous congregation is not only embarrassing to the people thus approached, but is, in the majority of cases, a service which hardens and repels. Forced decisions sometimes follow such appeals. These, they observe, are usually premature and unintelligent decisions; for in such methods there can be no certainty concerning the conviction by the Spirit and no very definite dependence upon His leading. On the other hand, the many who have resisted the personal appeal have been hardened or driven away. Public methods which embarrass any person or class of persons may be not only useless but intrusive. There is little gained by inviting all Christians in a public gathering to stand, thus forcing all others into a conspicuous position, causing them annoyance and creating an occasion for prejudice. It is not strange that intelligent unsaved people sometimes avoid meetings where these methods are employed. By adopting such a program the evangelist or pastor may be hindering the very work of God which he is attempting to do. If the spectacular element in public soul-winning is eliminated there will be less opportunity to count supposed results, and the test of conversion will be removed from the sphere of profession and made to rest on the reality of a changed life afterwards. The sincere evangelist who fearlessly judges, before God, every method he employs -- judging them as to their exact value or possible harm in their influence on immortal souls -- will find that many methods in evangelism are more a habit than a necessity, or that they have been employed in an effort to produce visible results, rather than to create a means by which sin-burdened souls may find rest and peace through a personal and intelligent faith in Christ as Saviour. Lest it seem that this criticism of modern methods in evangelism has left no possible means of bringing a whole congregation to a point of decision, the following suggestions are offered, which have proven useful. The real value of public methods may be secured and many evils avoided if, after explaining the way of life and during a season of silent prayer, the unsaved are asked to accept Christ by a conscious act of the will, directed in definite silent prayer to God. Such a decision may then be greatly strengthened by an immediate public confession of Christ. The vital difference in question is, however, that such are then confessing that they have believed on Christ, rather than making a confession in order that they may be saved. After such an appeal, an opportunity should be made for personal conversation with any who believe they have accepted Christ by faith, or any others who may have honest difficulties. In this conversation the individual’s exact understanding of the step may be ascertained and his faith strengthened. Such conversations may be secured early in an after-meeting, or by offering some attractive literature suited to beginners in the Christian life. When it is clear that an intelligent decision has been made, constant confession of Christ as a personal Saviour, should be urged along with the other duties and privileges of the new life. Messages. -- In considering messages as the last of the three "false forces" in evangelism already mentioned, it may well be restated that the ministry of the New Testament evangelist was intended to be wider in its scope than the accepted mission of the evangelist of today. As his name implies, he is the "bearer of glad tidings," and so is in marked contrast to the prophet who proclaims the great principles of morality and righteousness. He has also a far different mission than the pastor and teacher who shepherds the flock and feeds them on the Word of God. The New Testament evangelist is given a particular message to proclaim. That message is the "good news" of the Gospel of Grace; it is therefore a distinct body of truth for this age. His evangel is one of "glad tidings," because it offers freedom from the bondage of the law, with attempts at self-fitting for the presence of God, and because it proclaims a perfect salvation by the power of God through faith in Jesus Christ and His redemption by the cross -- a salvation through which God by His power produces a "new creature," able, because of the new life imparted, to bring forth fruit to His glory. Any deviation from this prescribed message of redemptive truth is an unwarranted undertaking on the part of the evangelist, and is fraught with grave dangers. On the one hand, he may be tempted to adopt the message of the prophet; or he may undertake the work of the pastor and teacher and deal with matters of Christian living, and thus encumber the glorious but limited message of the evangelist. For the issue before the unsaved is not one of after-conduct. The life to be led after conversion can be determined only by the individual himself in the light and power of the new relation to Christ, Whom he has received, and the manner of that new life is a personal matter between the Christian and his Lord (Romans 14:4). Yet, when dealing with the unsaved, the questions which belong to Christian living, such as forms of amusement, or even church membership, are often discussed by evangelists, and these issues may become conditions of salvation to those who hear. The individual may be willing to accept Christ, but be wholly unable to see beyond that one step until that one step is taken. Again, a message may become a "false force" and, to some extent, a hindrance in true evangelism, through a common tendency to depend upon it to move the unsaved to decision. Only the Spirit of God can illuminate the vision and convict the heart of its sinfulness; and while the Spirit may use the message to that end, the work is His and His alone. The divine plan in saving men provides that the Gospel of the saving grace of Christ is to be clearly presented to them. As they hear, some will believe, and when they believe they will that instant be saved by the mighty power of God (John 3:36). There is little demand for methods beyond this God-given program. It is doubtless important to discover and follow up every decision. Simple methods often help to this end; but such machinery is no part of the plan God has ordained. The unsaved are expected to believe the message of salvation as they hear it. Failure is too often in the preaching. The messenger should know the Gospel, or else be silent. The real purpose of the message and the utter impossibility of its possessing convicting power in and of itself will be more fully stated in another chapter, when dealing with the illuminating work of the Spirit as one of the true forces in the evangelism of the New Testament. In considering the true forces in evangelism as they are set forth in the Scriptures, it will be found that they, in contrast with the "false forces" already mentioned, depend upon the activity of the whole company of believers in prayer and in the ministry of the Word; that they demand an unceasing effort for their fullest realization; and that they, from necessity, must usually be carried on independently of public gatherings or special leaders. These true forces in evangelism will, for the sake of emphasis, be taken up in their reverse order; beginning with the objective, or end, which true evangelism must have in view, and tracing the successive steps backward to the real point of human responsibility. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 175: 10.02. SALVATION, THE OBJECTIVE IN EVANGELISM ======================================================================== CHAPTER II: SALVATION, THE OBJECTIVE IN EVANGELISM All evangelism finds its consummation in one phase of the great Scriptural word, "Salvation." A word which covers more than the objective of evangelism, in that it includes, beyond the deliverance from the penalty and condemnation of sin, both the deliverance from the present power of sin and the final unfolding and development of the saved one into the image of Christ. The word includes a whole series of other great doctrines and revelations in which the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are seen working toward the transformation of the individual, body, soul, and spirit, into a celestial being and a partaker with Christ of the heavenly glory. This is the mighty working of the Triune God toward the heavenly perfection of every one who believes. Blessed indeed are they who learn to yield themselves wholly to His saving power! Because of the universal Satanic blindness upon the minds of unregenerate people (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) the scope of the transforming work of salvation is not always understood, even where such knowledge is boldly assumed, and many religious leaders, through this blindness, have ignorantly turned away from the real Gospel and have sincerely espoused "another gospel" of social reform, ethical culture, humanitarianism, or morality. In turning to these good but subordinate things they have revealed, both by their careless rejection of the one Gospel of Grace and by their unbounded enthusiasm for these unworthy substitutes, that the riches of the glorious Gospel of Christ have not dawned on them. This unconscious ignorance of the central truth of the Word of God is one of the mightiest hindrances to evangelism today; for not only are the blinded unable to take a part in real soul-saving work, but they have pleaded for, and to some extent secured, an attitude of tolerance toward their doctrines from many who should be resisting them in defense of the truth. The spirit of tolerance toward the preaching of "another gospel," instead of the Gospel of Christ, is usually justified by the assuring statement that the Word of God needs no defense, and therefore any controversy with these perverters of the truth would be a needless and aimless warfare. To this it may be replied: No defense of the whole truth is ever made from a fear that man will destroy the eternal Word itself, but that defense is made from a God-given compassion for the multitude who are being beguiled away from all hope by the sophistries of these teachings; for any true burden for the lost will extend to the misguided as much as to the unguided. With the many pious substitutes for the one Gospel of Grace today, and the ecclesiastical influence and blind enthusiasm of their promoters, evangelism has new enemies to face, and her glorious work can never be accomplished by waving the white flag of tolerance before these foes. Since much depends, in true evangelism, on a clear understanding of all that is included in "the power of God unto salvation," it is important to dwell at some length on the various aspects of salvation. This is undertaken with a deep consciousness that the heart-comprehension of the glorious riches of salvation must depend upon a divine illumination, or, as it is stated in the Scriptures: "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:17-18). In 1 Corinthians 1:30, Christ is set forth as having been made unto the believer, "Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption." These three words, to some extent, suggest the three tenses -- past, present, and future -- of salvation; for the believer was saved from condemnation unto righteousness and life when he believed; he is being saved from the habit and power of sin through sanctification; and he will be saved from the presence of sin when he, with his glorious body, is wholly redeemed and complete in the presence of his Lord at His coming. The present and future tenses of salvation, though in no way a part of evangelism, should be carefully distinguished from the past tense, which is its true objective. To the believer who has come into the first great tense of salvation, the body of truth mentioned above which sets forth "Sanctification," or "the second tense of salvation," is of greatest import; for it presents to him the only solution of all the problems gathering about his responsibility to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith he is called, and to show forth the virtues of Him Who hath called him from darkness into His marvellous light. The believer’s high position of sonship with God, co-partnership with Christ, and communion and fellowship with the Spirit of Holiness Who indwells him, demands nothing short of a God-wrought salvation from the habit and power of sin, which is independent of all human energy and strength; for human nature, At its best, has no capacity to produce the smallest part of a true God-honoring life. It may further be stated in this connection that no intelligent Christian can contemplate the threefold fact of his own high calling in Christ Jesus, his sinful nature, and the overpowering strength of his adversary, Satan, and not welcome the God-provided victory and salvation by the Spirit from the control and domination of evil. It is, however, often difficult for the child of God to abandon his own resources and tendency to self-help as a means to victory, and to rest in faith and expectation toward God that He will work in him both to will and to do of His good pleasure; yet the victory over evil is never gained by any other plan than a complete dependence upon the saving power of God through Jesus Christ. "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Php 1:6). So it is revealed that the last tense of salvation, even that faultless presentation before the presence of His glory, is a work which is accomplished independent of all human energy and strength. In each revealed purpose of God for man in the ages past, some responsibility has fallen upon the faithfulness of man; but in this age of grace, wherein God is calling out a heavenly people, it is as though He would not allow the glorious result to be marred by one human touch, so perfectly has He reserved to Himself every necessary step in the great work of man’s salvation. Returning to the first tense of salvation, or that which is the real objective in true evangelism, it will be seen that this part of the saving work of God includes the greatest issues that can come into a human life. Some of the more important aspects of the first tense of salvation will here be considered separately: I. -- The penalty of sin and the condemnation of an offended law are wholly set aside through justification, and on the grounds of the substitutionary, sacrificial death of Christ. As it is recorded in Ephesians 1:7 "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace," and so complete has been this atoning work that God, in perfect justice and righteousness, can not only forgive and cancel all sin, but He can also receive the forgiven sinner as covered with all the worthiness of Christ. The same passage records: "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved" (Ephesians 1:5-6). This is an atonement based upon substitution. It is the only meaning given in the New Testament to the death of Christ, and it is the only value foreseen in that death in the types and prophecies of the Old Testament. In Isaiah 53:5-6, it is written: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way: and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." To reject this repeated and only revelation of the purpose of God in the cross is to set sail upon a shoreless sea of uncertainty, to abandon the only cure for sin which the world can ever know, and to forsake the one and only foundation, according to God’s revelation to man, upon which every hope for humanity is made to rest. This fact, namely, that the divine compassion fulfilled all the demands of righteousness in behalf of sinful and unrighteous man, stands without any worthy comparison or illustration in the range of human experience. Nevertheless there are interpreters of the meaning of the death of Christ who claim that they find a line of analogy to this great revelation in the things of this world. They claim that such sacrifice is to be seen in the dying of one generation of flowers for the enrichment of future generations of flowers; and that the suffering of a mother for her child is, in principle, akin to the suffering of the cross. The failure of all such comparisons may be seen in the fact that the dying of one generation of flowers does not save any future generations from death; nor does the suffering of a mother substitute, or in any way relieve, the pain and sufferings of the child. Christ did not die to show us how to die: He died that we might not die. Apart from this central distinction, there may be maintained a "form of religion"; but there can be no power in the salvation thus offered. There may be a carefully selected use of Scripture; but there can be no reasonable interpretation of the whole testimony of God. The sin question was met and perfectly dealt with by God, He Himself being the sole mediator, and the result is a perfect lifting of all penalty and condemnation for sin. All humanity was included in this mediation; for it is written, "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2), and "that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9), and again, "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son." Hence it is revealed that the condemnation of the unsaved is not now the sins which Christ bore in His body on the tree; but the condemnation rests in the fact of the rejection of the Sin-bearer. Thus it is written: "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Even so, the Spirit convinces a world that rejects its propitiation, of but one great sin: "Of sin, because they believe not on me." The believer, in contrast to the unsaved, has consented to the atonement as the basis of his salvation, and has thus appropriated by faith the propitiation made for him. The exact position of the believer in relation to the condemnation justly due him for his sins may be illustrated by the relation which an executed criminal bears to the law which has already condemned and put him to death. He has been drawn into court, judged and sentenced to death for his sins, and the death penalty has been perfectly executed. His execution has, however, been borne for him, in substitution, by the very Judge Whose righteousness condemned him. For it must ever be remembered that it was the Judge Who pronounced the death sentence -- "The soul that sinneth, it shall die," and "The wages of sin is death" -- Who also in His great love bowed the heavens and came down from that throne, making bare His own bosom and receiving into His own breast the very death blow He had in righteousness imposed. It was God that "was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." The believer, thus standing beyond his own perfect execution, is in a position which is not under law; for the last demand of the law has been satisfied. He is in a position, therefore, wherein God is free to work out every desire of His own love without a possible challenge of His perfect righteousness and true holiness. Since all the demands of righteousness have been so fully satisfied, it is written that God can remain just, and still be the justifier of him that believeth. When God is thus free to act He will accomplish by His own power His eternal purpose, and the believer will finally be presented faultless before the presence of His glory, and will be conformed to the image of His Son. Wonderful indeed are the figures used in the Bible to set forth the complete removal of sin and condemnation from the one who receives the God-provided cure for sin. In Micah 7:19 it is said of Israel: "And thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea"; so also, in Psalms 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us," "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Hebrews 10:17). And again, the strong figure of "blotting out" is frequently used: "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins" (Isaiah 43:25). "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee" (Isaiah 44:22). "But those things which God hath before showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19). So again, this forgiveness of sin, as in the passage just quoted, is said to be made possible only in the blood of the cross. In Colossians 2:13-14 "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." II. -- Not only is sin and condemnation removed in the first tense of salvation, but the saint, whether of the Old Testament or the New, is said to be "clothed with the righteousness of God" in place of the "filthy rags" of self-righteousness, as the following Scriptures describe: "But we are as an unclean thing, and our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of his salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10). "Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy" (Psalms 132:9). The passage, "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord make coats of skins, and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21), is a suggestion of Christ made our righteousness through the shedding of blood. So, also, many other passages reveal that this imputed righteousness is possible only on the ground of faith in Christ as personal Saviour through His sacrificial death: "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifest, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe" (Romans 3:21-22). "What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works" (Romans 4:1-6). "For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10:3-4). "That I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Php 3:8-9). "And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints" (Revelation 19:8). "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30, R.V.). "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Space has been given to these many passages that imputed righteousness may be seen to be, as it is, an important theme in both the Old and New Testaments, and a necessary thing as well, if sinful man is ever to appear before Jehovah God. So also, in these Scriptures of the New Testament, this "imputed" righteousness is said to be Christ Himself "made "our righteousness" by an act of God; for according to the last passage quoted, the believer is made the righteousness of God in Christ as perfectly as Christ was made sin for him. His position is said to be "in Christ" and he is "accepted in the beloved." There is also a position of perfect justification through the work of the Sin-bearer. "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10:4). Under these "riches of grace" righteousness is not required; but is rather bestowed as the basis of acceptance before God, and righteousness is fulfilled in, rather than by the believer. The revelation that the righteousness of God is "unto all and upon all that believe" has always seemed an impossible and unreasonable thing from the view-point of the "wisdom of this world"; but it is not impossible or unreasonable in the light of the cross. III. -- Also there is in salvation an impartation of a new life; and that which alone can bring relief to one who is "dead in trespasses and sins." It is a new creation and regeneration by the power of God on the grounds of the blood of the cross. It, too, is bestowed at the beginning of salvation. The following passages, selected from over eighty New Testament references on this theme, will give some conception of the whole doctrine and revelation: (a) It is in no way the present possession of the unsaved. "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again [from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you" (John 6:53). "Because strait is the gate, and narrow the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14). (b) Eternal life is the present possession of the believer. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36). "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 5:13). While eternal life is a present possession of the believer and now secure (John 5:24; John 10:28), it is, like salvation, referred to a few times in its future aspect: "Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10). "But godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come" (1 Timothy 4:8). (c) Eternal life is from Christ. "In him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). "But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses" (Acts 3:14-15). "This is the record, that God hath given unto us eternal life, and the life is in his Son" (1 John 5:11). (d) Eternal life is the indwelling Christ (also spoken of as a divine nature 2 Peter 1:4; and the "new man," Colossians 3:10). "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you; Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me" (John 6:53-57). "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:4). "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" (2 Corinthians 13:5). "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body" (2 Corinthians 4:10). (e) Eternal life is conditioned on faith in Christ as Saviour. "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:31). "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13). "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). Thus regeneration is set forth in the Scriptures as a most important part of the work of salvation; and since all its aspects are foreign to the things of this world, it is wholly omitted from other religious systems; and since it is the only gateway through which a soul can be delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son (Colossians 1:13), it, too, is carefully omitted from the creeds of Satan, and from the teachings of his apostles (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). Yet, if this revelation is rejected, what other interpretation can be given to this great body of truth! Or what other dynamic can be substituted that will enable the soul to rise to the present and future estate of the Christian, as that estate is described in the Word of God? IV. -- The Gift of the Spirit. The God-honoring quality of life in the believer has suffered untold failure through the almost universal confusion and neglect of the truth in regard to the work of the Spirit in and through the believer. This misunderstanding begins even with that part of the Spirit’s work in which He prepares a soul for salvation. In the relation of the Spirit to the believer it is, perhaps, most important to recognize that the Spirit takes up His permanent abode in the believer at the moment he is saved. Receiving the Spirit is not, then, a "second blessing" bestowed upon especially consecrated Christians in answer to believing prayer; for, since the Day of Pentecost, and since the Gospel was given to the Gentiles as recorded in Acts 10:1-48, the Spirit has taken His place in the believer at the moment he has passed from death unto life. In this connection it need only be remembered that in Romans 5:1-11, where some immediate results of justification by faith are enumerated, it is stated in the fifth verse that "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us." Also Paul, while correcting the Corinthian Christians for unmentionable sins, based his whole appeal to them on the fact that they were the temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). So, also, in Romans 8:9 "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." And Galatians 4:6 : "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (see also, John 7:37; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 1 John 3:24; 1 John 4:13. When rightly understood, Acts 5:34; Acts 8:15-17; Acts 19:1-6, furnish no exception to this positive teaching of God’s Word). It is possible and necessary to be "filled with the Spirit" anew for every time of need (Ephesians 5:18); but that should never be confused with receiving the Spirit, which is one of the aspects of the first tense of salvation. By this new relation to the Spirit, the believer becomes enabled at once to meet all the demands of his new life; both as to its victory over the "old man" with the desires and habits of the flesh, and as to the new undertakings for God of the "new man" in all holy living and service which are so infinitely beyond human power and might. The fact that he comes instantly into possession of sufficient power by the Spirit to live wholly unto God is in marked contrast to the world’s ideal of "character-building" which demands years of painful defeat and failure. The believer has but to learn to yield himself wholly to the power of the indwelling Spirit to find that he is delivered from all the "works of the flesh" which are these: "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like"; and in the place of these, the Spirit Who indwells the believer will bear in him "the fruit of the Spirit"; which is "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Galatians 5:19-24). Thus the believer, having received the Spirit at the moment he was saved, and being wholly yielded to Him, is enabled from that moment to realize victory over the "old nature," the flesh, and his enemy, Satan. He is able, also, to experience a holy life in fellowship with God; and to find his individual gift of the Spirit for service (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-31); and while there is much sanctifying and teaching work of the Spirit yet to be accomplished in him he may, from the first, fill to the full all the present will of God for him. (An extended discussion of the work of the Spirit in and through the believer will be found in the author’s book, "He that is Spiritual.") V. -- The Baptism of the Spirit. Any understanding of this aspect of salvation must depend, in a large measure, upon a clear conception of the various meanings of the word "church" as it is used in the Bible. While that word often refers to a local organization of professing Christians, the word is more often used to designate the whole company of regenerate people who have been, or will be saved during this age of grace. This body of people, or organism, is the true church, -- "the church which is his body." It is sometimes mentioned directly, and sometimes in types and figures, which suggest the perfect union which exists between Christ and the believers, and between believers themselves. The Shepherd and the sheep (John 10:1-42); the Vine and the branches (John 15:1-27); the Corner Stone and all the stones of the building (Ephesians 2:19-22); the Bridegroom and the bride (Ephesians 5:29; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 6:9, with many Old Testament types); the "High Priest" and the "kingdom of priests"; the "Last Adam" and the "new generation"; the Living Head and the one body with its many members (1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Ephesians 1:22-23, etc.). The gathering out of this company is the purpose of the present age (Acts 15:13-18); for they are the heavenly people whose purpose and glory will be manifest in all the ages to come. It is into this body of glorious, heavenly people that the believer is organically placed by the baptism of the Spirit at the moment he is saved. This baptism, by which he is united to his Lord and to his fellow-members in the same body, surpasses all human understanding, and is a union that is closer than any human relationship. The husband and wife are, in the purpose of God, "one flesh"; while it is said of this mystic union of the church with its "Living Head" that they are "one spirit": "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13). "He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:17). So great a relationship must produce some personal experience in the believer, even though this doctrine is wholly unknown by him; hence the test is given for all professing Christians, "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother [Christian] abideth in death" (1 John 3:14). The believer’s union in the body, as has been stated, is perfect and complete from the very beginning of his saved life; and, while it imposes no demands in personal service beyond his individual responsibility as a believer, it opens before him the blessed certainty of going with that body to meet the Lord when He comes to receive His own (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18); and to be of the bride, in the bosom of the Bridegroom, in the palace of the King. VI. -- The Christian Priest. The believer is also constituted a priest unto God when he enters the saved life; he is one of the whole company of priests which is the true church; and he has access, through the blood of the cross, into the holiest place, where Christ, the High Priest, is now entered in. The believer, as a priest in the holiest place, is privileged, like the priest of old, to offer his sacrifice and praise unto God, and to intercede before God for his fellow-men (see 1 Peter 2:5-9). VII. -- The Intercession and Advocacy of Christ. Three times over in the Epistles it is recorded that Jesus now lives to make intercession for believers (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:24). In addition to this, Christ said in His High Priestly prayer: "I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine" (John 17:9). Thus the unregenerate, when they believe, come instantly into the place of privilege wherein Jesus becomes their Intercessor. This is a vital factor in the safety and security of the one who is resting in Christ by faith; for it is in connection with their keeping that these references to the intercession of Jesus occur. Following the questions, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?" and "Who is he that condemneth?" is the assuring answer: "It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us" (Romans 8:33-34). And again: "Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost [evermore] that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). Thus Christ, as Intercessor, stands between the weakness and helplessness of the saint and the whole requirement of God. As Advocate, He meets the transgressions and failure of the believer, on the ground of His all-sufficient sacrifice for sin. It is written: "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." (1 John 2:1-2). So, to the believer, it is said: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). With the Advocate pleading His own sufficient atonement for the sins of the saved one, the removal of transgression is no longer of present mercy; for God is said to be "faithful and just to forgive us our sins." Thus Christ has become both the Intercessor and Advocate for the believer; providing him with all cleansing from the defilement of sin and becoming his assurance of security, in spite of his weakness and unworthiness; and all this from the moment he comes "unto God by him." (A fuller treatment of the revealed truth concerning that which enters into the saving grace of God will be found in the author’s book, "Salvation.") Any attempt to describe this salvation must prove inadequate; for the half has never been told of the riches of grace in Christ Jesus. Yet enough has been stated to show that the first work in salvation, which is offered to the unregenerate on the grounds of the merit and sacrifice of Christ, is a stupendous and instantaneous transformation of the whole estate of man from the power of darkness and the condemnation of sin, into the glorious light, liberty and security of the sons of God. It is the unmeasured power, wisdom and love of God working, at His own infinite cost, to create a new humanity, redeemed and heavenly in being. Before such an objective the humanitarian substitutes, offered by Satan or man, become as nothing. This salvation is in no way the product of human thought or invention: but it has rather "appeared" as a "revelation" from God to man (Titus 3:4, and Galatians 1:11-12). The awe-inspiring words, "scholars have agreed" is the final evidence offered in defense of other so-called "gospels" of today: but of the one true Gospel of Grace it may be said "all Scripture has agreed," for it is the central message of the Bible from its beginning to its end. This great salvation is offered to man as a perfect whole and therefore cannot be divided; for there are no divine provisions whereby any portion of this mighty work can be accepted apart from the whole. He who would accept the forgiveness of sin, or a place with the redeemed in glory, can do so only as he accepts the Lord Christ; and with Him, all that God in His infinite love would bestow. And when he is thus saved he will but little comprehend the extent of that redeeming work; yet his limited understanding, while it may deprive him of much joy and blessing, does not change one fact of his new and glorious estate. Lost men are saved when they believe the offer of this salvation. Salvation is not conditioned upon prayer, repentance, reformation, profession, or "seeking the Lord." Israel sought the Lord while He might be found (Isaiah 55:6); but no Gentile "seeketh after God" (Romans 3:11). "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). It is also clear that the transcendent undertaking of salvation is wholly a work of God, since its every phase depends upon a power that surpasses the whole range of human strength. Because of this, the condition of salvation is reasonable, which demands only an attitude of expectation toward God through Christ. In preparation for this, the blinded and self-sufficient person must not only be so wrought upon that he will want to be saved; but he must see his utter helplessness apart from the power of God and the sacrifice of the cross, and this, in spite of the blinding and opposition of Satan who energizes him (Ephesians 2:2). Who is sufficient for these things? Surely not the eloquent preacher or the pleading evangelist! God alone is sufficient; and He has fully provided for the necessary preparation of mind and heart in the all-important conviction by the Spirit. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 176: 10.03. CONVICTION BY THE SPIRIT ======================================================================== CHAPTER III: CONVICTION BY THE SPIRIT Every soul-winner becomes aware, sooner or later, of the fact that the vast company of unsaved people do not realize the seriousness of their lost estate; nor do they become alarmed even when the most direct warning and appeal is given to them. They may be normally intelligent and keen to comprehend any opportunity for personal advancement in material or intellectual things; yet there is over them a spell of indifference and neglect toward the things that would secure for them any right relation to God. All the offers of grace with the present and future blessedness of the redeemed are listened to by these people without a reasonable response. They are, perhaps, sympathetic, warm-hearted and kind; they are full of tenderness toward all human suffering and need: but their sinfulness before God and their imperative need of a Saviour are strangely disregarded. They lie down to sleep without fear and awaken to a life that is free from thought or obligation toward God. The faithful minister soon learns, to his sorrow, that his most careful presentation of truth and earnest appeal produces no effect upon them, and the question naturally arises: "How, then, can these people be reached with the Gospel?" The answer to that question lies in a right understanding of the cause of their indifference, and in an adjustment of methods in work so that there may be cooperation with the Spirit in following the divine program in soul-winning. One of the greatest foes to modern evangelism, which has been treated far too lightly, is described in the following passage: "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that are perishing: in whom the God of this age hath blinded the thoughts of the unbelieving, that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them" (2 Corinthians 4:3-4, R.V. with margin). This passage scarcely needs comment beyond a slight reference to the exact meaning of the word "gospel" as that word is here used. That body of truth which Paul received as a special revelation (Galatians 1:12), and afterwards called "my gospel," "the gospel of Christ" and "the gospel of God" (Romans 2:16; Php 1:27; 1 Thessalonians 2:2), is a far more limited theme than the life story of Jesus, as recorded in the Four Gospels of the New Testament. It is rather the exact grounds of salvation by the cross of Christ and through the grace of God. It is the whole revelation of the divine propitiation for sin. While this Gospel had a larger mission than the Jew could anticipate, in that it was to be a new revelation from God, and was to be extended to the Gentiles also, it is the divine offer of all of God’s provisions for man’s salvation in this age; and by it life and immortality were brought to light (2 Timothy 1:10). It is simply the offer of redemption and the statement of those conditions under grace, by which a soul may "turn from darkness unto light and from the power of Satan unto God" (Acts 28:18); and being the point of deliverance "from the power of Satan unto God," it is veiled by Satan and is opposed to all Satanic wisdom and strength. Satan’s doctrine (1 Timothy 4:1-2; Revelation 2:24; cf. 1 Corinthians 2:10-12) has always been one of moral perfection secured by self-effort or personal works (Isaiah 14:14; Genesis 3:4-5). His program of self-fitting, resulting only in self-glory, is in complete contrast to the true principle of saving faith, through which one depends on God alone for all needed transformation (Romans 8:29; 1 John 3:2). True to this revealed fact of Satanic blindness, we find unregenerate men unable to conceive of any relation to God other than that based on the merit of their own self-made character (John 3:1-8; 1 Corinthians 2:1-16). They do not comprehend that "Christ has become the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth," and that it is only Satanic blindness which leads them to "go about to establish their own righteousness;" rather than to come under the bestowed righteousness of God (Romans 3:21-22; Romans 4:1-6; Romans 10:3-4; Php 3:8-9; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Saving faith may thus be defined as a voluntary turning from all hope and grounds based on self-merit, and assuming an attitude of expectancy toward God, trusting Him to do a perfect saving work based only on the merit of Christ. Such an attitude of anticipation toward God alone is reasonable in the light of the fact that salvation is a divine creative act, and therefore, humanly impossible. But the reasonableness of the case is of no force to one whose reason is blinded at this vital point. It is this solemn fact that evangelism must face. A divine illumination is demanded. No human power or argument is sufficient to enlighten a darkened soul concerning the necessary steps into the way of life. This is a part of the work assigned alone to the all-sufficient Spirit. It is clear from the Scriptures that the Gospel of the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ is the only possible ground of salvation and escape from "the power of Satan unto God." It is therefore suggestive that Satan is imposing his blindness upon the unregenerate mind only at this one point. The demons in the days of Christ’s earthly ministry bore faithful testimony to His deity as the Son of God; just so, Satan is now directly witnessing to the value of the only offers of salvation by thus centralizing all his blinding power upon the way of the cross. In addition to the exercise of his own power in directly blinding the unsaved as to the value of the cross, Satan is increasingly active, through his ministers, in attempting to exclude this central truth from the Christian faith. To do this he is now, as predicted, forcing great counterfeit religious systems and restatements of doctrine upon the world. It is also suggestive that in all these the only revealed basis of salvation is carefully omitted. The blinding or veiling of the mind, mentioned in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, causes a universal incapacity to comprehend the way of salvation, and is imposed upon unregenerate man by the arch enemy of God in his attempts to hinder the purpose of God in redemption. It is a condition of mind against which man can have no power. Yet God has provided a means whereby this Satanic veil may be lifted, the eyes opened (Acts 26:18), the eyes of the heart enlightened (Ephesians 1:18, R.V.), and the soul come into the illumination of the Gospel of the glory of Christ. Then, after this "opening of the eyes" is accomplished, the way of life, which is the Gospel, will seem to the enlightened person to be both desirable and of transcendent import. This great work is accomplished by divine energy, and is one of the mightiest movements of the "power of God unto salvation." It is spoken of in the Scriptures as the drawing of God and the convicting of the Spirit: "No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him" (John 6:44). "And when he [the Spirit] is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8). This individual and particular drawing and reproving should be distinguished from the universal drawing and illuminating of all men that is mentioned in other passages: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32), and "That was the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (or, "That was the true Light which coming into the world, shineth for every man") -- John 1:9. The former passages refer to a special divine work to be accomplished in each individual, and they present the only sufficient means by which a Satan-ruled soul (Ephesians 2:2) may be inclined unto God, and by which, Satan-blinded eyes may receive a new vision of the Gospel of Grace. This divine unveiling of the individual mind and heart to the Gospel is spoken of at length in Hebrews 6:4-9. While this passage is Jewish in its character, it is an important statement of a phase of the truth under present consideration. The passage is as follows: "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak." It would seem impossible that so much could be accomplished in any person as is here described, and yet that person remain unsaved, were it not for the phase of truth which is under consideration; for the passage states that those described have been "once enlightened," "have tasted of the heavenly gift," and have been made "partakers of the Holy Ghost." They have "tasted the good word of God" and the "powers of the world to come"; yet this is all true of unregenerate persons who have been "drawn" and "convicted" by divine power in preparation for salvation. When the passage has been interpreted as being a description of regenerate people, it has been used as a proof text to substantiate that unscriptural and God-dishonoring theory that a saved person can "fall away" and find it impossible to renew his repentance. That the passage does not describe a true child of God is evident, for the description is wholly inadequate of a Christian. All that is said is, in a sense, true of a believer; but very much more is true of him also. The believer has received, not "tasted," the heavenly gift; he has been "sealed by the Holy Spirit," which is more than to have "partaken" of the Spirit in conviction or illumination. The "tasting of the Word of God" is a poor substitute for the believer’s "washing of regeneration by the Word"; and "tasting" of the powers of the world to come is incomparable with the power of God in salvation. But again, it is clearly stated in the closing verse of this passage that this is not a description of the "better things" that "accompany salvation." It is therefore a description of the condition into which a soul is brought when divinely prepared for an intelligent choice of Christ as Saviour. This condition is, to some extent, a sphere of probation (which is never the relation of a true believer to God); for, as the life-giving rain waters the earth and causes it to yield herbs or thorns, so the soul that has been thus favoured with the vision of life and salvation in preparation for yielding to the saving power of Christ, may "bear thorns and briers" by continually resisting the vision, and finally "fall away" and find no place for repentance; seeing he crucifies to himself the Son of God afresh and puts Him to an open shame. While he is rejecting God’s best gift and his only hope, there remains no more "a place of repentance." "If therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness." The importance of this truth will warrant a reference to three other brief passages. In each of these this divine drawing, or calling, may be seen in its true place and order among the other aspects of "the power of God unto salvation." In these passages, this phase of truth is mentioned by the words, "to open their eyes," "called me by His grace," and "called." The passage reads: "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). "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood" (Galatians 1:15-16). "Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified" (Romans 8:30). Other passages which emphasize the necessary illumination of the Spirit should also be quoted: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me" (John 6:44-45). "Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost" (1 Corinthians 12:3). "He saith unto them: But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 16:15-17). This special aspect of the divine work, which has been seen in these passages already quoted, is more particularly dwelt upon in John 16:8-11. The whole context of this passage (John 16:8-15) announces, in addition to the three-fold work of the Spirit for the unsaved, or "world," a special instructive and illuminative work of the Spirit for the saved, here addressed as "you." As these two classes were distinguished in connection with a previously quoted Scripture, their difference should be noted here also. In this connection it will be seen that the saved are to be led into "all truth": while the unsaved are to be instructed along but one particular line. To the saved the "all things" of Christ and of God are to be shown; while the unsaved are to see only that which first concerns them, which is the way of life in Christ Jesus. This passage referring to the work of the Spirit for the unsaved is as follows: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." (John 16:7-11). In considering this passage it may first be noted that the word "reprove" (R.V. "convict") is not limited, as is often supposed, to the first word "sin," but applies to the words "righteousness" and "judgment" as well. This suggests a much larger meaning to the word than an acute mental agony for sin, though that might follow. The word "reprove," as here used, suggests a process of illumination concerning three distinct facts, rather than the creation of a feeling of remorse for sins that have been committed. There is no warrant for assuming that this three-fold divinely wrought vision is divisible, or in any way subject to a partial fulfilment. It would, therefore, be unreasonable to limit our thought of this ministry of the Spirit to any one aspect of this work. A careful study of, in all, about sixteen passages where the Greek word translated "reprove" is used will reveal that it is usually descriptive of a condition of mind resulting from the impartation of truth, and that this convicting work of the Spirit for the world is identical with the enlightenment by the Spirit already considered. At this point much depends upon an adequate understanding of the whole scope of the action of the Spirit as suggested by the three words, "sin," "righteousness" and "judgment." Of Sin, "because they believe not on me." "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). It is just this incapacity and blindness of the unregenerate mind which is stated in these passages that demands the illuminating work of the Spirit in "convincing of sin." It is evident from the words "because they believe not on me" that they do not comprehend the way of life in Christ Jesus, nor has the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ dawned on them. The only sin to be revealed, according to this passage, is the sin of personally rejecting Christ (see also John 3:18). The reason that there is but one sin is obvious. Christ has perfectly borne the condemnation of the individual’s sins, hence God in no wise lays them back again upon the sinner; but rather holds him responsible for not believing the record of the atoning death of His Son (1 John 5:10-12). Hence it is clear that present condemnation cannot result from the sins which God reckons to be covered by the blood of His Son. The issue is plainly the rejection of the Son Who bore the sins. The fact that the blinded sinner must comprehend that his sins have been borne for him by Christ, and that he has the one responsibility of receiving that Saviour and his saving work, however, demands a further illumination by the Spirit. The Gospel demands a special revelation for its understanding; since it announces to all humanity a perfect freedom from the penalty of sin, and also presents the corresponding fact that there can be but one reason for condemnation; and that, the rejection of the Saviour, Who bore the sin. Man’s relation to God on the question of sin, in the light of the cross, is so unnatural to the unregenerate mind, and is so much the object of Satanic blinding that there can be no understanding of this truth apart from a direct and personal illumination by the Spirit. The work of the Spirit, it will thus be seen, is to reveal the cure of sin as already accomplished, and to warn against the only remaining possible condemnation that must follow the rejection of the cross. Though the unsaved, "natural man," may be educated, gentle, refined, or gifted, he has no vision of salvation, and thus it is obvious that there can be no adequate conception of the one condemning sin of rejecting Christ as Saviour, until the Christ and His saving work as sin-bearer are made real. This the Spirit accomplishes by convincing of righteousness and judgment; for both the conviction of righteousness and of judgment are but revelations of the Christ and His salvation. Of Righteousness, "because I go to my Father and ye see me no more." "But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses" (Acts 3:14-15). "Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:25). In the vision of the Righteous One Who died upon the cross it will be revealed to the unsaved by the Spirit that "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself," and that He, the Righteous One, bore the curse of the sinner’s unrighteousness "in his own body on the tree." That it was the Righteous One Who died is for ever assured by His resurrection and present place in glory. This is the all-important vision; for the Righteous One upon the cross is the sinner’s only point of contact with the saving power of God. In like manner, also, as the ground work of salvation is revealed by the convicting work of the Spirit to be the death of the Righteous One, so the enjoyment of all present blessing in fellowship and security must depend upon as direct and personal a revelation by the Spirit of the present living Christ. The problem of all human destiny is the attainment unto the righteousness of God; for without that perfection man can never hope to stand in the presence of God (Hebrews 12:10-14). Christ was made sin for us, He Who knew no sin, that we might be made righteousness of God in Him. He, the Righteous One, bore our sins in His death, and thereby satisfied all the demands of the Father. The Christ in the flesh lived and fulfilled every requirement of God’s law, and offered Himself a perfect sacrifice for imperfect humanity. In Him Who became visible, died, rose, ascended and is now invisible, but still the living Lord, "God blessed forever," the sinner is made "accepted in the beloved," and stands in the righteousness of God. This position of being clothed in the righteousness of God through the merit and Person of the living Christ must be recognized as wholly due to the fact that He was really made to be sin for us. Hence, in convincing of righteousness, the vision is created in the unregenerate mind of the Righteous One Who died on the cross as a personal Saviour Who is now raised from the dead, and seated in glory with all His atoning work accepted before God, and Who is able to "guard that which is committed unto him against that day." On the cross Christ judged all sin and secured a perfect salvation for all who believe. So in heaven He saves those who have believed from every challenge of a broken law. Christ is "made unto us righteousness." It is rest to a sin-conscious soul to know that there is a perfect righteousness for him in Christ. Such knowledge cannot be gained apart from the illuminating work of the Spirit. Of Judgment, "because the prince of this world is judged." "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out" (John 12:31). "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Colossians 2:13-15). The Spirit thus also enlightens the darkened mind concerning the complete and sufficient judgment of all sin in the cross of Christ. This judgment not only met all possible condemnation for sin (Isaiah 53:4-6; Romans 6:10; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; Hebrews 10:2-18; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 Peter 2:24), but broke all claim and authority of the rulers and powers of darkness (Colossians 2:13-15). Through the dying Christ it is possible to be forever delivered out of Satan’s darkness (Colossians 1:12-14), and through the living Christ it is promised that the child of God shall be forever saved and kept unto the "Kingdom of God’s dear Son" (Romans 5:10). This is the plan of God’s redeeming grace, and it may be concluded, in all confidence, that as certainly as Satan is blinding the minds of the unregenerate men at the point of the redemptive work of Christ, so certainly it is the purpose of God that the Spirit shall unveil their minds concerning that same truth. The claim which Satan held upon man, before the cross, was the very fact of man’s sin and unlikeness to God. That claim was wholly broken by the cross, and the curse of sin was lifted for all. Since the cross, it has been Satan’s one advantage to blind those in his power as to the fact of the universal atonement for sin, and to secure an attitude of misunderstanding and rejection of this atonement that will keep man under the last and only condemnation: "that they believe not on me." Thus all "principalities and powers" were "spoiled" and "triumphed over" in the divine judgment of sin. Now the way of redemption is open to all who will come by the cross. But it is this very value of the death of Christ that is the object of Satan’s blinding, and the Spirit alone can unveil the blinded unregenerate mind. This He does by convincing of the perfect judgment for all men now accomplished through the cross. It cannot be emphasized too strongly that the phase of the Gospel which Satan has veiled from "those that are perishing" is the way of life through the death of Christ, and that it is the same central truth which the Spirit would make real to "those that are perishing," by convincing them "of sin, of righteousness and of judgment." In this connection it is not claimed that an unsaved person must come to know every phase of truth about the atonement of Christ before he is divinely prepared for salvation; but it is claimed that the Spirit proposes to make the meaning of the cross sufficiently clear to that person as to enable him to abandon all hope of self-works, and to turn to the finished work of Christ alone in intelligent, saving faith. The unfolding of redemptive truth was revealed to Paul directly from God, and there is a very real sense in which that truth must be directly revealed to every individual, that he may himself choose it as the only basis of his hope. The atoning sacrificial death of Christ as a distinct and sufficient foundation for salvation must become a reality before it can become a finality in saving faith. And in convincing the world of sin, righteousness, and of judgment that truth is made real by the Spirit. What human argument or influence can convince Satan-blinded minds that to fail to believe on Jesus Christ is the all-condemning sin? Surely that sin will not be seen in all its magnitude until the mind has been enlightened in regard to the Person of Christ and His atoning work. Thus only by the Spirit can any conception be had of all that is being rejected when they "believe not on me." No understanding of the illuminating work of the Spirit on the minds of the unsaved would be complete apart from the recognition of the important agency or means used by the Spirit in that work. The Word of God, "which is the sword of the Spirit." Another sharp distinction must be made at this point, as in the enlightening and teaching work of the Spirit, between the whole divine work for the saved and that small part of the same work which may be done for the unsaved as a preparation for salvation. The riches of the work for the saved can be only suggested here. To the saved the Word of God is a cleansing, sanctifying and reflecting power (John 13:10-11; John 15:3; Ephesians 5:25-26; John 17:17; and 2 Corinthians 3:18). To the unsaved, the Word of God is the "sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17). All those who urge methods in personal work properly lay great stress on the right use of Scripture when dealing with the unsaved. God uses the "Sword of the Spirit," and He has not promised to use anything else in unveiling the blinded mind. As has been seen, the convicting work of the Spirit involves a radical change in the deepest part of man’s being, where his motives and desires are first formed; so that an entirely new conception of the God-provided grounds of redemption and a vision of the glorious Person of Christ are created. As both the Person and the work of Christ are presented in the Scriptures, it is only necessary for the Spirit to vitalize His own Word, either upon the printed page, or through the lips of His messenger, to bring a new light and possibility into the hitherto blinded mind. It is, therefore, said of the Word of God: "For the word of God is quick, and powerful [living and active, R.V.], and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). The Word itself is however but the sword, and must be wielded by the Spirit to be effective. The fact that the Word of God, in the hands of the Spirit, is living and operative is the only warrant for any appeal to the unsaved; and is a warning, as well, that the message, to be effective, must be in accord with the whole truth of God that it may be used by the Spirit. It is a conspicuous fact that every successful soul-winner has been a fearless defender of every essential doctrine of the Scriptures. The skill of the evangelist, or the pastor who would do the work of an evangelist, is manifested in the ability to present the particular body of redemptive truth repeatedly, yet with freshness and variety. The evangelist is limited to that evangel which unfolds the cure of sin and the way of life by the substitutionary death of Christ, since that is the only message which the Spirit can use as His Sword in unveiling those eyes which are blinded to that particular truth. How helpless, then, in true soul-saving cooperation with God is that person who has a heart of unbelief toward the blood of Christ, or whose message has been beguiled away from the way of life in Christ Jesus, to an appeal for morality or religious ceremonials, which are the result of human energy and expediencies! Jesus has commanded His own that are in the world to preach the Gospel of redemptive truth to every creature: yet their preaching is of no avail save as it is accompanied by the convincing and illuminating work of the Spirit, and this work of the Spirit is dependent upon a ministry of the believer which should always accompany preaching. This ministry is the prayer of intercession. Thus it may be concluded on the question of the use of the Word in true evangelism that it is the work of the Spirit to present the sacrificial judgment of the cross and the living glorious Person of Christ to the unsaved through the preaching of the Word. And when a preacher evades either the message of the cross or the essential deity of Christ there has been, and can be, no cooperation of the Spirit in convincing power, though every element of literary merit and human eloquence be supplied. Evidence of this is on every hand. It is not a mere arbitrary caprice with God that there must be an intelligent appropriation of the work of Christ as the grounds of redemption: "For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). On no other grounds can the mercy and grace of God be exercised in righteousness and justice. It follows, therefore, that the grounds of redemption must be sufficiently clear to each individual to elicit a repose of faith, and a willing deposit of all eternal interests into the saving power of Christ. No human argument or teaching can dispel the Satanic darkness which hinders saving faith, or create the new vision that is required. It is quite possible for a blinded soul to be religious, or even to pose as a minister of the Gospel; yet, having never comprehended the way of life, to be "tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine," and, though sincere, and possessing a wide range of human knowledge, to be in his blindness only the minister of Satan (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). The wide difference in appreciation of the Gospel which exists between people of equal mental attainments cannot be explained on the grounds of personal temperament or training, else their various attitudes would be more or less permanent, when in reality the attitude of indifference is often suddenly changed to a glowing fire. It need hardly be pointed out that unsaved men do not weigh the evidence of testimony and fact as accurately in matters relating to salvation as they do in any other sphere of investigation. In matters between men in the world the sworn testimony of two reliable witnesses demands a corresponding conclusion; yet the obvious fact of regeneration and the willing testimony of multitudes, "whereas I was blind, now I see," creates little impression on others who are yet in their blindness. There is a reality in Satanic blindness. But, blessed be God, there is a reality in divine illumination! It should be observed that, apart from the power of God, superficial decisions may easily be secured, and apparently great results accomplished; for some minds are so dependent upon the opinions of others that the earnest and dominating appeal of the evangelist, with the obvious value of a religious life, is sufficient to move them to follow almost any plan that is made to appear to be expedient. They may be urged to act on the vision of the way of life which the preacher possesses, when they have received no sufficient vision for themselves. The experience of thousands of churches has proven that such decisions have not met the conditions of grace in "believing with the heart"; for the multitude of advertised converts have often failed, and these churches have had to face the problem of dealing with a class of disinterested people who possess no new dynamic, nor any of the blessings of the truly regenerate life. It is possible reverently to repeat the most pious phrases and assume devotional attitudes and yet have the inner life in no way correspondingly moved. All such exercise, though producing apparent results, is of no avail in real salvation; for the Spirit has not wrought in such a mind to the end that the utterance of such phrases become the expression of the greatest crisis of the inner life, and the only adequate relief for that soul’s sense of utter helplessness and burning thirst for the water of life. A few genuine decisions may occur among the many, and these have always justified the wholesale evangelizing method. There is, however, a very grave harm done to any who are thus superficially affected, and this harm might sometimes outweigh the good that is done. In reply to this it is argued that nothing can outweigh the value of one soul that is saved; yet when the harm of a false decision is analysed, it will be seen that the after-state of bewilderment and discouragement which results in an attitude that is almost unapproachable and hopeless, has its unmeasured results as well. The Gospel will always prove, in this age, "a savour of death unto death" as well as of "life unto life"; for some, even upon whom the Spirit has wrought in conviction, will reject the way of life. But there is no expectation in the evangelism of the Scriptures, that souls are to be hurried into unrealities and be misguided in their blindness. In the ministry of the Spirit Who came to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, God has faithfully provided the one all-sufficient preparation for a full and intelligent decision. Placing saving trust in the Lord Jesus Christ is an act so definite that the experience must be abiding. A consciousness that this step has been taken will naturally remain. Well may we question our own salvation when uncertain at this point. "I know whom I have believed" is the normal testimony of every saved person. Such trust abides. It is a consciousness that He alone is depended upon as the answer before God for every problem of a sin-cursed soul. This abiding confidence can be formed in the heart only through the illuminating, regenerating, and indwelling work of the Spirit. The examples of soul-winning in the New Testament present a conspicuous contrast to some examples of present-day evangelism. So far as the divine record shows there seemed to be little urging or coaxing, nor was any person dealt with individually who had not first given evidence of a divinely-wrought sense of need. It is recorded that Peter directed the converts at Pentecost in the way of life after they were "pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do"? So also there is no record that Paul and Silas pleaded with the Philippian jailor to become a Christian before he had any such desire; but rather, after a great change had taken place in his whole attitude which compelled him to fall tremblingly before them and say, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" did they personally direct him to "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." Peter does not send for Cornelius: Cornelius reaches out for Peter. And Saul is led into the light almost without human aid or direction. In view of this all-important divine preparation for salvation, it is clear that all evangelism, be it public ministry or personal work, which does not wait for the movings of the Spirit in the hearts of the unsaved is insomuch removed from true cooperation with God, and is in danger of hindering souls. Such a waiting on God and for God as is necessary for true cooperation with the Spirit, although it may shatter the evangelist’s claim to large numbers of converts, will tend to wean the church away from her dependence upon spasmodic periods of concern for the lost into a true and more constant attitude of fruit-bearing. The Scriptures furnish us with examples of true evangelism, the results of which were reported many centuries ago when it was said: "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved" (Acts 2:47). This blessed condition will always result when believers depend upon the Lord to add to the Church and they continue "steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42). ======================================================================== CHAPTER 177: 10.04. THE PRAYER OF INTERCESSION ======================================================================== CHAPTER IV: THE PRAYER OF INTERCESSION In this attempt to consider the successive aspects of the movements of the "power of God unto salvation," it has already been seen that true evangelism must face the humanly impossible task of lifting the Satanic veil that rests upon all unregenerate minds in connection with the one subject, "the Gospel." This blinding by Satan having been imposed at this one point, for the sufficient reason that "the Gospel" is the revelation of the only way of escape for sinful man from the power of Satan unto God, both the "good news" of the finished work upon the cross and the glory of the living Christ in His present position as Intercessor and Advocate, have been obscured. On the other hand, it has been seen that there is a divinely provided illumination by the Spirit which causes the same "good news" of the finished work and the present glory of Christ to become a reality to the hitherto blinded mind. The unveiling of the Gospel by the Spirit is necessary and reasonable. For the conditions of saving faith are no less than a deposit of the whole being into the saving power of Christ; and, while superficial decisions may be secured through mere human influence and power, there will be no complete repose of faith until the way is made plain by the enlightenment of the Spirit. It is true that no man can know the Father, in soul rest, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him (Matthew 11:27-28). This is the basis of all fellowship with God. It is equally true of the unsaved that no man can come to Christ as Saviour except the Father draw him (John 6:44). Again, "It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me" (John 6:45). In view of the appalling absence of personal concern on the part of the multitude of unsaved, in spite of much faithful preaching and exhortation, every serious soul-winner will, sooner or later, raise the question: "What, then, hinders the Spirit from performing His office work of convincing the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment"? The answer to this central question in modern evangelism is found in that subject which is the next step in the successive aspects of the power of God unto salvation, as they are here being considered in their reverse order. That subject is the Prayer of Intercession. There are but three possible ways in which the believer can fulfil the God-appointed human part in seeking the lost. These are: prayer, personal effort or influence, and giving. Both the first and the last are world-wide in their scope, while the other is limited to the locality and opportunity of the individual. There can never be a question as to the relative value of these various lines of service, for the ministry of prayer is continually open to every believer, and is only limited in its possibilities by the feeble faith of man. There is much in the New Testament that emphasizes the importance of preaching the Word as a means unto salvation; but it is evident that there must be more than the human statement of the truth. The Spirit must wield His mighty Sword and that work of the Spirit, to a large extent it would seem, is subject to believing prayer. A Christian, as has been mentioned in a previous chapter, is, from the moment of his salvation, constituted a royal priest unto God. The meaning and scope of his position may be better understood by referring to the Aaronic priesthood under the law, for the Old Testament priesthood is evidently a type, or a foreshadowing in some particulars, of the royal priesthood under grace. That there is a royal priesthood under grace is revealed in the following Scriptures: "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises [virtues] of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:9). "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5). "And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever" (Revelation 1:6). "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27). The essential truth concerning the priesthood under grace is suggested in these passages. Here the priesthood is seen as composed of the members of the body of Christ, which is His Church. A "chosen generation" speaks of their position by the new birth; a "royal priesthood" and "kings and priests" of their office; a "holy nation" and a "holy priesthood" of their necessary cleansing; and a "peculiar people" of their essential heavenly character, as distinguished from the people of the world. So again, "lively stones" speaks of their individual responsibility and service; "offer spiritual sacrifices" and the "intercession by the Spirit" speak of their ministry; while the words "acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" speak of the rent veil, their access to God, and of their "boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh" (Hebrews 10:19-20). Returning to these important teachings to consider them in the same order, and more at length, it will be seen: I. A "Chosen Generation." Like the Aaronic priest under the law, the New Testament priest is born to his position. He is constituted a priest unto God as a part of the salvation that is in Jesus Christ. His position and his privileges, therefore, begin with his new birth into the nature and family of God. It is most important to emphasize the truth that every believer is a priest unto God, though he may never intelligently exercise his glorious privilege. The full realization of this position, so far as it affects prayer, is one of the greatest needs among believers today. It is more than a belief in the general efficacy of prayer. It is to be able to say, "I believe God will do His greatest works solely in answer to my prayer." II. A "Royal Priesthood" and "Kings and Priests." The New Testament priesthood is an office. This is in marked contrast to the believer’s gifts for service. The contrast is seen in the fact that those things which constitute the ministry of the priest are the privilege and duty of all believers alike: while the gifts for service are bestowed by the Spirit "as he will" (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11). Not all believers have the same gift for service; but all are privileged to minister in the priestly office. Not all have the gift of teaching, or of healing; but all have access in prayer. III. A "Holy Nation" and a "Holy Priesthood." The importance of cleansing for the exercise of the priestly office under grace is seen through the words "a holy priesthood." It is seen both as it is foreshadowed in the demands for laving and purification of the Old Testament priest, and in the fact that the ministry of the New Testament priest is also in the holiest place, and is directed unto God. In that holy place the least taint of sin or defilement cannot be allowed, though a degree of unfitness might not hinder the exercise of gifts where the service is only to men. IV. A "Peculiar People." No greater evidence of the mighty transformation that is wrought by salvation can be found than the fact that the privilege is granted to the one who is saved of entering the holiest place where Christ is already entered in, and is there making intercession for His own who are in the world. Only those who have partaken of the divine nature by regeneration and have come, by grace, to be heavenly in being and destiny could be so favored. V. "Lively Stones." As the ministry of gifts in the church is individual, even world-wide evangelism being committed to each believer rather than to the Church as a body, so there is no present service for the New Testament priests as a whole; but their service is individual, as their cleansing and fitness must be. VI. To "Offer Spiritual Sacrifices" and the "Intercession by the Spirit." The Old Testament priest was sanctified and cleansed that he might offer sacrifices and enter the "Holy of holies" to intercede for others; so the New Testament priest is appointed to offer sacrifices in three particulars: (a) His own body: "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship" (Romans 12:1, R.V., with margin. See also Php 2:17; 2 Timothy 4:6; James 1:27). (b) His worship: "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name" (Hebrews 13:15). (c) His substance: "But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (Hebrews 13:16); "But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God" (Php 4:18). These spiritual sacrifices we may now offer to God. The New Testament priest is also an intercessor, which, as the word implies, differs from a supplicator who may pray wholly for himself. The intercessor bears the burden and need of others before God, and intercedes in their behalf. No human wisdom is sufficient for this ministry in the holiest place; for "we know not what to pray for as we ought"; but God has anticipated our inability and provided the energizing Spirit Who "maketh intercession for us," and "according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27). VII. "Acceptable unto God by Jesus Christ." How much is required in those searching words, "acceptable to God"! Yet how perfect is the believer’s fitting "by Jesus Christ"! Only some personal defilement uncleansed, or sin unconfessed can hinder the exercise of the priestly office by the least of all believers. "By Jesus Christ" he has been made "acceptable to God," and only personal pollution can now hinder the realization of those precious privileges in the presence of God. All evangelism must begin with prayer. And no human service, or device, can take the place of the intercession of a priest who is cleansed, and "acceptable to God," even in the holiest place "by Jesus Christ." While the believer-priest may intercede in behalf of his fellow-members in the body of Christ, it is a privilege of his co-partnership with Christ to intercede for the lost; and the answer to that prayer will be the going forth of the Spirit to convince them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. The importance of preaching and teaching the truth is in no way lessened by this emphasis upon priestly prayer. It must only be borne in mind that prevailing prayer necessarily accompanies all other ministry; for it commands the power of God, and secures the needed illumination of the mind toward the Word that may be preached. Without prayer there will be little understanding and vision of the Gospel, even though faithfully presented. The reason for human intercession in the divine plan has not been wholly revealed. The repeated statements of Scripture that it is a necessary link in the chain that carries the divine energy into the impotent souls of men, in addition to its actual achievement as seen in the world, must be the sufficient evidence of the imperative need for the prayer in connection with the purpose of God. Thus in the Scriptures and in experience it is revealed that God has honored man with an exalted place of cooperation and partnership with Himself in His great projects of human transformation. Among the many direct and positive promises wherein the activity of the divine power is conditioned on human faithfulness in prayer but one will here be quoted and considered. In John 14:14, it is written: "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it" (see also John 15:7; John 16:23-24; and Luke 11:9). In this Scripture the assignment of both the divine and the human part in the work is clearly seen; for the bald outline of this passage is, "If ye shall ask, ... I will do." Thus God reserves to Himself the undertaking and accomplishment of every object of human intercession, and assigns to man the service of prayer. This is quite reasonable; for it is evident that the accomplishment of any spiritual transformation must ever be His to do. since its consummation is possible to divine strength alone. Thus, though man cannot do the important task, he is permitted, through intercession, to cooperate with God in its accomplishment, and to fulfil, according to revelation, a necessary part in the divine program. Prayer is said to be a cause. It is because of prayer that God promises to do. He is pleased to work through preaching; but his mighty undertakings are conditioned on prayer. Effective preaching is one of the necessary means in answering faithful prayer. It is said in Romans 10:13-14, that the unsaved cannot hear without a preacher; yet it is equally true that the preaching, to be effective, must be in the "demonstration and power of the Holy Spirit." It should be noted that, under these conditions and relationships, stated in John 14:14, every true prayer is not only an acknowledgment of God as the only sufficient One, but it demands an attitude of entire expectation from Him on the part of the supplicant. This is essential if normal relations are to exist between God and man. The answer to prayer, when the expectation is not wholly toward God, would but divert the confidence of man, and foster a false trust in his mind. It is necessary for man, therefore, in the interests of his own understanding of God and truth, to come directly to God, acknowledging His omnipotence, and looking to Him as alone sufficient to do the thing for which he may be praying. Again, it may be seen from this promise that God, to some extent, has seen fit to condition His action upon the believer’s prayer; for the Scripture says: "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it"; and this is the secret of all true evangelism. There is another promise bearing directly on this point: "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it" (1 John 5:16). It is, then, the teaching of Scripture that the action of the mighty power of God in convicting and illuminating the unsaved is also, in a large measure, dependent upon the priestly intercession of the believer. This, too, is a conspicuous fact in experience as revealed in history. Where believing prayer has been offered with expectation toward God alone, there has always been evidence of the power of God unto salvation, according to His covenant promises. These periods of refreshing have been called "revivals." The immediate blessing resulting from the adjustment of believers to the program of God is natural; but the certain return to an attitude of indifference, on the human side, has made that brief season of blessing seem to be some special visitation from heaven when God was thought to have been "on the giving hand." It may have been impossible, in such a case, for the extra meetings and methods to have continued; but the blessing was in no way conditioned on the meetings or methods. Intercessory prayer, the real basis of the blessing, could and should have continued. The marvellous, and so little experienced, movings of the Spirit upon the unsaved are at the command of the least of God’s children, if that one be cleansed; for such a believer is a priest unto God, and no limitation of times and seasons is set in the New Testament upon his intercession. How little the stupendous fact of this individual power in prayer is realized by Christians today! The present failure on the part of Christians to enter the holy place in intercession according to the appointment of God is sufficient to account for the present lack of Holy Spirit conviction and conversion in the church. The neglect and ignorance of the facts regarding the believer’s privileges in prayer, when those facts are so clearly stated in the Scriptures, can be explained only in the light of the revealed Satanic opposition to the purpose of God; for intercessory prayer is a strategic point for the attack of this arch enemy, inasmuch as the mighty movements of the Spirit for salvation are, for the present time, awaiting this human cooperation. If there are exceptions in the history of ingatherings where there have been what seemed to be unprayed-for out-pourings of the Spirit, in no case can it be proven that prayer was not offered. In every case where the Spirit seemed to descend upon the church with sovereign power, there has been either an appalling spiritual death in the church, or a new emphasis has been needed upon some neglected truth in evangelism. Such seasons have been so rare in the history of the church that they can be counted only as exceptions, and should in no way be used to qualify the revealed plan of God, which He has blessed throughout the years. Not only are the priceless results of the saving power of God hindered, but the individual believer has suffered unmeasured loss in his possible reward, when the prayer of intercession has for any reason ceased. Prayer presents the greatest opportunity for soul-winning, and there is precious reward promised to those who bring souls to Christ, and are found to be suffering with Him in His burden for the lost. Fundamentally, then, the personal element in true soul-winning work is more a service of pleading for souls than a service of pleading with souls. It is talking with God about men from a clean heart and in the power of the Spirit, rather than talking to men about God. But let no one conclude that such intercessory prayer is not a service demanding time and vitality. If faithfully entered into, this ministry, as has been pointed out, will result in an opportunity to direct Spirit-moved men to the faithful provisions and promises of God. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 178: 10.05. SUFFERING WITH CHRIST ======================================================================== CHAPTER V: SUFFERING WITH CHRIST It should not be concluded from what has gone before that there is no other God-appointed human service in behalf of the lost than the prayer of intercession. It is true, however, that intercessory prayer is the first and most important service. As has been stated, the divine order is to talk to God about men, until the door is definitely open to talk to men about God. Any service which He may appoint after believing prayer has been offered will be wonderfully blessed by Him. But to intrude upon strangers, unless positively led to do so, or to implore unwilling and unprepared men, is to display a zeal without knowledge, and is fraught with peril to immortal souls. Such boldness is often urged and commended as being a high form of Christian service; yet no Spirit-filled person can rush ahead of the movements of God without a deep sense of protest from the Spirit Who indwells him. It is not altogether due to personal diffidence that true believers often find it difficult to speak to the unsaved about their need of Christ. There may be a restraint upon such service; for if the unsaved are not prepared by the Spirit, any attempt to force a decision may be a violation of the plan of God. If space could be given here to incidents illustrating the necessity of waiting on God and for God as the first effort to be made for the salvation of any person, it would be apparent that the preparation of one soul may require many years, or this preparation may be accomplished in another in as many hours; but seldom is it advantageous to press the decision until some evidence is given that the Spirit is leading toward such an appeal. Such quiet waiting will always be rewarded; for, as in the days as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, there will usually be some clear indication from the illuminated person that the heart is prepared, although it be but a look or action, which will be a sufficient assurance that the way is open for any necessary word to be spoken which will direct that heart to its acceptance of Christ. Coaxing and pleading will be found to be unnecessary, for the soul will be thirsting for the Water of Life. When led of the Spirit, the child of God must be as ready to wait as to go, as prepared to be silent as to speak. The precious service of leading the enlightened person to a decision is often appointed to the one who has first suffered for that person in intercession. This is the real place of so-called "personal work," and too much cannot be said as to the value of the careful preparation and instruction of every believer for this particular service; for there is need of great clearness and skill in explaining the exact terms of the Gospel to the one upon whom the Spirit is moving in conviction and illumination. The whole plan of salvation should be clearly understood, and those texts and passages kept in mind which are adapted to meet the mental confusion that Satan produces in those with whom the Spirit is dealing. There is need also of a clear understanding of the great distinctions between the saved and the unsaved, and God’s entire plan of dealing with each. A child of God who has long been "walking in darkness" will often appear as an unregenerate soul; yet the Spirit will not deal with him as such, and his way back into fellowship with God must be by confession alone, and not by an unscriptural second conversion. Above all, the personal worker must be wholly dependent upon the leading of the Spirit. He should be as prepared to do the unusual thing as the usual. If really prepared for service, his ear will be open to God concerning every person he may chance to meet, but he will not assume to force a decision without divine direction. With the great commission to preach the gospel to every creature, it may usually be assumed that God would have us speak to men, with all earnestness, unless otherwise led by the Spirit. There is an important distinction to be considered between presenting the Gospel of saving grace to a company of men, and demanding an immediate decision from an individual. A personal decision should be pressed only when so led by the Spirit. All true service for God is the ministry of the Spirit through the believer (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-31), and it is therefore vain to form hard and fast rules by which we intend to do this service. God will direct a yielded life in service which He has appointed in His sovereign power and grace. Compassion for lost souls will be created in the heart by the Spirit, and this will find expression and relief in the Spirit-inspired prayer of intercession. The Spirit will then answer this prayer by going forth through some ministry of the Word, with convicting and converting power to the glory of Christ. The burden of heart that can find no peace because of the lost condition of some individual is the highest form of human suffering, and is several times referred to in the Scriptures. There this burden for the lost is seen, not only to form a part of human suffering, but to be a normal experience in the life of every saved person. That it is not a common experience among Christians today can be explained only by the fact that there are abnormal conditions in many Christian lives. The reality of human suffering and its place in a Christian’s life is so vital a part of true evangelism, and occupies so conspicuous a place in the New Testament, that it should be considered sufficiently at length to distinguish that particular part of suffering which has to do with the salvation of the lost from its other aspects. The believer may suffer for Christ. This form of suffering may include the involuntary sacrifice of the loss of friends, property, reputation, or health, and the voluntary sacrifice or separation from loved ones, gifts, humiliation and faithful service, even unto death. It is stated in Php 1:29 that such suffering is a gift to the believer: "Unto you it is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake." Unto you it is given to be parted from loved ones in the world-wide ministry of the Gospel, to become poor that others may become rich, to suffer separation or privation as a sacrifice for Him. This form of suffering was experienced by the Lord of Glory, and to those who are in the midst of these afflictions it is said: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us"; and "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." The suffering of a Christian according to the Scriptures is primarily suffering with Christ. This is attested by various passages (1 Peter 4:13; Romans 8:17; Colossians 1:24; Php 2:5-9; and 2 Timothy 2:12). The important word used in connection with the believer’s relation to Christian suffering is "with," and that word emphasizes the necessary distinction that much of the suffering in the world is alien to fellowship with Christ. On the other hand, this word suggests a vital union and divine co-partnership between the suffering believer and his suffering Lord. In suffering with Christ the Christian may either suffer from man the reproaches of Christ, or he may come to experience with Christ a divinely wrought burden and sorrow for the lost. Beyond this it is impossible for any believer to go in the mystery of the sufferings of Christ; for what He suffered from God in becoming Himself an offering for sin could not be shared by any other, though one might greatly desire a similar ministry. (See Romans 9:1-3.) Suffering with Christ is a natural phase of a Christian’s life and experience. He is sojourning in an enemy’s land, is called to be a witness against its sin, and is summoned to labor that souls may be saved from its evil and darkness. "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:18-19). To those who did not believe on Him He said: "The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil" (John 7:7). "It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?" (Matthew 10:25). "As thou has sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world" (John 17:18). "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings: that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:12-13). So also, as is seen by these passages, suffering with Christ here is the only possible path into the reward of being glorified together with Him over there. This is not salvation, for salvation cannot be gained by any degree of human suffering. It is rather that for which the glorious crown and reward is to be given to the faithful in their co-partnership with Christ. This truth is emphasized in the following passage: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Php 2:5-11). Here it is inferred that the believer is to allow the mind of Christ to be reproduced in him by the power of God (Php 2:13), and these seven successive steps in the path of Christ, from His native place in the glory to the felon’s death on the cross, are reviewed in this Scripture in order that such steps may be admitted in the Christian’s life, who is to be "as his Lord" even in this world. It is also inferred in this passage that, through this relation to Jesus in suffering, there is to be an identity with Him in His glory. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:16-18). "It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: if we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him he also will deny us" (2 Timothy 2:11-12). Suffering was the ministry to which Paul was appointed by the Lord through the disciple Ananias when the Lord commanded Ananias: "Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: for I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake" (Acts 9:15-16). Thus it may be concluded that, while all the mystery of suffering is not explained, and probably cannot be, it is an essential part of the Christian’s life and union with Christ in this world, and of identification with Him in His glory. Of that suffering which is from man and because of the believer’s relation and loyalty to Christ it is said: "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil doer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." (1 Peter 4:12-16). It is, however, sympathetic suffering that enters most directly into the movements of the power of God in evangelism. As a mother’s face may reflect more pain than the face of her suffering child, so there is an unlimited realm of possible suffering in sympathy and burden for another. This highest and deepest suffering is born of two parents, which are love and appreciation. The brute may love its offspring, but cannot appreciate its sufferings; while a savage may appreciate pain, but cares little for the suffering one. To the one who both knows and feels there is revealed a degree of the mystery of suffering in sympathy. When the sufferings of Christ are contemplated in the light of this simple fact, it will be seen that back of the death of Christ is, on the part of God, first of all the infinite wisdom, vision and power to appreciate. He comprehended man’s sin, his eternal ruin, and necessary banishment from His presence. And second, He loved the world of men enough to act mightily in their behalf. That He loved them is the reason of His effort for them. That He appreciated their terrible need was the warrant for the particular thing He did. The measure of His appreciation and love is unbounded; for "He bore our sins in his own body on the tree," which reveals the reality of our sins as viewed by an infinite God. He became the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. It was not the love of God alone that was revealed in the death of Christ, His eternal wisdom and Godhead are seen as well by the particular thing which He did for man’s redemption. In that death He also disclosed His estimate of man’s need. So the cross is, in the mind and heart of the Infinite, both a warning of doom and a wooing of love; and it is no credit to finite man that he denies the voice of the Infinite, rejects His verdict of human hopelessness, and misinterprets the value and vision of the death of Christ. The dominant motive that prompted the sufferings of Christ was revealed in one of His prayers at the cross. Had His suffering been physical alone, His prayer might have been, Father, they are causing Me physical pain; or had His sufferings been His personal sacrifice alone, He might have prayed, Father, they are taking My life from Me: in reality He prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And while the sufferings of His body and the sacrifice of His life constituted an offering for sin, "once for all," these were prompted by the divine vision of human need and His yearning compassion for lost and ruined men; for He prayed not for Himself but for them. In that mysterious suffering for the sin of the world no human can suffer with Christ. That suffering was final and complete. It can only be believed in and appropriated by the one who has come to realize his own share in it. When a soul has received the redemption which is in Christ and is saved, that one is then privileged to suffer with Christ in a compassion for the lost; being prompted, in some measure, by the same divine vision and love, through the presence and power of the indwelling Spirit. This is illustrated by the testimony of the Apostle Paul in Romans 9:1-3 "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." Much is said in the preceding context of the power and blessing of the Spirit indwelling the Christian. In this passage, however, He is seen lifting the Apostle Paul to a similar view-point as that which Christ occupied, when He was willing to be accursed that lost men might be saved, and which He experienced when He cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" From this point of divine vision Paul longs, too, with an unutterable longing to make some sufficient sacrifice, even an impossible and terrible separation from Christ his Lord, if only his brethren, his kinsmen after the flesh, might be saved. This attitude of agonizing suffering for the salvation of his brethren was not an element of the human nature of Saul, who found his delight in the condemnation and execution of his brethren when they were found to be followers of Jesus; nor is this divine touch found in any unregenerate life. It is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us, or in reality, the very love of God reaching out for the lost through the believer. (See also John 15:12-13; Galatians 5:22.) This experience of Paul’s is possible to others. By the Indwelling One, the believer may come both to appreciate the lost estate of men and to experience a divine compassion for them. Suffering with Christ, then, in its deepest meaning, is to come to experience by the Spirit an unutterable agony for men out of Christ, and from that vision and love to be willing to offer personal sacrifice or endure physical pain, if need be, that they may be saved. This is as near to "a cross" as the Christian can come in experience; for he can make no atonement, nor is human atonement needed. As his eyes are opened and his heart is made sensitive to the indescribable need of any soul out of Christ, he has, to that extent, experienced the divine compassion "shed abroad in his heart." Such suffering with, Christ is the heritage of every regenerate soul. One has but to recall the spiritual agony of soul, like the physical pain of a woman in travail, that has borne down upon believers in connection with the birth of souls in the great ingatherings of history to understand the reality of divinely-wrought suffering with Christ, which is granted to the believer, and is the sure warrant of identification with Him in His glory. So, whenever a believer is prepared to receive this great gift of suffering with Christ, it will be granted unto him to such a degree, and at such times as he is able to bear it. All pity for those Christians who, through want of adjustment to the mind and purpose of God, are never so privileged! When the heavenly riches and rewards, with the eternal blessedness of one soul that is saved are considered, how great is the price we pay for our indifference toward the unsaved about us on every hand! Could we but get one glimpse of this life with its priceless opportunities, as it will be seen in retrospect from the glory, we would suffer nothing to divert us from that unbroken walk with God in which He would impart all His own passion and love to our hearts and cause us to be instant in season and out of season in the winning of souls. There is a great lost world of individuals surrounding every believer, and if his heart is attuned to the Spirit Who indwells him, he cannot but suffer at times with Christ in an agony of soul that they may be saved. That soul-anguish in a believer may find its expression only in "groanings which cannot be uttered." In this extremity, he will be driven into the holiest place, and he will find no relief except in the priestly prayer of intercession. Through such intercession the Spirit is covenanted to go forward to deal with unregenerate men, and by His mighty Sword to strike the blindness from their eyes, and to bring them face to face with the salvation that is in Jesus Christ. It will be observed that this divine burden for the lost is a very uncommon experience among believers today; and the solution of this problem is found in the last step that marks the movements of the "power of God unto salvation." The difficulty lies in the defilement of the believers who are priests before God and who do not and cannot, because of their own unfitness, experience the love of God for others, or prevail with God in the holy place. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 179: 10.06. THE CLEANSING OF THE PRIESTS ======================================================================== CHAPTER VI: THE CLEANSING OF THE PRIESTS The various conditions on which the answer to prayer depends, as set forth in the New Testament, require an experience in the supplicant of common vision and sympathy with the mind and will of God. "If ye abide in me and my words abide in you," is a condition which demands a relation to God on the part of the individual, wherein both the present leading of God is realized and His written will is known. To abide in Christ is to keep His commandments (John 15:10), and to be in close fellowship with Him. To have His Word abiding in us is to be instructed in the Scriptures; and to one who has thus been brought into full sympathy with the purpose of God, it can safely be said, "Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." This promise of prayer, then, is not unlimited, as is sometimes supposed, but is qualified by a required adjustment to the will of God of the mind and heart of the one who prays. So, also, the oft-repeated condition, "In my name" admits of only such themes in prayer as can reasonably be coupled with the glory of Christ and the projects of His unfinished work in the world. Another condition of prayer is given in Mark 11:24 : "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." This condition does not include every subject of prayer; for it would be impossible to believe that God would grant anything inconsistent with His own purpose or Being. Yet with all this nearness to the mind of God there will be many legitimate objects of prayer, concerning the wisdom of which the believer must ever be in doubt; for all requests in prayer naturally fall into two classes at the point of the known will of God. When there is no revelation, the supplicator can never pass the boundary of the qualifying words, "Thy will, not mine, be done." But when there is a revelation of the will of God, this boundary is done away; and to be uncertain of the will of God, when His will is clearly revealed, is but to doubt the Word through which He has made it manifest. The priestly intercession of the believer, which is a necessary element in true evangelism, falls in the realm of this latter phase of prayer. This prayer is nothing less than the mighty movings of the "power of God unto salvation," since the Spirit indites the intercession. It is a glorious human co-partnership with the divine Shepherd in His solicitude and effort to seek the lost. Every possible question as to the divine will in the salvation, sanctification and glorification of men has been wholly answered in the revelation of the heart of God through the sacrifice on the cross. His eternal power and Godhead were revealed in the things created; "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead" (Romans 1:20). His soul-saving compassion and desire for helpless men were revealed in the cross of Christ; as it is written: "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" (John 1:18). "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4). "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself" (2 Corinthians 5:19). From the foregoing Scriptures it will be found that there has been a completion of all the grounds of salvation, and a sufficient revelation of the purpose and will of God for the redemption of all men through the cross of Christ; and since His covenant-promises, relating to prayer, are still in force, it is clear that all hindrances to the movements of God in salvation must be due to some failure on the human side. Either the believers do not meet their high privilege in the holy place, or the unsaved, when convicted, reject the vision that is given unto them. Since there is little evidence of any new vision received, or rejected, on the part of the unregenerate, the solution of the question as to why there is not more saving power among believers today must be sought for in the realm of the believer’s ministry of intercession. It has already been pointed out that, while there may be little demand for purification in the exercise of gifts, where the service is only between man and man, there can be no entering into the holy place without the laving or removal of defilement, which God alone may see. This cleansing has been typified by the laver that stood at the entrance to the "Holy of holies" in the tabernacle of old. The necessity for that special cleansing of the priest before he approached the presence of Jehovah "in the tent of meeting" was emphasized by the penalty of death if the cleansing was neglected. The passage in Exodus 30:17-21 is here given: "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: when they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord: so they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and his seed throughout their generations." The restatement of this truth is found in several passages in the New Testament in which the cleansing and refitting of the believer-priest is set forth. In John 13:3-11, Jesus speaks of the first tense of salvation as the whole bath ("he that is bathed"); and, in contrast to this, He also speaks of His own work in removing the believer’s defilement which may have been received through contact with the world. This cleansing of the believer is typified by the bathing of the feet. This is most suggestive, when compared with the one preparatory whole bath of the Aaronic priest, which was required when he entered the priestly office (Exodus 29:4), and the necessary repeated laving before each entrance into the holy place in the course of his priestly ministry. John 13:3-11, which teaches the possible cleansing of the believer-priest, is as follows: "Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost Thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean." On this passage, Dr. C.I. Scofield gives the following note in the "Scofield Reference Bible": "The underlying imagery is of an oriental returning from the public bath to his home. His feet would contract defilement and require cleansing, but not his body. So the believer is cleansed as before the law from all sin ’once for all’ (Hebrews 10:1-12), but needs ever to bring his daily sins to the Father in confession, that he may abide in unbroken fellowship with the Father and with the Son (1 John 1:1-10). The blood of Christ answers for ever to all the law could say as to the believer’s guilt, but he needs constant cleansing from the defilement of sin. (See Ephesians 5:25-27; 1 John 5:6.) Typically, the order of approach to the presence of God was, first, the brazen altar of sacrifice, and then the laver of cleansing (Exodus 40:6-7). See, also, the order in Exodus 30:17-21 Christ cannot have communion with a defiled saint, but He can and will cleanse him." Other passages on the cleansing of the New Testament priest should be quoted also: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25-27). "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:6-9). "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work" (2 Timothy 2:19-21). The Aaronic priest met the penalty of instant death if he attempted to enter the Holy of holies without the laving that was prescribed by the law. and while that penalty is not continued under grace, it is evident that there is no prevailing power in prayer or effectiveness in ministry so long as the believer’s sin and defilement are not put away. As the priest of the Old Testament failed in his office through unfitness before God, so the priest of the New Testament, from the same cause, may lose much of his privilege in holy service and communion with Christ. His priestly ministry of sacrifice, in which he presents his body, his praise and his benevolence, may go on in their outward forms, he being under grace; yet it cannot be effectual when, because of sin, it is a ministry that is not acceptable to God. So also his priestly ministry of intercession may become of no avail through defilement. Here, as in the ministry of sacrifice, the loss is immeasurable. Not only are all his possible services to God and blessings to men hindered, which might be realized through his ministry in the holiest place, but he is without the joy and peace of fellowship with Christ. It is of great importance for the believer to realize that through his defilement, not only his priestly ministry is hindered, but his own fellowship with Christ is lost as well. "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:6-7). "These things [about abiding in Christ] have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:23-24). "And now I come to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves" (John 17:13). "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full" (1 John 1:3-4). It may be concluded from the foregoing testimony that defilement in the believer hinders every phase of his priestly office, makes fellowship with Christ impossible, and robs him of his personal joy and blessing. The limitation that is placed upon the priestly prayer of intercession through undealt-with sin in the believer’s life is the only aspect of this truth which is directly related to the subject of evangelism. The following Scriptures warrant the conclusion that sin directly hinders prevailing prayer: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalms 66:18). "Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear" (Isaiah 59:1-2). "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way: first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift" (Matthew 5:23-24). "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7). "I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting" (1 Timothy 2:8). "Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts" (James 4:2-3). "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16). "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered" (1 Peter 3:7). There is no point more strategic for the subtle attack of Satan against the plan and work of God in saving men than the point where God offers to meet the Christian for cleansing; for, if cleansing can be hindered, very much of human cooperation with God in "seeking the lost" is hindered also. This Satanic influence is seen first in the fact that Christians are almost universally ignorant of the God-provided way by which they may be cleansed from their defilement; and second, this Satanic influence is seen in the tendency of the flesh to resist the necessary requirements of God, even when they are understood. The definite offer to the unregenerate person of the forgiveness of his sins is conditioned upon his receiving Christ as his personal Saviour, and there is equally as definite an offer to the Christian for the forgiveness of his sin and defilement. The condition which is imposed upon the believer is that he confess his sins. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). This passage never applies to the unsaved. The offer of forgiveness to the unsaved and the offer of forgiveness to the saved should never be confused. While both are made possible by the blood of Christ, the sin question with the unsaved is dealt with as a part of the whole first tense of salvation, which cannot be divided, and is likened by Christ to the whole bath: while the sin question with the saved person stands alone, since no other aspect of his glorious salvation is disturbed by his sin. Hence the removal of his defilement is all that is called for, and is likened by Christ to the bathing of the feet of one who is returning from the whole bath. The "Prodigal Son" presents an illustration of the way in which a Christian may return to fellowship and blessing. There is no record that he was any less a son "in the far country" than he was in his own home; nor is it recorded of him that he returned to his father’s house on the basis of sacrifice or atonement: but it is stated that he returned on the basis of confession; for it is said that he arose and came to his father, and said unto him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." In this same connection it may be seen that confession is the only requirement which can reasonably be demanded of a sinning saint; for the basis of any true fellowship is a symphonizing of thought and purpose. Hence any defilement in a believer, of necessity, interrupts his fellowship (though not his salvation) with a holy God. "When fellowship with God is broken by sin, it can be re-established only by a frank admission of guilt and failure on the part of the sinning one. To refuse a confession is to contend that right is wrong, and wrong is right, which would be a contradiction of the very nature and character of God. Confession re-opens the way for fellowship with God and of access to God, but it does not in any way atone for sin. Propitiation for sin was perfectly accomplished at the cross. Since His ascension, Christ has been continually pleading the efficacy of His own sacrificial death for sin in behalf of believers (Romans 8:33-34; Hebrews 7:25). Therefore, it is said to the Christian: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The sin of the saved one is not forgiven on the grounds of an immediate act of mercy, but is forgiven on the grounds of the sacrifice made "once for all" at the cross. So it is said that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, rather than that He is tender and merciful to forgive us our sins. The importance of confession of sin and of self-judgment is mentioned also in 1 Corinthians 11:31-32. "For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." In considering this important passage, it may be noted: I. This Scripture, like that relating to confession of sin, is addressed only to believers. II. The believer is first given the opportunity to judge himself before God, and if he fails in voluntary self-judgment, God will judge him by chastisement. III. And the chastisement of God is given that His child may not be condemned with the world. In this connection it should be remembered that God is in covenant with His children to the effect that they "shall not be brought into condemnation." "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). So again, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). The whole relation between the believer and his God is one of eternal sonship, which cannot be broken; hence all the judgments of God upon His own are for correction, while His judgments of the unsaved are unto condemnation. "He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). The same family relationship of father to the son is carried through both the Old and the New Testaments. "I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee" (2 Samuel 7:14-15). "And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die" (2 Samuel 12:13-14). "To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 5:5). "For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation, which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth. and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled" (Hebrews 12:3-15). "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh it away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit" (John 15:2). From this extensive body of Scripture it will be found that the Christian is privileged to "walk in the light, as he is in the light," which does not necessarily mean a sinless life: but it does mean the humble confession of all the fruits of a sinful nature, and an attitude of willingness to meet every demand of God for the putting away of sin. If the confession of sin and the judgment of self is not willingly entered into, there must be a chastisement from God, lest the believer be condemned with the world. The execution of this chastisement, it would seem, is sometimes committed to Satan (1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Timothy 1:20). If fruit is not borne after chastisement, then God taketh the branch away (John 15:2). This is not a loss of salvation, but is an entire removal from earthly life and service. There are two practical questions which arise in connection with the confession of sin on the part of the believer. First, How may he know what to confess? and second, To whom should he confess? In answer to the question -- How may he know what to confess? -- it may be stated that there are at least three ways by which a Christian may come to know his unlikeness to the mind and character of God. These are: I. The written Word of God, the teachings of which he may have neglected or transgressed. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). II. The faithful admonition of the fellow-members of the body of Christ. "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he shall neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican" (Matthew 18:15-17). "Take heed to yourselves: if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him" (Luke 17:3-4). "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted" (Galatians 6:1). III. The grieved Spirit Who indwells him. The grieving of the Spirit will be to the Christian as an inner consciousness of wrong, which he must carefully and prayerfully heed. "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). The child of God will learn to distinguish between the ever-present unlikeness to Christ and the grosser sins that are mentioned in the Bible. "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like" (Galatians 5:19-21). In this passage it will be seen that the sins of hatred, wrath, envy, variance, emulations and strife are mentioned in the same list with adultery, murder and drunkenness. If a Christian really purposes to get right with God at any cost, he may well pray the prayer recorded in Psalms 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." There is assurance that every unholy thing will be revealed to the one who thus prays. "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect [full grown], be thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you" (Php 3:15). In answer to this prayer for light upon the hidden sins in the life, there may be but one sin revealed at a time, and further revelations may be made to depend both upon an honest dealing with the revelation already given and upon a repetition of the same supplication. There is no other way for a Christian to deal with his sin-hindered life. The voice of the unseen enemy must also be detected. He is ever present to dissuade the believer from taking the necessary step that leads him back into fellowship with God, and into the power and blessing of service. Satan’s method is to seek to minimize the hindering sin, to justify the unholy act or position, and to appeal to the personal pride of the Christian, or suggest that a confession of sin would hinder the believer’s influence for his Lord. The answer to the second question: "To whom should a Christian confess?" is more simple: I. Confession of sin should always be to God; for He is wronged by the sin of a Christian more than any mortal. The Scripture examples of confession are clear on this point. "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight" (Psalms 51:4). "I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants" (Luke 15:18-19). II. Confession should be made to the person or persons who have been wronged by the sin. Here, it may be added, confession does not in any way involve the wrong attitude of others, nor does it demand that the responsibility for sin shall be assumed by a person who is in no way at fault. If there has been an enmity between a Christian and some other person, the Christian is asked to consider and confess only his own wrong state of heart or sinful acts. This may not solve the misunderstanding between the two parties, but it will open the way for the cleansing of the Christian who confesses his sins. Again, confession of sins should always be limited to those who have been wronged, whether the sin has been committed against the community, the church or an individual. III. Confession should be made to any who have known of the sin; for they, in a measure, have also been wronged. "And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled" (Hebrews 12:13-15). "Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way" (Romans 14:13; see also Luke 17:1-2; 1 Corinthians 8:7-13). The fifty-first Psalm is the record of David’s repentance and return to fellowship with God after his great sin, and is an exact statement of the necessary steps to be taken by a covenant person in returning to his place of joy and power in service. The Psalm opens with a complete confession of sin; claims the cleansing that is promised; and ends with the restoration to joy, service, and whole fellowship with God. If there is no fruit borne to the glory of God, no fellowship with God, and no joy in the life of a believer, it is evidence that there is need of adjustment in that life to the mind and will of God. Such adjustments are the common experience of those who know what it is to walk with God; for there is no other way to keep that priceless fellowship and blessing. The secret of abiding in such a walk with God is instant confession of every known sin, rather than a delay in, or an entire neglect of the performance of that duty. Let it be re-stated that, while the believer may not be realizing a state of sinless perfection, he can and must maintain an attitude of willing and instant confession of every known wrong, if he would walk in fellowship with his Lord and minister in the priestly office. When the heart is searched before God, and all sin is put away, the believer will "walk in the light as he is in the light"; for that is the normal, if not the usual, Christian experience. In this relationship there will be fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, a running over with peace and joy, and unhindered outflow of the love of God through the life. (A more extended treatment of the believer’s life in the Spirit and its necessary conditions will be found in the author’s book, "He that is Spiritual.") Of this outflow of love it may be stated that, as the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit Which is given unto us, the normal experience of every believer should be a divine sense of the lost condition of unsaved people, which will prompt any necessary sacrifice or effort to win them. The particular person or persons for whom a Christian may be burdened, and the extent of that burden, will be indicated and governed by the sovereign movings of the Spirit of God; while the personal cleansing which conditions the sense of the burden is the one point of responsibility for the believer. Where the believer-priest is cleansed and is in communion with God, the love of God shed abroad in his heart will create in him a divine longing for the salvation of the lost and this will be brought about by the Spirit "which is given unto him." He will then, from time to time, be driven to intercession and prayer through his suffering with Christ for the lost. Like Paul he will say: "My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved," and this prayer will be an intercession by the Spirit; "For we know not what to pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." And since that prayer is indicted by the Spirit, Who knows the mind of God, that prayer will be answered by the going forth of the Spirit in power, wielding His mighty sword to convict of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Then where this divinely wrought vision is received and acted upon by a depositing of all hope and trust in the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, there will be, by the same Spirit, a marvellous transformation of the whole estate from the power and darkness of Satan into the light, liberty and blessing of the sons of God. Thus when the believer-priest is cleansed and in a normal relation to God, the Spirit is free to take every necessary step in the "power of God unto salvation," and the believer will be led into perfect cooperation with Christ in His great unfinished work of seeking the lost. The work is all accomplished by the Spirit; for it is the Spirit Who inspires the prayer which is the only relief for the one who is suffering with Christ through the divinely given burden for the lost; it is the Spirit Who convinces of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment in answer to prayer which He inspires; and it is the Spirit Who meets the willing soul with the power of God in salvation. True evangelism begins, then, with a cleansed priest, and while this human instrument may cooperate in much of the subsequent work in seeking the lost, he is ever reminded that, "It is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord." An appeal: The purpose of this book has been realized if you, its reader, have gained some new vision of a wider field of ministry for your own life, as a Christian, in the God-given, superlative privilege of soul-winning. May the power of the Spirit be so upon you, through your yieldedness to Him, that every new impression or understanding of divine Truth may be actualized in abiding fruit to the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 180: S. ASSURANCE OF SALVATION ======================================================================== Assurance Of Salvation Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer FROM the testimony of the Scriptures, a Christian should know that he is saved. There is abundant Biblical witness on this point, and it can hardly be deemed commendable to be in doubt on this vital question; yet to many it may seem to be presumptuous in the extreme for one to be assured of his own salvation. Where there is a lack of assurance there is usually an impression that so long as the daily life is quite imperfect (and how immodest it would be to claim that it is otherwise) it is unreasonable to do any more than hope that through some special exercise of mercy on God’s part it will not be as bad in the end as it might otherwise be. Unwittingly such attitudes of mind disclose the appaling fact that persons who hold such views have never turned from dependence on their own works and merit to a dependence on the all-sufficient work and merit of Christ. If salvation depends in any degree on personal goodness, there could not be even a saved person in the world, and therefore no ground in it for assurance. Salvation is not offered to those who have purposed to be good, or religious, nor is it guaranteed to those who hope God will Himself be good and gracious in the end. It is offered to all meritless, helpless sinners who are willing to believe that God has already been good in that He has provided, in Christ, not only what they need now, but all they need in time and for eternity. This, too, is believed on no other evidence than that God has said it in His Word. In looking away from self and one’s failure to Christ and His saving grace, one will find adequate grounds for a God-honoring certainty as to position and destiny in Christ Jesus. No life would ever be good enough to merit anything but condemnation from a holy God if judged on the grounds of moral equity. On the other hand, no sinner has fallen so low, or is so weak in himself, that he cannot find absolute rest and assurance of his salvation in looking away to Christ and the finished provisions of His grace. The attitude one may hold on the question of assurance may thus become somewhat of a test as to whether he has really believed on Christ, although it should not be assumed that such is invariably the case. There are certain general facts about Christian assurance which may well be stated. The evidence underlying a positive conviction, or assurance as to personal salvation, is primarily the fact of the faithfulness of God as revealed in the Word. When God has made an unconditional declaration of His faithfulness, it is hardly becoming in one of His children to entertainany uncertainty in those things which He has promised. He has promised to save and keep all who put their trust in Him. Having put one’s trust in Him for salvation, one must either believe Him to do what He has said, or in the measure in which one fails to do so suppose Him to be untrue. At this point a doubt is sometimes expressed as to whether one has really believed in the saving way. As a matter of f act, such a doubt is still one in regard to himself rather than of God. This, of course, is another question altogether; but one so important that nothing else can be undertaken or determined until it is settled. The only cure for this uncertainty is to end it with certainty. Let such an one f ace his own utter sinfulness and meritlessness with the revelations of the cross and discover, as he must, no hope in himself, and then and there, once for all, appropriate the provisions of divine grace for every need of a sin-cursed soul. If need be, note the very day and hour of such a decision and then believe in the decision itself enough to thank God for His saving grace and faithfulness, and in every thought, act and word thereafter treat the decision as final and real. It is the crying need of a multitude of religious people that they bring themselves to some final dealing with the Son of God with regard to their sins and His salvation. They should be positive enough in this matter to face the eternal question before Him as to whether they choose to stand in His grace alone, or in something within themselves, even in the slightest degree. No very deep conviction of assurance can grow in any heart where the mind is still wondering whether it has really believed in a saving way, and where no impressions of certainty are allowed to take root. Confidence in the faithfulness of God will not thrive when one is constantly singing hymns which have been written to voice the position of the unsaved, such as the hymn in which one is assuming to be "coming to the cross." Let that issue be sealed and past, so far as salvation is concerned, and rather let one be occupied with those blessings which are vouchsafed to those who have believed. It would be much more reasonable to sing "In the cross of Christ I glory." Assurance is born of confidence in Christ. He has said: "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Having come, there is but one question remaining: "Has He cast me out?" This, it will be noted, is a serious question involving the very trust-worthiness of Christ. To doubt salvation at this point is not modest or commendable: it is the sin of distrusting God, or making Him untrue. Without faith it is impossible to please God. On the other hand, it is quite possible for one in facing this question to seal his confidence in God by a faithful "Amen" to every word God has spoken as to His plan and purpose in salvation. Who can look at the cross of Christ and not be convinced that God’s love has been manifested toward us and that He Who paid such a price to redeem us will not instantly receive any soul that trusts in Him? The word of Scripture becomes the title deed, or official writings, as to the certainty of the transaction. "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." Such wonderful knowledge, therefore, is to be gained through the things written. The written things are His exceeding great and precious promises; but these promises can be of no avail to the heart that will not believe Him, or take Him at His word. Normal Christian experience and the joy and peace that results from believing can never even begin in the heart until God has been trusted to the extent that the record of His saving grace has been believed and received. There is a normal Christian experience. There are new and blessed emotions and desires. Old things do pass away, and behold all things do become new; but all such experiences are but secondary evidence, as to the fact of salvation, in that they grow out of that positive repose of faith which is the primary evidence. There is very much Scripture about the results that are sure to appear in a transformed life. True salvation must result in just such realities. It is inconceivable that Christ should come to live in a human heart and its experiences remain unchanged. There must be, under such conditions, a new and vital relationship to God the Father, to fellow Christians and to Christ Himself, a, new attitude toward prayer, toward the Word, toward sin and toward the unsaved. This is the viewpoint of the Apostle James when he contends so earnestly for works that" will justify. It must be remembered, however, that James is here concerned with the appearance our professions make to the outside world., rather than of our acceptance before God. Men can judge only by the outward appearance, and works alone can justify the Christian profession in their sight. God looks on the heart and before Him no works can avail. Before God man must be justified by faith alone. This, James clearly asserts to be true as illustrated in the case of Abraham (James 2:23). The First Epistle of John is full of references to the outward evidence of the inward fact of the newly imparted divine life. This little book, standing near the end of the Bible, may be taken, in one sense, as an examination of the believer. "Hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments" (there is no reference here to the commandments of Moses) ; "In this the children of God are manifested, and the children of the devil: whoso doeth not righteousness is not of God (cf. John 6:28-29), neither he, that loveth not his brother"; "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren"; "Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother"; "And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us"; "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love"; "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God" (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:3). Such a precious experience as is described by these passages may become clouded by sin or lost in the depression of some physical weakness, and were we depending upon the experience as primary evidence that we are saved, all grounds of assurance would be swept away. The primary evidence is clearly stated in the same Epistle as the final word of testing here given and the final grounds of confidence: "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. 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 the life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life. These things (about having the life) have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ve may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:9-13). The possession of the indwelling Son of God is the abiding fact of the newly created life in Him, and should never be confused with some imperfect and changeable experience in the daily life. He is received by faith. His presence most naturally leads to blessed new realities in experience. Certainly experience never leads to the realities of the presence of the indwelling Son of God. The Bible use of the word "assurance" will be found in several passages: "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (Hebrews 10:22). This is the confidence that grows out of a repose of faith in the faithfulness of God that He will fulfil every word He has spoken. "And unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding" (Colossians 2:2). This is the breadth of confidence that grows as one increasingly enters into the vastness of God’s revelation of His grace in Christ Jesus. Some are so limited in spiritual vision when they believe that their first step in faith is centered on one promise alone. To such there will be a growing understanding and a corresponding increase of confidence and assurance as other promises and facts of grace are apprehended. "And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence of the full assurance of hope unto the end" (Hebrews 6:11). Here is a reference to that assurance which is the full conviction that every promise and revelation concerning the future will be surely fulfilled. This, like all assurance, is simply the result of believing God. ______________________________________ This article was excerpted from Dr. Chafer’s book entitled Salvation, copyrighted 1917, Sunday School Times Company, Philadelphia, PA, 1919 edition, Chapter VIII, pgs. 78-85. The aforementioned work is in the public domain. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 181: S. GOD'S ESTIMATE OF THE LOST ======================================================================== God’s Estimate of the Lost by Lewis S. Chafer Lewis ChaferAt no point is faith more tested than in receiving the divine estimate of the present estate and destiny of all who are not saved; yet the record stands on the sacred page and is as much a part of God’s revelation of truth as is the more winsome disclosure concerning the saved and heaven. In vain does man struggle to deliver himself from the dread and shadow of the former while still attempting to retain the comfort and light of the latter. Even a blinded, unregenerate mind must be convinced of the unreasonableness of selecting only desirable elements out of the unitive whole of divine revelation. If man can dispose of the dark picture which describes the estate of the lost, he has, by that process, surrendered all claim to authority and all ground of assurance in those Scriptures which describe the estate of the saved. Man is prone to disregard the plain boundary lines of distinction between the saved and the unsaved as indicated in the Bible. He is naturally occupied with the temporal things that are seen, and is by nature blind to the eternal things (1 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4; John 3:3) which are not seen. He is inclined to conceive of salvation as resulting from a manner of daily life, both moral and religious, rather than a state wrought by the creative power of God. An appeal for a reformed manner of life is to him "practical" and "reasonable," and he sees little value in the Biblical appeal for personal faith in the saving power and grace of God. A saved person, by his new life from God, may live on a higher plane, and certainly will; but to attempt to live on a higher plain will not, and cannot, impart the new life, or save a lost soul. The unsaved, according to the Bible, include all who have not been accepted by God through a personal trust in the crucified and risen Saviour. All moral and religious people are not, therefore, according to the divine conditions, to be counted among the saved. Paul prayed for Israel "that they might be saved" (Romans 10:1-2), and those for whom he prayed, it should be remembered, were the very ones of whom he wrote in this same passage that they had "a zeal for God" and went about "to establish their own righteousness." We know, also, that they fasted, and prayed, and gave a tithe of all they possessed; yet, in spite of all this, the faithful, inspired Apostle prays that they might be saved. To be saved was evidently, in the Apostle’s mind, more than the diligent effort along the lines of moral and religious practices. The Bible sharply distinguishes between the saved and the unsaved, and in its classification, of necessity, wholly ignores what may seem reasonable or unreasonable in the sphere of human life. It bases its distinctions on the eternal necessities and provisions within the larger sphere of the kingdom of God. Here the important issues of conduct and service are not first to be considered. The deeper reality of an entire new nature is rather the primary objective, and no good works can take its place. It is as terrible for a church member, or minister, to be lost as for any one else. Certainly there is nothing in the fact of church membership, ordinances, or the preaching profession that can take the place of the Biblical requirement for salvation, or mitigate the final doom that is assured to those who reject the Saviour. The five virgins who possessed every outward appearance and profession were, nevertheless, without the oil which is the symbol of the divine life. In spite of all their religious externals they heard it said, "I know you not." "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:21-23). "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6:29). The estate of the unsaved is described in the Bible by positive terms: "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"; "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved" (John 3:16; John 3:18-20). "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36). "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2). "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man" (Mark 7:21-23). In Ephesians 2:1-2 the contrast between the saved and the unsaved is first drawn at the point of possessing or not possessing the divine life: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." This death is not physical, for the dead ones are said to be walking according to the course of this world, the aspirations of which walk are centered in the things of the world system. They are also said to be walking "according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan], the spirit that now worketh in [energizeth] the children of disobedience." This classification, "the children of disobedience," includes all who have not been "made alive" by the power of God. Disobedience here is a state of being and is federal rather than personal. "By one man’s disobedience [Adam] many were made sinners." So, also, "by the obedience of one [Christ] shall many be made righteous." Thus the acceptableness of the saved one is also a state and is federal rather than personal. He being in Christ is a child of obedience; the unsaved one being in Adam is a child of disobedience. In Adam disobedient and lost; in Christ obedient, righteous and acceptable to God (Romans 5:19; Ephesians 1:6). He "became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Before the infinite holiness of God no person, saved or unsaved, can rightfully claim, within his own merit, to be obedient and righteous in the sight of God; yet the weakest person who stands in Christ is, by virtue of that position, a child of obedience in the sight of God. In all the children of disobedience, regardless of professions or conduct, Satan is here said to be the energizing power. The energy of this mighty being may inspire refinement, education, culture, and the externals of religion, for it is not against these external virtues that Satan is opposed. His enmity is intelligently directed against the saving grace of God, which is a widely differing issue from that which the problems of personal conduct present. Satan is said to be energizing the unsaved within all the spheres of their present activity. In like manner, the saved are said to be energized by God: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Php 2:13). The testimony of these two passages is to the effect that there is now no such thing as an independent human life. Men are either energized by God or by Satan, and accordingly as they are saved or unsaved. The estate of the unsaved is revealed again in Colossians 1:13 : "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Until this divine transformation is wrought, man must be considered as yet in the powers of darkness. This revelation is given in other passages: "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). "But 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 glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness" (1 John 5:19). "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12). "Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them" (Romans 1:29-32). "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:10-18). "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Iidolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like..." (Galatians 5:19-21). "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Psalms 51:5). "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). "From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness" (Mark 7:21-22). "That which is born of the flesh is flesh..." (John 3:6). "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Romans 8:7). "And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins ... and were by nature the children of wrath even as others" (Ephesians 2:1, Ephesians 2:3). "There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). "We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags..." (Isaiah 64:6). After this manner the Bible reveals the present estate of the unsaved, and upon the above lines of distinction which are outside the sphere of this world. Every condition presented in these passages demands a superhuman power for its cure. Men are not said to be lost in the eyes of their fellow-men, or as measured by the standards of the institutions of the world. They are lost in the sight of a Holy God, with Whom they finally have to do, and under the conditions that exist and are effective in a larger sphere. In like manner, men are not saved by an adjustment to the estimates and conclusions of the limited world of fallen humanity, or by what may seem to them to be reasonable or unreasonable. Salvation is not a human undertaking. It did not originate in this sin-cursed world. It is of God and unto God, and hence moves along lines and under conditions and necessities which are of a higher realm. To be saved one must see himself as God sees him, and adapt himself to the divine principles of another world, which principles have been faithfully revealed in the written Word. A man of faith is one who thus adapts himself to the revelation of God; one who is instructed by and acts on the unfolding of facts revealed by God which would otherwise be unknown through human understanding. It was this divine estimate of humanity, described by the words "lost," "perish," "condemned," under the wrath of God,"blind," in the powers of darkness,"dead in trespasses and sins," which brought the Saviour from heaven to earth. It was this dark picture that impelled Him to give His life a ransom for many. His saving work was a practical accomplishment. It has provided every needed cure that could be demanded by the infinite purity and holiness of God. Copied by Stephen Ross for WholesomeWords.org from Salvation by Lewis Sperry Chafer. Philadelphia: Sunday School Times Company, ©1917. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 182: S. PREACHING THE GOSPEL IN ITS ACCURACY ======================================================================== PREACHING THE GOSPEL IN ITS ACCURACY by Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer The term gospel, while it means good news, is in this connection used only of that specific way of salvation which God publishes in His Word by which a meritless sinner may be perfectly and eternally saved on no other terms than that he believe on Christ as his Savior. The preacher is appointed the demanding task of an accurate presentation of that Gospel. On the basis of the fact that God has made his greatest effort (the gift of His Son) that sinners might be saved, it is reasonable to conclude that any inaccuracy in preaching, which misrepresents the truth and thus misleads the unsaved will be subject to divine censure. This is precisely the unrevoked warning given in Galatians 1:8-9. "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." This anathema, which is wholly justified, should cause every preacher to tremble with fear. Over against the notion that any person with zeal- whether they have knowledge or not- can preach the gospel, is the fact that many of the greatest orthodox scholars of the world have given their lives to the task of a right understanding of that which enters fundamentally into the Gospel. Some common errors in gospel preaching are listed here: 1. A failure to emphasize the difference between the saved and the unsaved. When exhorting the believers to a worthy manner of life and service, there is no statement made that such truths have no application to the unsaved, the result is that the unsaved are encouraged to believe that they need only to adopt the outward manner of life of the Christian to be a Christian. There is but one message to the unsaved and that does not concern his daily life, but rather his relation to Jesus Christ as Savior. 2. By careless language, giving the unsaved the impression that God is love and rich in mercy and that He forgives sin directly as an act of kindness, generosity, or leniency. God does forgive, but it is only on the righteous ground that the required penalty for sin is born by the Savior. It is for this reason that the sinner must come to God by Jesus Christ and that salvation is conditioned on faith in Christ. There is no need for Christ to die if God is free to make light of the sinner’s sin by a mere attitude of graciousness apart from satisfaction because of outraged holiness. 3. By demanding repentance as a separate act in addition to believing on Christ. This destructive error will not be committed by those who have given reasonable study to all that is involved. In the first place, repentance, according to the Bible, is a change of mind, which may, or may not, be accompanied with heart anguish. In the second place, the repentance required- and it is required- for the salvation of a soul is included in believing. The sinner cannot turn to Christ in confidence from any other dependence without a change of mind which is repentance (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). No measurement will ever be made in this world of the harm to souls that has been wrought by their having been told that they must first repent and then believe. The preacher will do well to ponder three facts: (a) The Gospel by John, which is written that men may believe and be saved (John 20:31), never employs the word repentance; (b) that the Epistle to the Romans, written to provide the complete analysis of salvation by grace, does not use the word repentance, except Romans 2:4, in relation to lost men; and (c) upwards of 115 times the salvation of a soul is made to depend upon believing, and 35 times on its synonym faith apart from any other requirement whatsoever. The one who insists that repentance is a separate act must face the question thus created as to whether the words of Christ and Paul, which restrict salvation to believing, are misleading because of their inadequacy (cf. John 3:16; Acts 16:31). Since repentance is a part of believing, the term might be used as a synonym of believing, or it may be mentioned separately- as it is in a very few passages; but always as a subdivision of the one all important theme of believing. 4. By the grace-shattering error of insisting that a public confession of Christ is required in addition to saving faith. But one passage in involved in this discussion: "That 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" (Romans 10:9-10). A thoughtless use of this passage implies that the confession referred to is a confession to men; not remembering that a very considerable percentage of those who are saved accept Christ at a time and place where no public confession is possible. The confession is that of the soul electing Christ as Savior and is to God alone. As Abraham said Amen to the promise of God and was by faith counted righteous, so, in like manner, from his own heart and as the expression of his own confidence, the sinner acknowledges to God that Christ is his Savior. A sinner, having accepted Christ, may confess him as a testimony; but that is far removed from the notion that to be saved one must both believe and confess Christ before men. If this double requirement were really God’s will, he could not have left out the idea of confession from any one of the 150 passages which condition salvation by faith alone. 5. By requiring one to believe and be baptized. Again but one text is in evidence (Mark 16:16), and but half of that, for, when the negative side of the declaration is presented, the word baptize is omitted. In this consideration, the same arresting fact remains that, if water baptism is essential to salvation, every other New Testament declaration is woefully inadequate and to that extent misleading, and the thief on the cross (saved directly by the authority of Christ) was a notable exception. Certainly, according to human experience, the vast majority of people are saved before they are baptized with water and multitudes have never been thus baptized at all. There is much, indeed, to commend the contention that the baptism referred to in Mark 16:16 is not water baptism but is the baptism with the Spirit. 6. By requiring that one accept Christ and agree to a certain manner of life. The practice of confusing the Gospel with the manner of life a person should live after he is saved, is calculated not only to distract the attention of the unsaved from the Gospel, but to defeat the very power and effect of it. I cannot be too strongly urged that God is not calling on the unsaved to adopt a manner of life, but He is offering to them His gift, which is eternal life. Nor should the truth be overlooked that the unsaved have no spiritual capacity by which they can face the problems of a Christian’s daily life. Those problems belong to a Spirit-guided mind and demand for their solution the presence of those new desires, which come with regeneration. 7. By demanding that one believe and ask for salvation. Since God is propitious (1 John 2:2), it is wholly out of order to ask Him to save, as though he must be persuaded to do what He, at infinite cost, has prepared to do. The incident of the publican in the temple is too often assumed to be the norm for the sinner who would be saved under grace. The setting is before the death of Christ and reflects the relationships that existed in the Jewish era. Though the English version makes the publican to say "God be merciful to me a sinner," he really said, God be propitiated to me a sinner. At no time, either in the Old Testament or the New, may one reach God on the ground of mere mercy as such apart from needful sacrifice. The publican asked for propitiation, which was a justifiable request before the cross, but wholly unjustified now. To ask for mercy as such is to assume that God may deal with sin apart from adequate sacrifice. To ask for propitiation is to discard what Christ has done and to ask that something more effective be provided. Men are not saved by getting God to do something; they are saved when they dare to believe that God has done something. __________ Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871-1972) trusted Christ alone as Saviour at the age of 6 under the tutelage of his parents during his father’s (Thomas Franklin Chafer) first pastorate in Rock Creek, Ohio. Dr. Chafer later served as a church soloist and song leader, before entering the Gospel ministry as an evangelist. In time, he would serve as a bible conference president, become a staff member at the New York School of the Bible, help start the Philadelphia School of the Bible with Dr. C.I. Scofield, pastor the Scofield Memorial Church of Dallas, Texas, and found Dallas Theological Seminary. He also wrote numerous books, most of which are still in print today including his "Systematic Theology" and "True Evangelism." SITE MAP ======================================================================== CHAPTER 183: S. REWARDS, OR THE PLACE OF CHRISTIAN WORKS ======================================================================== Rewards, or the Place of Christian Works by Lewis S. Chafer Lewis ChaferTrue Christian living and service flow out of the new creation which is the result of the saving work of God and are divinely recognized by the promise of rewards. The Bible revelation concerning rewards not only presents a great incentive to holy and faithful living, but is a necessary counterpart of the doctrines of free grace. The divine plan of salvation under free grace is to save men "without money and without price." This means that no exchange is made. Man receives all that he has as a gift and only as a gift. It also means that there are no after payments to be made "on the installment plan, as though some attempted correctness of life and conduct could qualify the transaction of grace. What is done for man is done graciously. God will not suffer His gift to be confused with useless attempts to pay, or return, anything to Him in exchange. It is equally evident that it is not His purpose that Christian service shall be rendered as an attempt to return something for what He has done, notwithstanding the fact that such motives in service are sometimes urged by the misinformed. God is said to be actuated by at least three motives in saving men: First, they are said to be "created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that they should walk in them." This, it is evident, is the least of all. It is, however, the only motive that is sometimes presented. "We are saved to serve" is a common phrase which if taken alone would represent the Father as seeking our service only and as debased to the level of the most sordid commercialist. It is true rather that we are saved in order that we may serve. There can be no true service apart from salvation. Service then becomes a divinely provided privilege. Second, we are saved that "we might not perish, but have everlasting life." This would seem of greatest importance, for it represents our unmeasured and eternal blessing in Him. But there is a third divine motive infinitely beyond these which, we may believe, is the highest motive of saving grace: namely, we are saved "that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." The result of that kindness toward us will be seen to be the final form in which we appear in the glory when we are "conformed to the image of his Son." Every being in the universe will know what we were and will behold the spectacle of what we are in that final and eternal glory. This transformation will have measured the grace of God for us, and on that scale which will be wholly satisfying to Himself. He will have made a demonstration of His grace before all created beings which will be to His own exceeding joy. It may be concluded, then, that God is moved to act in our behalf from the sole motive of love toward us and not for gains of any kind whatsoever. It is all to unfold His grace alone. Thus the new-born child in the Father’s house begins his career with no hopeless debt. He has simply to enter into that which is his by all right and title in the amazing grace of God. When the Christian enters into service the greatest care must be exercised that the very motives for service do not in some way violate these most precious relations of divine favor. It will not do to attempt to repay Him by service for what He has done. A gift is not appreciated as such by the recipient when there is the slightest intention even to pay for it. Yet the stupid human heart is so often proposing to repay God for His mercy. Such words are put into the lips of Christ in the hymn, "I gave my life for thee, what hast thou given for me?" The question "what hast thou given for me?" may well be asked of us all; but never as though it was a "dun" for a long unpaid debt to Him. The only true motive for Christian life and service is the very one motive which has actuated God in His service for us. It is just LOVE. Salvation was to reveal and satisfy His love for us. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us" (1 John 3:16). It then follows that "we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren"; but never to pay Him for laying down His life for us. It is rather that we act on the same principle of love. We can make no claim on Him whatsoever. At best, from our own standpoint, we are "unprofitable servants." He will reward every faithful service; but He will not demand the service. His recognition of Christian service will be but another manifestation of His marvelous grace. No child of God is "earning his way." Such a thought might satisfy a sordid commercial instinct of an untaught heart, but the thought is foreign to a normal relation of the child to his Father. "He hath given us all things richly to enjoy." The Father’s supply of our temporal needs may come through the very channel in which our service is rendered, but it must not be deemed a payment for that service or all truth is subverted. His care for us is in pure love which can be claimed by the most helpless invalid as much as by the most active person. He does not promise to care for us if we "deliver the tale of bricks." Such doctrine belongs to the Egyptian taskmasters of old. God is just as much committed to care for us, by His loving promises, after our vitality is exhausted as when we are in the prime of life and strength. "They that serve in the gospel shall live by the gospel" is a divine exhortation to those who have the privilege of love gifts to the gospel ministry. It is not addressed to the minister. "Give and it shall be given to you" is an assurance that you cannot approach the Father with an expression of your love to Him that He will not meet you with a vastly greater response of His overflowing grace. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" is not an injunction to seek an increase in salary, even as a secondary consideration. It is forgetting all else but Him, and the divine response is to the end that "All these (temporal) things shall be added unto you." Every service for God, then, should be, like His, a service expressing love, and all occupation in life should be deemed by the Christian as a service for God (1 Corinthians 10:31; Ephesians 6:6-8; Colossians 3:22-24). God does not need our paltry gifts: He wants us. He is not looking for free labor from us: He is looking for evidence of our love for Him. Service for a salary is a poor return: service for His own sake is most precious in His eyes. There is no commercialism in the household of God, for there the standard of value is only love. "He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love." "She hath loved much" was a priceless verdict of Christ. For such service of love there will be a divine recognition in the coming glory. This will be shown by the bestowal of rewards. It should also be stated that Christian service is not any good act we may choose to perform. The child of God has been "created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." This means that there is a design and field of service divinely planned for each one, and "good works" in the Bible sense can only be the finding and doing of that which He has ordained. The works are "good" in that they are "that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" for each believer. These can only be entered into by His divine direction, which will be realized by all who wholly yield to Him. Service must be "where he will." God has promised by many Scriptures to recognize all service that is rendered as a love expression to Him and all that is within the gracious plan of life He has made for every child of His. There will be rewards, crowns and prizes. No one can define them. They most evidently speak of His loving appreciation of our little suffering and faithfulness for Him. They will be inexpressibly sweet, and they will abide for all eternity. Salvation is not a reward for the believer’s service. Salvation is God’s work for us. Rewards are always connected with the believer’s works and merit. The rewards are to be bestowed at "the judgment-seat of Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:10). This is when the saints are gathered to meet their Lord in the air (1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Timothy 4:8; Revelation 22:12; Matthew 16:27; Luke 14:14). It will be a moment of discovery as to who hath loved much and who was much occupied with Him. It is most comforting to read of that very time of judgment, "and then shall every man have praise of God" (1 Corinthians 4:5). Of the many passages in the Bible on rewards, two may be considered here. The first, 1 Corinthians 9:18-27, is the divinely recorded illustration of true service as seen in the life of the Apostle Paul. This passage opens with the question: "What is my reward then?" This is followed by a description of the tireless service and faithfulness of the Apostle. At the twenty-fifth verse he presents an illustration based on the Grecian games. "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain." The most violent effort of the runner in the race is, in the illustration, the standard of effort for the servant of God, "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things." There is the greatest care of the body that it may be found at its highest state of efficiency in agility, strength and endurance. "Now they (the athletes) do it (sacrifice their desires and every indulgence and carefully train) to obtain a corruptible crown." What was more transitory than the wreath of leaves that was placed on the victor’s brow? "But we (sacrifice our desires and indulgences and train ourselves for) an incorruptible crown." If only such were true! Few have so lived before God as did the Apostle Paul. How shame must cover us when we think of the ceaseless effort of the worldly athlete to gain a fading crown that soon will be forever forgotten, while God is offering to us an incorruptible crown the effulgence of which will be increasing in brightness when all the contests of earth are forgotten in the ages of the ages! This passage closes with a personal testimony from the Apostle. "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway" (disapproved). There is no reference to salvation in this passage. It begins with the words: "What is my reward then?" and is of rewards throughout. The fear that is expressed at the end is of being disapproved of the Lord. It is not fear of being found unsaved. This would be opposed to the unvarying and always consistent teaching of the Apostle concerning the grounds of salvation. He testifies that there is a halfhearted preaching which would disappoint His Lord. He is striving that he may be approved as a faithful servant in that ministry to which he was called. The second Scripture to be mentioned on rewards is 1 Corinthians 3:9-15. This presents the fact of rewards as certainly promised by God. "For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." This is not the building of character, which undertaking is unknown in the Scriptures. It is rather the building of service unto a reward. Christ is the foundation and to be on Him is to be saved. It is possible to build on Him of very different spiritual substances, but all built on the same foundation, Christ. Such are the possibilities in service for all who are saved in Christ. "Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work (not his salvation) shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built there upon (Christ), he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work (built on Christ the Foundation) shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." Fire is the symbol of the judgment by which the super-structure of Christian works is to be tested. Jesus made use of another symbol of judgment, the floods of water, that shall test the foundation. Woe to those who are found building on the sand! Not only will their superstructure of self-righteousness collapse, but their foundation, the fallen nature, will be swept by the waters of judgment into everlasting darkness. Although secure against the floods, established on the Rock Christ Jesus, great sorrow and shame will come upon those saved ones who have had all the days of grace and the enabling power of God and a field so white for harvest and in the end present a completed service of "wood, hay, stubble" only. Thus it may be concluded that we are saved in the boundless grace of God and His attitude toward us is ever and always one of love. We are the objects of His bounty and care. Being saved, we are privileged to enter some service of His eternal design. This is not a field in which to compensate Him for His love. It is our divinely given opportunity to express our love to Him to the praise of the Glory of His grace. He recognizes such ministries of love by that which He has been pleased to call "rewards." What more could He do than He has done? How more faithfully could He appeal for our heart’s devotion to Him? Copied by Stephen Ross for WholesomeWords.org from Salvation by Lewis Sperry Chafer. Philadelphia: Sunday School Times Company, ©1917. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 184: S. THE CHURCH WHICH IS HIS BODY ======================================================================== The Church Which Is His Body by Lewis S. Chafer Lewis ChaferThe new purpose of God in this age is seen to be the out-calling of a heavenly people. They form a part of the kingdom in its present mystery form (Matthew 13:1-58); but are in no way related to the Messianic earthly kingdom of Israel other than that they, as the bride of the King, will be associated with Him in His reign (Ephesians 5:29-32; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 20:6; Revelation 21:9-21). The disciples, being Jews, needed no instruction as to the message of the kingdom; but in marked contrast to this they did not once grasp any reference Jesus made to His sacrificial death by which He was to open the flood-gates of the grace of God. Even after His resurrection and forty days of instruction concerning the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3) they questioned Him as to the realization of the nation’s hope: "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6). His reply is suggestive: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:7-8). He does not tell them their kingdom is abandoned, or merged into a spiritual conquest of all nations: He plainly infers that every promise of God is still intact; but assigns to them the immediate ministry of the new gospel age. Even this they failed to comprehend; for it was not until Peter by divine compulsion had first preached the Gospel to Gentiles in Cornelius’ house, and Paul and Barnabas had returned to Jerusalem reporting the same out flowing salvation to Gentiles as had been given to Jews that they were able to grasp the meaning of the new age. This new light came in connection with the deliberations of the first church council, called by the mother church at Jerusalem, and recorded in Acts 15:13-18. The issue before this council was of the present obligation of believers toward circumcision, the sign of Judaism. Any departure from that divinely given sign naturally required a new revelation of the scope and character of the new divine purpose. Apparently the Jewish system was being set aside. The conclusion of this first council is recorded thus: "And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." There is no more important prophetic Scripture than this because of the arresting fact that it states the present age purpose of God in relation to the future purposes, and places these in an exact order. The answer to the question of these Jewish Christians as to what was superseding Judaism (the new order having set aside its last distinction, circumcision), is given by James, the pastor of the church in Jerusalem. In this concluding discourse of the council he first states the divine purpose in the new age: "God at the first [in the house of Cornelius, as Peter had just stated] did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name" (vs. 14). The realization of the purpose to gather out a people is to be followed by a "return" of the divine Person to the earth and the reestablishment of the Davidic order, and with this the long awaited world-wide blessing. The meaning of the word "church" is the "called out ones," and this, it will be seen, is identical with the present-age purpose "to take out a people for his name." The word "church" appears for the first time in the Bible at Matthew 16:18, and here Jesus speaks of it as a then future thing: "Upon this rock I will build my church." An entirely new word is used, it would seem, that there should be no confusion of what this word represents with any Old Testament revelation. The general use of the word in the Scriptures is of a collection, or assembly, of people. Thus Israel, separated and called out of Egypt, is termed by Stephen as "the church in the wilderness " (Acts 7:38), and Luke uses the same word in mentioning the assembly of people in the town meeting at Ephesus (Acts 19:32). When the word is used to denote a local assembly of believers as the "church at Corinth" the reference is to an organization of people of one generation united by human ties, and not all, necessarily, saved ones. The deeper and more important use of the word, however, is the designation of the born-again ones of all generations since Pentecost as "baptized into one body ... made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13), each one so perfectly in the saving and transforming power of God that he will rightfully appear in glory in the exact likeness of Christ; and the whole company, finally perfected, "not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing" (Ephesians 5:27) will be His bride and His body, "the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1:23). Such a perfect organism, with its heavenly destiny and glory, could hardly be confused with Israel in the wilderness, called out and separated from Egypt, or the ungovernable assembly of the town meeting at Ephesus, called out for the time being from their homes. The latter are merely incidental: the former is no less than the primary purpose of God in this age of grace. Little would be known of the out-called heavenly body from the teachings of Jesus, and nothing could be known from any portion of the Old Testament, where it is not once directly mentioned. As recorded, Jesus spoke of the church but three times, and then as something yet to be realized by virtue of His own power; for He said, "I will build my church." That this was a reference to His own body and bride, rather than any local assembly, is evident from His following sentence: "And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). How woefully they have prevailed against the professing, visible church! Not so, however, against His body and bride. The fuller revelation of "the church, which is his body" (Ephesians 1:22-23) was committed to the Apostle Paul. Her formation, being and destiny is the theme of the prison revelation and forms the basis of the prison epistles, especially Ephesians and Colossians. The Apostle, writing of this special revelation given to him concerning the purpose of God in this dispensation of grace, records that there was a mystery, or a sacred secret, not made known to other ages, but revealed to himself and the other Apostles that Gentiles were to become fellow-heirs with the Jews in one body. A Gentile blessing had been a foreview of the Old Testament and was associated with the earthly kingdom glories of Israel; but Paul’s revelation is of a new formation, into a new body, a new creation, "partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel," (Ephesians 3:6) which is not found in the Old Testament. The whole passage is as follows: "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; ... Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:1-11). From this passage it may be seen that the mystery, or sacred secret, concerning this age was the forming of a new body out of both Jews and Gentiles. This was the "eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Preceding this passage, the Apostle has, in Ephesians 2:11-18, not only defined the state of the Gentiles before God, but has made clear that, during this age, all hindrances that might arise from such distinctions have been put away that He might of the two, Jews and Gentiles, make one "new man," "[reconciling] both unto God in one body by the cross." The two elements of this body, then, are Jews and Gentiles, -- Gentiles that were "far off," "made nigh by the blood of Christ," (Ephesians 2:13) and Jews that, by covenant, were "nigh," with Gentiles, reconciled "unto God in one body by the cross": "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:11-18). The risen and ascended Christ is "head over all things to the church, which is his body." And they in turn are "the fulness of him that filleth all in all." This is revealed in Ephesians 1:18-23 : "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." The accomplishment of this age purpose Paul also mentioned in connection with its time relation to the kingdom covenanted to Israel in Romans 11:25-27 : "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." All this, it will be seen, is in complete accord with the conclusions of the council at Jerusalem: "God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things." (Acts 15:14-17) This heavenly body is being formed by a process. It had a distinct time of beginning. It could not have existed before the cross; for it must be reconciled unto God by that cross. It could not have existed before His resurrection; for its members must partake of His resurrection life. It could not have existed before His ascension; for it would have been a body without its Head (Ephesians 1:22-23). It could not have existed before Pentecost; for until then there could have been no organic union by the baptism of the Spirit into one body (1 Corinthians 12:13). "The church which is his body" began to be formed at Pentecost through the new ministries of the Spirit. Believers, at that time and through the baptism of the Spirit, became an organism by virtue of a divine life indwelling all, and that life was Christ. This is fitly illustrated in Scripture by the figures of the vine and the branches and the head and the body. One life animates every branch of the vine and every member of the body: "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many" (1 Corinthians 12:12-14). "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another" (Romans 12:5). "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones" (Ephesians 5:30). Thus the formation of the body began at Pentecost and since that time the Lord has "added unto the church daily such as should be saved." It remains to be seen, then, that since the Lord is adding to this body, it is growing, or increasing, unto its perfection during the course of this age. Special ministry gifts, unknown in other ages, are bestowed in this age to serve at divine appointments and in divine power for a limited time, or "until " the body is completed: "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men ... And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:7-13). This, it should be noted, is not the individual perfection of many; but rather the perfection of one body by the adding of many individuals until there is formed the full measure of the stature of Christ. The Apostle continues with regard to the growing of this body: "But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love" (Ephesians 4:15-16). So, again, the church is said to be a growing temple eventually to reach its completion, according to another passage in the same Epistle: "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:19-22). "Upon this rock I will build my church." The outward visible church is not equivalent to "the church which is his body." To that imperfect organization these revelations concerning organic union with Christ and perfection in Christ could hardly be applied. Copied by Stephen Ross for WholesomeWords.org from The Kingdom in History and Prophecy by Lewis Sperry Chafer. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1915. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 185: S. THE CROWNS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST ======================================================================== The Crowns of the Lord Jesus Christ by Lewis S. Chafer And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head... John 19:2. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour... Hebrews 2:9. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns... Revelation 19:12. I. Crowned With Thorns. The crown of thorns symbolized Israel’s rejection of her King. The nation was not rejecting a God-given sacrifice for their sins, though He became a Saviour for all men through their rejection of Him. Because of much prophecy the nation was expecting their Messiah-King. The Old Testament, by itself, would be a disappointing book. It discloses the final earthly blessings of Israel and the nations, but these blessings were not realized. The book closes with the predictions concerning the coming of "The Sun of Righteousness," the Messiah, with His forerunner, but they had not been seen. The New Testament opens with the birth, presence and ministry of the King and His forerunner. It also records the offer of the kingdom to Israel with all its promised blessings. One of the greatest highways of prophecy is that of the "Son of David," the Messiah-King. Because of these predictions, every devout Jew was awaiting the appearing of the One Who was to be the "consolation of Israel." A few received Him and rejoiced in His presence; but with the multitude this Scripture was fulfilled: "As a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." Isaiah 53:2-3. But in spite of all this, He was the Son of the Father’s love in Whom the Father was well pleased. He was, and is, the King of Israel. Since the Jews expected that the Messiah was to come, their test of faith was to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was that promised One. They knew about the man Jesus and of His mighty works; but very few would own Him to be the Christ of God, the King of Israel. Saul of Tarsus knew Jesus of Nazareth and hated His name; but when Saul was saved, he began immediately to reason with the Jews in their synagogues that Jesus is the Christ. This was the issue with the Jews. Was Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews? An individual might believe Him to be that King; but the kingly claim was made to the nation, and the nation made answer. In spite of the fact that He was a King by birth in the Davidic line, and that He fulfilled every prophecy and expectation, they answered the question by the assassination of their King. Before His death He offered Himself as the King of a nation: since His death He is offering Himself as Saviour to individuals of every nation and kindred and tribe. There is need of special emphasis here, for there are those who are unable to distinguish the fact that the Lord Jesus was first a "minister [to] the circumcision," or Israel, "to confirm the promises made unto the Fathers," and that through their rejection of Him, and through His death, He became Saviour to all men so that Gentiles may now glorify God for His mercy and grace. Such offers of His saving grace as were announced before His death were made in direct relation to His death. We read: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Every promise to Israel, though once rejected, will yet be fulfilled by the King when He comes again. This is not a theory; it is the teaching of the Word of God. Some claim to find difficulty in believing that God would offer the kingdom to Israel when He knew that they would reject the King and His kingdom. But God created man when He knew he would fall. He provided a redemption for the whole world when He knew that it would be rejected by the vast majority in the world. He commissions us to preach the Gospel to men whom He knows will not receive it. He took Israel into Egypt when He knew they would suffer and forget Him. He took Israel out of Egypt when He knew the long record of their sin and final apostasy. He took them to Kadesh-barnea and offered them a glorious entrance into the land when He knew they would rebel. Certainly we create no new problem when we discover that God offered His King to the people to whom He was promised, when He knew that they would reject their King. Such a revelation is in harmony with the records of all the dealings of God with the children of men. Prophecy anticipated the birth of the King: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). So, in the Second Psalm, it is prophesied of the Son that He would rule with a "rod of iron." Prophecy, likewise anticipates the nation’s rejection of the King. "He was despised and rejected of men." They "esteemed him not." Again, according to prophecy, His very rejection was to open His saving grace to all men: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:5-6). So, also, prophecy anticipated the return of the King when He will not be rejected, but shall reign over regathered Israel and the Gentiles in the earth. A prophecy by Moses, written thirty-five centuries ago, states that Israel will be regathered from their great dispersion when the Divine Presence returns to the earth. "That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee" (Deuteronomy 30:3-4). Like many others, a prophecy found in Amos 9:11-12, has never been fulfilled; but the Spirit of God quotes this prophecy from Amos in Acts 15:14-18, and there indicates the conditions under which it will be fulfilled. This, Scripture states: "Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle [house] of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." Two divine purposes for the Gentiles are mentioned in this passage. God, at the present time, is taking out from among the Gentiles a people. Later there is to be a blessing for all Gentiles; but Israel’s kingdom and its blessings over all the earth are here again said to be realized when He returns. When it is taught that Christ was born Israel’s King and that they rejected the King and His kingdom; that through His rejection and death a redemption for all mankind has been secured; and that the rejected King and His kingdom will be received by Israel when the King returns to the earth, it is no clever scheme of interpretation held by some "school" of students of prophecy. The Spirit has witnessed to this exact arrangement throughout all the prophecies of the Old Testament and we rejoice to discover every word of it to be fulfilled according to the New Testament. All of this prophecy, is now accomplished excepting His return. He has come as Israel’s King. He has been rejected. The blood redemption has been accomplished for all men. God is calling out a heavenly people from among the Gentiles. He will as certainly return and build again the Davidic order, which is Israel’s kingdom, and all Gentiles will come to His light and kings to the brightness of His rising. The Son of God came first to the nation Israel as their promised King. At that time He did not minister to Gentiles. Few Gentiles saw Him or spoke to Him. He said, "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24). During those days He sent His disciples out as heralds of the King and His kingdom and commanded them, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:5-6). It was when He was rejected and crucified that He became God’s Lamb "that taketh away the sin of the world." Not one of the rulers said: "I will not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved;" but they did say: We will not have this man to reign over us. To thrust the present issues of salvation into this and similar Jewish situation, is to confuse two distinct dispensations. It obliterates the great lines of prophecy, and robs the Gospel of its distinctiveness and power. We are not now saved because we acclaim Jesus to be King, or because we bow to His authority. We are saved now by believing on a Saviour. It is one thing to face the kingly authority of the Lord Jesus as did the Jews; it is quite another thing to face the particular claims which His sacrificial death have made on every soul. Peter said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," meaning the expected Messiah-King of Israel; but immediately after this Peter rebuked his Lord when the Lord Jesus had spoken of His death. Christ cannot save by His crown, by His authority, or by His glory. He can save only by His precious blood. Even His power cannot save us apart from the atoning sacrifice which He has made. The Lord Jesus Christ was scourged, mocked, spit upon, set at naught and crowned with thorns in the common hall. And this in derision of His kingly claim. The Scripture states: "Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands" (John 19:1-3). Pilate said unto them: "Behold your king! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar." Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified" (John 19:14-16). Pilate said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" God says to us, "Behold the Lamb!" In crucifixion the Son of God "was lifted up" as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. There is life in a look at the Crucified One. It is hardly possible to have looked to the Saviour as being the solution of all the problems of our lost estate and not be, to some degree, aware that we have looked to Him. To be saved is a personal consciousness, not of emotions, but of dependence on Christ: "I know whom I have believed." If we have not this consciousness, we do well to reconsider the grounds of our hope. The rejection and crucifixion of Christ was "according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God." God permitted His Son to be crowned with thorns, rejected, and crucified. But God was accomplishing His own great purpose in all this. He was reconciling the world unto Himself. II. Crowned With Glory and Honour. The Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead and ascended up on high where He now is seated at His Father’s right hand. There, too, He has been crowned with glory and honour. His present position and work is especially revealed in the letter to the Hebrews. One passage speaks of His present coronation. "For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man" (Hebrews 2:5-9). This passage is taken from Psalms 8:1-9. There reference is made to the first man, Adam, in his original position over the earth; but the first man lost all this position through the fall and we are immediately introduced to the position and authority of the Second Man, the Last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who, after the fall, fills all the Father’s vision. The Last Adam was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. He died and rose again; for it was not possible that He, the Prince of Life, should be holden of death. The Word of God gives us the exact facts concerning His present position, and faith may now see Him in the highest heaven, "crowned with glory and honour." As very God, He was always the embodiment of the highest glory and honour; but a new glory and honour had been made possible by His work of redemption. Returning from earth into the full blaze of His eternal glory He carried into heaven those new glories and honours which had been acquired through His ministrations on earth. In heaven, the return of the Son of God from earth was an event of greatest moment. How great was His victory as seen by the Father and the holy angels! What honour and glory was His in the eyes of those who fully comprehended the eternal value of His redemption for a crushed and fallen race! Far too little consideration is given to the importance of the home-going and present ministry of the Son of God; yet there is no lack of emphasis in the Word of God. Fourteen passages describe the ascension of Christ and His present position in glory. Three may be noted: "While they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9). "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool" (Matthew 22:44). "When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3). He ascended into heaven as (1) the perfect Man, (2) the perfect Saviour and (3) the perfect God. (1) The Perfect Man. While here upon earth He was both the perfect human and the perfect God. He functioned His life within one or the other of these spheres; but never did He co-mingle them. He could say "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" as though He did not know. This was perfectly human. Yet John tells us that He "needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man." This was perfectly divine. As perfectly human He could say: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Yet in that cross it was God that was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. As Son of Man He was hungry: as Son of God He could turn stones into bread; but He did not minister to His human need by His divine power. There are aspects of His presence and position in heaven which are to be classified as either human or divine. He now appears in heaven with His glorified human body in which the scars of crucifixion are forever to be seen. It will not do to speak of the days of His earth-life as the days of His incarnation. He has not ceased to be incarnate, nor will He ever cease to be. He carried His perfect humanity into heaven itself. He required no mediator, or priestly sacrifice for sin. As the Son of Man He was received into the highest glory on the grounds of His own perfection in the sight of His holy Father. Thus John saw in heaven, a man, in a glorified body, and he heard Him say: "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore." Through His death and resurrection the highest positions were given unto Him. He is the "Firstborn from the dead," as to actual victory over death, and, being raised from the dead, He is seated at the right hand of God "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come" (Ephesians 1:21). All things are put under His feet and it is given unto Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. So, also, the highest title is given unto Him. Because of the cross it is said: "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name" (Php 2:9). (2) The Perfect Saviour. He is a perfect Saviour as to what He has accomplished on earth, and He is a perfect Saviour as to what He is now doing in heaven. He finished a work; yet He continues to work. Thus He is still a Saviour, even in heaven. He was a perfect Saviour as to what He did here on earth; for He faced "the wolf" — SIN; He conquered death; He vanquished Satan; and He "led captivity captive." Every aspect of this mighty victory over our foes is now guaranteed for us by His presence in glory in a human body that bears the scars of crucifixion. His work was accepted in heaven when He was received into heaven. By our union with Him, He is our present Saviour even though in heaven. We are "crucified with Him," "dead with Him," "buried with Him," "risen with Him," and seated in Him. We have life from Him, we are righteous, justified and accepted in Him. By being our "Advocate with the Father," He is our present Saviour even though in heaven. In this great ministry He does not make excuses for our sins: He does not plead for mercy in our behalf: He presents His own scars as evidence that He has borne the last condemnation for every sin. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." By interceding for us, He is our present Saviour even though in heaven. This means that He both prays for us and shepherds our souls. He saves us from a thousand pitfalls and snares of Satan. "I have prayed for thee." "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). Crowns are promised to the believer; but the Lord Jesus Christ has won them all on the highest plane. He must have the superlative "crown of glory" for He is the Chief Shepherd over the flock of God. As our Lord in the glory and as Head over all things to the church, He is directing all service here below, and will direct, "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). (3) A Perfect God. On returning to heaven He took again the robes of glory which had been so freely laid aside in order that He might suffer in our stead. The Twenty-fourth Psalm records the song of heaven which was sung when He returned to His place in glory. "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully" (Psalms 24:3-4). Only One such has ever gone up into heaven from this sin-cursed earth. He was pure; He was holy; He was undefiled. "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in ... Who is this King of Glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory" (Psalms 24:7, Psalms 24:10). As He now appears in heaven, the glory of God is on the face of Jesus Christ. "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). "Crowned with glory and honour..." (Hebrews 2:9). "Whom the heavens must receive until the restitution of all things..." (Acts 3:21). He will then come forth as very God and very Man to take His own throne, the throne of David, and reign in righteousness and peace on the earth. He shall reign Whose right it is to reign, and He will then be III. Crowned With Many Crowns. The last pages of the Bible describe the consummation of the ages. The Scriptures trace the purposes and mighty working of God from the beginning of those purposes, even before the foundation of the world, to their end. It is fitting that the closing pages of God’s Book should record the final triumph and victory over all rebellion against God, and picture the eternal glories of the restored order that is to be. The second coming of Christ is the consummating event for which creation has so long waited and upon which the fulfillment of the purposes and promises of God are made to depend. This consummating event has been described a number of times in both the Old Testament and the New; but the last description is complete and language fails adequately to portray the power and glory of His return. It is then that He is to be crowned with many crowns. In many references to His second coming it is stated that He is to come in "power and great glory." 1. He comes with power. The Lord of glory proceeds forth from His wedding, out from heaven, followed by His spotless bride. Behold Him as lightning shining from the one part of heaven unto the other! He has a "rod of iron" in His hand with which to dash the nations "in pieces like a potter’s vessel." "His eyes [are] as a flame of fire" and "out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations." That wicked one shall He consume with the spirit of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8). "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity ... And he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble" (Isaiah 40:15-17, Isaiah 40:24). "God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power. Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting" (Habakkuk 3:3-6). "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him" (Psalms 50:3). "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come" (Isaiah 63:1-4). Here is the Messenger of the covenant, a refiner’s fire, a purifier of the sons of Levi. "And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth" (Isaiah 11:12). "And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matthew 24:31). "For he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth" (Psalms 96:13). "They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him (Psalms 72:9-11). Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in (Psalms 24:9). Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle" (Psalms 24:8). In these Scriptures we have an unfolding of the sufficiency of God in His power to transform the earth and to change the shadow of darkness and sin to the ineffable light of His glory. What He hath promised He will fulfil. All the lines of hope from the first promise of final victory given in Eden, to the present hour are focused upon the return of the King in His power, majesty and strength, and He will compass every issue of the ages and vindicate every purpose of God. We should not marvel that He is to come in renovating judgments to the earth; the marvel must ever be that He, the King of Glory, should have bowed the heavens and come down to this earth to die as an unresisting Lamb. The great conquerors of the earth have depended upon power and allegiance of their armies to execute their will. The King of Glory will conquer alone. His power by which He created all things is sufficient to bind the forces of darkness, transform the universe, and to consummate the hopes of all the ages. 2. He comes with great glory. His return in glory is recorded in Revelation 19:11-16. His glory is fourfold and is indicated by the four titles which He bears. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit has given four portraits of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are the four Gospels. In Matthew He is the Lion-King; in Mark He is the faithful Servant-Ox; in Luke He is the Man Christ Jesus; and in John He is the Eternal Word of God, symbolized by the eagle, the bird of the highest altitudes. He will possess His eternal glory as the "Word of God" which He had as very God before all creation. He will have a particular glory as the "Faithful and True" Servant; He has acquired a glory through the sacrifice of His human body and because of that sacrifice God hath highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name. It is His human name of Saviourhood, the glory and extent of which no man can ever know. He will also have the Kingly glory of David’s throne in a thousand, thousand times more splendor than that of Solomon. He will then be "King of kings and Lord of lords." The passage reads: "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS" (Revelation 19:11-16). As a crown is the fitting symbol of authority, pre-eminence and distinction, the Lord Jesus Christ, once crowned with thorns and now crowned with glory and honor will then hold every crown of authority by right and title. He will have won every crown of pre-eminence and distinction that can ever be in heaven above or earth beneath. It will be our unspeakable joy to cast our crowns at His feet and to join with the angelic host in the coronation hymn: "Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 186: S. THE FUNDAMENTALS OF GRACE ======================================================================== Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, Autumn 1994 -- Volume 7:13 A Voice from the Past: THE FUNDAMENTALS OF GRACE* LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER (1871-1952) Introduction The exact and discriminate meaning of the word grace should be crystal clear to every child of God. With such insight only can he feed his own soul on the inexhaustible riches which it unfolds, and with such understanding only can he be enabled clearly to pass on to others its marvelous, transforming theme. Here is a striking illustration of the fact that very much may be represented by one word. When used in the Bible to set forth the grace of God in the salvation of sinners, the word grace discloses not only the boundless goodness and kindness of God toward man, but reaches far beyond and indicates the supreme motive which actuated God in the creation, preservation, and consummation of the universe. What greater fact could be expressed by one word? The meaning of the word grace, as used in the NT, is not unlike its meaning as employed in common speech—but for one important exception, namely, in the Bible the word often represents that which is limitless, since it represents realities which are infinite and eternal. It is nothing less than the unlimited love of God expressing itself in measureless grace. The word favor is the nearest biblical synonym for the word grace. In this connection it may be observed that the one thought which is almost exclusively expressed in the NT by the word grace, is, in the OT, almost exclusively expressed by the word favor. Grace is favor, and favor is grace. Thus, in considering the Bible teaching on this great theme, equal attention should be given to all passages wherein either the word grace is used or favor is found. Grace means pure unrecompensed kindness and favor. What is done in grace is done graciously. From this exact meaning there can be no departure; otherwise grace ceases to be grace. To arrive at the scope and force of the Bible doctrine of salvation by grace alone we need to follow consistently the path indicated by the exact meaning of the word. Seven Fundamental Facts About Grace I. Grace Is Not Withheld Because of Demerit This fact about grace is more evident, perhaps, than any other. It is the sense of demerit more than anything else which impels a soul to cry out for the kindness and benefits of grace. So, also, grace finds its greatest triumph and glory in the sphere of human helplessness. Grace ceases to be grace if God is compelled to withdraw it in the presence of human failure and sin. In fact, grace cannot be exercised where there is the slightest degree of human merit to be recognized. On the other hand the issue of human sin must be disposed of forever. Christ the Lamb of God, having taken away the sin of the world, has by His cross forever disposed of the condemnation of sin. He has by the cross created an entirely new relation between God and man. Consequently, men are now either accepting or rejecting Christ who has borne their sins. "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). There is no middle ground. All questions of demerit have been banished. Thus God is righteously free to exercise grace in every case. Salvation is by grace alone. II. Grace Cannot Be Lessened Because of Demerit God cannot propose to do less in grace for one who is sinful than He would have done had that one been less sinful. Grace is never exercised by Him in making up what may be lacking in the life and character of a sinner. In such a case, much sinfulness would call for much grace, and little sinfulness would call for little grace. The sin question has been set aside forever, and equal exercise of grace is extended to all who believe. It never falls short of being the measureless saving grace of God. Thus grace could not be increased; for it is the expression of His infinite love: it could not be diminished; for every limitation that human sin might impose on the action of a righteous God has, through the propitiation of the cross, been dismissed forever. God does not ignore or slight the fact of human guilt and sin; for He has met these issues perfectly and finally for all men in the death of His Son. There remains no demerit, nor degrees of demerit, to be considered or recognized. By grace there is now offered alike to all men all the infinite resources of the saving power of God. The grace of God is, therefore, exercised in perfect independence of human sin, or any degree of human sin. III. Grace Cannot Incur a Debt An act is in no sense gracious if under any conditions a debt is incurred. Grace, being unrecompensed favor, is necessarily unrecompensed as to obligations which are past, unrecompensed as to obligations which are present, and unrecompensed as to obligations which are future. Grace must always remain unadulterated in its generosity and benefit. How emphatically this is true of the grace of God towards sinners! Yet how often this aspect of divine salvation is perverted! Infinite and eternal transformations are wrought by the power of God when He exercises His grace. He is thereby glorified and sinners are saved. Such far-reaching results cannot fail to satisfy and delight Him eternally; but He remains unrecompensed for His salvation through grace. What He does He bestows as a gift. Rightfully a benefit cannot be called a gift if it is paid for before, at the time, or after. This is a fundamental truth of the Word of God, and it is imperative that it be kept free from all confusing complications. When a recompense for the gift of God is proposed, every element of salvation is obscured, and the true motive for Christian service is sacrificed as well. The Scriptures everywhere guard these two truths from such perversion; for, in the Bible, salvation is always presented as a gift, an unrecompensed favor, a pure benefit from God (John 10:28; Romans 6:23). And, in like manner, no service is to be wrought, and no offering is to be given, with a view to repaying God for His gift. Any attempt to compensate God for His gift is an act so utterly out of harmony with the revealed Truth, and exhibits such a lack of appreciation of His loving bounty, that it cannot be other than distressing to the Giver. All attempts to repay His gift, be they ever so sincere, serve only to frustrate His grace and to lower the marvelous kindness of God to the sordid level of barter and trade. How faithfully we should serve Him, but never to repay Him! Service is the Christian’s means of expressing his love and devotion to God, as God has expressed His love to those whom He saves by the gracious things He has done. Christian service for God should be equally gracious. It therefore becomes those who have received His gifts in grace to be jealous for the purity of their motives in service for Him. Unwittingly the grace of God is too often denied by well-meaning attempts to compensate God for His benefits. No semblance of the most vital facts about divine grace can be retained unless salvation is, in its every aspect, treated as a gift from God, and Christian service and faithfulness is deemed to be only the expression of love and gratitude to God. According to the Scriptures, salvation is never conditioned on human faithfulness, or on the promise of human faithfulness. There is no payment required, past, present, or future. God saves unmeriting sinners in unrelated, unrecompensed, unconditioned, sovereign grace. Good works should follow; but with no thought of compensation. Christians are "created in Christ Jesus for good works" (Ephesians 2:10); they are to be a "special people, zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14); and "those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works" (Titus 3:8). Thus, and only thus, are "good works" related to the gracious salvation from God through Christ Jesus. Grace is out of question when recompense is in question. IV. Grace Is Not Exercised in the Just Payment of a Debt The fact is self-evident that the payment of an honest debt could never be an act of grace. In no circumstances, however, is the recognition of this truth more important than when grace is declared to be the present divine plan for the salvation of sinners. If God should discover the least degree of merit in the sinner, this, in strict righteousness, He must recognize and duly acknowledge. By such a recognition of human merit, He would be discharging an obligation toward the sinner and the discharge of that obligation toward the sinner would be the payment, or recognition, of a debt. "Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt" (Romans 4:4). It is therefore imperative that every vestige of human merit shall be set aside completely if an opportunity is provided whereby pure grace may be exercised in the salvation of men. For the sole purpose that pure grace might be exercised toward men, the human family has been placed under the divine judicial sentence of sin. It is obviously true that all men are sinners both by nature and by practice; but the present divine decree goes far beyond this evident state of sinfulness wherein one man might be deemed to be more, or less, sinful than another; for God, in this dispensation, which began with the cross, has pronounced an equal and absolute sentence of judgment against all, both Jew and Gentile. Men are now "condemned already" (John 3:18); they are "sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2); not on the ground of their own sinfulness, but on the ground of their federal headship in fallen Adam. Men are now judicially reckoned to be in "disobedience" (Romans 11:32); they are "under sin" (Romans 3:9; Galatians 3:22); and they are "guilty" (Romans 3:19). Thus all human merit has been disposed of absolutely and forever, and there is no longer the slightest possibility that, because of personal merit, a divine obligation may now exist toward any individual. The sole divine object in thus universally and judicially disposing of all human merit is clearly revealed: "For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all" (Romans 11:32). Also, "But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe" (Galatians 3:22). That God now saves sinners by grace alone and apart from every human merit is the teaching of His Word: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-10). In this passage the only order which can exist between divine grace and human merit is made clear. Man is permitted to do nothing until God has done all that His grace designs. "Good works" grow out of, and are made possible by, the gracious work of God. To this exact order all revelation concerning divine grace is in agreement. A striking emphasis is given to the fact that God now saves by grace alone when the biblical doctrines of salvation by grace and the believer’s rewards for service are contrasted. Salvation, being always and only a work of God for man, is always and only by grace alone; while rewards, being always and only that which is merited by the faithful service of the Christian, are always and only based on works. Human merit is always in view in the divine bestowment of rewards; and the grace of God is never mentioned in connection with His bestowment of rewards (1 Corinthians 3:9-15; 1 Corinthians 9:18-27; 2 Corinthians 5:10). So, also, human works are never included as forming any part of the divine plan of salvation by grace. An act ceases to be gracious, therefore, when it is a recognition of merit, or the payment of a just debt. "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). V. Grace Is Never the Over-Payment of a Debt Grace is no longer grace if it is complicated in the slightest degree with the payment of a just debt. It can never be that which is added to, or a part of, a righteous transaction. A bounty may be added to the payment of a debt—an extra amount above the full measure due; but in no case should this extra amount be considered a matter of pure grace. The character of the bounty thus added would, of necessity, be qualified to some extent by the relation of the bounty to the debt. The bounty will be either more, or less, than it would have been had it stood alone. Inevitably it will be affected to some degree by the righteous transaction with which it is combined. In the Word of God, as in common usage, the word grace, in is exact meaning, precludes any complications with other acts or issues however righteous and just. Grace speaks of a gift, not of barter or trade, however unequal. It is pure kindness, not the fulfilling of an obligation. An act in order to be gracious must stand disassociated and alone. Divine salvation is, therefore, the kindness of God toward sinners. It is not less than it would be had they sinned less. It is not more than it would be had they sinned more. It is wholly unrelated to every question of human merit. Grace is neither treating a person as he deserves, nor treating a person better that he deserves. It is treating a person graciously without the slightest reference to his deserts. Grace is infinite love expressing itself in infinite goodness. Through the death of Christ by which He took away the sin of the world, and through the divine decree which has constituted all to be "under sin," grace is free to save in every case, and only grace can save in any case. Divine grace is never decreased or increased. It offers a standardized, unvarying blessing to every individual alike. The blessing is measureless since it represents in every case no less than all that God, being actuated by infinite love, can do. VI. Grace Does Not Appear in the Immediate Divine Dealings with the Sins of the Unsaved It is probable that no point in the Gospel of God’s saving grace is so misunderstood, and, consequently, so misstated as the revealed truth concerning the immediate divine dealings with the sins of the unsaved. It seems most difficult for the mind to grasp the fact that, as revealed in God’s Word, God does not deal with any sin in mercy, or leniency. The sinner is never forgiven because God is big-hearted enough to remit the penalty, or to waive the righteous judgments. Any presentation of divine forgiveness which represents God as directly exercising clemency toward a sinner is a fatal detraction from the meaning of the cross of Christ, and is a disastrous misrepresentation of the truth contained in the Gospel of His saving grace. Those who dare to preach the Gospel should give to the cross its true place of vital importance as given to it in the Word of God. How can God utter a more alarming warning on this point than is disclosed in the revelation of the unrevoked anathema upon all who pervert the Gospel of grace? "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8-9). Turning from human speculation to the Scriptures of Truth, we discover one basic fact: The Lamb of God has already "taken away" the sin of the world (John 1:29). The fact that Christ as Substitute, has already borne the undiminished righteous judgments of God against sin, is the sole ground upon which divine forgiveness is now exercised. The forgiveness of God toward sinners, therefore, is not an immediate act of grace; it is rather a judicial pardon of a debtor in view of the fact that his debt has been fully paid by Another. We could not know how much He paid; yet, though unable to measure redemption, we may rejoice in the fact that all, even to the measure of the righteous reckoning of God, is absolutely and eternally paid by Christ. It is not a question of the relative benefits which might possibly accrue to the sinner under one form of forgiveness or another—were he forgiven graciously, or in strict justice; it is a question of the basis upon which any divine forgiveness can be extended righteously. This righteous basis has been provided in the cross. By Gospel preaching, sinners are to be told that they may now stand forever pardoned before God: not because God is gracious enough to excuse their sins; but because there is plentiful redemption that is in Christ Jesus through His blood (Romans 3:24; Ephesians 1:7). Being free to forgive at all, God is free to forgive perfectly. On no other ground can the marvelous statement,—"having forgiven you all trespasses" (Colossians 2:13), be understood. This Scripture is addressed to Christians and it exactly defines the scope of divine forgiveness which is theirs. It likewise indicates the measure of forgiveness which is offered to the unsaved. When God thus forgives, absolutely and eternally, through the cross of Christ He is acting as Judge. By this judicial decree, He sets aside forever all condemnation. Such judicial forgiveness, which guarantees an unchangeable standing and position in sonship, should not be confused with the Father’s forgiveness toward His sinning child, which is wholly within the family relationship, and which restores lost fellowship and joy to the child of God. Every unsaved person is under the three-fold sentence of sin. He is a sinner by practice, a sinner by nature, and a sinner by divine decree. God deals with this three-fold aspect of sin by a three-fold achievement in grace. There is forgiveness for man in view of the fact that he is a sinner by practice; there is imputed righteousness for man in view of the fact that he is a sinner by nature; and there is the divine decree of justification for man in view of the fact that he is a sinner who, by divine decree, is "under sin." Judicial forgiveness itself is not an act of grace, nor is judicial forgiveness a mere act of divine clemency for some particular sins of present moment to the sinner: judicial forgiveness covers all sin, and by it the sinner is, as to possible condemnation, pardoned forever. This pardon covers all sins past, present, or future. God the Righteous Father will, in infinite faithfulness, correct and chasten His sinning child, and the sinning child will need to confess his sin in order to be restored into fellowship with his Father; but the Father will never condemn His child (John 3:18; John 5:24; Romans 8:1 R.V.; 1 Corinthians 11:31-32). The forgiveness of God toward the sinner is, then, made possible only through the cross and is never an act of immediate grace, and, when it is free to be extended at all, it is boundless. It contemplates and includes all sin. It forever absolves and acquits the sinner. Though divine forgiveness results in a position for the sinner wherein there is no condemnation, this fact should in no wise be confused with the deeper aspect of God’s saving grace wherein He justifies the sinner. Forgiveness cancels every debt before God, but justification declares the sinner to be forever judicially righteous in the eyes of God. One is subtraction, the other is addition; and both are righteously made possible through the cross. Of the various divine undertakings in the salvation of a sinner, some are acts of divine justice, and some are acts of the immediate, super-abounding grace of God. Those acts which deal with human unworthiness and sin are acts of justice. These include forgiveness, justification, death to the law, freedom from the law, and the whole new creation. All this is made possible through the cross of Christ and, therefore, is not accomplished by an act of immediate grace. On the other hand, those aspects of salvation wherein God is revealed as imparting and bestowing His benefits are said to be immediate acts of grace. These include the gift of eternal life, the imputed righteousness of God, and every spiritual blessing. Limitless grace is seen in the love of God which provided the cross; but when that cross is provided, every saving act that is based upon it becomes an act of justice, rather than an act of immediate grace. "That he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Romans 3:26). VII. Grace Does Not Appear in the Immediate Divine Dealings with the Sins of the Saved The divine dealings with the sins of the saved are similar to the divine dealings with the sins of the unsaved in one particular, namely, what God does in either case is done on the ground of the cross of Christ. By that cross all sin, whether it be that of saint or sinner, has been righteously judged, and the ransom price, which satisfies every demand of infinite holiness, has been paid. By His death, Christ provided the sufficient ground for both the salvation of the unsaved, and the restoration of the saved. It is because of what has already been accomplished in the cross concerning the sin of the world, that the unregenerate are freely forgiven and justified. This is a part of God’s saving grace, and is wrought on the sole condition that they believe; while the regenerate are forgiven and cleansed on the sole condition that they confess. These two requirements indicated by these two words, it will be noted, are wholly different. The human obligation as represented by each word is exactly adapted in each case to the precise relationships which, on the one hand, exist between God and the unsaved, and, on the other hand, exist between God and the saved. The salvation of the sinner is unto union with God: the restoration of the saint is unto communion with God. Believing and confessing are two widely differing human conditions, or obligations, and should never be confused or interchanged. The lost are never saved by confessing, and the saved are never restored by believing. That there is no greater demand imposed upon the unsaved than that he believe, and no greater demand imposed upon the saved than that he confess, is due to that which Christ accomplished on the cross. He wrought in behalf of sinner and saint in bearing the sin of the world, and every requirement of infinite justice is met for all in the finished work of Christ. In the one case, there is nothing left to be done but to believe; while in the other case, there is nothing left to be done but to confess. The revealed attitude of God toward all men is that of grace alone. Therefore He does not need to be coaxed or persuaded. With His hand outstretched to bestow all that His grace can offer, it is highly inconsistent to plead with Him to be gracious, or to coax Him to be good. By the unvarying teaching of God’s Word, and by the inexorable logic of the accomplished value of the cross, the forgiveness and blessing of God to the unsaved is conditioned upon believing, and to the saved it is conditioned upon confessing. First John 1:1-51; John 2:1-2 is the central passage in the Bible wherein the divine method of dealing with the sins of Christians is stated. A portion of this most important passage is as follows: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness…My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." According to this Scripture, four vital elements enter into that divine forgiving and cleansing which constitutes the restoration of a sinning saint: (1) Confession is the one and only condition on the human side; (2) Absolute forgiveness and cleansing is promised on the divine side; (3) The Christian, while sinning, has been safe as to divine condemnation, because of his Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and (4) Divine forgiveness and cleansing is exercised toward the believer in unchallenged faithfulness and justice because Christ is "the propitiation for our sins." In this transaction, as it is thus disclosed, the believer makes no disposition of his own sin; that has been made for him. So, also, the Advocate makes no excuses for the sinning Christian, nor does He plead for the clemency of the Father in behalf of the believer who has sinned. The Advocate presents the sufficiency of His own blood to meet the condemnation of every sin. The Father does not act in gracious kindness when forgiving and cleansing the believer: He acts in strict faithfulness to His covenant and promise of eternal keeping, and in strict justice because of the shed-blood. Such is the unchanging value of the propitiation which Christ made in His blood. It should also be noted that, according to this revelation, the sinning saint is never before any tribunal other than that of his own Father. The eternal relationship between the Father and His child can never be set aside. The Father may correct and chasten His erring child (1 Corinthians 11:31-32; Hebrews 12:3-15), and through confession the child may be restored to the place of fellowship; but all of this is wholly within the inner circle of the family and household of God. Condemnation, which would expel the child from the place of a son, is forever past. Nor does the sinning Christian draw on the mercy and favor of God when he is restored to fellowship in the household of God. How easily mercy and favor might be exhausted and overdrawn! On the contrary, the Christian, sheltered under the blood of propitiation, and standing in the merit of his Advocate, is on a basis where no past offenses have accumulated against him; for he is cleansed and forgiven under the legal justice of the Father. The justice of God is made possible and is righteously demanded in view of the shed-blood of His own Son. Let it not be supposed that this divine plan of restoration of the child of God to the Father’s fellowship will react in an attitude of carelessness on the part of the Christian. The sufficient answer to this challenge is three-fold: (1) True confession is the expression of a very real repentance, or change of mind, which turns from the sin. This is the exact opposite of becoming accustomed to the sin, or becoming careless with regard to it. (2) This very revelation is given, we are told, not to encourage, or license us to sin; but rather that "you may not sin" (be not sinning). According to the Scriptures and according to human experience, the believer’s safety in the faithfulness and justice of the Father and the advocacy and propitiation of the Son, is the greatest incentive for a holy life. It is clearly revealed that God has, by other and sufficient means, guarded against all careless sinning on the part of those whom He has eternally saved through the merit of His Son. And (3) God can righteously deal with sin in no other way than through the absolute value of the blood of His Son; but when sin has been laid on the Substitute, it can never be laid back on the sinner, or on any other. In the cross of Christ, the question of a possible condemnation because of sin is adjusted forever. Mercy and grace can never be co-mingled with divine justice. Boundless grace is disclosed in the provision of a perfect propitiation for the sins of the believer; but the application of the propitiation is never gracious; it is none other than the faithfulness and justice of the Father. Therefore grace does not appear in the forgiving and cleansing of the Christian’s sins. Conclusion It may be concluded that the word grace, as used in the Bible in relation to divine salvation, represents the uncompromised, unrestricted, unrecompensed, loving favor of God toward sinners. It is an unearned blessing. It is a gratuity. God is absolutely untrammeled and unshackled in expressing His infinite love by His infinite grace (1) through the death of His Lamb by whom every limitation which human sin could impose has been dispelled, (2) through the provision which offers salvation as a gift by which human obligation has been forever dismissed, and (3) through the divine decree by which human merit has been forever deposed. Grace is the limitless, unrestrained love of God for the lost, acting in full compliance with the exact and unchangeable demands of His own righteousness through the sacrificial death of Christ. Grace is more than love; it is love set absolutely free and made to be a triumphant victor over the righteous judgment of God against the sinner. Having examined into the meaning of the word grace, the three-fold divine ministry and undertaking in grace should be considered. It will be observed that: 1. God saves sinners by grace, 2. God keeps through grace those who are saved, and, 3. God teaches in grace those who are saved and kept how they should live, and how they may live, to His eternal glory. Endnotes *This article is the first chapter in the 1933 Moody Colportage (now Moody Press) to book Grace, long out of print. Chafer called the chapter "The Theme" but we have renamed it. Not a word of Chafer’s has been changed. Only a slight updating of punctuation and capitalization, plus the use of the NKJV for the 1611 (really 1769) KJV, are substituted for easier reading. Editor. 1The "Voice from the Past" in our very first issue a JOTGES was by the beloved Lewis Sperry Chafer: musician, preacher, Bible teacher, and principal founder of The Evangelical Theological College (now Dallas Theological Seminary). Many of us GES people studied under, not Dr. Chafer himself, but his former students. All who knew him agree that he was not only a strong supporter of grace doctrines but was himself a very gracious and godly Christian. Editor. 2At this point in the original book there is a footnote extending over three pages. Since the first issue of JOTGES (Autumn 1988) contains Chafer’s article covering the same material in greater detail we refer the reader to that. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 187: S. THE RICHES OF GRACE IN CHRIST JESUS ======================================================================== The Riches of Grace in Christ Jesus by Lewis Sperry Chafer D.D., Litt.D., Th.D. IN CONSIDERING the Bible doctrine of salvation it is important to distinguish between those things which have already been done for all, and those things which are done for the individual at the instant he believes. The sum total of that which has been done for both classes constitutes "the riches of grace in Christ Jesus." But the things divinely accomplished at the instant of believing alone form that aspect of salvation which is already accomplished in and for the one who believes. This is salvation in its past tense aspect, i. e., salvation from the guilt, penalty and condemnation of sin. This portion of the doctrine of salvation, like the other tense aspects, includes only what God is said to do for man, and nothing whatsoever that man is said to do for God, or for himself. There is an important distinction to be made, as well, between the drawing, convincing work of the Spirit for the unsaved when He convinces of sin, righteousness and judgment, and "the things that accompany salvation." The former is the work of God in bringing the unsaved who are blinded by Satan (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) to an intelligent decision for Christ; the latter is the outworking of that salvation after they believe. So, also, there is a difference to be noted between the work of God in the past tense aspect of salvation and the growth and development of the one who is thus saved. He is to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." He is to be "changed from glory to glory." These, too, are divine undertakings for the individual, and are in no way a part of that which is wrought of God the moment one believes. Most of the great doctrinal epistles of the New Testament may be divided into a general two-fold division: namely, first, that which represents the work of God already accomplished for the believer, and, second, that which represents the life and work of the believer for God. The first eight chapters of Romans contain the whole doctrine of salvation in its past and present tense aspects: the last section, beginning with chapter twelve (chapters nine to eleven being parenthetical in the present purpose of God for Israel) is an appeal to the saved one to live as it becomes one thus saved. This section opens with the words, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Such a manner of life is naturally to be expected from the one who has been divinely changed. It is a "reasonable service." So the entire closing section of Romans is an exhortation to that manner of life befitting one who is saved. Ephesians 1:1-23, Ephesians 2:1-22, Ephesians 3:1-21 present the work of God for the individual in bringing him to his exalted heavenly position in Christ Jesus. Not one exhortation will be found in this section. The helpless sinner could do nothing to further such an undertaking. The last section, beginning with Ephesians 4:1-32, is altogether an appeal for a manner of life befitting one raised to such an exalted heavenly position. The first verse, as in the opening words of the hortatory section of Romans, is an epitome of all that follows: "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." Colossians 1:1-29, Colossians 2:1-23 reveal the glory of the Son of God and the believer’s present position as identified with Him in resurrection life. This is followed by Colossians 3:1-25, Colossians 4:1-18, which are an appeal that may again be briefly condensed into the first two verses of the section: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above." It is important to note the divine order in presenting these most vital issues. The positions to which the believer is instantly lifted by the power and grace of God are always mentioned first and without reference to any human merit or promises. Following this is the injunction for a consistent life in view of the divine blessing. It is obvious that no attempt to imitate this manner of life could result in such exalted positions; but the positions, when wrought of God, create an entirely new demand in life and conduct (in the Word of God these demands are never laid upon unregenerate men). Such is always the order in grace. First, the unmerited divine blessing; then the life lived in the fullness of power which that blessing provides. Under the law varying blessings were given at the end according to the merit: under grace full measure of transformation is bestowed at the beginning and there follows an appeal for a consistent daily life. It is the divine purpose that a Christian’s conduct should be inspired by the fact that he is already saved and blessed with all the riches of grace in Christ Jesus, rather than by the hope that an attempted imitation of the Christian standard of conduct will result in salvation. In turning to the Scriptures to discover what it has pleased God to reveal of His saving work in the individual at the instant he believes, it will be found that there are at least thirty-three distinct positions into which such an one is instantly brought by the sufficient operation of the infinite God. All of these transformations are superhuman, and, taken together, form that part of salvation which is already the portion of every one who has believed. Of these thirty-three positions at least five important things may be said: First, They are not experienced. They are facts of the newly created life out of which most precious experiences may grow. For example, justification is never experienced; yet it is a new eternal fact of divine life and relationship to God. A true Christian is more than a person who feels or acts on a certain high plane: he is one who, because of a whole inward transformation, normally feels and acts in all the limitless heavenly association with his Lord. Second, The Christian positions are not progressive. They do not grow, or develop, from a small beginning. They are as perfect and complete the instant they are possessed as they ever will be in the ages to come. To illustrate, sonship does not grow into fuller sonship, even though a son may be growing. An old man is no more the son of his earthly father at the day of his death than he was at the day of his birth. Third These positions are in no way related to human merit. It was while we were, yet sinners that Christ died for the ungodly. There is a legitimate distinction to be made between good sons and bad sons; but both equally possess sonship if they are sons at all. God is said to chasten His own because they are sons, but certainly not that they may become sons. Human merit must be excluded. It cannot be related to these divine transformations of grace; nor could they abide eternally the same if depending by the slightest degree on the finite resources. They are made to stand on the unchanging Person and merit of the eternal Son of God. There are other and sufficient motives for Christian conduct than the effort to create such eternal facts of the divine life. The Christian is "accepted (now and forever) in the beloved." Fourth, Every position is eternal by its very nature. The imparted life of God is as eternal in its character as its Fountain Head. Hence the Word of His grace: "I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish." The consciousness and personal realization of such relationship to God may vary with the daily walk of the believer; but the abiding facts of the new being are never subject to change in time or eternity. Fifth, These positions are known only through a divine revelation. They defy human imagination, and since they cannot be experienced their reality can be entered into only by believing the Word of God. These eternal riches of grace are for the lowest sinner who will only believe. That God may in some measure be glorified, some. if not all, of these position are here given. "That half has never been told." The reader is humbly invited to remember that these things are now true of each one who believes, and if there should be the slightest doubt as to whether he has believed that question can be forever settled even before the following pages are read: I. In the Eternal Plan of God: 1. Foreknown, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Romans 8:29. See also 1 Peter 1:2). 2. Elect, "Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God" (1 Thessalonians 1:4. See also 1 Peter 1:2; Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12; Titus 1:1). 3. Predestinated, "Being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the council of his own will" (Ephesians 1:11; Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:5). 4. Chosen, "For many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14; 1 Peter 2:4). 5. Called, "Faithful is he that calleth you" (1 Thessalonians 5:24, etc.). II. Reconciled: 1. Reconciled by God, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Colossians 1:20). 2. Reconciled to God, "Much more being reconciled to God" (Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:20). III. Redeemed: 1. Redeemed by God, "In whom we have redemption through his blood" (Colossians 1:14; 1 Peter 1:18; Romans 3:24, etc.). 2. Out of all condemnation, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1; John 5:24; 1 Corinthians 11:32; John 3:18). IV. Related to God Through a Propitiation: 1. "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our’s only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2; Romans 3:25-26). V. All Sins Covered By Atoning Blood: 1. "Who his own self bare our sins in his body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24; Romans 4:25, etc.). VI. Vitally Conjoined to Christ for Judgment of the "Old Man" Unto a New Walk: 1. "Crucified with Christ," "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him" (Romans 6:6). 2. "Dead with Christ," "Now if we be dead with Christ" (Romans 6:8) ; "We being dead to sin" (1 Peter 2:24). 3. "Buried with him," "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death" (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12). 4. Raised with Christ to walk by a new life, principle, "That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4; Colossians 3:1). VII. Free from the Law: 1. "Dead," "Wherefore, my brethren, ye, also are dead to the law by the body of Christ" (Romans 7:4). 2. "Delivered," "Now we are delivered from the law" (Romans 7:6; Galatians 3:25; Romans 6:14; 2 Corinthians 3:11). VII. Children of God: 1. "Born again," "Ye must be born again"(John 3:7; John 1:12; 1 Peter 1:23). 2. "Quickened," or made alive, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13). 3. "Sons of God," "Beloved, now are we the sons of God" (1 John 3:3; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Galatians 3:26). 4. "A new creation," "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" (creation) (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 2:10). 5. "Regeneration," "But according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5; John 13:10; 1 Corinthians 6:11). IX. Adopted (placed as adult sons): 1. "Ye have received the Spirit of adoption" (Romans 8:15, etc. So, also, a future adoption, see Romans 8:23, etc.). X. Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ: 1. "Made the righteousness of God in him," "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe" (Romans 3:22; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Php 3:9). 2. Sanctified positionally,, "Christ Jesus, who is made unto us ... sanctification" (1 Corinthians 1:30; 1 Corinthians 6:11). This is in no way to be confused with experimental sanctification as mentioned in John 17:17, or the final perfection of the believer (Ephesians 5:27; 1 John 3:3). 3. "Perfected for ever," "For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14:). 4. "Made accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6; 1 Peter 2:5). 5. "Made Meet," "Giving thanks to the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light" (Colossians 1:12). XI. Justified: 1. "Therefore being justified by faith" (Romans 5:1; Romans 3:24; Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Titus 3:7). XII. Forgiven All Tresspass: 1. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:14; Colossians 2:13; Colossians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 4:32. A distinction is necessary here between the complete and abiding judicial forgiveness and the oft-repeated forgiveness within the family of God. See 1 John 1:9). XIII. Made Nigh: 1. "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13. With this there is a corresponding experience; see James 4:8; Hebrews 10:22). XIV. Delivered from the Powers of Darkness: 1. "Who hath delivered us from the powers of darkness" (Colossians 1:13; Colossians 2:13-15). XV. Translated into the Kingdom: 1. "And hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Colossians 1:13). XVI. On the Rock Christ Jesus: 1. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11; Ephesians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 1:21). XVII. A Gift from God to Christ: 1. "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me" (John 17:6; John 17:11-12, John 17:20; John 10:29). XVIII. Circumcised in Christ: 1. "In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ" (Colossians 2:11; Php 3:3; Romans 2:29). XIX.Partakers of the Holy and Royal Priesthood: 1. "Holy priesthood," "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood" (1 Peter 2:5). 2. "Royal priesthood," "But ye are ... a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6). XX. A Chosen Generation and a Peculiar People: 1. "But ye are a chosen generation, ...a peculiar people" (1 Peter 2:9; Titus 2:14). XXI. Having Access to God: 1. "For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18; Romans 5:2; Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 10:19-20). XXII. Within the "Much More" Care of God (Romans 5:9-10): 1. Objects of His love, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us" (Ephesians 2:4; Ephesians 5:2, etc.) 2. Objects of His grace, 1. For salvation, "For by grace are ye saved" (Ephesians 2:8). 2. For keeping, "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand" (Romans 5:2). 3. For service, "But to every one of us is this grace given" (Ephesians 2:7). 4. For instruction, "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 age" (Titus 2:12-13). 3. Objects of His power, "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward" (Ephesians 1:19; Php 2:13). 4. Objects of His faithfulness, "For be hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5; Php 1:6). 5. Objects of His peace, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which ye are called in one body" (Colossians 3:15). 6. Objects of His consolation, "Our Father which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation" (2 Thessalonians 2:16). 7. Objects of His intercession, "Seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 9:24). XXIII. His Inheritance: 1. "That ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:18). XXIV. Our Inheritance: 1. "An inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4; Ephesians 1:14; Colossians 3:24; Hebrews 9:15). XXV. A Heavenly Association (Ephesians 2:6): 1. Partners with Christ in life, "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear" (Colossians 3:4; 1 John 5:11-12, etc.) 2. Partners with Christ in position, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6). 3. Partners with Christ in service, "God is faithful, by, whom ye were called into fellowship (partnership) with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:9); "Workers together with God" (1 Corinthians 3:9); "Workers together with him" (2 Corinthians 6:1); "Ambassadors" (2 Corinthians 5:20); "Ministers of God" (2 Corinthians 6:4); "Ministers of the New Testament" (2 Corinthians 3:6); "Epistles" (2 Corinthians 3:3). 4. Partners with Christ in suffering, "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him" (2 Timothy 2:12; Php 1:29; 1 Peter 2:20; 1 Peter 4:12-13; 1 Thessalonians 3:3; Romans 8:18; Colossians 1:24). 5. Partners with Christ in betrothal, "That I may present you a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-27). XXVI. Heavenly Citizens: 1. "For our citizenship is in heaven" (Php 3:20, R.V.; Ephesians 2:19; Hebrews 12:22; Luke 10:20). XXVII. Of the, Family and Household of God: 1. "Fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19; Ephesians 3:15; Galatians 6:10). XXVIII. Light in the Lord: 1. "Now are ye light in the Lord" (Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:4). XXIX. Vitally United to the Father, Son, and Spirit: 1. "In God" (1 Thessalonians 1:1). 2. "In Christ" (John 14:20). 1. A member in His body (1 Corinthians 12:13). 2. A branch in the Vine (John 15:5). 3. A stone in the building (Ephesians 2:19-22). 4. A sheep in His flock (John 10:27-29). 5. A part of His bride (Ephesians 5:25-27). 6. A priest of the kingdom of priests (1 Peter 2:5, 1 Peter 2:9). 7. A saint of the "new generation" (1 Peter 2:9). 3. "In the Spirit" (Romans 8:9). XXX. Blessed with the "First Fruits" and the "Earnest" of the Spirit: 1. "Born of the Spirit" (John 3:6, etc.). 2. "Baptized with the Spirit," "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13; 1 Corinthians 10:17). 3. Indwelt by the Spirit. "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own" (1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Corinthians 2:12; ,John 7:39; Romans 5:5; Romans 8:9; 2 Corinthians 1:21; Galatians 4:6; 1 John 3:24). 4. "Sealed by the Spirit," "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30; 2 Corinthians 1:22). XXXI. Glorified: 1. "And whom he justified, them he also glorified" (Romans 8:30). XXXII. Complete in Him: 1. "And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2:10). XXXIII. Possessing Every Spiritual Blessing: 1. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). Such is the work which is now fully accomplished in and for the lowliest sinner who has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is all superhuman and God alone could do it: nay, if man could even have any part in that work it would at that point of contact be imperfect, and therefore be blasted and ruined forever. These marvels of grace constitute that "good work" which He has but begun in those who trust Him. To this much more is yet to be added according to Php 1:6. "He that hath begun a good work in you, will perform it, until the day of Jesus Christ." The "riches of grace" are the beginning; the final presentation in glory in the likeness of Christ will be the completion. Such a final perfection and such an eternal being is the greatest divine undertaking for the one who has been lost in sin. Nothing less than this would satisfy the infinite love of God. That He might thus be free to satisfy His boundless love for us He met all the issues of sin for a lost and ruined world, and so perfectly has He wrought that man need now but believe and thus receive the bounty of His grace. It is "Grace reigning through righteousness." "For God has concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 188: S. THE SPECIFIC CHARACTER OF THE CHRISTIAN’S SIN ======================================================================== Bibliotheca Sacra 150 (July-September 1993): 259-72 The Specific Character of the Christian’s Sin -- Lewis Sperry Chafer No division of the Biblical Doctrine of Sin is more extensive or vitally important than that which contemplates the Christian’s sin; yet, it will be observed, Systematic Theology, as set forth in its written standard works and as taught in seminaries generally, does not recognize this feature of the doctrine. The loss to the theological student is beyond calculation, for when graduated and ordained to the ministry of God’s Word he is at once constituted a doctor of souls and the majority of those to whom he ministers will be Christians who are suffering from some spiritual injury which sin has inflicted upon them. Indeed, what Christian, waging, as all Christians do, a simultaneous battle on three fronts—the world, the flesh, and the devil—is not often, if not almost constantly, in a state of spiritual injury? The soul doctor himself does not escape this conflict and sad indeed is his plight if he is so ignorant of the essential truths regarding the Christian’s sin and its divinely provided cure that he cannot diagnose even his own case or apply the healing to his own stricken heart! Though the pastor is a doctor of souls, his first responsibility to others is so to teach the members of his flock with regard to the whole subject of sin as related to the Christian that they may themselves be able to diagnose their own troubles and apply intelligently to their own hearts the divine cure. The Bible proposes no intermeddling human priest or Romish confessional for the child of God. It does propose an instructed pastor and teacher and a worthy ministry on his part in that field of truth which concerns the spiritual progress, power, prayer, and potency of those of God’s redeemed ones who are committed to his spiritual care. The blight of sin upon Christian experience and service is tragic indeed; but how much more so when pastor and people alike are ignorant as to the most elementary features of the well-defined and divinely revealed steps to be taken in its cure by the Christians who are injured by sin. 1. The Christian’s Sin. Because of its unlikeness to God, sin is always equally sinful and condemnable whether it be committed by the saved or the unsaved; nor is there aught provided in either case for its cure other than the efficacy of the all-sufficient blood of Christ. Unregenerate men “have redemption” through the blood of Christ; that is, the blood has been shed and its saving, transforming application awaits faith’s appropriation. Over against this it is written of the Christian that “if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Most significant indeed is the use here of the present tense. It is while the Christian is walking in the light that he has both fellowship (fellowship which is with the Father and His Son, cf. 1 John 1:3), and perpetual cleansing by the blood of Christ. The cleansing, it is evident, is dependent upon the fellowship rather than upon the holy walk, being wrought by the blood itself as the actual objective cause, once for all, of our purification. It must be observed, however, that while sin is always exceedingly sinful and its cure is by the blood of Christ alone, the divine reckoning and consequent method of remedial dealing with the Christian’s sin, because of his background relationship to God, is far removed from the divine reckoning and remedial dealing with the sin of unregenerate persons who sustain no such relationship to God. The divine forgiveness of sin for unregenerate men is available only as it is included in the sum-total of all that enters into their salvation. As has been pointed out before, at least thirty-three divine undertakings are wrought simultaneously and instantaneously at the moment the individual is saved and this marvelous achievement represents the measureless difference between those who are saved and those who are not saved. Deeply in error, indeed, and dishonoring to God are those current definitions which represent the Christian to be different merely in his ideals, his manner or life, or his outward relationships; when, in reality, he is a new creation in Christ Jesus. His new headship-standing being in Christ, every change which is needed has been wrought to conform him to his new positions and possessions. Forgiveness, then, in its positional aspect (Colossians 2:13), is final and complete, and of the Christian thus forgiven it may be said, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1); however, this is but a part of all that God accomplished in his salvation. Unregenerate men are not encouraged to seek the forgiveness of sin alone, or any other individual feature of saving grace. If they secure forgiveness it must come to them as a part of, and included in, the whole divine undertaking. Forgiveness of sin and salvation are not synonymous terms. On the other hand, when sin has entered into the life of a Christian it becomes the sin question alone which is involved. The remaining features of his salvation are unchanged. Thus, the terms of cure which are divinely imposed respectively upon these two groups must be different, as indeed they are. The difference between the divine method of dealing with the sins of regenerate men as in contrast to the divine method of dealing with the sins of unsaved members of the human family is a major distinction in doctrine which if confused cannot result in anything short of spiritual tragedy for all concerned. The preaching of the Arminian notion that, having sinned, the Christian must be saved again, has wrought untold injury to uncounted millions; but even a greater disaster has been wrought by the careless and misguided preaching to unregenerate people of repentance as a divine requirement separate from believing, confession of sin as an essential to salvation, and reformation of the daily life as the ground upon which a right relation to God may be secured. The Scriptures distinguish with great clarity the divine method of dealing with the sins of these two classes. In 1 John 2:2 we read “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” No consideration can be given here to the interpretation of this passage which is offered by the advocates of a limited redemption theory. Without question, the passage sets up a vital contrast between “our sins,” which could not refer to those of the mass of unregenerate human beings, and “the sins of the whole world,” which classification as certainly includes more than the sins of the regenerate portion of humanity, unless language is strained beyond measure in the interests of a theory. This passage is a great revelation to unregenerate men. Because of Christ’s death, God is now propitious toward them. But who can measure the comfort to the crushed and bleeding heart of a Christian when it is discovered to that heart that already the very sin so much deplored has been borne by Christ, and that, on the most righteous basis, the Father is now propitious toward the suffering saint—a propitiation so real and true that the Father’s arms are outstretched to welcome the returning Christian who, like the Prodigal, makes unreserved confession of his sin? It will be remembered that, according to the infinite accuracy of the Scriptures, the Prodigal is kissed by the father even before any confession is made. Thus it is disclosed that the Father is propitious toward His sinning child even before that child can be supposed to have merited anything, either by repentance, restitution, or confession. How persistent is the thought that God’s heart must be softened by our tears! And, yet, how marvelous is the assurance that He is already the propitiation for our sins! Again, Romans 1:1-32, Romans 2:1-29, Romans 3:1-31, Romans 4:1-25, Romans 5:1-21 present the fact of the unregenerate world’s position before God and set forth the ground of the gospel of God’s saving grace; but Romans 6:1-23, Romans 7:1-25, Romans 8:1-39 are addressed to regenerate men and have to do with the problem of a holy walk and the divine provisions thereunto. The sin problem as it concerns the believer is not in view in the first five chapters of Romans, nor is any phase of salvation as it concerns unbelievers to be found in Romans 6:1-23, Romans 7:1-25, Romans 8:1-39. Similarly, the hortatory portions of all the Epistles are addressed to those who are saved. They could not be addressed to unsaved men since the issue between God and them is not one of an improved manner of life; it is rather the reception of the gift of eternal life, which gift is conditioned not upon any manner of works or human merit but upon saving faith in Christ alone. In like manner, the deeper meaning of 1 John 3:4-10 will be understood only when a distinction between the sins of regenerate men and unregenerate men is kept in mind. Possibly no other passage of Scripture contributes more to the present theme than this. It is certain that few portions of Scripture have been subject to more varied interpretations. The passage sets up a distinction between sin with its source in Satan, and righteousness (in conduct—not conduct which generates righteousness as a ground of standing before God, but conduct which is prompted to deeds of rectitude because of the perfect standing in the divine righteousness imputed to all who believe) with its source in God. Though allusion has been made before in this general discussion to this passage, a more extended consideration of it is essential at this point. Probably the key phrase in this context is, “sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4) where the force of is amounts to is equivalent to. In the foregoing articles of this series, evidence has been adduced to demonstrate that sin began with Satan in heaven; he thus becoming the father or originator of it, and that sin is, in its essential character, a lawless departure from the purpose and will of God. The passage under present consideration is in accord with the most distinctive characteristic of sin, namely, lawlessness. The Apostle includes here all sin, not some sin. If the interpretation were permitted that some sins only were in view, there would be provided a supposed explanation of the strong statements which follow in the context. Roman Catholic theology distinguishes here between mortal and venial sins. Augustine, Luther, and Bede, in harmony with the tenor of the Epistle, sought to restrict this form of sin to sin against brotherly love. Others have restricted it to deadly sin. However, the passage is clear in its declaration. It most evidently refers to all sin and not merely to bad sins as in contradistinction to good sins, and the passage as certainly asserts that the essential character of sin (as the Greek aJmartiva implies) is lawlessness—lawlessness, indeed, which is foreign to the Christian’s redemption, new birth by the Spirit, and present position in Christ. In 1 John 3:5, “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin,” the Apostle refers parenthetically to the ground of all saving grace. The unqualified declaration of 1 John 3:6, “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him,” need not be softened by any modifications whatever. When abiding in Him, lawless sinning is excluded. Over against this, the lawless sinner neither seeth Christ nor knoweth Christ. Some have introduced here the notion that the Christian’s vision and understanding is dulled by the practice of sin, which truth could not be denied by any believer who knows from personal experience the effect of sin upon his own heart. To be observed, however, is the fact that the contrast in this passage is not between spiritual and unspiritual Christians, but is between the children of God and the children of Satan. The statement of 1 John 3:7, addressed to the “little children” of God, is exceedingly forceful and vital. We read: “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.” It declares that the only one who practices righteousness is by his new birth a partaker of the imputed righteousness of God. He not only does righteousness, but is righteous according to his eternal standing in Christ. Similarly, (1 John 3:8) he that practiceth lawlessness is of the devil. At this point it may clarify that which follows in this context if citation first be made of the culminative statement in 1 John 3:10 : “In this [the freedom to practice sin lawlessly] the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil.” 1 John 3:9 reads as follows: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” Whatever specific qualities are in view under the phrase “doth not commit sin” (Lit. doeth no sin), are predicated of all who are “born of God.” No portion of this context has been more distorted by torturing exposition than 1 John 3:9, yet the truth here disclosed is only the logical conclusion of that which has gone before concerning lawless sinning. There is no basis in this passage for the doctrine of sinless perfection. It will be remembered that the Apostle has warned against all such conclusions (1 John 1:8, 1 John 1:10). Nor does the Bible teach here, or elsewhere, that Christians do not sin. It does teach, however, that the Christian retains his Adamic, carnal nature until the day of his death, and, apart from the enabling power of the Spirit, there will be sin in the Christian’s life. There is a very important difference to be observed between the two phrases not able to sin and able not to sin. The latter alone is within the divine provisions. The Bible also teaches that the Christian, being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, is possessed with a new standard as to what is good or bad. His conduct either grieves, or does not grieve, the Holy Spirit. There is limitless suffering of heart in the path of the child of God who sins lawlessly. The Scriptures abound with illustrations of this suffering in the lives of saints whose history it records. David likened this heart suffering at the time of his lawless sinning to the waxing old of his bones through his roaring all day long, asserting that the heavy hand of God was upon him and that his moisture was turned into the drought of summer (Psalms 32:3-4). Paul, because of his failure to reach his spiritual ideals, testified that he was a “wretched man.” It is to be concluded, then, that the true child of God cannot sin lawlessly without great suffering and that suffering is due to the presence of the divine seed or nature in him. This reaction of the divine nature against sin in the Christian, which could never be experienced by unregenerate men who have not the Spirit (Jude 1:19), constitutes a ground for distinction between those who are the children of God and those who are not. There are manifold other disclosures found in the Word of God which serve to emphasize the specific character of the Christian’s sin. Some of these will yet appear in that which follows. 2. The Nature of the Conflict. It is generally and properly taught that the Christian’s conflict is three-fold, namely, (a) against the world, (b) against the flesh, and (c) against the devil. By this it is asserted that the Christian’s solicitation to evil will arise from any or all of these three sources. It is of supreme importance, then, that the child of God be intelligently aware of the scope and power of each of these mighty influences. Only the most restricted treatment of these forces can be undertaken here. a. The World. Of the three Greek words which in the Authorized Version are translated by the English word world, but one—covsmo"—presents the thought of a sphere of conflict, and though this word occurs upwards of two hundred times in the New Testament, only a limited portion of these occurrences are related to the sphere of conflict. The scope of the meaning of this word may be seen by comparing its use in John 3:16, where the Father is said to love the world, with 1 John 2:15, where it is stated that to love the world is to be unlike God (cf. James 4:4). The context alone must guide as to when covsmo" refers to order and arrangement and when it refers to a world system—orderly indeed, but not of God, being under the authority of “the god of this world.” By the evident permission and authority of Jehovah (Romans 13:1), the word covsmo", when referring to a sphere of conflict, might be translated the satanic system and for the following reasons: (1) Satan is its governing head (John 12:31; John 14:30; John 16:11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 6:12. Cf. Luke 4:5-17; Ephesians 2:2; 1 John 4:4; 1 John 5:19). (2) Satan’s system, or order, is wholly evil in its character (John 14:30; James 1:27; James 4:4; 1 John 4:3; 1 John 5:4. Cf. Romans 12:2; Galatians 1:4; Colossians 1:13). (3) Satan is permitted the exercise of great power in the satanic system (Job 1:9-12; Isaiah 14:12-17; Luke 13:16; Luke 22:31-32; Acts 10:38; 2 Corinthians 12:7). (4) Satan’s works are defined (John 18:36; 1 John 2:16). (5) Earthly goods are of the satanic system, and these the Christian may use, but must not abuse (1 Corinthians 7:29-31; 1 John 3:17. Cf. Mark 4:19). (6) The satanic system is opposed to Christ and its members will hate Christ and His witnesses (John 15:18-19; John 17:14-16; 1 John 3:13; 1 John 4:5). (7) The satanic system is limited (1 John 2:17; 1 John 3:1; 1 John 4:4. Cf. 1 Corinthians 2:14-15; 2 Peter 3:10). The world system is based upon greed and is defended by armament. It offers its entertainment, culture, and attraction with surpassing allurement to the children of God. It is indeed true that the believer is in the world, but not of it. Taken out of the world system by the New-Creation relationship, they are no longer any more a part of the world than is Christ; but Christ has sent them into the world even as the Father sent Him into the world, not to be conformed to it, but to be witnesses in it (John 17:18). One, and only one, plan is provided for a victory over the world. It is stated in 1 John 5:4, “And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” Reference here is not to a present vacillating faith; the past tense is used looking back to that faith which identified the believer with Christ. Thus the Apostle goes on to say, “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” Though there is a need that it shall be claimed as a present experience, the victory is Christ, and all in Christ are already equipped to be more than conquerors. b. The Flesh. Under this division of our theme, the savrx, as the fallen nature, is again in view. In this connection, attention is called to the three-fold division of the human family as disclosed by the Spirit through the Apostle Paul. While the distinctions between these classes are far-reaching, involving almost every phase of human life and experience, the central passage (1 Corinthians 2:9 to 1 Corinthians 3:4) distinguishes these groups on the basis of their attitude toward the written Word of God. The yucikov", or unregenerate man, cannot receive the things of God, they are foolishness unto him (1 Corinthians 2:14); the pneumatikov", or spiritual man, discerns all things (1 Corinthians 2:15); while the sarkikov" man, though a “babe in Christ” and addressed as a brother in the Lord, is, because of carnality, able to receive only the milk of the Word. As has been seen, there is a wide difference between unregenerate men and regenerate men; but the present point of discussion is of the difference which exists between the carnal Christian and the spiritual Christian. Too much emphasis could not be given to the fact that they are both perfectly saved and safe for all eternity, being in Christ Jesus. The issue is one of daily life, which issue is never related to salvation by grace, but does look on to the judgment seat of Christ where and when the children of God must appear and their works be judged. There is divine acknowledgment and reward promised at that judgment seat, quite apart from the issues of saving grace, to all who have been well-pleasing to the One who sits upon that throne. The word savrx, translated flesh, is frequently used to indicate the human body (cf. 1 John 4:2), and thus becomes, to a limited extent, a synonym for sw’ma; but in the majority of instances the word flesh is a reference to the fallen, degenerate nature which is the only possession of unregenerate men and which regenerate persons continue to possess along with the divine nature throughout their earthly life. The New Testament presents the Christian as in a conflict between the flesh and the Spirit, which conflict is still experienced by those who reach the most advanced spiritual state. No experience in true spirituality could ever surpass that described in Galatians 5:16-24; yet that experience is there declared to be due to a domination which the Spirit of God exercises over the flesh, and not to any supposed eradication of the flesh. That the flesh is incurably and hopelessly bad, and only bad, is the testimony of the Scriptures. Of the flesh the Apostle declares, “that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18); and again “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other” (Galatians 5:17). Then follows in the context of Galatians 5:16-24 a list of the “works of the flesh,” which works are only evil. But over against this is the “fruit of the Spirit” tabulated under nine divine graces, indivisible as to the total they form, which appear in the believer’s life only as they are wrought by the Spirit who indwells him. Two extended passages bear upon the conflict which continues in every believer between the flesh and the Spirit, and therein is presented the only way of deliverance. In the first of these passages (Romans 7:15-25,, Romans 8:1-4), the Apostle testifies, first, of his own complete failure and, second, of his victory. The failure is complete in spite of the fact that he has made his greatest possible effort to succeed. In Romans 7:15-25 the conflict is between the regenerate man (hypothetically contemplated as acting independently, or apart from the indwelling Spirit) and his flesh. It is not between the Holy Spirit and the flesh. Probably there is no more subtle delusion common among believers than the supposition that the saved man, if he tries hard enough, can, on the basis of the fact that he is regenerate, overcome the flesh. The result of this struggle on the part of the Apostle was defeat to the extent that he became a “wretched man”; but, out of this experience, he learned a most vital and important lesson, namely, that there are two mighty tendencies always in the child of God, one aspiring to that which is good, and the other demanding that which is evil. This is the meaning of the new conflict between “I,” the old nature, and “I,” the new nature, as recorded in Romans 7:15-25, and there could be no more conclusive verdict rendered at the end of this impotent effort than the Apostle sets forth in Romans 7:25 : “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh [I serve] the law of sin.” The Apostle’s testimony is not closed thus. He goes on to report the discovery of a new principle of procedure, and a new and sufficient power available. The “Spirit of life in Christ Jesus,” quite apart from his own regenerate self which had so ignominiously failed, makes him free from the law or power of sin and death (Romans 8:2). He testifies further that “the righteousness of the law,”—meaning here vastly more than any written code, including, as it does, all the will of God as to every detail in every moment of the believer’s life—is fulfilled in him, but never fulfilled by him. This marvelous experience, the Apostle goes on to state, is granted to those only “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). Thus the Apostle prepares for the truth set forth in the second major passage (Galatians 5:16-24) where the conflict is not between the regenerate man and his flesh with its inevitable defeat, but between the indwelling Holy Spirit and the flesh. We read: “This I say then, Walk in [or by dependence on] the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). No greater promise of victory over the flesh could be extended to the child of God than this. Not, indeed, by self-crucifixion of the flesh, nor by a supposed second work of grace by which the flesh is eradicated, but by the immediate and unceasing, overcoming power of the Spirit. The believer must learn the life of faith in which he depends upon the provided power of God. Apart from this faith there is only defeat; but with this faith there is blessed deliverance from the flesh and its lusts or desires. c. The Devil. Closely related, indeed, are the Christian’s three enemies—the world, the flesh, and the devil. Especially related are the world, or the satanic system, and Satan who is the “god” and “prince” of that system. However, the world and the flesh are impersonal influences, while Satan, the wisest of all created beings, is personal. He it is who exercises meqodeiva—circumvention of deceits, wiles, or artifices—against the children of God. There is no conflict between unregenerate men and Satan; they are energized by him (Ephesians 2:2). On the other hand, the Christian is in the center of the most terrible, supernatural warfare. It is described in Ephesians as a wrestling. The word implies the closest life and death struggle, hand to hand and foot to foot of a tug of war. Nor is the uttermost device and power of Satan inspired by any enmity against regenerate men as such. His enmity is against God as it has been since his fall in the unknown ages past, and against the believer only on the ground that he has partaken of the divine nature. The “fiery darts” of the wicked one are aimed at God alone. To possess the priceless indwelling presence of the divine nature is to become so identified with God that His enemy becomes ours. Solemn, indeed, is the divine revelation that the wisest of all created beings, and the most powerful, is ceasing not to study the strategy by which he may snare the child of God, and, were it in his power, to bring that one to destruction. How unconcerned, unconscious, and ignorant Christians are! How ungrateful they are, because of their limited understanding, for the divine deliverance wrought in their behalf every hour of every day! Yet, how much of defeat, especially in the spiritual realm, is suffered by all who are saved because of their failure to war their warfare in “the power of his might,” who alone can give victory, and to “put on the whole armour of God”! No more vital injunction was ever addressed to the Christian than that he must “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” He must put on the whole armor of God that he may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-11—on the meaning of wiles cf. Ephesians 4:14). Faith, it has been seen, is the only way of victory over the world and the flesh; but it is equally certain and according to the Word of God that faith is the only way of victory over the power of Satan. How assuring is the word, “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4)! Even Michael the Archangel, when contending with Satan did not in his own strength bring a “railing accusation” against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke thee” (Jude 1:9). True, James states, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”; but that is a word of admonition to those who have first submitted themselves unto God (James 4:7). Likewise, Peter declares in reference to Satan, “Whom resist stedfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9. Cf. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Php 2:13; Php 4:13; John 15:5). Quite apart from human opinion or experience which is of a contrary nature, it must be concluded that, in his three-fold conflict, there is nothing but defeat and failure in the path of the Christian should he not pursue the way of faith or dependence upon the Spirit of God. The child of God must “fight the good fight of faith.” His responsibility is not to war with his enemies in his own strength, but rather to maintain the ever-triumphant attitude of faith. 3. The Three-fold Provision. In recognition of the believer’s conflict while in the world, God has, in marvelous grace, provided a three-fold prevention against the Christian’s sin. If the Christian sins, it will be in spite of these provisions. These great requisites are a revelation found in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament. a. The Word of God. The Psalmist states, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalms 119:11), and in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 it is declared, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” It is as His Word abides in us that we are in the place of spiritual achievement (John 15:7). There is little hope for victory in daily life on the part of those believers who, being ignorant of the Word of God, do not know the nature of their conflict or the deliverance God has provided. Over against this, there is no estimating the sanctifying power of the Word of God. Our Savior prayed, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17). b. The Interceding Christ. Again, the Psalmist records, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalms 23:1), and the New Testament revelation of the interceding Christ is also broad enough to include His shepherd care. Little did Peter know of the testing that was before him or of his own pitiful weakness, but Christ had anticipated it all. He could say in assurance to Peter, “I have prayed for thee” (Luke 22:32), as in fact, He prays for all whom He has saved. It is probable that His High Priestly prayer recorded in John 17:1-26, is but the beginning of His prayer for “those whom thou hast given me,” which prayer is now continued without ceasing by Him in heaven. On the ground of this unceasing intercession, the believer is assured of his security forever. In Romans 8:34 it is written that there is none to condemn since, among other efficacious forces, Christ “maketh intercession for us.” In like manner, the writer to the Hebrews discloses the truth that Christ as Priest, in contrast to the death-doomed priests of the old order, will never again be subject to death. He therefore has an unchangeable or unending priesthood; and, because He abideth forever as a sufficient priest, He is able to save eternally (or as long as He remains a priest) those who come unto God by Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:23-25). This guarantee of abiding endurance, based, as it is, upon the absolute efficacy of the interceding Christ, is final and complete. But, as has been seen, the intercession of Christ is ever a preventative against failure as well as a security for the children of God. c. The Indwelling Spirit. The saints of the old order were reminded that it is “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). So, as has been indicated before, every defence and protection as well as every victory for the Christian is dependent upon the power of the indwelling Spirit. 4. The Two Spheres of Effect of the Christian’s Sin. As to its effect, the Christian’s sin reaches into two spheres, namely, (a) the effect upon himself, and (b) the effect upon God. There could be no question as to the relative importance of these two results of the Christian’s sin. That which is so evidently of least import will be considered first. a. The Effect of the Christian’s Sin upon Himself. Because of his new birth by the Spirit, his new positions and possessions, and his heaven-high responsibility in daily life and service, the Christian is a supernatural person. Normally he should experience unceasing miracles in every department of his life: his victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil; his empowerment unto God-honoring character and service—which is nothing short of the showing forth of the virtues of Him who called him from darkness into His marvelous light and the realization of the Apostle’s ideal expressed in the phrase, “for to me to live is Christ”—; his knowledge of God’s Word; and his prevailing power in prayer. All of these realities, and very much more, are not only supernatural, but are wrought in and through the child of God by the energizing power of the indwelling Spirit. God is reasonable in calling upon every regenerate person for this holy, heavenly manner of life on the ground of the fact that the sufficient resource—the indwelling Spirit—is given to all who are saved. Of surpassing importance, however, is the added revelation which directs the Christian in the divinely arranged plan whereby he may, with unabated power, experience these supernatural realities. Sin in the Christian’s life causes the grieving of the indwelling Spirit, and, when He is grieved, He turns from His normal ministry through the Christian to a ministry of pleading with the Christian. When the Christian sins, the manifestation of those things in his life which are supernaturally wrought of God either become greatly lessened or cease altogether until the required adjustment is made and he is again restored to right relations with God. The effect then of the Christian’s sin upon himself is the loss of all supernatural realities in the sphere of his daily life and experience. He ceases to manifest the divine virtues, he no longer knows the surpassing blessedness of fellowship with the Father and His Son, his witness for Christ becomes ineffective, and the measureless ministry of prayer is paralyzed. It is tragic indeed that any regenerate person should enter into the realm of darkness for one hour; but even more tragic when multitudes abide in this darkness (cf. 1 John 1:6) because of their ignorance of the divinely provided and revealed way of escape and cure! b. The Effect of the Christian’s Sin upon God. This, the last division of the theme being considered in this article, reaches out in its scope to infinity. It is far beyond the range of the finite mind to comprehend what sin means to God; and, as has been stated, sin is as sinful when committed by the saved as it is when committed by the unsaved. God could never deal with any aspect of sin upon a basis of mere generosity, big-heartedness, or mercy. Could this have been possible, there would have been no need for Christ to die that death by which He bore in our room and stead the unavoidable penalty which a holy God must impose on every creature that departs from conformity to His holiness. The gospel message to the unsaved is not one which implies that God will be good and gracious if only they persuade Him to be thus. God has been good and He is gracious to the extent that He has provided in Christ all a sinner will ever need, and this is available upon no condition other than that the sinner believe. Likewise, the child of God is not now a favorite with God and free to indulge in sin without thought of divine holiness being thereby outraged. In itself, the least sin committed by the Christian, because of its unlikeness to the character of God, would have power to hurl that one from the presence of God forever and to dissolve every relationship that grace has formed. And, indeed, the Christian’s sin would thus work the Christian’s eternal ruin were it not for the efficacious blood of Christ which is at once both the ground of salvation and of security—salvation through the application of that blood when the sinner believes, and security through the present advocacy of Christ in heaven. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 189: S. THE SUFFERINGS AND DEATH OF CHRIST IN TYPES ======================================================================== The Sufferings and Death of Christ in Types by Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer Systematic Theology; Vol.III, Ch.V, Pgs. 116-126. Part I A type is a divinely purposed anticipation which illustrates its antitype. These two parts of one theme are related to each other by the fact that the same truth or principle is embodied in each. It is not the prerogative of the type to establish the truth of a doctrine; it rather enhances the force of the truth as set forth in the antitype. On the other hand, the antitype serves to lift its type out of the commonplace into that which is inexhaustible and to invest it with riches and treasures hitherto unrevealed. The Passover-lamb type floods the redeeming grace of Christ with richness of meaning, while the redemption itself invests the Passover-lamb type with all its marvelous significance. While it is true that the type is not the reality, as is the antitype, the elements found in the type are, in the main, to be observed in the antitype. Thus the type may, and often does, guide specifically in the right understanding and structure of the antitype. Through the recognition of the relation between the type and antitype, like that between prophecy and its fulfillment, the supernatural continuity and plenary inspiration of the whole Bible is established. The field both in typology and prophecy is vast, there being upwards of one hundred legitimate types, fully one-half of which concern the Lord Jesus Christ alone, and there being an even greater field of prophecy wherein there are upwards of three hundred detailed predictions concerning Christ which were fulfilled by His first advent. There are three major factors which serve to exhibit the unity between the two Testaments: type and antitype, prophecy and its fulfillment, and continuity in the progress of narrative and doctrine. These factors, like woven threads running from one testament into the other, bind them not only into one fabric, but serve to trace one design which, by its marvelous character, glorifies the Designer. In answer to the question how a type can be distinguished from an allegory or analogy, some rules have been advanced. Among these it is declared that nothing is to be deemed typical which is not sustained as such in the New Testament. This statement is subject to two criticisms. (a) In the light of 1 Corinthians 10:11; there is no definiteness to the boundaries of the words, "all these things"; yet, whatever is included there is said to be typical. (b) There are many easily recognized types which are not directly sanctioned as such by any specific New testament Scripture. Like the problem of primary and secondary application of the truth, the recognition of the type must be left, in any case, to the discernment of a Spirit-guided judgment. It is the prerogative of the science of Systematic Theology to discover, classify, exhibit, and defend the doctrines of the Scripture, and the precise features of typology are yet uncertain largely because of the fact that theologians have given their attention to other things; but who would dare to estimate the restriction imposed on the theological student’s own spiritual life and blessing and, through him, upon all to whom he ministers, when the types which are God’s great pictures of truth are deleted from every course of study designed to prepare him for a fruitful and worthy ministry of the Word of God! It is not enough to give these themes a passing recognition in the study of evidences; the student should be so saturated with these marvels of God’s message that the whole being is set aglow with that spiritual radiance which can never be dimmed. A true type is a prophecy of its antitype and, being thus designed of God, is not to be rated as so much human speculation, but as a vital part of inspiration itself. Naturally, Christ is the outstanding antitype since the supreme object of both the Old and New Testament is "the testimony of Jesus." About fifty well-defined types of Christ are to be recognized in the Old Testament and a considered portion of these are types of His sufferings and death. An exhaustible and conservative treatise on the types of the Old Testament has long been a desideratum, but such a work cannot be included here. On the contrary, the briefest survey only of the major types bearing upon Christ’s death will be presented. I. THE GENERAL SACRIFICES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 1. Abel’s Offering (Genesis 4:4), which not only merits the favor of Jehovah, but indicates the fact that divine instruction on the importance and value of blood sacrifices had been given to the first of the race as they emerged from the Garden of Eden. By this sacrifice, Abel obtained witness that he was righteous. In this connection, attention should be given to Hebrews 11:4; Hebrews 9:22 b, as well as to all Scripture bearing upon the importance of sacrificial blood. The doctrine is not of human origin and as certainly its fulfillment in the death of Christ is alone the plan and purpose of God. 2. Noah’s Altar and Sacrifice (Genesis 8:20-22). The necessity of blood sacrifice is the same as in the history of Abel; but the building of an altar is a new responsibility. The altar is one of the most important features of Old Testament doctrine. Man was taught by divine instruction (Exodus 20:24-26) that the altar represents no work of his own hands. It is the sacrifice on the altar which is blessed of God to the benefit of his soul. It is most significant that the divine instruction respecting the building of an altar follows immediately upon the giving of the Decalogue. Of the altar and its significance C.H. Mackintosh writes in his Notes on Exodus (3rd ed.): It is peculiarly interesting to the spiritual mind, after all that has passed before us, to observe the relative position of God and the sinner at the close of this memorable chapter. "And the Lord said unto Moses, ’Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel.... An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shall sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep and thine oxen: in all places where I record My name I WILL COME UNTO THEE AND I WILL BLESS THEE. And if thou wilt make Me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shall thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon’ " (Exodus 20:22-26). Here we find man not in the position of a doer, but of a worshiper; and this, too, at the close of Exodus 20:1-26. How plainly this teaches us that the atmosphere of Mount Sanai is not that which God would have the sinner breathing, - that it is not the proper meeting-place between God and man! "In all places where I record My name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee." How unlike the terrors of the fiery mount is that spot where Jehovah records His name, whither He "comes" to "bless" His worshiping people! But further, God will meet the sinner at an altar without a hewn stone or step - a place of worship which requires no human workmanship to erect, or human effort to approach. The former could only pollute, and the latter could only display human "nakedness." Admirable type of the meeting-place where God meets the sinner now, even the Person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ, where all the claims of law, of justice, and of conscience are perfectly answered! Man has, in every age and in very clime, been prone, in one way or another, to "lift up his tool" in the erection of his altar, or to approach thereto by steps of his own making; but the issue of all such attempts has been "pollution" and "nakedness." "We all do fade as a leaf, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Who will presume to approach God clad in a garment of "filthy rags"? or who will stand to worship with a revealed "nakedness"? What could be more preposterous than to think of approaching God in a way which necessarily involves either pollution or nakedness? And yet thus it is in every case in which human effort is put forth to open the sinner’s way to God. Not only is there no need of such effort, but defilement and nakedness are stamped upon it. God has come down so very near to the sinner, even in the very depths of his ruin, that there is no need for his lifting up the tool of legality, or ascending the steps of self-righteousness, - yea, to do so, is but to expose his uncleanness and his nakedness. -Pp. 270-72. Under this general head may be grouped all the sacrifices of the Old Testament, all of which look on to the death of Christ. II. THE PRESCRIBED SACRIFICES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 1. The Paschal Lamb. Israel’s national and abiding redemption, as well as the safety of the firstborn in each home, was secured by the paschal lamb. So far-reaching is this redemption that Israel was required, in recognition of it, to re-enact the Passover throughout all her generations - not as a renewal of redemption, but as a memorial. The two general aspects of the meaning of the Passover are also well expressed by C.H. Mackintosh: "And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side-posts and on the upper door-post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the pertinence thereof." We have to contemplate the paschal lamb in two aspects, namely, as the ground of peace, and the centre of unity. The blood of the lintel secured Israel’s peace.- "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." There was nothing more required in order to enjoy settled peace, in reference to the destroying angel, than the application of the blood of sprinkling. Death had to do its work in every house throughout the land of Egypt. "It is appointed unto men once to die." Bur God, in His great mercy, found an unblemished substitute for Israel, on which the sentence of death was executed. Thus God; s claims and Israel’s need were met by one and the same thing, namely, the blood of the lamb. That blood outside proved that all was perfectly, because divinely, settled; and therefore perfect peace reigned within. A shade of doubt in the bosom of an Israelite would have been a dishonor offered to the divinely appointed ground of peace - the blood of atonement.... We shall now consider the second aspect of the Passover, as the centre round which the assembly was gathered, in peaceful, happy, holy fellowship. Israel saved by the blood was one thing, and Israel feeding on the lamb was quite another. They were saved only by the blood; but the object round which they were gathered was, manifestly, the roasted lamb. This is not, by any means, a distinction without a difference. The blood of the lamb forms the foundation both of our connection with God, and our connection with one another. Apart from the perfect atonement of Christ, there could obviously be no fellowship either with God or His assembly. Still we must remember that it is to a living Christ in heaven that believers are gathered by the Holy Ghost. It is with a living Head we are connected - to "a living stone" we have come. He is our centre. Having found peace through His blood, we own Him as our grand gathering-point and connecting link. - "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20). The Holy Ghost is the only Gatherer; Christ Himself is the only object to which we are gathered; and our assembly, when thus convened, is to be characterized by holiness, so that the Lord our God may dwell among us. The Holy Ghost can only gather to Christ. He cannot gather to a system, a name, a doctrine, or an ordinance. He gathers to a Person, and that Person is a glorified Christ in heaven. This must stamp a peculiar character on God’s assembly. Men may associate on any ground, round any centre, or for any object they please; but when the Holy Ghost associates, it is on the ground of accomplished redemption, around the Person of Christ, in order to form a holy dwelling-place for God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:21-22; 1 Peter 2:4-5). -Ibid., pp. 137-38, 149-50. The six essential requirements to be found in the paschal lamb were: a lamb without blemish; a lamb that was tested; the lamb slain; the blood to be applied; the blood a perfect propitiation against divine judgment; the lamb partaken of as food. That Christ is the antitype in all this could hardly be doubted. 2. THE FIVE OFFERINGS (Leviticus 1:1-17, Leviticus 2:1-16, Leviticus 3:1-17, Leviticus 4:1-35, Leviticus 5:1-19, Leviticus 16:1-30, Leviticus 7:1-38). The five offerings are: the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. These are properly classed as sweet savor offerings, which grouping includes the first three, and non-sweet savor offerings, which grouping includes the last two. Reference has been previously made to these five offerings, and it will suffice at this point to restate that the sweet savor offerings represent Christ offering Himself without spot to God (Hebrews 9:14), and that this is substitutionary to the extent that, as the sinner is wholly void of merit before God (Romans 3:9; Galatians 3:22), Christ has released and made available upon grounds of perfect equity His own merit as the basis of the believer’s acceptance and standing before God. On the other hand, it should be remembered that the non-sweet savor offerings represent Christ as a sacrifice for sin and as such the Father’s face is turned away and the Savior cries, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Psalms 22:1; Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). The ground of a forgiveness both just and complete in the death of Christ is thus foreshadowed in the non-sweet savor offerings. 3. THE TWO BIRDS (Leviticus 14:1-7). As on the Day of Atonement when two goats were required to fulfill the entire picture of Christ’s death, so two birds are required in the cleansing of leprosy - the type of sin. The first bird slain speaks of Christ "delivered for our offences," while the second bird, dipped in the blood of the first bird and released, speaks of Christ "raised again for our justification." (Romans 4:25). 4. THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. Again the larger extent and accomplishment of Christ’s death is set forth typically in magnificent detail by the events and specific requirements of the Day of Atonement. Of the typical meaning of the offerings prescribed for the Day of Atonement - the bullock for the high priest, and the two goats - Dr. C.I. Scofield states: The offering of the high priest for himself has no anti-type in Christ (Hebrews 7:26-27). The typical interest centres upon the two goats and the high priest. Typically (1) all is done by the high priest (Hebrews 1:3, "by Himself"), the people only bring the sacrifice (Matthew 26:47; Matthew 27:24-25). (2) The goat slain (Jehovah’s lot) is that aspect of Christ’s death which vindicates the holiness and righteousness of God as expressed in the law (Romans 3:24-26), and is expiatory. (3) The living goat typifies that aspect of Christ’s work which puts away our sins from before God (Hebrews 9:26; Romans 8:33-34). (4) The high priest entering the holiest, typifies Christ entering "heaven itself" with "His own blood" for us (Hebrews 9:11-12). His blood makes that to be a "throne of grace," and "mercy seat," which else must have been a throne of judgment. (5) For us, the priests of the New Covenant, there is what Israel never had, a rent veil (Matthew 27:51; Hebrews 10:19-20). So that, for worship and blessing, we enter, in virtue of His blood, where He is, in the holiest (Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 10:19-22). The atonement of Christ, as interpreted by the O.T. sacrificial types, has these necessary elements: (1) It is substitutionary - the offering takes the offerer’s place in death. (2) The law is not evaded but honored - every sacrificial death was an execution of the sentence of the law. (3) The sinlessness of Him who bore our sins is expressed in every animal sacrifice - it must be without blemish. (4) The effect of the atoning work of Christ is typified (a) in the promises, "it shall be forgiven him"; and (b) in the peace-offering, the expression of fellowship - the highest privilege of the saint. - The Scofield Reference Bible, pp. 147-48. The specific features thus required are: the bullock for the high priest, the substitution of the animal for the sinful person, the upholding of the law, the perfect character of the sacrifice, the sin covered by the blood of the first goat, and the guilt taken away by the dismissal of the second goat. 5. THE RED HEIFER (Numbers 19:1-22). The New Testament doctrine of cleansing for the believer is stated in 1 John 1:7, 1 John 1:9. Defilement is removed by the blood of Christ upon confession. The type of such cleansing, which also served a grand purpose in the economy of the Mosaic system, is seen in the ordinance of the red heifer. Of this J.N. Darby writes: The Heifer was completely burned without the camp, even its blood, except that which was sprinkled directly before the tabernacle of the congregation, that is, where the people were to meet God. There the blood was sprinkled seven times (because it was there that God met with His people), a perfect testimony in the eyes of God to the atonement made for sin. They had access there according to the value of this blood. the priest threw into the fire cedarwood, hyssop, and scarlet (that is, all that was man, and his human glory in the world). "From the cedar down to the hyssop," is the expression of nature from her highest elevation to her lowest depth. Scarlet is external glory (the world, if you please). The whole was burned in the fire which consumed Christ, the sacrifice for sin. Then, if anybody contracted defilement, though it were merely through neglect, in whatever way it might be, God took account of the defilement. And this is a solemn and important fact: God provides for cleansing, but in no case can tolerate anything in His presence unsuited to it. It might seem hard in an inevitable case, as one dying suddenly in the tent. But it was to shew that for His presence God judges of what is suited to His presence. The man was defiled and could not go into God’s tabernacle. To cleanse the defiled person, they took some running water, into which they put the ashes of the heifer, and the man was sprinkled on the third and on the seventh days; then he was clean. - Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, new ed., I, 264-65. The essential features of this ordinance were: an animal without blemish, the slaying of the animal, every part consumed by fire, the retaining of the ashes for cleansing, the mingling of the ashes with water, and the application of the water and ashes for the cleansing of defilement. The Sufferings and Death of Christ in Types by Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer Systematic Theology; Vol.III, Ch.V, Pgs. 116-126. Part II III. MISCELLANEOUS TYPES OF CHRIST’S DEATH 1. THE COATS OF SKIN (Genesis 3:21). Jehovah undertook in behalf of the first sinners of the human race. It is declared that He Himself clothed them with skins, the implication being that blood was shed. Reason rather than revelation asserts that animal sacrifice was then introduced by God and that it was from this action on Jehovah’s part that Abel knew the truth by which he was guided in presenting an accepted sacrifice to Jehovah. Few types are as complete as this. God undertakes for man, the imputation of sin to a substitute is implied, and the covering of the sinner is revealed. 2. NOAH’S ARK (Genesis 6:14-22, Genesis 7:1-24, Genesis 8:1-19). The history of the flood is replete with suggestions of vital truth. Among these, the safety of those in the ark seems to be a definite preview of the safety of those who are in Christ Jesus. Pitch was used to cover the ark and by it the waters of judgment were resisted. The word translated pitch is from the same word translated everywhere atonement. The significance of the use of this word has been pointed out by many writers. 3. BREAD AND WINE AT THE HAND OF MELCHIZEDEK (Genesis 14:17-24). Melchizedek bringing forth bread and wine to Abraham suggests two important truths, namely, (a) Abraham throughout the epistles of the New Testament is presented as a pattern of a Christian under grace and not of a Jew under the law. Grace on God’s part is made possible only through the death of Christ, who said "Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad" (John 8:56). (b) The partaking of the bread and wine on Abraham’s part may have been but dimly understood by either Melchizedek or Abraham - it is but dimly understood by the majority who partake today - but doubtless it all had great significance in the sight of God. 4. THE OFFERING OF ISAAC (Genesis 22:1-14). In this memorable experience, Abraham appears as the type of the Father offering His son. Abraham was spared the final ordeal, but, according to Romans 8:32, "God spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all." Isaac is the type of the Son who is a willing sacrifice and obedient unto death. The ram caught in the thicket is the type of a substitute offered in the place of another. 5. JOSEPH (Genesis 37:2-36, Genesis 38:1-30, Genesis 39:1-23, Genesis 40:1-23, Genesis 41:1-57, Genesis 42:1-38, Genesis 43:1-34, Genesis 44:1-34, Genesis 45:1-28, Genesis 46:1-34, Genesis 47:1-31, Genesis 48:1-22, Genesis 49:1-33, Genesis 50:1-26). Though Joseph as a type of Christ is exceedingly rich in its vital truth, only the placing of Joseph in the pit - a type of death - and the lifting him out - a type of resurrection - are germane to this thesis. However, to this may be added the truths that, like Christ, Joseph was beloved of his father and was hated by his brethren. 6. MANNA IN THE WILDERNESS (Exodus 16:14-22). From the use Christ made, as recorded in John 6:1-71, of the manna as a type of Himself, none could doubt the typical import of the manna from heaven. Thus Christ as bread come down from heaven has given His life for the world. 7. THE SMITTEN ROCK (Exodus 17:5-7; Numbers 20:7-13). According to 1 Corinthians 10:4; Christ is that Rock. By His death the water of life is released; but He could be smitten but once. The smiting of the rock the second time is estimated by God to be so great a sin that it precludes Moses from completing his task of taking the people of Israel into the promised land. The death of Christ is infinitely sufficient and admits of no re-enactment. It would be difficult to discover the exceeding sinfulness of Moses’ sin apart from the antitype - Christ in His death. 8. THE TABERNACLE (Exodus 25:1-40; Exodus 26:1-37; Exodus 27:1-21; Exodus 28:1-43; Exodus 29:1-46; Exodus 30:1-38; Exodus 31:1-18; Exodus 32:1-35; Exodus 33:1-23; Exodus 34:1-35; Exodus 35:1-35; Exodus 36:1-38; Exodus 37:1-29; Exodus 38:1-31; Exodus 39:1-43; Exodus 40:1-38). In this one structure with its details, the most extensive typology of the Old Testament is presented and there is much that is related to the death of Christ. The tabernacle itself is a type of Christ as the only way to God; the ark of the covenant sprinkled with blood is the place of propitiation; the shewbread is another type of Christ as the Bread of Life given for the world; all references to silver speak of redemption; the brazen altar represents those judgments against sin which Christ bore in His death; the candlestick is a type of Christ the light of the world; the golden altar represents that aspect of Christ’s death which was a sweet incense unto God; and the brazen laver foreshadows the cleansing of the believer-priest through the blood of Christ (1 John 1:7,1 John 1:9). IV. THE DEATH OF CHRIST ACCORDING TO VARIOUS SCRIPTURES It will not only be impressive to, but highly advantageous for, the student to observe the place which the death of Christ - both historically and doctrinally considered - occupies in the Bible. No further reference need be made to the typology which characterizes the early portions of god’s Word, nor is there important teaching on this theme in the Old Testament historical books; and only major passages will be cited. 1. THE DEATH OF CHRIST ACCORDING TO GENESIS. Genesis 3:15 is a preview of the death of Christ. In that Scripture the fact of Christ’s death, its relation to angelic authorities, and its relation to sin and judgment are intimated. It is fitting that a recognition of the cross and its final triumph should appear in those chapters where all beginnings are recorded. 2. THE DEATH OF CHRIST ACCORDING TO OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. The Psalms which bear prophetically on the death of Christ are Psalms 22:1-21 and Psalms 40:6-7. In Isaiah 52:13-15, Isaiah 53:1-12 the outstanding prediction occurs. 3. THE DEATH OF CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE GOSPELS. In this portion four extended accounts of Christ’s death are found, as well as His own predictions concerning His death. 4. THE DEATH OF CHRIST ACCORDING TO Romans 1:1-32 AND 2 CORINTHIANS, AND GALATIANS. Since the theme of salvation is so dominant in these books and since all salvation rests on the death of Christ, the New Testament doctrine is found largely in these four Epistles. Portions to be observed are: Romans 3:22-26; Romans 4:25; Romans 5:7-10; Romans 6:1-15; Romans 14:9; Romans 14:15; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, 1 Corinthians 2:1-8; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; Galatians 1:4; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 3:10; Galatians 3:13; Galatians 6:14-15. 5. THE DEATH OF CHRIST ACCORDING TO EPHESIANS, PHILIPPIANS AND COLOSSIANS. The following passages present the most vital truth: Ephesians 5:25-27; Php 2:5-8; Colossians 1:14, Colossians 1:20, which passage refers to the reconciliation of things and not creatures. 6. THE DEATH OF CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. To a large degree, the Epistle to the Hebrews is a treatise on the death of Christ and with special reference to the truth that the old order with its sacrifices has been superseded by the one sacrifice of the cross. The book of Hebrews contributed more on the death of Christ than any other one New Testament book, as Leviticus contributes the most of all the books of the Old Testament. Observe: Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 2:9; Hebrews 5:1-10; Hebrews 7:25-27; Hebrews 9:12-15, Hebrews 9:16-18; Hebrews 10:1-21; Hebrews 12:2, Hebrews 12:24; Hebrews 13:10-13. 7. THE DEATH OF CHRIST ACCORDING TO OTHER BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. In this more general classification certain passages are to be noted: Acts 17:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:10; 1 Peter 1:18-21; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 Peter 4:1; 1 John 2:2; Revelation 5:6, Revelation 5:9, Revelation 5:12; Revelation 13:8. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 190: S. THE SUPERNATURAL ORIGINS OF THE WORD OF GOD ======================================================================== THE SUPERNATURAL ORIGINS OF THE WORD OF GOD Chafer (Chafer, Lewis Sperry; "SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY"; Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press, 1947) deals at length with the fact that the Bible had supernatural origins. I have condensed his thoughts into what is presented in this appendix. He presents 15 topics. 1. THE BOOK OF GOD: The book of God asserts this fact for itself many times over. The question some raise is whether it was written by a man or revealed by God and recorded by man. The structure and message of the book demand a divine author. Man could not set out to write a book of this size. He would not have the ideas of it, nor would man be able to produce the detail and precision of it. It presents God as THE God. It presents God as having a plan. It presents God only as deserving glory. It presents God as the absolute authority. The unregenerate man could not subdue his own pride to produce such a God, nor could he exalt his talents to a level capable of producing such a book. 2. THE BIBLE AND MONOTHEISM: The Bible presents monotheism - one God, not many. Mankind has always had many gods, be they wood, clay, gold or silver. Idolatry is in every civilization to some extent. The Bible presents a one-God religion. How could man devise such a thought as one God in a world of many gods? 3. THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY: The doctrine of the Trinity is so complex yet so simple as to demand a divine origin for the Bible. The Trinity is three persons in one God. Stated it is simple yet the explanation has evaded man since the subject was undertaken for study. We cannot explain the how of the Trinity only the fact of it. The work each member of the Trinity is involved in is also very complicated - the Fatherhood of God, or the perfections of Christ. Man cannot adequately explain these things so how could he devise them? 4. CREATION: The creation is the beginning of the content of Scripture. This creation is presented as fact and is described in Scripture. Man’s explanation of the beginning of the world is tied up in evolution. Even with the best product evolution could produce, that person could not have produced the Biblical account. Evolution is shot through with problems and gaps. Man could not devise a creation as perfectly presented in Scripture. 5. SIN: Sin is presented in Scripture. Forty authors, are in complete agreement on sin and its existence. Man could not devise such a thing as sin from his own mind. Sin is a divine statement and idea not a man made doctrine. 6. THE CURE OF EVIL ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE: The Bible’s cure for sin is so divine as to demand divine authorship. Man would not devise a plan of salvation because without Scripture he doesn’t know he needs it. Even if man knew he needed salvation he could not dream up a plan whereby all could be saved apart from works or vanity. Man could not devise a plan of salvation where the one redeeming would gain all the glory. Man could not come up with such a beautiful plan aside from having it revealed to him by God. 7. THE EXTENT OF BIBLE REVELATION: The extent of the Bible demands a divine author. It reaches minutely into eternity past as well as eternity future. Human authors aside from revelation could not make up such detail nor such broad perimeters. 8. THE ETHICS OF THE BIBLE: The ethics that the Bible produces have never even been hinted at in man’s religions. Purity and holiness of life are the divine standard while in most of man’s we find debasement and immorality. The Bible presents man as an utter failure and unable to help himself. Man in his vanity even today has trouble comprehending such things, much less making them up. Only a divine author could take a moral system such as Judaism and lay it aside for another system so different yet presenting the same morality as Christianity. Man could not come up with such a moral standard based on the teachings of a book without revelation from God. 9. THE CONTINUITY OF THE BIBLE: The continuity of Scripture declares a divine editor and revealer - 66 books, 40 authors and hundreds of years of history. The authors are separated by time, space and education. They come from all walks of life and most of them never met one another, yet they came together to form one central story of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He is shown as pre-incarnate. He is shown in prophecy as coming. He is shown as here in His first advent. He is shown as coming again in the future. One man could produce a work with continuity but this combination of authors and times has to be divinely assembled. Man could not produce such a work. 10. PROPHECY AND ITS FULFILLMENT: Prophecy along with its fulfillment is proof that the Bible is of divine origin. Man can think and project what might happen in the future based on knowledge, history and common sense, but man cannot accurately predict specific occurrences and have those occurrences come to pass. The Scripture is full of prophecies that have been fulfilled and which will yet be fulfilled. 11. TYPES WITH THEIR ANTITYPES: The types of the Old Testament and the antitypes of the New Testament are of such splendor that they must have divine origin. The fact that the type was set to words by a person other than the one setting down the antitype, and this being done hundreds of years apart, shows divine origin. This would require divine intervention! 12. THE BIBLE AS LITERATURE: The Bible is considered great literature even by the unsaved. If a man had been setting these great words down, he most surely would have left some personal opinions and pronouns to let the reader know that it was he that had written the work. The truths are not from the men but from their God so that they left no opinion of their own or personal pronouns to lay claim to any of the truths. Many of the church fathers have been prolific writers, however, none of these have even touched the clarity and preciseness of Scripture, nor have they touched the literary quality of the Word. 13. THE BIBLE AND SCIENCE: Science is in constant revision. The world was flat - remember - and now it is round. The scientific world is always redoing and redefining to fit the exposed facts. The Bible on the other hand has always been acceptable in all ages without revision or redefining. Where the Bible has seemingly contradicted science in the past, the scientists have found that they were in error in later days. 14. THE BIBLE AND TEMPORAL POWER: The Bible is not dependent upon political power, or clout to get its job done. The believer can do the work of the Lord with or without the help of the governmental powers. Man naturally, when he wants something done, will try any means to achieve his end. They often use political power, or strings with politicians, to achieve their goal. If man had written the Bible he would not have been able to come up with the idea that man could do the work of the Lord relying on the heart and mind of others rather than political power. 15. THE BIBLE’S ENDURING FRESHNESS: The constant new blessing a person gains from the Word even when he has read, and read, and read a portion there is always something more to be gleaned from its content. No other literature can make this claim to freshness and vitality. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 191: S. THE TERMS OF SALVATION ======================================================================== Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, Autumn 1988 —Volume 1:1 A Voice from the Past: THE TERMS OF SALVATION LEWIS SPERRY CHAFER Used by permission. "The Terms of Salvation" originally appeared as the last segment of a series entitled "The Saving Work of the Triune God," published in Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 107 (Oct.-Dec. 1950): 389-416. Dr. Chafer (1871-1952) was the co-founder, first president, and professor of theology at Dallas Theological Seminary from 1924 until his death. Outside the doctrines related to the Person and work of Christ, there is no truth more far-reaching in its implications and no fact more to be defended than that salvation in all its limitless magnitude is secured, so far as human responsibility is concerned, by believing on Christ as Savior. To this one requirement no other obligation may be added without violence to the Scriptures and total disruption of the essential doctrine of salvation by grace alone. Only ignorance or reprehensible inattention to the structure of a right Soteriology will attempt to intrude some form of human works with its supposed merit into that which, if done at all, must, by the very nature of the case, be wrought by God alone and on the principle of sovereign grace. But few, indeed, seem ever to comprehend the doctrine of sovereign grace, and it is charitable, at least, to revert to this fact as the explanation of the all-but-universal disposition to confuse the vital issues involved. It is the purpose of this article to demonstrate that the eternal glories which are wrought in sovereign grace are conditioned, on the human side, by faith alone. The practical bearing of this truth must of necessity make drastic claims upon the preacher and become a qualifying influence in the soul-winning methods which are employed. The student would do well to bring his message and his methods into complete agreement with the workings of divine grace, rather than to attempt to conform this unalterable truth to human ideals. Salvation which is by faith begins with those mighty transformations which together constitute a Christian what he is; it guarantees the safe-keeping of the Christian and brings him home to heaven conformed to the image of Christ. The preacher or soul-winner who is able to trace through these limitless realities and to preserve them from being made to depend to any degree upon human responsibility other than saving faith in Christ, merits the high title of "a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine" (1 Timothy 4:6). A moment’s attention to the transforming divine undertakings which enter into salvation of the lost will bring one to the realization of the truth that every feature involved presents a task which is superhuman, and, therefore, if to be accomplished at all, must be wrought by God alone. Such a discovery will prepare the mind for the reception of the truth, that the only relation man can sustain to this great undertaking is to depend utterly upon God to do it. That is the simplicity of faith. However, since moral issues are involved which have been divinely solved by Christ in His death, He has there too become the only Savior, and to save faith must be directed toward Him. "Whosoever believeth in him" shall not perish, but have everlasting life. But even when the supernatural character of salvation is recognized, it is possible to encumber the human responsibility with various complications, thus to render the whole grace undertaking ineffectual to a large degree. These assertions lead naturally to a detailed consideration of the more common features of human responsibility which are too often erroneously added to the one requirement of faith or belief I. Repent and Believe Since repentance conceived of as a separate act—is almost universally added to believing as a requirement on the human side for salvation, a consideration of the Biblical meaning of repentance is essential. This consideration may be traced as follows: (1) the meaning of the word, (2) the relation of repentance to believing, (3) the relation of repentance to covenant people, (4) the absence of the demand for repentance from salvation Scriptures, and (5) the significance of repentance in specific passages. 1. The Meaning of the Word The word metanoia is in every instance translated repentance. The word means a change of mind. The common practice of reading into this word the thought of sorrow and heart-anguish is responsible for much confusion in the field of Soteriology. There is no reason why sorrow should not accompany repentance or lead on to repentance, but the sorrow, whatever it may be, is not repentance. In 2 Corinthians 7:10, it is said that "godly sorrow worketh repentance," that is, it leads on to repentance; but the sorrow is not to be mistaken for the change of mind which it may serve to produce. The son cited by Christ as reported in Matthew 21:28-29 who first said "I will not go," and afterward repented and went, is a true example of the precise meaning of the word. The New Testament call to repentance is not an urge to self-condemnation, but is a call to a change of mind which promotes a change in the course being pursued. This definition of the word as it is used in the New Testament is fundamental. Little or no progress can be made in a right induction of the Word of God on this theme, unless the true and accurate meaning of the word is discovered and defended throughout. 2. The Relation of Repentance to Believing Too often, when it is asserted—as it is here—that repentance is not to be added to belief as a separate requirement for salvation, it is assumed that by so much the claim has been set up that repentance is not necessary to salvation. Therefore, it is as dogmatically stated as language can declare, that repentance is essential to salvation and that none could be saved apart from repentance, but it is included in believing and could not be separated from it. The discussion is restricted at this point to the problem which the salvation of unregenerate persons develops; and it is safe to say that few errors have caused so much hindrance to the salvation of the lost than the practice of demanding of them an anguish of soul before faith in Christ can be exercised. Since such emotions cannot be produced at will, the way of salvation has thus been made impossible for all who do not experience the required anguish. This error results in another serious misdirection of the unsaved, namely, one in which they are encouraged to look inward at themselves and not away to Christ as Savior. Salvation is made to be conditioned on feelings and not on faith. Likewise, people are led by the intensity of anguish which preceded or accompanied it. It is in this manner that sorrow of heart becomes a most subtle form of meritorious work and to that extent a contradiction of grace. Underlying all this supposition that tears and anguish are necessary is the most serious notion that God is not propitious, but that He must be softened to pity by penitent grief. The Bible declares that God is propitious because of Christ’s death for the very sin which causes human sorrow. There is no occasion to melt or temper the heart of God. His attitude toward sin and the sinner is a matter of revelation. To imply, as preachers have done so generally, that God must be mollified and lenified by human agony is a desperate form of unbelief. The unsaved have a gospel of good news to believe, which certainly is not the mere notion that God must be coaxed into a saving attitude of mind; it is that Christ has died and grace is extended from One who is propitious to the point of infinity. The human heart is prone to imagine that there is some form of atonement for sin through being sorry for it. Whatever may be the place of sorrow for sin in the restoration of a Christian who has transgressed, it cannot be determined with too much emphasis that for the unsaved—Jew or Gentile—there is no occasion to propitiate God or to provide any form of satisfaction by misery or distress of soul. With glaring inconsistency, those who have preached that the unsaved must experience mental suffering before they can be saved, have completely failed to inform their hearers about how such required torture may be secured. It should be restated that, since genuine grief of mind cannot be produced at will and since many natures are void of depression of spirit, to demand that a self-produced affliction of mind shall precede salvation by faith becomes a form of fatalism and is responsible for having driven uncounted multitudes to despair. However, it is true that, from the Arminian point of view, no greater heresy could be advanced than this contention that the supposed merit of human suffering because of personal sins should be excluded from the terms on which a soul may be saved. As before stated, repentance, which is a change of mind, is included in believing. No individual can turn to Christ from some other confidence without a change of mind, and that, it should be noted, is all the repentance a spiritually dead individual can ever effect. That change of mind is the work of the Spirit (Ephesians 2:8). It will be considered, too, by those who are amenable to the Word of God, that the essential preparation of heart which the Holy Spirit accomplishes in the unsaved to prepare them for an intelligent and voluntary acceptance of Christ as Savior—as defined in John 16:8-11—is not a sorrow for sin. The unsaved who come under this divine influence are illuminated—given a clear understanding—concerning but one sin, namely that "they believe not on me. To believe on Christ is one act, regardless of the manifold results which it secures. It is not turning from something to something; but rather turning to something from something. If this terminology seems a mere play on words, it will be discovered, by more careful investigation, that this is a vital distinction. To turn from evil may easily be a complete act in itself, since the action can be terminated at that point. To turn to Christ is a solitary act, also, and the joining of these two separate acts—repentance and faith—are required for salvation. On the other hand, turning to Christ from all other confidences is one act, and in that one act repentance, which is a change of mind, is included. The Apostle stresses this distinction in accurate terms when he says to the Thessalonians, "Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God" (1 Thessalonians 1:9). This text provides no comfort for those who contend that people must first, in real contrition, turn from idols—which might terminate at that point—and afterwards, as a second and separate act, turn to God. The text recognizes but one act—"Ye turned to God from idols"—and that is an act of faith alone. Those who stress repentance as a second requirement along with believing, inadvertently disclose that, in their conception, the problem of personal sin is all that enters into salvation. The sin nature must also be dealt with; yet that is not a legitimate subject of repentance. Salvation contemplates many vast issues and the adjustment of the issue of personal sin, though included, is but a small portion of the whole. Acts 26:18, sometimes drafted in proof of the idea that the unsaved must do various things in order to be saved, rather enumerates various things which are wrought for him in the saving power of God. 3. The Relation of Repentance to Covenant People The term covenant people is broad in its application. It includes Israel, who are under Jehovah’s unalterable covenants and yet are to be objects of another, new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34), and the Church, composed of all believers of the present age, who are also now the objects of that new covenant made in Christ’s blood (Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians 11:25). A covenant implies relationship because it secures a right relation to God in matters belonging within the bounds of the covenant. A covenant that is unconditional, as the above-named covenants are, is not affected by any human elements, nor is it changeable even by God Himself. However, the fact of a covenant and the experience of its blessings are two different things. It is possible to be under the provisions of an unconditional covenant and to fail for the time being to enjoy its blessings because of sin. When sin has cast a limitation upon the enjoyment of a covenant and the covenant, being unchangeable, still abides, the issue becomes, not the remaking of the covenant, but the one issue of the sin which mars the relationship. It therefore follows that, for the covenant people, there is a need of a divine dealing with the specific sin and a separate and unrelated repentance respecting it. This repentance is expressed by confession to God. Having confessed his sin, David did not pray for his salvation to be restored; he rather prayed for the restoration of "the joy" of his salvation (Psalms 51:12). In like manner, it is joy and fellowship which confession restores for the believer (1 John 1:3-9). When Christ came offering Himself to Israel as their Messiah and announcing their kingdom as at hand, He, with John and the apostles, called on that people to repent in preparation for the proffered kingdom. There was no appeal concerning salvation or the formation of covenants; it was restoration of the people by a change of mind which would lead them to forsake their sins (Matthew 10:6 ff.) The application of these appeals made to covenant Jews concerning their adjustments within their covenants to individual unregenerate Gentiles, who are "strangers from the covenants" (Ephesians 2:12), is a serious error indeed. In like manner, a Christian may repent as a separate act (2 Corinthians 7:8-10). The conclusion of the matter is that, while covenant people are appointed to national or personal adjustment to God by repentance as a separate act, there is no basis either in reason or revelation for the demand to be made that an unregenerate person in this age must add a covenant person’s repentance to faith in order to be saved. 4. The Absence of the Demand for Repentance from Salvation Scriptures Upwards of 115 New Testament passages condition salvation on believing, and fully 35 passages condition salvation on faith, which latter word in this use of it is an exact synonym of the former. These portions of Scripture, totaling about 150 in all, include practically all that the New Testament declares on the matter of the human responsibility in salvation; yet each one of these texts omits any reference to repentance as a separate act. This fact, easily verified, cannot but bear enormous weight with any candid mind. In like manner, the Gospel of John, which is written to present Christ as the object of faith unto eternal life, does not once employ the word repentance. Similarly, the Epistle to the Romans, which is the complete analysis of all that enters into the whole plan of salvation by grace, does not use the word repentance in connection with the saving of a soul, except in Romans 2:4 where repentance is equivalent to salvation itself. When the Apostle Paul and his companion, Silas, made reply to the jailer concerning what he should do to be saved, they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). This reply, it is evident, fails to recognize the necessity of repentance in addition to believing. From this overwhelming mass of irrefutable evidence, it is clear that the New Testament does not impose repentance upon the unsaved as a condition of salvation. The Gospel of John with its direct words from the lips of Christ, the Epistle to the Romans with its exhaustive treatment of the theme in question, the Apostle Paul, and the whole array of 150 New Testament passages which are the total of the divine instruction, are incomplete and misleading if repentance must be accorded a place separate from, and independent of, believing. No thoughtful person would attempt to defend such a notion against such odds, and those who have thus undertaken doubtless have done so without weighing the evidence or considering the untenable position which they assume. 5. The Significance of Repentance in Specific Passages When entering upon this phase of the study, it is first necessary to eliminate all portions of the New Testament which introduce the word repentance in its relation to covenant people. There are, likewise, passages which employ the word repentance as a synonym of believing (cf. Acts 17:30; Romans 2:4; 2 Timothy 2:25; 2 Peter 3:9). Also, there are passages which refer to a change of mind (Acts 8:22; Acts 11:18; Hebrews 6:1, Hebrews 6:6; Hebrews 12:17; Revelation 9:20, etc.). Yet, again, consideration must be accorded three passages related to Israel which are often misapplied (Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19; Acts 5:31). There are references to John’s baptism, which was unto repentance, that are outside the Synoptics (Acts 13:24; Acts 19:4). Four passages deserve more extended consideration, namely: Luke 24:47 "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." It will be seen that repentance is not in itself equivalent to believing or faith, though, being included in believing, is used here as a synonym of the word believe. Likewise, it is to be recognized that remission of sins" is not all that is proffered in salvation, though the phrase may serve that purpose in this instance. Above all, the passage does not require human obligations with respect to salvation. Repentance, which here represents believing, leads to remission of sin. Acts 11:18 "When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." Again repentance, which is included in believing, serves as a synonym for the word belief The Gentiles, as always, attain to spiritual life by faith, the all-important and essential change of mind. It is also true that the passage does not prescribe two things which are necessary to salvation (ef. Acts 11:17). Acts 20:21 "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." First, though unrelated to the course of this argument, it is important to note that the Apostle here places Jews on the same level with Gentiles, and both are objects of divine grace. The Jew with his incomparable background or the Gentile with his heathen ignorance, each, must undergo a change of mind respecting God. Until they are aware of God’s gracious purpose, there can be no reception of the idea of saving faith. It is quite possible to recognize God’s purpose, as many do, and not receive Christ as Savior. In other words, repentance toward God could not itself constitute, in this case, the equivalent of "faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," though it may prepare for that faith. The introduction of the two Persons of the Godhead is significant, and that Christ is the sole object of faith is also most vital. Those who would insist that there are here two human obligations unto salvation are reminded again of the 150 portions in which such a twofold requirement is omitted. Acts 26:20 "But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance." Again, both Jews and Gentiles are addressed as on the same footing before God. Two obligations are named here, in order that spiritual results may be secured—those to "repent and turn to God. "The passage would sustain the Arminian view if repentance were, as they assert, a sorrow for sin; but if the word is given its correct meaning, namely, a change of mind, there is no difficulty. The call is for a change of mind which turns to God. This passage, also, has its equivalent in 1 Thessalonians 1:9, "Ye turned to God from idols." Conclusion In the foregoing, an attempt has been made to demonstrate that the Biblical doctrine of repentance offers no objection to the truth that salvation is by grace through faith apart from every suggestion of human works of merit. It is asserted that repentance, which is a change of mind, enters of necessity into the very act of believing on Christ, since one cannot turn to Christ from other objects of confidence without that change of mind. Upwards of 150 texts—including all of the greatest gospel invitations—limit the human responsibility in salvation to believing or to faith. To this simple requirement nothing could be added if the glories of grace are to be preserved. II. Believe and Confess Christ The ambition to secure apparent results and the sincere desire to make decisions for Christ very definite have prompted preachers in their general appeals to insist upon a public confession of Christ on the part of those who would be saved. To all practical purposes and in the majority of instances these confessions are, in the minds of the unsaved, coupled with saving faith and seem, as presented, to be of equal importance with that faith. This demand upon the unsaved is justified, if justified at all, from two texts of Scripture which should have consideration: 1. Scripture Bearing on Confession of Christ Matthew 10:32 "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven." This verse, which occurs in the midst of Christ’s kingdom teachings and as a part of His instruction to His disciples whom He is sending forth with a restricted message to Israel Matthew 10:5-7) and which was to be accompanied by stupendous miracles (cf. Matthew 10:8) such as were never committed to preachers in the present age, applies, primarily, to these disciples themselves in respect to their faithful delivery of this kingdom proclamation, and could be extended in its appeal only to Israelites to whom they were sent. The carelessness which assumes that this Scripture presents a condition of salvation for a Jew or Gentile in the present age is deplorable indeed. Romans 10:9-10 "That 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." This message, falling as it does within the specific teachings which belong primarily to the way of salvation by grace, is worthy of more consideration. The force of the positive statement in Romans 10:9, "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," is explained in Romans 10:10 : "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." In the latter verse the true meaning and use of the word "confess" is suggested. Of this word in this same passage the late Dr. Arthur T. Pierson wrote: That word means to speak out of a like nature to one another. I believe and receive the love of God. In receiving His love I receive His life, in receiving His life I receive His nature, and His nature in me naturally expresses itself according to His will. That is confession. Alexander Maclaren has said: "Men do not light a candle and put it under a bushel, because the candle would either go out or burn the bushel.’, You must have vent for life, light, and love, or how can they abide? And a confession of Christ Jesus as Lord is the answer of the new life of God received. In receiving love, you are born of God, and, being born of God, you cry "Abba, Father," which is but the Aramaic word for "Papa"—syllables which can be pronounced before there are any teeth, because they are made with the gums and lips—the first word of a new-born soul, born of God, knowing God, and out of a like nature with God speaking in the language of a child. The two activities named in these verses are each expanded with respect to their meaning in the immediate context which follows. Of believing it is said: "For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek" (Romans 10:11-12). Salvation is promised to both Jew and Greek (though in his case a Gentile) on the one condition that they believe. Such, indeed, shall not be ashamed. Of confession it is said: "For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:12-13). It cannot go unobserved that the confession of Romans 10:9-10 is declared to be a calling on the name of the Lord. In other words, this confession is that unavoidable acknowledgment to God on the part of the one who is exercising saving faith, that he accepts Christ as his Savior. As Abraham amened the promise of God—not a mere unresponsive believing (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3), so the trusting soul responds to the promise which God proffers of salvation through Christ. 2. Two Conclusive Reasons There are two convincing reasons why the Scripture under consideration does not present two human responsibilities in relation to salvation by grace. a. To claim that a public confession of Christ as Savior is required in addition to believing in Christ, is to contend that 150 passages in which believing alone appears are incomplete and to that extent misleading. A certain type of mind, however, seems able to construct all its confidence on an erroneous interpretation of one passage and to be uninfluenced by the overwhelming body of Scripture which contradicts that interpretation. b. To require a public confession of Christ as a prerequisite to salvation by grace is to discredit the salvation of an innumerable company who have been saved under circumstances which precluded any public action. Conclusion Confession of Christ is a Christian’s privilege and duty and may be undertaken at the moment one is saved, but it is not a condition of salvation by grace, else works of merit intrude where only the work of God reigns. III. Believe and Be Baptized In any discussion respecting the word baptizo it must be recognized that this term is used in the New Testament to represent two different things—a real baptism by the Spirit of God by which the believer is joined in union to Christ and is henceforth in Christ, and a ritual baptism with water John distinguished these when he said, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire" (Matthew 3:11). Though this word sustains a primary and secondary meaning and these are closely related ideas, the fact that the same identical word is used for both real and ritual baptism suggests an affiliation between the two ideas with which this word is associated. In fact, Ephesians 4:5 declares that there is but one baptism. The contemplation of such facts respecting this word is essential to a right understanding of the theme under discussion. The question naturally arises when it is asserted that one must believe and be baptized, whether a real or a ritual baptism is in view. There are two passages demanding attention: Mark 16:15-16 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." A strange inattention to the evidence which serves as proof that reference is made in this text to real baptism by the Spirit, has characterized the interpretation of the passage. This evidence should at least be weighed for all that it is. Should it prove upon examination that reference is made to real baptism by the Spirit, which baptism is essential to salvation, the difficulty of a supposed regenerating baptism is immediately dismissed. Dr. James W. Dale, in his Christic and Patristic Baptism (pp. 392-94), has discussed this vital issue in an extended argument. He writes: All, so far as I am aware, who interpret the language of the Evangelist as indicating a ritual baptism, do so without having examined the question—"May not this be the real baptism by the Holy Spirit and not ritual baptism with water?" This vital issue has been assumed without investigation, and determined against the real baptism of the Scriptures, without a hearing. Such assumption is neither grounded in necessity, nor in the warrant of Scripture; whether regarded in its general teaching or in that of this particular passage. That there is no necessity for limiting the baptism of this passage to a rite is obvious, because the Scriptures furnish us with a real baptism by the Spirit, as well as with its symbol ritual baptism, from which to choose. There is no scriptural warrant in the general teaching of the Bible for identifying a rite with salvation; nor can such warrant be assumed in this particular passage (which does identify baptism and salvation), because there is no evidence on the face of the passage to show; that the baptism is ritual with water, rather than real by the Spirit. These points must be universally admitted: 1. The passage does not declare a ritual baptism by express statement; 2. It contains no statement which involves a ritual baptism as a necessary inference; 3. The Scriptures present a real and a ritual baptism, by the one or the other of which to meet the exigencies of any elliptically stated baptism; 4. That baptism which meets, in its scripturally defined nature and power; the requirements of any particular passage, must be the baptism designed by such passage. We reject ritual baptism from all direct connection with this passage, in general, because, the passage treats of salvation and its conditions (belief and baptism). All out of the Papal church admit, that ritual baptism has not the same breadth with belief as a condition of salvation, and are, therefore, compelled to introduce exceptions for which no provision is made in the terms of this passage. We accept the real baptism by the Holy Spirit as the sole baptism directly contemplated by this passage, in general, because, it meets in the most absolute and unlimited manner as a condition of salvation the obvious requirement on the face of the passage, having the same breadth with belief, and universally present in every case of salvation. We accept this view in particular: Because it makes the use of "baptized" harmonious with the associate terms, "believeth" and "saved." The use of these terms, as well as "baptized," is elliptical. "Believe" has in the New Testament a double usage; the one limited to the action of the intellect, as "the devils believe and tremble"; the other embraces and controls the affections of the heart, as "with the heart we believe unto righteousness." It is the higher form of "belief" that is universally recognized as belonging to this passage. "Saved," also, is used in the New Testament, with a double application; as of the body, "all hope that we should be saved was taken away"; and of the soul, "He shall save His people from their sins." Again it is this higher salvation that is accepted without question. So, "baptized" is used in a lower and a higher meaning; applied in the one case to the body, as "I baptize you with water"; and in the other case applied to the soul, as "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." By what just reasoning, now, can "believeth," and "saved," be taken in the highest sense, and "baptized," in the same sentence and in the same construction, be brought down to the lowest? We object to such diversity of interpretation as unnatural and without any just support. The only tenable supply of the ellipsis must be, "He that believeth" (with the heart upon Christ), "and is baptized" (by the Holy Ghost into Christ) "shall be saved" (by the redemption of Christ). The construction allows and the case requires, that a relation of dependence and unity subsist between "believeth" and "baptized." There is evidently some vinculum binding these words and the ideas which they represent, together. MIDDLETON (Greek article, in loco) says: "In the Complutens. edit. the second participle has the article, which would materially alter the sense. It would imply, that he who believeth, as well as he who is baptized, shall be saved; whereas the reading of the MSS. insists on the fulfilment of both conditions in every individual." This is true; but it is not all the truth. This faith and this baptism must not only be disjoined by being assigned to different persons, but they must not be disjoined by being assigned to different spheres, the one spiritual and the other physical; and being conjoined, in like spiritual nature, and meeting together in the same person, the whole truth requires, that they shall be recognized not as two distinct things existing harmoniously together; but as bearing to each other the intimate and essential relation of cause and effect, that is to say, the baptism is a consequence proceeding from the belief. Believing has the influence over the soul, through the power of God in accordance with His promise in the gospel, of bringing the one who believes into the estate of salvation with all its values which are received from Christ. The new relation to Christ of being in Him is wrought by the Holy Spirit’s baptism, and it could not be absent in the case of any true salvation. On the other hand, all who have been saved have been saved quite apart from ritual baptism. The form of speech which this text presents is common in the Bible, namely, that of passing from the main subject to one of the features belonging to that subject, as, cc Thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak" (Luke 1:20). The word dumb is amplified by the words not able to speak. In the text in question, the word believeth is amplified by the words and is baptized, and with reference to real baptism which is an integral part of salvation. Acts 2:38 "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." A very general impression obtains among informed students of the Sacred Text that the translation of this passage is injured by the rendering of two prepositions epi and eis by the words in and for. That epi is better translated upon, and eis is better rendered into would hardly be contested. To this may be added the demand of some worthy scholars that the word believing should be supplied, which would give the following rendering: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you, [believing] upon the name of Jesus Christ into the remission of sins." By so much the passage harmonizes with all other Scripture, which, from the interpreter’s standpoint, is imperative (2 Peter 1:20); and the remission of sins—here equivalent to personal salvation—is made to depend not upon repentance or baptism. Dr. J. W Dale is convinced that it is real baptism by the Spirit which is referred to here and also in verse 41. He proposes that the same arguments which he advanced to prove that Mark 16:15-16 refers to real baptism by the Spirit serve as valid evidence in Acts 2:38, Acts 2:41. He feels a particular relief that there is no need, according to this interpretation, of defending the idea that 3,000 people were baptized by ritual baptism in what could have been but slightly more than half a day and as a surprise necessity for which preparations could not have been made either by the candidates or administrators, whereas, Dr. Dale contends, to reckon this baptism to have been real and that which unavoidably does enter into the salvation of every soul and does not follow after as a mere testimony, is to encounter no insuperable difficulty whatever. Most of all, he points out, by such an interpretation this passage is rescued from the misinterpretation which exalts ritual baptism to the point of being all-but-essential to salvation. It is significant that the Apostle Peter follows this exhortation contained in Acts 2:38 with a promise respecting the reception of the Holy Spirit. In the disproportionate emphasis which has been placed on ritual baptism—doubtless stimulated by disagreement on its mode—the great undertaking of the Spirit in real baptism which conditions the believer’s standing before God and engenders the true motive for Christian character and service, has been slighted to the point that many apparently are unaware of its existence. Such a situation is not without precedent. At Ephesus the Apostle Paul found certain men who were resting their confidence in "John’s baptism," who confessed "We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost" (Acts 19:1-3). In other words, the student would do well to note that the truth regarding the baptism with the Holy Spirit is itself more important than the Christian public, led by sectarian teachers, supposes it to be. Conclusion The above examination of two passages, on which the idea of baptismal regeneration is made to rest, has sought to demonstrate that ritual baptism, however administered, is not a condition which is to be added to believing as a necessary step in salvation. IV. Believe and Surrender to God On account of the subtlety due to its pious character; no confusing intrusion into the doctrine that salvation is conditioned alone upon believing is more effective than the added demand that the unsaved must dedicate themselves to do God’s will in their daily life, as well as to believe upon Christ. The desirability of a dedication to God on the part of every believer is obvious, and is so stressed in the Sacred Text that many sincere people who are inattentive to doctrine are easily led to suppose that this same dedication, which is voluntary in the case of the believer, is imperative in the case of the unsaved. This aspect of the general theme may be approached under three considerations of it: (1) the incapacity of the unsaved, (2) what is involved, and (3) the preacher’s responsibility. 1. The Incapacity of the Unsaved The Arminian notion that through the reception of a so-called common grace anyone is competent to accept Christ as Savior if he will, is a mild assumption compared with the idea that the unregenerate person, with no common or uncommon grace proffered, is able to dedicate his life to God. Much has been written on previous pages regarding the overwhelming testimony of the Bible to the utter inability and spiritual death of the unsaved. They are shut up to the one message that Christ is their Savior; and they cannot accept Him, the Word of God declares, unless illuminated to that end by the Holy Spirit. Saving faith is not a possession of all men but is imparted specifically to those who do believe (Ephesians 2:8). As all this is true, it follows that to impose a need to surrender the life to God as an added condition of salvation is most unreasonable. God’s call to the unsaved is never said to be unto the Lordship of Christ; it is unto His saving grace. With any reception of the divine nature through the regenerating work of the Spirit, a new understanding and a new capacity to respond to the authority of Christ are gained. Those attending upon such issues in practical ways are aware that a self-dedication taxes the limit of ability even for the most devout believer The error of imposing Christ’s Lordship upon the unsaved is disastrous even though they are not able intelligently to resent it or to remind the preacher of the fact that he, in calling upon them to dedicate their lives, is demanding of them what they have no ability to produce. A destructive heresy was formerly abroad under the name The Oxford Movement, which specializes in this blasting error; except that the promoters of the Movement omit altogether the idea of believing on Christ for salvation and promote exclusively the obligation of surrender to God. They substitute consecration for conversion, faithfulness for faith, and beauty of daily life for believing unto eternal life. As is easily seen, the plan of this Movement is to ignore the need of Christ’s death as the ground of regeneration and forgiveness, and to promote the wretched heresy that it matters nothing what one believes respecting the Saviorhood of Christ if only the daily life is dedicated to God’s service. A pseudo self-dedication to God is a rare bit of religion with which the unsaved may conjure. The tragedy is that out of such a delusion those who embrace it are likely never to be delivered by a true faith in Christ as Savior. No more complete example could be found today of "the blind leading the blind" than what this Movement presents. 2. What Is Involved The most subtle, self-satisfying form of works of merit is, after all, found to be an engaging feature in this practice of applying to unbelievers the Lordship of Christ. What more could God expect than that the creatures of His hand should by supposed surrender be attempting to be obedient to Him? In such idealism the darkened mind of the unsaved, no doubt, sees dimly some possible advantage in submitting their lives to the guidance of a Supreme Being—of whom they really know nothing. Such notions are only human adjustments to God and resemble in no way the terms of divine adjustment, which first condemns man and rejects all his supposed merit, and then offers a perfect and eternal salvation to the helpless sinner on no other terms than that he believe on Christ as his Savior. If the real issue in self-dedication to God is stated in its legitimate though extreme form, the possibility of martyrdom is first in evidence. One who is faithful unto God is enjoined to be faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10). Such, indeed, is a glorious challenge to the devout believer and perhaps many have accepted the challenge and suffered a martyr’s death; but would any zealous advocate of the idea that the Lordship of Christ must be applied to the unsaved as a condition of salvation, dare to propose to the unsaved that they must not only believe on Christ but be willing to die a martyr’s death? The very proposal of such a question serves only to demonstrate the unwisdom and disregard for revealed truth which this error exhibits. The unregenerate person, because of his condition in spiritual death, has no ability to desire the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14), or to anticipate what his outlook on life will be after he is saved. It is therefore an error of the first magnitude to divert that feeble ability of the unsaved to exercise a God-given faith for salvation into the unknown and complex spheres of self-dedication, which dedication is the Christian’s greatest problem. 3. The Preacher’s Responsibility It is the preacher’s responsibility, not only to preserve his message to the unsaved from being distorted by issues other than that of simple faith in Christ, but, when speaking to Christians in the presence of the unsaved regarding issues of Christian character, conduct, and service, to declare plainly that the truth presented has no application to those who are unsaved. Such a reminder, oft repeated, will not only preserve the unregenerate individuals who are present from the deadly supposition that God is seeking to improve their manner of life rather than to accomplish the salvation of their souls, but will also create in their minds the so important impression that they are, in the sight of God, hopelessly condemned apart from Christ as Savior. God alone can deal with a situation wherein a large percentage of the members of the church are unsaved, and yet are habitually addressed as though they were saved and on no other basis than that they belong to the church. It is surprising, indeed, that any unsaved person ever gains any right impression respecting his actual relation to God, when he is allowed to believe that he is included in all the appeals which are made to Christians regarding their daily life. If the importance of attention to this wide difference between the saved and the unsaved is not appreciated and respected by the preacher, the fault is nearly unpardonable since the results may easily hinder the salvation of many souls. Next to sound doctrine itself, no more important obligation rests on the preacher than that of preaching the Lordship of Christ to Christians exclusively, and the Saviorhood of Christ to those who are unsaved. Conclusion A suggestion born of this theme is that in all gospel preaching every reference to the life to be lived beyond regeneration should be avoided as far as possible. To attend to this is not a deception nor a withholding of the truth from those to whom it applies. It is the simple adjustment to the limitation and actual condition of those unto whom the gospel is addressed. To such among the unsaved who, because of the weakness and inability which they observe in themselves, are fearful lest they would not "hold out" as Christians, it is desirable to remind them that, in the new relation to Christ which will exist after they receive Him, new abilities will be possessed by which they can live to the glory of God. Such proffered assurance is far removed from the practice of introducing obligations which are exclusively Christian in character and as something to which they must consent in order to be saved. Multitudes of unsaved people have been diverted from the one question of their acceptance of Christ as Savior to other questions regarding amusements and unchristian ways of living. As an unsaved person has no motive or spiritual light by which to face such problems, that person can only be bewildered by these issues. His problem is not one of giving up what in his unsaved state seems normal to him; it is a problem of receiving the Savior with all His salvation. V. Believe and Confess Sin or Make Restitution But a moment need be devoted to this error which prevails among certain groups of zealous people. The Scripture employed by advocates of this error is that which applies only to Christians. The passage reads: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). This declaration, as has been seen, is addressed to believers who have sinned and presents the ground on which such may be restored to fellowship with God. The notion that restitution must be made before one can be saved is based on the God-dishonoring theory that salvation is only for good people, and that the sinner must divest himself of that which is evil before he can be saved. In other words, God is not propitious respecting sin; He is propitious toward those only who have prepared themselves for His presence and fellowship. Over against this, the truth is ignored that the unregenerate person cannot improve his fallen condition and, if he could, he would be bringing merit to God where merit is wholly excluded to the end that grace may abound and be magnified through all eternity. The preacher must ever be on his guard to discourage the tendency of the natural man to move along lines of reformation rather than regeneration. All who are serious regarding their lost estate are best helped by that body of truth which declares how God, through Christ, must save and will save from all sin; that He must and will deal with the very nature which sins; and that He must and will rescue men from their estate under sin. There are various ways by which the natural man proposes to be saved and yet retain his dignity and supposed worthiness, and one of these is the contention that sin must be confessed and restitution made as a human requirement in salvation. It is God who justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5); it is while men are enemies, sinners, and without strength" that Christ died for them (Romans 5:6-10); and all their unworthiness is accounted for by Christ in His death. There is a duty belonging only to Christians—to set things right after they are saved—and there should be no neglect of that responsibility. It therefore remains true that those who are saved are saved on the one condition of believing upon Christ. VI. Believe and Implore God to Save None of the errors being considered seems more reasonable than this, and none strikes a more deadly blow at the foundation of divine grace. The error includes the claim that the sinner must "seek the Lord," or that he must plead with God to be merciful. These two conceptions, though nearly identical, should be considered separately. 1. "Seek Ye the Lord" This phrase, quoted from Isaiah 55:6, represents Jehovah’s invitation to His covenant people, Israel, who have wandered from their place of rightful blessings under His covenants, to return to Him. It was appointed to that people to "seek the LORD while he may be found" and to "call upon him while he is near"; but the gospel of the grace of God in the present age declares to Jew and Gentile alike that "there is none that seeketh after God" (Romans 3:11), and that "the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). This declaration that in this age there are none who seek the LORD, accords with the testimony of the New Testament relative to the incapacity of those who are lost to turn to God. Apart from the new birth, the unsaved "cannot see the kingdom of God" John 3:3), their minds are blinded by Satan (2 Corinthians 4:3-4), and they can exercise faith toward God only as they are enabled to do so by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:8). In the light of these revelations, there is little ground for the hope that the unsaved will "seek the LORD;" and, what is far more essential to the right understanding of the way of salvation by grace, the unsaved are not asked to seek the LORD. If this is true, the unsaved should never be placed in the position of those who must discover God or prevail upon Him to be gracious. 2. Believe and Pray The question which arises at this point is one of whether God is propitious. If He is propitious, there remains no occasion for the unsaved to try to find Him, to wait until He is on "the giving hand," or to implore Him to save. He is propitious to an infinite degree and the problem confronting the mind of man is one of adjustment to that revelation. The transforming effect of the truth that God is propitious penetrates every phase of Soteriology. His flood tide of blessing—all that is impelled by infinite love—awaits, not the imploring, prevailing appeal that might move one to be gracious, but rather it awaits the simple willingness on the part of men to receive what He has already provided and is free to bestow in and through His Son, the Savior. Attention has been called in an earlier discussion to the fact that salvation begins in the heart of God and is precisely what His infinite love demands and ordains. Its whole scope and extent is the reflection of that immeasurable love. It embraces all that infinity can produce. The sinner’s plight is serious indeed and the benefits he receives in saving grace cannot be estimated; but all this together is secondary compared with the satisfaction which God’s great love demands. As before stated, but two obstacles could hinder the satisfaction of divine love—the sin of the creature He loves and the will of that creature. As the Creator of all things, even these obstacles take their place in the divine decree which ordained all things that exist. Accordingly He has, as the only One who could do it, met by the sacrifice of His Son the obstacle which sin imposed, and He, too, secures the glad cooperation of the human will. The effect of the death of His Son is to render God righteously free to act for those whom He loves, and that freedom for love to act is propitiation. Therefore, it must be again asserted that God is propitious. It is infinite love that now invited the sinner to eternal glories, and it is infinite love that awaits the sinner’s response to that invitation. With this marvelous revelation in view, there is no place left for the idea that the sinner must "seek the LORD," or that the sinner must plead with God to be merciful and kind. No burden rests on the unsaved to persuade God to be good; the challenge of the gospel is for the unsaved to believe that God is good. Since these great truths are revealed only in the Word of God, the unsaved are enjoined to believe God’s Word, and the Scriptures hold a large share in the divine undertaking of bringing men to salvation John 3:5). It is common, however, for some who, with great passion of soul, attempt to preach the gospel, so to fail in the apprehension of the divine propitiation that they imply that salvation is secured by entreating God, and by so much the value of Christ’s mediation in behalf of the sinner is nullified. The example of the prayer of the publican is usually cited as the best of reasons for urging the unsaved to plead with God for His mercy and salvation. What, it is asked, could be more appropriate than that the unsaved should pray as did the publican, "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13)? The appeal on the part of the publican is assumed to be the norm for all sinners, though, in reality, it contradicts the very truth of the gospel of divine grace. The incident must be examined carefully. It is essential to note that the publican—a Jew of the Old Testament order and praying in the temple according to the requirements of a Jew in the temple—did not use the word merciful—which word is properly associated with the idea of kindness, bigheartedness, leniency, and generosity. According to the original text, which in the Authorized Version is too freely translated, the publican said, "God be propitiated to me the sinner." The word hilaskomai, which means "to make propitiation," appears in the text. There is a wide difference between the word merciful with all its implications and the word propitiation. By the use of the word merciful the impression is conveyed that the publican pleaded with God to be magnanimous. By the use of the word propitiation—if comprehended at all—the impression is conveyed that the publican asked God to cover his sins in such a way as to dispose of them; yet, at the same time, to do this in a way that would protect His own holiness from complicity with his sins. If the publican did as Jews were accustomed to do in his day when they went into the temple to pray, he left a sacrifice at the altar. It is probable that he could see the smoke of that sacrifice ascending as he prayed. What he prayed was strictly proper for a Jew of his time to pray under those circumstances. However; his prayer would be most unfitting on this side of the cross of Christ. With reference to the word merciful, it was not in the publican’s prayer nor would it be a proper word for a penitent to use, on either side of the cross. God cannot be merciful to sin in the sense that He treats it lightly, whether it be in one age or another. But with reference to the word propitiation and its implications, that word was justified in the age before Christ died and when sin was covered by sacrifices which the sinner provided. It was suitable for the publican, having provided his own sacrifice, to ask that his sacrifice be accepted and himself absolved. Yet, on this side of the cross when Christ has died and secured propitiation and it is established perfectly forever, nothing could be more an outraging of that priceless truth upon which the gospel rests than to implore God to be propitious. Such prayers may be enjoined through ignorance, but the wrong is immeasurable. When this prayer is made, even for God to be propitious, there is a direct assumption expressed that God is not propitious, and to that extent the petitioner is asking God to do something more effective than the thing He has done in giving His Son as a sacrifice for sin. A moment’s consideration would disclose the immeasurable wrong that is committed when God is asked to be propitious, when, at the infinite cost of the death of His Son, He is propitious. The truth that God is propitious constitutes the very heart of the gospel of divine grace, and the one who does not recognize this and sees no impropriety in the use of the publican’s prayer today has yet to comprehend what is the first principle in the plan of salvation through Christ. Men are not saved by asking God to be good, or merciful, or propitious; they are saved when they believe God has been good and merciful enough to provide a propitiating Savior. The sinner is saved, not because he prevails on God to withhold from him the blow of judgment that is due him for his sin, but because he believes that that has fallen on his Substitute. If it is thought that all this is but a mere theological distinction and that after all God is love and the sinner will be treated in love, consideration should be given to the fact that it was for the very purpose of providing a righteous ground for salvation of sinners that the Son of God became incarnate, that He died, and that He arose from the dead. To imply that all this—and there is no salvation apart from it—is only a theological speculation, is to reject the whole plan of salvation through a Savior and to assume to stand before God, who is consuming fire, without shelter, shield, or surety. VII. Conclusion In consummating this section on the human terms which condition the salvation of a soul, it may be restated: a. Every feature of man’s salvation from the divine election in past ages and on through successive steps—the sacrifice of the Savior, the enlightenment by the Spirit, the immediate saving work of God in its manifold achievements, the keeping work of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the delivering work of the Spirit, the empowering work of the Spirit, and the final perfecting and presenting in glory—is all a work so supernatural that God alone can effect it, and, therefore, the only relation which man can sustain to it is to trust God to do it. Such a dependence is not only reasonable, but is all and only that which God requires on the human side for the eternal salvation of a soul. This human trust acknowledges that, according to revelation, God can deal righteously with sinners on the ground of the death of His Son for them. The sinner thus trusts in the Saviorhood of Christ. b. It has been asserted that the primary divine purpose in saving a soul is the satisfying of infinite divine love for that soul and the exercise of the attribute of sovereign grace. Should the slightest human work of merit be allowed to intrude into this great divine undertaking, the purpose of manifesting divine grace would be shattered. It therefore follows that, of necessity, men are saved by believing apart from every form of human worthiness. c. In the preceding pages it is also pointed out that the New Testament declares directly and without complication in at least 150 passages that men are saved upon the sole principle of faith; and, in this connection, it has been demonstrated that it is not a matter of believing and repenting, of believing and confessing Christ, of believing and being baptized, of believing and surrender to God, of believing and confessing sin, or of believing and pleading with God for salvation, but it is believing alone. Such belief is apart from works (Romans 4:5); it is a committal of one’s self to Christ (2 Timothy 1:12); and it is a definite turning—an act of the will—to God from every other confidence (1 Thessalonians 1:9). "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." ======================================================================== Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/writings-of-lewis-sperry-chafer/ ========================================================================