b'mum \n\n\n\n1 \n\n\n\n\xc2\xab____ \n\n\n\n" \xe2\x80\x94 ,.. , -\'ra w \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\xc2\xbb w\xc2\xbb M | i\' i ffmt\xc2\xbbjK<\xc2\xbb < *a. \xc2\xbb nlrt i i i Ti i;i i \xe2\x96\xa0 \xe2\x96\xa0 , \n\n\n\n)\xc2\xabMi\xc2\xabanHKHinwttiia)BiWMniiBaiMai \n\n\n\n# LIBRARY OF CONGRESS i \n\nyfa Xfo K ri 9 h,| J \n\nJ J7Ae// ~^> \n\n( . _\xc2\xa3 * \n\n| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. \xc2\xbb \n\n\n\nTH E \n\n\n\nFULNESS OF BLESSING; \n\n\n\nOR, \n\n\n\nTHE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, \n\n\n\nAS ILLUSTRATED FROM \n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF JOSHUA. \n\n\n\nBY \n\n\n\nSARAH F. SMILEY \n\n\n\n"l REJOICK AT THV WORD, AS ONE THAT FINDETH GREAT SPOIL." \xe2\x80\x94 PSALM CXIX. \n\n\n\niiit.Ly i] \n\n\n\nNEW YORK: \nANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY, \n\n900 BROADWAY, COR. 20th STREET. \n\nr \n\n\n\ny$ Uj \n\n\n\nnr \n\n\n\n*<5? \n\n\n\nCoPVRIGHT, 1876, BY \n\nAnson D. F. Randolph & Company. \n\n\n\nROBERT RUTTER, EDWARD 0. JENKINS, \n\nQ|NDERi PRINTER AND STEREOTYPER, \n\ng. HERMAN STE6T. H. \xc2\xbb. M NORTH WILLIAM ST., N. \xc2\xbb. \n\n\n\nTO MY FRIENDS. \n\nTo all those, beloved in Christ Jesus, to whom in \nwidely scattered places, it has been the joy of my life \nto unfold the treasures of the Word, and to all others \nwho make it their delight and meditation, I present \nthis volume. \n\nI have written it as ever looking out upon a multi- \ntude who earnestly desire a deeper knowledge of their \nLord, and as one pressed in spirit to fulfil a sacred \ntrust. \n\nIt is my earnest prayer that each of you in whose \nhands I place it, may find the Lord opening your \nhearts to attend to His own truth, and coming in \nHimself in the fulness of His blessing. \n\nMost especially do I pray that it may bring some \n\nmessage to the many ministers of Christ, to whose \n\nkindness I have owed so largely the opportunities \n\nof also serving Him. If any who are called to teach \n\nothers, shall find here such truth as may enlarge and \n\nstrengthen their own hearts first, it will, indeed, be a \n\nmultiplying of my joy. While I can not venture to \n\nhope that my secluded study will secure on many \n\npoints the same exactness as the training of the \n\nschools, yet I feel well assured that to you, as to \n\nfiii) \n\n\n\nIV \n\n\n\nTO MY FRIENDS. \n\n\n\nmyself, this will seem a light thing compared to any \nportion of that Anointing, which teacheth all things \nand is truth and is no lie. \n\nAnd now I would solemnly dedicate these pages to \nHim, who even in their writing has so richly blessed \nmy own soul ; entreating Him to defend them from \nany misapprehension that might mar their service, or \nharm His flock, and to take them into His own hands \nand bless them, as once He did the loaves and fishes, \nto the feeding of all such as hunger and thirst after \nrighteousness. \n\nSaratoga Springs, October, 1S76. \n\n\n\nCONTENTS. \n\n\n\nIntroduction .... \n\nI. \xe2\x80\x94 The Land of Promise \nII. \xe2\x80\x94 The Failure of Unbelief \nIII. \xe2\x80\x94 Change of Leadership \nIV. \xe2\x80\x94 The Boundary Line . \nV. \xe2\x80\x94 The Triple Preparation . \nVI. \xe2\x80\x94 The Ark of the Covenant \nVII. \xe2\x80\x94 Memorial Stones \nVIII. \xe2\x80\x94 The Reproach of Egypt . \nIX. \xe2\x80\x94 The Passover in Canaan . \nX. \xe2\x80\x94 The New Corn and Fruit of \nXI. \xe2\x80\x94 Seeing the Captain . \nXII.\xe2\x80\x94 The Good Fight of Faith \nXIII. \xe2\x80\x94 Failure and Mistake \nXIV. \xe2\x80\x94 Choice Possessions \nXV. \xe2\x80\x94 The Last Charge of Joshua \n\nPassages of Scripture, quoted with varia- \ntions FROxM our present version \nIndex \n\n\n\nthe \n\n\n\nLand \n\n\n\n20 \n\n44 \n66 \n81 \n\nICO \n\n126 \n\n143 \ni 5 3 \n\n\'75 \n\n200 \n\n220 \n\n2\\Q \n266 \n286 \n313 \n\n329 \n\n\n\n\xc2\xbb3i \n\n\n\nTHE \n\nFulness of Blessing. \n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION. \n\n" THE holy GHOST THIS SIGNIFYING," \xe2\x80\x94 {Hebrews ix. 8.) \n\nMUSICIANS tell us that the quality of the voice \nin song depends upon its overtones ; that is, the \naccordant notes which are heard sounding faintly \nabove the fundamental tones. It is the same pecul- \niarity which gives the silvery ring to some voices in \nspeech. And so as we listen to the voices of the \nLaw and of the Prophets, we find a wondrous, and, \nto some, a mysterious charm. But the ear that has \nbeen trained by the same master-skill that taught \ntheir lips, solves the secret of the spell, and catches \nwith delight through the deep thunder utterances the \nglad over-tones of the coming Gospel. They could \nnot rise so high as to utter its loftiest truth ; but \nthey reached on to this, and this, the Spirit, speak- \ning through them, signified. Alas ! that for so many \nit was signified in vain\xe2\x80\x94 for the dull of mind became \nsluggish of heart to believe all that the prophets \nhave spoken. \n\nIt is a somewhat astonishing folly that stands \ncharged to the saints, that so many who have essayed \n\n\n\n2 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nto expound the Word of God, have, in the very out- \nset, and, as a matter of principle, flung away that key \nwhich can alone unlock its most intricate wards. The \nsequel has been too often, that they fell into the same \nditch of ignorance with the confessedly blind whom \nthey professed to lead. Until a period comparatively \nrecent, and not yet fully inaugurated, the majority \nof English and American expositors -have ignored \nthe typical teaching of the Old Testament, some of \nthem even denouncing all such interpretations not \nfully sanctioned by the later Scriptures.* With all \nthat erudition to which we owe so much, they yet \nhave missed a treasure which God, even in hiding, \n\n\n\n* For a list of authors adopting - this view, see Fairbairn on the \nTypology of Scripture, pp. 37, 39. He quotes the following from \nMoses Stuart : " Just so much of the Old Testament is to be \naccounted typical as the New Testament affirms to be so, and no \nmore" He adds this comment upon such a system : " It drops \na golden principle for the sake of avoiding a few lawless aberra- \ntions And in proportion as a more profound and spiritual \n\nacquaintance with the Divine Word is cultivated, will the feeling \nof dissatisfaction grow in respect to a style of interpretation that \nso miserably dwarfs and cripples the relation that the prepara- \ntory bears to the ultimate in God\'s revelations." \n\nDean Alford deals more summarily with the system : " Of \ncourse no one who reads, marks, learns, and inwardly digests the \nScriptures, can subscribe to the shallow and ignorant dictum of \nMacknight. \' This is to be laid down as a fixed rule, that no \nancient history is to be considered allegorical but that which \ninspired persons have interpreted allegorically.\' " \xe2\x80\x94 The Greek \nTestament, by Henry Alford, D.D. Fourth Ed. Vol. III., \np. 4\xc2\xab. \n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION. 3 \n\nbrought often to the surface, that the eager and \nearnest might track its deeper veins. \n\nAlong with some happy exceptions to this state- \nment, there have been others who erred by an \nopposite extreme. Among the latter may be num- \nbered not a few of the early Christian writers. These \nfirst explorers of the rich mines brought up such a \nmixture of metals as was beyond their skill to assay, \nand so mingled fact and fancy as to cast discredit \nupon their work. And yet, along with every great \nrevival of Evangelical Truth, these mines have been \nre-opened, if only for random research. \n\nMeanwhile, all along these centuries, a mass of sim- \nple Christian believers, escaping the dicta of the wise \nand prudent, have been steadily and instinctively \napplying this typical teaching to their own needs. \nAt least the babes, who were never sent to school, \nhave kept this knowledge which their Father gave \nthem;* and as the most childlike simplicity is always \n\n\n\n* " The real secret of the neglect of the types, I can not but \nthink, may, in part, be traced to this \xe2\x80\x94 that they require more \nspiritual intelligence than many Christians can bring to them. \nTo apprehend them, requires a certain measure of spiritual \ncapacity and habitual exercise in the things of God, which all do \nnot possess for want of abiding fellowship with Jesus. The mere \nsuperficial glance upon the Word in these parts, brings no cor- \nresponding idea to the mind of the reader. The types are, in- \ndeed, pictures, but to understand the pictures it is necessary we \nshould know something of the reality. The most perfect repre- \nsentation of a steam-engine to a South Sea savage, would be \nwholly and hopelessly unintelligible to him simply because the \n\n\n\n4 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nclose of kin to the most profound wisdom, we see at \nlast the highest scholarship, and especially German \nscholarship, on the side of these little one*. The \nprominence given of late both to unfulfilled proph- \necy and unexplained type, is only the due honor- \ning of the claim that " all Scripture is given by in- \nspiration of God, and is profitable." That God has \nchosen to teach us in such a way \xe2\x80\x94 by patterns, types, \nand symbols, among all His divers manners, is enough \nof itself to justify its wisdom. It is the skill of the \nmaster, who has a further aim than to make all things \nas easy as possible to the learner. He has given \nus Holy Scripture, not to read merely, but to \nsearch. \n\nSuch teaching is analogous to another which began \nwith Creation, when God let His invisible things be \nclearly seen and understood by the things which He \nmade, giving to the world, even in the Primer of \nNature, such lessons as left it without excuse if it \nknew Him not. And having filled one volume with \nthe living letters by which men should spell out the \nwords of Truth, it was but fitting that human life, as \nwrought out in History, should be another for still \nhigher study : that laws and customs, arts and events, \n\nreality, the outline of which was presented to him, was some- \nthing hitherto unknown. But let the same drawing be shown to \nthose who have seen the reality, such will have no difficulty in \nexplaining the representation. And the greater the acquaintance \nwith the reality, the greater will be the ability to explain the pic- \nture."\xe2\x80\x94 The Law of the Offerings, by Andrew Jukes, p. 6. \n\n\n\nIN TROD UC TION. 5 \n\nas arranged by God, should all be a revelation of \nHimself. And such the Scriptures assert them to \nbe* \n\n" Which things are an allegory,"*)- is the simple \nstatement of St. Paul respecting the two sons of \nAbraham, the one by a bond-woman, the other by a \n\n\n\n* Rev. Hugh Macmillan (" The Garden and the City ") speaks \nof " that subtle organization of Scripture, which must strike every \nexegete, and which, like the organization of nature, presents from \nevery new point of view new harmonies of form and detail." Again, \nspeaking of the resemblances of Scripture and the manifold com- \nbinations resulting : " The whole typology of Scripture is founded \nupon this law of mutual resemblance. The study of Scripture \nderives from it much of its charm and interest, for each special \naspect of Divine truth can be periectly combined with every other. \nNay, more, the whole scheme of nature, the whole history of life \n\nis based upon the law in question All things, according to \n\nthe poet, by a law divine, mingle in one another\'s being. And \nif the discovery of profound resemblances of form and analogies \nof structure, where others see only wide divergencies and palpa- \nble contrasts, be to the naturalist one of the purest of his pleas- \nures, inasmuch as it brings him into contact with the Great Mind \nof the universe in whose image he was made ; so over the soul \nof the Bible student there creeps a feeling of increasing joy and \nwonder at the fulness and subtlety of the connection by which \neach part of the Scriptures is bound to all the others \xe2\x80\x94 for this is \nthe highest proof of its inspiration and of its fitness for gathering \ntogether all things in heaven and earth into One, even in Him \nwho is the Truth and the Life, the Beginning and the End." \xe2\x80\x94 \nSee Introduction, p. xxxix.-xlvi. \n\nt Gal. iv. 24. "The lesson to be drawn from this whole pas- \nsage, as regards the Christian use of the Old Testament, is of an \nimportance which can scarcely be overrated."\xe2\x80\x94 Co?iybeare and \nHow son s Life and Epistles of St. Paul. \n\n\n\n6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nfree-woman \xe2\x80\x94 although in the history itself not a hint \nof the kind is given. Again, concerning a variety of \nevents, he twice asserts that " these things happened \nunto them for types." * He does not even treat \nthem as events first occurring, and then found after- \nward to convey a useful lesson, but he boldly traces \nan " intent " of God in permitting them so to hap- \npen, and then preserving their record for the lesson\'s \nsake.f Yet this is the very point upon which we find \nsuch peculiar sensitiveness. Use, it is said, if it so \nplease you, these historical incidents, and apply them \nas illustrations of truth. But do not call them types. \nThink your own profitable thoughts, but do not sug- \ngest that God had any such thoughts. Are we, then, \n\n\n\n* Cf. i Cor. x. 6 ; I Cor. x. u. \n\nt " Every moment it becomes a more serious question whether \nthis language [of Hebrew ideas and imagery] is to be allowed \nfor as inaccurate in itself, but under the circumstances of the \ncase inevitable, or whether it is to be insisted on as the method \nprepared in the purpose of God for the most adequate expres- \nsio?i of spiritual truth. The question was, indeed, decided by \nthe two facts, that the Old Covenant itself was a Divine ordi- \nnance, and that its historical relations with the New Covenant \nwere a Divine provision. Still, it was of high importance to the \nclearness and fixedness of the doctrine, that this connection be- \ntween the two covenants should be deliberately shown to con- \nsist not in rhetorical illustration, but in a divinely-intended \nsystem of analogies. This is the permanent office of the Epistle to \n\nthe Hebrews It expressly recognizes the fact that " the word \n\nof the beginning of Christ " had been enlarged by intervening \nteachinpjnto a " perfection," which many of those who are here \naddressed\' had sinfully and shamefully failed to receive ; the \n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION. y \n\nreally more quick -sighted and far-sighted than the \nSpirit, who " searcheth ail things, yea, the deep things \nof God ? " Whatever of truth we see in any of these \nwords of Inspiration we may be sure that He placed \nthere, in order that we might see it. \n\nAgain, when it is said that " these things were \ntypes," they seem selected as examples and not as \nexceptions. Indeed, in the constant use of the Old \nTestament by our Lord and His Apostles, regarding \nits spirit rather than its letter \xe2\x80\x94 what it implies more \nthan what it asserts, determining the nature of events \nmore by their seed than by leaf or flower \xe2\x80\x94 we find \nthe law of their true interpretation to be not literal- \nness, but liberty.* And taking this ground them- \nselves as highest authorities, they do not forbid us to \n\n\n\nteachers sent from God having wrought out for them full ex- \npositions of truth, to which their old prepossessions had closed \ntheir hearts. And it exhibits the further fact that this perfecting \nof the truth by the fullest definite interpretation of the principles \nof the Gospel, had been accomplished by means of the true \nreading of the Old Testament in the light of the knowledge of \nChrist." \xe2\x80\x94 Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament \xe2\x80\x94 Bamp- \nton Lectures, by Thomas Dehany Bernard, p. 170. \n\n\n\n*" The existence of an abiding spiritual sense underlying the \nliteral text of the Old Testament, is sufficiently attested by the \nquotations in the New. Unless it be recognized, many of the \ninterpretations of the Evangelists and Apostles must appear forced \nand arbitrary ; but if we assume that it exists, their usage appears \nto furnish an adequate clew to the investigation of its most in- \ntricate mazes." \xe2\x80\x94 IVestcott\'s Introduction to the Study of the \nGospels, p. 63. \n\n\n\nS THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nfollow ; on the contrary, it seems everywhere sug- \ngested that we should trace out these clews. " Have \nye not read ? " was the usual query of Jesus in draw- \ning profound inferences from the simplest statements. \nHis words imply, " Have ye not read it thus? Ye \nalso should have seen its meaning as I do. How is \nit that ye do not understand ?" \n\nThe Types of the Bible lie like so many island \ngroups in the wide sea of Truth. The mainland of \neach, with many another isle, has been put upon our \nchart by the pen of inspiration. But all the little \nislets that lie clustering around are for us to explore. \nNor have we to launch out into a far-off ocean. Our \nsimple task is but to reach them from the shores dis- \ncovered for us. The remotest of them shall hardly \ntake us out of sight of land. Nor are we sent out \nadrift upon such new discoveries. As true as the \nneedle to the pole-star, though that star be hidden, \nso does the Spirit ever point to Christ, even when \nwe see Him not. And greater than that gift of the \nmagnet to the voyager, was the promise to the souls \nof all that seek after God, " He will guide you into \nthe whole truth."* All Scripture presupposes the \nlight by which alone it can be truly read. Surely, it \n\n\n\n* In this, as in all other quotations from Holy Scripture in \nthis volume, wherever our present version at all obscures the \nmeaning\', free use has been made of others, as well as of the \noriginal. Except in a few instances, it has not seemed needful to \ncredit the special authority or to indicate the change. \n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION. g \n\nwas not for a brief moment only that Jesus opened the \nunderstanding to " understand the Scriptures." There \nwould seem to be a misapprehension of the very \ngenius of Christianity among those who profess such \nalarm, lest venturing beyond that interpretation of \nScripture given in itself, we should go utterly astray. \nThere are and must needs be perils in all liberty. \nBut they who, from unhallowed fear, forego the lib- \nerty, only fall into worse perils. \n\nGod, who gave us His Holy Spirit, has provided \nstill further against danger in His promised gift of " a \nsound mind." Again, we have a safeguard in that \nimportant authority established in the Scriptures \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe consenting judgment of the Church. Making all \ndue allowance for the Church in her aphelion, and \nthe dim sight of many in her brightest hours, yet \nthat which fails finally to commend itself to the chil- \ndren of God whose lives are richest in experience, \nmust be delusive.* \n\n\n\n* We are forced to recognize the extent to which the judg- \nment of the Church is responsible, from what we know of the \ncollection of the Canon. In an extremely suggestive volume by \nthe late Frederick Myers, his thoughts upon the latter subject \nwill also apply to the one before us. I copy from the edition \nprinted for private circulation only, though the work has since \nbeen published : " No event has exercised greater influence on \nthe character of the Church of Christ than the existence of \nthe Christian Scriptures, and yet no event was less apparently \nmiraculous as contra-distinguished from providential. It was, it \nmust be repeated, a result of the exercise of that enlightened \nand sanctified spiritual judgment which is the special continuous \nI* \n\n\n\n10 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nBut, it is objected, such license would flood us with \na vast variety of interpretations, in itself a plain \nproof of error. This shallow argument is met by \nthe Scriptures themselves. In the free use of this \ngreat store of types, the same figure does service in \nmore than one direction ; as, for instance, the Tem- \nple finds one fulfilment in Christ, another in the \nChurch, and yet is fearlessly applied to the very body \nof an individual believer.* In fact, it appears to be \na prominent feature of this whole plan of typical \nteaching, not to give us framed pictures, but a series \nof dissolving views. \n\nEspecially does St. Paul, in his use of the types and \nsymbols of the Old Testament, take delight in turn- \ning them round and round, like so many bright frag- \nments in a kaleidoscope. He breaks up suddenly a \nperfectly harmonious arrangement to give us a new \ncombination, and so on with variations that seem \nsimply inexhaustible. How can we but draw the in- \n\n\n\nendowment of all ages of the Church ; which, if duly honored* \nwould be found eqical to great tasks always, and which, if unduly \ndishonored, will be found to leave us in difficulties which will be \nalso dangers. This case of the Christian Canon is a case in \npoint. For, if none but a literal line and measure of Canonicity \nwill be accepted, in this case there is none forthcoming ; if Chris- \ntian tact and discerning of spirit be despised, there is nothing \nwhich remains in their stead." \xe2\x80\x94 Catholic Thoughts on the Bible \nand Theology, 1 841-1848, p. 52. \n\n\n\n* Dr. Farrar, in his Life of Christ, speaks of this \'\' many-sided \nsymbolism " of some of the acts of Jesus. See Vol. II., p. 216. \n\n\n\nIN TROD UC TIOJST. ! x \n\nference that so our interpretation gives us a harmo- \nnious picture in full accord with Truth as otherwise \nrevealed, we have in it a right lesson, though very \npossibly not the richest. \n\nNo one eye can ever, by itself, see all that God has \nthus taught us. No more can any one sect, nation, \xe2\x96\xa0 \nor age. There is needed for this the grand universal- \nity of the One Church, and the unity of the One Spirit. \nOnly, with all the saints, shall we be able to compre- \nhend the breadth, and length, and depth, and height. \nIn the great Body of the Church it is with our vision \nas with the eyes of so many insects. The organ is \ncomposite, and the many thousands of little eyes are \ngrouped upon a convex surface ; and while the range \nof each is thus more limited than is the human eye, \nthe field of vision, as a whole, is greatly widened. \nNor is there really any lack to each, since equally \nwith ours the vision is a unit. It is easy to accept \nthe limitations of our own individual insight of Truth, \nas we find our gain in the widest sympathy with oth- \ners. Each of us set to gather into a perfect focus \nsome one aspect of Truth, we are bound to impart \nthis, while we receive in return all the other aspects. \nTo have the vision complete \xe2\x80\x94 to sweep over the \nwhole range of revelation, we need the eyes of all \nthe ages, of all nationalities, of all true creeds, of all \ntemperaments \xe2\x80\x94 the eyes of youth and of age, the \neyes of the unlettered and the learned. There is \ngood ground to hope that in the Christianizing of \n\n\n\n12 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nOriental nations, one of our greatest gains will result \nfrom their clearer insight into symbolic teaching. \n\nThere is a still larger class of objectors who are \nready to admit the value of typical teaching in a \ngeneral way, but who feel the strongest repugnance \nto its interpretation in detail. For instance, they \nregard the Jewish sacrifices on the whole, as pointing \nto Christ. But the attempt to find significance in \nthe minute arrangements of that ritual, they regard \nas simply contemptible. Does it ever enter into \ntheir thoughts that they are in danger of despising, \nnot man, but God? If it be puerile to seek a \nmeaning in them, why were they written by Inspira- \ntion, and why was so large a space assigned them? \nYet it does not seem to us unworthy of the scientist \nto sit patiently before the tiniest thing in nature, and \nwith his microscope, examine the most exquisite and \nskilful touches of the finger of God. He is perfectly \nsure that everything has a meaning, and he toils on \nto its discovery.* And is, then, God\'s Word so infe- \n\n\n\n* As an instance of this, see a strong statement of Darwin as \nquoted by the Duke of Argyle in his " Reign of Law." It is \ntaken from a work entitled " The various contrivances by which \nBritish and foreign Orchids are fertilized by Insects." ByChas. \nDarwin, F.R.S. London. 1862. "The strange position of the \nLabellum perched on the summit of the column, ought to have \nshown me that here was the place for experiment. I ought to \nhave scorned the notion that the Labellum was thus placed for \nno good purpose. I neglected this plain guide, and, for a long \ntime, completely failed to understand th^ llowcr,\'\' p. 262. \n\n\n\nIN TROD UC TION. \n\n\n\n13 \n\n\n\nrior to His other works, that, like man\'s work, it \ncan not bear this close inspection ? Such, surely, is \nnot the relative position which is claimed for it in \nthe Word itself. Nor need we make an abatement \nfrom this claim from the fact that it is not, like nature, \npurely the work of God, but in part the work of man ; \nsince at least to the full extent of human imperfec- \ntion, both in its origin and transmission, are human \nresearch and enlightened Christian judgment allowed \nto enter now. \n\nBut, again, the general objection to such interprcta T \ntion falls with double force upon the histories of the \nOld Testament. Yet these, as we have already seen, \nare so interpreted in the New Testament. And one \nmay well ask what such readers find in these portions \nthat is spiritually "profitable." Nor can we be sur- \nprised at their frequent though half-reluctant admis- \nsion of dullness, and a corresponding slight put upon \nthis part of the Bible. Nor does the evil end here. \nAs histories only, many of these events seem so un- \nimportant, so repugnant even to our tastes, that it is \nno rare thing to find the germs of doubt and scepti- \ncism springing freely up in such waste and untilled \nsoil. \n\nNo better instance of this can be selected than the \nBook of Joshua, which will be used as the historical \nbasis for the teaching attempted in this volume. It \nis almost purely historical ; and, to some, simply a \nbook of bloody battles and a geographical description \n\n\n\nH \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nof the divisions of the land of Canaan, with here and \nthere a few lessons of faith, and courage, and kindred \nvirtues. And if this, indeed, be all, then it may as \nwell be openly said, as so often secretly thought, \nministering far less to our spiritual needs than many \nan uninspired volume of Christian devotion. There \nis no refuge from the scepticism that assails the Scrip- \ntures save in their more spiritual study. \n\nBut approaching this same Book of Joshua with \nfaith in that clear statement, " Now these things hap- \npened unto them for types," and reading it as a his- \ntory indeed, but, at the same time, so anticipating \nthe history of our own hearts as to be an allegory \xe2\x80\x94 \nwe see now before us a Picture, the grandest in its \nproportions \xe2\x80\x94 the most life-like in its groupings \xe2\x80\x94 the \nmost striking in its wealth of coloring \xe2\x80\x94 and the most \nskilful in its quiet touches, of any that God has given \nus in this Royal Art Gallery of Truth. There is sig- \nnificance even in the very place where the Picture is \nhung. We have gone through the Pentateuch \xe2\x80\x94 we \nare well out of this shadowy vestibule of the Law, \nand at once the advancing eye is met by this grand \nrepresentation of the Gospel. In this Book we find \nthat the failure is over, and the victory begins. An- \nticipation becomes realization. \n\nMoreover, it is that Book in our Bible which, more \nthan any other, presents and powerfully illustrates \nthat range of truth which, as by a subtle consent, is \nattracting the eyes of all Christendom ; which has \n\n\n\nIN TROD UCTION. \n\n\n\n15 \n\n\n\ntaken to itself many names \xe2\x80\x94 as many as its mountain \npeaks \xe2\x80\x94 but which, as a whole, is covered by one \nmatchless expression of St. Paul, " The fulness of the \nblessing of [the Gospel of] Christ." * \n\nIt is, indeed, in the awakening of the Church to \nthe clearer recognition of this blessing, that the key \nis recovered to the right interpretation of the Book \nof Joshua. To those who have seen Heaven, but no \nintervening Hcavenlies \xe2\x80\x94 a rest that remaineth, but no \nrest which the believer now enters \xe2\x80\x94 it was perfectly \nnatural that Canaan should signify Heaven, and Jor- \ndan be simply the river of death. If this were true, \nthere would be little else to be said. There could be \nno consistent typical meaning in the warfare which \nfollowed. Besides, such an application could make \nnothing of the command to enter the land, the failure \nto do so, and the consequent anger of God. In fact, \nit passes by entirely the very points which are so \nclearly interpreted for us in the New Testament. \n\nOne of the ablest of modern writers upon this sub- \nject, f after a masterly review of the Exodus, upon \nreaching the wilderness wanderings, thus disposes of \nthem : " The inevitable falling off of the common \nhours and experiences, from the level of the mo- \nments when our life gets up into the world which \nwas made to be its home, seems to me to be the \n\n\n\n* The Gospel is omitted in the best MSS. \n\nt James Baldwin Brown, " The Soul\'s Exodus and Pilgrimage.\' \n\n\n\nl6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\ngreat teaching of this passage of Israel\'s history." \nHappily a higher authority has given us a different \nteaching. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, we read, \n" So we see that they could not enter in " (not because \nit was inevitable, but) " because of their unbelief" To \ncarry on such an interpretation into the Book of \nJoshua, were to lose, almost entirely, the warnings, \nthe encouragements, and the manifold lessons which \nfill its pages. Of course, too little is left to make \nit an attractive field ; so that, in fact, it is repre- \nsented by little more than a few fragmentary volumes \nin English Exegesis.* \n\n* In one of these few works, it is only upon the last page of its \nAppendix that we find how far the author has seen beyond the \nlimits to which he restricted his comments. \n\n" Nor can we ignore the lessons which come to us through a \nsymbolism which we are taught by the Apostle Paul and the \nauthor of the Epistle to the Hebrews. We see, not as a poetic \nimagination, but as a heavenly instruction, the entrance into Ca- \nnaan symbolizing the believer\'s entrance into rest, not the rest \nof heaven, but the rest which, even here, he has in Jesus Christ. \nWe see that in this rest he may be disturbed by his own lack ol \nfaith, the results of which failure will be thorns in his side, and \nthat only by a complete commitment of himself to the will of \nGod will his rest be made perfect. We see, moreover, how our \nJoshua (Jesus) is the sole guide to this rest, so that as Jesus is \nboth priest and sacrifice, both foundation and builder, so is He \nboth the Rest and the Guide to it. In the light of the New \nTestament, this Book of Joshua will prove full of spiritual com- \nfort and edification to every seeking believer. God has placed \nit in the Canon, not to praise Joshua or Israel, but to teach and \nbless His dear people to the end of time." \xe2\x80\x94 Expository Notes on \nthe Book of Joshua, by Howard Crosby. \n\n\n\nIN TROD UCTION \n\n\n\n17 \n\n\n\nIn these pages it is by no means a commentary, \nand scarcely an exposition, which is attempted ; but \nrather the unfolding of that Truth which is signified \nboth there and elsewhere. The great theme of vic- \ntory through faith which is here opened has many \nparts. The Divine Epic which begins in History, \nreappears in the Psalms as Poetry, in Isaiah as Proph- \necy, in the teaching of Jesus as the highest of all \nPhilosophy ; and, finally, in the Epistles as Expe- \nrience. So that if proper light is allowed to fall \nupon our Picture, it must be freely borrowed from \nthe other portions of Scripture. The outline of the \nsubject is so distinctly sketched, however, in the his- \ntory, as to require little change. \n\nThe Book of Joshua would seem to be the special \nheritage of this generation. The mists that have \nhung so long around the hills, are rolling off, and \nmany are lifting up rejoicing eyes to see how much \nmore lies beyond them of Christian possibility than \nthey had thought to reach. Surely the day in which \nwe live is one of those set times in which God favors \nZion. But while He thus dispels the darkness and \ngives us clearer light, so that things once unseen or \ndimly seen, now shine as the day, there may be, with \nnot a few, a personal hindrance remaining ; \xe2\x80\x94 a veil not \ntaken away in the reading of the New Testament. \nAs the Israelite\'s veil kept him from seeing to the \nend of that which was commanded, so may the Chris- \ntian\'s veil keep him from seeing to the end of that \n\n\n\n1 7 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nwhich is promised. No struggles of our own, no pos- \nsible straining of our intellectual vision, can meet this \ndifficulty. " Nevertheless when it shall turn to the \nLord, the veil shall be taken away." \n\nMeanwhile, working in harmony with the Word and \npromises of God, there lies a vast power in Christian \ntestimony to convince even veiled eyes of the privi- \nleges that await them. It is not often wise for such \na testimony to put its own experience in the fore- \nground ; and yet without such experience there could \nbe no true testimony or even right knowledge. He \nwho lays the scene of his story in a land of which \nhe has only read and heard, will, with all his care, be \nsure to betray his ignorance. If he has only visited \nit, this also will appear. Even as a dweller in the \nland, there may still be local discrepancies to be \ndetected. \n\nShe who ventures in these pages to describe the \nLand of Blessing, so far as her feet have walked its \nlength and breadth, has found it everywhere a good \nand glorious land ; and she can only hope that what \nher eyes have missed, or seen mistakenly, will find \nother and wiser witnesses. She gives this as her sim- \nple contribution to the comprehension of all saints. \n\nIt is her comfort to consider that it is not theory \nacutely thought out for which the Church of Christ \nis now longing, but practical truth, and to know alike \nfrom experience and observation that there is a Truth \nwhich, whether philosophically discerned or not, can \n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION. \n\n\n\n19 \n\n\n\nyet assert its living power in the hearts of the hum- \nblest, and against all odds of nature. If others shall \nfind in these pages a joy in the least proportionate \nto that which she has found in their preparation, it \nwill be to her an unspeakable reward. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER I. \n\nTHE LAND OF PROMISE. \n\n" "HEHOLD I HAVE SET THE LAND BEFORE YOU I \n-U GO IN AND POSSESS THE LAND. " (Deut. i. 8). \n\n" He brought us out from thence, that he \nmight bring us in, to give us the land. " \n{Dent. vi. 23). \n\nBefore taking up the lessons of the Book of Joshua, \nwe need to review the history which precedes it, so \nfar as respects the promise made to the Israelites of \nthe land of Canaan, and their failure to accept it. \n\nThe full scope of their redemption was two-fold \n\xe2\x80\x94 out of Egypt and into Canaan ; but the latter was \nalways the more prominent. \n\nIn the earliest promise made to Moses, we read, \n" I am come down to deliver them out of the hand \nof the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that \nland, into a good land and a large, unto a land flow- \ning with milk and honey."" When the first promise \nhad been fulfilled, and they sang their song of deliv- \nerance upon the shores of the Red Sea, their faith \nrose at once to claim the second, as the completion \n\n* Exodus iii. 8. \n(20I \n\n\n\nTHE LAND OF PROMISE. 2 \\ \n\nof their triumph : " T/iou slialt bi\'ing them in and \nplant them in the mountain of their inheritance, in \nthe place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to \ndwell in, in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands \nhave established."* \n\nYet, closely as the two events are linked in promise, \nthere was an intermediate stage between them. Egypt \ndid not border upon Canaan, and, therefore, it could \nnot be a single experience to be brought out, and to \nbe brought in. Furthermore, the Lord did not choose \nto lead His people by the shortest possible way. Long \nbefore their unbelief had caused the forty years of \nwandering, we see a wise delay which is fully ex- \nplained. " And it came to pass that when Pharaoh \nhad let the people go, that God led them not thro\' \nthe way of the land of the Philistines, although that \nwas near, for God said lest peradventure the people \nrepent when they see war, and they return to Egypt ; \nbut God led the people about through the way of the \nwilderness of the Red Sea."f \n\nAnd again, the Red Sea crossed, we do not yet find \nthe shortest route to Caanan chosen. They were led \ndown to the back, side of the desert, nearly to the \nend of Arabia, to that mysterious land where God \nhas chosen to train and discipline so many ; where \nMoses spent his forty years of preparation ; where \nElijah went on his long journey, and where Paul also \n\n\n\n* Exodus xv. 17. t Exodus xiii. 17, 18. \n\n\n\n22 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nwas sent for his secret training. This new-born na- \ntion had everything to learn, and Canaan would have \nbeen wasted upon its ignorance. So they were led \ndown to Horeb, there to receive the Law from Sinai, \nand there to be trained as an encampment around the \nsacred Tabernacle. \n\nThe books of Exodus and Leviticus give us thir- \nteen months of such a history. It is resumed in \nNumbers with the preparations for an advance " on \nthe first day of the second month of the second \nyear."* The voice of God now called them onward. \n" Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount ; turn \n\nyou and take your journey Behold, I have \n\nset the land before you ; go in and possess the land. "-J* \nThe length of the journey before them is stated, with \nprecision, as eleven days from Horeb to Kadesh Bar- \nnea, the place where they were to enter.;): \n\nBut now began delays which God had not ordered. \nThey lusted for flesh, and for two days they stopped \nto gather quails ; and then for a whole month to dig \nthe graves of them that lusted. Again, Miriam \nspeaks against Moses ; she is not prepared to see the \nlow exalted in these patterns of grace, and the alien \nmade as the home-born \xe2\x80\x94 much less to see her own \nbrother stoop from the leadership of a great nation \nto place by his side an Ethiopian woman. There- \nfore she is smitten with leprosy, and the whole camp \n\n\n\n* Numbers i. I. t Deut. i. 6-8. \\ Deut. i. 2. \n\n\n\nTHE LAXD OF PROMISE. \n\n\n\n23 \n\n\n\nmust wait seven days until she can rejoin them. In \nthese and other ways the journey was prolonged for \nmonths, since, when they reached the land it was the \ntime of the vintage. But while the delay was theirs, \nthe way itself was God\'s, as we learn from the review \nof it which Moses gave : \xe2\x80\x94 " When we departed from \nHoreb, we went through all that great and terrible \nzvilderness .... as the Lord our God commanded \nus ; and we came to Kadesh Barnea."* \n\nStanding at last upon the border of the land, they \nshould have entered it at once. Instead of this, we \nfind another delay which, begging for only forty days, \nwas recompensed with forty years. In Numbers we \nread that the Lord spake unto Moses, directing him \nto send the spies. f But in Deuteronomy, we learn \nthat it was only a command accommodated to their \nchoice, as so carefully stated by Moses : " I said unto \nyou, \' Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amor- \nites, which the Lord our God doth give unto us. \nBehold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before \nthee : go up and possess it as the Lord God of thy \nfathers hath said unto thee ; fear not, neither be dis- \ncouraged.\' And ye came near unto me every one of \nyou, and said, \' We will send men before us, and they \nshall search us out the land and bring us word again \nby what way we must go up and into what cities we \nshall come.\' "J As afterwards, in giving them a king, \n\n\n\n* Deut. i. 19. f Numbers xiii. 1,2. \\ Deut. i. 20-22. \n\n\n\n24 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nGod yielded to their choice since they would not \naccept His. " :: " \n\nThe report of the spies resulted in the failure to \nenter the land, and thus, for a long season, their life \nbecame abnormal \xe2\x80\x94 outside of the true plan of God, \nthough not beyond His merciful care.f Leaving \nthis failure as the subject of the following chapter, \nand pausing at that point when the possession of the \nland was brought within their immediate reach, let \nus seek the lesson here signified ; for " all these things \nhappened unto them for ensamples." \n\nThe scope of our redemption also is two-fold \xe2\x80\x94 " God \nhath saved us and called us with an holy calling.":]; \nThis salvation and this calling are always coupled in \nthe promises of God, and yet must be wrought out at \n\n* i Sam. viii. 9. \n\nt " If the Israelites had gone on to Canaan without inquiry, their \nconfidence had possessed it. Now they send to espy the land ; \nsix hundred thousand never lived to see it : and yet I see God \nenjoining it upon them to send ; but enjoining it upon their in- \nstance. Some things God allows in judgment : their importu- \nnity and distrust extorted from God this occasion of their over- \nthrow. That which the Lord moves unto prospers ; but that \nwhich we move Him to first seldom succeedeth. What needed \nthey doubt of the goodness of that land which God told them did \nflow with milk and honey ? What needed they doubt obtaining \nthat which God promised to give ? When we will send forth \nour senses to be our scouts in the matters of faith, and rather \ndare trust men than God, we are worthy to be deceived." \xe2\x80\x94 . \nBishop Hall\'s Contemplations. \n\n\\ 2 Tim. i. Q. \n\n\n\nTHE LAND OF PROMISE. \n\n\n\n25 \n\n\n\nseparate stages. But as He brought them out that \nHe might bring them in,* so we find the main stress \nof the Gospel falling upon this ultimate design. The \nScriptures speak not so much of what we are saved \nfrom as of what we are saved unto ; and even the \nvery word salvation is sometimes limited to the \nlatter meaning. \n\nSuch has not been, however, the most current teach- \ning of the Church. Her efforts have been concen- \ntrated far more upon the conversion of sinners than \nthe nurture of the saints. We have had, consequently, \nmore fishers of men than shepherds who could feed \nthe flock, and justification has been more frequently \nand fully presented than sanctification.f We have \n\n\n\n* Deut, vi. 23, \n\nf Dr. Crawford, in his able work on the "Atonement," thus \nwrites : " The mediatorial work and sufferings of Jesus Christ \nwere intended, not only to obtain for us redemption from the \nguilt and penal consequences of sin, but also to secure our per- \nsonal sanctification. \n\n" This is a truth which has too frequently been overlooked. \nIn speaking or thinking of the salvation which Christ has pur- \nchased, there are many who seem to attach to it no further idea \nthan that of mere deliverance from condemnation. They forget \nthat delivera?ice from sin \xe2\x80\x94 the cause of condemnation \xe2\x80\x94 is a no \nless important blessing comprehended in it. ... . \n\n"Nay, it would seem as if the former of these deliverances \xe2\x80\x94 \xe2\x96\xa0 \nthat is to say, our deliverance from sin itself \xe2\x80\x94 were represented \nin some passages of Scriptures as the grand and ultimate con- \nsummation of redeeming grace, to which the latter, though in \nitself inestimably precious and important, is preparatory. Wit- \nness these plain and forcible declarations : \' He died for all, that \n2 \n\n\n\n26 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nreversed the proportions which are so apparent in \nthe Epistles. St. Paul does not tell us so much of \nhis anxiety to reach the hardened, as he does of his \ndesire to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. \nRespecting that, he tells us, " Whereunto I also labor, \nstriving according to His working which worketh in \nme mightily."\' 54 \' He does not speak of the prayers \nof Epaphras for those without, but he writes of his \nfervent prayers for those within, that they " might \nstand perfect and complete in all the will of God."f \nThe five prayers of his own, which are given at some \n\nthey who live, should not henceforth live unto themselves, but \nunto Him who died for them and rose again? \' Christ loved \nthe Church and gave Himself for it, that lie might sanctify and \ncleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, and that He \nmight present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot \nor wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be holy and \nwithout blemish.\' \' You that were sometimes alienated and \nenemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He recon- \nciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, \nand unblamable, and unreproz\'able in His sight.\' \'He gave \nHimself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and \npurify unto Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.\' \nl The blood of Jesus, who through the eternal Spirit offered Him- \nself without spot unto God, shall purge your conscience from \ndead works, to serve the living God.\' k Who His ownself bore \nour sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, \nmight live unto righteousness\' These statements seem to indi- \ncate that our redemption from the guilt and penal consequences \nof sin, was intended to be the means to an ulterior end \xe2\x80\x94 that \nend being our personal sanctification." \xe2\x80\x94 The Doctrine of Holy \nScripture respecting the Atonement, pp. 194, 195. \n\n* Col. i. 28, 29. t Col. iv. 12. \n\n\n\nTHE LAND OF PROMISE. \n\n\n\n27 \n\n\n\nlength, all have a common burden \xe2\x80\x94 that the Church \nmay see and receive the fulness of Christ. So, also, \nin the list of special gifts, he dwells in detail only \nupon those which have these objects \xe2\x80\x94 " the perfecting \nof the saints ; the work of the ministry ; the edifying \nof the body of Christ." * \n\nAs we turn to the words of Christ, we find in that \none most precious prayer of His which is left us, \nthat He says expressly, " I pray not for the world, \nbut for them which thou hast given Me ;" f and what \na prayer ! \xe2\x80\x94 that they might have all His joy, His love, \nHis glory ! \n\nIt is not \xe2\x80\x94 God forbid the thought ! \xe2\x80\x94 that the Scrip- \ntures slight the salvation of any soul. But as it would \nhave been little to the glory of God to have merely \nbrought the people out of Egypt without giving \nthem a home, so are we shown that Christ is only \nfully glorified in the glory of His Church. The House- \nhold of Faith is regarded as a family in which the \nresponsibilities are not ended by the birth of the chil- \ndren. That any of them should remain unfed, sickly, \ndwarfed, is not for a moment to be allowed. Their \nnurture and full development is the one great object \nof the true Father. \n\nAgain, we find a wrong impression prevalent as to \nwhat this Sanctification signifies. There are many \nwho strongly urge its claims, but see in it only a \n\n* Eph. iv. 12. t John xvii. 9. \n\n\n\n28 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nfurther deliverance, as it is so often expressed, from \nthe power as well as from the guilt of sin. \n\nBut Sanctification is not so much a removal as an \nimpartation. That which Christ takes from us is as \nnothing to that which He gives us ; and it is this \npositive, rather than the negative, side of the truth, \nwhich the Scriptures everywhere present, and which \nis most clearly set forth in this type of the call to \nCanaan. It was a bestowment, an inheritance, a fore- \nshadowing of all those spiritual blessings with which \nGod has blessed us in Jesus Christ. \n\nFew Christians are without a vague sense of some- \nthing good that is set before them. But there is \nimmense gain in its clearer comprehension. Let us, \ntherefore, look more definitely at that which the Holy \nGhost has signified in this instance. \n\nThe entering of the Land of Promise is spoken of \nfrequently as entering into Rest. Settlement was to \ntake the place of constant change. It was to be a \nHome, which the desert could not be ; for, apart from \nits failure to supply their needs, everything was tran- \nsient, and it was useless to plant or build in a land \nthrough which they were only journeying. And the \ncontrast was made stronger from the fact that they \nwere spared the weary waiting of preparation. God \nset before them, in His promise, a Home where all \nwas ready for their coming, \xe2\x80\x94 " Great and goodly cities, \nwhich thou buildest not, and houses full of all good \nthings which thou filledst not, and wells digged which \n\n\n\nTHE LAND OF PROMISE. \n\n\n\n2 9 \n\n\n\nthou diggedst not, vineyards and olive-trees which \nthou plantedst not."* \n\nAnd in such rest as this might every one of those \nfamilies of Israel have been found speedily ; and not \nonly in Rest, but in the satisfying Bounty which it \nimplied. What a contrast was that which awaited \nthem, from the old life of Egypt. Weary hands that \nmade the bricks, tired feet that watered the dry land, \nnow at rest with only healthy toil, and the poor \nslaves lifted up from the very dung-hill to sit like \nprinces in their pleasant homes among the hills and \nvalleys \xe2\x80\x94 their hunger satisfied with better things than \nthe coarse food of Egypt \xe2\x80\x94 with better things than \nmanna even \xe2\x80\x94 with corn and oil, and honey and wine, \nand all else that could strengthen, and enrich, and \nsweeten, and cheer their life. \n\nIt was true that enemies filled the Land, and that \nwarfare also awaited them. But had not God prom- \nised to deal with these seven nations even as He dealt \nwith Pharaoh, and would He not do it ? So, then, \nit was not so much warfare as Victory of which God \nspoke. Therefore no fear, no discouragement was to \ndampen their ardent hopes as they passed on theii \nway to Rest, and Wealth, and Triumph. \n\nAnd to Rest, and unsearchable Riches, and a great \nVictory, are we also called, finding them all in the \nLord Jesus. He is Himself the anti-type of that \ngood land and large. Our calling is, to be " in Christ." \n\n* Deut. vi. 10, 11. \n\n\n\n30 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nThe first and deepest need of our being is rest. St. \nAugustine among all his sayings, has none sweeter \nor stronger than this, " Thou hast made us for Thy- \nself, and our heart is restless till it rests in Thee." * \n\nBut there is a saying that surpasses this ; it is the \ncall of Christ to all the children of men, soft and \nsoothing as a mother\'s lullaby, " Come unto Me, and \n/will rest you." It is rest first, and after that all else \nthat He holds for us. \n\nNor is it rest as opposed only to the toil of sin, but \nalso the unrest of Christian activity. Our Rest should \nbe like our Sabbath, a beginning of the days. Under \nthe Law, as still under all Legality, the order was, \nwork at the first, and day after day until the seventh, \nwhen the labor shall end in rest. But when Christ \nrose from the dead, that first day of the week became \nthe hallowed one, consecrated to rest, and life, and \njoy. And from that living, joyful rest in Him, the \nwhole being energized and fitted for its task, the soul \ncan go on to serve Him to the end. It has found rest \nbecause it has ceased from working in its own strength, \nceasebl from its own will, and now God worketh in it \nto will and to do of His good pleasure. Practically, \nit makes the widest possible difference whether we \nwork up to rest or from it. \n\n\n\n* Fecisti nos ad te, et inquietum est cor nostrum donee requies- \n\ncat in te Quies est apud te valde et vita imperturbabilis. \n\nQui intrat in te, ititrat in gandium Domini Sui ; et non timebit, \net habebit se optime in optimo. \xe2\x80\x94 Confess., Lib. I. I, and II. 18. \n\n\n\nTHE LAND OF PROMISE. \n\n\n\n31 \n\n\n\nWhen this rest has preceded our work, it will also \npermeate it, and will render it calm, undistracted, un- \noppressive. It has been said, " Faith rests while it \nworks. This is a peculiarity of the true Gospel. No \nfalse religion could teach it. Many professed disciples \nof Christ Himself \xe2\x80\x94 men to whom the name of religi- \nous persons can not be denied \xe2\x80\x94 never learn it. True \nfaith rests habitually, rests in working. It is a para- \ndox ; but a paradox full of truth, full of beauty, full \nof admonition."* \n\nThis rest can be ours in no other way than as a gift \nfrom Christ. Such deep repose of soul is neither found \nin man, nor can be evolved out of any of his powers. \nOnly as the strong and loving arms of Jesus are folded \naround it, shall the tired and tossed soul be rested. \n\nIs the heart burdened still at times with the weight \nof old sins ? Are there seasons when " the spirit of \nfret and fuss" disorder it? Is it strained with anxie- \nties ? Is its work ever a weariness ? Above all, has \nit wandered like a wayward child into forbidden paths, \nand found no shelter? Such a soul needs not that \nany should tell it that it has not yet come to the \nrest which God has promised \xe2\x80\x94 that, more or less, it \nis falling short of it. How far short, we can tell best \nby looking at the Divine copy of it \xe2\x80\x94 Jesus Himself. \n\nIn studying that life in its human aspects, we do \nnot behold the favorite of Fortune, nor the creature \nof circumstances. The rest of Jesus was conditioned \n* Voices of the Prophets, C. J.Vaughan, D.D., p. 81. \n\n\n\n32 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nby nothing outward. But we trace a silent power \nthat ruled His whole being-, the poise of a human \nspirit in perfect harmony with the will of God \xe2\x80\x94 ever \ngoing forth to meet that will, and never waiting to \nbe overtaken by it. Calm in His most crowded work, \ncalm in every peril, calm in His utmost suffering and \nagony, never for a moment excited, unbalanced, \nfevered or fretted \xe2\x80\x94 this is He who still calls, "Come \nunto Me, and I will rest you." How much is signi- \nfied in that promise we can not know, except as Chris- \ntian expectation passes into experience. \n\nBut rest is not the only hope of our calling. We \nare promised the supply of all our need ; not only of \nsuch wants as we now feel, but of those also which \nshall be first awakened by the sight of unbounded \ntreasure. Certainly if anything is clear in the Word \nof God it is this bounty. The " Unsearchable Riches \nof Christ" is a cognomen of the Gospel. All riches \nof the full assurance of understanding, all that can \nnourish and adorn, encompass with comforts and \ndevelop this new spiritual life, all possible wealth \nof grace and love, \xe2\x80\x94 all these spiritual blessings are \ngiven us " in the hcavenlies" in Christ Jesus. Nor is \nthe least portion of this wealth the privilege of shar- \ning it with others, and of making it even more blessed \nto give than to receive \xe2\x80\x94 by such a law excluding all \npossible satiety, and providing ever-enlarged powers \nof enjoyment. In brief, the promise runs, " All things \nare yours ;" and the eager soul, escaping from the \n\n\n\nTHE LAND OF PROMISE. 33 \n\npoverty of its bondage, looks on confidently to a day \nnigh at hand when it shall have no want unsatisfied. \n\nBut with these promises of Rest and Riches there is \nlinked a third \xe2\x80\x94 of Victory. At first the soul has \nlittle thought of enemies, save such as it has already \nknown. Pharaoh and the hosts of Egypt, from these \nit fled ; from the despotism of Satan and the low \nbondage of this world. God, ordinarily, shields the \nnewly-converted soul from the sight of struggles be- \nyond, leading it about by other easier ways, and let- \nting its thought be concentrated, for a time, on the \ngreat facts of forgiveness and deliverance. Its first \nfears come from the pursuing foes ; but so signal is \nthe overthrow of these, that even the certainty of \nseven mightier nations before it can bring no terror. \nTo Faith, the future is as sure as the past, and the \nwhole process of victory appears like one continuous \nwork of God. Like Israel upon the seashore, even \nwhile we are singing to the Lord who hath tri- \numphed gloriously, we go on to celebrate the whole. \n" The people shall hear and be afraid : sorrow shall \ntake hold on the inhabitants of Palestina \xe2\x80\x94 all the \ninhabitants of Canaan shall melt away."* That God \nshould save us from the hands of one enemy to let \nus fall into the hands of another, is simply incon- \nceivable to a child-like faith. \n\nThe completeness of this victory has been described \nfor us in one of the holy songs that heralded the \n* Exodus xv. 14, 15. \n\n\n\n34 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\ncoming of Christ, when Zacharias tells us that God \nwould grant us \xe2\x80\x94 " that we being delivered out of the \nhand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, \nin holiness and righteousness before Him all the days \nof our life."* And this he calls, first, God\'s promise, \nand then, His covenant, and, finally, His oath,f so \ngiving us three immutable securities. \n\nThe nature of these enemies and the secret of this \nvictory, will need to be considered in another connec- \ntion ; but, meanwhile, this may be assumed as the \nproper position in which the Gospel places us. \xe2\x80\x94 "Now \nthanks be unto God who always causeth us to triumph \nin Christ." \n\nSuch is the Land of Promise set before us. It is, \nindeed, the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of \nChrist. Probably no Christian ever entered at once \nupon such an inheritance. Apart from the gracious \nshielding from our foes, already alluded to, there are \nstill other reasons why the Lord for awhile should \nlead us about. Some one has said that it takes God \nmuch longer to prepare us for a blessing, than it does \nto give it when we are ready to receive it. It is in \nperfect harmony with the processes of all lower life, \nthat our spiritual life should have a space allowed \nfor development and training. When Jesus had com- \npassion on the shepherdless multitude, all that even \nHe could do for them was to begin to teach them \nmany things. And He had taught His own disciples \n\n* Luke i. 74, 75. t Luke i. 72, 73. \n\n\n\nTHE LAND OF PROMISE. \n\n\n\n35 \n\n\n\nfor years when He said, " I have yet many things \nto say unto you, but ye can not bear them now." \n\nAs they stood around Sinai to receive the Law, so \ndo we need to gather around Jesus as He sits upon \nanother mountain, making that old Law new, and \ngiving us, not the curse, but the blessing. All knowl- \nedge requires time for its acquisition ; but Christian \nknowledge demands it still more, since it is valueless \nuntil it becomes experimental. \n\nAgain, there are certain steps which we must take \nbefore any marked advance can be made. The les- \nsons in the first chapter of Numbers are full of mean- \ning to us. The people were required to declare their \npedigree,* and to be enrolled under their proper stand- \nards. Before we attempt to reach this fulness of \n\n* " Can I declare my pedigree ? It is greatly to be feared there \nare hundreds, if not thousands, of professing Christians who are \nwholly incompetent to do so. They can not say with clearness \nand decision, \' Now are we the sons of God \' (i John iii. 2). \n\' Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. And if \nye are Christ\'s, then are ye Abraham\'s seed and heirs according to \nthe promise \' (Gal. iii. 26-29). \xe2\x80\xa2 For as many as are led by the Spirit \nof God, they are the sons of God.\' \' The Spirit itself beareth wit- \nness with our spirit that we are the sons of God \' (Rom. viii. \n14 16). \n\n"This is the Christian\'s \'pedigree,\' and it is his privilege to \nbe able to \' declare \' it. He is born from above \xe2\x80\x94 born again \xe2\x80\x94 \nborn of water and the spirit ; /. e., by the word and by the Holy \nGhost (compare, diligently, John iii. 5 \xe2\x80\xa2 James i. 18 ; 1 Peter i. \n23 ; Eph. v. 26). The believer traces his pedigree directly up to \na risen Christ in glory, This is Christian genealogy." \xe2\x80\x94 Notes 011 \nthe Book of Numbers, by C. H. M., pp. 8, 9. \n\n\n\n36 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nblessing, our sonship must become an established fact \n\xe2\x80\x94 the Spirit of God bearing witness with our spirit \nthat we are the children of God ; and as distinctly \nmust we have accepted the warfare and the service to \nwhich He calls us. None can be counted in that army \ntill he can say, " Whose I am and whom I serve." \n\nThe importance of this can not be too strongly \nstated, so large is the proportion of those who are in \ndoubt, at times, as to their being really the children \nof God. \n\nBut, again, how true to the history of Israel are \nthe hindrances which we ourselves occasion \xe2\x80\x94 true \neven to their very character. It is still by demand- \ning the visible in the place of the Invisible, that wo \nbegin to fall from our faith. And then it is by the \nlust of other things entering in \xe2\x80\x94 the revival of some \nold desire. And yet again by presuming to speal< \nagainst those whom God has set over us. \n\nBut none of these begin to compare, in their con- \nsequences, with that sin of unbelief by which the \nLand was forfeited. And that sin, as we see in the \ntype, began by what might be termed experimenting \nupon God\'s ivord \xe2\x80\x94 looking at the human chances for \nHis promise holding good. They overlooked the \nfact made so clear in this promise, that the redemp- \ntion and the inheritance were equally God\'s work and \ngift. " They soon forgot His word ;" and at the root \nof this forgetfulness lay that self-sufficiency which \nw?.s finally to issue in despair. Such ha9 ever been \n\n\n\nTHE LAND OF PROMISE. \n\n\n\n37 \n\n\n\nthe working of the human heart ; and because of this \ntendency such care is taken in the presentation of \nthe Gospel to convince us that, as forgiveness is not \nof the Law, no more is our righteousness, but equally \nwith that a gift, and by grace. \n\nSanctiflcation is by faith as truly and fully as is \njustification. The voice that lifted Luther from his \nweary climbing of the stair-way, saying, " The just \nshall live by faith," was a voice calling to all Christen- \ndom through him. And it needs that same voice of \nGod to rouse the weary climbers up their arduous \nway, and to make the bowed spirits of thousands \nexultant with hope. Yet it needs no new message ; \nfor of the life more abundantly, as well as of the \nleast that can be called life, is it true that " the just \nshall live by faith." " Through faith that is in Me," \nwas the sole condition announced by the Lord Jesus, \nas covering not only " forgiveness of sins," but an "in- \nheritance among them which are sanctified." * \n\nThis Land of Promise to which we are thus so \nclearly called in the Lord Jesus Christ \xe2\x80\x94 this fulness \nof blessing \xe2\x80\x94 is it, or is it not, the prevalent experience \nof Christians ? Have they so believed, that while \nlooking on to the glorious appearing of Christ as the \ncompletion of their hope, and the final triumph, they \nhave in the meantime entered into this rest ? \n\nAnd if in answer to this a charge must be brought \nagainst not a few of the children of God, let it be \n* Acts xx vi. 1 8. \n\n\n\n38 THE FULNESS CF BLESSING. \n\ndone in the chanty that hopeth all things, and that \nseeks only to help those whom an enemy hath hin- \ndered. \n\nA leading divine in the Church of England has \nsaid plainly, what is, doubtless, quite as applicable to \nour own land as to his, " The impression has been \nthat people knew everything about Christian duty, \nand have no need to be enlightened on that head. \nAnd if by Christian duty be meant simply the moral \nlaw of God, in its outward, literal aspect, perhaps the \nimpression is, more or less, correct, at least as regards \nthe educated classes. But if by Christian duty be \nmeant sanctity of life and character, and a growing \nconformity to the image of the Lord Jesus, we must \nbe pardoned for expressing our conviction, that our \nbest and most respectable congregations have very \nlittle insight into the thing itself, and still less into \nthe method of its attainment."* \n\nSuch shortcoming as is here spoken of, is the less \nlikely to be usually regretted, as the true standard is \nso rarely presented. But seeking that standard in the \nScriptures, turning fresh from its glowing presentation \nof Christ and His fulness, surely all will admit that it \nis not merely an exception, but a rare one, to see any \nsuch state of blessedness in actual life. \n\nThere are many who believe in such fulness, and \ndare not let go their faith in it ; but they are com- \n\n* " Thoughts on Personal Religion," by Edward Meyrick \nGoulburn, D.D., p. 12. \n\n\n\nTHE LAND OF PROMISE. \n\n\n\n39 \n\n\n\npelled to confess that they have not found it. There \nare many who have seen it with their eyes, and \nreached out eager hands to it ; but they do not hold \nit. They strive, they wrestle ; but it seems ever to \nelude them. The ideal does not become the real, \nand " the there is never here." \n\nChristians grow reconciled to a state which has \nbecome so common, and then from concluding it to \nbe a universal experience, they end by regarding it as \na necessity. \n\nBut such can never be the earliest expectation of \na soul that has heard for itself, and from Jesus, the \ncall to come unto Him. Every one who has heard \nthat call, knew that it was " to glory and virtue ;" and \nthat as surely as the land of Canaan was set before \nthe Israelites, while God said, " Go up and possess \nit," so surely has His Voice come to our hearts, \nsaying, " Go up into the heavenly places in Christ \nJesus, where I will bless you with all spiritual bless- \nings. Go up and possess the peace that passeth \nunderstanding, even perfect peace. Go up and dwell \nin Christ, and, therefore, dwell in love, a perfect love, \nthat casteth out all fear. Go up and be filled with \nall the fulness of God. Go up and always triumph \nin Christ Jesus." \n\nAnd now falling back upon our allegory, let us \nventure, for the sake of an illustration, to add to it a \nsimple fable. \n\n\n\n40 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nSuli, an Egyptian philosopher, is returning home \nfrom a long journey, and in crossing the desert, sud- \ndenly comes upon the camp of the Israelites. It is a lit- \ntle over a year since they left his own land, but he has \nnot heard of it, and is full of wonder. In no unfriendly \nspirit he enters the tent of a man whom he had once \nknown as a slave, now a prince among his people, \nNahshon, the son of Amminadab, the head of the \ntribe of Judah.* He sits down and listens with pro- \nfound interest to the account of the plagues ; of the \nlast fearful night ; the sprinkled blood and the Pass- \nover Lamb ; the crossing of the Red Sea on foot, \nand the drowning of all their pursuers. He is told \nalso of the discipline and training of the people. The \ngiving of the Law at Sinai is described, and the sig- \nnificance of their worship. Full of astonishment, it \nis now his turn to speak. \n\n" Marvel not, O Nahshon, that thy servant is well- \nnigh silent with astonishment. No tale like this hath \nmine ear ever heard. And not the least wonderful \nof all is that which mine own eyes can see, the \nchange in the people themselves. I doubt not these \nwords of thine concerning any of those great won- \nders. And yet this is the miracle to me : When I \nset out from Egypt but two years since, you were, \nas thou thyself knowest, a most abject people. And \nI find you here a well-governed nation \xe2\x80\x94 an army \ntrained for the battle. Truly, O Nahshon, thy people \n* Num. i. 7. \n\n\n\nTHE LAND OF PROMISE. 4I \n\ndeserve this freedom. But now let me ask of thee \nyour purpose for the future. You can not surely live \nalways in this desert, and I see you are still journey- \n\ntog." \n\n" I have yet to tell thee of this, O Suli," replies the \nPrince, " as the chief thing of all. A good land and \nlarge has been given us. The land of Canaan was \npromised to our father Abraham hundreds of years \nsince, and the promise repeated to his heirs Isaac \nand Jacob. And when the Lord first spake of our \ndeliverance to Moses, He told him precisely how He \nwould first bring us out of Egypt, and then into Ca- \nnaan. Having performed the one, He is now prepar- \ning for the other ; and though we have by our way- \nwardness hindered Him, yet we are now upon the \nvery eve of entering the Land." \n\n" But art thou, O Nahshon, sure of this ? Dost thou \nnot fear the struggle ? I have myself passed through \nthe land, and the tribes holding it are fierce and \nstrong. They are well-armed, and have walled cities. \nIt is true, the country is exceedingly fair and fertile. \nIt could not well be better suited to your wants, but \npardon thy servant, O Nahshon, if he can but doubt \nif you ever come to possess it. What, then, if you \nshould fail ? What other plan have you to fall back \nupon ? Is there still any other country where you \ncould get a foothold ?" \n\n" We were never promised any other, and as we \nhave so long been promised this, we can see no possi- \n\n\n\n42 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nble reason why we should not get it. It is not at all \nmore impossible than our rescue from Egypt. And \nwere it, O Suli, even tenfold harder than thou think- \nest, it would matter naught, for our God never makes \na promise which He can not keep." \n\n" But still, in case you should fail, which wouldst \nthou judge to be wisest \xe2\x80\x94 to go back to Egypt, or \nattempt to live in this desert ?" \n\n" We shall never return to Egypt. Thinkest thou, \nO Suli, that we could at all endure its bondage now? \nAnd as for this desert, it is only a place to pass \nthrough. We have learned from its hardships both \nself-denial and faith in God. But surely we could \nnever become what we are told we shall be, with such \nsurroundings. Besides, it would be out of all keep- \ning with the ways of our God. However, we need \nnot consider such a case. Verily, O Suli, I do wrong \nto even suppose it. As our father Abraham has said, \n\' What God has promised He is able also to perform /\'" \n\n" This, then, is thy thought, O Nahshon, that your \nHelper is so mighty that there is no need to think \nat all of your own weakness. Thy trust in thy God \nis sublime indeed. But tell thy servant, \xe2\x80\x94 are there \nno conditions ? Is there nothing left to yourselves \nto fulfil, so that a chance of failure remaineth after \nall ? " \n\n" Yes, Suli, there are conditions, yet not of our \nstrength, but simply of our faith in God. He might \ndelay His promise, or even break it if we failed to \n\n\n\nTHE LAND OF PROMISE. \n\n\n\n43 \n\n\n\ntrust Him. But how could that ever happen ? We \nhave had so many proofs of what He is and of what \nHe does, that to begin now to doubt whether He \nwill keep His word or not, were to deny almost His \nvery being \xe2\x80\x94 a God of Truth and a God of all Power. \nAs I said before, so say I now again, O Suli, \n* What God has promised He is able also to \n\nPERFORM.\' " \n\n\n\nand wiblamable, and unreprovable in His sight* \'He gave \nHimself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and \n\npurify unto Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.\' \n4 The blood of Jesus, who through the eternal Spirit offered Him- \nself without spot unto God, shall purge your conscience from \ndead works, to serve the livmg God\' 4 Who His ownself bore \nour sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, \nmight live unto righteousness\' These statements seem to indi- \ncate that our redemption from the guilt and penal consequences \nof sin, was intended to be the means to an ulterior end \xe2\x80\x94 that \nend being our personal sanctification." \xe2\x80\x94 The Doctrine of Holy \nScripture respecting the Atonement, pp. 194, 195. \n\n* Col. i. 28, 29. f Col. iv. 12. \n\n* Cf. 1 Cor. x. 6; 1 Cor. x. 11. \n\nupon this law of mutual resemblance. The study of Scripture \nderives from it much of its charm and interest, for each special \naspect of Divine truth can be perfectly combined with every other. \nNay, more, the whole scheme of nature, the whole history of life \n\nis based upon the law in question All things, according to \n\nthe poet, by a law divine, mingle in one another\'s being. And \nif the discovery of profound resemblances of form and analogies \n\nof structure, where others see only wide divergencies and palpa- \nble contrasts, be to the naturalist one of the purest of his pleas- \nures, inasmuch as it brings him into contact with the Great Mind \n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. \n\nTHE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. \n\nU CO WE SEE THAT THEY COULD NOT ENTER \n^ IN BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF." \xe2\x80\x94 (Hcb. iii. 19.) \n\nThe men to whom the searching of the land was \nentrusted were no ordinary spies. Chosen from each \nof the tribes, they were all " heads of the children \nof Israel " \xe2\x80\x94 " every one a ruler." " So they went up \nand searched the land ;"* and a search that extended \nthrough forty days must have been a thorough one. \nFrom north to south they saw with wondering eyes \nsuch bounties as they had never seen before. They \npassed on to the shores of the great sea. They be- \nheld Lebanon and its cedars. They rested before \nthe peaks of Hermon and Carmel. They followed \nthe bed of the Jordan from the beautiful lake where \nit is born, to that sea in which it dies. They marked \nthe countless hills and valleys, and the multitude of \nbrooks. They saw, also, their enemies, the strong- \nholds, and the very giants. They went to the graves \nof their fathers at Hebron, and saw there in that old \ncity the three sons of Anak, whose names are so sin- \ngularly preserved, f \n\nOne can but listen in imagination to the talk of \n\n* Num. xiii. 21. \\ Num. xiii. 22. \n\n(44^ \n\n\n\nTHE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. \n\n\n\n45 \n\n\n\nthese men as they journey over those hills. What \noutbursts of joy \xe2\x80\x94 what sighs of dismay ! What rea- \nsoning in their hearts, and what constant interchange \nof hopes and fears ! \n\nAnd now they have returned, and the whole con- \ngregation, with Moses and Aaron at their head, stand \naround, ready to listen to the travellers. " Beautiful \nupon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth \ngood tidings ;" and blessed might their feet have been \nthat day. There is a hush of expectation : " We \ncame into the land and surely it floweth with milk \nand honey ;" and then, slowly lifting that heavy \ncluster of grapes of Eshcol from the staff resting \nupon the shoulders of two of them, and upraising \nit in the sight of all,\xe2\x80\x94 " This is the fruit of it ! "* \nWhat visions of plenty are swimming before all \nthose straining eyes ! How the little children even \nclap their hands for joy ! \n\nBut listen, the men have not told all ! " Neverthe- \nless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and \nthe cities are walled and very great ; and, moreover, \nwe saw the children of Anak there." And now, \nwith a minuteness not given to the other side of the \npicture, they go on to describe their enemies : " The \nAmalekites dwell in the land of the south : and the \nHittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in \nthe mountains : and the Canaanites dwell by the sea \nand by the coast of Jordan/\' f \n\n* Num. xiii. 27. f Num. xiii. 28, 29. \n\n\n\n. \n\n\n\n\n46 , THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\n\xe2\x96\xa0 - \n\n\n\nAj ;oi>ce all those eager faces are downcast, and \nmurmurs and cries are heard. And why should they \nnptrfear ? These men who speak are their rulers \xe2\x80\x94 \xe2\x96\xa0 \ntheir leaders. If such are terrified, why not they ? \nTherefore, it seems a decisive voice \xe2\x80\x94 a voice of \nauthority. But now Caleb, who has claimed by faith \nhis own possession, and knows better than any what \nfoes they have to meet, stands forth to still the peo- \nple : " Let us go up at once and possess it ; for we \nare well able to overcome it." * By his side is \nJoshua, but they are only two, and the ten again \nrepeat : " We be not able to go up against the peo- \nple, for they are stronger than we."f And now they \nforget all else, and their fears swollen by this tide.of \npopular feeling, they go on to present the darkest \npossible picture, which, as truthful men, they could \nventure to give : " The land through which we have \ngone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhab- \nitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are \nmen of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, \nthe sons of Anak, which come of the giants : and we \nwere in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we \nwere in their sight ! " % \n\nO Princes of Israel ! if only as ye went upon your \nway, ye had bethought yourselves to sing once more \nthe song ye once sang so well : " All the inhab- \nitants of Canaan shall melt away. Thy right hand, \nO Lord, is glorious in power ! " \xc2\xa7 But no, they for- \n* Num. xiii. 30. f Num. xiii. 31. % Num. xiii. 33. \xc2\xa7 Ex. xv. \n\n\n\nTHE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. \n\n\n\n47 \n\n\n\ngot even to make mention of His name. They saw \nonly themselves and their enemies ; and so seeing, it \nwas but a slight hyperbole to draw the contrast of \ngrasshoppers and giants. They had lost sight of the \nLord. Had they only lost sight of themselves, while \nthey looked to Him, how different had been the con- \ntrast \xe2\x80\x94 no longer between grasshoppers and giants, \nbut between giants and God ! Would the feet of a \ngiant fall heavily upon the grasshopper in his path ? \nMuch more would the strongest enemy melt away \nbefore the advancing feet of the Lord strong and \nmighty ! And herein it was " an evil report " rather \nthan a false one, that it ignored God \xe2\x80\x94 His promise \nand His power. \n\nAll that night throughout the vast camp, lying \ndown but the night before to happy dreams of the \nland so close before them, is heard the sound of \nweeping.* And well may they weep, cince they \nhad lost that buoyant hope. The terror and grief \nbecome at last a panic. As the strong men look \nupon their wives and children, who give way to still \nmore violent emotion, they ask, with indignation, \n" Are these to be a prey ? Wherefore hath the Lord \nbrought us into this land ? Were it not better for \nus to return into Egypt ? " f And at once the bold \ndecision is made by which they take themselves out \nof God\'s hand \xe2\x80\x94 " Let us make a Captain and let us \nreturn into Egypt." \n\n* Num. xiv. i. t Num. xiv. 3, 4. \n\n\n\n48 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nBut who shall be the Captain to lead them back ? \nNot Moses, not Aaron. They are fallen flat upon \ntheir faces before all the people. Meanwhile, Joshua \nand Caleb make another attempt to rally the host. \n" The land which we passed through to search it, is \nan exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, \nthen He will bring us into this land and give it us ; a \nland which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel \nnot ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people \nof the land ; for they are bread for us : their defence \nis departed from them, and the Lord is with us : fear \nthem not." * The bravest and noblest words that \never came to rally a panic-stricken host ! Yet they \nonly vex and anger the people. And for standing \nthere and saying no new thing, saying only what \nGod had always said, they well-nigh met the fate of \nStephen \xe2\x80\x94 M All the congregation bade stone them \nwith stones. "f \n\nBut another voice is heard. As they look up, be- \nfore all their eyes, shining from out the Tabernacle, \nappears the glory of the Lord. He speaks to Moses : \n" How long will this people provoke me ? and how \nlong will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs \nwhich I have shewed among them ? " % I n these words \nwe see at once their real offence, and what sin of sins \nit was that stirred Him thus. Even at their last re- \nbellion it was something deeper than their lust that \nhad chiefly grieved Him ; for " a fire was kindled \n\n* Num. xiv. 7-9. t Num. xiv. 10. \\ Num. xiv. 11. \n\n\n\nTHE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. 49 \n\nagainst Jacob, and anger came up against Israel, be- \ncause they believed net in God, and trusted not in his \nsalvation." * But this word of God which they be- \nlieved not now, was a word so often given, so old, so \never new, that not to believe it was, indeed, to deny \nHim. What marvel that He said to Moses, " I will \ndisinherit them I" The sublime pleading of Moses \nwith his God, that unworthy as the people were, He \nwould yet regard His own honor among the heathen, \nwon at last the gracious answer, " I have pardoned \naccording to thy word."f But Pardon more often \nwisely includes chastisement, than excludes it ; and \neven because He kept them as His children, must \nHis hand be heavy upon them. Ten times the \nmen who had seen His glory, and all His signs, had \ntempted Him.J Their trial was complete. They \ncould not see the land. \xe2\x80\x94 " To-morrow turn you and \nget you into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea." \nAnd, so saying, He did but take them at their own \nword. They would not believe His Word, therefore \ntheir own should come to pass \xe2\x80\x94 " As truly as I live, \nsaith the Lord, as ye have spoken in my ears, so will \nI do to you : Your carcasses shall fall in this wilder- \nness Doubtless ye shall not come into the \n\nland concerning which, I sware to make you dwell \n\ntherein And ye shall know my breach of \n\npromise." \xc2\xa7 \n\n\n\n* Ps. lxxviii. 19-22. t Num. xiv. 20. \n\nt Num. xiv. 22. \xc2\xa7 Num. xiv. 28-34. \n\n3 \n\n\n\n5o \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nSlowly, but surely, the weary length of forty years, \nwere more than half a million of men to whom God \nhad given a home in Canaan, to find their graves in \nthe sand of the desert. There was little to break the \nmonotony of that nomad existence; but one toil never \nceased. Day after day,they carried forth out of their \ncamp the score or more of corpses of soldiers, who had \nfallen, not in battle, but because of their unbelief. \n\nA still sadder doom was assigned to the ten spies. \nWe justly count among the sins of darkest dye the \ndeliberate slander of a fellow-being. But these men \nhad slandered God. Upon the face of it, it was only \nan evil report against the land. But in reality it was \ncharging God both with untruthfulness and ineffi- \nciency: and for such a sin as this, "they died by the \nplague before the Lord."* \n\nFinally, we find that presumption takes the place \nof faith. They recognize at last their fearful mistake, \nbut not to humbly repent of it. Only their strong \nand stubborn wills refuse the punishment. Going up \nagainst their enemies to be smitten and discomfited, \nthey have to learn that not a step is safe unless God \ngo before them. \n\nForty years in the wilderness ! For forty years \ngrieving the Lord, and chastened by Him ! And yet \neven this is used to show forth His long-suffering and \ngoodness \xe2\x80\x94 " Being full of compassion," not even then \ndid He " stir up all His wrath." \n* Num. xiv. 37. \n\n\n\nTHE FAIL URE OF UNBELIEF. c i \n\nThere is a brief review of this period in the Acts, \nwhich forms a most interesting sequel to a statement \nof Moses. The latter, in reviewing the period previ- \nous to the provocation, says to the people : " Thou \nhast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a \nman doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went \nuntil ye came unto this place."* The Apostle Paul \ntakes the same view of the entire period. " And about \nthe time of forty years, even as a nurse beareth her \nchild, so bare He them through the wilderness. f " \n\nSo they were still His people \xe2\x80\x94 fed, guided, and \ndefended by Him ; and possibly abusing these very \nmercies, in concluding that even by these they might \nmeasure the lightness of their offence. \n\nWe might well suppose such a lesson as this his- \ntory furnishes to be too significant for the Scriptures \nto be silent respecting it. It is, in fact, one of \nthe most clearly applied among all these allegorical \nevents. Unquestionably it is the key-note of the \n\n* Deut. i. 31. \n\nt Acts xiii. 18. "The beauty of this metaphor has been lost \nto the authorized version on account of the reading (hrpo-Koty- \nbpriozv instead of hpocbocpSpTjaev) adopted in the Textus Receptus. \nGriesbach, Scholz, and Lachman restored the latter reading on \nthe authority of the Uncial MSS., A. C. E. We regret to see \nthat Teschendorf has reinstated the former reading (because it \nhas a somewhat greater weight of MSS. of the Greek Testament \nin its favor) without taking into account the evident allusion to \nDeut. i. 31, where ToofyotyoprjaaL is acknowledged to be the correct \nreading." \xe2\x80\x94 Cony bear e and How son s Life and Epistles of St. \nPaul, vol. i. chap. vi. \n\n\n\n52 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nEpistle to the Hebrews, and with what distinctness \nis it announced : \xe2\x80\x94 " With whom was He grieved forty \nyears ? was it not with them that had sinned, whose \ncarcasses fell in the wilderness ? And to whom sware \nHe that they should not enter into His rest, but to \nthem that believed not ? So we see that they could \nnot enter in because of unbelief. Let us therefore \nfear, lest a promise being left us of entering into His \nrest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For \nunto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto \nthem ; but the word preached did not profit them, \nnot being mixed with faith in them that heard it. \nFor we which have believed do enter into rest." * \n\nAlas ! that the a?iy for whom He feared should \never mean the many \xe2\x80\x94 that a time should come when \nthe majority of Christians \xe2\x80\x94 the great mass of them, \nindeed \xe2\x80\x94 should at least seem to come short of this \nfulness of blessing. We believe them to be children \nof God \xe2\x80\x94 for they have known the sprinkling of the \nblood of the Lamb, and have come out from the \nworld into new life in Christ Jesus. They have been \nat Sinai and have listened to the Law, and have \ncome up more or less fully to its moral standard. \nBut beyond their present experience lie half the \npromises of God, and by far the more glorious half \nyet unfulfilled. No one could venture to claim that \nthe rich gifts of God, even to all spiritual blessings in \nheavenly places in Christ, are in the general posses- \n\n* Heb. iii. 17 \xe2\x80\x94 iv. 3. \n\n\n\nTHE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. 53 \n\nsion of the Church. The spirituality of Christians \ndocs not satisfy themselves, even according to their \nown low standard. \n\nThere is a class of teachers who distinguish very \nwidely between our standing and our state ; claiming \nthat however it may be as to the latter, any one who is \nin Christ at all has, by reason of the former, all these \nblessings. But it is this practical difference, phrase \nit as we may, that is so emphasized in Holy Scrip- \nture. It was a difference wide enough between prom- \nise and possession, to call forth God\'s utter displeasure \nof old. It is a difference wide enough now, between \nwhat He has given us in Christ, and what we have \nreceived in Him, to leave room for holy fear of exceed- \ning loss. The poor man may call himself rich the \nmoment he hears of the estate bequeathed him ; but \nit still profits him nothing till he has obtained it ; as; \nwe find, indeed, the bequest itself declares : " Every \nplace that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that \nhave I given unto you," \n\nThere is, however, another distinction to be drawn \nbetween the Travellers and the Wanderers ; between \nthe Travellers following Him who leadeth them about \neven with all their lingering, and who will speedily \nbring them to the Border of the Land ; and the Wan- \nderers turning back in unbelief and disobedience to \nspend all their lives in that wilderness \xe2\x80\x94 always com- \ning short. \n\nAs to the manner of this failure, the analogy is very \n\n\n\n54 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nclose between theirs and ours. It came about then, \nby their pausing to prove the promises of God by \nhuman opinion. When God said, "Go up all of you \nand possess the land," they said, " Nay, but we will \nlet twelve of our foremost men go up first, and bring \nus word about it, and we will abide by their judg- \nment." And it is still, through leaning to the word of \nman, instead of listening singly to the voice of God, \nthat we expose ourselves to further temptation. \n\nBut how justly responsible were they held, who let \ntheir own faithless fears turn back the multitude ! \nDo the ministers of Christ, indeed, understand what \nit means to be set for the defence of the Gospel ? \nDo they all remember that only as they are taught \nby the Holy Spirit, can they possibly teach spiritual \ntruth ? Do not some of them assume the guidance \nof immortal souls, when with a like lack of knowledge \nthey would never dream of steering a ship upon the \nseas? \n\nAnd what is the report which they bring of our \nLand of Promise ? As they stand before the people, \ndo they cheer them on, by telling them what good \nthings are in reserve for them, and how sure God is \nto give them to all that seek ? \n\nWe touch upon a most vital theme when we ask, \nWhat is the ministry of this age ? \n\nThere is one sort more prevalent than is suspected, \nin which Christ and His doctrines are made subordi- \nnate \xe2\x80\x94 often one may hope unconsciously \xe2\x80\x94 to philoso- \n\n\n\nTHE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. \n\n\n\n55 \n\n\n\nphy, erudition, and rhetoric. The only place which \nis left for the Gospel, is that of a prologue, or a perora- \ntion, or sometimes even a parenthesis. The sadness \nof it is, that such sermons are often preached with \nmuch acceptance ; and the sorrow of it is, they are \nsometimes preached by, apparently, earnest and sin- \ncere men, who are trammeled by training, or what \nthey suppose to be the demands of the age. They \nare men it may be of many gifts ; but none the less \nis the hearer left like the poor starved Traveller in \nthe fable, who found a pilgrim\'s pouch beside a well, \nand cried, " Here is my food !" but as he opened it, \nhe sighed, "Alas ! they are only pearls !" O ye who \nteach the people, \xe2\x80\x94 tricking out the Truth of God in all \nyour finery that she may pass with credit \xe2\x80\x94 trust her \nin her white-robed simplicity. Have you not some- \ntimes seen with shame how the homely, wholesome \nbarley-loaf was eagerly eaten, when all your fine con- \nfections failed ! \n\nBut passing by this class, and coming to the de- \nvoted men who desire to be utterly faithful in their \nstewardship \xe2\x80\x94 do they tell of these spiritual privi- \nleges? Do they seek \xe2\x80\x94 "striving mightily" \xe2\x80\x94 to \npresent every man perfect in Christ Jesus ? Do not \neven these falter? Or, if the fulness of Christ be \nproclaimed, is it not often as a study for our admira- \ntion ? If the beauty of holiness be delineated, is it \nnot as one of the lost Arts ? Is it often preached not \nonly as a possible, but a probable attainment ? \n\n\n\n56 THE FULNESS OF BLESSIXG. \n\nThere is a reason for this neglect, which may be \nassigned the more freely, as it would be the reason \noften given by God\'s servants themselves \xe2\x80\x94 that they \nhave no such experience ; and that they can not \nreally expect their hearers to be influenced by mere \nprecept. A joint reason might be added, that they do \nnot see around them the living examples of such truth. \n\nAt the same time there can be little doubt that \nmany most honestly hold back, because they have \nproved some flaw in the teaching, or some falsity in \nthe life, of those who have attempted to present the \nhigher truths of the Gospel. They are thus far right, \nthat of all shams, that of Sanctification is the most \nsickening \xe2\x80\x94 of all hollow pretences, that of holiness is \nmost fearful. But all falsities, all crudities, by which \nman may surround the Truth, do not for a moment \nmake that Truth itself less real or less lovely. \n\nOf old, they were ten against two, who brought the \nevil report, and discouraged the hearts of the people. \nWhat a warning against being guided by majorities \nin the things of God, or entrusting His cause to a \nhuman jury ! Has He not said, " Let God be true \nand every ma?i a liar !" \n\nYet the Lord does not so leave His truth to be \nutterly deserted. He had His two witnesses even \nthen. And who now ever cares to remember those \nother ten ? Their names are put on record, but are \nread unheeded \xe2\x80\x94 Caleb and Joshua are alone remem- \nbered and honored. Their nobility and their fidelity \n\n\n\nTHE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. \n\n\n\n57 \n\n\n\nmake every kindred chord throughout our hearts to \nvibrate. Surely no other two than they could have \nborne upon their shoulders those grapes of Eshcol ! \nBringing their good report they brought its proof \nalso. The Lord be praised that He ever reserves \nsuch witnesses. In every age there have been those \nwho not only spoke glorious things of the City of \nGod, but showed in their lives the choicest fruits of \nthe Spirit. True, men instead of tasting their grapes, \ntry to stone them with stones. They are ready to \nfling their hard thoughts and hard speeches against \nthem for a time, but in the end they trust them. \n\nBut while such is the responsibility of the leaders \nof the people, there is another resting upon all. It \nis no real excuse to say as they did of old, " Our \nbrethren have discouraged our heart," since our re- \nsponsibility is this : \xe2\x80\x94 " Yet in this thing ye did not \nbelieve the Lord your God." \n\nThere are few Christians who appear to understand \nhow fatal a sin is distrust. They are very apt to re- \ngard it as at worst an amiable weakness, while the \nreal stamp of it is this : "He that believeth not God \nhath made Him a UarT* We try to disguise this \ndoubting of God and His Word, by claiming that it \nis only doubt of ourselves ; that in our case, God\'s \nWord still remaining true, there are such very practi- \ncal difficulties that it can not be fulfilled ; forgetting \nthat these promises of God were addressed to man as \n\n* i John v. 10. \n3* \n\n\n\n53 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nhe is, in all the weakness and disadvantage of his \nfallen nature, and that nothing in our own constitu- \ntion or circumstances can be any hindrance to the \nmighty power of God. \n\nWhat if we should begin to discount human prom- \nises as we do these Divine pledges ? We see at once \nthat we could do no greater wrong to the friends who \nlove us. Every doubting of God\'s Word is a distinct \nstep towards atheism \xe2\x80\x94 for if we take away from our \nthought of God our confidence in His love, or power, \nor truthfulness, what is there left to receive the name \nof God ? Yet Christians who would be shocked be- \nyond measure at the thought of committing such sins \nas either theft or falsehood, commit with scarcely a \nthought of wrong, this great sin of making God a liar! \nAnd then as He lets it happen to them according to \ntheir fears, they are foolish enough to accept this as \na confirmation that they were right in their judgment. \nAnd because He still keeps over them His fatherly \ncare, they are presumptuous enough to think that \nthere is nothing so greatly amiss in their present \nposition. \n\nAnd thus there are those who will tell you that the \nChurch of Christ was never more flourishing than \nnow. They are ready to prove it by statistics of all \nsorts. Busy with their counting, they forget the ways \nof God, and see not the fingers that silently write \namid their boasting, " Thou art weighed in the bal- \nances, and art found wanting." The Laodicean sign \n\n\n\nTHE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. $g \n\nof entire satisfaction with themselves is fulfilled. \nThey appeal to the wealth and solid worldly stand- \ning of their organizations, and say complacently, \n" We are rich and increased with goods." Success \nis their idol, and spirituality is set at naught. Mean- \ntime they seem blinded as to the final effect of such- \na low state of Christian attainment upon the world, \nand forget how powerless to win souls is a Church that \nis not Christ-like ! \n\nBut along with the classes thus indicated, there is \na large and daily increasing number, who earnestly \ndesire some better thing; who have never assumed \nfor themselves any such position of unfaithfulness, \nbut simply find themselves involved in the general \nshortcoming. They are bent upon wholly following \nthe Lord their God, if only He will show them His \nway, and lead them out of their perplexities. For \nall such may the blessed lessons that follow in the \nBook of Joshua be as a message from the living God. \nMay He send out His light and truth, and guide \nthem, and bring them to this land of blessing. \n\nAnd now let some of these suggestions be still \nfurther enforced by a simple sequel to the fable that \nclosed the preceding chapter. \n\nNahshon, the son of Amminadab, is sitting at the \nhour of the evening sacrifice in his tent door. Lean- \ning upon his staff, he is watching with dim eyes the \nsmoke of the Altar as it rises against the westward \n\n\n\nCo THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nsky. Suddenly he is startled by a voice : " Art thou \nNahshon the Prince of Judah?" \n\nAnd he answered, " I am he, but I can not behold \nthy face. Tell me whence thou comest, and where- \nfore." \n\nAnd the voice made answer, " I am Suli, from the \nland of Egypt. Dost thou not remember that eight \nand thirty years ago, I did eat bread in thy tent ? \nSuffer me again to salute thee." \n\n" Thou art welcome, O Suli, and it pleaseth me \nthat thou hast turned thy feet hither once more \nwhile I am yet alive." \n\n" I thank thee for thy welcome, O Prince, but I \ncan not say in truth that I also am pleased to find theti \nwhere thou art. Despise not my pity, but I remem- \nber thy expectation of that \' good land and large/ as \nthou didst love to call it. Yet thou hast only shared \nthe common doom of man. He is born to hope and \ndisappointment. But thy sorrow, O Nahshon, is great, \nbeyond that of most ! " \n\n" Nay, Suli, thou art mistaken. I do not need thy \npity. Hast thou not heard how great a nation we \nare become ? When I was set over the house of \nJudah, they were but threescore and fourteen thou- \nsand and six hundred, and behold how greatly my \nown tribe has multiplied. See, also, how large are \nthe camps of Issachar and Zebulun, who do pitch \nwith me. Whereas those that are numbered in the \ncamp of Ephraim are nearly fourscore thousand less. \n\n\n\nTHE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. (5 X \n\nMy own tribe has always taken the lead in our march. \nAll this rejoiceth my heart." \n\n" But I see not, O Nahshon, how this can comfort \nthee under the failure of which I spake." \n\n" Failure, didst thou say? Suli, thou art mistaken. \nI do assure thee we have had great success. Behold, \nnow, our Tabernacle. When I made my first offer- \ning therein, I gave one silver charger, the weight \nwhereof was an hundred and thirty shekels. Like- \nwise a silver bowl of seventy shekels. I filled them, \nmoreover, with fine flour and oil, and gave with them \na golden spoon full of incense : and one and twenty \nsacrifices, for burnt-offerings, and sin-offerings, and \npeace-offerings. Likewise did all the Princes. When \nI had first made mine own offering, no man of them \nall offered less." \n\n" But thou art telling me of things that happened \nlong since. I did hear of this offering of thine as I \nleft thy tent before." \n\n" Let me tell thee, then, of our present prosperity. \nDidst thou behold as thou earnest the cattle of Reu- \nben and of Gad upon the pastures of Bashan ? It is \na land they say that excelleth for cattle, and their \nflocks and their herds have greatly multiplied." \n\n" Thou dost not, O Nahshon, understand my \nthought. I spake concerning men, and not of cat- \ntle." \n\n" Hast thou not, then, regarded the order of our \ncamp ? Behold our men of war \xe2\x80\x94 how they are trained \n\n\n\n62 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nto great skill ! Behold the discipline that is observed \nthrough all the host ! " \n\n" I have observed all these things this day ; but \nstill I can but judge that all this training is only to \nbe accounted of as the means unto some end. I do \nnot behold an end that is worthy of it. With all \nthese men of war you have not been able to enter \nthat land." \n\n" But hast thou considered, O Suli, what a train- \ning this manner of life is for us ? Have we no need \nto be taught patient waiting and submission ? It is \na part of our belief that our shortcomings work to- \ngether in the end for good. We are kept humble by \nthis proving. Who knoweth how our heart might \nhave been lifted up in pride had we dwelt upon the \nother side of Jordan ? " \n\n" How is it, O Nahshon, that in all this thou dost \nnot speak of thy God ? Thou didst ever make men- \ntion of Him, and not of thyself * when I did enter \nthy tent before. Is He still the God whom thou \ndost worship ? " \n\n" The same, O Suli ! and He forgiveth us oft." \n\n" Thou art wise, O Nahshon, and thy people with \nthee, to make the best of this failure, but it seemeth \nto me that thou art not wise when thou sayest that \nall is well with thee. Suffer me to ask one question \nfurther of thee. If, when Moses came to call you, \nhe had only given you the promise of your God to \nbring you out of Egypt, and had said nothing at all \n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. \n\n\n\n65 \n\n\n\nof Canaan, but, furthermore, had told you plainly \nthat you would spend forty years in the Desert, \nwould you have followed him ? Thinkest thou he \ncould have roused the nation without so great a \npromise ? " \n\n" Thou hast spoken rightly, and therein, as it seem- \neth to me, was the wisdom of such a promise. We \nneeded to set out with high hopes. There was time \nenough to learn afterwards to give them up, and to \ntake the other blessings of which I spake." \n\n" How sayest thou, O Nahshon ! Is thy God then a \nDeceiver, who must deal falsely with you to draw you \non ? Surely, thou didst tell me, eight and thirty \nyears ago, that He had given you such a promise, \nand that He would without fail give you that Land." \n\n" I marvel, O Suli, that thou dost not understand \nthis. The Land is ours. The promise is the same. \nNone of us for a moment doubt it. In all our holy \nsongs we still sing about it. We speak of it some- \ntimes to one another, that it is ours by right, for God \nhath given it to us. And, indeed, the only trouble \nis that while we know it to be our home, we have not \nyet reached it." \n\n" Nay, Nahshon, if this be thy philosophy, it is \nfalsely so called ; for surely not to possess that which \nwe have been promised, is worse than any poverty \nwhatsoever. Thy words as thou speakest now, do \ncontradict all whereof thou didst once assure me. \nOne word thou spakest then \xe2\x80\x94 the saying of thy father \n\n\n\n64 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nAbraham \xe2\x80\x94 hath ever been borne in mind by me as \nthe sublimest speech mine ears have ever heard \xe2\x80\x94 \n1 What God hath promised He is able also to per- \nform ! \' Not until then had I ever heard of a God of \nreal power, who had never failed to help His worship- \ners. A strange whisper sounded through my soul, \' This \nis that unknown God for whom thou seekest ! \' Yet \nhave I wandered on, over many lands, having resolved \nto spend my days in seeking after that which is true, \nand to make out what I might of this great riddle of \nlife, and to learn of those mysterious beings, whom we \nsee not, but who no less clearly seem to exist. And \nnow I had come back to thy people as the people of \nthe True and Living God. But from that which thou \nhast told me, I perceive that thou wast mistaken. \nEven He is not true ! All others, I am well per- \nsuaded, are false ; and now I must die, despairing of \never knowing whether there be a God that has power \nupon earth or no. Thou mayest be satisfied for thy- \nself, but thou hast made the heart of thy servant \nsad." \n\n" Stay, stay, my friend ! Thou dost force me to \nconfess that which I should have told thee at the first. \nOur God was faithful and true ; but we ourselves \nbecame disobedient, and refused to enter the land \nbecause of our fears. Therefore are all we who are \nmen to die in the wilderness ; and our children are \nyet to possess it, if they be willing and obedient. \nOnly a few remain among the living, and already, as \n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. \n\n\n\n6$ \n\n\n\nthou seest, O Suli ! is my strength decaying before \nmy time. So soon as the last of us hath departed, \nthey will cross over Jordan and possess that land. I \nrejoice for the sake of my children, for far be it from \nthem to live the life which I have lived. I can only \ntrust that we may render this service to our God ; \nthat all who follow will be warned by our example, \nwhat a fearful thing and bitter it is not to believe in \nthe word of our God. Surely all generations to come \nwill point the finger at us as they say, \' Take heed \nlest ye also come short after this example of unbe- \nlief.\' I must die, but may thy life, O Suli ! be spared \nto see with thine own eyes what glorious things the \nLord our God can do. And then, surely, thou wilt \ncast in thy lot with this people, and thou wilt say, \n\' This God shall be my God for ever and ever. He \nis true and faithful altogether.\' " \n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. \n\nCHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. \n\n" MOSES MY SERVANT IS DEAD. NOW, THERE- \nSA FORE, ARISE, GO OVER THIS JORDAN, THOU \nAND ALL THIS PEOPLE."\xe2\x80\x94 {Joshua i. 2). \n\nIn the lessons which are drawn in Holy Scripture \n\nfrom various events, there seems little care to bring \neven the moral antecedents into unity with the one \npoint which supplies the instruction. In reality, \nMoses was excluded from the promised land because \nhe spake unadvisedly with his lips. But in accord \nwith Christ\'s own manner of teaching,* we are at \nperfect liberty to draw a lesson from his removal to \ngive place to Joshua, as though this cause had not \nexisted. Unquestionably his death at this critical \nperiod, and the raising up of a new leader whose \nvery name anticipated Jesus,f were designed to teach \n\n* See, for instance, the Parables of the Friend at Midnight, and \nthe Unjust Judge. \n\nt " Instead of Hosea, t\\ e., help, which he was already called \nas the delegate of his tribe, Moses named him, with little change \nof the sound, but with an important addition to the sense, Jeho & s- \nhua, *. e., God help."\xe2\x80\x94 Ewald. \n\n" Such a union of mildness with strength, of simplicity with \n(66) \n\n\n\nCHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. \n\n\n\n6 7 \n\n\n\nus the separate spheres of Law and Grace \xe2\x80\x94 " The \nLaw was given by Moses, but Grace and Truth came \nby Jesus Christ." * \n\nAs they could not possibly enter Canaan until Moses \nhad died, so the Law is in one sense a hindrance. It \ncan never introduce us into the fulness of the bless- \ning of the Gospel of Christ. It must not only die, \nbut be buried, and all the days of its mourning \nmust be ended. It might be objected to such an \napplication of these facts, that had the people en- \ntered Canaan from Kadesh-Barnea, Moses would in \nthat case have been their leader. But the same ex- \nception might be taken to many an inspired com- \nment. The bare event itself, apart from cause or \ncircumstances, is counted sufficient for " the analogy \nof faith." \n\nAnd this special lesson, though not drawn for us \nby any inspired writer, is in the fullest harmony with \ntheir teaching. The whole Epistle to the Galatians \nis an earnest adjustment of the relations of Law and \nGrace \xe2\x80\x94 Works and Faith \xe2\x80\x94 Moses and Christ. One \nof the most important sections of the Epistle to the \n\n\n\nprudence, of humility with magnanimity, has in it something \nevangelical. This peculiarity of his character, together with the \npeculiarity of the period in the kingdom of God in which he \nlived, and of the position which he took, makes him and his \nwork a rich type of Him that was to come." \xe2\x80\x94 F. R. Fay : \xe2\x80\x94 \nLange\'s Com. \n\n* John i. 17. \n\n\n\n6% THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nRomans deals with the same subject, entering into \nsome of its deepest difficulties. In both of these \nEpistles the truth that is taught has special reference, \nnot to conversion, but to Christian life. It is, in fact, \nat some of the advancing stages of his course, that \nthe disciple begins to find his need of such strong \nprotests against the law. The usual tendency is to \nrun well for a season, and then to be hindered. \nAnd while many other things may at first cause the \nfailure of God\'s children to enter their glorious in- \nheritance, there can be no doubt that subsequently, \nby far the greatest hindrance is their legality. \n\nThe moment that faith ceases to look unto Jesus, \nit loses all that heavenly vision that lies above the \nhorizon ; and as the eye is still lowered, and the \nglance shortened, there is only self for it to rest \nupon ; \xe2\x80\x94 not always self in its indulgent forms, but \nself in its sufficiency; self even in its denials; self \nin all its solitary struggles. The history of many a \nChristian has for its chief data his so-called holy reso- \nlutions. \n\nSo blinded are the victims of this legality that they \nnever dream of such a snare being set for them. They \nfind themselves convicted of failure. Stirred up by \nthe power of the Spirit, the will is aroused from its \ncarelessness, and returns to its loyalty to God. And \nthen it begins to act in its own strength. It says to \nitself, "It shall no longer be thus; I will from this \nmoment lead a better and nobler life ; I will put \n\n\n\nCHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. \n\n\n\n69 \n\n\n\nforth all my efforts, and surely God will help me." \nAnd so this poor, humbled will regains its own self- \nrespect. It begins to build up a reputation for itself \nIt does not see that this is self-reliance and not \nFaith. \n\nGreatly to its astonishment it finds that it does not \nsustain this purpose. And now to its solemn resolu- \ntions it adds its vows. It will bind itself to God\'s \nwill so that it can not break away. And lo ! the \nvow is vanity. Now it adds intenser effort \xe2\x80\x94 " I must \nwrestle \xe2\x80\x94 I must struggle \xe2\x80\x94 it can not be that I am to \ngo down before the puny power of these petty pas- \nsions \xe2\x80\x94 that the things which I despise should yet \nmaster me." It is confounded when it finds that all \nthese efforts only seem to call out the strength of its \nfoe. Seeing that the battle is, indeed, desperate, it \nbetakes itself more earnestly to prayer, but not to the \nprayer of simple trust. It is only a varied exercise \nof its own energy. It is only fulfilling one more of \nthe many works which it is told it must perform. Its \nreliance is really more upon prayer than upon God. \nIt is in utter consternation when it finds that even \nyet its help cometh not. What further can it do ? \nIt catches a watchword, " Believe only !" Ah ! surely \nit has found the secret now ! and leaving all else it \nwill do this alone. Yes, it will believe, and it puts \nforth its last tremendous energy in what it calls an \nact of trust, but still self-originated, self-centred. \n\nThus every stepping-stone which God has furnished \n\n\n\n70 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS CF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nby which Faith may draw nigh to Him, Legality \nturns into a stone of stumbling. Its provided helps \nbecome its hindrances, and only by repeated defeat \ndoes it learn that the law is but a standard, and never \nstrength. It brings with it no power to fulfil itself, \nand so becomes weak, indeed, through the flesh. \n\nTo say that it finds no ability in man to keep it, \nwould be to deny all moral responsibility. To some \nextent it finds man able to observe in it its letter. \nBut as the Law becomes Spiritual, as its significance \nunfolds, as the Law given at Sinai is expounded on \nthe Mount, as it claims the thoughts and intents of \nthe heart, it finds the utmost strength of man unequal \nto it. However meeting some of its requirements, \nyet in others failing, he is with all his care a trans- \ngressor. \n\nAnd the wretchedness of this failure is that he does \nnot do this evil thing of choice. To ivill the good \nis present with him, but how to perform it he finds \nnot. It is another law warring within him, and bring- \ning him into captivity. He is like the strong man \nupon whom insidious disease is creeping. His task \nis before him, and he applies himself without a mis- \ngiving of failure. A strange languor drags him down. \nHe is not doing it as he ought, and again he bestirs \nhimself. And as he still fails, he goads himself on \neven with violence. But at last the law of disease \nassents its full might, and he falls powerless. Sin is a \ndisease. It works through all our nature like a poi- \n\n\n\nCHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. \n\n\n\n71 \n\n\n\nson. The claims of the law were adjusted to health ; \nand while under this disturbance there is the constant \nand inevitable failure to meet them all. The sick man \nmust be healed before he can possibly fulfil the tasks \nof health. \n\nOr, it is as when the frosts of winter still hold in \ntheir death-like grasp the trees of the forest and the \nseeds in the bosom of the earth. A law of growth \nhas been given them. But this other law utterly \nopposes it. You place the perfect seed in the soil, \nand you ask it to fulfil the law of its being. It can \nnot, until the soft showers have touched it, until the \nquickening rays of the sun have reached it. This law \nof growth is dependent upon powers that are to reach \nit from above. By itself it is a prisoner forever. \n\nAnd so at last, man learns that the great law of his \nspiritual being is, that he shall live by Faith. He learns \nthat his life is always derived, and always dependent. \nHe learns that a power outside of himself, even the \npower of Christ, must be brought to bear steadily \nupon him, and so control him continually, if he ever \nfulfils his destiny. As he needed once a Justifier, so \nhe always needs a Sanctifier. \n\nWhen he sees at last that the help must be a Liv- \ning Helper, when he ceases to ask, " What shall I \ndo ?" and cries instead, " Who shall deliver me ?" he \nis very near his only possible answer \xe2\x80\x94 " Jesus Christ \nour Lord." He wages an unequal warfare till the \nlaw of sin and death is met by " the law of the spirit \n\n\n\n72 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nof life in Christ Jesus." When this mighty Ally \nenters, the Usurper is mastered, and the soul is made \nfree. \n\nHenceforth weak as ever in itself, it learns what it \nis to be " strengthened with might by the Spirit in \nthe inner man." Such words as, " Christ liveth in \nme," are now no vague and mystic speech, but the \nsimplest expression of absolute truth. The death of \nMoses marked a new epoch. But it marks a more \nwondrous epoch in the history of our souls when we \ngive up the law as our Leader, and are given over \nfully to the power of Jesus. In some respects it is a \ncritical change,* for we need thoroughly to under- \n\n\n\n* Olshausen\'s clear spiritual insight becomes especially power- \nful in his treatment of this subject \xe2\x80\x94 as, for instance, in these few \ndetached passages : "The lofty aim of man, the SiKaioavvrj Qeov, \nis to be obtained without law through faith in Christ. By the \n%o>pk vofiov, however, as is self-evident, it is not intended to ex- \npress a renunciation of the law, for the law is holy and good, \nand necessary for all phases of life, but to designate the altered \n\nposition in which man stands to the law The condition \n\nin which man is thoroughly one with the law, even as our Lord \ntells us God Himself is, constitutes exactly that dinaLoavvr} Qeov, \nto which faith brings us, because through faith man receives the \nbeing of God into the depths of his soul." \n\n" That which is new in the Gospel does not consist in a more \nexcellent system of morality, but in this, that the Gospel opens a \nnew source of stre?igth, by means of which true morality is at- \ntainable." \n\n" The death of the faithful in the old man is connected with \nthe death of the Redeemer, so that His death was their death, \nand did not merely prefigure it As little as the wife may \n\n\n\nCHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. \n\n\n\nn \n\n\n\nstand that thus we do " not make void the law," but \never " establish the law," till the righteousness of the \nlaw is fulfilled in us. \n\nLife is its own law. Lifeless things are fashioned \nfrom without. The Masterpiece of Architecture must \nbe led slowly up \xe2\x80\x94 shaped with line and plummet, and \nsquared and measured continually ; and meanwhile, \na tiny seed shall, without line or measure, or the touch \nof a human hand upon it, or the outward application \nof any law, shape itself into the perfect grace and \nsymmetry of a forest tree. How it mocks all art ! \nArt may copy its arching, interlacing boughs, Art \nmay shape its lordly pillars also ; but how shall it \n\n\n\nwantonly separate from her husband, since his death is requisite \nfor her liberation : so little may the " I " free itself from the law \nas long as the old man is living. If this is done, therefore, as is \nalways the case where a mere seeming faith prevails, it is a \nspiritual adultery, the lust after false freedom, that is, licentious- \nness, lawlessness. The liberation from the law rightly takes \nplace only where the new man arose in the stead of the old, \nwhere, therefore, Christ is truly living in the man. There is no \nlicentiousness, for Christ brings with Him the strictest law where- \nsoever He works ; but the yoke of the law is removed by that \nlove which is shed into the hearts. This love urges to do more \nthan the law requires, and to fulfil every act with purer intention \nthan the most threatening law can demand. For love is insa- \ntiable. She never satisfies herself and the Beloved ; she burns \non till with her fire she glows through the whole heart and \nbeing, and has sacrificed her all to the Beloved. After this \nmanner works the Gospel all in man without law, although it \nexacts nothing from him, but only promises, and gives to him." \n\xe2\x80\x94 Olshausen on the Romci7is {Clark\'s Edition), pp. 143-231. \n4 \n\n\n\n74 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\never carve out those countless leaves, and keep them \nmoving lightly in their airy dance ! It is a thing of \nlife. Its law was hidden in itself, and yet how true \nto law. The pattern once given by God to the parent \nstock is faithfully reproduced. Thousands of years \nago God said, " Let the earth bring forth the fruit \ntree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in \nitself, and it was so." And it is still so. That which \nwe watch with wonder is the continuous creation of \nGod. \n\nAnd such is the manner of that inward law by \nwhich fallen man comes to be " renewed after the \nimage of Him that created him." Born again of in- \ncorruptible seed, it must develop in the likeness of \nthat from which it is derived. " Whosoever is born \nof God doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth \nin him : and he can not sin, because he is born of \nGod."* It is a strong statement, but it is held to \ntruthfulness by all the analogy of nature. It is the \nglorious law of the Spirit of Life. Wherever Christ \nis allowed to come, He comes with creative power, \nboth killing and making alive. He comes in to be \nHimself all in all. He comes into our being with \nHis Edict, " Behold, I make all things new !" \n\nAs a striking preparation for the removal of Moses, \nwe find him in renewed authority. Deuteronomy is \ncomposed almost entirely of his words. There all \nGod\'s dealings with His Chosen pass in solemn re- \n\n* I John iii. 9. \n\n\n\nCHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. \n\n\n\n75 \n\n\n\nview. Then the Law is recapitulated, but with a \nsignificant change that may well be stamped in the \ntitle of the Book as a Second Law. It is given now \nnot so much in threatening as in blessing. Richer \npromises cluster around it. It constantly anticipates \nthe life of Israel in the Land of Promise. It is the \nLaw less in its letter and more in its spirit ; as, for \ninstance, in the sixth chapter, where all the com- \nmandments are headed up in one that so wonderfully \nanticipates the Gospel : " Thou shalt love the Lord \nthy God with all. thine heart, and with all thy soul, \nand with all thy might."* The purpose of the Law \nstands out more clearly \xe2\x80\x94 "for thy good alwayT And \nat length the Law clothes itself with the soft tints of \nthe morning, and almost shines with the same glory \nthat shines in the face of Jesus Christ, as God is \nspoken of as having a delight in them to love them, \nand as rejoicing over them for good. \n\nAnd in this is prefigured the pathway by which the \nsoul passes out into the fulness of Grace. A Deuter- \nonomy is as needful a preparation as Sinai. The Dis- \nciple of the Law has not outgrown his tutelage till, \nfrom the mere use of rules, he passes to the deep \nprinciples that underlie them. The Law thus even \nrevives in preparation for its passing, and with less \nof terror, and more of love, makes its claims to be \nmore imperatively felt than ever. \n\nAnd now it is almost ready to depart ; and yet one \n\n* Deut. vi. 5. \n\n\n\nj6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nthing remains to be done. There has come through \nall this discipline, this leading on and on, the most \nintense desire to reach the goal. Shall it have no \nglimpse of all the grace it has been ministering unto ? \nEven so Moses entreated the Lord \xe2\x80\x94 " I pray thee let \nme go over and see the good land that is beyond \nJordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon." \n\nAnd so he stood upon the top of Pisgah, while the \nLord, who stood beside him ready to give him burial, \nshowed him all the land. The eye that was not dim \nreceived, doubtless, some new power as God bade him \nlook \xe2\x80\x94 " This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, \nunto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it un- \nto thy seed ; I have caused thee to see it with thine \neyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. "* \n\nNot then, and not until his Lord summoned him \nfrom that valley sepulchre which none else knew, to \nclimb another mountain, and appear there with a fel- \nlow-servant who had not tasted even death as he was \ntaken up \xe2\x80\x94 both of them sharing now in their Lord\'s \ntransfiguration ; talking not of that mystic burial, \nnot of that mysterious chariot of fire, but of that \ndecease yet to be accomplished at Jerusalem. When \nChrist is glorified, Law and Prophecy appear with \nHim in glory ; yet in such wise that their light is \nspeedily absorbed in His, and the eyes that look see \n" JESUS ONLY," and the ears that hearken are bidden \nto " hear Him." \n\n* Deut. xxxiv. 4. \n\n\n\nCHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. \n\n\n\n77 \n\n\n\nIn the first command that reaches Joshua after the \ndeath of Moses, we find an expression full of mean- \ning \xe2\x80\x94 " Thou and all this people." Throughout the \nBook we never find the Lord speaking directly to the \nnation ; but as the " Lord spake unto Joshua," so " he \nspake unto the people." It had been thus since they \nsaid unto Moses, " Speak thou with us and we will \nhear; but let not God speak with us lest we die."* \nBut not only is Joshua the mediator between the Lord \nand Israel, in the same manner that Moses was, but \nwe find now a new identification between the Leader \nand People : He is included with them and they with \nhim. "Go thou over this Jordan;" \xe2\x80\x94 " Be thou \nstrong and very courageous;" \xe2\x80\x94 "I have given into \nthine hand Jericho." In all these charges the people \nalso are signified, but as represented in him. And \nso the Record is fitly called, not the Acts of the \nIsraelites, but the Book of Joshua. One person is \npre-eminent. \n\nThe spiritual truth with which this is in harmony \nis of exceeding importance. Our Gospel is the Gos- \npel of Jesus Christ, not of any truth or blessing apart \nfrom Him. Standing as the Mediator between God \nand Man, not only has He entered into heaven for \nus, but also in every step of His pathway He took \nus with Him, saying evermore to His Father, " Behold \nI and the children whom thou hast given Me !" f \n\nAnd He did this not ideally, but in a sense as true \n* Ex. xx. 19. t Heb. ii. 13. \n\n\n\n78 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nas it is deep. That which was true of the parent \ntree, is true of its branches. We do not assign one \nage to its trunk and another to its twigs. We speak \nof it as a unit. This same continuity of life belongs \nto mankind. Thus St. Paul speaks of Levi paying \ntithes in Abraham. So, also, he says, " I HAVE BEEN \ncrucified with Christ." So he reasons that if " One \ndied for all, therefore all died." So he teaches us to \nreckon our rising into newness of life from His \nresurrection \xe2\x80\x94 " Ye were also raised again WITH \nHint."* \n\nTo Jesus was given the glorious work of conquer- \ning a possession for all His people. As the Prince \nof Faith, He passed through death to life, and took \nand held for us the heavenly heights of all spiritual \nblessing. Putting Himself as one of us, and speak- \ning as the Head of the whole Body, He declared, \n" For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also \nmight be sanctified through the truth. "f \n\nSo, then, the work of sanctification is primarily to \nbe regarded as that which Jesus has already done, not \nas that which we have yet to do. The completion \n\n* " If Christ took our nature upon Him by an act of love, it \nwas not that of one, but of all. He was not one man only \namong men, but in Him all humanity was gathered up. And \nthus now, as at all time, mankind are, so to speak, organic- \nally united with Him. His acts are in a true sense our acts, so \nfar as we realize the union ; His death is our death, His resurrec- \ntion our resurrection." \xe2\x80\x94 Westcotfs Gospel of the Resurrection. \n\nt John xvii. 19. \n\n\n\nCHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. \n\n\n\n79 \n\n\n\nof it is simply this, that we apprehend that ior which \nwe were apprehended by Jesus Christ. \n\nThus, in Christ, Christian experience is no longer \nproblematical. It is only the corollary of faith fol- \nlowing from the truth which He has demonstrated. \n\nThe intellectual apprehension of this truth, how- \never easy to some, appears to be extremely difficult \nto others. Yet its spiritual apprehension makes it \nsimple to all. Let it once be clearly recognized by \nfaith, and we stand forthwith upon new ground. No \nlonger on the shifting sands of our narrow selfhood, \nwe tread the Rock of Ages in all its breadth and \nstrength. \n\nIt happens with this truth more often, perhaps, \nthan with others, that we think ourselves perfectly \nfamiliar with it, while knowing very little of it. In \nits real revelation to our souls there can be no mis- \ntaking it. It is no longer a theory at which we look, \nbut a Power that, like the living Creature in the \nwheels, lifts us up and bears us ever onward. \n\n" Thou, and all this people." \xe2\x80\x94 " Christ first, after- \nwards they that are Christ\'s." And so our career is \nalready certified, being only this, to follow Him whith- \nersoever He goeth. God\'s promise links togethei \nthe Leader and his followers when He declares, \n" Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread \nupon, that have I given unto you."* The feet of \nJesus have outstripped our feet ; but every place \n\n* Josh. i. 3. \n\n\n\ng THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nwhereon His blessed feet have rested, is already con- \nquered, and is ours as well as His. Life, death, things \npresent, things to come, all are ours, for we are Christ\'s. \nFar above us, up the heights we slowly climb, we see \nHis standard set already. " We see not yet all things \nput under us, but we see JESUS crowned with glory \nand honor." Since He is seated there, our place is \nthere \xe2\x80\x94 at Sion, not at Sinai. \n\nWe set at naught all this work of Christ, when we \ngo back to Moses, and with him exceedingly fear and \nquake before the terrible sight, and the trumpet of \nthe Law. How has our Captain charged us, \xe2\x80\x94 " See \nthat ye refuse not Him that now speaketh from \nHeaven." See that ye believe His truth and grace. \nSee that ye trust Him, and let the exceeding fear \ngive place to the exceeding joy of ever looking unto \nJesus, the Prince and Perfecter of Faith. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV. \n\nTHE BOUNDARY LINE. \n\nUr pHE GOOD LAND THAT IS BEYOND JORDAN." \n1 \xe2\x80\x94 (Dent. iii. 25). \nThe crossing of Jordan was to be the great initia- \ntive of the Conquest. All the events of their future \nwere focalized at this point, and, therefore, thither \ntheir eyes were always directed. " When ye be come \nover Jordan," was the fitting introduction of many a \nprecept. The wisdom of God is very apparent in \nleading His people out of Egypt by the way of the \nRed Sea, appointing that as the memorable boundary \nof the land of bondage, and there " baptizing them \nunto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." It is the \ncounterpart of this act to give them now a like bap- \ntism in Jordan \xe2\x80\x94 committing them, by another marked \ndisplay of His power, to the leadership of Joshua, \nand bringing them in with an arm outstretched as \nwide as when He brought them out. The two cross- \nings stand thus coupled in the second Psalm of the \nHallel, as similar displays of the presence and power \nof God \xe2\x80\x94 " What ailed thee, O thou Sea, that thou \nfleddest, thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back !" * \n\n* Ps. cxiv. 5. \n\n4* (81) \n\n\n\n82 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nElsewhere, we find an omission of the crossing of \nJordan as significant as this special mention of it. \nIn that sublime chapter in Hebrews, where the heroes \nof the kingdom pass along their triumphal way of \nFaith, there is a sudden hiatus of forty years, leaving \ntwo remote events in conjunction : " By faith they \npassed through the Red Sea as by dry land, which \nthe Egyptians assaying to do, were drowned. By \nfaith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were \ncompassed about seven days."* Up to this point \neach important step had been noted ; but the Apostle \nwould not turn aside to trace the by-ways of unbe- \nlief; no, not even to glance at that step of faith \nwhich ended them. The record with this silence \nrestores the true order of experience. Had there \nbeen no wandering, there would have been no Jor- \ndan to cross. \n\nIn harmony with this we find that the Epistles \nwhich describe so fully the doctrines of Christ, never \nteach that any second marked experience is needful \nto follow conversion save this \xe2\x80\x94 after they had be- \nlieved, to be " sealed with that holy Spirit of promise," \nwhich was the earnest of their inheritance.f The \nroute which they marked out for every traveller ran \ndirect to Kadesh-Barnea. Besides this, such was the \nfaith of the early disciples, that they could be usually \naddressed as those who were already in heavenly \nplaces, although very far, in some instances, from \n\n* Heb. xi. 29, 30. t Eph. i. 13, 14. \n\n\n\nTHE BOUNDARY LINE. \n\n\n\n83 \n\n\n\nhaving conquered all their enemies, and from possess- \ning all the land. The counsel adapted to them is \nprecisely that which we need, as we come to take the \nsame stand of faith. But until then we need another \nlesson. Thus, in the case of giving counsel to a for- \neigner already landed on our shore, we would say \nnothing about the sea. Whereas, were he on the other \nside, we would speak first of the most pressing point \n\xe2\x80\x94 how to cross. Such crossing over is unquestionably \nthe great need of the majority of Christians ; not to \nmake some slight change in their course, but to get \nupon new ground. \n\nAnd yet there may for many be other needs, lying \nback of this. Some may have accomplished their \nExodus who have not learned Leviticus ; \xe2\x80\x94 who have \nnot come to worship God in spirit and in truth. \nOthers, again, have never passed through Numbers \n\xe2\x80\x94 have never declared their pedigree and claimed \ntheir adoption. Others who have come thus far \nhave stopped short of Deuteronomy. Having drawn \nback in unbelief and lost their vantage ground, they \nhave never been roused to have the law revived in \ntheir hearts, and pressing its claims upon them with \nall the more force, for all that they have learned of \nthe goodness of God. Some, indeed, there seem to \nbe, who have even forgotten that there is a Land of \nPromise before them. They have neither climbed a \nPisgah for themselves, nor believed the report that \nhas been brought by others. \n\n\n\n84 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nDoubtless much of the failure of those who think \nfor a time that they have found the desired blessing, \nonly to learn their mistake, is the result of neglecting \nthis preliminary teaching. Their need is deeper than \nis apprehended by themselves or others. It is in vain \nto think of crossing over Jordan, until God has pre- \npared us to conquer and to hold the land ; and how \ncan this be done, unless we know assuredly that He \nis ours and that we are His? Happily, these ante- \ncedent steps, while all important to be taken, may \nbe rapidly taken ; and still more happily, a large \nnumber of Christians are prepared to take them as \nsoon as they are clearly pointed out. These are \nsteps of comparative ease ; but the step which now \nmore specially claims our attention, is one that no \nhuman foot can take by itself. God Himself must \nmake the pathway here ; and when it is made, His \nwonderful work will be coupled forever, in our \nthoughts and in our songs, with His first great work \nfor us : " The Sea saw it and fled ! Jordan was \ndriven back ! " \n\nWhat then does Jordan signify? and what more \ndoes it teach us than was signified in the Red Sea \ncrossing? St. Paul has taught us that the fathers \nwere " baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the \nsea." * It was a shadow of that substance concerning \nwhich he writes\xe2\x80\x94 " Buried with Him in baptism, \nwherein also ye are risen with Him." The Lamb \n\n* i Cor. x. 2. \n\n\n\nTHE BO UNBAR Y LINE. g 5 \n\nwith its sprinkled blood had set forth one all-impor- \ntant aspect of salvation \xe2\x80\x94 that of Atonement ; while \nthe Red Sea crossing was needed to set forth another \nno less important \xe2\x80\x94 Regeneration. With this \xe2\x80\x94 their \nbaptism \xe2\x80\x94 the old life ended and the new life began. \nThat crossing corresponded to conversion or the New \nBirth, of which Baptism now in its form and spirit is \nboth the symbol and the seal. \n\nThe Red Sea and Jordan alike signify Baptism, in \nits double meaning of Death and Resurrection. Yet \nthey differ in this, that the Red Sea gives prominence \nto the Death, and Jordan to the Resurrection. The \none marked the end of bondage \xe2\x80\x94 the other the en- \ntrance upon true freedom. Strictly speaking, the two \nevents have but one Antitype \xe2\x80\x94 the Death and Resur- \nrection of Jesus. Objectively they are one. But sub- \njectively, in our own death and resurrection with \nChrist, the two events give each experience its fitting \nemphasis. As one crossing took Israel out of Egypt, \nand the other into Canaan \xe2\x80\x94 so with us, one separates \nus from the world, the other leads into Heavenly \nplaces. Again, this further distinction appears : at \nthe Red Sea they were baptized unto Moses ; that \nis, unto fellowship with him in that faith by which \nhe had forsaken Egypt, and unto following him. At \nJordan they were committed to Joshua \xe2\x80\x94 precisely as \nwe follow the Law-giver, while it is the death of \nChrist that is mainly recognized, and then when we \nsee more clearly the Risen Lord, we follow the Life- \n\n\n\n86 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\ngiver. The great lesson of Jordan is the power of \nChrist\'s Resurrection* to separate us not only from \nEgypt, but from all wilderness wanderings, and to \nsecure for us an entrance into Heavenly places, f \n\nThe significance of Jordan may appear more clear \nfrom a glance at its hallowed associations. The Scrip- \ntures often use mere locality as the link of spiritual \ntruths. A singular instance appears in the words, \n" Out of Egypt have I called my Son," as applied to \nthe sojourn of the infant Jesus in that land \xe2\x80\x94 the \n\n\n\n* " Arise, sad heart, if thou dost not withstand, \nChrist\'s resurrection, thine may be : \nDo not by hanging down break from the hand, \nWhich, as it riseth, raiseth thee : \nArise, arise ; \nAnd with His burial-linen dry thine eyes." \n\n\xe2\x80\x94 George Herbert. \n\nt " It is obvious to every thoughtful Christian, that a strong \nlink of connection exists between the crossing of the Red Sea \nand of Jordan. It is found in the death and resurrection of the \nLord Jesus ; but there are two effects sensibly different and of \nreal importance, that we should distinguish. \n\n" Regarded in the type of the Red Sea, it is simply setting us \napart to God from the world, making us pilgrims while we are \npassing through it ; crossing the Jordan, or the death and resur- \nrection of Christ, in this point of view does far more. It is the \npower of that mighty work as bringing us into the possession \nof our heavenly blessings before we go there. We are made \nconsciously of Heaven ; we have still to fight before the time is \ncome to rest. In both cases it is not that merely is Christ dead \nand risen, but this applied to us by the Spirit." \xe2\x80\x94 Lectures Intro- \nductory to the Historical Books, by W. Kelly, p. 4. \n\n\n\nTHE BOUNDARY LINE. 87 \n\nutter unlikeness of the outward events forcing us to \nseek for some more subtle accord. \n\nAround the name of Jordan we find a group of \nevents which are in close alliance as to their inward \ncharacter. Jacob passed twice over Jordan \xe2\x80\x94 once as \nthe lonely pilgrim with his staff, and again returning \nwith his two bands. It was over Jordan that David \nfled in the darkness of the night from Absalom ; and \nto its banks he returned to be brought over it again \nin state, as king of the very hearts of his people. \nWhen Elijah was to be taken from Elisha, the two \nstood by Jordan till Elijah with his mantle smote the \nwaters, and they went over on dry ground; and again, \nElisha returned thither with a double portion of his \nmaster\'s spirit upon him, and himself smote the \nwaters, and passed safely through, as his first miracle. \nIn these instances, the first crossing is in poverty \xe2\x80\x94 \nin defeat \xe2\x80\x94 in sorrow ; and the second, is in wealth \xe2\x80\x94 \nin restoration \xe2\x80\x94 in triumph. \n\nAgain, this very crossing of Jordan by the Israel- \nites has another event as its companion. When Jacob \nwas carried back into Canaan to be buried, they went, \nit is expressly noted, beyond Jordan to the threshing- \nfloor of Atad, lying between the river and Jericho.* \n" There they mourned with a great and very sore \nlamentation." The head of their nation was gone. \nIn the cave of Machpelah reposed the bones of Abra- \nham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that sepulchre was their \n\n* Gen. 1. 10. \n\n\n\n88 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nsole possession in the land promised to each. The \nnation turned back bereft to Egypt, not to come over \nJordan again, till multiplied beyond measure, they \nwent into Canaan as their home. National death \nand national resurrection are signified in these two \ncrossings. \n\nAgain, during the baptism of John, Jordan was the \nsignificant stream selected. There they " confessed \ntheir sins." They virtually declared themselves dead \nin those sins by submitting to a rite known hitherto \nonly to aliens, in their acceptance of Judaism. Jesus \ncould not possibly join in this confession of sin, even \nwhile by a like baptism he identified himself with the \nsinner. Instead of this, there was a confession of His \nrighteousness from the opened heavens \xe2\x80\x94 " This is My \nbeloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."* Both \nof these meanings are accordingly preserved in Chris- \ntian baptism \xe2\x80\x94 death of self unto sin, and resurrection \nin Christ unto righteousness. \n\nYet again, in these two crossings of the Red Sea \nand Jordan, we may find the coupling of the offices \nof Christ and His Spirit. The first gives no faint \nforeshadowing of the power of His death and His \nmost precious blood. The second has significance in \nits very name, "The Descender" or "flowing down." \nThe power of the Risen Lord was manifested chiefly \nin the descent of the Holy Spirit. It was the out- \npouring of this gift that made the marvellous change \n\n* Matt. iii. 17. \n\n\n\nTHE BOUNDARY LINE. 89 \n\nin the Disciples of Jesus, and it is still a distinct ex- \nperience from that of believing in the Lord Jesus for \nthe forgiveness of sins ; as is clearly taught, for ex- \nample, in the question, " Have ye received the Holy \nGhost since ye believed?"* and again, in this state- \nment, " As yet He was fallen upon none of them ; only \nthey were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." f \nThe close connection of the two appears in the charge, \n" Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the \nname of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and \nye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." \\ \n\nJordan signifies to us this baptism of the Holy \nSpirit, or the power of Christ\'s resurrection ; since \nupon this and His subsequent glorification, the giv- \ning of the Spirit depended. This Baptism of the \nSpirit means far more than being born of the Spirit. \nThe birth of Jesus identified Him with our human \nnature ; His baptism in Jordan identified him still \nfurther with our human lot of sin and suffering. So \ndoes our birth of the Spirit make us partakers of His \ndivine nature, while the Baptism of the Spirit makes \nus sharers of His righteousness, His joy, His power. \nIt is not merely life that is bestowed, but life more \nabundantly. \n\nTo attain fully to all that this resurrection implies, \nis the life-work of each child of God \xe2\x80\x94 the " working \nout " of his salvation. As the Resurrection of Jesus \nended in His glorification, so ours goes on to the \n\n* Acts xix. 2. f Acts viii. 16. % Acts. ii. 38. \n\n\n\n9 o \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nsame goal. It can not be completed till we reach \n" the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ ;*[ \nuntil we reach this with our entire being, even this \nbody of ours becoming like unto His glorious body.* \nTherefore, the full appropriation of what Christ has \nwrought for us must be a continuous work, and the \nBaptism of the Spirit must be a life-long baptism, \ncoming not only once, like the early rain, but in \nmany a soft shower, and in silent successive dews of \nnight. \n\n\n\n* "This tendency to ignore the importance of the body, proceeds \nfrom a general lack of insight into the Scriptural philosophy of \nnature and of spirit. Those who do so are entirely wanting in \nany profound apprehension of the process of salvation, by which, \naccording to Scripture, God is carrying on the world toward its \nconsummation. This process must extend to the corporeal world \nas well as to the spiritual. For the victory of divine love over \nall the powers of sin and death would not be complete, if the body \nof man were not once to be released from the bonds of death, \nand raised into that glorious condition for which God has orig- \ninally destined it. Like all other terrestrial bodies, it is intended \none day to be entirely penetrated by the spirit \xe2\x80\x94 to be translated \ninto the glorious liberty of the children of God, and thus to be \ntransformed in light inwardly and outwardly (Rom. viii. 21-23 ; \nPhil. iii. 21 ; 2 Cor. iv. 10, etc.) And how otherwise could this \nworld-renewing process be begun, than by the resurrection and \ntransformation of that one Body over which death had no power \n\xe2\x80\x94 the sinless body of Christ, the second Adam, in whom all are \nto be made alive ? (1 Cor. xv. 22, et se.) In His resurrection " the \nconsummation of the world is anticipated." As in the nether \nworld Christ broke the bonds of spiritual death, so in His resur- \nrection He destroyed the organic power of death in the earthly \ncreation, and impregnated it (as an organism ; hence the dead \n\n\n\nTHE BOUNDARY LINE. \n\n\n\n91 \n\n\n\nThus we have the paradox of a work that is fin- \nished, and yet only begun \xe2\x80\x94 of Christ having "per- \nfected us for ever," and yet we ourselves " going on \nunto perfection/\' \n\nSt. Paul has given us, in most admirable terms, \nthis distinction between God\'s side and man\'s side. \nIn his Epistle to the Philippians, he glances first at \nthis power of Christ\'s resurrection and the hope it \nholds out to him. In all humility he declares that \nhe has not attained, that he is not already perfected ; \n\n\n\nbodies of the saints appear in Matt, xxvii. 52 and 53) with new \nand divine vital forces ; just as in the heart the life-blood is pre- \npared afresh, and from it flows forth into all the limbs. The resur- \nrection-power coming from Christ, through the medium of His \nWord and sacraments, tends mainly to the sanctification and \nrenewing of the sinner (Rom. v. 10 ; Eph. ii. 5, 6 ; 1 Pet. i. 3), \nand thus interpenetrates, first, the spiritual nature of man, plant- \ning within those who are regenerate a germ for the resurrection \nof the body (Rom. viii. 11). Then the spiritual life of Christ \nbreaks forth in a manifestation in the visible world, by revivify- \ning the bodies of those who are sanctified (in the first resurrec- \ntion. 1 Cor. xv. 23 ; John v. 25-29 ; Rev. xx. 5, 6). In the suc- \nceeding general resurrection \xe2\x80\x94 an act of Christ\'s power which \nextends to the whole of the corporeal world, and introduces the \ngreat mundane catastrophe (Rev. xx. 1 1\xe2\x80\x94 13) \xe2\x80\x94 as well as in the \nformation of a new heaven and a new earth, this grand and \ngradually progressive progress of the world\'s renewal has its fit- \nting consummation. It is God\'s will that His glory should dwell \nin His whole creation, that He may be all in all (1 Cor. xv. 28 ; \nRev. xxi. 3, et se.) In this respect we must indorse the sentiment \nof Oetinger, that " corporeity is the end of God\'s ways." \xe2\x80\x94 Mod- \nern Doubt and Christian Belief, by Theodore Christlieb, D.D., \npp. 451, 452. \n\n\n\n9 2 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nbut he presses on to " apprehend\'" that for which he \nwas " apprehended " of Christ. It was because of the \nfixity of the mighty work of Christ, and the support \nit gave to faith, that all his energies were roused to \nobtain the full benefit of it. Because he is appre- \nhended, he will henceforth apprehend. \n\nYet is the first apprehension, the first entrance \nupon this risen life, the all-important point, and that \nwhich Jordan represents. You plant, for example, a \nlittle vine. You know its possibilities and provide \nfor them. You place close to its root the trellis upon \nwhich it is to climb, without which it could only creep \nupon the ground. In the placing of that trellis with- \nin its reach, with full provision for all future growth, \nthe vine may be said to be apprehended. But the \nchief difficulty is found in the first attachment to its \nsupport. When the vine has fairly clasped it and \nbegun to wind its tendrils about it, it has begun to \napprehend. Its career is before it, but the crisis is \nthat beginning. \n\nIt was an immense advantage in leaving Egypt, to \nknow it by the sharpest of all boundary lines. Had \nthe boundary been a valley, a hill, a rock, the fact \nwould have been known ; but how slight would have \nbeen the impression thus made upon the mind ! But, \nbeing what it was, passing first through the walled \nwaters, and watching then the waves that over- \nwhelmed their enemies, an entire revolution in all \ntheir thoughts and purposes would naturally follow. \n\n\n\nTHE BOUNDARY LINE. \n\n\n\n93 \n\n\n\nThat Sea was both a boundary and a barrier. They \nstood upon new ground with another life before them. \nAnd no less was the advantage of a distinct bound- \nary and barrier between the wilderness and Canaan. \nThere a host more formidable than all Pharaoh\'s \nhorses and chariots were swallowed up \xe2\x80\x94 even their \nfcars and unbelief \xe2\x80\x94 and as once their hearts thrilled \nwith the cry, " Out of Egypt !" so would they thrill \nagain at the blessed certainty, " over this Jordan !" \n\nIn how many human events is our interest concen- \ntrated upon some one act that clearly and openly \nsignifies many beside itself. How much meaning in \nthat one moment when the crown is set upon the \nbrow of a Monarch ! Does He not seem from that \ntime more truly to reign ? How much it means when \nthe hand is set in solemn signature, in the presence \nof witnesses, to that Title-deed which gives a Home- \nstead or forfeits it ! How much it means beyond all \nthat has already been \xe2\x80\x94 the marriage-day \xe2\x80\x94 the spoken \nvow \xe2\x80\x94 the ring upon the hand ! Those now wedded \nhearts were pledged long ago. They give themselves \nto each other at this moment not more fully than then. \nBut God and man alike ordain that such an event \nshould be signalized, that there should be somewhat \nto mark it for the eye and ear of others. What emo- \ntions stir the soul even of a spectator in such a scene ! \nBy all these tokens it becomes a reality that is recog- \nnized. \n\nAnd so in countless things the new future demands \n\n\n\n94 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nits turning point. Did not Caesar feel it when he \ncrossed his Rubicon ? Was not every man in that \narmy stronger for that act ? Jordan is the Christian\'s \nRubicon ; and is it not well when the Lord calls to \nus with a voice of command so distinct as this. \nu Arise, and go over this Jordan ! " And were these \nglorious privileges in Christ Jesus pointed out long \nand lovingly \xe2\x80\x94 were they spoken of line upon line, \ntill dull hearts caught the meaning, what an arising \nwould there be through all the slumbering hosts \nof Christendom ! \n\nWe have on record the lives o( not a few noble \nmen and women who, years after their conversion, \nheard this new call to arise and go further on. They \npassed through a distinct spiritual crisis, and stood \nhenceforth o\\\\ new ground. They were full o( the \nHoly Spirit. Here and there through that region oi \nChristian biography resounding with secret moans oi \n" Wo is me ! *\' we find those who have walked almost \nlike Enoch, in wondrous fellowship with God. And \nyet in their own statements oi truth there is often a \nvagueness. The silver trumpet does not give a cer- \ntain sound. They had not really come unto all \nriches oi "the full assurance of understanding;* 1 and \nso. while in their own experience they had far out- \nstripped their comrades, they knew not how to give \nthe clew to others to follow them, .is they had fol- \nlowed Christ. Their teaching lacked that great essen- \ntial oi definiteness. \n\n\n\nTHE BOUNDARY LINE. \n\n\n\n95 \n\n\n\nThere are always to be found, however, those \nwhom indefiniteness suits. The vague teaching \nshelters their want of full devotion to God. They \ncarefully avoid a crisis. They arc not whole-hearted \nenough to be decided. They do not want to face \nthe question, Do I from this day follow the Lord \nfully ? Am I ready to be made conformable unto \nHis death, that I may know the power of His resur- \nrection ? Am I willing that God\'s Holy Spirit should \nbaptize my whole being \xe2\x80\x94 spirit, soul, and body, so \nsanctifying me, and keeping me blameless unto the \ncoming of the Lord ? Such questions search the \nheart down to its hidden thoughts and intents. It \nrequires the truest faith to die with Jesus, and to live \nonly in Him. But such thoughts can only irritate \nthose whose policy it is to evade conviction of their \ntrue state. And even where it only results in hesi- \ntation, yet what terrible quicksands of unbelief even \nthis discloses. No, they do not care to give over the \nwhole being to God ! They desire to keep to them- \nselves the control and choice of many little things, \nfor God might not always care for their pleasure, nor \nsecure the interests they most prize ! \n\nPoor soul ! that art weighed in such a balance \nand found wanting, look yet again that thou mayest \nsec. The first step out of every difficulty is the re- \nmoval of oii7\' misapprehensions of God. Listen to the \nvoice that pleads with thee, and even through the \nLaw declares of every dealing with thee \xe2\x80\x94 " for thy \n\n\n\ng6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\ngood always** He loveth thee ! He delighteth in \nthee ! Look and listen till thou canst trust Him \nfully, and lay thy all before Him ! \n\nBut how many are there of quite another class \xe2\x80\x94 \xe2\x96\xa0 \nsouls earnest and eager to be taught of God \xe2\x80\x94 who \nhave been hindered by the erroneous teaching of the \nvery truth they need ! Important as it is to put a \nclear boundary line between our failure and our faith \nand to cross over this Jordan, yet it is a most serious \nmistake to overload this experience with a stress it \ncan not bear. Very plainly, in the case of the Israel- \nites, to cross the Jordan was not to conquer all their \nenemies in the act. It was to prepare them for vic- \ntory ; it was to pledge it to them ; and yet it could \nonly be the earnest of their inheritance. Nor was it \nin the fullest sense possession, since, as has been said, \nit was only the soles of their feet that could secure \nthat. The land was theirs by promise before. It \nwas theirs now by the first putting in of an actual \nclaim. Hereafter it should be more fully theirs as \nthey advanced and conquered and held it. \n\nThis subject will claim a fuller handling when we \nreach the long warfare that followed their entrance ; \nbut here let it be simply premised that the system \nwhich teaches that entire sanctification is an instan- \ntaneous work, has the feeblest possible support from \nScripture, either as to the doctrine or the phraseol- \nogy. Experimentally, the results of such teaching, \nhowever flattering for a time, are finally most disas- \n\n\n\nTHE BOUNDARY LINE. \n\n\n\n97 \n\n\n\ntrous. The poor soul, once beguiled into self-decep- \ntion and the assertion of claims which can not be \nsoberly sustained, is either pushed on the one hand \nup the heights of presumption, or else is driven back \non the other to drop into the depths of despair. No \nclose observer can doubt that such has been the gene- \nral tendency of this teaching, while happy exceptions \nmay be seen, where there has been such a private ad- \njustment of its terms as virtually to change the doc- \ntrine. Beside this, the love of God really shed abroad \nin the heart, has a wonderful power to render error \ninnocuous. But taking the system in its legitimate \nresults, there can be little doubt that eventual loss is \nsustained by its supporters. The testimony which it \nencourages has a singular tendency to recur to past \nexperiences, or if touching upon the present state, \nto claim little .more than the conservation of former \nblessings. Meanwhile, the importance attached to \nsuch testimony repels those who, like an apostle, de- \nsire to know not the speech of them that are puffed \nup, but the power I \n\nIt seems the more needful in all Christian charity \nto allude to these errors, from the fact that, with few \nexceptions, this has been the prevalent mode in \nwhich the doctrine of Holiness or Sanctification has \nbeen presented as a specialty. At the same time \nsuch a monopoly of the subject has been claimed, as \nto insist that it was the only correct mode \xe2\x80\x94 so chal- \nlenging the assent of those who could heartily sym- \n5 \n\n\n\ngg THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\npathize with its object. The unhappy result in the \ncase of many who recoil from these assumptions in \ndoctrine, linked with such inconsistencies in life, is \nthat they do so, as though released from all further \ninquiry upon the subject. They begin to waste their \nstrength upon controversy, and are more eager to \npoint out the logical inaccuracy of the system, than \nto find a true remedy for their own shortcomings. \nIt is a dark day for those who begin finally to justify \nthemselves for the beam in their own eye, because \nthey have found a mote in the eye of a brother. \nWhen the great beam of an unconsecrated life is \ntaken from their own eyes, it may be that God will \ngive them the grace, not to point out, but to pluck out, \nthe mote of misapprehension from their brother\'s eye. \n\nAs for the many thousands who desire to follow \nthe Lord fully, whether among the satisfied sustainers \nof such a system, or those who are perplexed and \nhindered by it, or those who, ignorant of this, yet \nknow right well the need of their lives\xe2\x80\x94 as for the \nmultitude thus seeking after God, may He make His \nown Word a lamp unto their feet and a light unto \ntheir path. \n\nAny failure which exists in the lives of such, pass- \ning by all secondary causes, has its real origin in \nunbelief. Like Israel of old, losing sight of God to \nsee only self and the giant enemies, the one pressing \nneed is to have the eye refixed on Christ in a true \napprehension of Him as our Risen Lord\xe2\x80\x94 a work \n\n\n\nTHE BOUNDARY LINE. gg \n\nwhich only the Spirit of God can accomplish for us. \nA right relation to Christ must precede our growing \nup into Him in all things. Happy that moment when \nthe eye sees Him ! \n\nAnd how often is it the work of a moment at last. \nThe sunrise may have been long heralded by steady \nincrease of light, and yet it is in a flash that you see \nthe golden orb itself. And when once the eye long \noccupied with self, whether in seeking its pleasure or \nproving its weakness, is lifted at last to see Jesus as \nthe Prince and Perfecter of Faith \xe2\x80\x94 when it sees that \nit is Christ that it wants, and that this Christ is wait- \ning for us, having all power in heaven and earth, it \nhas had its vision \xe2\x80\x94 it has had its call, " Arise, and go \nover Jordan !" Seeing Christ arise, and give thyself \nfully to Him, to receive His fulness, and henceforth \ngo on to apprehend that for which thou art now \napprehended. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER V. \n\nTHE TRIPLE PREPARATION. \nI. \xe2\x80\x94 COURAGE. \n\n"f)e strong and of a good courage; be not \njd afraid, neither be thou dismayed : for \nthe Lord thy God is with thee whitherso- \never THOU GOEST." \xe2\x80\x94 {Josh. i. 9). \n\nThe first element of success in this vast undertak- \ning of obtaining the Land of Promise was Courage. \nHitherto the people had not set their heart aright, \nand fearing had failed. A new attitude of heart must, \ntherefore, be assumed. The Hebrew words which are \nso often repeated fix very clearly the special character \nof this courage, " Be strong and firm\' \'* This mean- \ning is brought out very distinctly in our own version of \nthe words of Isaiah, " Strengthen ye the weak hands, \n\n\n\n* Joshua i. 6, 2)35$T PtH\' " Verbum pf j-j proprie notat vires \n\nquae sunt in manibus ad prehendendum retinendum que viriliter ; \nsicut contra ^Yy^ firmitudinem, quae in genibus est, ad con- \nsistendum, ne ab alio quis evertatur.\'\' \xe2\x80\x94 Michaelis. \n\n" Joshua must lay hold boldly and with a strong hand, and \nthen when he has done so, allow nothing to drive him from his \nposition." \xe2\x80\x94 Lange\'s Com. \n(100) \n\n\n\nTHE TRIPLE PREPARATION. IO i \n\nand confirm the feeble kneesT * To be strong signifies \nthat the hands were fitted to take sure hold of the \nland ; to be firm, that the feet should be so planted \nthat they could not be dislodged. Again, this mean- \ning appears very literally in the charge addressed to \nthe saints in the Epistle to the Hebrews, " Wherefore \nlift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble \nknees ; and make straight paths for your feet." f \n\nBut how is it that such courage is commanded? \nAnd being commanded, who can possibly create it in \nhis heart ? The command was based upon an assur- \nance \xe2\x80\x94 " I will be with thee ; I will not fail thee nor \nforsake thee. Be strong and firm." % This strength \nwas to come, therefore, from believing in the presence \nand power of God. The courage was to be the cour- \nage of Faith. The fear which had been so disastrous \nto them was the result of looking away from God, \nand forgetting Him ; and so the courage could only \nresult from again looking unto Him, and ever remem- \nbering Him. The revelation of a personal, present, \nand all-powerful God, is given as the basis of their \nfaith and its consequent courage. \n\nFurther, it was to be sustained by meditation upon \nthe Word of God ; as we find in close connection the \ncharge, " This book of the law shall not depart out \nof thy mouth ; but thou shalt meditate therein day \nand night." Deep and quiet thought which revolves \nday by day the thoughts of God, feeds the strength \n\n* Is. xxxv. 3. f Heb. xii. 12, 13. \\ Josh. i. 5, 6. \n\n\n\n102 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nof faith. We are assured in the first Psalm, that to \n"\xe2\x96\xa0delight in the law of the Lord," and to "meditate \nin it day and night," is the secret of constant growth \nand fruitfulness. For faith comes by hearing, and \nhearing by the Word of God. And so it is the "word \nof faith"" which is presented. Apart from some such \nrevelation of God there could be no faith. Along \nwith that word proceeding out of the mouth of God, \nthere ever flows a vital effluence of the Spirit, by \nwhich the soul that receives it is enlightened and \nstrengthened. And so believing, it also obeys. It \n" observes to do " according to this revelation of the \nmind of God. And so brought into harmony with \nHim, it prospers and has good success. \n\nAnd thus there comes at last a holy confidence in \nGod, that seeing Him always, cannot be afraid \xe2\x80\x94 as \nwhen in this brief charge to Joshua, we find for the \nthird time the words, " Be strong, be firm ;" it is \nadded, " For the Lord thy God is with thee whither- \nsoever thou goest." No minute direction, no specific \nprecept whatever, could at all compare in importance \nwith this fundamental charge. Nothing must distract \nthe servant of God in the clear reception of this one \ngrand truth : God is with thee ; therefore be strong, \nbe firm. Take hold of His promises, and keep that \nhold. \n\nIt was thus that the Lord Jesus provided for the \nfaith and courage of His disciples in the great work \nHe gave them in the world : " Lo I am with you all \n\n\n\nTHE TRIPLE PREPARATION. IC >3 \n\nthe days, even unto the end of the world." " Fear \nnot," is the gracious charge He is ever giving as He \nmore and more reveals Himself.* \n\nAnd what need is there still of this charge ! The \nexperience of ages has not taken away our weakness ; \nand the fears and the waverings of many a Christian \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe weak hands and feeble knees \xe2\x80\x94 are even now piti- \nable to consider. Until this element is eliminated, \nChristian heroism is an impossibility, as is, indeed, \nanything noble in character or service. Nothing so \ndemoralizes the forces of the soul as fear. But if we \nanswer the question of our Lord, "Why are ye so \n\n* Stier upon Acts xviii. 9, thus sums up the occasions of its \nuse : " Fear not but speak, and keep not silence ! Still coming" \nfirst the same word of encouraging grace \xe2\x80\x94 so needful to us poor \nchildren of men \xe2\x80\x94 which runs through the whole of Scripture \nfrom beginning to end, Fear not ! Simon Peter heard it from \nthe lips of the Lord Jesus when his call to be a fisher of men was \nrepeated, Luke v. 10; Abraham received it first in the Old Testa- \nment, Gen. xv. 1, \xe2\x80\x94 after a victor} - , too, like St. Paul here; for \nfather Adam first of all confessed in behalf of us all \xe2\x80\x94 I was \nafraid ! The Lord and His angels often say it in the Old Testa- \nment. The New begins with it to Zacharias, Mary, Joseph, the \nShepherds. The Lord often utters it during His earthly life, \ndown to John xiv. 1 : the angels at the sepulchre of the risen \nJesus give it new strength. The ascended and glorified Re- \ndeemer inspires vigor into the soul of St. John at Patmos by the \nsame word, Fear not I Rev. i. 17. How needful is this word to \nHis Disciples everywhere and in all ages ; and how ready He \never is to utter it to them ! \n\n" It is the abiding word of the Divine majesty and mercy for \nhuman poverty, weakness, and guilt." \xe2\x80\x94 The Words of the Rise?i \nSaviour, by Rudolf Stier, p. 72. \n\n\n\nio4 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nfearful ?" we can give no reason save the absence of \nthat faith that is ever looking unto Jesus. Nothing \nfosters fear like solitude ; and nothing is more quick \nto catch contagion from evil converse. Only as we \nrecognize the presence of the Lord, does fear give \nplace to faith \xe2\x80\x94 a faith that is communicated by Him. \nThe child that in the hour of danger has been always \nby his father\'s side, and has never seen him flinch, \nreceives his courage from him. As we dwell con- \nsciously in the presence of God, as our thought is \never of His Love and Power, our souls, despite all \ntheir natural fears, will uprise in their strength. We \ncan say calmly in the midst of darkness and tumult, \n" The Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom shall \nI fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom \nshall I be afraid?" \n\nSuch simple, childlike faith in God has made more \nheroic souls upon this earth than the stoic could ever \ndream. Not through the long training of the iron \nnerve, but by the trusting glance at the risen Lord, \nhave the tender woman and the timid child been \nstrong and firm, in the midst of peril and of terrible \ntorture. They " endured as seeing Him who is invisi- \nble." Would that all could be persuaded that it is not \na question of nature, but of grace ; not of temperament, \nbut of trust. What an instance of this is found in the \nlives of these three men \xe2\x80\x94 Peter, Nicodemus, and \nJoseph of Arimathea. Studying the natural charac- \nteristics of Peter, any of us would have trusted his \n\n\n\nTHE TRIPLE PREPARATION \n\n\n\n10$ \n\n\n\ncourage before its failure ; and by all their antecedents \nwe would look for anything but heroic discipleship \nfrom the other two. We see Peter ever ready to do and \ndare ; Nicodemus stealing stealthily by night to Jesus ; \nJoseph full of fear of the Jews. So stand the three \nby nature. But look at them again, when Grace has \noutstripped nature. Peter, lying and cursing for fear \nof a maid-servant ; Joseph, going boldly to Pilate to \nbeg the body of Jesus ; and Nicodemus, in the full \ndaylight, staggering beneath his hundred pounds of \nspices, to the tomb of the Teacher, sent from God \xe2\x80\x94 \nthese two out of weakness made strong, even as the \nother shall be, when he has learned his own weakness. \n\nTimid soldier of Christ, called to pass over this \nJordan and possess the good land and large \xe2\x80\x94 listen \nto the first charge of all, u Be strong ! be firm !" \nAnd to win this holy courage, look unto Jesus. Never \nlook downward to thy fear \xe2\x80\x94 never around to thy foes \n\xe2\x80\x94 look solely unto Jesus ! \n\nAnd looking thus, meditate also upon His law, re- \nmembering that this holy law is now a gospel, and \nthat we are to observe to do according to all that is \nwritten therein \xe2\x80\x94 not only according to all its precepts, \nbut also according to all its promises, all its privi- \nleges. \n\nIf ever your hands grow weak, and your knees \n\nfeeble, it is because you see too little ; because, like \n\nElisha\'s servant, you see only the hosts and chariots \n\nof the enemy close around. Therefore you ask, " Alas ! \n\n5* \n\n\n\nio 6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nhow shall we do ?" The Lord open your eyes, that \nyou may look further, and see the mountains beyond, \nfull of the hosts of God encamping round about you ! \n\nIt was to Joshua, that this charge to be firm and \nstrong was given primarily. His own exhibition of \nthese qualities was to inspire the people. The Lord \nJesus was the living embodiment of this holy cour- \nage. We see Him strong to endure the cross, firm \nto despise the shame. We see Him taking the straight \npath toward that joy which was set before Him, and \nwe know that He will not fail nor be discouraged till \nHe has set judgment in the earth. As we watch \nHim thus \xe2\x80\x94 Prince and Perfecter of Faith \xe2\x80\x94 how our \nweak hands grow strong and our feeble knees firm. \n\nThis thrice repeated charge to Joshua had been \nalready given thrice before. We find it in the last \nwords of Moses, addressed first to the people at \nlarge, and then twice in the sight of all Israel to \nJoshua, so that six times in all, the chosen Leader \nheard the words of God \xe2\x80\x94 " Be strong, be firm." We \nalso need their repetition. Not all at once are such \nqualities established in the soul. How often the \nLord finds us, like Daniel, with no strength in us. \nHe lifts us first, from that utter prostration to our \nknees. Again, at His words of command and cheer \nwe stand trembling. But He does not leave us until \nonce more, with all the similitude and sympathy of \none of the sons of men, he touches us, saying, " O \ngreatly beloved, fear not ; be strong, yea, be strong !" \n\n\n\nTHE TRIPLE PREPARATION. \n\n\n\n107 \n\n\n\nAnd when He has so spoken unto us we are strength- \nened ; for " our God hath commanded our strength" \n\nHow exquisite the tenderness that breathes through \nthese commands of Jesus : " Son, take courage !" \n" Daughter, take courage !" " Take courage, doubt- \ning disciples, It is I/"* Thus, by His own presence \nand power, He inspires us with that which we shall \nneed all our life long \xe2\x80\x94 a high resolve, an undaunted \nspirit, an intrepid bravery \xe2\x80\x94 and coupled with these, \nsteadiness, constancy, and endurance. By all our \ngrowth in the knowledge of Christ will these heroic \nvirtues be sure to grow. " Be," then, " of good cour- \nage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that \nhope in the Lord." \n\nII.\xe2\x80\x94 CONSECRATION. \n\nThe second element of success is thus indicated : \n" Joshua said unto the people, \' SANCTIFY YOUR- \nSELVES, FOR TO-MORROW THE LORD WILL DO WON- \nDERS AMONG YOU.\' " Elsewhere in similar commands, \nwe find acts of purification and abstinence enjoined. \nThe word itself means simply bodily purity ; and as \nwashing was the preparation for each religious serv- \nice, the term came to signify to set apart ; and as so \nused, is rendered in our Bibles " to consecrate," or \n" sanctify ; " so that the charge now given to the people \nwas virtually this, " Set yourselves apart to God" \xe2\x80\x94 \nYield yourselves to Him\xe2\x80\x94 Put yourselves in that \n\n* Cf. Matt. ix. 2, Matt. ix. 22 and Matt. xiv. 27. \n\n\n\nI0 8 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nattitude in which He can with perfect readiness take \nyou up. \xe2\x80\x94 Draw nigh unto God, for He is drawing \nnigh unto you. \n\nThe context of this command, which gives such \nprominence to the wonders which God will do, is a \nhappy correction of a very common notion respect- \ning consecration, as though it were some great giving \nto God by us, some surrender or sacrifice of what we \npreviously held ; in fact, a sort of favor conferred \nupon Him, whereas it is only the readiness to receive \nfrom Him. Consecration is not a meritorious work \nof our own, but a willingness to let the Lord work \nHis wonders upon us. It simply means a ready re- \ncipiency. \n\nYet even this recipiency may involve surrender in \na subordinate way, as it evidently did in the case of \nthe Israelites. They could not possibly receive Ca- \nnaan, without giving up the wilderness. That com- \nmand, therefore, " Sanctify yourselves," was a call to \nheart-searching. It pressed home to all their thoughts \nthis recognition, " We are the Lord\'s." It could not \nlong remain a matter of doubt with any, whether \nthey stood ready for God to lead them over Jordan \nor not. The command given them was completely \novershadowed by the promise that followed, and yet \nit was the Promise itself that tested and tried the \nvery intents of their hearts. \n\nIt continues to be a part of the manifold wisdom \nof God to furnish such tests, even in providing our \n\n\n\nTHE TRIPLE PRE PAR A TIOX. \n\n\n\nIO9 \n\n\n\nrichest blessings. He who becomes a man must put \naway his childish things. The lingering child-nature \nstruggles and shrinks from the sacrifice, but the spirit \nof the strong man uprising, spares not the old treas- \nures as he reaches on to the new. God can not fill \nour hands with His great and good gifts till we drop \nthe baubles they have held. And so in every on- \nward step, calling us to some surrender, to some sac- \nrifice, He clears away the superficial wrappings of our \nnature to learn what soundness exists beneath. Je- \nsus Himself is even to be a sign spoken against, that \nso the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. \nHow often, when on earth, did He disclose to them- \nselves, the true nature of many a half-hearted follower, \nby some sharp requisition ; or, in the same manner, \ncall out the deepest faith of those w r ho left all and \nfollowed Him ! We may well thank Him for every- \nthing in the discipline of life, or in the secret conflicts \nof our own hearts, that gives us this knowledge of our- \nselves, and brings us to the solemn decision whom \nwe will choose. \n\nThe time which is fixed for the blessing of God, \nfollows close upon the preparation \xe2\x80\x94 " Sanctify your- \nselves, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders among \nyou." It is always thus. It is we ourselves who set \nthe times in which our God shall bless us ; for what- \never day it be in all our life, that we take for our con- \nsecration to Him, He will take the morrow for His \nwonders. There is no real delay with God, beyond \n\n\n\nI IO THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nthat which we occasion. There may be seeming de- \nlay, for often He works in secret, and mysteriously ; \nbut He always works, and that wondrously, so soon \nas we are set apart to Him \xe2\x80\x94 even as from the first \nday that Daniel set his heart to understand, and to \nchasten himself, the Lord Himself came forth to \nanswer him. \n\nYet precisely here, what misapprehension is there \nof His ways ! Men fancy that they are all ready \xe2\x80\x94 \neven eager for blessing \xe2\x80\x94 and they marvel why God \ndelays. He does not delay. If we have, indeed, \nconsecrated ourselves, He has already begun His \nwork ; not where we, perhaps, desired it, nor in a \nway we looked for, but in the surest way. When the \ngreat Builder declares His work begun, we look at \nonce for the imposing structure \xe2\x80\x94 and what if we see \nonly an excavation ! By seeming delay, then, as \nwell as by tests of service and of sacrifice, He \nsearches our hearts, and reveals our thoughts to \nourselves, as He already beholds them. And if still \nwe see not the wonders which were promised us, \nshall we not at least hear a voice saying, "Art thou, \nthen, truly consecrated ? Art thou ready for God to \nwork ? Is there nowhere any holding back ? Is \nthere no sparing of self? \xe2\x80\x94 no secret stipulation? \xe2\x80\x94 \nno subtle ambition? \xe2\x80\x94 no love of reputation? \xe2\x80\x94 no \nunhallowed affection ?" And He who so searches us \nwill hold us waiting, until we are ready to look and \n\n\n\nTHE TRIPLE PREPARATION. Iir \n\nsee as He sees, and are really willing to give up our \nall to God. \n\nSuch is the position, doubtless, of not a few who \nare even perplexed by their failure to go further. \nThey are earnest souls even, that have pressed on \nbeyond their comrades ; souls that have gone far \nenough to see what there is for them over this Jor- \ndan. They are servants of the Master, and they \nhave wrought in His field unweariedly. But they \nlong for richer results. They want these ideal pos- \nsibilities of the Gospel realized. They desire to see \none of the days of the Son of Man \xe2\x80\x94 to exult in some \nnew Pentecost. But no morrow with its wonders \ndawns for them. And standing thus upon the very \nverge of blessing, they ask, as they suppose, in all \nsincerity, " What doth hinder me ?" \xe2\x80\x94 and as they see \nnothing lacking in their consecration, they are dis- \nposed to be faithless as to God\'s fulfilment of His \npromise. Alas ! for the long, weary waiting of those \nwho thus begin to question God\'s ways, instead of \ntheir own hearts ! He will surely be silent unto \nthem, until they heed what He has already spoken \xe2\x80\x94 \xe2\x96\xa0 \n" Sanctify yourselves \xe2\x80\x94 set yourselves apart ^ \n\nThey who are thus turned back from marvelling \nover the mysterious delays of God, to suspect rather \ntheir own sincerity, will soon learn that consecration \nimplies no hollow, hasty work. They become aware \nthat only Faith can do it \xe2\x80\x94 that even as the only true \n\n\n\n1 12 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\ncourage was the courage of Faith, so the only true \nconsecration is the consecration of Faith. Even this \nis to be one of the works of God \xe2\x80\x94 " Thy people shall \nbe willing in the day of Thy power." No more mis- \ntaken counsel can be given to a soul which is con- \nscious that it is not wholly consecrated, than that so \noften heard \xe2\x80\x94 \' This is your part of the work. Your \nwill must put forth all its power, and solemnly re- \nsolve that it will dedicate itself to God.\' He who \nhas learned the extent of his infirmity will answer, \n\' You bid me do the most difficult task of all myself. \nPrecisely here is my perplexity \xe2\x80\x94 that I can not feel \nsure that my whole will is honest in this surrender, \nand that I draw nigh with a true heart. My very de- \nsire to do it may still be selfish ; and that disinclina- \ntion which I discover, being a part of my will, holds \nme helpless. I find that I have neither full knowl- \nedge of myself, nor full mastery of myself. It is my \nwill itself that is perverse, and treacherous, and un- \nstable ; and how can it possibly furnish the power \nthat shall force it into rectitude ? \' * \n\n\n\n* The searching and sententious lines of Herbert\'s " Hold- \nfast," will naturally recur to the reader : \n\nu I threatened to observe the strict decree \n\nOf my dear God with all my power and might : \nBut I was told by one, it could not be ; \n\nYet I might trust in God to be my light. \nThen will I trust, said I, in Him alone. \n\nNay, even to trust in Him, was also His : \nWe must confess that nothing is our own. \n\nThen I confess that He my succour is. \n\n\n\nTHE TRIPLE PREPARA TION. \n\n\n\n"3 \n\n\n\nConsecration, be it repeated, therefore, can only be \nthe work of Faith. As Faith first encouraged itself \nin the Lord by looking unto Him, so now Faith \nyields to this mighty attraction which draws the \nsoul to God. His sovereign will alone can restore \nto unity and simplicity, the complexity and strife of \nour being. The kingdom of the heart has been the \nprey of each new Usurper. Only the Spirit of God \ncan put them all down, and set us up as kings unto \nHim. Swayed hither and thither by both human \nand supernatural influences, there can be no stability \ntill Faith elects the Spirit of God as the Sole Pos- \nsessor. \n\nAsk, then, ye who are seeking to consecrate your- \nselves to Christ \xe2\x80\x94 ask for His fuller revelation. " Look, \nye blind, that ye may see." \xe2\x80\x94 He looketh upon you. \nListen, ye deaf, that ye may hear, for to you He \nspeaketh. Look and listen until your Faith grows \ninto Love, until you see in Him, One who is worthy \nof all confidence, and the powerful attractions of \nwhose nature so tell upon your yielding soul, that \nyou can not possibly hold back anything, or allow \nthe least reserve between yourself and Him, because \n" The love of Christ constraineth you.\'* No forced \nsurrender can possibly meet the claim of God upon \n\nBut to have naught is ours, not to confess \nThat we have naught. I stood amazed at this, \n\nMuch troubled, till I heard a friend express \nThat all things were more ours by being His. \n\nWhat Adam had, and forfeited for all, \n\nChrist keepeth now, who cannot fail or fall." \n\n\n\n114 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nyou. It is the citadel of the Will itself that must be \nyielded, even to its last reluctance. It is the love and \nloyalty of your inmost souls, that Jesus calls for, and \nthey are never self-commanded. As you fully believe, \nyou will fully love. As you fully love, you will fully \ngive yourselves to God. Thus only can you be conse- \ncrated to Him. Love has no will save this, " I de- \nlight to do Thy will." Love makes all labor light ; \nlove makes all sacrifices sweet ; love sees the crown \nover every cross ; love has no fear ; love never stipu- \nlates ; love never needs to test itself by future possi- \nbilities ; and love, when Christ Himself tests it, can \nstraightway answer, " Yea, Lord, thou knowest all \nthings, Thou knowest that I love Thee !" \n\nIII. \xe2\x80\x94 COMMITTAL. \n\nWe come now to that preparation which, through \nthe power of God, passes over into performance itself. \nThe heart being full of courage because of its faith, \nand full of devotion because of its love, must now \ntake the step of a full committal to His ways ; and \nthis also must be the work of Faith. \n\nWhen the Lord led His people through the Red \nSea, His winds had been long blowing over it, and \nthey saw a path prepared for them. They saw \nalso the outstretched rod of Moses that seemed to \npledge the safety of their passage. So that though \nit was " by faith," that " they passed through the \nRed Sea as by dry land," yet it could not be said \n\n\n\nTHE TRIPLE PREPARA TION. \n\n\n\n115 \n\n\n\n"they walked by faith, and not by sight." Rather, \nthey walked by a faith, that had sight for its helper. \n\nBut now the demand upon their faith was absolute. \nNo sign or token was given. No outstretched rod \nwas seen, and they heard the roarings of no winds. \nThey saw no moving of the waters. They had no\' \noutward security. They had only a simple promise \nof their God. In truth, all outward sight seemed to \ncontradict that promise. Jordan was overflowing all \nits banks, giving the stream a double breadth. But \nnot even this was to be changed, till faith had ven- \ntured upon the word of their God. " It shall come \nto pass," was the promise, " as soon as the soles of \nthe feet of the priests that bare the ark of the Lord, \nthe Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of \nJordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off \nfrom the waters that come down from above ; and \nthey shall stand upon an heap."* The first step \nwas to be taken in the waters. They were called \nupon not only to face the difficulties, but to enter \nthem. They were not to ask God to prove His power \nfirst. They were to trust Him first, and then should \nthey see as they followed on to know the Lord, " His \ngiving forth " to be " prepared as the morning." \nThere does not appear to have been a moment\'s \nhesitation on the part of the priests. \n\nThe record follows almost in the very words of the \n\n* Josh. iii. 13. \n\n\n\n1 16 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\npromise, " And it came to pass when the people re- \nmoved from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the \npriests bearing the ark of the covenant before the \npeople ; and as they that bare the ark were come \nunto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare \nthe ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for \nJordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of \nharvest,) that the waters which came down from \nabove stood and rose up upon an heap very far from \nthe city Adam, that is beside Zaretan ; and those \nthat came down toward the sea of the plain, even the \nsalt sea failed, and were cut off : and the people \npassed over right against Jericho."* \n\nHow fatal had been a halt, although but one step \nshort of the brim of the waters. Even the foot up- \n\n* Joshua iii. 14-16. " On the broken edge of the river \xe2\x80\x94 so the \nscene which follows is placed before us by the narrative \xe2\x80\x94 the \nband of priests stood with the Ark upon their shoulders. At a \ndistance of nearly a mile in the rear stood the great mass of the \narmy. Suddenly the full bed of the Jordan was direct before \nthem. High up the river \xe2\x80\x94 \'very far\' \xe2\x80\x94 \'in Adam, the city \nwhich is beside Zaretan \' \xe2\x80\x94 that is, at a distance of nearly thirty \nmiles from the place of the Israelite encampment, \' the waters \nwhich came down from above,\' from the Sea of Galilee, stood, \nand rose up in a barrier ; and \' those that came down towards \nthe sea of the Desert, the salt sea failed, and were cut off.\' The \nscene presented to us, therefore, is of the river-bed dried up \nfrom north to south, as far as the eye could reach \xe2\x80\x94 an image \nwhich, however it may be explained, is important to bear in \nmind, to avoid a confused notion which is often formed from a \nsupposed parallel with the account of the Red Sea." \xe2\x80\x94 Dean \nStanley s Sinai and Palestine, p. 298. \n\n\n\nTHE TRIPLE PREPARA TION. \n\n\n\n117 \n\n\n\nlifted, ready to fall as soon as the path was ready, \nwould have waited in vain. The promise was ad- \ndressed only to the faith that, without seeing signs \nand wonders, could yet believe. That one step taken \nwhich proved their faith, and placed it in a position \nof entire receptivity \xe2\x80\x94 then God could prove His faith- \nfulness and manifest His power. His wonders follow \nat once. \n\nThe lesson which is here taught us is of the utmost \nimportance, showing us the very essence of all true \nfaith. Mature faith must be able to dare and to en- \ndure, with no other stay than seeing Him who is \ninvisible. Our Father does, indeed, stretch out* the \nhand of yearning tenderness to steady the tottering \nsteps of a babe. In His pity and compassion He \nwill not forbid the poor cripple his staff; but the \nfaith of full years and of steady strength, can never \nbe developed by continued indulgence. It must be \nexercised by reason of use. And so God leads His \nchildren out at last beyond all visible stays and \nprops, or even stepping-stones, where hearing only \nHis voice, " Go forward " \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" Nothing before, and nothing behind, \nThe steps of Faith \nFall on the seeming void, and find \nThe rock beneath." \n\nAgain, that God instead of giving His people some \nvisible aid for their crossing, set before them a most \n\n\n\nH8 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nvisible hindrance, doubling the danger and difficulty \nto the natural eye, is in perfect accord with our ad- \nvanced experience. Only how often does the sim- \nplicity of our faith fail to equal theirs. It would \nhave been a most natural thing for an Israelite to \nsay, rising up that morning and looking wistfully \nover Jordan, "We can not possibly cross to-day. \nThis can not be the time, for it is high flood. Surely \nthe Lord will have us wait awhile until the waters \nabate." It would have been natural, even for such \ndoubts to become a denial of God\'s word, as the \nsuggestion followed \xe2\x80\x94 \' The days for such wonders are \npast. There were evident reasons why Jehovah should \nlead our fathers through the Red Sea, and inaugurate \nour national life with a miracle. But the necessity \nhas past. Forty years have gone by since the time \nof those mighty signs and wonders. Is it not pre- \nsumptuous to look for the repetition of such a mira- \ncle ? Let us use our own judgment and strength as \nbest we may. When Jordan has fallen again, we can \neither find its fords, or bridge it at some favorable \npoint/ But happily we have no such record. They \nhad learned at last the dangers of doubt, and the \nblessedness of believing God. \n\nBut what of our own record? In the face of prom- \nises as distinct as were given to them, are not many \nof us found questioning the result ? It is the first \ninstinctive impulse of unbelief to seek a sign \xe2\x80\x94 to \nhave something to interpose between itself and the \n\n\n\nTHE TRIPLE PREPARA T10.V. \n\n\n\nII 9 \n\n\n\nbare word of God. And so, how often is the ques- \ntion asked : \' If God be really disposed to bring me \ninto this glorious liberty, will there not be at least \nsome token of it ? Shall I find no evidence of it in \nmy own altered feelings ; and especially will not the \nLord prepare the way by lowering the opposing tide \nof temptation ? \' The Word of our God needs neither \nsign nor surety. Be it a promise, or be it a command, \nit matters not ; for every command has a promise for \nits kernel. We are to go forward to obey His com- \nmands \xe2\x80\x94 forward to receive His promises \xe2\x80\x94 forward in \nfaith \xe2\x80\x94 forward though difficulties double. Not from \nthe withdrawal of these is our strength to come, but \nfrom Him who has said, " My grace is sufficient for \nthee ; my strength is made perfect in weakness." \n\nYet, in the face of this assurance, the complaint is \nheard on all sides, \' I am at this present time exposed \nto unusual pressure \xe2\x80\x94 Outward circumstances combine \nagainst me. Within, temptations and weakness meet, \nand my peculiar temperament is tried by all that can \ntrouble it most. Is it not too much to expect deliv- \nerance ? After all, these wonders of grace must have \nbeen meant for apostles. At least, they belong to \nthe early ages. It certainly does not please God to \nwork so in our own day, unless it be with some very \nextraordinary people. Why should I be so presumptu- \nous as to expect it ? Should I not even dishoner the \nLord in attempting to claim such special promises, \nwhen I am well-nigh certain to fail, and draw back in \n\n\n\nI2 o THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nconfusion and shame? Surely, the Lord never in- \ntended me to obey any such command, or receive \nany such great promise. I stand, therefore, ex- \ncused.\' \n\nThe Word of God allows not a particle of license to \nany such quibbling. To whom of all mankind has \nGod not said, " Be holy?" Whom does He release \nfrom that law of blessing that girds His universe? \nIf we can find a soul excepted from His commands, \nthat soul must also be excepted from His promises. \nBut how significant it is that while our faith is not \nenergetic enough to accept the promises of God, we \nare not consistent enough to really loose our con- \nsciences from the commands, but secretly hope some- \ntime to find a way, under favoring circumstances, to do \nthat which we can not quite believe that God is able, \nat any time, to do for us. \n\nIn truth, we are accustomed to discount the prom- \nises of God, in a way that would utterly dishonor any \nfellow-being. Whenever we place full confidence in \na friend, a solemn assurance, though it be but a word, \nis decisive. But if we thus receive the witness of men \nto their own ability to aid us, how shall we not receive \nalso that witness of God which is so much greater \xe2\x80\x94 \ngreater because He is not only full of truth in pur- \nposing, but also never forgets His promise, and can \nnever be thwarted in its performance. Our confi \ndence can not be misplaced as it .rests upon His \npromises, seeing that the slightest of them is built \n\n\n\nTHE TRIPLE PREPARATJOX. \\2\\ \n\nfour square upon these strong foundations \xe2\x80\x94 His \nRighteousness, His Truth, His Love, His Power. \n\nThis, then, is the foot dipped in the brimming \nwaters \xe2\x80\x94 when we have heard the Lord calling us to \nfollow Him, " To walk worthy of Him unto all pleas- \ning," to have " spirit, soul, and body, preserved blame- \nless unto His coming," to let " the God of Peace \nsanctify us wholly ;" \xe2\x80\x94 when we have heard this call, \nto take then His promise, "Faithful is He that call- \ncth you who also will do it" and to go on, though \nconfronted by temptation, and encompassed with \nweakness ; to go on, as though these were not \xe2\x80\x94 so \nstepping out of self and its limitations, into Christ, and \nall His boundless possibilities ; and finding that it is no \nlonger we, that live, that walk, but Christ, who even \nas He has promised, dwells in us, and walks in us. \n\nAgain, the foot dipped in the brimming waters \ndeclares emphatically that faith is to precede feeling. \nIncalculable mischief has crept into Christian expe- \nrience through the neglect of this simple truth. A \nreligion that rests upon feeling, for either its security \nor comfort, will find itself tottering and trembling to \nthe end. Yet so common and so great has been the \nloss sustained in this way, that, having recognized it, \nwe are now not a little in danger of an extreme reac- \ntion. There are some who, at least, seem to teach that \nfaith is not only to precede feeling, but to supersede \nit. Our feelings, they say, are not at all to be regarded. \nAt no stage can their evidence be taken. This is \n\n\n\n122 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nplainly unscriptural. Very crude indeed must be the \nconception of truth, where a soul in the midst of un- \nsatisfactory and unsanctified feelings, settles the whole \nmatter, by regarding itself complete in Christ through \nfaith alone, and so allows its evil frames and feel- \nings to go on unchecked. \n\nNothing that we discover in heart or life, need hin- \nder us in coming to Christ to seek deliverance from \nit. We may even use our worst discoveries as our \nplea in coming ; " For the whole have no need of a \nPhysician, but they that are sick." Nor will my sick- \nness make the Physician displeased with me in my \nfirst application to him. Yet, if he has given me all \nthat should restore me, and my own wilfulness or \ncarelessness still keep me in the same feeble condi- \ntion, he will be greatly displeased with me. Now, \nmy feelings are not the real seat of the disease, and \nyet there we find our surest symptoms as a rule. I \ncan not possibly be in health with such disordered \nfeelings. I ignore them at my peril. And so as I \ncome to Christ \xe2\x80\x94 feeling no glow of love, no peace \nthat passeth understanding, no joy unspeakable \xe2\x80\x94 I \nam not to regard these as reasons for not coming to \nHim, or as hindrances. This very trouble gives me a \nright to come. I can appeal now to the compassion \nof my Healer \xe2\x80\x94 "Lord, I am well-nigh sick unto \ndeath." But if after He has healed me, and taught \nme the conditions of sustaining health, I find my- \nself again unloving, cold, perturbed, fretted, moody, I \n\n\n\nTHE TRIPLE PREPARA TION. \n\n\n\n123 \n\n\n\nhave not the least right to say that all is well, \nand that disregarding all this, I am to believe myself \nfully accepted through Christ. Unless I bring this \ndisturbance to Him for confession, forgiveness, and \nhealing, I am utterly at fault. \n\nOur feelings are of importance. The same Creator \nwho set the faithful nerves as sentinels along all the \nlines of the senses, to give due warning of danger and \ndisease, gave a corresponding sensitiveness to our \nsouls. Faith is not to discharge this as unnecessary, \nbut to retain it in her service. If it be well with our \nfaith, it will also be well with our feelings. If we \nhave the Spirit of Christ, then the fruits of the Spirit \nwill be ours also ; and many of these fruits are pre- \ncisely what we are accustomed to class loosely under \nthe head of feelings. They are such as love, joy, \npeace. They are not the root, but they are the fruit ; \nthey furnish finally the test, not of God\'s power, but \nof our reception of that power. \n\nThe Apostle John repeatedly appeals to such tests \nas these respecting our adoption, and growth in grace. \nThe words so often used by him \xe2\x80\x94 " Hereby we \nknow " \xe2\x80\x94 most certainly teach us that while looking \nunto Jesus, we are to see also, that both in outward \nacts and inward states, we are becoming like Jesus. \nHaving faith first, we shall have all holy frames, and \nheavenly feelings. \n\nAnd now let us take one more glance over this \ntriple preparation of courage, and consecration, and \n\n\n\n124 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\ncommittal. Each of these represents a practical \ntruth. Each is a step in harmony with the will of \nGod. Each is necessary to the development of effect- \nual faith. And yet such are the simplicity and the \nspeed of Faith, that the three will seem as but one \nstep, and in action will need no such analysis. \n\nNo one will ever pass over into the fulness of blessing \nwho fails to set his feet in these old way-marks. It \nis impossible, without the courageous faith that can \nsay, " My heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord." It is \nimpossible unless we can say, " Lord, I am thine, en- \ntirely thine." And how can it ever be more than a \nbeautiful ideal to those who can not say, \' I am so tak- \ning the promises of God as to act upon them. 1 am \nfollowing along their track, fully persuaded that God \nHimself will perform all that He has promised. I \ncount His promises my open pathway. I venture \nupon them, and know that it shall come to pass \naccording to His word. I commit my whole being \nto Him in well doing. He will remove every obsta- \ncle from my path. He will guide me. He will endue \nme with power from on high. I dip my feet in this \nJordan. I die to all confidence in myself. I rise to all \ncompleteness in Jesus. Life in myself, has been a \nfailure. Life in the Spirit of God, is my hope of \ntriumph now. I pass beyond the bounds of human \npower, and risen in Christ, I set no bounds to \nthat which He will do for me \xe2\x80\x94 exceeding abundantly \nabove all I ask or think. I believe in Jesus, and \n\n\n\nTHE TRIPLE PREPARA TION. \n\n\n\n125 \n\n\n\ntherefore I shall see the glory of God. I trust Him, \nand I see Him at once arrest the whole, resistless, \nswollen tide, holding the waves of terror and tempta- \ntion, cut offeven very far away, so that I fear no evil.\' \nWith the Courage of Faith, the Consecration \nof Faith, and the Committal of Faith, " we who \n\nHAVE BELIEVED DO ENTER INTO REST." \n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI. \n\nTHE ARK OF THE COVENANT. \n\nii AND Joshua said unto the children of \n^ Israel, Come hither, and hear the \nwords of the lord your god. and joshua \nsaid, Hereby ye shall know that the liv- \ning God is among you, and that he will \nwithout fail drive out from before you \nthe canaanites, and the hlttites, and the \nhlvites, and the perizzites, and the glr- \ngashites, and the amorites, and the jebus- \nites. Behold, the Ark of the Covenant of \nthe Lord of all the earth passeth over \nbefore you into Jordan." \xe2\x80\x94 (Josk. ill. 9-11.) \n\nThis it was that was to stay the waters \xe2\x80\x94 u THE \nArk of the Covenant of the Lord of all \nTHE EARTH." Not till all the people had passed \nover, was the Ark of the Lord to pass over. The \npriests who bore it stood firm on dry ground, in the \nmidst of Jordan, till all had passed. \n\nThe Ark here assumed its proper prominence. \nHitherto a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of \n(126) \n\n\n\nTHE ARK OF THE COVENANT. 127 \n\nfire by night, hovering over the Tabernacle, had \nguided them. Now the Ark itself was to go visi- \nbly before them, as the immediate symbol of the \nLiving God, and the pledge of His presence and \npower in their midst. It was the most sacred por- \ntion, by far, of the hallowed structure. More fully \nthan all else it represented Christ. Especially was it \nadapted to suggest His Person, and Presence, and to \nshow forth His work, as living, as dying, and as alive \nforevermore. \n\nIn common with those other portions of the Tab- \nernacle which represented Christ, the Ark was made \nof shittim-wood, and overlaid with gold. For every- \nwhere the same blessed lesson is repeated \xe2\x80\x94 the union \nof the human and the Divine \xe2\x80\x94 the very man and \nvery God. And yet it is the human nature that is \noverlaid and glorified by the Divine \xe2\x80\x94 taken into it \nand shielded by it, and so preserved and ennobled. \n\nThe Ark held also, in security, the Tables of the \nLaw. This was, indeed, the office for which it w T as \nappointed ; and nothing could so establish the high \nnature of Law, and so prove its essence to be the \nvery mind of God, as to assign it a home in the \nmost sacred spot of all, as the very regalia of His \nrealm. \n\nThis same Law, as at first given, was broken by the \npeople, before Moses could reach them with the writ- \nten Tables in his hand \xe2\x80\x94 his own breaking of the Stones \nonly representing their breaking of the Covenant it- \n\n\n\n128 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING, \n\nself. The second set of Tables was not entrusted to \nthe hands of men, but was placed at once in the \nArk, which was prepared before he went up into \nthe mount.* Thus, till Christ came, every man who \ntouched the Law broke it ; and though it were the \nleast of the Commandments, yet was he " guilty of \nall." That is to say, it mattered not through which \nline of the Law the fracture ran, or whether its frag- \nments were small or large, broken anywhere it ceased \nto be a whole. It was dishonored throughout. But \nJesus came and fulfilled all righteousness. He so hid \nthe Law in His heart, that there was never the slight- \nest fracture of either Tablet \xe2\x80\x94 never a sin against God \nor against man. In Christ first, was exhibited that \nnew Covenant, in which the Law should be put into \nthe mind, and written in the heart. It was so writ- \nten in the mind of Christ, that He had perfect knowl- \nedge of the Law (an aspect of obedience often greatly \noverlooked), and it was so put into His heart, that He \nhad perfect love of it. He came, saying, " I delight \nto do thy will, my God ! " This was His life-work \nthrough all its phases of waiting, and working, and \nsuffering. \n\nBut the Mercy-seat rested upon, and covered the \nArk. Mercy could find a basis where the Law was \nfully kept. Mercy and Truth there met together. \nHe who was first the antitype of the Ark, in fulfiil- \n\n* Deut. x. 1-5. \n\n\n\nTHE ARK OF THE COVENANT. \n\n\n\n129 \n\n\n\ning the Law in His life, became then the antitype \nof the Mercy-seat as set forth in His death for a pro- \npitiation* for sins. He honored the Law by His own \nkeeping of it, and then, as the far greater task, hon- \nored it by atoning for the sins of those who had \nbroken it. The great truth taught by the Mercy- \nseat, is exhibited in the sprinkling of the Blood upon \nit, on the great day of Atonement. \n\nBut still a further task remained \xe2\x80\x94 to provide for the \nkeeping of this Law, by those who were forgiven their \niniquities ; and this glorious truth is exhibited in the \ntwo Cherubic figures, which formed the completion \nand crown of the Mercy-seat. " Beaten out of the \nmatter of the mercy-seat" as a part of it, their signifi- \ncation must be kindred with its own. They plainly \nrepresent some provision of the great salvation from \nsin. In form and posture, they present as clearly as \npossible, the idea of living and reigning. Now the \nliving, reigning Jesus has still this other work to do \nin honoring the Law, to enable His people to keep it y \nby writing it also in their minds and hearts. In this \ngreat orifice the Holy Spirit is His Co-worker. So \nwe behold the upper portion of the Mercy-seat as- \nsume the form of two Cherubim, with outspread \nwings, and faces toward the Mercy-seat. Between \nthem God dwelt. Thence He shone forth. And \nwhile we should tread softly amid such sanctities as \n\n* (Rom. iii. 25) IXaorfipiov ; i. e., Mercy-Seat. Compare Heb. \nix. 5. \n\n6* \n\n\n\n130 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nthese, of which even an Apostle did not see fit to \n\'speak particularly/\' one can not but feel that any \ninterpretation falls short, which fails to recognize the \nmanifestation of Divine Natures \xe2\x80\x94 not in similitudes, \nbut in symbols. They were a part of the Mercy-seat \n\xe2\x80\x94 they were enthroned \xe2\x80\x94 they stood in closest prox- \nimity to the Invisible God. They could not signify \nangels, for angels have no share in the high office of \nSalvation ; to angels God has not put in subjection \nthe world to come. But in these immediate sup- \nporters of the Most High \xe2\x80\x94 these Indicators of the \nInvisible \xe2\x80\x94 we can recognize no lower beings than the \nvery Sharers of His own Being \xe2\x80\x94 Christ and the Spirit, \nWe are not for a moment to think of these Cheru- \nbim, as suggesting any likeness of their persons, but \nsimply set forth as symbols of their offices, as was \neverything else in this structure. And so they \nstand erect, as full of life. They spread out their \nwings, for they are full of all holy activity. Their \nfaces look one to another, and toward the Mercy- \nseat ; for in their holy fellowship, their one aim is to \ndevelop this work of atonement to its richest results \nof righteousness. It is the Risen Jesus, and it is His \nHoly Spirit, who have now to carry out the Covenant \nin the hearts of men. They alone can write it there. \nThey alone can give true knowledge of what it is. \nThey alone can incline the heart to heed it. Those \nwho are redeemed from the curse of a broken law, find \ntheir refuge here. They come under the protection \n\n\n\nTHE ARK OF THE COVENANT. \n\n\n\n131 \n\n\n\nof Christ and the Spirit. Their Power and their \nPresence are the wings that overshadow them ; as \ntheir Lord Himself has promised, " All power is \ngiven unto me in Heaven and in earth ;" and, " Lo I \nam with you all the days, even unto the end of the \nworld." \n\nIn the Ark of the Covenant, then, we behold the \nentirety of Christ\'s relation to the Law, as developed \nin three great parts. We see at once a Life which \nis our perfect pattern ; a Death which is our perfect \npropitiation ; and a Living forevermore, which is \nour perfect provision for living also ; even the two- \nfold might of an Advocate with the Father, and an- \nother Comforter with us.* Under those outspread \nwings, our human life expands to meet the measures \nof things divine. This is the security that we have \nnow in Christ ; and hereby we know that the Living \nGod is among us, and will, without fail, drive out every \nenemy before us. \n\nIn this same Ark, as placed afterwards in the Tem- \nple, we find some significant changes, at which it may \nbe well to glance. The Cherubim are there made of \nolive-wood, overlaid with gold, instead of being as in \nthe Tabernacle, all of gold. As man, Christ does not \nyet reign; but when He so reigns, we shall reign \nalso. The Temple sets forth the greater glory of His \nKingdom, when firmly established. Redeemed man \nin that Kingdom, " when the Son of Man shall come \n* Cf. John xiv. 16, and 1 John ii. 1 \xe2\x80\x94 In both U.apdK?.Tjrog. \n\n\n\n^2 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nin His glory," is to be even enthroned.* They that \nhave part in the first resurrection, are to " live and \nreign with Christ." Upon the right hand of the \nKing is to stand " the Queen in gold of Ophir."f \nChrist, the Bridegroom, is to present unto Himself \n" a glorious Church," as His chosen Bride. % Noiv, \nit is Christ and His Spirit, who reign, by virtue of \ntheir Divinity, as shadowed in the temporary struc- \nture of the Tabernacle, where the Cherubim were all \nof gold. But then it will be the " olive-wood overlaid with \ngold!\' As the wood is the emblem of humanity, so \nthe olive-wood symbolizes its interpenetration by the \nSpirit, which found one of its most appropriate figures \nin the oil-olive. Christ through the Holy Ghost tak- \ning our nature upon Him, and we through the Holy \nGhost becoming partakers of His Divine nature \xe2\x80\x94 He, \nthe only begotten, Eternal Son of the Father, born \nof woman, and we born again of God, are yet to be \nbrought into that wondrous union, which is by pre- \neminence the "great mystery" of the Gospel, as well \nas God\'s " eternal purpose in Christ Jesus our Lord." \nChrist is yet to be all for His Church, and His Church \nall for Him. Few know this hope of their calling \xe2\x80\x94 \nnone unless God hath revealed it unto them by His \nSpirit. To all others it is as an idle tale, heard, but \nneither believed nor understood. \n\nThe Ark of the Covenant, then, that goes before us \n\ni \n* Rev. iii. 21. t Ps. xlv. 9 \\ Eph. v. \n\n\n\nTHE ARK OF THE COVENANT. \n\n\n\n153 \n\n\n\nis the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a glorious thing to \nhave a Covenant embodied in a Person, to have the \n" exceeding great and precious promises" made secure \nto us in a still more precious Promiser. \n\nBut the Ark of the Covenant, borne on before all \nthe people into the opening pathway, told not only \nof Jesus, but of Jesus as our Forerunner \xe2\x80\x94 the first to \npass through the barriers that shut us out from our \ninheritance. He went down first of all, setting His \nfeet in the brim of the waters, as our Priest, and the \nPrince of Faith. He passed bn into the flood, that \nswelled for Him beyond all bounds, as it never \nswelled before or since, and never can again. For He \ntouched the waters of sorrow, that they might hence- \nforth be cut off, and our sorrow turned into joy. He \ntouched the waves of Temptation, and they rolled \naway beneath His feet. He met the Tempter, only \nthat He might depart from him, and that his works \nmight be destroyed. He touched the billows of \ndeath, and they also rolled far away. He tasted \ndeath, only that through death, He might destroy \nhim who held its power. Every high wave that was \nready to overwhelm humanity, was stayed as the Son \nof man entered. \n\nFor while the Lord Jesus went before us as the \nSon of God, He went also as Man, and as the Repre- \nsentative of Man. It is therefore the Baptism of \nHumanity that we witness in His own. As the Son \nof man, He rested entirely upon the power of the \n\n\n\n134 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nSpirit. Conceived by the Holy Ghost, He could live \na sinless human life. Baptized by the descent of the \nSpirit, at His baptism in Jordan, He went " in the \npower of the Spirit " to His ministry of words and \nworks. And yet He had still another baptism to be \nbaptized with, so emancipating, so glorious, that He \ncould only say, " How am I straitened till it be accom- \nplished."* Therefore, when through the Eternal Spirit, \nHe offered Himself without spot unto God, then the \nBody also shared in the wondrous power. It could \nnot be holden of death ; it rose, passed into new \nfreedom, was transfigured, spiritualized. For forty \ndays on earth, and ten in heaven, the work went on. \nAnd now, as soon as the rich anointing oil that was \npoured forth, had covered the head of the great High \nPriest, then it began to flow down to the skirts of the \ngarments. So when Jesus was glorified, the Holy \nG J lost was given. \n\nHenceforth, there was a new mold for man \xe2\x80\x94 the \nSon of Man glorified. Whatsoever He was, or will be \nas man, that He would have us also become. And \nwheresoever He goes, there it is His will that we \nshould follow. The exceeding greatness of God\'s \npower to us-ward who believe, is only to be measured \nby what " He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him \nfrom the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in \n\n* See on this interpretation of Luke xii. 50, some extremely in- \nteresting thoughts on " the Glorification of Christ " in Chap. xv. \nof Jesus and the Coming Glory, by Joel Jones, LL.D. \n\n\n\nTHE ARK OF THE COVENANT. \n\n\n\n135 \n\n\n\nthe heavenly places." Nor let our faith falter, as this \nmeasure reaches on and on \xe2\x80\x94 " far above all princi- \npality, and power, and might, and dominion, and \nevery name that is named, not only in this world, but \nalso in that which is to come ; " \xe2\x80\x94 and still on \xe2\x80\x94 for \n" He hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him \nto be the Head over all things to the Church, which \nif, His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in \nall."* \n\nThese are not the words of ecstatic song, but " the \nwords of truth and soberness." And yet, how shall \nthe Christian be persuaded of them, and embrace \nthem? \xe2\x80\x94 for there are multitudes who miss them. \nIn their narrow thought, and in feeble faith, they see \nnot the great object of God in drawing nigh unto us \nin the flesh. They put Him back again far from them. \nThey receive the blessing of His humanity, so far as \nto claim in Him the friend of sinners ; but they do \nnot let Him come nigh enough to be truly their \nbrother \xe2\x80\x94 much less are they looking for Him, and \nmaking ready for Him, as the Bridegroom.f They \nstill measure their risen life by their old life, and for- \nget that Christ leads us on to that true ideal of man \nwhich first appeared in Him. It is a new path to a \nnew glory. None of us has " gone this way hereto- \nfore ;" for man was not created thus, nor has he \never been able, nor will he ever be of himself, to \nreach such a height. It is the calling of the Church, \n\n* Eph. i. 19-23. t Rev. xix. 7. \n\n\n\n136 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\neven to be FOR Christ, IN Christ, LIKE Christ, and \nwith Christ forever. \n\nYet, let it never be forgotten, that a reverent space \nwas to be left between the people and the Ark. The \nArk was to stand in its solitary majesty, upheld so \nhigh upon the shoulders of the Priests, that while \nsupporting it, they should not screen it. And then, \ntwo thousand cubits intervened between it and their \npathway. " Come not near unto it," was the charge, \n" that ye may know the way by which ye must go."* \nIn all our drawing nigh unto God, we are never to lay \naside the " reverence and godly fear." Whenever \nmysticism, in her extreme forms, has forgotten this, \nthere has invariably followed, first, the indulgence of \nself, and then, that which Neander has so aptly called \n" The gulf of pantheistic self-deification." f \n\nA vast space must ever lie between our derived \nand dependent life, and His life and glory, who is God \nover all, and never will the life which is so closely \nunited with His, become identical. \n\nBut while the Ark upborne in Jordan teaches us \nsuch wondrous truth, another touch of power is given \nto the picture, in its tarrying till all was accomplished. \n" For the priests, which bare the Ark, stood in the \n\n\n\n* Josh. iii. 4. \n\nt The whole passage in which he traces " the very thin and \nsubtle line which often separates truth from error," is a profound \nanalysis of the tendency referred to. See his " Church History " \n(Clark\'s Ed.), Vol. IX., pp. 535-6. \n\n\n\nTHE ARK OF THE COVENANT \n\n\n\n137 \n\n\n\nmidst of Jordan, until everything was finished that \nthe Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the peo- \nple, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua ; \nand the people hasted and passed over!\' * All these \nglorious provisions of the Gospel stand secure, till all \nthe ransomed have learned the power of Christ\'s \nresurrection. Not only has the Lord Jesus gone \nbefore us to prepare our way, but He sits at the \nright hand of God, "waiting until His enemies be \nmade His foot-stool." f How majestically calm and \npatient those waiting years of Christ, because so confi- \ndent. When He purposed to crown His Temple \nwith this High Tower of the Church, He counted the \ncost, and found that He had sufficient to finish it. \n\nThe looker-on, knowing little of Divine Art, may \n" despise the day of small things," and often question \nif the Gospel has not failed in the accomplishment \nof its full design. But a word has been spoken more \nsure than that of any earthly builder : " The hands \nof Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, \nhis hands shall also finish it." % Those blessed hands \nhave never laid down the work. Whether it be a \n\n\n\n* Josh. iv. 10. t Heb. x. 13, Udexo/uevo^. \n\nX Zech. iv. 9. " It must be remembered in reading" these \nprophecies that as David is the type of Christ, and not only so, \nbut Christ Himself is also called David by the Prophets, so \nZerubbabel (the seed of David, and leader of the people from \ncaptivity, and builder of the Temple) is not only a type of Christ, \nbut Christ is called Zerubbabel." \xe2\x80\x94 See Bishop Wordsworth\'s \nMinor Prophets. \n\n\n\n138 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nday, or a thousand years, it is all one in His sight. \nHe waits, while to so many His " long-suffering is \nsalvation ;" He waits, and as the long procession of \nHis followers files on, He ever reassures their hearts, \n" Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the end \nof the world !" He waits, until " everything be fin- \nished." The great Architect will eventually suffer \nno blemish, and no lack, in His great work. And as \nonce when He laid the foundation, upon His cross in \nSacrifice, He cried aloud that it was finished, so will \nHe yet cry louder with the shout of exceeding joy, \nwhen the whole Salvation is finished. " He shall \nbring forth the head-stone thereof with shoutings, \ncrying, Grace, grace, unto it."* And that which is \ntrue for the Church which is His body, is true for \neach member of it. The Apostle Paul might well \nsay to his beloved Philippians, " I am confident of \nthis very thing, that He who hath begun a good \nwork in you, will perfect it, even until the day of \nJesus Christ." He has learned veiy little of the \ncharacter of Christ, who can think of Him as possibly \nforsaking the works of His own hands. The prayer \nof David that He would not do it, was one of full \nconfidence, for it is preceded by these words of trust, \n"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: \nThy Mercy, O Lord, endureth forever." f And yet, \nwhile this is absolutely true, it is possible upon the \n\n* Zech. iv. 7. f Ps. cxxxviii. 8. \n\n\n\nTHE ARK OF THE COVENANT. \n\n\n\n139 \n\n\n\nother hand, to " frustrate the Grace of God " in our \nindividual growth, and so even while saved, to suffer \nloss ; and possible also, to delay His coming for His \nChurch.* Blessed are all who can say in sincerity, \n" I do not frustrate the Grace of God." \n\nIn the history of this crossing of Jordan, there is a \nbeautiful conjunction of God\'s waiting, and of man\'s \nhastening. The Priests and the Ark stood still ; but \n" the people hasted and passed over." Many com- \nmentators assume that they hastened from fear. But \nwhile the form of the verb does not in the least indi- \ncate this, it would also be out of all harmony with \nthe history. Hastening for fear, when so many miles \nabove them the bed of Jordan lay dry ! Hastening \nfor fear, when they saw the Ark of God and His \nPriests far nearer any possible danger than them- \nselves ! Hastening for fear over Jordan, when their \nfathers had marched through the flood of the Red \nSea on foot, rejoicing in God ! Such haste would \nhave been both utterly unseemly, and an evil omen \nfor the conquest. There were other reasons for mak- \ning all possible haste. Were they not keeping the \npriests of God with their arms outstretched, to bear \nup their holy burden ? And moreover, there, dis- \n\n*Cf. 1 Cor. iii. 15, and 2 Peter iii. 12. See Dean Alford\'s \nGreek Testament upon Gnevdovrac, in the latter passage, which he \nrenders thus : " Hastening - the advent of the day of God." If \nit be possible to hasten Christ\'s coming it is also possible to hin- \nder it. \n\n\n\n140 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\ntinct before them, beautiful in the soft, rich light of \nthe early morning, lay the homes, and vineyards, and \nfields, which they were to possess. It was but a little \nspace to cross \xe2\x80\x94 they could see the very flowers bow- \ning with the weight of the dew \xe2\x80\x94 a little space, and \nan open path. A few steps, and their feet would be \nin Canaan ; a few moments, and the weary waiting of \nyears would end. As the tired laborer hastes at the \nfirst glimpse of his home, so must they have hastened. \nThere may have been, also, some innocent rivalry to \nbe among the first to touch the further shore. All \nthese motives, indeed, might easily combine as they \nhastened and passed over. And shall not the thought \nthat Jesus waits, till all be gathered in \xe2\x80\x94 waits, with- \nout coming yet " in His power and great glory " \xe2\x80\x94 \xe2\x80\xa2 \nwaits for His coming and His espousals \xe2\x80\x94 shall not \nthis thought stir up His Church, not only to be look- \ning for, but hastening His coming ? By all the dili- \ngence we give to make our calling and election sure \xe2\x80\x94 \nby all our diligence in adding to our faith the graces \nthat complete it \xe2\x80\x94 by all our hastening to pass over \nand share the risen life of Christ, and receive the ful- \nness of His blessing, do we at the same time render \nit possible for Him to hasten ? The love of Christ \nconstraining us, will urge us onward. And who that \nhas had " the eyes of the understanding opened/\' to \nbehold what are " the riches of the glory" of this \ninheritance in Christ Jesus, would not fain \'to his \n\n\n\nTHE ARK OF THE CO VENA NT. \n\n\n\nI4T \n\n\n\nspeed add wings/ that he might enter it, and at once \npossess it ? \n\nWhen Israel came out of Egypt, two opposite com- \nmands were given to them : the first, "Stand still and \nsee the salvation of God ;" the second, " Speak to \nmy people that they go forward." So again, upon \nthe banks of Jordan, there were days of quiet resting, \nbefore they could hasten and pass over. No one can \never go forward in the strength of God, till he has \nfirst stood still in his own utter helplessness. But \nwhen the call is heard, and the promise given, then \ngo forward he must, or forfeit all before him. All \nthese gracious promises, so ancient, so often renewed \xe2\x80\x94 \nall the provision for the future in the land \xe2\x80\x94 all this \npatient preparation \xe2\x80\x94 all the stay of God\'s presence \nand power \xe2\x80\x94 all these are forfeited, if he fail to go \nforward in the obedience of faith. " If ye know these \nthings, happy are ye if ye do them." \n\nMost ruinous to faith, is that serious sentimentality \nwhich admires the truth, studies it, teaches it, and \neven thinks to hold it as its own ; but does not after \nall suffer itself to be possessed by it. Truth asks for no \npatronizing. It calls for humble, submissive, loyal \nhearts. Its command is, "Go forward \xe2\x80\x94 Hasten." \nAnd, indeed, it is not enough that we go forward. \nWe must also HASTEN, if the fulness of blessing is \never to be ours. We are solemnly told that only as \nwe "give diligence" shall we make our calling and \n\n\n\n142 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nelection sure; that only as we "show the same dili- \ngence" shall we have "the full assurance of hope \nunto the end." Respecting this very type we read \nin the Epistle to the Hebrews, " Let us, therefore, \nhasten* to enter into this rest ;" and again, we learn \nhow it is that in "giving all diligence," " an entrance \nshall be ministered unto us abundantly into the ever- \nlasting kingdom." f \n\nThe Lord of the Covenant passing on before us at \nonce our Ark, our Priest, our Leader, calls to His \nhalting disciples, "Follow *me \xe2\x80\x94 FOLLOW ME." And \n" he that believeth shall not make haste " \\ for any \nfear ; but for the joy of following Him, whithersoever \nHe goeth, "thy children shall make haste!" \xc2\xa7 \n\n* Heb. iv. ii, l7rovddoo)iuev \xe2\x80\x94 elsewhere rendered, be diligent. \nt 2 Pet. i. 5-1 1. X Is. xxviii. 16. \xc2\xa7 Is. xlix. 17. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII. \n\nMEMORIAL STONES. \n\nUr PHESE STONES SHALL BE FOR A MEMORIAL \nA UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL FOREVER." \n\xe2\x80\x94{Josh. iv. 7.) \n\nAfter the crossing of Jordan, immediate steps were \ntaken to keep the great event alive to all coming gen- \nerations. By express command of the Lord, twelve \nstones were carried from the bed of Jordan, where \nthe priests had stood, and were set up at Gilgal, \nwhere the children of Israel lodged that night. As \nthe song of Moses preserved the memory of the Red \nSea Crossing, so now that they have at last reached \na spot which is not to be left behind in journeying, \na more solid memorial is to bear witness to the won- \nderful works of the Lord. \n\nThe lessons to be learned from these stones of \nmemorial, are more simple than many others in this \nhistory, and yet of too much importance to be wholly \nslighted. The first suggested, is the duty of " well \nremembering " whatever the Lord has done. There \nare steps in our Christian course which can never be \nrepeated in act, but which need often to be repeated \n\n(\'43) \n\n\n\n144 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nin vivid remembrance. The blessed influences of a \nmoment may thus be diffused over a lifetime. It \nmay often happen, also, that the significance of an \nact not fully recognized at the time, may so grow \nupon the soul that, like those fruits which mellow long \nafter they are gathered, its real blessedness is tasted \nin far distant years. Indeed, the events are very few \nwhich assume their full importance at the time. The \nthought of this should quiet that keen regret, which \nwould fain transfer to the past, the fuller comprehen- \nsion of the present. Mere sentiment might thus re- \nceive a finer gratification ; but still all really solid \nand substantial uses may be served by a right re- \nmembrance. \n\nOn the other hand, forgetfulness of our past bless- \nings and of the wonderful ways of our God, is un- \nspeakable loss. He who has " forgotten that he was \npurged from his old sins," has lost the very main- \nspring of Christian progress. For as remembrance \nmeans renewal, so does forgetfulness mean forfeiture. \nA lively faith will always be blessed with a clear mem- \nory, and thus forgetfulness is one of the earliest and \nsurest symptoms of unbelief. " They soon forgat His \nworks/\' is equivalent to saying that their faith had \nwaned. So Jesus upbraids His disciples who, after \ntwice seeing the multitude fed by Him, were heard \nreasoning because they had no bread \xe2\x80\x94 " And do ye \nnot remember?"* Throughout the Epistles remark- \n\n* Mark viii. 18. \n\n\n\nMEMORIAL STONES. \n\n\n\nH5 \n\n\n\nable stress is laid upon the power of such recollec- \ntion. St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, that if they \nkept in memory that which he had preached and \nthey received, they should be saved.* And to the \nEphesians, seated in heavenly places, he writes : \n\'- Wherefore remember !" They were still to bear \nconstantly in mind that they had once been far off, \nand were made nigh only by the blood of Jesus. \nAgain, how earnestly he charges Timothy, " Of these \nthings put them in remembrance." Still more strik- \ning are the words of the Apostle Peter, who an- \nnounces his design in both his Epistles to be this, to \n" stir up their pure minds by way of remembrance." f \nWell taught as had been his hearers, and profound \nas was his own knowledge of the truth, there yet \nseemed to him nothing so pressing as this. " Where- \nfore," he writes, " I will not be negligent to put you \nalways in remembrance of these things, though ye \nknow them and be established in the present truth. \nYea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this taber- \nnacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance. \nMoreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able after \nmy decease to have these things always in remem- \nbrance." % In these Athenian days, when men spend \ntheir time either in telling or hearing some new thing, \nand even in the house of God listen restlessly to old \ntruth, we have need to be reminded of this high \n\n\n\n* 1 Cor. xv. i, 2. f 2 Pet, Hi. 1. J 2 Pet, i. 12-15, \n\n7 \n\n\n\nI4 6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nauthority for such reiteration of it, as shall keep it \nalways in mind. And it is safe to say that whenever \nthe truth, as already heard, has been assimilated, \nthere will always be fresh eagerness to hear it again, \nas both new and old. It is through such constant \nremembrance, that faith is found ripening into ever \nricher experiences. \n\nAs to the significance of the stones themselves \nthus set up at Gilgal, there are two interpretations \xe2\x80\x94 \nnot, however, in conflict, but the one being rather \ncontinued and completed in the other. We may re- \ngard them, in the first place, and with reference to \nthe foothold they supplied, as representing the word \nand promises of God, which are the stay and support \nof the soul ; and then in their fuller meaning, that \nsame word as embodied in the risen life of Believers, \nand especially in the twelve Apostles. \n\nAs to the first of these meanings, we have to note \nthat the stones were taken out of the place where \nthe priests\' feet stood firm. To hold the Ark stead- \nily up before the eyes of the people who looked to \nthis as their security, there was needed firm foot- \ning\xe2\x80\x94such footing as could be found only on a. rock. \nDoubtless the first efforts of the priests would be to \nsecure this standing. And whether we regard the \nbearers of the Ark as representing Christ, the Up- \nholder of His own Covenant, or as still further signi- \nfying the delegation of this priestly privilege to oth- \ners \xe2\x80\x94 wna t in either case could give firm foothold, \n\n\n\nME MORTAL STONES \n\n147 \n\nsave that Word of God, which is very sure and very \nsteadfast ? " The True Sayings of God "-" The ex- \nceeding great and precious promises "\xe2\x80\x94these furnish \na firm foundation in the deepest depths. Brought \nout of the horrible pit and the miry clay, the feet \nmay be set upon these as on a rock. \n\nEach priest stood upon his own stone, and then a \nman out of each tribe was appointed to bring up \neach one a stone. Their distinctness was not to be \nlost in the monument as a whole, for the question \nof coming ages was to be, " What mean ye by these \nstones r Practically, it is not upon the entire revela- \ntion of God, but upon some one portion of it, that \neach man takes his stand. Any one of the promises \nappropriated singly in an hour of need, will yield far \nmore support than a general conviction of the truth \nof all. Because there is always some promise that is \nnot only secure, but precisely adapted to our present \nneed, and which while it does not distinctly include, \nyet powerfully suggests the whole Gospel. Christian \nBiography abounds with instances, where an epoch of \nlife was characterized by the vivid apprehension of \nsome single saying, out of all the many words of \nGod. \n\nIt is well that there should be many stones, and \nmany witnesses ; that as human needs are definite \nand varied, so should be also the instrumentalities. \nEach true witness for God can only bear his witness \nfrom his own experience, and in his own way ; and \n\n\n\niaS the fulness of blessing. \n\nthere will always be those that could receive no \nother. Many ropes may be thrown from the life- \nboat ; it is salvation to grasp but one\xe2\x80\x94 the nearest. \nTwelve manner of fruits grow, each in their season, \nupon the tree of life ; it is the best sustenance for \nthe hungry to take that which is ripest. By twelve \ngates will the holy city be entered, and the right gate \nfor all those who come from the north, and from the \nsouth, from the east, and from the west, is that which \nwe see upon our own side, and can reach by the short- \nest road. And so while there are twelve stones, to \neach his own stone will seem the strongest and surest. \nThat promise of God in which he first clearly finds \nthe resurrection-power of Jesus, must needs be the \nmost precious. Again and again will he prove it. \nLike the sword of David, it is that with which he \ntriumphed at the first, and " there is none like that: 1 \n\nAs these stones were set up at Gilgal, and they \ngathered round them, on that most memorable night \nof first resting in the land of rest, how naturally would \neach of the priests point to his own stone, and say, \n" Upon this one it was that my feet stood firm ;" while \nanother near him would make answer, " And that same \nstone it was that I brought up upon my shoulder." The \njoy of all would be multiplied by the special joy on \nthe part of each ; and their sense of possession in the \nwhole memorial, be heightened by the fact of their \npeculiar portion in a part. \n\nIt would furnish a most interesting study, to con- \n\n\n\nMEMORIAL STONES. \n\n\n\n149 \n\n\n\nsider in the case of the Apostles, so far as we have a \nrecord of their faith, what it was that was the per- \nsonal stand-point of each. And another study might \nbe made more complete, in considering what twelve \ntrue sayings of God, would best set forth the manifold- \nness and adaptiveness of His truth ; and whose feet \nalso they had stayed, and on whose shoulders they \nhad been carried as trophies. \n\nBut without attempting this, let one stone be here \nbrought over, and set up as a memorial ; not only be- \ncause personally, exceedingly precious, but also because \nit is so broad that the whole world might stand there, \nif they would. " He that spared not His own \nSon, but delivered Him up for us all, how \nshall He not with Him also freely give us \nALL THINGS ?" As in a granite rock, glittering with \nits clear crystals, so out of this strong logic of the Gos- \npel, there flashes all the light of love. There it stands \nin the past \xe2\x80\x94 that great fact \xe2\x80\x94 that Christ died \xe2\x80\x94 died \nbecause " God so loved the world/\' Such a gift once \ngiven, what else shall He not give ! \n\n" Behold His greatest gift of all is free, \nAnd pledges every lesser gift to thee !" \n\nIt was in vain that Archimedes sighed for his \nttov orti from which to move the earth ; but in the \nmarvellous mechanics of Grace, the Cross of Christ is \nthat stand-point which has been given, and from which \nHe will yet move the Universe. There we may stand \n\n\n\ni5o \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nin all our weakness, and wait and watch to see Him \nwork His wonders. And to what a climax of hope \nwe climb, as word after word of this persuading prom- \nise sets our feet higher yet : "How \xe2\x80\x94 shall He 7iot \xe2\x80\x94 \nwith Hi7n \xe2\x80\x94 also \xe2\x80\x94 freely \xe2\x80\x94 give us \xe2\x80\x94 all things ? \' How \nthe strong arches stretch in succession over the whole \nwide stream of judgment ! Or rather, we may behold \nit, as the one lithe span of a Sure Salvation, suspended \nover the chasm sundering earth and heaven, and let \ndown on either side from the High Towers of a \nFather\'s and a Brother\'s love ! \n\nThis sure word of promise, is no private title deed, \nbut the broad charter of all who claim their citizen- \nship in Heaven. Every one, who has received Christ \nat all as a Saviour, may go on to receive with Him \nall things. If any one admit the least flaw in this title \nto the fulness of Grace and Glory, he at the same time \ndisallows it all, and must stand wholly disinherited. \nFor with what consistency can he who claims not all, \nclaim anything ? " ALL THINGS " \xe2\x80\x94 " FOR US ALL " \xe2\x80\x94 \nfor whom Christ died. Such is the substance of the \nPromise. \n\n" All things, for us all." Such a saying should silence \nforever all the babbling of the faithless, who still \ninsist, " These blessings are for a few, not for all \xe2\x80\x94 not \nfor me." But God has graven it in the Rock forever, \n"All things for us all." Venture, then, timid \ntraveller, upon this sure promise of thy God. \n\nHere, take thy stand upon the Rock, saying, " I \n\n\n\nMEMORIAL STONES. \n\n\n\n151 \n\n\n\ncan do no other." Make this thy stepping-stone into \nthe Land of Promise, and the power of Christ\'s Res- \nurrection. Make this also thy sure foundation, and \nthere uphold the glorious Covenant, in the eyes of all \nwhose feet seem ready to fail for fear. Set it up as \nthy memorial, and keep it always in thy remembrance. \nAnd thou shalt never need to seek for any other stone \nupon which to write thy Eben-ezer; but with every \ncoming day, thou canst still say, " Hitherto hath the \nLord helped me," and so set to thy seal that God is \ntrue. \n\nBut to pass on to the fuller significance of this \nsymbol. The word of God thus proven in experience, \nbecomes embodied in the life of the Believer. Each \nfaithful confessor of His Lord becomes a Rock, and \nis built up as a living stone, in that monument which \nwitnesses to the power and wisdom of God \xe2\x80\x94 His holy \nChurch. The Resurrection of Jesus was followed by \nthe setting up of its foundations, and as it " groweth to \nan holy Temple," it is the truest trophy which He \nexhibits to the Universe. Christian Confession, Chris- \ntian Character, Christian Conduct \xe2\x80\x94 these are the true \nmemorials of a Risen Saviour. And as the stones at \nGilgal renewed from age to age the question, " What \nmean ye by these stones ?" \xe2\x80\x94 so will it always be that \nsuch a life will suggest the deepest searching into the \nways of God. Very sweetly, in words that are daily \nendeared to the hearts of thousands, has this great \nneed been shaped into the prayer, " We beseech thee, \n\n\n\n152 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSLYG. \n\n\n\ngive us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our \nhearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we may \nshow forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in \nour lives ; by giving up ourselves to thy service, \nand by walking before thee in holiness and right- \neousness, all our days."* \n\nMeanwhile, there is one great memorial, that has \nalready been set up, and that has stood strong \nthroughout the ages \xe2\x80\x94 twelve goodly stones that \nhave been marked with special honor \xe2\x80\x94 the Twelve \nApostles of our Lord. Distributing to the many \nmembers of the one body their gifts and offices, \n" God hath set in the Church, first, Apostles\' 1 Joined \nin a peculiarly close and sacred fellowship with the \nChief Corner-stone, these twelve were to constitute \nthe first solid round of foundation stonesf which in \nall the future growth of the Holy Temple could \nnever be repeated. The Building could only be fitly \nframed together, by every other stone being built \nupon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets4 \n\n\n\n* Book of Common Prayer \xe2\x80\x94 General Thanksgiving- of Morning \nand Evening Prayer. \n\nt Rev. xxi. 14. \n\n% \'"Ye are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, \nJesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone \' (Eph. ii. 20). \nThe corner-stone is but part of the foundation, though it be the \nfirst and the chief part ; and this consolidation of the corner- \nstone with the adjacent foundations, as one basement to sustain \nthe building, exhibits in the plainest manner the fact, that the \nChurch, in respect of its faith, rests upon a testimony which \n\n\n\nMEMORIAL STONES. \n\n\n\n153 \n\n\n\nChosen to be witnesses of Christ\'s Resurrection, they \nare set up as soon as their Lord has passed over \nthrough death into life. The importance of their \noffice may be somewhat measured from that long \nnight of solitary prayer on the mountain-top, which \npreceded their call, as well as from all the solemn, \nsacred words and acts of their subsequent commis- \nsion. \n\nWere our Gospel given us only in the life of Jesus \nupon earth \xe2\x80\x94 had our New Testament closed with the \nrecord of the Evangelists \xe2\x80\x94 we should have had only \nthat which " Jesus began both to do and teach." For \nits completion and its full preparation for the world, \nit was needful that it should be wrought out practi- \ncally in merely human lives. It was fitting, also, that \nthe number selected for the first exhibition of this new \npower, should be the same as that so often chosen by \nGod as representing human instrumentality. Twelve \nis the multiple of that number which marks the Tri- \nune Being of God, and of that other which denotes \nearthly expansion, and completeness of human com- \nbination.* Thus both Divine and human factors are \n\n\n\nwas delivered partly by Jesus in person, and partly by the agents \nwhom for that purpose He ordained. Their inspiration as be- \nlievers associates them with the whole Church ; their inspiration \nas teachers unites them only with their Lord." \xe2\x80\x94 Bernard\'\' s Prcg~ \nress of Doctrine in the New Test., p. 125. \n\n* See page 194-5 of Vol. I. of Bahr\'s " Symbolik des Mosai- \nschen Cultus " (Heidelberg, 1874.) See also the Introduction to \nLange\'s Com. on the Revelation of St. John. \n\n\n\n154 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nseen in the number of Instruments, set apart by God, \nfor working upon man, through man. \n\nThus then were the Twelve Apostles set forth as \nour examples \xe2\x80\x94 taken out of the common quarries of \nhumanity, even out of its roughest regions \xe2\x80\x94 to show \nbefore the world, what forms of God-like manliness \nthe great Sculptor could shape and polish. \n\nAnd standing first as ensamples, they are also \nclothed with high authority. It was the safety of \nthe earliest converts, that " they continued steadfastly \nin the Apostles\' doctrine and fellowship." It is still \nthe safety of the Church, even for such as are " proph- \nets " and " spiritual," to acknowledge the things which \nthey wrote unto us, as the commandments of the \nLord* \n\n" What mean ye by these stones ? " was the inquiry \nto be ever incited by the memorial at Gilgal. And a \nquestion like it still confronts the sceptic and the \ncareless \xe2\x80\x94 What mean these Living Stones \xe2\x80\x94 these \nlives of Christ\'s Apostles ? \n\nWhat mean from simple peasants and fishermen \nsuch dignity and grandeur ? \xe2\x80\x94 out of a nation so nar- \nrow and so rigid, such breadth, such pliability ? \xe2\x80\x94 What \nmean in men who have sheathed the sword, a zeal \nand courage that no warrior ever matched ? \xe2\x80\x94 What \nmean from unlearned and ignorant men, those torrents \nof effective eloquence ? \xe2\x80\x94 What mean \xe2\x80\x94 we will not \nask the " signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds," \n* i Cor. xiv. 37. \n\n\n\nMEMORIAL STONES. \n\n\n\n155 \n\n\n\nwhich men have mocked and mimicked \xe2\x80\x94 but that \nPatience, which is the foremost sign of an Apostle,* \nwhereas no enchantment can ever "do in like man- \nner?" \xe2\x80\x94 What can they mean save this, that Christ who \ndied is risen again, and that these are the witnesses of \nHis Resurrection, each of whom can say, " Christ \nliveth in me." \n\nIt must not be overlooked that while these twelve \nstones upon the further shore constituted the great \nmemorial, twelve other stones were set up in the \nmidst of Jordan to mark the place where the Ark of \nthe Covenant had gone down ; and, says the histo- \nrian, " There they are unto this day." \n\nFor never, while giving testimony to " Jesus and \nthe Resurrection," must the deep valley of His death \nbe forgotten. The Lord Himself has taught us how \nwe should behold Him now, in those words that \nopened the Apocalypse, " I am the Living One and \nI BECAME DEAD." " There they are unto this day" \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe Agony \xe2\x80\x94 the Trial \xe2\x80\x94 the Cross \xe2\x80\x94 the Tomb! \nThere it was that He stood so long for our sakes \nthat He might bring us unto glory. Yea, even let \nHim remain, " a Lamb as it had been slain in the midst \nof the Throne !" \n\nSo, also, in that Memorial, which would be robbed \nof its chief blessing, were it not the communion of \nthe soul with an ascended, glorified Lord, how clearly \nare we still pointed to the broken body, and the shed \n\n* 2 Cor. xii. 12. \n\n\n\nl$6 THF FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nblood, and told, in tones that stir all our tenderest \nthoughts, " Do this in remembrance of me." \n\nIt may be permissible to regard one more final \nlesson as suggested by this latter group of stones. \nTaken as they were from the Land of Promise itself, \nand carried back to the bed of the river, they may \nset forth the call of some of God\'s servants, to a \nspecial fellowship in the sufferings of Christ, for His \nservice sake. The call of the Apostle Paul was thus \nmarked, \xe2\x80\x94 " I will show him how great things he must \nsuffer for my name\'s sake." \n\nSo he counted not his life dear unto himself, that \nhe might fulfil his ministry ; and thus he filled up \n" that which was behind of the sufferings of Christ," \nfor the sake of His Church. \n\nAnd so we may find indicated in these deep-sunkeit. \nstones, what one of the most spiritual of the German \ndivines has spoken of as, " the deep principle that to \nevery vessel of grace, and especially every witness of \nthe Gospel, suffering is inevitable ; and that the meas- \nure of affliction is in proportion to the height and \ndignity of the vocation."* To all His disciples Christ \ngives His seven-fold Benediction ;f but he has an- \nother beyond these,;f wherewith to crown His Kings \nand Priests ; that suffering for righteousness\' sake, they \nmight " rejoice and be exceeding glad." \n\n\n\n* Rudolph Stier, " Words of the Risen Saviour,\'\' p. 36. \nt Matt. v. 3-9. X Matt. v. 10. \n\n\n\nMEMORIAL STONES. \n\n\n\n157 \n\n\n\nYe whom God honors thus, be not moved by these \nafflictions. Let your hearts be comforted by the \nwords of one, who knew full well of what he spoke, \n11 Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only \nto believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake." \n" It is a faithful saying, For if we be dead with Him \nwe shall also live with Him ; if we suffer WE SHALL \nALSO REIGN WITH HlM." \n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII. \n\nTHE REPROACH OF EGYPT. \n\nii AND Joshua made him sharp knives and \n\n<\xc2\xa3*\xe2\x96\xa0 circumcised the children of israel. \n\nAnd the Lord said unto Joshua, This day \n\nhave i rolled away the reproach of egypt \n\nFROM OFF YOU." \xe2\x80\x94 (Josh. V. 3, 9). \n\nThe first experience in the Land of Blessing was \nto be one of pain. As the people had needed a spe- \ncial preparation for passing over Jordan, so did the \nlarger portion of them need a further preparation for \nthe Conquest. Upon the other side the command of \nGod had been, " Set yourselves apart." The time \nhad come to carry out their consecration. The cove- \nnant of circumcision was to be renewed. Through \nall the bondage of Egypt it appears to have been ob- \nserved, and nothing marks more clearly the demor- \nalization of the wilderness, than its utter neglect. \n" Now all the people that came out were circumcised ; \nbut all the people that were born in the wilderness \nby the way, as they came forth out of Egypt, them \nthey had not circumcised." \n(158) \n\n\n\nTHE REPROACH OF EGYPT. \n\n\n\n159 \n\n\n\nThe command seems very stern \xe2\x80\x94 " The Lord said \nunto Joshua, make thee sharp knives and circumcise \nagain the children of Israel ; " yet it marks the good- \nness rather than the severity of God. He was thus \nrenewing for them a Covenant of Blessing. \n\nThe first consequence of this covenant had been \nthe change of Abram\'s name to Abraham, as now to \nbe the father of many nations. Ninety years old and \nnine when he was circumcised, he must suffer in his \n\'flesh, before the promised seed was given. God, who \nhad called him out of his own country, that He might \nbless him, and make him a blessing,* who had ap- \npeared again as his shield and exceeding great re- \nward, and counted his faith for righteousness,! now \nin this third call, summoned him to walk before Him, \nand to be perfect.;): He had led him up step by step \nto this absolute devotion to Himself, and so finally \ngave to him this significant token of the covenant, \nwhich He made with him and his posterity. The \npenalty of disobedience or of neglect was this \xe2\x80\x94 \n" That soul shall be cut off from his people : he hath \nbroken my covenant." \n\nIt is often questioned how far these types could \nbe comprehended by the people who observed them. \nBut in regard to this one, it appears certain that its \nmoral import was seen. We find all along the record \nof its outward observance, a contemporary spiritual \n\n* Gen. xii. 1-3. t Gen. xv. 1-5. % Gen. xvii. 1-10. \n\n\n\n!6o THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nuse of the term. Even in the wilderness Moses called \nupon the people to " circumcise their hearts and be \nno more stiff-necked ;" and even there was the promise \ngiven, " The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, \nand the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with \nall thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou may- \nest live."* \n\nAnd seeking for its significance to us, we find in \nperfect accord with the appeals of the Old Testament, \nthe teaching of the New, that circumcision is of the \nheart, in the spirit and not in the letter. We are \nshown that its present correlatives are, " the keeping \nof the commandments of God," "faith working by \nlove," and " a new creature." We are told that " We \nthen are the circumcision who worship God in the \nspirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no con- \nfidence in the flesh ; " and that in our " circumcision \nmade without hands," that which we have put off is \n" the body of the sins of the flesh." f As clearly as \nGod commanded the shadow of things to come, when \nHe made this special covenant with Abraham, so \nclearly did the Lord Jesus reenact its substance, when \nHe turned and said unto His disciples, " If any man \nwill come after me, let him deny himself, and take up \nhis cross and follow me. He that loveth his life \nshall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world, \n\n* Deut. xxx. 6. \nt See i Cor. vii. 19; Gal. v. 6 and vi. 15; Phil. iii. 3, and \nCol. ii. 11. \n\n\n\nTHE RE PR OA CH OF EG YP T. r 6 1 \n\nshall keep it unto life eternal." * The lesson of cir- \ncumcision then, while including much beside, is fun- \ndamentally this \xe2\x80\x94 the putting away of selfism, so af- \nfecting a radical change of life, by substituting for the \nlove of self in all its intricate ramifications, the sin- \ngleness of love to God. The process changes the \nvery polarity of our nature. In the world at large, \n" all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus \nChrist\'s." But the heart which the Lord has circum- \ncised to love Him, " seeketh not its own! y \n\nIt is somewhat startling at first, to find such a scene \nof suffering over Jordan, since it would seem to be- \nlong rather to the preparation. But the order in \nwhich it stands is certainly in accord with the develop- \nments of Christian life. In the Epistle to the Colos- \nsians, St. Paul writes, " Ye are dead, and your life is \nhid with Christ in God ; mortify, therefore, your mem- \nbers which are upon the earth." The first working \nof the power of Christ\'s resurrection is in the fellow- \nship .of His sufferings \xe2\x80\x94 His love of necessity con- \nstraining us to die unto sin and self, and live unto \nHim. Only as we take our share in His life and in \nHis love, can this be possible ; for there can be no \nsuch thing in Christian experience as the mere nega- \ntive abstinence from evil. Only a living and loving \nsoul that has taken firm hold of the promises of God, \ncan cleanse itself " from all filthiness of the flesh and \nof the spirit." No one would ever dream of attempt- \n* Matt. xvi. 24, and John xii. 25. \n\n\n\n\\\xc2\xa72 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\ning to remove the darkness from a room, without \nletting in the light. And as the entering of the light \nremoves the darkness, so must the Spirit come to \nbanish self. \n\nLet no one be dismayed in the first joy of this res- \nurrection life, at finding that a painful process awaits \nhim, and that all is not even yet left behind. But \nneither let him think that there can be any further \nprogress, until his consecration has become a solemn \ncovenant, sealed by sacrifice. He must neither des- \npair at the discovery of self, nor fail to let it be cru- \ncified. \n\nAgain, let none think that we are able to do this \nfor ourselves. Jesus, our Joshua, is the only one who \ncan cause His love so to constrain the soul, as to \nremove all " superfluity of naughtiness." And the \nsharp knife which He will use is His own Word, \nwhich is " quick and powerful, and sharper than any \ntwo-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asun- \nder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, \nand is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the \nheart." \n\nIt is of the utmost importance for us to understand \nthat whatever of self still exists in us, it can by no \npossibility be hidden from God. It is naked and \nopen unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to \ndo. As clearly as Jesus read the hearts of those \naround Him when on earth, thus answering their \n\n\n\nTHE REPROACH OF EGYPT. \n\n\n\n163 \n\n\n\nthoughts rather than their words, so clearly does He \ncomprehend every undercurrent, and subtle depth in \nour being now. We may be self-deceived, but we \ncan never deceive the Lord. \n\nAnd very rarely are they deceived who walk in His \nlight. When to that native intuition which often \nreaches far below the surface, there is added any \npower of discerning spirits, the true standing of those \nwith whom they mingle is almost sure to be known \n\xe2\x80\x94 whether self be living or slain. How foolish, there- \nfore, not to say how sinful, to evade that knowledge \nof ourselves which others have. \n\nChristians are usually ready to make any amount \nof general confession of sin ; they recognize and la- \nment the taint that is found everywhere in humanity. \nThey can judge their own sin in the abstract ; but not \nalways \xe2\x80\x94 not often \xe2\x80\x94 are they ready to humble them- \nselves, and receive the message, " Thou art the man." \nThe Physician rarely finds his patient offended by a \nsimple statement of his disease, but how few who, in \nthe sickness of their souls, seek for spiritual counsel, \nare willing to be told the truth. Thoroughly aware \nof some difficulty, they think themselves ready for any \nsacrifice \xe2\x80\x94 for the removal of any hindrance. And it \nis no difficult task for one accustomed to deal with \nsouls, to detect that special form of self v/hich is their \nsnare. But if it be simply and honestly stated, of- \nfence is taken ; it is denied or evaded ; while the soul, \n\n\n\n164 77//; FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nto shelter its wounded pride, affects discouragement \nat such misunderstanding, and so, by its own wilful- \nness, sinks into a worse condition than before. \n\nWhat wonder if even true and faithful friends, fore- \nseeing this, hesitate to perform an office which will \nnot be accepted. It is a fearful thing when self has \ngrown so strong, that in its pride it ceases to wel- \ncome the truth. What if God also should be un- \nwilling to force it upon those who so little desire it ! \nWhat if His only way to bring us to the knowledge \nof all that is in our heart, should be to leave us, that \nthe sin which lies hidden in the depth of the heart, \nmight work itself out in some bitter humiliation! \n\nIt is perfectly certain that while self thus remains \nalive, there are many of the very richest blessings, \nwhich God can not possibly impart, save at the risk \nof most imminent peril to the receiver. They would \nbe perverted at once, to minister to the life of self. \nThis is the most common cause of those delays, which \nso many experience in receiving that which they have \nasked Silf is not slain. Some instances of this kind \nmay be very perplexing, since such secret selfism may \ncoexist with much zeal and outward fidelity, and many \nstriking traits of Christian character. Especially may \nit coexist with the Stronger elements. The strong- \nman is lifted up because of his strength ; and his \nheart must needs be changed to that of a little child, \nbefore he can grow again in knowledge and in grace. \nWhoever stands self-sufficient, even in God-given wis- \n\n\n\nTHE REPROACH OF EGYPT. 165 \n\ndom and strength, has lost the power of receiving- \nmore. He has to learn that men never grow \xe2\x80\x94 that \nonly the child grows. When he is ready, even as a \nlittle babe, to desire the sincere milk of the word, \nthen will God restore this privilege of growth. \n\nOn the other hand, there are instances of those who \npass into the inner courts, to behold the nearer glory \nof God, with an ease that is equally perplexing to the \nsuperficial eye. Their lives are not at the time purer, \nand in almost every respect they may exhibit less of \nstrength, than those whom they outstrip. But they \nhave one all-important prerequisite, simplicity of heart. \n"Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" \nsaid Jesus ; and " the Jew inwardly," whose " circum- \ncision is that of the heart," is thus ever recognized by \nthe Lord, and receives praise of Him. \n\nThe least portion of that guile which is even more \ndeceived than deceiving, is an evil root in the soil, \nwhich proves the most difficult of all things to eradi- \ncate. It can live upon so little. It can die apparent- \nly so often, and yet revive. But until self is really \nremoved, and we come down below all pretence and \nconceit to solid ground \xe2\x80\x94 to a basis of entire truthful- \nness toward God \xe2\x80\x94 how impossible to be solidly built \nup. As well might one venture a tower above a \nquicksand ! \n\nNever has a truth of God been so travestied as this \nof denying self, in that which passes usually under the \nname of self-denial \xe2\x80\x94 the giving up of the most that \n\n\n\n1 66 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nwe may keep the dearest ; the denial of somewhat to \nourselves instead of the denial of the ivhole self to \nGod. We may let a thousand things go out of our \nlife and die, but our life has not died. The world \nmay have been crucified unto us, but not we unto the \nworld. We may possibly have parted with our right \nhand, or our right eye, but still, " skin for skin, yea, \nall that a man hath will he give for his life" \xe2\x80\x94 a fact \nwell known to Satan who said it. " Living in any- \nthing unto ourselves, even in the best things, is the \nessential of self. When self is dead, its own heart \nceases to beat ; and every pulse of the new life, united \nunto Christ, keeps time with the throbbing of His \nown heart. The new heart which He has given, \nfinds again the life which was lost for His sake, \nrisen and glorified. It truly lives when it lives unto \nGod. \n\nWhat shall be said of this great need of Christians, \nand of the thousands in whom self is still alive? How \nshall, indeed, any intimation of their need be given \nthem ? How rend the veil of good works, and gifts, \nand graces, which drape and beautify this secret shrine \nof self ? But for so much that is excellent, one might \ncome sooner to the knowledge of the evil. In the lives \nof not a few, there are two currents ; and we need \nthoroughly to understand that the under-current is \nthe dangerous one. The eye that judges by the sur- \nface is not deceived \xe2\x80\x94 that current is real and regular; \nbut as you enter the waters, you are swept along, \n\n\n\nTHE REPROACH OE EGYPT. \n\n\n\n\\6y \n\n\n\nhelpless, by the fitful force below. In all partially \nsubdued natures, there will be found more or less \nof the contrary of their chief characteristics. Are \nthey humble in converse and manner ? \xe2\x80\x94 A secret \npride or vanity finds a rich feeding-place beneath \nthat humility, and some sudden outburst of jealousy \nor envy will betray it. Are they energetic, and full \nof stir and activity ? \xe2\x80\x94 Somewhere an unwelcome duty \nwill be turned into a couch of luxurious ease. Is the \nwhole bearing that of perfect candor and frankness ? \n\xe2\x80\x94 The occasion will come when insincerity will cloak \nitself with these, and pass unchallenged in its disguise. \nIs the life rich in its nobility and its generous deeds ? \n\xe2\x80\x94 Below this good graft will spring up offshoots of \ntimidity and petty meanness, to surprise some one \nlong wonted to the sweeter fruits, with the crabbed \ntaste of these. Every close observer of unbalanced \nChristian character, is prepared to find the faults in \nthis marked contrast to the virtues, so that whatever \nmay be the general grain of the growth, a sudden knot \nbreaks through at the sharpest possible angle. It \nhas been often noticed that the points on which \nmany break down, are their strong points. Even in \nwhat seems the most assured to us, we have thus to \n" have the sentence of death in ourselves, that we \nshould not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth \nthe dead." \n\nSuch are some of the subtleties of self, which only \nthe most piercing Eye can fully see, and only the \n\n\n\n1 68 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nHand, that is infinitely tender, as well as true, re- \nmove. \n\nBut there are other more prominent and shameful \nforms of self, which prevail throughout the Churches. \nAmong these, we may number that worldliness \nwhich is everywhere rampant ; the sensuality, or more \nrefined sensuousness, which are asking, " What shall \nwe eat, and what shall we drink, and wherewithal \nshall we be clothed ?" \xe2\x80\x94 ambition and covetousness, \nwhich have never yet been exorcised, and which find \ntheir way into highest and holiest places ; that con- \nformity to custom, which is accepted as such a matter \nof course, that little room is left for asking, " Lord, \nwhat wilt Thou have me to do ?" \xe2\x80\x94 but their name is \nlegion ! Sad as is the statement, such is beyond all \nquestion the prevalent state of Christians. \xe2\x80\x94 Uncircum- \nciscd in heart \xe2\x80\x94 the self-denial which we witness, being \ntoo often either special and spasmodic on the one \nhand, or on the other, so ascetic as only to minister \nto spiritual pride. \n\nSuch is the reproach of Egypt which God sum- \nmons us to roll away \xe2\x80\x94 the merited reproach that the \nold and evil nature is still visible, and that Christians \nare, after all, very much like others. Even amongst \nthemselves, how utterly incomplete is the confidence \nwhich they can place in one another. Notwithstand- \ning all that is lovely and of good report, how constant \nis the reproach. \n\nIn one of the Messianic psalms, we find a cry that \n\n\n\nTHE REPROACH OF EGxPT. j6j \n\nonly falls short, in its sorrow, of the " lama sabacthani " \nof the Cross, " Remember, Lord, the reproach of \nthy servants ; how I do bear in my bosom the re- \nproach of all the mighty people ; wherewith Thine \nenemies have reproached, O Lord, wherewith they \nhave reproached the footsteps of Thine anointed." * \nAlas ! that it should be His own anointed \xe2\x80\x94 that such \nshould be the stains upon hearts and lives sprinkled \nby the blood of Christ, and consecrated by the holy \noil of the Spirit. God chose His people to be to \nHim for a name and an honor, and behold the re- \nproach; He called them to be holy, and behold th* 1 \ncorruption. \n\nOf old the nationality of Israel was to be kept \nperfectly distinct. Yet it was not to be a nationality \nsolely of birthright and of blood, for the circumcised \nstranger was to be as one born in the land. So, then, \nthe physiognomy did not furnish the proof. The real \ntok,m by which they were known as the people of \nGod, was not that which is most obvious, but that \nwhich is most hidden. And yet this secret separation \nto God, compelled in various ways a separation from \nothers, that would always mark them openly. The \nline was drawn with unmistakable clearness. \n\nAnd though it be also with us " in the hidden man \n\nof the heart " that God puts His seal \xe2\x80\x94 still if it be \n\nthere, by many another sign the world will know it, \n\nand we shall be separate from the world. When God \n\n* Ps. lxxxix. 50, 51 \n\n\n\n170 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\ncalls upon us to circumcise our hearts, it practically \ninvolves this also \xe2\x80\x94 " Come out from among them and \nbe ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing." \n\nThe Jew has always been known as such at once. \nBut can we as easily discern the Christian ? Here \nand there, " the ointment of the right hand bewrayeth \nitself." But how many who have professed to follow \nChrist, make themselves almost indistinguishable \nfrom a world that rejects Him ? No attempt at a \nmerely external separation avails. Such was not that \nof Christ. He even shocked the social standard of \nthose who were for making a fair show in the flesh ; \nand they said of Him \xe2\x80\x94 " This man receiveth sinners \nand eateth with them." But all the more for this \nwas He " holy, harmless, undefiled \xe2\x80\x94 separate from \nsinners y \n\nWhen the Israelites hastened to pass over Jordan, \ntheir first thoughts as they looked on to Jericho, \nmust have been of immediate battle, and of drawing \nthe sword upon their enemies. Instead of this, God \ngave them days of delay, and drew the sharp knife \nupon them. Gilgal was their first encampment in \nCanaan, and there, where they had set up their monu- \nment to the mercies of God, and then presented their \nbodies as living sacrifices, was their standard to re- \nmain. Gilgal appears to have continued to be their \nbase throughout the long war that followed. There \nmust have been a moral power in every return to \nthat spot, where they had first rolled together the \n\n\n\nTHE REPROACH OF EGYPT. \n\n\n\n171 \n\n\n\nmemorial-stones \xe2\x80\x94 and then let God roll away their \nown reproach. He was their God, for He had done \nwondrous things for them ; and they were His peo- \nple, for they had given themselves to Him. From \nGilgal they could go forth again and again to conquer \nand possess the land. \n\nHave we our Gilgal? \xe2\x80\x94 Why, then, is it that so \nmuch of our service and warfare is uncrowned with \nsuccess and victory ? Alas ! the house in which self \nhas any dominion is a house divided against itself, \nand can not stand. And the Church so constituted, \nis a host with variance and rebellion in its midst \xe2\x80\x94 \xe2\x96\xa0 \nweak at the best, and often in the very thick of the \nbattle betrayed unto its enemies. If the Church of \nChrist would follow her Lord, as He goes forth " con- \nquering and to conquer," let her be truly consecrated \nand circumcised. If the Christian in the daily con- \nflicts of life, would first learn to "die daily/\' there \nwould never an enemy stand before him. But let \nhim cease to wonder that he does not come off vic- \ntorious, if he is saving his life from such a death. \n\nAnd yet it must needs be always a severe expe- \nrience for those who have been living at ease, and as \nthey have tried to think in all good conscience ; very \nhard for those who have been held in high honor by \ntheir fellow-men ; and sharpest of all to those who \nhave become half-spoiled by facile flattery, or their \nown fatal self-fondling ; \xe2\x80\x94 upon whose ears little but \npraise has ever fallen. The sharp knife of God as it \n\n\n\n1^2 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\ntouches these, will seem terrible in its truthfulness. \nThey will almost demand that God should accept the \naward that has so satisfied themselves ; and so strug- \ngling against His purpose, they prolong their suffer- \nings. Would that they only knew how tender and \nhow true is the Hand that wounds them ! Then \nthey would neither fear nor flinch ! \n\nFor when we turn from the negative character of \nthis symbol to the more positive form of the spiritual \ntruth, we find that this sharp knife is, after all, only \nthe pruning of the Husbandman, that the old decay- \ning shoot may give place to a new one full of vigor \nand fruitfulness. It means not a maimed existence, \nbut life more abundantly. It means not poverty, \nbut wealth. It means not anger, but intensest love. \nIt means that the one deadly element eliminated, God \ncan then, without any reserve, flood us with every \ngood thing. Self is often the only evil in many a \npursuit and plan. That self once surrendered, they \nmay be restored to us in all their richness to use and \nto enjoy for the glory of God, and to our own honor \n--an honor that cometh from Him. And yet even \nhere must a signal of danger be held up. While he \nthat loveth his life shall find it, it is not when we lose \nit that we may find it, but when we lose it for His \nsake. \n\nIt is our own Gospel, then, that we read in those \nancient words, " The Lord thy God will bring thee \ninto the land, .... and the Lord thy God will circum- \n\n\n\nTHE REPROACH OF EGYPT. \n\n\n\n173 \n\n\n\ncise thine heart ... to love the Lord thy God with \nall thine heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayest \nlive!\' * \n\nLife is another thing when once a great love has \nentered it. Who has not known how Love turned \npain to pleasure, and made sacrifices sweet ? Love \nnever talks of crosses and of losses. \xe2\x80\x94 It calls its losses \ngains, and its crosses crowns. For my sake, makes \neven death a delight. When we so love the Lord \nwith all the heart, then to follow Him fully is our \nown choice. There comes an end to all mere theo- \nretical consecration, in which we recognize solemnly \nthe claims of God, and pass on our own way. There \ncomes an end, also, to all testing of ourselves by \nsuppositions of future claims. But another work \nbegins \xe2\x80\x94 the constant cultivation of the conscience to \nsee those claims. It is a little thing for Love to re- \nspond to an uttered wish. \xe2\x80\x94 It studies and anticipates \nthe pleasure of the Beloved. The loving heart es- \ncapes a thousand difficulties which others meet, and a \ntruly devoted life is not often puzzled by details of \nduty. Such perplexities are often the simple result \nof a discordant will, seeking at once to please itself, \nand avoid displeasing God. The soul that so loves, \nwalks in holy law, but moves in perfect freedom. \nWhen the Lord has enlarged the heart, then it \n" runs " in the way of His commandments. \n\n* Deut. xxx. 5, 6. \n\n\n\n174 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n" Love hath taught me to obey \nAll His precepts, and to say, \nNot to-morrow, but to-day ! \n\n" What He wills, I say I must ; \n\nWhat I must, I say I will ; \nHe commanding, it is just. \n\nWhat He would, I should fulfil : \nWhilst He biddeth, I believe ; \n\nWhat He calls for, He will give : \n\nTo obey Him is to live. \n\n" His commandments grievous are not, \nLonger than men think them so ; \n\nThough He send me forth, I care not, \nWhilst He gives me strength to go, \n\nWhen or whither, all is one. \n\nOn His business, not my own, \n\nI shall never go alone. \n\n" If I be complete in Him, \n\nAnd in Him all fulness dwelleth, \n\nI am sure aloft to swim, \nWhilst that Ocean overswelleth ; \n\nHaving Him that\'s all in all, \n\nI am confident I shall \n\nNothing want for which I call." \n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX. \n\nTHE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. \n\nUr PHE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL ENCAMPED IN \nA GlLGAL, AND KEPT THE PASSOVER ON THE \nFOURTEENTH DAY OF THE MONTH AT EVEN, IN \nTHE PLAINS OF JERICHO." \xe2\x80\x94 (Josh. V. 10). \n\nThe event which we find following next in order, \nstood in a very significant relation to the preceding \nrite. As we have seen that circumcision symbol- \nized the loss of self so we find that in the Passover \nFeast, the lesson taught is one of greatest gain \xe2\x80\x94 even \nthe gain of Christ as OUR LIFE. \n\nIt was a part of God\'s gracious providence to bring \nthe people over Jordan in time to be rightly prepared \nfor the Feast ; for the law was stringent \xe2\x80\x94 " No un- \ncircumcised person shall eat thereof;"* for let it be \nagain repeated, there can be no building up of an \nimpure life ; no true communion with God, while in \nthe bonds of self. \n\nAnd as the Passover thus depended upon another \nrite, so were there still further privileges depending \nupon this. This Feast was to precede their enjoy- \n\n* Ex. xii. 48. \n\n(175) \n\n\n\njy6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nment of the fruit of the land, of which they were \nnot permitted to eat until the following day. Hav- \ning crossed upon the tenth of the month Nisan, they \nkept the Passover upon its appointed day, the four- \nteenth : " and they did eat of the new corn of the \nland on the morrow after the Passover." * It is \nadded that " the manna ceased on the morrow after \nthey had eaten of the new corn." f Its continuance \nfor nearly a week in a land of plenty, is a circum- \nstance so extraordinary, as to indicate at once some \nspiritual lesson. Indeed, the necessity for it must \nhave ceased long before, upon entering the fertile \nregion east of Jordan. But still it fell for their daily \nfood, until the slain Lamb and unleavened Bread \nshould rightly introduce them to the fulness and fat- \nness of the Land. First the Passover, and then the \nnew corn and the ripe fruit. First Christ, and then \nwith Him, " all things." \n\nThough forty years had passed since that night in \nEgypt which was so much to be remembered, this \nwas but the third Passover. The first they had eaten \nin haste, girded for their journey. The second was \nobserved a year from that time, upon the setting up \nof the Tabernacle at Mt. Sinai. After that the \nneglect of circumcision and their whole abnormal \ncondition in the Wandering, would render the Feast \nboth inappropriate and impossible. No hint of any \nsuch observance appears upon the sacred page. \n* Josh. v. ii. See p. 200. f Josh. v. 12. \n\n\n\nTHE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. \n\n\n\n177 \n\n\n\nIt is very striking that this first service after enter- \ning Canaan, in which all the people participated, was \nthe same as that which had signalized their depart- \nure from Egypt. That first deliverance had alone \nmade their present blessings possible. Therefore it \nhad been said unto them, " Ye shall observe this \nthing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for- \never. . . . And it shall come to pass when your chil- \ndren shall say unto you, What mean ye by this serv- \nice ? that ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord\'s \npassover, who passed over the houses of the children \nof Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, \nand delivered our houses."* \n\nWhen the Lord smote in judgment all the first- \nborn of Egypt, but for the sprinkled blood of the \nLamb, they had all likewise perished. But for the \nsprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, none of us \nhad ever escaped from the just judgment to be exe- \ncuted against sin. It was life from the very jaws of \ndeath that was given us. And so, as we celebrate \nthe mercies of our God, we can not stop short of this, \nthat " Jesus delivered us from the wrath to come." \nNothing so prepares us for advancing blessing as our \nreturn to this truth ; and by every good thing that \nis given us, does this become ever more precious. No \nother thought can so humble us, and none other can \nso lift us up in holy hope. \n\nThis Passover in Canaan, however, differed widely \n\n*\' Ex. xii. 24-27. \n8* \n\n\n\n1 78 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nin its mode of observance from the first in Egypt. \nIndeed, the whole subsequent character of the Feast \nis one of the most striking instances occurring under \nthe Law, of the spirit of a command being so devel- \noped as to almost outgrow its letter. The Lamb and \nthe Unleavened Bread indeed remained. But glanc- \ning over the details of its institution, we see at once \nthat the minute directions given were mainly adapted \nto their peculiar position at the time, and if perpetu- \nated at all, could only become mere forms. Yet we \nfind in the Scriptures no record of any permission to \nvary its observance, and only slight and scattered \nstatements of the changes themselves. But from \nunquestionable historic sources, we learn how many \nand how marked were the modifications introduced, \nand to all appearance divinely sanctioned. Indeed \nthe great truth embodied in this service, was too vital \nto be cumbered with unyielding forms, and for its \nvery protection was allowed a power of free adapta- \ntion. All that was truly essential in it was thus \nstrengthened, rather than weakened. \n\nHad the Church of Christ in past ages only pon- \ndered this precedent more fully, what cruel contests \nover the mere modes of her Christian ordinances, \nmight she have been spared. And were it even now \nmore pondered, what bitter bigotry might be abated. \nNo charge concerning any ordinance, can surely ever \ncompete with words like these \xe2\x80\x94 " This is my com- \n\n\n\nTHE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. \n\n\n\n179 \n\n\n\nmandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved \nyou ! \n\nAs the service was first observed, the two things \nto be made prominent were these \xe2\x80\x94 protection from \ndeath, and departure from Egypt. But once safe in \nthe Land, there followed an expansion of its mean- \ning, requiring to be duly marked. No longer need- \ning to be eaten in haste, it became a prolonged and \nrestful service. No longer looking to the future, but \nto the past, and what God had wrought, it was fitting \nto intermingle it with song after song of praise. \nHow precious from such continuous use are those \nsix Psalms,* which end with one more precious than \nall, because sung by Jesus, before He went forth to \nsuffer. How must the holy Hymn have swelled \nupon His lips, as He sang \xe2\x80\x94 " I shall not die, but live, \nand declare the works of the Lord " \xe2\x80\x94 " God is the \nLord which hath showed us light ; bind the sacrifice \nwith cords even unto the horns of the altar." f \n\nBut by far the most striking change was the intro- \nduction of the wine, of which the very poorest in the \nland was to drink at least four cups, in the course of \n\n* Pss. cxiii.-cxviii. \xe2\x80\x94 These Psalms, called the Egyptian Hallel, \nor the great Hallel, were appointed to be sung eighteen times in \nthe year. " On the feast of the Passover, the hallel was so di- \nvided, that Pss. cxiii. and cxiv. were sung before the meal, be- \nfore taking the second festal cup ; Pss. cxv-cxviii., after the \nmeal, after filling the fourth cup." \xe2\x80\x94 Dr. Moll\'s Introduction to \nthe Psalms, Langes Coin., p. 13. \n\nf Ps. cxviii. 17, 27. \n\n\n\n!8o THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nthe meal.* The blood which at first was sprinkled \nupon their doors, was subsequently poured out at the \naltar by the Priest ; but that it might not fail of its \ncommemoration at the feast, wine, the symbol of \nsocial joy, was permitted to represent it ; thus fitly- \nmarking the advance from protection without, to life \nand joy within. And thus was made ready in its \ncompleteness, the symbol which the Lord Jesus used \nwhen He took the cup after supper, saying, "This \ncup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed \nfor you." f \n\nIn tracing this chief Feast of the old Covenant, on \nto this " new testament," and viewing it as there ful- \nfilled, we find not mere instruction, but truth of the \nmost vital kind. As in so many previous lessons, it \nis still Jesus and the Resurrection that are here pro \nclaimed ; but now in an entirely new aspect. We \nsaw in Jordan, a symbol of Christ\'s death, through \nwhich we rise into His life. In the Land of Promise \nwe saw a symbol of His fulness, into which we \nrise. But in the Passover, we begin to see how it is \nthat He rises in us. The Lord Jesus is that corn of \nwheat that having fallen into the ground and died, is \nhere seen springing up again, no more " abiding alone," \n\n* " There is no mention of wine in connection with the Pass- \nover in the Pentateuch ; but the Mishna strictly enjoins that there \nshould never be less than four cups of it provided, at the paschal \nmeal, even of the poorest Israelite." \xe2\x80\x94 Smith\'s Dictionary of the \nBible. \n\nt Luke xxii. 20. \n\n\n\nTHE PASSOVER IN CAXAAX. ^i \n\nbut " bringing forth much fruit " in all those many \nlives that make up the Church as His Body. \n\nWe enter here upon holy ground \xe2\x80\x94 upon one of the \nprofoundest mysteries of the Gospel, which even as \ntaught by the Lord Jesus, gave rise to misunder- \nstanding, and offence, and the turning back of many ; \nbut which is all the more precious to those who know \nthat He " has the words of eternal life." \n\nWhile it is impossible to separate this subject from \nthat of the Lord\'s Supper, it is most needful to draw \none clear line of distinction. " The spiritual verity \nwhich underlies the ordinance " is not indissolubly \nconnected with it. The Passover was by no means \nthe symbol of another symbol, but of a great Reality. \nGliding as one ordinance did into the other, it was \nthe same truth which, taught first in the ceremony \nof the Law, was to find its highest and richest expres- \nsion in the Church\'s celebration. . For closely as it \npleased the Lord to connect the substance and the \nsymbol, He has not limited \'the one by the other. The \nsame wisdom that appointed an outward form for the \nspiritual truth, that we might have every help, pro- \nvided against any possible hindrance, by giving that \ntruth a life that was dependent upon no form. \n\nThe safeguard against any such confounding of \nthings that differ, is set very clearly in the Scriptures. \nSt. John in his Gospel gives us the inner aspect of \nthis truth, as taught by Christ in His wonderful \nwords about His flesh and blood, and then is utterly \n\n\n\nI( 32 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nsilent respecting the institution of the Supper, \xe2\x80\x94 leav- \ning the other Evangelists to give the corresponding \noutward aspect. Precisely as elsewhere, it is the \nNew Birth which He presents, and not the corre- \nsponding rite of Baptism. It is the more needful \nto draw this distinction, since there is great reason to \nfear, that not a few Christians have been robbed of \none of the most precious presentations of Truth, by \nfalsely connecting it with Sacramentarianism. On \nthe other hand, it seems not a little singular that \nprofoundly spiritual as is this truth, the cry of Mate- \nrialism has been so often raised against it. Plainly \nin the case of the Jews, who first charged Christ with \nsuch a meaning, it was their own materialism which \nled to their utter misapprehension of that which \ncould only be spiritually discerned. \n\nThe significance of the Passover (and much more \nthe Lord\'s Supper) can not possibly be stinted to a \nmemorial service. Some present participation is very \nplainly implied, while the starting-point is that of a \ngrateful remembrance. "It is a night to be much \nobserved unto the Lord for bringing them out of the \nland of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord to be \nobserved of all the children of Israel in their genera- \ntions." But if the observance of this service forever, \nwas simply to keep the past in remembrance, there \nwas no significance in its chief symbol. With the \nblood upon their doors, they ate of the Passover \nLamb. Even in Egypt, they were shown at once, \n\n\n\nTHE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. 183 \n\nthat there was to be an inward appropriation of their \nsacrifice. That which had saved from death, was also \nto impart to them life and strength ; and as already \nstated, this idea would be still further developed \nupon the subsequent introduction of the wine. So \nlikewise in the Supper, the remembrance is made the \nbasis of other blessings, as it also furnishes the chief \nground of obligation \xe2\x80\x94 " This do in remembrance of \nme." First of all, the Lord would have us turn our \neyes to the broken body, and the shed blood. Not \neven in heaven are we to cease from this remem- \nbrance ; for there indeed we shall come still more \nclearly to the recognition of His death. In the midst \nof the Throne we shall see " a Lamb as it had been \nslain/* and the new song of heaven will open with \nthe dear familiar words of many an old song on \nearth, \xe2\x80\x94 " Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to \nGod by Thy blood ;" while the chorus of ten thou- \nsand times ten thousand will repeat it, \xe2\x80\x94 " WORTHY \nis the Lamb that was slain."* \n\nBut remembrance is not to be repetition. We are \nto recall the great salvation, rather than to reclaim \nit, and thus to reassure our hearts before God. Christ \nhas no need to offer Himself often, since He has \noffered one sacrifice of sins forever ; and they whose \nsins and iniquities He remembers no more, can have \nnow no more conscience of those sins, the one remis- \nsion of which is as sure as the one offering.^ Only \n\n* Rev. v. 6-12. t Heb. x. 18. \n\n\n\n!\xc2\xa3>4 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nonce do we keep our Passover in Egypt, with the \nblood sprinkled upon our doors. There was never \nindeed but one Passover ; and after that it was the \nFeast of the Passover. \n\nWhat then is our present privilege in this remem- \nbrance \xe2\x80\x94 our participation of Christ ? Is it real, or \nonly ideal ? Is the cup a testimony, or a Testament? \nAnd if He indeed gives aught, or we receive aught, \nwhat is it, and in what manner is it given and re- \nceived ? The Scriptures make answer, that Christ our \nPassover gives us Himself \xe2\x80\x94 that is, He gives His \nentire being \xe2\x80\x94 gives us His Spirit ; , and gives us also, \n"His flcsJi and His blood." \n\nBut here we find ourselves touching upon other \ntruths, which must be accepted as preliminary to this, \nand to which the Scriptures give no uncertain testi- \nmony. First among these is the new relation, estab- \nlished by Christ, between matter and spirit, which is \nthe very significance of the Incarnation. " The Word \nwas made FLESH." Next, but closely linked with \nthis, is the glorification of Christ\'s human body ; and \nthen as the result of this, the final glorifying of our \nown. These are not speculations, else were the Scrip- \ntures silent respecting them ; and the reasoning which \nrecoils from them, ends consistently in the refusal \nto confess, that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, \nin any true sense. Indeed it is to be seriously \nquestioned if the doctrine of the Incarnation itself be \n\n\n\nTHE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. 185 \n\ngenerally and fully received in our day \xe2\x80\x94 if many have \nnot drifted into a sort of Gnosticism, with its dual- \nism, and docetism. \n\nWhen the chasm between the Divine and human \nwas to be filled, the first step in the great mystery, \nwhose completion was to be " Christ in you, the hope \nof glory," was this \xe2\x80\x94 " Who was manifested in the \nflesh." Coming into the world He saith \xe2\x80\x94 " A body hast \nThou prepared me." That body, formed by the over- \nshadowing of the Highest, was a holy thing, and \ntherefore having in it " the power of an endless life." \nIt had no need for itself to pay by death the wages \nof sin. No man took that life from Jesus \xe2\x80\x94 He laid it \ndown of Himself \xe2\x80\x94 laid it down that He might take it \nagain.* Yet it was not possible for Him to be holden \nof the bands of death, nor did God suffer His Holy \nOne to see corruption. The Scriptures put this \npoint beyond all dispute, by repeated assertions.f \n" He whom God raised again saw no corruption " \xe2\x80\x94 \n" Neither did His flesh see corruption ; " and the pre- \ncious blood of Christ is especially declared not to be a \ncorruptible thing.J The resurrection from the dead \ndeclared Him to be the Son of God with power, " ac- \ncording to the Spirit \'of holiness" It was a Body still, \nwith flesh and bones, that might be seen and handled, \n\n\n\n* John x. 17, 18. f Cf. Acts ii. 27-31 and xiii. 34-37. \n\n\\ I Pet. i. 18, 19. \n\n\n\n1 86 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nand yet moving with all the freedom of a Spirit \xe2\x80\x94 \n" showing Himself alive by many infallible proofs."* \nHad there been no deeper meaning in the Resurrec- \ntion than an evidence, the manifestation in the flesh \nmight have ended here, and the body have been put \naway, when He ascended up where He was before. \nBut the blessed mystery goes further \xe2\x80\x94 " Was received \nup into glory." Into what glory let the " Light from \nheaven at midday, above the brightness of the sun," \nthat blinded Saul of Tarsus, while it answered, " I \nam Jesus," tell us ; even as the Face, that had once \nalready " shone as the sun," had given token. It \n\n\n\n* " The glorified body of Christ was not altered as regards its \nfundamental components ; it was the same body, with the marks of \nthe nails and the wound in its side, but in a new spiritual form of \nexistence, and therefore standing tinder other laws. It therefore \nappears until the ascension, when its transformation was com- \npleted \xe2\x80\x94 as an elementary, earthly, material body ; but its ele- \nments are no longer bound by space, and it can go here or there, \nmake itself visible or invisible \xe2\x80\x94 in fact, shape itself outwardly ac- \ncording to the internal will. And this is possible, because the body \nis spiritualized through and through ; it has become an ade- \nquate expression of the spirit and its willing instrument. The \nbody no longer opposes its own laws (of space, gravitation, mo- \ntion, etc.,) to the volitions of the spirit ; it does not hinder nor \nlimit them, but implicitly obeys. All strife is at an end. If the \nspirit will to transport itself to any place, it can do so together \nwith the body ; the body no longer hinders it, for it is saturated \nwith vital force and immortality. This is what the Scriptures (i \nCor. xv. 44-46) call a spiritual body (c\xc2\xa3)[ia nvevfiaTiKuv), in con- \ntradistinction to the "natural body" (ifjvxticbv). \xe2\x80\x94 Christlieb\'s \nModern Doubt a?id Christian Belief, pp. 475-6, (Am. Ed.) \n\n\n\nTHE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. \n\n\n\n1 8/ \n\n\n\nwas evidently the whole being of the Lord, in that \ntriple division which the Scripture sanctions \xe2\x80\x94 of spirit, \nsoul, and body \xe2\x80\x94 that rose from the dead, ascended, \nand was glorified. But this last Adam being " a \nquickening Spirit," is the great Fountain-Head of all \nrenewed being. Being glorified, He shed forth His \nHoly Spirit, that He might quicken first our spirits, \nand then our mortal bodies also. As it was His \nwhole being that was glorified, so is it plainly our \nwhole being that is to be glorified together with \nHim* \xe2\x80\x94 even as it is our "whole spirit and soul and \nbody," which are to be " preserved blameless unto \nHis coming." \n\nAnd now we advance to the great revelation, that \nthis work is not only wrought by Him, but through \nHis " giving us Himself as the Bread of Life?\' He \nhas taught us that there in His glorified Being a \nblessed power of imparting itself, in a real communi- \ncation of both spiritual and bodily life. We surely \ncan not keep the Feast \xe2\x80\x94 Christ our Passover sacrificed \nfor us \xe2\x80\x94 with any spiritual intelligence, unless we \nreceive in simple faith, those wonderful words in \nwhich He has taught us \xe2\x80\x94 " He that eateth Me, even \nHe shall live by meJ\'f The many words which the \nLord Jesus used in that most memorable discourse, \nare not so much restatements, as constant advances, \nin the unfolding of the truth. \n\nFirst of all He taught\xe2\x80\x94 " I am that Bread of life." \n* Cf. Roman viii. 17 and 23. t John vi. 57. \n\n\n\n188 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nThey who had eaten the manna, died ; \xe2\x80\x94 for the \nmanna had no life \xe2\x80\x94 but this was living Bread ; and \nhe who should eat, should live forever. Not only \nshould have now everlasting life, in his renewed \nspirit, but Jesus would also raise him up, in body, at \nthe last day* \n\n" I am that Bread of life." It is to His own Person, \nthat Jesus draws our eyes in His promise, " that every \none which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him!\' shall \nhave everlasting life, and be raised up again at the \nlast day. \n\nBut He had further truth to teach. It was not only \nof His giving us His Spirit that He spoke, but " the \nBread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give \nfor the life of the world. "f A hard saying indeed to\' \n\n* " The natural import of the phrase \'last day\' restricts this \nnecessarily to the bodily resurrection. Every application of the \nexpression to the merely spiritual ministry of Christ would make \nit a mere repetition of the \' eternal life.\'" \xe2\x80\x94 Ohhauscn on John \nvL 40. \n\nt See Dean Alford\'s Greek Testament, for a deeply interest- \ning note on John vi. 51, in which he " at once rejects all meta- \nphorical and side-interpretations, as, that the teaching of Christ \nis the Bread, and to be taught by Him is feeding upon it (so \nGrotius and the modern rationalists) : that the divine Nature of \nChrist, or His sending of the Holy Spirit, or His whole life of \ndoin% good on earth, can be meant : all such have against them \nthe plain sense of the words, which, as Stier observes, are very \nsimple ordinary words His Flesh is the glorified sub- \nstance of His Resurrection Body, now at the right hand of \nGod .... He has given His flesh for the life of the world \n(row Kocfiov). The very existence of all the created world is owing \nto, and held together by that Resurrection Body of the Lord." \n\n\n\nTHE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. \n\n\n\n189 \n\n\n\nlisten to \xe2\x80\x94 but what if they should see the Son of \nMan ascend up where He was before ?* What if He \nproved that His sacred flesh was worthy of the pres- \nence of God, and subject to no earthly conditions ? It \nwas then His flesh, in its resurrection glory, of which \nHe spoke, when the Body once broken should become \nliving, life-giving Bread. \n\nBut He had still another gift \xe2\x80\x94 His blood \xe2\x80\x94 of which \nHe next began to speak. " Except ye eat the flesh \nof the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have \n\nno life in you He that eateth my flesh, and \n\ndrinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I in him."f \n\n\n\n* " The Lord signifies and promises here a future removal of \nthe offence, a subsequent better knowledge, when His present \nearthly manifestation should be finally withdrawn just as in Ch. \n\nviii. 28 Then will it be disclosed to you that, and in what \n\nway My human corporeity, become heavenly and glorified, ?nay \nbe given to be eaten and to be drunk" \xe2\x80\x94 " Stier\'s Words of the \nLord Jesus," Vol V., pp. 210-21 1. \n\nt John vi. 53-56. Jesus represents Himself as the quickener of \nthe whole man, the spiritual quickening prevailing up to ver. 50, \nwhile from v. 51 the idea which lies at the foundation of the Holy \nSupper \xe2\x80\x94 that the glorified corporeity of Christ sanctifies and glo- \nrifies ours also \xe2\x80\x94 comes out in stronger relief. . . . With the eating \nand drinking of the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, are con- \nnected everlasting life, abiding in Christ, and living forever, i. e., \nthe sublimest effects which the Redeemer proposed in general to \ncall forth The life and being of Christ is an all-penetrat- \ning, sanctifying, and glorifying power ; the union of man with it \nin all three departments of his being is internal, real, essential." \n\xe2\x80\x94 Olshausen s Biblical Com., Vol. II., p. 418. See also, the same, \nfor the view of the early Fathers, and also Luther\'s, concerning \nthe germ of the resurrection body. \n\n\n\n190 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nWe enter here a path which, however unfamiliar to \nmodern thought, discloses to the spiritual eye a glo- \nrious vista up to the very treasure-house of Truth \xe2\x80\x94 a \npath where Saint and Scholar have walked side by \nside, with reverent tread \xe2\x80\x94 where we meet in their \nholy meditations, such men as Chrysostom, and Cal- \nvin, and Bengel, and Stier.* What a distance from \ntheir apostolic " faith in His blood " to that reason- \ning which sees in it at best a figure.f \n\nThe blood of beasts, shed for so many years, what- \never the value assigned it for an atonement under \nthe Old Covenant, was but a figure. Not so when \nJesus said \xe2\x80\x94 " This is My blood of the New Testa- \nment." " The blood of the everlasting Covenant " \nwas a true thing. As has been said, " the unintelligent \nhorror of the blood, which unbelief in the truth of God \n\n* While referring freely in these notes to Scholars who have \ntaken the view here presented, I feel bound to add that my own \nconvictions were formed solely from the study of the Word. It was \nnot merely a surprise, but an astonishment to meet with such \nconfirmation. Most heartily can I re-echo the words of the \nsaintly Bengel, " I shall indeed rejoice if by means of the things \nwhich I have stated, any occasion will be afforded for increasing \nthe love and knowledge of our Redeemer, who has paid the price \nof His blood for us." \n\nt " The proper consideration of Christ\'s blood is sparingly intro- \nduced, and many have straightway recourse to a figure, where- \nby they understand under this word, blood, either the whole \nmerit of Christ, or His life, i. e., the living principle, or soul." \n\xe2\x80\x94 See Bengel\'s Gnomon, Vol. IV., Clark\'s Ed., where he devotes \nfifteen pages (474-488) to a subject on which he once meditated \na Treatise. \n\n\n\nTHE PASSOVER IN CAXAAN. 191 \n\nin the Old Testament has created, is here done away \nin the centre of the Christian worship, in this most \nprecious bond of love between Christ and His own."* \nAs has been already seen, we need here to keep \nsteadily in view the glorification of the entire being \nof Jesus. The blood was no unimportant part of that \nbeing \xe2\x80\x94 for " the life of the flesh is in the blood. "f \nBesides, be it repeated, we are told in express words, \nthat we were " not redeemed with corruptible things, \nbut with the precious blood of Christ "J \xe2\x80\x94 confirming the \ntruth, that He whom God raised up saw no corrup- \ntion. Why then should the faith that follows the \nascending body of Jesus into Heaven, falter when it \nlearns that the blood had its own entrance also ? In \nthe Epistle to the Hebrews, we are told how the High \nPriest, once every year, entered into the holiest, not \nwithout blood ; and then how Christ having come, \nentered in once into the Holy Place, by His own- \nblood. \xc2\xa7 This was " the better sacrifice " that purified \n\n* Stier, t Lev. xvii. 11. % 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. \n\n\xc2\xa7 Heb. ix. 12. " \'Christ entered into the sanctuary by His \nown blood ; not merely after the blood was shed, and by the \nforce of its being - shed, nor with the blood taken back into the \nbody, but BY the blood : therefore, this Priest Himself carried \ninto the sanctuary His own blood, separately from his body.\' . . . ., \n(Chrysostom Horn. 33, on Heb. xiii.) : The actual economy of the \nsuffering was without, I say without ; but the blood was carried \nup INTO heaven. You observe that we are partakers of the \nblood that was carried into the Sanctuary \xe2\x80\x94 the true Sanctuary \xe2\x80\x94 \nthe blood of the Sacrifice in which He alone, the High Priest \ndelighted." \xe2\x80\x94 BengePs Gnomon, p. 476-7. \xe2\x80\x94 In the same passage \n\n\n\nIQ2 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n" the heavenly things themselves." This was " the \nblood of His cross " with which He made peace. Our \nown confidence to enter into the Holiest, we are fur- \nther told, is in that blood.* Nor need it surprise \nus when we are warned a little further on, of the sore \npunishment of which they are worthy, who " count \nthe blood of the covenant an unholy thing."t \n\nAs has been said by Bengel,} " The blood itself \nshed, not the shedding of the blood, is the ransom, the \nprice of eternal redemption. That price paid to God, \nremains paid, without being restored to the body of \nthe Redeemer. The redemption is eternal; the \nvalue of the price is eternal, just as if the Re- \ndeemer hung on the cross daily, and expired daily \nfor us. In His death there was the power of a life \nthat was not to be dissolved. In His life there is the \nvalue of His death, which is perpetuaC \n\nOne can but note the care with which distinct \nmention is made by the Lord Jesus, of His flesh, \nand of His blood ; as afterwards at the last Supper, \nHe gave the separate emblems \xe2\x80\x94 the bread, of His \nbody, and the wine, of His blood. Thus they are \nalso mentioned by St. Paul.\xc2\xa7 So once more in He- \nbrews, where we are told of the realities of heaven, to \n\nBe7gel^o~quotes from Calvin, as saying, <\xc2\xab Christ carried His \nown blood into the heavenly Sanctuary to make atonement for \nthe sins of the world." \n\n*Heb.x.l 9 . tHeb.x.29. \n\n\\ Gnomon, Vol. IV., p. 479- \xc2\xa7 l Cor \' xL 24 \' 2S \' \n\n\n\n- \n\n\n\nTHE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. \n\n\n\n1 93 \n\n\n\nwhich we have now come \xe2\x80\x94 after the mention of " in- \nnumerable angels," of " the festive assembly and \nChurch of the First-born," and " God the Judge of \nall," and " the Spirits of just men made perfect," \nthere are also added \xe2\x80\x94 " Jesus the Mediator " of the \nnew Covenant, AND the blood of sprinkling " that \nspeaketh better things than that of Abel." * \n\nBut to follow the teaching of Jesus to its close. \nHe tells us plainly, that He is not using words as \nfigures, but as names of real things. " My flesh is \ntrue meat \xe2\x80\x94 My blood is true drink." f And it is \nnow no longer upon His giving this food for the life \nof the world that He dwells ; but upon our eating \nand drinking, which are repeated again and again. \nThe giving was His one act \xe2\x80\x94 the receiving our con- \nstantly renewed act. And now at last, after Jesus \nhad for the first time foretold His Ascension, He \nexplains, that it was not mere flesh of which He had \nbeen speaking \xe2\x80\x94 not the carnal thing that was in their \nthoughts \xe2\x80\x94 "the flesh profiteth nothing" \xe2\x80\x94 but of \n"the Spirit that quickeneth " \xe2\x80\x94 (words which the \n\n* Heb. xii. 24. \n\nf "John vi. 55, aTiTjdfc is not % dlridivrj, nor is the sense, * My \nflesh is the true meat,\' etc., but My flesh is true meat, i. e., \nreally to be eaten, which they doubted. Thus uTirjOdg is a gloss \nwhich falls short of the depth of the adjective. This verse is de- \ncisive against all explaining away, or metaphorizing the passage. \nFood and drink are not here mere metaphors ; \xe2\x80\x94 rather are our \ncommon material food and drink mere shadows and imperfect \ntypes of this only real reception of refreshment and nourishment \ninto the being." \xe2\x80\x94 Dean Alford\'s Greek Testament, Vcl. I. p., 718. \n\n9 \n\n\n\n194 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nApostle Peter must have had in mind, when he spoke \nof Christ as being put to death in the flesh, but \nquickened by the Spirit). And then all is summed \nup in the pregnant saying \xe2\x80\x94 " The words that I speak \nunto you, they are spirit, and they are life." What \nwords? \xe2\x80\x94 unless chiefly those upon which He had \nrested such a weight \xe2\x80\x94 the words so often repeated \xe2\x80\x94 \n" My flesh \xe2\x80\x94 My blood !" These should prove " true \nmeat, true drink," because also, when He had as- \ncended, " Spirit, and Life."* Recalling no word \nthat He had said already, He only rescued His pearls \nfrom the swine, who were trampling them under their \nfeet. And still some believed not. How indeed \nshould they ? It was hard to receive His witness \nwhen He only told of earthly things. That a liv- \ning man could be born again \xe2\x80\x94 born from above \xe2\x80\x94 \xe2\x96\xa0 \nby being born of water and of the Spirit, was a strange \nthing to their thought. And yet they needed not to \nmarvel, if only they had marked the mystery of the \nwind, that cometh and goeth. But how then should \nthey believe Him now, when He told them of One \n\n* Dean Alford says upon John vi. 63 : " He is explaining the \nlife-giving principle of which He had been before speaking \xe2\x80\x94 \nHe does not say ; My Flesh profiteth nothing,\' but \' the flesh/ \nTo make Him say this is to make Him contradict His own words \nin verse 51 : ru fiqfi. & tyw leXuTitjna \xe2\x80\x94 viz., the words fiov tt/v adpKa \nand fiov to alfia, above. They are, nvevfia and Wn \'\xe2\x96\xa0 \xe2\x80\x94 spirit, not \nflesh only : \xe2\x80\x94 living food, not carnal and perishable. This mean- \ning has been missed by almost all commentators. Stier upholds \nit, iv. 281 (2d ed.) ; and it seems to me beyond question the right \none. \xe2\x80\x94 The Greek Testament, I. 769. \n\n\n\nTHE PASSOVER IN CAXAAX. \n\n\n\n195 \n\n\n\nwho ascended into heaven, to be the Bread of this \nnew life. \n\nAnd what is our own need to marvel, if we only \nreverently ponder the mystery of our daily bread. \nWe eat it \xe2\x80\x94 but how little even Science knows of \nthat great secret. Hoiv is it that the grain first grows \nfrom crudest elements ? How is it that it is changed \ninto the tender tissue, the tense sinew, and the warm \ncoursing blood ? We know it only as a fact. The \nbounteous table is not spread for us to analyze, but \nto enjoy. \n\nEnough then, that in spiritual as in natural things, \n" we know and are sure," that we are invited to feast \nupon " true meat, and true drink ;" that we eat of \nBread \' that strengtheneth our heart,\' and drink of \n\' wine that maketh it glad.\' Who can even describe \nthe cheer and comfort that compass the frame, and \nthat pervading sense of speedy strength, that comes \nthrough common sustenance ? How then set forth the \nblessedness of the Heavenly Banquet \xe2\x80\x94 the strength \nand sweetness of the shedding abroad of the Holy \nSpirit in our hearts \xe2\x80\x94 the steady bracing of the whole \nbeing \xe2\x80\x94 the poising of all its powers \xe2\x80\x94 or yet its brim- \nming in the bewilderment of gladness, as this " best \nwine goeth down sweetly ! " * We know not hozv, but \nwe know and are sure by every inner sense that He has \ngiven us, that as He feeds us thus \xe2\x80\x94 it is His Spirit \npenetrating our spirit, His soul possessing our soul, \n\n* Cant. vii. 9. \n\n\n\nI96 THE FULNESS CF BLESSING. \n\ntill these mortal bodies feel the quickening Spirit \nthat dwelleth in us, and thrill with the stirring of \nthat new life, in which they shall be raised up at the \nlast day. Even thus, O Great High Priest, King of \nRighteousness, and King of Peace, dost thou come \nforth to meet and bless Thy servants, with Thy \nBread and Wine ! \n\nAnd so the mystery is made known \xe2\x80\x94 dimly to rea- \nson, but how brightly to Faith, that " Christ loved \nthe Church, and gave Himself for it " \xe2\x80\x94 that when it \nwas not good for Him to be alone, the deep sleep fell \nupon Him, and the Church found His death to be \nher life. Therefore because it is " His own flesh " \xe2\x80\x94 \nbecause "we are members of His body, of His flesh, \nand of His bones," " He nourisheth and cherisheth \nit." Thrice happy Church, thus fed by her Beloved \n\xe2\x80\x94 thus beholding His glory, and so changed into the \nsame image from glory to glory ; in such a wise that \nat last this body of our lowliness shall be conformed \nto the Body of His Glory ! \n\nAnd so it is, indeed, no longer as in Egypt, that we \nnow keep the Passover. The Birth feast is changed \ninto a Marriage Feast, and the first miracle at Cana \nis the perpetual miracle of the loving and believing \nheart, in which life cleanses, and love purifies. For \nChrist\'s cleansing of His Church, is not after the \nmanner of the purifying of the Jews \xe2\x80\x94 a washing of \nwater without, to leave the inner man unchanged. \n" The sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ," as it is \n\n\n\nTHE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. igy \n\nfirst without, is then within ;* the cleansing of the \nWine that searches and yet heals ; that bringing into \nour being a vigor not its own, exalts all our powers \nto the partaking of His divine nature, and fills us \nwith the joy of the Lord. \n\nAnd here let it be again distinctly stated, that such \nblessing as this comes through faith, and not through \nany form. The Lord Jesus in teaching the great \ntruth, made known but one condition \xe2\x80\x94 believi?ig on \nHim. When He afterwards added His ordinance it \nwas based upon this truth \xe2\x80\x94 not the truth upon the \nordinance. And yet as certainly as He taught the \ntruth, He appointed the form. As surely as He gave \nHis very flesh and very blood, to be our meat and \ndrink \xe2\x80\x94 He also gave the bread and wine, to be their \ntokens. One may well fear lest parted from its strik- \ning symbol, the spiritual substance may become, even \nto the sincere, a shadowy blessing faintly and vaguely \napprehended. \n\nThe Lord Jesus surely makes every such remem- \nbrance of Him the occasion of His special manifesta- \ntion. " The cup of blessing which we bless \xe2\x80\x94 is it not \nthe communion of the blood of Christ ? The bread \n\n\n\n* " A double benefit becomes ours by the blood of Christ, name- \nly : I. Deliveraiice from the guilt of sin ; II. The gift of the new \npowers of life which are subsequently exercised in good works. \nThe former is called justification by the blood of Jesus Christ : \nand the latter is obtained by the man who eats the flesh of Christ, \nand drinks His blood ; John V\\."\xe2\x80\x94Bengel\'s Gnomon\xe2\x80\x94 on Heb. \nxii. 24. \n\n\n\n198 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nwhich we break \xe2\x80\x94 is it not the communion of the \n\nbody of Christ ?"* And while thus intensifying our \n\nfaith in this vital union with our Lord, we at the \n\nsame time confirm our fellowship with one another \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" We being many are one body, for we are all partakers \n\nof that one bread." \\ Every supper of the Lord should \n\nalso be a feast of Charity. Finally, it is the Church\'s \n\ntestimony to a Christless world. " As often as ye eat \n\nthis bread, and drink this cup, ye do proclaim the \n\nLord\'s death till He come." % \n\nYet let us deeply ponder that which must follow, \n\nwhen in any way the eye of Faith has become so dim \n\nas not to discern the Lord\'s body, \xe2\x80\x94 " For this cause \n\nmany are weak and sickly among you, and many \n\nsleep !" \n\nTill He Come. Only a little longer shall we keep \n\n\xe2\x80\xa2 \n\n* 1 Cor. x. 16. \n\n" According to the Scripture (John vi.) the Lord was to be in \nus and with us also in flesh and blood after His ascension ; yes, \nthen first truly so. His heavenly flesh and blood pervaded by \nspirit, and which have become spirit and life, these are the \ntrue \' mediating organs \' of that fellowship which is as really \nbodily as spiritual ; and the bread and the wine are the mediat- \ning symbols of this in the second degree. Was there not for the \nChurch of the Lord an actual reception of His flesh and blood pro- \nvided, it could have ?io life in itself, it never would be or could \nbe His Church, that is, His body. If this reception was not at \nthe same time (not indeed exclusively, but especially) mediated by \nan external, earthly corporeal element, the Church of the New \nTestament would have no Sacrament." \xe2\x80\x94 Stier^s Words of the \nLord Jesus, vii. 105. \n\nt 1 Cor. x. 17. \\ 1 Cor. xi. 26. \n\n\n\nTHE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. \n\n\n\nI 99 \n\n\n\nthis Feast ; for soon the Holy Supper of our Lord \nwill become the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We \ndo not even rightly remember His dying, unless we \nare looking for that blessed Hope. How passing \nsweet His promise \xe2\x80\x94 " Until / drink it NEW with you \nin my Father\'s kingdom !" " When we become as \nHe is, then will He be again as we are ; He will eat \nand drink with us the new fruits of the new world in \nthe fellowship of an eternal enjoyment of the renova- \nted creation of the Father." * \n\n\n\n* Rudolph Stier. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER X. \n\nTHE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE \n\nLAND. \n\n* \' \\ nd the manna ceased on the morrow \n*y after they had eaten of the new corn \nof the land; neither had the children of \nIsrael manna any more; but they did eat \nof the fruit of the land of canaan that \n\nYEAR."* \xe2\x80\x94 (Josh. V. 12.) \n\nThe most marked providence of the forty years in \nthe wilderness, was the manna. It was the time of \nman\'s provocation \xe2\x80\x94 yet such was the compassion of \nGod, that he " did eat angels\' food."f For forty \nyears, was God grieved with Israel, yet for forty \nyears, day by day, He gave them their bread from \nheaven. But now occurs a great change. The prom- \nise of God is fulfilled, that in this land they should \neat bread, without scarceness. \n\nThe lessons contained in this change, are not the \nleast in value of the many which crowd the fifth \nchapter of Joshua \xe2\x80\x94 making it like the cluster of the \n\n* " The produce of the same year ; t. e. t the new corn." \xe2\x80\x94 Keil \nand Dclitzsch* \nt Ps. lxxviii. 25. \n(200) \n\n\n\nTHE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND. 2 0I \n\ngrapes of Eshcol. Among those lessons, the most \nobvious upon the face of the history are these. The \ncessation of the manna, marks a return from correc- \ntion to comfort \xe2\x80\x94 from the extraordinary to the ordi- \nnary \xe2\x80\x94 from the direct provision of God, to His bless- \ning upon their own efforts \xe2\x80\x94 yet all in such a way, as \nto indicate not less, but more, of His goodness. \n\nBut to revert to the history of the manna. In Egypt \nit was the abuse of God\'s bounty, that they " sat by \nthe flesh pots, and did eat bread to the full."* The \nsatisfaction of the lower wants of our being, though a \npart of the Creator\'s design, is never to become an \nobject in life. Very good as the means which it was \nappointed to be \xe2\x80\x94 as an end, it is very evil. " Let us \neat and drink, for to-morrow we die," is the lowest \npossible valuation of life. The tendency of such a full \nsupply, unbalanced by higher pursuits, is always to \ndegrade the soul, to animalize the being, and to give \nthe body an ascendancy over the spirit, instead of \nkeeping it in subjection. Hence excessive fertility \nnearly always proves a curse. \n\nBut the food of Egypt was not only abundant, but \ngross and stimulating. Bodily appetite had a fearful \ndominion over the childhood of Israel. The " leeks \nand cucumbers " seem to have left a stronger impres- \nsion on their memories, than the ten plagues and the \nRed Sea. Their murmuring for bread was their first \nsin. In the provision which the Lord graciously \n\n* Exodus xvi. 3. \n\n9* \n\n\n\n202 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nmade for their need, He introduced a wise discipline \nHe could still have given them fulness of bread ; but \nit was far better for them for a time to be trained \nto abstinence, and to utmost moderation. He gave \nthem, therefore, but one sort of food, and that the \nlightest. The deep design of this was explained to \nthem by Moses : \xe2\x80\x94 " He humbled thee, and suffered \nthee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou \nknewest not, neither did thy fathers know ; that He \nmight make thee know that man doth not live \nby bread only, but by every word that proceed- \neth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live."* \nIn a profound significance, stretching far beyond their \nearlier sense, Christ used the last of these words in \nHis own hunger. His first temptation was Israel\'s \nfirst, as well as our first and lowest. But even their \nweak understanding must have grasped a part of the \nmeaning of Moses \xe2\x80\x94 Bread was not the chief necessity \nof life, and hunger was comparatively a small evil. \nThey must be trained to know the needs, and the \nsupplies, of soul life, and spirit life. \n\nWhen Israel came out of Egypt, their life was lit- \ntle more than such as fish, and onions, and garlic \ncould feed \xe2\x80\x94 little more than an animal life. It was \nnot the plan of God to lead His people into perma- \nnent distress and poverty. He had promised them a \nland, full of all good things, where they should eat \nbread without scarceness. But for the present^ scarce- \n\n* Deut. viii. 3. \n\n\n\nTHE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND. \n\n\n\n203 \n\n\n\nness of bread was the needful corrective. How hard \nthat discipline was for them, and how necessary, we \nsee soon afterwards, when that whole camp forgot the \ndignity of freedom and of manhood, and like so many \nspoiled children, absolutely cried aloud, because they \ndid not like the food which God had given them.* It \nwas needful to subdue such lust before He could pro- \nceed with their moral culture. \n\nAnd then He fed them by other words out of His \nmouth. All His commands, and all His ways, were \nsuch words, and by every one was their being nour- \nished and developed. He fed them by the very \nsublimity of their mountain path, as they marched \ndownward to Sinai. By each grand form, and by \neach lovely tint, He fed both the strength and the \ntenderness of their nature. By all the routine of the \njourney, by all the closer companionships of lives set \nfree from servitude, He fed them. By all the awe \nand terror of Sinai, and most of all by His holy Law, \nHe fed them, and made them live. And they grew. \nMental and moral manhood were developed. Even \nin their wanderings, when He had to give them so \nlargely the bread of adversity, and the waters of \naffliction, they still grew ; and most of all, in readiness \nof soul, to receive more real blessing from God. And \nhow over Jordan, life was another thing for them. , \nThey had been lifted up in the scale of being. The \ncorrection had wrought out its purpose, and they \n\n* See Numbers xi. 4. \n\n\n\n2 04 THE FULXESS OF BLESSIXG. \n\ncould again be trusted with the good things of earth. \nSo the manna ceased, and the corn and all the fruit- \nof Canaan were theirs. They had learned their \nlesson, that the life was; more than meat. And now \nthat they were ready for it, God gave them all that \nwas needed to sustain such a life. \n\nHow easily one can picture the gathering of the \nfamilies of Israel to their first repast, the day after \nthe manna ceased \xe2\x80\x94 to partake, with an almost child- \nlike pleasure, oi the good things so long promised. \nAnd yet how all greediness would be held in check, by \ntheir reverent sense of God\'s own gifts. What thanks- \ngivings must have gone up that day from the tables \nin the Camp of Gilgal ! \n\nThe training of His people of old in this manner, is \nthe pattern from which God still works, in His loving- \ncorrection. Our outward bread is the natural symbol \nof all that can be called food in a wider sense ; of all \nthat comes to nourish up the life of our complex be- \ning \xe2\x80\x94 to develop it, and to strengthen it \xe2\x80\x94 embracing \nall that in this outward creation yields support of any \nkind to our nature \xe2\x80\x94 all the manifold providences of \nGod, and events of life \xe2\x80\x94 all the influences of our fellow- \nbeings, and all that descends to us from God out of \nheaven. \n\nIt is a primary law of all organic life that it must \nbe i\'cd: and the higher it is, from the more sources \nmust its supplies be sought. He who fixed these \nlaws in our being, has at the same time created theii \n\n\n\nTHE XEJV CORN AXD FRUIT OF THE LAXD. 205 \n\nsupplies, and given us the instincts to seek them. \nSo long as these instincts are natural and healthy, all \nthat they desire must be good. \n\nWe may apply this to the manifold blessings of \nlife \xe2\x80\x94 Health is good; Wealth is good; Happiness is \ngood ; and on the contrary, disease, poverty, and \ngrief, are all in themselves evils, and the derange- \nments of God\'s highest plan. But even the best things, \neven things the most needful, are good for us only \nwhen we are prepared to use them rightly. And as \nwe take away from the sick child much of the food \nwhich was previously good, and do not allow his ap- \npetite to have its way, so God is compelled to take \naway from the being disordered by sin, many of His \nbest gifts, since they would only increase the evil. \n\nIn this process by which He restores us, we are \nbound to co-operate. We must accept, not only \nwith submission, but with sweetness, the medicine \ninstead of food, the little instead of the much. So \nblessings suffer for the time a reversal. Thus poverty \nmay be the present blessing, and God choose the \npoor of this world, to make them only rich in faith \n?ww \xe2\x80\x94 but in the return to the true estimate of things, \nheirs of a kingdom hereafter. Adversity may thus be \nthe present blessing, but not the highest and truest \xe2\x80\x94 \nProsperity is that. Light food and scanty, are these \nlimitations of our being, pressing us on every hand. \n\nBut while we accept this humbling, and suffering \nof hunger, which come if need be \xe2\x80\x94 and how common \n\n\n\n2o6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nis that need \xe2\x80\x94 we ought not to be content with their \ncontinuance beyond it. We need to distinguish in \nthe work of God upon us, very carefully, between \nthat which is directly progressive, and that which is \nremedial. From a neglect of this, have sprung the \nevils of asceticism, and the extremes of Puritanism. \nThe sick man, who has found his medicine and spare \ndiet agree with his weakness, does well to recom- \nmend them to the weak ; but it would be quite another \nthing, to persuade the healthy and strong to adopt \nthe same regimen. \n\n" The Giving God " desires ever to give us His \nbest ; but that best is something altogether relative \nto our state. It is not judgment, but mercy rejoicing \nagainst judgment, that when man has broken the \ncommandments, makes the flaming sword turn every \nway, to keep the way of the tree of life. But it is Love, \nthat, when man is so blessed as to keep these com- \nmandments, gives him again the " right to the tree \nof life." Until we have the grace to receive and use \nGod\'s gifts aright, it is better for us to be without \nthem ; but far better to be so restored as to safely \nuse them \xe2\x80\x94 better for us, and better for His glory. \nSo, then, when He gives us for our bread a light thing, \nand gives it by measure, we do well to ask Him that \nwe may be speedily " humbled," and " proved," and \n" taught," that so we may, like Israel, pass on to richer \nand truer blessings. \n\nBut to pass to another lesson. There was to be no \n\n\n\nTHE 1 NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND. 2 oy \n\nmore an infantile dependence upon the provision of \nGod. That bread from heaven had needed no sow- \ning, no tilling, no reaping : it only asked to be gath- \nered. Yet He led them not backward, but forward \nin privilege, in ordering that henceforth their supplies \nshould bear a proportion to their own energies. Such \nis ever our Father\'s way with His children \xe2\x80\x94 first to \nwork for them, and then to make them co-workers \nwith Him. In giving us some of His choicest things, \nHe absolutely requires this co-operation ; and even \ndoubles the value of His gifts, by the training and \ndevelopment of all our powers. \n\nIt is an utter mistake, therefore, to regard the Lord \nas any less the Giver, for giving to us through our \nown selves, as instruments. He may be all the more \nworking for us, and blessing us, when He sets His \ngifts at a little remove from us, and even with many \nintervening obstacles. \n\nAgain, another kindred lesson here shadowed forth \nis this. It may seem paradoxical, but it is simply a \nmatter of experience, that as our lives become more \nspiritual, they also become more natural, and there is \nless seemingly of the extraordinary about them. \n\nBut in this we do indeed see only in part. For \nLaw, and Order, are but names which we give to the \nways of God\'s working, so far as they have become \nfamiliar to us. Probably all the works to which we \ngive other names, calling them miraculous, and su- \npernatural, are equally within the range of Law and \n\n\n\n208 THE FULNESS \'OF BLESSING. \n\nOrder, as seen by higher intelligences. Just as the \nnative of the Tropics knows some of the laws of water; \nwhile the savage of another zone knows an added \nlaw, which completely sets aside the others, and the \nice-bound river is his easy path, instead of a perilous \nflood. The man of science finds out yet another law, \nand bids this same element carry him swiftly over \nland and sea. \n\nSo, as our spiritual apprehension enlarges, we note \nthis change \xe2\x80\x94 the ordinary works of God appear more \nextraordinary ; and the extraordinary, more in accord \nwith the ordinary. In the latter, the element of mere \nmarvel and astonishment fades from our minds, as \nwe consider those laws that lie beyond our world, and \nhow easy and natural are all things to Omnipotence. \nAnd in the former case, we come to understand, that \nHis simplest handiwork is so full of skill, as to de- \nmand His constant supervision. Such recognition of \nthe power, and present working of God in all com- \nmon things, prepares us in the most healthy manner \nfor a further insight into His hidden ways. How can \none who has really confessed his Creator, doubt the \npossibility of any miracle? How can one who has \nwatched the daily unfolding of His providences, doubt \nHis interposition at any needful point? \n\nAmong the designs of miracles, a chief one seems to \nhave been to call the attention of men to God. When \nthey fell on their faces and cried, " The Lord He is \nthe God," the end was sufficiently answered. A \n\n\n\nTHE NEW CORN AX D FRUIT OF THE LAND. 209 \n\ngood example of this is the gift of tongues. It was \nall-important to bring the early Church to a clear \nrecognition of the power and presence of the Spirit. \nThis accomplished, their service ceased, except as \nthey might be needed to produce a like effect on \nothers. So St. Paul presents the case \xe2\x80\x94 " Wherefore \ntongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but \nto them that believe not."* \n\nBut again, there are other signs to " follow them \nthat believe," in which the object is to restore the \norder disarranged by sin.f The miracles of Christ \nwere very largely of this class ; as, for instance, all His \nworks of healing. For this there was needed the \nmomentary exercise of some new law, after which \nthere would be an immediate return to the old laws, \nwhich had sufficed for their work. \n\nIn the case of the manna, both the above objects \nappear. That barren desert was an abnormal thing, \nnot at all in the original perfection of God\'s works. \nFor obvious reasons, He did not give it permanent fer- \ntility ; but for the time, He made good the supply it \n\n* 1 Cor. xiv. 22. \n\nt Christlieb, in his admirable volume on " Modern Doubt and \nChristian Belief," after showing that miracles belonged especial- \nly to " the epoch in which the Church was first founded" claims \nthat in the work of missions " miracles should not be entirely want- \ning \xe2\x80\x94 nor are they. We can not, therefore, fully admit the prop- \nosition that no more miracles are performed in our day. In the \nhistory of modern missions, we find many wonderful occurrences \nwhich unmistakably remind us of the apostolic a^e." He goes \non to give several pages of instances \xe2\x80\x94 See Lecture V., iii. \n\n\n\n2io THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nshould have yielded. Then, also, the other purpose was \naccomplished, that they clearly recognized God as the \nGiver of daily bread. And to those who had learned \nthis, the gift of the manna would seem a simple thing, \nby the side of that munificence, which year after \nyear brought forth from the rain of heaven, and the \ndust of the earth, the nutritious grain \xe2\x80\x94 the figs and \npomegranates \xe2\x80\x94 the olive, with its golden soothing \noil \xe2\x80\x94 the vine, with its purple kindling juice \xe2\x80\x94 and \nworking on through the mysterious chemistry of ani- \nmal life, made the land flow with milk and honey. \nBut for the manna, they might have seen no miracle \nin all this \xe2\x80\x94 might have taken it as from Nature, and \nnot from God. " There is not, indeed," as has been \nwell said, " a miracle on record, that can compete \nwith the miracles of Creation and Providence." \n\nMoreover, it is most mischievous to become ab- \nsorbed with the extraordinary \xe2\x80\x94 as happened in the \nCorinthian Church \xe2\x80\x94 and to prefer what is striking, to \nthe simple and serviceable. Man, as a rule, can bear \nvery little of the extraordinary. He is very apt to \nabuse it for some display. \n\nAnd now to make these considerations more prac- \ntical. Few persons, probably, pass through a full Chris- \ntian experience, without some special display of the \nLord\'s power. Most frequently this occurs at an \nearly stage, or else at some subsequent marked \nperiod of growth, and anxiety is often felt at its \n\n\n\nTHE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND. 211 \n\nwithdrawal. Perhaps the soul was fed by some \nword of God, that fell clear as a Voice speaking from \nheaven. Perhaps some wondrous vision was spread \nout before the eye. But when this manna ceases, has \nGod\'s bounty ceased ? No, the new corn of the land, \nand all its fruits, are theirs. Only now He would \nhave them search the Scriptures. He would have \nthem meditate in His law. He would have them even \nwait for the precious fruit of the earth. And if they \naccept this ordering of their lives, they will find their \nsouls led on to really richer blessings, for which the \nextraordinary visitation was only meant to prepare \nthem. They become more simple, and more spiritual, \nat once. \n\nThus does the Master keep His disciples from \nstraining their life to an unnatural pitch, where, un- \nable to sustain it, they are nearly sure to break down \naltogether. There are lines of thought and expe- \nrience which it is well for us to be trained to touch at \ntimes, but to be fastened there, would be the de- \nstruction of the soul. \n\nAnd the Master Himself is our example here. \nLook at the life of the Lord Jesus. There were great \ncrises in it \xe2\x80\x94 hours and days that were most extraor- \ndinary. Witness His Baptism, the Temptation, the \nTransfiguration. But as soon as the high occasion \npasses, His life moves on again, simply, and sweetly, \nwithout any strain. Indeed, notwithstanding all that \n\n\n\n212 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nso widely separates it from other lives, the intense \nnaturalness of Jesus, is one of His chief human \nattractions. \n\nWe see this also in the life of Paul. There is no \nassumption, no cant, no attempt to act a part. He is \nreal, throughout all the constant changes of his ca- \nreer. How cheerfully he comes down from his third \nheaven, to his thorn in the flesh. How humbly he \nowns his danger of getting exalted above measure. \n\nIt was a choice tribute that was lately rendered to \na noble Christian woman, that " her natural life was \nso completely Christian, that her Christian life became \ncompletely natural." In truth, simplicity is a vital \nelement in all greatness, most of all in that which is \nspiritual. It measures also very closely that which is \nlovabU. Sanctimoniousness is a widely different \nthing from sanctity. The effort needed to support it \nin all its conventional proprieties, exhausts the re- \nsources of life. The nature is so spent in seeming, \nthat it has no strength for being. \n\nIn eating the new corn of the land, there was a re- \nturn to simple, natural ways. They turned from the \nPaschal feast to find their common life crowned with \nbounty. When once Christ has lifted us up to sit in the \nheavenlies, to eat His body, and to drink His blood, \nthen He returns to sup also with us. When we have \nseen the slain Lamb in the midst of the Throne, we \nsee Christ in all things. He fills and hallows the \nwhole sphere of our humanity, so that henceforth we \n\n\n\nTHE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND. \n\n\n\n213 \n\n\n\ncan call nothing unclean. In the most common things \nof life, " sanctified by the word of God and prayer," \nman may eat more than angels\' food ; and life in loving \nloyalty to Jesus, may become one long blessed sacra- \nment. Of more than the broken bread may it be \nsaid, " Do this in remembrance of Me." \n\nEvery service which He appoints, every pursuit \nwhich He sanctions, every pleasure which He pro- \nvides \xe2\x80\x94 all of these as we take them in His name, and \nfor His sake, shall be to us like the corn and fruits of \nCanaan \xe2\x80\x94 more abundant and more luscious for all our \ncare \xe2\x80\x94 and yet His own daily gifts, strengthening and \nrefreshing us, and helping us to grow up into Him in \nall things. Bread without scarceness, food in richest \nvariety, even the fat of the Land, shall the willing \nand obedient eat ; for it is a high and complex being \nthat is to be thus fed. \n\nSuch a view of our ultimate liberty will keep us, \neven in the midst of much present sacrifice and self- \ndenial, free from all narrowness of spirit, and especial- \nly from its worst form, censoriousness. We can not \nalways tell, who still needs to be fed with manna, and \nwho may eat the fruit of Canaan. The correction \nand training of His children, rest with God alone ; \nand few things are more difficult, than to judge the \nliberty or restraint of others. " Every creature of \nGod is good " \xe2\x80\x94 This is the broad, true ground of lib- \nerty claimed by an Apostle. Yet practically \xe2\x80\x94 for in- \nexpediency, for present necessity, for the weakness \n\n\n\n214 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nof others \xe2\x80\x94 who so ready as he, to " eat no meat while \nthe world standeth." \n\n" He who is weak eateth herbs." We may pity, \nbut not despise him for it. Nor may this herb-eater, \nas is veiy common, judge him who believeth that he \nmay eat all things. He is safe, while " he eateth to \nthe Lord, and giveth God thanks." \n\nGo, then, ye that are hungering, and gather the \nbread of the land. Feed first on Christ, and then on \nall He gives you. " Sow your fields, and plant vine- \nyards, which may yield fruits of increase." Let \neven the fallow ground be made to bring forth your \nsustenance. Consecrate the wide field of life to \nChrist, and He will command His blessing upon it all. \nGive your all to Him, and then out of the hundred \nfold which He returns to you, let every faculty which \nyou possess \xe2\x80\x94 your every power \xe2\x80\x94 your whole charac- \nter and being \xe2\x80\x94 be built up, as becomes the noblest \nworkmanship of God upon this earth. \n\nBut we come now to the deepest lesson to be \ndrawn from this ceasing of the manna, and eating of \nthe fruit of the land. Any view of it would be in- \ncomplete which overlooked Christ\'s own reference to \nit. " He that eateth me even he shall live by me. \nThis is that bread which came down from heaven ; \nnot as your fathers did eat manna and are dead ; he \nthat eateth of this bread shall live forever."* Jesus \nHimself, then, is the true Antitype of the manna. To \n* John vi. 58. \n\n\n\nTHE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND. 215 \n\nbelieve that Jesus is the Christ, to confess that He \nhas come in the flesh, this is to have life. No soul \nthat accepts Him in His life and death shall ever \nperish. \n\nBut Christ came not merely to give us life, but \n" life more abundantly." And as we follow on to \nknow the Lord, we know Him not only as He that \nlived and died for us, but as the Living One \xe2\x80\x94 alive \nforevermore. And if His life and death were the \nvery bread of heaven, and the stricken Rock, that \nsaved us when we were ready to perish in our hun- \nger and thirst, so also His resurrection life in Heaven, \nis as the rich and abundant fruit of Canaan. All of \nHis life that lies upon this side Jordan is the manna, \nbut the full fruition is Christ glorified. Yet only to \none who has well learned the saving truth \xe2\x80\x94 " It is \nChrist that died," can there possibly be a greater \xe2\x80\x94 \n" Yea rather that is risen again." The manna had \nceased for Paul, and he was feasting on the richer \nportion, when he said \xe2\x80\x94 "Though we have known \nChrist after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we \nHim no more."* \n\nIt is impossible to receive the full knowledge of \nChrist, through what He was on earth. For He \n"humbled Himself "\xe2\x80\x94"emptied Himself "\xe2\x80\x94"had no \nform nor comeliness " \xe2\x80\x94 was " a man of sorrows and \nacquainted with grief." All this was to cease \xe2\x80\x94 all \n\n* 2 Cor. v. 16. \n\n\n\n6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\npower, all glory, all loveliness, all joy, all unsearch- \nable riches, are in Him as our Lord in G toy. \n\nEvery one must have felt at times, that Chris s \nlife did not, after all, touch our life at many poms \nWe see why it could not be, but this does not qu t \nthe longing that it might have been. How widely \nremoved from our lives, for instance, as we know that \nGod Himself orders them, in close family affection \nand dependence, and in all innocent pleasures, was \nthe life of Jesus. We take our fill of the joy of \nsocial conve se-we smile, and laugh,-and it almost \nSes us as we turn to our Great Example o \nremember that no such record is given of Him. Nay \nfurther, there are many things which we do daily, \nw, ch ve do not like to think of Him as also doing \nWe would rather have it written that - Jesus wep \nthan that He smiled; and yet our very smiles are \nsad unless they can somehow claim H.s sympathy. \n\nBut 11 that we miss in Him, in that short w.lder \nness iourney, we can surely claim as H.s, now that \nH has entered into His rest. His whole life was a \n" sing of hfe for the Gospel\'s sake; and yet surely, \nas He said it should be with us, He kept it unto Life \neternal.- The Man Christ Jesus, mediating between \nGod and man, walked this earth with the vow of a \n\nw; m seoarated for His service sake \nNazante upon Him\xe2\x80\x94 separaieu \n\nfrom much of the very joy which He came to bring \nThTNazarite, of old, might not drink the strong wine \nnor even the juice of the grape, nor eat the moist grape \n\n\n\nTHE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND. 2\\J \n\nitself, nor yet the dry ; nor even so much as taste \nhusk or kernel.* But this was only for " all the days \nof his separation;" "and after that, the Nazarite may \ndrink wine." So also he might not shave his beard, \nand the long hair must mark neglect and subjection ; \n\xe2\x80\xa2 \xe2\x80\x94 " Until the days be fulfilled, he shall let the locks \nof the hair of his head grow." f \n\nThe days of Jesus\' vow were the days of His life \non earth, marked by the renunciation of social joys, \nand human honor. But His vow was ended when \nHe cried, " It is finished." And now we may not \nthink of the risen Lord as still a man of sorrows, nor \ncount our Pattern, to be no more than the homely \nweb of a Galilean life. His humanity has been glori- \nfied with the same glory, which already as to His \ndivinity, He had with the Father before the world \nwas. And far more glorious than the cunning work \nupon the veil of the Temple of old, is the work now \nwrought upon what was once His flesh. " The Glory \nMan " has risen infinitely above all that the highest \nculture of this world ever reached. All that God \never gave our human nature, has found its full and \npure development in Him. And being all this Him- \nself, we may not limit His sympathies with us, by \nwhat He once did, and was, on earth. He would \nhave us even in this sense " through His poverty \nbecome rich." \n\nThe beginning of His miracles was not to remove \n* Num. vi. 3, 4. t Num. vi. 5. \n\nTO \n\n\n\n21 8 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nhuman sorrow, or to heal disease ; nor was it to meet \na necessity of life, but to add to its festive joy. He \nwho so late, would not so much as turn stones into \nbread, to satisfy the hunger of His long fast, turned \nwater into wine, for those who had before " well \ndrunk." Even so He waits to supply all our need, \n4< according to His riches in Glory." \n\n" Thou drawest all things to an Order fair ; \nThe things we treasure most, with those our haste \nDoth count for nought, alike in Thee are graced \n\nWith beauty past compare. \n\n" For all grows sweet in Thee, \nSince Thou didst gather us in One, and bring \n\nThis fading flower of our humanity \nTo perfect blossoming !" * \n\nLet none for a moment think, that by turning thus \nto the glorified Christ we slight His life, much less \nHis death. It is the manna first; next the Passover; \nthen, all the fruit of the land : and the manna ceased \nnot until they kept their Passover. Only through \nthe gate of His death, can we pass to His joyful \nresurrection. \n\nAnd let it not be forgotten that our Lord may call \nus also, for an appointed season, or even for a whole \nlife, to the vow of a Nazarite. We may be keenly \nalive to the stimulus and delight of a high-toned \nsocial circle, and yet put this exhilarating draught \n\n\n\n* Poems, by the Author of " The Patience of Hope. 5 \n\n\n\nm \n\n\n\nTHE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND. \n\n\n\n2I 9 \n\n\n\naside \xe2\x80\x94 to go down the ranks of society, and give a \ncup of cold water to some little one. And beholding \nArt in her manifold attractions, conscious of some of \nher creative power, we may yet hasten from her tem- \nple \xe2\x80\x94 to make like Dorcas, garments for the widow, \nand to be " full of good works and alms-deeds." \n\nAnd if God so call us, it shall only be our greater \ngain. It shall be no slighting, no wasting, of any \ngift He has given us. Many a seed of sacrifice bears \nits hundred-fold in this life : and those which can \nnot, sown in Christ\'s grave, shall when we are glorified \nwith Him, receive a life everlasting. \n\nFaint shadow, then, of the fulness of our Lord, wert \nthou, O Land of Judea, in those days of thy bounty. \nThy cool springs from the depths beneath, thy show- \ners in their season, thy early and thy latter rain, thy \nfields of waving corn and the joy of thy harvest, \nthy trees with all their goodly-laden boughs, thy \nvines and the gladness of thy vintage, the excellency \nof thy Carmel and the glory of thy Lebanon \xe2\x80\x94 faint \nshadows in all ye gave of old, of what He gives, in \nwhose Risen Life " WE LIVE, AND MOVE, AND HAVE \nOUR BEING." \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI. \n\nSEEING THE CAPTAIN. \n" A ND IT CAME TO PASS WHEN JOSHUA WAS BY \n\nA Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and \n\nLOOKED, AND BEHOLD, THERE STOOD A MAN OVER \nAGAINST HIM WITH HIS SWORD DRAWN IN HIS \nHAND \xe2\x80\xa2 AND JOSHUA WENT UNTO HIM, AND SAID \nUNTO HIM, ART THOU FOR US, OR FOR OUR AD- \nVERSARIES? AND HE SAID, NAY; BUT I AM THE \nPRINCE OF THE ARMV OF JEHOVAH; NOW I AM \nCOME."*\xe2\x80\x94 (5W*. V. 13. I4-) \n\nThe preparation of Israel for the Conquest has \nbeen traced step by step, but it is still incomplete \nuntil the Conqueror is seen. It would almost appear \nthat Joshua stood by Jericho, lifting up his eyes, and \nlooking in some expectancy. Certainly he had been \nprepared for this by all the previous revelations of \nthe Law. He had learned of Him as Creator, by all \nHis manifest mastery over His own works; he had \nlearned of Him as Ruler, drawing very nigh to man \nin government, and judgment ; he knew also of that \nholy Presence between the Cherubim ; but the prom- \n\n* Keil and Delitzsch. \n(220) \n\n\n\ns^a \n\n\n\nSEEING THE CAPTAIN. 2 2 1 \n\nises of God pointed to a still more personal manifes- \ntation. \n\nIt had been said to Moses at Sinai, " Behold I send \nan Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and \nto bring thee into the place which I have prepared. \nBeware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not ; \nfor he will not pardon your transgressions ; for my \nname is in him."* This promise which plainly indi- \ncated the Lord Himself, was withdrawn after the sin \nof the golden calf, and some angel of lower order \nsubstituted : \xe2\x80\x94 " I will send an Angel before thee . . . \nfor I will not go up in the midst of thee/\'f The mourn- \ning of the people over these evil tidings, and the in- \ntercession of Moses, resulted in the restoration of this \nblessing ; \xe2\x80\x94 " My Face shall go, and I will give thee \nrest. "J It was as Isaiah tells us \xe2\x80\x94 " The Angel of His \nFace saved them. In His love and in His pity, He \nredeemed them : and He bare them and carried them \nall the days of old." \xc2\xa7 \n\nWhen the Lord thus renewed this promise, it was \nin the cloudy pillar at the Tabernacle door, speaking \nunto Moses " face to face as a man speaketh unto his \nfriend." Joshua, who remained always near at hand, \nmust have heard the promise, and must have known \nalso of the vision which followed it in the Cleft of the \nRock. That promise now belonged to him ; for as \n\n* Ex. xxiii. 20, 21. f Ex. xxxiii. 2, 3. % Ex. xxxiii. 14. \n\n\xc2\xa7 Is. lxiii. 9. See Keil and Delitzsch, Com. on Pentateuch. Vol. \nII., p. 235. \n\n\n\n222 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\ngiven at first, it had made mention of these nations \nnow before them, and declared that they should be \nthus cut off. Was not this the time of need ? Was \nnot the enemy within their very sight ? \xe2\x80\x94 where was \nthe Angel then ? How the prayers of his heart must \nhave been poured out, as he stood and looked. What \nsign would the Lord give him ? If His Face was \nthere, would He show it ? Not in great glory, not \neven in angelic might, did the Lord appear ; but so \nsimply, so humanly, that Joshua saw only that He \nwas a stranger. That sword in His hand meant war- \nfare. But was it an enemy, or was it indeed some \nhelper sent by God ? And now he learns that it is no \nearthly captain, but the great Leader of all the heav- \nenly hosts of God. Joshua may remain the Captain \nof Israel\'s forces, but meantime another Captain, and \nanother army, are to fight their battles for them, and \nsubdue the Land. \n\nThere had been previously no manifestation of \nJehovah, which so mingled the human and the \nDivine. Never before had one with the form and \nvoice of a man, called upon man to render him the \nhonor given to God only. \xe2\x80\x94 Joshua fell on his face to \nthe earth, and did worship, and no voice restrained \nhim, saying \xe2\x80\x94 " See thou do it not ;" but, " the Captain \nof the Lord\'s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe \nfrom off thy foot ; for the place whereon thou stand- \nest is holy. And Joshua did so."* Moses had done \n\n* Josh. v. 15. \n\n\n\nSEEING THE CAPTAIN. \n\n\n\n223 \n\n\n\nthis, when God called to him out of the midst of the \nburning bush ; but now a man worships a seeming \nMan : this heralds the Incarnation and anticipates \nthe Gospel. In the revelation of this Person \xe2\x80\x94this \nPrince \xe2\x80\x94 the blessed preparation for possessing the \nland clearly culminates. \n\nIt is true that the eyes of one man only, saw this \nCaptain ; but in some sense he saw for all his people : \nhe saw Him but for a few moments, and yet he saw \nfor all those years of warfare. Never in any coming \nhour of battle, could he forget that there before \nthem stood One, whose sword it was inconceivable \nthat any foe could resist. Nor could he ever feel \nagain, that further responsibility rested upon him, \nthan faithfully to follow. Another led them on ; \nAnother gave command ; Another always conquered. \nThere are often sudden revelations to the soul, which \ncontain the strength of years to come \xe2\x80\x94 which, like the \nlightning flash in the darkness, reveal the path, where \nthe feet may tread safely, long afterward. To have \nseen the Lord, though for a moment, that is to be \nstrong for a whole life. \n\nIn granting such a revelation to Joshua, as a per- \nsonal privilege, the Lord recognized a very real need \nin our nature. The heart instinctively demands a \nPerson, as the object of its trust, and the closest pos- \nsible knowledge of that Person. You give to such a \ncraving heart a creed ; it may be well, but it is only \nanother need that you have met. You give it doc- \n\n\n\n224 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\ntrine ; you give it the various relations of truth ; it \ngathers up its treasure, and still is full of longing; \nfor this human heart is all alive, and can find commun- \nion only in life. You go further still, and give it the \nclearest teaching of a Personal Christ, and of the ab- \nsolute personality of the Spirit; but only all the \nmore will it reach out beyond even this, and say \xe2\x80\x94 \n" My heart and my flesh crieth out for THE Living \nGod !" " We would see Jesus" is the demand of the \nmost distant, who have heard of Him afar off; and \nit is the one overmasting desire of those who have \ncome the nearest. \n\nIn what way, then, and to what extent, has Christ \nprovided for the satisfaction of this desire ? The In- \ncarnation has met it in part. The foundation for it \nwas laid very solidly in that mystery \xe2\x80\x94 " God manifest \nin the flesh." Nor is the blessing of that manifesta- \ntion at all limited to the brief period in which it was \na present fact ; it reaches back through all the time, \nin which Prophecy pointed expectantly to the Com- \ning One, and forward through all the ages to which \nthe testimony of His life is handed down. Apart \nfrom the basis of such a fact, a spiritual revelation \ncould have little power: all would be vague and shad- \nowy, and there could be little vividness of mental \nor spiritual apprehension. But this the Incarnation \nhas secured ; and the blessedness of it has been em- \nphasized for us, by the one who knew it beyond all \nothers, and yet sought to share it with all \xe2\x80\x94 " That \n\n\n\nSEEING THE CAPTAIN. \n\n\n\n225 \n\n\n\nwhich was from the beginning, that which we have \nheard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that \nwhich we looked upon, and our hands handled, con- \ncerning the Word of Life \xe2\x80\x94 (And the life was mani- \nfested, and we have seen it, and bear witness of it, \nand declare to you that Life which is eternal, the \nwhich was with the Father and was manifested to us) \n\xe2\x80\x94 that which we have heard and seen, we declare to \nyou also, in order that ye also may have communio7i \nwith us." * Such a reality, preserved by such testi- \nmony, may transmit to an unlimited future the fellow- \nship of Christ. Jesus has lived upon this earth ; and \nthe simple belief of this record by all those whose \neyes never saw Him, brings a blessing not sur- \npassed by theirs who because they saw, therefore \nbelieved. Bethlehem and Calvary share in the mys- \nterious nature of Eternity, stretching backward and \nforward. \n\nBut the outward manifestation of Christ is not our \nsole need ; \xe2\x80\x94 there is still a deeper, which not even the \nendless perpetuation of His life upon this earth, could \nhave met. " It is expedient for you that I go away/\' \nsaid Jesus \xe2\x80\x94 expedient, because He must reveal Him- \nself, both more intimately, and more universally, to \nHis own. He must come in such away, that not only \nin Galilee and Judea, may great multitudes behold \nHim \xe2\x80\x94 but that over all the earth, without any inter- \nvening space for the foot to travel, wherever a long- \n\n* 1 John i. 1-3. See Dean Alford\'s " Greek Testament." \njo* \n\n\n\n226 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\ning eye is lifted, there it shall see Jesus. He must \ncome, moreover, in such a way, that something more \nprecious even than outward presence \xe2\x80\x94 His spirit, His \ninner life \xe2\x80\x94 may be revealed, and revealed also to that \nwhich is highest in us \xe2\x80\x94 our spirit. Even when out- \nwardly manifested, there was no true perception of \nHim without this. When Peter confessed Him as \nChrist, the Son of the living God, it was the Father \nwho revealed it unto him. So also no man was ever \nto be able to say that Jesus Christ was Lord, but by \nthe Holy Ghost. It was an inestimable blessing to \nSt. Paul, to be added as last of the many hundred \nwitnesses who saw the Lord in His resurrection \nBody ; * but it was a blessing even beyond this to \nhave Christ revealed in him.f Unquestionably the \nfullest revelation of all will be that which will com- \nbine both of these ; and while we exult in the glo- \nrious manifestation of Christ through the Spirit, we \nmay not forget that the true Apocalypse is yet to \ncome. Not till He who has redeemed our Spirits, \nshall have redeemed our Bodies also, can we see \nHim as He is \xe2\x80\x94 " face to face." But being what we \nnow are, the manifestation through the Spirit, is a \nricher blessing than was given in the days of His \nflesh. While we wait for His coming to receive us \nunto Himself, we know that He has said of that \ntime of waiting \xe2\x80\x94 " I will not leave you comfortless : \n\n* i Cor. xv. 6, 8. t Gal. i. 16. \n\n\n\nSEEING THE CAPTAIN. \n\n\n\n227 \n\n\n\nI will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world \nseeth me no more ; but ye see me."* \n\nWhat then is the nature of this coming? \xe2\x80\x94 Is it to \nbe a mere influence, reaching us from One who dwells \nafar off? \xe2\x80\x94 Is it only thinking of the Lord Jesus, and \ngiving Him a place in our hearts \xe2\x80\x94 nay, enshrining \nHim in our deepest affections? \xe2\x80\x94 A strange question \nis this to ask, in the face of such promises ; and yet \nthis is the poor pittance that many gather from His \nblessed words ! And they will tell you, how when \na beloved earthly friend goes far from you, your \nthoughts will follow still to the other side of the \nglobe, and so bring the cherished presence back ; \nthat his image will abide in your heart ; his life as \nyou have known it still influence your life ; so that \nstill he seems ever with you ; \xe2\x80\x94 and that even thus it \nis that Christ dwells in our hearts by faith. \n\nAll this is true, but it is only a tithe of the great \nspiritual truth. \xe2\x80\x94 We see at once that were there \nnothing beyond this ideal presence, we could never \nclaim for it a real personality. But this personality \nit was that Jesus promised, and so carefully reiter- \nated \xe2\x80\x94 " I will not leave you orphans ; / will come \nto you :" \xe2\x80\x94 "He the spirit of truth shall come." It is \nnot only our thought following Him into His heavenly \nhome ; it is not only His thought constantly fixed \nupon us in the midst of His glory \xe2\x80\x94 but it is a Power, \n\n* John xiv. 1 8, 19. \n\n\n\n228 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nit is a Presence \xe2\x80\x94 it is a PERSON who comes \xe2\x80\x94 "/ will \ncome" \xe2\x80\x94 "I will see you " \xe2\x80\x94 "/will manifest myself y \n\nAnd in this last form of promise, He clearly gives \nus to understand that we should have perception of \nHis presence. He would make His coming clear and \nsatisfying to our souls \xe2\x80\x94 a substance, not a shadow. \nHe would give an evidence which should appeal not \nindeed to bodily senses, but to spiritual : He implies \nthat they also are trustworthy; that as the sight, \nand hearing, and touch, are accepted as soundest evi- \ndence, unless the witness be disqualified by bodily or \nmental disease \xe2\x80\x94 so a spiritual sense, more subtle, but \nnot less sure, should attest the reality of spiritual \nthings. Not only are we warranted in accepting such \nimpressions as conclusive to ourselves, but there may \nbe results which shall become appreciable evidence to \nothers. The words of Jesus respecting our being \nborn of the Spirit, may apply to every subsequent \nmanifestation of His \xe2\x80\x94 " The wind bloweth where it \nlisteth, and thou Jiearest the sound thereof, but canst \nnot tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth :" \nSomething shown, and something secret \xe2\x80\x94 concealing, \neven while revealing \xe2\x80\x94 this is for the present the man- \nner of the Spirit, and the way of all Divine manifes- \ntations. The evidence is addressed to Faith ; and \nwhile there will always be enough to meet its needs, \nthe false demands of Reason will not be met. Such \na manifestation can never be less than a mystery ; \nbut it is one of the mysteries which Christ has said \n\n\n\nSEEING THE CAPTAIN. \n\n\n\n229 \n\n\n\nshould be given to us to know. How clearly is such \nevidence contrasted by St. Paul with that of the \nsenses, and yet claimed to be equally reliable \xe2\x80\x94 " Eye \nhath not seen, nor ear heard " \xe2\x80\x94 " but God hath re- \nvealed by His Spirit ;" and again we have the same \ncontrast, and claim \xe2\x80\x94 " What man knoweth the things \nof a man, save the spirit of man which is in him ? \neven so the things of God knoweth no man, but the \nSpirit of God. Now we have received the Spirit \nwhich is of God ; that we might know the things \nthat are freely given to us of God." To make this \nstill clearer, it is added \xe2\x80\x94 " The natural (psychical) man \nreceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither \ncan he know them, because they are spiritually dis- \ncerned."* No words could well make it plainer, that \nboth the revelation, and the perception, are God\'s \ngifts to the believer ; that in receiving spiritual life, \nhe receives new powers, and new senses ; \xe2\x80\x94 in fact, an \nabsolute enlargement and elevation of his being. Yet \nit is also shown to be necessary, that by reason of \nuse these senses should be exercised. In the fact \nthat they are so often neglected, lies the explanation \nof very much of the weakness and helplessness of \nthose, who in these respects are babes, when they \nshould be men of full age. Yet how difficult for one \nto describe what sight and hearing are, to the blind \nand deaf; and almost more difficult still to convey \n\n* 1 Cor. ii. 9-14. \n\n\n\n230 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\ntheir nice discriminations, and most delicate percep- \ntions, to untrained eyes and ears. \n\nThat the soul has such a perception, that such \nmanifestations of Himself are given by Christ, has \nbeen in all ages the clear consciousness, and calm \ntestimony, of those who have walked most closely \nwith God. No one can call in question the fact, that \nunder the old Dispensation, such knowledge of heav- \nenly things was repeatedly given; \xe2\x80\x94 that not only \nProphets, but many a humbler servant of God, saw \nand heard far beyond the range of his natural senses. \nSurely that which was extraordinary and exceptional \nthen, was never designed to utterly vanish with the \npersonal coming of the Holy Spirit. Christ\'s own \nannouncement to Nathaniel teaches us quite other- \nwise : His new follower marvelled because Jesus had \nseen him under the fig-tree ; but the time had come, \nwhen His disciples should not only be seen, but see. \xe2\x80\x94 \n" Verily, verily, I say unto you, HENCEFORTH,^ shall \nsee heaven open, and the angels of God ascending \nand descending upon the Son of man."* Nor dare \nwe limit these words to spiritual sight : the Body \nwhich is hallowed as a Temple by the indwelling \nSpirit may have its vision also ; and it is not for us \nto say, how soon it shall be given, or how far it shall \nbe able to reach. One memorable instance we have \nof its power, when Stephen, " being full of the Holy \nGhost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the \n\n* John i. 51. \n\n\n\nSEEING THE CAPTAIN. \n\n\n\n231 \n\n\n\nglory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand \nof God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, \nand the Son of man standing on the right hand of \nGod."* And if we may judge at all from well- \navouched records in the past, and from the sacred \nscenes that are cherished in so many memories of the \nliving, there must have been thousands upon thou- \nsands since Stephen fell asleep, who ready to depart \nand be with Christ, had not only spiritual vision of \nHim \xe2\x80\x94 but as if in pledge and foretaste of their resur- \nrection, knew the Spirit so to quicken their mortal \nbodies, that the eye saw, and the ear heard. Cher- \nished as such instances rightly are, as sacred secrets \nby the survivors, they can not be discredited by thou- \nsands of others that might be cited, of the hallucina- \ntions of unbalanced and unregulated minds ; though \neven in these instances what may be the residuum of \ntruth, and how far the Lord may condescend to great \nweakness and ignorance, it is not always safe for us \nto judge.f \n\nBut such questions lie beyond the subject properly \nbefore us, which is that of such a spiritual manifesta- \ntion of Christ to our spirits as shall be both sensible and \nsure. The witnesses of this reality are beyond sus- \npicion, and they are many, albeit not multitudes. \n\n* Acts vii. 55, 56. \n\nt In this exception the writer has chiefly in mind, the large \nnumber of such statements which she has heard from the former \nslaves of the South \xe2\x80\x94 told with such sincerity that one could not \nslight them. \n\n\n\n2^2 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nThat the world at large knows nothing of all this, \nis in precise accordance with the limitations of the \npromise\xe2\x80\x94 " Whom the world can not receive, because \nit seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him." Again \nthat all the children of God are not conscious of such \na presence, that with many it is rare or interrupted, \nand with others so faint as to bring little assurance, \nis also precisely what we might infer from the condi- \ntion of the promise\xe2\x80\x94" How is it," asked one of his \nLord, " that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and \nnot unto the world ? Jesus answered and said unto \nhim, If a man love Me, he will keep My words : and \nmy Father will love him, and we will come unto him, \nand make our abode with him."* Once more\xe2\x80\x94" He \nthat followeth Me," said Jesus, " shall not walk in \ndarkness, but shall have the light of life."f Will not \nthose who love most, know most of the Holy Pres- \nence ? Will not those who follow closely, see much ; \nand those who follow afar off, see little ? And yet \nthere are instances of apparently close walking, where \nthe Heavenly vision is not given : there are loving souls \nthat can find no link between them and their Lord, \nmore real and living than His Word which He has \nleft them. Baffling as are some of these cases, yet in \nmany of them\xe2\x80\x94 only He who searches the heart can \nknow whether in all or not\xe2\x80\x94 there are visible hin- \ndrances. Such a hindrance, is the assertion of the \nnatural powers beyond their proper province ; for \n* John xiv. 22, 23. t John viii. 12. \n\n\n\nSEEING THE CAPTAIN. \n\n\n\n233 \n\n\n\nReason, and keen Analysis are out of their sphere in \nthis Presence. When they are even applied to the \nexperience of others, the sensitive soul shrinks from \nthem as from the horror of a vivisection. Especially \nis there a lack in many of that childlikeness of spirit, \nwhich is always foremost in privilege \xe2\x80\x94 the readiness \nand the receptivity of the guileless spirit, and the \nquick response to the least token of His presence : \xe2\x80\x94 \n" Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of heaven \nas a little child, shall in no wise enter therein." And \nif it must be so that he enters the kingdom, how \notherwise shall he see the King ? \n\n" The childlike faith that asks not sight, \nWaits not for wonder or for sign, \nBelieves, because it loves aright \xe2\x80\x94 \nShall see things greater, things divine." \n\nAgain, how often is the hindrance some slight reser- \nvation. The soul, half conscious of the difficulty, \nargues \xe2\x80\x94 But this is such a little thing ; besides, it is a \nsomewhat doubtful thing ; it could not surely hinder \nmy Lord from revealing Himself. But, remember, it \nis written, " If a man love Me," and has true love any \nreserve ? Have you never known how a very little \nconcealment may mar a human fellowship ? Have \nyou never noticed, also, how the extent to which you \ncan speak of very little things to others, and seek \ntheir counsel in them, measures not only your confi- \ndence, but the mutual intimacy ? We love to go \noften to that home where nothing is hidden from \n\n\n\n234 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nus, nothing changed for our coming ; but where the \nwhole life as it is, is lived out simply before us. Vis- \nits of ceremony are not pleasurable upon either side, \nand the Comforter never so comes. \n\nStill another hindrance exists in the vague appre- \nhension of the promise itself, so that many might \nanswer, not wholly unlike the disciples at Ephesus : \n" We have not so much as heard that the Holy Spirit \ndoes so manifest Himself, and that we may enjoy the \npresence of the Lord Jesus." Faithful answers re- \nturned from all Christendom to this question \xe2\x80\x94 What \nis the Presence of Christ to your souls? \xe2\x80\x94 would \ndoubtless bring to light an astonishing sum of igno- \nrance as to this great blessing. Finally, the position \nwill be taken by many, that this is a treasure so \nchoice as to be offered only to a few ; and that while \nsome are no doubt permitted to enjoy this richest of \nGod\'s gifts, the majority must be content to walk by \nfaith, and not by sight. They say, mournfully, " The \nQuest is not for me." But surely the promise of \nChrist is partial, only, in requiring a certain sort of \nreceptivity which His grace makes possible to all be- \nlievers. Not a hint is given of any other restriction. \nThe gift of the Spirit implies every degree of privi- \nlege to which we will suffer Him to guide us, and that \ngift, the Apostle Peter declared to be " unto you and \nto your children, and to all that are afar off, even as \nmany as the Lord our God shall call." * \n\n* Acts ii. 39. \n\n\n\nSEEING THE CAPTAIN. \n\n\n\n235 \n\n\n\nAs to the invidious distinction, drawn between \nwalking by faith and walking by sight, it is quite irrel- \nevant to the question. For what is Faith, if we \naccept the only direct definition of it which is given \nin the Scriptures? "Now, Faith is the substance \n{vTibaraoiq) of things hoped for, the evidence (eAey^oc) \nof things not seen." * Whatever may be the full force \nof these words, whether we choose to fritter away \ntheir grand objective solidity, to a mere subjective \nshadow or not \xe2\x80\x94 one thing it is certain, they can not \nmean ; \xe2\x80\x94 a mere belief about the things hoped for and \nunseen. They suggest no possible contrast to sight, \nbut even in their lowest significance, confirm the fact \nof an inner vision, of the most certain kind, enjoyed \nby Faith. When St. Paul spoke of walking " by faith \nand not by appearance" \\ he was dwelling upon the \ndifference between this inner vision, and that more \nopen one which awaits us in the Resurrection \xe2\x80\x94 so \nmuch more glorious and satisfying, that we can not \ncease from longing for it. \n\nIt is not easy to appreciate the knowledge of any- \nthing of which we are ignorant ; and so the question \nhas been asked \xe2\x80\x94 \' Of what practical use can such a \nmanifestation be? Does it secure anything beyond \nmere transient joy ? May not one be as strong who \nsimply takes the Word of God, and walks by its \nlight, trusting to the secret cooperation of the \nSpirit?\' \n\n* Heb. xi. 1. t 2 Cor. v. 6-8. \n\n\n\n236 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nNo one who has ever known the Lord in the way \nwhich He has promised, could possibly assent to this. \nThe higher knowledge of Jesus is absolutely incom- \nmunicable, through even the most precious of those \nwords given by inspiration of God \xe2\x80\x94 " I have heard \nof Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye \nseeth Thee" marks a new mode of acquainting oneself \nwith the Lord. It is as with the friends we love. \nWe may have known much through hearing of them, \nmuch more through the frequent reading of their own \nbest thoughts, and yet, when for the first time we \nmeet, a few days of personal presence puts us in such \npossession of their inmost nature, of the character as \na whole, and of our own share in their love, as it were \nhopeless to think of gaining in any other way. True, \nwe have to wait for the full day-dawn, and the Day- \nStar, to know even as we are known ; but even in the \nlight of the Morning Star, we do know hi part. This \nknowledge of His blessed Presence, enriches and en- \ndears all other knowledge of Him. It is a constant illu- \nmination for His Word ; for now, as we read, we see \never the expression of His eye ; as we listen, we ever \nhear the intonation of His own voice ; the word be- \ncomes a living Word, when Faith has seen the Lord. \nBut, not only does the manifest presence of Jesus \ngive fuller knowledge, and impart greater strength, \nbut beyond anything else, it intensifies Love. It is \nthe instinctive yearning of love to be near the beloved \none. The richest part of its life is in that love. Is it \n\n\n\nSEEING THE CAPTAIN. \n\n\n\n237 \n\n\n\nnot, then, because God is Love, that He so manifests \nHimself? \xe2\x80\x94 that He can not stay far off from the de- \nsire of His own eyes ? \xe2\x80\x94 and that, therefore, if a man \nlove Him and keep His words, the Father will love \nhim, and they \xe2\x80\x94 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit \xe2\x80\x94 will \ncome and make their abode in him who so loves ? He \nwho has missed this presence of the Lord, has missed \nthe joy of joys \xe2\x80\x94 "the love of God shed abroad in our \nhearts, by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." \nHe who has missed this Presence, has missed also one \nof the chief secrets of his sanctification. How can \nany one become like the Lord, without seeing Him ? \n\xe2\x80\x94 since we are told that it is by beholding in a mirror \nthe glory of the Lord, that we are changed into the \nsame image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit \nof the Lord. When the heart turns to the Lord with \nthe veil that hides this glory, He has said that it shall \nbe taken away; He who heard the prayer of Moses \nwill hear our prayer, " / beseech Thee, show me Thy \nGlory." \n\nAnd only to such seeking souls, is there any secu- \nrity that they will find Him. Even His coming again \nin visible glory, is limited in its blessing, " unto \nthem who look for Him.\'\'\' * So it is written also, " The \nLord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His Tem- \nple, "f And we may venture to apply to the coming \nof the Lord by His Spirit, that which was said of His \nglorious appearing, " Looking for and hastening His \n\n* Heb. ix. 28. t Mai. iii. 1. \n\n\n\n238 THE FULNESS OF BLESSIXG. \n\ncoming." Even now, the Lord whom ye seek, and \nwhom ye delight in, is He who comes. Nor will any \nfitful seeking suffice : it must be the settled attitude \nof the soul. The Good Shepherd seeketh His lost \nsheep until He find it, and thus should we return to \nthe Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. It was when \nJoshua lifted up his eyes and looked, that he saw \nthe Heavenly Captain : \xe2\x80\x94 How many may miss their \nLord for want of this ! We see quickly, and see \noften, whatever interests us most. The Naturalist \nwill put to shame a common eye, by the ease with \nwhich he everywhere discovers his treasures : he has \nlearned where to look and how to look. In this busy, \nbustling age, the Christian too often allows the hurry \nof the world to sweep away all repose of soul ; so \nthat he has no noontide hour when he can sit like \nAbraham in his tent-door, ready to call in the angels ; \nwith leisure enough to lift up his eyes and look, and \nwith love enough to run to meet the heavenly Visitant, \nand constrain Him to tarry, saying \xe2\x80\x94 M My Lord, if now \nI have found favor in Thy sight, pass not away, I pray \nThee, from Thy servant." * \n\nBlessed be God that seeing the Lord Jesus, we see \nHim as our Captain, not only commanding His army \nhere on earth \xe2\x80\x94 but Prince of all principalities and pow- \ners. The whole host of heaven is at His command : \nHe can send forth, as He pleases, the ministering \nspirits, " to minister to them who shall be heirs of \n\n* Gen. xviii. 1-3. \n\n\n\n_J \n\n\n\nSEEING THE CAPTAIN. \n\n\n\n239 \n\n\n\nsalvation." Having seen His Face as our light and \nour salvation, how calmly can we front the enemy. \n" Though an host should encamp against me, my \nheart shall not fear ; though war should rise against \nme, in this will I be confident."* \n\nAnd blessed be God for the Sword that our Cap- \ntain holds \xe2\x80\x94 that out of His mouth there goeth the \nsharp, two-edged sword : for He speaks and it is \ndone ; He utters His word, and out of weakness we \nare made strong; again He utters it and all our ene- \nmies melt away. Having seen Jesus, have we seen \nalso the flashing of the sword of the Spirit ? All \nHoly Scripture that has been written, still cometh \nout of His mouth in its fulfilment, quick and power- \nful to do its work, alike by the Blessing and the \ncurse, the Promise and the woe. \n\nGreat Prince of Faith, going forth before Thine \narmies, let Thine " eyes as a flame of fire " kindle all \nour hearts with holy courage ; and hold us by Thine \nown power, " looking unto Jesus " \xe2\x80\x94 till Thou comest \n" in the clouds of heaven," and we see Thee FACE TO \n\nFACE. \n\n\n\n* See Ps. xxvii. 1-4. \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII. \n\nTHE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. \ni4/r pHE PEOPLE PASSED OVER RIGHT AGAINST \n\nA Jericho." \xe2\x80\x94 {Josh. iii. 16.) "And the Lord \nsaid unto Joshua, See, I have given into \nthine hand Jericho." \xe2\x80\x94 {Josh. vi. 2.) \n\nThe time was past for leading the people about, \nlest they should repent at the sight of war. They \nhad come over Jordan to possess the land, and were \nthoroughly advised that they must therefore dispos- \nsess their enemies. Moreover, it was well for them \nto learn at the very outset, that their God was able \nto save them in their sorest straits, and to show Him- \nself stronger than the strongest, that so they might be \nset free from the fear of every foe. Therefore, even \nwhile passing over Jordan, they faced the Fortress, \nthe key to all the Land. Joshua had fully under- \nstood its importance, when he sent the two men from \nShittirn, to view the land, even Jericho. The terror \nthat fell upon that stronghold, might well cause \n" all the inhabitants of the country to faint," because \nof this advancing host. Here, then, the work was to \n(240) \n\n\n\nTHE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. \n\n\n\n241 \n\n\n\nbegin, which was to result in the driving out of seven \nnations mightier than they. The conquest of this \none city forecast the whole campaign. \n\nThe question now arises, Wherein do these new \nenemies differ from those already encountered ? \nEgypt had been their enemy, but God in delivering \nthem from that oppression, had said, " The Egyp- \ntians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them \nagain no more forever."* Pharaoh and his host, hard- \nly letting the people go, are vivid types of the bond- \nage of this world, and the tyranny of " the god of this \nworld." But, however sore the struggle, or hot the \npursuit, God so delivers His own, that henceforth \nthey are "not of the world," nor the " servants of \nsin." But now follow conflicts of another character. \nThe next encounter of Israel was with Amalek.f \nThis tribe which took its name from the grandson of \nEsau, cherished all the bitter hatred that sought to \navenge a bartered birthright. Its mode of attack, as \nrecounted by Moses, was full of malice. " He met \nthee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, \neven all that were feeble behind thee, when thou \nwast faint and weary.";f Here is the fitting type of \nthe Flesh, with which name the Scriptures stamp the \nwhole natural man, with his wild and wayward \nnature. " As then, he that was born after the flesh, \npersecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so \n\n\n\n* Ex. xiv. 13. f Ex. xvii. 8. % Deut xxv. 18. \n\n11 \n\n\n\n242 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nit is now."* Only too closely does that stealthy \nattack of their own kin, in an unguarded moment, re- \nsemble those temptations which waylay the soul, \nwhen " the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is \nweak ;" when the inward man delights indeed in the \nlaw of God, but finds " another law " in this same \nflesh, warring against him. Only discomfited and \nheld at bay in this attack, Israel was charged to " re- \nmember what Amalek did," and when the Lord had \ngiven them rest from all other enemies in the land, \nthen they were to " blot out his remembrance from \nunder heaven. "f So Moses builded his altar, and \n" called the name of it Jehovah Nissi ; for he said, \nBecause the Lord hath sworn, that the Lord will have \nwar with Amalek from generation to generation."^: \nAgain and again in the history of the Judges, we find \nthis nomad nation helping to oppress Israel. Saul \nlost his kingdom because he did not execute the fierce \nwrath of the Lord against Amalek; while David was \nestablished in his, only after he had returned from \nthat slaughter, in which he recovered all that he had \nlost.\xc2\xa7 So that the first foe encountered after their \nredemption was the last to be utterly subdued. \n\n* Gal. iv. 29. f Dcut. xxv. 17-19. % Ex. xvii. 15, 16. \n\n\xc2\xa7 1 Sam. xxx. 19. In this final destruction of Amalek at the \nsetting up of the kingdom, there seems shadowed forth the end of \nthe long warring of the Flesh against the Spirit, in the kingdom of \nthe true David. After all the great distress, and the weeping \xe2\x80\x94 " till \nthey had no more power to weep" \xe2\x80\x94 David pursued, and recov- \nered all that had been carried captive. "There was nothing \n\n\n\nTHE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. \n\n\n\n243 \n\n\n\nThis conflict with Amalek was the only contest up \nto the time of the Provocation. Immediately after \nthat, when the people attempted to enter the land \npresumptuously, in their own strength, we find a sig- \nnificant combination of the Amalekites and Canaan- \nites, which resulted in Israel\'s discomfiture and flight \nto Hormah.* Near the expiration of the forty years, \non their return to this same place, the Canaanites \n" took some of them prisoners." It was then that \n" Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord," to put all their \ncities under a ban, as He should deliver them into \ntheir hand. After the victory u they called the place \nHormah," i. e. " the banning-place!\'\\ These few con- \ntests were intermediate. \n\nThe next phase of warfare is totally different. \nIsrael is at last prepared to assume the aggress- \nive. We have upon the east of Jordan a sort of \nrehearsal of the main conquest. " Rise ye up, take \nyour journey, and pass over the river Arnon : behold \nI have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king \nof Heshbon, and his land : begin to possess it, and \ncontend with him in battle." % Then follows the \n\nlacking to them, neither small nor great David recover ea \n\nally So we know that down to the very victory of the grave, \nChrist will " without fail recover all." Also, as at the Exodus, \nthey had spoiled the Egyptians, so here we read of flocks and \nherds which were driven back with their own, of which they said, \n" This is David\'s spoil" \n\n* Num. xiv. 40-45. \n\nt Num. xxi. 1-3. See Keil and Delitzsch. \\ Deut. ii. 24. \n\n\n\n244 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\noverthrow, so often celebrated in their songs, of \nSihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, \nwhose lands became their possession. This was in- \ntroductory warfare."* \n\nStill the main struggle awaited them over Jor- \ndan ; and the summons was now \xe2\x80\x94 " Hear, O Israel : \nThou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to \npossess nations greater and mightier than thyself, \ncities great and fenced up to heaven ; a people great \nand tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou \nknowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can \nstand before the children of Anak !" f Again and \nagain they are mentioned by their names, as " seven \nnations greater and mightier than thou." Such were \nthe enemies who held the inheritance given to Abra- \nham centuries before, and whom they must now dis- \npossess and destroy. War now opens in earnest. \n\nIn like manner, the main struggle of the Christian \nis not found among his earlier experiences. The \nWorld and the Flesh may have caused him many a \nconflict, but what were these compared to the more \ndirect power of the Devil, as he resists with all his \ncombined forces the advancing soul. The Epistle to \nthe Ephesians, which describes most fully our rich \nspiritual blessings, gives also the strongest statements \n\n* In a small volume entitled " High Truth," by the Rev. R. \nAitken [London : Macintosh], there is a very interesting applica- \ntion of this warfare with Sihon and Og. See pp. 60-70. \n\nt Deut. ix. 1, 2. \n\n\n\nTHE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. \n\n\n\n245 \n\n\n\nof this warfare, and the profound nature of it. " Our \nwrestling is against governments, against powers, \nagainst the world rulers of this darkness, against the \nspiritual armies of wickedness in heavenly places !" \nIt is thus against " the schemes of the Devil " that \nwe are to stand.* \n\nThis subject involves some of the profoundest mys- \nteries that surround our being. While naturalism has \nproudly denied the existence of Satan, even Christen- \ndom has largely ignored it. Where the Scriptures \nspeak simply and strongly, and doubtless with the \nprofoundest philosophic truth, of the Devil and of \nDemons, of their power to bind, and afflict, and op- \npress \xe2\x80\x94 giving us their very numbers \xe2\x80\x94 whether one, \nor seven, or a legion \xe2\x80\x94 expressing their fears, which \nare like no human fears, and their instant knowledge \nof Christ, with much else that clearly characterized \nthem, how many Christians think of this language as \nonly an accommodation to the superstition of the \ntimes. May it not be possible that the pride of \nScience, and the presumption of Christian Reason, \nhave both of them yet to be humbled, by some sub- \nstratum of terrible truth glaring through the darkness \nand deceit of " Spiritualism? " \n\nVery plainly by all the assertions of Revelation, \nthe chief conflict is not between our souls and the \nWorld that lieth in the Wicked One ; nor is it only \nbetween the good and evil in our own natures. The \n\n\n\n* Eph. vi. 11, 12. (Dean Alford\'s rendering). \n\n\n\n* \n\n\n\n246 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nchief contending powers upon both sides are super- \nnatural : they are the Spirit of God, and the Prince \nof the power of the air. The existence of this super- \nnatural region \xe2\x80\x94 the fact that the rebellion originated \nthere, and is to be encountered there, even in heav- \nenly places \xe2\x80\x94 invests our share in the warfare with the \nutmost importance. It was another fall, that makes \nour fall the fearful thing it is ; and our susceptibility \nto influences, reaching us not only from nature, and \nour fellow-beings, but from other worlds, is the fate- \nful element of all. \n\nFor the dominion once allotted to man, and lost \nthrough sin, is not unoccupied \xe2\x80\x94 it is usurped: the \nactive forces of evil are astir over the entire region. \nOne part of that dominion was this earth ; but, as the \nresult of this usurpation, we find Creation marred, and \nits laws disordered, and " it groanetJi." We find the \nsame disorder, but still more rife, in the body of man ; \nits sickness and its sufferings, its frequent deformity, \nand its common shame \xe2\x80\x94 these surely are no part of \nthat work which was "very good." u An enemy hath \ndone tliis!\' But the Usurper has seized the intellect \nof man, and sometimes sinking it below the intelli- \ngence of the beasts, has more often stolen the gifts \nwhich only God could give, to make them subtle as \nhimself in all evil ends. Again, as no man is a unit \nby himself, but much of his life the composite life of \nhis race, we behold Society in all its ramifications, \nfrom government down to family life, poisoned by this \n\n\n\nTHE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH \n\n\n\n247 \n\n\n\nsame Serpent. Hence, the oppression of Rulers, vio- \nlence and strife among men, malice and fraud, envy \nand evil-speaking, and the Destroyer pressing closer \nand closer to the great centres of society \xe2\x80\x94 at last man\'s \nchief sufferings spring from the very affections which \nwere meant to link him to his kind. The highest \ncivilizations of earth, apart from the Gospel, have left \nthe social relations as they found them, a zvreck. \nFinally, the Foe entered the Citadel also, and so \nseized the noblest part of man \xe2\x80\x94 his spirit \xe2\x80\x94 as to con- \nsign it to very death \xe2\x80\x94 so that to regain it he must \neven be born again. \n\nAll this wide dominion which he has usurped, is \nthe dominion to be regained. Whether it be sin, or \nwhether it be sorrow, or whether it be only straitness, \nthe Lord Jesus came to " destroy the works of the \nDevil" His Gospel announces the final recovery of \nall that was lost \xe2\x80\x94 a time of " restitution of all things," \nnot only down to the redemption of our body, but \nthe deliverance of Creation also. \n\nBut this is not all that the Gospel pledges. To His \nown Church, Christ will give His own glory. Man in \nHim is to be made higher than the angels. Our \noriginal estate in Adam was blessed, our inheritance \nvast. But what shall be said of the glory of this ? \xe2\x80\x94 \nthis Hope of our Calling \xe2\x80\x94 the riches of glory of our \ninheritance in Christ ? Such a result of Redemption \nas this \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n\n\n248 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n" Greater good because of evil, \nLarger mercy through the fall " \xe2\x80\x94 \n\nmust needs enrage our Adversary to resist to the \nutmost the purpose of God, and to keep us, if possi- \nble, from its realization. \n\nThe War of Canaan corresponds to this great con- \ntest. Not with the World \xe2\x80\x94 not with the Flesh \xe2\x80\x94 it is \nwaged directly with the Devil, from whom they de- \nrive their power, and who may employ them still as \nhis instruments. Above all it is aggressive. We must \nadvance upon " the strong man keeping his palace \nwith his goods in peace." He cares not to come forth \nand begin the attack ; but so soon as we set our feet \nupon " the heavenly places," then comes that onset \nwhich St. Paul has described as a wrestling, hand to \nhand, foot to foot.* \n\nIt has been said, that "all the promises of God to \nHis elect take hold of unfathomable mysteries.\'* \nAnd as the natural man can not receive these things, \nas they can only be spiritually discerned, the first wile \nof Satan is to keep us from the sight of them. While \nhe wholly blinds the eyes of them that believe not, \nhe succeeds in drawing over the eyes of many a be- \nliever, a veil, which so dims these mysteries of Grace, \nthat few suspect what they are missing. For such, the \ngood fight of faith means only defensive warfare. \n\n* Eph. vi. 12. " -d/.v must be literally taken. It is a hand to \nhand, and foot to foot \' tug of war\' \xe2\x80\x94 that in which the combatants \nclose and wrestle for the mastery." \xe2\x80\x94 Dean Alforcfs Greek Test. \n\n\n\nTHE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. \n\n\n\n249 \n\n\n\nThen he can carry his wiles still further, and so ob- \nscure the conscience, that the definition of sin dwin- \ndles into deliberate disobedience ; till for the sins of \nignorance, and the sins of omission, and the taint of \nsin through our whole existence, and the tendency to \nsin in the soul itself, there is no discernment left. \nAccordingly, many a scheme of so-called Sanctifica- \ntion has been set forth, which resolved Holiness into \nmere integrity of purpose, and a consciousness which \nescaped condemnation. \n\nAnother wile of Satan, is to make us mistake the \nfield ; to regard the battle before us as chiefly the \nmore visible one, between the children of God, and \nthe children of the Wicked one. It is true we must \neach take our part in this great contest of the whole \nBody of Believers ; but to be efficient in this wider \nwarfare, another victory must precede it, won in the \nsecret of the soul. " He that ruleth his spirit is bet- \nter than he that taketh a city." * It is not first to \nstorm the citadel of stubborn hearts, that our Cap- \ntain summons us, but to let His banner wave above \nour own. The work as set before us by the Scriptures \nis this \xe2\x80\x94 " The pulling down of strongholds, casting \n\n* " We may dream that it would be a grand and glorious work, \nto overcome sin in the world : we may think of sallying out on \nsuch an enterprise for the sake of magnifying ourselves by it : \nall efforts, however, directed towards such an end will be vain, \nuntil we have gone through the far more painful and toilsome \ntask of overcoming sin in ourselves." \xe2\x80\x94 Archdeacon Hares Mis- \nsion of the Comforter, p. 202. \n\n\n\n250 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\ndown imaginations, and every high tower that exalt- \neth itself against the knowledge of God, and leading \ncaptive every intent of the mind into subjection to \nChrist."* Such was the victory won by the Apostle \nPaul in his own spirit, and which he coveted for \nothers. Such is the struggle, or call it rather the \nvictory, that awaits the consecrated and believing \nsoul. \n\nLet us turn now to trace another lesson in those \nthings which " happened unto them for types." We \nsee that as it did not please the Lord to expel their \nenemies before their entrance, so it did not please \nHim even after it, to expel them instantaneously. \nEach would have been perfectly easy, but would not \nhave accorded with the plan which He had long \nbefore announced. It was at Mt. Sinai that He had \nsa id \xe2\x80\x94 " I w iH not drive them out from before thee in \none year; lest the land become desolate, and the \nbeast of the field multiply against thee. By little \nand little I will drive them out from before thee, \nuntil thou be increased and inherit the land."f Such \nis that principle of deepest wisdom which guides the \nways of God, and which may be traced throughout \nHis Creation, and throughout His Providence ; which \nis interwoven in all History, and which in the volume \nof Inspiration, is seen reaching from the lost Eden, \nto the Paradise of our God. Everywhere with a \ngracious accommodation of Truth, in itself unchange- \n* 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. t Ex. xxiii. 29, 30. \n\n\n\nTHE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. \n\n\n\n251 \n\n\n\nable, is the word spoken unto His people as they are \nable to bear it. In all things, but most especially in \nHis best things, does our God work on slowly and \nsteadily, but surely, to His great everlasting end. \nTime in His Eternity, is not the slow thing it is to \nus, and He builds for Eternity. \n\nForty years after this announcement of the Divine \nplan at Sinai, we find Moses repeating it still more \nexplicitly \xe2\x80\x94 " The Lord thy God will put out those \nnations before thee by little and little : thou mayest \nnot consume them at once, lest the beasts of the \nfield increase upon thee. But the Lord Thy God \nshall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them \nwith a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed. \nAnd He shall deliver their kings into thine hand, \nand thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven ; \nthere shall no man be able to stand before thee, until \nthou have destroyed them."* Three points are to \nbe noted in this promise : \n\nI. God would drive them out by little and little. \n\nII. This was to end in a mighty destruction. \n\nIII. Meantime His people should be constant victors. \n\nAs regards the first point, it is clear that this grad- \nual conquest in no way resulted from Israel\'s unbelief, \nbut was the original plan of God. Not in one year, \nHe had said, would He drive out before them these old \ninhabitants ; and we gather from the history that it \n\n* Deut. vii. 22-24. \n\n\n\n252 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nwas seven years before the land " rested from war." * \nIf the inference be correct, it was a year for a nation \nthat was needed. As their enemies represented in \ntheir very number the completeness of strength, so \nmay the number of the years, the full course of time. \n\nThere was a " needs be" in the thoughts of God \nfor this " little and little." Their enemies were not \nto diminish too rapidly in proportion to their own \nincrease. Unless for each man driven out, there \nwere found an Israelite to fill his place, then some- \nthing worse than a man would take it \xe2\x80\x94 " the beasts \nof the field!\' Even so our Lord has taught us that \nwhen the unclean spirit goes out of a man, and finds \nupon his return to his house, that however swept and \ngarnished, it is empty, with no master to defend it, \nhe not only enters himself, but takes with him seven \nother still more wicked spirits : " and the last state of \nthat man is worse than the first." f \n\nYet it is a lesson which the world is slow in learn- \ning, that to rescue any part of our being, any of our \n\n\n\n* " Joshua made war with the kings of Canaan a long time \njudging from chap. xiv. 7, 10, as much as seven years, though \nJosephus Ant. v. 1, 19, speaks of five. From the words, \'The \nLord hath kept me alive these forty -five years,\' Theodoret \njustly infers that the conquest of Canaan by Joshua was com- \npleted in seven years, since God spake these words towards the \nend of the second year after the exodus from Egypt, and, there- \nfore, thirty-eight years before the entrance into Canaan." \xe2\x80\x94 Keil \nand Dclitzsch oil Joshua, pp. 123, 149, \n\nf Matt. xii. 43-45. \n\n\n\nTHE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. 2 53 \n\nfaculties and powers from the service of sin, without \nhaving them at once occupied by the Spirit, is to ex- \npose ourselves to still worse danger. Such energy of \nevil in filling all vacant spaces, might perhaps go far \nto explain the sudden lapse of God\'s servants into \nsome great sin, which now and then startles the \nChurch. St. Paul has sketched for us in one of his \nown strong antitheses the safe procedure \xe2\x80\x94 " As ye \nhave yielded your members servants to uncleanness, \nand to iniquity unto iniquity ; even so now yield your \nmembers servants to righteousness, unto holiness.* \nHe could not counsel any putting off of the old man, \napart from the putting on of the new. \n\nBut secondly, although the conquest was a work \nof time, there was to be a limit to it. The history \nabundantly confirms the promise of a mighty destruc- \ntion. In the eleventh and twelfth chapters of Joshua, \nwe have the statistics and summary of the war \xe2\x80\x94 "All \nthe kings were thirty and one ;" \xe2\x80\x94 " Joshua made war \na long time with all those kings ;" \xe2\x80\x94 " So Joshua took \nthe whole land ;" \xe2\x80\x94 "And the land rested from war." \nThe " until " of the promise was no endless chain ; \nthe warfare was as sure to be limited as it was to be \nby little and little. \n\nAnd so also read the promises of victory which the \nGospel gives to us. " The God of peace shall bruise \nSatan under your feet shortly ;"\\ " The God of all \ngrace who hath called us unto His eternal glory by \n\n* Rom. vi. 19. t Rom. xvi. 20. \n\n\n\n254 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nChrist Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile , make \nyou perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you."* And \nwith this promise, the experience of some, at least, \nagreed. The beloved disciple wrote to young men, \nin terms which show plainly that a whole life is not \nrequired for victory \xe2\x80\x94 " I have written unto you, young \nmen, because ye are strong, and the word of God abid- \neth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one."\\ \nThat in the experience of many, the land never rests \nfrom war, except now and then to enjoy some brief \nTruce of God, is to be charged solely to their unfaith- \nfulness, and by no means to His purpose. The sub- \nsequent history proves, however, that this rest was no \nimmunity from danger apart from their fidelity ; and \nthat subject remnants of their enemies in their own \nborders, or hostile fugitives without, were capable of \nbecoming at any moment, snares, and traps, and \nscourges in their sides, and thorns in their eyes.J \n\nThe third point to note in this Promise of God, \nthat meantime His people should be constant victors, \nis the most important of all \xe2\x80\x94 " There shall no man \nbe able to stand before thee, until thou have de- \n\n* i Pet. v. 10. \n\nt i John ii. 14. Of course this does not apply to that fullest \nsense of the Conquest which is realized only in the Resurrection ; \nnor yet to the Conquest set before the entire Church. In regard \nto the latter a most interesting parallel exists between the seven \nnations of Canaan and the seven conquests of the seven churches \nin the Revelation. \n\nI Josh, xxiii. 13. \n\n\n\nTHE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. \n\n\n\n255 \n\n\n\nstroyed them." In all those years of warfare, it is a \nstriking fact that, with the exception of the defeat at \nAi, where they justly forfeited the promise, we are \nnot told of the loss of a single man, nor of any even \ntemporary defeat. Even if we can not positively as- \nsume that these were bloodless victories on their side, \nwe have here at least one of the significant silences of \nHoly Scripture. The career of Israel in Canaan was \na career of continual conquest. \n\nAnd herein it is that the good fight of Faith differs \nfrom the contest that is all too common ; for a con- \ntinued conflict being admitted even, in this case, it \nmight be asked, Where then is the advantage ? It is \nthis, the advantage of constant victory over frequent \ndefeat ; for a constant victory it will be if we keep the \nfaith. Never yet did the Captain of the host of the \nLord lose a single battle. Nay, more, the good \nsoldier of Christ Jesus learns to welcome the sight of \nhis enemies, knowing that it really means larger posses- \nsions ; learns to "count it all joy, when he falls into \ndivers temptations," knowing that it means completer \ntriumph. Of that old warfare in Canaan, it stands \nwritten, "It was of the lord to harden their hearts, \nthat they should come against Israel in battle, that \nHe might destroy them utterly, and that they might \nhave no favor." * Even so, it is of the lord that the \nevil hitherto lying latent in our nature should be \ndiscerned ; it is of the Lord that the trials even \n\n* Josh. xi. 20. \n\n\n\n256 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING \n\n\n\nleague themselves together; for it is that the evil \nmay be dislodged and destroyed, and that the domin- \nion of Grace may be enlarged. \n\nWhile the good Fight of Faith may be regarded \nas almost synonymous with the work of Sanctifica- \ntion, it may be well to trace the application of these \nlessons more definitely under that head. The word \nSanctification {\'kyiaciioq), which occurs only ten times in \nthe New Testament, is rendered in half that number \nby another word in our version \xe2\x80\x94 Holiness. So again, it \nis simply the same allied term (dyiog), which is rendered \nholy and saint, as is the corresponding verb (tyidfa) \nby Jiallow and sanctify. But none of them appear, \nfrom their context, to be held to a single fixed mean- \ning. Christians are addressed as saints, and epistles \nare written to the sanctified, when they were evi- \ndently far from being in a state of practical purity. \nIn the Epistle to the Hebrews, we find a key to the \nright understanding of this ; where first we read \xe2\x80\x94 \xe2\x96\xa0 \n" We have been sanctified, through the offering of the \nbody of Jesus Christ, once for all ; "* and very soon \nafter this, " For by one offering, He hath perfected \nforever them who are being sanctified." f So then He \nhath sanctified, while we are being sanctified. He hath \nperfected, while we are going on tmto perfection. \nThe " once-for-all-ness" marked the power of Christ\'s \nCross ; while our practical partaking of it, is plainly \na process. But everywhere, the ultimate standard \n* Heb. x. 10. t Heb. x. 14. \n\n\n\nTHE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. \n\n\n\n25; \n\n\n\neven of this, is to be " sanctified wholly," and to \n" perfect holiness." \n\nThose who claim that entire sanctification is to be \ninstantaneously received, would appear to confound \nthe two uses of the word. In its highest sense, as \nwrought out by the Sanctifier, and so imputed by \nthe Head of the Body to all its members, it must be \nentire ; but such a word can not be used of a process \nwhich is still going on. \n\nGrowth in Grace is put under the condition of all \ngrowth \xe2\x80\x94 demanding time. Nor do the Scriptures \nspeak of any state of entire purity, from which we \ngrow on into maturity. It is the purity itself, which \nis to mature, as St. John tells us, that every man that \nhath the blessed hope of seeing Jesus as He is, puri- \nfieth himself, even as He is pure. He plainly speaks \nof a continuous work, with which the constant exhor- \ntations of all the Apostles agree. They give us no \nsingle precept, enjoining any such sudden attainment ; \nand they leave no record of any such experience. It \nis noticeable that those who claim such entire sancti- \nfication as a present experience, are always obliged to \nlimit it in other ways, as extending only to the Affec- \ntions, to the Will, or to " the essence of the soul," and \nthus they deprive themselves of the proper term for \nexpressing its practical completeness. As to another \nlimit which has been often set \xe2\x80\x94 our consciousness \xe2\x80\x94 \nan Apostle has given us some solemn thoughts on \nthat head \xe2\x80\x94 " I am conscious to myself of no delin- \n\n\n\n258 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nquency; but I am not hereby justified ; but He that \njudgeth me is the Lord." * It is true, that only the \nevil which comes within the range of our conscious- \nness, can be overcome ; but our responsibility extends \nfar beyond this, and includes the most diligent culti- \nvation of the conscience. \n\nAs great confusion of thought has thus arisen \nfrom the inaccurate use of the word Sanctification, \nso has still more confusion sprung from loose and \nunscriptural definitions of sin. The Scriptures \ngive us three \xe2\x80\x94 ranging from the negative to the \npositive, from the lowest to the highest estimate of \nit. For as we grow more spiritual we grow more sen- \nsitive to sin. Our perception of it will advance very \nmuch in the order of these definitions. \n\nI. " Sin is the transgression of the Law." \n\nII. " All unrighteousness is sin." \n\nIII. " Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." \n\nWe are first convicted of special acts of sin. Then \nwe become troubled at the absence of positive right- \neousness ; and it is the sin in our nature that we rec- \nognize. Finally, we advance to the full meaning of \nsin, taught in the very word itself \xe2\x80\x94 i. e., missing the \nmark. Wherever we see ourselves not yet trans- \nformed by this renewal of our minds, whatever it be \nthat is still unlike our Lord, whatever deed or word \nor thought reaches not high enough as yet, for the \nholy harmony of doing God\'s will on earth as it is \n\n* 1 Cor. iv. 4. \n\n\n\nTHE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. \n\n\n\n259 \n\n\n\ndone in heaven, that to the cultivated conscience, \ncoming to share His thought in all things, even that \nis now our sin. \n\nAnother nice distinction is drawn in the Word of \nGod between sin and temptation. It is often claimed, \nunder the system already referred to, that the very \n"roots of evil are so eradicated" in that "instanta- \nneous sanctification," that temptation comes to the \nsaint, as to his Saviour, " solely from without." Yet \nit is to saints that the Apostle James writes : " Every \nman is tempted when he is drawn away of his own \nlust, and enticed." * But then how carefully he goes \non to show, that this outcome of our own nature is \nnot counted by the Lord as sin, till it is further de- \nveloped. " Then lust, having conceived, bringeth \nforth sin."f Only the consent of our will turns \ntemptation into sin. \n\nA like distinction is drawn between our confession \nof sin, and our condemnation for it. As to the con- \ndemnation for sin, God is graciously pleased to own \nour renewed will, and to disown our old nature \xe2\x80\x94 \nallowing us to take the same view. " It is no more I \nthat do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."J " There is \n. ... no condemnation to them which are in Christ \nJesus."\xc2\xa7 And yet His Holy Spirit must convict us \neven of the sin which dwelleth in us, and the lust \nthat enticeth us ; even their presence in us calls for a \n* Jas. i. 14. f Jas. i. 15. \n\n% Rom. vii. 17. \xc2\xa7 Rom. viii. 1. \n\n\n\n2 6o THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nDeliverer. There must be, upon our side, a hearty \nconfession of them as they come to light \xe2\x80\x94 a fresh \nclaiming of the cleansing of the blood of Christ, and \nthen a going forward in His name to their conquest. \nWe are told by St. Paul that if we would thus " dis- \ncern ourselves, we should not be condemned."* This \ndiscerning in the light of the Spirit will bring to view \nnot merely temptation, but also our neglected duties, \nour careless ways, our unsanctified habits, our neg- \nlected privileges. These will seem set before us as \nenemies, many and mighty, to be overcome. And \nalong with these we must constantly consider our sins \nof ignorance as calling for both confession and con- \nquest. " Though he wist it not, yet is he guilty,"f \nis the plain decree of justice \xe2\x80\x94 to be met only by the \ndecree of Mercy \xe2\x80\x94 "If we confess our sins, He is \nfaithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse \nus from all unrighteousness."^: Our career in the con- \nquest of the Land of promise, may therefore be re- \ngarded as a constant discerning of ourselves \xe2\x80\x94 a con- \nstant coming to the Light, that must still convince, \nthough it be not to condemn, and so a constant over- \ncoming by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word \nof our testimony. \n\nAnd thus the Christian who has not yet in a prac- \ntical sense been sanctified wholly, may in the mean- \ntime be " preserved blameless?\' Such a distinction is \nclearly presented in the Scriptures. " The very God \n\n* i Cor. xi. 31. t Lev. v. 17. \\ 1 John i. 9. \n\n\n\nTHE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. 2 6l \n\nof peace sanctify you wholly ; and I pray God your \nwhole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blame- \nless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. \nFaithful is He that calleth you, who also will do \nit."* So St. Paul prays. But the Apostle Jude goes \nfurther still, and commends the sanctified, and " pre- \nserved in Jesus Christ," " unto Him that is able to \nkeep them from falling, and to present them faultless \nbefore the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."f \nSo then we maybe blameless without being faultless : \nwe are to be blameless now ; we shall be faultless \nhereafter: \xe2\x80\x94 "preserved blameless," and "presented \nfaultless." Such is the blessed and glorious ideal \nwhich is set before the Christian, and which both the \nability and faithfulness of God are pledged to make \nreal. If it be asked what practical difference there is \nin such a distinction, we may take as an example a \nlittle child whose loving heart is bent upon pleasing \nher mother. Her first little task of needlework is put \ninto her hands. But the little fingers are all unskilled, \nnor has she any thought of the nicety required ; still, \nwith intense pleasure she sets stitch after stitch, until \nat last she brings it to her mother ; she has done her \nbest, and does not dream of failure. And the mother \ntaking it, sees two things : \xe2\x80\x94 one is a work as faulty as \nit well can be, with stitches long and crooked ; and \nthe other is that smiling, upturned face with its \nsweet consciousness of love. Not for anything could \n\n* i Thess. v. 23, 24. f Jude 24. \n\n\n\n2 62 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nshe coldly criticise that work. She thinks of the \neffort to please, and how little she could expect in a \nfirst attempt. It is the child\'s best for the time be- \ning. So she commends her, and even praises the \npoor, imperfect work, and then gently and most lov- \ningly shows her how she may do still better. The \nchild is blameless, but her work not faultless. It will \nbe nearer and nearer faultless, as day after day she \ngathers skill, and even new ideas of care and faithful- \nness in her tasks ; but still in her mother\'s eyes she \nis at first, as well as at last, her blameless child. \nAnd surely every believing, loving child of God, may \nregard this blessing of blamelessness, not as one to be \nfinally reached, but as one to enjoy all along the way. \nOnly in this case, there will be not only a life more \nand more holy, but a heart growing purer and purer \nin its love. And precious beyond all price will it be \nday after day of our lives, to hear again and again, our \nFather\'s acceptance of our work and of ourselves. \n" Blameless, my child \xe2\x80\x94 still blameless." And yet \nsuch a child can not aim at less than His entire ap- \nproval. He will not abuse such a comfort, or count \nit the chief thing; but ever seeing more fully the \nvast importance of all his Father\'s interests, and His \nearnest desire to make him a workman that needeth \nnot to be ashamed, he will even beseech Him not to \nspare His correction, but to show him faithfully every \nfault. \n\nSuch a distinction as this provides for perfect peace \n\n\n\nTHE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. 263 \n\nwith God, but not for any profession of perfection. \nSuch a claim as this, not covering the defects of \nwhich we are yet unconscious, nor the conquest \nwhich may still be incomplete, does not suggest, as in \nthe case of other claims, a painful sense of discrepancy \nbetween profession and possession. Such a claim, as \nit leaves no room for discouragement, allows none for \npresumption. It is calm and confident, but very \nhumble. It keeps its eye on Christ, and the power \nof His resurrection, and it speaks soberly \xe2\x80\x94 " Not that \nI have already won, or am already perfect ; but I \npress onward \xe2\x80\x94 if indeed I might lay hold on that, for \nwhich Christ also laid hold on me : I count not my- \nself to have laid hold thereon ; but this one thing I \ndo \xe2\x80\x94 forgetting that which is behind, and reaching \nforth to that which is before, / press onward, towards \nthe mark, for the prize of God\'s heavenly calling in \nChrist Jesus."* This is its experience, and its simple \nexhortation is \xe2\x80\x94 " Let us all, then, who are ripe in \nunderstanding, be thus minded. "f \n\nSo pass we onward, then, unto our conquest ; little \nby little to drive out our enemies, but still to always \nwin our battles, always to overcome ; and even when \nwe reach a rest from the long war, still to watch and \npray lest we enter into temptation ; and still ever \nmore fully to possess the land. \n\nAs to the manner of the Conquest, the secret of \nvictory is so simple, that a few words may set it forth. \n\n* Phil. iii. 12-14. f Phil. iii. 15. \xe2\x80\x94 As rendered by Conyb:are. \n\n\n\n264 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nIt is clearly shown in the capture of the first city : \n"By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they \nwere compassed about seven days."* In fact, the \nvictory was won before they even began \xe2\x80\x94 " See, I \nI have given into thine hand Jericho." Day after \nday their faith was disciplined and developed, and \npatience also had her perfect work, till at last came \nthe command, " Shout ; for the Lord hath given you \nthe city." " It was the shout of Faith, that saw not \nand yet believed ; and that, having believed, at once \nsaw the glory of God." \n\nFor us also the real battle has been fought, and we \ncan claim an accomplished victory. "Be of good \ncourage," said Jesus, "/ have overcome the world:" \nand now "this is the victory that overcometh the \nworld, even our faith." f The prince of all these \npowers of evil was met by Him in single combat \xe2\x80\x94 \nand this was the issue : " The prince of this world is \njudged :" " Now is the judgment of this world : now \nshall the prince of this world be cast out." % The \nSerpent\'s head was bruised. Satan is the Saviour\'s \nvanquished foe, with not a particle of actual power \nto assert against Him in His kingdom, mighty as he \nis in his own. And for us also whose life is in Christ, \nhe is a conquered foe \xe2\x80\x94 with not a particle of power \nto send one of his darts through the shield of faith. \nBut his chief strategy lies in concealing this\xe2\x80\x94 in pre- \nsenting an unbroken front. He would make us be- \n* Heb xi. 30. f 1 John v. 4. % John xii. 31. \n\n\n\nTHE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. 265 \n\niieve that we have still as hard a battle to fight, as \nthough Christ had not fought for us. We are charged, \nindeed, not to be ignorant of his devices \xe2\x80\x94 we are to \nput on the whole armor of God \xe2\x80\x94 but so going forth \nwe shall never find a wall so high and strong, that it \nshall not fall down flat at the shout of our Faith. \nWe may make war a very long time, and manifold \nmay be our enemies ; but the way is the same through- \nout. Whatever God charges us to do, whether it \nseem to be much or little, the Heavenly Captain and \nHis host win all our victories. \n\nWhat shall be said, then, of that precious Faith \nwhich our Lord has given us, and endowed with \nsuch a power ? Faith sees the Land \xe2\x80\x94 Faith pre- \npares itself \xe2\x80\x94 Faith passes over \xe2\x80\x94 Faith goes from \nstrength to strength \xe2\x80\x94 Faith waxes valiant in fight \n\xe2\x80\x94 Faith has an eye ever on the Captain, to follow \nHim whithersoever He goeth \xe2\x80\x94 Faith ever listens, \nfor it has received its charge, " Whatsoever He saith \nunto you, do it " \xe2\x80\x94 Faith never needs to measure \nwalls, or count the giants \xe2\x80\x94 Faith sees nothing but \nthe exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward \nwho believe \xe2\x80\x94 Faith ponders day and night the ex- \nceeding great and precious promises \xe2\x80\x94 Faith is ever \nsaying, u We are well able to overcome /" and Faith* \never hears God saying, " He THAT OVERCOMETH \nSHALL INHERIT ALL THINGS." \n\n12 \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII. \n\nFAILURE AND MISTAKE. \nU ^HERE IS AN ACCURSED THING IN THE MIDST \n\nA of thee, O Israel : thou canst not stand \n\nBEFORE THINE ENEMIES, UNTIL YE TAKE AWAY THE \nACCURSED THING FROM AMONG YOU." \xe2\x80\x94 (Josh. vii. 1 3.) \n\n" The men took of their victuals, and asked \nnot counsel at the mouth of the lord." \xe2\x80\x94 \n(Josh. ix. 14.) \n\nThe Book of Joshua contains the record of but one \nlost battle : only once does it number the slain of \nIsrael. This defeat followed close upon their first \ngreat victory. Their holy confidence in God sank \nquickly into an unhallowed confidence in themselves: \nJericho had fallen \xe2\x80\x94 what need to put forth all their \nstrength against Ai ? \n\nThus do our greatest failures often happen in the \nlittle things of life. We miscalculate the strength of \nthe foe ; we fail to spy out the reserved forces. In- \ndeed, we mistake, when we think it an easy matter to \nsubdue any enemy. How often has it happened, that \n\nhe who has won his signal victory in some great crisis \n(266) \n\n\n\nFAILURE AND MISTAKE. 267 \n\nof the Church, who has rescued the Truth from the \nteachers of false doctrine, or stormed the entrench- \nments of Vice, has forthwith failed in some petty do- \nmestic disturbance, in some simple social duty, or in \na trifling claim of common charity. If there be a \ntime in life when we need more than ever to watch \nand pray, lest we enter into temptation, it is the hour \nof success. \n\nThe discouragement, verging upon despair, which \nfollowed the flight from Ai, shows how the ground of \nfaith had been deserted. " The hearts of the people \nmelted, and became as water." * Even Joshua, with \nhis clothes rent, and dust upon his head, lies flat upon \nhis face, and gives himself over to the strange regret \xe2\x80\x94 \n" Would to God we had been content, and dwelt on \nthe other side Jordan ! " \\ \n\nWho has ever overcome without an Ai ? \xe2\x80\x94 a ques- \ntion of fact to be carefully distinguished from the \nquestion of necessity. And with whom has it not \nbeen their first temptation, to regard with impatience \ntheir further ventures upon faith? \xe2\x80\x94 as though God \nreally left us at liberty to be content with lower \nthings, when there are higher set before us ! \n\nBut still more overwhelming to Joshua was the \nsense of Israel\'s dishonor, as compromising the name \nof God. " O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel \nturneth their backs before their enemies ! . . . , \nand what wilt Thou do unto Thy great name? "if \n* Josh. vii. 5. f Josh. vii. 7. % Josh. vii. 8, 9. \n\n\n\n2 68 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nAnd what shall any of us think, or say, when we find \nthat after all the development and discipline of faith, \nthe failure comes ? Shall we charge God with it, as \nnot having provided against it ? Shall we still lie flat \nupon our faces, as the sorrow glooms into sullenness? \n\nNothing more thoroughly tests our loyalty to God, \nand our regard to His honor instead of our own, than \nour readiness to receive the chastening by which He \nmust judge us, when we do not " discern ourselves."* \nAs surely as the cause of failure is always found with \nus, so surely is there a remedy with God. " Israel \nhath sinned \xe2\x80\x94 therefore, the children of Israel could \nnot stand before their enemies : neither will I be with \nyou any more, except ye destroy the accursed thing \nfrom among you." f Thus did the Lord make a clear \ncase of this mysterious dispensation. By His decree \nthe whole spoil of war was His: all treasure was \n" devoted" to Him ; perverted to their own use, it was \nthe "accursed" thing4 It was the accursed use of \ngood things that was their sin. \n\nThus does the Lord hold His children true unto \nHimself; He compels them to let Him search out \nall hidden, hindering things, as their only way to \nvictory. Their short suffering is as nothing to this \nnecessity. Their own sense of shame, and even the \ntaunts of their enemies, are little things in His eyes, \n\n\n\n* i Cor. xi. 31, 32. t Josh. vii. II, 12. \n\n% The same word is rendered in our version by both devoted \nand accursed. \n\n\n\nFAILURE AND MISTAKE. \n\n\n\n269 \n\n\n\ncompared with the deeper evil. He must teach \nthem that they can not serve Him in one sphere, and \ntake their own way in another. Any secret using of \nHis treasures, apart from His will and blessing, they \nmust understand to be sin. Achan had marched \naround Jericho, and had shouted in that great shout \nof faith : in such great matters he could be true to \nGod ; \xe2\x80\x94 but the mantle, and the gold and silver, why \nshould he not have these to enjoy? \n\nChristianity in this nineteenth century since Christ \ncame, has not outgrown the same gross form of temp- \ntation that was the snare of Israel fifteen centuries \nbefore \xe2\x80\x94 " the lust of the eye, and the pride of life." \nThere is surely no more crying sin to be found among \nthe daughters of the Lord, than their love of display \nin these " goodly Babylonish garments." Beyond all \nthat is allowed for comfort, and comeliness, how much \nis coveted for mere display. The evil is in the heart, \nand not in the garment. That mantle of old be- \nlonged by right to the Lord ; it was treasure even in \nHis sight, and He could have called upon some one \nto wear it, even to His glory. But Achan could not \n\xe2\x80\x94 the covetous, the proud, the selfish, never can ; \nthey are not pure enough in heart, to take as pure, \nthat pattern their Creator set them, when He clothed \nthe lilies of the field in all their glory. True, there \nare other bearings of this subject \xe2\x80\x94 growing out of \nthe present disorder of the world \xe2\x80\x94 touching the toil \nand strain enforced upon the heads of families \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n\n\n270 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\ntouching the needs of the poor and of Christ\'s cause \n\xe2\x80\x94 touching the example set for the weak and thought- \nless \xe2\x80\x94 touching also great moral questions upon which \nsocial happiness and purity depend \xe2\x80\x94 but these are \nas the husk to this fatal seed of evil. The vital germ \nis " the lust of the eye " \xe2\x80\x94 lust seeking to gratify self, \nwhere love should be glorifying God ! \n\nAgain, there is no more crying sin among the sons \nof God, than that " love of money " which is " the \nroot of all evil." Wealth held in trust for the Lord, \nkept as a devoted thing, is not only a blessing, but a \nvery necessity in the perfect plan of His providence. \nBut gold apart from God, hankered after through the \npride of life, is still the accursed thing in thy midst, \nO Israel ! Once, it was only a single garment, and a \nfew pieces of gold and silver, in the tent of one man. \nIs it the less a sin now, that men do it upon a grand \nscale, and that there is little hiding of the matter ? \nWhat marvel that God goeth not forth with our ar- \n\n\n\nmies \n\n\n\nAnd when we remember that these two forms of \nsin \xe2\x80\x94 " the lust of the eye, and the pride of life " \xe2\x80\x94 \nextend to " all that is in the world," and so class with \nthem all that they really represent \xe2\x80\x94 when we think \nof God\'s claim over all things, and of all our persist- \nent and varied robbery of His dues, with what fear- \nful force does the charge come home to us in our own \nday \xe2\x80\x94 " There is an accursed thing in the midst of \nthee, O Israel : thou canst not stand before thine \n\n\n\nFAILURE AND MISTAKE. \n\n\n\n271 \n\n\n\nenemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from \namong you." Alas, that so dear is this accursed \nthing to many, that upon the whole, they choose de- \nfeat, rather than to confess the sin, and let this of- \nfending Achan of lust be stoned with stones, and \nburned with fire. \n\nAnother most important lesson lies in the fact, that \nthe sin of one involved all. Such a law of organic \nspiritual life is very clearly stated by St. Paul \xe2\x80\x94 \n" Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer \nwith it ; or one member be honored, all the members \nrejoice with it."* There can plainly, then, be no indi- \nvidual perfection, till the whole Body is perfected. \nHence Love, with all its tender care one for another, \nis the vital thing it is. The sin and shortcoming of \none single member, are the suffering and the loss of \nall the other members. God honors to the utmost \nthe faith and devotion of each ; but there are heights \nto which they can not attain, save with the help of all. \nEven if the cloven tongue of some Pentecostal gift \nwere to alight upon the chosen of the Spirit, yet if \nit met no kindred spark \xe2\x80\x94 if it fell only upon the \ndamp and chill of unbelief \xe2\x80\x94 how surely would it \nexpire, with only a brief and ineffectual gleam. \n\nThe sin of Achan \xe2\x80\x94 unknown as it was to all but \n\nhimself, and his God, yet troubling a nation \xe2\x80\x94 teaches \n\nus to trace the evil to something more secret than \n\nmere example. What a study for the thoughtful is \n\n* 1 Cor. xii. 26. \n\n\n\n272 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nthis strange sympathy of soul ! What a solution of \nmany a problem ! And how does such a law render \nsin exceeding sinful. Each offence is not only against \nGod, and to the injury of our own life, but tells upon \nthe life and vigor of the whole Church of Christ. Like \nthe healthful body, it may be able to heal the wound, \nor throw off the disease of one part by the rallying of \nthe rest ; but at best there is an expenditure of force \nthat is needed elsewhere. Every sin is in its essence \nthe failure to love God, and to love our brother also. \nAll covetousness is idolatry, and all selfishness a stab \nat the life of some one. He that hateth his brother is \na murderer \xe2\x80\x94 not in intent, but act \xe2\x80\x94 as truly strikes by \nhis hatred the life of his spirit, as a murderer slays \nthe body. What a responsibility is ours, therefore, \nwhen we see our brother sin \xe2\x80\x94 not only to rebuke in \nfaithful love, but to ask that God will give him life \nagain ; seeing that it is not only his life, but our life \nalso, and the life of Christ\'s own Body. \n\nAmong all the rich promises that spring from God\'s \nforgiving and restoring love, there are few more won- \nderful than this \xe2\x80\x94 that He has given us " the Valley \nof Achor for a door of hope." * From that valley, \nwhich they so named from their sore " trouble," \nJoshua and the people rose up; and soon before his \nspear, outstretched towards that same Ai from which \nthey lately fled, twelve thousand of their enemies \nmelted away, even all the inhabitants of the place ; \n\n* Hos. ii. 15. \n\n\n\nFAILURE AND MISTAKE. \n\n\n\n273 \n\n\n\nand fear fell on all who heard it. The one failure \nwas never repeated ; and the six and thirty men who \nfell at Ai, give us the only death list of a seven years\' \nwar. \n\nWhen once we have added to our experience of \nGod\'s favor as shown to the willing and obedient, \nthat of His faithfulness even in our failure, we come \nup from this dark passage of our trouble and loss, to \na door that opens wide upon His great Love. We \ngather even cheer from the certainty, that the Lord \nwill cleanse us from secret faults. For sin, to a lov- \ning child of God, is a more fearful thing than any \nsuffering for sin. Welcome, then, shall be the disci- \npline, that put us on the track of its discovery ; for \nso soon as we see it, we are met by this faithful word \n\xe2\x80\x94 " If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to \nforgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unright- \neousness." How often does it happen in our expe- \nrience, that some one form of trial is strangely reiter- \nated, until we are tempted to regard it as our fate. \nIs it not rather the voice of the Lord, calling to us \nagain and again, until we heed Him, and learn the \nlesson He has set us? When we have learned it, He \nwill no more repeat the trial. We learn, moreover, \nfrom such an experience as this, to anticipate His \ncorrection, and not compel Him to chasten us Him- \nself. Very weighty is that lesson of St. Paul, and \ngiven to us in words most fitly chosen* (sadly as they \n\n\n\n* 1 Cor. xi. 31, 32. \n12* \n\n\n\n2/4 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nare marred in our version) \xe2\x80\x94 that if we would duly \ndiscern ourselves \xe2\x80\x94 before any doubtful deed \xe2\x80\x94 we \nshould have no occasion to be judged after it. But \nthat failing in this, even our judgment is only the \nchastening of the Lord, that we should not come to \nbe condemned with the world. So, then, the Lord \ndoes not purpose to lead us into any valley of Achor, \nbut if we fall into the snare, He provides a way to \nrecover ourselves from it \xe2\x80\x94 giving us even there a \ndoor of hope. The two chapters occupied by this \nnarrative, are followed by a third, which gives us, \nnot indeed another failure, but a great mistake. \n\nThe people lean now to their own understanding, \nas just before they relied upon their own strength. \nThe foe fearing to come out longer in open battle, \napproaches them with deceit. Long before, the \nGibeonites had learned to their cost, from Simeon and \nLevi, a fearful lesson of dishonorable strategy.* Doubt- \nless it was this that suggested a sort of retaliation, \nwhich God permitted as a sure retribution. " They \ndid work wilily." Feigning to come from a far coun- \ntry, they entrapped Israel into a friendly league. So \nclear appeared the case, that " the men took of their \nvictuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the \nLord." How much erring in judgment is foreshad- \nowed in this simple incident. The instances are com- \nparatively few where the Christian fails and flees \nbefore a recognized enemy; in by far the greatei \n\n* Gen. xxxiv. \n\n\n\nFAILURE AND MISTAKE. \n\n\n\n275 \n\n\n\nnumber he goes astray through the deceitfulness of \nsin.* There was but one Achan, who hearing God\'s \ncommand about the dedicated things, went and hid \nthem in his tent ; but Joshua and all Israel were \ncaught in the snare of the Gibeonites. No warning \nvoice from God came to arrest them, for they had \nneglected to seek His counsel, and they must learn \nthe peril of it. \n\nIt is often carelessly said, that if we do the best we \nknow how to do \xe2\x80\x94 acting up to the light we have \xe2\x80\x94 \nwe are guiltless. \n\nSuch a maxim is not allowed to pass in earthly \nmatters. The Captain who doing the best he can at \nthe time, runs his ship upon a rock well known to \nseamen, is held responsible for his ignorance. We \nare not only to act up to the light we have, but to \nseek the light and come to the light. Sincerity may \nnever dare to claim the same high reward that is \ngiven to Truth, nor are the immunities of the one \nlike the immunities of the other. For every portion \nof the full and rounded Truth of God that is missed \neven by mistaken judgment, some loss is inevitable ; \nand who shall venture to estimate the aggregate of \nthat loss to the Church of Christ from the multitude \nof her mistakes, both in doctrine and in practice ? \n\n* Farrar speaks of Judas even as half concealing - from himselt \nthe grossness of his own motives, and adds : " People rarely sin \nunder the full glare of self-eonsciousness ; they usually blind \nthemselves with false pretexts and specious motives.\'\' \xe2\x80\x94 Farrar\'s \nLife of Christ, Vol. II., p. 192. \n\n\n\n2 ;6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nOne gleam of comfort, however, we are permitted to \ngather from the old story of the Gibeonites. Inex- \ncusable as was their neglect to seek His counsel, God \ngraciously brought out of the evil, somewhat of bless- \ning. These deceivers of His people should hence- \nforth be their hewers of wood, and drawers of water ; \n\xe2\x80\x94 some compensation should be found for what they \nhad lost. In the wonderful amends of Grace \xe2\x80\x94 even \nin missing the highest mark \xe2\x80\x94 the Lord can surely \nput the mistakes of His children among the all things \nthat work together for good to them that love Him. \n\nBut far more edifying than to enumerate such mis- \ntakes, will it be to consider the provision that is made \nagainst them. \n\nDistinct promises of God have pledged to every \nseeking soul His light, and truth, and wisdom. " If \nthine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of \nlight." " When the Spirit of truth is come, He will \nguide you into the whole truth." \xe2\x80\x94 " If any of you \nlack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all \nmen liberally and upbraideth not ; and it shall be \ngiven him."* Very plainly, then, must our mistakes \noriginate like that of Israel \xe2\x80\x94 " We ask not counsel \nat the mouth of the Lord." The contrary of this is, \nhowever, most commonly claimed \xe2\x80\x94 " We did seek it." \nAh, but did you not first "take of the victuals?" \nThat which is often asked of God, is not so much \nHis will and way, as His approval of our way. It is \n\n* Matt. vi. 22 ; John xvi. 13 ; Jas. i. 5. \n\n\n\nFAILURE AND MISTAKE. \n\n\n\n277 \n\n\n\nremarkable how little perplexity as to their duty, \nappears among the saints of the Bible. Especially \nin the Epistles, we find scarcely a trace of uncer- \ntainty as to the way which they should take. But in \nour own day, how common is the cry that men " walk \nin darkness and have no light/\' We have no right to \nremain in that darkness. If we love the light, we \nshall find the light. If the windows of my dwelling- \nplace be closed with blinds of ignorance, they must \nfirst be thrown open. If the curtain of prejudice be \ndrawn closely down, it must next be put aside. If \nthe thin shade of conceit be left, there is still more \nto do \xe2\x80\x94 for though I may now have the sunlight, I \nhave not the sunshine. If this shade be lifted, and \nyet the window be obscured with frost, or dust, or \neven so thin a film as my own breath, I can not \nhave a clear vision of that which lies beyond it. My \napathy is that frost \xe2\x80\x94 my carelessness that dust \xe2\x80\x94 my \nselfishness that film. I must look if possible with \nnothing between me and the truth, or if I must look \nthrough glass, let it be so clear as to be itself invisi- \nble. But instead of seeking thus until we find, do \nwe not hastily take our clew from custom, and chang- \ning conventionalities, and from human opinion ? It is \nwell-known that the Red man who fears the approach \nof the foe, does not listen through the air, where so \nmany sounds are stirring, but presses his ear close to \nhis mother-earth, and so hears afar off the stealthiest \ntread. So does our ear in its distraction need to list- \n\n\n\n278 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nen, shut off from common channels, and holding it- \nself fast by that Word of truth, which is the choice \nconductor of the will of God. \n\nIt is a prime condition of such wisdom that we \nhave a certain affinity with the truth, as a ground of \nreceptivity \xe2\x80\x94 * He that is of the truth," said the Lord \nJesus, " heareth my voice." When the secret attrac- \ntions of the soul are false to God, there can be no real \ncounsel asked of Him. \n\nAgain, the first step towards knowledge is the con- \nfession of our ignorance. The human understanding \nwholly fails in heavenly things. \xe2\x80\x94 It is Love that is \nthe great illuminator. \xe2\x80\x94 " If any man think that he \nunder st andetJi anything, he knowctJi nothing yet as he \nought to know. But if any man love God, the same \nis known of Him"* In His own knowing of us, all \nour knowledge originates ; first of Himself, then of \nall things. Closely akin to the conceit of our own \nunderstanding, a veritable Gibeonite in its clouted \nshoes, and equal to deceiving even a Joshua, is that \nhabit of ^//"-examination which is so often practiced. \nAs though the heart were not deceitful above all \nthings, we assume the ability to discover its depths, \nand to analyze its mixture of motives. That is a \nwork for God alone. There lies a world-wide space \nbetween the old Delphian oracle \xe2\x80\x94 " Know thyself," \xe2\x80\x94 \nand that wisdom that coming from above teaches us \nto cry, " Search me, O God, and know my heart /" \n\n* i Cor. viii. 2, 3. \n\n\n\nFAILURE AND MISTAKE. \n\n\n\n279 \n\n\n\nAnother all-important condition of our protection \nfrom error, is that we should seek not only counsel, \nbut the close companionship of the Counsellor. We \nare directed not to a mere written word of wisdom, \nbut to a Wisdom who walks among men ; not to the \nbare letter of any law, but to a Living Law that has \ncome down to lead us safely. Listen to that Voice \nthat in due time becomes the Incarnate Word \xe2\x80\x94 \n" Counsel is mine and sound wisdom. / am under- \nstanding, /have strength Blessed is the man \n\nthat heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting \nat the posts of my doors."* Listen as it calls again to \nstill closer intimacy, \xe2\x80\x94 " When thou walkest, let it \nguide thee ; when thou liest down, let it guard thee ; \nand at thy waking, let it talk with thee."f \n\nOur need is so constant and so varied, that only \nthe Spirit of God can supply us with wisdom. In so \nguiding us He will make His own Word our lamp \nwherever that is possible. Where it is not, He will \npoint out some other way. His own Word itself again \nand again throws us back upon this immediate guid- \nance of the Spirit. For how many are the emergencies \nof life, concerning which that Word is silent, and can \nno more answer us than it could have told the Camp ot \nIsrael from what country came the Gibeonites. There- \nfore, while God put His holy Law in the Ark of the \nCovenant, He put His Urim also in the Breast-Plate \nof the High Priest ; and so flashed from time to time \n* Prov. viii. 14, 34. t Prov. vi. 22. \n\n\n\n2 8o THE FULNESS OF BLESSIXG. \n\nthe guiding ray upon the perplexities of His people. \nMoreover, how many messages, for the man, and for \nthe moment, did His Prophets carry from His mouth. \nAll this He gave before the great day of Pentecost. \nHow " the Holy Ghost spake" thenceforth, how He \ntaught and counselled, is proved by almost every \npage of that " second treatise" in which St. Luke, who \nhad written in a former the Gospel of Jesus Christ, \ngave next, the Gospel of His Holy Ghost. \n\nBut it is the thought of some that while such a \nprovision indeed exists, yet such is our weakness, that \npractically it avails but little \xe2\x80\x94 that while so many \nhave sought such guidance, and forthwith fallen into \ndangerous delusions, it is much safer to forego it, and \nto keep closely by the Word of God. No such substi- \ntution is possible ; and if we thus slight the Spirit, we \ndo dishonor to some of the strongest sayings of Holy \nScripture, and forfeit utterly a priceless privilege. \n\nFor the Lord has not mocked us by first promising \nthat He would speak to us with His own Voice, \nand then failing to provide the hearing ear. Indeed, \nthe very pith of the promise, is this accuracy in \nknowing His Voice. He does not say, as some would \nseem to suppose, " I will go before My sheep \xe2\x80\x94 I will \ncall very clearly to them to follow Me, but the foolish \nsheep will not be able to understand Me " \xe2\x80\x94 but this \nis what He says of the True Shepherd, " The sheep \nfollow YWm for they know His voice. And a stranger \n\n\n\n\n\n\nFAILURE AND MISTAKE. 28 1 \n\nwill they not follow, but will flee from him : for they \nknow not the voice of strangers."* \n\nAnd yet we can not ignore the fact, that many and \neven monstrous have been the mistakes of those who \nclaimed to know His voice. But one solution of this \nseems at all satisfactory. They have never been train- \ned by holy familiarity to really know it. We learn to \ndistinguish human voices with perfect accuracy ; and \nnot only so, but their slightest changes can convey \nthe most delicate shades of thought and feeling to \nthe well-trained ear. Our spiritual senses are not less \nsure, but they also require their training. The little \nbabe as it first begins this great art of listening, can \nnot tell a human voice from any other sound ; but \nsoon in the darkest midnight one voice is unmistak- \nable. So the wife, sitting it may be in the twilight, \nhears a step along the hall, and then a voice, that can \nbe no other than his for whom she has been waiting. \nBut if as she rises, saying confidently- \xe2\x80\x94 " It is my hus- \nband " \xe2\x80\x94 you ask her how she knows that voice, what \ncan she do but smile and say simply, but more surely, \n" I know it f" She can not give you the secret ; nor \ncould you ever learn it, save as she has learned it. \nApart from being much with Christ, above all apart \nfrom loving Him, we can not know His voice. But \nso loving, so following closely, we have His own sure \npromise that the stranger can never deceive us ; though \n\n* John x. 4, 5. \n\n\n\n282 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nthe hands that touch us seem the very hands of Esau, \nyet we shall know that the voice is indeed the voice \nof Jacob. \n\nAny difficulties which may still be attached to this \nprivilege, are not beyond the difficulties of all spiritual \nattainments, and however impossible with men, per- \nfectly possible with God. So that we are without \nexcuse as the flock of God, if we do not clearly know \nour Shepherd\'s Voice ; and therefore know the wiles of \nSatan. His devices are so many, and even when old, \nputting on such new disguises, that had we to learn \nthem one by one, we should never feel secure. But \nfto know One Voice with certainty, solves in the sim- \nplest possible manner the entire difficulty : if it be \nthe voice of any stranger, we know that we must not \nlisten. We must not even listen to him who comes \nto accuse us of sin, if still it be the voice of a stranger, \nand not the voice of our Beloved. Satan is the great \nAccuser : he accuses us before God, and he accuses us \nto our own hearts \xe2\x80\x94 sometimes justly, as well as in- \njustly; but in no case have we any right to parley \nwith him at all. We are not even to learn about our \nsins from Satan ; for he comes that he may drag us down \nif possible, to discouragement and despair. The re- \nproofs of Him who loves us are entirely faithful ; \nonly we may be very sure that when He has some- \nwhat against us, He will not send Satan as His mes- \nsenger to say so, but will correct us Himself, with His \n\n\n\n\n\n\nFAILURE AND MISTAKE. 283 \n\nown loving correction \xe2\x80\x94 cleansing and healing, even \nwhile He chastens us. \n\nBut the Spirit has other ways of guidance than by \nHis voice. " I will guide thee with Mine eye."* As \nthe eye speaks more swiftly than the lips, so can it \nspeak more sweetly, or more severely. The quick \nglance gathers His sanction \xe2\x80\x94 " approved of Christ," or \nif need be that He turn and look upon us, His silent \nreproof sends us out, like Peter, to weep bitterly. \n\nAgain we are told of another spiritual sense : \xe2\x80\x94 \nIsaiah prophesied of Christ that the Spirit of the \nLord should rest upon Him, and make Him " of \nquick understanding." f The root from which this \nword is taken, and still more plainly, the context, \nshow us what is signified. The " sight of His eyes," \nand the " hearing of His ears," were not enough \xe2\x80\x94 \nnot even by these would He judge ; but by another \nsense more subtle, swift, and sure \xe2\x80\x94 even as when He \n" smelled a sweet savor " from Noah\'s altar and the \ncleansed earth. How much of our outward protec- \ntion from danger is left to this sense of smell, as the \nkeenest and readiest of all. Everything may be fair \nand beautiful to the eye, but as the sickening effluvia \nis wafted to us, we flee as from a pestilence. The \nHoly Spirit resting upon us, we shall become like \nChrist, of that " quick understanding " which will \nprove one of our chief securities from evil. The odor \nof false doctrine can not escape us, and the very \n* Ps. xxxii. 8. f Is. xi. 3. \n\n\n\n284 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nscent of sin will keep us from its touch ; while we \nturn in all haste to Him, all whose garments smell of \nmyrrh, and aloes, and cassia. \n\nThe combined result of all this training is given us \nby St. Paul in one of those delicate touches, which he \nknew so well where to put upon his great landscapes of \nTruth : " And this I pray, that your love may abound \nyet more and more in knowledge, and in all judg- \nment" (AloOrjoic)* The word which he uses here \nstands quite alone in the Bible, and denotes a sphere \nof judgment beyond its common range. St. Paul \nteaches us that there are Spiritual ^Esthetics : that \nbesides knowledge, there is a nice perception, a ready \ntact, a quick sense of the proprieties and fitnesses of \nthings, so important for us as to be the proper object \nof most earnest prayer. He who could not call His \noutward creation good, till He had woven in the \nwondrous woof with His swift shuttles of Light and \nSound, can surely give to none of us this testimony, \n" that we please Him," till He has trained us to a like \nharmony \xe2\x80\x94 until in our souls can be seen the mellow \ntoning of all the tints of truth, and from our lives be \nheard the rhythm of all holy works and ways. \n\nThe perfect provision of our Lord, allows plainly, \nno liberty for the life that is risen in Him, to be a \nfailure, or to be marred even with mistakes \xe2\x80\x94 allows \neven no liberty for terror, or anxious fear of these. \nChild of God, dwelling in the secret place of the \n\n* Phil. i. q. \n\n\n\nFAILURE AND MISTAKE. \n\n\n\n285 \n\n\n\nMost High, thou canst not be afraid ! A thousand \nmay fall at thy side, or even ten thousand at thy \nright hand, but \xe2\x80\x94 " Surely He shall deliver thee from \nthe snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pesti- \nlence." And not only so, but the same loving care \nextending to the slightest of thy steps, " He shall \ngive His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all \nthy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands \nlest thou trip thy foot against a stone." For all \nthy need of His strength, " His truth shall be thy \nshield and buckler ; " and for all thy need of His \ntenderness, " He shall cover thee with His feathers, \nand under His wings shalt thou trust ? \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV. \n\nCHOICE POSSESSIONS. \n\na /"pHERE REMAINETH YET VERY MUCH LAND TO \n* BE POSSESSED." \xe2\x80\x94 (Josh. xiii. i.) \n\n" HOW LONG ARE YE SLACK TO GO TO POSSESS \nTHE LAND WHICH THE LORD GOD OF YOUR FA- \nTHERS HATH GIVEN YOU?" \xe2\x80\x94 (Josh, xviii. 3.) \n\nWith the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Joshua \nwe enter another section, which treats of the division \nof the land of Canaan, as the former treated of its \nconquest. The distribution of the country, varying \nwidely as it did in natural advantages, and, therefore, \nsure to tell strongly upon the future character of the. \nTribes, was too important to be left to human decision. \nThe Lord Himself had a choice for each. His plan \nfor His people was as perfect in all its details, as it \nwas grand and comprehensive. The charge respect- \ning this division ran thus : " Ye shall divide the land \nby lot for an inheritance among your families : and \nto the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and \nto the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance : every \nman\'s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot \n\nfalleth ; according to the tribes of your fathers ye \n\n(286) \n\n\n\nCHOICE POSSESSIOXS. 287 \n\nshall inherit."* Yet the very terms of the lot left \nmuch to the judgment of those entrusted with the \ntask, who had been previously designated by the \nLord ; \xe2\x80\x94 Eleazar the priest, Joshua, and one prince of \nevery tribe.")* The history shows us how many modi- \nfications of the original allotment were made, and \nwhat regard was had to special requests ; so that finally \nthe actual settlement was the result not only of the \nLord\'s appointment, but also of the decision of the \njudges, and to some extent of their own desires \xe2\x80\x94 the \nsame mingling, in fact, of divine and human agencies \nwhich we find everywhere in the developments of \nlife. \n\nThis distribution of the Land while less marked by \nstirring incidents than the Conquest, was not inferior \nin importance, and has a large space allotted to it. \nIndeed, looking at the minuteness of this record, and \nthat of the prophecies given here and there in Patri- \narchal blessings and high visions of God, we may well \nquestion if its mere geographical import has yet been \nappreciated. The future of this earth will make all \nthese enigmas clear. As a man plants his Estate, \nand plants for far-off years, and gives to each tree \nthe soil and situation it requires \xe2\x80\x94 so has the Lord \nplanted this earth, and certainly with reference to a \ntime not yet fulfilled ; for when has Israel taken its \npriestly position among the families of the earth ? \nThe dying song of Moses waits yet, in part, for its \n* Num. xxxiii. 54. t Num. xxxiii. 17-29. \n\n\n\n288 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\naccomplishment : " When the Most High divided \nto the nations their inheritance, when He separ- \nated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the \npeople according to the number of the children of \nIsrael."* \n\nBut passing from this to the spiritual lessons to \nbe here gathered, we find in the first Epistle to the \nCorinthians a passage not unlike this allotment of \nthe land : " There are varieties of Spiritual Gifts, but \nthe same Spirit gives them all ; and they are given \nfor various ministrations, but all to serve the same \nLord Jesus ; and the inward working whereby they \nare wrought is various, but they are all wrought in \nevery one of those who receive them, by the working \nof the same God. But the gift whereby the Spirit \nbecomes manifest, is given to each for the profit of \nall. To one is given by the Spirit the utterance of \nWisdom, to another the utterance of Knowledge, \naccording to the working of the same Spirit ; to an- \nother, the power of Faith through the same Spirit ; \nto another, the gifts of Healing through the same \nSpirit ; to another, the powers which work Miracles ; \nto another, the gift of Prophecy ; to another, the dis- \ncernment of Spirits; to another, varieties of Tongues; \nto another, the interpretation of Tongues. But all \nthese gifts are wrought by the working of that one \nand the same Spirit, who distributes them to each \n\n* Deut. xxxii. 8. See on this subject a most suggestive vol- \nume, "Israel\'s Future," by Rev. Capel Molyneux. \n\n\n\nCHOICE POSSESSIONS. 289 \n\naccording to His will."* Thus a law like that which \nlinks in amity the nations of the earth, by the special \nwealth of each in produce and in art, was to link in \nholy charity the inheritors of Christ\'s great kingdom. \n\nYet this distribution admits the same practical \nmodifications as did that of old. It appears more \nthan probable that a basis for our spiritual gifts is \nprovided in the individuality that is mapped out for \neach by the laws of transmission, in which we also \ninherit " according to the tribes of our fathers." \nThus far it is " the lot cast into the lap," the whole \ndisposing of which is of the Lord. But how much \nthat narrows or enlarges the natural boundary of \none\'s gifts, depends upon the care and the decisions \nof others. Again, in spiritual, as in natural things, \nour own earnest desires, and above all our faithful im- \nprovement of the talents given, are allowed a large \ninfluence. So that our lot is no portion thrust upon \nus, but rather that which is set before us. \n\nIt is indeed the side of human responsibility, and \nnot God\'s secret decrees, that is first of all presented \nin the seven chapters devoted to this subject : \xe2\x80\x94 \n" There remaineth yet very much land to be pos- \nsessed." \n\nAnd who can read, with any thoughtfulness, the \nrecords of the Apostolic period, without recognizing \nthe importance attached to the gifts of the Spirit ; and \nat the same time admitting, in view of such an enu- \n\n* 1 Cor. xii. 4-1 1 \xe2\x80\x94 (Conybeare\'s rendering). \nJ 3 \n\n\n\n290 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nmeration of them as that above cited, that the Church \nof Christ has scarcely any present possession of them. \nWhile the qualifications for the Apostolic office were \nplainly exceptional, and the gift of tongues is in- \nstanced as designed for a sign rather than service, yet \ntaking these gifts as a whole, there is not a hint in \nHoly Scripture of their temporary use, and subse- \nquent withdrawal ; and without such an authority \nagainst it, it is but simply reasonable to regard the \ngifts of God as given in perpetuity to His Church. \nNor dare we claim that the blessed truth of His be- \nstowal, is a whit altered by the sad fact of our failure \nin receptive faith. \n\nJoshua was old and well stricken in years when the \nLord reminded him of the neglect of his people to \npossess the land ; indeed, it would even appear that \nsome of the possessions once theirs had relapsed to \nthe enemy. But what was their delay and loss to \nours? For nearly nineteen centuries the Church has \nhad her Mighty Conqueror, and her Land of Promise; \nbut while advancing here and there, what hold has \nshe at large upon this vast heritage? Mental gifts \nhave indeed been recognized and received often all \npossible culture ; but how often have spiritual gifts \xe2\x80\x94 \nGod\'s own special gifts \xe2\x80\x94 been given over to suspicion, \nand sarcasm, and scorn ? It does not furnish the least \nexcuse for this, that there has been so much of false \npretence, and even imposture, and so much conse- \nquent delusion ; for whatever of Truth God has given \n\n\n\nCHOICE POSSESSIONS. \n\n\n\n291 \n\n\n\nus, we are bound to take fearlessly, however counter- \nfeited or perverted : still further, there will be coun- \nterfeits and perversions until we take it.* Error \nalways thrives upon neglected Truth. How often it \nhappens that in such errors we see the distorted and \npreposterous shadows of Truth before her light has \nfully risen. Again, there may be another solution of \na certain class of errors which seem to contain a por- \ntion of truth. The basis only of such spiritual gifts \nhaving been laid in our nature at our birth, as a body \nprepared for a soul \xe2\x80\x94 this, if the real gift be not re- \nceived from God\'s own Spirit, will still remain as a \ncertain blind abortive power, working irregularly and \nfruitlessly. Had the Church of Christ retained her \nspirituality, she might never have been vexed with so- \ncalled Spiritualism. Had she had more simple faith, \nshe would never have witnessed such silly credulity. \n\nIt is precisely these special personal gifts of the \nSpirit, rather than the more general blessings of the \nGospel, that find their symbol in this distribution. \nAll that is common in the heritage depends for de- \nvelopment upon that which is peculiar ; and it is this \ndependence, which renders the right reception of \nthese powers a matter of such importance. The \nChurch can only reach her true estate, as each one \n\n* Christlieb, in the Preface to his \'* Modern Doubt and Christian \nBelief," says wisely \xe2\x80\x94 " Error is always assuredly a mixture of \ntruth and falsehood, nor can be overcome so long as the elements \nof truth which it contains are unacknowledged, and not carefully \nseparated from what is falsa." (See p. xi.) \n\n\n\n292 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nuses that gift which God has given for this very pur- \npose : \xe2\x80\x94 " He gave some as Apostles ; and some as \nprophets ; and some as evangelists ; and some as pas- \ntors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, \nfor the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the \nbody of Christ : till we all come in the unity of the \nfaith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto \na perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the \nfulness of Christ .-"* \xe2\x80\x94 this for the positive gain ; and \nfor the negative, a deliverance thus, and only thus, \nfrom all that is false and fanatical ; \xe2\x80\x94 " That we hence- \nforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and \ncarried about with every wind of doctrine, by the \nsleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they \nlie in wait to deceive." f \n\nBut now let us gather up in order other, but often \naccordant lessons of the distribution of the Land. \nThe first tribes mentioned are those of Reuben and \nGad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, on the east of \nJordan. Their inheritance was not given them by \nlot, and although included in the larger grant that \nwas made to Abraham, it was not in that portion \nwhich at this time was assigned to them by the Lord \n\xe2\x80\x94 the land of Canaan.^ While awaiting the end of \nthe forty years, two of the tribes had settled upon \nGilead as their future home, and preferred a request \nfor this to Moses, with no attempt to conceal their \nmotive : " The country is a land for cattle, and thy \n\n* Eph. iv. 11-13. t Eph. iv. 14. \\ See Num. xxxiv. 1-12. \n\n\n\nCHOICE POSSESSIONS. \n\n\n\n293 \n\n\n\nservants have cattle."* Their choice resembled that \nof Lot, who would have the well-watered plain, how- \never near to Sodom. Moses was justly displeased, \nand saw clearly the tendency of such falling off from \nthe great advance awaiting them, likening it to the \nsin of the spies in discouraging other hearts. Upon \ntheir promise to go over with their brethren, and help \nto fight their battles, after which they would return, \nMoses acceded to their wish rather than approved it. \nIt very soon appeared how this choice exposed them \nto indifference and danger. In the sublime Song of \nDeborah we trace one of the first of these results : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" At the brooks of Reuben were great resolutions of heart. \nWhy remainest thou between the hurdles, \nTo hear the piping of the flocks ? \nAt the brooks of Reuben were great projects of heart, \nGilead rests on the other side of the Jordan."f \n\nAnd so they had come rapidly to the pass, when \ntheir patriotism could evaporate in good resolutions \nand grand projects ; when the soft shepherd\'s pipe \ncould seduce them from the stern summons of the \nTrumpet. Further on we find that, exposed as they \nwere to the advance of foreign enemies, their cities \nwere the first to surrender ; after which their idolatry \nand consequent captivity hastened apace.J Yet Reu- \nben was Israel\'s first-born, and who can say what lot \nGod held for him. But he could not wait for the \n\n\n\n* Num. xxxii. 4. t Judges v. 15-17 \xe2\x80\x94 Keil and Delitzsch. \n\n% 1 Chron. v. 25, 26. \n\n\n\n294 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nslow giving of God. It was not the sin of him who \nsold his birthright for a mess of pottage ; yet he who \nhad chosen only a place for cattle, could never be \nchosen by God to furnish either prophet, judge, or \nking, to the house of Israel. \n\n" Bring us not over Jordan," is still the entreaty of \nmany a Christian. Ask us not to give up these \nworldly advantages : let our possessions lie among \nthe things of earth : has not godliness the promise \nof the life that now is ? We will not fail to help on \nthe cause of Christ ; we will be loyal to Him and to \nHis Church ; but ask us not to go further ; we are \ncontent to take up a lower position. And God may \nhearken to them in this \xe2\x80\x94 giving them their desire, \neven while He sends " leanness into their soul." \nAlas, for the high hopes of all whose chief care is \nfor cattle ! Sooner or later they will learn that the \nLord Jesus said not in vain, " Beware of covetous- \nness ; for a man\'s life consisteth not in the abun- \ndance of the things which he possesseth." \n\nAnd yet while giving up all selfish choice, to let \nGod choose our inheritance for us, we are at the same \ntime even commanded to " Covet earnestly the best \ngifts."* Thus we find Caleb asking for one of the \nchoicest portions, and receiving it as the first inherit- \nance over Jordan ; at the same time reminding \nJoshua of the events of forty-five years before, and \nof the good word which he had brought according as \n\n* i Cor. xii. 31. \n\n\n\nCHOICE POSSESSIONS. \n\n\n\n295 \n\n\n\nit was in his heart ; for deep conviction and a con- \nscience that held him true to this in his confession, had \nleft no room in this noble heart for the cowardice of the \nten spies. What memories must have revived in these \ntwo men, as he went on to say, " Thou knowest the \nthing which the Lord spake concerning me and thee, \nin Kadesh-Barnea :" \xe2\x80\x94 No need to cast the lot for \nCaleb ! \xe2\x80\x94 he had known all those years where his pos- \nsessions lay : \xe2\x80\x94 " Now, therefore, give me this moun- \ntain, whereof the Lord spake in that day."* \n\nLong before he saw it, Hebron must have been \ndear to him by all hallowed associations. It was an \nold city when Abraham pitched his tent in the plain of \nMamre, which is in Hebron.f It was there that Jehovah \nand His angels visited him. It was there that in bit- \nter bereavement, he bought the only spot that was \nhis by earthly title \xe2\x80\x94 a grave in which to bury his \ndead out of his sight. There he himself was buried. \nThere Isaac came to sojourn in old age, and in his \nturn be buried. To the same tomb had been borne, \nin solemn state, the embalmed body of Israel. The \nspot itself was one of rare beauty; the hill \xe2\x80\x94 which \nstill bears an ancient oak called " the Patriarch " \xe2\x80\x94 \noverlooks a picturesque and fertile valley, and trav- \nellers tell us of the varied charms that complete the \npicture, in their most glowing language. But delight- \nful as was the spot, it was the most difficult of all to \nwin. Its name at that time marked it as the abode \n\n\n\n* Josh. xiv. 6-12. t Gen. xiii. 18. \n\n\n\n296 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nof giants\xe2\x80\x94 " Kirjath-arba, the city of Arba, the father \nof Anak." The sight of the Anakims had brought no \ndismay to the youthful heart of Caleb; and now \nwhile strong men had died in the wilderness, he still \nkept the undiminished vigor of his prime. Moreover, \nthe Lord was with him : \xe2\x80\x94 " I shall be able to drive \nthem out, as the Lord said ; " \xe2\x80\x94 " And Joshua blessed \nhim, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh \nHebron for an inheritance. Hebron therefore be- \ncame the inheritance of Caleb, because that he wholly \nfollowed the Lord God of Israel."* Henceforth, no \nlonger the city of the giants, it was to bear that name \nwhich signified Communion, Fellowship; \xe2\x80\x94 as the \nArabs call it to this day, " The friend of God." Nor \nis it surely without its meaning in a Book where names \nare so significant and typical, that it was at Hebron \nthat David was anointed King of all Israel, and that \nthere he reigned seven years before his throne was set \nup at Jerusalem. Blessings gather like a halo, around \nthe very dwelling-place of him who wholly follows \nthe Lord his God. \n\nAnd still God has His choice possessions ; and He \ngives them still to the "willing and obedient." They \nbelong to those who, while others are doubting or \ndenying His Word of promise, still serve Him stead- \nfastly in all good conscience. Such a faith fears not \nto claim its possessions. Nor does it marvel when \nevil is heard saying : \n\n* Josh. xiv. 13, 14. \n\n\n\nCHOICE POSSESSIONS. \n\n\n\n" I thought the best, perverted, would be worst." \n\n\n\n297 \n\n\n\nAnd so it turns not back from the hope of recovering \nGod\'s primeval blessing, where all seems given over to \nthe curse. Man\'s noblest powers and privileges are \never the first to be seized by Satan for his stronghold ; \nbut the Spirit of God is well able to dispossess him, \nthough like the three Anakims, he sit there in his \ngiant trinity of evil, keeping his goods in peace. \nNothing in man has suffered loss like that which is \nhighest in him, because most like God. Instead of \nthat holy love that was to hold him with all his heart \nand strength to the Source of his life, that he might \never be enriched from Him whose name is Love \xe2\x80\x94 in- \nstead of that blessed love which was to knit him also \nto his kind, in all varied relationships and companion- \nships, that so it might join all together in one body, \nand compact and supply all, as it thus made increase \nwith the very increase of God \xe2\x80\x94 instead of this, the \npowers that were given for it, have stooped to the \ncreature in place of the Creator, and so sunk into in- \nordinate and vile affections, until the sacred name of \nLove has been often utterly lost in that of Lust. A \nvery den .of wild beasts, or at best, a city of the \ngiants, is then, that heart of man which God created \nto love Him, and to love its fellow. \n\nYes, Love \xe2\x80\x94 Communion \xe2\x80\x94 Fellowship \xe2\x80\x94 this is \nthe choice possession in all our Father\'s land. The \ngifts of intellect may be even glorious, and yet have \n\nis* \n\n\n\n298 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nno glory, by reason of one that excelleth. Love is \nset higher than knowledge, not only for her own sake, \nbut because she has a wisdom all her own, which \ngrows not in the slow way of gathering from without, \nbut glows out from within, a light and a law unto it- \nself! Love does not become rich ; she is born an heir- \ness. What privilege like that of being a " friend of \nGod ! " Such sublimating power lies in this blessed \nfellowship, that it is but a little step from it to glory. \nSo Enoch walking with God, " was not, for God took \nhim." So the face of Moses shines, and Stephen\'s \nbecomes like that of an angel. The very life of God \nbeing most fully expressed in Love, it becomes the life \nof our life, feeding it, warming it, and cherishing it. It \nis the very Sun that shineth in its strength. What \nwonders might it not work on this poor, starving \nearth, so turned as it is from its true pole, that its \nshort days can only shiver in a few slanting rays. \nWhenever man will let his God bring back this per- \nverted love, to be true to Him, his whole nature will \nleap into luxuriance. Germs that lie utterly dor- \nmant, will then be developed. The world awaits this \nhealing, quickening miracle of Love ; and blessed in- \ndeed, are they who, meanwhile, follow the Lord so \nfully that He can give them this choice inheritance. \n\nYet we are taught also by this record that it is : ~* - \ndeed, \n\n" The most difficult of tasks to keep \nHeights which the soul is competent to gain." \n\n\n\nCHOICE POSSESSIONS. 299 \n\nJoshua had already taken Hebron ; but now it needed \nto be retaken by Caleb, and yet again by David. " The \nexpulsive power of a new affection" is needed not only \nto drive out, but to keep out all that is unhallowed. \nHere, then, first of all in this Citadel of Love and \nholy fellowship with the Father and with the Son, \nour King sets up His throne.* Here we make our \ncovenant with Him, and He with us, and then when \nour love has been perfected, He will reign yet more \nroyally in " that great city, the holy Jerusalem, de- \nscending out of heaven from God, having the glory \nof God." \n\nIn the portion of Caleb, there was one stronghold \nreserved by him for the prowess of another arm, \nthat should at the same time secure a greater prize : \n" And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, \nand taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daugh- \nter to wife." The little episode that follows is again \nrepeated in the Book of Judges, as though its lovely \nlesson might possibly be overlooked.f The daugh- \nter knew her father\'s bounty, and so she moved her \nhusband to ask of him a field ; and along with this \nthey needed springs of water : \xe2\x80\x94 for this she herself \nwill ask him. Drawing nigh in her journey to her \nfather, she alights in token of reverence and entreaty. \nBut before her lips can shape a word, the father\'s \nheart is open : \xe2\x80\x94 " What wilt thou, my daughter ?" \n\n* Cf. 1 Chron. xi. 1-7, and xxix. 27. \n\nt Cf. Josh. xv. 16-19, anc l J Uf l\xc2\xa3 es L 12-15. \n\n\n\n300 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\n" Give me a blessing ; for thou hast given me a south \nland ; give me also springs of water." " And he gave \nher the upper springs and the nether springs :" \xe2\x80\x94 \nabove all she had asked or thought ; springs in the \nvalley, and springs also upon the hills, so that she \nshould lack no good thing. The lot was not so \nrigid as to exclude either rewards for the faithful, \nor free gifts for the filial, trusting heart. The patient \nendurance of a dry land might have been a good \nthing ; but how much better the faith that drew her \non ! What dearth, what weary wanderings might \nhave been her portion, had she never said at her \nfather\'s feet, " GIVE ME A BLESSING I" \n\nWhatever portion God has assigned to us, or what- \never He has permitted our hand to win, what is any- \nthing or all, unless He add the blessing of these \nsprings of water, of which He has told us, " The \nwater that I shall give shall be within, a well of wa- \nter springing up unto everlasting life.** No simpler, \nstronger symbol of the Spirit, could be found than \nthis. A Spring \xe2\x80\x94 a Well-spring \xe2\x80\x94 never dry \xe2\x80\x94 never \nturbid \xe2\x80\x94 from its clear depths, fed through the secret \nveins of earth, it gushes ever into life ; it goeth not \ndownward, but it springeth up. Resisting its own \ncommon law, it resists also the influences that meet \nit : in the fiery heat of summer it is the cool and \nsatisfying spring ; and the fierce frosts of winter can \nnot bind it, for it is warm with central heat. The \nsoul that has found all its springs in God, never knows \n\n\n\nCHOICE POSSESSIOXS. \n\n\n\n301 \n\n\n\nits supplies to fail or vary. And we need both upper \nand nether springs : we need the Spirit of God in the \nhighest regions of life ; and down to its lowest level, \nthe need is still the same. The thought of few of \nGod\'s children is broad enough to embrace both in \ntheir asking. With some the thought is this \xe2\x80\x94 In the \nthings of God we must have the Spirit of God ; but \nit would derogate from His dignity to refer the com- \nmonplaces of life to Him. Such familiarity were \nfatal \xe2\x80\x94 our own judgment, our natural powers, are \nour resources here. Again, others have no true con- \nception of spiritual things ; never having been among \nthese hills, they only aspire to live out life in the low \nvalley of common duties, and to have these enriched \nby blessing from the Lord. \n\nMeanwhile, our Father\'s thought is to harmonize \nthese two regions of life, and no Christian can have \nreal completeness of character without it. Who has \nnot known good people \xe2\x80\x94 say holy men and women \xe2\x80\x94 \xe2\x80\xa2 \nsaints, indeed, in all spiritual things, with both knowl- \nedge and power \xe2\x80\x94 whom to meet was a delight ; \xe2\x80\x94 but \nwith whom to live were utter discord ; \xe2\x80\x94 they had \nno nether springs : spiritual, but not practical, they \nseemed better fitted for heaven than earth. Such a \nlife is not patterned after that of Christ. The Lord \nJesus never overlooked the little things : one mo- \nment with His holy hands lifting the cold, folded \npalms of Jairus\' little daughter, and saying from the \nheights of spiritual power, " Damsel, arise!" \xe2\x80\x94 the \n\n\n\n302 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS CF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nnext moment, He commands the astonished and for- \ngetful mother to give her something to eat ! The \nfaith that is fully poised forgets no earthly duty. \nAbraham, when he entertains angels, can run to the \nherd as the thoughtful host, to make ready their \ntable ; nor do even angels upon their side neglect the \ncourtesy of partaking of his feast. What might not \neven the petty things of life \xe2\x80\x94 as we dare to call them \n\xe2\x80\x94 become, if thus purified and elevated by the per- \nmeating Spirit ! How many a wife and mother finds \nthat her lot has fallen in a valley, and that her field \nof service in itself is almost utterly arid. It is not a \nchange of lot she needs \xe2\x80\x94 it is the fountain of living \nwater. Coming to her Father in heaven not with \nmurmuring, but thanksgiving, how graciously He \nlistens to her plea, " Give me a blessing." It is \nthere already \xe2\x80\x94 close beside her, but unseen by her \nweeping eyes, until God shows her the well. Then \nshe thirsts no more ; and He teaches her how to \nguide the gracious gift, till everywhere her valley \nhome is green and glad. \n\nWe find next in order a request from the children \nof Joseph. Already Manasseh held the rich portion \nof all Bashan, and half of Gilead,* while the five \ndaughters of Zelophehad had been allowed to count \nas so many heirs along with the five brethren of their \nfather in receiving ten portions in Canaan. Ephraim \nalso had one of the richest portions in all the land. \n\n* Josh. xiii. 29-31. \n\n\n\nCHOICE POSSESSIONS. 303 \n\nBut covetous of still more, they brought their cause \nto Joshua, resting their claim not on any word of the \nLord, but upon their own conceit : \xe2\x80\x94 " Why hast thou \ngiven me but one lot and one portion to inherit, see- \ning I am a great people, forasmuch as the Lord hath \nblessed me hitherto?" The answer of Joshua, him- \nself an Ephraimite, was both just and spirited. \nHe challenges them to prove their greatness by cut- \nting down the wood country, and driving out the \ngiants. They object that they are not able to do this, \nsince the Canaanites have iron chariots. But Joshua, \neven in virtually granting their request, abides by his \nfirst decision \xe2\x80\x94 " Thou art a great people, and hast \ngreat power ; thou shalt not have one lot only ; but \nthe mountains shall be thine ; for it is a wood and thou \nshalt cut it down : and the outgoings of it shall be \nthine ; for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though \nthey have iron chariots, and though they be strong."* \nThe rebuke belongs to all who desire God\'s immedi- \nate giving, to take the place of their own courage and \nenergy; who would have Him even make up the de- \nficit of their own timidity and indolence. There are \nmany who aspire to be gifted by the Lord, who are \nslow to see how largely He gives through their own \ndiligent use of what He has already given \xe2\x80\x94 the full \ncultivation and occupancy of their own lot. What an \nenlarging of all our lots would there be, if instead of \nvainly envying the gifts denied us, we gave all dili- \n\n* Josh. xvii. 14-18. \n\n\n\n{04 \n\n\n\nTHE FULXE> .\'.W. \n\n\n\ngence in clearing the wilderness, in breaking up the \nfallow ground, and above all, in expelling every enemy. \nThe clamor o( conceit is ever \xe2\x80\x94 " Give me opportunity, \nand I will be great :" the answer for all such is, \n" Show yourselves great by first filling the sphere in \nwhich you already are." \n\nAfter the allotment of the Land as far as the fami- \nlies of Judah and Joseph, the work was for a time \nsuspended. No outward cause existed for this. \nJoshua said unto the children of Israel, that is, the \nseVen remaining tribes which had not yet received \ntheir inheritance \xe2\x80\x94 M How long are ye slack to go to \npossess the land which the Lord God of your fathers \nhath given you ?" It seems almost incredible that \nafter all this training, and preparation, and warfare, \nwhen there remained but one more simple step to the \nrealization of God\'s great promise \xe2\x80\x94 even then they \nshould come short of it. Jordan \xe2\x80\x94 Gilgal \xe2\x80\x94 Jericho \xe2\x80\x94 \nthey had failed at none of these : yet now a spirit of \nsloth possesses them at the last critical moment. \nIt is found needful to rouse them by a new expedient \n\nThree men from each tribe were appointed to go \nthrough the land and describe it. Walking first \nthrough the entire country, they then \'\'described it \nby cities into seven parts, in a book." This explora- \ntion not only served them essentially in the casting of \nlots, but was of far more importance in another way. \nWhen they had seen the land with their own eyes, \nand the people had heard from them this minute \n\n\n\nCHOICE POSSESSIOXS. \n\n\n\n305 \n\n\n\nreport, they were aroused to new eagerness to en- \njoy it. \n\nSuch slackness as theirs is found still in the Church \nof Christ, and as then, in by far the greater majority. \nSome indeed, like Judah and Joseph, press on at \nonce to their possessions; but others linger until \nsome one arises to stir them up. Inertia of spirit is \none of the last besetments of the believer \xe2\x80\x94 the more \nto be feared, that it comes at a time when he needs \nto be especially alert. If the first step of our Chris- \ntian course be decisive, so also is the last : " For \nwe are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the begin- \nning of our confidence steadfast unto the end."* The \nfoot must not grow weary, till it has reached in its \nexperience, the utmost length, and utmost breadth, \nof all the promises of God. \n\nBut to Christians collectively, how emphatically \nmay it be still said, " There remaineth yet much land \nto be possessed." The Church has still to measure \nout with the lines of her knowledge even, as far as \nthe revelation of the Gospel reaches. There are vast \nregions of glorious Truth that are little known to the \nmany. How few venture into the wilderness of \nProphecy, to pitch their tents ! And who is there to \ngo up that highest summit among all their holy moun- \ntains, and see what things they are which our Blessed \nLord has " shewn unto His servants," and " which \nmust shortly come to pass?"f What heart is found so \n* Heb. iii. 14. t Rev. i. 1. \n\n\n\n306 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nfull of holy courage, as to go forth alone, and year \nafter year, steer steadily up to the great fountain- \nheads of those mighty rivers, that have flowed so long \nfrom unknown sources ? Alas, for Christianity, when \nshe gave up that good old way of " faring forth " to \nseek the Truth\xe2\x80\x94 to go into her cloister, and there \nwith infinite pains indeed, make out her maps from \n\nthe old models of men whom she called her masters \n\ntill at last she could settle down in a comfortable \ncongratulation over their completeness ! What room \nhas she, indeed, in her beautifully executed systems \nof Theology, for the strange stories of these travellers \nand sight-seers ! \n\nIt were wise for us to heed such a voice as that \nwhich charged the Pilgrim Fathers of our Land in \ntheir exile for conscience sake \xe2\x80\x94 " I am verily per- \nsuaded, I am very confident, that the Lord hath more \ntruth yet to break forth out of His holy Word." * \nLengthen therefore thy cords, O Church of Christ. \n\n* Neal gives this parting address of Pastor Robinson as \nfollows : \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" Brethern :\xe2\x80\x94 We are now quickly to part from one another, \nand whether I may ever live to see your faces on earth any more, \nthe God of heaven only knows ; but whether the Lord has ap- \npointed that or no, I charge you before God and His blessed \nangels, that you follow me no further than you have seen me follow \nthe Lord Jesus Christ. \n\n" If God reveal anything to you, by any other instrument of His, \nbe as ready to receive it as ever you were to receive any truth \nby my ministry ; for I am verily persuaded, the Lord has more \n\n\n\nCHOICE POSSESSIONS. \n\n\n\n307 \n\n\n\nStrengthen all thy stakes. " Enlarge the place of thy \ntent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy \nhabitation." Arise ! walk through the land, ye \nchosen men of God \xe2\x80\x94 Look from its Mountain-tops \xe2\x80\x94 \nSail out upon its Seas \xe2\x80\x94 Write it in many a book \xe2\x80\x94 \nDescribe it in the ears of all the people \xe2\x80\x94 Stir them \nfrom this slackness \xe2\x80\x94 Let them know what are the \nriches of the glory of this inheritance in Christ Jesus ! \nThe last of all to receive his possession in the Land \nof Promise, was Joshua. As it was given by special \n\n\n\ntruth yet to break forth out of His holy Word. For my part I can- \nnot sufficiently bewail the condition of the Reformed Churches, \nwho are come to a period in religion, and will go at present no \nfurther than the instruments of their reformation. The Lutherans \ncannot be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw ; whatever part \nof His will our God has revealed to Calvin, they will rather die \nthan embrace it ; and the Calvinists, you see, stick fast where they \nwere left by that great man of God, who yet saw not all things. \n\n" This is a misery much to be lamented, for though they were \nburning and shining lights in their times, yet they penetrated not \ninto the whole counsel of God ; but were they now living, would \nbe as willing to embrace further light as that which they first \nreceived. I beseech you remember it is an article of your \nChurch-Covenant, that you be ready to receive whatever truth \nshall be made known to you from the written Word of God. \nRemember that, and every other article of your Sacred Covenant. \nBut I must here withal exhort you to take heed what you receive \nas truth \xe2\x80\x94 examine it, consider it ; and compare it with other Scrip- \ntures of truth, before you receive it, for it is not possible the \nChristian world should come so lately out of such thick anti-Chris- \ntian darkness, and that perfection of knowledge should break \nforth at once." \xe2\x80\x94 NeaVs History of the Puritans, Vol. I., pp. 476, \n477. \n\n\n\n308 T HE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nword of God, so had it also to be given by all the \npeople, as his inheritance among them \xe2\x80\x94 Timnath- \nserah \xe2\x80\x94 the portion of the Sun. Even so, when the \nLord Jesus has secured to all His people the posses- \nsions which He has won for them, then will His tab- \nernacle also be with men, and He will dwell among \nthem. \n\nThere were still, however, two other classes to be \nprovided for, without their receiving what might be \ncalled an inheritance. These classes were the two \nextremes of Society \xe2\x80\x94 the Manslayer and the Levite. \nEven for the poor fugitive fleeing from the Avenger \nof blood, there were to be cities where he might not \nonly find a refuge, but a home ; \xe2\x80\x94 a refuge in all cases \nuntil his cause was judged, and it was shown whether \nhe was an unwilling slayer, or a murderer ; and then \na home, if delivered from judgment, till the death of \nthe High Priest should restore him to his native city. \nThus in dividing the land, the Lord did not forget \nthe needs of the most distressed. The six cities \nselected were so situated, that some one of them was \nalways within reach. So has the Saviour placed Him- \nself within the reach of all, even of such as are in ut- \nmost peril of Vengeance. He is the Refuge, and the \nHome, and the final Restorer. It is surely most sig- \nnificant that instead of mean and unimportant cities \nbeing chosen, these six were all among the forty- \neight Levitical cities. It showed not only the stand- \ning of all on common ground, but secuted to the \n\n\n\nCHOICE POSSESSIONS. \n\n\n\n309 \n\n\n\ndistressed the utmost sympathy and succor; for it is \nalways found that the purest in heart, who dwell \nnighest to God, are the most compassionate and lov- \ning to them who are out of the way. \n\nThe Levites held their cities upon a different tenure \nfrom the other tribes. " Unto the tribe of Levi \nMoses gave not any inheritance, for the Lord God of \nIsrael was their inheritance, as He said unto them." \' x * \nIf they were denied in some sort an earthly portion, \nit was that they might claim more clearly the heavenly \nhome. This distribution of the Levites among all \nthe tribes of Israel is a most striking instance of the \nreversal of a curse ; and again, taken in connection \nwith a like scattering of Simeon, we see the same \noutward lot, so altered by inner conditions, as to pre- \nsent the very extremes of favor and displeasure. \nBoth of them were to be divided in Jacob and scat- \ntered in Israel.f Simeon, therefore, instead of receiv- \ning a clearly-bounded territory, had only those por- \ntions of Judah which proved too much for that tribe. \nThe cities assigned them were in various and remote \ngroups, so as naturally to place them at a disadvan- \ntage, and in dependence upon others. Simeon is very \nsignificantly omitted from the last blessing upon the \ntribes of Israel ; while in the case of Levi, we find a \nstriking series of prophecies, extending from Genesis \nto Malachi, and leading from the depths up to the \nheights. Coupled with his brother Simeon, we hear \n\n* Josh. xiii. 33. t Gen. xlix. 5-7. \n\n\n\n310 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nthe dying Israel recoil from their anger and self-will \xe2\x80\x94 \n" O my soul, come not thou into their secret ; unto \ntheir assembly, mine honor, be not thou united."* \nWhat a change had come upon the children of Levi, \nwhen Moses gave his blessing \xe2\x80\x94 " They shall teach \nJacob Thy judgments, and Israel Thy law." f And, \nfinally, to what honor had they been chosen, when we \nread in Malachi : " My covenant was with him of life \nand peace ; and I gave them to him for the fear \nwherewith he feared Me, and was afraid before My \nname. The law of truth was in his mouth, and in- \niquity was not found in his lips : he walked with Me \nin peace and equity, and did turn many away from \niniquity." J: So a leaden curse, seeming like a mill- \nstone about their necks, is transmuted by the alchemy \nof grace into a sort of golden crown ; and while the \nfirst is found to be the last, the last is first. Reuben, \nthe first-born, has sheep-folds ; and Levi, the out- \ncast, has the service of the Most High God. \n\nHowever bitter and dark the past record of any \nlife, how dare any one despair in the face of such a \nfact as this? And what a stimulus is given here, as \neverywhere in God\'s Word, to choose the better part \n\xe2\x80\x94 to brave the self-denial and abnegations of service, \nfor the sake of such a covenant of life and peace, and \nsuch abundant blessedness to others. \n\nHow many ministers of Christ \xe2\x80\x94 how many mis- \nsionaries in their far greater sacrifices \xe2\x80\x94 must have had \n* Gen. xlix. 6. t Deut. xxxiii. 10. \\ Mai. ii. 5, 6. \n\n\n\nCHOICE POSSESSIONS. \n\n\n\n3" \n\n\n\ntheir souls sustained by the assurance, " The Lord God \nis my inheritance." For us who so follow Christ, \nthere is a standard of both wealth and honor, that the \nworld wots not of. The True Riches outweigh the \ntreasures of all earth ; and looking to Him who said, \n" I am among you as He that serveth," we rejoice to \nmake ourselves least of all, and servants of all, and \nthus in all lowliness and love \xe2\x80\x94 \n\n" To fill the measure up of gentle deeds \xe2\x80\x94 \nEven as we have learned that in these, \nThat in the holy Christian charities, \nAnd the suppliance of the lowliest needs \nOf the most lowly, our true greatness is ! " \n\nThe account of the distribution of the Land closes \nwith a strong statement, that at first glance would \nseem unsupported by facts. But we have to bear in \nmind that the great reality of the Lord\'s giving was \nnone the less true, for a failure here and there to re- \nceive, or to keep the good thing that had been given. \nIt is the record of what the Lord had done, and there- \nfore may not be sullied by the failures of man : " The \nLORD GAVE unto Israel ALL THE LAND which He \nsware to give unto their fathers ; and they possessed \nit and dwelt therein. And THE LORD GAVE THEM \nREST round about, according to all that He sware \nunto their fathers : and there stood not a man of all \ntheir enemies before them ; THE LORD DELIVERED \nall their enemies into their hand. THERE FAILED \n\n\n\n312 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\n\n\nNOT AUGHT of any good thing which the Lord had \nspoken unto the house of Israel ; ALL CAME TO \nPASS." * \n\nIt was the triumph of that same Lord, who, " when \nHe ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and \ngave gifts unto men." It is this same Lord, that will, \nwithout fail, give us the riches of the glory of His in- \nheritance, but who, therefore, gives to every one of us \nall, some special gift of His Spirit. The very smallest \nof them all may not be hidden with impunity. It is \neven because the gifts so differ, that we are to be so \ndiligent in using them. \n\nFellow - Christian, " stir up the gift of God that is in \nthee ! " It is thy wealth ; it is thy portion among \nthy brethren ; be not slack to possess thy land. \nChurch of Christ, claim all thy gifts ! Thou mayest \nnot say of one of them, as given to any member in \nall thy Body \xe2\x80\x94 "I have no need of thee." \xe2\x80\x94 But \n" COVET EARNESTLY THE BEST GIFTS." \n* Josh. xxi. 43-4.5* \n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV. \n\nTHE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. \n\nUr PAKE GOOD HEED, THEREFORE, UNTO YOUR- \nA SELVES, THAT YE LOVE THE LORD YOUR \n\nGod." \xe2\x80\x94 {Josh, xxiii. u). " As for me and my \n\nHOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD." \xe2\x80\x94 (Josh. xxiv. \n15). \n\n. The testimony of Triumph was not permitted to be \nthe close of the Book of Joshua. The aged Leader of \nGod\'s people, looking to their future as well as to \ntheir past, had a solemn message to leave with them \nbefore he was gathered to his fathers. Once and \nagain he must speak those words of cheer, and words \nof warning, that pressed upon his spirit. His deep \ninterest in the nation, and his own sense of responsi- \nbility, received an unmistakable emphasis in the second \ngathering at Shechem, where the Elders and Judges \n" stood before God," while Joshua, with all intensity" \nof earnestness, gave his parting charge, \n\nThere was no new thing to say ; but simple as the \nexhortation was, momentous were the interests that \nhung upon their heeding. He reminded them of \n14 (313) \n\n\n\n314 the fulAtess of blessing. \n\nwhat the Lord had done in the past \xe2\x80\x94 of what He \nwas ready to do in the future. It was the Lord who \nwould still fight for them, and continue to drive out \ntheir enemies ; therefore one man of them should \nchase a thousand. But as He had brought all good \nthings upon them, so would He, if they turned away \nfrom Him, bring upon them all evil things. St. Paul \nrepeated the same charge in substance, when he wrote \nto the Church in Rome : " Behold therefore the \ngoodness and severity of God \xe2\x80\x94 on them which fell, \nseverity ; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue \nin His goodness ; otherwise thou also shalt be cut \noff." * By reason of such hopes, and by reason of \nsuch fears, they were to be very courageous to keep \nand do all that had been commanded. From idols \nand false gods, and from all who served them, they \nwere to turn utterly away. And that all this might \nbe accomplished, there was given one golden watch- \nword \xe2\x80\x94 " Take good heed therefore unto \n\nYOURSELVES, THAT YE LOVE THE LORD YOUR \nGOD." f As God has no other power whereby to \ndraw us unto Himself than His " bands of love," so \nhas He no other power by which to hold us steadfast \nunto the end. It is the only clew that has been \ngiven us, to lead us safely out from the labyrinth of \nlife, and we may not let it slip ; for losing this, we \nwander in " the mist of darkness forever." With \nweightiest reason, therefore, did the dying Leader \n* Rom. xi. 22. t Josh, xxiii. II. \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. 3^ \n\nof his people say, " Take good heed that ye LOVE the \nLord your God." \n\nThe first pass-word given to the youthful soldier \nis " TRUST ;" but as the hours move on, he finds \nthat he must learn still another to secure his safety \xe2\x80\x94 \n" Watch." The Captain of our salvation who gave \nthe first so often, gave this also at the last. Sitting \non the Mount of Olives, with none but Peter and \nJames and John beside Him, He could not say it to \nthem only ; but His holy care took us all into His \nthought that hour : \xe2\x80\x94 " What I say unto you, I say \nunto all, Watch."* How solemnly He spoke it \nin the Garden ! Temptations were gathering thick \naround them ; therefore they were to watch with an \neye glancing at the enemy, even while resting ever- \nmore upon God : \xe2\x80\x94 " Watch and pray, that ye enter \nnot into temptation. "f And there was yet another \nneed to watch. The Master was coming in the Morn- \ning ; but neither man nor angel knew when that \nmorning would dawn : and meantime the thief would \nbe seeking to enter ; \xe2\x80\x94 " Watch, therefore, for ye \nknow not what hour your Lord doth come."}: \n\nSo, also, St. Paul at Miletus, looking for the last \ntime on that dear flock from Ephesus, foresees the \ngrievous wolves, and straightway charges them, \n" Therefore, Watch !" Already by the space of \nthree years, he had not ceased to warn every one \nnight and day with tears. But still the peril will \n\n* Mark xiii. 37. t Matt. xxvi. 41. | Matt. xxiv. 42. \n\n\n\n316 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\ncome. Even from among those very men, now- \nweeping sore upon his neck, will some arise to speak \nperverse things ; and unless they watch, others still \nwill be drawn away \xe2\x80\x94 " Take heed, therefore, unto \nyourselves, and to all the flock."* \n\nSt. Peter, also, counted it not enough to tell in his \nlast Epistle, of exceeding great and precious prom- \nises ; but looking on to the days of " false teachers " \nand " destructive heresies," he gives thus his closing \ncharge : " Beloved, BEWARE lest ye also being led \naway with the error of the wicked, fall from your \nown steadfastness." f \n\nAt the close of that most wonderful Epistle, which \nabove all others, tells us of Life, and Light, and Love, \nwith what startling abruptness come the closing words \n\xe2\x80\x94 as though the Apostle had said already his last \ntender thoughts, and then turned again to utter this \none brief warning \xe2\x80\x94 "Little children, BEWARE OF \nIdols.":): \n\nFinally, when the Lord Jesus, walking in the midst \nof the seven candlesticks, sends forth His messages \nto the Churches, it is to sound successive notes of \nwarning, even while holding out the highest prom- \nises. The solemn charge to Sardis is more or less \nthe common burden of all \xe2\x80\x94 "Be WATCHFUL, and \nstrengthen the things which remain, that are ready \nto die." \xc2\xa7 \n\n\n\n* Acts xx. 17-38. \\ 2 Pet. Hi. 17. \n\nX 1 John v. 21. \xc2\xa7 Rev. iii. 2. \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. 3^ \n\nIf one would understand the necessity for such \nwarnings from age to age, let him but turn to the \nrecords of that Church which Christ purchased with \nHis own blood. " So safe," is our thought at first, \nas we look upon our Surety. So safe with such a \nSaviour \xe2\x80\x94 so safe through the might of the indwelling \nSpirit. But these records, what say they ? There is \nno study that is so passing sorrowful as Church His- \ntory, even with all that also makes it joyful. Behold \nhow quickly the wolves break in, and the slaughter \nand scattering of the sheep ! Behold the heavy \nmists of speculative thought rising along the stag- \nnant shores of old Philosophy, and spreading far \nand wide, till the pure air is poisoned in the homes \nof thousands ! Behold the floods of worldliness let \nloose, and sweeping along the multitude ! Behold, \nagain, the gross darkness that covers the people, till \nthey weary themselves as in the very fires, to purchase \npeace and pardon ! \n\nAnd even when the Lord came forth so marvel- \nlously to restore the lost Truth, and sent a new Morn- \ning, and a glad Spring-time to the world \xe2\x80\x94 behold how \nspeedily once more, there came the blighting winds \nof deadly doctrine, or more destructive still, the chill \nfrosts of utter apathy ! And looking also at the time \nnot yet handed over to History, behold the swift and \nscathing fires that incendiary hands have kindled \xe2\x80\x94 \nsetting any of their wild lights to do the work, and \nsnatching often as they dare the sacred torch of \n\n\n\n3 i 3 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nScience, to hurry on the conflagration ! Yet of the \nlands that have been thus ravaged, we must remem- \nber, that the Lord may still see and count His seven \nthousand, while even a prophet thinks himself alone. \n\nIn view of all the past, and the scourges of the \npresent in many a region, can we fondly hope that \nour own day, or our own land, is to prove at last the \nhappy exception ? Never, indeed, was there witnessed \nsuch activity in spreading the Gospel \xe2\x80\x94 such affluence \neven of Christian appliances. But may not the Church \nbe nearing in her career the case of that last one \namong the typical Seven, when she seemed in her \nown eyes to have need of nothing? \xe2\x80\x94 and yet all \nthat the faithful and true Witness could say was \nthis, " Because thou art lukewarm, I will spew thee \nout of my mouth."* No external activity can ever \ntake the place of personal affection and inward com- \nmunion with the Lord. \n\nNor is this the only peril of our day. We recog- \nnize with great joy, the fact of a wide-spread earnest- \nness to come up to a higher standard of Christian \nlife. Sometimes it would seem that we are even on \nthe eve of unprecedented blessings. There is good \npromise of a more vital hold on Truth, as well as of \nits clearer vision. There are signs of more ardent \nlove, and more joyful sacrifice in service. Above all, \nbrotherly love is making the boundary lines of a \ngreatly divided Church, if not yet indistinct, yet far \n\n* Rev. iii. 16. \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. ^q \n\nmore unobtrusive. No longer high walls and moats, \nbut blooming hedgerows mark the fields upon the \none vast estate. Indeed, one can so look at the \npresent blessings of the Christian community, as to \nmake the simplest suggestion of fear appear a discord \nand disloyalty. \n\nThere have been times not a few \xe2\x80\x94 and in whose \nmemory is there not such a one \xe2\x80\x94 when God\'s \nSpirit has so brooded over great assemblies, as to \nknit them into wondrous unity, and to lift them up \nas on wings of eagles. Did it not seem on some such \nhappy day as though all that was low, and petty, and \nself-willed, had gone forever ! The River swelled with \nthe upheaving tide from God\'s great outer Sea, till all \nits wonted obstacles, its sand-bars and its snags, were \ntoo far down to touch, and free and fearless each little \nsail went on its way. The full flood of Heavenly \nLove had lifted them all up into safety. But have \nwe no need to watch the ebbing ? How soon may \nthe mindful Spirit need to revive these memories \xe2\x80\x94 \n" Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and \nheard ; and hold fast, and repent.""* \n\nDo w r e not already see the signs that should be \nheeded ? Has not the Philistine stalked into our \nconquered Canaan ? It is such an easy step from \nleading the people like a flock, to lording it over \nGod\'s heritage ; so natural after judging for oneself, \nto judge the consciences of others also ; so easy to for- \n\n* Rev. iii. 3. \n\n\n\n320 \n\n\n\nTHE FULNESS OF BLESSIXG. \n\n\n\nget, that the angelic tongue may turn to a poor tink- \nling cymbal, and all knowledge and all faith become \nnothing, the moment charity collapses. Arrogance, \nbickerings, cliques, dogmatism, jealousies \xe2\x80\x94 one dead \nfly among them all, will spoil the best " ointment \nof the apothecary" \xe2\x80\x94 What have they who speak \nof holiness, to do with unclean things like these ! \n\nNor must it be overlooked that the very qualities \nwhich fit men to be leaders, expose them to the dan- \nger of such assumption, grounded upon strength of \nwill. And precisely here are some of the most diffi- \ncult of conquests called for : the development of \nactive energies is an easy task ; but to be gentle as \nChrist was gentle \xe2\x80\x94 " in meekness to instruct those \nthat oppose themselves " \xe2\x80\x94 to make oneself of no rep- \nutation \xe2\x80\x94 this is the difficult task ; for this sets aside \nthe high spirit of man, that the Spirit of Jesus may \nrule in all things. \n\nAll such as have found in faith the victory that \novercometh the world, still need to listen to one of \nthe most striking features in this last charge of \nJoshua ; \xe2\x80\x94 the direction given to still drive out their \nenemies.* Such a charge at first seems to contradict \nthe claim of a complete conquest. But it is found \nthoroughly true in experience. Whoever dreams that \nbecause his Garden has been well-weeded, he may \nnow give over that care ? How often it happens that \nthe round is not complete, before it needs some- \n\n* Josh, xxiii. 5. \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. 321 \n\nwhere to be renewed. No weed may be suffered to \nsow its seed in that well-enclosed spot, but the germs \nare in the very soil, and they float on all the winds. \nOne may gain upon them, some of them may wholly \ndisappear, and the others be known only to one vigi- \nlant eye and unsparing hand \xe2\x80\x94 but wherever man is \nput into his garden " to dress it and to keep it," he \nwill have to continue this conquest. And what need \nto watch also the too rampant growth \xe2\x80\x94 to train that \nwhich is wild and irregular, to prune the choice vine \nthat it may bear much fruit \xe2\x80\x94 to watch the insidious \nand fast-spreading blight \xe2\x80\x94 the sudden attacks of in- \nsect enemies \xe2\x80\x94 the withering heat and the wanton \nwinds ! Never may one dream of success through \nimmunity from these : that is the reward of never- \ntiring watchfulness. \n\nBut it may be suggested, such watchfulness is pain- \nful. It involves anxiety, care, responsibility, which \nwe are taught to cast upon the Lord. Why not, since \nwe are so apt to become unwatchful, simply hand it \nall entirely over to the Lord ? Because we have no- \nwhere any warrant so to abuse that trust \xe2\x80\x94 because \nwe are never to abandon that duty which He has \nplainly laid upon us. We may and must abandon all \nanxiety, all distrust \xe2\x80\x94 but watchfulness, never ! The \nwatchword that the Lord Jesus gave us was not \n"Abandon yourselves," but " Watch /" \n\nThis combination of both trusting and watching is \nperfectly simple. The Alpine traveller selects his \n\n\n\n322 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nguide with care, and then places full confidence in \nhim. But does he expect his guide to absolutely \ncarry him? \xe2\x80\x94 or does he forthwith become reckless? \nDoes he rush to the edge of the precipice, or whither \nhe will ? Does he not understand rather that his own \nprudence is presupposed, and that he must, under the \ndirections of his guide, use his foresight, skill, and \nstrength, to their full limit ? And yet his confidence \nis solely in his guide ; and because he watches him, \nand follows him, and obeys him in all things, he can \nalso trust him. \n\nWe are told that in the last days, perilous times \nshall come, and that a multitude of evils will then \nbe let loose. How much more is yet to come, none \nof us can tell ; but certainly it seems the character- \nistic of our own time that all the various enemies that \nhave ever attacked the Church, are now combined \nagainst it ; so that while we watch on one side the \nopenly advancing foe, the secret snare is set for us \nupon the other. Never, surely, was there such a \nnecessity to u watch in all tilings." Every new treas- \nure entrusted to our keeping, must needs draw down \nthe thief upon us. All our priceless possessions as \nthe Church of Christ, expose us in precise proportion \nto their development, to the rage of him " that dash- \neth in pieces." Therefore are we charged \xe2\x80\x94 "Keep \nthe munition ! Watch the way ! Fortify thy power \nmightily."* Not to the few, not to the most, but \n* Nahum ii. I. \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. 323 \n\nto all His soldiers \xe2\x80\x94 every one of them in a post of \ndanger \xe2\x80\x94 does the Lord Jesus now speak from heaven, \n" What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch !" \n\nWatch, then, even along the very line of progress \nand of seeming safety, lest ye take one step beyond the \nsafe footing ; lest you carelessly cross that light line \nwhich is still the very real boundary between good \nand evil. \n\nWatch, lest while you break free from the tram- \nmels of mere Tradition, and claim that freedom of \nthought which is your rightful heritage, in which \nevery man is to be " fully persuaded in his own \nmind " \xe2\x80\x94 watch, lest there come an overweening sense \nof your own power, and scope of thought \xe2\x80\x94 lest you \nfancy in some vain moment, that by searching you \ncan find out God. Watch, lest, like that anointed \ncherub, set by God, of old, upon His holy mountain, \nthy heart also be lifted up, and thy beauty be cor- \nrupted by reason of thy brightness. Watch, lest thou \n" set thy heart as the heart of God ! " * \n\nAnd watch also, ye whom the very Spirit of God is \nleading on, illuminating your vision \xe2\x80\x94 who see deeper \nthan all forms and symbols, and yet behold them as \nmediating between the natural and the spiritual ; \nwho have learned what channels have been consti- \ntuted, through which the all-powerful Word can give \nand your lowly faith receive\xe2\x80\x94 Watch, lest that which \nis now real, become ideal only; lest Imagination \n* See Ezek. xxviii. 1-19. \n\n\n\n324 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nusurp the place of the Invisible power of God, and \nSense encroach upon the realm of Spirit. Watch, \nlest your high-way of spirituality bend little by little \ntoward that which is beneath ; remember that even \nalong such a treacherous track as this, has many an \nunthinking traveller missed his mark \xe2\x80\x94 Therefore, \nWatch ! \n\nAnd you who, listening to the voice of the Holy \nSpirit, find Him teaching as man never taught, beware \nlest in some moment when your ear is turned the \nway of your own heart\'s lust \xe2\x80\x94 a stranger\'s voice \nshould seem to you the voice that calls you onward ; \nand your fancies and your fears alike combine to \ncheat you, till you wander far from the Good Shep*. \nherd: remember that this very road is white with \nthe bones of those who have fallen upon their high \nplaces : \xe2\x80\x94 Therefore, Watch. \n\nAnd you who have come to account Charity as great- \ner than all creeds, who see everywhere how they that \nlove and fear God are accepted of Him, beware lest \nyou lose sight of Truth, in giving place to her poor \ncounterpart\xe2\x80\x94 and the mere convictions of Conscience, \nwith all her variable voices, come to claim a common \ncredit. Remember that Eternal Truth is stable as \nthe being of God is stable. Remember that her pure, \nwhite light, as it floweth from His throne forever, is \nmore potent by far than any of the brightest of those \nrefracted beams that work their little wonders. Re- \nmember that Truth is no divisible fund, but " the liv- \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. 325 \n\ning Child " which no sword must slay ; and that every \nfragment which you forfeit, is so much loss in the \ncompleteness of your own life. \n\nAnd you also who have learned that this Truth is, \nindeed, the chief jewel in the crown laid up for you \n\xe2\x80\x94 who know that it is not a vain thing for you, but \nyour very life, to be embodied in you as it was in \nHim who said \xe2\x80\x94 "I AM the Truth\'\' \xe2\x80\x94 watch in your \nturn, that while you thus hold fast to all that is im- \nmovable, you give full freedom also to that which \never changes, because it ever lives. Smother her not \nin a close-fitting shroud \xe2\x80\x94 stiffen her not into a statue \n\xe2\x80\x94 and settle not the measure of a growth that is not \nreached. Therefore, watch as Wardens of the Truth, \nthat while you guard the majestic forest oak, and \nsuffer no rude hand to mar that strong old trunk that \nhas stood the same for ages \xe2\x80\x94 that still you let it year \nby year put forth its new and living verdure as it \npleases. \n\nWatch, ye who have been trained in holy awe of \nthe high attributes of your God, and have stood afar \noff as ye worshipped, lest this very reverence of yours \nbecome a barrier, to stay that tide of love with which \nthe Lord is seeking to enrich your being \xe2\x80\x94 lest ever, \nye lie flat upon your faces, forgetful of that blessed \nbosom where every disciple whom Jesus loves, may \nlean as fearless as a child. But watch, ye who have \nlearned this lesson, and remember that you are not \nto be less reverent because more loving ; that your \n\n\n\n326 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. \n\nfreedom is to be no forwardness. Remember, also, \nthat it is fitting that the household caress should be \nsheltered under the home shadow. Sons and daugh- \nters of a King, it is your sweet privilege to forget all \nstate in a Father\'s fondness : but before that world \nthat knows Him only as its Sovereign, give Him the \nreverence that is His due. Let not even the dear, \nfamiliar names by which He would have you call \nHim when alone with Him, fall so freely upon the \nears of others, that they turn away to misdeem His \ndignity. Therefore, watch ! \n\nTake heed that when the Lord Jesus bids you " go \nand show what great things God hath done to you," \nthat at once you go your way and publish it : but \ntake heed also that when He charges you, as He \nsometimes will \xe2\x80\x94 " See thou tell no man," that then \nyou only keep all these things, and ponder them in \nyour hearts. \n\nWatch, ye whom the Lord has brought into His \ngood Land of Promise, and given it to you to pos- \nsess \xe2\x80\x94 watch, lest ever you come to rely upon a past \nexperience, instead of His continual faithfulness. \n\n" Be sober, be vigilant ; because your adversary the \nDevil as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom \nhe may devour." Resist him steadfast in the faith. \nAnd watch him all the more when he transforms \nhimself into an angel of light. Watch his open \nattacks and his secret entanglements. Watch that \nyou suffer nothing which the Spirit of God condemns \n\n\n\nTHE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. 327 \n\nto linger in your land \xe2\x80\x94 that even the little failures of \nyour consecrated lives, prove not the daily vexing of \nyour souls, as of those who walk among thorns and \nbriers. \n\nWatch all along the line of His Commandments \xe2\x80\x94 \nwalking in love \xe2\x80\x94 walking as children of Light \xe2\x80\x94 walk- \ning circumspectly \xe2\x80\x94 proving what is acceptable unto \nthe Lord. Watch that ye use faithfully every gift that \nHe has given you. Take heed especially that you \n" first learn to show piety at home." Watch that as \nyou say in the hearing of all Israel, " As for me and \nmy house we will serve the Lord," so you be willing \nto write upon the very bridles of your horses,* \n" Holiness unto the Lord." \n\nWatch all along the line of His Promises, that you \nreceive all that He so freely gives. Day by day let \nthe healing, animating beams of the Sun of Right- \neousness shine down upon you. Moment by moment \ntake that breath of life which the Lord Jesus breathed \ninto you when He said \xe2\x80\x94 "Receive ye the Holy Ghost T \n\nTake good heed that ye still search the Scriptures \ndaily. Watch the ripening, one after another, of the \ntwelve manner of fruits that are borne upon its blessed \nboughs \xe2\x80\x94 that so your souls at each new period of life \nmay feed upon never-failing freshness. \n\nAnd watch that ye still come continually to Him \nof whom these Scriptures testify, that ye may have \nlife. Feed upon Him daily as your true Bread of \n\n* Zech. xiv. 20, marginal reading. \n\n\n\n328 THE FULNESS OF BLESSIXG. \n\nLife. Let your holy fellowship with Christ be close \nand continual. " Watch unto prayer " \xe2\x80\x94 " praying \nalways" \xe2\x80\x94 "praying in the Holy Ghost." Take \nheed above all things that ye " continue in His \nlove." Watch most of all this Fountain-head of all \nthe issues of your life. Take heed that evermore this \nlove of Christ constrain you. So in a perfect love \nthat casteth out all fear \xe2\x80\x94 in trust and not in terror, \nshall ye sing upon your Watch-tower, " The Lord is \nmy Keeper" \xe2\x80\x94 " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, \nwhose mind is stayed on Thee because he trusteth in \nThee." \n\nBLESSED IS HE THAT WATCHETH. \n\n\n\nPASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE, \n\n\n\nQUOTED WITH VARIATIONS FROM OUR PRESENT \n\nVERSION. \n\n[These variations have been often used in order to \nbring the force of the original to bear as fully as possible \nupon the subject in hand, selecting whatever accessible \nrendering appeared best to effect this, and sometimes using \na slight paraphrase. The words employed are not at all \nsuggested as in all cases to be preferred.] \n\n\n\nExodus, xxxiii. 14 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n. 221 \n\n\n1 Corinthians, x. 6 . . \n\n\n6 \n\n\nNumbers, xxi. 3 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n. 243 \n\n\n" xi. 26 . . \n\n\n198 \n\n\nJoshua, i. 9 . . \n\n\n\n\n\n\n. 100 \n\n\nxi. 31, 32 . \n\n\n. \n\n\n" V. II . \n\n\n\n\n\n\n. 176 \n\n\n260, 268 \n\n\n273 \n\n\n" V. 12 \n\n\n\n\n17 \n\n\n6, 200 \n\n\n" xii. 4-1 1 . \n\n\n289 \n\n\n" v. 13, 14 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n. 220 \n\n\n2 Corinthians, v. 7 . . \n\n\n235 \n\n\nJudges, v. 15, 17 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n. 293 \n\n\nv. 14 . . \n\n\n7^ \n\n\nProverbs, vi. 22 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\xe2\x80\xa2 279 \n\n\nx.4, 5. \xe2\x80\xa2 \n\n\n250 \n\n\nIsaiah, xi. 3 . . \n\n\n\n\n\n\n. 283 \n\n\nGalatians, ii. 20 . . . \n\n\n78 \n\n\n" lxiii. 9 . \n\n\n\n\n\n\n. 221 \n\n\nEphesians, vi. 11, 12, 245 \n\n\n248 \n\n\nZechariah, xiv. 20 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n327 \n\n\nPhilippians, i. 9 ... \n\n\n284 \n\n\nMatthew, ix. 2, 22 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n. 107 \n\n\n" iii. 12, 14 \n\n\n263 \n\n\nxi. 28 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\xe2\x80\xa2 30 \n\n\niii. 15 . . . \n\n\n263 \n\n\n" xiv. 27 . \n\n\n\n\n\n\n107 \n\n\n" iii. 21 . . . \n\n\n196 \n\n\n" xxviii. 2c \n\n\n\n\n\n\n138 \n\n\nColossians, ii. 12 . . . \n\n\n7S \n\n\nJohn, i. 51 . . \n\n\n\n\n\n\n230 \n\n\nHebrews, iv. 1 1 ... \n\n\n142 \n\n\n" vi. 55 . . \n\n\n\n\n\n\n193 \n\n\n" x. 10, 14 . . \n\n\n256 \n\n\n" xvi. 13 . . \n\n\n\n\n\n\n8 \n\n\nx. 13 ... . \n\n\n137 \n\n\nActs, xiii. 18 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n5i \n\n\n2 Peter, ii. 1 \n\n\n316 \n\n\nRomans, xv. 29 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n15 \n\n\n" iii. 12 ... . \n\n\n139 \n\n\n1 Corinthians, iv. 4 \n\n\n\n\n258 \n\n\n1 John, i. 1-3 ... . \n\n\n225 \n\n\n" viii. \n\n\n2, : \n\n\n5 \n\n\n278 \n\n\n" v. 21 . . . - \n\n\n316 \n\n\n\n(329) \n\n\n\nINDEX. \n\nAccursed, same word as devoted, 268. \n\nAchan, Sin of, 269. \n\nAchor, Valley of, 272. \n\nAchsah, Request of, 299. \n\nAesthetics, Spiritual, 284. \n\nAi, Defeat at, 266. \n\nAitken, Rev. R., Reference to, 244. \n\nAlford, Dean, quoted, 2, 188, 193, 194, 248 \n\nAllegorical Teaching, 5. \n\nAmalek, 241. \n\nAngel of the Face, 221. \n\nApostles, Authority of, 152 ; Twelve ditto, Symbolism of, 153. \n\nApprehended and apprehending, 92. \n\nArabia, Associations of, 21. \n\nArgyle\'s, Duke of, Reign of Law referred to, 12. \n\nArk, Symbolism of, 126. \n\nAssurance, Want of, 36. \n\nAugustine, St., quoted, 30. \n\nBahr, reference to his Symbolik, 153. \nBaptism of Christ, Representative, 133. \nBengel quoted, 190, 191, 192, 197. \nBernard, Thos. Dehaney, quoted, 6, 152. \nBickersteth quoted, 297. \nBlameless, not faultless, 261. \nBlood of Christ, 189. \nBrown, Jas. Baldwin, quoted, 15. \n\nCanaan, War in, typical, 248. \nCalvin quoted, 192. \n\n(531) \n\n\n\n332 INDEX. \n\nCanon, Collection of, 9. \n\nCaptain, Seeing the, 220. \n\nCherubim, Symbolism of, 129. \n\nChildlikeness of Spirit, 233. \n\nChristlieb quoted, 90, 186, 209, 291. \n\nChrysostom quoted, 191. \n\nChurch, Calling of the, 135 ; Blessedness of, 196. \n\nChurch History, Records of, 317. \n\nCircumcision, Typical meaning of, 159. \n\nCommittal of Faith, 114. \n\nConsecration, 107 ; do., a ready recipiency, 108 ; do., the work \n\nof Faith, 112, 113. \nContinuity of Life of Christ, 77-79, *95. \nConybeare and Howson quoted, 5, 51. \nCourage, 100. \nCrawford, Dr., quoted, 25. \nCrosby, Dr., quoted, 16. \n\nDarwin quoted, 12. \n\nDeath of Christ, 155, 183. \n\nDeborah, Song of, 293. \n\nDefiniteness, Lack of, in teaching, 94. \n\nDelays, none on God\'s side, 1 10. \n\nDeuteronomy, Teaching of, 75. \n\nDevil, The existence of, 245 ; Usurpations of, 246. \n\nDistrust, Sin of, 57. \n\nEgypt, Symbolic meaning of, 241. \nEwald quoted, 66. \nExtraordinary, Dangers of the, 210. \nEye of the Church composite, 11. \n\nFaber quoted, 248. \n\nFables \xe2\x80\x94 two illustrative, 40, 59. \n\nFairbairn\'s Typology quoted, 2. \n\nFaith, Only direct definition of, 235 ; Its career, 265. \n\nFarrar\'s Life of Christ referred to, 10 ; quoted, 275. \n\n\n\nINDEX. 333 \n\nFay, F. R., quoted, 67. \n\nFeeling, to follow, not to precede Faith, 121. \n\nFellowship with God, 297. \n\nFlesh, The, 241. \n\nFreedom not to be forwardness, 326. \n\nGarden, Need of caring for, 320. \n\nGarments, Babylonish, 269. \n\nGibeonites, Snare of, 274. \n\nGifts of the Spirit, 288 ; Given in perpetuity, 290 ; Neglect of, 290. \n\nGoulburn, Dean, quoted, 38. \n\nGuidance of the Spirit, 276-284. \n\nHall, Bishop, quoted, 24. \n\nHallel, The, 179. \n\nHare, Archdeacon, quoted, 249. \n\nHastening, Importance of, 140. \n\nHebron, Attractions of, 295. \n\nHerbert, George, quoted, 86, 112. \n\nHoliness, in Greek, the same as Sanctification, 256. \n\nIncarnation, Significance of, 184. \nInertia of spirit, 305. \nIsrael, Future of, 287. \n\n" Jesus and the Coming Glory " referred to, 134. \n\nJericho, The Fortress, 240. \n\nJordan, Significance of, 84-87 ; Possessions east of, 292. \n\nJoseph, Request of the Tribe of, 303. \n\nJukes, Andrew, quoted, 3. \n\nKeble quoted, 233. \n\nKeil and Delitzsch quoted, 200, 252, 293. \n\nKelly, W., quoted, 86. \n\nLange\'s Com. quoted, 100. \n\nLaw a standard, not strength, 70 ; Law of the Spirit of life, \n74 ; Breaking of, 1 28. \n\n\n\n334 INDEX. \n\nLegality, Struggles of, 67-70. \nLevi, reversal of his curse, 309. \nLiberty in Christ, 213. \n" Little by little," 250. \nLove, Power of, 173, 29S. \n\n\n\n-, C. H. \xe2\x80\x94 Notes on Numbers quoted, 35. \n\n\n\nM\xe2\x80\x94 \n\nM a r mill a n, Rev. Hugh, quoted, 5. \n\nMajorities no true guide, 56. \n\nManifestation, Inward, of Christ. 225-232. \n\nManna, Symbolism of, 200, 214. \n\nManslayer. Provision for, 30S. \n\nMaterialism, where justly charged, 182. \n\nMeditation, Importance of, 101. \n\nMercy-seat. Symbolism o\\. 1 28. \n\nMichaelis quoted. 100. \n\nMinisters. Responsibilities of, ;a. \n\nMiracles, Chief objects of, :. \n\nMisapprehension of God. 95. \n\nMoll, Dr., quoted. 1 } \n\nMolyneux. Rev. CapeL referred to, 2SS. \n\nMoney. Love of. 2~c. \n\nMoses, significance of his death, 66, 67. \n\nMyers. Frederic, quoted, 9. \n\nNatii] dcss, Examples of, 211. \nN ^ ante, Vow of the. 216. \n\\ ..is History of the Puritans quoted, 306 \nder quoted, 136. \n\nOlshausen quoted. 72. iSS. 1S9. \n\nover in Egypt. 176 : Feast of. 177-180. \n" Patience of Hope." Author of, quoted. 21S. \n\n. Declaring our. \nPreaching. Frequent character of \n\n\n\nINDEX. 235 \n\nPresence of Christ perceptible, 225-233. \nPromises, Strength of, 120. \n\nRed Sea, Significance of, 84. \n\nRedemption, Twofold Scope of, 20, 24. \n\nRefuge, Cities of, 308. \n\nRemembrance, Duty of, 143. \n\nRest, Promise of entering into, 28-32. \n\nResurrection of Christ, 185. \n\nReticence sometimes commanded, 326. \n\nReuben and his cattle, 292. \n\nRevelation, Unexplored regions of, 136, 305. \n\nReverence towards God, 136, 325. \n\nRobinson, Pastor, Farewell Address of, 306. \n\nSacramentarianism referred to, 182. \n\nSanctification \xe2\x80\x94 an impartation, 27 ; by faith, 37 ; system of In- \nstantaneous, referred to, 96, 259 ; False schemes of, 249 ; de- \nfined in Scripture, 256 ; specially treated of in Chap. XII. \n\nSatan not to be parleyed with, 282. \n\nScriptures, Scepticism respecting, 13 ; Continual study of, 327. \n\nSelf-denial, Perversion of, 165. \n\nSelf-examination, Erroneous ways of, 278. \n\nSelfism, 162, 172. \n\nSenses, Spiritual training of, 281. \n\nSeparation from the world, 1 70. \n\nSin as defined in Scripture, 258. \n\nSincerity not sufficient without Truth, 275. \n\nSmith\'s Dictionary of the Bible quoted, 180. \n\nSpies, Sending of, 23 ; Return of, 45. \n\nSpiritualism referred to, 245. \n\nSprings, Symbolism of, 300. \n\nStanding and state unlike, 53. \n\nStanley, Dean, quoted, 116. \n\nStephen seeing the Lord Jesus, 231. \n\nStier, Rudolph, quoted, 103, 156, 189, 191, 198, 199. \n\nStones set up at Gilgal, 146. \n\n\n\n336 INDEX. \n\nSuffering, Call to, 156. \nSupper, The Lord\'s, 197. \n\nTemptation, how differing from Sin, 259. \n\nTemple representing more than Tabernacle, 131. \n\nTrench, Archbishop, quoted, 311. \n\nTruth, its Stability, 324. \n\nTurning points, 93. \n\nTypes, Varied application of, 10 ; Details of, 12. \n\nVaughan, C. J., quoted, 31. \n\nVeil to be taken from our hearts, 17. \n\nVictory designed to be constant, 254; already won for us by \n\nChrist, 264 ; Securities for, 34. \nVoice of the Spirit distinguishable, 281. \n\nWatchfulness, Importance of, 315. \n\nWestcott\'s Introduction quoted, 7. \xe2\x80\x94 Gospel of the Resurrection \n\nquoted, 78. \nWhittier quoted, 117. \nWordsworth quoted, 298. \nWordsworth, Bishop, quoted, 137. \n\n\n\nDeacidified using the Bookkeeper process. \nNeutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide \nTreatment Date: June 2005 \n\nPreservationTechnologies \n\nA WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION \n\n1 1 1 Thomson Park Onve \nCranberry Township, PA 1 6066 \n\n\n\n'