ist and the Church. 
 
 A. Saphir,d. d 
 
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 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
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 Saphir, Adolph, 1831-1891 
 
 Christ and the church 
 
 Shelf. 
 
CHRIST AND THE CHURCH 
 
CHRIST AND THE CHURCH 
 
 THOUGHTS 
 
 ON 
 
 THE APOSTOLIC COMMISSION 
 
 {MATTHEW xxviii. 18-20) 
 
 / 
 
 By ADOLPH'SAPHIR, D.D. 
 
 Author of "Lectures on the Lord's Prayer," "Christ Crucified," etc. 
 
 NEW AND CAREFULLY REVISED EDITION 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY 
 
 56, Paternoster Row ; 65, St. Paul's Churchyard ; and 
 
 164, Piccadilly. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE last words of our Lord, as recorded in the 
 Gospel of Matthew, are invested with a special 
 interest. They are most memorable, when we con- 
 sider the occasion on which they were uttered, and 
 the calm majesty with which the Saviour, rejected 
 of men, declares Himself the Light of the world and 
 the Lord of all ages ; when we think of the commen- 
 tary which is written on these words in the Book of 
 Acts and in the history of the last eighteen centuries ; 
 of the solemn and touching manner in which they are 
 brought before us as a living reality in every baptism ; 
 of the power which they have exerted in constraining 
 the Church to go forth with the Gospel message, and 
 when we remember the precious and all-compre- 
 hensive promise they contain of the Lord's presence 
 with His Church, until the Church shall be " for ever 
 with the Lord." 
 
 These words of our Saviour contain also a brief 
 summary of Christian doctrine, a concise epitome of 
 
vi $refaa. 
 
 Church truth. The centre is the Person of Christ ; 
 the foundation is the revelation of God, as Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost. Here we see the spiritual 
 character of the Church, as the Light and Teacher 
 of the Nations. Here we are reminded of the new 
 obedience of the Gospel, as distinguished from the 
 dispensation of the Law. The Apostolic Commission 
 points out the relation of the Church to the world, — 
 her character and her mission ; while it contains all 
 needful encouragement and consolation, both in the 
 declaration of Christ's omnipotence, on which it rests, 
 and in the promise of His Presence with His people 
 throughout the dispensation. 
 
 In the following pages I have endeavoured to view 
 the words of the ascending Saviour in the light of 
 the other Scriptures, — the preparatory light of the 
 Old Testament and the Pentecostal light of the 
 Gospels and Epistles. 
 
 A. SAPHIR. 
 
• - w 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 i. The Omnipotence of the Risen Saviour . 
 
 ii. The Omnipotence of Jesus on Earth 
 
 hi. The Catholic and Spiritual Character of th 
 Church 
 
 iv. The Name of God .... 
 
 v. The Name of God : the Glory of the Old and 
 of the New Covenant 
 
 vi. The New Obedience .... 
 
 vii. The Church and the World, 
 
 viii. Life in the Church .... 
 
 ix. Heathenism ..... 
 
 x. The Real Presence .... 
 
 PAGE 
 I 
 
 37 
 67 
 
 89 
 130 
 160 
 190 
 208 
 233 
 
"<&nb Jesus ante arib saake unto them, sailing, JUl uobjer 
 is giben unto $£e in heaben anb in earth. (So o.c therefore, 
 a no teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the 
 ^father, anb of the ^on, anb of the ^joto ©host ; teaching 
 them to obscrbc all things iohatsoeber I habe eommanbeb 
 non : anb, to, £ am toitli oou albjat}, eben unto the enb of the 
 
 bJOdb." — Matthew xxviii. 18-20. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 ^Ehc (Dmntpfltenxe of the Jtijsett Sabioitr* 
 
 "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." 
 
 Matt, xxviii. 18. 
 
 NONE but Jesus could have uttered these words 
 and Jesus only after His death and resurrection. 
 It is true that in the days of His humiliation He had 
 said, "All things are delivered unto Me of My Father," 1 
 and again, that "the Father had given Him power 
 ever all flesh. " 2 It is true, that during the years of 
 His obedience on earth He lived in the full con- 
 sciousness of the glory which He had before the 
 world was, and knew that the Father had given all 
 things into His hands. 3 But it was only after He had 
 accomplished His decease at Jerusalem that by His 
 resurrection He was declared to be the Son of God 
 with power. 4 It was after His death on the cross that 
 the Father highly exalted Him, and that, as the Son 
 of man, He was invested with the omnipotent govern- 
 ment of the whole world. 
 
 "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in 
 earth." Thus spake our risen Lord, the man Christ 
 Jesus, the only Mediator between God and man, our 
 
 1 Matt. xi. 27. 2 John xvii. 2. 3 John xiii. 3. 4 Rom. i. 4. 
 
 B 
 
\L h c (Omnipotence of 
 
 royal High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the 
 throne of the Majesty in the heavens, angels and 
 authorities and powers being made subject unto Him. 1 
 Thus spake the incarnate Son of God, the appointed 
 Heir of all things, crowned with glory after His 
 obedience unto death. Thus spake He on eartJi before 
 His ascension, to announce His spiritual presence 
 and reign, during the times of His bodily absence ; 
 to announce His royal prerogative on earth until the 
 times of the restitution of all things, 2 when He shall 
 establish His kingdom, and rule over all nations. 3 
 
 His words. are full of divine mystery ; they possess 
 heavenly massiveness and grandeur, and yet are they 
 full of peace, consolation, and hope to every Christ- 
 loving heart. The Lord announces His omnipotence ; 
 but when He says, " All power is given unto Me," 
 He reminds us that His power is the gift and reward 
 of His Father after His obedience and death of love. 
 He speaks in the tone of absolute sovereignty and 
 authority, as Jehovah commanded Israel to observe 
 all His precepts and statutes (Deuteronomy passim) ; 
 but listening to the command and promise of a risen 
 Saviour, we feel that His yoke is easy and His burden 
 light, and that in the revelation, of the triune Name, 
 He gives all-sufficient strength for service and victory. 
 And when finally He assures us of His omnipresence, 
 we are revived by the same fragrance, which in His 
 name Immanuel is our delight and encouragement. 
 
 1 Heb. viii. i ; I Peter iii. 22. - Acts iii. 21. 
 
 3 Comp. Dan. vii. 13, 14. 
 
^he Jlis-ett <Sabimtr. 
 
 With peaceful joy we listen to the words of our 
 Divine Lord. 
 
 The words are majestic and gracious, they are also 
 comprehensive in their simplicity and brevity. Here 
 is the mystery of the mediatorial kingdom — Christ, 
 the God-man, 1 Lord of heaven and earth, to the glory 
 of the Father. Here is a summary of divine revela- 
 tion and Christian truth — The name of Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost. Here is the description of Christian 
 life and service — Observe all things whatsoever I have 
 commanded you. Here learn the character, history, 
 and mission of the Church — To evangelize all nations, 
 and to build up the faithful in the knowledge and 
 obedience of God. And here is the hope and pro- 
 spect of Christ's people — The Master's presence with 
 us until the end of the age, 2 and His return to fulfil 
 all things. 
 
 So brief and weighty is the style of the heavenly 
 sanctuary, so great things has Christ expressed in 
 few words, that we and our children may remember 
 them easily, repeat them frequently, and meditate on 
 them with grateful hearts. It is true of this Scripture 
 what Martin Luther said, that in the Bible every 
 flower is a garden, and every tree a forest. 
 
 All the commandments and promises of Christ 
 have their root and source in His adorable Person. 
 He gives what He commands; He is what He gives. 
 
 1 This expression does not occur in Scripture ; yet, as Stier remarks, 
 is almost literally contained in this passage, as well as in Col. ii. 9. 
 
 2 " Until the end of the world," — I shall be with you always till 
 that time, and shall never be absent from you after it. — Greg. Naz. 
 
^ht <&mm$o\tncz xrf 
 
 Hence in all His epistles to the Churches, He first 
 reveals Himself, and the manifestation of His Person 
 is the foundation on which His commands and coun- 
 sels rest, as well as the fountain of all strength and 
 renewal. 1 Here also the Lord first reveals Himself, 
 and then gives His commission. 
 
 It is as the risen Saviour that Jesus speaks. 
 
 I love to think of that mysterious moment, very 
 early in the morning, when the Father raised up His 
 holy child Jesus from the grave. No human eye wit- 
 nessed it. Again the blessed feet of Jesus touched 
 His blood-redeemed earth, and He went forth to 
 appear unto His brethren, and to declare unto them 
 anew the name of the Father. Perfect was His 
 peace, unspeakable the calmness of His repose, infinite 
 His joy, invincible His strength, triumphant His 
 thanksgiving. His was a new blessedness ; for ended 
 are now the fears, the sorrows, the sufferings of David, 
 the Son of Jesse ; henceforth He will only sing the 
 praise of God in the midst of the Church. 2 The yes- 
 terday of His humiliation and the cross is past ; the 
 steep ascent on the rugged path of obedience is 
 finished ; His conflict with the powers of darkness is 
 ended ; that small moment — infinite in its depth of 
 agony, and longer than all thousands of years — that 
 small moment when the Father hid from Him His 
 countenance, it is past. Christ descended into the 
 lowest depth, and the light of His love to God and 
 man came forth only with greater brilliancy and 
 
 1 Rev. ii., iii. 2 Psa. xxii. 22. 
 
^he Jjiisttt <Satoiour. 
 
 sweeter radiancy. He saved the lost sheep ; He 
 tasted the bitterness of death ; He bound the jailer 
 hand and foot ; He triumphed over principalities and 
 powers. All is finished, all is gained. Sin and death, 
 the grave and hell, lie behind Him. He died unto 
 sin once ; He liveth unto God for evermore. The 
 Father is glorified, the Church is purchased ; earth is 
 redeemed, even heaven is transfigured — and He Him- 
 self is exalted, the Head, the Heir of all things. 
 
 This is, indeed, not merely the first day of the 
 week, but the beginning of the Day ; for beautiful as 
 was the light of the first creation, beautiful as was the 
 light in which the first Adam, created in the Divine 
 image, beheld the glory of God, and worshipped in 
 love and humility, its duration was brief, and soon it 
 was succeeded by the night of sin, sorrow, and death. 
 But the day which began on the Resurrection morn 
 is endless, and its light is eternal and invincible. Our 
 Sun of Righteousness can never set. He is Light of 
 light, and God of God. Out of the night of weeping, 
 into which the Holy One entered in His infinite and 
 free love, is born a joy of morning which can never 
 end. " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who of His abundant mercy hath be- 
 gotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection 
 of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance in- 
 corruptible, and that fadeth not away ! " The true 
 light now shineth ; the darkness is past. We have 
 entered on the day which the Lord hath made : let 
 us rejoice and be glad in it. 
 
Uhe (Omnipotence of 
 
 During forty days Christ appeared unto His 
 disciples. He revealed Himself unto them, the same 
 Jesus who was crucified, full of grace and truth, love 
 and sympathy, power and majesty. As true man He 
 spake, He reasoned, He opened to them the Scrip- 
 tures j 1 they touched His sacred body; 2 He ate with 
 them. 3 But while they beheld His true humanity, 
 they also beheld the glory of the only begotten of 
 the Father ; they learned to call Him Lord and God 
 with deeper humility and awe; 4 they adored Him as 
 the Son of God, 5 the Prince of peace, 6 the Shepherd 
 of the flock. 7 
 
 Jesus taught them the mystery of the cross and 
 the glory. He prepared them for the descent of the 
 Holy Ghost, and for the intermediate period of testi- 
 mony and suffering before His second coming. 
 
 We do not sufficiently enter into the sorrow of the 
 disciples. They had lost Christ according to the 
 flesh. The human friendship which existed between 
 the Lord Jesus and them — the earthly sweetness of 
 this relationship — was gone for ever. The days of 
 human companionship, bright and fragrant as child- 
 hood, were over. That sharp sword which pierced 
 the heart of Mary, when on the cross she lost Jesus 
 as her Child, went through the disciples' souls like- 
 wise. As He said to Mary Magdalene, so He said to 
 them all, " Touch Me not." Henceforth they were to 
 know Christ no longer according to the flesh. But 
 
 1 Luke xxvii. 27. 2 John xx. 27. 3 Luke xxvii. 43. 
 4 John xx. 28. 5 John xx. 19. 6 John xx. 17. T John xxi. 16. 
 
^Ihe gUsett gabicmr. 
 
 they were to know Him more truly and fully ; they 
 were to enter into more real fellowship with the Lord 
 of Glory, the risen and glorified head of the Church, 
 the Lord who is the Spirit, 1 and in that fellowship to 
 realise that His love and tenderness had remained as 
 deep and sweet as in the days of His earthly ministry. 
 
 The forty days after His resurrection were the 
 gentle transition, during which the blessed Master, in 
 His infinite wisdom and grace, prepared the disciples 
 for the future, with its new light and spiritual power. 
 
 He did not dwell with them, but He appeared unto 
 them. The high priests and the rulers of Jerusalem 
 could take no cognisance of these meetings between 
 the risen Lord and His disciples. To them He was 
 dead ; He was non-existent. " The world seeth Me 
 no more." Symbolic fact ! Jesus still meets His 
 believing disciples. There is a congregation with 
 which no earthly jurisdiction can interfere, and which 
 no earthly philosophy can discover. Jesus still 
 teaches, blesses, guides, and rules His servants ; but 
 the world seeth Him no more, because it cannot 
 receive the Spirit of Truth. The world knows not 
 the Father, 2 nor the Son, 3 nor the Spirit. 4 
 
 A new life began to dawn in the hearts of the 
 disciples. Old things had passed away. The mists 
 of darkness and doubt were disappearing. They 
 began to understand the Scriptures. They beheld 
 the glory of Christ. Their hearts were established. 
 
 1 2 Cor. iii. 17. 2 John xvii. 27. 3 I John iii. 2. 
 
 4 John xiv. 17, 22. 
 
^hc Omnipotence of 
 
 Waiting for fuller light and greater power, looking 
 forward to Pentecost, they carried about with them 
 in this mysterious interval between the Resurrection 
 and the Ascension a wonderful and blessed secret ; 
 they possessed a knowledge, a peace, and a dignity, of 
 which the world had no conception. The secret was 
 — Jesus lives ! the peace — He is our Lord ; the 
 dignity — He calls us His brethren, and His God and 
 Father is our God and Father. And yet even this 
 was only a preparation for the full manifestation of 
 the mystery — the union of Christ and the Church, 
 which is His body. 
 
 Five hundred disciples were thus linked together, 
 and formed a fraternity such as earth had never beheld 
 before. The knowledge of Jesus, the risen Saviour, 
 separated them from the world, and bound them one 
 to another in strong and tender fellowship. They 
 knew and followed the Lord of Glory, whom the 
 princes of this world rejected. The centre of their 
 circle, the magnet which attracted their hearts, the 
 source of their new life and hope, was the blessed 
 Master, in whom they had believed in the days of 
 His flesh, whom their faith had well-nigh lost during 
 the awful hours of His sufferings and death ; but who 
 had, according to His promise, returned to them, to 
 be theirs for evermore. They belonged now to Him 
 in a fuller and more exclusive sense. His death had 
 separated them also from the world, from the flesh, 
 from the hopes and thoughts of the first Adam. A 
 man rejected by Israel, and crucified by Jews and 
 
iUhe !ii0£tt <8arjiom\ 
 
 Gentiles, but acknowledged and exalted by the 
 Father, was their Lord and King. They expected 
 from Him all guidance and command, all blessings 
 and gifts, all promises and rewards ; it was therefore 
 in an other-worldly, heavenly region that henceforth 
 they were to move. 
 
 They did not know as yet the mystery of the 
 Church. The Holy Ghost had not yet descended. 
 Only dimly could they.as yet understand the mystical 
 union between Christ, the risen Head, and the Church, 
 which is His body. 
 
 But though their understanding was not yet fully 
 enlightened, and the day of Pentecost not yet fulfilled, 
 — in true and vital faith, in heaven-born and lively 
 hope, in fervent and adoring love, they belonged to 
 Jesus. The Lord had appointed them a mountain in 
 Galilee where He would meet them. He had spoken 
 of this before His death, and the angels recalled it to 
 the memory of the disciples after Christ's resurrection. 
 Thus, according to the Master's word, the disciples 
 met, led by the eleven apostles, chosen by the Lord 
 as the elder brethren and guides of the future Church. 
 No stranger, no enemy, no unbeliever, can disturb 
 them or intrude into this hallowed circle. Was it 
 that the angels of God encamped round about them, 
 and that the Father thus surrounded them with bright 
 and strong, but unseen walls and gates ? Or was it 
 that the glory of the risen Saviour insulated them, 
 according to a spiritual law, from all whose hearts had 
 not yet been touched by divine grace ? 
 
io ^hc (Dmnipoicnre oi 
 
 He appeared, and they worshipped. Some among 
 them doubted ; for the heart of man is slow to believe. 
 But the Lord, like Joseph to his astonished brethren,, 
 went near, and then declared His divine majesty and 
 infinite power. 1 
 
 All power is given unto Him in heaven and 
 earth. Once, in the days of His flesh, He was taken 
 up into an exceeding high mountain, and all the 
 kingdoms of the world were shown unto Him, and 
 the glory of them. And the tempter said, "All these 
 things will I give unto Thee." But Jesus, the holy 
 Child of God, meek and lowly in heart, in the spirit 
 of obedience said, " Get thee hence, Satan, for it is 
 written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and 
 Him only shalt thou serve." 
 
 Given to Him by the Father. Once — only a few 
 weeks ago — all things were taken from Him. Who 
 
 1 The following remarks on the passage are from Andrews' Life of 
 Out Lord: — " This meeting, having been appointed by the Lord before 
 His death, and recalled to the memory of the disciples by the angels, 
 must be looked upon as the chiefest and most significant of all His 
 manifestations. There can be little doubt that it was identical with 
 that mentioned by Paul, i Cor. xv. 6—' After that He was seen of 
 above five hundred brethren at once.' Although Matthew speaks only 
 of the eleven disciples as present at the mountain, yet his silence 
 respecting others would not exclude them, as in his introduction to the 
 Sermon on the Mount he speaks only of the disciples as His auditors, 
 although great multitudes beside were present. That he should men- 
 tion oniy the eleven is wholly consistent with his general purpose, and 
 with the peculiarities of his Gospel. But in his own brief account there 
 is a hint that others were there beside the eleven. . . . Upon this 
 occasion, the words seem to have been spoken which are recorded by 
 Matthew, xxviii. 18-20, and Mark, xvi. 15-18." 
 
^OEhe Jfitsen <Sat>ioitr. n 
 
 was ever as poor as Jesus when He lived on earth ? 
 " Foxes have holes, and fowls of the air have nests, 
 but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." 
 But what was left Him when they nailed Him to the 
 cross ? His nation rejected Him ; His beloved Jeru- 
 salem cast Him out; His disciples forsook Him; 
 men took His very garments from Him. Nothing 
 was His but the cross and the crown of thorns. He 
 laid down His life. And one thing He had dearer 
 than life — that where He had garnered up His heart, 
 His Father's love, the assurance of His favour, the 
 light of His countenance, behold the Father withdrew 
 from Him the sense of His love. Christ had nothing 
 on the cross but weakness, suffering, and the burden 
 of our sin. 
 
 And therefore it is that God hath highly exalted 
 Him, and given unto Him all power in heaven and 
 in earth. For unto which of the angels said He at 
 any time, "Sit thou at My right hand, until I make 
 thine enemies thy footstool ?" To whom, but to the 
 incarnate Son Jesus, doth He say, " Thy throne, O 
 God, is for ever and ever ; a sceptre of righteousness 
 is the sceptre of Thy kingdom." " Thou hast loved 
 righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, even 
 Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness 
 above Thy fellows." 
 
 Angels worship and obey Him now as the Lamb 
 of God. The angels marvelled and rejoiced when 
 the Word was made flesh. On the eve of Christ's 
 nativity, they descended to the plains of Bethlehem, 
 
12 oThc ©miiipotcnre of 
 
 and sang, " Glory to God in the highest ; peace on 
 earth, good-will among men, in whom He. is well 
 pleased/'* 
 
 Throughout His whole earthly life angels were with 
 Him. As it is theirs to guard helpless infants and 
 to watch at the morning gates of childhood, with what 
 astonishment would angels, always beholding the face 
 of God in heaven, see the reflection of His image in 
 the child Jesus ? Did they witness with awe and 
 grief the subtle assault of Satan in paradise, and the 
 fall of man, created in God's image, with what un- 
 speakable interest did they behold Jesus tested by 
 the adversary in the wilderness, and with what alacrity 
 and loving zeal did they minister unto Him, and 
 refresh His weary and exhausted humanity after His 
 victory over the foe. And as they always saw Jesus, 
 the Lord always beheld them. Unto Nathanael He 
 spoke of the heavens opened, and the angels of God 
 ascending and descending upon the Son of man. 
 When sinners drew near unto Him, and repented, He 
 saw the angels rejoicing over the sheep that was lost 
 and found. When He teaches His disciples to pray, 
 He reminds them of the obedience and blessedness of 
 the angels, who do the will of our Father in heaven. 
 When He opens to His disciples the mysteries of the 
 kingdom, He always speaks of the angels, who will 
 come with Him in glory, and execute His command- 
 ments and judgments. When He speaks of little 
 children, and when He speaks of the death of Lazarus, 
 He reveals to us the ministry of angels. In that last 
 
night, too, He beheld the legions of angels which the 
 Father could send Him. But He wished to be made 
 lower than the angels ; and there appeared an angel 
 — O never-to-be-forgotten ministry ! — to strengthen 
 Him in Gethsemane. What a bond of thrilling 
 tenderness is between Christ, the exalted Son of 
 man, and the angels. In Christ they behold the glory 
 of God, and through the incarnation and death of the 
 Lord Jesus they also have been brought nearer unto 
 the Father, and have received a deeper knowledge 
 and a greater love. 
 
 All power is given unto Him in heaven. He, 
 who descended, is the same that ascended far above 
 all heavens, that He might fill all things. 1 He is far 
 above all principalities and powers, and might and 
 dominion. 2 So it pleased the Father, according to 
 the eternal purpose which He purposed in Himself. 
 This is the revealed mystery of Divine love, that the 
 incarnate Son of God, that the crucified Jesus, should 
 be the Lord of all ; that in Him the Father's glory 
 should be manifested, and that in Him all things 
 should be reconciled in heaven and in earth. The 
 Son of man is on the throne of God ; He who was 
 born of the Virgin Mary, who took upon Him the 
 form of a servant, who by Himself purged our sins, 
 who is at the right hand of the Father. 
 
 Jesus^has all power in heaven, in order that the 
 / Church on earth should constantly and stedfastly 
 nook away from all that is human and temporal, and 
 
 1 Epb. iv. 9, 10. 2 Eph. i. 21. 
 
14 ^hc Omnipotence of 
 
 know of no other mediation, strength, guidance, and 
 comfort, but the power and love, the wisdom and 
 faithfulness of her one only Master and Head. He 
 is high, to be visible and accessible to the least of 
 His disciples in the lowliest valley of his weakness 
 and ignorance. From His heavenly throne, and from 
 no lower source, descends the gift of the Spirit in 
 various manifestations ; no Church, whatever may be 
 its boasted antiquity or spirituality, is to direct the 
 poor and needy, the dry and thirsty, to herself as the 
 dispenser of the Holy Ghost and of His gifts. On 
 the heavenly throne, and nowhere else, is the Priest 
 by whom we draw near and are accepted worshippers. 
 Looking unto Him, we are holy brethren, and par- 
 takers of the heavenly calling. 
 
 Behold Him, the Son of man, seated at the right 
 hand of the Father. And in His majestic rest 
 and peaceful dignity behold the perfect assurance of 
 our acceptance and of our blessedness. He sat down 
 on the right hand of God, because He had offered 
 Himself a sacrifice for sins, because by one offering 
 He has perfected them that are sanctified. He is in 
 heaven itself, in the presence of God, for tis, 1 our Lord, 
 our Advocate with the Father, the royal and eternal 
 High Priest. We are at Salem, in peace. 
 
 Behold Jesus in heaven, and remember that in Him 
 divine omnipotence is united with the tender sympathy 
 of perfect humanity. He was made like unto His 
 brethren in all things, that He might be a merciful 
 
 1 Heb. ix. 24. 
 
^he Jttseit Ǥnbiottr. 15 
 
 and faithful High Priest, touched with the feeling of 
 our infirmities, able to succour them that are tempted; 
 so that we can come with confidence unto the throne 
 of grace, and pour out our hearts before Him, who is 
 not merely our Lord, but our Elder Brother. 
 
 Behold Jesus in heaven, to bless His people. His 
 intercession is all-prevailing. The Father Himself 
 loveth us, according to the merciful assurance of 
 Him who, as the true Mediator, always reveals and 
 magnifies the Father. But it is in and through Christ, 
 that the love of the Father rests on believers. And 
 it is through Him that all divine gifts descend. The 
 blessings which He has purchased with His death are 
 dispensed by the exalted Saviour. Our great High 
 Priest sends down from heaven the power of His 
 atonement, purging our consciences from dead works, 
 and sanctifying us unto obedience and newness of 
 life. In Christ we behold the Father, from CJirist we 
 receive the Spirit. 
 
 11 God filial pleased to condescend, 
 And be our all-sufficient Friend, 
 And though exalted to His throne, 
 The dear relation still to own, 
 And send the boundless source of grace, 
 The Spirit, to supply His place." 1 
 
 Behold Jesus in heaven, and seek the things which 
 are above. In Him are all spiritual blessings in 
 heavenly places. From Him descend all healthful 
 influences, all spiritual gifts, all quickening and re- 
 
 1 Bishop Ken. 
 
1 6 Ih* (Dmnipotcnte of the fUscn gabtoxir. 
 
 newing power, all true and everlasting consolations. 
 
 I The Church through all ages is filled with His ful- 
 ness. The unsearchable riches of Christ, inexhaustible 
 in their fulness, and all-glorious in their substance, 
 are ours, that we may continually set our affections 
 on the things which are above. 
 
 Behold Jesus in heaven, and be of good comfort. 
 He presents unto the Father all the petitions and 
 thanksgivings, all the labours and sufferings, all the 
 words and works of His people, and they are accepted 
 and well-pleasing in His sight. And while we mourn 
 over the sins of our holy things, the coldness of our 
 prayer, the lukewarmness of our praise, the selfishness 
 which mingles with our service the imperfections in 
 motive and in execution which characterise our works, 
 let us remember that Jesus, as a High Priest, presents 
 all with the incense of His intercession, and that thus 
 our offerings ascend to the Father a sweet-smelling 
 savour. Through Christ we present ourselves, our 
 bodies, in which we live this earthly life, a living 
 sacrifice unto God, which is our reasonable service. 
 
 Lift up the eyes of your heart continually to heaven. 
 As an eminent teacher of the Church 1 used to say: — 
 
 " Jesus in heaven, 
 The heart in heaven : 
 Jesus in the heart, 
 Heaven in the heart." 
 
 1 Bengel. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 %\it ®mmp0tetixe .of Jesus on (Earth, 
 
 " All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." 
 
 Matt, xxviii. 18. 
 
 FROM our earliest childhood we are taught that 
 God is Almighty. 
 
 The thought of omnipotence without holiness would 
 be appalling to the angels. To them the holiness of 
 God appears as their safeguard, and the foundation 
 of their peace. 
 
 The very combination of attributes, which is a 
 source of confidence to the angels, is a source of fear 
 to fallen and guilty man. The omnipotence of 
 a holy and just God is a thought of terror to us. 
 Omnipotence without holiness would be 'unbearable 
 to angels ; omnipotence and holiness without mercy 
 would be crushing to sinful and polluted men. 
 
 But the thought that all power in heaven and in 
 earth is given unto Jesus Christ, the Lamb in the 
 midst of the throne, is full of peace and consolation. 
 Here we behold the divine love of righteousness and 
 hatred of iniquity, and we are not afraid. Jesus died, 
 the just for the unjust ; and He, who was offered for 
 our transgression, is now exalted as our Lord and 
 
 c 
 
1 8 ^Ihe (Dmrupotence at 
 
 Advocate. And here we behold — greatest of all 
 marvels — the sympathy of a brother, and the remem- 
 brance of tears and sorrows amidst the glories of 
 heaven. The hands which grasp the reins of govern- 
 ment of the whole Universe are omnipotent; but we 
 love to think of them, once tiny and feeble hands of 
 the infant Jesus, once used to labour and toil in 
 humble Nazareth ; used to heal the sick, and touch 
 with gentle affection little children ; once nailed for 
 our sakes to the cross. Worthy the Lamb, thus all 
 that is within us exclaims, to receive power and 
 dominion for ever ! O souls that have no Master, 
 hearts that have not found their Lord, sheep without 
 the loving Shepherd, there is a throne in heaven, and 
 on that throne is exalted the man Christ Jesus, and 
 unto all who come to Him He gives blessing and life 
 eternal, grace and glory. 
 
 Jesus is invested with all power in heaven and in 
 earth. Scripture reveals to us the grandeur and the 
 simplicity of God's plans. There are many circles, 
 but only one centre — Christ. There are many mani- 
 festations of the Godhead, but only one Mediator — 
 the Son. By Him all things were created, and He 
 is appointed the heir of all things. By Him sinners 
 are redeemed, and the kingdom of evil is conquered ; 
 and therefore is all power given unto Him as the 
 incarnate Son of God. 
 
 He is from all eternity the brightness of the Father's 
 glory, and the express image of His person. As He 
 is the beginning of the creation of God, and as He 
 
Jeeu0 on dtath. 19 
 
 is the end and the purpose of all things ; so during 
 all the ages He is the centre, in whom all things 
 consist, and by whose power they are upheld. He, 
 who was thus centre and head of creation, in whom 
 God revealed Himself by visible manifestations in the 
 old dispensation, became in the fulness of time, man, 
 and having purged, by Himself, our sins, sat down at 
 the right hand of the Majesty on high. Only the Son 
 of God could reveal the Father, only He could save 
 us from our sins ; and it is according to the eternal 
 counsel of God, and according to all the rights and 
 proprieties of the heavenly Sanctuary, that to Him in 
 human nature, and as reward of His death on the 
 cross, should be given all power and dominion. He 
 emptied Himself, He was made flesh ; now He is 
 crowned with glory, and He, the Lord, is that Spirit. 1 
 He was obedient unto the death of the cross ; out of 
 the grave, from the dead God raised Him, and set Him 
 at His own right hand, in the heavenly places, far 
 above all principality and power, and might and 
 dominion, and every name that is named, not only in 
 this world, but that which is to come. From the 
 lowest region of weakness, darkness, and defeat, He 
 was raised to the highest place of power, light, and 
 triumph. He, who gave up everything, who became 
 absolutely poor, who was crucified, dead, and buried, 
 hath received now, and because of His sacrifice, all 
 things, and is head over all to His beloved and ran- 
 somed Church. 
 
 1 2 Cor. iii. 17. 
 
20 ^he Omnipotence of 
 
 Thus we behold the humanity of Jesus exalted and 
 glorified. The incarnate Son of God, by His life and 
 obedience, culminating in His expiatory sufferings and 
 death on the cross, is now enthroned at the right hand 
 of God, and invested with all power in heaven and in 
 earth. The highest angel beholds and adores now 
 the infinite and incomprehensible God in the Lord 
 Jesus, the image of the Invisible, the manifestation of 
 the Father, the Mediator of the new covenant, and 
 Minister of the heavenly Sanctuary. They behold 
 now the glory of God in the Lamb that was slain. 
 And in Him the counsel of God is made manifest 
 unto them also ; for they behold Him as the Head of 
 the Church, and themselves as ministering spirits unto 
 the heirs of salvation. The world to come, which the 
 Father hath not put in subjection unto the angels, but 
 unto Jesus, the Son of man, and unto the Church 
 which is His body, is the great consummation towards 
 which all things tend. For one great purpose all 
 things work together in obedience to one Will, in 
 loving submission to one Head. In Him all creation 
 is summed up, even as in Him and by Him all things 
 were made and all things consist. In Him men and 
 angels are united. Having made peace through the 
 blood of His cross, the Father hath reconciled all 
 things to Himself, whether they be things in earth or in 
 heaven. Because He is from eternity the Son of God, 
 — because He is the Mediator of creation, and the 
 upholder of all things — because He is appointed heir 
 of all things, it was possible for Him to redeem us 
 
Jf-estt0 on (Sartk. 
 
 from our sins, and to deliver us from the power of 
 Satan and death. 
 
 Thus, according to the Father's "infinite wisdom 
 and power, the Lamb that was slain is the centre of 
 all things, the adoration of angels, the salvation of 
 sinners, the regeneration of the world, and the perfect 
 and eternal manifestation of His glory. 
 
 The power and glory of Jesus in heaven is the 
 source of our peace, strength, and joy. Man's pre- 
 rogative is to look upwards to heaven. He alone 
 from this earth lifts up his eyes, and beholds the 
 heavens above him. Even our earthly experience 
 teachtes us that all blessings come from above. The 
 air we breathe, the sunlight in which we live, the dew 
 and rain which fructify the earth, are all remembrances 
 and symbols of the truth that heavenly influences 
 and powers are indispensable and needful to us, the 
 children of earth. God created heaven and earth ; 
 and though sin separates them at present, the time is 
 coming when God's will is done in earth as it is in 
 heaven, and when men on earth shall see and know 
 the transfigured saints and their King Jesus, and 
 when the angels shall be seen descending and as- 
 cending on their errands of mercy. Meanwhile, the 
 eye of faith beholds heaven very near. The great 
 High Priest is seen by believing hearts, and the 
 breastplate on which our names are engraven. He 
 intercedes for us, and He sends to us all blessings we 
 need, and strength for every duty and trial. 
 
 We think too little of the heavenly Sanctuary with 
 
^he Omnipotence of 
 
 its ceaseless and perfect worship, and of the bond of 
 divine love which connects heaven and earth. Our 
 Saviour always beheld the heavens open ; He always 
 beheld and declared the one great kingdom ; He 
 spake of the Father and Himself and the holy angels, 
 and the salvation of sinners and the future glory; 
 of the one great kingdom of divine manifestations of 
 love and power. When His eye rests on little children, 
 He sees them surrounded by angels, who behold the 
 countenance of the Father in heaven. When He 
 receives repentant sinners, He beholds the angels 
 rejoicing in the courts above. When He announces 
 His return to earth, He declares that He will come 
 in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him. 1 
 When He promises to confess His faithful disciples 
 on that day, He places the angels beside Himself and 
 the Father — " Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me, of 
 him shall the Son of man be ashamed when He shall 
 come in His own glory, and in'His Father's,. and of 
 the holy angels." 2 It is the angels who shall come 
 forth and sever the wicked from the just ; they shall 
 gather together the elect of God from the four winds, 
 from one end of heaven to the other. So closely and 
 inseparably is earth's history connected with heaven ; 
 so all-comprehensive is the circle of which Christ is 
 the centre. 
 
 And this is one consequence of man's fall, that he 
 is isolated from the heavenly world ; and that his eye 
 rests on the lower horizon, and too often is fixed on 
 1 Matt. xxv. 31. 2 Luke ix. 26. 
 
Jesus on dEarth. 23 
 
 the ground, denying his heavenly origin, and forgetful 
 of his heavenly destiny. Sin has separated man not 
 merely from God, but also from heaven ; it has intro- 
 duced not merely strife and discord between man and 
 man, but it has made a rent and a chasm in that one 
 great kingdom, in which all God's creatures were to 
 dwell in harmony, fulfilling in their various gradations 
 of life and power the will of God, and aiding one 
 another in love and unity. But the object of re- 
 demption is to sum up together in one all things in 
 heaven and earth, to restore the lost harmony in a 
 new and more wonderful union through the blood of 
 Christ, in that new joy, which angels feel over par- 
 doned sinners, in that new righteousness and life 
 which the incarnate Son of God gives to His brethren. 
 Meanwhile, we are taught by Jesus to realise by 
 faith the unseen and heavenly world. We are no 
 longer circumscribed in our thoughts by the limits 
 of earth and the visible. We have come to Mount 
 Zion, and to heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innu- 
 merable company of angels, and to the spirits of just 
 men made perfect. We, who live at present in the 
 outer court, are in spirit continually looking to the 
 Holy of Holies ; we pray to our Father in heaven. 
 In the Sanctuary above, we believe, is the full and 
 all-glorious revelation of the face of God in Christ 
 Jesus. From heaven, through the mediation of angels 
 and powers, the commandments of God are executed, 
 and His purposes fulfilled. God the Father has 
 united in Christ all angels and saints to form one 
 
24 HEhe Omnipotence of 
 
 body, in which the various members serve one another, 
 and through their obedience and service are made 
 partakers of the blessing-, which Love through love 
 brings unto all. Thus angels carry out the will of 
 God in nature ; they are agents in the history of the 
 world, and find their highest mission in ministering 
 unto the heirs of salvation. And hereby are they 
 made partakers of our joy, and beholding the Church, 
 they obtain new revelations of the divine glory. In 
 the Church the stronger are to help the weak, en- 
 riching them in knowledge, upholding and comforting 
 them out of the abundance of grace which God hath 
 given them ; so that by the ministry of Love, they 
 that are exalted condescend to the low, and both 
 they that give and they that receive are satisfied, 
 and thanksgiving abounds unto God. The Church, 
 again, is to give unto the world light and love and 
 priestly intercession, to manifest the Father's gene- 
 rosity, and the meekness and self-sacrifice of Christ, 
 and thus to bring the lost and the perishing into the 
 fold of Christ, until at last all things on earth, and 
 even the creature, shall rejoice in the reign of humanity, 
 and be delivered from the bondage of corruption into 
 the glorious liberty of the children of God. Thus, 
 from earth to the heavenly Sanctuary, all His works 
 in all places of His dominion shall bless the Lord : 
 Christ, the God-man, being the Mediator, through 
 whom the glory of God is manifested unto angels, 
 and the Church, and the nations, and the whole 
 creation. 
 
Jesus on (garth. 25 
 
 When we believe this, the world appears indeed 
 beautiful. Heaven is near us, and in the midst of 
 things seen and temporal we behold the things which 
 are unseen and eternal, the real, substantial life and 
 power, growth and action, manifestation and progress 
 of love. We also, like Jacob, behold the hosts of 
 angels meeting us on our journey, and like Elisha, 
 know that fiery chariots are around us. 
 
 We believe that above the inanimate powers of 
 nature are the living, intelligent, loving angels who 
 move and rule them. 1 These are the wheels, not 
 unconscious, but full of wisdom, and adoration ; 
 instinct with light and power, full of eyes and full of 
 love. And these unseen, but not invisible, angels, 
 which are around us continually, and by whose 
 ministry and agency all nature breathes and moves, 
 are all the messengers of Jesus. They love us, 
 because the Son of God took upon Himself our nature. 
 And for His sake they take charge of us, and keep us 
 in all our ways, and shall finally carry our souls into 
 paradise. And thus it is God's will and Christ's 
 teaching, that when we pray, and when we think of 
 our Father in heaven and of our Redeemer, we should 
 remember the myriads of holy and strong angels who 
 have never sinned, and yet are meek and lowly — who 
 are pure and spotless, and yet shrink not from the 
 most polluted, but rejoice over the salvation of one 
 poor sinner — who excel in strength, and yet delight 
 in watching over helpless infants — who have the 
 
 1 Psa. civ. 4, 5 ; John v. 4 ; Rev. vii. 3. 
 
26 ^oEhe (Dmnipotata .of 
 
 wisdom and experience of centuries, and yet vail 
 their faces before the Presence. Them we are to 
 remember that we may approach the Father and the 
 Lord Jesus with deeper reverence and more solemn 
 awe, that we may feel more truly the high end of 
 our calling, to be as the bride of the Lamb, even 
 nearer the throne, but associated with the angels in 
 w r orship and service, and that the more courageously 
 and cheerfully we should continue our service on 
 earth, however obscure and difficult it may appear. 
 
 The thought of the angels teaches us something of 
 the majesty of that Lord whom they continually 
 worship and serve. 1 It encourages us in a fallen 
 world, where our enemies are many, and evil seems 
 to be strong and victorious, to think that the mighty 
 hosts of angels are on our side, and, like fiery chariots, 
 round about God's faithful people. It increases our 
 watchfulness to know that we are made a spectacle 
 to angels, and that their holy eyes are bent upon us. 
 And it often soothes our drooping and troubled spirits 
 to remember that, at God's command, the angels are 
 guarding us, and ministering unto us in the midst of 
 danger and trouble ; even as an angel unbarred the 
 gates of Peter's prison, and stood and comforted 
 Cornelius. 
 
 But the power of Jesus in heaven is revealed to us, 
 that we may know that to Him is also given all 
 
 1 R. Hooker, when on his death-bed, roused from silent thought, said 
 " he was meditating the number and nature of angels, and their blessed 
 obedience and order." 
 
J&5U0 on ©arth. 27 
 
 power in earth. At present, only believers know this ; 
 at Christ's second coming all the world shall acknow- 
 ledge it. Men fancy that Jesus has only spiritual 
 power and influence, that He is Head and Lord of 
 ministers and evangelists and devout disciples, and 
 do not know that He is Lord of all, that the Father 
 hath delivered unto Him all things, that by Him 
 princes reign, and kings rule, and philosophers think 
 and discover — that He is the life and light, and 
 strength and beauty of all that is living and true, and 
 strong and beautiful — that by Him all things consist. 
 They do not know that Christ is the Almighty, who 
 was, and is, and is to come ; that the whole world 
 and its history have but one centre and one purpose ; 
 that in Him are fulfilled all the counsels and ways of 
 God. At present He, whom God hath highly exalted, 
 who is the Lord of glory, and the Prince of the kings 
 of the earth, who is Head over all things to the 
 Church, and under whose feet the Father hath put all 
 things, rules and governs in silent and calm omni- 
 potence, unknown and unrecognised by the world. 
 All earthly events and historical movements, all 
 triumphs of skill and knowledge, all discoveries of 
 science and developments of human life, are under 
 His government and the power of His sceptre ; all 
 things are subservient to the great purpose of His 
 death, and preparatory to His second advent. 
 
 The world does not know Jesus as the Christ, the 
 Lord ; but it is the faith and consolation of the 
 Church. He, who is now hidden, shall appear, and 
 
^jllte ©mnipotcnre xrf 
 
 His glorious power and divine authority as Son of 
 man shall be manifest to all the world. 
 
 But in this dispensation we dwell chiefly on the 
 spiritual power of Christ on earth, manifested in the 
 conversion of sinners and sanctification of believers. 
 
 I. Jesus has power on earth to forgive sin. When 
 Jesus said to the man sick of the palsy, " Son, be of 
 good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee/' the Pharisees 
 thought within themselves, Who can forgive sins, but 
 God alone ? They did not know the Son of man, 
 Jesus the Christ, and His power. The sinner feels 
 that although he has wronged his fellow-men, yet his 
 sin is chiefly a transgression of God's commandment, 
 and therefore he says, "Against Thee, Thee only, 
 have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight." Who 
 can turn away the anger of the Lord ? who can satisfy 
 divine justice ? Who can cancel guilt, and wash 
 away the defilement of sin ? Who can silence the 
 accusing adversary, and lift us above the dark clouds 
 of Sinai, the mount of condemnation, and show us 
 the bright blue of heaven, the mercy of God. Jesus 
 only. He who has entered into the Holy of Holies 
 by His own blood, is now before the Father, the 
 Advocate and Righteousness of sinners who trust in 
 Him. And He has power to forgive sin on earth, 
 and the conscience is at peace, the heart that was 
 heavy laden is at rest. Penances, tears, and vigils, 
 pilgrimages and fastings, self-denial and costly 
 offerings, are of no avail ; as little will knowledge of 
 Scripture doctrine give peace to the soul. The living 
 
J^0us on (£arth. 29 
 
 Saviour alone, beheld and believed in by the power 
 of the Spirit, Jesus, forgives sin. This was the ex- 
 perience of Martin Luther. " I was in despair, and 
 in the very depths of hell, and no power could have 
 rescued me, if Jesus Christ had not come and opened 
 unto me the Scriptures." Feeling the burden of his 
 sin, he prayed and fasted ; he tried to observe all 
 commandments, and to climb the steep hill of holiness. 
 His burden became only heavier, until he discovered 
 in Scripture that man had no righteousness for God, 
 but that God had provided a righteousness for man ; 
 that the love of God meant God's love to us, and not 
 our love to God ; that Jesus died for sinners, and that 
 trusting in Him, the sinner had pardon, perfect, im- 
 mediate, and eternal. Then he said with joy what so 
 many say with their lips only, "I believe in the for- 
 giveness of sin." And knowing the power of Jesus 
 on earth to forgive sin, he feared not the power of 
 pope and emperor, but declared it, to the consolation 
 of thousands who were convinced of sin, that in Jesus 
 is forgiveness and plenteous redemption. 
 
 The omnipotence of Jesus to forgive sins is the 
 joy of the Saviour and the marvel of angels. The 
 pardon of a sinner is a greater wonder than the 
 creation of a world ; for the one is the result of a 
 divine fiat, the other is the fruit of the incarnation 
 and death of the Son of God. The pardon of one 
 sinner is a manifestation of greater power than the 
 judgment and the destruction of God's enemies. It 
 is a greater power which can heal the bruised reed, 
 
3<d TEhc (Dmnipotenre oi 
 
 and give it health, than the power which prostrates 
 the proudest oak. And Jesus exerts this power with 
 tenderness ; as gently as the light comes down from 
 heaven, and as the dew falls on the flowers of earth. 
 We look upon Him, and we are healed. 
 
 The woman who was a sinner drew nigh to Jesus. 
 She spoke no word, and Jesus also was silent. But 
 as the Saviour understood her tears, so the very 
 presence of Jesus spoke peace to her heart. For in 
 that Jesus did not shrink from her touch, and 
 allowed her to kiss His feet, she knew that she was 
 accepted. 
 
 Power to forgive sins — is the omnipotence of love ; 
 only because Jesus is the Son of God, who loved us 
 and gave Himself for us, He can say, " I, even I, am 
 He that blotteth out thy transgressions for My name's 
 sake, and will remember thy sins no more." 
 
 2. Jesus has power to renew the heart. Jesus only. 
 It is only His dying love that melts the heart. It 
 is only Christ lifted up who draws men unto God. 
 While the wintry and keen blasts of the law make us 
 wrap the cloak of self-righteousness and opposition 
 to God more closely and firmly around us, the Sun of 
 Righteousness, the mercy of God, moves us to lay 
 aside our pride, our sin, our hatred and forgetfulness 
 of God. Who can renew the heart ? Who can make 
 us love God ? Who can change us, after our many 
 years of sinful and ungodly lives ? Jesus only ! He 
 baptizes with the Holy Ghost, and we are changed, 
 renewed, born again. The experience of Augustine 
 
Jesus on OEnrth. 31 
 
 is a striking illustration. Ail his knowledge and 
 genius, all his philosophy and ambition, could not 
 give him the victory over sin and the fierce power 
 of evil within him. Astonished at the pure and 
 beautiful life of simple and unlearned Christians, he 
 felt vexed at his own weakness and inability to con- 
 quer sin, until Jesus appeared to him. For, walking 
 in trouble of heart and conscience in his garden, and 
 hearing the voice of a boy, who, playing a common 
 game with his companion, cried, " Tolle lege," he 
 opened the Scripture, and read the words — " The 
 night is far spent, the day is at hand ; let us cast off 
 the works of darkness, and put on the armour of 
 light." Then Jesus took possession of his heart. Sin 
 was conquered. The bondage of Satan was broken. 
 He, who had been sold under sin, was free and strong. 
 He became a burning and shining light, a teacher, 
 bishop, and father in the Church of Christ. 
 
 3. Jesus has power on earth to quicken the dead. 
 It is His divine prerogative to give life. Who but 
 God can kill and make alive again ? The fountain of 
 life for fallen and guilty sinners is with God; 1 even 
 His Son, who was in the beginning with God, and 
 unto whom the Father hath given to have life in 
 Himself, and to quicken whom He will. Jesus is not 
 merely a teacher or prophet : He is not a restorer of 
 law. It is not instruction merely or principally that 
 we need. If a law could have been given, by which 
 life could come into dead and God-estranged hearts, 
 
 1 Psa. xxxvi. 9, comp. Psa. cxxx. 4; John i. 4; v. 21. 
 
32 ^Ite (Omnipotence of 
 
 the advent of Jesus would not have been needed. 
 But the Lord Himself came, that we might have life. 1 
 By this He became our Good Shepherd, and He gave 
 His life for the sheep. Not by His doctrine, nor by 
 His example, but by His death, the erring and lost 
 sheep were saved and brought into the fold of peace. 
 And therefore is it impossible for any human image 
 to show forth adequately His pastorate. " My sheep 
 hear My voice ; I know them, and they follow Me." 
 The earthly symbol suffices here ; but dropping the 
 image, and ascending to the sublime height of His 
 own unparalleled love and power, the Saviour adds, 
 " And I give unto them eternal life." This is the 
 divine power of Jesus, that by the Holy Spirit He 
 gives life to us ; the life of light and knowledge, life 
 spiritual and eternal, life in communion with Him — 
 nay more, life flowing from His own life. He liveth 
 in us. We are branches in Him, who is the True 
 Vine. "Jesus is the Life of my life," 2 is the hymn of 
 the Christian, as the Apostle Paul exclaimed, " To 
 me to live is Christ." As sin is the cause of death, 
 so righteousness is the channel through which life 
 was brought. On the cross of Christ we were de- 
 livered, from death, and by His resurrection Jesus 
 became the quickening Spirit. The law and death 
 are behind us ; in union with the crucified and risen 
 Saviour we have life, the life of sons; we are born 
 again of incorruptible seed, of the Father's will, by 
 the Spirit's power, through and in Jesus Christ. This 
 1 John x. 10; Gal iii. 21. 2 Jesu, meines Lebens Leben. 
 
Jesus mi (garth. 33 
 
 is the power of Jesus on earth, that He gives life, and 
 that He is the life of His disciples. 
 
 4. All power is given unto Jesus on earth to keep 
 His people in faith and love amidst all the tempta- 
 tions and afflictions, conflicts and struggles, giving them 
 the victory over their enemies, and presenting them 
 finally unblameable in body, soul, and spirit before 
 the Father. 
 
 The Good Shepherd, whose own the sheep are, by 
 the election of the Father, by the self-sacrifice of His 
 infinite love, by the indwelling and sealing of the 
 Holy Ghost, keeps His people to the end. He guards 
 them and protects the new and tender life against the 
 hostile and adverse influences by which it is sur- 
 rounded. In heaven He is continually interceding 
 on our behalf, that our faith fail not; on earth 
 He is continually shielding us with the power of 
 His love, and keeping us by the influence of His 
 Spirit. 
 
 The more we know of the power of sin, of our 
 weakness, and of the strength of the adversary, the 
 more truly do we feel that divine power alone is able 
 to keep us, and that only divine love and patience 
 can bear with our continual forgetfulness and unbelief. 
 In the great work of the saints' preservation, as in all 
 works of divine grace, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost 
 are manifested in blessed union. It is because the 
 Father and the Good Shepherd are one that none can 
 pluck us out of Christ's hands. It is because the 
 Father purgeth the branch in Christ that it brings 
 
 D 
 
\Lhe (Omnipotence of 
 
 forth more fruit. We rest in the bosom of Him who 
 is in the bosom of the Father ; we are Christ's, and 
 Christ is God's. 1 It is by the Spirit that the Father 
 and Son come and take up their abode within us. 
 By the Spirit we are joined with Christ, and kept in 
 Him ; sealed with the Spirit of promise, we possess 
 the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption 
 of the purchased possession. 
 
 But while Christ reveals and brings to us the love 
 of the Father and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, 
 we look to Him as the Rock on which we are built, 
 the Vine in which we are grafted, the Head from 
 whom cometh our life, the Bridegroom who is our 
 sunshine and joy ; and we rejoice that all power is 
 given unto Him on earth ; all power to protect, to 
 guide, to bless ; all power to keep us from falling, and 
 to present us faultless before the presence of His 
 glory with exceeding joy. 
 
 Why is it, that when we possess a Saviour, whose 
 power and love are infinite, we are so often filled with 
 fear and despondency, and so frequently need the 
 exhortation, " Lift up the hands which hang down, 
 and the feeble knees : gird up the loins of your mind, 
 be strong in the Lord, be not afraid nor dismayed ; 
 for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou 
 goest?" We are wearied and faint in our minds, 
 because we do not look steadfastly unto Jesus, the 
 Author and Finisher of faith, who is set down at the 
 right hand of God ; unto Him whose omnipotence 
 
 1 John x. 29, 30; xv. 1, 2 ; 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23. 
 
Jf£stt0 on (garth. 35 
 
 embraces both heaven and earth, who is strong and 
 mighty in His feeble saints. 
 
 While we remember our weakness, we forget His 
 all-sufficient power. While we acknowledge that 
 apart from Christ we can do nothing, we do not rise 
 to the height or depth of Christian humility : I can 
 do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. 
 While we trust in the power of the death of Jesus to 
 cancel the guilt of sin, we do not exercise a reliant 
 and appropriating faith in the omnipotence of the 
 living Saviour to deliver us from the bondage and 
 power of sin in our daily life. We forget that Christ 
 worketh in us mightily, and that, one with Him, we 
 possess strength sufficient to overcome every tempta- 
 tion. We are apt either to forget our nothingness, 
 and imagine that in our daily path we can live without 
 sin — that the duties and trials of our everyday life 
 can be performed and borne in our own strength ; or 
 we do not avail ourselves of the omnipotence of Jesus, 
 who is able to subdue all things unto Himself, and to 
 keep us from the daily infirmities and falls, which we 
 are apt to imagine an inevitable necessity. If we really 
 depended in all things and at all times on Christ, we 
 would in all things and at all times gain the victory 
 through Him, whose power is infinite, and who is 
 appointed by the Father to be the Captain of our 
 salvation. Then all our deeds would be wrought, not 
 merely before, but in God. We would then do all 
 things to the glory of the Father in the all-powerful 
 name of Jesus, who is our sanctification. Remember 
 
36 L viihe 0mnipoten.ee of Jesus on (Sarih. 
 
 that unto Him all power is given in heaven and on 
 earth, and live by constant exercise of faith in His 
 power. When anxious to follow the Saviour, remem- 
 ber that Christ the Rock is following us, that, being 
 refreshed and strengthened by Him, we may be able 
 to walk after Him. He is the Beginning of all and the 
 End of all ; He Himself is the Way ; of Him is our 
 fruit found, and His strength is made perfect in weak- 
 ness. Christ's omnipotence is glorified not merely in 
 the heroic deeds and sufferings of His saints and 
 martyrs, but in the daily strife and obedience of His 
 lowliest members. Let us learn to look unto Him ; 
 to lean not on our own strength and resolutions ; to 
 expect nothing from our fortitude, and our remem- 
 brance of past mercies ; instead of being angry with 
 ourselves, vexed and desponding on account of our 
 slow progress and our constant failures, let us most 
 fully believe that we have and are nothing, that with 
 man it is impossible, that in ourselves we have no 
 life which can bring forth fruit, but that Christ is all, 
 that, abiding in Him, and His words dwelling in us, 
 we can bring forth fruit to the glory of the Father. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Wxt (ttathfllir atib Spiritual Character 
 of tkt €hurxh, 
 
 "Teach all nations." — Matt, xxviii. 19. 
 
 WHAT man or angel, I ask again, could utter 
 such words ? Jesus saith, that all power is 
 given unto Him in heaven and in earth. High 
 above all earthly thrones and heavenly dominions, 
 He speaks of Himself as the Son, equal with the 
 Father and the Holy Ghost. All nations, from the 
 rudest to the most cultivated, and throughout the 
 whole course of time, are to sit as disciples and 
 learners at His feet ; through Him they are to enter 
 into covenant-relationship with the Triune God. In 
 this highest economy of divine grace and power, His 
 commandments have absolute and exclusive authority ; 
 and as the presence of Jehovah was with the children 
 of Israel in the wilderness, and with Joshua in the 
 promised land, so this Divine Lord assures His 
 disciples of His presence with them to the end of 
 the age. 
 
 Only a few weeks before He uttered this heaven-high 
 and world-wide commission, His cause had, to all human 
 judgment, and according to all outward appearance, 
 
38 Wxz tothtfltr mxb <Sjriritual 
 
 failed ; His plans had been completely frustrated ; 
 His work had ceased. Never had man, according to 
 the world's view, been so entirely and irrecoverably 
 defeated. After His ministry of three years, what 
 was the result of His words and works ? His nation 
 rejected Him, and preferred to Him Barabbas, who 
 was a robber. The highest spiritual authority of the 
 land|pronounced Him a blasphemer. The Scribes, 
 the Pharisees, the High Priest, the representatives of 
 the law of Moses, of the covenant, and of the Temple, 
 judged him worthy of an ignominious death. Roman 
 justice thought Him too unimportant to protect Him 
 against the hatred of His enemies, and to provoke the 
 displeasure of the people they sought to conciliate. 
 So He was crucified between two malefactors. His 
 very disciples forsook Him and were scattered. The 
 world rejected Him, and saw, in His death on the 
 cross and in His burial, the conclusion and final 
 destruction of His work and mission. 
 
 Remember this, and then listen to the words of the 
 risen Jesus. With what royal and calm emphasis He 
 asserts His omnipotence in heaven and earth. In 
 perfect assurance of victory, He sends messengers, not 
 merely to His own people, whose language He had 
 spoken, whose Scriptures He unfolded and fulfilled, 
 who had witnessed His miracles, and listened to His 
 words, but to all the nations of the world, to bring 
 them into the obedience of His faith. And consider 
 whom He entrusted with this work. The very disciples 
 who had been offended in Him, and had deserted 
 
Character oi the Church. 39 
 
 Him in the hour of trial ; Peter, who had denied 
 Him thrice ; Philip, who knew so little of Him, 
 though He had been so long time with them ; Thomas, 
 so full of gloomy doubt and obstinate unbelief; such 
 disciples, weak and ignorant, He sends forth, relying 
 on them as strong and invincible. And what are the 
 weapons with which they are to conquer ? The sword 
 is the Word ; the foolishness of preaching, the message 
 of Christ and Him crucified. And all the protection 
 He gives them is a hostile world ; all the resources 
 He places at their disposal are not power or wisdom, 
 not wealth or eloquence, but His own hidden yet 
 perfect omnipotence, His real spiritual and all-sufficient 
 Presence. 
 
 Truly Christ's kingdom is not of this world. Here 
 is the weakness of God, which is stronger than man. 
 The sheep whom Jesus sent forth in the midst of 
 wolves are protected by an unseen Lamb, and they 
 gain the victory with weapons which man's reason 
 can neither discover nor appreciate. The commission 
 which the risen Saviour gave to His disciples, 1 which 
 no worldly ear heard, and which would have appeared 
 to Jew and Greek an idle dream and foolish pre- 
 
 1 "A century and a half after the Incarnation Celsus ridicules the 
 idea of a universal religion as a manifest folly. . . . Christ founds a 
 world-wide religion, and He promises to be the present invigorating 
 force of that religion to the end of time. Are we not too accustomed to 
 this language to feel the full force of its original meaning ? How start- 
 lingly must it not have fallen upon the ears of apostles ! . . . Can we 
 imagine such a command of our Lord upon the lips of the best, of the 
 wisest men whom we have ever known ? " Liddon, Bampion Lectures 
 p. 117. 
 
40 ^hc Catholic attb (Spiritual 
 
 sumption, has now been tested by eighteen centuries. 
 But we believe its divine truth and power, not on 
 account of the evidence of history — that is, because 
 we see — but because by the Holy Ghost we know 
 that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of the Father ; because 
 by faith we see Him whom the world seeth no more ; 
 because we have experienced in our hearts that Christ 
 is exalted a Prince and a Saviour. 
 
 There are two aspects of the command of Christ 
 Go and teach, or disciple, all nations, which claim 
 our attention. (i) The universality — all nations. 
 (2) The spiritual character of the commission — teach, 
 instruct, make them disciples, learners, in My school. 
 
 I. When Jesus was on earth, He did not go to all 
 nations, but confined His ministry to Israel. While 
 He was with His disciples, He said unto them, u Go 
 not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any of the 
 cities of the Samaritans enter ye not." You remem- 
 ber how very emphatically He dwelt on the limits of 
 His commission when the Syrophcenician woman 
 implored His help, and He replied, " I am not sent 
 but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." The 
 exceptions which He made in obedience to the 
 guidance of His heavenly Father, and the spirit of 
 love and joy with which He received the Gentiles, who 
 were thus brought to Him by God, explain to us 
 sufficiently the nature and reason of the limitation. 
 It was according to the divine purpose, according to 
 the method of God's dealings with Israel and the 
 
(Eharariec of the Church. 41 
 
 nations, that Jesus should first go to His own people, 
 preaching to them the gospel of the kingdom, and 
 endeavouring to gather them under the wings of His 
 mercy and holy love. He was Israel's Messiah and 
 King. He was sent first of all to the children. He 
 was a minister of the circumcision, to fulfil the promises 
 made unto the fathers. He visited the vineyard which 
 God had planted. The Angel of the Covenant came 
 to His temple. But Israel itself was chosen in Him 
 for the salvation of the world. And even during His 
 earthly ministry in Israel, Jesus thought with joy and 
 love of the Gentiles who should come to the light, and 
 enter the fold of divine peace. There is something 
 very marked and thrilling in all the instances (recorded 
 in the Gospel) of Gentiles received by Jesus. 
 
 The Lord marvelled at the faith of the Roman 
 centurion, and of the Syrophcenician woman. He 
 exclaimed, " I have not found such faith, no, not in 
 Israel ! " He said, " O woman, great is thy faith ! " 
 With what trembling emotion was His soul filled when 
 He heard of the Greeks who had come to the feast, 
 and who wished to see Him ! " The hour is come," 
 He said, "that the Son of man should be glorified." 
 In the tone of confiding friendship, He said plainly to 
 the woman of Samaria what He had not said so simply 
 to Israel — " I that speak unto thee am He." There 
 is a tone of affectionate yearning in the words — 
 " Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold ; 
 them also I must bring ! " 
 
 Jesus loves Israel with a special love. Nothing — 
 
42 ^Ehe (Dtthtflu ani <Spiritttal 
 
 not their unbelief and rejection of the Messiah — can 
 change the peculiar position of Israel in God's plan 
 and kingdom. Jesus is Israel's Messiah and King; 
 His relation to them is peculiar and unique. But it 
 is for the sake and for the benefit of the whole world 
 that Israel was chosen. And now the time had come. 
 The gospel of salvation was to be preached to the 
 whole world ; He who had formerly said, " Go not," 
 now utters the command, " Go ye into all the world, 
 and preach the gospel to every creature." He throws 
 open Samaria and all regions, even to the uttermost 
 ends of the earth. The rejection of Israel's Messiah 
 results in a twofold dispersion. In judgment, the 
 Jews are scattered among all the nations of the earth ; 
 in love and mercy, in blessing, the Church is sent 
 to all peoples and tongues. 
 
 " All nations." The words, and the conception of 
 universality, have become very familiar to us. 
 
 This comprehensiveness, this universality of thought, 
 love, and design, is from above ; it is not human, but 
 divine. No human mind ever rose to the height of 
 this conception, no human heart ever expanded to 
 the comprehensiveness and breadth of this affection, 
 no human imagination ever dreamt of a union so 
 vast. Let us not be mistaken. In modern times 
 unbelievers have decked themselves with bojrowecl 
 ornaments ; the Egyptians have beautified themselves 
 with Israel's glory. The true ideas of fraternity and 
 equality come exclusively from revelation. Only 
 Israel, of all nations of antiquity, knew the true 
 
(Ehitntrier of ths Chitrxlt. 43 
 
 dignity and the true purpose of humanity. Only the 
 Church, since the advent of our Lord, possessed the 
 true spirit of humanity and character of catholicity. 
 Let us remember the Bible facts and teaching ; let us 
 believe the testimony of the sure Word, the simple 
 and grand truths of revelation, which must outlive 
 the errors and theories which, under various forms, 
 rise against them in every age. 
 
 The Bible, and the Bible only, taught firmly and 
 clearly the unity of the human race. 
 
 " God, who giveth to all life and breath and all 
 things, hath made of one blood all nations of men for 
 to dwell on the face of the earth, and hath determined 
 the times before appointed, and the bounds of their 
 habitations." Thus Paul preached at Athens. Sig- 
 nificant is the place where the apostle made this 
 declaration, for Athens represents the wisdom of the 
 world ; and in every age the highest earthly wisdom 
 needs to be taught by the Word of God. We believe 
 in the unity of the human race on the testimony of 
 Scripture ; whether science assents or contradicts is 
 a matter of indifference to us, as far as our faith and 
 knowledge and certainty are concerned. We are one 
 race, Scripture teaches ; and in this fact are involved 
 wonderful and important truths. 
 
 First, as we are the children of Adam, all human 
 beings are equal, created in the image of God, forming 
 one family of mankind, called to light and holiness 
 and blessedness. As all truths, this great truth is 
 confirmed and illuminated by the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
44 Wm Catholic anb (Spiritual 
 
 In Him there is neither Jew nor Greek, Scythian nor 
 barbarian. There is no inferior race, stamped to 
 servitude and ignorance. The whole world of hu- 
 manity, descended of Adam, loved by the Father, 
 has its centre in the man Christ Jesus. All families 
 on earth are to be blessed in the Son of man. 
 
 This equality is, alas ! also an equality in sin and 
 in condemnation. The whole human race, forming 
 a unity, fell in Adam. By the sin of one man, the 
 many were constituted sinners. It is the whole world 
 which is lost. Mankind, even the whole family of 
 Adam, has departed from God, and is in a state of 
 sin, condemnation, misery, and death. In Adam all 
 have sinned, and death has come upon all. Here 
 alone we have disclosed the solution of the marvellous 
 fact of the universal prevalence of sin and misery; 
 here we behold the source of the many rivers of 
 selfishness, pride, lust, of moral evil, which run through 
 the whole territory of human history. 
 
 But, thirdly, the unity of the race is a blessed fact, 
 when we remember that the Son of God became man. 
 He entered our circle, He took upon Him our nature : 
 the Word was made flesh. Let, therefore, the whole 
 world rejoice ; every one that is descended of 
 Adam, that bears the human image, let him take 
 courage, let him breathe hope, let him say with 
 gratitude and joy, "Unto us a Child is born, a Son 
 is given." 
 
 Man is created in God's image ; the whole race is 
 one family, fallen in Adam. Unto the whole race 
 
Character of the (Ehurrh. 45 
 
 Christ is sent : He is given unto man as man ; a new 
 centre to the whole family of mankind. 
 
 Now Scripture, and Scripture only, teaches this 
 grand truth about mankind. Here alone is the true 
 idea of humanity ; here alone is true catholicity. 
 
 The foundation is in the five books of Moses and 
 the Prophets ; the fulfilment is in Christ, as revealed 
 by evangelists and apostles. 
 
 Who can read the first three chapters of Genesis 
 without feeling : no human wisdom discovered, no 
 human imagination invented, this sublime history ? 
 Contrasted with heathen mythologies and with modern 
 speculation, how simple, and grand, and full of light 
 are the disclosures of the Scriptures ! Here we see 
 the source of the manifold streams of sin and misery 
 which meet us in history. The universal prevalence 
 of sin is accounted for, and through the awful dark- 
 ness and enigma of sin shines the original dignity and 
 high destiny of man, and the still more glorious and 
 sublime promise of redemption. 
 
 Moses explains to us the diversity of the human 
 race. The sons of Noah are Shem, Ham, and Japhet, 
 and the whole history of the world was foreshadowed 
 in the inspired prediction of Noah. The dispersion 
 of the nations at Babel (a fact, of which historical 
 evidence is continually increasing in strength and 
 variety) is the preparation for the election of a peculiar 
 people. But never is the unity of the race, or the 
 world-wide love of God, lost sight of. The purpose 
 of God is constantly announced — "The whole earth 
 
46 ^Ihc (Eatholtr attb (Spiritual 
 
 shall be filled with My glory." And not merely is 
 the history of Israel connected with the history of the 
 race, and Abraham traced back to Noah and Seth 
 and Adam ; but before the history of the chosen 
 people commences, God takes a farewell record of the 
 nations, inscribing the names of their tribes in the 
 Scriptures — thus assuring us, that though for a season 
 He permits them to go their own way during the 
 times of ignorance, yet He is also the God of the 
 Gentiles, and hath foreordained their ultimate blessing 
 and incorporation into His kingdom on earth. The 
 Book of Genesis is the true book of humanity. The 
 promise to Abraham is, " In thy seed shall all the 
 families of the earth be blessed." The glory of 
 Shiloh, as predicted by Jacob, is, "To Him shall the 
 nations be gathered.'' The jubilant tone of all psalms 
 and prophets is, " Praise Him, all ye nations ; Messiah 
 is a light to lighten the Gentiles. Distant isles 
 shall know His truth ; all heathen people shall 
 forsake their idols, and walk in the light of Jacob." 
 Israel is the central nation ; Israel's Messiah, Centre 
 of Israel and of the world ; Jerusalem, not Rome, is 
 the God-chosen centre of catholicity. 
 
 The purpose of God, world-wide in its final aim, 
 appears at first hidden in the election of one nation. 
 
 Israel was separated from all other nations ; God 
 isolated them. He fenced them round by His mar- 
 vellous dealings, and by the peculiar law which He 
 gave them. They dwelt apart, in every sense of the 
 word. They were not sent forth as ambassadors of 
 
Chitrartcr .of the (Ehitrrh. 47 
 
 God's truth. Their mission was not, to be aggressive. 
 The light was to burn in Judea with an intense and 
 concentrated brightness, and the promise given to 
 Israel was, that all nations would be attracted by 
 Jerusalem's glory, and come to worship Israel's God. 
 
 The nations of the world, for whose sake Israel was 
 chosen, await yet the restoration of God's people, 
 through whom they are to be blessed. When Israel 
 returns unto Jehovah and their King David, then the 
 ancient predictions shall be fulfilled — all lands and 
 kingdoms will be filled with the knowledge of God ; 
 the reign of the Son of man shall commence, and from 
 the river to the great sea the Lord shall be worshipped 
 and glorified. Not till then shall the kingdoms of 
 the world become the kingdoms of God and of His 
 Christ. Then shall the Lord be King over the whole 
 earth ; the will of God is done on earth as it is in 
 heaven ; the whole family of mankind serves Christ ; 
 Israel is the firstborn, the elder brother of many 
 nations. 
 
 Such is the purpose of God, as revealed in the 
 prophets before the advent of Christ. Such was the 
 expectation of all faithful Israelites. They waited 
 for the Messiah, who would redeem His people, and 
 be a light to lighten the Gentiles ; who would bring 
 all nations to join Israel in the worship and obedience 
 of Jehovah. That they themselves, as a nation, would 
 reject the Messiah, and that between the first advent 
 in humility and the second in glory a long interval 
 would intervene, was hidden to their view. The two 
 
48 <Wm (Catholic atti) Spiritual 
 
 events appeared to them as one ; they expected 
 Messiah to come and reign, to usher in the last days 
 of fulfilment. As two mountain heights seen from 
 afar merge into one, the long distance between them 
 being concealed, so they beheld only one advent. The 
 mystery of the Church was not revealed as yet. 
 
 Israel's rejection of the Messiah must have appeared 
 to human reasoning as the frustration of God's plan, 
 as a dark enigma, as a sad and fatal termination of 
 the history of God's kingdom. But Israel's unbelief 
 cannot make void the promises of God. The fall of 
 Israel becomes the occasion of a new and more won- 
 derful manifestation of divine grace and power and 
 wisdom. God hath not cast off His people. The 
 gifts and callings of God are without repentance. All 
 Israel shall be saved, and then from Zion, as a central 
 source, streams of blessing shall flow into all lands. 
 But during the period of Israel's national rejection, 
 God's merciful purposes are carried out through a 
 new creation of His love and power — the Church of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Simultaneous with the rejection of the Gospel by 
 Israel is the origin of the Church. Not, as even 
 apostles at first imagined, are Gentiles added unto 
 Israel, and incorporated into the nation ; but the 
 Church is the body of Christ ; gathered from among 
 all nations by the Holy Spirit, and united with Him, 
 who is the Head, the glorified and exalted Redeemer. 
 In the Church is neither Jew nor Greek. Chosen from 
 among all nations and tribes, the Church is in the 
 
Character of the Church. 49 
 
 world a light and a witness, testifying of the grace of 
 God bringing salvation, which hath appeared, and of 
 the judgment and glory which shall be manifest at 
 the second advent of our Lord. The object and 
 mission of the Church is to gather, through her testi- 
 mony of truth and love, a people who by faith are 
 saved, and by the Holy Ghost are separated from the 
 v/orld, serving God, and waiting for the return of Jesus. 
 
 The Church is in and for the world, yet not of it. 
 She has been delivered from this " evil age." She is 
 to be and labour among all nations ; yet she is above 
 all nations, having her citizenship in heaven, and 
 waiting for the manifestation of the kingdom of Christ. 
 
 She is to benefit the world as light and salt, irra- 
 diating the darkness of God-estranged humanity, and 
 preventing the rapid development of its intrinsically 
 evil character ; yet the Church always remains to the 
 end of this dispensation distinct, and in reality opposed 
 to the nations among whom she lives, and whom she 
 blesses. Like her Divine Master, she is not of the 
 world. God has chosen her out of the world. There 
 are many Christians among the nations ; according 
 to the divine purpose there will be Christians among 
 all nations. But there are no Christian nations. There 
 is no nation during this dispensation, who in repent- 
 ance and faith and renewal has died to the spirit of 
 the world, who in meekness of heart, as children of 
 God, inherit the earth, who believe God's truth and 
 seek God's glory, who pursue spiritual and holy 
 methods, and prize heavenly and substantial realities. 
 
 E 
 
50 \Lhe (Catholic iuxb (Spiritual 
 
 The Church of Christ is born out of the death of 
 natural life. She is rooted in Golgotha. She com- 
 mences with the first day of the week in the power 
 of a new, a resurrection life. How can nations, the 
 majority of whom are not regenerate, and whose whole 
 spirit, aim, and method are worldly and not heavenly, 
 ever be regarded as Christian ? How can we so far 
 forget the character and dignity of Christ, as to 
 imagine that during the last centuries the kingdoms 
 of Europe have fulfilled the promise of Christ's reign 
 on earth, of the Father's kingdom, in which His name 
 is hallowed, and His will is done ? 
 
 Jesus predicted: " Ye shall be hated by all nations 
 for My name's sake." Yet the Church loves all na- 
 tions ; she yearns over all human beings, whatever 
 their age, condition, culture. She instructs kings, and 
 teaches wisdom, judgment, and equity to senators. 
 She testifies to the rich of mercy and humility and 
 charity. She ministers especially unto the lonely, the 
 sorrowful, and the afflicted, directing them to the true 
 Fountain of peace and of consolation, to the only 
 Rest and Strength of the weary. And in the exercise 
 of her heavenly and catholic mission she is indepen- 
 dent of outward position and circumstances. The 
 blood of the martyrs became the seed of the Church ; 
 and from the catacombs, where the persecuted disciples 
 of the Crucified met, His name went forth victorious, 
 to destroy idolatry and heathenism, and to subdue 
 thousands of hearts to the only blessed Master. The 
 Church of Christ can speak in simplicity to the most 
 
Character oi the (Ehurxh. 51 
 
 ignorant and degraded tribe, and bring the light of 
 divine love to illumine the night of barbarism and 
 superstition; and she is able to enter into the thought 
 of the most cultured; and, possessing the wisdom 
 which is from above, she is able to interpret aright 
 the elements and presentiments of truth, and to satisfy 
 the nobler aspirations and longings which, amidst the 
 errors and sins of humanity, testify alike of our fall 
 and grandeur. And though few believe her report, 
 and she expects that the spirit of the world, opposed 
 to God and Christ, will yet manifest itself more fully 
 and intensely, she is full of hope, knowing that the 
 kingdom and the power and the glory are God's, that 
 Christ shall appear and reign with His saints, that all 
 nations shall yet praise the Lord, and the whole earth 
 be filled with His glory. 
 
 II. The spiritual character of the commission — 
 "Teaching them." 1 
 
 1 Ma6r)Teveiv, make disciples. There is no contrast between /xa6r}TeveLv 
 and SfidaKeiv ; the one is only the commencement and initiation of the 
 other. It is only by the Word that we are brought as learners and 
 disciples unto Christ. What else but the preaching of the gospel, the 
 voice of the Shepherd, brings men into the school of Christ, there 
 to be instructed and trained ? In what other way did Christ gain the 
 apostles, or the apostles gather the first congregations in Jerusalem and 
 in the house of Cornelius, among Jews and Gentiles ? We are told 
 that the three thousand continued steadfastly in the doctrine (SiSaxv) 
 of the apostles; yet it was that very doctrine which had-discipled 
 them. They that had gladly received the word of Peter (t^ \6yov 
 avrov) were baptized. (The idea of instruction is in the term, as for 
 instance, Matt. xiii. 52 — " Every scribe which is instructed (fxadriTevOels) 
 unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, 
 which brought forth out of his treasure things new and old.") 
 
52 ^Itc (Eatholir anb <Spiritital 
 
 Men are to be taught. The Word is the sword of 
 the Spirit By the Word the heart is conquered, and 
 the Word is the bread which nourishes and strengthens 
 the soul. Truth is the element which separates or 
 sanctifies the people of God, even as it is by the 
 Word of truth that they were first begotten to be the 
 first-fruits of His creatures. The apostles received 
 the Word ; " Thy Word," as the Lord Jesus says to 
 the Father, " which I gave to them." Jesus has not 
 entrusted us with ceremonies and rites ; He has not 
 invested His apostles with an official authority, by 
 which to excite men's fears, and persuade them to 
 blind submission. He has not commissioned us to 
 bestow benedictions and apply remedies which are 
 not understood by the people, deriving their efficacy 
 from the human mediators, and exerting it in a magi- 
 cal manner. Christ said to Peter, " Feed My sheep." 
 But He never said to the flock, " Obey Peter." He 
 said to His apostles, " He that heareth you heareth 
 Me." But in these words He gave a new promise ; 
 He did not institute a new legislation. Nowhere does 
 Christ say to the Church, " He that heareth the 
 apostles heareth Me." For whereas the faithful and 
 obedient apostles are comforted by the assurance that 
 their word is not their own, but the Master's who sent 
 them, the people, who through them obey the truth, 
 feel the authority of God, hear the voice of the 
 Shepherd, see the countenance of Christ. Heaven-high 
 above all apostles and ministers, visible and accessible 
 to all, even the youngest and weakest disciple, is the 
 
Character oi the (Ehurxh. 53 
 
 Head of the Church — the Lord Jesus Himself. The 
 commission is, Teach them. Make them learners. 
 Tell them as plainly and simply as human language 
 can express it, the mysteries of the kingdom. Keep 
 back nothing that is profitable ; testify of Me ; preach 
 the gospel ; you have no other instrument, influence, 
 or power. 
 
 Thus it was always with God's people. There is 
 no book like Scripture in which men are so constantly 
 exhorted to think, to consider, to reason, to learn, to 
 meditate, to remember. There is no book so opposed 
 to all blind obedience and assumption of external 
 authority. There is no book so opposed to the pride 
 and selfishness of an esoteric school, keeping the 
 people in subjection and partial ignorance. God 
 teaches Israel. What no human wisdom or ingenuity 
 could have discovered, God reveals to them ; but His 
 words are simple and clear. He commands them to 
 listen, to read, to repeat it frequently, to teach it to 
 their children, to make it the subject of meditation 
 and topic of conversation. Read especially the Book 
 of Deuteronomy, the Psalms, the Book of Proverbs, 
 and you will see that from the beginning God made 
 His children disciples, learners. In no language are 
 there so many and so profound words for knowledge, 
 judgment, understanding, and meditation as in Hebrew, 
 and all used in connection with the Word of God. 
 
 If it be said they had ceremonies, I reply, The 
 expression is ambiguous. They had no ceremonies 
 in the sense of rites performed by a privileged class, 
 
54 ^ke (Eatholir anb (Spiritual 
 
 who alone possessed the knowledge of their signi- 
 ficance, or outward observances, which, instead of 
 channels, were substitutes for knowledge and inward 
 possession of truth. God appointed in Israel symbols, 
 and they were explained in His Word ; and the 
 prayer of God's saints was, " Open Thou mine eyes, 
 that I may behold wonders : the secret, hidden, and 
 essential meaning of Thy law." 
 
 The statutes and commandments of the Lord were 
 given to the whole nation. Every father was com- 
 manded to teach and explain them to his household. 
 When thy son asketh thee, "What mean the testi- 
 monies and the statutes which the Lord our God has 
 commanded us ?" then instruction is to be given, that 
 from early childhood men may know and understand 
 the Word of God. 
 
 What a contrast is this to the mediaeval Church, 
 which withheld the Scriptures from the people, 1 and 
 fed the souls of men with self-invented and com- 
 plicated rites, performed in a language which was not 
 
 1 Bengel, Apophthegmata ; — " Fredericus Fulgentius, theologian in 
 Venice, preached on the words, ' Have ye not read?' (Matt. xii. 10). 
 ' If the Saviour were to ask this question to-day, all the people would 
 have to reply, " No, we have not read, because we are forbidden to read." 
 I have sought truth in the desert, in the cities, in society, in monasteries, 
 at the Court of the Pope, who calls himself infallible, and have not 
 found it anywhere. Yet at last I did find it, even in this book ' (pro- 
 ducing a New Testament, but putting it immediately back into his 
 pocket) ; ' but you must not seek the truth there, for it is forbidden to 
 read it.' " 
 
 The undeniable fact that the Church of Rome keeps the Scriptures 
 from the people, ought to be quite sufficient to indicate her true 
 character. 
 
Character of the Gtfmrdt. 55 
 
 understood by the multitude ! And how thoroughly- 
 false and unscriptural is the thought, which sees in 
 this fearful apostacy and transgression of the divine 
 will a wise adaptation to the rudeness and ignorance 
 of the nations among whom the Church was planted ! 
 How far below the level of the Old Testament spirit 
 are the priestly assumption and ritual method of the 
 Papal Church ! The Jews believed that the entrance 
 of God's Word giveth light, it maketh wise the 
 simple ; and among them was many a Timothy, who 
 knew the Scriptures from a child, because the Word 
 of God is able to make even the most ignorant and 
 feeble wise unto salvation. And this, as the greatest 
 and fundamental blessing, was the promise of God — 
 "And though the Lord give you the bread of ad- 
 versity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy 
 teachers be removed into a corner any more, but 
 thine eyes shall see thy teachers." Where the authority 
 of Jehovah, of the Lord Christ, is fully acknowledged, 
 His servants are not lords over God's heritage, but 
 stewards of divine mysteries, teachers and witnesses 
 of the truth. 
 
 When the Lord commanded His disciples to teach 
 all nations, the apostles understood His meaning; 
 the Old Testament and the example of Christ had 
 prepared them for their future work. Jesus came as a 
 prophet to Israel. He taught by word, and His works 
 also were signs, showing forth His character as well 
 as His power ; teaching the nature of His kingdom, 
 as well as announcing and attesting the authority of 
 
56 ^hc GTathdic m\b Spiritual 
 
 His mission. The disciples had listened to Christ's 
 teaching ; so clear and simple, so penetrating, con- 
 vincing, and comforting. He spoke with authority, 
 but not with the authority demanding blind and inert 
 obedience, but the authority of light, truth, love, which 
 establishes a throne in the heart and conscience, and 
 wields a sceptre of righteousness and constraining 
 affection. His authority was divine, and therefore 
 bringing liberty, light, and peace to all who submit 
 themselves to Him. His authority separated not 
 Him and His people, but linked them in strong and 
 sweet bonds of fellowship ; it was not external, 
 oppressing them as a weight, but enabling them to 
 mount as with eagle's wings into the region of divine 
 life and blessedness. And the great channel of His 
 authority, and quickening and renewing power, was 
 the Word. 
 
 The apostles continued the ministry of the Word. 
 Remember Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost. 
 How easy would it have been for him to assume 
 authority, and to dispense with teaching ! How easy 
 would it have been for him to point to the miraculous 
 manifestations, and to claim obedience to the ac- 
 credited messengers of the Messiah, and thus use the 
 excitement of the astonished multitude to bring them 
 under the sway of priestly domination ! Instead of 
 this, instead of any assertion of authority and power 
 of the keys, the Apostle Peter teaches, and reminding 
 his countrymen, to whom pertained the Divine oracles, 
 of the Prophecy of Joel, of the 16th Psalm, which 
 
(Eharacter oi the Church. 57 
 
 testifies of the Holy One of God conquering death 
 and the grave; of the 110th Psalm, in which, by the 
 Holy Ghost, David calls his Son Lord, and beholds 
 Him at the right hand of God — he declares the 
 mystery of Christ's cross and resurrection, *and the 
 outpouring of the Holy Ghost. He taught the 
 Scriptures. He first analysed the prophecies, and 
 having brought before his brethren, as it were, the 
 syllables into which the great Word, the all-compre- 
 hensive message, had been divided, he gathers them 
 up in the full announcement of the great salvation. 
 Thus was the Church founded through the teaching 
 -of Scripture. Men believed by the Holy Ghost the 
 testimony of truth, the apostolic teaching of God's 
 revealed and fulfilled promises. How different from 
 the self-styled successors of Peter, who keep the 
 Word of God from the people, and with "blind 
 mouths " usurp authority over God's heritage ! 
 
 Look at the Bereans. They are commended in 
 that they received the Word with all readiness of 
 mind, and searched the Scripture daily whether these 
 things were so. The apostles preached ; the people 
 examined. They did not believe the gospel on the 
 authority of the apostles ; no such authority or medi- 
 atorial position was claimed by the messengers of 
 Christ. They declared the Word of God, and the 
 people of Berea are commended for their earnestness, 
 activity, independence of mind, or rather dependence 
 on God, in that they searched the Scriptures to 
 convince themselves of the truth and reality of the 
 
58 ^hc (Eathclk artb Spiritual 
 
 glad tidings declared to them. It is not an assertion 
 of the right of private judgment, of the authority or 
 sufficiency of reason ; but an assertion of the only 
 and all-sufficient authority of God, of the Scriptures, 
 which are given by inspiration, and by which the 
 Lord speaks to the hearts and consciences of men. 
 Thus did the apostles make men learners in the 
 school of Christ. Thus did they bring men under 
 the immediate influence of divine teaching and 
 authority. Thus it was that they never said, Believe 
 us, believe the Church. The Church of Christ never 
 speaks of her own authority ; the moment she does 
 so, she denies her character as a witness and bride. 
 Christ is the Sun ; the Church derives all her light 
 from Him. 
 
 And, to show that there is no exception to this 
 rule and method of teaching, we have both the 
 record of the apostolic history, and the experience of 
 modern missions, proving that no nation is so sunk 
 in idolatry and vice, so degraded and ignorant, but 
 the Word of God is able to penetrate the darkness 
 with enlightening and healing power. The Word is 
 the sword ; let it not be sheathed, and rendered 
 powerless in the ceremonies and traditions and con- 
 cealments of human adaptation and policy. The 
 truth can make all men free ; we have no right to 
 bring them into an intermediate region of tutelage 
 and bondage. How flimsy appear the defences of 
 pictures and ceremonies when considered in the light 
 of Scripture ! Did the apostles, coming to idolatrous, 
 
ChararUr xrf the QLhuxch. 59 
 
 rude, and uncultured tribes, find it necessary to have 
 recourse to images and ritual ? did they think it wise 
 and right to keep the people in a state of infantine 
 passiveness and mechanical obedience ? The people 
 of Ephesus were superstitious heathen worshippers of 
 the golden image of Diana, which, they said, had 
 fallen down from heaven. They practised sorcery 
 and magic. And how did the Apostle Paul treat 
 them ? How did he adapt himself and his message 
 to their condition and capacity ? Did he present to 
 them half-truths, and give them a scanty instalment 
 of the doctrines of life ? No, he declared to them the 
 whole counsel of God. God's truth is for all nations, 
 and it alone can bring light to the mind, peace to 
 the conscience, and the life of love to the heart. 
 
 The Church was founded by the Word of God. 
 The apostles had received the Word from the Lord, 
 from the Son, who is the perfect manifestation of 
 the Father, and in whom all previous revelations find 
 their fulfilment. The teaching of Christ was brought 
 back to their remembrance by the Holy Ghost, who 
 guided them into all truth, and they preached the 
 Word of God, which is now, in the dispensation of 
 the Spirit, essentially promise, gospel, salvation. 1 The 
 Word is seed, spirit, and life ; by and in the Word, 
 the Holy Ghost quickens, purifies, and sanctifies. 
 He causes the Word to dwell richly in the hearts of 
 God's children, and to build them up. 2 The con- 
 gregations which had been called into life by the 
 
 1 1 Pet. i. 25. 2 1 Pet. i. 23 ; Acts xx. 32. 
 
60 ^Itc (Dathalir anil (Spiritual 
 
 Word needed nothing else for their preservation, 
 growth, and comfort, but the Word; hence the 
 apostles always commended them to the Word of 
 grace, and exhorted them to let the Word of Christ 
 dwell in them richly, while they took care to appoint 
 faithful men, apt to teach, in order that the testimony 
 of truth may be continued, and the Word of God 
 grow and be glorified. 
 
 All means of grace have the character of the Word 
 of God. Baptism and the Lord's Supper, which the 
 apostles delivered unto the congregation as having 
 received them from the Lord, are His Word, showing 
 His covenant, revealing His gracious purpose and 
 wondrous acts, declaring and sealing saving truth. 
 Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs is also 
 the Word of God, whereby saints teach and admonish 
 one another. So spiritual, according to the will of 
 Christ and the teaching of the apostles, is the idea of 
 the Church. To form the true and scriptural idea of 
 the Church, we must start, not from the believer, or 
 the congregation, or the complex of congregations, 
 but from Christ the Head, who, by the Holy Ghost, 
 gathers living souls round Him and unites them with 
 Himself to be His body. The Church is the com- 
 munion of believers, who, by the Holy Ghost, are one 
 with Christ the Head. She is the body of Christ, 
 the building of God, the spiritual house, the bride 
 and wife of Christ. 1 Only saints, believers, the elect, 
 
 Rom. xii. 5 ; 1 Cor. xii. ; Eph. i. 23 ; 1 Cor. iii. 9 ; Eph. ii. 21 ; 
 v. 25-27 ; 2 Cor. xi. 2 ; Rev. xxi. 9. 
 
Character of the Church. 61 
 
 are members of the Church ; for the foundation of 
 God standeth sure, having this seal, "The Lord 
 knoweth them that are His." 
 
 True, the outward and visible associations of pro- 
 fessed believers are like nets, which embrace both 
 good and bad fishes, like fields, in which tares grow 
 among the wheat, like a large house, in which there 
 are vessels to honour, and some to dishonour. But 
 although this is evil and sad, yet the wisdom and 
 long-suffering of God are revealed also here. The 
 true Church of Christ is thereby kept vigilant and 
 humble, believers are stirred up to self-examination 
 and earnestness, they take oil in their lamps ; and 
 through the faithful and spiritual ministry of the 
 Word, there are added continually unto the true 
 Church, not merely from among the Jews and 
 heathen, but from among the dead and worldly, who 
 only outwardly belong to the congregation of Christ. 
 And the more fully we cling to the spiritual and 
 heavenly character of the Church — the more distinctly 
 and faithfully we declare that only the regenerate, 
 who are joined by the Holy Ghost to the Head, are 
 members of the mystical body, the greater will be 
 our influence on those who, although among us, are 
 not yet of us — the more shall we experience the 
 present power and grace of our Lord, who raiseth the 
 dead unto newness of life, and giveth light. 1 
 
 And thus our position is essentially the same as that 
 
 1 Compare Chapter VII., on the Relation of the True Church to the 
 actual Professing Church. 
 
62 ^he (Eathaltt attb spiritual 
 
 of the Apostolic Churches. The circumstance that the 
 proportion of mere outward professors of what is 
 called " Christianity " is immensely increased, does 
 not alter the character and aim of the Church of 
 Christ. In a world of sin and unbelief she is the 
 witness and light sent by Christ. And the Word 
 which she has received from her Lord she giveth unto 
 the world. 
 
 Where the Word of God is, there is worship in 
 spirit and truth ; there are priests, who, through the 
 eternal and blessed High Priest, live in the presence 
 of God, offering unto Him the spiritual sacrifices which 
 are holy and acceptable. Where the Word of God is, 
 faith, love, and hope abound ; believers grow in grace, 
 and in the knowledge of our Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 Where the Word of God is, souls rejoice in the as- 
 surance of their salvation. By this Word of Truth 
 souls are born again unto eternal life ; so that Christ 
 sees of the travail of His soul, and is satisfied. And 
 His word, though it appear contemptible in the eyes 
 of Goliath, is the power by which God's Spirit con- 
 vinces and enlightens the mind, and brings the proud 
 thoughts and imaginations of man into subjection to 
 the wisdom and truth of the living God. As Luther 
 says, "Of all the sacred gifts bestowed on the Church, 
 the Word is the first and greatest. It is the Word, 
 also, which baptizes and blesses, which binds and 
 looses." All things are given to us by that Word, 
 of which Christ, the Eternal Word, is the spirit and 
 life, and through which the Holy Ghost reveals and 
 
(Uharaxter o£ the dtorrh, 63 
 
 glorifies the Saviour. " Christ only," and the " Word 
 of God only," is the watchword of the little flock to 
 whom pertain the promises of God. 
 
 Let nothing beguile us from the simplicity which 
 is in Christ Jesus. Let not the boast of antiquity, of 
 comprehensiveness — let not the appearance of gran- 
 deur, vastness, splendour, disturb our minds. Let us 
 not listen to the voice of her who sits as a queen ; 
 who speaks constantly of her authority, while she 
 does not honour the Word of God's testimony. She 
 boasts to be the guardian of the truth, and the only 
 administrator of the blessings of the new covenant, 
 while she persecuted unto death the witnesses of God's 
 grace and the true pastors, who had compassion on 
 the multitude, and taught them the salvation of Jesus. 
 When they say, " Lo, here is the Church ! " believe 
 them not ; for the true Church always says, " Look 
 unto Christ ; lift up your eyes, and behold your God ; 
 look unto the Saviour, all ye ends of the earth." 
 When they teach the commandments of men, when 
 they speak of time-hallowed ceremonies and sacred 
 institutions of the Church, believe them not ; for in 
 like manner did the Pharisees make void the com- 
 mandments of God by their own tradition, and we 
 know that One is our Master, even Christ, and that 
 we are all brethren. We know that the mystery of 
 iniquity began even in the days of the apostles, and 
 that in the dark pilgrimage of earth, not antiquity, 
 but the sure word of prophecy, is the light and strength 
 of Christ's people. 
 
64 ^Lht Qutholic anb Spiritual 
 
 The Church is where the Word of God is, 1 The 
 true disciples of Christ, the successors of the apostles, 
 have always been persecuted and put to death by the 
 false church.' Like a bright gleam of sunshine in the 
 midst of soul-oppressive darkness, the gospel, translated 
 into the vernacular by Peter Waldus, brought peace 
 and joy to the people, to the poor, to artisans and 
 peasants. They meditated on God's Word, and 
 
 1 The Reformers spoke very clearly and emphatically on the true 
 character of the gospel ministry. "See to it," thus Luther writes in 
 the preface to his Shorter Catechism — " See to it, pastor and preacher ; 
 our office has become something quite different from what it was under 
 the Papacy ; it has become now serious and salutary, and therefore 
 brings with it more toil and labour, danger and temptation." And 
 from other writings of his we notice the following declarations — "The 
 Church consists not of worldly, visible things, as places, buildings, 
 goods ; but the Church is a Christian, holy people, and holiness is 
 where the Holy Ghost gives to men faith in Christ, and thereby 
 sanctifies them ; that is, He gives to them a new heart, and writes the 
 commandments of God in hearts of flesh. To call those who preach 
 the Word, and administer the sacraments priests, was done in a pagan 
 spirit, or remained from the Jewish law, to the great injury of Chris- 
 tendom. The office and ministry of the Word pertain to all Christians 
 and disciples ( I Pet. ii. 9, and elsewhere) ; but the Word is the highest 
 of all priestly functions ; "with it we bless, baptize, bind, loose, judge. 
 And since all Christians are to preach, to all belongs likewise the whole 
 priesthood, the only New Testament sacrifice (Rom. xii. 1 ; 1 Pet. 
 ii. 5) ; wherefore it is not right that one person should usurp it, but the 
 right of the congregation demands that one or more persons should be 
 chosen, set apart and accepted, to exercise the office instead and in the 
 name of the others, to prevent fearful disorder. Hence he speaks not 
 of priestly indelible marks, but of elders and ministers, bishops and 
 stewards," etc. This important aspect of truth must be combined with 
 another, not contradictory, but supplementary — viz., that the Church is 
 an organism, in which there are leaders, teachers, shepherds, and 
 rulers, given by Christ and deriving their authority from the Head. 
 Compare Chapter VIII. 
 
Character of the (Ehttrrh. 65 
 
 talked about God's marvellous works and promises 
 on their journeys, in their workshops, in their leisure 
 hours at night, and the melody of the evangel was 
 heard in their lowly homes ; a band of evangelists, 
 filled with the Holy Ghost, and abundantly furnished 
 with the Word of God, went forth into many villages 
 and cities and lands, a true Church and Brotherhood. 
 The Word of God had made them great ; the false 
 church, with cruel hatred, put them to death. 
 
 What was the treatment experienced by the 
 apostolic Wycliffe, who, feeling the power and blessed- 
 ness of the Word, evangelised and sent forth disciples, 
 to teach plainly the truth of God and love of the 
 Saviour ? Why was the apostolic Huss persecuted 
 and burned ? Can we forget the cruelties, persecutions, 
 banishments, tortures, deaths, with which the so- 
 called church pursued and punished the followers of 
 Jesus in proportion as they honoured and preached 
 the Word of God ? Or can we forget the miserable 
 fables, the insipid traditions, the mechanical ob- 
 servances, the empty chaff with which for centuries 
 the people were fed, and the artifices by which the 
 simplicity of Christ crucified was withheld from 
 burdened consciences and aching hearts ? And when 
 the reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin, and 
 their like-minded brethren in England and Scotland, 
 magnified the Word and evangelised the poor — when 
 they abolished both the unscriptural thought and 
 expression of priesthood within and above the uni- 
 versal priesthood of believers, and declared unto all 
 
66 ^Itc (Ehararter of the Cliurrh. 
 
 men the Scripture given and applied by the Holy 
 Ghost as the sole and all-sufficient standard, basis, 
 and fountain of truth — can we look on with in- 
 difference while men try to rebuild the walls of Jericho, 
 which fell not by human might or power, not through 
 human eloquence and philosophy, but by faith, 
 through the trumpet-blast of the Word, which abideth 
 and endureth for ever ? 
 
 Let us continue stedfast in the doctrine of the 
 apostles. Let the Word of Christ dwell among us 
 richly in all wisdom. We need nothing else but the 
 Word, in order to be men of God, perfect, thoroughly 
 furnished unto all good works. 1 And as the inward 
 life and growth of the Church are by the Word, so 
 her extension and influence. The great commission 
 of the Church is to preach the gospel to the world. 
 
 1 2 Tim. iii. 17. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Ihe fimnz at 60b. 
 
 "Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 the Holy Ghost." — Matt, xxviii. 19. 
 
 THE knowledge of God which the apostles of 
 the Lord Jesus brought unto Jews and Gentiles, 
 was a knowledge of life and power, through which 
 grace and peace came into the heart, and men were 
 made partakers of the divine nature. It was not a 
 theory or speculation ; they used no abstract words. 
 The term " Trinity," which in the subsequent history 
 of the Church became universal, never occurs in their 
 addresses and epistles ; but they declared the name 
 of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; their disciples 
 were brought to know the grace of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the 
 Spirit. The apostles preached Jesus, and men beheld, 
 worshipped, and' loved the Father in His only-be- 
 gotten Son, and they received from Jesus the Holy 
 Ghost, the Comforter, by whom they were grafted 
 into the Living Vine. God manifest in the flesh — 
 Jesus declaring and bestowing the love of the Father 
 — the Spirit uniting the believer with Christ — such 
 was the knowledge and the experience of apostolic 
 Christians. 
 
68 Wxz £inmt oi ©ob. 
 
 The knowledge of the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost is the knowledge of a covenant relation in 
 which we stand and live. We are not merely taught 
 this name, we are baptized into it. 1 We are lifted up 
 above the region of works and time, into the region 
 of grace and. eternity. In the divine covenant of 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, pardon, renewal, and 
 all things which pertain to life and salvation, are given 
 unto us. 
 
 To enter into this covenant, nothing is needed but 
 to know our ignorance, guilt, and helplessness, and to 
 believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. This 
 simple confession sufficed in the estimation of the 
 apostles, and upon it they gladly baptized men ; for 
 all who put their trust in Jesus as the Saviour are 
 immediately within the new covenant. Jesus brings 
 them at once unto the Father, and fills them with the 
 Spirit. 
 
 But, having become a disciple, having entered the 
 
 1 The emphasis is not on "baptize," but on the perfect and full 
 revelation of the divine name. The apostles of Christ were familiar 
 with baptism, both as a symbol of purification and renewal (Isa. lii. 16; 
 Ezek. xxxii. 25), and as the divinely-authorized initiation into disciple- 
 ship used by John the Baptist. All the blessings and privileges of the 
 new covenant are signed and sealed in baptism ; God is declared to be 
 our God through cleansing of the blood of Christ and renewal of the 
 Holy Ghost. And whether, as some Christians hold, received in 
 infancy, by right of the promise and position given to believing parents, 
 or, as others teach, after the intelligent reception of the truth, we 
 possess in this ordinance confirmation and comfort for the weakness 
 and sadness of our hearts, a seal and assurance of the faithfulness of God 
 and the all-sufficient gifts of redemption, and the pledge of the re- 
 surrection of the body and our eternal blessedness and glory, j 
 
%ht Jiams xrf (Hjxb. 69 
 
 school and Church of Christ, it is for us to grow in 
 the knowledge and experience of the fulness of that 
 grace in which we stand. To know the name of God 
 is the first of all petitions, and the sum and substance 
 of all blessedness. This is our life-work, and the 
 blessedness of eternity will be our ascribing, with 
 adoring joy and gratitude, glory to the Father, and to 
 the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Is it not a true and right desire to know whom we 
 worship ? Can a vague feeling of awe and reverence 
 be called worship, or can it suffice to give peace to 
 the conscience, and to purify and elevate our lives ? 
 Should Athenians, who erect an altar to the Unknown 
 God, not listen gladly to the stranger of Benjamin's 
 tribe, when he declares to them Him whom they 
 ignorantly worship ? And is not Samaria's daughter, 
 awaking from the sleep of sin and death to the thirst 
 after the water of life, taught immediately that out- 
 side Israel men worship they know not what, for 
 salvation — and blessed be God, salvation means the 
 knowledge and worship of Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost — is of the Jews ? 
 
 In Judah God is known. Here He revealed Himself, 
 and the revelation of Himself is His name. All the 
 dealings of God with His people, His manifestations 
 of power, goodness, and truth, the methods and 
 marvels of His educating grace, the gifts and blessings, 
 the chosen priests, prophets, and kings, the laws and 
 statutes which He gave to Israel, are but partial and 
 successive unfoldings of His great and holy name. 
 
70 llu £ivxmt oi ©oli. 
 
 In all His words and acts His great object was to 
 teach Israel to know Him, to know the name of their 
 covenant-God. Wherever a new name of God occurs 
 in the sacred history, it invariably marks a crisis, the 
 commencement of a new era, the ratification and 
 condensed summing-up of previous promises and 
 gifts, and the beginning of a new and fuller revelation 
 of God. 
 
 Thus Israel received, and anxiously inquired into, 
 the gradually unfolded name of the Lord. When 
 God appeared unto Jacob, the patriarch exclaimed, 
 " Tell me, I pray Thee, Thy name ! " Moses said 
 unto Him who manifested Himself in the burning 
 bush, " When I come unto the children of Israel, and 
 shall say unto them, The God of your fathers sent me 
 unto you, and they shall say unto me, What is His 
 name ? what shall I say unto them ? " Where the 
 name of God is, there He Himself is present 1 The 
 new names of God are not mere changes and variations 
 of titles, but new revelations of His presence — new 
 and fuller unfoldings of His character and covenant 
 grace. Hence He helps and blesses by His name. 
 His people put their trust in His name ; they live 
 and act in it, as it is written, " And I will strengthen 
 them in the Lord ; and they shall walk up and down 
 in His name, saith the Lord." 2 
 
 Jehovah is the name of God as the covenant-God 
 of Israel. This is His proper name, which cannot be 
 
 1 Name stands for God Himself, Lev. xxiv. II, original. 
 2 Zech. x. 12. 
 
^ke Jlame of €jxb. 71 
 
 given to any beside Him. 1 It denotes not merely 
 His eternity, but also His unchanging love and faith- 
 fulness ; it declares Him to be the Saviour yesterday, 
 to-day, and for ever. It denotes not merely that He 
 is the living One, but that He manifests His life 
 among a chosen people, that He visits and redeems 
 Israel by His Word, and by His works. This name 
 Jehovah, is God's name for ever ; 2 it is the seal of all 
 His commands and promises. Round this name as 
 a centre we behold all other names and manifestations 
 of divine power, sovereignty, wisdom, truth, and 
 holiness ; and because God is known as Jehovah, His 
 people can rest and rejoice in His infinite perfections. 
 But glorious as was the revelation of God in His 
 name Jehovah, the name which in and by Christ 
 Jesus is revealed to us is more glorious, of more 
 transcendent brightness, and full of grace and truth. 
 For in the face of Jesus Christ we behold the glory 
 of God. Jesus is Immanuel, and in the lowly humanity 
 of our Saviour we behold the true God and eternal 
 life. He who dwells in light that is unapproachable, 
 and in glory such as no man can see and live, has 
 revealed Himself to us in His own Son ; the Only- 
 begotten, who is God of God, hath declared to us the 
 Father. The Word was made flesh, and is the true 
 Tabernacle, in which dwells the presence of the Most 
 High. The Son declares the name of God perfectly ; 
 in Him we worship and love the Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost as our covenant-God. 
 
 1 Isaiah xlii. 8. 2 Exod. iv. 14. 
 
72 ^he £Lmw of d>crb. 
 
 It was in great simplicity and gentleness that 
 Jehovah appeared among His people, that the Day- 
 spring from on high visited Israel. Attracted by the 
 sweetness of His love, the perfection of His doctrine 
 and life, the fragrance of His holiness and mercy, the 
 first disciples found in Him the Messiah of whom 
 Moses and the prophets had written. They beheld 
 the Lamb of God ; they adored the King of Israel } 
 the Son of God ; they felt unable to leave Him, who 
 had the words of eternal life. Jesus Himself attracted 
 them, and convinced their hearts that He was their 
 Lord. In His society they felt the peace and solem- 
 nity, the holy rest and joyous communion after which 
 their souls thirsted. They felt that Israel's God was 
 with them. That condescending, loving, holy One 
 who appeared unto Abraham in the tent, who spake 
 unto Moses, and as the Angel of the Covenant, the 
 Presence of God, went with their fathers through the 
 wilderness, the God whose glory was beheld by Isaiah 
 and Ezekiel — Him they beheld in Jesus, even Im- 
 manuel, the Christ, the Son of the living God ; Lord 
 and Friend, divine in His majesty, Brother in His 
 humanity. 
 
 As in His very coming and birth the love of the 
 Father and the power of the Holy Ghost were mani- 
 fest, so divine glory shone forth with increasing 
 brightness throughout His life. See Him on Jordan's 
 bank, receiving baptism from John, in order to fulfil 
 all righteousness. Our eyes are fixed on Jesus, the 
 centre, the Mediator, the Son of God incarnate. 
 
Wxz £iixmt oi (golb. 73 
 
 Above Him is the Holy Ghost, descending as a dove 
 from heaven ; and out of the excellent glory is the 
 voice of the Father — " Thou art My beloved Son, in 
 whom I am well pleased." 
 
 Jesus is the Son of God — equal with the Father, 
 and yet subordinate. In all His words and works 
 Jesus reveals and glorifies the Father, for He is Son ; 
 He reveals and glorifies Himself, for He is the eternal, 
 only-begotten, and infinite Son of God. No angel or 
 prophet ever showed forth his own glory ; but Jesus 
 reveals His glory, for He is God. He who did and 
 spoke nothing of Himself, but who was always living 
 in and by the Father, yet speaks of Himself as the 
 Lord, the Giver of life, of rest, of living water, the 
 Dispenser of pardon, the Fountain of resurrection, the 
 Sender of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Think of such declarations as these : " I give unto 
 My sheep eternal life." " If any man thirst, let him 
 come unto Me and drink," " Come unto Me, all ye 
 that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
 rest." " I will raise him up at the last day." " I am 
 the Resurrection and the Life." 1 Who but God can 
 speak thus ? 
 
 Jesus in word and work showed forth His own 
 glory. " He bore witness of Himself." 2 Different 
 from all other prophets, Himself was the subject, the 
 centre of His testimony. While manifesting Himself 
 as the Son of man, the second Adam, the perfect 
 
 1 John x. 28 ; vii. 37 ; Matt. xi. 28 ; John vi. 4 ; xi. 25. 
 2 John viii. 18. 
 
74 ^he ginmz of (Bob. 
 
 servant of God, the Holy One of Israel, He revealed 
 Himself likewise as the eternal Son of God, the Lord 
 from heaven, God over all. He speaks of Himself as 
 the Son of man ; but in this very name is implied that 
 He is more than man, and His disciples understand 
 His question — " Whom do men say that I the Son of 
 man am ?" Jesus is, according to His own testimony, 
 the Son of man, who is in heaven, the only One that 
 came down from heaven. 1 He is a true Son of 
 Abraham, and 'yet He speaks to the Jews of "their 
 father Abraham," and with divine majesty declares, 
 "Before Abraham was, I am." 2 He gives thanks 
 unto the Father for the gift of lowly-hearted disciples ; 
 but He also asserts His equality with the Father — 
 "All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: 
 and no man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither 
 knoweth any man the Father, but the Son, and he to 
 whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." 3 He knows 
 He is the Christ, the Son of David ; but He also 
 knows that David, by the Spirit, called Him Lord. 4 
 In short, Jesus is the Son of man, the Messiah, because 
 He is the everlasting Son of God, the Word, which 
 was in the beginning, because He is the only-begotten, 
 and had "glory with the Father before the world 
 was." 5 
 
 On that last evening which He spent with His 
 disciples before His sufferings, and in His parting 
 discourses, which, as a most precious and sacred 
 
 1 John iii. 13 ; comp. Prov. xxx. 2 John viii. 58. 
 
 3 Matt. xi. 25-27. 4 Matt. xxii. 42. 5 John xvii. 5. 
 
^ht flame of (Hob. 75 
 
 legacy, have been recorded by the beloved disciple, 
 Jesus, comforting and strengthening the hearts of the 
 sorrowing apostles, summed up most clearly His pre- 
 vious teaching, and revealed to them most fully the 
 name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Then He 
 spoke to them plainly, and revealed unto them His 
 glory ; and this is His glory, that He is the manifest- 
 ation of the Father, and that through Him the Com- 
 forter is sent to His disciples. Most explicitly He 
 speaks to them of His Godhead, and of the glory 
 which He had with the Father before the world was. 
 He speaks of Himself as the Son loved of the Father 
 before the foundation of the world. He assures His 
 disciples that the Father had sent Him, in order 
 that in Him they might behold the Father, and that 
 in loving Him they might be beloved of the Father. 
 He comforts them with the promise that in going to 
 the Father He was not leaving them — that He, who 
 was one with the Father, was also inseparable from His 
 believers, that by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost the 
 Father and Son would take up their abode in their 
 hearts. He reveals to them the final end and con- 
 summation, when Jesus, the Son of God, who is one 
 with the Father, would, by the Holy Ghost, dwell in 
 His Church, and the same love wherewith the Father 
 loved Him rest on His people. " I in them, and 
 Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one 
 — that the love wherewith Thou hast lqved Me may 
 be in them, and I in them." 
 
 In the fourteenth chapter the emphasis rests on the 
 
76 ^hc Jtame of Glob. 
 
 Father. Christ speaks of Himself as revealing and 
 glorifying the Father. He goes to the Father's 
 house; He is the way to the Father; His disciples 
 shall do greater works because He goeth unto the 
 Father. His disciples are to rejoice, because through 
 His death He was returning to the Father, " who is 
 greater than I." 
 
 In the next chapter the Triune name is again 
 declared, and here Christ, as Mediator and channel, 
 is brought forward prominently. Christ is the Vine, 
 and only by abiding in Him can the branches live 
 and bring forth fruit. The disciples are to abide in 
 Christ's love, even as His joy is to remain in them. 
 He loved them unto death, calls them friends, has 
 chosen and ordained them. The world hated Him, 
 and in hating Him they hated also the Father. 
 Christ sends the Spirit, and the Spirit and the disci- 
 ples are to testify of Him. 
 
 Declaring again the Triune name, in the sixteenth 
 chapter the Lord directs the minds of the disciples 
 specially to the Holy Ghost. The world, which 
 knows neither the Father nor the Son, persecutes the 
 Church. But the Spirit convinces the world of sin, 
 righteousness, and judgment, while He glorifies Christ, 
 and shows unto the disciples the things which are 
 Christ's and the Father's. 1 
 
 1 "As Lavater says somewhere of these last discourses of our Lord 
 — ' If the Gospels were lost, and only those chapters remained to us, 
 we would still possess the complete, sublime, pure system of Chris- 
 tianity — the Father in Christ, Christ in the Church, all perfected in 
 one ;' so we can assert with greater accuracy that, if all other Scripture 
 
^ke £Lmnz oi (iab. 77 
 
 Thus were the disciples prepared to understand the 
 great and glorious commandment of the risen Saviour 
 — " Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
 the Son, and the Holy Ghost." 
 
 This passage has always been regarded by the 
 Church of Christ, as teaching most clearly the doctrine 
 of the Trinity. " Name " is never used in Scripture 
 in connection with abstract things or qualities, but 
 always of persons. As the personality, so the 
 Divinity and consequently the equality of the Three 
 are distinctly set forth ; for the name of the Son and 
 that of the Spirit are co-ordinated with the name of 
 the Father ; the same faith is demanded of us in 
 regard to each of the Three Persons. The solemnity 
 of the moment when these words were spoken by 
 our Lord, and the character of the ordinance with 
 which He connects them, clearly prove that they 
 contain the cardinal and fundamental doctrine on 
 which all Christian teaching and life rest. 
 
 When the Spirit descended on the day of Pente- 
 cost, and led the Apostles into the whole truth, 
 they preached the whole counsel of God, and testi- 
 fied continually of the grace of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, the love of the Father, and the fellowship 
 of the Holy Ghost. In all their discourses and 
 epistles this golden threefold cord shines with bright- 
 proofs were taken from us, these chapters alone contain a simple and 
 cogent declaration of the complete, orthodox creed — Christ one with 
 the Father, and yet distinct from Him ; the Spirit one with Him, and 
 yet distinct from the Father and the Son." — Stier, Andeutungen i. 301. 
 
78 ^Ite JJame of (Sob. 
 
 ness, speaking peace and comfort to the heart. They 
 bore witness that He whom they had heard and 
 seen with their eyes, was that Eternal Life which was 
 with the Father, and was manifested unto them ; l that 
 their communion was with the Father and the Son ; 
 that Jesus Christ was true God and Eternal Life. 2 
 They always speak of Him as Lord, Jehovah ; He 
 is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the 
 First and the Last They continually remind us that 
 He came from above, and never speak of His poverty, 
 humility, obedience, death, without pointing out His 
 infinite condescension and love, which caused Him, 
 who is Lord above all, and one with the Father, to 
 become our Redeemer. Of His humanity and divinity 
 they love to speak at the same time, thus revealing 
 to us the perfection and fulness of our salvation. He 
 who is the Son of David according to the flesh, is 
 mightily declared to be the Son of God ; He who 
 came of Israel, is God over all, blessed for ever ; in 
 the exalted Jesus dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead 
 bodily? And equally clear and emphatic is their 
 testimony that the Son was sent by the Father, and 
 that our salvation is of the Father, and unto the 
 Father's glory. The tone of all apostolic teaching 
 is — Christ is the Lord, to the glory of the Father. 
 
 Only by the Holy Ghost can we call Jesus Lord, 
 and God Father ; only the Spirit can reveal to us the 
 things which are given to us freely of God and in 
 
 1 I John i. 1-3. 2 I John v. 20. 
 
 3 Rom. i. 3, 4 ; ix. 5 ; Col. ii. 9. 
 
°<Ehe £imnt o£ (feo'b. 79 
 
 Christ. He alone brings light that we see, and power 
 that we take hold of and possess. 1 
 
 As the Messiah, according to the prophecy of Isaiah, 
 was sent by the Lord and His Spirit — as the Spirit is 
 presented in the old covenant writings as a Person 
 whom Israel grieved, so the apostles teach most 
 clearly the personality of the Holy Ghost. Christ 
 had thus most distinctly spoken of Him as another 
 Comforter speaking, teaching, hearing, reminding, 
 witnessing, convincing, guiding ; One who, equal with 
 the Father and the Son, takes out of the infinite and 
 eternal Fulness, and reveals and appropriates to the 
 disciples. 2 The Spirit, according to the apostles' 
 teaching, speaks, 3 wills, 4 testifies, 5 searches, 6 helps, 
 intercedes, and groans, 7 feels, s by Him alone we have 
 joy and peace in believing ; by Him alone we have 
 access to the Father by the Lord Christ. The Father 
 and the Son are with us and in us by the indwelling 
 of the Spirit. And thus throughout the whole 
 apostolic testimony the name of Father, and Son, and 
 Holy Ghost is declared. Not the names, but one 
 name ; for the Lord our God is one God. Not a 
 single name, but a threefold name ; for God is Father, 
 Son, and Spirit. 
 
 The Gospels, and especially the Epistles, are an 
 
 1 1 Cor. xii. 3 ; ii. II, 12; Comp. my Lectures v. vi. vii. in Christ 
 Crucified. 
 
 2 John xiv.-xvi. 3 Acts x. 19 ; xx. 23 ; 1 Tim. iv. 1. 
 
 4 Acts xvii. 6 ; I Cor. xii. II. 5 Rom. viii. 16. 
 
 6 I C01. ii. 10. 7 Rom. viii. 28. 8 Eph. iv. 30. 
 
80 ^Ite Jtoe of dab. 
 
 unfolding of the words of Christ — " In the name of 
 the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost." The 
 apostolic words with which, according to a true and 
 deep instinct, our congregational worship is concluded, 
 contain at once a distinct and practical summary of 
 the Faith — "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 the love of God, and the communion of the Holy 
 Ghost, be with you." * Thus Peter salutes believers 
 as elect according to the foreknowledge of God the 
 Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto 
 obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ. 2 
 Thus the Apostle Paul shows us the source of the 
 unity of Christians, in the one Spirit, one Lord, one 
 God and Father. 3 
 
 And thus the Church of Christ hath constantly 
 declared the ever-blessed name ; and only by declaring 
 this name can she fulfil her mission ; for here is light 
 for the mind, peace for the conscience, love for the 
 heart. 
 
 i. Here is light God dwelleth no longer in dark- 
 ness, and in heights unattainable to the vision of 
 human hearts. We see Jesus the God-man : and He 
 reveals the Father and the Spirit. 
 
 Jesus, by the name of God, reveals to us creation. 
 For by Him, the Word of God, were all things made ; 
 and by the Spirit the Father's purpose and the 
 mediation of the Son were actually accomplished in 
 perfection and beauty. 
 
 Jesus, by the name of God, reveals to us eternity, 
 i 2 Cor. xiii. 13. 2 1 Peter i. 2. 3 Eph. iv. 4, 6. 
 
^he £imrxz of (gob. 
 
 Not a lonely, quiescent God, as neither mind can 
 conceive nor affection grasp, but a God in whom, 
 from all eternity, there was fulness of life and love 
 and blessedness, the Father loving the Son, and the 
 Spirit knowing the depths of the Godhead. 
 
 Yet if it be said, It is mysterious, I answer: It is 
 the mystery of light, and not of obscurity ; the 
 mystery of life and motion, and not the unhomely 
 mystery of blank abstraction and vagueness ; the 
 mystery of grandeur, but of ineffable peace and 
 blessedness. The God of the Unitarians, Moham- 
 medans, and of the unbelieving Synagogue, a cold, 
 abstract unity, is a mysterious conception ; still more 
 colourless and lifeless, and without love, is that im- 
 personal All or Nothing into which the wisest heathen 
 nations, and many modern thinkers, resolve the 
 thought of Deity. 1 But our God is Life, is Love, is 
 
 1 Nitzsch, in his Essay on the Doctrine of the Trinity, says: — "There 
 is a fulness of eternal life and love in God : even before in creation by 
 the Son, and for His own and the Son's glory and manifestation, He 
 reveals His thoughts of infinite wisdom and power ; before He shows 
 forth His goodness unto angels and men, or discloses the counsel of 
 mercy unto a sinful world. There is one God ; but to believe in the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is no Tritheism. This alone, on the 
 contrary, is the Christian thinker's safeguard, not merely against Poly- 
 theism, of which there can be no more mention, but Pantheism. His- 
 tory proves, in the case of Mohammedans and Jews, as well as in that 
 of like-minded children of modern enlightenment, that the idea of the 
 isolated one-personed God cannot satisfy men's thirst after a full foun- 
 tain of life and love, and allows them to relapse into heathenism, which 
 deifies the All of nature. Their idea of God is so vague and dead, and 
 apart from all life, that they long after something new that can be felt 
 and enjoyed by heart and imagination. But we know and adore the 
 triune God, the divine life of eternal, holy love ; our God is high above 
 
 G 
 
82 ^hc iUmc oi (&{&. 
 
 Blessedness : we think of Him as eternal and in- 
 finitely blessed in Himself, and yet even in eternity 
 loving us, and beholding us in holiness and glory. 
 We see Him in creation, absolute, sovereign, 
 calling forth things which were not, not out of 
 some fabled primeval and eternal matter, but 
 according to His own eternal thought out of the 
 fulness of the Word, the beginning of the creation 
 of God. 
 
 We see Him in providence ; not a God enthroned 
 in self-contained isolation, and separate from the 
 great universe which He called forth, but upholding 
 all things, and present in all things by that very 
 Word of Power by and for whom they were created, 
 and animating, guiding, restraining, blessing through 
 the life-giving Spirit, who is equal with the Father 
 and the Son. 
 
 We know God separate and above the world, yet 
 within the world ; eternal, and yet cotemporaneous ; 
 infinite, yet numbering the very hairs of our head, 
 and watching even the fall of a sparrow; God and 
 
 us, and yet near and present, and dwelling within us. The defects of 
 worship are, that the idea of God is not sufficiently sublime and elevated, 
 or not sufficiently good and holy, or not sufficiently near, omnipresent, 
 and penetrating. All these defects are overcome, and that at once, by 
 the revelation of the Triune name. We notice, but merely as a shadow 
 of truth, the fact, that the number three is so deeply, and in such a 
 variety of ways, impressed on the laws of nature and human reason, 
 that it appears everywhere, especially in Asiatic heathenism, as symbol 
 of perfection, and that the poets and thinkers among Hindoos, Egyp- 
 tians, and Greeks, always single out three names out of their world of 
 deities." 
 
^he £Lnmt of (gob. 83 
 
 Redeemer and Sanctifier, and in the very Godhead 
 we behold the Man Christ Jesus — 
 
 " God with God dominion sharing, 
 And man with man his image bearing." 
 
 In Him, who is our Saviour and Friend, dwelleth 
 the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Through Him is 
 the world sustained and ruled. The Holy Ghost is 
 sent by Him. All heavenly influences and angels 
 are under His control. The whole universe is one. 
 Even inanimate matter stands no longer distant from 
 God, who is Spirit ; for in the glorified body, which 
 was born of the Virgin Mary, and nourished by bread 
 and water of the earth, Jesus is on the throne, one 
 with the Father and the Spirit. 
 
 We are told that Augustine, the great teacher of 
 the Church, was walking one morning by the sea- 
 shore, meditating on the doctrine of the Trinity, 
 And as he tried in vain to comprehend the mystery, 
 he noticed a little child, holding in its hand a small 
 sea-shell, scooping a hole in the sand, running to the 
 waves, filling it with water, returning to the hole, and 
 emptying it. When asked what he was doing, the 
 child replied, " I am going to pour the sea into this 
 hole." The thought immediately struck Augustine 
 that this was a picture of himself; — standing on the 
 shore of time, by the ocean of that infinite and un- 
 fathomable Majesty, he was endeavouring to compre- 
 hend it with his finite, "limited mind. 
 
 Thus the Apostle Paul, distinguished even among 
 the chosen apostles for his wisdom, confesses that we 
 
84 "Ulhe £imnz oi (gob. 
 
 are like children, and know only in part. The light 
 of revelation discloses to us, only more fully, that God 
 is infinite and incomprehensible. A God whom we 
 can comprehend and explain could never be the 
 object of everlasting adoration. " Who is like unto 
 Thee ? " is the exclamation of angels and saints 
 throughout eternity. We rejoice that it is so. The 
 mystery of the Trinity is like an ocean in its eternal 
 grandeur, in its transcendent majesty, in its unfathom- 
 able and infinite depth ; but it is like the sea, when 
 the sweet blue of heaven and the lovely light of the 
 sun make it speak, with multitudinous smiles, peace 
 and joy to our hearts. 
 
 2. Here the conscience finds rest. Only in a 
 triune God is perfect atonement and reconciliation. 
 God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. 
 The Father, against whom we sinned, sent the Son to 
 be the propitiation for our sins. When Jesus died for 
 the guilty, God commended His own love. Jesus 
 reveals to us the Father's love as the source of our 
 salvation. He came to do the Father's will ; and 
 when He laid down His life for the sheep, He fulfilled 
 the commandment which He had received of the 
 Father. God, who is the Author of our salvation, is 
 glorified in the death of Jesus, and in our redemption. 
 We are brought by Jesus to the Father, in the truest, 
 fullest, and most absolute sense. 
 
 And He who brings us to the Father is the Son. 
 Because Jesus is the Son of God, His blood cleanseth 
 from all sin. The Church was purchased with the 
 
Ihe Jfrtroe oi ©oiX 85 
 
 blood of Him who is God ; and when Christ, by His 
 own blood, entered into the Holy of Holies, we are 
 represented by Him, and complete in Him. 
 
 The work of the Holy Ghost, also, is essential to 
 our peace. Christ is ours only by the power of the 
 Holy Spirit. By the power of the Holy Ghost we 
 know and experience the power of the blood of 
 Christ, by which we are brought nigh unto the Father. 
 Without the love of the Father, the atonement of 
 the Son, and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, the 
 conscience may be soothed, but cannot be set at rest 
 and purified. 
 
 3. And here, in this mystery of the Triune name, 
 is love for the heart. It is only when we know the 
 Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, that we 
 know that God is love ; that love is not one of His 
 attributes merely ; that love is not merely in Him as 
 the Source of creation and of His bountiful and mer- 
 ciful providence : but that He is Love from everlasting 
 to everlasting ; that from all eternity God, who lives, 
 loves ; that in Him the one Godhead — the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost — are united in ever-blessed 
 communion of love. 
 
 How simple and grand is the declaration of Christ 
 — " The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all 
 things into His hand ! " From all eternity the 
 Father's infinite love rested on His only-begotten 
 Son, whom He appointed Heir of all things. Connect 
 this truth with Christ's word — " Therefore doth My 
 Father love Me, because I lay down My life for the 
 
86 'She JJanu of Sob. 
 
 sheep/' In that infinite and perfect love with which 
 the Father loved the Son, Christ reveals to us a yet 
 greater depth. He, who is infinitely dear to the Father 
 from all eternity, became, to speak humanly, yet more 
 dear, more beloved, more rejoiced in. The Father loves 
 Jesus, because He loved us and gave Himself for us. 
 
 There are moments when the soul, even in the 
 midst of gratitude and the joy of salvation, feels a 
 deep sorrow that the Son of God should have had to 
 taste such bitterness. Then this is our consolation, 
 that we behold the reward — all-sufficient and per- 
 fectly adequate — which Jesus has received. We see 
 it in that wonderful assurance — " Therefore doth My 
 Father love Me, because I lay down My life for the 
 sheep/' 
 
 We rest in the love of Jesus, who, after saving us 
 with His precious blood, folds us in His omnipotent 
 and tender arms, and takes us into the heavenly 
 Sanctuary, unto the Father, unto the eternal and 
 boundless love of Godhead. We who rest in the 
 bosom of Jesus, greater than Abraham, rest in the 
 Father's bosom, where Christ is resting. We are, as 
 it were, surrounded by divine, essential, eternal love. 
 Christ, our crucified and glorified Redeemer, is one 
 with the Father. Nothing can therefore come 
 between us and the Father's love in Christ. 
 
 This comforting truth is set before us most fully in 
 the Pauline epistles, which treat of the grace, wherein 
 He hath made us accepted in the Beloved ; and in 
 the Gospel of John, which dwells on Christ's relation 
 
Ihe JJame of (ioib. 87 
 
 to the Father as tlie source of our life and love. " As 
 the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you. 
 Continue ye in My love." 
 
 Let us ever with adoring hearts believe in the 
 three unions which the Church of Christ has con- 
 fessed in all ages. First, we behold Jesus, God and 
 man, two natures in one Person ; the Lord of Glory, 
 Immanuel, God with us. Beholding Christ, God and 
 man, we see the Father and receive the Spirit. 
 
 Thus we learn to adore, secondly, the eternal and 
 essential union of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The 
 Saviour reveals to us the eternal love of the Father ; 
 we know Christ as the Word by whom all things were 
 made, as the Only-begotten, loved before the founda- 
 tion of the world. We know Him also as the Heir, 
 who shall inherit all things. Accepted in the Beloved, 
 and seated with Him in the heavenly places, we 
 adore the love of the Father who chose us in Christ, 
 and look forward to the glory which the heirs of God 
 and the joint-heirs with the Son shall possess. 
 
 And we know and adore also the Holy Ghost, one 
 with the Father and the Son in eternity, in creation, 
 and in redemption, by whose power and gracious 
 indwelling the Father's Tove and the Saviour's grace 
 are revealed and communicated to our souls unto 
 eternal life. 
 
 We believe also, thirdly, the union, which, ac- 
 cording to the will of the Father, subsists between 
 Christ and the Church. Of God are we in Christ : 
 
^h* Jktme at (&oa. 
 
 the Father is the Husbandman, the Son incarnate is 
 the Vine, we who believe are the branches. The 
 Father is supreme Lord and King, the Son incarnate 
 is the Bridegroom, and we who trust in Him and love 
 Him are the bride. We are members of the Body of 
 which Christ is Head ; and the Head of Christ is 
 God. By the Holy Ghost Christ and the Church are 
 one ; He is in them, and they are inseparable from 
 Him in life and death, in time and eternity. 
 
 We believe these unions, though we cannot com- 
 prehend and fathom them. We have a knowledge 
 and experience of these mysteries in our hearts and 
 lives, an assurance and consolation continually flowing 
 from these eternal depths, and we wait with calmness 
 and hope for the bright and perfect knowledge which 
 shall be ours when we see face to face. Eternity 
 alone can unfold the blessedness of those who know 
 " the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 ^he ftxmz ot «ob : the ffilarg ot the ®Ib 
 nxtb of thz fteto Gtobntattt. 
 
 1 ' Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 the Holy Ghost." — Matt, xxviii. 19. 
 
 HE who possesses a genuine love of Scripture can 
 bear the attempt to separate the New from the 
 Old Testament as little as that mother who appeared 
 before King Solomon could endure the thought of 
 her living child being divided by the sword into two. 
 " In nowise slay it ! " was her eager exclamation. To 
 divide is to slay. And thus is it with the living child 
 of God's Spirit — the Scripture. It is one. The same 
 God who hath spoken in those last days by the Son, 
 spake at sundry times and in divers manners by the 
 prophets unto the fathers. The foundation of the 
 temple of revelation is Moses ; the superstructure, the 
 prophets, evangelists, and apostles ; Jesus Christ 
 Himself being the chief Corner-stone. 
 
 Two portions constitute the sacred record — the word 
 of promise and preparation, and the word of fulfilment. 
 But the one Spirit which inspired, also pervades them. 
 They are not merely indissolubly connected — they 
 not merely dwell together in harmony ; but such is 
 their mutual interpenetration, that the one cannot 
 
90 ^Thc ,|lame of (Bob : the (5 lorn of 
 
 live without the other. These two witnesses are one. 
 " When I listen to the accordant voice of all the holy- 
 prophets and the apostles of our Lord 'and Saviour, 
 methinks I stand at Jerusalem, at our Lord's trium- 
 phant entry, and hear the multitudes of those who 
 go before, and of those who follow after, crying, 
 1 Hosanna to the Son of David ! blessed is He that 
 cometh in the name of the Lord to save.' " x 
 
 We cannot truly understand the fulfilment, and 
 rejoice in that which is perfect, without knowing the 
 promise, and the gradual and fragmentary preparation 
 of the great redemption. As Israel, so do we all need 
 to be taught by the law the nature of holiness, and the 
 guilt and condemnation of sin. Jesus is the Christ — 
 this is the sum of saving knowledge. But what is meant 
 by Messiah is to be learnt only from the prophets. 
 
 Hence, to understand the Gospels, we must know the 
 dealings of God with His people from Abraham to 
 David, and to the Babylonish captivity, 2 — we must 
 know the Scripture which must needs be fulfilled in 
 Jesus of Nazareth. The sufferings of Christ, and the 
 glory that should follow, comprise the whole scheme 
 of redemption ; but the risen Saviour Himself declares 
 the whole counsel of God out of Moses and the 
 prophets. Law and gospel, Adam and Christ, works 
 and grace, nature and the Holy Ghost, are the two 
 great contrasts which evangelical teaching illustrates ; 
 but in the Epistles to the Romans and to the Galatians 
 the ancient Scripture forms throughout the basis and 
 1 Boyle. 2 Matthew i. 
 
Ilu QMb anb of the JtcU) (Eatoeitant. 91 
 
 starting-point of instruction. And the great and 
 peculiar glory of the new covenant dispensation is 
 seen by the light of the old. Is not the Epistle to 
 the Hebrews an exposition of this comparison and 
 contrast ; unfolding the glory of Christ, the true Mel- 
 chisedec, and the eternal High Priest ? It is in order 
 to understand, and to accept the fulness of gospel 
 blessings, that we must know Moses and the prophets. 
 Thus, in searching the Scriptures to which the Saviour 
 referred, we enter on an essential and most salutary 
 study ; for without the knowledge of these sacred 
 writings we do not know the height and depth, and 
 breadth and length, of that full salvation which is in 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
 The name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is re- 
 vealed by the Lord Jesus and in the apostolic writings 
 with a clearness, simplicity, and fulness, which could 
 not exist before the incarnation of the Son of God. 
 But the same God who now speaks to us by His Son, 
 spake to the fathers by the prophets ; and Israel knew 
 the true and living God, Jehovah, and the mystery of 
 His threefold name was gradually revealed unto them. 
 
 Man lost the knowledge of God through sin. 
 Knowing the existence of God, men did not glorify 
 Him as God, neither were thankful. Through sin 
 they fell into ignorance and superstition. Traces of 
 the primeval revelation, vague and confused reminis- 
 cences, distorted and corrupt traditions of truth once 
 known, are among the nations. They had some 
 knowledge of Divine rule and Paternal power ; some 
 
9 2 ^hc ilitmc of doo : the (glovo of 
 
 presentiment of divine Sonship, as the centurion ex- 
 claimed at the cross — " Surely, this Man was the Son 
 of God ; " some perception that all great and beautiful 
 things owed their existence to a supernatural inspir- 
 ation and celestial influence. The heathen nations, 
 in their slumber of sin and worldliness, were not un- 
 visited by dreams of higher and better things. But 
 the interpretation of the dreams is only through 
 Joseph and Daniel of the chosen race. God revealed 
 Himself to Israel. The truths which appear as so 
 simple, were never discovered by man : — " In the be- 
 ginning God created heaven and earth." " Hear, O 
 Israel, the Lord our God is one God ! " " Thou shalt 
 not make thyself any image to worship it." " The 
 Lord is gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and 
 abounding in goodness and truth." " Holy, holy, holy, 
 Lord God of Hosts ! " " Thou shalt love the Lord 
 with all thy heart, and all thy strength, and all thy 
 soul." These are divine words ; light which was sent 
 from the heavenly Sanctuary to fallen man on earth ; 
 the revelation of the God of salvation, who in His 
 infinite love visited and redeemed His people. God 
 revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to 
 Moses and the children of Israel. And it is owing to 
 this gracious manifestation that the darkness and 
 ignorance of heathenism are dispelled. This God of 
 Scripture is indeed different from the God of the 
 philosophers. 1 Here is no vague, abstract, impersonal 
 
 1 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not the God of the philo- 
 sophers.— Pascal. " To speak with reverence, lie whom no man hath 
 
Wm (Dlb nub oi the £Uto QLobcmml 93 
 
 power, but God is the God in covenant relation with 
 His people ; they know His name, they possess His 
 law, they enjoy His guidance and protection. He is 
 their God, and they are beloved by Him. And yet 
 they know Him as the God who created heaven and 
 earth, to whom belong all angels above and nations 
 below, whom no man hath seen at any time, and whom 
 no finite mind can fathom. While Israel knows God 
 as their God, while they call Him by His name, they 
 also know that God is incomprehensible, unsearchable; 
 they stand in awe before Him, who is eternal, infinite, 
 and awful in majesty and glory. He meets with them, 
 in the tabernacle and in the temple, and yet they 
 know that the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. 
 He reveals Himself, and yet they say, " Thou art a 
 God that hidest Thyself." He manifests Himself in 
 signs and wonders, and He reminds them, " Thou hast 
 not beheld any likeness or similitude." Where else do 
 we find such a conception ? So infinite, and yet so 
 definite and personal ; so vast and comprehensive, 
 and yet so national and familiar ; so spiritual, and yet 
 so real ; so majestic and awful, and yet so merciful 
 and loving. This God, holy, and yet gracious ; eternal 
 and infinite, and yet guiding His people from day to 
 
 seen at any time, nor can see, has condescended to become an historical 
 Personage. All attempts to eliminate His being and operation from 
 the scriptural history of the Jewish people must eternally prove nugatory; 
 the natural and supernatural are so closely interwoven, and so intimately 
 pervade each other, that it is utterly impossible to remove Jehovah and 
 leave the undoubted facts of Israel's history explicable at all." — Dr.^J. 
 Duncan. 
 
94 Uhc ilamc of (Bch: the (£lorji of 
 
 day, ordering their very steps, and regulating their 
 life down to the detail of food and dress ; unsearch- 
 able, yet their light, and the Hearer of their prayers ; 
 self-subsistent and blessed in Himself, and yet yearning 
 after their love and fellowship — this God of Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob is the true and living God, and as 
 He saith Himself, " There is no other ; I know not 
 any." Do not confuse this God with what the world 
 calls God. Outside Israel God is anonymous ; in 
 Israel He is Jehovah ; in the Church He is Father. 
 Son, and Holy Ghost. It is in God's school that 
 little children are made wise, and wise men become 
 little children, and know and worship God. 
 
 In the divine revelation to Israel from Abraham to 
 the Exodus, and from Moses to the last prophets, we 
 can trace the following lines of education, which all 
 converge in the advent of the Lord Jesus, and in His 
 full revelation of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
 I. Scripture teaches us that no man can see God, 
 and Scripture speaks at the same time of God ap- 
 pearing. In paradise the voice of Jehovah (God) was 
 heard walking in the garden in the cool of day. Unto 
 the Fathers the Lord appeared as the angel or mes- 
 senger of the covenant. He appears first unto Hagar, 
 speaks unto her as the Lord who is almighty, and is 
 called Lord by her and by the sacred historian. 1 
 
 1 Gen. xvi. 10, 13 : When the angel of the Lord said unto Hagar, 
 " I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered 
 for multitude," does He not announce Himself as the Lord, the Author 
 
^he (Dlb anb oi the Jleto Covenant. 95 
 
 When God appeared unto Abraham, only one of 
 the three men whom he received in his tent is called 
 Lord. 1 The angel who stayed the hand of Abraham 
 when he was about to sacrifice his son Isaac, speaks 
 of Himself as Jehovah, and confirms the promise with 
 His oath. 2 The angel who appears unto Jacob in a 
 dream calls Himself the God who appeared unto him 
 in Bethel, 3 and the dying patriarch spoke of God and 
 of the angel who redeemed him from all evil. 4 This 
 was He with whom Jacob wrestled, and of whom he 
 said afterwards, " I have seen God face to face, and 
 my life is preserved." 5 Thus Hosea calls Him Angel 
 and God. 6 
 
 of life and Creator of spirits? Here we find, in the 13th verse, that the 
 historian calls Him, "The Lord who spake unto her," and Hagar called 
 His name, "Thou God seest me." 
 
 1 Gen. xviii. 20-33 — "And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom 
 and Gomorrah is great ... I will go down now. ... If I find in 
 Sodom fifty righteous men, I will spare all the place for their sakes. . . 
 And the Lord went His way." 
 
 2 Gen. xxii. n-17 — "And the angel of the Lord called unto 
 Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By Myself have I 
 sworn, saith the Lord . . . that in blessing I will bless thee," etc. 
 
 3 Gen. xxxi. 11-13 — "And the angel of the Lord spake unto me in 
 a dream, ... I am the God of Bethel." 
 
 4 Gen. xlviii. 15, 16 — "The God which fed me all my life long unto 
 this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil," etc. 
 
 5 Gen. xxxii. 30—" Peniel, I have seen God face to face." 
 
 6 Hos. xii. 3-5 — "Jacob, ... by his strength he had power with 
 God : yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed ; he wept, and 
 made supplication unto Him : he found Him in Bethel, and there He 
 spake with us ; even the Lord God of Hosts ; "the Lord is his 
 memorial." 
 
96 ^he Jtame of ©tfb : the Oilorj) of 
 
 This was the angel of Jehovah who appeared unto 
 Moses on Mount Horeb, and spoke of Himself as 
 Lord, and is called by Moses Lord. 1 The messenger 
 of Jehovah is none else than Jehovah manifest, the 
 angel in whom is God's name, the presence and 
 countenance of God. He went with Israel through 
 the wilderness. 2 " In all their affliction He was 
 afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them ; 
 in His love and in His pity He redeemed them ; and 
 He bare them and carried them all the days of old." 3 
 Truly the Rock that followed them was Christ. 4 
 
 Joshua beheld Him on the eve of battle, and 
 worshipped before the Captain of the host of the 
 Lord. 5 The same God-manifest appeared unto 
 Manoah, declared His name to be Pele, wonderful, 
 and Manoah knew he had seen the Lord. 6 The 
 
 1 Exod. iii. 6, 14, 15, and iv. 5 : The angel of the Lord appeared 
 unto Moses, and calls Himself, "lam the God of thy father, the God 
 of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Moses, in replying, calls Him Lord, 
 and Moses, as the historian, also designates him as Lord. 
 
 2 Exod. xxiii. 20, 21 : In this remarkable passage God declares of 
 the angel, " My name is in Him." Most clearly is the union between 
 God and the angel revealed in such expressions, " If thou shalt indeed 
 obey His voice, and do all that / speak. " Is not this the same in 
 existence which the incarnate Son describes when He says, "The 
 Father is in Me, and I in Him ; the Father that dwelleth in Me, He 
 doeth the works ?" (John x. 38 ; xiv. 16.) If possible, still more explicit 
 is Exod. xxxiii., where the angel who had been promised (Exod. xxxii. 
 34) is called by God, " My presence— *>3B— my countenance ;" or, as 
 Isaiah, in obvious reference to this chapter, says, " The angel of His 
 countenance," as the Apostle Paul speaks of " the glory of God in the 
 face of Jesus Christ" (iv irpoawiry ItjctoC XpiaTov) (2 Cor. iv. 6). 
 
 3 Isa. lxiii. 4 1 Cor. x. 3. 5 Joshua v. 13-15. 
 
 6 Judges xiii. ; specially 10, 22. 
 
^hz ©lb mxb ot the JJeto Cobenattt. 97 
 
 evangelist John teaches us that it was Christ's glory 
 which Isaiah beheld, 1 when in the year of King 
 Uzziah's death he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne 
 high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. 2 
 
 The testimony of Scripture concerning God re- 
 vealing Himself in the angel, who is also God, 
 appears for the last time most emphatically in the 
 concluding books of the prophets. 
 
 Thus also Ezekiel beheld the manifestation of God. 
 i: And above the firmament that was over their heads 
 was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of 
 a sapphire stone ; and upon the likeness of the throne 
 was the likeness as the appearance of a man upon it." 3 
 In the Book of Malachi we read — " The Lord, whom 
 ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the 
 messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in : 
 behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts." 4 
 How distinct is this designation ! He is the Messiah, 
 sought and desired with vehement affection by 
 
 1 " Isaiah had, in his inmost being, in some way unimaginable to us 
 who have not beheld it, seen the Holy Trinity in their unity of essence, 
 and that in the person of the Son, who said of Himself, ' He that hath 
 seen Me, hath seen the Father. ' It was a human form which he beheld 
 sitting enthroned as the Judge, and receiving the worship of the glowing 
 love of the seraphim. He had seen Him in His own glory and the 
 glory of the Father, transfiguring the likeness of that human form which 
 is now with the Father, the Light of heaven, which amid the uncreated 
 light, which God is, illumines heaven also with an uncreated light (as 
 St. John says, 'The Lamb is the Light thereof), because in Him 
 dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily." — Pusey on Isaiah vi., 
 Oxford Lectures, i860. 
 
 2 Isa, vi. ; John xii. 41. 3 Ezek. i. 26. 4 Mai. iii. 1. 
 
 H 
 
98 ^Ite £inmt of <&olb : the 6lorg of 
 
 Israel. He is the Mediator of the covenant be- 
 tween God and His people. He is both Messenger 
 and Lord, even as Jesus constantly spoke of Himself 
 as sent by the Father. And this Divine Messenger or 
 Angel had a forerunner — " Behold, I will send My 
 messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me." 
 This was fulfilled in John the Baptist, as Zacharias, 
 filled with the Holy Ghost, truly expounds the 
 prophecy of Malachi — " And thou, child, shalt be 
 called the Prophet of the Highest : for thou shalt go 
 before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways." 1 
 Israel knew God as Jehovah revealing Himself, 
 the Messenger or Angel, sent by God and one 
 with God, His representative, face, and image ; in 
 whom divine glory was manifest, and to whom divine 
 adoration is due. 2 
 
 1 Luke i. 76. 
 
 2 The passages of Scripture seem so very clear and strong, especially 
 if viewed in connection, and considered in the light of the Gospels and 
 Epistles, that it seems strange that in the Church of Christ there should 
 have been any difference of opinion as to the identity of the Angel with 
 the Word or Son of God. Is it conceivable, or in harmony with 
 Scripture, that divine names, honours, and functions should be attributed 
 to a created being, however exalted ? No truth is perhaps so often and 
 so solemnly stated and impressed by Moses and the prophets as the 
 infinite distance between God and the creature ; the jealousy of Jehovah, 
 not to give His glory to another : and the supposition of a created 
 angel, appointed to be a representative manifestation of God, is surely 
 a very dangerous one, and — may we not say? — one which would be 
 rejected by a simple mind which had received the fundamental truths 
 of the Word of God. When John, the beloved disciple, fell down to 
 worship before the feet of the angel which showed him these things, he 
 said unto him, "See thou do it not." The Angel of the Covenant 
 accepts worship : created angels are ministering spirits, sent forth to 
 
"lite <2Dlb anb of the $zto QTobenant. 99 
 
 II. But while God came thus nigh unto them, He 
 revealed the infinite distance which separated between 
 Him and the sinful nation. God is holy, and of purer 
 eyes than to behold iniquity; justice and truth are 
 the pillars of His throne. But Israel is sinful and 
 guilty. Yet God dwells among them. When He 
 loved the people, He came with a fiery law in His 
 right hand. And yet Israel hopes in the Lord, for 
 with Him is plenteous redemption. For they knew 
 that God, the holy and just Lawgiver, was also God 
 the Redeemer, the covenant-God, who saith — " I, even 
 I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine 
 own sake, and will not remember thy sins." It was 
 God who clothed Adam and Eve after their dis- 
 obedience ; it was Jehovah who, according to the 
 testimony of the prophets, clothes His people with 
 the garments of salvation and the robe of righteous- 
 ness. This pardoning and restoring Jehovah is what 
 in the language of fulfilment is called God in Christ; 
 or the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour. 
 And while the source of forgiveness can only be in 
 God, against whom sin is committed, there runs 
 
 minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. None of them can 
 be called Lord. The Mediator between God and man — this seems the 
 central truth to which all prophetic and apostolic teaching converges — 
 is the Lord, uncreated, eternal, infinite, appointed from all eternity, 
 whose goings forth are of old, finally made manifest, when the Word 
 was made flesh, the man Christ Jesus. It was, however, only gradually 
 that Israel connected the thought of the revealing God with the 
 Messiah. But that they had come to this knowledge is evident, for 
 example, from Mai. iii. I. 
 
^OThe |Jame of dob : the <&\oxv of 
 
 throughout Scripture a line of predictions in which 
 an atoning and justifying Mediator is promised, who 
 is divine, and who is called the Lord our Righteous- 
 ness. When Moses interceded in behalf of Israel, 
 the Lord said unto Moses, " Whosoever hath sinned 
 against Me, him will I blot out of My book." 1 In 
 the 49th Psalm we are reminded that no man can 
 by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God 
 a ransom for him. 2 When the prophets, therefore, 
 speak of one who is perfectly sinless and holy, who 
 is wounded for our transgressions, and upon whom 
 the Lord hath laid the iniquities of us all — whose 
 soul shall be made an offering for sin, and who shall 
 justify many by His knowledge, for He shall bear 
 their iniquities — it is evident that this suffering and 
 atoning, this justifying and saving Mediator is one 
 with God ; it is a Divine One who says, " Thou hast 
 made Me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied 
 Me with thine iniquities. I, even I, am He that 
 blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, 
 and will not remember thy sins." The Redeemer is 
 God, and yet distinguished from God ; He is God of 
 God, the Lord whom we worship, as the incarnate 
 Son was called Jesus, because He saves His people 
 from their sins. 
 
 And as God forgives, so God renews and sanctifies. 
 Unto Israel pertaineth the glory, the presence, and 
 tiie manifestation of the Lord. Between the cherubim, 
 and above the mercy-seat, the glory of God appeared. 
 
 1 Exodus xxxii. 33. 2 Psa. xlix. 7. 
 
^ke (Dlb mxb o£ the $eto Covenant. iot 
 
 It filled the temple. This is fulfilled when the Word 
 was made flesh, and tabernacled among us, and we 
 beheld the glory of the Only-begotten of the Father. 
 
 But the times of fulfilment are predicted in a more 
 distinct manner: a time is coming when Jehovah 
 shall be in the hearts of His people, when His Spirit 
 shall be poured out, when the Holy Ghost shall 
 descend and renew the heart, and all shall be taught 
 of God. For the pardon of sin and the renewal of 
 the heart ; the forgiveness of transgression and the 
 entrance into the presence of the Most High ; the 
 redemption by righteousness or atonement, and the 
 outpouring of the Holy Ghost — were gifts always 
 combined in the promises of God. Salvation embraces 
 not merely the blotting out of our transgressions, but 
 the slaying of the enmity, the circumcision of the 
 heart. The Messiah and the Spirit are continually 
 placed together before Israel. This is the blessing 
 of the new covenant : that God will put His Spirit 
 within them, and give them a new heart ; that God 
 Himself shall dwell within them, and that they shall 
 be all taught of God. As there is no other Saviour 
 but Jehovah, so there is no other quickening, re- 
 newing, and comforting Spirit but the Holy Ghost. 
 This was symbolized by the holy anointing, like to 
 which none might be made on pain of death. The 
 priests and prophets and kings which were anointed 
 with that holy unction were only types (might we 
 say, temporary and imperfect instalments and anti- 
 cipations ?) of that perfect Revealer, Atoner, Ruler, 
 
Hht jUme of d>ob : the (Slorg of 
 
 who is anointed with the Holy Ghost, who possesses 
 the Spirit in His sevenfold plenitude, in whom the 
 Spirit has His perfect abode, and through whom the 
 Spirit would be given to God's people to dwell in 
 them. Thus, as the forgiving Jehovah sent Jehovah 
 the Atoner, the Holy Ghost is the third revelation of 
 " I am Jehovah, which sanctify you." 1 
 
 A just God and a Saviour, a holy God and a 
 sanctifying Spirit, were manifested unto Israel, or, in 
 other words, the name of Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 III. These two lines of prophecy are combined in 
 the hope of Jehovah's rending the heavens, and 
 coming down to redeem and glorify Israel. The 
 coming of the Lord God is the theme of Psalms and 
 Prophets. God is expected to establish His throne, 
 and to be King over all the earth : Then 3hall He sit 
 upon the throne of His holiness, and rule over all 
 nations. Israel shall rejoice, and serve Him in truth 
 and love; all peoples shall walk in the light of Jacob. 
 Then the daughters of Judah and all the world shall 
 say, This God is our God for ever and ever. He 
 maketh wars to cease, and the Word of the Lord 
 goes forth from Jerusalem to all the ends of the earth. 
 One of the clearest predictions, announcing the 
 coming of a Divine One, sent, is in the prophet 
 Zechariah : " Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion : 
 for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, 
 1 Lev. xx. 8. 
 
^oThe ©lb mib of the Jfcto (Eobenant. 103 
 
 saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined 
 to the Lord in that day, and shall be My people : and 
 I will dwell in the midst of thee: and thou shalt know 
 that the Lord of hosts hath sent Me unto thee. And 
 the Lord shall inherit Judah His portion in the holy 
 land, and shall choose Jerusalem again." 1 
 
 What is this expectation of Jehovah seen, beloved, 
 ruling on a restored earth, but the expectation of 
 the Lord Jesus, who in the Book of Revelation calls 
 Himself Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the 
 Ending, the Lord which is, which was, and which is 
 to come, the Almighty ? The invisible God manifest, 
 the Holy God among a forgiven and renewed people 
 — such is the hope of Israel. 
 
 IV. We must combine with these passages another 
 apparently opposite line of prediction. It does not 
 descend from heaven earthwards, but from earth 
 heavenwards. Its starting-point is not the throne of 
 holiness, but the earth under a curse, and the woman, 
 who was first in the transgression. This series of 
 promises is familiar to all. The Seed of the woman, 
 who is to bruise the serpent's head ; the Seed of 
 Abraham, the only and beloved Son of promise, 
 type in the miraculous beginning of his existence, as 
 well as in his obedience unto death ; the Son of Judah, 
 called Shiloh ; the Son of David, who is to rule over 
 the house of Jacob for ever, King and Shepherd in 
 righteousness, peace, and love ; lastly, the Servant 
 
 1 Zech. ii. 10-12. 
 
104 ^Ike Jlame .of (Hob : tfu dlorj) of 
 
 Israel, the true and perfect and Spirit-filled Israel and 
 Servant of God, in whom His whole character is re- 
 vealed, and all His will fulfilled. Now the Seed, the 
 Son, the David, the Servant, the Israel, is the Re- 
 deemer, the Light of the nations, the Restorer and 
 glory of His people. And as He is man, and born of 
 the virgin-daughter of Zion, He is also God. Divine 
 names and attributes and works are ascribed to Him. 
 He is called, God with us, the mighty God, Jehovah 
 our Righteousness. He is called Jehovah — " The 
 voice that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the 
 way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a 
 highway for our God." He is born in Bethlehem 
 Ephratah, but His goings forth are of old, even from 
 everlasting. He is David's Son, and David in the 
 Spirit calls Him Lord. He is the Messenger of the 
 Covenant, in whom Israel delights, and yet He is 
 called the Lord whom ye seek. 
 
 This Anointed is the Son of God, whose enemies 
 must perish, while all they that trust in Him are 
 blessed (and yet "cursed is he who trusteth in man"). 
 This Branch out of the root of Jesse is Lord, who 
 "shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and 
 with the breath of His lips slay the wicked." 1 Isaiah 
 describes Him, not merely as the Servant of Jehovah, 
 perfect in His obedience ; but he presents Him also 
 as the Divine mediating Lord, the salvation and glory 
 of His people, the full manifestation and infinite 
 delight of God. Zechariah, whom Luther calls Aus- 
 1 Isa. xi. 4; comp. 2 Thess. ii. 8; Rev. i. 16. 
 
^he ©lb anb of the Jfcto <£otanant. 105 
 
 bund der Propheten, testifies that the Shepherd who 
 is smitten and pierced is none other than the Lord, 
 who sends the Spirit, the Man who is My equal ; the 
 Branch is Priest and King, King of Zion and of the 
 whole world, one with God in majesty and glory. 1 
 
 Thus Israel was taught that the Son of David, the 
 Messiah, was God manifest in the flesh ; Revealer of 
 the Father and the Lord, who can baptize with the 
 Holy Ghost. Does not the Messianic prophecy de- 
 clare the name of the triune God ? 
 
 V. This mysterious God-man is seen in heaven and 
 coming down from heaven. He is evidently one with 
 the Jehovah, of whom I spoke before, coming to 
 establish His kingdom, and reveal His glory on earth. 
 David beholds Him, 2 who is his Son, sitting at the 
 right hand of the Majesty on high. The prophet 
 Zechariah beholds the Divine Lord pouring upon the 
 house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the 
 spirit of grace and of supplications ; 3 and He who 
 descended from heaven is none other than He who 
 ascended, even He who was pierced by His brethren, 
 the Man whom Jehovah calls His equal. 4 Daniel 
 
 1 Isa. xl.-lxvi., and Zech. passim. 2 Psa. ex. I. 
 
 3 Zech. xii. 10. 
 
 4 A Jewish commentator on Zechariah has the following interesting 
 remarks, in which truth is strangely mixed with error : — " I will do yet 
 a third thing, and that is, they shall look unto Me ; for they shall lift 
 up their eyes unto Me in perfect repentance, when they see Him whom 
 they pierced, that is, Messiah, the Son of Joseph ; for our Rabbis, of 
 blessed memory, have said that He will take upon Himself all the 
 
106 ^hc £imnt of (goo : the (lilorp. of 
 
 beholds the Son of Man coming with the clouds of 
 heaven, and there was given to Him an everlasting 
 dominion that shall not pass away, and a kingdom 
 that shall not be destroyed. 1 Ezekiel prophesies that 
 David, God's servant, shall be king over His people, 
 and they all shall have one Shepherd. Then God's 
 tabernacle shall be with them — " Yea, I will be their 
 God, and they shall be My people. And the heathen 
 shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when 
 My sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for 
 evermore." 2 
 
 Mysterious predictions ! The Lord who descends 
 from God's throne in glory, and with the clouds of 
 heaven, to judge the earth, to pour out the Holy 
 Ghost on Israel, to receive an everlasting kingdom, to 
 sanctify the chosen people, and to rule over the whole 
 world, is the Son of man, the Son of David, the Servant 
 of God, the Shepherd who was smitten, whose hands 
 were pierced. This is He of whom it is written in the 
 Book of Revelation — " Behold He cometh with clouds, 
 and every eye shall see Him, and they also which 
 pierced Him ! " It is Jesus who is the Son of man, 
 who is also " Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and 
 
 guilt of Israel, and shall then be slain in the war, to make an atone- 
 ment, in such a manner that it shall be accounted as if Israel had 
 pierced Him ; for on account of their sin He has died, and therefore, 
 in order that it may be reckoned to them as a perfect atonement, they 
 will repent and look to the Blessed One, saying, There is none beside 
 Him to forgive those who mourned on account of Him, who died for 
 their sin." — Alshech, quoted by M'Caul. 
 
 1 Dan. vii. 13, 14. 2 Ezek. xxxvii. 24-28. 
 
^hz ©lb anb of the Jfcto GTobenant. 107 
 
 the Ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, 
 and which is to come, the Almighty." 
 
 VI. Hitherto we have considered the historical 
 manifestations of God in Israel, and the promises of 
 the future, final manifestations of God. But the 
 thought of Israel was led also beyond history and 
 creation into the region of eternity ; and the mystery 
 of the Trinity, which is fully revealed in the apostolic 
 writings, especially of John and Paul, is foreshadowed 
 in the teaching of the Book of Proverbs. God, who 
 reveals Himself as triune, is triune — such has been 
 the confession of the Church in all ages. And Israel 
 before the Advent possessed some knowledge of the 
 Eternal Word and Spirit ; for who can fail to recognize 
 the identity of the Wisdom spoken of by Solomon in 
 the Book of Proverbs, and the Word, who the beloved 
 disciple teaches us was in the beginning, and was with 
 God, and was God, by whom all things were made, 
 who is the beginning of the creation of God ? This 
 Wisdom is not a personification of a divine attribute. 
 Attributes and actions are ascribed to her : she invites 
 the simple to make a covenant with her, she promises 
 to pour out " my spirit," and she announces death as 
 the portion of all who do not yield themselves in faith 
 and obedience to her voice. This Wisdom which 
 appears among men, and dwells especially in Israel, 
 is eternal — with God in the beginning of His way, 
 before His works of old, from everlasting — before the 
 earth was and the heavens were brought forth. There 
 
"Qlhz gL&mz at (Bol : the (glorj) of 
 
 are no expressions more emphatic or explicit to 
 describe the pre-mundane, eternal character of the 
 Word. And this eternal Wisdom was with God — 
 object of His contemplation, love, and delight, — His 
 equal in glory. Such language describes in a variety 
 of ways what is impossible for human language to 
 describe adequately — even the transcendent mystery 
 of eternal generation. Wisdom is set up from ever- 
 lasting, brought forth ; or, as the Church expressed 
 it, God of God, begotten, not made ; beyond and above 
 all creation ; to be distinguished from God, and yet 
 worshipped in the Godhead. When Solomon says 
 that God possessed wisdom in the beginning of His 
 way, does He not bring before us the beginning which 
 is before creation ; even as the Apostle Paul, speaking 
 of the Son of God, by whom all things were created, 
 says, He is before all things ; and again, He is the 
 beginning (apxf). 1 And as the Lord calls Himself, 
 " The beginning of the creation of God." 2 
 
 Bearing in mind the filial hypostatic character of 
 Wisdom, we understand the remarkable passage in 
 chap. xxx. — " Who hath ascended up into heaven and 
 descended ? Who hath gathered the wind in His 
 fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? 
 Who hath established all the ends of the earth? 
 What is His name, and what is His Son's name, if 
 thou canst tell ? " 
 
 VII. We may now consider passages in which we 
 
 1 Col. i. 17, 18. 2 Rev. iii. 14. 
 
^he ©tf) aitb jj£ th* Jleto GLobzmnt. 109 
 
 think reference is made to the plurality in the ever- 
 blessed Trinity, and which will not appear as isolated, 
 but inwoven into the whole history of Israel, and 
 harmonious with all the divine teaching. 
 
 In the very commencement of Genesis we are taught 
 that God, who created all things, created all things by 
 the Word, and that the Spirit of God moved upon the 
 face of the waters. The Word and the Spirit are con- 
 stantly combined — "By the word of the Lord were the 
 heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath 
 of His mouth." 1 And in like manner, the countenance, 
 or presence, and the Spirit — " Cast me not away from 
 Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from 
 me." 2 "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or 
 whither shall I flee from Thy presence ? " 3 
 
 The prophet Isaiah gives a compendious summary 
 of the divine gracious dealings with Israel; 4 and in 
 this beautiful ( and sublime prayer he speaks of the 
 Lord, of the Angel of His presence, and of the Spirit. 
 Throughout the prophecy of this evangelist of the old 
 covenant, the Servant of God, the Redeemer, who is 
 divine, is represented as sent by God, and anointed 
 with the Holy Ghost — " From the time that it was, 
 there am I ; and now the Lord God and His Spirit 
 hath sent Me." 5 
 
 Most important and fundamental is the blessing 
 with which, according to God's commandment, Aaron 
 
 1 Psa. xxxiii. 6. 2 Psa. li. n. 3 Psa. cxxxix. 7. 4 Isaiah Ixiii. 
 
 5 Isa. xlviii. 16 ; compare Stier on this important passage, Jesaias 
 nicht Pseudojesaias. 
 
no 'ulhe JJtfme of @>ob : the (^krrj) of 
 
 blessed the people. This benediction, given by in- 
 spiration, contained the sum and substance of divine 
 teaching. The whole revelation of the covenant- God, 
 and the fulness of covenant-blessing, are here summed 
 up, not by man, but by God Himself. The question, 
 therefore, is not what and how much Moses and the 
 people could have understood or known of the mystery. 
 Out of this divine revelation, so full and glorious, so 
 august and consoling, they continually derived, by the 
 aid of the Spirit, light and peace, inquiring into its 
 depths, and meditating on its vast disclosures, even 
 as we, who have received the fuller and clearer revela- 
 tion, remain constantly learners, and know only in 
 part. 
 
 That the benediction consists of three co-ordinate 
 parts, that the name of the Lord is mentioned three 
 times, is surely significant. But the threefold blessing 
 corresponds most fully with the threefold manifesta- 
 tion of God, with the triune name. God the Father 
 is the Author and Source of all blessing — " He hath 
 blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly 
 places.'' 1 He it is by whom His people are kept — 
 " The Lord is thy Keeper," kept by the power of 
 God. 2 " The Lord bless thee, and keep thee." God 
 the Son is the face of God shining upon us; in Him 
 the Father receives us graciously — " God was in 
 Christ, reconciling the world." This is the second 
 benediction — " The Lord make His face shine upon 
 thee, and be gracious unto thee." The Father's love 
 
 1 Eph. i. 3. 2 Ps. exxi. 5 ; 1 Pet. i. 5. 
 
^hc (Dlb aitb .of the JUto Covenant. hi 
 
 and the grace of the Lord are brought unto us by the 
 Holy Ghost, and when they are received by Him, the 
 result is peace. This is the third blessing — crown 
 and consummation of the two — "The Lord lift up 
 His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." 1 
 
 This blessing, so venerable, so holy, so glorious, of 
 which both the substance and the outward expression, 
 the pearl and the casket, have God for their Author, 
 was no doubt unto thousands of God-fearing Israels 
 a compendium of theology, as well as a cordial in 
 days of sorrow and conflict. And what they saw 
 dimly was declared fully by Him who is above Aaron, 
 by the great High Priest, even the Son, our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, when He commanded His disciples to 
 baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Ghost. 
 
 Isaiah the prophet beheld the glory of Christ, and 
 heard the song of praise which ascends from the 
 seraphim to the throne of God. As in the heavenly 
 Sanctuary the Lord is called holy, so the Old Testa- 
 ment evangelist speaks continually in his prophecy of 
 the " Holy One of Israel/' 2 And as Isaiah heard 
 the trisagion of the seraphim, which doubtless, like 
 that of the cherubim (in Rev. iv. 8), referred to the 
 ever-adorable Trinity, so the whole prophecy, which 
 
 1 Comp. John xx. 21, 22 ; Rom. xiv. 17 ; Luke ii. 14 
 
 2 It forms, Delitzsch says, an essential part of Isaiah's distinctive 
 prophetic signature. The only other passages in which the word occurs 
 are three times in'the Psalms andgtwice in v Jeremiah, and that not with- 
 out an allusion to Isaiah. In Isaiah it occurs twenty-nine times. 
 
<lhc Jlame of <&ol : the (Slorg of 
 
 by divine inspiration was given to Israel, reflected, 
 although in broken rays, the glory of that perfect 
 revelation which in Jesus has been vouchsafed to the 
 Church. 
 
 To us is revealed clearly and fully, what was seen 
 only dimly by Israel. Let us consider the blessings 
 implied in the knowledge of the Name. 
 
 First. As to worship. Israel worshipped the only 
 true and living God : they knew God as holy, and 
 yet their Redeemer. The Holy Ghost also taught 
 and moved them, and the recorded prayers and 
 thanksgivings of the saints before the Advent are 
 most precious evidences that Israel worshipped in 
 the same spirit in which we now draw near to the 
 throne of grace. Contrition for sin, hope in divine 
 mercy, and exclusive reliance on His righteousness and 
 covenant-promise, joy in His salvation, and desire 
 for the manifestation of divine glory on earth — all 
 these features of the renewed soul are most distinctly 
 and beautifully expressed in the Psalms of David and 
 the prayers of the prophets. 
 
 And yet, great as is the glory of the Old Testa- 
 ment worship, greater is the glory of the New Testa- 
 ment worship ; for then the way into the Holiest of 
 all was not yet manifest. Israel, although taught 
 and guided by the Spirit, had not received the Holy 
 Ghost as we receive the Spirit from our glorified 
 Saviour, Jesus Christ. 1 The incarnation of the Son, 
 1 John vii. 39. 
 
Uihe ©lb atto of tltc Jleto GCobeiumt. 1T3 
 
 the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the out- 
 pouring of the Holy Ghost, have brought unto us 
 fulness and liberty of worship which the Old Testa- 
 ment saints did not enjoy. 
 
 Whereas the world worship they know not what, 
 approaching God without the mediation of His Son, 
 and offering up petitions according to the thoughts 
 and desires of an unrenewed heart, the Church 
 worships the God of Israel in the brightness, peace, 
 and power of His perfect self-manifestation. Spirit- 
 uality is not so much a quality inherent in the wor- 
 shipper, it is subjectively the reflection of the object 
 worshipped. 
 
 In Jesus, and by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, 
 we call upon the Father. The Son has declared Him. 
 The Father's character was fully revealed by Jesus. 
 The whole life, the death, the resurrection of our Lord 
 manifests the Father's name, reveal and bring to us 
 the Father s love. 
 
 And not merely has Christ revealed to us the 
 Father, and reconciled us with God, but by virtue of 
 our regeneration, our union with the Only-begotten, 
 we have become in reality — in nature, so to say — the 
 children of God, as the Spirit of His Son in our hearts 
 cries, Abba, Father. 
 
 As we worship the Father, we also call Jesus Lord. 
 We worship Christ. This is a mystery which the 
 world cannot understand. They know not that Jesus 
 is the Lord of glory. But those into whose hearts 
 God hath shined, to give the light of the knowledge 
 
ii4 '&he £inmt of (Bob: the (Jilorn. of 
 
 of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 1 adore 
 Jesus, in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth 
 bodily, the Son, who is the brightness of the Father's 
 glory and the express image of His person. And as 
 Israel knew the divine dignity of the Messenger of 
 God, the children of God worship Jesus, God manifest 
 in the flesh. The wise men from the East worshipped 
 the Child, the new-born King of the Jews, and brought 
 to Him gold, frankincense, and myrrh, for they knew 
 that He was Lord. 2 The blind man whose eyes Jesus 
 opened believed in the Son of God, and worshipped 
 Him. 3 Thomas fell down when He beheld the 
 merciful and loving Saviour, and exclaimed, " My 
 Lord and my God ! " * 
 
 All the apostles worshipped Him when they saw 
 Him ascending into heaven ; 5 and they returned to 
 Jerusalem with great joy, and praised and blessed 
 God, because Jesus, their Saviour, was their almighty 
 and adorable Lord. All Christians in the primitive 
 Church worshipped Jesus. Thus Ananias, speaking 
 to the Lord Jesus, describes believers as the saints of 
 Jesus, who call upon His name. 6 The Church of God 
 which was at Corinth, and all the churches, according 
 to the testimony of the Apostle Paul, called upon the 
 name of Jesus Christ our Lord. 7 
 
 As all saints on earth worship Christ, so do all the 
 saints in heaven and all angels. The four living beings 
 
 1 i Cor. ii. 8; 2 Cor. iv. 6. 2 Matt. ii. 3 John ix. 35-38. 
 
 4 John xx. 26-29. 5 Luke xxiv. 52. 6 Acts ix. 14. 
 
 7 I Cor. i. 2. 
 
^Ehe €Ui) mib of the Jfteto CcMtrattt. 115 
 
 and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb. 
 John the Evangelist heard the voice of many angels 
 round about the throne, and the living beings and the 
 elders, and the number of them was ten thousand 
 times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 
 saying, with a loud voice, " Worthy is the Lamb 
 that was slain, to receive power and riches, and 
 wisdom and strength, and honour and glory and 
 blessing." 
 
 While we adore Jesus, in whom dwelleth the fulness 
 of the Godhead bodily, we are filled with sweetest joy 
 and confidence when we remember His humanity. 
 He is a merciful and compassionate High Priest, 
 touched with the feeling of our infirmity. He re- 
 members His sufferings and temptations on earth. 
 He, who became like us in all things, sin excepted, 
 is even now not ashamed to call us "brethren," and 
 He still possesses all the sympathy and tenderness 
 which He manifested on earth, and which His ex- 
 periences here below, even to His death on the cross, 
 drew forth and perfected. Thus we worship not 
 merely with reverence and awe, but with great joy 
 and boldness, with that feeling of perfect confidence 
 which enables us to " say all," 1 to pour out our hearts 
 before Him, and to confide all our sorrows and fears 
 to One who still saith to us, " I call you friends." As 
 He is the only Son of God, so is He the only Son of 
 man, the only one who knows all that is in man, and 
 in whom every one can find rest and light, help 
 
 1 Trafifflcna. 
 
u6 ^hc JJame of @>oft : the (glorg of 
 
 and guidance, perfect sympathy and all-sufficient 
 love. 
 
 Calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus — thus our 
 Christian life commences ; so may it terminate, as 
 the first martyr beheld the Son of man at the right 
 hand of God, and invoked, saying, " Lord Jesus, re- 
 ceive my spirit;" and again, "Lord, lay not this sin 
 to their charge." 
 
 And we adore also the Holy Ghost, who proceedeth 
 from the Father and the Son, who searcheth the deep 
 things of God, and by whom the Father and the 
 Son dwell in our hearts. 
 
 In Christian worship there is a beautiful com- 
 bination of adoration and love. 
 
 An adoration without love ; a sense of divine ma- 
 jesty, power, and truth without trust, gratitude, joy, 
 affection, without the knowledge that God is our God, 
 is not true adoration, for it does not reach the ac- 
 knowledgment of God as He is, it does not attain to 
 the central light — God is Love. A feeling of love 
 and peace, without a sense of the awful majesty and 
 holiness of the Most High, is not true Spirit-born love ; 
 for only by the blood of Christ are we brought nigh 
 unto the Father. In Christ Jesus only we behold 
 God, and worship. His love is the full manifestation 
 of His glory. The more we trust, the more we are 
 filled with awe; the nearer we approach, the higher 
 do we behold the Lord — God above all, blessed for 
 ever. 
 
 But the perfection of true prayer is, that it is in 
 
\Llte (Dlb anb of the 4S,eto Covenant. 117 
 
 the Holy Ghost, in accordance with God's will, in the 
 name of Jesus. We have received the Spirit of Christ 
 as a Spirit of grace and supplication. The Spirit 
 Himself helpeth our infirmities in prayer. Thus the 
 mediation of Christ in prayer is perfect. For not 
 merely are we brought nigh by the blood of Christ, 
 and accepted in Him, and not merely is the great 
 High Priest ever interceding for us, and presenting to 
 the Father our praise and our petitions, but by the 
 indwelling of the Holy Ghost we possess the mind of 
 Christ, and pray in Christ's name, asking the blessings 
 which Christ the Lord has purchased for us, and which 
 His love desires us to obtain. 1 Thus are all things of 
 God ; thus the source and end, the way and strength, 
 the light and joy of our worship, are in the ever- 
 blessed Persons of the Godhead. 
 
 Secondly, The name of Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost is the foundation of Christian knowledge and 
 experience. We rest in the love of the Father, by 
 the grace of His only Son, and we call Jesus Saviour 
 
 1 ' ' We are one with Christ, He lives in us ; by the Spirit we are 
 joined unto the Lord, and the Spirit teaches us to pray in His name ; 
 for what is the cry of the Spirit ? He utters the same prayer as Jesus 
 had taught — 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit of Christ creates within us 
 the filial spirit. He conforms us unto Christ, so that we seek God's 
 glory, are jealous for His honour, long for His kingdom, and desire 
 not to do our own will, but His. He works in us that calm, believing 
 rest in God, who supplies our daily wants, and delivers us from the 
 feverish anxiety and timorous thought of the future. He makes us 
 forgiving, patient, and gentle toward all men, and dreading and hating 
 nothing but temptation and evil. Or, in other wjrds, He prays and 
 fulfils in us the Lord's Prayer." — My Lectures on The Lord's Prayer, 
 p. 92. 
 
n8 ^kc ^ame of <8ob: the (glani of 
 
 with the appropriating faitli which the Holy Ghost 
 gives. We see the fatherly heart of God, which in 
 Christ Jesus He has revealed to us. We trace and 
 transfer to the Father all the features of condescending 
 love, pity, and tenderness which we behold in the 
 countenance of the Lord Jesus. The assurance of 
 Christ — " The Father Himself loveth you ! ° — opposes 
 a secret thought lurking within us, as if the Father was 
 not as gracious and as near to us as the Lord Jesus. 
 Or that the reason why God loves us is because Christ 
 died for us, instead of seeing in the death of the 
 Saviour the result as well as the manifestation of the 
 eternal Father-love. We do not honour the Son, we 
 do not truly understand and receive His salvation, we 
 do not truly avail ourselves of His mediation, unless 
 by Him we come to the Father, and rest in the infinite 
 love which through Christ is ours. And this love is 
 all-comprising. Because He is our God and Father, 
 who hath given us the Son, He will with Him freely 
 give us all things. 
 
 Again, do we glorify the Father in the Son ? Do 
 we constantly think of the Father as in Christ ? Do 
 we view and receive His gifts and blessings, His 
 creation and providence, as in and through the Word, 
 our Lord Jesus ? Do we constantly hear the voice 
 from the most excellent glory — " Hear Him?" Do 
 we receive "all things," material, intellectual, moral, 
 spiritual, out of the once pierced hands of " the Son," 
 to whom the Father hath given them ? Do we see 
 them purchased with the blood of atonement? Is 
 
^he 031b anli of the J^cto (Eobenant. 119 
 
 redemption the basis of our life ? Is Christ to us 
 Alpha and Omega, because the Father is in Him and 
 He is in the Father ? Do we know the name Son ? 
 
 Do we know the Holy Ghost ? The Father is God 
 above us, and for us, the Son is God with us, the 
 Holy Ghost is God in us. As the Spirit of Christ, 
 the glorified Son of man, He descends into our hearts, 
 and brings to us, with quickening and renewing power, 
 the love of the Father and the grace of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Through Him Christ lives within us, 
 and is our Light, our Strength. Through Him God 
 works in us both to will and to do of His good 
 pleasure. Do we rely continually in humility and 
 gladness on His help and on His power ? Do we 
 enter into the covenant-blessing that God the Father 
 will dwell in us, and take up His abode in our hearts ? 
 Do we know that we are anointed, and thus one with 
 Him who is the Christ ; or do we not often attempt 
 to know and trust the Father and the Son without 
 the light and strength of the Spirit, by whom alone 
 divine life is kindled and sustained in the heart of 
 man ? The Spirit is Christ's gift and the Father's 
 promise. God's thoughts and works are fulfilled by 
 Him. 
 
 As our Christian life and growth are thus connected 
 with the knowledge of the name of God, so the 
 separation in our thoughts, heart, and life of the ever- 
 blessed and glorious Three is the source of all error 
 and weakness. To speak exclusively of Christ, 
 ignoring the election of the Father and the work of 
 
^Clhc Jtamc of 0£ob : tlve (Blow of 
 
 the Holy Ghost, is dangerous, and leads men to 
 substitute an imaginary Christ for the true Lord, and 
 a self-wrought faith for the faith which is the gift of 
 God. To dwell exclusively on the election of the 
 Father and the work of the Spirit (and by exclusively 
 I mean viewing Christ in a secondary and subordinate 
 manner to these) is to conceal Christ as the open 
 Door, the Saviour of the lost, the Fountain free and 
 open to " whosoever." To dwell on the Father's love 
 and the Saviour's grace, and not on the fellowship of 
 the Holy Ghost, is the source of that want of assurance 
 or fulness of faith which is always seeking for testi- 
 mony and confirmation in that which is changeable, 
 instead of recognizing the testimony of God's Spirit 
 to our spirit that we are the children of God. It is 
 also the source of a low standard of obedience and 
 service. Forgetting that we have received the Spirit, 
 in order that we may walk in the Spirit, we rest sat- 
 isfied with our unfruitful condition ; and instead of 
 living in newness of life, and doing the works of 
 Christ, we walk as men, and the power of Christ's 
 resurrection is not manifested by us. 1 
 
 Thirdly, Let us consider our diameter in the light 
 of the name. We are children of the Father, and 
 therefore exhorted to be followers of Him. Christ 
 exhorts us to be generous, bountiful, forgiving, to 
 love the ungrateful, to give for the sake and joy of 
 giving, to cherish kind thoughts and benedictions 
 towards our enemies, that we may be the children of 
 
 1 i Cor. iii. 3. 
 
\Ehe (Dlb anb of the Heto Cobenant. 121 
 
 our Father which is in heaven, for He maketh His 
 sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain 
 on the just and on the unjust. And He adds the 
 great word, " Be ye therefore perfect, even as your 
 Father which is in heaven is perfect." 1 
 
 Be, not become. It is not a gradual process of self- 
 improvement ; it is not a slow ascent of our own 
 exertion, to which the Lord here exhorts us. By 
 virtue of our adoption and engrafting into Christ, we 
 are to behold continually the Father, and at all times 
 to walk in the Spirit, and not according to the flesh. 
 Nature calls that good which is imperfect ; but grace 
 calls none good but God, and cannot rest satisfied 
 except in the Divine image. The very thought of 
 the Father should fill the heart with sweetness and 
 love, and should make us fatherly and godlike. 
 
 We are called to be sons. " Behold what manner 
 of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we 
 should be called the sons of God." We are one with 
 Christ ; therefore we are to be Christ-like. And this 
 is to be Christ-like, to possess and manifest the filial 
 Spirit. He sought the Father's glory in the salvation 
 of man. To Him service was liberty and joy. He 
 was Neighbour to all who needed His help and 
 consolation. He went about doing good. He pub- 
 lished the glad tidings, the acceptable year of the 
 Lord. He had only one aim, and was always about 
 His Father's business. Harmless and undefiled, holy 
 and perfect, He was the Friend of sinners, and the 
 1 Matt. v. 43-48; Eph. v. 1. 
 
122 mhe JJame ot (!ioo : the (glorj) of 
 
 Consoler of the penitent. He said to His disciples 
 (on ten different occasions), " Follow Me." And His 
 path was through obedience and suffering to glory. 
 
 We are called to be Christians, that is, men 
 anointed with the Holy Ghost. We are separated from 
 the world by the Spirit as well as the blood of Christ. 
 Often we forget that we are the "children of the 
 Spirit." x We are gloomy and desponding, and forget 
 that we have received a free and royal Spirit. We 
 speak our own words, and are anxious, trusting in our 
 own wisdom and prudence, and forget that we have 
 received the Spirit to speak in and by us. We do 
 the works of the flesh, and forget that the fruit of the 
 Spirit is the manifestation of Christ's life and power. 
 We have received the Spirit of power and of love and 
 of a sound mind. It is written, " The Spirit and the 
 bride," because the Church is to be like the Spirit, 
 even as she is conformed unto Christ. We are called 
 spiritual 2 because the Holy Ghost dwelleth in us. * 
 
 Thus are we not merely to trust in the name 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but to sanctify and 
 to represent that name in our characters and lives. 
 
 Note. — The doctrine of the Trinity and the modern 
 Synagogue. 
 
 The doctrine of the Trinity is the great stumbling- 
 block to modern Jews. It is the boast of the Syna- 
 gogue of recent times that the great mission of Israel 
 is to testify of the unity of God among the nations of 
 
 1 Luke ix. 55. 
 
 3 Comp. Author's Christ Crucified {1 Cor. ii.), p. 135. 
 
^h* ©lb anb of the ifteto (Eorjenant. 123 
 
 the world ; and they represent this as the treasure 
 committed to their guardianship — to teach the one 
 supreme God. The claim has no solid foundation, 
 and rests upon important misconceptions. 
 
 The apostles of the Saviour, brought up in the 
 Scriptures, true Israelites, proclaimed the name of 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost among Jews and 
 heathen, without fear of coming into collision with 
 the monotheism of their own brethren, or of being 
 mistaken by polytheistic pagans; so deeply rooted 
 was their doctrine in the teaching of Moses and the 
 prophets, so thoroughly in harmony with the divine 
 manifestations given unto the fathers, and with the 
 true spirit of the worship in God's ancient people ; so 
 thoroughly distinct from, and opposed to, every 
 species of polytheism, so strong in its assertion of the 
 unity of the Godhead. 
 
 And the Gentile nations, who since the dispersion 
 of Israel to this day have given up idolatry, and 
 learned to adore the only true God who spake to the 
 fathers by the prophets, have derived their knowledge, 
 not from the synagogue, but from the Church ; and the 
 name of Jesus, the attractive power of His dying love, 
 has been the influence which has brought light and 
 love to the hearts of them who sat in darkness and in 
 the shadow of death. Thus Israel ought to learn from 
 history, that the central power which, according to 
 prophecy, is to attract and renovate the heathen 
 world, is not in the Synagogue, which rejected Jesus, 
 but in that very Jesus, the rejected Nazarene, who is 
 
124 ^Tlu |Iamc of 0*>crb : ike OMorij of 
 
 Lord, the Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory 
 of His people Israel. 
 
 But not only is it the triune name of God by which 
 the unity of God has been proclaimed among all the 
 nations of the earth, but Israel has, by the rejection 
 of Messiah, lost the knowledge of Jehovah, for in the 
 latter days they shall seek the Lord and their King. 1 
 The Synagogue lays emphasis upon the unity of God 
 (or rather, to use a word of Coleridge, unicity, for the 
 Church is constantly testifying of the one Godhead). 
 How different from their abstract idea of One is the 
 God of Scripture, the God of the fathers, of Moses 
 and the prophets ! He is the covenant-God, living 
 with and among His people ; He reveals Himself as 
 the Redeemer ; He influences the heart by His Holy 
 Spirit ; He promises and prepares fuller self-mani- 
 festation, the new covenant of forgiveness of sin, and 
 the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 The Lord God and Israel had a history, progressive 
 and living ; and the true people of God waited for 
 the coming of the Lord and of His Spirit. Since the 
 rejection of Jesus, Israel has been in the wilderness, 
 without prophecy, without high priest, without temple. 
 Tradition and scepticism have reigned among them. 
 The phrase, Israel's mission is to proclaim the unity 
 of God, is shallow. In rejecting the Lord Jesus, and 
 hardening themselves against the Messianic pre- 
 dictions quoted by the Church, the Jews rejected also 
 the opinions and testimonies of their fathers. Such 
 1 Hosea iii. 4, 5. 
 
"glhe ©lb mxh of the Jjeto Caiiennnt. 125 
 
 an expression of Raschi as the following is by no 
 means isolated — " Our Rabbis have expounded it of 
 the King Messiah," l " but it is better to expound it 
 further of David himself, in order to answer heretics." 
 Thus Psa. ii., xlv. ; Isa. ix. : Zech. xii., and other 
 passages in which the divine dignity of the Messiah 
 is declared, were rightly interpreted by the ancient 
 Synagogue. 2 Alas ! modern Jews, as a rule, do not 
 understand the force of the Saviour's question — " How 
 does David call Him Lord ? " 
 
 The testimony of Jewish writings to the doctrine 
 of the Trinity is not inconsiderable. In the Tar- 
 gumim, we find that Israel understood the teaching 
 of Scripture concerning Wisdom and the Word. For 
 instance, Gen. i. 1 is translated Bechnkmetha — "By 
 wisdom God created heaven and earth," identifying 
 wisdom with the beginning. Again, Exod. iii. 8 — 
 ^God redeemed Israel by the Word " (memra). 
 Again, Num. xxiii. 21 — "The word of Jehovah is 
 their help, and the Shechina of their King is among 
 them," and another Targum renders it "the shout of 
 their King Messiah." 
 
 That Israel retained the knowledge of a plurality 
 of Divine Persons — of the Mediator, the Word or 
 Wisdom, the Metatron, by whom and for whom all 
 things were made, that they connected this Word 
 with the Messiah and with redemption, appears from 
 
 1 Psa. xxi. 
 
 2 Compare the late Dr. M'Caul's most interesting and instructive 
 tract, The Doctrine of Isaiah liii. Also his work, Rabbi David 
 Kimch€s Commentary on the Prophecies of Zechariah. 
 
126 ^he Jtame of (£00: the Sloru of 
 
 many passages of the Sohar and other Jewish writings. 
 It is taught that the Metatron is the image which was 
 erected by God ; and that this Word or Wisdom is 
 the Mediator between God and man ; that He is 
 called the Angel of the Lord, who went before Israel 
 — the Gate by which the righteous enter. Of Him it 
 is said, " And Jehovah went before them." x He is 
 spoken of as the oldest in the house of God, the be- 
 ginning of the creation, who rules above all, who 
 restores peace in the heavens, 2 who comprises in 
 Himself all gradations of creation, and is the bond 
 of all. He is represented as the exact manifestation 
 of the hidden God. As God is, so is the Shechina, 
 or the glory of God. 
 
 The following is a specimen of Jewish speculation 
 on the divine name: 3 — "Hear, Israel, Jehovah our 
 God is one Jehovah. The Holy One, blessed be He, 
 is called One ; but the expression of His name is in 
 three letters. How do I know that He is one, and 
 that all His names and praises are in threefold form ? 
 Because His name is threefold — Jehovah, our God, 
 one Jehovah ; behold His name is threefold. Jehovah, 
 Jehovah, God full of mercy ; 4 behold, His name is 
 threefold. Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts ; 5 
 behold, His praise is threefold. Great is Jehovah, 
 and worthy to be praised, and His greatness unsearch- 
 able ; behold, His praise is threefold. Then sang 
 
 1 Exod. xiii. 21. 2 Job xxv. 2. 
 
 3 Zunz, Gottesdienstliche Vortrage, 168, quoted by Delitzsch. 
 
 4 Exod. xxxiv. 6. 5 Isa. vi. 3. 
 
^he (Dlb nxib oi the $eto (Eolmumt. 127 
 
 Moses this song: I will sing ; behold His praise is 
 threefold. And thus the Song of Songs consists of 
 song, and of two songs, a threefold song." 
 
 On the divinity of the Messiah, the Sonar says — 
 " Thou art the Son, faithful Shepherd ; of Thee it is 
 said, ' Kiss the Son.' Thou art the Lord of Israel, 
 the mighty One on earth, Lord of ministering angels, 
 Son of God and of the Shechina, which is mercy." 
 In another place we read — " The question was asked, 
 What is the Messiah's name ? Rabbi Aba bar Cabana 
 said, The Lord ; for the Scripture saith, ' And this 
 is the name by which He shall be called, The Lord 
 our Righteousness/" 1 Another Rabbi said on this 
 passage, " And who is it that will speak to Jerusalem 
 to comfort her ? Is it not the Lord our Righteous- 
 ness, is it not the King Messiah ? " 
 
 The following old midrasch on the suffering Messiah 
 is translated literally by Delitzsch, and is most in- 
 teresting, as showing the circle of thought in which 
 Jewish minds moved — " In Thy light we see the light, 
 saith the Psalmist. It means the light of the Messiah. 
 When Scripture says, God saw the light that it was 
 good, it teaches thereby that the Holy One, blessed 
 be He, even before the creation of the world, thought 
 of the Messiah and His works, and that He hid under 
 His throne of glory the primeval light for the Messiah 
 and His age. Then said Satan before the Holy One, 
 blessed be He, For whom is the hidden light under 
 Thy glory throne ? He answered, For Him who shall 
 
 1 Jer. xxiii. 6. 
 
28 Wat itaie of (gob : the (glory of 
 
 one day conquer thee, and confound thee with shame. 
 Then Satan asked to see the light ; and when he saw 
 it, he trembled, and fell on his face. Yes, verily (he 
 exclaimed), this is the Messiah, who shall hurl me 
 and all who are heathenish into hell. For it is written, 
 He shall destroy death for ever, and God the Lord 
 shall wipe all tears from their faces. 1 . . . The Holy 
 One began to make a compact with the Messiah after 
 He had created Him, Those who are to be preserved 
 with Thee shall bind Thee with iron bands by their 
 sin-guilt ; they shall cause Thee to suffer like a calf, 
 whose eyes become dim, and put Thee to death by 
 their unrighteousness. And on account of their 
 iniquity Thy tongue shall cleave to the roof of Thy 
 mouth. Art Thou willing to undertake it ? The 
 Messiah asked, How long is this suffering to last ? 
 The Holy One replied, One week 2 I have assigned 
 to Thee ; after Thy soul has endured the utmost 
 agony, I shall deliver Thee from all woe. Then 
 exclaimed the Messiah, Lord of the world, With 
 rejoicing of heart and thanksgiving I undertake the 
 suffering, on condition that none of Israel shall be 
 lost, not only of the living, but those who in My day 
 shall have died, and those who shall afterwards be 
 created by Thee." 
 
 These passages, 3 — and many more might be added, 
 —show that amidst much darkness, imperfection, and 
 
 1 Isa. xxv. 8. 2 Dan. ix. 26, 27. 
 
 3 Delitzsch, in Saat auf Hoffnung, ix. p. 84. Ausziige aus dem 
 Buch Sohar. Berlin, 1857. Philosophic der Hebraer v. Otinger. 
 
^he ©lb mxb oi tlu Jleto Covenant. 129 
 
 confusion, the Jews, both before and since the 
 Christian era, possessed some knowledge of the 
 mystery of the Father, and Son, and Spirit, of the 
 Word of God, the Mediator, the Messiah, and of the 
 nature of His work. 
 
 May the Church of Christ, with ardent and longing 
 love, and with continual prayer, remember the Jews, 
 still beloved for the fathers' sake, and still reserved for 
 great mercy and spiritual and national restoration ! 1 
 
 1 The author begs to refer the reader to his Tract Who is the 
 Apostate 1 A Passover Story (Religious Tract Society), for a popular 
 description of the present spiritual condition of the Jews ; also to his 
 .Sermon All Israel shall be Saved. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 %\xt |leto (Dbcbtena. 
 
 " Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded 
 you." — Matt, xxviii. 20. 
 
 WE must first know the name of God, before we 
 can love God and keep His commandments. 
 We must first enter into the blessedness of the new 
 covenant, before we can bring forth fruit and glorify 
 the Father. Jesus, therefore, reveals to us first the 
 name of God, that then we may be taught to observe 
 all things whatsoever He hath commanded us. 1 
 
 Jesus reminds His disciples in these words of what 
 He had so emphatically taught them before — " One 
 is your Master, even Christ" 2 
 
 The Jews felt it their pride and glory to be the 
 disciples of Moses. Can we wonder at it ? Like a 
 sublime mountain height, Moses towers above all the 
 servants and saints of God who preceded the advent 
 of our blessed Saviour. Whether we regard his 
 marvellous history, from the little ark of bulrushes to 
 his mysterious death on Mount Nebo, or his unique 
 position in the kingdom of God as mediator of the 
 old covenant, or his wondrously Christ-like character, 
 
 1 "Da, quod jubes, et jube quod vis, Deus meus." — Augustine. 
 2 Matt, xxiii. 8. 
 
^kc Jlcto (Dbtbtenre. 131 
 
 we feel constrained to exclaim, " There arose not a 
 prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, with whom 
 God spake face to face, until He appeared who is 
 over all, God blessed for ever, the Messiah of whom 
 Moses testified, the only Son of the Father, and only 
 Master of the new covenant Church." 
 
 Moses was the mediator of the old dispensation. 
 Dedicated to God by believing parents, in whom the 
 faith of Abraham was burning with the fervour of 
 heroic courage and hope, guarded by the unseen hand 
 of loving Omnipotence on the cruel cradle of the Nile, 
 sheltered and trained by Pharaoh's daughter, and 
 instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians — by a 
 free choice of faith, which had grown with his growth, 
 Moses, the only free man of his nation, espoused the 
 cause of his brethren, because they were God's people, 
 and esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches 
 than the treasures of the world. And after the earth- 
 born elements of his fiery zeal, in the premature 
 manifestation of the royal spirit with which God had 
 endowed him, had been subdued by the stillness and 
 discipline of his shepherd life in the wilderness of 
 Midian, he was called by the God of his fathers, who 
 revealed Himself as Jehovah, to deliver His people 
 out of the house of bondage. By faith he obeyed. 
 And during forty years he was faithful as a servant 
 over all God's house. God spake to him face to face ; 
 through him He gave the law to Israel, and the 
 commandments and statutes which they were to 
 keep ; into his hands He intrusted the guidance and 
 
132 ^Ite £iz\x) ©beMence. 
 
 government of the people. With him as a mediator, 
 God spake and dealt ; and by his intercession the 
 wrath of God was turned from His disobedient and 
 rebellious children. Moses united the prophetic, 
 priestly, and royal dignity ; the name, the favour, 
 and the will of God, were declared by him to the 
 people of Israel. 
 
 How much in this history and position of Moses 
 reminds us of our Lord ! He also, as an infant, was 
 the object of the cruel hatred and persecution of a 
 heathen prince. He also was protected miraculously, 
 and sheltered in the land of Egypt. Voluntarily, 
 Christ, who was rich, made Himself poor, and with- 
 out hesitation or struggle rejected the temptation 
 which offered Him all the kingdoms of this world, 
 and in obedience and reverence He chose the path of 
 suffering and reproach. "A prophet like unto me 
 shall the Lord raise up unto you from among your 
 brethren. " Such was the description of the Messiah 
 Moses could give. And in that God spake unto 
 Moses as a man speaks with his friend ; in that 
 Moses possessed the spirit of self-sacrifice and love, 
 which regards only God's glory and the salvation of his 
 brethren ; in that Moses was meek above all men, 
 and lowly in heart ; in that Moses was both prophet 
 and priestly king, whom God appointed to be obeyed 
 implicitly, he is an eminent type of the Saviour. 
 
 But even more striking than the points of resem- 
 blance are the points of contrast. The one is called 
 Moses, or saved from the water ; the other, Jesus, or 
 
^aThc Jldu ©btbietue. 133 
 
 the Saviour, who, needing no redemption Himself, is 
 the Author of salvation to all who believe in Him. 
 The one runs before he is sent, and his zeal is partly 
 carnal ; the other, born of the Spirit, is filled with the 
 love of God, and no admixture of earth-born self-love 
 for a moment disturbs the purity of His aim and the 
 humility of His heart. The one prays to die instead 
 of his people ; the other is both able and willing 
 actually to lay down His life, and shed His blood for 
 the lost, whose nature He has taken upon Himself. 
 Moses dies in the wilderness ; he cannot lead the 
 Israelites into the promised land, because his heart 
 failed to rise to the height of God's pardoning love, 
 to comprehend the depth and breadth of the divine 
 thought of forgiveness. He did not sanctify the 
 name of God before the people, when, instead of 
 announcing simply the loving-kindess of Jehovah, 
 who freely and tenderly forgives, and delighteth in 
 mercy, he was angry, and rebuked the transgressors. 
 Jesus declared the name of God fully ; when He 
 died on the cross, He revealed the hatred of God 
 against sin, but Himself absorbed and exhausted 
 the fearful cloud in His own person. Towards the 
 people who crucified Him, towards the penitent 
 thief who appealed to His help, towards the world 
 of sinners, He declared nothing but love and perfect 
 redemption. Therefore is He the true Joshua, who 
 leads us out of Egypt's bondage into the land of 
 perfect peace and blessedness. 
 
 But the chief contrast between Moses and Christ 
 
134 ^he $cto (Dbebienr*. 
 
 is this — that the law was given by Moses, grace and 
 truth came by Jesus Christ. 1 
 
 Moses was a servant ; Jesus is the Son. Moses 
 speaks in the name of God ; Jesus says, " Verily, 
 verily, I say unto you." Moses brings the law written 
 on tables of stone; Jesus, by the Holy Ghost, writes 
 the law of God on renewed hearts. Moses has the 
 ministry of condemnation ; Jesus gives remission of 
 sins and eternal life. The law declares the sinner 
 must die ; Jesus declares that He has died, the just 
 for the unjust. There is no grace for them that are 
 under the law ; there is no condemnation to them 
 that are in Christ Jesus. 
 
 Jesus has left the world, but He has not left His 
 disciples in darkness. When Moses, the mediator of 
 the old covenant, left Israel, and ascended Mount 
 Sinai, the people forgat God, and fell into idolatry 
 
 1 The law was a shadow of future things. The very name Jehovah 
 refers to the future manifestation of God. The significance of the law 
 was not so much for the time of the law as for the time of the gospel, to 
 which it is not merely a contrast, but of which it was also a shadow, an 
 outline in bold and marked characters, although also a veil, concealing 
 its brightness. As Ziegler says, " Moses, the first mediator, the 
 beginner of law, predicted Christ, the second Mediator, the Author of 
 faith and End of the law. Moses, who spoke to God face to face, and 
 beheld Him in His appearance, testified of Him who stood infinitely 
 nearer to God, to whom He was related as the house to its builder, as 
 the servant to the son of the house ; he could exclaim with joy, 
 S D723 V > ^3, a prophet like unto me. As Adam is the type of Christ in 
 the universal region of humanity ; so, in the special field of revelation, 
 Moses and Christ are both contrasts and parallels, heads in which all 
 humanity, as far as it is reached by revelation, is comprised." — Gottl. 
 Offenbarungi 151. 
 
dthe £Lz\n (Dbtbienre. 135 
 
 and sin. When Jesus left His disciples and ascended 
 up to heaven, they returned to Jerusalem with joy ; 
 and in prayer and supplication they glorified God 
 with one accord. And when Moses returned, the 
 children of Israel could not steadfastly behold his face 
 for the glory of his countenance. And yet what was 
 that glory compared with the glory of the Only-be- 
 gotten ? But Moses could not communicate life and 
 light and love to the people. Between him and them 
 was only the law, engraven in stones; and the law 
 could not give life, — the letter killeth : it was the 
 ministration of death and condemnation. But between 
 Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and His 
 disciples, is the fiery stream of God's Spirit ; the Holy 
 Ghost, whom Jesus sends from the Father, is the bond 
 of union ; and looking up to heaven, we can now truly 
 say, " With Thee is the fountain of life, and in Thy 
 light we see light. " 
 
 The law is holy, just, and good. It is based upon 
 the revelation of God. The knowledge of His 
 character and of His redemption forms the basis and 
 is the source of the commandments. " I am holy, be 
 ye holy. I am the Lord thy God, which has redeemed 
 thee, and brought thee out of the land of Egypt." 
 The law which God gave to Israel is no abstract 
 system of ethics, it is the manifestation of the character 
 and will of that living and loving God who had adopted 
 Israel as His people. His x authority is the founda- 
 
 1 On the commencement of the Decalogue, Ziegler says, " We see 
 God begins His law not rationaliter, not with universal, cosmopolitan, 
 
136 ^hc |Icto (DbeMcnce. 
 
 tion on which it rests. The law is summed up in 
 what is exactly opposed to law, and can never be 
 obtained and called forth by law : in love, love to 
 God, undivided, with all thy heart, deep and all-pene- 
 trating, with all thy soul, continuous, active, and 
 co-extensive with all the energies and relationships 
 of life, with all thy strength. And this love to God 
 in thought, word, and action is inseparably connected 
 with love to man, for God's sake, and in God. Israel 
 was to be kind and considerate to the stranger, to the 
 blind, to the helpless, because " I am the Lord thy 
 God." On these two commandments, essentially and 
 inseparably connected, hang all the law and the 
 prophets. 
 
 Love to God and to man is the sum and substance 
 of the law. This is the centre. But the circumference 
 of the law embraced the whole social and political life 
 of the Jewish nation. Separated from all idolatrous 
 nations, dedicated unto Jehovah, they were to be a 
 priestly people, serving God as their King. Israel 
 was a kingdom in which God was King, and in which 
 therefore, all laws were divine commandments. The 
 whole civil and ceremonial law was therefore essen- 
 tially moral. In all the details of life, in their food, 
 in their garments, in their method of cultivating the 
 
 or abstract a priori words, but in a very limited, special, historical, and 
 at the same time religious, dogmatic manner. The whole morality of 
 the law is based on dogma and history ; she is the daughter of both ; 
 that the one-sided, abstract, rational moralists, who are opposed to 
 positive religion, may learn at last to be ashamed of their shallowness." 
 
^he JJeto (Qbzbitntt. 137 
 
 land, in all their occupations and relations of life, they 
 were to sanctify the Lord their God ; they were to 
 remember and show forth that they were separate 
 from the nations, dedicated unto Jehovah ; whether 
 they ate or drank, or whatsoever they did, all was 
 under the law of God, and unto His glory. 
 
 So perfect, comprehensive, and homogeneous was 
 the law which God gave to His people. And as it 
 was exceeding broad, it was also exceeding deep. 
 Outward signs were only representatives of inward 
 realities ; outward observances only symbols, me- 
 mentoes and seals of inward acts. Israel knew that 
 God desired truth in the inward part, that the true 
 burnt-offering, the truly acceptable sacrifice, was a 
 broken and a contrite heart, the surrender of the will 
 to God in loving obedience ; they knew that the real 
 worship of God was in spirit and in truth, and that 
 from the utmost corner of the land the voice of prayer 
 would reach His ear ; they knew that there was a cir- 
 cumcision made without hands, even the renewal of 
 the heart by the Lord Himself. The law, which was 
 so comprehensive and multiform, was also most con- 
 centrated in its depth, most sublime in its height. It 
 reached down into the inmost source of human life, 
 the heart ; it reached to the very throne of God, and 
 demanded righteousness in the sight of the Holy One. 
 
 The unity of the law, proceeding from one Author, 
 pursuing one object, animated by one spirit, renders 
 a perfect obedience necessary. " Cursed is he who 
 remaineth not in all the commandments of the law 
 
138 ^ht gltto ©bebienrc. 
 
 to do them. If a man shall keep the whole law, and 
 yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." If this 
 appear harsh and severe, a few moments' reflection 
 will show that it is inevitable and necessary. For 
 the law is built upon the authority of the holy and 
 perfect Lawgiver. We obey, not because the command 
 approves itself to our reason, our conscience, our 
 moral sense, but because we recognise the voice of 
 Him who is Lord and God, whose right it is to 
 command. Hence, whatever command we transgress, 
 we disregard the authority of Him whose honour is 
 the aim of the whole law. We have broken, not one 
 law, but the law ; we have transgressed, not merely 
 the law, but we have offended the majesty of the 
 Lawgiver. 1 Again, infinite w r isdom, ever mindful of 
 the chief and central end of the law, and always re- 
 garding the good of the whole, has so framed the law 
 that it forms an organic unity ; and as the sufferings 
 and disease of one member disturb and affect the 
 health and well-being of the whole body, it is not 
 
 1 The whole point and glory of the law is our relation to the Law- 
 giver. " This is to fulfil the law : to fall on our knees before the 
 Lawgiver, and say, Thou alone art He whose right it is to command ; 
 for me it is to obey. This is the sublime grandeur of the true moral 
 relationship between God and man : that man in his poverty and 
 littleness— and were he the highest he is still little, and were he the 
 richest in gifts he is still poor — can look up to the eternal God, and 
 bring his life and action into harmony with His holy right, and be in 
 concord with the eternal Majesty, which is the only supreme rule as 
 long as creation lasts. But this true sublimity of heart-morality can 
 be felt only by him who recognises a living, personal God as the source 
 of law."— Rothe. 
 
^he <£eto GDbcbume. 139 
 
 possible to break one of the commandments without 
 transgressing the whole law. 1 And thirdly, he who 
 transgresses one law has thereby rendered himself 
 unable to observe the rest. For to have favourite 
 commandments is only a different form of expression 
 for having favourite sins. So inexorable, by the very 
 nature of the case, is the demand of the law for an 
 entire and perfect obedience. 
 
 Such are the most obvious features of the law 
 which God gave unto His people by Moses. And 
 what was the purpose of the law ? The law was 
 perfect, holy, and good ; but men are fallen, sinful, 
 and impure; they are carnal, and sold under sin. 
 The object of the law was to convince man of sin, to 
 show him his wretched and guilty condition, to pro- 
 nounce judgment and condemnation against him — in 
 short, to leave him hopeless, speechless, helpless in 
 the sight of God. The object of the law is to kill 
 and to wound. And in proportion as men attempted 
 to keep the law, this object was attained. 
 
 The Pharisees, who first overlooked the spiritual 
 meaning and depth of the law, who regarded merely 
 the surface of the commandment, and rested satisfied 
 with an outward observance of regulations, never 
 looked into the bright mirror, and never beheld their 
 own image. Hence they were at peace and con- 
 tented ; nay, they had even the infatuation that they 
 
 1 Comp. James ii. 10, u — "For whosoever shall keep the whole 
 law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all," etc., with evident 
 reference to the Lord's saying, Matt. v. 19, "Whosoever, therefore, 
 shall break one of these least commandments," etc. 
 
i4° ^rre £itio (Dberjience. 
 
 could do more than God commanded, and acquire a 
 measure of merit. They needed no physician ; they 
 thanked God that they were not like other men, and 
 approached Him without crying out of the depths. 
 Such is the contented state of natural men. So 
 little at home in the secret chambers of their hearts, 
 they so little reflect on the true character of their 
 lives and the inner motives of their conduct, they so 
 little reflect on their relation to God, they so little 
 measure themselves by the standard of God's law, 
 that, though they admit their faults and imperfections, 
 they do not feel that they are guilty and sinful in the 
 sight of God, that they are vile and wretched like 
 lepers, and that there is not merely uncertainty as to 
 their future state, but that there is most certainly, 
 even now, the wrath of God resting upon them. No 
 wonder that the piercing cry is not uttered by them, 
 " What shall I do to be saved ? " The law has not 
 killed them yet. 
 
 As the law brings condemnation, so there is nothing 
 in the law to renovate the soul, to strengthen and 
 vivify it, to enable it to rouse itself to obedience. 
 That young man who fancied he had kept all the 
 commandments of God from his youth, and who 
 wished to do some great and extraordinary thing to 
 insure God's reward, went away sorrowful. And 
 why ? Because he loved riches. His strength failed 
 him. With eager impatience he demanded a high 
 aim, a difficult task, a great exertion, worthy of his 
 ambition and exalted sanctity. And when Christ 
 
^he JJeto <§bzbh\xa. 141 
 
 tested him, and asked him to give up all for God, 
 he went away in sadness, because while conscience 
 understood the demand, the heart would not yield. 
 The law left him powerless to serve God. 
 
 And this was the twofold experience of Saul of 
 Tarsus, who in most emphatic and heart-touching 
 language explains to us the true nature of the law in 
 many of his Epistles. He found that the law was not 
 the death of sin, but the strength of sin. He did not 
 know what sin was until the law came and said, 
 " Thou shalt not covet." The commandment which 
 was ordained to life he found to be unto death. He 
 expected to obtain righteousness by the works of the 
 law. He found that the law pronounced judgment. 
 And as the law revealed sin and death, it revealed 
 nothing else. It could not go beyond. Moses did 
 not enter Canaan ; so the Law left him in the wilder- 
 ness. It could neither remove the curse nor give 
 life. It announces condemnation, but utters no 
 message of pardon ; it reveals death, but possesses 
 no quickening power. 
 
 And yet how important and great is the mission 
 of the law ! The preaching of the law is very different 
 from the preaching of morality ; and the preaching 
 of the law remains without effect until the Holy Ghost 
 applies it to the conscience. Without the Holy Ghost 
 the law does not kill, even as without the Spirit the 
 gospel does not quicken. But when the Spirit applies 
 the law and convinces of sin, the grace of God is 
 drawing nigh. Second to the blessedness of con- 
 
i 4 2 ^he £it\3) (Dbetiicnce. 
 
 solation and joy in Christ is the blessedness of godly 
 sorrow, contrition, and fear. And why ? Because 
 it is God who kills and wounds. True, the soul is in 
 the depths, but out of the depths the soul cries unto 
 God. The very depths are deep because the height 
 from which we are fallen, and for which God has 
 created us, is so great — because the Love against 
 which we have sinned yearns over us with such infinite, 
 tender, and holy jealousy. And as we feel humbled 
 and abased by the law of God, we do not feel de- 
 graded; with a deeper reverence, and with a more 
 solemn love, though overwhelmed with sorrow and 
 contrition, we think of ourselves, and of mankind, as 
 created in the image of God ; and this only appears 
 to us degrading, that so long we have been content 
 without the knowledge, love, obedience of God, that 
 we have denied our royal nature, and forgotten our 
 heavenly origin and calling. Nor is the fear of pun- 
 ishment, of God's displeasure and wrath, to bethought 
 ignoble and self-centred ; there is in this fear the 
 element of reverence and of love, the acknowledgment 
 that in and with God alone is blessedness, and that it 
 is a bitter thing to depart from the Fountain of life, 
 peace, and joy. 
 
 The law itself contained the gospel, so that the 
 broken-hearted might be healed and comforted until 
 the true Consolation of Israel appeared. God's mercy 
 and covenant-salvation, like the bright-blue sapphire 
 sky above the darkness and clouds of Mount Sinai, 1 
 1 Exod. xxiv. 9, 10. 
 
^CLhe JjUto (Dbctuena. 143 
 
 continually irradiated the old economy, and in the 
 sacrifices, festivals, and chosen representatives and 
 types of the Messiah confirmed the promises of grace 
 and of redemption. Thus there is a twofold element 
 in the law — condemnation and the promise, type and 
 instalment of redemption. Both elements were given 
 in love ; in both the purpose was one of mercy. But 
 when the primary object of the law had failed, when 
 men remained proud, self-satisfied, cherishing and 
 excusing sin, without humility and repentance, men 
 failed also to see and enjoy the comfort of this promise, 
 the meaning and substance of the Type. Thus they 
 who walked in all the commandments and ordinances 
 of the Lord blameless were the very Israelites who 
 waited for the redemption in Jerusalem ; they honoured 
 the law, and therefore longed for the gospel} 
 
 Christ is come ; and now instead of condemnation 
 behold grace, instead of shadow and type behold per- 
 fection and fulfilment, that is truth. 2 And first of all, 
 let us remember that in Christ only the law of God 
 found its realisation and fulfilment. It had hitherto 
 been only an idea seeking embodiment, a problem 
 awaiting its solution, an outline looking for substance 
 and life. The holy and perfect law of God descends 
 out of the sphere of love, and cannot but demand 
 that which is only to be attained in the region where 
 love reigns, where the Spirit breathes, where liberty 
 is order and obedience is filial. They who seek to 
 obey the law arrive at last at the painful knowledge 
 
 1 Luke i. 5, 6 ; ii. 25, 37, etc. 2 John i. 17. 
 
144 ^he ileto (Dbebunce. 
 
 of the corrupt root, the defiled source from which 
 nothing good and clean can proceed. They find that 
 the law demands of them, not merely to do good, 
 but to be good. The deepest confession of the con- 
 trite heart is the exclamation, Behold, I was born in 
 iniquity ! 
 
 The children of the first Adam cannot fulfil the law. 
 But God in His marvellous love hath sent His own 
 Son, born of the Virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy 
 Ghost. A new beginning is given unto us, a second 
 Adam, through whose obedience life cometh unto all 
 who believe in Him. The holy child Jesus, the in- 
 carnate Son of the Most High, was under the law. 
 It was written on the tablets of His heart. We learn 
 the will and character of God chiefly by contrast. 
 For we start with the knowledge and love of sin and 
 the world. Chiefly by negative commandments, by 
 forbidding sinful works, words, thoughts, and feelings, 
 does the law address us, the God-estranged children 
 of Adam. But Jesus started with the knowledge and 
 love of God. It is this world which appears to Him 
 a strange thing, which gradually reveals itself to His 
 astonished mind as opposed to God and alienated 
 from Him. Such was His mind from His earliest 
 childhood ; and from the very commencement of His 
 life the will of God was His joy. " How is it that 
 ye have sought Me ? Must I not be in the things of 
 My Father ? " In these words He expresses the 
 radical difference between Himself and mankind. 
 He starts with the knowledge, love, and joy of God, 
 
^Ike Jteto (Bbtbunct. 145 
 
 and thus meets the world. We start with the know- 
 ledge and love of sin, and thus meet the law of God. 
 Hence we, in reading the commandments of God, are 
 inclined to look at the sinner's difficulties, taking his 
 part against God, contracting the dimensions of God's 
 requirements according to the narrow thoughts of our 
 heart. Jesus, with the eyes of His heart, saw the 
 law in its breadth and depth ; He joyfully filled 
 the entire outline ; His willing mind, His loving 
 heart, His filial Spirit entered into the whole mind of 
 God, and penetrated to the depth and substance of 
 God's Word. 
 
 And as He perfectly understood and loved the law 
 of God, so in His life, in His words and works and 
 sufferings, He fulfilled it. For He manifested God's 
 name. 1 And is not this the highest fulfilment of 
 God's law ? — " Be ye holy, even as I am holy." 
 His life was love, love to the Father and love to 
 man — a love which infinitely transcends the love 
 demanded by the law ; for it was the love of the 
 Son of God, a new love, which, having its source in 
 eternity, manifested itself on earth in the midst of 
 sin and sorrow, showing its divine fulness and glory 
 wrought into all that is sinlessly human, and re- 
 vealing through the death of the cross the boundless 
 and secret love of God, which embraced, before the 
 foundations of the world were laid, the guilty and 
 fallen. And as in His whole life He was a burnt- 
 offering, giving Himself for us a sacrifice to God for 
 
 1 John xvii. 6. 
 L 
 
146 ^\u Jleto (Dbebimce. 
 
 a sweet-smelling savour; 1 so His obedience cul- 
 minated in His death on the cross, when He became 
 the sin-offering, and laid down His life as a ransom 
 for many. He who fulfilled the law bore the curse 
 of the law in our stead. 2 As for our sake the Son 
 of God had humbled Himself, and taken the position 
 of a servant, fulfilling all righteousness; so in our 
 stead, and for our acquittal, He suffered the penalty 
 of the law we had transgressed. By His obedience 
 we are made righteous, by His death we are acquitted; 
 or, as the apostle teaches us, we have died in Him to 
 the law. The handwriting of ordinances, which was 
 against us, which was contrary to us, is blotted out, 
 and taken out of the way — it was nailed to the cross. 
 Christ has redeemed us who were under the law, that 
 we might receive the adoption of sons. 
 
 All men are under the law, until through the death 
 of Christ they are freed from it. Christ is to us who 
 believe the End of the law for righteousness. The 
 law condemns ; the gospel brings deliverance and 
 salvation. The law begins with commands, and 
 speaks of blessings which are afar off on mountain- 
 heights, which fallen and guilty man is not able or 
 willing to reach. The gospel begins with the promise 
 of eternal life ; it announces pardoning grace and 
 redeeming love ; it bestows perfect, divine righteous- 
 ness. Henceforth we are no longer under the law ; 
 we are made the righteousness of God in Christ. 
 And yet we do not make void the law, but we 
 
 1 Eph. v. 2. - Gal. iii. 13. 
 
Ihe JJeto ©beiienxe. 147 
 
 establish it ; for the righteousness of the law is 
 fulfilled in us. The law could not give life ; it could 
 not minister unto us the Holy Ghost. Christ hath 
 quickened us, and by His Spirit dwells in our hearts. 
 And therefore we are able to love. Love is the 
 fulfilment of the law. And as the law could not 
 attain it, so the love which our Lord gives us is 
 something higher and deeper than the law demanded 
 or foreshadowed. 
 
 It may be asked, What can be higher than the 
 love which God demands in the law — love with all 
 our heart, all our soul, and all our strength ? Nothing 
 can be higher in the region of creation. No angel 
 can do more than give God undivided and un- 
 interrupted love, manifesting itself in obedience. 
 But through Christ we are raised into a higher 
 region than that of creation. The incarnation of the 
 Son of God has invested us with a new nature, and 
 elevated us to a new and infinitelv higfher region 
 "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love 
 one another." Why doth He call it new ? Because 
 He adds, " As I have loved you." This is the source, 
 the measure, and the strength of the love which 
 Christ commands and gives to His people. 
 
 We are to love with the love wherewith God loved 
 us. " Let this mind be in you, which was also in 
 Christ Jesus." And this mind can be in us, first, 
 because we, through this very love, have been 
 reconciled to God ; and secondly, because this very 
 love of Christ is implanted in us by the Holy Ghost 
 
148 Alhc i\t\33 (Dbebience. 
 
 — the Spirit of God and the love of Christ come 
 together. <; Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, 
 and He in us, because He hath given us of His 
 Spirit." And again, " Hereby know we that we 
 dwell in Him, because we love one another." The 
 gospel implants in us love, by giving unto us, through 
 Christ, the Holy Ghost. " The love of God is shed 
 abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, whicli 
 is given unto us." 1 The love whereby we dwell 
 in God, and God in us, is His Spirit. God is love ; 
 and this is the blessing of the new covenant in Christ 
 the incarnate Son, that He hath given us the Spirit, 
 in whom is bestowed the love which is the fulfilling 
 of the law. 
 
 The obedience of the Christian is thus in every 
 respect new and evangelical, not legal. All the ex- 
 hortations of the apostolic Epistles set this forth in 
 clearest light. We are not to continue in sin, because 
 we are not under the law, but under grace. We are 
 to have our fruit unto holiness, because we are alive 
 unto God through Jesus Christ, and having died to 
 the law by the body of Christ, are married to another, 
 even to Him who is raised from the dead. 2 We are 
 not to lie one to another, not merely because the law 
 forbids falsehood, but because we are in Christ mem- 
 bers one of another. The Christian is to live in 
 chastity and purity, mindful that the body is the 
 temple of the Holy Ghost, and that he is in vital 
 union with the Lord Jesus. Thus our holiness in 
 
 1 Rom. v. 5. a Rom. vi. vii., specially vi. 14, vii. 4-6. 
 
^hc ilcto (Dbebienc*. 149 
 
 life and our walk before God are uniformly based on 
 the redemption of Christ and the indwelling- of the 
 Holy Ghost, and not on the commandments of the 
 law, although the child of God reverences and loves 
 the law, meditating on its breadth and depth, and 
 deriving from it instruction and guidance. Between 
 Christ the Vine and the fruit-bearing branches the 
 law of Moses cannot intervene. Not law, but the 
 Holy Ghost, is the connecting link between the 
 Saviour and the disciple, even as the manifestation of 
 the new life is called fruit of the Spirit. And as the 
 Apostle Paul explains in his Epistles (especially to 
 the Romans and Galatians), that righteousness is the 
 gift of God in Christ Jesus, received by faith, bestowed 
 freely in grace on all who believe — that it is not 
 through the law or of works — so he likewise em- 
 phatically teaches us that it is the grace of God, and 
 not the law, which now disciplines us to deny un- 
 godliness and worldly lusts, and to walk soberly, 
 righteously, and godly in this present world ; that it 
 is Christ in us, that it is the Holy Ghost by whom 
 we bring forth fruit unto holiness ; that ours is the 
 life of faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave 
 Himself for us ; the new life in the power of Christ's 
 resurrection, in whose death we have died, and who 
 was raised up by the glory of the Father, that we 
 should walk in newness of life. Isaac and Ishmael, 
 Sara and Hagar, Jerusalem which is the mother of 
 us all, and free, and Jerusalem which now is, and is 
 in bondage with her children, are contrasts; it is 
 
150 &he £ic\3) (Dbebunce. 
 
 impossible to combine them. Christ is the end of 
 the Law, both as righteousness and sanctification. 
 
 Christ is our Master. What a wonderful honour 
 and dignity to be the disciples and servants of the 
 Lord Jesus ! In Him the divine idea of man is per- 
 fectly realised. He is the true King, the true David, 
 whose heart was not lifted up above His brethren, 
 who, as a Shepherd-King, rules in the righteousness 
 of grace and meekness. In Him are united holiness 
 and mercy, strength and tenderness, zeal and patience, 
 courage and lowliness. He is the fairest among the 
 sons of men, He is altogether lovely. Who would not 
 love to follow Him ? who would not be thrilled with 
 deepest joy to be numbered among His people ? He 
 is the Perfect Guide, who was tempted in all things 
 as we are, and yet without sin ; the Conqueror at 
 all times, strong and invincible in the purity of His 
 love ; who suffered, who endured contradictions from 
 sinners, who was tried by sorrow, and the unfaithful- 
 ness and ingratitude and hatred of the world, who 
 learned obedience even unto death. All His ex- 
 perience on earth, and all the manifestations of His 
 perfect love here below, draw us to Him as our 
 one Master. 
 
 He is the only Master, good and perfect, for He is 
 the Son of the Most High ; our Master, for in His 
 wondrous love He became ours, — He became our 
 Brother to be our Head. 
 
 He is our Master, for by His indwelling Presence 
 He is our life and strength ; He who commands is, 
 
Wcit #etu ©bebtenre. 151 
 
 by His Spirit, the power within us to obey His Word 
 and to imitate His perfect example. He is always 
 ministering unto us, that we may serve Him out of 
 the fulness of His grace. Christ, the Son of God, 
 the Son of man, is also the glorified Head of the 
 Church. 
 
 " All things whatsoever He has commanded." As 
 the law is one, indivisible and harmonious, an organic 
 unity, pervaded by one Spirit, so are the command- 
 ments of Christ essentially and inseparably connected. 
 Christ Himself is the Spirit of all commandments; 
 all His words are spirit and life. Call no command- 
 ment unimportant, for in what we think least, the 
 most central and vital principle is involved. Call no 
 command outward, for in all that Jesus commands us 
 concerning our words and works, He desires truth in 
 the inward part, and points to the heart, out of which 
 are the issues of life. If we are one with Christ, then 
 the inward unity of all His commandments will be 
 increasingly clear to us, and as one has said, 1 " We 
 shall know the warm life-blood, which, as the soul, 
 flows throughout all Christ's precepts ; we shall taste, 
 I might almost say, their indissoluble unity/' Yea, 
 we shall see the one undivided Christ, who was 
 crucified for us, the one Love which has redeemed us, 
 and which desires to form us after its blessed image. 
 
 The commandments of Christ are full of light, 
 easily understood and easily remembered. They 
 bear the impress of their heavenly origin. In their 
 
 1 Rothe. 
 
152 ^he Jfleto (Dbebicnre. 
 
 lucid simplicity, and in their comprehensiveness and 
 depth, they appeal at once to our reason and con- 
 science. We assent to them immediately, and we 
 never forget the precept after we have heard it once, 
 so strongly and instantaneously do we feel that it is 
 right, that it is from above. And the- heart also 
 responds, It is good, it is loving ; in keeping thereof 
 there would be great peace. 
 
 The commandments of Christ may be summed up 
 according to the various aspects of the inner and 
 outer life. 
 
 If we look at the heart, the root and source of life 
 and action, all Christ's commandments are contained 
 in His most touching appeal, "Abide in Me!' Leave 
 Me not. I am yours. In the glorious union of My 
 Godhead and manhood, in My death on the cross, 
 in My resurrection peace and power, in My faithful 
 and all-prevailing intercession, and in the constant 
 and uninterrupted outflowing of the Holy Ghost into 
 you, I am yours. Abide in Me. Let neither doubt 
 nor presumption, neither fear nor sorrow, neither sin 
 nor temptation, neither duty nor rest, disturb you> 
 and beguile you to leave your only haven and heaven 
 — Me. Abide in Me, and then all My words shall 
 abide in you. In the inmost sanctuary of the soul 
 this is the whole secret of life, peace, and power. 
 
 If we look again at the manifestations of life, all 
 Christ's commandments are summed up in His simple 
 words, "Follow Me." That is, copy and imitate Christ; 
 let Christ's whole life and walk on earth be before the 
 
^he |leto (Dbtbunce. 153 
 
 eyes of ycur heart and imagination, the sweet image 
 of His humility and saving obedience, and let Christ 
 guide you in your daily path. Let Him choose your 
 task and your work ; leave it to Him to select your 
 cross and trial. Let Jesus go first, and, never leaving 
 Him, trace His footsteps. 
 
 If we look at our relation to God, prayer, medita- 
 tion, and communion, Jesus' commandments may be 
 summed up in one word — in secret ; ''Enter into thy 
 closet, and shut the door." Banish the multitude of 
 thoughts which crowd the chamber of the heart and 
 mind, and seek, even when with other believers, to 
 realise the presence of Him after whom the soul 
 thirsteth. Thus speaking to Him in prayer, and 
 hearing His voice in the Scripture, the light of the 
 Father will shine on thy heart and path. For the 
 Father seeth in secret, He regardeth the heart, He 
 seeketh worshippers in Spirit and in truth. Alone 
 with God — this is the true source of sincerity, and 
 the only condition of peace and strength. 
 
 If we consider our relation to the world, the com- 
 mandments of Christ are summed up in one word — 
 mission. " I send you ; as the Father hath sent Me, 
 so have I sent you ;'"' " Ye are the light of the world ;" 
 "Go and teach all nations that are without;" "Be 
 fishers of men ; " give no offence, but adorn the doc- 
 trine of the gospel of grace. As the Son Himself 
 came not to do His own will, as He remembered and 
 revealed the Father in all His words and actions, 
 seeking only His glory, thus are we to be apostles 
 
154 ^hz JJcto (Bbzhxzncz. 
 
 of Jesus, His representatives on earth, His message 
 to the world. We are His epistles, declaring the 
 power of His love ; we are to reflect His image, and, 
 walking as the sons of God, win the souls of men to 
 the Only-begotten of the Father, the only Lord and 
 Saviour. Jesus sent us, " Occupy till I come;" and 
 as He was always in the things of His Father, always 
 sowing the seed, and working while it was day, so 
 our mission is only ended when the Master calls us 
 home. 
 
 If we look again at the aim and purpose of our 
 energies and lives, it is summed up in the word heaven 
 — " Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, but 
 lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven ; " " Set 
 your affections on things that are above ; " " Be rich 
 toward God ; " " Be ye perfect, even as your Father 
 which is in heaven is perfect." Seek to attain to the 
 resurrection from among the dead. Give up all, that 
 in the regeneration of the world ye may receive the 
 reward of Christ. 
 
 If we ask, What does Christ command us with 
 regard to our sinful self? the commandments are 
 summed up in the word death — " If thy right eye 
 offend thee, pluck it out : if thy right arm offend thee, 
 cut it off; " " He that loveth his life shall lose it ; he 
 that loseth his life for My sake shall find it ;" " Crucify 
 the old man ; " " Mortify the members which are upon 
 earth;" "Die daily." 
 
 Christ says unto us, " Give." The very simplicity 
 and apparent vagueness of the command invest it 
 
\Lhc |Tcto (Dbtbiciuce. 155 
 
 with comprehensiveness. We are not told to whom 
 to give, because we are debtors to all, and called to 
 be imitators of God, who causeth His sun to shine 
 on the just and the unjust. We are not told when 
 to give, because as long as we are below, stewards of 
 the gifts of God, and members of the Church of Christ 
 — as long as there are the sick, the poor, the lowly, 
 the helpless, it is both our duty and blessedness to 
 give. We are not told what we are to give, for all 
 that we have, from the cup of cold water to the gold 
 and silver, and all that we are, our affection and sym- 
 pathy, we are to give. We are not told how to give, 
 because we are to give simply for giving's sake, 
 hoping and looking for nothing to recompense us ; 
 as God giveth because He delighteth in giving. 
 
 Christ had nothing on earth, yet He gave constantly 
 until He gave Himself. He had not merely com- 
 passion, but He fed the multitude. He not merely 
 wept over the city, but went into its wretchedness, 
 and ministered unto the needy. He saith unto us, 
 " Give." And if, like Philip, we are discouraged 
 because we have so little to give, and the multitude 
 is great and the need manifold, let us learn faith, and 
 then see the marvels which a gracious Lord is pleased 
 to work through the ministry of His disciples. Let 
 us give what we have — time, strength, money — above 
 all, and in all, love. 
 
 Love must precede obedience ; faith must precede 
 love. Or, in other words, grace comes first. God 
 gives all, and of Him is our fruit found. But we 
 
156 d he ileU) (tobzbuncz. 
 
 must not merely dwell on the distinction between 
 the root and the fruits ; we must also, and that con- 
 tinually, bear in mind the vital and essential connection 
 between the love of faith and the obedience of love. 
 " If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature." If 
 we are born again as the children of God, as the 
 brethren and disciples of Jesus, as anointed with the 
 Holy Ghost, we must walk in newness of life. Men 
 may lay a false stress on good works, 1 but we cannot 
 attach too great importance to them. Our Lord 
 Himself, who came to save, whose whole message was 
 love, who gave Himself to be our life, our all in all, 
 continually and most solemnly reminds us that the 
 true reception of His grace, the true possession and 
 enjoyment of His rest and of His life, must manifest 
 itself in obedience, in good works, in fruit. " Not 
 every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven, but. he that doeth the 
 will of My Father which is in heaven." Again, " If 
 ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." 
 Again, " If ye love Me, keep My commandments." 
 "Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command 
 you." And the disciple who dwells most on the 
 mystery of our new birth, and of that Eternal Life 
 
 1 "We are calumniated," says Melanchthon in the Apology, "as 
 not teaching good works. We not merely insist on good works, but 
 also show hoiv they can be done." No preaching is practical except 
 the preaching of free grace and justification by faith ; for, as John 
 Berridge quaintly remarked, he " preached morality till there was 
 not a moral man in his parish." The love of God in Christ Jesus is 
 the only power of obedience. 
 
^he Jleto ©beuunre. 157 
 
 which was with the Father, and was manifested unto 
 us, speaks most simply and fully — " Let us not love 
 irt word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 
 And this commandment have we from Him, that he 
 who loveth God love his brother also." Likewise 
 the Apostle Paul, who so clearly distinguishes between 
 law and gospel, and so boldly declares the liberty 
 and perfection of grace, exhorts us in all his Epistles 
 to walk in Christ, to be zealous of good works, to 
 have our fruit unto holiness. 1 The Epistle of James 
 explains to us in solemn and piercing language that 
 we are to be doers, and not merely hearers of the 
 Word, and that we who are begotten again of God's 
 own will by the word of truth, are to be, as it were, 
 first-fruits of His creatures, living in the spirit and 
 power of holiness and glory. 
 
 It is just because nothing can take the place of 
 Christ Jesus as the Foundation ; it is for the very 
 reason that there can be no substitute for the renewal 
 
 1 " Oh, it is a living, mighty, busy, active thing, thr aith, that it 
 is impossible it should not do good continually ! It does not ask many 
 questions, what good things are to be done ; but before you ask the 
 things are done, and faith is always doing. But he that doeth not good 
 works is a man without faith, and knoweth not what faith is, and what 
 are good works, though he may talk about them. Faith is a living, 
 joyous confidence in God's grace, so certain, that it could die for it a 
 thousand times. And such confidence and knowledge of divine grace 
 makes us joyous, vigorous, and courageous before God and man, so 
 that without compulsion man becomes willing and cheerful to serve 
 his neighbour, and to suffer all things, only to please and praise God, 
 who has shown his soul mercy ; so that it is impossible to separate 
 faith and works, as little as you may separate light and heat from the 
 fire." — Luther. 
 
158 Wxt £ifm ©bebttttce. 
 
 of the heart and the indwelling of Jesus by the Holy 
 Ghost, that the absence of good fruit is so alarming, 
 for "every good tree bringeth forth good fruit." 1 
 
 We are always brought back to the feet of Jesus, 
 to His dying love and quickening grace. Rooted 
 and grounded in His love, we live and bring forth 
 fruit ; for have you not discovered yet that Christ's 
 commandments are channels of blessings, that they 
 are gifts and privileges ? Christ asks us to give, in 
 order that He may enrich us with the true treasures, 
 and reward us hereafter with a plenteous harvest. 
 He asks us to serve and labour, in order that our 
 souls may have the true Sabbath, and be refreshed 
 with the meat which alone can strengthen. When 
 He tells us to go and bring forth fruit, it is that we 
 may abide in Him, and be more rooted and grounded 
 in love. When He bids us welcome reproach and 
 suffering, when He insists on our denying and abasing 
 ourselves, it is that we may more abundantly possess 
 the royal spirit of God's children and heirs. We 
 are peaceful and joyous, strong and rich only in 
 obeying our one Master. Christ's commandment is 
 a canopy of love over us. It was thus that Jesus 
 Himself abode in His Father's love, by keeping His 
 commandments. Is it not too much our habit to 
 seek rest, peace, and enjoyment in another way ? Do 
 we not dwell exclusively and arbitrarily in the 
 promises of the Saviour, building to ourselves an 
 arbour, weaving garlands of beautiful and fragrant 
 
 1 Comp. Matt. vii. 15-27. 
 
Hhc ftcto Qbzbiznct. 159 
 
 flowers, and then taking rest and comfort and en- 
 couragement to ourselves ? Yet is this Christ's rest ? 
 Is it a true peace, which flows like a living river, 
 increasing in breadth and fulness, fertilising the shores 
 on either hand, and issuing in the boundless ocean of 
 divine love ? Is it the rest which Christ has connected 
 with His yoke and His burden ? Is it the repose 
 which makes us strong, able to bear the reproach of 
 the world, the storm of affliction, the assaults of the 
 wicked one ; vigorous in the active service of God 
 and ministry of Christian charity ? We are at present 
 sowers. Now men do not sow flowers, but seed. 
 And Jesus is the Sower who went forth bearing 
 precious seed. He Himself was the seed. He gave 
 all, He gave Himself; He loved, and He died. And 
 they who are His, learn to give themselves unto the 
 Lord and the brethren ; and while they give they 
 are blessed, and at Christ's coming they shall reap 
 abundantly and in fulness of joy. 
 
 If our conscience says, It ought to be so; if the 
 heart responds, Oh that it were thus with me ! let our 
 will also, enlightened and influenced by the Holy 
 Ghost, say, I will obey Christ. Christ is not Moses, 
 bringing us commandments engraven on tablets of 
 stone ; He, by the Holy Ghost, dwells within us ; and 
 the disciple is able to do all things through Christ 
 who strengtheneth him. We are not our own, because 
 Christ is our Master ; we are not our own, because 
 Christ is our life. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ^he arituult anb the Sttorlb. 
 
 " Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name 
 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them 
 to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." 
 
 Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. 
 
 THE ascension of our Lord "into heaven is not 
 narrated by the Evangelist Matthew. The last 
 view of our Lord which is given us in this Gospel is 
 Christ on earth, surrounded by His disciples ; and the 
 last accents of His blessed voice which are recorded 
 contain the assurance of His presence with us unto 
 the end of this dispensation. The truth which is 
 thus impressed on us is that our Lord, although 
 ascended and seated at the right hand of the Father, 
 is still on earth, that in His disciples He continues 
 His work and mission, that His Church is identified 
 with Him, that through His believers, as the members 
 of His body, He exerts His power and manifests His 
 grace among the nations of the world. The Church 
 is the representative and the continuation of Christ. 
 " And now I am no more in the world, but these are 
 in the world." Apart from Christ the Church has no 
 light or life ; unless His presence go with us, we 
 cannot continue our pilgrimage in the wilderness. 
 Christ is with and in the Church. As He promised, 
 
mc (£liurdt mb the Moxll. 161 
 
 so the Church has experienced it. In coming down 
 from heaven He never left the Father, and in going 
 up to heaven He never left the Church. 1 Wherever 
 two or three are gathered in His name, wherever 
 disciples go forth to preach the glad tidings and to 
 teach the counsel of God, wherever the Church of 
 Christ is, there is Immanuel, the real presence of our 
 Divine Lord. 
 
 As Christ was sent by the Father, so is the Church 
 sent by Christ. Jesus was sent to be the Revelation 
 ancTT^epresentative of the Father, to testify of Him, 
 to declare Him, to do His will, and to finish the work. 
 He was a true and faithful witness ; He was the 
 perfect Servant, whose meat it was to do the Father's 
 will ; He declared the name of God, and finished the 
 work. Now Christ sends us into the world that we 
 may show forth His life, that we may be His witnesses, 
 that His light and love may shine, attract, and bless 
 men through us, that men may behold in us Christ, 
 as they beheld the Father in Him. As Christ was, 
 so are we in the world. The Church is so identified 
 with Christ, that she is called Christ. " As the body 
 is one, and hath many members, and all the members 
 of that one body, being many, are one body ; so also 
 is Christ." How clear and wonderful is the position 
 of the Church on earth ! She is sent, she is entrusted 
 with a high mission, she has only one aim and object 
 — to represent, imitate, obey Christ ; nay, more than 
 
 1 Stier calls Christ's last parting with His disciples — " Ein Abschiea 
 der kein Abschied war." 
 
 M 
 
162 \Lhc (Church nub the Sttorlb. 
 
 this, one with Christ by the Holy Ghost, Christ 
 dwelling in her by faith, it is Christ whose testimony 
 is to be heard through her, whose energy and love 
 saves, gathers, comforts, and builds up the souls of 
 men unto eternal life. 
 
 What is the foundation on which the Church of 
 Christ rests ? What is the basis, peculiar, distinctive, 
 and all-glorious, on which she is built ? What is 
 that marvel and joy which prophets and kings desired 
 to see and hear, but which was reserved for the last 
 days ? It is nothing less than the incarnation of the 
 Son of God. The Word was made flesh, and taber- 
 nacled among us. The Life which was from all 
 eternity with the Father was manifested, and we have 
 seen it. Divine perfection was wrought into every- 
 thing that is sinlessly human. The Son of God be- 
 came man to be our Brother and Lord. When Simon, 
 the son of Jonah, confessed, "Thou art the Son 
 of the living God," Jesus replied, u On this Rock will 
 I build My Church." Or, viewing the Church as a tree, 
 an organism, her Root and Source is in heaven : it is 
 Jesus, the Son of God, exalted on the throne of God. 
 Hence the distinction between the saints of God who 
 lived before the Advent and the New Testament 
 Church. Their faith and hope rested on the same 
 salvation. They were taught by the same Spirit. 
 They also suffered the reproach of Christ. But the 
 Incarnation had not yet taken place. The Son of 
 God had not yet offered Himself as a sacrifice for our 
 sins. Jesus, the Lord, was not exalted and glorified 
 
^he QLhnxch mxb the SEorlb. 163 
 
 at the right hand^of^God, and therefore the Holy 
 Ghost was not yet given. The Church is the body of 
 Christ, the Son of God in human nature, exalted after 
 His sufferings to be our Head. We are the sons of 
 God in Christ, the only-begotten of the Father. Our 
 sonship is based on the death of the cross ; it springs 
 out of the resurrection of Jesus ; it is given unto us 
 by the Holy Ghost, whom the Father sends us through 
 His Son. The peculiar glory of the Church is son- 
 ship. Her peculiar mission is to show forth the 
 character and life of the sons of God, who, born of 
 the Spirit, are by Him united with the only-begotten 
 of the Father. The Church is in the world, as Jesus 
 was in the world, who in the lowliness of His 
 humanity revealed His divine glory in love and 
 obedience. 
 
 The Church is in the world. This position is 
 assigned to her of God, according to the prayer of 
 Christ, " I pray not that Thou shouldest take them 
 out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them 
 from the evil." 
 
 The reason is threefold. The first reason is, as 
 always, the glory of God. As Jesus was sent by the 
 Father, that in the face of Christ the glory of God 
 might be manifested ; so the Church is to reflect the 
 image of her unseen but ever-living Lord, and thus 
 show forth the glory of God. We do not think 
 sufficiently of this first fundamental and central 
 object of the Church's existence. To glorify God is 
 not merely the chief end of man, but it is the great 
 
164 Uihc dlutrch itnb the SMtfrB. 
 
 end which God has set before Him in all His acts 
 and revelations. Not merely creation, but redemption 
 has this great end — the manifestation of God. 'By the 
 Church the manifold wisdom of God is to be made 
 known unto all angelic hosts. Throughout all ages 
 God is glorified in the Church by Christ Jesus. 
 
 And it is by reason of her sonship, of her union 
 with Jesus, that the Church glorifies God. Christ is 
 the Image of the invisible God. The Church is the 
 manifestation of Christ. He is no more in the world, 
 but the Church is in the world, and Christ is seen in 
 her. The wife is the glory of her husband ; the 
 husband is the head of the wife. The Church is the 
 glory of Christ, who is her Head. The Head of Christ 
 is God, and Christ is the glory of God. 1 
 
 The second reason why the Church is in the world 
 is, that she may follow Jesus, who through suffering 
 entered into glory. Called unto a heavenly inheritance, 
 chosen to be joint heirs with Christ, and to sit with 
 Him on His throne, the Church is first to learn the 
 wisdom and patience of the saints, to know the fellow- 
 ship of Christ's sufferings, being made conformable 
 unto His death. In temptation and sorrow, in conflict 
 and trial, in hardship and grief, the disciples of Christ 
 are to grow in grace and knowledge, to become strong 
 in meekness, in love, in faith, and to be conformed to 
 the image of Christ. It is necessary that through 
 much tribulation we should enter into the kingdom 
 of glory. 
 
 1 1 Corinthians xi. 3. 
 
me Churxh anb the Warlb. 165 
 
 The third reason why the Church is in the world 
 is, the conversion of sinners. Through her testimony 
 men are to be brought to the knowledge of Christ. 
 God may reveal His grace to the soul directly. Thus 
 Jesus appeared unto Saul of Tarsus : but notice that 
 even Saul, who was converted by the Lord Himself, 
 was, according to Christ's command, linked unto the 
 Church by Ananias, and baptized by him, and thus 
 brought into the congregation of disciples, in which 
 it pleases God to reveal His grace on earth. The 
 Church is to be the witness of God, and mother of 
 the faithful. Herein is the love of God, the Source 
 oY all blessedness, who draws into the circle of giving 
 and blessing all His angels and saints. As God is 
 Love, and as mercy and blessing are His delight ; so 
 it is His love that all should partake, according to 
 their several position and capacity, in this joy of love, 
 this delight of giving. Angels, therefore, minister 
 unto the heirs of salvation; apostles, evangelists, elders, 
 deacons, all disciples, are called to be workers together 
 with God ; to go forth sowing, that they may rejoice 
 with Him who giveth seed to the sower, and shares 
 His joy of harvest with the labourers, whom His grace 
 permitted and enabled to work for and with Him. 
 And thus all things are of Him and through Him and 
 to Him, and He is Love. Of the Father as the Source, 
 through Christ as the Mediator, and by the energy 
 of the Holy Ghost, the Church is gathered in, angels 
 and saints obeying His command and fulfilling His 
 will ; and the blessings which thus descend, ascend 
 
166 Ulie Otrmrxh mxb the lEortt). 
 
 again through the Spirit and by the Son to the Father 
 in thanksgiving and adoring joy. 
 
 We read that Messiah shall see of the travail of 
 His soul ; and yet Paul the Apostle writes, " My little 
 children, of whom I travail in birth, let Christ be 
 formed in you ; " and the beloved disciple writes, " I 
 have no greater joy than to hear that my children 
 walk in the truth." Blessed union ! Christ and the 
 Church are one, the Light of the world, the Sent of 
 the Father. Through the Church Christ seeks and 
 saves that which is lost ; through her He speaks peace 
 and comfort to the weary and heavy-laden. The 
 sinners whom His grace has redeemed and His Spirit 
 renewed, He sends forth as His ambassadors, and 
 they beseech men in His stead. He makes them 
 fishers of men ; they win souls. And when the Chief 
 Shepherd appears, He crowns the under-shepherds 
 with glory and joy, even with the children who 
 through their testimony were born unto eternal life. 
 
 We have thus seen that the Church is in the world, 
 according to God's will and the petition of Christ ; 
 that thus God is glorified, the saints prepared for the 
 inheritance, and sinners converted unto eternal life. 
 The Church is in the world ; this is her mission, her 
 task ; and to fulfil this mission she has the presence 
 and power of Christ and the Spirit, the favour and 
 guidance of the Father and the Word of Truth. But, 
 alas ! the world is also in the Church. This is her 
 sin, her danger, the source of constant failure. It 
 is her duty as well as safety to put away the evil 
 
^Ehc Church nnh the (LEodb. 167 
 
 thing from the midst of her, to separate herself from 
 the world, and to honour her Lord and Master in the 
 discipline of His house. To remember both her duty 
 to, and her danger in, the world is difficult ; and ex- 
 perience shows that the Church is apt, either to take 
 a narrow view of her mission, and to fail in aggressive 
 courage and breadth of love and sympathy, or to be 
 dazzled by a superficial success, and, conforming 
 herself with this present world, increase her numbers 
 with those who, being dead and unrenewed, are 
 without the Spirit, and therefore without the love of 
 Christ. 
 
 The Church and the world form a contrast, and 
 they are also opposed to each other. In one aspect, 
 the Church and the world are a contrast, but not 
 antagonistic. In another, the Church and the world 
 are opposites. The world hates the Church, and the 
 Church, delivered from this present evil world, con- 
 stantly overcomes it. The world is made for the 
 Church. The Church is sent to the world. The 
 
 world is loved of God, and Jesus is the world's Light 
 
 But world and Church form a contrast. The one is 
 in the sphere of nature, the other is in the sphere of 
 the Spirit. The world's life is based upon the work of 
 God in creation, the Church is founded by the out- 
 pouring of the Spirit on Pentecost. The world is of 
 the first Adam, who (even before the fall) was of the 
 earth earthy ; the Church is born of the second Adam, 
 the Lord from heaven, the spiritual man. Viewed as 
 creation, the world is good, beloved of God, and made 
 
168 cLhe Church aitb the flRorlfr. 
 
 for the Church. It is the mission of the Church to 
 enter into every department of human life. We must 
 remember that all the relationships of the family and 
 the state are instituted by God. They are of the 
 Father, and therefore for Christ and the Church. 
 Jesus changes the water, which is God's creature and 
 good, into wine, which is a better and higher gift. 
 Body, soul, and spirit are to be sanctified to the 
 service of God. Man's intellectual and social life on 
 earth — all that humanity is and possesses — is the 
 territory and sphere upon which the Church should 
 exert her power. Here the Church may not be 
 aggressive enough. She may not enter into the wide 
 range of applications which belong to the Word of 
 her Master — " I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." 
 She may not possess sufficient insight, patience, and 
 courage of love to go into the world and attract those 
 who are drawn by the Father and seeking after Him, 
 though as yet they are in darkness and in sin. She 
 may mistake an outward and mechanical separation 
 for the true holiness which Jesus manifested. He 
 came eating and drinking, and went to the Pharisees 
 who invited Him to be their guest. It is no doubt 
 much easier to follow the method of John the Baptist 
 than to imitate the example of our blessed Lord, who 
 in the fulness of spiritual power and love lived among 
 men. For we must never forget that wherever Jesus 
 went He was about His Father's business, fulfilling 
 the mission for which He was sent, and testifying of 
 the kingdom. It was as a prophet that He was 
 
-iLhe (£huvrh mb the SItorlb. 169 
 
 invited, and He always appeared as a preacher ^of 
 righteousness ; He always declared the truths of 
 salvation ; He reproved sin, He refuted error, He 
 preached the gospel. He converted every social 
 feast into a solemn assembly, in which the divine 
 message was delivered, and heavenly blessings were 
 unfolded. He never was a passive spectator of 
 worldly and God-forgetting, insipid and unprofitable 
 society. He was always Jesus, the Son of the Father, 
 the Light of the world, the Lover of men's souls. If 
 we quote His example as an authority for our social 
 habits, let us examine ourselves whether we are 
 imitating or even striving to imitate His ways. For 
 only the Son can make us free. The liberty of the 
 Christian is the liberty of the filial spirit, the liberty 
 of a loving heart; and of a strong and God-subdued 
 will. The world must be conquered in the heart, the 
 Father's love must reign joyously and strongly 
 within, if we are to go forth " eating and drinking, 
 using the world as not abusing it," and realizing the 
 apostolic word, "All things are yours." But if we 
 are indeed Christ's, and our citizenship is 'in heaven, 
 then we do not require the rules and restrictions, 
 "Touch not, taste not, handle not," by which men 
 seek to secure for themselves a safe transit through 
 the realm of earthly occupations and society, fancy- 
 ing that external barriers will prevent the spirit and 
 the contamination of the world from penetrating into 
 their mind. We shall then learn that " every creature 
 of God is good, and nothing to be refused if it be 
 
170 ^ht Church ano the SStarli. 
 
 received with thanksgiving ; for it is sanctified by the 
 Word of God and prayer," 1 We shall then be able 
 to distinguish between nature as God's creature and 
 nature as corrupted by sin. 2 We shall then under- 
 stand how the Scriptures teach that Satan is the god 
 of this world, and yet everywhere assert that "the 
 earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." We 
 shall be able to see, and enjoy unto profit and edifica- 
 tion, that which is truly wise and beautiful in literature, 
 in poetry and art. And while unto them that are 
 defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure, all things are 
 pure unto the pure, unto them that see God in the 
 face of His Son Jesus Christ. 
 
 The Christians are thus prepared and gifted to 
 explain and interpret the world. They are taught 
 by Scripture to praise the Lord in all His works, in 
 all places of His dominion. They can recognize and 
 enjoy beauty in art as well as nature. They can 
 trace the hidden longings after God's salvation and 
 light ; they love to find in Athens the altar with the 
 inscription, " To the Unknown God ; " they love to 
 quote the testimony " of your own poets." They are 
 called to befriend and cherish whatsoever things are 
 true and venerable, just and pure, lovely and of good 
 report. They are commanded to seek out "them 
 that are worthy," and bring to them the gospel- 
 salvation of peace. 
 
 The Church of Christ, in its best and healthiest 
 
 1 I Tim. iv. 4, 5. 
 
 2 "Natura in quantum Natura est, bona est." 
 
^hc (thurrh anb the efiiorJLb. 171 
 
 days, never despised learning and culture, but received 
 it with thanksgiving and diligent care, judging all 
 things by the Word of God, and measuring all things 
 by the standard of revelation. 1 
 
 But the world must be viewed in another light, sad, 
 but equally true. The world lieth in the wicked one. 
 Humanity has fallen ; we live in an evil world. And 
 what the evil of the world is in which we are, we may 
 easily know by the evil of the world which is in us ; 
 selfishness, pride, lust, covetousness, trust in that 
 which is outward, and unbelief in that which is spiritual, 
 seeking our own glory, in short, all manifestations 
 of departure from God. Against this world the 
 Church must continually fight. .She must assert the 
 opposition between nature and grace, flesh and spirit, 
 anti-Christ and Christ, Satan and God ; she must 
 assert the great distinction between the best works, 
 and the most beautiful and noble products of man's 
 spirit, and the new creation of the Holy Ghost. She 
 must declare the judgment by which the Prince and 
 the spirit of the world are already condemned, and 
 the wrath which is to come on the enemies of God, 
 and must exhort men to separate themselves from 
 the world, to save themselves from this untoward 
 
 1 The Reformers everywhere encouraged education. They planted 
 schools wherever they founded churches. While they spoke very 
 strongly on the "blindness of human reason," they did not confound 
 fanatically the regions of nature and grace, they were tinged by no 
 false asceticism and Manichseism. Many beautiful passages might be 
 quoted from Luther, whose love for music, poetry, logic, and all useful 
 knowledge and science was comprehensive and healthy. 
 
172 QThe (!lhurdi an!b the Qilorlb. 
 
 generation. She must not allow her testimony to be 
 so indistinct, her life and walk so colourless, her 
 discipline so lax, that unrenewed men can fancy 
 themselves to be members of the mystical body of 
 which Christ is the Head, or that they who are 
 strangers to the grace and power of Christ, can 
 presume to take part in the guidance of the Church, 
 or in the ministrations of Christ's heritage. 
 
 Much evil has arisen from the indistinct and erro- 
 neous views which have prevailed from an early period 
 of the Church, on the character and position of Christ's 
 flock in the present age, the times of Gentiles. The 
 distinction between the Church and the kingdom was 
 forgotten. The Scripture teaches clearly, that until i 
 the return of our blessed Lord Jesus the Church is a 
 little flock without outward strength and glory, hated 
 and persecuted by the world ; and her hope is in the 
 Father's counsel and power, her eye is directed to the 
 future, when by divine interference the kingdom will 
 be criven to her. Christ has delivered us from this 
 
 o 
 
 present evil world, of which Satan is the Prince. The 
 wisdom of this world is not able to recognise the truth 
 as it is in Jesus. When we become enamoured of 
 this world, we forsake the apostle and his Master. 1 
 The world, as our Saviour has foretold, shall hate us. 
 The more we show forth Christ's image, the more 
 closely we follow Him, and testify for Him in word and 
 truth, the more shall the enmity and persecution of 
 the world among all nations rest on us ; for the world 
 1 i Cor. i. 20 ; 2 Tim. iv. ic. 
 
"H\u Church *mb the GBorlb. 173 
 
 loveth its own, and hateth what is not of the world, 
 but from above. And as the hatred of the world to 
 Christ on earth increased in bitterness, cruelty, and 
 self-consciousness, till at last they nailed Him to the 
 cross ; so the word of prophecy reveals to us that the 
 history of the Church, the Bride, will resemble that of 
 her Divine Lord, that the world in the latter days will 
 hate God and His Anointed, and persecute unto death 
 the saints of the Most High who confess and believe 
 His truth. The last development of the so-called 
 Christianised nations is the manifestation of anti-Christ, 
 the open and self-conscious rebellion againstthe Father 
 and the Son. The end of this age is judgment. The 
 monarchies of the world are destroyed, and become 
 like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors. 1 Christ 
 and His saints appear in glory ; the Son of man 
 begins His reign ; and in His kingdom the nations of 
 the earth honour and obey God, and the Father's will 
 is done here as it is in heaven. 
 
 The Church soon forgot the position which God has 
 assigned to her, and the object which she was con- 
 tinually to bear in view. Instead of being a witness 
 continuing the ministry of Christ, endeavouring to 
 save the lost sheep, and to gather those who were of 
 the truth into the fold ; instead of relying on her 
 spiritual weapons, the influence of the Word, the con- 
 verting and renewing power of the Holy Ghost, the 
 attraction of love and holiness, the Church was dazzled 
 by the outward Christianisation of kings and princes; 
 
 1 Dan. ii. 35. 
 
174 ^hc QLhurch anb the SEorlb. 
 
 and, relying on the influence of worldly power, legis- 
 lation, and fashion, rejoiced in the strong numerical 
 accessions which soon changed the Church from being 
 a field of wheat in which there were some tares, into 
 a field of tares in which there is some wheat. The 
 papacy is, in its inmost essence, a false anticipation of 
 the kingdom, a confusion of the Church and the Chris- 
 tocracy. As a German writer (Roos) says, " Rome 
 usurped as a harlot the position and rights which the 
 Bride of the Lamb shall possess in love and holiness." 
 
 But it is not merely the papacy which fell into this 
 error. The Churches of the Reformation, which began 
 in the Spirit, soon relapsed into carnal and worldly 
 thoughts and methods. They failed to perceive 
 clearly the peculiar spiritual character of the Church 
 in this dispensation, and its antagonistic character to 
 the spirit and power of the age. The protection of 
 princes and nobles was accepted in a hasty and vague 
 manner. The world became Christianised in such an 
 external and superficial way, that very soon Chris- 
 tianity became worldly, diluted, falsified. The inherent 
 spirit and character of the masses, as well as the 
 dominant genius of the nations, has not been subdued 
 and renewed by the Holy Ghost, and the true 
 character of so-called Christian nations and (multitu- 
 dinous) churches is beginning to manifest itself. . 
 
 The real source of the evil is a latent Pelagianism, 
 which forgets that what is born of the flesh is flesh, 
 and that we must be born from above. It expects the 
 world to become gradually better, as if the world, 
 
<iL It e Ckurrh anb the SEorlfc. 175 
 
 any more than an individual, can by gradual amelior- 
 ation get rid of ungodliness, and be conformed to the 
 image of God. It forgets that the progress of civili- 
 sation will only hasten the development of the radical, 
 inherent ungodliness and opposition to Christ. Though 
 history teaches us that as civilisation advances wars 
 become more fearful, men, and even Christians, dream 
 that the age of peace and prosperity has dawned on 
 us. They forget that only Jesus shall make wars to 
 cease on the earth, and that only His Parousia, and 
 the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, will, after the judg- 
 ment on His enemies, renew all things, and regenerate 
 the world. 
 
 If we hold fast these truths, our position in the 
 world is clear, and our aim distinct. The object of 
 the Church is not to Christianise the world. " Simeon 
 hath declared how God at the first did visit the 
 Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name" l 
 " This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all 
 the world for a witness unto all nations, and then 
 shall the end come." 2 While the tabernacle of David 
 is in ruins, while Jerusalem is trodden down of the 
 Gentiles, while instead of the theocracy there is the 
 witnessing and suffering Church, God is taking out 
 from the nations of the earth a people to know and 
 serve Him. The Church is an election ; its character 
 is elective, and not universal ; exceptional, and not 
 general ; we are the few, and not the majority ; 
 strangers and pilgrims, and not established and 
 
 1 Acts xv. 14. 2 Matt. xxiv. 14. 
 
17 6 She (SDhurrh anb the (L&lorlb. 
 
 dominant ; waiting for the absent (yet spiritually 
 present) Lord and Bridegroom, who will return and 
 build again the tabernacle of David, and reign in 
 peace and truth. 
 
 Our hope is Christ's return. We are not ex- 
 pecting days of peace and sunshine, but of storm and 
 tempest; we are not looking forward to times of 
 safety, of godliness and of truth, but to perilous 
 times, in which worldliness and error shall become 
 strong, attractive, and violent. We expect the days 
 which preceded the Flood and the destruction of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah. We believe God will gather 
 many from among Jews and Gentiles into the Church, 
 and bless His testimony to multitudes, ere the 
 judgment comes. But our hope is nothing less and 
 nothing else than the Lord Himself, who shall return 
 to take to Himself the kingdom, according to the will 
 of the Father. Our only anxiety, therefore, ought to 
 be to remain faithful and loyal to Him ; to maintain 
 truth in its fulness and in the spirit of love, to seek 
 not high or worldly things, but, like Jesus Himself, to 
 rejoice and give thanks when the Father reveals His 
 Son to " babes," and when sinners, however few and 
 obscure, draw near to hear the beloved gospel of 
 Divine grace. 
 
 How is the Church to fulfil her mission to the 
 world, and to keep herself pure ? The purity of the 
 Church is not by isolation, but by aggressiveness ; 
 and the victory of the Church is not by world-con- 
 formity, but by purity. The more aggressive the 
 
^lu (Ehtnxh anb.thc (SBcrrlb. 177 
 
 Church is, the purer she will remain. The more 
 courageously she attacks the world, the less injury 
 she will receive from the poisonous atmosphere of 
 unbelief and selfishness around her. If the Church 
 wishes to keep herself unspotted from the world, 
 and to grow in grace and heavenly-mindedness, she 
 must enter into the mind of her Lord, who, sent 
 by the Father, came to seek and to save that which is 
 lost, who went about doing good, and declared to all, 
 Pharisees and publicans, the evangel of divine love. 
 The Church who feels no compassion for perishing 
 souls, who is not constrained by the love of Him who 
 died for the guilty, who does not walk in the footsteps 
 of the great Deacon who came to minister unto others, 
 has already become worldly ; the spirit of selfishness 
 and unbelief has already entered into her heart, and 
 is endangering her very life. 
 
 The safety of the Church is in warfare. If she does 
 not attack the world with the peaceful yet powerful 
 weapons of the Spirit, she loses the faith which is the 
 victory that overcometh, and the love which constrains 
 the members of Christ to be ambassadors of the 
 divine gospel. If the light does not shine before men, 
 it will soon be extinguished ; if the salt does not 
 benefit the mass, the salt itself will soon be worthless 
 and trodden under foot. The man who obeys not 
 the command of his leader, and in cowardice and 
 ignoble sloth stays away from the battle, does not 
 merely deprive himself of a share in the joy and 
 reward of victory, but is in danger of losing the 
 
 N 
 
178 mxt Church atti the <LOod*i. 
 
 approbation of him who has called him to be a 
 soldier. 
 
 Thus we find that when the Church was most 
 active she was most prayerful, most fervent in love, 
 most concentrated in her aim, most heavenly-minded 
 and spiritual. Rejoicing in mercy, she was merciful 
 to the needy and sorrowful, the ignorant and guilty ; 
 triumphing in love, she was constrained by love to 
 testify of the Saviour, and to direct the erring and 
 perishing sheep to the Good Shepherd. True intensity 
 of love and devotion, and true expansiveness and 
 work, go together. There may be an appearance of 
 activity and influence, a semblance of energy and 
 laborious zeal, without inward collectedness, prayer, 
 and love. There is sometimes an appearance of 
 devotion, spirituality, and fervour, without the ministry 
 of love and the works of mercy. But where the true 
 light shines within, and the true love dwells in the 
 heart, the Father seeth that which is in secret, and 
 the world beholds good works : it is when the joy of 
 salvation reigns in the Church that sinners are taught 
 God's ways, and transgressors are brought to re- 
 pentance and faith. 
 
 The Church resists the world by conquering love. 
 She keeps herself pure by going into the world, 
 preaching glad tidings by word and work. And in 
 this aggressiveness she is strongest when she is most 
 pure. When loyal to her heavenly Bridegroom, she 
 keeps herself unspotted from the world, she is most 
 skilful and most blessed in gaining souls. She loves 
 
^ke (Ekurrk mtb tke SEorlb. 179 
 
 the world most, and is her true benefactor, when most 
 obedient to the apostolic precept, " Love not the | 
 world." She cannot influence unless her standpoint 
 is heavenly. As Archimedes said, " Give me where 
 I can stand, and I will move the earth," the Church 
 can attract and conquer only when she remembers 
 her heavenly position and character. When we seek 
 the praise, and yield to the spirit of the world, our 
 light loses its light, our salt its savour. David cannot 
 fight with Goliath in Saul's armour. Our sufficiency 
 is of God ; our weapons are spiritual. 
 
 Very comprehensive are the comparisons of Scrip- 
 ture to illustrate the wonderful position of the Church 
 of Christ in the world. It is surely not accidental 
 that these various comparisons comprise the universe, 
 all the various spheres of the creation of God. Be- 
 ginning with the inanimate, the Church is compared 
 to the heavenly bodies, to the celestial luminaries — 
 the Church is called the light of the world, and her 
 ministers stars. 1 She is compared unto precious 
 stones, reflecting light in beauty ; for by the electing 
 love of God, the redemption of Christ, and the trans- 
 forming power of the Holy Ghost, the saints, who 
 were once children of wrath and disobedience, living 
 in darkness, and without the hope of glory, are now 
 filled with the Spirit, and beautified with the righteous- 
 ness of Christ whose image they bear. The Church 
 is compared to a building, believers being living 
 stones, the Saviour Himself the foundation. For in 
 
 1 Matt. v. : Rev. i. : Dan. xii. 
 
180 ^lu (Ehurrh anb the (iBorlb. 
 
 the Church are strength and harmony ; and while 
 some are pillars able to sustain heavy weight, and 
 chosen to be prominent and attractive, the exer- 
 cise of love unites all, and renders the whole strong 
 and fortified against the assaults of enemies, and 
 the untoward and inclement influences of a hostile 
 atmosphere. 
 
 Between this lowest kingdom of creation and the 
 kingdom of plants, on the boundary line between 
 organic and inorganic, we notice salt. The Church 
 has power to preserve the world from corruption, 
 and to enter as a transforming power into the 
 various developments of human life. Rising to a 
 higher sphere, to show that the Church has life, an 
 inherent vitality which manifests itself in growth and 
 in fruit, the Church is compared to a vine, thus 
 showing also, that while each member or believer has 
 individuality, the Church forms one organism, and is 
 vitalised by the same principle and spirit. Ascending 
 still higher, the Church is compared to the net of 
 fishes, the enclosure which out of the waves of the 
 ocean rescues the homeless; to the flock of sheep, 
 emblem of a community guarded by the faithful 
 Shepherd, watched over in loye and tenderness. But 
 all these illustrations do not suffice to show forth the 
 true character of the Church. She is therefore com- 
 pared to man, that wonderful organism, himself a 
 microcosm — to man, created in the image of God. 
 Christ is the Head, the Church is His body. And 
 in order more clearly to manifest the fulness and 
 
^he (Elturch ani the SBorrlb. 181 
 
 greatness of the Church, the various human relation- 
 ships which God has instituted are used as symbols. 
 Thus marriage is a symbol of the great mystery, 
 Christ and His people, whom He loved and re- 
 deemed, and with whom He has betrothed Himself, 
 dwelling in them now by His Spirit, and preparing 
 them for His second coming in glory. The Church 
 is compared to a family in which there are new-born 
 babes, children, young men, fathers ; God Himself is 
 the Father ; Christ the Elder Brother, as well as the 
 Head ; apostles and evangelists, fathers in Christ, 
 all believers brethren'; — a family in which love rules, 
 in which all obey the one Father, and are called 
 to the same inheritance ; in which the parents lay 
 up treasure for the children, in which the strong con- 
 firm and comfort the weak. The Church is com- 
 pared to a great household, and to a kingdom, in 
 which faithfulness, diligence, loyalty, and energy 
 benefit the whole, bringing glory to the King, and 
 reward to His stewards and messengers. 
 
 Scripture thus teaches, that all the thoughts of God 
 in creation are summed up and transfigured in the 
 Church. Light and purity, beauty and strength, life 
 and love, unity and wisdom, all that the creature can 
 be, shine forth in the Church, chosen of the Father, 
 redeemed by the blood of Christ, and born of the 
 Spirit. And this because the Church is a new 
 creation. She is not of the world ; she is from above. 
 She is not the efflorescence of humanity. But Christ, 
 the Lord from heaven, Jesus, who was conceived of 
 
^ke dhurrk ixnh the SEortti. 
 
 the Holy Ghost, is her Second Adam. She is born 
 in the resurrection of Jesus, who died for her. 
 
 The primitive Church dwelt much on the Gospels 
 and the Apocalypse. The Church of the Reformation 
 gave great prominence to the Epistles. 1 Let its return 
 to the Gospels, and read them in the Pentecostal light of 
 apostolic teaching. He only who has died with Christ, 
 and is risen with Him, can follow the Saviour in His 
 life and walk. The natural, unrenewed man cannot 
 follow Jesus ; but when we know the grace of the 
 Saviour, and the power of His resurrection, we under- 
 stand the lessons of His life, and having received the 
 Spirit of Christ, we can live and walk as the sons of 
 God. 
 
 " From the life of Jesus," said the old Germans, 
 " we can learn all things." 2 We can learn Christ ; 
 and to know Him is to know all things that pertain 
 unto life and godliness. Let us then continually 
 study Him as the Model ; we must represent Christ 
 in our lives. 
 
 1 "I have certainly more of the Pauline Epistles than of the four 
 Gospels in my nature. . . . These Epistles presuppose the Gospels 
 having been sent to those churches that possessed the materials of the 
 letter. Hence, though for the balancing of truth there is nothing like 
 the Pauline letters, for vitality and freshness there is nothing like the 
 facts of the Gospel." — J. Duncan, Colloqttia Peripatetica, pp. 43, 44. 
 
 2 " O Jesus ! let Thy whole walk on earth stand before my eye, 
 that I may continually be renewed thereby, and that I may be a 
 savour of life, filled with the fruits of righteousness to them with 
 whom I live and for whom I pray, to the praise and glory of God. " 
 
 CEtinger. 
 
Ihe Church ani) the SEarlb. 183 
 
 I. And first let us remember the. object of Christ's 
 life. He was sent. He never forgot that He came 
 not to do His own will, but the will of the Father 
 that sent Him. He teaches most emphatically and 
 impressively that He had only one aim, one absorbing 
 and dominant idea, one all-pervading law and rule. 
 It was simply to do His Father's will. Motives which 
 in themselves are pure and legitimate, and by which 
 our minds may be naturally and sinlessly actuated, 
 such as benevolence and piety, and interest in the 
 progress of God's kingdom, disappear before the all- 
 important and central desire to honour the Father by 
 obeying His command. Jesus spake the words 
 which He heard of the Father ; ' He did the works 
 which the Father showed Him ; He spake and acted 
 whenever He knew that " the hour was come," the 
 hour which the Father had appointed. Thus was 
 He constantly the Servant of God, the Represen- 
 tative of the Father. Now we are sent by Jesus; 
 and all that we are and have, all our words 'and 
 works, are to be viewed in the light of mission and 
 service. 
 
 In this unity and concentration of purpose was the 
 strength of Jesus. His heart was united, as the 
 Psalmist says, to praise God. " One thing I do," was 
 in the fullest sense of the word true of the Saviour. 
 And it was this exclusive reference to the Father, this 
 living before Him and unto Him, which rendered the 
 character and acts of Jesus enigmatic and obnoxious 
 to the world, and sometimes unintelligible to His own 
 
i8 4 lite Cltitrrlt mxb the SEodb. 
 
 disciples. How difficult is it for us to understand 
 Him, who even in the good which He did sought not 
 His own delight, and followed not His own thought, 
 but simply the Father's glory and honour, the ac- 
 complishment of His will and purpose ; who went into 
 sufferings and death simply that the Scripture should 
 be fulfilled, that the Father's commandment should 
 be obeyed ! 
 
 2. Jesus came in lowliness. His birth, infancy, 
 childhood, and youth are characterized by the 
 emblems of poverty and obscure humility. What a 
 contrast between the power and splendour of Caesar 
 Augustus and the glory of the Roman Empire, and 
 Bethlehem, the small town of Judea, and the Infant 
 who was born there of the poor and humble daughter 
 of David. Jesus was called Nazarene, brought up in 
 the despised Nazareth, that thus the whole tenor of 
 prophecy might be fulfilled, which described Him as 
 a root out of a dry ground, as coming in lowliness, 
 without earthly pomp and power. Between the 
 manger of Bethlehem and the humble home of 
 Nazareth and His death on the cross, when He was 
 numbered with the transgressors, we find nothing else 
 but humility, poverty, and lowliness. " Foxes have 
 holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of ' 
 man hath not where to lay His head." 
 
 What are we to learn from this ? Are we not to 
 follow the Master ? We may not be poor, but we 
 are to love poverty. We ought not to trust in earthly 
 riches and honour, in the things which the world 
 
HChe €\x\uch anil the Moxi'b. 185 
 
 esteems and pursues ; we ought to remember that 
 our influence and our power are spiritual, and that 
 the garment of the true Church is that of a ser- 
 vant, of a stranger and pilgrim. When the Church 
 becomes rich and strong, esteemed by the world, 
 and dominant, the salt is in danger of losing its 
 savour ; spiritual objects are sought in a worldly- 
 spirit, and the mystery of the cross is obscured and 
 forgotten. 
 
 For to the end of this dispensation the Church is 
 as a widow, desolate and despised. She is hated of 
 the world. But it is poor and persecuted Smyrna 
 which, by her Christ-like poverty, maketh many 
 rich. The glory of the Church is inward ; the 
 King's daughter, the bride of Christ, is all-glorious 
 within. 
 
 3. Jesus was the Son of God. He came from 
 above. He was poor, and yet all things were His ; 
 He was lowly, and yet all power was given to Him 
 in heaven and earth, for He was the only-begotten of 
 the Father. The Father was always with Him, and 
 heard Him always. Thus the Church is born of God, 
 of incorruptible seed. Her life is none other but the 
 life of Christ, the risen Head, the life of the Spirit 
 who dwelleth in us. We exert influence and power 
 in the world simply by our being blameless and 
 harmless, the sons of God, living Christ's life (which 
 comes only out of the death and the crucifixion of 
 the old man), manifesting the divine nature of which 
 we are partakers who have escaped the corruption 
 
186 ^ke (Stark mxb the Moxlh.. 
 
 that is in the world through lust. 1 The Church 
 declares every Lord's day that the resurrection of 
 Christ is her birthday, the source of her life and hope, 
 and thus preaches to the world both the condemnation 
 of the flesh, the utter helplessness of the first Adam 
 and his seed, and the new and heavenly life, which 
 in the Only-begotten of the Father, and the First- 
 begotten of the dead, has come to all believers. 
 
 4. In this lowliness and in this power, the Church is 
 able to go to the whole world, with love and sympathy 
 announcing substance in the midst of emptiness and 
 vain shadows, eternal life and consolation in the midst 
 of death and sorrow, peace to the heavy-laden con- 
 science, love to the aching and thirsting heart, for- 
 giveness and renewal, health and joy to the wounded 
 and contrite. And while she loves all and intercedes 
 for all, she is filled, like her Master, with a special 
 love, intense and tender, for the brethren, towards His 
 own who are in the world, and who are gathered to 
 the Bishop and Shepherd of souls. Thanking God, 
 as Jesus did, for the disciples whom the Father gives, 
 she watches over the young and inexperienced, the 
 weak and tempted, the lonely and afflicted. She 
 seeks to build up, to cherish and to gladden the 
 heritage of God, the fellow-heirs of life eternal. 
 
 The Church is Christ-like — sent from above, having 
 one aim and motive, in lowliness, in divine power, in 
 love and ministry. " He that hath seen Me hath 
 seen the Father." Likewise ought we to be able 
 
 1 Phil. ii. ; 2 Pet. i. 
 
%ht Churxlt anb the Wiotib. 187 
 
 to sa}% He that hath seen the Church hath seen 
 Christ. 
 
 Christ is all in all, yet every member of the body, 
 every Christian, has an individual life, work, calling, 
 a name of his own, a position and a talent assigned to 
 him, for which he is responsible to the Master. " Let 
 your light so shine," saith He who is The Light. He 
 means the light which God has given to each of us 
 individually, according to our natural disposition and 
 experience ; the special charisma which we have 
 received, be it knowledge or patience, or strength or 
 skill, be it intellectual, or moral, or social. We 
 possess each some feature of His character, some gift 
 of His Spirit, some power and influence out of His 
 fulness. Each of us is placed in a position, sur- 
 rounded by opportunities and endowed with gifts. 
 Each one is individual, peculiar; no one else can do 
 what the Master, the great Householder, has appointed 
 and given him to be and to do. Let us remember that 
 we are to let ozir light shine. Let us resemble the 
 blessed Master in His loving wisdom, which directed 
 men to what is easy and simple. Only the eye of 
 faith can see that which is secret, spiritual, and rooted 
 in the heart ; but all can see the manifestations of 
 love. It is perfectly true that until the Spirit of God 
 opens their eyes men do not see Jesus ; but in one 
 sense they are able to see, to judge, to appreciate ; 
 the world is able to see and to understand our 
 good works ; they can recognise the influence of God 
 
i88 ^he (Ehurrk mxb the SEodb. 
 
 on our lives and conduct ; accordingly we find that 
 the Lord Jesus commands us so to let our light 
 shine before men, that they may behold our good 
 works, and glorify our Father which is in heaven. 
 
 When meditating on the Church, we are always in 
 danger of forgetting our own duty, and of falling into 
 feverish impatience or indolent waiting for a sign 
 from heaven. Let us rather believe that the Lord is 
 doing His work, and carrying out His purposes of 
 wisdom and love. Our own duty is clear before us. 
 As the apostle says, " We are God's workmanship, 
 created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which He 
 hath before ordained that we should walk in them." 
 Our individual duty is not a matter of choice. It is 
 as little a matter of choice as was our birthplace. 
 Fixed from all eternity, the path of obedience comes 
 down from the throne of God, close to our very feet. 
 In the appointed path the Lord manifests Himself 
 secretly unto each of His disciples. It is thus a secret 
 path, yet it is luminous. When we walk in the good 
 works which are ordained for us from all eternity, 
 then are we the light of the world. While we are 
 thus each one walking separately, as it were, alone, 
 let us remember that we are compassed about with 
 a cloud of witnesses, and that all the children of God 
 are with us on the same path, that we are upheld by 
 their sympathy, remembered in their prayers ; all the 
 different activities, all the manifold sufferings, of the 
 members of the Church of Jesus Christ are blended 
 
^he Chnrrk ml the Sitalb. 
 
 in perfect harmony, until at last the blessed consum- 
 mation shall be made manifest, when Jesus and the 
 Bride shall be revealed in glory. 
 
 In that eternal home, communion with God and 
 communion with all saints and angels are united 
 together in such perfection as transcends our present 
 knowledge, because as yet we know so little of the 
 depths of that blessed and fundamental truth — God 
 is Love. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 %xiz in the Church. 
 
 " Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name 
 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them 
 to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." 
 
 Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. 
 
 THE history of the Apostolic Church is the guide- 
 book of the Church of every age. The Holy 
 Ghost has not given us a record of the subsequent 
 history of Christ's people ; and we are convinced that 
 the description of the Apostolic Church given to us 
 by the Spirit is all that we need for our instruction 
 and encouragement. In reading this book, we feel 
 both sorrow and shame. It seems like reading of a 
 " paradise lost," of a beautiful garden, fragrant and 
 fruitful, from which we are banished. And yet there 
 is something morbid in this feeling. God loves us 
 as truly and tenderly as He loved His disciples then ; 
 and the Holy Ghost, who is mentioned fifty times in 
 this book of the fiftieth (the Pentecostal) day, is ours 
 also, dwelling in us, and abiding with us, according to 
 the Saviour's assurance. We ought, therefore, to read 
 this book, not merely with sorrow and shame, but 
 with gratitude and joy, and with the full and hopeful 
 purpose of a living and spiritual imitation. 
 
gtfe in the Churrh. 191 
 
 The great error one is liable to fall into is, that our 
 age and our circumstances are so different from those 
 of the primitive churches that comparison is inap- 
 propriate and imitation impossible. It began with 
 miracle, but it is continued in a natural way. Truth 
 and error are mixed in this. The word miracle is 
 ambiguous. It began with and in the Spirit, and it 
 is to continue thus. The Church is herself a miracle, 
 miraculous in her life, strength, and influence. Let 
 us always confirm each other in this : the Church is 
 a tree, whose Root is in heaven, and not on earth ; 
 our vitality is the Holy Ghost. 
 
 What were the characteristic features of the 
 Apostolic Church ? 
 
 We read that the Pentecostal congregation of 
 Jerusalem continued stedfast in the apostles' doctrine, 
 and in fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in 
 prayers. Deeply rooted and grounded in the know- 
 ledge and love of Christ, they cast forth their roots 
 as Lebanon, their branches spread extensively ; there 
 were continually added to their number true believers. 
 The Church extends when she is intense in her 
 spiritual life ; she spreads when she deepens ; she 
 expands by concentration. He that seeth in secret 
 acknowledges and rewards His people openly. When 
 God is in the midst of us, then the power of His 
 presence and love will be felt by the world 
 around us. 
 
 We are told that the Church of Jerusalem was 
 regarded by the people with awe and with favour. 
 
i 9 2 jDife in the Church. 
 
 This twofold, and apparently contradictory impression, 
 is very instructive. It shows that the Church mani- 
 fested both the holiness and the love of God. Lo, 
 God is here ! let us adore. When God reveals Him- 
 self, reverence and awe fill the heart of man. But 
 the Holy One of Israel is also our Redeemer, and 
 the sunlight of peace, pardon, and favour fills our 
 souls with hope and joy. As the inner circle of the 
 Church thus adores in love, the outer circle of hearers 
 and inquirers receive the twofold impression. They 
 are solemnized, yet attracted ; fear falls upon them, 
 but not a petrifying and sterile dread, but the fear 
 with which the elements of affection, longing, and 
 repentance are blended. 
 
 The Apostolic Church was full of joy and peace in 
 believing, by the power of the Holy Ghost. They 
 had received the word gladly j 1 and this feature of 
 rejoicing faith characterized them also afterwards. 
 For can faith be without joy ? Is not assurance of 
 acceptance not so much an efflorescence as an 
 inherent essential element of faith ? Is not thanks- 
 giving the necessary and immediate consequence of 
 accepting the unspeakable gift ? The reality of 
 apostolic faith explains their joyousness and their 
 heavenly-mindedness. Faith is trust, and surely not 
 doubt. It is a confiding, peaceful, and rejoicing rest 
 in Jesus. It -is a calm but sure and lively hope of 
 seeing Him, and being with Him. Little-faith is to 
 be treated with kindness and patience, yet not to be 
 
 1 Acts ii. 41. 
 
gpife tit the (Ehitrdt. i 93 
 
 encouraged, but upbraided, according to the Lord's 
 example, and to be brought to the firm rock of divine 
 promise. But Doubt-faith, the product of a languid, 
 world-conforming age, is not to be tolerated. It is 
 self-contradictory, and it is often a cloak to conceal 
 the undecided and divided state of the heart, which in 
 reality has not repented, and has not accepted the 
 Saviour. The apostolic Christians believed, they 
 trusted in Jesus ; and they rejoiced in Him who was 
 their loving Redeemer, and who was coming again to 
 give them the kingdom. 
 
 The Apostolic Church was the home of Love. Jesus 
 was their centre. In Him they were one. The 
 Lord's Supper was the continual expression and 
 confirmation of this family union. The filial spirit 
 is also fraternal. A brotherhood, a community of 
 interests, a co-operation and harmonious blending of 
 gifts and power, such as the Church manifested, had 
 never been realised by statesmen, or even imagined 
 by political and social reformers. In the realm of 
 creation, the only parallel is the beehive: there all 
 are one, labouring together, having no separate 
 interest, and no self-centred skill or diligence. Our 
 own body is another illustration. For if one member 
 suffers, the whole body suffers, and the whole organism 
 is animated by the same spirit. Thus is it in the 
 Church. Christ is the Head, from whom the whole 
 body, " fitly joined together and compacted, by that 
 which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual 
 working of the measure in every part, maketh increase 
 
 o 
 
194 $t& in the (Ehxirch. 
 
 of the body unto the edifying of itself in love" Where 
 Christ's Spirit is, there love dwells and reigns. Love, 
 rooted in the heart, strong, sweet, and tender ; love 
 in deed and in truth, manifesting itself in the words 
 of consolation, counsel, and encouragement, and in 
 the deeds of help and self-sacrifice. 
 
 It is only a proof of the genuineness of apostolic 
 faith, joy, and love that their life was calm. There 
 was no feverish excitement, no violent alternations of 
 joy and grief, of strength and lassitude. " They did 
 eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart." 
 As a well of water, not stagnant, yet not boisterous, 
 clear and free, strong and spontaneous, even and 
 perennial — thus was the spiritual life in the early 
 Christians. 
 
 But it may be asked, Is it right to forget, in de- 
 scribing the Apostolic Church, the failings and sins, 
 the imperfections and grievous blemishes, which are 
 narrated in the Acts of the Apostles and in the 
 Epistles ? It would be indeed wrong to omit the 
 consideration of these facts, so faithfully recorded for 
 our instruction ; but this will only add strength to 
 what has already been said. 
 
 We read, indeed, of sins and abuses in the apostolic 
 churches. As immediately after the entrance of 
 Israel into the promised land, there was the sin of 
 Achan and the divine judgment on the transgressor; 
 so at the very commencement of the Apostolic Church, 
 we read of the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, and of 
 the holy anger of God, who punished them with His 
 
3Cife in the (Elmrch. 195 
 
 sore displeasure. 1 From the exhortations which the 
 apostles addressed to the various congregations, it is 
 evident that most lamentable offences and grievous 
 sins needed to be rebuked. But how strong and 
 vigorous must have been in the Church the life of 
 faith and the realisation of Jesus ! Apostles never 
 recede from the high ground and the spiritual method 
 of the gospel. They never lower the standard of 
 gospel liberty, nor introduce the restrictions and 
 methods of a legal spirit to check sin. When they 
 rebuke the sin of uncleanness, it is by reminding the 
 Corinthians of the highest Christian mystery, the 
 fullest and deepest gospel blessing, viz., our union 
 with Christ, and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. 
 To the same high and heavenly source is traced the 
 command, " Lie not one to another/' The abuses 
 which had crept into the celebration of the Lord's 
 Supper, are not met by any outward discipline and 
 regulation, by advising the less frequent observance 
 of this Christian feast, but by a renewed exposition 
 of the solemnity and nature of the institution. Thus 
 did the apostles exercise full confidence in the strength 
 and intense vitality of the faith of their converts. 
 Thus did they with noble courage and wisdom discard 
 all external and legal methods, and rely exclusively 
 on the power of the Holy Ghost in the Church, on 
 Christ dwelling in the hearts of believers. It were a 
 
 1 There is a striking parallel between the first chapters of the Book 
 of Joshua and of the Book of Acts ; the former narrating Israel's 
 entrance into Canaan after the death of Moses ; the latter the be- 
 ginning of the Church after the ascension of Christ. 
 
196 JHe in the (Chuvrh. 
 
 very short-sighted mistake to measure the real soul- 
 condition of apostolic Christians by the blemishes 
 and spots which appeared among them. Often the 
 radical evil of unbelief and apathy co-exists with the 
 outward forms of propriety and decorum. 
 
 Another peculiarity of the Apostolic Church, and 
 intimately connected with spirituality, is the com- 
 bination of liberty and order. As the apostles were 
 commissioned to teach all that Christ had commanded 
 them, so they were especially careful not to add any 
 commandments of their own, and to watch that the 
 precepts of Christ were obeyed in the spirit of liberty 
 as unto the Lord, and from an intelligent and loving 
 .conviction. They left, therefore, everything to the 
 power of truth, and relied on the testimony of the 
 Spirit, and not on their authority. Thus the Council 
 of Jerusalem did not issue an edict legislative in its 
 tone, but expressed the view to which the meeting of 
 apostles, elders, and brethren had come under the 
 guidance of the Holy Ghost, leaving it to the same 
 Spirit to convince the churches, and to produce an 
 harmonious conformity. In the same manner the 
 question of the observance of days was treated — in 
 short, all questions which did not involve the vital 
 truths of Christ's salvation. 
 
 As to the meetings of churches and the preaching 
 of the gospel, there was likewise diversity, individuality, 
 freedom. All gifts were encouraged ; evangelists and 
 deacons went forth to preach and to baptize. But 
 yet there was no disorder. The unity of the Church 
 
Ipfe in the QChtirck. 197 
 
 was always remembered. There is one body and one 
 Spirit. When Saul of Tarsus was converted by the 
 direct intervention of the Lord, he was directed to 
 go to Ananias, and to be baptized by him. Christ 
 honoured the visible Church. When the evangelist 
 Philip preached in Samaria, and many received the 
 gospel there, the apostles went down from Jerusalem, 
 and the new community was linked to the Church of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 If in modern times we find it difficult to combine 
 order and unity with liberty and individualism, it is 
 because we do not sufficiently rely on the inherent 
 power of the Spirit of God, and the deep bond of 
 union which connects all believers, and because we 
 do not sufficiently feel the paramount importance of 
 love. Our want of union is not owing so much to 
 our overrating the importance of our differences, as 
 to our not estimating sufficiently the all-importance 
 of the vital points in which we are agreed. 
 
 The Church of Christ in the apostolic times was 
 organised. Looking from earth heavenward, all 
 believers are priests, and through their Divine 
 Mediator and High Priest they have access by one 
 Spirit unto the Father, and offer up spiritual sacrifices, 
 acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 
 
 But while there is no intervening priesthood or 
 mediation between earth and heaven, the Lord Jesus 
 blesses, feeds, and rules the flock through the ministry 
 of believers, chosen and set apart for the solemn 
 work. Equal as all believers are as to their ac- 
 
MU in the Grhitri-h. 
 
 ceptance with God, and the blessings and privileges 
 of the new covenant, they differ as to wisdom and 
 strength. According to the very nature of things, 
 and the distinct teaching of Scripture, the Church 
 consists of teachers, rulers, shepherds, overseers, and 
 of the believers who are taught and ruled over. 
 Jesus Himself commanded Peter and the other 
 apostles to feed the flock. The Apostle Paul 
 appointed in every church elders, men who were apt 
 to teach, and whose character and gifts qualified them 
 to take charge of the congregation. He commanded 
 Timothy to follow this example everywhere. And 
 while the bishops and elders are exhorted to re- 
 member the high and solemn work to which they are 
 set apart, the congregations are continually reminded 
 to obey and honour those who labour among them, 
 and watch for their souls, and who must give an 
 account of their stewardship to the Lord, who 
 appointed them. 
 
 Nor is it sufficient to look upon this institution as 
 arising merely out of the necessities of the case, or 
 commending itself to our wisdom and prudence. We 
 must regard it as a divine appointment, as the will 
 and gift of our adorable Saviour. For the perfecting 
 of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the 
 edifying of the body of Christ — that is, for the 
 highest, most essential, and glorious purposes, and 
 till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the 
 knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, 
 unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of 
 
gJife in the (Ehunrh. 199 
 
 Christ — that is, until the return of Jesus in glory, 
 Christ gives to the Church apostles, prophets, 
 evangelists, pastors, and teachers. 1 The foundation 
 on which the Christian ministry rests is the command 
 of Christ ; its source is the ascended Lord. He 
 holdeth the seven stars in His right hand. The 
 object of the ministry is the ingathering of souls, and 
 the edifying of the body of Christ. The permanence 
 of the ministry comprises the whole dispensation. 
 The existence of the ministry does not merely not 
 militate with the unity and equality of believers, but 
 it is for the very purpose of promoting and strength- 
 ening it. It is because there is one body, one Spirit, 
 and one Father, and the Church is ultimately to be a 
 perfect man, that Christ gives various ministers and 
 stewards to His house. 
 
 It is men whom He gives. He does not send 
 apostolic, prophetic, pastoral, evangelistic, and teach- 
 ing gifts to the congregation en masse, manifesting 
 themselves in one individual to-day, and in another 
 member on some other occasion. The Church is not 
 a uniform mass, in which some part is an eye to-day, 
 and only for the day, and then sinks back into a less 
 noble or important position. The Church is a body, 
 in which there are eyes and ears and hands, in which 
 various members have assigned to them various 
 positions and functions, for the benefit and health of 
 the whole. Christ gave some men to be apostles, 
 pastors, evangelists, etc. There were rulers, known 
 
 1 Eph. iv. 4-16. 
 
200 gCife in the Church. 
 
 and acknowledged and obeyed. They may have 
 been more or less faithful and vigilant, they may 
 have been remiss and forgetful, and needing some- 
 times the exhortation to attend to their ministry; 
 but their position was definite, even as their re- 
 sponsibility was. It is true that the apostles, and all 
 God-sent ministers, evangelists, elders, never think of 
 having dominion over the Christians' faith, but only 
 wish to be helpers of their joy. It is true that all 
 their authority and influence is spiritual, by the Word 
 and in love, and that their discipline is in the spirit 
 of brotherly union. But while they bring the flock 
 continually into contact with the Lord, with His 
 voice and His command — while their object is to 
 commend themselves to the conscience and heart of 
 the people, and to beseech and influence them by the 
 mercies of God, their authority is not derived from the 
 Church, but from Christ. They rely on the Spirit 
 proving their apostleship to the congregation ; but 
 they themselves know who sent them, who gave them 
 the message of reconciliation, and who entrusted 
 them with the oversight of God's heritage. 
 
 Jesus is Lord and Head of the Church. All fulness 
 dwells in Him. Of Him is all ministry. He is the 
 true Apostle sent of the Father. 1 He is the Prophet 
 of whom Moses spake as the perfect, ultimate, and 
 royal Teacher of God's people. 2 He is the Evange- 
 list, who announces the good tidings of great joy. 3 
 Who but He is the Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, 
 
 1 John xvii. 18; Heb. iii. I. 2 Acts iii. 22. 3 Luke ii. 10. 
 
|£i£e in the (£hm*rh. • 201 
 
 the Great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd ? x Christ 
 therefore, through His servants, ministers to His 
 people. And as the men who minister are given and 
 upheld by Him, so His Spirit authorises and endears 
 them to the hearts of the people, and establishes a 
 strong and tender bond of confidence and affection. 
 If even the Apostle Paul referred to the spiritual 
 power and result of his ministry as his authority 
 against gainsayers (though he always asserted the 
 divine mission which he had received from Christ), 
 may not we in like manner say, Whoever doubts our 
 position in the Church of Christ, those among whom 
 we labour know who hath sent us ? And is not this 
 in accordance with the spiritual character of the New 
 Testament dispensation ? We have no Levitical 
 priesthood, no authority derived by physical or eccle- 
 siastical descent; the apostolic succession is of the 
 Spirit, who breatheth where it pleaseth Him, and 
 whose work can only be spiritually discerned. 
 
 In the Apostolic Epistles we find full and minute 
 directions given concerning the character, conduct, 
 duties, and responsibilities of presbyters or bishops 
 and of deacons. We find no directions concerning 
 apostles and prophets. From this we infer that the 
 episcopate or eldership and the diaconate are per- 
 manent and normal offices in the Church, and that 
 in this respect the apostolic model ought to be copied 
 in all Christian congregations during this dispensation. 
 In Jerusalem, in every church which was founded by 
 
 1 John x. 1 1 ; Heb. xiii. 20 ; I Pet. v. 4. 
 
%iU in the (Ehurch. 
 
 the Apostle Paul, we find elders who directed the 
 congregations, ruled over them, watched over their 
 spiritual welfare, instructed them in the Word of 
 God. Chosen for their zeal and eminent knowledge 
 and devotion, they were charged to walk as ensamples 
 to the flock — to exhort, rebuke, encourage — to visit 
 the sick, and to take heed to the congregation over 
 whom the Holy Ghost placed them as overseers. As 
 their duties and responsibilities were most grave and 
 solemn, the people are exhorted to honour them, and 
 to render them affectionate obedience. 
 
 This institution of elders or overseers, which, based 
 on Old Testament indications, was established in the 
 synagogue, was thus introduced by the apostles, and 
 is in harmony with the whole spirit of Scripture, while 
 it obviously is adapted to the necessities and wants 
 of the Church, both as regards her inner development 
 and her relations to the world. The various gifts 
 which are needed for teaching, for discipline, for the 
 ministration of counsel, comfort, or rebuke, are thus 
 exercised by men who have approved themselves to 
 the Church ; and questions of difficulty and delicacy 
 are considered and decided by those who possess the 
 confidence and esteem of the people, and who, set 
 apart by prayer, are upheld by the constant prayer 
 of the flock. And while there are thus elders or 
 guides, the development of gifts in the Church is part 
 of their duty, as well as their joy and reward. Their 
 aim and object is to present every man perfect in 
 Christ Jesus. Their joy is to see children born, and 
 
gpifc in the Church. 203 
 
 the new-born children grow and become strong, and 
 young men become fathers and pillars in the Church. 
 
 Let us value all divine ordinances and apostolic 
 methods. He who has instituted the family has also 
 ordained the congregation. True, He blesses every 
 individual apart, and the lonely Christian will receive 
 from the gracious Head of the Church all needful 
 grace. But it is His will that, as a family, as a 
 brotherhood, as an organised congregation in fellow- 
 ship one with another and with the whole Church, 
 we should worship, grow and labour, that thus we 
 may continually give and receive, exercising the 
 ministry of love, and receiving one another in the 
 name of Christ. 
 
 What is the work of the Christian congregation ? 
 
 The first great object of the Church is worship. 
 God is the hearer of prayer — " All flesh shall come 
 unto Him." But while all men are encouraged and 
 commanded to cry unto the Lord, it is only the 
 Church who worships in spirit and in truth ; it is only 
 believers who are a holy priesthood, offering up 
 spiritual sacrifices which are acceptable to God by 
 Jesus Christ. The Church alone enters into the Holy 
 of Holies. God is worshipped in heaven by the angels 
 and by the perfected saints, and on earth by those 
 who, by the power of the Holy Ghost, believe in the 
 Lord Jesus. There is a special blessing promised to 
 believers met in the name of Jesus. The Saviour 
 Himself is with them, praising the Father in the 
 midst of the congregation. The meetings of believers 
 
204 JCife in the Church. 
 
 on earth correspond thus with the never-ceasing and 
 perfect worship in heaven. The worship of the 
 Church is the only worship on earth. It is one with 
 the adoration of the Heavenly Sanctuary. In union 
 with all angels and perfected saints, we praise God, 
 and worship the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; as in 
 heaven, so on earth the song is heard — " Worthy is 
 the Lamb ! " 
 
 Worship ought to be our chief object and joy in 
 our.meetings. For worship is the characteristic feature 
 of the Church. The spirit of worship ought to mani- 
 fest itself in all things connected with our assemblies. 
 Solemnity and joy ought to mark our very entrance 
 into the meeting of God's saints. The presence of 
 Christ realized will vitalize our song and prayer, our 
 reading of God's Word, our preaching and hearing of 
 the gospel. Those who are yet strangers to God's 
 grace will feel that God is indeed in the midst of us. 
 Adoration will be the undercurrent of all our acts. 
 The declaration of God's message will also be a 
 magnifying of God's name ; it will be received with 
 thanksgiving and supplication, and the traditional 
 " Amen " at the end of our sermons will be the out- 
 ward expression of the solemn prayer-character which 
 all true preaching ought to possess. 
 
 It is from worship, from communion with the 
 Father and the Son, that the congregation is to go 
 forth into the life of the week, with its duties and 
 trials, and with its opportunities of witnessing for 
 Christ and showing forth the Saviour's love. 
 
Ipfe in the Church. 205 
 
 The Church, renewed every Lord's day in her 
 resurrection-life, will then during the week live and 
 work for the Master. None will be isolated. Friend- 
 ship will be irradiated by a heavenly light, and con- 
 secrated in the furtherance of faith and growth in 
 grace. In answer to prayer, paths of usefulness will 
 be opened, and the various gifts of grace will be used 
 in seeking the lost and cherishing the lambs within 
 the fold. 
 
 In the Church is endless variety. Not every be- 
 liever is like a stately cedar or majestic oak ; but the 
 tiniest flower shows forth God's praise. The gold 
 of Sheba and the cup of cold water are alike to the 
 glory and joy of God. Some have the gift of know- 
 ledge, profound wisdom in meek and lowly hearts, 
 others excel in the ministry of love, in acts of 
 kindness and brotherly help. Some have the gift 
 of prayer and the priestly heart of intercession ; 
 others are sons of consolation to the afflicted. Some 
 are led into deep views of sin and high views of 
 divine sovereignty and grace ; others walk in the 
 lower yet divine valley of the peace-breathing promises 
 of the Saviour's grace. Here we have manifold life 
 and beauty ; the hosannas of little children and the 
 wisdom of Paul the aged ; Peter, the man of rock- 
 like firmness and strength; John, leaning on the 
 Saviour's bosom in loving adoration. Mary anoints 
 the body of Christ for His burial, and the Master 
 pronounces her praise, "She hath done what she 
 could.'' Onesiphorus refreshes Paul, and is not 
 
206 pfe in the Church. 
 
 ashamed of his chain. All glorify Christ ; one Spirit 
 inhabits them ; they are constrained by one love. 
 
 In the Church there is constant growth. The 
 natural year has four seasons, but the year of grace 
 has many more. Here is an infinite variety of life- 
 processes, seed-times and harvests. And as in a 
 garden there is a constant succession of life-manifesta- 
 tion engaging the interest and care of the gardener, 
 so the Church presents a wonderfully multiform 
 history. Here are also constant accessions. From 
 the wild moorland, from the barren wilderness, new 
 souls are brought and planted into the garden of 
 Christ. Into the true Vine and the goodly Olive-tree 
 sinners are grafted by the Spirit of God. The peaceful 
 and sacred shelter of God's love receives continually 
 new inhabitants. 
 
 The Church is God's delight and His unremitting 
 care. The Father's eye is always watching it in 
 loving-kindness; the Saviour's high-priestly inter- 
 cession is never-ceasing ; the Holy Ghost is continually 
 watering and renewing it. But there are special 
 seasons of refreshing from before the presence of the 
 Lord. Then we feel that Jesus has visited us. We 
 hear His voice, "/ am come into My garden," when 
 the north wind awakes, and the south wind comes 
 and blows upon the garden, and the hearts of God's 
 people are full of thanksgiving and prayer — when the 
 Word of God is precious, His promise sweet, His 
 command sacred — when prayer is spiritual, preaching 
 real, and fellowship among saints loving and faithful. 
 
Pfe in the Church. 207 
 
 " It is the Lord ! " says every leaf and every flower. 
 " It is the Lord ! " say faith, and love, and hope. " It 
 is the Lord ! " exclaims the minister of the Word, 
 as new light and love fill his soul. " He is come into 
 His garden," respond the people, with hearts burning 
 within them. Duty neglected says, " It is the Lord ! " 
 and rises with new vigour ; confession of sin, long 
 silent, now bursts forth, melted by the rays of divine 
 mercy ; love to a crucified Redeemer, which lay 
 sleeping, now awakes. " It is the Lord ! " say the 
 children of God, and the beauty of God shines upon 
 them. The world sees the Church, and is attracted 
 by it. 
 
 How many new errors, theoretic and practical, are 
 around us ! Our wants and difficulties seem com- 
 plicated and perplexing. But we have only one 
 remedy — to follow Christ ; and only one method— to 
 be filled with the Spirit. 
 
 There is a craving in man for something solemn, 
 festive, joyous. If God's Spirit is poured out upon 
 us, the services of the Lord's day, born out of the new 
 life and loving fellowship and fervent prayer of the 
 week, will be solemn, joyous, festive. Meeting in the 
 name of Jesus, and expecting the divine answer to 
 prayer, minister, office-bearers, and members of the 
 Church will have a feast. It need not be said of 
 them, " They have no wine." His love is better than 
 wine : as true Christians, they are anointed with the 
 oil of gladness; and to their number God will add 
 many, even as many as are ordained to life eternal. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 heathenism, 
 
 "Teach all nations." — Matt, xxviii. 19. 
 
 THESE words bring before us the subject of hea- 
 thenism, and the relation of the Church of 
 Christ to the heathen world. 1 The words of our 
 Lord are our authority as well as our encouragement 
 for engaging in the great work of heathen missions. 
 He Himself is the Sender. It is a work which is 
 essential ; it is, in one aspect, and if we take a wide 
 enough view of its meaning, the work of the Christian 
 Church. Christian congregations are the result of 
 apostolic obedience to Christ's command ; the Church 
 continues, expands, and flourishes by abiding in the 
 missionary spirit, attitude, and activity. 
 
 The Word of God does not give us light merely 
 about the central question of salvation. The Word 
 of God, in revealing God in Jesus Christ, throws light 
 upon all the circumference of which the salvation in 
 Christ Jesus is the centre. 
 
 Heathenism is revealed to us in Scripture in its 
 origin and in its nature. The history of humanity is 
 not, as some imagine, a gradual ascent, a gradual 
 
 1 The mission of the apostles to Israel is included in these words of 
 Christ, and needed no special mention here. Comp. Acts i. 8. 
 
8)eatheni0m. 209 
 
 emerging out of the night of barbarism and idolatry 
 into a clearer and purer knowledge, and into a more 
 refined and cultivated state of existence ; but the 
 history of the human race, apart from the interference 
 of the grace of God, is a downward descent, acce- 
 lerated often by a crisis, by a judgment, brought on 
 by the more full manifestation of the opposition which 
 is in the heart of man against God and His truth. 
 There are revealed to us in Scripture three cata- 
 strophes at the very commencement of the history of 
 our race — the fall of Adam and Eve in Paradise, the 
 deluge in the time of Noah, and the destruction of 
 the Tower of Babel ; and in the record of these three 
 catastrophes and judgments, at the beginning of our 
 history, we possess a clue which enables us to unravel 
 to some extent the difficulties presented to us in the 
 history of the world. The fall of Adam in Paradise 
 accounts for the general prevalence of sin and of 
 death. The deluge, and the rescue of Noah and his 
 family, account to us for the physical condition of 
 the earth, which God has promised to preserve until 
 the judgment by fire, giving to us in the rainbow a 
 pledge of His never-failing faithfulness and clemency, 
 and upholding those seasons of summer and winter, 
 and alternations of heat and cold, and of day and 
 night, which are necessary for our well-being. The 
 building of the Tower of Babel, and the judgment 
 with which God visited the insurrection of man against 
 His authority, account to us for all national history, 
 for the origin of languages and of nations, and for 
 
 p 
 
iljcathentsm. 
 
 that multiform existence in which human thought 
 and life has since shown itself. Without the record 
 of these three catastrophes, we should not be able to 
 understand the universal prevalence of sin and suffer- 
 ing, the present state and destiny of the earth, and 
 the history of nations. 
 
 God created man in His image. God taught man 
 in His wisdom and in His love. Man was not 
 left in some far-distant corner of _ the realm of God, 
 gradually and slowly to find his way out of the dark- 
 ness and night into the sunshine of Divine favour. 
 But he was brought up with God, and as the Lord 
 Jesus tells us in the parable, he was the younger son, 
 who, having known the Father, and having enjoyed 
 all the bounty of the Father, in proud independence 
 left the Father's house, and took all that belonged 
 unto him into a far country, and, as a necessary and 
 inevitable consequence of this mother-sin, fell into 
 transgression and vice, into pollution, misery, and 
 wretchedness. Men knew God at the beginning, 
 because God had revealed Himself unto them ; but 
 because they did not honour God, and were not 
 thankful, they failed to retain the knowledge of God 
 in their hearts ; and thus it is that they sank into 
 ignorance and darkness, and lapsed into barbarism 
 and degradation. "The nations," as the Psalmist 
 says, "for gat God." God had given them light, but 
 they apostatised from God ; and this is the origin of 
 heathenism. The history of the world begins in a 
 state of civilisation and culture, begins with know- 
 
l^rathemsm. 211 
 
 ^ 
 
 ledge, begins with the manifestation of God in light 
 and in love. It goes, on account of the sinfulness of 
 man, from this beautiful mountain-height down into 
 the dark and low valley of man's own thought, and 
 of man's own will. With the Tower of Babel began 
 heathenism, as well as nationalism ; and it is one of 
 the significant peculiarities of the Hebrew language 
 that the same word means nations and heathen. All 
 the nations originated in heathenism. That unity of 
 language which the world possessed before the Tower 
 of Babel, was only a symbol of the inward unity 
 which was rooted in the conscience and heart, in their 
 allegiance to the one God who created the heaven and 
 the earth. From being simply a union of families and 
 of tribes, humanity became divided into nations and 
 languages. It was because they had lost that only 
 point of union, and that only central force which can 
 bring and keep together all the children of Adam as 
 one harmonious and loving household — even as on 
 the day of Pentecost the very first manifestation of 
 the Spirit which came from the exalted Saviour, the 
 second Adam, the glorified Son of man, was this, that 
 it united the people of different languages to hear and 
 understand the heavenly message, the Word of God, 
 the Father's salvation, and to praise God in unity of 
 heart and in harmony of voice. 
 
 The Tower of Babel is, therefore, the beginning of 
 heathenism. From that time God left the nations 
 to themselves. Now began the times of ignorance. 
 Babylon is the beginning and also the representative 
 
2i2 heathenism. 
 
 of heathenism. Have you not noticed that as soon as 
 Babel is judged and destroyed, Abraham is elected ? 
 As soon as the children of Israel, on account of their 
 disobedience, deserved to be chastised, Babylon again, 
 in the person of Nebuchadnezzar, appears in power ; 
 and only when that last Babylon of which we read 
 in the Scripture, the concentration and consummation 
 of man's opposition against God, shall be finally 
 judged, shall all the nations of the earth, as David 
 and the prophets by faith anticipated, join the chosen 
 people of God, Israel, and worship Him in the beauty 
 of holiness. 
 
 Now, with regard to the times of ignorance, there 
 are three elements which modify the dense darkness 
 which covers the earth. In the first place, there is 
 the reminiscence of the primeval revelation. All the 
 ancient traditions of nations, however diverse those 
 nations may be in their geographical situation, in 
 their language, and in the degree of cultivation 
 which they have attained, show a wonderful harmony 
 in the reminiscences which they possess that man 
 was once in a state of blessedness, that man by his 
 guilt fell out of this state of felicity, that a great 
 Redeemer, Restorer, Deliverer, will be sent into the 
 nations, who will bring back unto us purity, peace, 
 and prosperity. That first promise which God gave 
 to Eve and Adam in Paradise, about the Seed of the 
 woman that should bruise the head of the serpent, 
 finds itself, though obscured and mixed up with 
 error, in all the traditions of nations ; and so there 
 
3)eatherttsm. 213 
 
 were left unto them, as it were, fragments of divine 
 truth: 
 
 The second element which in some degree alle- 
 viates the great oppressiveness and gloom of their 
 ignorance is that, as Sophocles expressed' it, " There 
 are the unwritten laws of heaven in the hearts of men, 
 which are not of to-day or yesterday, whose birthtide 
 is not known to any man/' 1 
 V God has implanted within man (as we say, in the 
 conscience) a knowledge of justice, of truth, of purity, 
 of equity. So distinct is this voice, so powerful and 
 authoritative is this testimony, that God says that the 
 heathen nations are without excuse ; because, although 
 they have not the written law, yet, according to their 
 own conviction and conscience, they have the un- 
 written law, which no human power can obliterate ; 
 and whose righteousness no human sophistry can 
 gainsay. 2 
 
 1 " It was not Zeus who heralded these words, 
 Nor Justice, help-meet of the gods below. 
 'Twas they who ratified those other laws, 
 And set their record in the human heart. 
 ***** 
 The unwritten and unchanging laws of heaven, 
 They are not of to-day or yesterday ; 
 But ever live, and no one knows their birthtide." 
 
 Antigone, p* 448, etc. 
 
 2 " When the nations were dispersed from the tower of Babel, they 
 took few traditions with them ; it seems as if they commenced their 
 wanderings by drinking out of Lethe. . . But the fundamental features of 
 religion are so deeply grounded in the actual relation of man to God, 
 that even when forgotten for awhile they assert themselves again. Man 
 feels the presence of the All-governing Spirit, and his own distance 
 
2i4 heathenism. 
 
 The third element is this, that God by the Holy 
 Ghost, who bloweth where He listeth, had His work 
 among the Gentile nations. I need only remind you 
 of Melchisedek, who was a priest of the Most High 
 God ; of Job in the land of Uz, who feared the Lord 
 and walked in His commandments ; of the Ninevites, 
 unto whom the message of Jonah was sent. These 
 are only instances and samples of many others to 
 whom the Lord in His sovereignty, and by His Holy 
 Spirit, revealed Himself, and whom He drew by the 
 cords of His love. Yet the times before the Advent 
 were the times of ignorance; darkness covered the 
 earth, and gross darkness the people. 
 
 While we cannot cultivate sufficiently the spirit of 
 humility, which is always a spirit of tenderness, com- 
 passion, and love, we must not regard the judgments 
 that are denounced in Scripture against heathenism 
 and the nations that forget God as unjust and hard. 
 Nothing in the Bible is harsh and severe. I do not 
 admit for a single moment that there is anything 
 
 from Him, as well as a longing to appease the punishing power of Deity, 
 and to obtain peace. He feels that sin is sin, and subject to divine 
 judgment, that it can only be removed by suffering, and that only by 
 humiliation, self-surrender, and willing self-sacrifice we can be lifted 
 out of the depth of our condition. Such are the original fundamental 
 thoughts of. the sacrifice for sin in its manifold manifestations. 
 
 " The fountain-head of religion is not in the reasoning mind, but the 
 voice of God in the conscience, not the excited and anguished ima- 
 gination, but the instinct of gratitude and loyalty to the Giver of all 
 good. Faith in God's existence is not left to man's free choice, but 
 man possesses it ere he chooses, and can suppress it only by a criminal 
 effort. " — Thiersch. 
 
gjeatheiu0m. 215 
 
 else in the Bible but candour and justice and gene- 
 rosity, and a wonderfully bountiful and tender love. 
 The light in which heathenism is revealed in Scrip- 
 ture, although it is truthful, is also affectionate. What 
 more ideal view can we take of heathenism, than that 
 view which the Apostle Paul propounds when he is 
 speaking to the Athenians ? With the insight of love, 
 he seizes on all the vestiges of moral light and life 
 which could be traced in their literature and temples ; 
 and while declaring to them their ignorance, and 
 stating to them the fundamental truths concerning 
 God the Creator, the spiritual nature of worship, the 
 unity of the race, and the redemption in Christ Jesus, 
 he willingly acknowledges that among them also 
 there had been heart-longings and presentiments — 
 souls thirsting after the living water. 
 
 The Bible is full of truth, and full of affection. 
 Whatever there is pure and lovely and ideal among 
 the heathen nations, think not that it is our interest, 
 or that it is the spirit of Christianity and Scripture, 
 to ignore it, or to make little of it. Even the wild- 
 flower has its beauty, and God is the God of all, and 
 there is nothing good or beautiful but it has its 
 origin in God's Spirit. Jesus is the Desire of all 
 nations. And as for the judgment of the heathen, 
 let our sceptics and cavillers only know this truth, 
 that it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Go- 
 morrah, and for Tyre and Sidon, in that day, than 
 for our wise philosophers who reject the light of the 
 gospel, and, when the crucified Jesus is preached unto 
 
216 gjjctithenism. 
 
 them, turn away from Him as foolishness. God will 
 judge the whole earth in righteousness and in mercy 
 — with calmness, truth, and justice. 
 
 During the times of ignorance, when, according to 
 divine wisdom, the Gentile nations were left to them- 
 selves, God raised up a bright light in Israel. Israel 
 then became the chosen nation, and to Israel was 
 given the light of revelation. 
 
 Let me briefly remind you of what Israel knew. 
 \ Israel knew that there was God. Do you think that 
 a small thing ? Oh, how much is embraced in that 
 knowledge that there is God ! Think not that the 
 essence of heathenism consists in polytheism — in 
 having many gods. That is merely an accident. 
 Whether it be that there are many gods worshipped, 
 or that there is only one created element deified ; 
 or that, even without this being done, the whole spirit 
 which breathes in the universe is placed upon the 
 throne of divinity, as is done by our modern pan- 
 theists — it is idolatry, it is heathenism. Heathenism 
 consists in this, that the created is deified. 1 But Israel 
 knew that there is God ; not a god — God, the absolute, 
 
 1 " The essence of heathenism consists not in polytheism, but its dark 
 mystery is the deification of the creature. Whether the creature 
 is viewed and worshipped in its totality, or whether one being of nature 
 is made the object of religious service ; whether the spirit who pervades 
 all, and who becomes self-conscious in the human mind, is elevated to 
 the throne of deity ; or a material object is adored as symbol of the 
 nature-power — a shapeless block, a white elephant, a beetle of the Nile 
 mud, a spear of the warrior — these are mere differences in culture and 
 mental tendencies ; the sin of idolatry remains the same." — Thiersch, 
 Kirche im A Iter t hum, p. 5. 
 
JlKiithcnism. 2I 7 
 
 the One who in Himself is infinitely blessed, self- 
 existent, eternal — who is His own place and His own 
 time and His own cause— of whom and to whom are 
 all things. And while they knew this God, who is, 
 as it were, outside and beyond and above all that is 
 in time and in space, they did not know Him as one 
 that was afar off, but as a God of condescension, as a 
 God who is present with us from day to day, as a 
 God without whose will not even a sparrow can fall 
 to the ground, as a God whose eyes try and watch 
 the children of men. Where but in Scripture do we 
 find such an idea, so sublime, majestic, and holy, and 
 yet so full of love — so simple, homely, and sweet ? 
 
 While Israel knew this God, they necessarily knew 
 also what sin was. Abraham had no law, and yet he 
 knew what it was to follow God, because the character 
 of God, the presence of God, the very idea of God, is 
 a bright light which reveals to us the dark spots and 
 stains which defile our soul. Hence, without the ten 
 commandments, and without law, Abraham walked 
 before God, and was perfect. Where there is the 
 knowledge of God, there is the knowledge of the 
 obedience, love, and purity which God requires. Unto 
 His people Israel God gave His law, to reveal sin 
 more clearly. In His wonderful condescension, He 
 took notice of all the different sinful tendencies of 
 man, and He made a hedge round His people, showing 
 unto them in the law, as in a mirror, all that He 
 requires of us, and all that men ought to be. The 
 whole life of Israel was thus, as it were, taken posses- 
 
heathenism. 
 
 sion of by the holy and merciful God. Into all the 
 ramifications of his personal and of his social and of 
 his national existence the will of God entered. The 
 very way in which the land was to be sown, the very 
 manner in which their garments were to be prepared, 
 the very regulations which are given unto them about 
 their time and about their food ; everything showed 
 that there was a will of God in which He was to be 
 glorified. They knew what sin was, and therefore 
 there are in Israel those heartrending confessions of 
 sin, of unworthiness, of transgression, of iniquity, 
 which overwhelm the Israelite, who is in the bright 
 presence of Jehovah, and make him exclaim that he 
 is undone — a man of uncleanness. As they knew the 
 guilt and evil of sin ; as they had been taught to 
 know themselves in the light of God's holy and 
 righteous love, and in the mirror of His perfect 
 law ; as they had felt the sorrow of repentance and 
 the deep anguish of the contrite heart ; so there was 
 also revealed to them the redemption which cometh 
 from above, and brings true peace and restoration. 
 The heathen nations had a confused and distorted 
 idea of sacrifice, and of methods of appeasing the 
 offended deities and averting their judgments. But 
 Israel knew redemption according to the idea of God, 
 which was afterwards fully revealed in Christ Jesus. 
 Not a compromise ; not that God was to abate some 
 part of His justice, and that man was to deny himself 
 to some extent the indulgence of sin ; but a real 
 reconciliation, a true mediation, in which justice is 
 
gieathentsm. 219 
 
 satisfied, in which holiness is exalted, in which the 
 law is vindicated, in which God reveals Himself as 
 the true and holy One, and in which the sinner re- 
 ceives not merely perfect peace of conscience, but 
 regeneration from above, in which he is actually 
 brought nigh unto God, into communion with Him 
 in light and in love. 
 
 When God reveals Himself, man sees not merely 
 the character of God, the nature of sin, the merciful 
 redemption by which God saves and restores the 
 sinner, but in the light of the idea of God, he under- 
 stands also humanity and history. Not Herodotus, 
 but Moses, is the father of history. 1 It is only by 
 God that we are taught that the human race is a great 
 family, and that it is guided by the wise and unerring 
 hand of our Father ; that there is a purpose of eternal 
 wisdom and love, an ultimate point, a bright coast, 
 towards which Omnipotent Goodness is steering us. 
 Israel rose to the conception of humanity. They knew, 
 as is often expressed in the books of the Prophets 
 and in the Psalms, that the Desire of all nations would 
 come, that the Redeemer and Restorer of mankind 
 would be sent, that Israel had a bright future before 
 it, and that all the isles and all the nations afar off 
 will receive the blessing of the Most High when He 
 shall utterly abolish the idols, and make wars to cease 
 upon the earth, and when all iniquity and abomin- 
 ation shall be subdued under the mild and yet 
 
 1 Compare a very instructive chapter in Baumgarten's Acts— on 
 chap. xvii. 
 
2 2o heathenism. 
 
 righteous sceptre of the God-man, the King whom 
 God hath anointed on His holy Mount Zion. How 
 different from the Gentile nations ! When their civil- 
 ization (as apart from the leaven and the salt of the 
 grace of God, it necessarily did) entered into the phase 
 of moral decay and dissolution, they only sighed and 
 lamented over the golden old times, and did not 
 know that there was glory coming, when the Lord 
 God shall hear the sigh of the prisoner, and shall send 
 forth His salvation. 
 
 All this Israel knew — God, sin, redemption, res- 
 toration, history, and the future blessedness of the 
 world ; and all this they knew by grace, by the 
 revelation which God in His sovereign mercy vouch- 
 safed unto them. 
 
 How different is the Bible from any other book — 
 from any other history! The Bible never praises 
 man. " God appeared unto Abraham : " " God spake 
 unto Moses :" " God appeared unto Israel on Mount 
 Sinai:" "The word of theLord came unto theprophets." 
 Israel of and by itself knows nothing, and is nothing. 
 AH things are of God ; and as it is all of God, we notice 
 another distinction between Israel and the nations. 
 You know the proud way in which the Greeks looked 
 down upon barbarians. You know the haughty way 
 in which the Romans regarded all the other nations 
 of the earth, as being created for them to subjugate. 
 There is no such contrast in Scripture between Israel 
 and the nations. On the contrary, Israel exists for 
 the benefit of the world. " In thy seed shall all the 
 
JOeathcnism. 
 
 families of the earth be blest." "Rejoice, O ye 
 nations, with My people," saith God. This is the joy 
 of the harp of David, this the jubilant rejoicing of all 
 the prophets — that all ends of the earth shall be blest 
 with the same light, and with the same strength and 
 glory as the servant Israel whom God hath chosen. 
 
 Such was the light which God Himself kindled. 
 But Israel was never commanded to go forth and 
 spread this light. It was not to be aggressive. When 
 Jonah was sent to the Ninevites, that was a mere 
 exceptional case, very valuable and very precious, to 
 keep the Israelites always in remembrance that they 
 were chosen only for the benefit of others. But the 
 Jews were not commanded to go forth among all 
 nations. God intended them to be insulated. God 
 had put a wall round about them to keep them 
 separate ; and even when our blessed Lord Jesus 
 came, He never left Israel. He told His disciples not 
 to go into the city of the Samaritans. Only occa- 
 sionally, and when a special providence, so to say, 
 relaxed the limitation, Jesus brought the gospel unto 
 those that were not Israelites. 
 
 These exceptional cases are most interesting, not 
 merely in themselves, but on account of the light 
 which they shed on the world-wide character of the 
 prophetic word. 
 
 There was the woman of Samaria — to begin with 
 what is nearest Israel — to whom Jesus told more 
 plainly than He ever announced it at Jerusalem — " I 
 am the Messiah;" and so great was the Saviour's 
 
Igcathemsm. 
 
 joy over this lost and found sheep, in which He 
 beheld a type of Samaria's conversion, that He re- 
 quired nothing else to refresh and to strengthen Him 
 after His weary journey. With great gladness and 
 wonder His eyes dwelt upon the fields that were 
 white for harvest, seeing in them a picture of the 
 ingathering of all the nations into the house of God. 
 Next we read of the Roman centurion. Jesus 
 marvelled at his faith, and said, " I have not found 
 such faith — no, not in Israel." In the Gospel of John 
 we are told of Greeks who came to the feast to 
 worship ; and when Jesus heard that they had ex- 
 pressed a desire to see Him, His soul was filled with 
 joy and solemn anticipation, because He was yearning 
 to be baptized with the fire of suffering in order that 
 the corn of wheat might bring forth much fruit, that 
 the times of the Gentiles might come. And that 
 Syrophoenician woman, never to be forgotten as long 
 as the Church lasts — that heroic woman, who overcame 
 all difficulties and all obstacles, and proved herself 
 to be a true daughter of Jacob, who wrestled with 
 God and prevailed — with what deep marvel and ad- 
 miration did Jesus say unto her, " O woman, great 
 is thy faith ! " 
 
 Look at these exceptions as proving that the 
 Jewish heart of Jesus, in harmony with all the 
 prophets, was full of love to the Gentiles. See also 
 Shem, represented by the woman of Samaria ; Japhet, 
 represented by the Roman centurion and by the 
 Greeks ; and Ham, represented by the Syrophoenician 
 
JJratlientsm. 223 
 
 woman, all are to be brought into the fold of the 
 Great Shepherd, into the embrace of divine love. All 
 these cases had been influenced more or less by Israel. 
 The centurion had become a proselyte, and built the 
 Israelites a synagogue ; the Greeks had come to 
 Jerusalem to worship ; the woman of Samaria had 
 retained not merely the five books of Moses, but also 
 the knowledge that there was a Messiah coming 
 who would reveal all truth ; and the Syrophcenician 
 woman, though belonging to a tribe which was 
 peculiarly hostile to the chosen people of God, yet 
 had learnt something from Israel, for she called Jesus 
 the Son of David. 
 
 But after Jesus was risen, He then commanded 
 His apostles to go forth into the whole world, to 
 " make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into 
 the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." I have 
 often thought, when Jesus, the risen Saviour, gave 
 that command unto His disciples, to go forth, not 
 merely unto Israel, but unto all the heathen, where 
 was that chosen apostle of the Gentiles who was to 
 carry the gospel in all its fulness and liberty to the 
 nations, and by whom the mystery of the Gentile 
 dispensation, the mystery of the Church, where there 
 is neither Jew nor Greek, was to be revealed and 
 unfolded ? Clearer than the eleven was his knowledge 
 of the commission they received, even as he laboured 
 more abundantly than they all. He was at that time 
 still ignorant of the righteousness of God, sitting at 
 the feet of Gamaliel, and most probably never 
 
224 heathenism. 
 
 spending a thought, save a thought of contempt, on 
 Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified between two 
 malefactors. 
 
 The messengers of Jesus went forth with the 
 blessed gospel unto the heathen nations, declaring 
 unto them the Messiah. What a task ! When we 
 think of heathenism — so powerful, ancient, vast, and 
 deeply rooted — it must appear to us as a huge 
 mountain ; and this mountain, by the simple preach- 
 ing of the Word, is to be cast into the sea, so that 
 the place thereof shall know it no more, and that for 
 all coming ages it shall be buried in oblivion. 
 
 When we think of heathenism, we are overwhelmed 
 and appalled. Think of its antiquity. Think of the 
 thousands and thousands of years it has reigned upon 
 the earth. Think of the extent of its territory. It 
 once covered nearly the whole face of the globe, with 
 the exception of that little Palestine. And remember 
 what a large proportion of the earth is still inhabited 
 by those who do not know the true and living God. 
 Think of the wonderful minds which have been 
 captivated and enslaved by heathenism. The Greeks 
 are still our masters in logic, in rhetoric, in poetry, 
 in architecture, in government. We have never yet 
 exceeded the works of thought and art that have 
 been handed down to us from those venerable ages. 
 What a wonderful thing it is, that from the rudest 
 and most savage tribes up to the most cultivated 
 and gifted nations, there has been this fearful 
 ignorance of God and of His truth ! Think of the 
 
Heathenism. 225 
 
 evil of idolatry. Idolatry is not one evil ; it is not 
 a great evil ; you cannot even call it the greatest evil. 
 It is the evil ; it is the mother of all evils ; it is the 
 root of all evil. As the first commandment is, " I am 
 the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of Egypt, 
 out of the house of bondage ; thou shalt have no 
 other gods beside Me;" and as this is the first petition, 
 " Hallowed be Thy name ; " so the knowledge and 
 worship of God is the only source of everything that 
 is grand and true, and noble and holy ; and when 
 men have departed from God, they have departed 
 from the Fountain of living water. Our modern 
 civilisation, it is true, fancies that men can be good 
 without God. This is a sign of the latter days. This 
 is a sign that the chariot- wheels of judgment are 
 coming near to us, that the mystery of ungodliness 
 is developing with appalling rapidity. God is the 
 Source of all light and love. The knowledge of God 
 is the source of all truth, purity, and righteousness. 
 They that make idols are like unto them. To sever 
 morality from the root, the knowledge and fear of 
 God — to assert the independence of the river of love 
 and mercy toward man from the Fountain-head, the 
 love of God, is an indication of a deep estrangement 
 from God, an enmity of the mind against the Lord, 
 deification of self. The nearer we approach the end, 
 the more universal and the more sublimated will 
 heathenism become as the great anti-Christian enemy. 1 
 
 1 It seems as if so-called Christian nations, heathen nations, and un- 
 believing Jews will yet unite against the Lord and His Anointed. 
 
 Q 
 
226 heathenism. 
 
 And not merely is heathenism the mother of all 
 evils, but think of the wretchedness and the misery of 
 heathenism. It is a very superficial view of antiquity 
 when people talk of the bright days of sunshine and 
 joy in ancient Hellas. Yes, there was brightness and 
 beauty. That people was gifted with a marvellous 
 sense of the beautiful. There was within them a 
 wonderful depth of thought ; they were endowed with 
 great powers of speech, of government, with great 
 artistic feeling and skill. But those who are well 
 acquainted with heathenism and antiquity know the 
 deep-seated melancholy, the gloom, the cloud of 
 darkness, which was only temporarily and superficially 
 dispersed. Those among the heathen who were 
 indeed noble and true were oppressed with the weight 
 of the dark problems of life — with their ignorance of 
 the mysterious, portentous future which was before 
 them. The Apostle Paul, with that wisdom which 
 God had given him, and by that marvellous insight 
 by which he entered into everything, said that the 
 heathens were atJieoi — atheists, " without God, and 
 without hope!' This is the best characteristic of 
 heathenism — short and graphic, infinitely sad. 
 
 And therefore, as heathenism is so great an evil, 
 and so sad an evil, ought we not to be anxious to 
 send unto them the messengers of God's truth ? 
 
 Yet this is not, after all, the highest ground. We 
 think of men, and we pity them — and we cannot pity 
 them too deeply ; but when you think of heathenism, 
 do you ever think of God — how it affects Him? 
 
Heathenism. 227 
 
 When you see drunkenness, or any degrading vice, 
 do you ever think of the pain God feels, the disgrace 
 and dishonour it is to His name ? When you think 
 of heathenism, with its abominations, with its in- 
 fanticide, with its cruelty, with its lust, with its 
 ignorance and misery, it is good, it is right, it is 
 human, it is Christian, that you should compassionate 
 them. But oh ! what does God think of it ? God, 
 who created man in His image, and formed unto 
 Himself a temple, that there He might be adored, 
 worshipped, and loved — God, who honoured humanity 
 so much that His own Son took upon Him our nature 
 — what does God think when He sees human beings 
 forgetting Him, and creating unto themselves gods P 1 
 What a description is given to us in the Word of God, 
 that He looks down from heaven, where there is 
 nothing but purity and blessedness and love. He 
 who is adored by myriads and myriads of angels, so 
 intelligently, so lovingly, so unswervingly — that this 
 God looks down from heaven, His dwelling-place, 
 and all the iniquity and cruelty, and wickedness and 
 abomination, and filth of earth is beheld by Him. 
 He says, " The wickedness of this great city Nineveh 
 is come up before Me." Only imagine it — those 
 million beings that were in Nineveh, all their wretch- 
 edness, all their degradation in thought and feeling, 
 in imagination, in word and work — millions and 
 
 1 Whether it be a four-footed beast, or the Hegelian philosophy, it 
 remains all the same ; it is man falling down and worshipping the 
 work of his own skill. ■ . * 
 
heathenism. 
 
 millions of sins — they all coalesce, they all meet, and 
 they rise up like one dense, dark pillar of abomination 
 from this earth, straight to the very throne of God. 
 " The sin of Nineveh has come up before Me." And 
 if of Nineveh, then of all China, and of all India, and 
 of all the islands, and of all the nations where God 
 is not known, and where His law is not honoured. 
 What a dishonour to God ! What grief, to speak 
 after the manner of men, to our Father ! Let us 
 compassionate men, but let us be in sympathy with 
 God. Let us pity wretched sinners, but let us 
 likewise remember the holiness and the glory of 
 Jehovah. He spared not His only-begotten Son, but 
 gave Him up unto death, that His glory should fill 
 all the earth, and that all nations should know that 
 He is God, and that there is none beside Him, and 
 that in Him there is an abounding love for every one 
 that is needy, and an abounding power of forgiveness 
 and life to cleanse and to vivify all who have departed 
 from Him. " Go forth and make disciples of all 
 nations," because they are sunk in evil — because they 
 are sunk in wretchedness — because God's name is 
 dishonoured. 
 
 Difficult indeed is this task, when we remember 
 what we wish to do. When Henry Martyn, the 
 prince of missionaries, as Neander called him, studied 
 the Koran in England, he thought that it would be 
 an easy thing to refute the errors and superstitions of 
 Mohammedanism. But when he went and met them 
 face to face, he found that an erroneous system is not 
 
Ijjeathmism. 229 
 
 refuted in proportion to its erroneousness. There is 
 no greater mistake than this — to imagine that, in 
 proportion to its erroneousness or absurdity, will it be 
 easy to convince people to give up a system and a 
 method of life. No ; it requires the power of the 
 Holy Ghost — it requires the touch of the hand of 
 God — it requires the attractive magnet of the love of 
 Jesus to abolish idols, and to lead men unto the Lord. 
 We do not wish merely to convince the heathen that 
 the idols are nothing. It is better to be possessed of 
 some reverence, of some fear, of some superstitious 
 awe if you will, than to be a fool, like some of our 
 Europeans, who say in their heart, "There is no 
 God." A heathen who does feel the need of sacrifices 
 and ritual purifications is nearer the truth, than 
 unbelieving Europeans who think that sin requires 
 no atonement and no expiation. Our desire is that 
 men may come to God. We do not merely wish 
 them to give up their idols, but to bow down before 
 the living and true Lord. We want them not merely 
 to be delivered from their superstitions, and from the 
 sacrifices of their own invention, but to come with a 
 contrite and broken heart to the cross where Jesus 
 died, the just for the unjust. This we aim at; this 
 we pray for ; this is the object of our labour ; and 
 without the Holy Ghost it is impossible for us to succeed. 
 Great is the work, and glorious ! We cannot pray, 
 " Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy 
 name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on 
 earth as it is in heaven/' without remembering this 
 
230 |geathem0m. 
 
 great work entrusted to the Church. Christ's command- 
 
 o 
 
 ment is clear and explicit, — "Go, and make disciples 
 of all nations." It is in this connection that the pro- 
 mise is given — " I am with you alway." We cannot 
 separate the precept from the promise. We dare not 
 neglect the command, and rest in the comfort of the 
 Saviour's presence. 
 
 But the mission is not merely Christ's command- 
 ment ; it is Christ's Presence. Jesus speaks of Him- 
 self to the Jews as the Good Shepherd, and then He 
 adds, " Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold ;" 
 other sheep, not Jews. Others / have. They are My 
 property, they belong to Me ; they are scattered among 
 all the nations of the earth. Yonder one is bowing 
 down before a hideous image. In some other village 
 another is tormenting himself, lacerating his body, 
 thinking thereby to please an offended deity. Afar 
 off, on some mountain height, there are others living 
 as if every spark, of human reason and feeling had 
 been extinguished within them ; they are Mine. 
 " Other sheep I have." God the Father has given 
 them unto Him from all eternity; and when He died 
 upon the cross, He thought of them also. 
 
 Them also I must bring. Oh blessed necessity ! 
 . . . But how can He bring them, seeing that He is 
 now in heaven ? The missionaries whom we are 
 constantly remembering in our prayers, they are the 
 feet of Jesus, with which He has gone to heathen 
 lands ; and their lips are the lips of Jesus, with which 
 He speaks unto the idolaters ; and when they rejoice 
 
Ipeathmism. 231 
 
 over one poor sheep that has come out. of darkness 
 and sin to worship God, it is the heart of Jesus that 
 rejoices. It is through them that Jesus brings the 
 sheep. " They shall hear My voice." 
 
 See here the real presence of Jesus upon earth. When 
 we, as the mouth and hands and feet and heart of 
 Jesus, as His representatives, as His body filled with 
 His Spirit, go forth speaking His truth, manifesting 
 His character, feeding His poor, comforting His 
 afflicted ones — we have, nay, we are, the real presence 
 of the Lord. 
 
 If we are in sympathy with the Father, who has 
 said, " As I live, saith the Lord, the whole earth shall 
 be filled with My glory ; " with Jesus Christ, who 
 came into the world to save sinners, and who died 
 upon the cross, not merely for Israel, but for the other 
 sheep who are scattered abroad ; x if we are in sym- 
 pathy with Abraham and the prophets, who rejoiced 
 in the promise that all heathen nations should glorify 
 God ; if we are in sympathy with the apostles who 
 did not count their lives dear, but planted the standard 
 of the cross wherever they were sent ; oh, then, must 
 our hearts, our prayers, our contributions, be given 
 unto this great work of the mission ! 
 
 It is surely not in a spirit of pride that we think of 
 the heathen, rather in a spirit of humility and self- 
 accusation. How great is our responsibility, for much 
 has been given to us ! How many instances among 
 the heathen of conscientiousness and zeal, of faithful- 
 
 1 John xi. 52. 
 
232 gjeatkerasm. 
 
 ness and love, cherishing very scanty elements of 
 knowledge, put us to shame. It is not in the Phari- 
 saic spirit that we think of heathenism. Are we free 
 from idolatry ? When our blessed Saviour says to 
 us that we are not to be like the Gentiles — that we 
 are to be free of care and anxiety — that we are not 
 to be worldly, but heavenly minded — that we are not 
 to lay up for ourselves treasure on earth ; and when 
 the Apostle Paul teaches us, "Covetousness is idolatry," 
 — who among us can say, " I have kept the first com- 
 mandment : I have kept myself free from idolatry. 
 I do believe that there is only one God, the Lord, 
 who has redeemed me, in whom alone I trust, whom 
 I love above all things, and whom I serve with all 
 my strength?" 
 
 Above all, let us remember the only antidote of 
 idolatry. It is to know God and Jesus Christ, whom 
 He hath sent. Jesus Christ is the Image of the 
 invisible God. " God was in Christ, reconciling the 
 world unto Himself." The Apostle John says to the 
 whole Church: Jesus Christ "is the true God and 
 eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from 
 idols." x 
 
 1 i John v. 20, 21. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 ^jllie Peal frmna. 
 
 "And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. 
 Amen." — Matt, xxviii. 20. 
 
 JESUS, to whom all power is given in heaven and in 
 earth, is with His disciples among all nations, and 
 all the days even unto the end of the age, when 
 He shall come again to receive them unto Himself. 
 
 Jesus is omnipotent, and therefore omnipresent. 
 He is Lord of space and time. All ages belong to 
 Him who is the Everlasting Father, the same yester- 
 day, to-day, and for ever. He is eternal, and yet 
 He is with us from day to day ; and He hath 
 ascended far above all heavens, and yet He filleth all 
 things. 1 
 
 The words " I am with you," are familiar to the 
 reader of the Old Testament, as words of Jehovah. 
 
 1 Eph. iv. 9. "Although Christ in His body has ascended above 
 all heavens, we must not forget that, consistent with His omnipresence, 
 there are various kinds of presence which belong to His human nature, 
 viewed either in itself, or in relation to His person. In the former 
 aspect He is at present in a certain locality (though above time and 
 space), yet in a local limitation, as is the case with the transfigured 
 saints. In the other aspect, Christ, by virtue of the union of the two 
 natures in one Person, and by virtue of the communicated glory and 
 majesty, is present to all creation no less than the Logos." — CEtinger, 
 Idea Vitcc. 
 
234 Wctz 3SUal Jjresenre. 
 
 He said unto Moses, " My presence shall go with 
 thee ; " He said unto Joshua, " I will be with thee." 
 Often He comforted His afflicted people with pro- 
 mises like this, " When thou passest through the 
 waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, 
 they shall not overflow thee ! " When in the fulness 
 of time the Lord visited and redeemed His people, 
 the Evangelist Matthew reminds us that the name of 
 the Virgin-born Child is Immanuel— God with us. 
 What commenced with His birth is perfectly fulfilled 
 in His ascension. It is the risen Saviour who now 
 as our Head and Representative announces to us His 
 name, " Lo, I am with you alway." 
 
 The name is awful, for it reveals to us that in 
 Christ dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily ; 
 it is full of peace and consolation, for it assures us 
 of His love and grace, which can never leave or 
 forsake us. 
 
 Jesus is with us. Let us not weaken the meaning 
 of this assurance. The incarnate Son of God, who is 
 at the right hand of the Father, is our constant Guide 
 and Companion. As truly as He saw His martyr 
 Stephen, and rose from His throne to succour and 
 receive him ; so truly do His eyes rest now upon each 
 of His disciples; so truly is He present wherever 
 two or three are gathered in His name ; so truly does 
 He enter with the assurance of His peace into every 
 heart that loves Him. Jesus is with us ; for the Holy 
 Ghost has not come to supply Christ's absence, but to 
 accomplish His presence. And as Jesus is God and 
 
Hlihe Ileal -gresmce. 235 
 
 man, so with human sympathy and tenderness is the 
 Lord of glory with us. 
 
 This Presence is mysterious ; for the world seeth 
 Him no more, yet we see Him. It is spiritual, 
 because the Spirit brings the presence of the Lord 
 unto our souls. But is it therefore not most real ? 
 
 " I am with you." Here is our guidance. " Follow 
 Me " is the sum and substance of all commandments. 
 Christ has not merely given us words and precepts, 
 but He is the Lord our God, " which teacheth thee 
 to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou 
 shouldest go." 
 
 " I am with you." Here is our strength. Leaning 
 on Christ, our difficulties vanish. " Have not I com- 
 manded thee?" said God unto Joshua; "be strong, 
 and be of good courage ; be not afraid, neither be 
 thou discouraged, for the Lord thy God is with thee 
 whithersoever thou goest." 
 
 Jesus is with us in the days of prosperity and joy. 
 God sends sunshine as well as rain ; God, who afflicts 
 and chastises, giveth us also all things richly to enjoy. 
 He who wept at the grave of Lazarus was a guest at 
 the marriage of Cana. He who foresaw the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem and its temple gazed with delight 
 on the lilies of the field, watched the merry, light- 
 hearted birds, and the innocent games of children in 
 the market-place. The Lord, who was oppressed 
 with the thought of men's unbelief and ruin, rejoiced 
 in spirit over the babes who believed in Him. Jesus 
 was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; but 
 
236 \Lhe Jlcal greacncc. 
 
 never did man rejoice in all that the Father hath 
 given us to rejoice in as the Lord. He delighted 
 with thanksgiving in nature and friendship and the 
 blessedness of work. Remember, then, the presence 
 of Jesus in your prosperity, and in the circle of 
 blessings and enjoyments in which you live. Where 
 Jesus cannot be your companion and your confidant, 
 you ought not to be. Never leave Immanuel. 
 
 Jesus is with us in our affliction. His is not only 
 divine compassion ; His is brotherly human sympathy. 
 He remembers His earthly experience ; He under- 
 stands the tears and fears of human hearts. While 
 we are suffering below, Jesus is upholding us by His 
 priestly intercession : high above, where sin and 
 sorrow cannot enter, lives our God and Brother. But 
 He is also with us. This is He who was seen in the 
 fiery furnace as the fourth man ; and as the three 
 believers came forth unhurt and unsinged, their very 
 garments uninjured by the hostile element, thus shall 
 the whole multitude of believers come out of the great 
 tribulation, young, strong, beautiful, and joyous, and 
 yet bearing a resemblance to Him whose followers 
 they were in suffering. 
 
 Jesus is with us when the soul feels deserted. 
 When our soul is cast down and disquieted within us, 
 when the waves threaten and the wind is boisterous, 
 when the Master appears to have forgotten us, and 
 to lie asleep, not caring whether we perish — " O ye 
 of little faith!" — Jesus is Immanuel — open the eyes 
 of your hearts and look — He is with us. 
 
Vlht Ileal presence. 237 
 
 When we are slow of heart, and cannot believe that 
 He is risen, and walk in sadness, Jesus is with us. 
 No road so narrow but there is room for Jesus to join 
 you ; no sorrow so heart-deep but He can say, " Let 
 not your heart be troubled." 
 
 Jesus is with us when, like Thomas, we say in 
 obstinate moroseness — " Unless — I will not believe." 
 Jesus is with us when, like Peter, we deny Him. Oh, 
 how quickly and tenderly will He look, and with His 
 eye guide us into repentance. 1 Jesus is with us, 
 though He listen not to thrice-repeated supplication 
 to remove the thorn in the flesh. He is with us, and 
 will say at last, " My grace is sufficient for thee." 
 
 If Jesus is with us, then we can say, " I shall not 
 want." 
 
 1. If Jesus is with us, we have all things. His 
 presence is our all. He Himself is our Life. All the 
 activities of the Church are the manifestations of 
 Christ ; of Him is our fruit found. He is always 
 with us. He is specially with us in the Lord's Supper, 
 but this sacrament is not a substitute for His presence, 
 as if it were an exceptional and momentary visit and 
 self-manifestation. For He is the very Life of our 
 life, always most truly, really with us. 
 
 2. If Jesus is with us, we can do all things. " Be 
 not afraid," He said to Joshua, " have not I com- 
 manded thee?" Is He not our Lord and our Strength? 
 Does He not fight all our battles ? and is it not He 
 who worketh in us mightily ? This is the secret of 
 
 1 Psalm xxxii. 8. 
 
238 Ihe IUal $3r£0ence. 
 
 sanctification. Not merely a remembered Jesus, not 
 merely the motive of gratitude or fear, but the present 
 Jesus, " I am with you," is the strength of the 
 Christian. In every temptation, ^in every duty, in 
 every sorrow, lean upon the Lord, who is with thee, 
 and His grace will be sufficient. 
 
 3. Jesus is with us. This is the secret of our 
 influence. If Jesus is with us, sinners will draw near 
 to hear Him into whose lips grace is poured. The 
 presence of Jehovah in the midst of His people will 
 awe and attract many. The presence of Jesus in our 
 hearts and homes will manifest itself in our character 
 and conduct, and Christ in us will draw many to 
 Himself. 
 
 How even, continuous, steadfast, and harmonious 
 ought our life to be ! Like a peaceful river, which 
 flows on with ever-increasing strength and beauty, 
 gladdening and fertilising the land on either shore, 
 until at last it ends in the boundless ocean of 
 blessedness which God hath prepared for them that 
 love Him. Jesus is with us all the days — that is, 
 every day. There need be not a single day of gloom 
 and doubt, of apathy and coldness, of sin and worldli- 
 ness ; there need be no day of mere existence, every 
 day may be a day of life, of Christ-life. Of the forty 
 years which Israel dwelt in the wilderness we have 
 only a record comprising the events of two years. 
 Of the eight and thirty years we read nothing but 
 dark and ominous allusions in the prophets ; as of 
 dreary and evil days of idolatry and unfaithfulness, 
 
^hc JUal ^xzQtnct. 239 
 
 when Israel was forgetful of the God who redeemed 
 them, and sacrificed to Baal and Remphan. How- 
 sad a picture ! And yet the Rock that followed 
 them was Christ. He was with them all the days. 
 His love and faithfulness, His power and wisdom 
 guarded them continually. There need have been no 
 days, no years of murmuring, self-consuming care, 
 idolatry ; there need have been no blank days, but all 
 days might have been days of faith and prayer, of 
 love and hope, of adoration and thanksgiving. 
 
 Let us rather follow the example of the Apostle 
 Paul. From the day that Jesus in His infinite grace 
 appeared to him, the apostle followed his Master. 
 This one thing he did. He abode with Him 
 who says to us all, " Lo, I am with you all the days." 
 From the hour in which by grace he turned unto 
 God in Jesus, until the end, when he could say, 
 " I have finished my course, I have kept the faith," 
 he never turned back, he never grew weary. He 
 passed through much sorrow and suffering — he had 
 times of darkness, of fear, and of trembling — he had 
 the sentence of death in himself, nay, he died daily ; 
 but Jesus was with him, his daily renewed resurrec- 
 tion-life and joy. 
 
 4. If Jesus is with us, then heaven itself is begun ; 
 for to be with the Lord is eternal life and blessedness. 
 Jesus shall throughout all eternity be our all. We 
 depend and lean on Him throughout the endless ages. 
 We possess in His presence and love the foretaste and 
 the substance of the future glory. He, who is our 
 
240 ^hc Jieal jprescnre. 
 
 Light in this dark valley, is also the Light of the 
 celestial city, the heavenly Jerusalem. He, who is the 
 Lamb and the Shepherd, the Lord of poor believers 
 on earth, is the King, who from the throne of His 
 majesty fills His glorified saints with joy and strength 
 from age to age, aeons without end. 
 
 But as the words of our Lord refer to the individual, 
 so also and primarily to the whole Church. We who 
 believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, 
 believe also that there is the Holy Catholic Church, 
 the communion of saints. 
 
 We rejoice in knowing that we belong to avast and 
 united community, that we are branches of the Vine, 
 and members of the household of God. For our 
 hearts are enlarged and strengthened by sympathy ; 
 we suffer with greater patience, we fight with more 
 sustained courage, when we remember that we belong 
 to a numerous, glorious, and victorious army — that 
 our prayers, our sorrows, and our conflicts are shared 
 by an innumerable multitude, even as our final glory 
 will be in communion with all the elect of the Father. 
 To belong to an illustrious nation, and to fight under 
 a great and wise leader, is a thought animating and 
 encouraging ; how much greater and nobler is the 
 knowledge that we belong to the Church of Christ, 
 the Son of God. 
 
 True, at any given period of history the Christians 
 seem a little flock. But the very same chapter which 
 begins with the complaint, " Who hath believed our 
 report?" concludes with the declaration that Christ 
 
%ht Seal $rc0ettre. 241 
 
 shall see His seed, that many and the strong shall be 
 subdued and saved by His love. When they shall be 
 gathered together from the north and south, the east 
 and west — when all the redeemed who have heard 
 and received the evangel of peace shall meet in the 
 Father's house, who shall be able to number the mul- 
 titude of saints, clothed in white robes, with palms 
 in their hands, beautified with the Lord Jesus, their 
 righteousness and glory ? 
 
 When Jesus said, " Lo, I am with you all the days, 
 even to the end of the world," He was looking forward 
 to the future, to the Church which He was about to 
 build on the rock of His Divine Sonship. But Jesus 
 was the Redeemer of God's people from the beginning. 
 He who said, " Lo, I am with you," had uttered the 
 significant and majestic word, " Before Abraham was, 
 I am." The Church, strictly speaking, began on 
 Pentecost ; but the congregation of saints commenced 
 with the first gospel, declared by Jehovah Himself in 
 Paradise after man's fall. He who was the Lamb of 
 God, slain from before the foundation of the world, 
 was the Saviour, the light and strength of all the 
 chosen race throughout the ages before His advent. 
 
 In all these centuries God the Lord was the dwell- 
 ing-place of His people. They were persecuted and 
 called to suffering, from righteous Abel, the first type 
 of the martyr-shepherd, to Zechariah, whose blood 
 was shed in the temple. But God always preserved 
 a people on earth. After the death of Abel God 
 raised up Seth; the golden thread of believers and 
 
242 %\tt gUal $xzsmct. 
 
 confessors was ever continued by the omnipotent 
 mercy of God. Egypt had well-nigh destroyed Israel; 
 their enemies had well-nigh swallowed them up quick 
 when their wrath was kindled against them ; but 
 I AM was with His people, He was on their side. 
 He delivered them out of the house of bondage ; 
 He divided the Red Sea; He led them through the 
 wilderness, and brought them into the land which, 
 according to His eternal counsel, He had promised 
 and prepared for them. 
 
 But more dangerous and formidable than the enemy 
 from without is the enemy which arises within the 
 congregation — her own languor and unfaithfulness. 
 The enmity of Pharaoh was cruel and powerful ; but 
 the worldliness, the idolatry, the ingratitude and sin 
 which crept into Israel, were far more insidious and 
 deadly. Well might Elijah exclaim in despondency 
 and sadness, " I, even I only, am left ! " Yet the 
 divine answer was that Jehovah was always with His 
 people, that He had in His sovereign grace reserved 
 seven thousand for Himself who have not bowed their 
 knee before Baal. 
 
 From Seth to Abraham, from the cruel and dark 
 days of Egypt to David, from David to the captivity 
 of Babylon, at all times and all the days, He was with 
 His people. And when the tabernacle of David was 
 very low, then the angel appeared unto Mary, and 
 said unto her, and in her to the daughter of Zion, 
 " The Lord is with thee.'' Blessed are the people of 
 God, even in their lowliest condition ; for God has 
 
^ke Ileal gresenre. 243 
 
 chosen to dwell among them, and the redemption 
 draweth nigh to the poor and needy who wait on 
 God. Jesus, who looks forward to the end of the 
 present age, and His return in glory, looks also back 
 to the past history of Israel, and to the centuries 
 before Abraham, and His name is Immanuel — God 
 with us. He is before Abraham was, and He is all 
 the days, even for ever. 
 
 Jesus ascended into heaven, but He has thereby 
 not left earth and His disciples here below. He who 
 dwells in the high and lofty place dwells also with 
 him who is of a contrite and broken heart. Taken 
 away from judgment and humiliation, He delights 
 now in glory to remember His sorrows and tempta- 
 tions on earth, and to sympathise with the saints, 
 whom He is not ashamed to call brethren. All 
 limitations of space are now removed. When on 
 earth, He had to leave friends, because He had to 
 go and preach the gospel to other cities. How 
 pathetic was the appeal, "Come, ere my son die!" 
 How trying the suspense of Mary and Martha when 
 Jesus tarried, and came not to Bethany till after the 
 beloved brother had died ! But now Jesus is glorified ; 
 He is with us always. Wherever two or three are 
 gathered in His name, He is in the midst of them ; 
 He is with every one who loves Him ; He is with our 
 spirit. 1 
 
 The Church has a twofold danger to encounter. 
 As Jesus when on earth, so is the Church now the 
 
 1 2 Tim. iv. 22. 
 
244 ^he Ileal presence. 
 
 object of Satan's enmity : and his method is first 
 cruelty, and secondly, cunning. He first sought 
 through Herod to kill the infant Jesus. He then 
 endeavoured, directly and indirectly (through the 
 people, Christ's brethren, Christ's apostles), to tempt 
 the Saviour to forsake the God-appointed path of 
 humility and suffering. The violence of Satan was 
 of no avail. God protected His holy child Jesus, 
 and brought Him out of Egypt, even as Israel's 
 history had typified. The temptation of Satan was 
 of no avail. Jesus in the Spirit of Sonship wielded 
 the Sword, even the Word, and learned obedience 
 through the things which He suffered. 
 
 The Church has to follow her Master's history and 
 example. As Joseph was first persecuted by force 
 and deadly cruelty, and afterwards tempted by the 
 woman, emblem of the world ; so the Church first 
 was attacked by the sword, and afterwards by temp- 
 tations and insidious compromises. 
 
 Thus the history of the Church in the world begins 
 with suffering. Stephen is the first, the crown of 
 martyrs, the noble army who died for the faith, re- 
 joicing in hope of the glory of God. Jesus was with 
 them. His banner over them was Love. His right 
 hand sustained them. They beheld His glory, and 
 they died with joy. And the blood of the martyrs 
 was the seed of the Church. The congregation of 
 the Lamb gained the victory by her meekness and 
 suffering. The world was conquered by divine weak- 
 ness. Stephen was stoned, Saul was converted. As 
 
*Wxz Ileal JJr&smce. 245 
 
 the Church was hated and persecuted, believers 
 became strong and fervent, and their testimony was 
 bright and attractive. " I AM " was with them ; the 
 burning bush was not consumed ; the presence of 
 Christ was the martyr's joy, and the vitality of the 
 Church. 
 
 But after violence came temptation. Times of 
 calmness and prosperity succeeded. The world ac- 
 cepted the gospel outwardly and superficially. Power, 
 wealth, honour, and influence were given to the 
 Church, and therewith came laxity of doctrine and 
 of discipline, and that divided, lukewarm state of the 
 heart which is so hateful to the loving and holy 
 Saviour. Then came days of error and superstition — 
 then came a flood of pagan thoughts, practices, and 
 methods. They were indeed dark ages, when the 
 gospel was not preached and the Scriptures not 
 taught — when a false priesthood diverted the souls 
 of men from the dignity and mercy of the great 
 High Priest — when the simplicity which is in Christ 
 was forsaken, and the complicated inventions of self- 
 righteousness, will-worship, and false mediation sub- 
 stituted for God's simple and all-sufficient message 
 of peace. 
 
 But Jesus was always with His people. There 
 was always a remnant according to the election of 
 grace. There was always a testimony for God's 
 truth ; there was always a little flock who knew the 
 Shepherd's voice, and who trusted in His perfect 
 salvation. 
 
246 ^he Ileal Jkesena. 
 
 Jesus was with the Church in the days of Luther, 
 when He sent forth His Word with power. The Re- 
 formation was not a new formation of Churches. The 
 apostacy of Rome is a new formation, without divine 
 authority. The Reformation, in its essence, was a 
 return to apostolic times ; it was a new manifestation 
 of the presence of Jesus, the only Saviour, the only 
 Lord. " I am with you." The Lord our Righteous- 
 ness and Strength was the very centre and glory of 
 the newly-awakened congregation. 
 
 And since the Reformation, has not the Lord been 
 with His Church ? How soon was the Reformation 
 period succeeded by a period of formalism and lifeless 
 orthodoxy, and in more recent times by doubt and 
 rejection of God's truth! Sometimes it seemed as if 
 the Church of Christ had vanished. The enemies of 
 the Saviour triumphed. They brought Joseph's 
 garment rent and stained ; they attacked the Scrip- 
 ture, which testifies of Him, which is His robe, the 
 manifestation of His truth and love. As the soldiers 
 and officers in that night when Jesus was betrayed — 
 they came forth against the Scripture as against a 
 thief, with swords and staves for to take it. They 
 applied all the resources of erudition and ingenuity, 
 all the weapons of criticism and human speculation, 
 to attack the inspired record of divine revelation. 
 They questioned its history, criticised its doctrine, 
 rejected its miracles, charged it with discrepancies 
 and errors, and refusing assent to its central truth — 
 Christ crucified — deprived it of all unity and strength. 
 
^he Jteal ^Presence. 247 
 
 And when the robe of Joseph was thus torn and 
 stained, they thought that Joseph Himself was dead, 
 and that His name was only a sacred reminiscence 
 and symbol of rational religion and humanity. But 
 Jesus says, "Lo, I am with you alway." Tidings 
 come, " Joseph is alive, and is exalted Lord of all." 
 The Holy Ghost touches the heart, the light of truth 
 penetrates the darkness — Christ crucified is again re- 
 vealed as the wisdom and the power of God. Amidst 
 unbelief and pride of intellect, the testimony of 
 the Church is maintained : clearly and joyously she 
 confesses that Jesus is Lord, that Scripture is the 
 Word of God, that the blood of Christ cleanseth from 
 all sin, and that without the new birth from above 
 none can see the kingdom of God. Jesus is with us, 
 a living, loving Saviour, and His Spirit is the unction 
 which we have received, by which we discern and 
 judge all spirits, be they ever so haughty and subtile. 
 Jesus will be with us all the days, even unto the 
 end. For there is an end. There will be a con- 
 summation of the Church, a judgment of the world. 
 Of this the world is willingly ignorant. But we are 
 looking forward to the coming of Christ. We expect 
 perilous times, when men, fully aware of what is 
 implied in the rejection of Christ, shall deny both the 
 Father and the Son. The conflict shall finally be one 
 of awful simplicity, for men shall oppose themselves 
 to God. Then shall it be evident that to believe in 
 the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, 
 it is necessary to believe in His Son Jesus. 
 
248 nhc Ileal $tz*tncz. 
 
 And among professing Christians the love of the 
 many (the majority) shall wax cold, and many shall 
 walk the enemies of the cross of Christ — not of the 
 doctrine, but of the power and substance. But Jesus 
 is with us to the end. Let us therefore be steadfast, 
 strong, and of good courage. 
 
 Jesus is the end. He is Omega as well as Alpha. 
 We wait for Him from heaven. When He appears, 
 we also shall appear with Him in glory. Then shall 
 we ever be with the Lord, as He now is with us. We 
 shall have communion with Him in His glory and 
 reign, if we are faithful to Him now in suffering and 
 obedience. Thus is the Lord Himself our Hope, our 
 Future, even as He is our Present Life. 
 
 " And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end 
 of the world. Amen? "Amen," responds the be- 
 lieving heart. Who first uttered this amen ? Was 
 it the Lord Himself, the true and faithful Witness, 
 the Amen, in whom all the promises of God are yea 
 and amen ? Was it the Evangelist Matthew, who in 
 the name of the whole Church responded to the 
 Master's command and promise with the word of 
 faith and loving assent ? Let us all say Amen with 
 joyful lips and adoring hearts ; let us say Amen in 
 our daily obedience, and in our daily testimony for 
 Jesus and His gospel ; let our true and sincere re- 
 sponse be, "Even so come, Xord Jesus, come 
 quickly." Amen. 
 
 LONDON : KNIGHT, PRINTER, MIDDLE STKEET, EC. 
 
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