Five times in the New Testament our Lord Jesus Christ is called the only begotten, and five times He is called the firstborn or the first begotten. In these we may see how carefully balanced is the presentation of the truth as to His divine-human personality. He is God and man in one wondrous, adorable person, and of this these two terms referring to His sonship bear witness. Five times our Lord is called the only begotten_that is what He is in His essential deity. Five times He is called first begotten_that is what He became as a man. All I shall attempt to do is to turn you from one scripture to another, linking these together with a few comments to bring out the true deity and the true humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The five instances in which the term, "only begotten," is used are all found in John’s writings, four times in the gospel and once in his first epistle. The four gospel passages I will give you first. John 1:14:"The Word was made [or literally, became; it was voluntary on His part] flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory." John is speaking for himself and his fellow apostles who had companied with the Lord during those three and a half wonderful years. "We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." The expression "only begotten" is clearly a title of deity. In the opening verse of the chapter we read, "In the beginning was the Word." When everything that ever had beginning began, the Word was. In this expression we have eternity of being. "And the Word was with God"_here we have personality. "And the Word was God"_here we have true deity. "The same was in the beginning with God"_here we have eternal sonship. "All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made"_here we have the creatorial power. And this is the one who became flesh and dwelt among us! It is the eternal Word who clothed Himself with our humanity untainted by sin, therefore absolutely holy, and so walked before men that they could see the glory of the only begotten shining through the veil of His flesh.

And here let me say that the expression, "became flesh," does not merely mean that deity was clothed with a human body. The clear, unmistakable teaching of Scripture is that our Lord had a true human spirit and a true human soul as well as a real human body. Yet He never ceased to be God. "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself." He was as truly God as if He had never become man and as truly man as if He had not been God; yet He was both God and Man in one undivided and indivisible person.

In John 1:18, He says, "No man has seen God at any time." That is, no man has seen deity at any time; deity as such is necessarily invisible to created eyes. "The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." No one ever saw the invisible God until Christ made Him manifest. Man has seen various manifestations of the glory of God, but not until Jesus came into the world did any one ever really see God. In Christ we have God fully manifest, so that one can say, "Do you want to know what God is like? He is exactly like Jesus."

Some people may say that they are not ready to meet God, but it would not be so bad to meet Christ. But, my friends, the love of Christ is the love of God, as the next passage shows us. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). It was the love in the heart of God that gave Christ.

Jesus did not die to enable God to love sinners. Jesus came to die because God loved sinners. Get acquainted with Christ, and when you meet God in heaven you will not have to learn Him for the first time.

Now observe this expression, "His only begotten Son." Do not connect this term with any thought of generation. It is not that Jesus is the only begotten Son in the sense of being the first son that God begot, but that He is the only begotten Son in the sense of being God’s unique Son_His Son in a different way from what anyone else will ever be.

Then observe John 3:18:"He that believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Salvation, freedom from condemnation, is linked for you and me with faith in the eternal Son who came into the world for our salvation. Do you trust in Him? If so, "There is … no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). Do you still reject Him? Then you are "condemned already," and that, not merely because of the many sins you have committed, but because you have spurned the only begotten Son who became man and died upon the cross for your salvation.

Let us now look at the final passage using the term "only begotten":"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him" (1 John 4:9). People like to think that God is love, and that because of this He may lightly pass over their sins; but it was the love of God that provided the atonement. Also note that Christ did not become the only begotten when He was born into the world. He was with God in the glory from all eternity. "God sent His only begotten Son." These five passages, then, have to do with the deity of Christ.

Now let us consider the five scriptures that speak of Christ as the firstborn or as the first begotten. Turn to Colossians 1. Here we have the double headship of our Lord Jesus Christ_ the headship which is His because He is Creator and that which became His when He arose from the dead, "Who [that is, the Son of God] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" (verse 15). The Son was just as truly the invisible God before the incarnation as the Father and the Spirit were invisible. But now Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. He has made God visible. He has, as it were, compressed deity into a body, into the humanity of a man, and thus He is able to make God known to us.

The term "firstborn" is not necessarily the one born first. It is used otherwise in Scripture. The firstborn is the heir, the preeminent one, and God has ordained "that in all things He might have the preeminence" (Col. 1:18). Abraham had two sons. Ishmael, the man after the flesh, was born first; but Isaac, the child of promise, was the firstborn. Isaac had two sons. Esau was born first, but Jacob was the firstborn. And of Jacob’s sons, we know that Reuben was the firstborn according to the natural order, but the blessing of the firstborn was conferred upon Joseph. So Christ is not the firstborn in the sense of being created first, for He was uncreated and is Himself the Creator. But He is, as man, the rightful heir of all, therefore the firstborn set over all creation, the second man, the Lord from heaven.

But what did man do with God’s firstborn? They cried, "Away with Him!" They hurried Him to a cross of shame. But what happened there? He offered Himself without spot unto God, a sacrifice for our sins. He made peace by the blood of His cross, and now, having been raised from the dead, He is Head of the Church, the firstborn from among the dead. This is what we learn in Colossians 1:18. As the resurrected Man He takes His new place as Head of the Church. Because He is Creator He is Head over all the universe. Because He loved the Church and gave Himself for it, He is Head of the Body. Always preeminent in God’s thoughts, there was a higher glory than that of Creator which was reserved for Him, but He had to reach it by death and resurrection. Oh, what glories have accrued to Christ by way of the Cross!

In Romans 8 we have our Lord again spoken of as the firstborn:"Whom He did foreknow He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" (verse 29). Here we see Him as the archetypal Man_the pattern Man to whose image all His brethren shall be conformed. Some day we shall every one be just like Him_God’s blessed firstborn_when we get our glorified bodies.

In Revelation 1:5 we have a greeting "from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of [or properly, the firstborn from among] the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth." Here we have our Lord as He was in the days of His flesh, "the faithful witness," the true prophet revealing God to man, then as the resurrected priest "who ever liveth to make intercession for us." It is as the firstborn from the dead that He exercises this particular office, interceding for His saints as they still tread the desert sands, exposed to trial and temptation in this world where they are called upon to witness for Him, the earth-rejected one. By and by He will return to reign as Prince of the kings of the earth. Thus we see Him as He was, as He is, and as He will be. His resurrection attests the reality of His mission and is the pledge of His coming victory over all the powers of hell.

But the story does not end here. Rejected of men, He was accepted of God, owned as His firstborn, received up into glory, and seated on the Father’s throne, "From henceforth expecting until His enemies be made His footstool." Clearly and unequivocally the inspired Word declares that He must come back to establish here over all the earth the reign of righteousness so long predicted. When He does return, He will be hailed with glad acclaim by saints and angels as the first begotten, the Son. and heir of God who takes the kingdom because it is His by right. In amazement, men who have refused His claims and spurned His grace will then behold Him coming in clouds with power and great glory, when He shall be revealed from heaven, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, when He shall come to be admired in all who have believed the Spirit’s testimony concerning Him. And so we read in Hebrews 1:6, "And when He bringeth the firstborn into the habitable earth again, He saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him" (literal translation). He who came once and was rejected as God’s firstborn is coming into the world again, and not only will men own that He is indeed the firstborn, the first begotten from among the dead, but all angelic intelligences will fall at His feet and worship Him.

It is written in the law, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt Thou serve" (Matt. 4:10). But the Father calls on all the angelic host to worship Him, His firstborn_the rightful Heir and Lord of all.

If Jesus be not God all heaven will be filled with idolators! Blessed it is to bow at His feet and cry with Thomas, "My Lord and my God!"

The root of sin in us is self-will and independence from God. But in Jesus, the perfectly dependent Man, my heart has rest. Jesus was totally dependent upon His Father, whether in the midst of sorrow, in humiliation, or in glory. And when that blessed heart of Christ expressed its dependence in praying to His Father, did He get an answer? Yes, "The heaven was opened" (Luke 3:21). Does heaven open thus on me? It is open to me indeed, no doubt, but I pray because it is open, whereas it opened because He prayed.

This is indeed a lovely picture of grace, and we may be bold to say that the Father loved to look down, in the midst of all sin, on His beloved Son. "He that sent Me is with Me; the Father hath not left Me alone" (John 8:29). Nothing but what was divine could awaken God’s heart; yet it was the lowly, perfect Man whom God looked upon. Jesus did not take the place of His eternal glory as the Creator and the Son of God, but He stooped and was baptized. He said, "In Thee do I put My trust. . . . Thou art My Lord (Psa. 16:1,2), and the Holy Spirit descended like a dove on Him (Luke 3:22). What a fitting resting place for the Spirit was Jesus, in the deluge of this world. How sweet, too, that Jesus is pointed out to us as God’s object.

The Scriptures reveal to us the way the Father feels about His Son. Thus I am made His intimate, and admitted to hear Him expressing His affection for His Son. Thus I get rest, and my heart finds communion with God in His beloved Son. And if I find that which, in and about me, distresses the soul, I have in Him that which is unfailing joy and comfort. Even if heaven and earth were turned upside down, still I have a rest with Him. ,What blessedness it is for the heart to have the Object with whom God Himself is occupied.

"Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased" (Luke 3:22).

(In Help and Food, Vol. 24.)

The introduction of four women’s names, and of four only, into the genealogy of our Lord, as given by Matthew, has furnished material for inquiry to many students of the inspired Word. That there was a special purpose in it no one can doubt. Moreover, only a slight glance at the names so chosen to a place in connection with the human descent of the Lord of glory would show something of the significance of their being found there. They are precisely such names as a chronicler, left to mere human wisdom in the matter, and especially a Jew, however right thinking, would have kept out of sight. And this is especially so as there was no apparent reason for bringing them forward. They were not needed at all in establishing the connection of our Lord with David or with Abraham.

No other names of women are thus introduced. Neither Sarah, Rebekah, nor Leah were named, even though these would seem to have better title to be remembered. The four women included, on the other hand, were apparently just blots upon the genealogy. And further, so far from any attempt at concealment of what was discreditable in connection with them, circumstances that need not to be referred to were brought in as if to draw our attention to what otherwise might have been less noticed. Thus, Zarah’s twin birth with Pharez, though himself not in the line of the genealogy, is mentioned as if to recall the circumstances of that sin which brought them into being. And Bathsheba, instead of being mentioned by name, is associated with all the horror of the crimes connected with King David and her_"her that had been the wife of Urias."

But there is something very beautiful in this fearlessness in the Scriptures_both here and elsewhere_to expose the sins and failures of those associated with our Lord. If there be a blot upon the life of one of His people, the God of truth will never hesitate to bring it out, though it might seem to furnish an occasion to those who seek occasion against the truth. And if there be a dark spot that presumptuous man would dare to lay a finger on, on but one of the links (each divinely constituted) of the chain of ancestry of the Man Christ Jesus, the Spirit of God puts His finger upon it first, to invite our attention to it as something worthy of being noted, and calculated to beget reverential thoughts and lowly admiration of a wisdom that never fails.

Let us now take up the history of these four women, so far as it connects them with this inspired genealogy, and try to read the lesson that is given us by their connection with it.

The history of Tamar is found in Genesis 38. It is one of those dark chapters of human depravity that the Word lays open with its accustomed plainness and outspokenness. Infidels would speak of it as a blot upon the book that contains it, and few perhaps care to read it, least of all aloud. And yet it is a story that will one day again find utterance before the most magnificent assembly that the earth or the heavens ever saw or shall see. And how many such like stories shall come out then_mine and yours, perhaps, not so far removed from Tamar’s_and the pure eternal day will not withdraw its beams, and the night not cover it up with its darkness.

Now in all this history of Tamar the thing that strikes me is that there is no redeeming feature about it. If I take the record attached to the other names that have place with hers in this genealogy, I may find perhaps in each case something that breaks the darkness a little. But I find nothing similar recorded about Tamar. She comes before us in this picture as a sinner and nothing else. The wife successively of two men, each cut off for his wickedness by divine judgment, she dares yet in her own person, by crime equal to theirs, to provoke divine judgment. But the wonder above all this is that it was this very sin that made her the mother of Pharez, and thus brought her name into the Lord’s genealogy.

Is there no voice in this? And is it the voice of the God of judgment, or is it the voice of the God of grace? Do we not see here the Holy One of God standing for the unholy? Just think of it! Tamar’s sin was her connection with the Lord of life and glory! And O beloved, look! was not our sin our connection, too? Did not He die for sinners? Was it not when we confessed our sins, and, with our mouths stopped, took our places before God, ungodly and without strength, that we found out the wondrous fact that for the ungodly and those without strength Christ had died?

Thus Tamar’s name, first woman’s name in this genealogy, is first also in the simple gospel truth that it reveals; and the fact that Tamar is a sinner, of whom I can read nothing but her sin, and whose sin gives her connection in a peculiar way with the Christ who came for sinners, is light and joy and gladness in my soul.

Turning now to Rahab, again we are not in very creditable company. Rahab was a Canaanite, one of a cursed race, and Rahab was a harlot, sinner among sinners. The one thing recorded to her advantage is her faith. The apostle James refers to the fruit of her faith:"Was not Rahab, the harlot, justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way?" But even here, you will observe, the thing he appeals to is not what would, in men’s eyes, make a saint of her. There was no brilliance of devotedness, no wonderful self-sacrifice, no great goodness in her. Even in the very thing in which she shows her faith she tells a lie, as if to isolate faith from any kind of merit whatever.

Who can doubt it was Rahab‘s faith that brought her into the genealogy, as sin had brought Tamar? Without faith, she would have died with those shut up in Jericho, a cursed woman of a cursed race. Faith removed that curse from her; faith brought her in among the people of God. "To him that worketh not, but believeth" is what we instinctively think of when we think of Rahab. It is faith that looks not at itself and pleads not its own performances, but brings the soul to accept the place of ungodliness only, because for the ungodly only there is justification (Rom. 4:5).

Next we read, "Booz [or Boaz] begat Obed of Ruth." What shall we say of Ruth? Here at first sight our text might seem to fail us, and we might seem to have parted company with sinners. Ruth was, in fact, a Gentile who was faithful where Israel’s own children had set her an example of unfaithfulness (Ruth 1).

The significance of Ruth’s name in the genealogy is this:In spite of all her loveliness and all her goodness, there was lying against her a ban which did not lie in the same way against the others. She was a Moabitess, and against these there had been leveled an express statute of the law:"An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, even unto their tenth generation they shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever" (Deut. 23:3). Thus Ruth lay under the interdict of the law. It is striking that it was to this devoted, lovely woman that this law applied, not to Rahab nor even to Tamar. Thus God proclaimed in an unmistakable way in this genealogy the character of the law. It was not brought in to condemn the sinner Tamar or the harlot Rahab (where men’s minds would have done so). But Ruth’s name seems to be mentioned here in order to bring to our attention that law which would have excluded one such as she, even with her piety. Emphatically it is thus taught that it is man as man that is shut out from God_not in his sins merely, but in his righteousness. And if we try to stand on the ground of righteousness, we find that "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6).

But the law did not keep Ruth out. Moabitess as she was, she did enter into the congregation of the Lord. The law was set aside on her behalf, and instead of her descendants being excluded to the tenth generation, her child of the third generation sat upon Israel’s throne, and heard the promise which confirmed that throne to his heirs for succeeding generations.

Ruth is witness to the fact that "The righteousness of God without the law is manifested . . . even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe" (Rom. 3:21,22). She came into the congregation of the Lord, in spite of the law expressly levelled against her to keep her out; and in this we find but another utterance of the story of grace which our God so enjoys to tell.

Finally, we read of "her that had been the wife of Urias," taking her place with Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth in the genealogy of the Lord. And when I think of this woman, I cannot help but think of Romans 5:8-10:"While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." The moment I think of Bathsheba, I think of David, child of God, Israel’s sweet psalmist, in whose breathings the souls of saints in every age have poured out their aspirations after "the living God." But at the same time I also think of David fallen, fallen so low that we cannot marvel if his name be side by side with Tamar’s.

David was a man after God’s own heart. Yet, when we read of "her that had been the wife of Urias" we are reminded of him who murdered a man in the midst of faithful service to himself in order to hide his own adultery! Just as David lamented over the death of Saul, well might we take up the same lament over David:"How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished" (2 Sam. 1:27).

And surely, O Lord our God, in Thy presence shall no flesh glory! If David could not, could we? Alas! if I know myself, what can I do but put my mouth in the dust, and be dumb forever before the Lord! "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12). The voice that comes to me from David’s sin is infinitely more than David’s condemnation. It is my own. Can I pretend to be better? Can I take my hand from his blood-stained one? Ah, no! I accept with him my own condemnation; and not as a sinner merely, but as a saint. From first to last, from beginning to end, the voice of David’s fall brings to me the assurance that the justification of the ungodly must be my justification still.

Blessed be His name! He does not trust His salvation to my hand. My "life" depends but upon the life of Him who has taken His place in heaven, after He had by Himself purged my sins; He is as much for me there in the glory as for me upon the cross. He is the accepted One, and I am "in Him." Because He lives, I shall live also.

If David could have taken his salvation out of God’s hand, he surely would have done it in the case before us. That he could not, I read in this woman’s name, partner in his sin, being recorded in the genealogy. Once again, as in Tamar’s case before, I find sin connecting with the Saviour of sinners. It was not that God did not mark His abhorrence of the evil. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7). Thus it was no wonder that adultery and murder sprang up again and again in David’s path. It was no marvel that the sword never departed from his house and that his wives were dishonored in the face of the sun.

But in the midst of all this growth of thorn and thistle, sure fruit and consequence of sin, one floweret sprang up from this cursed ground, a witness that where sin had abounded, grace overabounds. From this David and this Bathsheba, whom sin had united together, a child was born whose name stands next in the line of the ancestry of the Lord, and who received, as if to confirm this, a special name, Jedidah, "beloved of the Lord."

The other name of this child_Solomon, "peaceful"_ seems to harmonize beautifully with all this. How fitting it is to end the history of the four names_Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba_with the thought of "peacefulness." Surely this is the blessed outcome in the heart and soul of the one who lays his sins at the feet of Jesus and trusts Him, and His finished, sacrificial work alone, for the free gift of salvation.

(From The Bible Treasury, Vol. 11, New Series.)

The apostle Paul addresses the Galatian assembly in regard to a serious doctrinal error which he refers to as "another gospel" that he did not preach. He states that some among them "would pervert the gospel of Christ" (Gal. 1:6,7). He describes the Galatian error in two forms. The first is the teaching that obedience to the law is mingled with faith as the ground of the believer’s justification; the second, that the justified believer is made perfect by keeping the law. In regard to this error Paul states, "If any man preach any other gospel unto you than ye have received [as he describes in this epistle], let him be accursed" (1:9). And he strongly repeats the statement as if to warn believers of this dangerous doctrine which, no doubt, is misleading to souls seeking true salvation.

What then is the true gospel of Jesus Christ that the apostle Paul preached? We read in this very Epistle to the Galatians:"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified…. I am crucified with Christ:nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain" (2:16,20,21).

Again, in chapter 3 of Galatians we read:"But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident:for, The just shall live by faith. … If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. . . . For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (verses 11,21,22,26).

If the reader can clearly understand these portions of Scripture, then he may ask why there appears to be a conflict in the Epistle of James, chapter 2:"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? . . . Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works; show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works" (verses 14-18). The key to these verses is the word "say"’:"Though a man say …" The subject of James 2 is how one distinguishes a true believer from the mere professor. This chapter does not give the criteria for obtaining salvation as so many people have grossly misinterpreted it to mean.

The Holy Spirit in the Epistle of James shows how we can recognize the true believer in Christ on the basis of his works or the fruit of the Spirit in him (Gal. 5:22,23). It is a method for man to use in assessing genuine salvation rather than a method of salvation itself. In this very chapter, James 2, we find statements as to the true way of salvation:"Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor [or humble] of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?" (verse 5; see also Matt. 5:3 and 19:16-26). Also, "Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness" (verse 23).

James 2:22 states that the works of a true believer, like Abraham, reveal the true faith of the believer. We read in Gen. 15:6 that Abraham believed in the Lord and it was imputed as righteousness unto him; and this occurred some 40 years before he offered up Isaac his son. So we ask, what particular work or how many works would be imputed as our righteousness? The Scriptures know no such language! On the contrary, it is written, "They that are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom. 8:8). And it is written, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Heb. 11:6).

The Lord Jesus illustrates the relationship of faith to works so clearly in Matt. 5:16 when He says:"Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." It is important to notice here that the "Light" is the Lord Jesus dwelling in the believer by faith as it is written in John 1:4, "In Him [Christ] was life; and the life was the light of men." We know that only those who have trusted in Him have that Light. So James 2 is saying that either your light or faith is hid (see Matt. 5:14-16), not being accompanied by works, or that there is no light, faith, or spiritual life at all, which is indicative of the unbeliever.

It is imperative that we do not confuse our new birth with Christian service or walk. Our new birth is based solely upon the finished work of Christ and His shed blood (see John 19:30). James 2:14-26 is indicating that our faith in Christ and consequent justification are always evidenced by our spiritual walk and outward service for Christ. The Galatian error, as it is with so many today, was in failing to make this vital distinction between our new birth by faith in Christ and our Christian walk once we are saved.

Let us consider the following analogy in connection with new birth:Suppose we place a lifelike doll beside a living baby. Readily we see the true life signs such as breathing, crying, laughing, kicking, seeing, hearing, etc. God’s Spirit has produced life in this fashion just as He has provided for our new birth in Christ Jesus (John 1:12,13; 3:5). True, the devil has many good imitations, but there is only one source of life, both physically and spiritually, and both are the gift of God.

Furthermore, what is born can never be unborn. Some will say, "True, but one can die." That is only true of our natural birth and that is our doing, not God’s. God is the God of the living (Luke 20:38), not willing that any should perish (2 Pet. 3:9). He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 33:11). Those that are born again spiritually can never die. This is a promise from the Lord Himself:"Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die" (John 11:26). He also said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Heb. 13:5). The true believer also has the confidence and joy that Christ is the Good Shepherd (John 10). He does not lose sheep. He recovers His stray sheep either in life or in death. The term "sheep" in Scripture is always descriptive of the believer, and once a sheep, always a sheep.

We may lose our crown or rewards just as it is so in this life, but that never changes our birth status. Once a son or daughter of man or God, so is it always. There is no record in Scripture of God deserting His own. "If we are unfaithful, He abides faithful, for He cannot deny Himself" (2 Tim. 2:13 JND). There is no record of believers being removed from Christ’s body, nor is there a record of the Holy Spirit ever removed from dwelling in a believer.

However, the believer’s judgment is carried out both in this life and at the judgment seat of Christ (see 1 Cor. 11; 2 Cor. 5:10; Gal. 6:7). On the one hand it is true that "There is … no condemnation [or judgment] to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1); but at the same time God chastens His sons in this present life (Heb. 12:5-11) and will also review the lives of all of us at the judgment seat of Christ. The Corinthian fornicator was judged in like manner. His flesh was given over to Satan, but his spirit was preserved in the Lord (1 Cor. 5:5).

In all of the gospel accounts of the Lord Jesus Christ healing the sick He never said, "Thy faith and/or works have healed or saved thee," On the contrary, it was always, "Thy faith hath healed or saved thee." In James 5:15 we read, "The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." It is His work and our faith in Him that heals and saves.

James 2:19 which states that "the devils also believe and tremble" is also grossly misapplied by the "Christ plus works" advocates. For we read in Matt. 8:29 and 25:41 that the demons know Jesus is the Son of God and they know (believe) that a final judgment is awaiting them. They have good reason to tremble just as the unrepentant sinners will tremble when they stand at the great white throne of God’s final judgment. The demons believe because they have seen God’s wrath and they know He will fulfill His word.

What James is saying here, I believe, is that merely believing in Christ Jesus as a matter of knowledge or history will not save a person. There are many in that category today! There must be a true repentance of sin, a trusting in the shed blood of Christ alone to save. Anything in addition to or short of this fact becomes the curse of "another gospel." There must be evidence of the new creature in Christ in order for there to be peace. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17).

Many would-be professing Christians today are what James is describing. They know the historical and social Christ, but not the saving Christ. There is no apparent change in their daily habits or lifestyle. Beware! These signs serve as a warning that one may not be saved at all.

In closing, we would appeal to the unsaved reader that it is faith in the finished work of Christ alone that determines our salvation, and none of our own efforts. We urge you, trust in Christ alone, today!

"The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.. . . Thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers, which have borne witness of thy charity before the Church:whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well. Because that for His name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellow-helpers to the truth. I wrote unto the church:but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words; and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church" (3 John 1-10).

John’s third epistle follows his second in moral as well as chronological order. Together, they meet two opposite tendencies which are both opposed to the Spirit of Christ. One is the laxity which is not love, although it claims to be; the other is the narrowness which is not faithfulness to Christ, but calls itself by that name. What can love be worth which sets aside truth, or what truth can there be apart from the love which is the greatest truth?

The union of these is insisted on in both epistles, truth being put foremost in the second and love in the third. Love is the energy of the divine nature and light is the manner of its display. Where God acts, He acts in His whole character, although there may be to us a difference in His actions_a predominance of one attribute or the other. Thus love cannot be described without bringing in other attributes; and the Word of God needs to describe it and define it as the apostle does in the first of his epistles, for in nothing do we make more mistakes. He therefore gives tests and counter-tests. If the love be to God, yet "He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (1 John 4:20). If it be to our brother, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God" (1 John 5:2). He defines love to God further:"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous" (1 John 5:3).

Love must have its object, and this is carefully insisted upon. It is first of all Christ in whom God has revealed Himself, then those who are Christ’s, the brethren. "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14). Here the circle marked out shows sufficiently the center from which it is described. Lose the center and all is lost. It is this, then, on which John insists in the second epistle. If you have not "the doctrine of Christ," you have not Christ, but antichrist. Thus you must not greet the one who, coming in a Christian guise, brings not the doctrine of Christ. If you receive deliberately one who displaces Christ, you are an accessory to that displacement and become "partaker of his evil deeds" (2 John 11). He may be deceived, but you dishonor Christ with your eyes open. Association is in God’s sight one of the most serious questions; fellowship with God and with what is opposed to Him cannot go on together.

Thus the Second Epistle of John comes naturally before the third. First of all, he fixes the center before he marks out the circumference. And Satan too, first of all, aims at the center; for could he take away that, there would be no more circumference to mark out. However, even where the honor of the Lord requires separation there may yet be in fulfilling a plain duty a spirit of harshness which already needs the check of the third epistle. We must always remember what Christ’s people are to Him, and with what discriminating care and tenderness He deals with them. How many have we repelled from the truth by the lack of grace that we have manifested. How many have we abandoned to the evil whom we might have drawn out from it had we had a hand to put forth for their help. Strange it is that those who supposedly have learned their own need of grace can in their conduct toward others act so readily in the spirit of law and yet expect to find results which only grace can produce. Sad indeed that God’s way of loving us out of our sins should be so little known to us. We need much searching of heart as to such things which have engendered a cold, harsh spirit of suspicion. So often where any departure from what is esteemed a most rigid orthodoxy is in question, tolerance is counted as laxity and indifference; and the needful "separation from evil" is in fact lost in a real biting and devouring of one another which would end, except as prevented by the mercy of God, in being consumed one of another.

In the Third Epistle of John we meet Diotrephes who had some measure of power in the assembly and who loved to have the preeminence. The Epistle to the Corinthians shows us one stage of the breakdown of God’s order for the Church. In Corinth restless and ambitious persons were dividing the saints into contentious parties. Here in John’s third epistle was a further stage of decline in which one who was thirsty for power had succeeded in reducing all the rest to obedience to himself. One individual had absorbed into himself the corporate condition; and the assembly in practice no longer existed_it was merely a tool in the hand of Diotrephes.

We see here the beginning of the system of clergy and laity. Many, perhaps, thought the development of such a system a needed development. How much better, they may have reasoned, was the rule of Diotrephes than the strife at Corinth.

There is, in truth, but a narrow path for us, and a very fine line divides between good and evil. Are there not leaders in the assembly? Yes, assuredly; Scripture plainly says so (Heb. 13:7,17). Ought we not to obey them? Again, "We beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake" (1 Thess. 5:12,13). We are to know our leaders, and if the assembly in 3 John had known Diotrephes they would hardly have followed him! If we are to know our guides, then plainly there is no responsibility taken off our shoulders, but the contrary. We are responsible for the guides we allow as such; we are, first of all, to know before we follow, not to follow blindly. How shall we know a guide but by the guidance, and by what can we judge as to guidance but the Word of God? So the apostle says, "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the Word of God, whose faith follow" (Heb. 13:7).

Believing obedience to the Word of God, then, must characterize such leaders, and we only follow their faith when the Word of God is to us what it is to them. The guidance is by the Word, and faith must be in it, not in them, and only those are to be followed who follow it. If the guide can show me God’s path for me, it is well and good, and I must follow; but woe be to him who stands between the soul and God, and whom men obey upon the warrant of his superior knowledge, wisdom, or holiness! Our walk is to be with God.

The guides and leaders of Christ’s people must be like Christ_tender toward the individual, careful to maintain the sense of responsibility in the soul, nurturers of the life rather than zealots of the form. God gives us guides like these, men who will speak to us the Word of God, and whose faith we can follow.

In the assembly referred to in 3 John there was a free and devoted activity in the ministry of the truth. Some had gone forth for the name of Christ taking nothing of the world, to which they offered the better riches. The apostle’s commendation is given decisively to such a course. Gaius had received and helped them, and those who do so he assures that they are fellow-workers with the truth. Let none claim this with whom it is not true. It is one thing to give a dole to the Lord’s work, as to a beggar at the door, and quite another to be a helper in a cause that is one’s own. Giving is as much a ministry as is preaching, but only as the heart and soul are put into it is either the one or the other acceptable with God.

Gaius was one who did this; his fellowship with the truth expressed itself in practical reality, a hearty linking of himself with those who for Christ’s sake had gone forth. "If thou shalt bring forward on their journey after a godly sort" should read "in a manner worthy of God." How much is involved in "a manner worthy of God"! In how great a cause are we permitted to be engaged, and how liberal we should be in giving of time and money to the cause of Him who spared not His Son!

It was in behalf of this free evangelization, as is evident by the context, that the apostle John had written to the assembly, only to prove how helplessly it had fallen under the control of one who loved the preeminence in it he had obtained. We are not told upon what ground Diotrephes based his opposition toward the other servants of Christ. It is no doubt purposely that we are told so little of what he said or against what he opposed himself. Whatever he said against the apostles, we may be sure he did not lack arguments that seemed reasonable and convinced many. Did not Paul rebuke Peter, and did not Peter deserve such rebuke?

The truth really was that the work of the Spirit of God had aroused the opposition of man’s will and self-love in which Satan had found his opportunity. This has been largely the history of the Church ever since. It has fallen under the power of the enemy and been dominated by ambition. The Spirit of God has been opposed and quenched and His human instruments have been cast out. In every fresh movement of God this history seems to be repeated. We are admonished to hold fast. The warning is not needless, and those who swim against the stream will not fail to find the tug and strain of the stream upon them. But the Lord Himself gives great encouragement and He will soon come. "I come quickly:hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown" (Rev. 3:11).

(From Help and Food, Vol. 8.)

FRAGMENT If any of us look for power or acceptance from anything that is of man, from manner, learning, fervor, or eloquence, we are at once off the ground of dependence upon the power of the Holy Spirit, because we are calling to our aid that which has its source in man and natural abilities.

FRAGMENT A preacher has never to be anxious about results; that is God’s concern. He has only to be anxious about three things:(1) the state of his own soul; (2) being in communion with the mind of God as to those to whom he is speaking; and (3) faithfulness in delivering the message.

"Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" was the first question asked by Saul of Tarsus when the Lord first revealed Himself to him on the road to Damascus. And such was the sense of the Saviour’s grace toward him afterwards, that he became a most devoted servant, and is considered a good example of following Christ.

Now service to our Lord is not the privilege of a few only, but of all God’s children. In saying this we have young believers particularly in mind, as they have the needed physical and mental energy. Each young Christian, we believe, should seek some particular line of work for Christ, such as taking a Sunday school class, visiting the sick, the hospitals, or the jails, and witnessing for the Lord.

But the department of Christian work of which we wish to speak in particular is that of tract distribution_a service for all. The circulation of gospel tracts should commend itself to Christians desirous of furthering the knowledge of the truth among men because this work is open to all. No special gift is required, nor is it necessary to possess an unusual degree of physical strength. Any one with a heart for it can do it. Some may have little knowledge and are not apt at approaching strangers. This should be no hindrance, for usually only a kind word is necessary; sometimes the less said the better. Besides, no great courage is required in certain forms of tract work. One can mail suited tracts to those who have been bereaved of their loved ones, using an obituary column to draw from. Tracts may be slipped under doors or put in some place where they will almost certainly be picked up. Of course, the better and more effective way is to hand them to the person directly with a wise and kind word accompanied by prayer. Think of the Lord’s gracious eye upon you, and the value of the soul to whom you present God’s way of salvation. It will enable you to rise above timidity and thoughts of yourself.

(In Help and Food, Vol. 41.)

We are truly thankful for the awakening that appears in many quarters concerning the subject of repentance and faith and we hope this will produce fruitful and glorious results for eternity. We have suffered great loss, we are persuaded, because there has been lack of wisdom and exercise in giving repentance its right place; and the wonder now is that so many of us have in measure neglected it, when the Word of truth gives it so prominent a place, and leaves us in no uncertainty as to the order of proclaiming it.

Whether in the past or present dispensations (before law, under law, or now under grace), ever since the fall of man (Gen. 3), men have become a prey to sin. All like sheep have followed their own way, but God’s call has been loud and long to men on every hand. The light of His Word, wherever it penetrates, leads distinctly, and with no uncertain sound it cries, "Repent, repent!" This was the voice of the Spirit in the prophets of old; it was the special mission of John the Baptist; and when the Saviour Himself appeared, His call to men was, "Repent, ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). Later on when He sent out the twelve, they went out and preached that men should repent (Mark 6:12); and His answer to those who spoke to Him concerning the dreadful end of the Galileans was, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:1-5).

Now let us note the order in which the Holy Spirit presents that truth to us. "Repent ye, and believe the gospel" was the divine order in which the Lord Himself presented it; and if Scripture is closely followed, this is the divine order always. At the beginning of this subject let us state, however, that repentance is not the gospel. We need to distinguish with care, yet not separate, the two themes. We truly believe that this is where mistakes have been made; the deep, searching, penetrating effect of the Word of God has been hindered and clouded by not rightly understanding and giving repentance its true place in preaching.

The message of repentance is the loud and faithful call of a righteous God to His disobedient and sinful creatures_responsible creatures. He has entrusted the preaching of it to the evangelist as he goes forth among the masses of mankind. It is a message sent to sinners:"I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matt. 9:13). This is where God’s work begins in souls; just as the plow prepares the ground for the seed, it is the breakdown of the sinner which prepares the heart and the conscience to receive the gospel. The same hand that holds the plow also sows the precious seed which produces new life with its golden harvest. The plow and the seed basket are not one and the same thing. They are to be rightly distinguished, but not separated. To use one without the other would be fatal; there would be no harvest.

As is God’s order in nature, so, we believe, is also His order in spiritual things. Repentance comes first; in order that the work be solid and abiding, and that souls be not deceived or led into too free a way of confessing Christ, the conscience must be plowed. We have often heard the expression, "I believe in the Lord," and with yet no apparent conscience about sin. Of this danger we would be warned, and seek also to warn others. We would warn everyone who preaches the Word, as well as Sunday school teachers and parents:Look for exercise of heart and conscience in every case of professed conversion, because it is written, "God . . . commandeth all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30).

Repentance, let us repeat, is the work of the Holy Spirit in sinners. It may be deeper with some than with others; it will grow deeper in all as they go on with God. But let us not accept a profession of salvation as genuine apart from manifest repentance.

But what is repentance? We have already quoted from the words of the Lord Himself that it is sinners who are called to it; hence it is a work of the Spirit of God with sinners. It is the breakdown of the responsible man before God, and the confession of what he is, as very strikingly illustrated in the case of the publican in the temple (Luke 18:13). When man is brought into God’s presence by the Spirit of God, and gets a right view of himself and his sins, there will be conviction, and confession too_the soul gives in and is conquered. This is repentance; and now is seen the great struggle with the enemy of souls who ever seeks to hinder men from it. It is the time when the preacher needs to be especially alive, needs to be of a specially prayerful spirit. When the cry is heard, "I have sinned," the answer is readily given, "Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom" (Job 33:24). New birth now introduces the soul into a new relationship with God; the man is no more a sinner, but a child of God; forgiveness of sins and salvation are his. God, who is sovereign in all His works, may use various means to produce this_to reach the conscience and heart of man_but whatever means He uses, all can be said to be His goodness, for it is "the goodness of God that leadeth thee to repentance." It may be an earnest warning of the judgment to come, an appeal as from God’s love, the holding up of the cross and the work wrought there by the Son of God, the second coming of the Lord, or any other part of the truth, to subdue man’s spirit. Whatever it may be, the Spirit uses it as He wills, but all to get at the heart and conscience of man, and lead him to repentance.

The soul is thus made ready for the good seed of the gospel; and when this gospel message is received by faith into the heart, life_new life_and salvation follow. Hence the Scripture order is repentance first, and remission of sins second (Luke 24:47); repentance and conversion (Acts 3:19); repentance unto life (Acts 11:18); repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21); and repentance to salvation (2 Cor. 7:10). Repentance is a divine work, and must not be confounded with divine life. Repentance is connected with the conviction of sin, divine life with new birth. One is the closing up of the old life and history; the other, the beginning of the new.

Oh that we were everywhere alive to the necessity of such work as this! A servant of Christ remarked some time ago, after this truth of repentance had been preached, "I see my mistake. I have preached the gospel, but it has been like sowing seed upon the unbroken soil of the prairie. I have not been using the plow, and there has been no breaking up_ hence no fruit." Let these words carry weight. Let us, in all our service, be definite and more decided in our appeals to men. Let us yearn over sinners, plead with them, and warn them. Let the compassion of Christ fill our hearts. Let His tears run from our eyes, His love constrain us, and remember in this earnest work that preaching is not teaching, nor mere expositions of Scripture, but, with the Scriptures in hand, a heart-to-heart contact with men. When souls are broken down it is an easy matter to unfold the gospel; the heart is ready then, the soil is prepared, and the precious seed of the gospel has but to be sown to produce readily new birth and new life.

Do we really believe in hell? No doubt we hold proper Biblical doctrines concerning hell. But do we really believe hell is terrible, hell is eternal, and thousands of people around us are doomed to spend eternity there? Have we ever had an insight into what it will be like to spend eternity in the blackness of darkness, completely separated from God and from all light and all love?

It is rather ironic that the sects which claim that there is no hell (for example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons, and the Seventh-Day Adventists) are extremely active in evangelism, while many people who hold all the right doctrines seem content to let men go on to hell, since they make little or no effort to change the course of the unconverted.

We must have compassion on the lost. Where are the "weeping prophets" or "weeping preachers" for whom the thought of men and women in hell is so terrible that they will cry to God for the souls of the lost? We must rid ourselves of complacency. We must overcome inertia, fear, self-indulgence, or whatever is holding us back from telling to all we can their frightful danger.

We must pray. We must wrestle in prayer, for we are in conflict with a determined and desperate enemy. Satan knows his time is running out as well as time for lost men. He is using every possible weapon to ensnare men’s minds. Whereas in so-called Christian societies he may previously have worked mainly as an "angel of light," he is revealing his true nature_the power of darkness_in the present day. Men and women are yielding to his temptations as never before. We must ask the Lord to prevent Satan’s influence over those to whom we bring the gospel, for He it was who triumphed over the powers of darkness at the cross (Col. 2:15).

If we really believe in hell, let us act as if we believed. Proper doctrine without love, compassion, and action is a cold, useless thing, as offensive to God as to the world.

(Reprinted from Words of Truth, Vol. 16)

Fierce and frequent are the conflicts
Of Thy warriors, O our God;
But how sweet to know that Jesus
Every step the way hath trod.
Jesus, Captain of salvation,
Thou our battlefield has tried;
Fear we not the foes of darkness,
Thou our armor hast supplied.

Thou art with us, Thou art for us,
Thou hast ‘gainst the tempter stood.
Thou our feebleness canst pity,
Yea, and help, when none else could.
Many a silent conflict wages
Fierce and oft within the breast
Of some silent saint who seemeth
Most of all to be at rest.

From the depth of every trial,
May our hearts still rest in Thee.
Peace amid the fiercest fighting,
Calm upon the roughest sea.
In the heat of hardest battle,
Look to Thee for victory.
Find the weapons of our warfare,
Saviour, all supplied in Thee.

"It came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren, and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall" (Neh.4:l-3).

What does Nehemiah say in response to this? At once he turns to the Lord:"Hear, O our God, for we are despised" (verse’4). So it was also in the early days of the Church of God. The apostles were beaten and threatened, but what did they do? They spread it out before the Lord, and the Lord answered. He answered with His own power. The Spirit shook the building where they were, and with great power He gave them to witness for Him (Acts 4:23-31).

Yes, but here in Nehemiah’s day was a day of weakness, and what I would impress upon your mind and my own is that we are no longer in the day when the Spirit shakes the building. We are no longer in the day of power and glory. We are no longer in the day when signs and wonders are wrought. But are we, therefore, without God? What do we value most? the powers and wonders God works, or God Himself? This is the great question. Have we confidence in the presence of God with us, and do we value the presence of God above all the powers and miracles that ever were wrought?

It is a very simple question; so it was for Nehemiah. There was no such thing as the Red Sea opened for the people, no such thing as the Jordan crossed. There was no manna that fell down from heaven; but there was the evident word of God accomplished, and the way was open for them. There was an open door, an open door to that place where the Lord’s eyes were continually_the land of God for the people of God. They had lost it as a matter of outward power, but not for faith. For the men of faith clung to God, even when God could not outwardly own them before all the world. This made it a trial, no doubt, but faith would find the trial most profitable.

And I would further impress upon you that there is very often in thought, and sometimes in expression, a kind of complaint of the want of power. Now I distrust that. I never came out to power, and I should be sorry for anybody else to do it. But am I come out to the Lord? Am I come out because it is His will? because it is His word? Let us be ever so weak, there He would have us to be. There is nothing so sure as that; and, allow me to say, there is nothing that keeps us so true and so steady. Whereas, on the contrary, we may fall into the snare of clericalism if we are too much occupied with power.

Suppose a meeting, an assembly of God’s people, where, by the remarkable gift of one, or two, or three individuals, everything went on with apparent beauty_every prayer thoroughly according to the truth. Suppose, too, that everything that was done was done with intelligence. Yet if the action and presence of the Spirit of God were ignored, I should feel that this was the most miserable meeting possible. It would be hollow, and we ought not to be deceived by the two or three persons that hide the shame and weakness of the assembly.

The all-important thing, beloved brethren, is that God’s children should be gathered around His name, and that the Spirit of God should be left in freedom to act. Consequently, as sure as we are acting with truth, weakness will appear, neither will the state of the assembly be the same thing from week to week. And it is far more important that we should be in the truth than that there should be a manifestation of power. A manifestation of power might be only a veil thrown over the true state of the assembly, and only the improper and unspiritual activity of two or three men of gift that would falsify the true state of that assembly. I believe it is far better to have all the pains and penalties and sorrows of weakness than a state that is not true in the sight of God. Above all things, we ought to be in the truth of our condition. I am persuaded that anything is bad that would cause us to forget that, after all, we are only a remnant; and that the more we enjoy the truth, the more deeply are we called to feel the broken state of the Church of God.

Another thing, too. There is often the idea that if we could only get the most spiritual and the most intelligent of all Christians together, what a happy meeting it would be! Yes, but beloved friends, it would be all wrong, because that is not what we are called to. What warrants us to pick and choose among the people of God? Who gave us the title even to wish such a thing? I feel quite the contrary, and believe it to be of God. If indeed, my brethren, we have the mind of the Lord and desire the liberty of the Spirit of God, I believe we would rather look out for the lame and for the weak. We would try and get those who are in want, those who are feeble, those, who are in danger. The strong ones, or at any rate, those that think themselves strong, we must leave in the hands of the Lord. But surely the weak ones are those that the true, the real, the Good Shepherd cares for most; and we ought to feel like the Good Shepherd.

The theory of gathering together only the best and the most intelligent is, therefore, a false theory. It is utterly contrary to the true principle of grace and truth. No, beloved friends, the only right thing is this:we do not pretend, we do not look for, we do not expect that God will gather all His saints; but the moment we are in a position that we are not free and open to all the saints of God, we are false. It is not that I look for their coming, but the question is whether my heart is toward them all. If it is not toward them all, then I am sectarian.

(From Lecture on the Book of Nehemiah.)

"He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame; and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee; rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding. For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased. If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself; but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it" (Prov. 9:7-12).

Here we are warned against meddling with the scorner. To correct such is vain; they willingly put on you shame. Let them alone, said the Lord to the disciples (Matt. 15:14). You may only gain a blot in reproving a wicked person. They have a deeper need_to be born again. Where no life is, hatred is the result. There is no wisdom in reproving a scorner, any more than in giving that which is holy to the dogs or in casting your pearls before the swine. The upshot may be that they will trample the misdirected word under their feet, and turn and rend you.

Correction and reproof are for those who have an ear to hear, that they walk not inconsistently with their profession. Hence we are told here to "reprove a wise man, and he will love thee." A wise man may not always pursue the path of wisdom; he may need reproof. A fool is one who never hears, though always ready to find fault. A wise man listens and weighs; when he recognizes what is of God, he will love you.

Another thing that distinguishes wisdom is the appreciation of what is good and helpful. Egotism is necessarily unwise and evil, because man is sinful and God is unknown and untrusted. It is self-satisfied and refuses to learn, having no distrust of its own dark, selfish, and sinful state. On the other hand, "Impart to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase learning." It is not the great that are wise, nor does age of itself understand judgment. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17). Dependence on God is our only right attitude habitually, and this includes our hearing from one another that which approves itself to our conscience as His truth. It is well to remember that we are members of one another, and He despiseth not any, let him be ever so lowly. But He hateth the proud and will punish the scorner.

The secret of it all is plain. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding." Creature intelligence is of no value for the soul, for eternity, for relationship with God. It begins, and must begin, with fearing Him, the True and the Good, the Righteous and the Holy. There is repentance no less than faith, and therefore trembling at His Word; this is the direct opposite of judging God’s Word and trusting in self, justifying ourselves instead of God. Growth belongs to life in our present condition, and growth is by the right knowledge of God who has communicated it in His Word for this purpose. "The knowledge of the Holy" should read "the knowledge of the Holy Ones."

"For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased." The pious Jew addressed here looked for long life here below through divine favor. When divine principles have their just and unimpeded result, every word will be fulfilled, as when Christ reigns over all the earth. We Christians have a far different calling now and look for a higher glory. Nevertheless we can say and do believe that piety is profitable for everything, having promise of life, of the present one, and of that to come.

It remains true also that "if thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself; but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it." God remains in changeless majesty; but in His righteous judgment, each shall bear his own burden, and reap as he sows, from the flesh corruption, and from the Spirit life everlasting.

(From "The Proverbs".)

In the "present evil world" with covetousness being so prevalent, do we not as Christians need a continual self-examination that we do not fall into the world’s trap? What characterizes this generation seems to be "me," "my," and "mine" to such a degree. How many appear to be egocentric! In view of this condition I would like to refer to some scriptures to guide our thinking.

First of all, God owns all money. Haggai 2:8 says, "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of Hosts." Also, 1 Corinthians 4:7 says, "And what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" We really own nothing. So then, since all that we have is a gift from God and belongs to Him, should we not use care in handling what He has put into our hands as stewards of these material things?

Not only "money," but all was created by and for Christ. "For by Him were all things created … by Him and for Him" (Col. 1:16). We are not our own, but "are bought with a price" (1 Cor. 6:20). How could we then live selfishly and treat anything as though it belonged to us?

This brings to mind the question of giving "of our substance." Some have adopted the principle of tithing_of restricting what is given to the Lord to 10 percent. What about the other 90 percent? Is that not His also? Scripture teaches us that we are to fulfill our responsibilities in the support of our own (1 Tim. 5:8). We should do this as unto the Lord. We are to live modestly, without fleshly display, for we are in a wilderness and this is not our home. The Corinthians were reprimanded for living as kings. Surely the Lord gives varied abilities in accumulating money. It seems that some can be trusted with more than others.

The Lord knows the motives of our hearts. We may hoard riches with the excuse that we should do this for a "rainy day." Perhaps the Lord will send many rainy days to detach us from "things" and attach our hearts more to Him, Can it not be said, "It is not so much the amount God has been pleased to give us as it is what we do with what we have"? The widow in the temple is a good example. She had only two mites, all her living. Her heart was such that she gave them both. Later in 2 Corinthians 8 the apostle Paul commends the Macedonians, "How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality." So, again, it is a question of the heart.

The tendency to love money is such a subtle thing. We need to be exercised in the Lord’s presence that we be not self-deceived. Oh, it is so possible to be hypocritical in this. How often we can hear people say, "Well, if I had a million dollars I’d give a lot to the Lord." Would they? If we are not faithful in little, we will not be faithful in much.

The question arises as to whom this ministry of material goods should be given. In Romans 15:26 we read of the saints helping the poor saints in Jerusalem. In Acts 6 we are shown how the daily ministrations were handled as regards those in need. 1 John 3:17 (JND) says, "But whoso may have the world’s substance, and see his brother having need, and shut up his bowels from him, how abides the love of God in him?" And the Word tells us to do good to all, and especially to the household of faith. These are general exhortations and instructions which can be obeyed as an individual exercise or through the ministry of the assembly. Sometimes we may know of an individual need which is not the mind of the local assembly to supply. There is no reason that we cannot minister privately as the Lord lays it on our heart.

The supply of temporal ministry to those who go out in faith in a full time way needs to be given serious consideration. When there is one who announces that he feels that he is called to the Lord’s work in this way it is surely the responsibility of the assemblies to support such a one, with the following provisions:

1. If the gift claimed is teaching – are we edified by the ministry?

2. If a pastoral gift_are souls "shepherded"?

3. If the gift claimed is an evangelist_are souls saved through the ministry?

It is our responsibility before the Lord to support any whom we can discern as having a distinct gift from the Lord and living consistently. Conversely, we are not to support someone who obviously is going out on his own volition without an obvious gift. Surely, we should all encourage any who are seeking to serve the Lord. Perhaps in a future day the God-given gift will be developed and seen.

In Philippians 4:15 Paul responds to the Philippian assembly for the gift they gave him:"And know also ye, O Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I came out of Macedonia, no assembly communicated anything to me in the way of giving and receiving, save ye alone" (JND). First we see how the apostle’s heart was warmed by their giving from the beginning- Secondly, he says "ye alone." Are we to understand from this that other assemblies were derelict in their care for the Lord’s servant? When there are those who serve the Lord "full time" should not all the assemblies minister to them whether they are able or led of the Lord to visit them or not? If we would read the epistles of Paul on this subject I believe we would be guided into what is the mind of the Lord. It is so easy to rationalize when it comes to handling money, but simply human logic has no place in the Lord’s things.

As to ministry to others, I have been impressed with Paul’s discourse in 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 (JND). Especially impressive at this time are verses lOb and lla:"For this is profitable for you who began before, not only to do, but also to be willing, a year ago. But now also complete the doing of it.. . ."In other words, if the Lord has laid it upon your heart to minister to those who have gone out in faith, do it. Let us not handle the funds meant for the Lord’s servants in a haphazard way. It is the Lord’s money, and they are the Lord’s servants, with daily needs. I often think, "How would I appreciate it if my employer "forgot" to pay me for a month beyond "payday"? Brethren, this is a practical thing we need to consider. "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it" (Prov. 3:27).

May we ever remember that the use of the money entrusted to our care is a privilege the Lord has given to us. It seems to be indicated in Hebrews 13:15,16 that our worship of the Lord (the fruit of our lips) is also connected with the practical use of our goods as a service of praise. Let us then "Be not weary in well doing" (2 Thess. 3:13).

FRAGMENT The Jews were required to give a tenth of their income, but the believer in Christ is privileged to give more than a tenth. The measure of our giving is to be "as God hath prospered" (1 Cor. 16:2). It is not so much a question of how much we are to give to God, but how much of what He has given us dare we spend upon ourselves.

In the previous issue we considered in a rather general way the battle that Satan and his angels (or demons) wage against the believers in Christ, and the need for us to "put on the whole armor of God" in order to "be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Eph, 6:11). We noted that in Eph. 6:10-20 we have described in particular Satan’s attacks against the believer who is making a definite effort to learn more about his God and his Saviour, to know and to do His will, and to be of service to Him. This is spiritual warfare of the highest kind. It does not so much have to do with resisting temptations aimed at stirring sinful flesh into activity, but with defending against attacks designed to discourage us from pursuing our course of seeking to honor, obey, serve, and worship God.

The first piece of armor the Christian warrior is to put on is truth. "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth." Since Paul was writing to the Ephesians from a prison in Rome, where he was guarded by a Roman soldier, it may well be that the analogies he drew in Eph. 6 were to Roman armor. The girdle or belt of the Roman soldier’s armor was very important because almost everything else fastened to it. If the belt was not in place, then the other parts of the armor would not be in proper functioning order. In a similar way, truth_the revealed truth of God in the Holy Scriptures_is the foundation for all other pieces of the Christian’s armor. Typically, Satan’s first area of attack when we are first saved is in regard to the truth, particularly as concerns the person and work of Christ. The apostle John gives a word of warning to the little children, or spiritual babes, to beware of antichrists, that is, those who deny that Jesus is the Christ or that He is the Son of God (1 John 2:18-27). God desires that we come into the "knowledge of the Son of God" and "that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive" (Eph. 4:13,14). There are many false teachers around, who superficially cannot be distinguished from the true ones because they teach a mixture of truth and error. We must put on the girdle of truth, testing every new teaching that we encounter by the Word of God. We must be like those of Berea who "searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11).

"Having on the breastplate of righteousness." One of Satan’s chief devices to draw our attention away from Christ is to bring before our thoughts our own past sins_particularly those sins of the recent past and those we have committed since our conversion. He may taunt us:"Do you really think God is paying any attention to your attempts to worship Him (or know Him, or learn His will), considering how you lost your temper (or yielded to a bad habit, etc.) yesterday? How can you call yourself a saved person when you keep sinning so frequently?" And we often listen to his taunts, and start thinking about ourselves and our sinful lives, and perhaps start wondering whether God has really forgiven us all those many times we have sinned against Him. The armor we need to protect us against such attacks of Satan is "the breastplate of righteousness." This, I believe, refers first and foremost to the practical application of the truth of our justification. "To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom. 4:5; also 3:21-28; 4:1-8). If we are true believers in Christ’s atoning work on the cross, and thus have been justified by faith, then we should always abide in the confidence of this wonderful fact. So when Satan attacks us with respect to our recent sins, we can confidently face him "having on the breastplate of righteousness," assured that we have been justified and that all our sins_past, present, and future_ have been atoned for by the shedding of Christ’s blood. A further aspect of the breastplate of righteousness has to do with our practical righteousness, or refraining from sin in our daily lives. The more we succeed in this regard, the less ammunition Satan will have with which to attack us.

"Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." On that most famous night in Israel’s history, when the destroying angel passed throughout Egypt slaying the firstborn of each household, the Israelites were instructed to eat the passover "with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand" (Exod. 12:11). They were to be ready to escape from Egypt at a moment’s notice. Similarly, spiritual shoes are a necessary part of the Christian’s armor in "standing against the wiles of the devil." The shoes depict the believer’s preparedness or readiness with the gospel of peace. In Romans 10:15 we find a strikingly similar expression:"How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace." The beauty of the feet of the gospel preacher_seemingly surpassing the beauty of his mouth_lies in the willingness of the preacher to go to out of the way places, wherever the Lord sends him, to proclaim the gospel of peace. Note in the Book of Acts how frequently the Lord sent His servants such as Philip, Peter, and Paul to distant places to proclaim the gospel_sometimes to an audience of only one or two people (Acts 8:26-39; 10:1-48; 16:9-34; etc.). We all should "do the work of an evangelist" (2 Tim. 4:5), even if not gifted as an evangelist. And we are enjoined to "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you" (1 Pet. 3:15). Satan, on the other hand, is always ready to whisper into our minds a thousand excuses for not sharing the gospel with others:"too busy," "too tired," "too much effort," "have a headache," "not the appropriate time," "won’t respond anyway," "might give me a dirty look," "might not be my friend any more," etc., etc. If our feet are shod with the preparedness of the gospel of peace, we will not allow Satan’s excuses to hinder us from going where God sends us and speaking to those to whom He directs us.

I would suggest that the gospel of peace is not necessarily limited to the good news of how to be saved. Being peacemakers, living peaceably with others, manifesting a peaceful spirit before all, are of great value in today’s world of upset and turmoil. "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matt. 5:9). "Follow peace with all men" (Heb. 12:14). "Keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3). This includes also the ministry of restoration to the Lord. "If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother" (Matt. 18:15). "If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness" (Gal. 6:1). "He which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins" (James 5:20). This is often difficult and trying work, and Satan will seek to dissuade us from such work as much as from evangelistic work. So how necessary it is to be always in readiness for such service, prepared to go where we are sent, prepared to ignore Satan’s excuses, having our "feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." (To be continued.)

(All scripture quotations in this article are from the New American Standard Bible.)

"And the angel of the Lord appeared to [Moses] in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, ‘I must turn aside now, and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.’ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then He said, ‘Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground’ " (Exod. 3:2-5).

My purpose in writing is to review from several perspectives this scene and draw from it a few principles that may refresh us as we consider them. I will discuss applications first to Israel, then to the Lord Jesus, and finally to ourselves.

In the burning bush God revealed to Moses His plan of salvation for captive Israel. It is remarkable to me that God conversed with Moses for some length of time (Exod. 3:4-4:17). This was God’s grace as He revealed to Moses His desires and allowed Moses to question and learn. This was the first revelation of God to Moses who was about 80 years old.

There is a distinct contrast between the fire and the bush. The fire owned an energy of its own as it did not consume the bush on which it rested. I see the glory of God in this, for His glory likewise has an energy of its own. However, we know that this was only a glimpse of God’s glory. Israel would await a fuller revelation of His glory in Christ, "the radiance of His glory" (Heb. 1:3). We too await His coming to see His fullest glory.

In contrast, the bush sprang from the ground, and had its nourishment from it. The lowly bush, a thorn bush, which otherwise was insignificant, was chosen by God as an object upon which to rest His glory. Of what value was the bramble bush but to ensnare Moses’ sheep? I am sure he despised thorn bushes and had rescued many a sheep from entanglement in them. The thorn bush is connected with the curse:"Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you" (Gen. 3:18).

Israel, too, had been captive and ensnared, yet God had promised to preserve them for the sake of the seed that was promised to Abraham until the Messiah came (Gen. 3:15; 17:1-8). This was His unconditional purpose for Israel’s salvation. "And thus all Israel will be saved, just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion. He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins’ " (Rom. 11:26,27). Therefore, whatever obstacle or enemy that was committed to their enslavement or extermination could not prevail. In addition, as the bush was not consumed, so Israel was not consumed in spite of their sinfulness. God in His holiness and righteousness could well have fallen upon them in judgment, but in His grace He looked forward to their being redeemed by the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus. What a wonderful type of the glory of God resting upon the feeble nation of Israel!

The burning bush is also a unique picture of Christ, who was_and is_perfect deity and perfect humanity. However, we must view the bush differently than we have in connection with Israel. Let me begin by explaining an important point as to the humanity of Christ. Humanity exists in three forms:innocent, as Adam and Eve were in the garden; fallen, as the corrupted nature of self-will is expressed; and holy, as the nature of God in the person of Christ is revealed. We could describe the human nature of Christ as like ours but sin apart. "In Him there is no sin" (1 John 3:5). In speaking of the Lord’s nature we can only think of it as incorruptible. Some have thought that the Lord, while here, could have been tempted and sinned. Hebrews 4:15 states specifically that He had been "tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." His humanity was indeed holy. He was announced as the "holy offspring" (Luke 1:35). For myself it would seem a most miserable situation to be saved and inherit a nature from God that was corruptible. I would be no better off. However, this is not the case, and we can trust that what is of God in us is pure, powerful, and unyielding to sin.

Returning now to the discussion of the picture of Christ, consider how God used the components of natural and supernatural to reveal His salvation. Just as Moses’ attention was attracted by the sight, people living in Jesus’ day were often in awe of the Lord. "Never did a man speak the way this man speaks" (John 7:46). From this, many were persuaded further to know who Jesus was and His purpose in incarnation.

The Lord did not draw His nourishment from the ground, as a bush, but drew His strength from above. "I have food to eat that you do not know about" (John 4:32). And in John 17:14 the Lord states, "I am not of the world." Although the Lord took part in the world here, He did not take part of the world’s corrupt nature. "In Him there is no sin."

In the most solemn of types we have the burning bush showing the Lord’s suffering on the cross where the wrath of God was poured out against sin (1 Pet. 2:24). The Lamb of God, as a perfect sacrifice, was not consumed, but made propitiation for sin once for all (Heb. 10).

In application to ourselves (I speak to the saved), we have Moses to consider. Repeatedly as the Lord spoke to Moses his weakness was exposed. Finally the anger of the Lord burned against him (Exod. 4:14). Moses was yet to realize that although he was a weak vessel, the power of God would be able to help him lead Israel out of Egyptian hands. God does not delight in our self-abasement or false humility. This is easy for us to fall into as opportunity for service to God is met with excuses like those Moses gave. But God has met our thorn bush condition, and given us power by virtue of new birth to be of service to Him. When we realize His power is resting on our weak and fallible nature we can and will be victorious! This is our source of power for overcoming trials and having victory over sin in our lives. "For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline" (2 Tim. 1:7). "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves" (2 Cor. 4:7).

How do you feel about being in God’s presence? Moses was afraid to look at God (Exod. 3:6). But we can behold "as in a mirror the glory of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18). God forbid that this privilege should be taken lightly. May our response to this truth be a practical holiness that respects one’s Christian position. "You shall be holy, for I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:16).

And now a word to the unsaved before I conclude. The testimony of God reaching out to man is as old as man’s fall in the Garden of Eden. God was reaching out to communicate to Moses; and Christ came from glory to reach out to us. The Lord Jesus is truly a marvelous sight to behold. Do not let this opportunity pass by, but allow God to take your thorn bush life and make it a marvelous thing to behold.

FRAGMENT
We are in a world of criticism When one is injured or misjudged he can do one of four things:(1) Flare up and answer back; (2) be too refined to do this, but harbor and hold it; (3) be so Christlike as to forgive it; or (4) not only forgive, but forget! It takes a magnanimous person to be able to say, "I am too busy minding God and winning souls to remember an insult."

FRAGMENT
A little seed lay on the ground and soon began to sprout.
"Now which of all the flowers around," it mused, "shall I
come out?
The lily’s face is fair and proud, but just a trifle cold;
The rose, I think, is rather loud, and then, its fashion’s
old;
The violet does very well, but not a flower I’d choose;
Nor yet the Canterbury bell_I never cared for blues."
And so it criticized each flower, this supercilious seed,
Until it woke one summer morn and found itself_a weed.

Ere God had built the mountains,
Or raised the fruitful hills;
Before He filled the fountains
That feed the running rills;
In Thee, from everlasting,
The wonderful I AM
Found pleasures never wasting,
And Wisdom is Thy name.

When like a tent to dwell in,
He spread the skies abroad,
And swathed about the swelling
Of ocean’s mighty flood,
He wrought by weight and measure;
And Thou wast with Him then_
Thyself the Father’s pleasure,
And Thine the sons of men.

And couldst Thou be delighted
With creatures such as we,
Who, when we saw Thee, slighted
And nailed Thee to a tree?
Unfathomable wonder!
And mystery divine!
The voice that speaks in thunder
Says, "Sinner, I am thine!"

"Overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12:21).

In the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 we have seven promises to the "overcomer"; and at the close of the book, after describing the eternal state, again the promise is given, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things" (21:7). We are in a race which only ends when we take our seats on high; we are in a warfare, a "good fight," which ceases when we leave this scene. Blessed it is to know that we "run, not as uncertainly," that the end is sure, though there be conflict on the way. We follow a Victor, one who has conquered for us, and this nerves us for the conflict, gives patience in all toil. Still, it is well to remember that there is a conflict, a race, and that grace, while making the end sure, has not obliterated the wilderness.

We can look at this overcoming, however, not as the final outcome of our life, but also as that which should characterize each day of that life. Taken as a whole, the life of each believer is a victory (in some in a very small degree); but taken in detail the lives of many show more defeat than victory, and in every life there are some defeats. It is rather at the details than at the final outcome we would look now, remembering, however, that details make up the total, and that "saved as by fire," and, "an abundant entrance" are in contrast.

The conflict is with the evil one and his emissaries. His devices are manifold, suited to those whom he assaults; and hidden that he may better ensnare. We meet evil in ourselves, our brethren, the unsaved, and in the world as a whole. The question is, "How are we to overcome it?"

We do not fight evil for the sake of fighting. "Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul" (1 Pet. 2:11). It is when evil has usurped some of our possession as believers that we are to thrust it out. With Edom Israel would have no conflict, for God would judge it in His time; but with the inhabitants of the land of Canaan the case was different. They were occupying what belonged to Israel, and therefore must be expelled. So it is with us. With the flesh, the sinful nature as such, we are to have no conflict, knowing that sentence has been passed upon it on the cross, and that in a little while it will be obliterated when "this mortal shall put on immortality." But when this flesh, used of Satan, would intrude into our spiritual life, occupy our time, demand our attention, interfere with communion and service, and dim our conception of the portion that is ours in Christ, then we must overcome the intruder and cast him out. Otherwise, like Israel, the good land will soon be out of our hands and we will be driven to dwell in caves, figuratively speaking.

Conflict, then, there must be, and that until the foe is completely conquered. But how are we to fight? Our text tells us how. "Overcome evil with good." Israel was to occupy the land they conquered. Mere victory over the foe was but a negative advantage, preliminary to that practical appropriation of the land to their own use which God had designed. So important was this that God made the elimination of the enemy to be as gradual as their power to occupy the land. "And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little; thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee" (Deut. 7:22). The empty house of Matthew 12 is a solemn explanation of this. We sometimes see persons (even Christian persons) who have given up "worldly" activities such as drinking, smoking, dancing, and the movies, whose lives, instead of being filled with good, are filled with self-centeredness, criticism, and gossip. The giving up of the "worldly" activities has not resulted in a real improvement in their lives or Christian testimonies; Our life is a positive thing; it must not only be not evil but actually good.

And this is what our verse teaches us. Good will overcome evil. To him that hath shall be given. If our possessions are well cultivated and fully occupied, we will encroach on and drive out the next evil, in order that we may gain more of our inheritance. It is the good that we want, and we are to be occupied with evil only to see how it hinders us, to judge it, and in the energy of faith overcome it by good. How does the farmer rid his field of weeds? Not by plowing and leaving the ground bare, for new weeds would soon sprout and grow. He plants the field in wheat or grass, fertilizing it well. The wheat or grass grow thickly enough to give no room for weeds to grow. Let us learn from this in our private lives and in our relationships to others. We know evil is there. We do not shut our eyes to it, but we know it can be truly overcome in only one way_by the substitution of something better. There will be sorrow over sin and folly, firm judgment of evil and straightforward obedience, but these in themselves are powerless to overcome evil. They but prepare the way for the good.

It is important to remember this principle in our relationships in the family, the assembly, and even in the world. In the home, love and encouragement of spouses and children is as much or more needed for the promotion of good behavior as is criticism. How many an assembly of God’s people is kept feeble by a constant spirit of criticism. The good we see is forgotten and neglected. Love is the only power by which evil can be overcome. "Worldliness" will disappear when the person’s affections, time, and attention are so taken up with Christ and His service that he or she has no time or attention left to squander on empty pleasures, fashions, and attitudes.

But what is the good which overcomes evil? The answer is Christ in grace, known and loved. This embraces everything that concerns Him_His Word, work, Person, and Church. It is the occupation with Him who is perfect goodness that is the secret of power and joy. May He whose perfect goodness, patience, and love are dealing with all our waywardness teach us the full meaning of "Overcome evil with good."

(From Help and Food, Vol. 11.)

FRAGMENT It is said that Abraham Lincoln tried to pluck the briar and plant a rose wherever he thought a rose would grow. Commenting on this statement, someone observed, "And how few places there are where a rose will not grow!"

FRAGMENT This is my resolve:First, to attain the grace of SILENCE; second, to deem all fault-finding that does no good a SIN; third, to practice the virtue of PRAISE.

In 1 Chronicles 12:23-40 we read of the men of war of the various tribes of Israel coming to Hebron to acknowledge David as their king after the death of Saul. David is well known to us as a type of Christ, and the characteristics of his soldiers mentioned in these verses provide lessons for us who are to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

The men of Judah "bore shield and spear." The shield is an instrument of defense. Our shield is the shield of faith with which we can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Faith must be firmly built on God’s Word. The spear is a weapon of offense. Our weapon of offense is "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." We see the importance of God’s Word in both our defense and offense toward our enemy. The men of Judah were "ready armed" or "prepared" to the war. How important is Bible study_always having our weapons ready_-in being a good soldier of Jesus Christ!

The men of Simeon were mighty men of valor or courage. Weapons are only part of the full equipment of a soldier. He must have the courage to advance upon the enemy and use the weapons. Courage (or "virtue" which had the same meaning at the time of King James) is urged upon God’s people in 2 Pet. 1:3,5. It is not enough to read and understand God’s Word. We must have the courage to practice it in the midst of a society which considers Biblical standards ridiculous, and to speak out uncompromisingly for God’s truth in a society that does not believe in absolutes of doctrine or behavior.

The tribe of Levi reminds us of the priestly character of all believers. Priests and Levites were often in the forefront of battle formations in the Old Testament (Josh. 6:12, 13; 2 Chron. 20:20-22). Prayer is mentioned in connection with the Christian’s armor (Eph. 6:18) and is a way of spreading God’s influence and limiting Satan’s (Eph. 6:19; 2 Thess. 3:1,2). Praise, another priestly or Levitical function, always abounded in Israel whenever a victory was won (Exod. 15:1-21; Judges 5, for example). We should rejoice whenever a victory over the enemy is won, whenever a soul is saved, or whenever a backslider is restored, for example. We can worship Christ, the Captain of our salvation, at all times, for He has led captive a host of captives (Eph. 4:8) and has disarmed rulers and authorities and triumphed over them through the cross (Col. 2:15).

The men of Benjamin were a triumph of grace. Because of natural ties they had formerly been allied with Saul and his house, but now they pledged their loyalties to David. All of us were by nature servants of sin and Satan before God’s grace and the power of His Holy Spirit turned us to Christ. Let us make sure we are His servants in deed as well as in name.

The tribe of Ephraim sent a large group, all of them "famous throughout the house of their fathers." Fame, whether because of wealth, talent, or position, will often make us proud, and pride will make us disruptive. The pride of Ephraim had threatened or caused disruption on at least two occasions in the years of the judges (Judg. 8:1-3; 12:1-6). On the occasion of David’s coronation they seemed willing to subordinate their fame and pride to David’s rule for the good of the kingdom as a whole rather than to use it for their own self-glory. Some of us may have talent, wealth, or intelligence; but any of these things is a gift of God and is to be used for His glory and the benefit of the body of Christ. Whatever our status, we are to have the mind of Christ who "made Himself of no reputation" in order to minister to us.

If we all had the mind of Christ we would be of one mind and disruptions among us would cease. How much more effective we would be as soldiers of Christ if there were no disruptions among us.

The men of Manasseh were expressed by name. Although we are called to be of one mind, we remain individuals. We are members of one body, but members in particular. Our God loves individuality. We see this expressed in His creation. No two snowflakes are exactly alike, no two zebras have exactly the same pattern of stripes, no two human beings have exactly the same fingerprints. In Revelation 2:17 we read, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." Evidently each person’s "stone" will be different; each person will be recognized as an individual throughout eternity. Each Christian’s name is written in the Lamb’s book of life. Each one is individually responsible to God:there can be no "hiding in the crowd" with Him.

Only two hundred men of Issachar came to this gathering, but what men they were! They had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do. Besides having personal wisdom they were true delegates of their brethren. These relatively few wise men may have been more valuable than all the armed men of David, for in Ecclesiastes 9:18 we read, "Wisdom is better than weapons of war." We are commanded not to be "unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is" (Eph. 5:17). The word of wisdom is a gift of the Spirit. Would that more of us had it. More of us could have wisdom if we realized our need of it and asked God to give it to us (James 1:5).

Zebulun’s soldiers were experts in all the strategies and instruments of war and in addition they could "keep rank" (or "set the battle in array") and were not "of double heart." Paul commended the Colossians for their "order" (or "orderly array") and "steadfastness" (or "solid front") (Col. 2:5). The Greek word used in Colossians 2:5 for "steadfastness" is a military term referring to the Greek phalanx. The Greek phalanx was a body of heavily armed infantry which stood in ranks with overlapping shields. They moved as a unit and always kept a row of these overlapping shields facing the enemy. In Ephesians the shield of faith is to be used to quench the fiery darts of the wicked. In the phalanx formation referred to in Colossians 2:5 each person’s shield would protect not only himself but also his neighbor. Unity among Christians defeats the purposes of the enemy. Satan and his allies try to cause divisions among God’s people, knowing this injures the testimony of the Church as a whole and isolates individuals who are then more susceptible to personal attacks. How well our enemies have succeeded over the centuries! When we argue with and criticize one another we are doing Satan’s work for him. How much better to stand against him in orderly array. Sometimes Christians feel that words like "keeping rank" and "maintaining order" imply stuffiness and conformity and blind adherence to tradition; however, God has designed the unity of the body for the protection of its members. We have seen from the thoughts on Manasseh that Christians do not give up their individuality because they are united in the body of Christ. The balance to this is that we are to help one another and to work together to resist the enemy because a united effort is more effective than a multitude of isolated individual efforts. In a practical way, the phalanx idea is carried out as we are concerned for one another, pray for one another, and minister God’s Word to one another (Eph. 6:18,19) in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Another description of the men of Zebulun was that’ ‘they were not of double heart." This reminds us of James’s remarks about the double minded man who is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8) and needs to purify his heart from love of the world (James 4:4-8). The good soldier of Jesus Christ does not entangle himself in the affairs of this world so as to please Christ. No one can love the world and love God. No man can serve two masters. We must be single-mindedly devoted to Christ to serve well as His soldiers.

The captains or leaders of Naphtali are given special mention. Some groups of Christians make too much of their leaders; some do not make enough. Rulers and governments are included in the lists of spiritual gifts in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. Let us hearken to the counsel and direction of those gifted to lead.

The list in 1 Chronicles 12 concludes with the tribes of Dan and Asher and those from the east of Jordan. No one was left out. All Christians are called to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Let us each ask ourselves honestly whether we have responded to that call.

(This article was adapted from "Making David King" in Help and Food, Vol. 10.)

FRAGMENT "Lest. . . the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt" (Exod. 13:17). Some people falter the moment they learn there is opposition. They have been taught that the Christian life is only comfort and prosperity. Love, joy, and peace are indeed the fruit of the Spirit, but the same Spirit has told us we struggle against wicked spirits in high places (Eph. 6:12), and we should endure hardships as good soldiers of Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 2:3).

The differences between law and responsibility are immense, and it is important to understand them. Law comes to man and says, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself" (Luke 10:27). It says, "Do this and live, but if you fail in any measure, your doom is certain." Such is law, both in character and purpose. It is inexorable. It cannot bend; it cannot forgive; it demands of man what is right, but it gives him no power to do the right; it forbids and condemns the wrong, but cannot change the heart of man who naturally loves evil and hates restraint. Like a dam across the river forbidding the waters to flow on, it stands as a bulwark against evil, only to find out that the flood breaks over the dam and still flows on. Law manifests the evil, but does not cure it.

Responsibility is what comes with the receiving of gifts from God. If, as Creator, He has bestowed upon man abilities, talents, a mind and a will, each and all of which make him a creature superior to all others, man is responsible for making use of all this in the way suited to the purpose God had in giving them. If as Redeemer He bestows new gifts upon man, those new gifts bring their own responsibilities.

When God came to Abraham and called him to leave his native land and kindred and go to a place which God would show him, it was because He had bestowed upon Abraham that which enables a man to confide in God as a little child confides in its father, trusting implicitly in the love that guides him. Faith had been imparted to Abraham. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." While dwelling in his own country the God of glory appeared to him and said, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I will show thee" (Acts 7:2,3).

Abraham was thus brought into a new relationship with God, and this relationship brought responsibility. The true God having made Himself known to Abraham, Abraham could no longer serve false gods. Having been bidden to leave his native land and go to another, he could no longer feel at home where he was, but had to go on as bidden. He may have been checked and hindered in this, as he in fact was, but his new responsibilities pressed upon him.

It was not till after his father’s death at Haran, partway to Canaan, that Abraham seemed free. From that moment, "they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came." They did not stop this time, but pressed on to the end. But all those days of Abraham’s dwelling in Haran, the responsibility of obeying God was upon him, and while he lingered there, we hear of no word of any appearance of God to him, or of any altar built by him. On the other hand, as soon as he came to a stopping place in Canaan, the Lord appeared to him and he built an altar. There is the obedience of faith on Abraham’s part, and grace and blessing on God’s part. The relationship between God and Abraham was of God’s pure grace; it involved responsibility on Abraham’s part to believe and obey.

This responsibility was a very different matter from the law which was given 430 years after. "Get thee out, and I will make of thee a great nation," is very different from, "Do this and you shall live," or "Cursed is everyone who disobeys." The principles are different, the purposes of both are different, and should not be confounded. One reveals God, the other reveals man and leaves God still in the thick darkness and amid the thundering and lightnings of Sinai.

Christians are not under law, but they have wondrous blessing and grace and privileges and promises. This brings corresponding responsibilities, and this, if we understand our weakness, as displayed in Abraham, casts us the more upon God for grace to meet those responsibilities. The more a child of God realizes his absolute dependence upon God, and what God has in Christ for His people, giving them whatever they need, the more will he glorify Him, and the more will such an one enjoy the grace of God. A sense of our responsibility as children of God will bring us to Him for strength and wisdom and all else we need. It will, of necessity, make us a prayerful people.

But law sets men to trying in their own strength to do what is right, to keep the commandments. Under grace a believer walks in newness of life, walks after the Spirit in love; and thus in him the righteousness of the law is fulfilled. Under law a soul is in bondage, trying to do what his fallen nature makes impossible. He is never at rest, always coming short. One’s own doings are ever before the mind of the earnest legalist, and such a mind is never at peace. What brings peace is the knowledge of the grace of God through the work of Christ on the cross, thus keeping Him ever before us as the Friend who loves us better than anyone else, and is never weary of us.

As the sense of our responsibility presses upon us, we find all we need in Him. It is not trying and fearing and hoping under law, but turning away from all else to Christ, finding in Him strength and wisdom and every need fully met.

(From Help and Food, Vol. 31.)

FRAGMENT The perfection of the Christian life is to lose sight of oneself completely and to make everything of Christ.

Wise

In one of our previous studies of God’s attributes we noted His omniscience or possession of all knowledge. Closely akin to God’s omniscience is His possession of all wisdom. Wisdom is correct judgment and the right use of knowledge. God’s wisdom is so far above that of all other beings that He is described thrice in Scripture as "the only wise God" (Rom. 16:27; 1 Tim. 1:17; Jude 25).

Perhaps the chiefest displays of God’s wisdom are found in His creation and in His plan of salvation, or the new creation. First, as to the creation of the universe:"O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made them all; the earth is full of Thy riches" (Psa. 104:24; also 1-23). "The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath He established the heavens" (Prov. 3:19). "He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by His discretion" (Jer. 10:12).

As to the plan of salvation, the apostle Paul sought to show in Romans 11 that neither Jews nor Gentiles have in any way deserved salvation. The nation of Israel had been God’s chosen people but they forfeited this special place because of wickedness and rebellion against God. The Gentiles as a whole had lived in idolatry, not having any desire for the one true God. So "God concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all" (verse 32). As the apostle contemplates God’s wonderful plan of salvation, manifesting God’s grace and mercy to Jew and Gentile alike, and designed to give all the glory to God, he breaks out with the well-known doxology:"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" (verse 33).

The wisdom of God the Son is also mentioned in Scripture. We read that as a boy of twelve, "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52). His wisdom is prophecied by Isaiah:"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots; and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord; and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth" (11:1-4). The wisdom of Christ is amply displayed in His responses to the Pharisees’ attempts to trip Him up (Matt. 22:17-45), following which "they marvelled," "they were astonished at His doctrine," and "no man was able to answer Him a word, neither dared any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions" (verses 22,33,46). In Proverbs 8:12,22-36 we find a sort of allegory in which wisdom appears to be synonymous with the eternal Son of God.

God delights to impart this wisdom to others. He gave wisdom to craftsmen of Israel for fashioning the tabernacle and the priests’ garments (Exod. 28:1-6; 31:1-6). He gave to Solomon "a wise and an understanding heart" (1 Kings 3:12) so that "all Israel . . . feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment" (verse 28). The Lord promised to give His disciples "a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist" (Luke 21:12-15); this was later borne out in Stephen when those who disputed with him "were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake" (Acts 6:9,10).

God does not automatically impart wisdom to all believers. He wants us to ask for it just as Solomon of old asked for it (1 Kings 3:5-13). Solomon, in turn, urged his children to "get wisdom," for "wisdom is the principal thing" (Prov. 4:5-7). Paul exhorted the Ephesians to be "as wise, redeeming the time" (Eph. 5:15,16). Also, he prayed that the Colossians "might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (Col. 1:9). And James exhorted, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God" (James 1:5). God imparts this wisdom through "the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise" (2 Tim. 3:15; see also Col. 3:16).

Let us now consider some of the features of this wisdom, and the characteristics of those who are wise.

Several scriptures tell us that it is wise to prepare for the future. It was "a wise man which built his house upon a rock" (Matt. 7:24), and the five wise virgins who "took oil in . . . their lamps" (Matt. 25:1-4). The wise steward prepared for being discharged from his job (Luke 16:1-8). A wise son gathers in the summer (Prov. 10:5). And the sluggard (or lazy person) is admonished to consider the ways of the ant and be wise (Prov. 6:6-8).

The Book of Proverbs, written by Solomon unto whom the Lord had imparted so much wisdom, gives us many features of wisdom, including that most basic element, "the fear of the Lord," which "is the beginning of wisdom" (9:10).

"A wise son heareth his father’s instruction" (13:1). If, however, the son is foolish and does not obey, yet there is hope for him for "the rod and reproof give wisdom" (29:15).

A wise man is one who "refraineth his lips" and "holdeth his peace" (10:19; 17:28; 29:11; see also James 3).

A wise man will hearken unto counsel, "receive commandments," "lay up knowledge," and will even love one who rebukes him (12:15; 10:8,14; 9:8,9).

A wise man is one who wins souls, pacifies the wrath of a king, and is strong (11:30; 16:14; 24:5).

Finally, James, in the New Testament, describes the wise man:"Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but. . . the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy" (3:13-17).

May we, then, be "followers of God" (Eph. 5:1) by seeking this "wisdom that is from above," imparted to us by "the only wise God our Saviour" (Jude 25). And let us give "honor and glory for ever and ever" to "the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God" (1 Tim. 1:17).

"For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God" (Gal. 2:19). This is a weighty word, and much needed just now. The spiritual apprehension of the truth here will preserve the soul from two errors which are very rife in the professing church, namely, legality on the one hand, and licentiousness on the other. Were we to compare these two evils_were we compelled to choose between them_we should, undoubtedly, prefer the former. We should much rather see a man under the authority of the law of Moses than one living in lawlessness and self-indulgence. Of course, we know that neither is right, and that Christianity gives us something quite different; but we have much more respect for a man who, seeing nothing beyond Moses, and regarding the law of Moses as the only divine standard by which his conduct is to be regulated, bows down, in a spirit of reverence to its authority_than for one who seeks to get rid of that law only that he may please himself. Thank God, the truth of the gospel gives us the divine remedy for both cases. But how? Does it teach us that the law is dead? No! What then? It teaches that the believer is dead. "I through the law am dead to the law." And to what end? That I may please myself? That I may seek my own profit and pleasure? By no means; but "that I may live to God."

Here lies the grand and all-important truth_a truth lying at the very base of the entire Christian system, and without which we can have no just sense of what Christianity is at all. So also, in Romans 7:4 we read, "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law [not the law is dead] by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, [not to yourselves, but] even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." And again, "But now we are clear from the law, having died in that in which we were held, so that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in oldness of letter" (verse 6 JND). Mark, it is that we may serve, not that we may please ourselves. We have been delivered from the intolerable yoke of Moses, that we may wear the easy yoke of Christ, and not that we may give a loose run to nature.

There is something perfectly shocking to a serious mind in the thought of men appealing to certain principles of the gospel, in order to establish a plea for the indulgence of the flesh. They want to fling aside the authority of Moses, not that they may enjoy the authority of Christ, but merely to indulge self. But it is vain. It cannot be done with any shadow of truth, for it is never said in Scripture that the law is dead or abrogated; but it is said, and urged repeatedly, that the believer is dead to the law, and dead to sin, in order that he may taste the sweetness of living unto God, of having his fruit unto holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

We earnestly commend this weighty subject to the attention of the reader. He will find it fully unfolded in Romans 4 and 5, and Galatians 3 and 4. A right understanding of it will solve a thousand difficulties, and answer a thousand questions; and not only so, but will also deliver the soul from a vast mass of error and confusion. May God give His own Word power over the heart and conscience!

(From Short Papers, Vol. 1.)

"He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination" (Prov. 28:9).

The moment we enter upon the enjoyment of any blessing,
Satan will seek to rob us of it.
We never enter upon any service rightly unless we expect
to encounter the opposition of Satan.
There is nothing like boldness in the face of the adversary:
"Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
It is easier to keep the enemy out than it is to expel him
after he has effected an entrance.
There is not a single operation of the Spirit of God, nor a
single form of His working, that Satan does not imitate.

"How wonderful is the grace that can take up men and women, mould and shape them, put Christ into them and bring Christ out in them, and then make them the exhibitors of that blessed Man whom the world would not have. It makes Christianity a very serious thing".

This full, rich paragraph at once brings to mind Galatians 2:20:"I am crucified with Christ:nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me."

This is true Christianity:Christ displayed in this world through those who were once His enemies but are now the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

But by what means does Christ live in us? And why do we not see more of Him among the Lord’s people? Let us now seek the answers to these questions, for Christianity is a very serious thing indeed.

The above verse tells us, "I am crucified with Christ." And the previous verse (19) says, "I through the law am dead to the law." The "I" here is the old "I":what each of us was in our unsaved condition. We were rebellious sinners condemned by God’s holy law. But Christ was crucified and was condemned for sin. And now by His death we have died and are made free from the power of sin. So law no more condemns us because we have died in Christ. The old "I" is condemned and gone. Now our lives are unto God, because Christ lives in us. This is the righteousness that comes through grace. But if law produces it, then Christ’s death is empty and meaningless and grace is frustrated (verse 21). But, thank God, it is not so. Christ lives in us by faith through grace.

Thus is "the righteous requirement of the law" produced in us (Rom. 8:4 JND). It is grace that produces what law requires. Law could not produce its own requirement. Why? Because it addressed man in the flesh, man in his unsaved condition. And the flesh produces only sins, nothing else.

Romans 7:4-6 confirms this. There it says we "are dead to the law by the body of Christ." We are dead men as far as law is concerned; completely outside and above it. This means not only the law of Moses, but ANY PRINCIPLE OF LAW WHATSOEVER. For we are "married to Him." We cannot be under law and be married to Christ at the same time. It would be like having two husbands at one time, which is clearly an impossible situation (Rom. 7:1-3). That would mean two dominions or loyalties. But we are His and our loyalty should be unto Him and not unto law. It is what He desires so much from us. Thus we "bring forth fruit unto God." Verse 4 then shows us the work of the law. "When we were in the flesh, the motions [passions] of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death." In our former unsaved condition, the law provoked the flesh by its prohibitions, and sins_fruit unto death_was the result. Even now as Christians, the flesh in us is provoked to sin when the principle of law is applied. The flesh ALWAYS remains the same. It produces nothing but sins, even in a believer. And by the same token, the application of law always results in the rebellion of the flesh. So how thankful we should be that "we are delivered from the law." Again, it is deliverance from the principle of law, and it is "that we might serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter" (Rom. 7:6). Christ is that Spirit and the principle of law is the letter. "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit:for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. . . .Now the Lord is that Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:6,17).

It is grace that leads us to possess the ministry of Christ. This is the ministry of His glory which by far surpasses anything ever given to men. And it is glory in which we now share. "But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:18 JND). This means that we really possess Him in our hearts and our minds. The result is a progressive transformation in us which produces conformity to Christ in our thoughts and ways. This is how we are delivered from the world, the flesh, and the devil. This is how we find rich, meaningful lives, and it is the secret of present joy and satisfaction. It is how Christ lives in us. It is the ministry of grace.

Suppose we fail to sufficiently possess this ministry? Or what if we put other things first in our lives? It is then that we become occupied with ourselves in many ways. We may become occupied with "our work" for the Lord, which really centers things in ourselves. We would, perhaps, think of our "duties" to Him, thus becoming "mechanical" in our ways. This could result in our becoming hard and demanding toward others, and so we would fail in love, tenderness, and meekness. If these things become true of us, we descend to the level of law, and grace is turned aside. We have failed to show righteousness, for Christ is not seen in us. The flesh has taken control.

What is the effect of this upon others? Flesh begets flesh. We judge and get back judgment. We lose the confidence of those with whom we desire to work. And we prevent the very thing we want most, which is fruit for God. How? By introducing the principle of law, which stirs the passions of the flesh into sinful activity. And this is not to be wondered at, for we have not served in the spirit, but we have served in the letter. There is no righteousness produced, for we have shown none. And so there is no fruit for God and grace is frustrated. We have brought ourselves into the bondage of law. "But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another" (Gal. 5:15). What a terrible price must be paid under this bondage!

But "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Cor. 3:17). And "brethren, ye have been called unto liberty" (Gal. 5:13). Oh, what a blessed contrast to bondage! How precious it is to be free_free from sin, from law, and the world! It is Christ who has set us so completely free. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). If only every Christian knew of this liberty and freedom! Oh, let us cherish this; let us jealously guard our precious heritage. How dearly it has been bought for us. No, there is no law, written or unwritten, for the Christian today.

But God gives us a perfect balance to all of this. And precious and wonderful it is, too. "Use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another" (Gal. 5:13). Liberty is not a license for us to do as we please. This would be lawlessness and not liberty. And God condemns it, for this would provide for the flesh and not for that selfless service toward others which is the direction in which God’s love leads. This is true liberty, for it seeks the good of others. It leads us to teach, to exhort, to encourage, to "bear one another’s burdens," to warn, to admonish, and to help in whatever other way that is needed for the building up in Christ of God’s people.

Finally, and most important, this liberty leads us to the happy acknowledgment of the Lord’s gracious claims upon us. "If ye love Me, keep My commandments…. He that has My commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves Me. … If any one love Me, he will keep My word" (John 14:15, 21,23 JND). Is the Lord imposing law here? By no means. He knows, by His own experience, how to live for the glory of the Father. He knows the fulness of life in fellowship with the Father. In His commands to us, He tells us how to realize the same in our lives. It is by the principle of grace that He directs us. See how He appeals to our love for Him. It is an appeal of grace. "Do you love Me? Then follow Me," is what He asks of us. This is not law. But we must remember, "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). Are we occupied with Him in His love to us? Do we often think of where His love for us led Him, even unto the death of the cross? Do we think of how He suffered for us then? And do we ponder all the eternal blessings He has secured for us because He came out of that death in a glorious resurrection? Oh, how we should love Him! How ready we should be to obey Him! And how sensitive we should be to His will so that we would love to please Him even without command! It is clear from these verses that our love of the Lord is measured by our loyalty to Him. Do we refuse Him our loyalty? How can we withhold anything from Him who loves us without measure?

FRAGMENT Under the law they labored first and rested after (Exod. 20:8-11); but under grace we rest first by faith in Jesus, and then work. The law begins with commands and ends with blessings; but the blessings are fruit upon lofty branches which fallen man can never reach. The gospel of the grace of God, on the contrary, begins with promises; and promises give birth to precepts. The law demands justice; grace delights in mercy through satisfied justice.

"He hath chosen us in Him [that is, in Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will" (Eph. 1:4,5).

God’s choice of us was before the foundation of the world when God alone was. Man had no voice nor choice in the matter. It was purely God acting from Himself. It was a matter of God’s own choice that He would have others to be in heaven besides Himself. But if they were to be near Him and before Him, how could they be so with sin upon them? Impossible. How could God sanction souls, even in the most distant part of His dominion, with sin upon them? It was the positive necessity of His character and nature that if He chose to have any with Himself in heaven, they must be there "holy and without blame before Him."

But that is far from being all:it must be "in love," because nothing could be more miserable than that they should not be able to enter into His own affections. Merely to be in the most blessed place of creatures without taint, without anything that could sully the presence of God, would not be enough. He will give them a nature not only capable of being before Him without reproach and fear, but also answering to His own love. "We love Him, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

Here we have God’s choice of us personally. For it is not merely to have a people, as if it were some vague thing, a certain number of niches in heaven to be filled up with so many souls. There is no such notion in the Bible. It is persons He chooses. There cannot be such love without a person distinctly before it. God loves us individually. Hence He has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world, to show how entirely it is a choice independent of our character and ways.

"Holy and without blame before Him in love." This does not refer to what we have been. If we examine any person we may find grievous faults in him. Even as a Christian, he is very far indeed from being what is due to God. He is ashamed of himself, grieving over the little his heart responds to the favor God has shown him. Now, will God be satisfied with that which even a Christian finds fault with? In the saint now there is that which is very unsaintly indeed, unlike God and His beloved Son. But for all this, are they not saints? And He has chosen us in Christ that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. How can that be? The answer is because God looks at us here according to that which He gives us in Christ, and nothing less. All is based on that new nature which flows from His grace to the objects of His choice.

But even this is not all. Blessed as it is to answer to the holy character and nature of God, yet this is not enough. We might be there holy and without blame before Him in love, yet simply as servants. But such is the wonder of God’s grace, He has formed a positive relationship, and that relationship is nothing less than His redeemed ones being sons according to the pattern of the risen Son of God. Christ was pleased to call us His brethren when He rose from the dead. God has predestinated us unto the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ unto Himself. We now find the special privilege and glorious relationship of sons before God in His presence by Jesus Christ. He might not have done it, but it was "according to the good pleasure of His will."

(From Lectures on Ephesians.)

"But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed" (James 1:25).

This law is the law of liberty, because the same Word which reveals what God is and what He wills has made us partakers by grace of the divine nature; so that not to walk according to that Word would be not to walk according to our own new nature. Now to walk according to our new nature_the nature of God_and to be guided by His Word, is true liberty.

The law given on Sinai was the expression in man, written not on the heart but outside man, of what man’s conduct and heart ought to be according to the will of God. It represses and condemns all the motions of the natural man, and cannot allow him to have a will, for he ought to do the will of God. But the natural man does have a will, and therefore the law is bondage to him, a law of condemnation and death.

Now, God has begotten us by the Word of truth_has given us a new nature. This new nature, as thus born of God, possesses tastes and desires according to that Word. The Word in its perfection develops this nature, forms it, enlightens it, and the nature itself has its liberty in following the Word. Thus it was with Christ; if His liberty could have been taken away (which spiritually was impossible), it would have been by preventing Him from doing the will of God the Father.

It is the same with the new man in us (which is Christ as life in us) which is created in us according to God in righteousness and true holiness. The liberty of the new man is liberty to do the will of God, to imitate God in character, as being His dear child, according as that character was presented in Christ. The law of liberty is this character as it is revealed in the Word, in which the new nature finds its joy and satisfaction; even as it drew its existence from the Word which reveals Him, and from the God who is therein revealed.

(From Synopsis of the Books of the Bible.)

FRAGMENT The "law of liberty" (James 1:25) has been often and very aptly likened to a loving parent who tells his child that he must go here or there_that is, the very places which he knows perfectly the child would be most gratified to visit. It is like telling the child, "You must go and do such and such a thing," all the while knowing that you can confer no greater favor on the child. It has not at all the character of resisting the will of the child, but rather the directing of his affections in the will of the object dearest to him. The child is regarded and led according to the love of the parent, who knows what the desire of the child is_a desire that has been produced by a new nature implanted by God Himself in the child.

God has given His children a life that loves His ways and Word, that hates and revolts from evil, and is pained most of all by falling through unwatchfulness under sin. The law of liberty therefore consists not so much in a restraint on gratifying the old man as in guiding and guarding the new. The heart’s delight is in what is good and holy and true, and the Word of our God on the one hand exercises us in cleaving to that which is the joy of the Christian’s heart, and strengthens us in our detestation of all that we know to be offensive to the Lord.

The sovereignty of God is what alone gives rest to the Christian heart in view of a world full of evil. To know that in spite of the rebellion of the creature, things are as absolutely in His hand as they ever were, and that we can still adore "one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all" (Eph. 4:6 JND), brings full relief. He still rules over all, and, where evil cannot be turned to good, limits and forbids it. He makes the wrath of man to praise Him, and the remainder of wrath (what would go beyond this) He restrains (Psa. 76:10).

We rest, for we know who reigns. It is not mere sovereignty, the almighty despotism of a supreme will, to which we bow because we must, but the sovereignty of wisdom, holiness, and goodness_of One in whom love is revealed in light. How strange and saddening that in any phase of it the sovereignty of God should be an unwelcome theme to a Christian heart! Is it not so that the sovereignty of God in salvation is by the large mass of Christians perhaps a thing most vehemently denied; and even where entertained, it is entertained with coldness and suspicion? Yet if God be perfect goodness, and wisdom without fault, what could one possibly desire but that everything should be absolutely in His hand, plastic to and moulded by His blessed will, working, according to plan and forethought, His eternal purpose?

While God is sovereign and "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11), the will of man must also be recognized and not set aside. Certainly we are nowhere led from Scripture to think of man as a mere intellectual machine, moved necessarily by influences external to himself. Rather, we see him as a free and responsible being, though now, alas! fallen, and become the willing slave of sin.

It is certain that in no way are we to think of God as determining to evil the wills of His creatures. There may be things difficult to understand concerning the relationship of God’s sovereignty and man’s will; but however even insoluble may be the mystery, God has given us adequate witness that man’s evil and man’s ruin are of himself alone.

Let us consider now a key manifestation of the sovereignty of God, namely, His election of individuals to salvation. Election is so plainly taught in the Word that it is surely only the opposition of the heart to it that can account for its not being universally received among Christians. Nor is this simply an election nationally to privileges or "means of grace" such as plainly Israel enjoyed, but an election to salvation. And this election to salvation is not on account of foreseen holiness or faith, but through, or by means of, these. "We are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth; whereunto He called you by our gospel" (2 Thess. 2:13,14). This is so very plain. However, the difficulty with the doctrine of election is not textual; it lies elsewhere.

Election involves many truths most humbling to man’s pride of heart, and this is in a large number of cases the real hindrance. On the other hand, it is quite true that in the conflict of minds upon a subject which has been in controversy for centuries, the balance of truth has been very much lost by those who have contended on either side; extremes on either part have tended to throw men off into the opposite extreme. Thus Calvinism and Arminianism have nearly divided Christians between them, each refusing to recognize, for the most part, any truth in the other. Yet each has in fact its stronghold of texts and arguments, and its unanswerable appeals to conscience, never fairly met by the other. The mistake has been in the supposition that what was really strong on both sides was in necessary opposition. The fact is that, in general, the strength of each lies in what it affirms; its weakness, in what it denies. The truths of Calvinism cluster about the pole of divine grace; those of Arminianism about that of man’s responsibility. The world revolves upon its axis between the two.

Let us take up first the texts upon which the Arminian relies, and see how far they lead us. In the first place, God’s love to the world is manifested in the cross:"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." It is not allowable to narrow this down to a love simply to the elect, as has been done too often. It is true that the elect are all originally of the world, and that thus He loves them when dead in trespasses and sins, and in His great love quickens them (Eph. 2:4,5). But we cannot limit His love here to this; it is out of keeping with the "whosoever" that follows. Moreover, the "world" cannot fairly be interpreted as less than the whole of it if we believe in the transparent honesty and accuracy of Scripture. God’s love to the world, then, is so deep and wonderful that it can only be measured by the gift of His Son. We dare not refuse to credit fully what is so solemnly assured.

But this being so, it settles decisively the meaning of Christ’s death being for all. "For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all" (1 Tim. 2:5,6). "He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). These and many similar passages assure without any doubt of full and sufficient provision for all made in the atonement.

Upon this ground, and to give express utterance to what is in the heart of God, the gospel is bidden to be proclaimed to "every creature" (Mark 16:15). We are assured that God is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9), and that He "will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4). These testimonies are simple, and they deny that there can be any contrary decree of God hindering the salvation of any. The Redeemer’s words as He wept over Jerusalem assure us that it is man’s contrary will that resists God’s will:"How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matt. 23:37).

But this will of man itself, what shall we make of it? Man’s will is something which is in Scripture and in conscience held as his own personal, righteous accountability. God ever addresses Himself to men, as fallen creatures, born in sin and shapen in iniquity, "by nature the children of wrath," yet always proper subjects of appeal. If individuals are destroyed finally, then they are self-destroyed.

The Spirit of God is represented as striving with man (Gen. 6:3), with those who nevertheless to the last resist the Holy Spirit. It is of no special consequence whether we can show the manner of this striving; it is enough that the Word of God speaks of it. All this shows something very different from a simple condemnation merely, and a giving up by God of all but the elect. While Calvary’s cross has proved that the mind of the flesh is enmity against God, still in this very cross it is manifested that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." And the gospel goes out addressed to every creature.

Thus far we go with the Arminians, and the truth of election does not conflict with this in any way. We can affirm that Omniscient Goodness did not desire or work the evil found in man, though He did allow it. The mystery of God’s allowance of evil we accept, though we do not explain it or suppose it possible to be explained. We know that God is against the evil. The cross has glorified God in every attribute with respect to sin; it demonstrates that not mere power could deal with evil, but that the victory must be that of goodness and in suffering.

Christ dying for the world, the testimony of God’s love to men at large, is no vain thing because in fact all are not saved by it. It demonstrates to us that infinite goodness from which men have to break away. He has sworn, "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" (Ezek. 33:11).

Men die because of their own will, not of God’s will. And men crudely ask of God’s omnipotence why He cannot convert them all. But we must remember that God’s omnipotence is in perfect balance and harmony with all of His other attributes, including His infinite wisdom. Let it suffice us that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son," and that full provision has thus been made for that return of all to God to which they are besought.

But now what? Are we to conclude that because, if a man die, he wills himself to die, therefore if he live, it is by his own will also? We may not argue so; for here too God has spoken, and the conscience of His saints responds ever to what He says. "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." Was this rejection universal? No; some received Him. What, then, of these? "But as many as received Hun, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:10-13).

This is most decisive. It is not, of course, that the will of man is not implied in the reception of Christ, for reception of Christ is surely not forced upon unwilling souls. Rather, as the apostle tells the Philippians, "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).

Every description of this new birth ascribes it in the fullest to divine and sovereign power. The very idea of "birth" implies it, for who is anything but passive in his own birth? It is also quickening from the dead, and "as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will" (John 5:21). It is a new creation, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works" (Eph. 2:10).

This sovereign, gratuitous work in man, done in accordance with that eternal counsel which all things work out, defines clearly for us what is election. It means the gracious interference of divine love in behalf of those who, no different from others, dead in the same sins, instead of being given up to perish, are given to Christ to be the fruit of His blessed work, "that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." It is love, righteously and in perfect goodness manifested in salvation of those worthy of damnation. To charge upon God’s election the damnation of the lost is blasphemy. If others remain obdurate in pride and careless unbelief and are going on to destruction, while we, justified by faith, and having peace with God, rejoice in hope of the glory of God, is it because we are better than they? What Christian heart can believe this? No; it is because "God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ" (Eph. 2:4,5). No man has found his true level who has not come down there, and only there do we find the full and impregnable assurance of perfect and enduring peace. "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect!" (Rom. 8:33). A love that found us with nothing, to endue us with all, is a love that has in it no element of change.

"For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:38,39).

(From Leaves from the Book.)

This is the first in a series of articles on the Ten Commandments. In this study of the Ten Commandments we will first look at the meaning they had for the Israelites to whom they were given, then we will consider further light cast upon these commandments in the New Testament Scriptures and seek to discover the meaning they have for believers in Christ today.

The Ten Commandments and their corollaries in both the Old and New Testaments are very wide ranging, covering much of our thought and behavior patterns. Topics that may be touched on in this series include horoscopes, swear words, nursing homes, driving habits, overeating, abortion, pornography, coffee breaks, white lies, and keeping up with the Joneses.

But wait a minute! I can just hear some of my readers protesting:"The Christian is no longer under the law. Are you trying to put us back there where we don’t belong?" The answers to this statement and question are, clearly, "Yes, you are correct," and "No, I am not." But this is a very important issue and requires a careful, detailed discussion before we proceed with a study of the Ten Commandments.

Scripture clearly teaches us:"By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight" (Rom. 3:20). "A man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (Gal. 2:16). "Ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Rom. 6:14). "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit; are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Gal. 3:1-3).

So we are not saved by keeping the law. We are not justified by doing the works of the law. And even after we are saved through trusting in the shed blood and finished work of Christ, we are not to use the law or Ten Commandments as a rule of life. The law tells man what God wants him to do and not to do; but man always has been and always will be utterly powerless in himself to carry out the dictates of the law.

The law is a tool God uses to bring unbelievers to a knowledge of their sinfulness and utter inability to reach God’s standard of holiness. "By the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20). "I had not known sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet" (Rom. 7:7). Several years ago we were studying the Sermon on the Mount at a Bible study where I work. A lady who attended regularly came to me after one of the lessons and said, "Before I started coming to these Bible classes I thought I was a Christian. Now I can see that I am not." The law, as contained in the Sermon on the Mount, convicted her of a condition and a need she had never realized before.

But what about the believer? Isn’t it appropriate to use the Ten Commandments and other laws of Scripture as a rule of life, to help us live the Christian life as God wants us to live? This is appropriate only if we are told in the Scriptures that it is appropriate. However, let us listen to what the Scriptures say rather as to the Christian’s rule of life:Our rule of life_ that which should be our all-consuming desire_is to "win Christ" (Phil. 3:8); to "know Him and the power of His resurrection" (3:10); to "follow after" Christ and "press toward the mark" (3:12,14); "to walk, even as He walked" (1 John 2:6); to set our "affection on things above" (Col. 3:2); to be "followers [or imitators] of God" (Eph. 5:1). This standard_Christ Himself_is much, much higher than the law. When we have Christ as our object, and are walking according to the Spirit, "the righteousness of the law [will] be fulfilled in us" (Rom. 8:4).

Of what value, then, is it for true believers in Christ to study the Ten Commandments if we are not to have them as a rule of life? Consider the following stories of John, Mary, Frank, and Joan.

John has been taught at the assembly Bible studies and Bible conferences that Christ Himself_and not the law_is to be the believer’s rule of life. He is sincerely trying to put Christ first and have Christ as His one object in life. However, he believes that as His relationship with Christ deepens, the Lord will show him things that he should start or stop doing and, further, that he will lose interest in his old habits the better he gets to know Christ. That explains why he is still smoking, still reading Playboy, and still spending his Sunday afternoons watching athletic events on television. He hasn’t yet received a clear direction from the Lord to give up any of these pleasures, and, note, he hasn’t advanced far enough in his knowledge of Christ to have lost his interest in these things.

Then there is Mary. She often hears the Bible teachers say emphatically that believers are not under the law but under grace. Mary knows she is sinning in her relationship with her boyfriend. But she argues with herself that it really doesn’t matter that much since she knows she is saved, that God is gracious and forgiving, and that nothing_not even her sin_can separate her from the love of God and cause her to lose her salvation.

Frank learned at the Wednesday night Bible study that the teachings of Christ’s "Sermon on the Mount" constitute "kingdom truth" and do not apply to believers in the present dispensation_that is, the Church age. So when a brother in Christ remonstrated with Frank for his tendency to return tit for tat and not turning the other cheek when provoked, Frank defended himself by saying that those verses in Matthew 5 do not apply to us today.

Finally, Joan was overheard saying, "I am glad we are not under the law like Israel was. They had to tithe, but I know the Lord is just as happy with the three to four percent I am able to give Him."

John’s mistake was to replace the Word of God with a sort of mystical approach to knowing God’s will. In so doing he relieved himself of any personal responsibility for discovering God’s will for his life. He didn’t see that God expected him to read and study His Word, that God would, through His Word, convict him of things in his life that needed changing, and that he was responsible to bring his life style and habits and behavior patterns into conformity with God’s Word.

Mary had the correct doctrine concerning the believer’s eternal security; however, she made the mistake of equating God’s grace with leniency toward sin. "Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid" (Rom. 6:15). What she failed to understand, or what the well-meaning teachers failed to emphasize, was that our being "under grace" refers to the source of our motivation to please God in all we say and do. Those who are under the law, if they desire to be obedient to it, will obey out of fear of the consequences of disobedience. Or else, they will try_as the Pharisees did_to ease their consciences by interpreting the law in a way that will mesh with their own attitudes and behavior. Those under grace, on the other hand, desire to obey God out of the deep gratitude of their hearts for His infinite love and grace in sending "His only begotten Son" to die as our substitute for sin. And they will seek, in communion with the Lord, not only the power to carry out the commandments written down in God’s Word, but to enter more deeply and fully into His perfect will for every aspect of their lives.

What Frank did not realize, and what those who taught him did not make clear, was that God’s standard of holiness and right behavior for Christians is not less than but far higher than the sum total of laws and commandments given in Scripture. If we would only stop and think a moment, we would realize that it is inconceivable that God’s standard of holiness for the Church, the body and bride of Christ, those of His redeemed ones who are most precious to Him, should be any lower than that for His people of another dispensation or age of time.

Joan viewed God’s laws as a burden, and was relieved when she came to understand she was no longer under that burden. However, she turned her newfound freedom into self-indulgence rather than into the liberty to turn herself and her possessions over to the Lord.

In summary, the role of the Ten Commandments for the Christian is similar to that for the unbeliever. The law is used to give to the unbeliever the knowledge of sin. The law is similarly useful in shaking the believer out of the complacency of thinking that he/she is truly devoted to Christ and doing His will in all things. We may sincerely believe that we are following Christ, obeying God, filled with the Spirit. But we are not left to our own thoughts and feelings about this. The Bible largely reveals God’s will for us. So it is helpful for us frequently to allow God to test us by His Word as to how faithful and devoted we are to Him. And sometimes we will find, if we are honest with ourselves, that we have not even measured up to the simplest of His commands.

As a cautionary note, we must never, never, check ourselves against the Ten Commandments, or Sermon on the Mount, or any other part of God’s Word, and come to the conclusion, "I’m doing just fine." The Ten Commandments, Sermon on the Mount, etc. reveal God’s minimum standard of behavior for His children. Christ Himself is our standard. If we are truly devoted to Him, truly responding to His infinite love and grace as those who are "under grace" and not "under the law," we will, never become complacent and satisfied with our level of holiness and spiritual maturity until we are fully "conformed to the image of [Christ] (Rom. 8:29), until we are "like Him" when "we shall see Him as He is" in our eternal home in the glory (1 John 3:2).

In the next issue, Lord willing, we will study the first commandment.

FRAGMENT Love to Christ smooths the path of duty, and gives wings to the feet to travel it. It is the bow which impels the arrow of obedience; it is the mainspring moving the wheels of responsibility; it is the strong arm tugging the oar of diligence.

There are many things which it would be pleasing to God for us to do which He has not specifically commanded us. A true child is not content with merely doing those things which his father specifically commands him to do. He studies to know his father’s will, and if he thinks that there is anything he can do that would please his father, he does it gladly. So it is with the true child of God. He does not ask merely whether certain things are commanded or certain things forbidden. He studies to know his Father’s will in all things.

FRAGMENT What will God do for His children who really walk in His ways and really seek to do His will? He will do anything and everything! Our business is to walk in fellowship with God; our business is to seek to please Him and act according to the Scriptures, and it is impossible to say to what degree we shall be honored and used.

FRAGMENT A lady said to Mr. Dwight Moody, "You’re too narrow altogether:no theaters, no dancing, no playing of cards, no pleasures of any kind." "Let me tell you, replied Mr. Moody, "that I go to the theater, dances, and card parties just as often as I want." "No! Really?" "Yes, I go as often as ever I want to_but I never want to!"

There are many things which it would be pleasing to God for us to do which He has not specifically commanded us. A true child is not content with merely doing those things which his father specifically commands him to do. He studies to know his father’s will, and if he thinks that there is anything he can do that would please his father, he does it gladly. So it is with the true child of God. He does not ask merely whether certain things are commanded or certain things forbidden. He studies to know his Father’s will in all things.

FRAGMENT What will God do for His children who really walk in His ways and really seek to do His will? He will do anything and everything! Our business is to walk in fellowship with God; our business is to seek to please Him and act according to the Scriptures, and it is impossible to say to what degree we shall be honored and used.

FRAGMENT A lady said to Mr. Dwight Moody, "You’re too narrow altogether:no theaters, no dancing, no playing of cards, no pleasures of any kind." "Let me tell you, replied Mr. Moody, "that I go to the theater, dances, and card parties just as often as I want." "No! Really?" "Yes, I go as often as ever I want to_but I never want to!"

Our study of the attributes of God began with a consideration of the divine attributes, that is, those peculiar to God alone, such as infinite, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, etc. This has been followed by a study of His moral attributes, such as love, grace, holiness, righteousness, etc., that He desires to be manifested in His children as well. We conclude our study by considering another of His divine attributes_ the sovereignty of God.

The word "sovereign" is defined in Webster’s New World Dictionary as "above or superior to all others . . . supreme in power, rank, or authority." As an attribute of God, sovereignty includes all these things plus the idea of being free to do whatever He wills to do at all times to carry out His eternal purposes. God’s sovereignty is well established in the Scriptures; let us read some of the passages.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). As Creator of the universe, how could God be anything other than sovereign?

"I … will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy" (Exod. 33:19).

"The Lord killeth, and maketh alive; He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich; He bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory; for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and He hath set the world upon them" (1 Sam. 2:6-8).

"Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come of Thee, and Thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all" (1 Chron. 29:11,12).

"Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counsellor hath taught Him? With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge?" (Isa. 40:13,14).

"I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. . . . Yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it" (Isa. 46:9-11).

"O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?" (Rom. 9:20).

"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11).

A number of questions have arisen over the years in relation to the sovereignty of God. One has to do with the presence of sin, pain, and death in this world. Since God is sovereign, He could have prevented these from coming into existence. Why did He not do so? I doubt if anyone has a fully satisfactory answer to this question. It is sufficient to rest upon the declaration of Scripture, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. 18:25).

Another question widely debated in Christian circles for centuries relates to the will of man. If God sovereignly rules His universe with the freedom to do whatever He wills to do, how is it possible for man to exercise free choice? And if man cannot exercise freedom of choice, how can he be held responsible for his behavior? Again, there is no totally satisfactory answer to such questions, and ultimately we must fall back on the fact that a God who is equally holy and loving will do those things that will be equally best for mankind and glorifying to Himself. But having said that, let us consider some of the issues involved.

The Scriptures clearly reveal the sovereignty of God in electing or choosing individuals for salvation. "He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love" (Eph. 1:4). "God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" (2 Thess. 2:13). "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit" (1 Pet. 1:2).

A number of facts about election are apparent from Scripture. First, God has by election chosen some to salvation, but not all (John 6:37-40,44,65; 17:2,6,9; Acts 13:48; Rom. 9:22,23). Second, this election was accomplished in eternity past (Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9). Third, election does not rest merely on God’s foreknowledge of those who will respond to the gospel call. If it did, it would make God’s choice dependent on man’s choice, and thus could not properly be referred to as God’s election. Further, election to salvation is according to the grace of God, not the good works of man, whether anticipated in the foreknowledge of God or already realized (Rom. 11:5,6; Eph. 2:8,9). Even the faith to accept God’s free gift of salvation is itself a gift of God.

The following objection is often raised against the notion of God’s election of some for salvation:If God has selected certain individuals to be saved, then has He not therefore selected the remainder to be lost? This may seem like a logical conclusion, but a careful study of Romans 9 will show that while God has appointed some to blessing, He has left the non-elect to reap the just punishment for their wicked deeds. "God . . . endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted [not by Him but by their own sinful behavior] to destruction; and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory" (Rom. 9:22,23). Those chosen for salvation were no less wicked. In fact, except for God’s sovereign election, not one person would have chosen by his own free will to receive God’s free gift of salvation. There are many things we do not understand about all this; but instead of condemning God for showing partiality or unfairness in not choosing all to be saved, we should rejoice and praise Him that He has at least chosen some! Those of us who have heeded the gospel message and have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for our eternal salvation now realize in retrospect that we are among God’s elect. How this draws out our hearts to God in praise and adoration for His sovereign grace in choosing, calling, and saving us. Well might we join with Isaac Watts in asking:

"Lord! why am I a guest?
Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there’s room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?"

While God’s sovereign choice of individuals to be saved is not based on any foreknown merit on the part of those individuals, we can be certain that His choices are not random or haphazard. The fact that oftentimes entire families are saved and that those who are objects of prayer and evangelistic efforts seem more likely to end up being saved than the rest speak against a purely random selection. Perhaps God’s election does in some way take into account His foreknowledge of the prayers and the efforts of others to present the gospel to a given individual. In any case, we know that God is "long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9). We also know that God has enjoined us to go "into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15), and to pray "for all men" since God "will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:1,4). So the doctrine of God’s sovereignty in election must not deter us from actively seeking, through prayer and evangelistic activities, the salvation of the unsaved. We can be certain that every soul that places his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation will find that he is among God’s elect. We know this because Jesus said, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). Also, "The Spirit and the bride say, Come. . . . And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17).

I have purposely avoided mention of the term "predestination" in the foregoing discussions. If we consider this word in the various contexts in which it is found in Scripture, it seems to have a more narrow application than election. Election refers to God’s choice of certain individuals to be saved. Predestination refers to God’s determination that those thus elected should become His sons (Eph. 1:5), receive His inheritance (Eph. 1:11), and become "conformed to the image of His Son, that He [Jesus] might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). God could very well have chosen us to be delivered from eternal punishment and live forever as His bondslaves. Surely we would be grateful for this much. But in His sovereignty, "according to the good pleasure of His will" (Eph. 1:5), He has brought us into a much higher and nearer position to Himself, "having predestinated us unto the adoption of children [or bringing into the position of sons]." This leads us to far deeper gratitude, even "praise of the glory of His grace" (verse 6).

One further note concerning the will of man in relation to the sovereignty of God:Many scriptures attest to the fact that God has given each individual a will of his/her own (see Gen. 6:5; 11:4,6; 49:6; Dan. 8:4; 11:3,16,36; Luke 23:23; Acts 24:27; 27:43; Rom. 7:18; 1 Cor. 7:37; 16:12; and many others). The fact that God is sovereign and free to do whatever He wills to do at all times does not mean that He always forces His will upon man’s will. The sin and rebellion against God throughout the millenia of man’s history on earth indicate that God has largely given man free reign to act according to his own will. No man can stand before the great white throne or the judgment seat of Christ and claim that he sinned because God willed that he sin. The fact that God has allowed man to sin without divine hindrance does not make God responsible for the sin.

Sometimes we hear people say, unthinkingly, "God is in control of all things. Therefore, while so-and-so sinned, it must have been God’s will that he sin." In the same vein, the "all things" that "work together for good" in Rom. 8:28 are sometimes taken to include man’s sin. Let us be very clear that God is not the author of sin. He is holy and abhors sin! It is true that in special instances (notably the crucifixion) God has worked good and blessing for man out of man’s wickedness. (God may use man’s sin to work out His purposes, but He is never dependent on man’s sin to accomplish these purposes.) But let us never condone or make light of sin by saying, "God allowed it," or "All things work together for good."

It is probably safe to say that whenever we have a desire to do something pleasing to God it is a result of God moving our wills in that direction. This is true concerning our desire to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, as noted previously in connection with election. It is also true for the believer in a more general way as indicated in Phil. 2:13:"It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." It is quite a different matter with regard to the sins we commit. "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God.. . . Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin" (James 1:13-15).

In conclusion, our God is sovereign; He has absolute authority in all areas of existence, even though He does not always impose His authority and will upon His creatures. He is not dependent upon the advice and actions of others for the decisions and choices He makes. How wonderful to know that the One who has absolute authority is the same One who is eternal; infinite in power, knowledge, and wisdom; present everywhere; the God of love, grace, mercy, and longsuffering; the holy, righteous God. So we can be assured that the One who has absolute freedom to carry out His own will is working that which is good and beneficial to His created beings.

"To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever" (Jude 25).

FRAGMENT
Eternal Sov’reign, Lord of all,
Prostrate before Thy throne we fall,
While here our claim and song we raise,
"Thou art our God, and Thee we’ll praise!"

"And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shall have no other gods before Me" (Exod. 20:1-3).

The one true God is unique and incomparable. The heathen nations each had a multitude of gods, and as we may recall from the Greek and Roman mythology we had to learn in school, these gods and goddesses were always squabbling with one another (just like the people who created them). In contrast, Scripture declares that "The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deut. 6:4), and while our God has manifested Himself to us in three Persons_Father, Son, and Holy Spirit_these three are in perfect unity and harmony in all their ways, motives, desires, purposes, and actions. Note that the word "one" in Deut. 6:4 is the same in the Hebrew as in Gen. 2:24:"A man shall . . . cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh." The word for "one" refers to a composite unity or "many which make one," and thus prepares us for the later revelation of the Trinity. (See Words of Truth, Volume 26, pages 14,15 for further details on this topic.)

The gods of the nations were created by the people (Psa. 115:4) to serve their own interests and purposes. In contrast, the one true God is Himself the creator of all mankind as well as the entire universe. When the citizens of Lystra began worshipping the apostle Paul as if he were the god Mercury, and Barnabas as if he were Jupiter, Paul cried out to them, "Why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein" (Acts 14:15).

The gods of the nations are impotent, lacking the ability to communicate with the people or to help them. "They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; noses have they, but they smell not; they have hands, but they handle not; feet have they, but they walk not; neither speak they through their throat" (Psa. 115:5-7). In contrast, note again how the Lord introduces the first commandment:"I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Exod. 20:2). Repeatedly in the Scriptures we find God communicating His will to His servants, and delivering His people from their enemies in miraculous ways. With such a merciful and powerful God available to us, why should anyone want to create their own gods?

Today we do not find so much evidence of people worshipping a multiplicity of gods, at least among the types of people we are likely to encounter at work, at school, in the neighborhood, or on the streets. However, a problem frequently encountered, even among many well-meaning so-called Christians, is the belief that the sincere Moslems, Buddhists, Hindus, and Jews worship the same God as do Christians, and that there are many roads leading to the same God. As mentioned above, God has revealed Himself to us in three coequal Persons_Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19; Luke 3:22; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 5:18-20; Tit. 3:4-6; 1 Pet. 1:2). God the Son lovingly, graciously humbled Himself to come down from heaven to be born a man-child of Mary, a virgin, in order that He might offer Himself as a sacrificial substitute for the sins of mankind and thus become a Saviour for sinners. Is this triune God the same that the Jews, Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists, and others believe in? In those religions, Jesus may be considered a great moral teacher and a good man, but in none is He acknowledged as sharing deity with Almighty God the Father.

The adherents of the Islam religion accept Jesus as a prophet like Mohammed, but deny the deity, sacrificial death, and resurrection of Christ. The God of the Jews likewise is not the same as the Christian’s God for the Jews crucified the Son of God, charging Him with blasphemy because He made Himself God (John 10:33). The Buddhists, contrary to popular belief, do not really have a god. Buddha never claimed deity for himself and questioned whether God even existed. In Buddhism, the ultimate goal is nirvana, or the extinction of desire, or essentially, total nothingness. Each person is taught to strive for this goal in his own way and by his own efforts. The Hindus believe that God and the universe are identical, and the ultimate goal is for man to be reunited with this "God," much like the return of a drop of water to the ocean.

"Enlightened," liberal, world-minded Christians may insist that there are many paths to one God, and that the paths of the Jews, Moslems, Hindus, etc. are as equally valid as the path of the Christians. But Jesus claimed, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6). Those who insist that there are many ways to God must therefore reject Christianity because of its strong claims that there is only one way, and that way is through Christ Jesus alone.