In a day of closing darkness,

When the outlook is so black,

When the hearts of men are
failing,

And the feet of saints turn
back,

Yet amid the gloom and darkness,

Shines one feeble ray of light-

Some, who feel and own the ruin,

Seek by faith to walk aright;

Some who fear the Lord of glory,

And who think upon His name;

Some, who often speak together

Of His glory and His shame.

God who dwells in heavenly
splendor,

He beholds this feeble few;

He records in His remembrance

All the sorrows they pass
through.

He discerns each true affection.

And declares, "They shall
be Mine"

When I gather up "My
Jewels";

These
shall in My presence shine.

Has someone seen CHRIST in you
today?

CHRISTIAN, look to your heart I
pray,

The little things you have done
or said—

Did they accord with the way you
prayed?

Have your thoughts been pure and
your words been kind?

Have you sought to have the
Saviour’s mind?

The world with a criticizing
view

Has watched—but did it see
CHRIST in YOU?

Has someone seen CHRIST in you
today?

Christian, look to your life I
pray:

There are aching hearts and
blighted souls

Being lost on sin’s destructive
shoals,

And perhaps of CHRIST their only
view

May be what of HIM they see in
you.

Will they see enough to bring
hope and cheer?

Look to your light! DOES IT
SHINE OUT CLEAR?

Cleansing with blood is a common
expression in the book of Leviticus, but in the New Testament it is found only
in the 9th chapter of Hebrews, and the beginning of the First Epistle of John
(Heb. 9:14, 22, 23; I John 1:7). The latter passage claims notice, not only
because of its connection with the present subject, but also on account of the
difficulties that seem to surround it:"If we walk in the light, as He is
in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."

It is a canon of interpretation
that whenever the benefits or results of the death of Christ are ascribed to
His blood, the figure thus implied is borrowed from the types. It behooves us.
therefore, to turn back to the Old Testament, and there to seek out the
particular key-picture to which it is intended to direct our minds. In I Peter
1, for example, the second verse will naturally turn our thoughts to the only
occasion on which blood was sprinkled on the people of Israel (Exodus 24); while verse 19 brings us back to their one great redemption sacrifice of
the passover in Egypt.

Here then we have a certain clue
to the meaning of the text before us:"The blood of Jesus . . . cleanseth
us from all sin." The particular type in the light of which we are to
understand the word must be that of some offering which was for sin; and
one moreover which was for the people generally, as distinguished from those
which were for individuals; and further, it must be a sacrifice of which the benefits
were abiding. This at once excludes all the offerings of the first fifteen
chapters of Leviticus, and it will confine our consideration to the great day
of atonement prescribed in the 16th chapter.  "For on that day" (was
the word to Moses) "shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse
you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord" (v. 30).

We can picture to ourselves some
devout Israelite telling of his God to a heathen stranger, recounting to him
the proofs of Jehovah’s goodness and faithfulness to His people, and going on
to speak of His holiness, His terribleness—how He was "of purer eyes than
to behold iniquity," and how, for acts in which his guest would fail to
see sin at all, He had visited them with signal judgments. And we can conceive
that, in amazement, the stranger might demand whether the people were free from
the weaknesses and wickedness of other men. And, on his hearing an eager
repudiation of all such pretensions, with what deepening wonder and awe he
would exclaim, "How then can you live before a God so great and
terrible?"

And here the heathen stranger
within the gates of the Israelite would have reached a point analogous to that
to which the opening verses of John’s Epistle lead us. Eternal life has been manifested,
and life is the only ground of fellowship with God. But "God is
light," and it is only in the light, as the sphere of its enjoyment, that
such fellowship is possible. The light of God, how can sinners bear it? Is it
by attaining sinlessness? The thought is proof of self-deception and utter
absence of the truth (v.8). But just as the question of his guest would turn
the thoughts of the Israelite to his great day of atonement, and call to his
lips the words, "It is the cleansing blood which alone enables us to live
before Jehovah," so the Christian turns to the great Sin-offering, and his
faith finds utterance in the words, "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanseth us from all sin."

It is not "has
cleansed," nor yet "will cleanse," but "cleanseth."
It is not the statement of a fact merely, but of a truth, and truths are
greater and deeper even than facts.

But how "cleanseth"? ¹
Just as the blood of the sin-offering cleansed the Israelite. It was not by any
renewal of its application to him, but by the continuance of its efficacy. With
Israel its virtue continued throughout the year; with us it is for ever.  It
is not mere acts of sin that are in question here, but the deeper problem of
our condition as sinners (compare v. 10 with v. 8). And neither the difficulty,
nor yet the answer to it, is the same. In regard to the one, the Israelite
turned to the day of atonement, and said "the blood cleanseth"; but
in case of his committing some act of sin, he had to bring his sin-offering,
according to the 4th or 5th or 6th chapter of Leviticus. But the need of these
special offerings depended on "the weakness and unprofitableness" of
the sacrifices of the old Covenant (Heb. 10:9-18). And I John 1:7, 9 seems
clearly to teach that all our need is met by the twofold cleansing typified by
the blood of the great sin-offering of Leviticus 16, and the water of the great
rite of Numbers 19. For the believer who sins against God to dismiss the matter
by "the blood cleanseth," is the levity and daring of antinomianism.
For such the word is, "If we confess our sins":no flippant
acknowledgment with the lip, but a solemn and real dealing with God; and thus
he obtains again and again a renewal of the benefits of the death of Christ:
"He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness."

And this, no doubt, is the truth
intended by the popular expression "coming back to blood." The
Israelite "came back to blood" by seeking a fresh sacrifice; but had
he attempted to "come back to blood" in the sense of preserving the
blood of the sin-offering in order to avail himself of it for

[1]uture cleansing, he would have
been cut off without mercy for presumptuous sin. The most superficial knowledge
either of the precepts or the principles of the book of Leviticus, will make us
avoid a form of words so utterly opposed to both.

With one great exception the
blood of every sin-offering was poured round the altar of burnt-offering, and
thus consumed; and that exception was the sacrifice of the 19th of Numbers, so
often referred to in these pages. The red heifer was the sin-offering in that
aspect of it in which the sinner can come back to it to obtain cleansing. And
here the whole beast and its blood was burnt to ashes outside the camp,
and the unclean person was cleansed by being sprinkled with water which had
touched those ashes. But to confound the cleansing by blood—the 16th of
Leviticus aspect of the sin-offering with the cleansing by water—the 19th of
Numbers aspect of it—betrays ignorance of Scripture. The one is a
continuously enduring agency; the other a continually repeated act.

 There is no question, observe,
as to whether the benefit depends on the death of Christ. But with some,
perhaps, it is a question merely of giving up the "form of sound
words"; with others, the far more solemn one of depreciating the sacrifice
of Christ and denying to it an efficacy which even the typical sin-offering
possessed for Israel. Christ has died and risen and gone up to God, and now His
blood cleanses from all sin. It is not that it avails to accomplish a
succession of acts of cleansing for the believer, but that its efficacy remains
to cleanse him continuously. (Heb. 10:14) It is not in order that it may
thus cleanse him, that the believer confesses his sin:his only right to the
place he holds, even as he confesses, depends on the fact that it does thus
cleanse him. It was only in virtue of the place he had through the blood of the
lamb that the Israelite could avail himself of the ashes of the red heifer. And
our life, our hope, our destiny, depend entirely upon the enduring efficacy of
the blood of Christ; that, whether in bright days of fellowship with God, or in
hours of wilderness failure, "the blood cleanseth from all sin":here
it is a question only of the preciousness of that blood, and of the
faithfulness and power of Him in Whom we trust.

While working on the extract
from Miller’s Church History on Jerusalem, we were impressed with his comments
at the end of it:"Need we wonder at the Redeemer’s tears, shed over the
infatuated city?"

It made us thoughtful. Do we
wonder at them? We quote that verse:"And when He was come near, He beheld
the city, and wept over it" (Luke 19:41). "Wept over it!" Oh,
those tears! How they tell us what was in His heart — the heart of God
His Father. We would be prone rather to think—if not say — what fools they
were, how wilful and stubborn and blind!

Thy foes did hate, despise,
revile,

Thy friends unfaithful prove;

Unwearied in forgiveness still,

Thy heart could only love!

We think of those tears; we try
to see them. Do we reflect those feelings? They reflect the new nature reacting
to self-will and the rejection of God’s grace and love. Those tears make us
ashamed. Don’t they affect you that way too? We know so little of such
feelings. How many tears have we shed in this respect? When did we last weep
over the stubbornness and self-will that we saw within us or around us? Oh, for
the capacity to feel things!

Scripture draws our attention,
many times, to those who wept. Consider Joseph. "He wept." "He
wept aloud" (Gen. 45:2) for his hard-hearted brothers who hated him and
had "conspired against him to slay him." So far from harboring
feelings of resentment and malice toward them, he entreats them, when in the
position to do so, "Come near to me … I will nourish thee" (Gen.
45:4, II.) This, surely, is the spirit of Christ.

Let us go further back in
thought to Job, a man "that feared God." "Did I not weep for
him that was in trouble?" (Job 30:25) Do we? Ever? Here, too, is
the spirit of Christ.

Turning over the pages of our
Bibles, we may view, as it was reported to Nehemiah, the state of God’s people,
and the broken condition of Jerusalem where God had put His Name. Greatly
affected by it, that earnest devoted man writes that "when I heard these
words … I sat down and wept" (Neh. 1:4). Feeling that condition
as his very own led him, then, to pray about it, and to pray for his
brethren — far away from him though they were. (It led him to do something
about it too; Neh. 2:5). How all this breathes of that lowly and compassionate
spirit seen in our Lord Jesus when here among men.

Now Christ is in the Glory:Head
of the church, which is His body. These feelings should properly flow through
the members of that body. We hear the Apostle Paul, in Acts 20, pouring out his
heart to the Ephesian elders; he knows they will not see his face again. He
reminds them of how he had served the Lord with all humility of mind, and with
many tears; "of how he had warned every one night and day with tears"
(Acts 20:19, 31).

We could draw other and similar
instances to your attention, but that is not our purpose. This is enough.

May we drink in deeply of that
lowly and loving spirit that feels things as the Lord Jesus would have us feel
them. Such godly emotion as tears express is not queer, nor feminine, nor rare
either — as we have been noticing. Let it not be lost on us that it is our God
Himself who draws our attention to this spirit, this distinctive trait of the
new nature, in the Scriptures at which we have been looking.

"They that sow in tears
shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him"
(Psalm 126:5, 6).

FRAGMENT "And He shall wipe
away every tear from their eyes" (Rev. 4:21, J.N.D. Trans.). Won’t you be
a little disappointed if you have none to be wiped away?

In view of some erroneous
thoughts which were put at a conference last year it is deemed wise to go over
them that all may be clear on "those things which are most surely believed
among us."

One expressed the thought that
he could and did receive revelations at the time. It is clear that only
apostles and prophets of Scripture received such revelations. Now that the
inspired Word is complete, there is no room or need for further revelation. The
Apostle Paul tells us it was given to him to fulfil (or complete—J.N.D. trans.
and others) the Word of God. See Colossians 1:25. Not that he was the last
writer,  for the Apostle John wrote later than Paul; but the capstone of
Christian truth, namely, concerning the assembly, was revealed to and through
the Apostle Paul. We do well to heed the warning in Proverbs 30:6:"Add
thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."

We do not have apostles today
except in their writings, nor prophets except in the sense of I Corinthians
14:3:"He that¼ speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort."
The apostles and prophets were connected with the foundation as indicated in
Ephesians 2:20. One requisite for an apostle was to have seen the Lord (I Cor.
9:1). Where is the man living today who has seen the Lord?

As to the choosing of a
successor for Judas, it is distinctly stated in Acts 1:21, 22. "Wherefore
of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord
Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that
same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness
with us of his resurrection." From this statement we see that Paul could
not be the twelfth apostle, as he did not qualify. It would appear that the two
mentioned in verse 23 were the only ones who did qualify. As the casting
of lots was the common method used among the Jews, Matthias was not chosen by
gambling but by a divine overruling. "The lot is cast into the lap; but
the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord" (Prov. 16:33). See many other
Old Testament Scriptures about casting lots such as Leviticus 16:8, 9 and
Numbers 26:55.

To say that not all Christians
are saints, but only those "who by the grace of God have sanctified
themselves," displays an ignorance of the difference between positional
and practical sanctification. In the assembly of God at Corinth, there were two
glaring evils—moral and doctrinal. See I Cor. 5:1; 2 Cor. 12:21; and I Cor.
15:12. Yet it is this company that was addressed by the apostle in I Cor. 1:2
as "sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints." And he includes
"all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,"
indicating the epistle is for all saints everywhere.  Hebrews 10, verses 9 and
10, tell us that Christ came to do the will of God, "by the which will we
are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once."
True, our practical walk should be in keeping with the position we have as set
apart by the death of Christ. "For this is the will of God, even your
sanctification" (I Thess. 4:3).

When the Apostle Paul said he
had "a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better"
(Phil. 1:23), did he want to go to a place not ready for the saints? Was not
this place already "prepared"?  On the cross, Christ finished the
work that was the ground or basis of His redeemed having an eternal place in
the Father’s house. He is not preparing that place now. There is an
unfinished work of Christ and will be as long as His own are in this scene:
that of High Priest (in connection with our infirmities—Heb. 4:15, 16) and
Advocate (if we sin—-I John 2:1). "He ever liveth to make intercession for
them" (Heb. 7:25).

Do we
not need to turn afresh to our Bibles?  We need to take heed and continue in
the things that we have learned and have been assured of, KNOWING OF WHOM WE
HAVE LEARNED THEM. See 2 Tim. 3:14. Boaz told Ruth "Go not to glean in
another field" (Ruth 2:8); and Naomi, who speaks from bitter experience,
told her, "It is good, my daughter, that thou go out with his maidens,
that they meet thee not in any other field" (Ruth 2:22). Can we not learn
a wholesome lesson from these two admonitions?

I cannot give it up,

The little world I know!

The innocent delights of youth,

The things I cherish so! ‘Tis
true,

I love my Lord

And want to do His will,

And oh, I may enjoy the world

And be a Christian still!

I love the hour of prayer,

I love the hymns of praise,

I love the blessed Word that
tells

Of God’s redeeming grace,

But I am human still;

And while I dwell on earth

God surely will not grudge the
hours

I spend in harmless mirth.

These things belong to youth,

And are its natural right —

My dress, my pastimes, and my
friends,

The merry and the bright.

My Father’s heart is kind;

He will not count it ill

That my small corner of the
world

Should please and hold me still.

And yet, "outside the
camp,"

‘Twas there my Saviour died!

It was the world that
cast Him forth,

And saw Him crucified.

Can I take part with those

Who nailed Him to the tree?

And where His name is never
praised

Is there the place for me?

Nay, world! I turn away,

Though thou seem’st fair and
good;

That friendly outstretched hand
of thine

Is stained with Jesus’ blood.

If in thy least device

I stoop to take a part,

All unaware, thine influence
steals

God’s presence from my heart.

I miss my Saviour’s smile

Whene’er I walk thy ways;

Thy laughter drowns the Spirit’s
voice

And chokes the springs of
praise.

If e’er I turn aside

To join thee for an hour,

The face of Christ grows blurred
and dim

And prayer has lost its power!

Farewell! Henceforth my place

Is with the Lamb who died.

My Sovereign! While I have Thy
love,

What can I want beside? Thyself,
dear Lord, art now

My free and loving choice,

"In whom, though now I see
Thee not,

Believing, I rejoice!"

Shame on me that I sought

Another joy than this,

Or dreamt a heart at rest with
Thee

Could crave for earthly bliss!

These vain and worthless things,

I put them all aside;

His goodness fills my longing soul,

And I am satisfied.

Lord Jesus! let me dwell

"Outside the camp,"
with Thee.

Since Thou art there,
then there alone

Is peace and home for me.

Thy dear reproach to bear

I’ll count my highest gain,

Till Thou return, my banished
King,

To take
Thy power, and reign!

But I must notice, further, that
two of the Consulting Editors are listed as connected with Bible Institutes in
positions of leading responsibility. This involves an endorsement of such, as
well as of the sects and independency.

In the presence of Mr. George
MacKenzie, Mr. George McCandless said to me, when I was on salary representing
a Bible Institute, in perhaps these very words, "There is no Scripture for
a Bible Institute; the assembly should train its young people."

This hurt my feelings. But it
gave me the opportunity to offer him some Scriptures, if there were such; this
I failed to do. Why? It did not occur to me at the time; I should have told him
the Scofield Bible was my authority for Bible Institutes! His faithful word did
me good; I never recovered from it. I have always felt, since coming into
fellowship, that his testimony was one of the definitely contributing factors
in my becoming aroused. As a result, I am not so much frightened as some are,
over folks that get their feelings hurt by the truth. Deliverance is a reality,
preceded by struggle likely, and accompanied by pain. Truth hurts when it
condemns; but it also delivers and sanctifies.

A year or so later, I was in the
position those two brethren had then occupied, while they had gone into
independency where Bible Institutes are the order of the day. But never mind,
let them be comforted; even if "there is no Scripture for a Bible
Institute," there is a Scofield Reference Bible for it! And, if the
assembly has not the heart to train its young people, the Bible Institute will
do so—though, alas! not to the same end — and the Scofield Reference Edition
will point them in that direction!

Perhaps two or three months
after I came into fellowship, an aged brother, who knew little of truth in an
assembly that shortly was classified with the independents, said to me in
substance, "The – – – Bible Institute is a wonderful place, is it
not?"

I replied, "Inside the
systems, it is very excellent; but we are outside." Scofield
"helps" would not say that.

Several years ago a brother in a
little assembly that was seldom visited told me that he had gone to a Bible
Institute to study. While there, someone met him and inquired what he was
doing. He replied, and was asked, "What are you doing there?" As a
result, he left. Nothing in the Scofield Bible would have contributed thus to
his deliverance; instead, the very first page would have encouraged him to
stay.

Not long after I came into
fellowship, a sister who had attended a local Bible Institute before she became
clear as to the path, and was now being urged by its leader to use her
influence to encourage others to attend, asked me, "Should we attend a
Bible Institute?"

I replied with a question,
"For what purpose would you go?""

"To learn the Bible,’"
she answered.

"Are you in assembly
fellowship as a matter of conviction, because you believe God’s Word puts you
there?" I asked her. She responded emphatically, "Yes."
"Will the teaching at the Bible Institute confirm you in that position?"
I then queried.

"No," she acknowledged.

"Then, why go to the Bible
Institute?"

But the Scofield Bible and Bible
Institutism go hand in hand.

It remains to notice that all of
these eight names already referred to on the first printed page of the Scofield
Bible are preceded by the abbreviation "Rev.," which as you know
stands for "Reverend." This is a title given to men in human
systems—Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Dissenting—who have been
"ordained" by men to "the ministry." This subject in itself
is interesting, but in this already long letter, I confine myself to one aspect
of it. Another name for the "ordained" is "clergy."

We understand that this is what
Rev. 2:6 and 15 refer to under the word "Nicolaitans." God says he
hates the thing (verse 6). It would seem quite an objectionable matter, to
eight times print, at the beginning of an edition of Scripture, a word that
represents what God’s Word frankly tells us He hates. But, it may be thought,
perhaps Mr. Scofield was ignorant of that. Well, it is a rather reckless
procedure for a man, who claims that his notes cover the whole range of
Scripture, to place a word at the very beginning, in ignorance. If he was that
ignorant, could much confidence be placed in his labors?

He was not ignorant, however. In
a note, bottom page 1332, he says, on this word "Nicolaitans":
"If the word is symbolic it refers to the earliest form of the notion of a
priestly order, or ‘clergy,’ which later divided an equal brotherhood (Matt.
23:8) into ‘priests’ and ‘laity.’"

But in the book "Dr. C. I.
Scofield’s Question Box," page 89. there is no "if" about it. I
quote:

"What is Nicolaitanism,
spoken of in Revelation 2:6, 15?"

"It is the doctrine that
God has instituted an order of ‘clergy’ or priests, as distinguished from the
‘laity.’ The word is formed from two Greek words, niko, conqueror or
over-comer and laos, the people. The New Testament knows nothing of a
‘clergyman,’ still less of a priest, except as all sons of God in this
dispensation are ‘a royal priesthood.’ In the apostolic church there were
offices:elders (or bishops), and deacons; and there were ‘gifts’:apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers (Eph. 4:11). These might or might
not be elders or deacons. But late in the apostolic period there emerged a
disposition to arrogate to elders alone authority to administer ordinances,
and, generally, to constitute themselves a class between God and the people;
they were the Nicolaitans. You will observe that what were ‘deeds’ in the Ephesus, or late apostolic period, had become a ‘doctrine’ two hundred years later in the
Pergamos, or Constantine period." (Copied from a copy furnished by a
friend; I do not have the book at hand for verbal comparison and verification
of punctuation).

It is clear, then, that Mr.
Scofield knew that the idea of a clergy was unscriptural; that he frankly owned
it was Nicolaitanism, which thing God hates. In spite of this, he takes the
responsibility of putting the hateful symbol of the hated thing on the very
first page of the Bible; not once, but eight times; and even in front of his
own name! Is any comment further necessary? God has declared Himself about
Nicolaitanism. Mr. Scofield assures us that he knows what God means. Then he
does this!

I do not want to learn how to
become accustomed to such a thing. I desire to feel more, not less, as God
feels about things. The fact that many precious truths are taught in the notes,
does not change God’s attitude about Nicolaitanism, nor should it change mine.

I do not forbid or interfere
with anyone as to using or circulating the Scofield Bible. I do not attempt to
make any issue of the matter, or be conscience for anyone regarding it. I write
this in response to request not remembering that we have ever talked about it.
Practically all to which this letter calls attention is drawn directly from the
contents of the Scofield Bible or else has to do with matters or persons or
institutions named therein. Hence, nothing rests upon my
"interpretation"; the facts speak for themselves.

That God will use His truth, I
am quite sure. That He overrules, too, and carries out His counsels amid and in
spite of confusion, is one of my exceeding great comforts. But that the
Scofield Reference Edition "helps" are designed to bring souls to
assembly ground, I have not the slightest reason to believe. Nor do I have
confidence that its use, as a substitute for the written ministry of
"brethren," will build us up along assembly lines, strengthening the
things that remain; but rather, I am convinced, the habitual use of that which
omits the recognition of assembly truth will tend to accustom us to living
apart from it and so cause it to become strange to us. This I regard as the
tendency; results will be modified, in each case, by various considerations;
and God is faithful.

I am thankful to at last have
put this material together, so that I may have it myself for further reference.
It is, so far as I recall, the first time I have written along this line. I
deliberately confine myself to this. I do not even enter into any questions of
details of interpretation, or the value or otherwise of specific notes, etc. to
which I have not herein referred.

I can well remember the days
when I approached my teens. I was filled with excitement by the adventures that
I had heard one enjoys as a teenager. I waited rather impatiently for the day
when I would enter this glorious age group and be with the "in" crowd.
On my thirteenth birthday I went around with a smile on my face and an air of
pride. In fact, I was so proud of myself I felt that I no longer needed to
listen to the counseling of those older than I. This is where I made my biggest
mistake. I hope that the advice I shall give will be helpful to those entering
their teens, and that they will follow it.

As one approaches his teens, he
should stop and think what it really means. It is a time for him to think of
seriously, for this period in his life will mold his future character. It is an
age of responsibilities, hard work, frustrations, failures, and victories. It
is during this period that the men and women of tomorrow determine what they
will be, and what type of lives they will lead.

To those who are entering their
teens, I should say that if you have not accepted Christ as your Saviour, do so
now, for without His love and guidance, you will never live the life you
should. He can be your guide, counselor, and comforter in your hours of sorrow
or joy. To embark upon this new era of your life without Him is unwise. Enter
your teens with the comforting thought and knowledge that no matter what
confronts you, you will have Him by your side.

The teens is a time when you may
decide your vocation, and you can never be happy unless you choose the right
one. If you ask Him to show you what to do, He will do so.

Every day as you look around
you, you see and hear of teenagers who have run into trouble. In fact, some
adults look upon all teenagers as "juvenile delinquents." They think
teenagers of today have become obsessed with doing everything which they know
is wrong, and with shunning the wise counseling of their elders. Make sure as
you enter your teens that you are not branded as one of these. Be in subjection
to those who are older than you, who are trying to help you, to the law, to
your conscience, and especially, to God. If you are in subjection to God, He
will help you to control your wrong desires, and to keep out of the temptation
of evil things.

I well remember when I entered
my teens, I lacked the love of God in my heart. My entire life was void. I
lived from day to day enjoying the pleasures that life had to offer — or
thinking that I enjoyed them; but I was not satisfied. Then some time later I
accepted Christ as my Lord and Saviour. My whole burden was lightened and I no
longer had an emptiness in my heart. All my troubles and frustrations could be
taken to Him with the knowledge that He would help me. I no longer desired to
do wrong, and I was happy. So from my own experience, I should advise you to
make this decision before you enter your teens.

You may
think what I have said above is foolish; I did, too, when I was your age, but
now (at seventeen) I realize my folly. This is why I have written this short
message to you, in the earnest hope that you will enter this era of your life
which leads on to adulthood with something solid to lean on. In closing, I will
remind you that I have been through those first few years, and so I know. Make
the Lord Jesus Christ the center of your life, and you will never regret it.

Blackheath, August, 1875.

My Beloved Friends,

According to promise, I propose
now to take up the question of the Old Testament saints. In point of fact, if
the church was not formed until Pentecost, and is completed at the coming of
the Lord, the millennial saints will also be outside the church. But as all the
feeling is shown on the subject of the Old Testament class, and the principle
is the same in both cases, we will confine our attention mainly to these.

That Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and
all the saints under the old dispensation, were quickened, devoted servants of
God, and that they will share in the first resurrection, with all the believers
of this dispensation, at the coming of Christ, every instructed saint will at
once admit, because this much is plain from the word of God. But we dare not go
beyond the word, and if God has concealed from us the place in the glory which
these eminent servants of His will occupy, it is the part of piety to bow in
submission, to reverence His silence as well as His word. Moreover, it savors
not only of insubmission and irreverence, but it derogates also from the
sufferings of Christ and from the grace and work of the Spirit to maintain that
the saints who lived before the atonement was completed and before the descent
of the Holy Ghost, and who consequently had not the indwelling Spirit, are in
precisely the same position as those who live now. Besides, I hope to show you
that the Scriptures themselves make a distinction; and if so, the difficulty
ought at once to be removed.

I will cite, in the first place,
Matt. 11:11, where we read, "Among them that are born of women there hath
not risen a greater than John the Baptist:notwithstanding he that is least in
the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." It would lead us away from our
object to enter here upon a full exposition of this passage, and hence I will
content myself with calling your attention to the fact that the Lord tells us
that eminent as John the Baptist was in the position assigned him by God as the
forerunner of and the testifier to the coming Messiah, the very least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater. Be the difference what it may—a dispensational
difference, no doubt—the Lord Jesus does here make a distinction between
saints; and not only so, but in this distinction He contrasts one of the least
in the coming kingdom with one of the greatest before that time, and to the
advantage of the former.

Secondly, let us turn to Romans
3:24-26:"Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus:Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through
faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins
that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this
time His righteousness:that He might be just, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus." Now, mark at the very outset that the word remission
in the text is given as passing over in the margin, and this is the
correct translation; and this word is never used of the forgiveness of sins in
connection with faith in Christ; indeed it is not elsewhere found in the New
Testament and means, as explained in the margin, a passing by, or
pretermission. Bearing this in mind, you will perceive that we have a contrast
between the position of the Old Testament saints as to the forgiveness of sins,
and the position of believers since the death of Christ. In the former case,
their sins were passed over, or pretermitted, through the forbearance of
God; in the latter, God is said to be just and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus. Surely this is a plain distinction between Old Testament
saints and believers of the present dispensation; for sins passed over through
the forbearance of God, because of the coming sacrifice of Christ, can never
express the condition of those who, "being justified by faith . . . have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:By whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of
God" (Rom. 5:1, 2); and of those who are said to be seated "together
in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 2:6); and of those of whom the Apostle
John could say, "As He is, so are we in this world." (I John
4:1?)

We pass on now to the Hebrews;
and there we have these words:"These all" (the Old Testament
saints), "having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us
should not be made perfect." (Heb. 11:39, 40) Here also we have a
statement, as plain as language can make it, that believers in the present
dispensation receive some "better thing" than fell in the sovereignty
and grace of God to the Old Testament believers.

Having called your attention to
these direct teachings of Scripture, I will now adduce another class of
passages, in which we shall find saints in a perfected condition but outside
the church. The only thing I need to premise is that the church is the
bride of Christ. All, I should suppose, are agreed as to this. Let us then turn
to Revelation nineteen. In the seventh and eighth verses we have the wife of
the Lamb; and then, in the ninth, these words follow:"Blessed are they
which are called" (or invited; see John 2:2) "unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb." Thus we have a class spoken of who are invited; not
the wife, but the called—those who were guests at the marriage supper.

Turn again to chapter 21:
"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of
heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice
out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will
dwell with them," etc. (vv. 2, 3) In the ninth verse, this city, the holy
Jerusalem, is said to be "the bride, the Lamb’s wife"; but in the
above passage it is described also as "the tabernacle of God," and
this tabernacle is said to be with men; so that once more we have saints
in a perfected condition outside the church.

And I would also remind you,
that you have for some years professed to hold the premillennial coming of the
Lord Jesus. If you do still, then of necessity, since the church is completed
at the coming of Christ for His people (for the marriage of the Lamb is
previous to the millennial reign), the millennial saints—innumerable for
multitude—do not form part of the church; and so, in any case, a large class on
your own ground is excluded. There is no more "injustice," therefore,
done to the Old Testament saints than to the millennial believers when the
proper position and privileges of the church are maintained.

The subject however would not be
completely discussed, if we did not refer to some two or three passages which
might, at first sight, seem to have an opposite bearing. The first of these is
Matt. 8:11, 12:"And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east
and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom
of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer
darkness," etc. In the first place, if this did refer to the church,
sitting down with the patriarchs in the kingdom of heaven does not prove that
the patriarchs belonged to the church. No one, we suppose, doubts that
believers will see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom; the only question
is, Are they of the church? But it is evident that this passage says nothing of
the church. If so, how could "the children of the kingdom" be cast
out? No, Jesus speaks as the Messiah, and in this character He warns the
unbelieving Jews, that their descent from the patriarchs will avail them
nothing; that, though they were the children of those to whom the promises were
made, they would, if they rejected Him, be cast out; and that, just as the
centurion, whose servant He had healed, had pressed by faith into the
possession of blessing, so should numbers from all quarters press into the
kingdom when it should be set up, and should thus obtain, by faith, the blessed
privilege which they were now despising.

The only other passage which
occasions any difficulty is in the Epistle to the Galatians. It is as follows:
"So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham."
(Gal. 3:9) The theme of the apostle in this chapter is justification by faith;
and he shows, first, that Abraham was justified by faith (v. 6), and then that
the same principle obtains under the gospel, and consequently that every one
who is of faith is blessed with faithful, i.e. believing, Abraham. (See
also Romans 4.) The question therefore dealt with is the principle on
which God justifies, not the position into which the justified are brought; and
hence this passage does not go farther than teach that the mode in which
Abraham was justified is that in which believers now are justified; and
therefore it does not touch upon dispensational differences of any kind.

Having thus passed, though
briefly, the whole subject in review, we see that the Scriptures say nothing as
to the inclusion of the Old Testament saints in the church; and that the
Scriptures themselves make a plain distinction between the saints of the two
dispensations. At the same time we repeat that, since we know they were born of
God, quickened by the power of the Spirit through faith, they belong to Christ,
though not members of His body, and will, therefore, share in the first
resurrection together with the church. Beyond this we may not go, as the
Scriptures are silent as to the place in the glory they will occupy; and I am
sure that you, equally with myself, would be the first to reject such
speculations as are sometimes offered upon the question as to whether some
change might not be wrought upon the patriarchs’ condition after the death of
Christ, so as to bring them into the church; for, in truth, this is to fall, in
principle, into the popish error of purgatory, even though it be shorn of its
grossest features. No, our part is to accept whatever the Scriptures may teach,
and as implicitly to refuse any speculation which seeks to penetrate into the
things which God has not revealed.

But since He has taught us that
the period of the church is included between Pentecost and the coming of the
Lord, we know that the believers before and the believers after that time
cannot form part of it, cannot be members of the body of Christ. Their place
and blessing in the glory will be worthy of Him who separated them unto
Himself, and will call forth their adoration and praise, equally with ours, as
they contemplate the wondrous display of the riches of His grace in their
salvation and eternal glory.

Believe me, beloved friends,

Yours affectionately in Christ,
E. Dennett

Vol. 11 No. 6 November, 1968

ADVICE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE (By One
of Themselves)

I can well remember the days
when I approached my teens. I was filled with excitement by the adventures that
I had heard one enjoys as a teenager. I waited rather impatiently for the day
when I would enter this glorious age group and be with the "in"
crowd. On my thirteenth birthday I went around with a smile on my face and an
air of pride. In fact, I was so proud of myself I felt that I no longer needed
to listen to the counseling of those older than I. This is where I made my
biggest mistake. I hope that the advice I shall give will be helpful to those
entering their teens, and that they will follow it.

As one approaches his teens, he
should stop and think what it really means. It is a time for him to think of
seriously, for this period in his life will mold his future character. It is an
age of responsibilities, hard work, frustrations, failures, and victories. It
is during this period that the men and women of tomorrow determine what they
will be, and what type of lives they will lead.

To those who are entering their
teens, I should say that if you have not accepted Christ as your Saviour, do so
now, for without His love and guidance, you will never live the life you
should. He can be your guide, counselor, and comforter in your hours of sorrow
or joy. To embark upon this new era of your life without Him is unwise. Enter
your teens with the comforting thought and knowledge that no matter what
confronts you, you will have Him by your side.

The teens is a time when you may
decide your vocation, and you can never be happy unless you choose the right
one. If you ask Him to show you what to do, He will do so.

Every day as you look around
you, you see and hear of teenagers who have run into trouble. In fact, some
adults look upon all teenagers as "juvenile delinquents." They think
teenagers of today have become obsessed with doing everything which they know
is wrong, and with shunning the wise counseling of their elders. Make sure as
you enter your teens that you are not branded as one of these. Be in subjection
to those who are older than you, who are trying to help you, to the law, to
your conscience, and especially, to God. If you are in subjection to God, He
will help you to control your wrong desires, and to keep out of the temptation
of evil things.

I well remember when I entered
my teens, I lacked the love of God in my heart. My entire life was void. I
lived from day to day enjoying the pleasures that life had to offer — or
thinking that I enjoyed them; but I was not satisfied. Then some time later I
accepted Christ as my Lord and Saviour. My whole burden was lightened and I no
longer had an emptiness in my heart. All my troubles and frustrations could be
taken to Him with the knowledge that He would help me. I no longer desired to
do wrong, and I was happy. So from my own experience, I should advise you to
make this decision before you enter your teens.

You may think what I have said
above is foolish; I did, too, when I was your age, but now (at seventeen) I
realize my folly. This is why I have written this short message to you, in the
earnest hope that you will enter this era of your life which leads on to
adulthood with something solid to lean on. In closing, I will remind you that I
have been through those first few years, and so I know. Make the Lord Jesus
Christ the center of your life, and you will never regret it.

THE YOUNG CHRISTIAN

I cannot give it up,

The little world I know!

The innocent delights of youth,

The things I cherish so! ‘Tis
true,

I love my Lord

And want to do His will,

And oh, I may enjoy the world

And be a Christian still!

I love the hour of prayer,

I love the hymns of praise,

I love the blessed Word that
tells

Of God’s redeeming grace,

But I am human still;

And while I dwell on earth

God surely will not grudge the
hours

I spend in harmless mirth.

These things belong to youth,

And are its natural right —

My dress, my pastimes, and my
friends,

The merry and the bright.

My Father’s heart is kind;

He will not count it ill

That my small corner of the
world

Should please and hold me still.

And yet, "outside the
camp,"

‘Twas there my Saviour died!

It was the world that
cast Him forth,

And saw Him crucified.

Can I take part with those

Who nailed Him to the tree?

And where His name is never
praised

Is there the place for me?

Nay, world! I turn away,

Though thou seem’st fair and
good;

That friendly outstretched hand
of thine

Is stained with Jesus’ blood.

If in thy least device

I stoop to take a part,

All unaware, thine influence
steals

God’s presence from my heart.

I miss my Saviour’s smile

Whene’er I walk thy ways;

Thy laughter drowns the Spirit’s
voice

And chokes the springs of
praise.

If e’er I turn aside

To join thee for an hour,

The face of Christ grows blurred
and dim

And prayer has lost its power!

Farewell! Henceforth my place

Is with the Lamb who died.

My Sovereign! While I have Thy
love,

What can I want beside? Thyself,
dear Lord, art now

My free and loving choice,

"In whom, though now I see
Thee not,

Believing, I rejoice!"

Shame on me that I sought

Another joy than this,

Or dreamt a heart at rest with
Thee

Could crave for earthly bliss!

These vain and worthless things,

I put them all aside;

His goodness fills my longing soul,

And I am satisfied.

Lord Jesus! let me dwell

"Outside the camp,"
with Thee.

Since Thou art there,
then there alone

Is peace and home for me.

Thy dear reproach to bear

I’ll count my highest gain,

Till Thou return, my banished
King,

To take Thy power, and reign!

Dominion is the Son of man’s by
covenant, by personal title, by title of service or obedience, and by title of
death or purchase; and I may add, BY CONQUEST also; for the judgments which are
to clear His way to the throne and take out of the kingdom all that offends
are, as we know, executed by His hand. "Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in
battle" (Psalm 24).

What foundations are thus laid
for the dominion of the Son of man! How does every title join in subscribing
itself to His honoured and glorious name! As we see in Revelation 5, none in
heaven or earth could take the Book but the Lamb that was slain, who was the
Lion of Judah:but into His hand He that sits on the throne lets it pass at
once; and then the church in glory, angels, and all creatures in all parts of
the great dominions triumph in the Lamb’s rights and title. And if the title is
thus sure, sealed by a thousand witnesses, and wondrous too, so will be the
power and kingdom which it sustains. In the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
"the Lord from heaven," as well as "the Son of man," all
the great purpose of God in the rule of all things stands revived and
established. We may say that as "all the promises of God in Him are yea,
and in Him amen," so all the destinies of man under God are alike in Him
yea, and in Him amen. (2 Cor. 1:19-20).

There was dominion in Adam;
government in Noah; fatherhood in Abraham; judgment in David; and royalty in
Solomon. In Christ all these glories will meet and shine together. In Him, and
under Him, will be "the restitution of all things" (Acts 3:21). Many
crowns He will wear, and many names He will bear. His name of "Lord"
in Psalm 8, is not His name of "King" in Psalm 72. The form of glory
in each is peculiar. The crowns are different, but both are His. And He is
likewise "the Father of the everlasting age," a King and yet a
Father— both the Solomon and the Abraham of God. In Him all shall be blessed;
and yet to Him all shall bow. The sword, too, is His:the "rod of
iron," as well as the "sceptre of righteousness." He will judge
with David and rule with Solomon.

As Son
of David, He takes power to exercise it in a given sphere of glory. As
Son of man, He takes power, and exercises it in a wider sphere of glory.
He comes likewise in His own glory, in the glory of the Father, and in the
glory of the holy angels. And as the risen Man He takes power. This is
shown us in I Corinthians 15:23-27. And in that character He has His peculiar
sphere also. He puts death, the last enemy, under His feet. And this is so
fitting, like everything else, perfect in its place and season, that as the
risen Man He should put down death.

One day at a time, with its
failures and fears,

With its hurts and mistakes,
with its weakness and tears,

With its portion of pain and its
burden of care;

One day at a time we must meet
and must bear.

One day at a time to be patient
and strong;

To be calm under trial and sweet
under wrong;

Then its toiling shall pass and
its sorrow shall cease;

It shall darken and die, and the
night shall bring peace.

One day at a time — but the day
is so long,

And the heart is not brave, and
the soul is not strong,

O Thou pitiful Christ, be Thou
near all the way;

Give courage and patience and
strength for the day.

Swift cometh His answer, so
clear and so sweet:

"Yea, I will be with thee,
thy troubles to meet;

I will not forget thee, nor fail
thee, nor grieve;

I will not forsake thee; I never
will leave."

Not yesterday’s load we are
called on to bear,

Nor the morrow’s uncertain and
shadowy care;

Why should we look forward or
back with dismay?

Our needs, as our mercies, are
but for the day.

One day at a time, and the day
is His day;

He hath numbered its hours,
though they haste or delay.

His grace is sufficient; we walk
not alone;

As the
day, so the strength that He giveth His own.

In concluding his charge to the
children of Israel in the plains of Moab, Moses said, "The secret things
belong unto the Lord our God:but those things which are revealed belong unto
us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law"
(Deut. 29:29). The passage is often utterly misapplied and used by overcautious
souls to deter inquiring ones from delving into the deep things of God. It was
never so intended. When the great lawgiver spoke, the revealed things consisted
of what he had just rehearsed in their ears, together with the records he had
already made by the inspiration of God in the first four books of our Bibles.
"The secret things" were God’s purposes of grace which He was about
to unfold upon the manifestation of their utter failure and inability to claim
anything on the ground of the law, which they had broken from the first. All
rights were forfeited. But God had provisions of grace to be yet manifested. He
had infinite resources in Himself, to be declared when they were forced to own
that theirs were at an end.

God’s revelation of His purpose
has been gradual. In the Old Testament two objects were brought out—the woman’s
Seed, and the seed Of Abraham. Through the former, the latter were to be
blessed and to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. Beyond this, the
testimony of the prophets does not go.

As in Moses’ day, so in the days
of Malachi, the last of the prophetic line (before the coming of the preparer
of Messiah’s way), there were "secret things" which the time had not
yet come to make manifest.

The word so rendered in Deut.
29:29 is Sathar in the Hebrew, which scholars define as "absent" or
"hidden things." It does not refer to things too high for human
understanding, as it is generally supposed to mean, but things concealed, which
cannot be known unless divinely disclosed.

In the Septuagint Version,
rendering it into Greek, the translators chose the word krupta, the
plural form of kruptos, a word frequently used by our Lord in the
Gospels, and twice by the apostle Paul.  It is used in Luke 8:17, where Jesus
said, "Nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest.. “Paul uses it
in the same sense when writing of "the day when God shall judge the
secrets of men by Jesus Christ" (Rom. 2:16); as also in 1 Cor. 14:25, when
he writes of the unbeliever coming into the assembly of God, being convicted of
all and judged by all; so that he can add, "and thus are the secrets of
his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God,
and report that God is in you of a truth."

Man has his secret things—all to
be brought to light in due time. God too has His secret things, which could not
be known until He chose to reveal them.

Now the New Testament is not
only the answer to the Old (though it is that), but it is far more:it is the
unfolding of the secret things which God had purposed in His heart before the
worlds were made or the ages began to run their course.

Before entering upon an inquiry
as to the secret things thus made known in the New Testament, it will be well
to briefly notice the revealed things of the former revelation.

To man fallen, revelation came.
The first great promise was made and so accepted by Adam, in the curse
pronounced upon the serpent:"The Seed of the woman shall bruise the
serpent’s head." This is evidently "the promise of life in Christ Jesus"
made "before the age times began" (Titus 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:1,9).

To Abraham it was declared that
as the dust of the earth, the sand of the sea, and the stars of the heaven
should his seed be. He was separated from the nations to be the depository of
the promise:"In thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed."

Further revelation was made
through Moses of the Prophet to be raised up to whom all were to give heed or
perish. He outlined, too, the history of the nation. Settled in the land of Palestine by divine power, they should nevertheless be driven therefrom for
disobedience and be scattered among the Gentiles, to be a reproach and a byword
wherever they wandered. Upon repentance they would be re-established in the
land and made the head of the nations and not the tail.

The further prophets but
elaborate this, connecting the restoration with Messiah, now revealed as the
virgin’s Son, the One "whose goings forth were of old, from
everlasting," yet who was to suffer and die at the hands of men, to endure
the forsaking of God, to make reconciliation for iniquity, but to prolong His
days in resurrection and to be made the King of Israel, sitting on David’s
throne.

Through Him the believing part
of the nation would be settled in their land, and the apostate portion
destroyed. He should judge among the nations, rooting out the wicked from the
earth and bringing all the righteous into subjection to Israel.

These were the revealed things.
Their sphere of action is the earth. They have to do with an earthly people,
not a heavenly one. "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s:but the
earth hath He given to the children of men" (Ps. 115:16). This is the
invariable testimony of the Scriptures of the prophets.

Of the Church, the body of
Christ, there is no hint:the long history of Christendom is passed over in
silence. Of these things the Old Testament does not treat. Neither was it there
made known that man should be in heaven. The translations of Enoch and Elijah
were strange portents to the Jew, of which his Scriptures offered no
explanation. All these were among "the secret things" which would not
be revealed till the coming of the Just One, to be followed by His rejection
and ascension as Man to heaven.

Thus one looks in vain for the
distinctive truths of the Christian dispensation in the Old Testament. The
things there revealed refer to Israel and the nations as such, not to the
Church of which Christ is the glorified Head in heaven.

The
amazing thing is that in Christendom generally, despite the revelation of the
mysteries of God given in the last portion of our Bibles, the vast majority are
as ignorant of the once secret things as though they had not been made known.
Take the so-called Apostle’s Creed for a conclusive example. It will be found
that for almost every one of its statements the proof texts could be found in
the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. "He ascended into heaven" is
perhaps the only clause in it which the Old Testament did not make known; and
even that is more than hinted at in the 110th Psalm, and the last verse of the
5th of Hosea. True, as above noticed, it is not in these scriptures made clear
that He would be there as Man, but, connecting them with other passages in the
writings of the Prophets, there would be ground for the inference that so it
must be.

In the Epistle to the Colossians
Paul makes the statement, "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the
dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the Word of
God" (Col. 1:25). To fulfil the Word of God does not mean, as often
stated, that Paul fulfilled his ministry and was faithful in it. It means rather
that to him was given the revelation which makes full, or completes, the Word
of God. The highest and most glorious revelation which the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ has been pleased to give, He communicated through the
Apostle Paul. The two prison Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians embody
this completion of the Word of God. The Ephesian Epistle holds the place of
preeminence. The revelation which is given in this Epistle concerning believing
sinners, whom God has redeemed by the blood of His Son and exalted in Him into
the highest possible position, is by far the greatest revelation. God is
revealing His own loving heart and tells out by His Spirit how He loved us and
thought of us before the foundation of the world. He shows forth the riches of
His grace and now makes known the secret He held back in former ages. How rich
it all is! Like God Himself, so this revelation, coming from His loving heart,
is inexhaustible. We may speak of Ephesians as the rich Epistle of the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, rich in mercy, tells us of the exceeding
riches of His Grace in kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. But even this
definition does not tell out half of all the glory this wonderful document
contains. It is God’s highest and God’s best. Even God cannot say more than
what He has said in this filling full of His Word.

In the Psalms we read:"The
heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handy
work" (Ps. 19:1). We lift up our eyes and behold the wonders of God’s
creation, which He called into existence by His Son and for Him (Col. 1:16).
Here in Ephesians another heaven is opened. If the heavens of creation are so
wonderful and their depths unfathomable, how much more wonderful are the
heavenlies into which Christ has entered, where He now is seated far above all
principality and power and might and into which God’s grace has brought us in
Him!

And this brings us to the reason
for calling the opening chapters of this Epistle "the masterpiece of
God." The first three chapters of Ephesians contain the great revelation
to which we referred above. What God has accomplished in His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, to the praise of the glory of His grace—how He makes believing
sinners one with His Son, sharers of His fulness and His glory—this is the
revelation of these chapters. All was planned before the foundation of the
world, while elsewhere in these chapters (2:7) the eternity to come is
mentioned. From eternity to eternity are the boundaries of these three
chapters.

The church, the body of Christ,
the fulness of Him that filleth all in all, the one body in which believing
Jews and Gentiles are united, the building growing unto an holy temple, the
habitation of God by the Spirit, and the ultimate destiny of that body, are
further revelations of these marvelous chapters.

Now the central verse of these
chapters is found in 2:10. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should

walk in them." The word workmanship
arrests our attention. It is the Greek poiema, from which our word poem
is derived. It is a beautiful thought in itself to think of those who are
saved by grace, and united to Christ as "the poem of God." But the
word poiema may also be rendered masterpiece.

Only
once more is the same word found in the original language of the New Testament
Scriptures. In Romans 1:20 it is used in connection with the physical creation.
God has produced two great masterworks in which He manifests His power. He
called the universe into existence out of nothing. What He, as the omnipotent
One can do, is seen in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the
sustenance of His creation. His eternal power and Godhead are revealed in
creation (Rom. 1:19-20). But the creation of the universe out of nothing is not
the greatest masterpiece of God. God has done something greater. He has
produced a work, which reveals Him in a far higher degree. That greater
masterpiece is the redemption of sinners. In this greater work He manifests
also "the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when
He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly
places" (Eph. 1:17-20). God planned this great work before He ever created
the universe, and the universe was called into existence in anticipation of this
greater manifestation of God’s glorious power in the details of His masterpiece
and the mystery connected with it.

A letter was received recently
which was, certainly, of more than usual interest. Because it raises a question
that may be in the minds of others, we believe it will be most worthwhile to
share it with our readers. We quote from the letter, and then from our reply.

"I have never, until
recently, uttered a word in an assembly meeting, and very few outside of one.
Now I am situated in a place where I am responsible for the functioning of the
assembly. I have two great things before me, the weight and influence of which
I feel increasingly as I go on in the Lord’s things.

"The first thing of which I
speak is the awesome responsibility of functioning as the mouthpiece of the
assembly. The other thing is the ever-present nemesis of the Christian — the
flesh. My difficulty simply stated is that I am seldom sure that my
feelings, at such a time, are those of the Spirit guiding me and not the flesh
goading me. It is for this very reason that I have said very little if
anything. I do not feel confident that, when I do speak, it is of the Spirit,
always fearing that the motive originates in the flesh. It is subtle, and even
what begins in the Spirit may end in the flesh.

"So my question is just
this:how does one recognize the Spirit’s guidance? I may be too occupied with
the flesh, but I don’t think this is all the problem."

We quote now from our reply to
this earnest soul.

The spiritual exercises
expressed in your letter and its question are surely precious to the Lord
Jesus, and are to be highly valued in these days of general lukewarmness.

What a privilege it is—an
exceedingly high and sacred one — to exercise our priestly service in the
assembly, offering the sacrifice of praise to God, giving thanks to His Name.
Only too often have we observed a lack of appreciation and of response to the
great love of God our Father and the Lord Jesus, reflected in the assembly by
the silence of many ("Ye … are … an holy priesthood." I Peter
2:5). If one has been "feeding on the Living Bread and drinking at the
Fountainhead" through the week, the Holy Spirit will most surely arouse in
that one a spirit of praise and worship on the Lord’s Day. May God grant a
distinct and gracious revival in the hearts of those who are accustomed to be
silent at the remembrance meetings when, above all occasions, our mouths ought
to be opened in prayer and praise.

Your question of participation
relates, however, not to silence because of spiritual apathy, but uncertainty
as to the Spirit’s leading. I am sure that your basic concern (how to recognize
the guidance of the Holy Spirit) is, commensurate with our spiritual state,
shared by many. If your heart does not condemn you, if you are conscious of
nothing unjudged in your life, you have liberty and confidence in your prayers.
So the Apostle John assures us in his first Epistle, chapter three and verse
twenty-one. Can we not say, then, and believe, that the Holy Spirit will guide
us in our participation— it having been our prayerful desire prior to the
meeting.

While on the one hand our cold
hearts may, on that very account, cause our silence when we ought to be
praising, they may, being deceitful, keep us silent through excessive
introspection—our examining and analyzing our thoughts unduly. We must guard
against this.

That we may (and often, too,
perhaps) miss the Spirit’s direction; going ahead of, or behind Him—speaking
when we ought not, and not speaking when we should—we know our own hearts too
well to deny. Here, I suggest, we must count upon the mercy and grace of our
God. He knows our desires and motives. Those that are with a view to His glory
and the edification of the saints are wrought in us by the Holy Spirit. We can
fully count on Him then to help us in this area of participation in meeting.
While we should be, of course, exercised as to the Spirit’s leading, I suggest
that it is the enemy’s work to so occupy us with our tendency to act in the
flesh that we say and do nothing. We are to act and to speak in faith. In
"that day," when all will be made plain to us and divinely appraised,
there will be revealed the extent in which we really did so and participated in
the Spirit. Meanwhile, let us keep our eyes on the Lord by faith, and, whether
in the exercise of our priestly service or in ministry, let us have confidence
in the help and mercy of God our Father.

FRAGMENT

May the Saviour’s love and merit

Fill our hearts both night and
day,

And the unction of His Spirit

All our thoughts and actions
sway.

May we thus, in God confiding,

And from self-dependence free,

Find our rest—in Christ abiding—

Till
with joy Himself we see.

There is something peculiarly
touching in the manner in which the name of Epaphras is introduced to our
notice in the New Testament. The allusions to him are very brief, but very full
of meaning. He seems to have been the very stamp of man which is so much needed
at the present moment. His labors, so far as the inspired penman has recorded
them, do not seem to have been very showy or attractive. They were not calculated
to meet the human eye or elicit human praise. But oh, they were most precious
labors—peerless, priceless labors! They were the labors of the closet, labors
within the closed door, labors in the sanctuary, labors without which all
beside must prove barren and worthless. He is not placed before us by the
sacred biographer as a powerful preacher, a laborious writer, a great traveler,
which he may have been, and which are all truly valuable in their place. The
Holy Ghost, however, has not told us that Epaphras was any of the three; but
then, my reader, He has placed this singularly interesting character before us
in a manner calculated to stir the depths of our moral and spiritual being. He
has presented him to us as a man of prayer—earnest, fervent, agonizing
prayer; prayer not for himself, but for others. Let us hearken to the inspired
testimony:

"Epaphras, who is one of
you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always laboring fervently (agonizing)
for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of
God. For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that
are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis" (Col. 4:12, 13). Such was
Epaphras! Would there were hundreds like him in this our day! We are thankful
for preachers, thankful for writers, thankful for travelers in the cause of
Christ; but we want men of prayer, men of the closet, men like Epaphras. We are
happy to see men on their feet preaching Christ; happy to see them able to ply
the pen of a ready writer in the noble cause; happy to see them making their
way, in the true evangelistic spirit, into "the regions beyond";
happy to see them, in the true pastoral spirit, going again and again to visit
their brethren in every city. God forbid that we should undervalue or speak
disparagingly of such honorable services; yea, we prize them more highly than
words could convey. But then at the back of all, we want a spirit of
prayer—fervent, agonizing, persevering prayer. Without this, nothing can
prosper. A prayerless man is a sapless man. A prayerless preacher is a
profitless preacher. A prayerless writer will send forth barren pages. A
prayerless evangelist will do but little good. A prayerless pastor will have
but little food for the flock. We want men of prayer, men like Epaphras, men
whose closet walls witness their agonizing labors. These are, unquestionably,
the men for the present moment.

There are immense advantages
attending the labors of the closet, advantages quite peculiar, advantages for
those who engage in them, and advantages for those who are the subjects of
them. They are quiet, unobtrusive labors. They are carried on in retirement, in
the hallowed, soul-subduing solitude of the divine presence, outside the range
of mortal vision. How little would the Colossians have known of the loving,
earnest labors of Epaphras had the Holy Ghost not mentioned them! It is
possible that some of them might have deemed him deficient in zealous care on
their behalf; it is probable that there were persons then, as there are those
now, who would measure a man’s care or sympathy by his visits or letters. This
would be a false standard. They should see him on his knees to know the amount
of his care and sympathy. A love of travel might take me from London to Edinburgh to visit the brethren. A love of scribbling might lead me to write letters by
every mail. Nought save a love for souls, a love for Christ, could ever lead me
to agonize as Epaphras did on behalf of the people of God, "that [they]
may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God."

Again, the precious labors of
the closet demand no special gift, no peculiar talents, no pre-eminent mental
endowments. Every Christian can engage in them. A man may not have the ability
to preach, teach, write, or travel; but every man can pray. One sometimes hears
of a gift of prayer. It is not a pleasant expression. It falls gratingly on the
ear. It often means a mere fluent utterance of certain known truths which the
memory retains and the lips give forth. This is poor work to be at. This was
not the way with Epaphras. This is not what we want and long for. We want a
real spirit of prayer. We want a spirit that enters into the present need of
the Church and bears that need in persevering, fervent, believing intercession
before the throne of grace. This spirit may be exercised at all times, and
under all circumstances. Morning, noon, eventide or midnight will answer for
the closet laborer. The heart can spring upward to the throne in prayer and
supplication at any time. Our Father’s ear is ever open; His presence-chamber
is ever accessible. Come when or with what we may, He is always ready to hear,
ready to answer. He is the Hearer, the Answerer, and the Lover of importunate
prayer. He Himself has said,

"Ask . . . Seek . . .
Knock"; "Men ought always to pray, and not to faint"; "All
things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive";
"If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God." These words are of
universal application. They are intended for all God’s children. The feeblest
child of God can pray, can watch, can get an answer, and return thanks.

Furthermore, nothing is so
calculated to give one a deep interest in people as the habit of praying
constantly for them. Epaphras would be intensely interested in the Christians
at Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. His interest made him pray, and his
prayers made him interested. The more we are interested in any one, the more we
shall pray for him; the more we pray, the more interested we become. Whenever
we are drawn out in prayer for people, we are sure to rejoice in their growth
and prosperity. So, also, in reference to the unconverted. When we are led to
wait on God about them, their conversion is looked for with the deepest anxiety
and hailed, when it comes, with unfeigned thankfulness. The thought of this
should stir us up to imitate Epaphras, on whom the Holy Ghost has bestowed the
honorable epithet of "a servant of Christ," in connection with his
fervent prayers for the people of God.

Finally, the highest inducement
that can be presented to cultivate the spirit of Epaphras is the fact of its
being so directly in unison with the spirit of Christ. This is the most
elevated motive. Christ is engaged on behalf of His people. He desires that
they should "stand perfect and complete in all the will of God," and
those who are led forth in prayer in reference to this object are privileged to
enjoy high communion with the great Intercessor. How marvelous that poor,
feeble creatures down here should be permitted to pray about that which engages
the thoughts and interests of the Lord of glory! What a powerful link there was
between the heart of Epaphras and the heart of Christ when the former was
laboring for his brethren at Colosse!

Christian reader, let us ponder
the example of Epaphras. Let us imitate it. Let us fix our eyes on some Colosse
or other, and labor fervently in prayer for the Christians therein. The present
is a deeply solemn moment. Oh, for men like Epaphras — men who are willing to
labor on their knees for the cause of Christ, or to wear, if it should be so,
the noble bonds of the gospel. Such was Epaphras. We see him as a man of prayer
(Col. 4:12), and as a companion in bonds with the devoted apostle of the
Gentiles (Philemon 23).

May the Lord stir up among us a
spirit of earnest prayer and intercession. May He raise up many of those who
shall be cast in the same spiritual mold as Epaphras. These are the men for the
present need.

In Numbers seven we have the
gifts of love and free will, of hearty devotedness, which the chiefs of the
people offer for the service of the sanctuary. The one point to which attention
need now be drawn is an offering particularly for the service of the
Levites; but remarkably enough these offerings did not affect the Kohathites.
The Kohathites, whatever others might receive, carry the vessels entrusted to
them upon their own shoulders. The sons of Merari and the sons of Gershon are
presented with oxen and chariots; the Kohathites receive none. There is no such
principle as that of God balancing matters and keeping men in good temper by giving
all the same portion. If there were, it would be an end of practical grace. On
the contrary, what puts faith and love to the test is that God arranges every
one of us in a different place according to His wise and sovereign will. There
is no such thing as two alike. The consequence is that this, which becomes an
awful danger for flesh, is the sweetest exercise of grace where we are looking
to the Lord. What gracious man would feel sore with another because he was
unlike himself? On the contrary, he would take an honest and hearty joy in that
which he saw of Christ in another which he did not himself possess. Now this is
what seems to me is called into exercise by the provision for the carrying out
of the service of the Levites. The least of them had the most oxen and the most
chariots. At the same time, those who had the highest and the most precious
charge of all had to bear the vessels on their shoulders. They had much less
noise and appearance among men, but the best place, giving rise to the highest
exercises of faith. The Lord make us rejoice, not only in what He has given to
us, but in what He has withheld from us and entrusted to others!

Amid the many rumblings of
Christendom there is much stir in many quarters over what is called "the
gift of tongues" and "the baptism of the Holy Ghost." We will
occupy ourselves largely with the former since it is supposed by many to be the
evidence or proof of the latter.

We are told by responsible
sources that "speaking in tongues" has found a sizeable entrance and
tolerance in many of the "main line" denominations. These include not
only the Pentecostals and such groups characterized by emotional fervor but
Southern Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Roman Catholics, and
others. Both clergy and laity are professing these new charismatic powers. So
far all may seem far afield from the fellowship and spiritual surroundings of
most of our readers, but these "tongues" enthusiasts are nearer than
we think.

We have learned that such
"speaking in tongues" sessions have been held by some professedly
gathered simply to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though these are among
those more liberal and open in their views, we are soberly reminded of that
holy caution that "of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse
things . . ." (Acts 20:30).

Let us briefly state that every
soul truly born anew and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, His atoning death,
burial, and resurrection has received the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13). We know of
no scriptural requirement for a believer to demonstrate any charismatic powers
to prove he has the Holy Spirit. Yet, do we set aside such plain verses as
"forbid not to speak with tongues" (1 Cor. 14:39) and that our
heavenly Father will "give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him"
(Luke 11:13)? Other verses are given to support tongues activities and hence
merit our brief examination.

We are usually first referred to
Acts 2 and Peter’s messages on the day of Pentecost when, after the Holy Spirit
had baptized the believers (in answer to Lk. 11:13 above) they spoke "with
other tongues." No portion could better prove that the tongues-speaking by
the apostles was the clear repetition of Peter’s message in the various foreign
languages of the many Jews and proselytes from all over the world who had come
to Jerusalem for that great Jewish feast. (He did not speak only once, as some
suppose, and then each foreigner hears in his native dialect. That would be the
"gift of ears" in the hearers.)  It was the ignorant and unlearned
fishermen-apostles speaking in these languages they had never learned that
amazed the multitude that memorable day. Peter further declared that this is
what Joel prophesied would happen "in the last days." These
"last days" are the last days wherein Jewish prophecies would be
fulfilled in connection with the Messiah and His earthly millennial rule in
splendor, not this present day of grace. (Miraculous powers are termed
"the powers of the [age] to come" [Heb. 6:5]; and pertain to the
millennial kingdom, which God still offered to that nation if they would
receive the Lord Jesus, even though crucified and risen [Acts 3:20, 21].)  The
"last days" of this day of grace and "perilous times" of
which Paul wrote Timothy (2 Tim. 3:1) would be accompanied by apostasy and
perversion of all that is true and good, not by a renewal of the pentecostal gifts
and great blessing. In fact the present "tongues" perversion only
proves which "last days" we now witness.

Other examples in Acts, in which
the believers received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues, give no cause to
think that they spoke any of the suggested mumbo-jumbo as do the "tongues
speakers" of today. In each case they simply gave testimony to all who
were there by speaking in the necessary foreign language to reach them.

This "glossolalia"
(speech without meaning uttered in a state of ecstasy) is further defended by
misunderstandings of 1 Corinthians. It is unfortunate that the Authorized
Version has added the word "unknown" preceding the word
"tongues" in several places in 1 Corinthians 14. There is absolutely
no such word corresponding to "unknown" in the Greek text.
Furthermore, the Greek word glossa translated tongues is not proceeded
by this word unknown in other verses of the same chapter, thus adding to
the confusion.

Those who give credence to
glossolalia today deduce that an "unknown tongue" is a language not
understood by any living man—an unearthly speech. To support this they cite the
one who speaks in these "unknown tongues" as "[speaking]
mysteries" (1 Cor. 14:2). To them these mysteries are mysterious things of
the unknown realm. But the truth is wonderfully different from such thoughts.
We quote the cited verse in full. "For he that speaketh in an unknown
tongue speaketh not unto men but unto God:for no man understandeth him;
howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries" (1 Cor. 14:2). The speaker of
the tongue is simply one speaking a language in the assembly where this
language is not understood by the listeners, hence the statement that he
"speaketh . . . unto God." But since edification of the hearers is
the subject of this chapter, the foreign language is out of place, unless
translated, even though the speaker talks of mysteries.

These "mysteries,"
better translated "secrets," do not refer to knowledge withheld as in
our ordinary every day sense. These mysteries or secrets refer to divine truths
newly revealed in the New Testament. Mysteries are not the unknowable, as the
answer to an unsolvable problem nor to the unfathomable, as in theological
circles, but refer to new truths, especially those revealed to and by the Apostle
Paul himself. These include, for example, the secret that believers, both Jew
and Gentile, are united in one body of which Christ is the living Head in
heaven. These secrets were unknown and unknowable in Old Testament times but
are brought out by revelations to Paul. We would paraphrase 1 Corinthians 14:2
to mean that if a man spoke even of these lofty heavenly secrets in a language
not understood by the hearers, he would be out of order since the hearers could
not be edified.

The burden and message of 1 Cor.
14 is that the hearers be edified by Spirit-led participation that they can
understand. Yet, those who run to this chapter to support their insensible
gibberish, conduct meetings where no one understands the uttered glossolalia—no,
not even the fraudulent interpreters who sometimes attempt to translate some of
it into English.

The Apostle insists that he
would rather speak "five words with [his] understanding . . . than ten
thousand words in an unknown tongue" (1 Cor. 14:19). Yet the current
tongues movement seems to greatly prefer the ten thousand words—and these not
even of a human language, which the apostle obviously meant.

When the apostle asked the
simple question, "Do all speak with tongues?" his implied answer was
an emphatic "NO!" (1 Cor. 12:30). But those sorrowfully ensnared in
these errors suggest that we cannot truly have the Holy Spirit without the
experience of speaking hi tongues. They answer "YES!"

We have observed that with rare
exception, people taken up with "speaking in tongues" and
"asking for the Holy Spirit" do not have settled peace with God. They
are usually in error as to the sinless humanity of Christ, deny the eternal
security of the believer based on the finished work of our Lord on the cross, and
confuse Old Testament prophecies with the Church. Although they claim to be
subject to Scripture, we find that women are greatly involved in these
movements, have a prominent place in their meetings, and participate boldly
with uncovered heads!

The sin of man at Babel’s tower was the cause of God confusing the speech of man. That confusion seemed an
insurmountable barrier to spreading the gospel by those given the great
commission. How could fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James, and John ever reach
beyond the borders of Israel or preach intelligently to returned Jews from
among the dispersion without the gift of tongues? Where sin abounds since Babel’s tower, grace over abounds at Pentecost and in apostolic days by the gift of tongues
to get the message out.

Thus the Apostle Paul could say,
"I speak with tongues more than ye all" (1 Cor. 14:18) since he more
than any other was used of God to spread the good news of divine love to every
nation—and that in their own language! As the result of his preaching at
Thessalonica, the word of the Lord "sounded out . . . not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place . . ." (1 Thess. 1:8). From Corinth, in Achaia, he wrote to the Romans that since the word had been so widely spread
there, he had "no more place in these parts" (Rom. 15:23). One result
of his two years at Ephesus was "that all they which dwelt in Asia [Minor] heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks" (Acts 19:10). The
gift of languages was a real asset in those early days, but we observe that it
ceased with the apostles, its purpose being accomplished.

Since the miraculous gifts are
not with us today, one asks then if all such glossolalia is of the devil?
Perhaps not all of it is Satan-inspired, for man has the capability of imitating
what he hears and thus contributes to the confusion.

Let none construe us to
"forbid … to speak with tongues." (1 Cor. 14:39). We have heard
messages in a tongue (German) by an immigrant, translated into English in
accordance with scriptural decency and order. This is in sharp contrast to what
is being pawned on the credulous as spirituality and power in these last days
by those who "chirp and mutter" (Isa. 8:19, J.N.D. trans.).

"God
is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the
saints" (1 Cor. 14:33).

Isa. 6:9, 10

The prophecy of blindness was
uttered in the year that Uzziah died. History says that this is the year in
which Rome was founded. However, there is so much myth connected with this
event that we cannot be sure. Uzziah had a prosperous reign of fifty-two years,
and then died a leper. He had apostatized; the nation had done likewise. The
prophet pronounced the sentence which is repeated on at least three occasions
in the New Testament:Matt. 13:14, 15; John 12:39, 40; Acts 28:26, 27.

The prophet asks how long this
blindness is to last. The Lord says till the times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled. In round numbers, the time since this was written has been 2500
years, and the time has not come yet for the blindness to be lifted.

Here is the awful prophecy:

Go, and tell this people,

a. Hear ye indeed, but
understand not; and see ye indeed, but

perceive not.

b. Make the heart of this people
fat, c. and make their ears heavy, d. and shut their eyes; d. lest they see
with their eyes, c. and hear with their ears, b. and understand with their
heart, a. and convert, and be healed.

It was not long after this
prophecy was written that Israel went into captivity. Ezekiel tells us of how
the glory of God left the temple. Although the temple was rebuilt under Ezra,
we have no record that the glory of God ever came back.  Neither did Israel have a king. When their King came, they rejected Him and murdered Him. He will be
their next King some day in the future, when He comes again.

Now let us consider the New
Testament references to this prophecy.

Matt. 13:14, 15. On what
occasion was this uttered? It was on the same day that "the Pharisees went
out, and held a council against Him, how that they might destroy Him"
(12:14). This was His rejection and so was a turning point in the story, as
well as an important dispensational epoch.

John 12:39, 40. The Lord had
done many miracles among the people, but they believed not. So the Lord went
away and hid Himself from them so that this prophecy might be fulfilled. Some
of the chief rulers did believe but they were afraid to confess it for fear
that they would be put out of the synagogue. This was fear of the Pharisees.

Acts 28:26, 27. The Messiah had
been murdered, but in His last moments He had prayed for the forgiveness of His
people since they were doing it in ignorance. There was a provision in the law
for sins of ignorance. Then the Twelve proclaimed the reoffer of the King and
kingdom to those in the land. Later, Paul and those with him proclaimed the
same message out of the land, even to Gentiles who were grafted in as was
Cornelius with the object of provoking Israel to jealousy, but to no avail. In
the last of Acts Paul spoke to the last group of Jews all day, arguing from the
Scriptures concerning the King and the kingdom. But they could not agree among
themselves. So after all the repeated warnings, these words were said for the
last time. The salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles.

Awhile in the earthen vessel

The treasures of glory gleam;

in Heaven the fount eternal,

In the desert the living stream.

And looking on Christ in glory,

That glory so still, so fair,

There passes a change upon me,

Till I am as He who is there.

Then no more in the earthen
vessel

The treasure of God shall be,

But in full and unclouded
beauty,

O Lord, wilt Thou shine through
me.

Afar through the golden vessel

Will the glory of God shine
bright;

There shall be no need for the
sunshine,

For the Lamb shall be the light.

Undimmed in that wondrous
vessel,

That light of surpassing love

Shall illumine the earth in its
gladness,

And shall fill the heavens
above.

All, all in His new creation,

The glory of God shall see;

And the lamp for that light
eternal

The Lamb for the Bride shall be.

A golden lamp in the heavens,

That all may see and adore

The Lamb who was slain and who
liveth,

Who
liveth for evermore.

"What shall I do to inherit
eternal life?"

The question was framed by a
professional theologian to test the orthodoxy of the great Rabbi of Nazareth.
For evidently it was rumored that the new Teacher was telling the people of a
short road to heaven.

And the answer given was
clear—no other answer, indeed, is possible, for what a man inherits is
his by right—eternal life is the reward and goal of a perfect life on earth:a perfect
life, mark—the standard being perfect love to God and man.

And this, being so, no one but a
Pharisee or a fool could dream of inheriting eternal life; and the
practical question which concerns every one of us is whether God has provided a
way by which men who are not perfect, but sinful, can be saved. The answer to
this question is hidden in the parable by which the Lord silenced his
interrogator’s quibble, "Who is my neighbor?"

Here is the story from Luke
10:30-35. A traveler on the downward road to the city of the curse (Jericho) fell among thieves, who robbed and wounded him, and flung him down, half dead, by
the wayside. First, a priest came that way, and then a Levite, who looked at him,
and passed on. Why a priest and a Levite? Did the Lord intend to throw contempt
upon religion and the law? That is quite incredible. No, but He wished to teach
what, even after nineteen centuries of Christianity, not one person in a
thousand seems to know— that law and religion can do nothing for a ruined and
dead sinner. A sinner needs a Saviour, and so the Lord brings the
Samaritan upon the scene.

But why a Samaritan? Just
because "Jews have no dealings with Samaritans." Save as a last
resource, no Jew would accept deliverance from such a quarter. Sin not only
spells danger and death to the sinner, but it alienates the heart from God.
Nothing but a sense of utter helplessness and hopelessness will lead him to
throw himself, with abject self-renunciation, at the feet of Christ.

It is not that man by nature is
necessarily vicious or immoral. It is chiefly in the spiritual sphere
that the effects of the Eden Fall declare themselves. Under human teaching the
Fall becomes an adequate excuse for a sinful life. But the Word of God declares
that men are "without excuse." For although "they that are in
the flesh cannot please God," they can lead clean, honest, and honorable
lives. The "cannot" is not in the moral, but in the spiritual, sphere.
For "the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to
the law of God" (Rom. 8:7, 8, R.V.).

And this affords a clue to the
essential character of sin. In the lowest classes of the community sin is but
another word for crime. At a higher level in the social scale it is
regarded as equivalent to vice. And in a still higher sphere the element
of impiety is taken into account. But all this is arbitrary and false.
Crime, vice, and impiety are unquestionably sinful; but yet the most upright,
moral, and religious of men may be the greatest of sinners upon earth.

Why state this hypothetically?
It is a fact; witness the life and character of Saul of Tarsus. Were the
record not accredited by Paul the inspired apostle, we might well refuse to
believe that such blamelessness, piety, and zeal were ever attained by mortal
man. Why then does the apostle call himself the chief of sinners?  In presence
of those to whom he was well known, he could say, "I have lived before God
In all good conscience until this day" (Acts 23:1, R.V.). And with
reference to his past life, he could write, "As touching the righteousness
which is in the law, found blameless" (Philippians 3:6, R.V.).  Was this
an outburst of wild exaggeration of the kind to which pious folk of an
hysterical turn are addicted? It was the sober acknowledgment of the well-known
principle that privilege increases responsibility and deepens guilt.

According to the "humanity
gospel," which is to-day supplanting the Gospel of Christ in so many
pulpits, Paul was a model saint. In the judgment of God he was a model sinner.
And just because he had, as judged by men, attained pre-eminence in saintship,
divine grace taught him to own his preeminence in sin. With all his zeal for
God and fancied godliness, he awoke to find that he was a blasphemer. And what
a blasphemer! Who would care a straw what a Jerusalem mob thought of the Rabbi
of Nazareth? But who would not be influenced by the opinion of Gamaliel’s great
disciple?

An infidel has said that
"Thou shalt not steal" is merely the language of the hog in the
clover to warn off the hogs outside the fence. And this reproach attaches to
all mere human conceptions of sin. Men judge of sin by its results and their
estimate of its results is colored by their own interests. But all such
conceptions of sin are inadequate. Definitions are rare in Scripture, but sin
is there defined for us. It may show itself in transgression, or in failing to
come up to a standard. But essentially it is lawlessness; which means, not
transgression of law, nor absence of law, but revolt against law—in a word,
self-will. This is the very essence of sin. The perfect life was the life of
Him who never did His own will, but only and always the will of God. All that
is short of this, or different from this, is characterized as sin.

And here it is not a question of
acts merely, but of the mind and heart. Man’s whole nature is at fault. Even
human law recognizes this principle. In the case of ordinary crime we take the
rough and ready method of dealing with men for what they do. But not so in
crime of the highest kind. Treason consists in the hidden thought of the heart.
Overt acts of disloyalty or violence are not the crime, but merely the evidence
of the crime. The crime is the purpose of which such acts give proof. Men
cannot read the heart; they can judge of the purpose only by words and acts.
But it is not so with God. In His sight the treason of the human heart is
manifest, and no outward acts are needed to declare it.

The truest test of a man is not
conduct, but character; not what he does, but what he is. Human judgment must,
of course, be guided by a man’s acts and words. But God is not thus limited.
Man judges character by conduct; God judges conduct by character. Therefore it
is that "what is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of
God."

And this brings us back to the
case of Paul. Under the influence of environment, and following his natural
bent, he took to religion as another man might take to vice. Religion was his
specialty. And the result was a splendid success. Here was the case of a man
who really did his best, and whose "best" was a record achievement.
But what was God’s judgment of it all? What was his own, when he came to look
back on it from the cross of Christ? Surveying the innumerable hosts of the
sinners of mankind, he says, "of whom I am chief." And this,
as already urged, because his unrivaled "proficiency" in religion had
raised him to the very highest pinnacle of privilege and responsibility, and
thus proved him to be the wickedest and worst of men.

"But I obtained
mercy," he adds. Not because he had sinned "ignorantly in
unbelief"; for that plea counts for nothing here, though it led the Lord
to extend further mercy to him on his repentance. He was twice granted
mercy:first in receiving salvation, and next in being called to
the apostle-ship; for it is not God’s way to put blasphemers into the ministry.
But the mercy of his salvation was only and altogether because "Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (I Timothy 1:15). He had no
other plea.

The Apostle Paul’s case only
illustrates the principle of divine judgment, as proclaimed by the Lord Himself
in language of awful solemnity. The most terrible doom recorded in Old
Testament history was that which engulfed the cities of the plain. Yet the Lord
declared that a still direr doom awaited the cities which had been specially
favored by His presence and ministry on earth. The sin of Sodom we know. But
what had Capernaum done? Religion flourished there. It was "exalted to
heaven" by privilege, and there is no suggestion that evil practices
prevailed. The exponents of the "humanity gospel," now in popular
favor, would have deemed it a model community. They would tell us, moreover,
that if Sodom was really destroyed by a storm of fire and brimstone, it was
Jewish ignorance which attributed the catastrophe to their cruel Jehovah God.
The kind, good Jesus of their enlightened theology would have far
different thoughts about Capernaum!

"But I say unto you,"
was the Lord’s last warning to that seemingly happy and peaceful community,
"it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment,
than for thee" (Matt. 11:24).

What, then, we may well ask, had
Capernaum done? So far, as the record tells us, absolutely nothing. Had there
been flagrant immorality, or active hostility, the Lord would not have made His
home there; nor would it have come to be called "His own city"
(Matthew 4:13; 9:1; cf. Mark 2:1). And had there been aggressive
unbelief, the "mighty works" which He wrought so lavishly among its
people would have been restrained. Thoroughly respectable and religious folk
they evidently were. But "they repented not"; that was all.

That such people should be
deemed guiltier than Sodom, and that the champion religionist of His own age
should rank as the greatest sinner of any age:here is an enigma that is
insoluble if we ignore the Eden Fall—that "degrading dogma," as it is
now called, of the corruption of our nature—and the teaching of Scripture as to
the essential character of sin. It was not that these men, knowing God,
rejected Him, but that they did not know Him. "He was in the world, and
the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." "But,"
the record adds, "as many as received Him, to them gave He the right to
become children of God." On receiving Him, or, in other words, on
believing on His name, they were "born of God" (John 1:10-13, R-V.).

If sin were merely a matter of
wrong-doing, if it was not "in the blood," if our very nature was not
spiritually corrupt and depraved by it, a new birth would be unnecessary. A
blind man does not see things in a wrong light; he cannot see them at all. And
man by nature is spiritually blind. He "cannot see the Kingdom of God," much less enter it. He must be born again.

But there is more in sin than
this. It not only depraves the sinner, but it brings him under judgment. Guilt
attaches to it. Salvation, therefore, must be through redemption, and
redemption can only be by blood.

The Scofield Reference Bible
definitely recognizes the divided state of Christendom; it tacitly, but
unquestionably, endorses the continuation thereof; in so many words it exalts
the leadership that keeps up such a condition; it so presents matters in the
various "helps" that the practical effect is to read Scripture
promises and provisions into the various human systems and thus perpetuate
their domination of the sadly divided children of God. It recognizes
"declension," "apostasy," etc., but fails to promote
exercise that would lead souls out of unscriptural associations and into those
that please God.

Mr. John Nelson Darby left the
Church of England (Episcopal) because "it was not the church of God" (I quote from memory). He had discovered, from the Word of God, that it did
not represent "the primitive church order" (to use the Scofield
Edition language). This was some 80 years prior to the appearance of the volume
we are considering. We would naturally expect that one who had done so would
wish to be associated with that which answered to the requirements of
Scripture; and so he sought to walk thereafter; and so he ministered.

For a time, Mr. Scofield was
contemporary with Mr. Darby, more largely with William Kelly, C. H. Mackintosh,
and F. W. Grant, not to speak of those who wrote less voluminously. The printed
ministries of these just mentioned and of others who testified to the same
effect were completed prior to the issuance of the Scofield Bible. The
existence of these writings, as well as of the assemblies formed by the
"recovered truths" expounded therein, must have been known to Mr.
Scofield. The recognition (in the "Introduction") of "Mr. Walter
Scott, the eminent Bible teacher," proves that Mr. Scofield was aware of
these facts. (That Mr. Scott eventually — I do not know the date — left the
path and spent his last years in independency, does not alter the force of the
above).

The omission (from his
"helps") of this testimony, while he owns the period was one of
unprecedented Bible study, is most solemn. The irresistible conclusion is that
it was deliberate. The path to which special attention was just then called by
a sustained activity of the Holy Spirit unparalleled in the history of the
church — this path is rejected for themselves, by these Editors; and that which
would give the readers knowledge of it is omitted.

If this is not so, let it be
shown where it is presented and then how it is exemplified by the men whose
labors we are reviewing herein as touching this matter.

No one would claim that the
omission is through ignorance; we are dealing with what was produced by able,
informed men. Nor is it that this matter lies outside the sphere contemplated
in the volume. Rather, the omission represents what these men desired to
do—their will. It was done, too with mutual understanding. They united, thus,
to keep God’s people divided.

The "Introduction"
observes that the "vast literature" on Bible study is generally
"inaccessible." The Editor has summarized, arranged, condensed it.
Alas! in the process, that with which the Spirit began (whether initially at
Pentecost, or early in the past century as a revived testimony—namely, the
unity of the saints in the assembly) has disappeared!

I am able to bear witness to the
effect of this. First I learned dispensational truths. As time went on, I
passed through exercises regarding objectionable things with which I found
myself identified in human systems. Only at the last did I come to what God
began with—the unity of His people, the place where "brethren" began.
I then had to extricate myself from the confusion involved in the human
principles which had been recommended to me by their being connected with
various good doctrines. This in turn was linked with the matter of attachment
to personalities—some of them the very men responsible for the Scofield Bible
"helps." But for the delivering grace of God, I do not see that I could
ever have become separate from the men and the realm with which my joys and
progress in Christian experience were so connected.

Oh, that these men had acted
upon the truth (assembly truth) for themselves and taught it fearlessly,
faithfully, fully, lovingly, even though reproach was attached thereto! Then
the Scofield Bible could never have become so popular. Oh, that their
condensing had not turned into dispensing with assembly truth in practice!

What a blessing they might have
been in this respect! What a responsibility is theirs for presenting so
laborious a work with the claim that it is complete, and then omitting that
which was so distinctly the Spirit’s special activity during the preceding eighty
years! When the Lord acts to bring a line of truth out into marked prominence,
it is because it is needed. There are souls that want it and are ready for it.
They have a right to it. How sad that many, confessedly unable to investigate
the details of these things for themselves, should be deprived of them by the
very men whom they trust to give them all they need, and who ask to be trusted
to do that!

Yes, there are many precious
truths in the "helps"; no question is raised as to that. But, a work
must be estimated according to what it fails to say which ought to be said, as
well as according to what it does say. (To be continued.)

Summer is a good time for sowing
the seed. Car windows in parking lots are often open and a tract may be slipped
in. We do not recommend that tracts be put under windshield wipers or
other places where they might become a litter problem.

"Just Over the Hill,"
"Only One Way," and "Where are You Headed?" are good titles
for highway travelers. In the light of recent events we suggest "God Hath
Spoken" and "Is This World All That is Worth Living For?" And
"The Great Election Day" will be especially appropriate into
November. All are obtainable from the Publishers.

We are soon to reprint the
pamphlets "The Lord’s Dealings with the Convict Daniel Mann," by P.
J. L. and "The Assembly of God or, The All-Sufficiency of the Name of
Jesus," by C. H. M. These have been long out of print, but will soon be
available, Lord willing, from J. L. Canner. (See back page.)

FRAGMENT "He that goeth forth
and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him."