(Continued from page 20.)

The defect in Mr. McC.'s ideal of the fulness of the I Spirit is seen, also, in another way. We should expect in one who is seeking for himself and for the saints a higher plane of practical life, an approximation at least to the example of the apostle Paul. For instance, in the epistle to the Ephesians he sets before us the truth concerning Christ set at the head of all things in heaven and earth, and of our inheriting all this vast domain in Him, 1:e., jointly with Him, and then prays (chap. 1:16-18) that the spirit of this truth, of this "wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him "-the full knowledge of Christ thus bestowed upon us, may be given to us to be the enlightenment of the "eyes of our hearts" to enable us to realize the " hope of our calling." The reader of Mr. McC.'s books will look in vain for anything of this. There is not so much as a hint that he knows such truth has been given us. Of course, if he does not know it, he cannot insist on it as being a part of the "fulness of the Spirit." If we turn to Col. 1:9-11, we learn that the saints need to be " filled" with this knowledge in order to " walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing," to bear fruit "in every good work," to grow by the "full knowledge of God":and, further, to find in this knowledge a power-the power of that sphere of glory of which Christ is the center-adequate to sustain in patient endurance in the midst of the trials inseparably connected with the path to the hope set before us. How defective is the teaching of Mr. McC. in the light of this! How far short of the " fulness of the Spirit" his ideal comes! What a loss, to give up the scriptural ideal for his ! In his system we may have some knowledge of Christ, but not "full knowledge." Under his system we may have enough wisdom by which to please the Lord in some things, but not in "all things." In that truth which the apostle speaks of as completing the word of God (Col. 1:25), filling out the list of its subjects, we have a wisdom adequate to enable us to " walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing." Under his system there may be bearing fruit in some good works, but the scriptural system furnishes us for bearing fruit " in every good work."

I am not saying whether any one does, or ever did, walk unto "all pleasing," or bear fruit in "every good work." That is not the point. Mr. McC.'s system does not furnish for this, but the system of Scripture does. The failure of those who believe in it is not because of any defect in the wisdom it furnishes, but in their dependence upon it. But it is important to have the right furnishing, and this Mr. McC.'s teaching does not supply.

Other scriptures might be quoted to still further show the insufficiency of the teaching we are considering, but considerations of time and space forbid. Besides, it is not necessary:it would only be accumulative evidence. But we have shown that Mr. McC.'s ideal pf the Christian life is deficient. It is not God's ideal as revealed in His Word.

We further judge that the teaching is dangerous. It holds out delusive and false hopes. It presents the hope of the "whole life" being " brought into that perfect alignment with God's will for us which makes not only isolated acts, hut the whole course of our life, always well pleasing unto Him and a constant joy to ourselves."- "The Surrendered Life," page 13. (Italics are mine.)

"The whole course of our life" "a constant joy to ourselves " ! How easily possible this, if we are ignorant of God's ideal, and fancy we have attained our own! But are we sure we are "always well pleasing unto" God? Ah, that is a different matter. Will He not hold us responsible to learn what His ideal is ? Can He be pleased with our lives when they are so far below the level of His own ideal, or with our ignorance that permits us to be so self-satisfied? Surely not. Then the hope held out in Mr. McC.'s teaching is a delusive hope. The effect of it will be to turn the feet from the true scriptural path into one in which, while there is the promise of a high plane of spiritual life, and a "course" of life that is "a constant joy," there is, notwithstanding, no apprehension of the truth of which Paul was "made the minister." Such a teaching cannot be sanctifying. Our Lord teaches in John 17:17 that it is through the truth we are to be sanctified. A system like this, which at least ignores essential and important truth, must fail of sanctifying its adherents. It may enable them to be satisfied with their practical lives, to constantly look at them with elation and joy, though they are barren of all the fruit that depends upon the knowledge of Christ as Head over all things and their relationship to Him as such. The fruit of the knowledge of the mystery of which Paul was the minister-Christ and the Church-is this to be abandoned ?. Are we to give up in practice those ways that this truth teaches us ? Are we to be satisfied with our lives, find them " a constant joy," while we are walking in disobedience to the truth of Christ as Head of His body? Are we to consider we have attained to the "fulness of the Spirit," and yet be lacking in so much? Plainly, this teaching is erroneous, and dangerous. It is destructive, hides the truth, and robs the soul!

Mr. McC. has not thought it necessary to enter upon the subject of growth. He makes certain statements, however, which make it clear that his ideas on the subject are not in accordance with Scripture. I invite the reader to study well certain utterances of the word of God on this matter, because it is very important to be clear about it. I will turn first to i Peter 2:2. "As new-born babes, desire the sincere" (unadulterated) "milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby." It is evident the apostle desired to see growth in the saints, But this is not all. It is also manifest that his idea of the way in which we are to grow is by drinking in the pure word of God. Growth, then, is growth in the ap-prehension and enjoyment of the Word which God has given us. It is not that certain parts of the Word only belonged to us yesterday, and then, because we have surrendered, certain other parts become ours today. Every ord God has spoken is ours, and ours, too, from the moment we first believe. We have not understood it all, we have not realized all that is expressed by these divine statements; but as we have fed on the words of God, studied them and meditated on them, the Spirit in us, having full knowledge, has given us enlarged under-standing. He has deepened in us the enjoyment of the truth that we have received from God. He has been in us all the time with the fulness of His own knowledge; and as we have listened to His voice, drunk the waters He gives, fed on the words of God as He ministers them to us, He has increased our enjoyment of what He enjoys fully, and deepened our sense of what He perfectly knows. Growth thus has been growth in the fulness of the Spirit. It is not that our inheritance has enlarged, but we have enlarged in it:it is not that our fountain has been augmented; but we have learned to drink in with an augmented measure. But let us look at another passage.2 Peter 1:5-7 is known as a passage treating of growth."And be-sides this, giving all diligence, add to " (or, perhaps, bet-ter, have in) " your faith virtue," and so on. Now the idea here is development, not accretion. The bud con-ins the flower. As the bud develops, the flower is manifested. So faith that is given of God has in it, potentially, what at first has little or no manifestation; but, nourished by the word of God, it enlarges, like the bud, through internal activities, until it unfolds to display its beauteous characteristics. These characteristics are in the faith that introduces us into those things in which we are " partakers " with God. They " abound" more or less in all who believe. The being neither "barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" is in the measure in which they abound, but the measure of their abounding depends on the measure in which we are nourished by the " great and precious promises; " that is, the word of God, in which we have the knowledge of God-the God who has " called us by glory and virtue." It is, then, as the knowledge of God deepens in our souls that the characteristics of faith are developed. So, then, growth is in the word of God. But this, as we have already remarked, belongs to every believer. The entire word of God has been given to him, and the Spirit, who has perfect divine knowledge of every word that has proceeded from the mouth of God, is dwelling in him. The fulness of the Spirit, then, is always with the Spirit, who dwells in the body of the believer, but the believer grows in the apprehension of that fulness. The sense of it deepens in his soul as he drinks in the Spirit's gracious ministries.

Let us turn now to Col. 1:10, where we read of "increasing in," or rather by, " the knowledge of God." We have already seen that the revelation of " the mystery of " the will of God concerning Christ completes our equipment for walking " worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing," and"being fruitful in every good work."It is the knowledge contained in this revelation that gives that full knowledge "in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" that we need in order to be completely furnished for the path the will of God has appointed us. It is the knowledge of God, of His thoughts, mind and will, concerning Christ. Now this knowledge we have in the word of God-the written word of God. By this knowledge we increase. Increase in what? In walking " worthy" and in "being fruitful," clearly. But that means that the more we grow in the knowledge of God the greater will our apprehension be of that which is the only means by which we can " walk worthy of the Lord" and be " fruitful in every good work; "and as our apprehension deepens, we increase in walking worthy and in fruitfulness. Thus it is that we increase "by the knowledge of God."But here again we see that growth is growth in the word of God. It is growth, therefore, in that which is in the hands of the Spirit in divine fulness. There is never any deficiency in His possession of the word of God or in His knowledge and enjoyment of it. He is in us, and, from the very first of His being in us, fully equipped to fill us with His own fulness. We have seen why we are not always filled. We sometimes cease drinking of His water, or drink too sparingly. But the more continuously we drink, and the larger the droughts we take, the more we find ourselves deepening in the sense of what is already ours, and the deeper is our joy in Him. Growth is thus in the knowledge of God, and this is by growing in the knowledge of His Word.

It is because this is so that we are told to " grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). But where do we find this knowledge of "grace" and of "the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" ? Nowhere except in the written Word. To grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, we must grow in the Word. It is always by the Word-the pure word of God.

It scarcely needs that we should consider other passages, such as, "I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment," or intelligence (Phil. 1:9);and " The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another and toward all men" (i Thess. 3:12), and many more of similar character. It should be perfectly clear that these desires of the apostle are only realized in us as we grow in the apprehension and intelligence of the word of God. C. Crain.

(To be continued.)