In the thirteenth chapter of John we find the Lord full of the thought of going to the Father:"Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hand, and that He was come from God and went to God;" and "knowing that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." Full of these thoughts and of this love, He expresses the desire of His heart in their behalf in an action the significance of which they were afterward to apprehend. According to His own words at the time, it represented what was necessary that they should have " part with Him " (5:8),-that is, communion. Part in Him they had already; part with Him was to be maintained and insured by that which He signified in this wonder of lowly condescension upon His part, when " He poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded."
Water-washing in its spiritual reality is " by the Word," as the apostle tells us (Eph. 5:26). Hence the significance of this action is simple for us. The Word of God must have its power over our life and walk, that we may be able to enjoy the intimacy with Him to which He has called us. Grace can never dispense with the necessity of this, but enables us for it:" grace and truth have come by Jesus Christ." Thus only is our deliverance in full reality accomplished:our hearts brought back to God, now as never before known, our feet to walk with Him in the liberty of His blessed will.
But what we want to realize in this picture before us is, that it is He Himself in whose hand the water and towel are. The Word itself, apart from His living presence, will have no real efficacy. He must apply it to us:" If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me." Our feet must be in His hand, yielded to Him. It is not at all that we are to judge our ways according to our apprehension of the Word and its requirements, but He must interpret and apply the Word. We must be with Him about it; and if with Him, then seeking no compromise, but that He tell us all the truth:He, Master and Lord of all; and we, absolutely and implicitly subject to Him.
In what unupbraiding grace-yea, in what tenderness of a perfect and holy love He will do all this, let the narrative here assure us. And we all, have we not known the chastened joy of moments such as these, when, searched out in His presence, we realized the faithfulness of so great a Friend, and felt how His love was claiming and cleansing and delivering us for Himself? Surely every Christian heart has known these. But we want to be given up wholly to this soliciting of divine grace; and what would not be the blessing of it!
The action of the thirteenth of John is not the remedy for declension or failure merely, and we shall lose immensely if we limit it to this. It is rather the perpetual provision for daily need. We want day by day to be in quiet retirement thus with Him, opening our hearts to the light as the flower opens its petals to the sun. " He that doeth truth cometh to the light." It is thus the life that is ours unfolds and declares itself. Faith becomes mature, and love contemplates and embraces its object. Alas! the superficiality and lightness of the times are seen in the little apprehension of the need even of this:little retirement, little examination of one's ways before God, little intimacy with Him. Surely we want to be reminded of the words of the apostle, "Holding faith and a good conscience, which some hiving put away, have made shipwreck concerning faith."
4.-THE CHURCH AND THE INDIVIDUAL.
The maintenance of conscience being thus of such necessity to the whole spiritual life of the believer, it deserves now to be considered how it is to be accomplished amid the complication with the duties of relationships in which we stand to one another. It is evident how often here individual responsibility is forgotten and individual conscience given up, as it is thought; in necessary . sacrifice to the consciences, or even to the want of conscience on the part of those with whom we are associated, whether by our own wills or by God's, in Church-relationship. How then does Scripture speak as to this? How is our individuality to be preserved in harmony with such place and connection ?
And here the question cannot be ignored or escaped from, Is Church-relationship a matter of one's own will, or God's? It is rightly of God's only. The Church is Christ's body; membership in that, the only membership that Scripture owns. No doubt it is a day of confusion, and the Church as a practical gathering together of the members as such is not to be found. We have now sects in which these are scattered, and by which they are scattered. Still it is practicable for those who own only the body of Christ to gather together in this character; and such a gathering cannot be a sect. Nor is this unimportant to the point before us, for if man's will be allowed in the very first place to define the circle and the terms' of our association with others, it will be of necessity admitted a certain place in all that connects itself with this; and how large a place who shall say?
The Word of God is given thoroughly to furnish us unto all good works, and certainly could not omit such a matter as this. Simple enough, too, it all is:our circle, that of all God's saints; the terms of our association, mutual subjection to our Head and Lord. Here there can be no bondage and no compromise:the exercise Of conscience and freedom for it are alike secured.
With a circle less or other than this, the terms must be a human creed, confession, formulary, compact of some sort. Conscience is then bound to the confession,-1:e., not to the Word of God as such, even were the confession wholly scriptural. Thus even the scripturalness of the creed does not give the conscience its rightful fealty. But if it be unscriptural, then the conscience is bound as much to maintain the error as the truth; and where practical laxity in this respect may be winked at, this (as laxity) is scarce more favorable to real godliness of walk.
Where, with the code adopted, a governing body regulates as to ministry, etc., appointing sphere of work and character of service, and where between minister and people the common stipendiary engagement of the day exists, the conscience is more and more fettered and perverted. The simple being before God becomes impossible. I grant that Scripture being supposed to sanction this system enables a good conscience to be retained. Yet the results of it will be found, in proportion to the real exercise of this before God, in constant embarrassment and perplexity; until, there being no end, at last the yoke is wearily acquiesced in without effort to escape.
The blessedness of truth is that it brings to God, and establishes in the holy liberty of His presence. Thus, how simple and blessed is the thought of Scripture, " As every man hath received the gift, so let him minister the same, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God"! To serve with whatever I have is my privilege; and that is my duty also. I dare go to no one to ask for leave to serve, or to have my sphere of service defined to me. All this must be ascertained between my Master and myself, and He will recognize my service and sustain me in it. Here, faith is necessary at every step, and a good conscience necessary to faith.
Wherever ecclesiasticism comes in, the individual conscience is oppressed or ignored. And this is quite as true of its republican as of its aristocratic or monarchial forms. God's Church is none of these:it is a pure theocracy. No head but Christ, no authority save His Word, no power save that of His Spirit. Alas! it is no wonder that for aught but faith this should be confusion. And wherever faith is not in exercise, confusion will in fact soon be found. God values no mere external order where it is not the product of His Spirit; and where mere external order is, the action of the Spirit may be first of all to break this up. This often causes His work to be in suspicion even among Christians. For practical faith and exercised consciences are after all how little to be found among, the people of God! It is complained of as a strange and terrible thing if, according to His word, the truth of Christ divides the members of a family. But in fact how little is this seen, compared with what would be if souls were real! Too commonly, and as a matter of course, the power of nature is more exhibited in a time of testing than the power of the Spirit or the Word. Wives go with husbands, children with parents, friends with friends, assemblies as a whole, swayed by the power of some master-spirit, move submissively hither and thither, be the direction right or wrong. But in God's path really nothing but faith is found. Lot was no Abraham when he walked with Abraham. And thus God allows often sifting to go on, and more breaking up to come, when we were fain to hope all was now set right and we, were past the need of it.
But for faith there is no path but God's, be it smooth or rough:its roughness is better than the smoothest that could be found elsewhere. The blow of the flail is only blessing to God's wheat, and stormy wind fulfills but His word; the north wind, no less than the south, causes the spices of His garden to flow out. What has been the path of His people ever? Where is the truth that does not first bring conflict? And when this ceases, and it is received without this, it will be found to be received as tradition, not properly as truth at all.
The importance of maintaining the individuality of conscience cannot, then, be insisted on too strongly. We can never rightly devolve its guidance upon any man or set of men, upon any leaders however gifted, upon any unanimity of the church or churches. God has claim to be heard, apart from all this, and is ready to make His voice heard in my soul. The maintenance of conscience means the maintenance of His sole supremacy; and to give up my conscience to another is to worship Him in His deputy. But He has none; and the attempt is real and essential idolatry; while to . give up conscience for the sake of peace is to choose peace with Satan and with Him conflict.
The truth, not conscience, is authoritative for the soul; but the conscience is the recipient and the guard of the truth.