(Continued from page 248.)

THREE-FOLD APOSTASY.

"Woe to them! because they have gone in the way of Cain, and given themselves up to the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core [Korah] " (ver. 11).

Three-fold is the apostasy here treated of. I propose to take up the distinct phases, brought here to our notice so solemnly, under three separate heads, and so direct attention first to

"The Way of Cain."

Strictly speaking there are but two religions in the world;*-the true, that of God's appointing; the false, the product of man's own mind. *See a gospel volume, by the same writer, "The Only Two Religions, and Other Papers." Paper covers, 20 cents.; cloth, 50 cents. Same publishers.* The first is the religion of faith; the second that of credulity or superstition, in whatever form it may appear.

In the beginning God made known to guilty man the truth that death and judgment were his rightful portion, only to be averted by the sacrifice of the glorious Seed of the woman, who in the fulness of time should appear as the sinner's Saviour, bruising the serpent's head, though Himself wounded in the heel. This was the primeval revelation. In accordance there with, faith taught those in whose souls grace had wrought, the propriety of approaching God, the Holy One, on the ground of sacrifice; each bleeding victim pointing on to Him who was to be made sin that guilty men might be delivered from their sins and stand before the throne of the Most High uncondemned. Therefore we read,".By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts:and by it, he being dead, yet speaketh " (Heb. 11:4). Mark, it was not by intuition, but by faith- through a revelation apprehending the mind of God-Abel offered. He brought that which told of a life forfeited-a sinless substitute, whose vicarious death could be placed over against the desert of the guilty one. Of this the lamb out of the flock speaks loudly, though he who offered it has long been numbered with the dead in Christ.

This is the pith and marrow of the gospel, "Christ died for the ungodly." " He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed." "It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." Everywhere in Scripture the same testimony is given, for "without shedding of blood there is no remission."

Now this is exactly what, in principle, Cain denied. He brought an offering to God according to the promptings of his own heart, "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked," as is the heart of every natural man. His sacrifice seemed fair and lovely:the fruits of the ground, wrung therefrom by toil and travail. But there was no recognition of the true character of sin and its desert. God's sentence of death on account of sin is refused; therefore no life is given, no blood is brought. This
is natural religion as opposed to what has been revealed. The fruits presented picture well man's effort in all that is fairest in character-building, all that is loveliest in man's attainment;-beautiful indeed if seen to be the fruit of divine grace already known in the soul; but of no avail whatever to meet the claims of divine justice, to purge the conscience and cleanse the soul from the stain of sin. It is surely plain, then, that "the way of Cain" is a most comprehensive title, embracing every form of religious teaching, ceremony, or cult that ignores the need of the vicarious atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Whether it be the substitution of rites and ceremonies for simple faith in Him who died upon the cross, as is so frequently the case in Romanist or heathen communions; or whether it be the subtle and refined speculations of modern religio-meta-physical systems (denominated Theosophy, New Thought, Christian Science, Rationalism and so on, ad lib.), which all tend to deify man in his own estimation and free him from what is held to be "the degrading thought" that he is a sinner needing a Saviour;-all spring from one and the same thing, the pride of the human heart which substitutes the notions of the unregenerate mind for the revealed truth of the word of God. All are but different forms of the one common human religion -the way of Cain-and can only lead their deluded followers to share Cain's doom.

The vaunted new religion of Prof. Elliott is as old as the fallen creation. It was first pictured in the fig-leaf garments of Adam and Eve; then crystalized, as it were, in the offering of Cain; and every
sinner too proud to own his guilt and trust the atoning sacrifice of the Christ of God has been an adherent of it, whatever form his superstition may have taken.

Back to the way of Cain are thousands turning who once professed to have an interest in the blood of Christ. Counting that blood a common thing, as the blood of a mere martyr for righteousness' sake and liberty of conscience, they trample beneath their feet its atoning value, and haughtily dare to approach the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth Eternity with the fruits and flowers of nature, boasting in what would be the occasion of their deepest repentance if they had received the love of the truth that they might be saved.

So with readiness, refusing the ministry of the Holy Spirit they give themselves up to

" The Error of Balaam."

Of the false prophet who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the people of Israel, we read three times in the New Testament. In a passage very nearly similar to the one before us, Peter writes of "the way of Balaam" (2 Pet. 2:15). The glorified Christ, in the Apocalypse (2:14) speaks of "the doctrine of Balaam," and Jude, here, mentions his error. That the three are most intimately related is self-evident. Out of his error sprang both his way and his doctrine. He was a striking example of those who suppose that the object of godliness is to make gain, and who consider it a right and proper thing that religion should be used to minister to one's personal advantage. Leo the Tenth was a true disciple of Balaam when he exclaimed to his cardinals, "What a profitable thing this myth about Jesus Christ has been to us! " And every person, of whatever sect or system, or perchance outside of all such, has followed after the error of Balaam who enters upon the dispensing of religious mysteries with a view to financial or other emolument.

Balaam's history, as recorded in the book of Numbers is an intensely solemn one. He "loved the wages of unrighteousness" while professedly a prophet of God, he endeavored to prostitute his sacred office to the accumulation of wealth. At times, deterred by fear, again by a sense of the proprieties, he yet persists in the effort to either curse or seduce the people of God for his own advantage. He stands before us branded on the page of inspiration as one who, for temporary profit, would stifle his own convictions and lead astray those directed by him.

The same dreadful error is at the bottom of the vast majority of evil systems being at present propagated by zealous workers. Which of them would exist for a month if it were not for the baneful influence of gold ? Try to imagine modern faddists giving freely what they profess to believe is divine; suffering uncomplainingly, in order to carry their false gospels to the ends of the earth; dying triumphantly to seal their testimony in blood, as did the early Christians, and as do many godly and zealous believers still!

Let the mind range o'er the whole host of heterodox sects:the golden spell of mammon is upon nearly every one. And in all human systems, however orthodox outwardly, where the Word of truth is departed from, the same potent spell assumes control of preachers and teachers whose lips should keep knowledge, and whose hearts should be free from covetousness.

This it is that leads to the effort to please, not God, but men. Smooth things are prophesied; offensive truths to ticklish ears are scarcely touched upon, or altogether avoided, and all in order that the purse strings of the ungodly may be loosened and the ministry be made a profitable and honorable occupation.

Of old, Christ's servants went forth in simple dependence upon Himself, for His name's sake, "taking nothing of the Gentiles," Elisha-like, they refused anything that looked like payment tendered for the gift of God. Abraham-like, they would not be enriched by Sodom's king. Peter-like, they spurned the money of the unworthy that no evil taint might be upon their ministry, nor a salve be put upon the sinner's conscience. But it is far otherwise with the popular apostles of a Christless religion. Gehazi-like, they would run after every healed Naaman and beg or demand a fee. Lot-like, they pitch their tent towards, then build a house in, Sodom, and under Sodom's patronage. Like Simon Magus, whose very name gives title to this most odious of all sins, they practice their simony unblushingly and think indeed that the gift of God can be purchased with money. But the dark clouds of judgment are gathering overhead and soon they shall learn, as Balaam did, the folly of pursuing so evil a way.

"The gainsaying of Korah"

is the last of this unholy trinity of apostasy. The way of Cain is false religion. The error of Balaam is false ministry. The gainsaying of Korah is false worship and rebellion against Christ's authority.

Korah was not a priest, neither were any of his rebellious company. They were Levites whose business it was to attend to the outward service of the tabernacle. But lured on by pride they rose up against Moses and Aaron (typical of Christ as " the Apostle and High Priest of our confession") and setting aside. God's anointed, sought to force their way into His presence as priests to worship before Him, without divine warrant or title. This is what is everywhere prevalent to-day. Independent and inflated with a sense of their own self-importance, vain men openly rebel against the authority of the Lord as apostle and priest and dare to approach God as worshipers apart from Him, and ignore His claims. This is the kernel of Unitarianism, and the leaven that is fast permeating unbelieving Christendom. The cry that all men by nature are sons of God and need no mediating High Priest is heard on every hand, and will increase and spread as the end draws nearer.

Jude says of these apostates they "perished in the gainsaying of Korah." He speaks of their doom as a settled thing. Just as sure as judgment overtook the dwellers in the tents of wickedness of old, when the earth opened her mouth and Korah and all his company went down alive into the pit. So shall the yawning gulf of woe receive in due time these insolent rebels against the Lord of glory, in the day when He, who has borne with their impiety so long in grace, shall arise to judgment.

It is precious to read in Num. 26:11, "Notwithstanding the sons of Korah died not." Linked as they were by natural ties to the proud rebel, they chose a different course, and their children are heard singing, in Ps. 84, "I had rather sit on the threshold of the house of the Lord than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." Happy indeed is it for all who are numbered in the same holy company, and who, saved from going down to the pit, eschew the practices of all who go in the way of Cain, and run greedily after the error of Balaam for temporary reward, whose doom will be to perish in the gainsaying of Korah! H. A. I.

(To be continued.)