(Continued from page 278.)

The pride of self-righteousness, and the consequent blindness to the need of mercy from God was, no doubt, a principal factor in the Jew not having believed "Moses and the prophets." He was thus led astray, and incapacitated from receiving Jesus as the Christ, coming as He did with the message of God's mercy to sinners. The cry of the Pharisee was, "This people who knoweth not the law are cursed " (Jno. 7:49); whilst the voice of the Scripture is, "As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse " (Gal. 3:10). This incapacity to read aright their Scriptures led them to antagonize, with all the power of the Jew's ardent nature, even the idea of blessing from God reaching the Gentile otherwise than by becoming Jewish proselytes. That anything could be preached which offered Jew and Gentile a common salvation was utterly intolerable to the mind which had constituted itself the exclusive favorite of God.

The question raised in these chapters by the attitude of the Jew, is not that of equality of place in the "body of Christ, which is the Church of God," but of a common salvation, offered to Jew and Gentile alike, through faith in Jesus as Lord. The apostle shows that the Scriptures were quite plain as to the intention of God to bless the Gentiles. Beginning with a citation from Isa. 28 :16, " Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed." he argues (evidently from the breadth of the term, "Whosoever"), that "there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him." That this is a just inference he proceeds to show by citing Joel 2 :32, " For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." From this scripture he starts on a course of reasoning, from the conclusions of which there is no escape for the caviler:"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

The salvation spoken of in Joel 2 :32 is deliverance from the hand of the enemy. But in Acts 2 :14-40, the apostle Peter, citing Joel's prophecy in verse 21, taken with verse 40, shows this salvation to be from this untoward (or perverse) generation. The prerequisite to "calling upon the name of the Lord " was that they should "repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." All who did repent under the preaching of Peter, did save themselves from that perverse generation, when God visited the land and destroyed Jerusalem with a terrible slaughter by the hand of the Romans- answering that terrible imprecation, "His blood be upon us," and fulfilling also the words of the Lord Jesus, "And He sent forth His armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city " (Matt. 22 :7).

In the coming day, the day of the actual fulfilment of Joel's prophecy, when, according to their wish, His blood shall be upon their children (Matt. 27 :25) in greater severity than ever before, there will be a repentant remnant who will "call upon the name of the Lord," and find deliverance from the enemy; while the mass, calling on the names of idols, will be given up to the terrible judgments of God. For, "calling on the name of the Lord" in these scriptures, is not, in its first intention, the cry of distress coming from a soul in the consciousness of its guilt; for while it is assuredly true that such a "call," or cry of distress, would meet its answer from a merciful God in the salvation of that soul from wrath, yet the "calling upon the name of the Lord" here is the habit of the life, as, for example, all that "call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours" (i Cor. i :2).

But if "Whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved," and if "whosoever" embraces, as it does, both Jew and Gentile, there are some questions which the caviler must face:" How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed ? " What reason could they have for calling upon the name of the Lord if they had not come to know Him through faith ? And if the Gentile was "afar off," how could he "believe on Him of whom he had not heard?" And "How shall they hear without a preacher ?" And "How shall they preach except they be sent ?" Before they could call upon Him they must believe; before they could believe in Him, they must hear of Him; before they could hear there must be a preacher. But the law had no such preachers. "Moses" could not send them, and they surely could not be self-ordained. But God had fulfilled that gracious word:"How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things." He had sent preachers to proclaim this gospel of peace "to the Jew first," but he had sadly fulfilled the wail of the prophet:" Lord, who hath believed our report ? " This report of glad tidings of good things had not only gone unheeded by the mass of the nation, but was being bitterly opposed. Alas, Israel was a stranger to faith, and clung to "works of law." But, none the less, "Faith cometh by a report, and the report by God's word." (J. N. D.'s Trans.)

Here, then, is a "report" sent out for the acceptance of Israel :a "report " of glad tidings, and a "report" authorized of God. Faith is the acceptance of that report as the soul realizes the message to be from God. Israel then, as a nation, refused the "report." But if "there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile," to the Greek will this "report" be preached. Had the "Greek" heard this report? "Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." If Creation's testimony is to all the world, shall Redemption's testimony be less large ? On the day of Pentecost, when there were gathered together at Jerusalem Jews and proselytes from every nation under heaven, all of them heard the gospel of peace and "glad tidings of good things." They heard " in their own tongue the wonderful works of God." Here, in principle at least, is the testimony of the glad tidings going out into all the world, carried by men of every nation under heaven to those among whom they dwelt.

Thus, at one stroke, the gospel may be said to have been preached in the whole creation (not, to every creature) which is under heaven (Col. i :23).

" But did not Israel know " that the Gentiles would hear the glad tidings ? " First, Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you." i Thess. 2 :13-16 is a striking commentary on the truth of this, as is the whole attitude of the Jew towards the gospel and towards those who preach it. But Isaiah is still more plain:" I was found of them that sought Me not; I was made manifest to them that asked not after Me." The Gentiles, who had not sought after Him, had been sought by Him through them that had brought the "report" of "glad tidings of good things," as it is written in i Thess. 2 :13 :"And for this cause we also give thanks to God unceasingly that, having received the word of the report of God by us, ye accepted, not men's word, but even as it is truly, God's word, which also works in you who believe." (J. N. D.'s Trans.) ' 'But to Israel He saith:All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." What a sight! God, with hands outstretched in beseeching of Israel, and they despising the wooing of His love and mercy! What a spectacle for heaven to look down upon that day in Antioch in Pisidia-the Jews fighting against the mercy of God! "And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming" (Acts 13:44, 45).

God, then, had been found of a people that had not sought after Him, whilst Israel, sullen and angry, refused the embrace of His outstretched arms. Did this mean that God " had cast away His people whom He foreknew ? " "Far be the thought." There was nothing in all their sad history but what had beforehand been "opened unto the eyes of Him with whom they had to do." Not only had He foreknown, but He had also foretold their history. Their changeful hearts, faithless and untrue to Him, could not touch the unchangefulness of Jehovah, nor thwart the purposes of His grace. As in the time of Elijah, when things were so dark in Israel that, getting under the power of the times, he makes intercession to God against Israel (how unlike the apostle of grace praying for them), complaining that he was left alone, he receives the divine answer:"I have reserved to Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal;" "Even so, then, at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace." So then, if by grace, works are excluded -for grace and works cannot go together for salvation. This remnant of Israel, in which the link of continuity with God was found, a continuity conditioned on faith, was reserved by God for Himself in sovereign grace. The Abrahamic covenant, unburdened by conditions of any kind, left God free to display Himself according to that in which He delights-in grace. The law, given by Moses, four hundred and thirty years after God's covenant with Abraham, could not impose its burdens upon it, but rather could and did show the need of that covenant of unconditional promise, which covenant could only be righteously secured in Christ, through His sacrifice.

"What then ? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for." Why ? Because he "sought it not by faith, but by the works of the law " (chap. 9 :32). "But the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded." This terrible calamity to the mass had been foretold:" God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this day."

These citations are evidently from Isa. 6:10; 29:10.Taken with their context, they tell a sad story as to Israel. In chap. 6 Isaiah sees a vision of the glory of Jesus (see Jno. 12 :37-41)-a vision which awoke him to the uncleanness of lip both of himself and of the people :his confession of this brought the coal of sacrifice and made his mouth fit to speak for Jehovah. But he is given a message of judgment, and he who pronounces judgment upon others must himself be clean. But in the midst of awful judgments upon the mass of the people, there shall be a tenth left to return to the land, and in the midst of this remnant shall the holy Seed be found-the remnant according to the election of grace (Isa. 6 :13). Again, " David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompense unto them:let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway." This awful passage is in answer to the mockings of the people as they mocked the Son of God, whilst hanging upon the cross (Ps. 69:21-23). G. MacKenzie.

(Concluded in next number).
1 JOHN 3:1-3