"WITH THEM THAT CALL ON THE LORD OUT OF A PURE HEART"

(Continued from p.473 of Vol. 44.)

The responsibility of the child of God is to please Him, and for this he must be obedient to His Word and acquaint himself with it; and this is not legality, for the new nature delights in keeping it. The believer is called to "the obedience of Christ"-to obey as He obeyed.

In writing to Timothy the apostle, in his first letter, instructed his beloved son in the faith "how to behave in the house of God, the assembly of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15), for departure from the truth was not as yet characteristic of the assembly. Years after, when in Rome, as the prisoner of the Lord, the Christians in Asia Minor where he had labored so much, turned away from him (2 Tim. 1:15); Demas had turned aside to an easier path than the "testimony of the Lord" called to (2 Tim. 4:10), and at his first appearance before Nero, no man stood by the aged apostle (2 Tim. 4:16). In his last letter to this devoted servant, so "like-minded" with the apostle, he speaks of the last days of this Church dispensation as "perilous times"-times that would be characterized by a refusal of sound doctrine; a race after something new; turning away from the truth to fables; heaping to themselves teachers, having itching ears (2 Tim. 4:3, 4).

These perilous times are manifestly upon us. "The mystery of iniquity" which was even then present, more and more apparent as the end draws near, culminates in the revelation of Antichrist. It was foretold that "false teachers would bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them" (2 Pet. 2:1), also that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." So that, not recovery was prophesied, but that the professing body becomes a false witness.

As we have already seen, God has not left His people without direction for days of sad departure; He has marked out a plain path for one who desires to be faithful to the end, and the apostle in this 2d epistle to Timothy, gives explicit direction for God's servant amid the iniquity, corruption and disorder of the professing body holding a place of responsibility as the House of God.

What a stay to the soul to be assured that "The firm foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His; and, Let every one who nameth the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity" (2 Tim. 2:19, J. N. D.) It is surely a consolation in days when so many of the Lord's people are immersed in worldly schemes and unholy associations, when the line of demarcation between Church and world is well nigh obliterated, that He knows those who are His. But the believer-as set apart to God and bearing Christ's Holy Name-is responsible to "withdraw from iniquity." In the verse following, the professing body is likened to a great house where "there are vessels of gold and silver, also of wood and of earth, some to honor, some to dishonor;" and he that purges himself from the unclean vessels shall be "a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the Master's use and prepared unto every good work." What direction could be more explicit?

The words of another may be fittingly quoted in this connection:
"The whole of that which calls itself Christian is looked at here as a great house. The Christian is in it outwardly, in spite of himself; for he calls himself Christian (and the great house is all that calls itself "Christian"), but he cleanses himself personally from every vessel which + is not to the Lord's honor. This is the rule of Christian faithfulness; and thus, personally cleansed from fellowship with evil, he shall be a vessel unto honor, fit for the Master's use. Whatsoever is contrary to the honor of

Christ, in those who bear His Name, is that from which he is to cleanse himself.

"This separation from evil is not merely negative; it is the effect of the realization of the Word of God in the heart. I then understand what the holiness of God is, His rights over my heart, the incompatibility of His nature with evil; I feel that I dwell in Him and He in me; that Christ must be honored at all costs; that which is like Him alone honors Him; that His nature, His rights over me are the only rule of my life. That which thus separates me unto Him, and according to what He is, separates me thereby from evil. One cannot walk with … those who dishonor Christ, and at the same time honor Him in one's own walk" (Synopsis, vol. 5, p. 189).

These are words which we do well to consider. Painful as it may be to separate one's self from those otherwise estimable, the one who desires to be true to Him must withdraw at all costs.

It may mean a narrow path, and as man estimates, "hinder our usefulness," but the servant's business is to obey; and the apostle anticipating this says such an one is a "vessel meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work." How can one have fellowship with those who in practice deny the truth? How can one walk with those who in practice deny the Lord His place in the midst of His own; who constantly quench the Spirit by the substitution of man's order? And how can one keep "the unity of the Spirit" with those who practically deny it?* *"Here too faith must be exercised, the very consequences which men threaten with, may seem in part to follow. We know Him who had to say, 'I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for naught and in vain,' but who could also say, 'Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord and my work with my God.' It is of such an one we are followers; and as the apostle has already reminded us, we are not to expect to have a path different from His. For a just estimate of our work, we may have to wait for the day of account, or perhaps for a day of resurrection."-F. W. G.*

But the servant's path is not one of isolation, necessarily, and a plain path for faith is before us in what follows:"Follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call upon the name of the Lord out of a pure heart." These principles are to be followed with fellow-believers.

Righteousness is placed first, for the spirit must breathe the pure atmosphere of God's presence, and separation from what dishonors Him is surely that. Faith is necessary to discern and walk in a path where there are no human props, and the soul has to learn what is and what is not of the Lord.

Love next follows; it is preserved by righteousness and faith for it is not mere human sentimentality that is to guide us. John, in his letter to Gaius, speaks of "love in the truth." Much is said in these days of "liberality," of "brotherly love," of "tolerance," and the like, which comes dangerously near to sacrificing truth for the sake of peace. But the last named is the issue of what has gone before. Peace has ever been, and is, the effect of righteousness and divine love.
Treading this path of faith, we are promised others like-minded. "The Lord knoweth those who are His;" we do not; but faith can distinguish those who walk with a single eye, and call upon the Lord out of a pure heart. These we are to know and own, seek their company, enjoy their fellowship. We are not promised a perfect company – a company of amiable individuals who never do any wrong, but where the Lord's honor is paramount, and where is the genuine desire to hold fast the Lord's word, it is not merely a negative separation from error and evil but a positive separation to Him as "the Holy and True;" there the faithful heart will find its rest:"I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste" (Song 2:3). J. W. H. N.

(To be continued, D. V.)