The buoyancy of youth demands a certain amount of liberty, which, if kept within godly limits, and controlled by godly principles, is all right. For our own part we have no desire to visit exhibitions. We find Christ and His interests enough for us. Besides souls are perishing and eternity is nearing, and we have neither time nor inclination to mingle with the world in admiring its toys and sharing its pleasures. The youngest believer is made independent of the world. He has in himself a well of living water_ever sparkling, perennial, and springing up for his soul’s enjoyment. (John 4:14.) Instead, too, of the world ministering to our enjoyment, we minister to its need. "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water," (John 7:38)
Category Archives: Words of Truth
Words of Truth is a bimonthly publication of Biblical studies, aimed at presenting doctrines of Scripture, meditations on the Person and work of Christ, and practical instruction relating to the Christian walk. Publication of Words of Truth began in 1958 and continues to the present.
Strangers and Pilgrims on the Earth
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."
Heb.11:13.
Blessed and precious it is to behold this company of pilgrims and strangers on earth – the long line of those who, through faith, obtained a good report. They are witnesses to us of having sought a country undefiled and a city whose builder and maker God is.
The details about these early saints are very scanty, but in the brief words given we see a heavenly character shining through them. From the earliest days of Genesis the saints of God are seen apart from the world; the work of faith and the patience of hope was in them. Cain’s family may have their city, their arts and music, while Seth’s family are without a place or a name – the earth knew them not.
The Lord had set a mark on Cain, that no one finding him should slay him. The blood of Abel is to remain unavenged, and the family of Seth are observant of this; no attempt is made by them to answer the cry of innocent blood. They know it has come to the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and vengeance does not belong to them. Express charge had been given in this, and theirs was simple obedience. If the earth be not cleansed, the elect are to be strangers in it, with a heavenly calling, and this is observed in the family of Seth.
True and beautiful in the mind of God is all this. It is the way of God, and was apprehended by these saints in the light of God’s perfect ways, more than with many of us, beloved, who have been so much instructed in the fuller revelations of this present age. But it is not the schooling only, but the capacity to sit at the lesson that we need.
The Lord began, in Adam, to claim and display His rights on the earth. The man in the garden was to own the sovereignty of God, and the earth was the rest and the delight of the Lord, and the place of His glory. But sin entering and polluting all, and the pollution being left uncleansed, in Seth God called a people away from the earth to an inheritance in heaven. Then in Noah the Lord God re-asserted His rights here, and took up the earth as the place where His elect might find a home, and His own presence be known again. But corruption having come in again, Abraham is separated from kindred, and from country, and from father’s house, to be a heavenly stranger on the earth, with his altar and his tent, looking for a city whose builder and maker was God.
Israel, in their day, then take up this mystic tale of the heavens and the earth, and in the land of Canaan become the witness of the scene of God’s sovereignty. The ark passes over the river as "the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth." But after Joshua and the elders that had known the works of the Lord had passed away, the apostasy soon followed, and the remnant became strangers among the nation, looking for redemption in Israel.
And now the Church is set for the full testimony of heavenly mysteries again; and strangership here is the divine idea, till our being taken to meet the Lord in the air.
Now let me observe, that whenever God arises in this progress of His counsels to assert title to the earth, He begins by judging and cleansing it, because, the scene of His purposed glory and presence being corrupted, He must take the offense away, for His presence could not brook defilement. Noah’s lordship of the earth was, accordingly, preceded by the flood carrying away the world of the ungodly. Israel’s inheritance of Canaan under Jehovah, as the God of all earth, was prepared by the judgment of the Amorites and the sword of Joshua. And the future millennial kingdom, when the earth is to be the place of the glory again, is (as all Scripture tells us) to be ushered in by that great action called "the day of the Lord," with a clearing out of all that offend, and all that do iniquity.
But the call of God is quite of another character. It proceeds on the principle that God Himself is apart from the earth, and is not seeking to have it as the home of His glory, or the place of His presence; but seeking a people out of it, to be His, away from it, and above it.
This was exhibited in Abraham. Abraham was the object of the call of God, and accordingly the Canaanites find no rival in him. He does not dispute with them the title or possession of the soil. He finds them, and he leaves them, lords of it. He desires only to pitch his tent and raise his alter on it for a season; and then to have his bones laid in the bowels of it for another season.
So with the Church in this age. She is likewise under the call of God. But her call leaves the Gentiles in power, as it found them. "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers." The saints have only to obey them unreluctantly, or to suffer from them patiently, according as the demand made of them, is or is not consistent with their subjection to Christ and the call of God:They are not to strive with the potsherds of the earth.
I own, beloved, that I greatly admire this fine expression of the mind of Christ in these earliest saints. They take the only way which the holiness of God could sanction. They are "partakers of His holiness." The light they walked in was God’s; the holiness they partook of was God’s. It is the light of heavenly strangership in a polluted world. It is a light which reproves the course of this world, and makes manifest other principles and hopes altogether.
After this pattern the Lord would have us:in the world, but not of it; of heaven, though not as yet in it. Paul, in the Holy Ghost, would so have us, taking example from those whose "conversation is in heaven." Peter, in the same Spirit, would so have us, "as strangers and pilgrims" abstaining from fleshy lusts. James summons us, in the same Spirit, to know that "the friendship of the world is enmity with God." And John separates us as by a stroke:"We are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness."
It is for the Church, beloved, to walk in this elevation and separateness. What is according to the call of God, and what worthy of heavenly hopes, but this? We breathe but feebly, and glow but faintly, in company with those and like witnesses. What a temper of soul, it has just struck me, we get in such a chapter as Phil. 4! What a glow is felt throughout it! What a shout of triumph the Spirit raises! What elevation in the midst of changes, perplexities, and depressions! The apostle’s whole temper of soul throughout that chapter is uncommon. But, if one may speak for others, it is to us little more than the tale of a distant land, or the warmth and brilliancy of other climes reported to our souls by travellers.
Lead us, Lord, we pray thee! Teach us indeed to sing –
"We’re bound for yonder land,
Where Jesus reigns supreme;
We leave the shore at His command,
Forsaking all for Him.
"Twere easy, did we choose,
Again to reach the shore –
But that is what our souls refuse,
We’ll never touch it more."
But surely it is one thing to be the advocate of Christianity and another to be the disciple of it. And though it may sound strange at first, far easier is it to teach its lessons than to learn them.
A Time to Speak
There is "a time to keep silence", we read in Ecc’l.3, "and a
time to speak." When the glory of our Blessed Lord is being assailed,
and error pressed upon us as the truth, in a plausable manner, it
is surely "a time to speak".
A number of our readers have received some papers through the mails, within
the last few months, which present the old and most destructive error of
denying to our God the Glory of being Father in eternity, and to
our Lord of being Son in eternity. We believe it well to refute
this with all vigor and godly fear.
We will quote a few lines from papers that we have personally received.
In one which is undated and unsigned (although it seems that the last
page or pages may be missing which would account for the lack of
a signature), it is stated:
"Thus the Fatherhood and Son ship have not been eternal…..Until "The Word became
flesh’ when Deity assumed Fatherhood and Son ship, there was neither Father nor
Son, as such….The Persons who are now Father and Son did not become
such until incarnation, when God begot His only Son!" From another article, dated
August 2,1958, and signed by the author, we quote the following lines:"If
we ‘search’, we shall find no ‘Father & Son’ apart from Manhood and
redemption." Again, "He became Son at incarnation." Let the reader judge for himself
the abhorrent character of such assertions, in the light of the following scriptures,
and accompanying remarks – words of truth, surely.
F. W. Grant, in his excellent pamphlet, "The Crowned Christ", also in Help
& Food 1896-7, devotes a chapter to "The Eternal Son." On page 18,
he adds that:
"One direct text of scripture outweighs all possible arguments; here surely if anywhere,
where we know nothing but by revelation. And it is given as proof
of the greatness of divine love, in one of the most familiar texts
to all of us, that "God so loved the world, that He gave
His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have
eternal life" (John 3:16). This by the Lord Himself; while the apostle who
records it, preaches upon it in his epistle:"Herein was manifested the love
of God toward us, because God sent His only-begotten Son into the world,
that we might live through Him. Herein is love; not that we loved
God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:9,10).
"The depth of this love is shown then in this, that the Father
sent His Son into the world for us:it is perfectly plain then
that Christ was the Son before He came into the world. The appeal
to our hearts is simple, who know in ourselves, though fallen, something of
what a father’s love is. And if we look back to the time
when God was pleased to show in Abraham’s case something of the reality
of sacrifice, we feel it as a trial beyond nature when we hear
the measured words, every word in agony, "Take now thy son, – thine
only son, – Isaac, – whom thou lovest; and go into the land
of Moriah, and offer him up there a burnt-offering upon one of the
mountains I will tell thee of" (Gen. 22:2).
"….How could we do without those precious words "Son" and "Father", back of
all dispensations, all economic display, to show what is the nature of God
in itself eternally, – the absolute verity of that which has now been
revealed?
"He is not "love" for an occasion, however great may be the occasion.
Nor is the Son become Son for display, however glorious. The Father had
no beginning as the Father; nor the Son therefore as the Son. If
otherwise, then after all we have not a revelation of eternity, nor of
God as He is, but only as He is pleased to become –
a very different thing. Thank God, it is not so. We know how
God dwelt in love eternally:we have the Object of that love made
known to us; we are made to know, not eternal silence in the
House which now has such glorious music for returned prodigals, but a communion
into which we are now admitted, and are privileged in our measure to
become partakers." (page 21,22). J. G. Bellett, in his book entitled, "The Son
of God", writes most tenderly, yet unequivocally on this sacred theme in chapter
one, page 10:
"Nothing can satisfy all which the Scriptures tell us of this great mystery,
but the faith of this – that the Father and the Son are
in the glory of the God-head; and in that relation too, though equal
in that glory… Can the Son be honoured even as the Father (John
5:23), if He be not owned in the Godhead?…The understanding which has been
given us, has been given us to know "Him that is True", as
being "in Him that is True, even in His Son Jesus Christ;" and
to this it is added, "this is the true God, and eternal life."
"But still further. I ask, can the love of God be understood according
to Scripture if this Sonship be not owned? Does not that love get
its character from that very doctrine?"
And here, Mr. Bellett quotes John 3:16 and the other verses from 1
John that Mr. Grant uses in his remarks. Then he (Mr. Bellett) continues:
"Does not this love at once lose its unparalleled glory, if this truth
be questioned? How would our souls answer the man who would tell us,
that it was not His own Son whom God spared not, but gave
Him up for us all? How would it wither the heart to hear
that such an one (see Rom. 8:32) was only His Son as born
of the Virgin, and that those words, "He that spared not His own
Son," are to be read as human, and not as Divine? (page 13,14).
J. N. Darby, in his synopsis of the Epistle to the Colossians, chapter
one, verse 16, points out, in his usual pithy style of expression, that:
"It was in the Person of the Son that God acted, when by
His power He created all things, whether in heaven or in earth, visible
and invisible. All that is great and exalted is but the work of
His hand; all has been created by Him (the Son) and for Him.
Thus, when He takes possession of it, He takes it as His inheritance
by right. Wonderful truth, that He who has redeemed us, who made Himself
man, one of us as to nature, in order to do so, is
the Creator. But such is the truth." A few pages further on, he
remarks that:"The Son is also the name of the proper relationship of
His glorious Person to the Father before the world was. It is in
this character that He Created all things. The Son is to be glorified
even as the Father.., In the Epistle to the Colossians that which is
set before us is the proper glory of His Person as the Son
before the world was. He is the Creator as Son. It is important
to observe this." (page 13,15).
Those of our readers who have access to these writings are invited to
read in full that from which these excerpts have been taken, and by
all let the Scriptures be searched to see whether these things be so
(Acts 17:11).
One who loves the Lord, and knows his place as a member of
His Body, which is the Church, cannot be indifferent or neutral on this
subject.
May God have mercy on the writer of this abhorrent teaching whose papers
we have recently received in .the mail, and deliver him from it, granting
"the obedience of faith". And may the fresh consideration of this glory of
the Godhead enlarge our hearts in worship and spiritual understanding.
FRAGMENT In meditation upon so fruitful a theme as in the above, Oh
may we realize more distinctly what He is to us, and, as it
were, crown Him with His many crowns. "And upon His head were many
crowns. (Rev. 19:12). Ed.
FRAGMENT
He knows; He loves; He cares!
Nothing — this truth can dim.
He gives the very best – to those
Who leave the choice with Him.
In a Moment
QUITE SUDDENLY – it may be
At the turning of a lane,
Where I stand to watch a skylark
From out the swelling grain.
That the trump of God shall thrill me,
With its call so loud and clear.
And I’m called away to meet Him,
Whom of all I hold most dear.
QUITE SUDDENLY – it may be in His House
I bend my knee,
When the Kingly Voice, long-hoped for,
Comes at last to summon me;
And the fellowship of earth-life
That has seemed so passing sweet,
Proves nothing but the shadow
Of our meeting round His feet,
QUITE SUDDENLY – it may be
As I tread the busy street,
Strong to endure life’s stress and strain,
Its every call to meet,
That through the roar of traffic,
A trumpet, silvery clear,
Shall stir my startled senses
And proclaim His coming near.
QUITE SUDDENLY – it may be
As I lie in dreamless sleep,
God’s gift to many a sorrowing heart,
With no more tears to weep,
That a call shall break my slumber
And a Voice sound in my ear;
"Rise up, My love, and come away!
Behold, the Bridegroom’s here!"
The Young Christian and His Bible 1 Peter 2:1-3
The new-born babe instinctively turns to its mother’s breast, and the young convert, the soul newly born into God’s family by faith in Christ, naturally seeks spiritual nourishment out of God’s Word. He may not do this very intelligently, nor is it with the same eagerness in all, but in every truly converted soul there is an instinctive desire for the word of God. It is true that some are converted under such circumstances and in such environments as to greatly obscure or hinder that holy and natural desire, but we speak of what is normal. To these the apostle Peter, who was especially commissioned by the Lord to feed the lambs and sheep of His flock (see John 21:15-17), writes:"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby." Note the expression, "desire," or "earnestly desire," as the expression really is.
But young believers sometimes complain of a lack of felt interest in the Bible – a lack of real desire for it. This is a condition to be deplored, and the cause and its remedy is to be sought out sincerely before God. The love and desire for God’s Word may be stifled by a hankering after worldly things – the reading of trashy or corrupting books, or the indulgence of sin. In such a condition the soul is not only unable to enjoy God’s Word, but is in great danger of being betrayed into some alarming sin because of its lack of power to resist temptations. We must exhort such an one to betake himself at once to serious and full confession of it to God his Father. Fear not to tell Him all – in detail, not generalities. Sincere confession will bring relief to your heart, and be the beginning of breaking the spell of coldness and lack of desire for God’s Word of which you complain.
Let us remember the apostle’s expression, "Desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow there-by." The Word of God and prayer are the God-appointed means to sustain and increase the spiritual life in the believer. The "sincere milk" may be rightly translated the pure, or unadulterated "milk of the Word." How many of God’s children are given adulterated milk today! Ah, and even worse; it may be poisoned food, instead of the pure, the unadulterated milk, that is served out in popular pulpits – discussion of social and political subjects, man’s opinions, the world’s philosophy – all that is of the present world; or, if on religious and spiritual subjects, the truth may be falsified, the credibility of the Holy Scriptures assailed, or tradition substituted or added to it. Oh, what injury is done to new-born souls by pernicious ministry in many places! "Take heed what ye hear," said our blessed Lord Jesus, the chief Shepherd of His sheep (Mark 4:24). So take heed, dear young Christian, that you do not imbibe the seductive and popular teaching of this day.
We turn now to the specified hindrances to the healthy, normal appreciation of the Word of God by which man lives (Matt. 4:4).
"Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and evil-speakings." The apostle here specifies things which in the child of God hinder or destroy his appetite for the food by which he is to grow. Almost any physician can tell us that the most common cause of impaired appetite is improper habits, such as late and irregular hours with tardy rising, improper food or immoderate eating and drinking, and abusing of the body. Spiritually this is the ground taken by the apostle here. He points out the possible or probable causes which hinder our appetite for the Word. He mentions five:malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy, evil-speakings. What a cluster of the "vine of Sodom!"
"Laying aside all malice" is the first thing mentioned here. Malice is defined as "ill-will," "spite" "disposition to harm others." It is the exact opposite of "good-will." In 1 Cor. 5:8 it is seen in bad company, "The leaven of malice and wickedness." In Col. 3:8 it is put between "anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication." In Eph. 4:51 it is associated with "bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking," put last there as a kind of trailer to other evils. In Peter it is put first as probably more characteristic of the Jew than of the Gentile, as witness the book of Acts, where the bearers of the gospel are pursued everywhere by the Jews.
What a terrible thing to harbor malice in the heart! How unlike our Saviour-God who would have all men to be saved, who wishes ill to none, even to His enemies. It is easily understood how such an evil mind would effectually prevent a soul’s enjoyment of God’s holy Word. Let us, then, drive away from our hearts this hateful bird, and fear it as poison which would ruin our soul’s happiness and prevent our delight in God’s precious Word.
"All guile" comes next. Guile is a close associate of deceit. They are paired together in psalm 55:11; and in 1 Thess. 2:3 it is one of the unlovely trio – deceit, uncleanness, guile. "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile," was our Lord’s commendation of Nathanael; and here Peter calls upon his fellow-believers to lay aside all guile. What is more lovely in a little child than its guilelessness, its beautiful artless candor! Oh Christian, beware of guile; lock your heart against its entrance.
"Hypocrisies" – what scorn attaches to the word! Who does not hate it in others? We commonly associate it with an unreal profession of religion, but it is not confined to this. Does not the Spirit of God detect some measure of it at times in the heart of the true Christian? Faithful old Cruden, in his Concordance, defines hypocrisy as "an affectation of the name, with a disaffection of the thing." True Christians often affect to be, to feel, to believe, and love, more than what is actually true in the heart. It may intrude in our conversations, our professions of love for brethren, for meetings, and may intrude even in public prayer. It is the off-spring of pride, and is to be unsparingly judged in our inmost heart. "Pure, and without hypocrisy" is a lovely Scripture combination, in Jas. 3:17, for us to pursue with perseverance. Malice, guile, hypocrisy – what a trinity of evil! – all these and more are in our very nature; let us be on our watch against them, remembering that we are "called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Cor. 1:9), and as the "elect….of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 1:2).
"Envies and all evil speakings" are the last two mentioned; they are morally related, and usually go in company. "Who can stand before envy?" (Prov. 27:4). It has been aptly defined as "an evil affection of the heart which frets at the good name and prosperity of others." Pilate knew that "for envy" the chief priests had delivered Christ into his hands to be crucified. "Filled with envy" they cast Christ’s faithful witnesses into prison (Acts 5:17, marg.). "Moved with envy," Jacob’s sons sold their brother Joseph for slavery in Egypt (Acts 7:9); and "filled with envy" the unbelieving Jews pursued Paul from city to city (Acts 13:45; 17;5). Oh, Envy, Envy, what evils does not Scripture and every-day history lay at thy door!
"Evil speaking" is both the offspring and handmaid of envy. All the evils mentioned before – as a quartet of inward ills – for very shame lie concealed in the heart, but if unjudged there, give vent in evil-speakings. Alas, that such evil things should ever be seen among the redeemed of the Lord! But it is not by hiding them from ourselves, or closing our eyes to them, that they are overcome, but in judging them before the Lord; and His grace shall triumph over them, and enable the soul to feed in peace upon His word. Then shall we be enabled like David to say, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting"(Psa. 139:23,24).
Milk of the Word
"As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may
grow thereby." (1 Pet. 2:2.)
Is not this a passage often misconceived of? Does it mean that we
are to be always as babes in Christ returning to the first elements
for nourishment? I apprehend this is how many take it. But it is
not its force, as a little consideration may suffice to show.
There is of course a stage in our life as Christians in which
we are necessarily and rightly "babes". The apostle John addresses himself to these
(1 John 2). But the Corinthians were rebuked for the continuance of such
a state, and to them carnality was the true synonym for its protraction:
"I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto
carnal, even as unto babes in Christ" (1 Cor. 3:1). And both here
and in the epistle to the Hebrews the apostle blames them for the
necessity they had for "milk".
Here in Peter the thought is different. The Word itself is milk, the
whole of it, and we are to be not simply as babes, but
as new-born babes in our desire for it. To a new-born babe what
is milk? Its very life, we may say. And such is God’s word
to us, and such is to be its place in our affections. The
Word, the whole of it, is that which God has provided for us,
and it would be but dishonoring it and Him who gave it, to
extract certain elements from it, and dismiss the rest as not available for
food. It is all food, if appropriated as such. The highest and most
advanced truths, so-called, do but expand, illustrate, and confirm, the Gospel itself, than
which no truth is more wonderful, deeper or "higher." We do not leave
the Gospel behind as we go on with Scripture, nor even have to
turn back to it to find the refreshment it supplies for our souls;
but it is the Gospel itself that travels on with us, more and
more learnt, more and more developing itself to us continually.
FRAGMENT ……When we are beginning to believe that the battle is over, and
that our victories are to be now only in the quiet battlefield, — in
the ingathering of souls from the seed sown by the evangelist, or the
recovery of the people of God themselves out of the superstition and error
that have enwrapped them, — then in deed it may be that, while we
are congratulating ourselves that we are leaders of the blind, lights of those
who sit in darkness, instructors of the foolish, teachers of babes, the pit
of darkness may be opening at our feet, to engulf us all. F. W.
Grant
Humbled–Exalted
How different are God’s thoughts and His ways from men’s. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55.-8.9).
Ever since Satan deceived Eve, and through her tempted Adam with the promise, "Ye shall be as gods," it has been the desire of men to exalt themselves. If a man is little in his own eyes he is despised by his fellows, for men think well of those who think well of themselves. That the meek shall inherit the earth is to most men a thing to mock at. But "The Lord lifteth up the meek" (Psa, ‘147:6). ‘"The meek will He guide in judgment:and the meek will He teach His way" (Psa. 25:9).
It is instructive to see that in God’s plan for those He purposes to bless, humbling comes before exalting. Self exaltation is an abomination to Him. "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." (Jas. 4:6).
How plainly this is seen in God’s dealing with the children of Israel. When He would deliver them from bondage in Egypt and take them into the land He had promised to Abraham, He raised up Moses to be their leader. He moved the heart of an Egyptian princess to receive the babe of an Israelitish woman as her own son. The child grew to manhood, and for forty years was in the house of Pharaoh. Surely, he must have been tempted to seek his own exaltation, but God was watching over him for we read of him, "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt:for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward"(Heb. 11:24, 26).
No doubt men would think the schooling Moses had received an ideal training of a leader of men, for "Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in word and in deeds" (Acts 7:22). But God must school him forty years in the land of Midian before he was fitted to lead the people of God. There he tended sheep, a humbling occupation for one who had been raised as an Egyptian prince, for shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians.
Moses learned well the lesson of humility, for it is recorded of him that he was the meekest man in all the earth. He was humbled that he might be exalted. He refused to be a prince in Egypt and was made a prince with God.
When the Lord would not go up to Canaan in the midst of His people because of their unbelief, Moses plead with Him, "If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." Communion with the Blesser was more to Moses than the blessing.
When God in discipline denied His servant the crowning glory of his life, to lead God’s people into the promised land, He took him up into mount Pisgah and there in blessed communion with Himself, He showed His servant all the land of Canaan. There Moses died and there the angel of the Lord buried him.
What a contrast was the history of the people he led. In the eighth chapter of Deuteronomy they were exhorted, "And thou shall remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep His commandments, or no. And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. Thou shalt also consider thine heart that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. …..Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna which thy fathers knew not, that He might prove thee, to do thee good in thy latter end."
God suffered them to hunger and this proved what was in their hearts. They chose the flesh pots of Egypt rather than to suffer affliction with the people of God. He fed them with manna that He might make them know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. He would teach them their utter dependence upon Himself, but they would not learn His humbling lessons. They would not receive His words into their hearts. Their raiment did not wax old, nor their feet swell during the forty years of their wandering in the wilderness. But they would not learn to walk in His ways. They would not consider that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord their God chastened them. He would humble them that He might do them good at their latter end. But they rebelled against Him. They would not learn to trust Him or submit themselves under His mighty hand.
"He made known His Ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel" (Psa. 10):7). "With many of them God was not well pleased:for they were overthrown in the wilderness" (1 Cor. 10:5). "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples:and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come" (1 Cor. 10:11).
When the great Leader of Whom Moses was the type offered Himself as Israel’s King, He came meek and lowly. He had no need of humbling lessons, but, "Being found in fashion as a man He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every name:that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow" (Phil. 2:8-10).
We are exhorted, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:Who, being in the form of God, thought it not a thing to be grasped after to be equal with God:but made Himself of no reputation" (Phil. 2:7). We are called to follow Him in a lowly path of submission and dependence. .. Even as He humbled Himself, we are exhorted, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time" (1 Pet. 5:6).
When, after His passion, the Lord expounded two of His disciples the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures, He said, "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?" We, too, have the promise, "If we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us:if we believe not, yet He abideth faithful:He cannot deny Himself" (2 Tim. 2:11-13).
To quote another, "If we will accept of the path of sorrow and trial which the Lord gives us here, we shall escape the afflictions which are His judgments on the world, and which come on those who take their place with the world. Those who do not suffer for Christ, or with Christ, do not by their unfaithfulness escape suffering. They only suffer with the Egyptians.
"This is what divine love _ what He Who redeemed us to Himself says to us as His redeemed. Love itself cannot give us escape from the necessity of conforming to these conditions. It would not be love to do so. We shall find at last how in fact we have entered in this way _ as only by it we could enter _ into some of the deepest secrets of the heart of God. It is here in this scene of sin and sorrow that we are learning Christ_the Christ we are to enjoy forever. Even in the glory we could not learn what we learn here on earth. But to learn the Man of Sorrows, we must learn sorrow, which yet is lost in the infinite joy of being made like Him, and linked with Him, and in Him learning that which is to be our possession forever." *
ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THEM THAT LOVE GOD. (Rom. 8:28)
The plannings of My heart,
The thoughts I think toward thee,
Shall work for thine eternal good;
Leave thou the choice with Me.
R. Thomas
The Remnant, Past and Present
What a deplorable condition of things! It is simply heart-breaking to contemplate. The public worship of God brought into utter contempt; the ministers of religion working only for hire; venality and corruption in connection with the holy service of God; every form of moral pravity practiced amongst the people. In short, it was a scene of deep moral gloom, depressing beyond expression to all who cared for the Lord’s interests.
And yet, even in the midst of this terrible scene, we have a most touching and exquisite illustration of our thesis. As ever, there is a. remnant – a beloved company who honored and loved the Lord, and found in Him their centre, their object, their delight. "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord harkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name. And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels (my special treasure) and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."
How lovely is all this! What a contrast to the general condition of things! We may range through the entire history of the nation, and find nothing like this. Where do we read of "a book of remembrance written before the Lord"? Nowhere; not even amidst the brilliant victories of Joshua and David, or the splendors of Solomon. It may be said there was no need. That is not the point. What we have to ponder is the striking fact that the words and ways of this feeble remnant, in the very midst of abounding wickedness, were so refreshing to the heart of God that He had a book of remembrance written about them. We may safely assert that the communings of these beloved ones were more grateful to the heart of God than the singers and trumpeters in Solomon’s day. "They spake often one to another." "They feared the Lord, and thought upon His name." There was individual devotedness, personal attachment; they loved the Lord; and this drew them together.
Nothing can be more lovely. Would there were more of it in our midst! Those dear people were not doing anything very great or showy in man’s view; but ah, they loved the Lord, they thought of Him, and their common attachment to Him drew them together to speak of Him; and this gave a charm to their reunions which gratified and refreshed the heart of God!
FRAGMENT "But ye, beloved building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto life eternal. And some convict when they dispute; others save, pulling them out of the fire; and others pity with fear, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. But to Him that is able to keep you without stumbling, and to set you with exultation blameless before His glory; to an only God our Saviour through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, might, and authority, before all times, and now, and unto all the ages. Amen"
Jude 20-25 (WK)
Confessing Christ as Lord
He is not ashamed to call you brethren; and will you be ashamed
to confess Him as your Lord and Master in the face of all
the world? Be not debating within yourselves when you shall avow yourselves. Make
the plunge, and trust God for the consequences. I know it by experience
that an open, bold confession of being Christ’s is more than half the
struggle over …I say, as one who knows, that if a man, in
the strength of the Lord, is just brought to say to his companions
and friends, I am Christ’s and I must act for Him — that he
will not suffer what others must feel who are creeping on fearfully and
afraid to avow Him whom they desire to serve.
Resurrection (Poem)
"It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory:it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.”
FRAGMENT
O little bulb, uncouth, ragged and rusty brown.
Have you some dew of youth? a crimson gown?
"Plant me and see what I shall be:_
God’s fine surprise before your eyes!"
O fuzzy ugliness, poor helpless, crawling worm,
Can any loveliness be in that sluggish form?
"Hide me and see what I shall be:_
God’s bright surprise before your eyes!"
O body wearing out, a crumbling house of clay!
O agony of doubt, and darkness and dismay!
"Trust God and see what I shall be,
His best surprise before your eyes!"
_Extracted
From Gilgal to Bochim
If I do not get what is mine in spiritual things, I will not give God what is His in spiritual things.
If I fail to enjoy my portion, I will not give God His portion, and the whole second part of this first division (of the Book of Judges) simply tells us how God is left out of account, how the people were alienated from Him simply because there was lack of faith and obedience to follow His will in taking possession of what was their own. You say perhaps in your inmost heart, if I am not enjoying the highest kind of spiritual life, it is my own fault, it is my own loss. No, my brother, it is God’s loss. He is the loser. What He craves from you is the obedience and worship of a heart which is so full of His blessing that it has got to express itself in worship and service. No, you are not the chief sufferer, not the chief loser. Our blessed God is the loser. "Will a man rob God?"
….Think what blessings the Spirit of God has revealed. A glorious Christ at God’s right hand, a heavenly Church, and all the precious truths that flow from and are connected with it. It is one thing for us to talk about these precious truths, but it is quite a different thing to have them brought home, revealed to us by the Holy Ghost. The elders have gone; the first generation of this movement has passed away, and we are risen in the room of our fathers, and I ask you, and I ask myself:Has it been merely something handed down to us from faithful men, or have we had to do with God about these things? Is it between us and God? Have we been alone with Him about them? Have we been personally at Gilgal with Him about them? Or have we learned them because this or that one has held and taught them? Beloved brethren, leaders are God-given. We can bless God for them. But we cannot follow leaders save as they follow Christ. We must follow a living Christ in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.
Lot, who was not a man of faith at all, might follow Abraham wherever he went. Abraham, to whom the God of glory appeared, when he dwelt in Mesopotamia, followed that beckoning hand of glory, out from his home, his country, his kindred – everything. Why did Lot follow? Because he had his eye on Abraham. Abraham went because he had his eye upon God. Lot went because he had his eye on man. Dear friends, why are we here, in this outside place? Why are we here, in this outside place? Why are we professing to bear reproach for the name of Christ? Have we followed the beckoning hand of divine glory? or have we followed near and dear ones? Have children followed parents, husbands wives, or wives husbands? Have we followed those whom we have loved and honored in the flesh merely? Or have we followed Christ? Have we listened to the guidance of the Spirit of God, or to the guidance of men of faith? Men of faith can lead, but they cannot lead in reality except as the eye is fixed upon Christ.
(From "Lectures on Judges".)
FRAGMENT "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing (or, persuasive) words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." 1 Cor. 2:4,5.
Stand Ye and Ask for the Old Paths
Whatever God has committed to man’s hands is unstable, and fails. It has been demonstrated through various ages of man’s history recorded in God’s Word. From the Fall to the Flood, left to his conscience, corruption and violence developed to such an extent that God had to wipe out man from the earth. When a new beginning was made with the institution of government (Gen. 9:5,6), Noah, as head and governor, governed not himself; then men fell into general idolatry. When the chosen people was brought out of Egypt and God’s law was given them, He was dishonored by their transgressions and persistent idolatry. Through it all God’s long patience and repeated deliverances produced only temporary checks to an ever-increasing departure.
Yet the world is not at all persuaded of this, but the reverse. Before the great world war it was largely professed that the world had become too civilized to permit war; and when the awful tragedy came to an end, a lasting peace was predicted, and planned with a democracy in which national hatreds would disappear. But is it so. What have been the conditions since? Statesmen are now cudgeling their brains to find an issue out of general chaos. And if for a little season there issue a semblance of peace, all those who are instructed in, and believe, the Word of God, know that there can be no lasting peace till the Prince of Peace brings in that blessed era for this groaning creation.
But what of the Church, which the Lord is building upon the Rock, and of which He said, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it?" The Rock, Christ, shall stand forever; and so must His Word – every jot and tittle of which must be fulfilled. And has He not provided in it an adequate equipment for the Christian, individually, and for the Assembly which He loves -the whole body of Christ? – Confidently we can say, He has. But, like all that went before, the Church did not abide in its first estate; it proved untrue to its trust.
The world has its men of genius who continually bring out devices. What was considered satisfactory and complete fifty years ago is now discarded for new equipments to meet new requirements. Is this to obtain in the Church also? Alas! it is coming to this in the world-church. Yet, as we have said, the word of God abides; it has not failed, and in it full provision has been made for His people, and for His workmen as to the whole character of ministry, both for saints and sinners.
In the days of King Josiah, when Hilkiah found the book of the law which had lain hidden in the temple, it wrought a mighty change as they listened to the reading of the book. Likewise, a century ago it pleased God to raise up godly men to recover to the Church the great and blessed truths that had been kept out of sight and forgotten under the accumulated ecclesiastical rubbish of centuries, and "the whole counsel of God" again was freed from the "traditions of men.” It was not a new revelation; that was completed when the canon of Scripture was finished (Col. 1:25; Rev. 22:20), but the whole truth of God was again brought to light.
The presence and power of the Holy Spirit was then made manifest in a marked manner; the gospel went forth with remarkable clearness and power; multitudes were saved, and Christians from all ranks -ecclesiastics, professional men, noted ones from the aristocracy as well as from humbler walks of life -were brought into the liberty wherewith Christ makes free. Discarding every "Ism," they gathered simply to the name of Christ, the Lord, knowing one another simply as "brethren." "So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." Surely this was true Philadelphian spirit, because Christ’s word was kept.
Has this quite passed away? Surely not, for there must be some such testimony until He comes; and whilst we may well bow our heads with shame in view of the failure and weakness that has followed this truly divine movement, yet, thank God, the Lord’s Word assures us there are those of whom it can be said:"Thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name."
But it has been said that times and customs have changed; that there is a different condition of things to face; that the Church must keep abreast of the times, and adopt modern methods in order to attract people; that what was suited to former days would not avail for these. It is indeed true that we are in the "last days" of which the apostle wrote in 2 Tim. 3:15, when, with a form of godliness, men would be "lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God." The world is running wild after amusements and pleasures, even of the most sensational and voluptuous character. Picturedom is accomplishing this; the eye is assailed everywhere with suggestively lewd bills and placards.
This is a frivolous age, and many of the churches have become religious theaters – houses of entertainment for the pleasure loving people of the church-going public. But shall this affect also those who, claiming to be gathered to our Lord’s holy name, should, if consistent, be in marked contrast to all this? Shall these take their cue from a well-nigh apostate Christendom?
When the Church was formed at Pentecost by the Holy Spirit, what was the condition of things outside of Judaism? There was a highly cultured, and educated pagan world – voluptuous, pleasure-loving,, sensuous, philosophical – eager to tell or to hear "some new thing." How did the apostles and their fellow-disciples act? Let the Scripture tell us. In the Acts, the servant’s guide book, we read:"Philip preached Christ unto them" (8:5); Saul (Paul) "preached Christ, that He is the Son of God (9:20); "And there they preached the gospel" (14:7); "He preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection" (17:18); and in chap. 20 Paul gives as the character of his ministry, together with his manner of life, that he had testified "both to Jews and Greeks, repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ!" He "preached the gospel of the grace of God," "the kingdom of God," "all the counsel of God" (vers. 20,24,25,28); and at the close of his life he writes to Timothy, "Preach the Word," and this was given for the "last days," the days in which we live.
Are not these present days marked by sensationalism and shallowness in things religious associated with worldly pleasure? The religious world would adapt itself to all manner of devices in order to catch the public. It must be entertained – the senses must be appealed to – the Word of God must be dramatized; in short, man’s ingenuity is invoked in order to make the gospel attractive – and what gospel? Even among true Christians, elocution, oratory, and pleasing personality are admired more than the ministry itself? Why is this? Satan knows that he cannot utterly destroy the second Eve; that the Tree of Life shall be hers forever; that by and by she shall be manifested to the world, "having the glory of God;" that Christ shall present her to Himself faultless – a glorious Church; but he will exert all his power to cause her to dishonor her Lord’s blessed name while He is absent. His work from the beginning has been to induce the Church to condescend to man’s devices, and thus belittle the Holy Spirit’s power, and the efficacy of God’s Word.
Surely, "it is high time to awaken out of sleep," and not build again the things that we destroyed. Have divine principles and scriptural methods become a matter of indifference to us ? Has God failed us and left us to depend upon man’s devices? Delilah is at work still and our locks are being shorn, our strength is departing from us. Authority weakens, and discipline is being refused. As in the days of the Judges, every man is doing that which is right in his own eyes.
We should indeed be thankful for the zeal and energy displayed in the gospel. We should indeed thank God for it, and encourage every legitimate effort put forth as we realize that the day of grace is drawing to a close. May we never cease to be an evangelistic people, encouraging by every means at our command the preaching of the gospel of God. The late Mr. J. N. Darby said, "The moment we cease to be an evangelistic people, the Lord will set us aside and use others."
Was there ever a more devoted evangelist than the apostle Paul? Yet he never used mere human devices to give vim to the gospel. Whether laboring among the Jews or Gentiles, he could say, "I came not with excellency of speech or wisdom….for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified….and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power" (1 Cor. 2:1-4). And again:"We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness." And yet again:"Which things also we speak, not in the words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, communicating spiritual things by spiritual means" (ver. 13, N.T.). So, as we trace the labors of men of God in various times and places, we find them holding forth the Word of Life in dependence upon the Spirit’s power alone, and not using the devices of the world. Thank God that there are such yet to be found.
The harp and the organ were found in Cain’s generation; they were not mentioned in the generation of Seth. Enoch surely did not use them in prophesying of the coming of the Lord in judgment; neither did Noah, the "preacher of righteousness" in those days of which our Lord has said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man." As a people professedly separated to God, should we not "stand in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths – the good way, and walk therein," and not be found conforming to the world’s ways and methods?
Let us shun legality and a sectarian spirit on the one hand, and a loose, compromising spirit on the other. Let us by our practice confess that the Spirit of God and the Word of God are all-sufficient for every form of Christian ministry, and not weaken it by worldly imitations.
May God give us exercise, and cause us to cleave with purpose of heart to His infallible Word till He come – not estimating our labors by apparent success, but in the light of the judgment-seat of Christ, remembering that His approbation of service shall be, "Well done, good and faithful (not successful) servant; enter thou into the joy of Thy Lord."
F. J. Enefer
*The meaning of the opening sentence of our brother’s article might seem to be a little obscure. However, he makes abundantly clear in the next paragraph that what he has in mind is the well-known fact that man fails in whatever is committed into his hands. There was only One who could say, "/ do always those things that please Him." John 8:29.
NOTE:Attention has been called to the expression "His House" found in the second verse of the poem on the first page of the January issue as unsuitable as applying to our present dispensation. We are sorry for this ‘slip’ and are glad that it was called to our attention that correction might thus be made.
Ed
The Testimony of theLord’s Day
There is in the world a steady and rapid drift toward making the Lord’s Day a day of selfish pleasure, and an occasion for making money. Amongst believers there is a danger of losing sight of its true significance.
What then is its true significance? Let Scripture supply the answer. In Mark 14:1-2, we read, "And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Salome, had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun." Again we read Acts 20:7, "And upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them."
These quotations shew us two things:First, the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week. Second, His followers met together on that day to break bread and to enjoy the ministry of the Word.
From that day to this the First Day of the week has been essentially the Lord’s Day, the Christian’s day. Sunday, the popular name for the first day of the week is a name of pagan origin, and it was officially recognized and established by Constantine as a day of rest and religious observances.
The Sabbath was past when Christ arose. It was the seventh day and essentially Jewish, setting forth the rest of God. The Lord’s Day, therefore, is a memorial of the resurrection of Christ and it signifies complete deliverance from the whole Jewish system, for He died to it, once and forever.
Rising from the dead, He became the beginning of the creation of God – new creation and if any man be in Christ there is new creation. Liberty, freedom, and eternal salvation are associated with the first day of the week, for Christ has broken death’s power and brought life and incorruptibility to light through the gospel.
The great enemy of souls has ever sought to destroy this witness and is doing so today with all his power.
He would give it a Jewish character and bring souls into bondage, robbing them of the liberty wherewith Christ has made them free, or, failing in this he would go to the other extreme and turn liberty into license for the flesh. Alas! in the latter he is succeeding, perhaps more than in the former; for men are becoming increasingly lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.
What is the meaning of the modern attitude towards the Lord’s Day – the mad rush for change and excitement entailing wasteful expenditure of money and hard and unnecessary work for many who are entitled to rest and quietude. It means the masses are throwing off allegiance to God and asserting their own will. To them it is no longer the Lord’s Day but their day, "Will a man rob God? Mal. 3:8. Yes, they are doing it, openly and unabashed. They say, with ever increasing defiance, "Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice."
The tide has set in and nothing can stop it. The religious leaders can see it and are alarmed, but in many cases they do not see the end, owing to their erroneous systems of theology. What will the end be? The One whose day it is, and to Whom it gives testimony, is coming again to assert His rights and establish His power in the earth. What an awakening it will be; but too late, "when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels." (2 Thess. 1-7.)
Should any read these lines who are on pleasure bent and who take to themselves the sacred hours of the Lord’s Day, shutting God out of their thoughts, let them beware – "The Judge standeth before the door." "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."
To the Lord’s dear people I would affectionately address myself. It is the Lord’s Day – fill it for Him. Own His claims in connection with it. "Ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God’s." 1st Cor. 6:19-20. "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is." Seek to be in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and whatsoever thine hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.
Avail yourselves of the holy privilege of assembling together to break bread. Listen with attentive ears to the ministry of the Word. Edify one another. Be in the Spirit; the Lord can then speak to you and you in turn can speak to others. Wait on the Lord for your service. He will direct you and fit and qualify you for it. Redeem the time for the days are evil.
May we, one and all, be found as each Lord’s Day comes round, answering to our Master’s will until He Himself shall come.
FRAGMENT How sweet in glory to be able to look back upon a course run in which Jesus had not been denied, confidence maintained, and now throughout eternity to enjoy the fulness of that blessing, the foretaste of which sweetened all their sorrows in this life!
S. R.
FRAGMENT We will make a straight path if we are looking unto Jesus and running with patience; but if not, it is not only that we have turned aside from the appointed course, but that which is lame will also be turned out of the way. God keep us from turning any of His lame ones out of the way. Oh for the faith that, instead of turning others away, or stumbling the feeblest, shall heal those who would be tempted to wander.
S. R.