Blackheath, August, 1875.

 

My Beloved Friends,

 

According to promise, I propose
now to take up the question of the Old Testament saints. In point of fact, if
the church was not formed until Pentecost, and is completed at the coming of
the Lord, the millennial saints will also be outside the church. But as all the
feeling is shown on the subject of the Old Testament class, and the principle
is the same in both cases, we will confine our attention mainly to these.

 

That Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and
all the saints under the old dispensation, were quickened, devoted servants of
God, and that they will share in the first resurrection, with all the believers
of this dispensation, at the coming of Christ, every instructed saint will at
once admit, because this much is plain from the word of God. But we dare not go
beyond the word, and if God has concealed from us the place in the glory which
these eminent servants of His will occupy, it is the part of piety to bow in
submission, to reverence His silence as well as His word. Moreover, it savors
not only of insubmission and irreverence, but it derogates also from the
sufferings of Christ and from the grace and work of the Spirit to maintain that
the saints who lived before the atonement was completed and before the descent
of the Holy Ghost, and who consequently had not the indwelling Spirit, are in
precisely the same position as those who live now. Besides, I hope to show you
that the Scriptures themselves make a distinction; and if so, the difficulty
ought at once to be removed.

 

I will cite, in the first place,
Matt. 11:11, where we read, "Among them that are born of women there hath
not risen a greater than John the Baptist:notwithstanding he that is least in
the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." It would lead us away from our
object to enter here upon a full exposition of this passage, and hence I will
content myself with calling your attention to the fact that the Lord tells us
that eminent as John the Baptist was in the position assigned him by God as the
forerunner of and the testifier to the coming Messiah, the very least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater. Be the difference what it may—a dispensational
difference, no doubt—the Lord Jesus does here make a distinction between
saints; and not only so, but in this distinction He contrasts one of the least
in the coming kingdom with one of the greatest before that time, and to the
advantage of the former.

 

Secondly, let us turn to Romans
3:24-26:"Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus:Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through
faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins
that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this
time His righteousness:that He might be just, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus." Now, mark at the very outset that the word remission
in the text is given as passing over in the margin, and this is the
correct translation; and this word is never used of the forgiveness of sins in
connection with faith in Christ; indeed it is not elsewhere found in the New
Testament and means, as explained in the margin, a passing by, or
pretermission. Bearing this in mind, you will perceive that we have a contrast
between the position of the Old Testament saints as to the forgiveness of sins,
and the position of believers since the death of Christ. In the former case,
their sins were passed over, or pretermitted, through the forbearance of
God; in the latter, God is said to be just and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus. Surely this is a plain distinction between Old Testament
saints and believers of the present dispensation; for sins passed over through
the forbearance of God, because of the coming sacrifice of Christ, can never
express the condition of those who, "being justified by faith . . . have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:By whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of
God" (Rom. 5:1, 2); and of those who are said to be seated "together
in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 2:6); and of those of whom the Apostle
John could say, "As He is, so are we in this world." (I John
4:1?)

 

We pass on now to the Hebrews;
and there we have these words:"These all" (the Old Testament
saints), "having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us
should not be made perfect." (Heb. 11:39, 40) Here also we have a
statement, as plain as language can make it, that believers in the present
dispensation receive some "better thing" than fell in the sovereignty
and grace of God to the Old Testament believers.

 

Having called your attention to
these direct teachings of Scripture, I will now adduce another class of
passages, in which we shall find saints in a perfected condition but outside
the church. The only thing I need to premise is that the church is the
bride of Christ. All, I should suppose, are agreed as to this. Let us then turn
to Revelation nineteen. In the seventh and eighth verses we have the wife of
the Lamb; and then, in the ninth, these words follow:"Blessed are they
which are called" (or invited; see John 2:2) "unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb." Thus we have a class spoken of who are invited; not
the wife, but the called—those who were guests at the marriage supper.

 

Turn again to chapter 21:
"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of
heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice
out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will
dwell with them," etc. (vv. 2, 3) In the ninth verse, this city, the holy
Jerusalem, is said to be "the bride, the Lamb’s wife"; but in the
above passage it is described also as "the tabernacle of God," and
this tabernacle is said to be with men; so that once more we have saints
in a perfected condition outside the church.

 

And I would also remind you,
that you have for some years professed to hold the premillennial coming of the
Lord Jesus. If you do still, then of necessity, since the church is completed
at the coming of Christ for His people (for the marriage of the Lamb is
previous to the millennial reign), the millennial saints—innumerable for
multitude—do not form part of the church; and so, in any case, a large class on
your own ground is excluded. There is no more "injustice," therefore,
done to the Old Testament saints than to the millennial believers when the
proper position and privileges of the church are maintained.

 

The subject however would not be
completely discussed, if we did not refer to some two or three passages which
might, at first sight, seem to have an opposite bearing. The first of these is
Matt. 8:11, 12:"And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east
and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom
of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer
darkness," etc. In the first place, if this did refer to the church,
sitting down with the patriarchs in the kingdom of heaven does not prove that
the patriarchs belonged to the church. No one, we suppose, doubts that
believers will see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom; the only question
is, Are they of the church? But it is evident that this passage says nothing of
the church. If so, how could "the children of the kingdom" be cast
out? No, Jesus speaks as the Messiah, and in this character He warns the
unbelieving Jews, that their descent from the patriarchs will avail them
nothing; that, though they were the children of those to whom the promises were
made, they would, if they rejected Him, be cast out; and that, just as the
centurion, whose servant He had healed, had pressed by faith into the
possession of blessing, so should numbers from all quarters press into the
kingdom when it should be set up, and should thus obtain, by faith, the blessed
privilege which they were now despising.

 

The only other passage which
occasions any difficulty is in the Epistle to the Galatians. It is as follows:
"So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham."
(Gal. 3:9) The theme of the apostle in this chapter is justification by faith;
and he shows, first, that Abraham was justified by faith (v. 6), and then that
the same principle obtains under the gospel, and consequently that every one
who is of faith is blessed with faithful, i.e. believing, Abraham. (See
also Romans 4.) The question therefore dealt with is the principle on
which God justifies, not the position into which the justified are brought; and
hence this passage does not go farther than teach that the mode in which
Abraham was justified is that in which believers now are justified; and
therefore it does not touch upon dispensational differences of any kind.

 

Having thus passed, though
briefly, the whole subject in review, we see that the Scriptures say nothing as
to the inclusion of the Old Testament saints in the church; and that the
Scriptures themselves make a plain distinction between the saints of the two
dispensations. At the same time we repeat that, since we know they were born of
God, quickened by the power of the Spirit through faith, they belong to Christ,
though not members of His body, and will, therefore, share in the first
resurrection together with the church. Beyond this we may not go, as the
Scriptures are silent as to the place in the glory they will occupy; and I am
sure that you, equally with myself, would be the first to reject such
speculations as are sometimes offered upon the question as to whether some
change might not be wrought upon the patriarchs’ condition after the death of
Christ, so as to bring them into the church; for, in truth, this is to fall, in
principle, into the popish error of purgatory, even though it be shorn of its
grossest features. No, our part is to accept whatever the Scriptures may teach,
and as implicitly to refuse any speculation which seeks to penetrate into the
things which God has not revealed.

 

But since He has taught us that
the period of the church is included between Pentecost and the coming of the
Lord, we know that the believers before and the believers after that time
cannot form part of it, cannot be members of the body of Christ. Their place
and blessing in the glory will be worthy of Him who separated them unto
Himself, and will call forth their adoration and praise, equally with ours, as
they contemplate the wondrous display of the riches of His grace in their
salvation and eternal glory.

 

Believe me, beloved friends,

Yours affectionately in Christ,
E. Dennett

 

Dominion is the Son of man’s by
covenant, by personal title, by title of service or obedience, and by title of
death or purchase; and I may add, BY CONQUEST also; for the judgments which are
to clear His way to the throne and take out of the kingdom all that offends
are, as we know, executed by His hand. "Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in
battle" (Psalm 24).

 

What foundations are thus laid
for the dominion of the Son of man! How does every title join in subscribing
itself to His honoured and glorious name! As we see in Revelation 5, none in
heaven or earth could take the Book but the Lamb that was slain, who was the
Lion of Judah:but into His hand He that sits on the throne lets it pass at
once; and then the church in glory, angels, and all creatures in all parts of
the great dominions triumph in the Lamb’s rights and title. And if the title is
thus sure, sealed by a thousand witnesses, and wondrous too, so will be the
power and kingdom which it sustains. In the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
"the Lord from heaven," as well as "the Son of man," all
the great purpose of God in the rule of all things stands revived and
established. We may say that as "all the promises of God in Him are yea,
and in Him amen," so all the destinies of man under God are alike in Him
yea, and in Him amen. (2 Cor. 1:19-20).

 

There was dominion in Adam;
government in Noah; fatherhood in Abraham; judgment in David; and royalty in
Solomon. In Christ all these glories will meet and shine together. In Him, and
under Him, will be "the restitution of all things" (Acts 3:21). Many
crowns He will wear, and many names He will bear. His name of "Lord"
in Psalm 8, is not His name of "King" in Psalm 72. The form of glory
in each is peculiar. The crowns are different, but both are His. And He is
likewise "the Father of the everlasting age," a King and yet a
Father— both the Solomon and the Abraham of God. In Him all shall be blessed;
and yet to Him all shall bow. The sword, too, is His:the "rod of
iron," as well as the "sceptre of righteousness." He will judge
with David and rule with Solomon.

 

As Son
of David, He takes power to exercise it in a given sphere of glory. As
Son of man, He takes power, and exercises it in a wider sphere of glory.
He comes likewise in His own glory, in the glory of the Father, and in the
glory of the holy angels. And as the risen Man He takes power. This is
shown us in I Corinthians 15:23-27. And in that character He has His peculiar
sphere also. He puts death, the last enemy, under His feet. And this is so
fitting, like everything else, perfect in its place and season, that as the
risen Man He should put down death.

In the Epistle to the Colossians
Paul makes the statement, "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the
dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the Word of
God" (Col. 1:25). To fulfil the Word of God does not mean, as often
stated, that Paul fulfilled his ministry and was faithful in it. It means rather
that to him was given the revelation which makes full, or completes, the Word
of God. The highest and most glorious revelation which the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ has been pleased to give, He communicated through the
Apostle Paul. The two prison Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians embody
this completion of the Word of God. The Ephesian Epistle holds the place of
preeminence. The revelation which is given in this Epistle concerning believing
sinners, whom God has redeemed by the blood of His Son and exalted in Him into
the highest possible position, is by far the greatest revelation. God is
revealing His own loving heart and tells out by His Spirit how He loved us and
thought of us before the foundation of the world. He shows forth the riches of
His grace and now makes known the secret He held back in former ages. How rich
it all is! Like God Himself, so this revelation, coming from His loving heart,
is inexhaustible. We may speak of Ephesians as the rich Epistle of the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, rich in mercy, tells us of the exceeding
riches of His Grace in kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. But even this
definition does not tell out half of all the glory this wonderful document
contains. It is God’s highest and God’s best. Even God cannot say more than
what He has said in this filling full of His Word.

 

In the Psalms we read:"The
heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handy
work" (Ps. 19:1). We lift up our eyes and behold the wonders of God’s
creation, which He called into existence by His Son and for Him (Col. 1:16).
Here in Ephesians another heaven is opened. If the heavens of creation are so
wonderful and their depths unfathomable, how much more wonderful are the
heavenlies into which Christ has entered, where He now is seated far above all
principality and power and might and into which God’s grace has brought us in
Him!

 

And this brings us to the reason
for calling the opening chapters of this Epistle "the masterpiece of
God." The first three chapters of Ephesians contain the great revelation
to which we referred above. What God has accomplished in His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, to the praise of the glory of His grace—how He makes believing
sinners one with His Son, sharers of His fulness and His glory—this is the
revelation of these chapters. All was planned before the foundation of the
world, while elsewhere in these chapters (2:7) the eternity to come is
mentioned. From eternity to eternity are the boundaries of these three
chapters.

 

The church, the body of Christ,
the fulness of Him that filleth all in all, the one body in which believing
Jews and Gentiles are united, the building growing unto an holy temple, the
habitation of God by the Spirit, and the ultimate destiny of that body, are
further revelations of these marvelous chapters.

 

Now the central verse of these
chapters is found in 2:10. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should

walk in them." The word workmanship
arrests our attention. It is the Greek poiema, from which our word poem
is derived. It is a beautiful thought in itself to think of those who are
saved by grace, and united to Christ as "the poem of God." But the
word poiema may also be rendered masterpiece.

 

Only
once more is the same word found in the original language of the New Testament
Scriptures. In Romans 1:20 it is used in connection with the physical creation.
God has produced two great masterworks in which He manifests His power. He
called the universe into existence out of nothing. What He, as the omnipotent
One can do, is seen in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the
sustenance of His creation. His eternal power and Godhead are revealed in
creation (Rom. 1:19-20). But the creation of the universe out of nothing is not
the greatest masterpiece of God. God has done something greater. He has
produced a work, which reveals Him in a far higher degree. That greater
masterpiece is the redemption of sinners. In this greater work He manifests
also "the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when
He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly
places" (Eph. 1:17-20). God planned this great work before He ever created
the universe, and the universe was called into existence in anticipation of this
greater manifestation of God’s glorious power in the details of His masterpiece
and the mystery connected with it.

In Numbers seven we have the
gifts of love and free will, of hearty devotedness, which the chiefs of the
people offer for the service of the sanctuary. The one point to which attention
need now be drawn is an offering particularly for the service of the
Levites; but remarkably enough these offerings did not affect the Kohathites.
The Kohathites, whatever others might receive, carry the vessels entrusted to
them upon their own shoulders. The sons of Merari and the sons of Gershon are
presented with oxen and chariots; the Kohathites receive none. There is no such
principle as that of God balancing matters and keeping men in good temper by giving
all the same portion. If there were, it would be an end of practical grace. On
the contrary, what puts faith and love to the test is that God arranges every
one of us in a different place according to His wise and sovereign will. There
is no such thing as two alike. The consequence is that this, which becomes an
awful danger for flesh, is the sweetest exercise of grace where we are looking
to the Lord. What gracious man would feel sore with another because he was
unlike himself? On the contrary, he would take an honest and hearty joy in that
which he saw of Christ in another which he did not himself possess. Now this is
what seems to me is called into exercise by the provision for the carrying out
of the service of the Levites. The least of them had the most oxen and the most
chariots. At the same time, those who had the highest and the most precious
charge of all had to bear the vessels on their shoulders. They had much less
noise and appearance among men, but the best place, giving rise to the highest
exercises of faith. The Lord make us rejoice, not only in what He has given to
us, but in what He has withheld from us and entrusted to others!

 

Isa. 6:9, 10

 

The prophecy of blindness was
uttered in the year that Uzziah died. History says that this is the year in
which Rome was founded. However, there is so much myth connected with this
event that we cannot be sure. Uzziah had a prosperous reign of fifty-two years,
and then died a leper. He had apostatized; the nation had done likewise. The
prophet pronounced the sentence which is repeated on at least three occasions
in the New Testament:Matt. 13:14, 15; John 12:39, 40; Acts 28:26, 27.

 

The prophet asks how long this
blindness is to last. The Lord says till the times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled. In round numbers, the time since this was written has been 2500
years, and the time has not come yet for the blindness to be lifted.

 

Here is the awful prophecy:

 

Go, and tell this people,

 

a. Hear ye indeed, but
understand not; and see ye indeed, but

 

perceive not.

 

b. Make the heart of this people
fat, c. and make their ears heavy, d. and shut their eyes; d. lest they see
with their eyes, c. and hear with their ears, b. and understand with their
heart, a. and convert, and be healed.

 

It was not long after this
prophecy was written that Israel went into captivity. Ezekiel tells us of how
the glory of God left the temple. Although the temple was rebuilt under Ezra,
we have no record that the glory of God ever came back.  Neither did Israel have a king. When their King came, they rejected Him and murdered Him. He will be
their next King some day in the future, when He comes again.

 

Now let us consider the New
Testament references to this prophecy.

 

Matt. 13:14, 15. On what
occasion was this uttered? It was on the same day that "the Pharisees went
out, and held a council against Him, how that they might destroy Him"
(12:14). This was His rejection and so was a turning point in the story, as
well as an important dispensational epoch.

 

John 12:39, 40. The Lord had
done many miracles among the people, but they believed not. So the Lord went
away and hid Himself from them so that this prophecy might be fulfilled. Some
of the chief rulers did believe but they were afraid to confess it for fear
that they would be put out of the synagogue. This was fear of the Pharisees.

 

Acts 28:26, 27. The Messiah had
been murdered, but in His last moments He had prayed for the forgiveness of His
people since they were doing it in ignorance. There was a provision in the law
for sins of ignorance. Then the Twelve proclaimed the reoffer of the King and
kingdom to those in the land. Later, Paul and those with him proclaimed the
same message out of the land, even to Gentiles who were grafted in as was
Cornelius with the object of provoking Israel to jealousy, but to no avail. In
the last of Acts Paul spoke to the last group of Jews all day, arguing from the
Scriptures concerning the King and the kingdom. But they could not agree among
themselves. So after all the repeated warnings, these words were said for the
last time. The salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles.

 

"What shall I do to inherit
eternal life?"

 

The question was framed by a
professional theologian to test the orthodoxy of the great Rabbi of Nazareth.
For evidently it was rumored that the new Teacher was telling the people of a
short road to heaven.

 

And the answer given was
clear—no other answer, indeed, is possible, for what a man inherits is
his by right—eternal life is the reward and goal of a perfect life on earth:a perfect
life, mark—the standard being perfect love to God and man.

 

And this, being so, no one but a
Pharisee or a fool could dream of inheriting eternal life; and the
practical question which concerns every one of us is whether God has provided a
way by which men who are not perfect, but sinful, can be saved. The answer to
this question is hidden in the parable by which the Lord silenced his
interrogator’s quibble, "Who is my neighbor?"

 

Here is the story from Luke
10:30-35. A traveler on the downward road to the city of the curse (Jericho) fell among thieves, who robbed and wounded him, and flung him down, half dead, by
the wayside. First, a priest came that way, and then a Levite, who looked at him,
and passed on. Why a priest and a Levite? Did the Lord intend to throw contempt
upon religion and the law? That is quite incredible. No, but He wished to teach
what, even after nineteen centuries of Christianity, not one person in a
thousand seems to know— that law and religion can do nothing for a ruined and
dead sinner. A sinner needs a Saviour, and so the Lord brings the
Samaritan upon the scene.

 

But why a Samaritan? Just
because "Jews have no dealings with Samaritans." Save as a last
resource, no Jew would accept deliverance from such a quarter. Sin not only
spells danger and death to the sinner, but it alienates the heart from God.
Nothing but a sense of utter helplessness and hopelessness will lead him to
throw himself, with abject self-renunciation, at the feet of Christ.

 

It is not that man by nature is
necessarily vicious or immoral. It is chiefly in the spiritual sphere
that the effects of the Eden Fall declare themselves. Under human teaching the
Fall becomes an adequate excuse for a sinful life. But the Word of God declares
that men are "without excuse." For although "they that are in
the flesh cannot please God," they can lead clean, honest, and honorable
lives. The "cannot" is not in the moral, but in the spiritual, sphere.
For "the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to
the law of God" (Rom. 8:7, 8, R.V.).

 

And this affords a clue to the
essential character of sin. In the lowest classes of the community sin is but
another word for crime. At a higher level in the social scale it is
regarded as equivalent to vice. And in a still higher sphere the element
of impiety is taken into account. But all this is arbitrary and false.
Crime, vice, and impiety are unquestionably sinful; but yet the most upright,
moral, and religious of men may be the greatest of sinners upon earth.

Why state this hypothetically?
It is a fact; witness the life and character of Saul of Tarsus. Were the
record not accredited by Paul the inspired apostle, we might well refuse to
believe that such blamelessness, piety, and zeal were ever attained by mortal
man. Why then does the apostle call himself the chief of sinners?  In presence
of those to whom he was well known, he could say, "I have lived before God
In all good conscience until this day" (Acts 23:1, R.V.). And with
reference to his past life, he could write, "As touching the righteousness
which is in the law, found blameless" (Philippians 3:6, R.V.).  Was this
an outburst of wild exaggeration of the kind to which pious folk of an
hysterical turn are addicted? It was the sober acknowledgment of the well-known
principle that privilege increases responsibility and deepens guilt.

 

According to the "humanity
gospel," which is to-day supplanting the Gospel of Christ in so many
pulpits, Paul was a model saint. In the judgment of God he was a model sinner.
And just because he had, as judged by men, attained pre-eminence in saintship,
divine grace taught him to own his preeminence in sin. With all his zeal for
God and fancied godliness, he awoke to find that he was a blasphemer. And what
a blasphemer! Who would care a straw what a Jerusalem mob thought of the Rabbi
of Nazareth? But who would not be influenced by the opinion of Gamaliel’s great
disciple?

 

An infidel has said that
"Thou shalt not steal" is merely the language of the hog in the
clover to warn off the hogs outside the fence. And this reproach attaches to
all mere human conceptions of sin. Men judge of sin by its results and their
estimate of its results is colored by their own interests. But all such
conceptions of sin are inadequate. Definitions are rare in Scripture, but sin
is there defined for us. It may show itself in transgression, or in failing to
come up to a standard. But essentially it is lawlessness; which means, not
transgression of law, nor absence of law, but revolt against law—in a word,
self-will. This is the very essence of sin. The perfect life was the life of
Him who never did His own will, but only and always the will of God. All that
is short of this, or different from this, is characterized as sin.

 

And here it is not a question of
acts merely, but of the mind and heart. Man’s whole nature is at fault. Even
human law recognizes this principle. In the case of ordinary crime we take the
rough and ready method of dealing with men for what they do. But not so in
crime of the highest kind. Treason consists in the hidden thought of the heart.
Overt acts of disloyalty or violence are not the crime, but merely the evidence
of the crime. The crime is the purpose of which such acts give proof. Men
cannot read the heart; they can judge of the purpose only by words and acts.
But it is not so with God. In His sight the treason of the human heart is
manifest, and no outward acts are needed to declare it.

 

The truest test of a man is not
conduct, but character; not what he does, but what he is. Human judgment must,
of course, be guided by a man’s acts and words. But God is not thus limited.
Man judges character by conduct; God judges conduct by character. Therefore it
is that "what is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of
God."

 

And this brings us back to the
case of Paul. Under the influence of environment, and following his natural
bent, he took to religion as another man might take to vice. Religion was his
specialty. And the result was a splendid success. Here was the case of a man
who really did his best, and whose "best" was a record achievement.
But what was God’s judgment of it all? What was his own, when he came to look
back on it from the cross of Christ? Surveying the innumerable hosts of the
sinners of mankind, he says, "of whom I am chief." And this,
as already urged, because his unrivaled "proficiency" in religion had
raised him to the very highest pinnacle of privilege and responsibility, and
thus proved him to be the wickedest and worst of men.

 

"But I obtained
mercy," he adds. Not because he had sinned "ignorantly in
unbelief"; for that plea counts for nothing here, though it led the Lord
to extend further mercy to him on his repentance. He was twice granted
mercy:first in receiving salvation, and next in being called to
the apostle-ship; for it is not God’s way to put blasphemers into the ministry.
But the mercy of his salvation was only and altogether because "Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (I Timothy 1:15). He had no
other plea.

 

The Apostle Paul’s case only
illustrates the principle of divine judgment, as proclaimed by the Lord Himself
in language of awful solemnity. The most terrible doom recorded in Old
Testament history was that which engulfed the cities of the plain. Yet the Lord
declared that a still direr doom awaited the cities which had been specially
favored by His presence and ministry on earth. The sin of Sodom we know. But
what had Capernaum done? Religion flourished there. It was "exalted to
heaven" by privilege, and there is no suggestion that evil practices
prevailed. The exponents of the "humanity gospel," now in popular
favor, would have deemed it a model community. They would tell us, moreover,
that if Sodom was really destroyed by a storm of fire and brimstone, it was
Jewish ignorance which attributed the catastrophe to their cruel Jehovah God.
The kind, good Jesus of their enlightened theology would have far
different thoughts about Capernaum!

 

"But I say unto you,"
was the Lord’s last warning to that seemingly happy and peaceful community,
"it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment,
than for thee" (Matt. 11:24).

 

What, then, we may well ask, had
Capernaum done? So far, as the record tells us, absolutely nothing. Had there
been flagrant immorality, or active hostility, the Lord would not have made His
home there; nor would it have come to be called "His own city"
(Matthew 4:13; 9:1; cf. Mark 2:1). And had there been aggressive
unbelief, the "mighty works" which He wrought so lavishly among its
people would have been restrained. Thoroughly respectable and religious folk
they evidently were. But "they repented not"; that was all.

 

That such people should be
deemed guiltier than Sodom, and that the champion religionist of His own age
should rank as the greatest sinner of any age:here is an enigma that is
insoluble if we ignore the Eden Fall—that "degrading dogma," as it is
now called, of the corruption of our nature—and the teaching of Scripture as to
the essential character of sin. It was not that these men, knowing God,
rejected Him, but that they did not know Him. "He was in the world, and
the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." "But,"
the record adds, "as many as received Him, to them gave He the right to
become children of God." On receiving Him, or, in other words, on
believing on His name, they were "born of God" (John 1:10-13, R-V.).

If sin were merely a matter of
wrong-doing, if it was not "in the blood," if our very nature was not
spiritually corrupt and depraved by it, a new birth would be unnecessary. A
blind man does not see things in a wrong light; he cannot see them at all. And
man by nature is spiritually blind. He "cannot see the Kingdom of God," much less enter it. He must be born again.

 

But there is more in sin than
this. It not only depraves the sinner, but it brings him under judgment. Guilt
attaches to it. Salvation, therefore, must be through redemption, and
redemption can only be by blood.

 

Summer is a good time for sowing
the seed. Car windows in parking lots are often open and a tract may be slipped
in. We do not recommend that tracts be put under windshield wipers or
other places where they might become a litter problem.

 

"Just Over the Hill,"
"Only One Way," and "Where are You Headed?" are good titles
for highway travelers. In the light of recent events we suggest "God Hath
Spoken" and "Is This World All That is Worth Living For?" And
"The Great Election Day" will be especially appropriate into
November. All are obtainable from the Publishers.

 

We are soon to reprint the
pamphlets "The Lord’s Dealings with the Convict Daniel Mann," by P.
J. L. and "The Assembly of God or, The All-Sufficiency of the Name of
Jesus," by C. H. M. These have been long out of print, but will soon be
available, Lord willing, from J. L. Canner. (See back page.)

 

FRAGMENT "He that goeth forth
and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him."