THE HERALD
of Christ's Kingdom
VOL.
XXXVII January 1954
No. 1
Table of Contents
A New Year of the Lord's Planning
New Wine in Old Wine-skins
"The Word of God"
Discipline
Perfected Through Suffering
Items of Interest
Recently Deceased
"Christ
shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life,
or by death." - Philippians 1:20.
DOUBTLESS,
for some, the new year will be an entrance into the joys "prepared
for them that love him"; possibly for all of us, as different
brethren have inferred from various reasonings. It will without doubt give
all true disciples opportunities for growth in grace, opportunities of
learning whether we have been hearing him, or have been listening to the
theories of men; and perhaps of having more sympathy for the speculators
and less with the speculations; of putting off the ways of the flesh,
"bringing every thought into captivity to Christ," and learning
to "wait on the Lord" -- because at last we have learned to
appreciate the "righteousness and sanctity of the truth." (Eph.
4:24, Cambridge Bible.) If the Lord should bless us with somewhat more of
this world's bounties than some of our neighbors, the privilege of
"doing good unto all men as we have opportunity" will doubtless
clearly prove that "it is more blessed to give than to receive,"
more blessed to learn the love that "doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own."
There
will be occasions for speaking the truth as the Lord's witnesses.
"If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles [Gk.: logia] of
God." Jesus, with his perfect brain and his millenniums of dwelling
with the Father, did not venture to speak anything except those
things, that the Father gave him to speak as his logos, his mouthpiece.
There will be services to perform, but "if any man minister, let
him do it as of the ability which God giveth," whether it be in
laying down his life for his brethren, or in doing good to all men, or in
"providing for our own," those God's providence has put under
our care. If we will place ourselves unreservedly under divine guidance,
we will not be laid open to the doing of foolish things, or sensible
things in a foolish way. He who said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of
heaven and his righteousness, and all these [necessary earthly] things
will be added unto you' regardless of how near you may get to a "time
of trouble such as never was since there was a nation," will most
certainly make it possible for us to provide for our own, in his way. Just
"lift up your heads" when you see that "these things are
coming to pass," being confident that he who placed certain ones
under our care, did so because of his interest in them, and that our being
taken away will not lessen his interest in them. On this subject see the
excellent advice given regarding "Our Children in the Time of Trouble,"
Reprints, page R1963; Z, April 15, 1896. A consciousness that we are
"ministering . . . of the ability which God giveth" will guard
us against the error of slothfulness in any feature of the business the
Lord has committed to our care. Instead, we will "do with our might
what our hands find to do" -- the tasks God has assigned for our
hands. Only thus can Christ be magnified in our bodies; only thus can we
present our bodies living sacrifices, acceptable to him; only thus can our
dying daily be pleasing to him; and only thus can we face with confidence
the privilege offered us of magnifying Christ in this body "by
death."
For
one who honestly has this desire, it is a pleasurable task to
"bring every thought into captivity to Christ, casting down
imaginations and every [other] high thing that exalteth itself against the
knowledge of God," "whom to know is life everlasting."
"Demolishing reasonings" is the translation the Emphatic Diaglott
gives, a translation very acceptable to flesh dead enough to prefer the
"mind of Christ" to its own. Christ will be magnified in our
bodies this year if we live not only the first verse of Romans 12, but
also verse 2 (Rom. 12:2), presenting our bodies living sacrifices, and
being transformed by the renewing of our minds -- the one as important as
the other.
No
sacrifice will be acceptable if carried out under the direction of an
un-transformed mind. To mind the things of the flesh is death; for in our
flesh "dwelleth no good thing"; minding the things of the
spirit, the mind of Christ -- always out of harmony with human reasoning
-- is life. As an advance payment, there is "peace and righteousness
and joy in the holy spirit." With this "peace of God ruling in
our hearts" there will be no room for "anxious thought for the
morrow," but full confidence in our Great Provider and his precious
promises.
Graciously
our heavenly Father has left with each individual much of the deciding
about details of his life. Thus some will lay away great stores for the
future; and some will live day by day, trusting the Lord for the morrow;
and all will make some mistakes -- those with the great store finding
that their love for their neighbors has grown so barge that the stores are
too small; and the one who lives day by day discovering that he should
have taken thought for the morrow, though not "anxious thought."
Some will be trusting him in times of great stress; others "moment
by moment."
We
should be dynamos, continuously appropriating the power that is waiting
for us to lay hold on it that we may be "strengthened with all might
according to his glorious power"; not just storage batteries coming
at long intervals for his filling.
Note
that it is not, "I shall magnify Christ"; but "Christ
shall be magnified." The flesh says, "Let me do the planning of
my life and I will magnify Christ," little realizing how greatly
every such life must disgrace him. Let this year instead be for us a
living for others, "always the bearing about in the body the dying
of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body."
"In
quietness and in confidence shall be your strength."
- P. E. Thomson.
"Who
do we and
the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?" - Matt. 9:14.
BEFORE
CONSIDERING the parables themselves, it will be helpful to note the
conditions which led our Lord to give them expression. They were utteredat
the feastwhich Matthew, either in the evening of the same day on which lie
had been called to be a disciple, or shortly thereafter, had prepared in
our Lord's honor. - Luke 5:33-39; Mark 2:18 22; Matt. 9:9-17.
It
seems evident that there was no lack of conversation at Matthew's table.
Besides the publicans (that is to say, tax collectors) and sinners (those
who made no religious claims or professions) who reclined with hint, there
lounged in the court outside the room, or even in the room itself, many
neighbors whom the customs of the East permitted to add themselves,
uninvited, to the company. Among these were certain Pharisees, and their
scribes, rabbis, and doctors of the law, who had already been worsted in their dispute with Christ when he healed the man who was sick of the
palsy (Matt. 9:1-8); certain also of their ardent young disciples. Some of
the disciples of John the Baptist were there too. Among these bystanders
there arose a discussion, a discussion which was mainly an adverse
criticism. The. discussion turned on eating and drinking, as was natural
at a least, and various issues were raised, as for instance, whether it
was not better to fast than to feast; and, with whom was it lawful to eat.
The
Pharisees did not approve of eating with "publicans and
sinners"; but with a certain awe of Jesus, and remembering how he had
previously discomfited them, when he had forgiven the paralytic his sins
and cured his palsy, they first put their disapproval into the form of a
question, and then asked the question of his disciples, not venturing to
ask it directly of him. To their question: "Why eateth your Teacher
with the publicans and sinners?" his disciples not being ready with
an answer, our Lord made a threefold reply. First he cited a well known
proverb: "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are
sick." Next he advised them to learn the real significance of the
Scripture found in Hosea 6:6, "I desired mercy and not
sacrifice"; and finally he gave them a distinct declaration of the
object and character of his mission: "I am not come to call the
righteous but sinners."
BIGOTRY AND HOW TO MEET
IT
No
sooner is the question, "Why eateth your Teacher with the publicans
and sinners?" answered than another is raised, raised first,
probably, by the disciples of the Baptist. They object, not so much to the
company in which Jesus sits; for they cannot forget that the Baptist
himself called publicans and sinners to repentance (Luke 3:12); but they
are amazed that he, to whom John gave witness, should sit at a well spread
table, and partake of sumptuous fare. That was not like the
Baptist. He lived in a. wilderness, on locusts and wild homy. Was it
right, was it kind, that One whom John loved so well should feast when
John was in prison? Was not fasting always better than feasting? Was it
not much more suitable and becoming in view of the times of stress through
which they were passing?
What
was the mistake which these two sets of critics made? Were not the
Pharises right in refusing to associate with the irreligious? Were not the
disciples of the Baptist sound in their views that fasting was more
appropriate than feasting?
The
mistake which these men made was a mistake which has been repeated many
times since, a mistake which, we trust, all of our readers as well as ourselves, seek to avoid. It was the mistake of
making themselves the standard by which all others were to be measured,
and not only measured but. condemned. Even Jesus, it seems, must come
under their censure if his thoughts were higher than their thoughts, his
ways broader than theirs. "We do this or that; we think
thus and so; why don't you?. We will lay our ban on you if you don't"
-- this has been the cry of the bigot in all ages and generations. "We
do not see this feasting to be right, and therefore it must be
wrong." We cannot too carefully guard ourselves against being
infected by this self-righteous and intolerant temper which must be a
thousandfold more base and wicked than any errors of thought sincerely
held. Christ was in the right, though "we and the Pharisees"
thought him wrong.
When
we meet a bigot, we are tempted to meet hint in a temper as arrogant and
as self-sufficient as his own. Let us therefore the more carefully mark
how the Lord Jesus met these austere bigots of the law. Their objection
lay against the new tone which he seemed to be giving, and really was
giving, to the religious life of men. They held that religion demanded a
rigid and austere life; that it enjoined fasting, abstinence from comfort
and joy -- in one word, asceticism. Their real complaint against Christ
was that he was departing from this conception of religion. What they
meant was: "You are giving a festal tone to life. You rejoice with
those that rejoice, as well as weep with those that weep. You do not fast
and make your disciples fast. You go to a marriage feast as readily as to
a house of mourning. You even feast with sinners, who should do nothing
but bewail their sins, and their exclusion from our synagogues. You give
an added joy, and the sanction of your presence, to their festivities."
To
all of which our Lord replies by three exquisite parables: the parable
of the bridegroom and the bridechamber; the parable of the old garment
with a new patch; and the parable of the. new wine poured into old
wineskins.
PARABLE OF THE BRIDECHAMBER
First
of all he speaks the parable of the bridechamber. "Can the children
of the bridechamber fast while the bridegroom is with them?"
"Can the friends of the bridegroom be gloomy and mournful when he is
about to be married?" This figure of,a bridegroom is one of the most
precious to be found in the Scriptures. As all are aware, it is used in
the New Testament to denote the bonds of love and affection which unite
our Lord, the heavenly Bridegroom, to the Church of this Gospel Age. As
St. Paul, writing to the Church of Corinth declares: "I have
espoused" [or betrothed] you to one husband, that I may present you
as a chaste virgin to Christ." (2 Cor. 11:2.) And how the true lovers
of Jesus long for the time to come when they shall experience the
consummation of their hopes, and go in with him to the marriage-feast,
entering fully and for ever into the joys of their Lord!
In
the passage before us, however, Jesus was not presenting himself as the
betrothed Bridegroom of the Church. There was no spirit-begotten Church to
whom he could be betrothed when he spoke these words at Matthew's feast.
Not until after he had given his life for her sake; not until he had been
raised from the dead by the Father's power; not until he had ascended on
high, there, at the Father's right hand, to appear in his presence on her
behalf; not until the waiting followers of Jesus received the holy spirit
on the day of Pentecost, was there even the nucleus of a Church to whom,
as a spirit being, he could be betrothed. Then, indeed, it was, on the day
of Pentecost, when the holy spirit was given, that our heavenly Bridegroom
betrothed the Gospel Church to himself, in love.
JEWISH BRIDE REJECTS BRIDEGROOM
But
the figure of the bridegroom had been used in the Old Testament of Jehovah
and his relationship to the Jewish Church or nation. When Christ came,
He came as the Father's representative, to claim this Jewish Church for
his own. "And his own," we read, "received him not." -
John 1:11.
From
this standpoint,
this brief parable, quite apart from the beauty and interest it has for
us, had a special force both for the disciples of the Pharisees and for
the followers of the Baptist. The Pharisees held by the "Law and the
Prophets." And the Prophets had spoken of a coming Bridegroom who
should betroth Israel unto himself "in righteousness and in
loving-kindness and in mercies," who, though her "Maker,"
should become her "Husband" and "Redeemer." (Isa.
62:5; Hos. 2:19, 20; Isa. 54:5.) Their own rabbis had pronounced this
"Bridegroom" to be the Messiah, and had foretold, "All
fasting shall cease in the days of Messias; there shall only be holidays
and festivals, joy and gladness and cheerful feasts." So that, by
his brief parable, our Lord was recalling their own Prophets and rabbis to
the minds of the Pharisees. He was announcing himself as the expected
"Bridegroom" and "Messiah" and showing them how even
their own teachers had foreseen that the sons of the bridechamber, the
companions of the Bridegroom, should not fast in his day, but hold
holiday and festival, with joy and gladness and cheerful feasts.
THE BAPTIST'S FAITHFUL WITNESS
In
like manner the parable had special meaning and force for the disciples of
John. They
held
by their
master's
words. To them the Baptist was the last and greatest of the Prophets. And
when the Baptist saw all men flocking to Jesus, he had said to his
disciples: "Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the
Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the
Bridegroom, but the friend of the Bridegroom, which standeth and heareth
him, rejoiceth greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice; this, my joy,
therefore, is fulfilled." - John 3:28, 29.
The
disciples of John could hardly fail to recall their master's words as they
listened to the parable of Christ. And as they recalled them, they would
see how even the austere, ascetic Baptist had claimed, as a son of the
bridechamber, to rejoice greatly, while the Bridegroom was with him. And if
he could
do so, why could not they also?
Obviously
there was a special force in the parable for both sets of critics. It
referred the disciples of the Pharisees to Hebrew prophecies of a coming
Messiah and Bridegroom, anointed with the oil of joy above his fellows, in whose days all fasting would
cease; and it referred the disciples of the Baptist to the teaching and
example of the Baptist himselfto his prophecy
of a Bridegroom, and his great joy as long as he stood and heard the
Bridegroom's voice. So that, in place of meeting these austere and narrow-hearted
critics in a temper as narrow and arrogant as their own, our Lord Jesus
adopted their standards, condescended to their modes of thought, and
sought to convince them out
of their own
Scriptures -- leaving us
once again, an example, that we should thus,
as
well as in all other respects, seek to follow in his steps.
TRUE FASTING BY GOSPEL CHURCH
But
there is a deeper meaning in his next words, a meaning which neither the
disciples of the Pharisees, nor the Baptist's disciples could grasp. As
long as they have the Bridegroom with them, the children of the
bridechamber cannot fast. That
they
were beginning to understand. "But the days will come," he
continues, "when the Bridegroom will be taken away from them, and
then shall they fast in those days. In these words it is evident that our
Lord is thinking of the experiences of the true Gospel Church, of which
the Jewish Church was but typical. Some of these disciples of his, members
of the Jewish Church, would be transferred to the Gospel Church, and
others would believe on him through their word, all down through the
Gospel Age. Throughout these centuries he, their betrothed, would be
absent. Now fasting is always associated with sorrow and trial, .and as at
times the long delay on the part of the Bridegroom would cause the heart
of the waiting Church to grow sick and discouraged, she might well fast
and doubtless would. But no one would need to urge this on her. It would
not be a rite or ceremony imposed on the Church at certain solemn seasons,
but the expression of a real sentiment of grief and weariness. It would
proceed from the sorrow which the Church would feel in the absence of her
Bridegroom, and is designed to lend intensity to her prayers and to insure
with greater certainty that assistance of Jesus (the holy spirit in rich
measure) which alone can supply the place of his visible presence. -
Mark 9:29; Acts 13:2, 3; 14:23.
PARABLE OF THE OLD GARMENT WITH THE NEW PATCH
To
the parable of the bridechamber our Lord adds ,the parable of the old
garment with the new-patch. "No man seweth a piece of new cloth on an
old garment; else the new piece that filleth it up taketh away from the
old and the rent is made worse."
In
this second parable our Lord again condescends to the imperfections of his
critics, that he may lead them to think more accurately, and with a
broader vision, of him, and of the work he has come to do. He states the
view of the Law and of the Gospel which they (not he) held. To them,
the Law was an old cloak, a religious garb, which they had long worn,
and their fathers before them. They had honestly tried (at least some of
them had) to clothe themselves in the righteousness which is by the Law.
To a large extent its precepts had shaped their lives. Still, its
ordinances were, for the most part, ordinances of outward observances,
which had not vital, or vitalizing power. It could not, as St. Paul
found out by bitter experience, give life. It was not graven on their
hearts, but only on their phylacteries and door-posts -- on the hem of
their garments. It did not touch, quicken, and renew their spirits; it was
a mere robe, concealing rather than removing, the deformities and
pollutions of their moral nature.
They
did not themselves deny that it was an old cloak, getting somewhat thin and threadbare by long
use. They were willing to have it patched; they were even trying to patch
it themselves. The Pharisees, besides supplementing the written law by
oral tradition, were willing to take a few hints from the teaching of John the Baptist. The disciples of
the Baptist, though as a rule they did not become Christian, were
willing to take a few hints from the teaching and example of Christ.
They cut out a shred here and a shred there from the Gospel fabric, and
were sewing them on to their old garment, the Law. But this feasting in
Matthew's house perplexed them.
They
could not tell what to make of it -- how to use it. It did not fit into
any rent, or match with any texture, of their hereditary cloak. They were
willing to take from Christ any form or custom which would make the Law
more perfect or more suitable to the times; but this feasting with tax
collectors and sinners -- what could they make of it? This would
not give an added air of austerity or sanctity to their lives. It would
neither make them more righteous, nor even give them a wider reputation
for righteousness. It might even lessen the reputation they had. How
could this patch be wrought in upon their old garment?
For
their instruction our Lord adopts their view. Virtually he says to them:
"You regard the law of Moses as an old cloak, a religious garb,
rather than a religious life-form rather than spirit. And for you, this
Gospel of mine is simply a new cloak, a new religious garb, another series
of outward forms. Be consistent, then. Do not spoil both cloaks by cutting
a piece out of the new and sewing it on to the old. The new will not match
with the old. The patch of new, - undressed, unfulled, cloth, sure to
shrink when once it is wetted, will pull away from the frayed threads of
the shrunk and long-worn garment, and the rent will grow worse than
ever. Either wrap yourselves, as best you may, in the scanty folds of your
ancient and tattered cloak, or fling that away, and accept in its place
the new cloak, which, you are supposing, I have come to offer men."
PARABLE OF THE NEW WINE AND THE OLD WINESKINS
Having
thus taken their view, Jesus proceeds to give them his own view of both
Law and Gospel in a third parable, the parable of the new wine and the old
wineskins. To him, the Law was like old wine rather than like an old cloak
-- wine which had not been without its refreshment and cheer to those who
honestly sought to regulate their lives by it, even though it could never
give them life; and the Gospel, so far from being a new cloak, a
covering to be put on, was a new wine, a new vivifying spirit, to be put
within men, making them strong and glad.
The
wineskins, it would seem, would answer to the representatives of these two
principles -- the Law and the Gospel. The Scribes and Pharisees at this
time were sitting in Moses' seat. They were not divinely appointed to this
service, but our Lord does not blame them for undertaking to instruct the
people in reference to the mind and purposes of God, so long as they did
not assume too much in consequence of what they were doing, and if they
were consistent in themselves, conforming their conduct inner and outer,
to the precepts of Moses and the instructions of the Prophets. But this
they did not do, but, as our Lord stated, they "bound heavy burdens,
and grievous to be borne, and laid them on men's shoulders, but they
themselves did not move them with one of their fingers."
SELECTION OF NEW WINESKINS
These
were the representatives of the Law, at the time of Christ. They were the
wineskins in which the old wine of the Law, sadly diluted by the precepts
and commandments of men, was contained. The new wine of the Gospel
represents the life-giving message which was to flow so abundantly
through the teachings of Jesus. And the wineskins were the men who were to
become the depositaries of this message, who were to preserve it for
mankind. And whom, in Israel, will Jesus choose to fulfil this mission?
The old practitioners of the Law? Pharisees puffed up with the idea of
their own merit? Rabbis jaded with textual discussions? No, indeed! Such
persons have nothing to learn, nothing to receive, from him. If associated
with his Gospel, they would not fail to falsify it, by mixing up with his
pure teaching, the old prejudices with which they were imbued; or even if
they should yield their hearts, for a moment, to the lofty ideals of
Jesus, it would put all their previous views and routine devotion utterly
to rout, just as new and sparkling wine bursts a worn-out leathern or skin
bottle. Where, then, shall he choose his future instruments? Among those
who have neither merit nor wisdom of their own. He needs new wineskins,
wineskins that will be able to stand the stress of the fermentation sure
to come. He needs fresh souls, whose only merit is their receptivity,
new men in Christ, new creatures in Christ Jesus. "God," prayed
he on one occasion, "I thank thee, because thou hast hidden these
things front the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes."
(Luke 10:21.) These babes will save the truth, and it will save them. This
thought is expressed in the words "new wine must be put into new
bottles, and both [that is, both wine and wineskins] are preserved."
TRUTH OF GOSPEL CANNOT BE RESTRAINED
In
other words our Lord teaches them that it would be worse than useless to
endeavor to restrain, within the limits of their traditions and
ritualisms, the powers and graces of the new life which he came to bestow.
That life
could not endure to be confined within limits so narrow, by restraints so
feeble. It would rend them asunder. The new wine must be put into new
skins.
Fast!
Of course, under appropriate circumstances. But his disciples should
neither fast nor feast by rule, in deference to mere customs, however
antique and venerable, which. did not naturally express their inward
life. They should be fettered by no ancient law graven on stones or
inscribed on parchments, but should simply act out the laws of the life
implanted by the Gospel in their hearts. While he, the Bridegroom, was
with them, it was natural and right that they should make Merry and he
glad; when he was taken away, it would be natural and right that they
should mourn and fast. Let them in each case, in every case, follow the
impulse of their renewed spirits. For himself and for them, he claimed
freedom; freedom of thought, of emotion, of action. Austere, ascetic John
the Baptist is not their ideal, still less the Pharisee, however learned,
and punctilious. They are to honor, not a hermit, nor a ritualist, but a
Man, the Man Christ Jesus. He is
to be their ideal, and they are to serve him as their hearts prompt in
perfect liberty. He is their life, and his life in them may be safely left
to manifest itself in all innocent, comely, and appropriate forms.
It
is a question here, then, of the preservation of the Gospel, and of the
salvation of the individuals who are to be the depositaries of it. The old
wineskins,. men such as these carping, criticizing, Pharisees and rabbis
of Judaism will not do. Mere babes, such as
this tax-collector, Matthew, and his, associates, will do better.
Later
on, we find this teaching which our Lord here presents in germ, in the
form of a parable, expanded by St. Paul's labors, when, on a larger scale,
the Gospel passed, from the Jews (as a nation) to, Gentiles, to those who,
out of every kindred, tribe and nation, engage in the glorious ministry of
the Gospel of his grace.
It
is interesting, too, to notice, that this same question, namely, the
preservation of the Gospel, and the selection of those fitted to engage in
its ministry, has recurred again and again, since then; and, each time
after a period of falling away, the Gospel has been given again, and has
seemed like new wine in its power to reinvigorate those whose hearts were
ready for it. Each time too, the old wineskins were rejected-new wineskins
had to be found. Luther and others of the Reformers were doubtless the new
wineskins when the great Protestant Reformation had its beginning. In
our own day, the day of Protestantism's decline, who that is at all
acquainted with the facts fails to realize that our dear Brother Russell
was selected as a fit vessel, a new wineskin, to preserve and uphold the
glorious Gospel, all the wondrous features of which he clearly saw, and
plainly stated, in the harmonious unfolding of the Divine Plan of the
Ages, in which we all so greatly rejoice? How, certain it is, too, that
the old wineskins, the leades of nominal Christianity, with all due
respect to a few devout souls amongst them, were in
no
condition, for 'this service, and had to be rejected for the same reasons
that obtained amongst the Jewish leaders at our Lord's first advent?
How careful, too, should we be today, who have been permitted to engage in
this same ministry, that we continue to prove ourselves worthy thereof,
lest it be taken from us, and given to others more worthy, and more
appreciative of the honor!
OUR LORD'S GRACE TOWARD THOSE SLOW TO
ACCEPT HIM AND HIS TEACHINGS
Thus,
then, by three exquisite parables, our Lord. Jesus vindicates his
disciples and himself. But has he no thought, no tenderness, for any
disciples than his own? Yes; indeed he has. For, having vindicated his
own, he instantly begins to make excuse for the disciples of John and of
the Pharisees. "No man," says he, "having drunk old wine,
straightway desireth new; for, he saith, The old is better." - Luke
5:39.
And
here we have one of the most gracious touches in this table-talk about
weddings and feasts, old garments and new wine; for it comes to this: A
man loves his old cloak and his old wine. He has grown used to them; he
has many pleasant associations with them. He likes the old garment, which
habit has made easy; it is better to him than a new garment, even though
the new be of finer material, and cut more in the fashion of the time. He
likes the taste of the old wine, which he has had in his cellar many
years, and to which he has grown accustomed, better than that of the new
wine, however superior may be its quality. New wine, however others may
praise it, is always repugnant to the palate of a man accustomed to wine,
the roughness of which has been softened by age.
In
like manner old habits of thought and worship, old customs and forms are
not easily given up even in favor of more excellent habits, even though
God himself has sent new methods and new opportunities. The Pharisees
were used to their rites, their ceremonies, their traditions. It was not
easy for them to give up the religious habits in which they had been bred,
with which their names had been honorably associated; and our Lord
patiently allows for the force of custom. He admits that it
must be hard for them to
turn away from the old wine they had drunk so long, even to take to a better
wine. Hence he will not have the rabbis and their disciples hurried to a
decision. It was very natural for them that they should hesitate to renounce
the old Law for the new Gospel, that they should want to patch up the old
garment a little longer, and to pour the new wine into the old skin. The
Law had come to them from God; it was the Law of the Lord; they knew that,
and were sure of it. The Gospel also came from God, but they were not sure
of that yet. Let them wait, and put it
to the proof. As yet it
was early times with them. Christ had not long taught in their streets,
nor done many of his mighty works "among them; and because he knew
how custom clings to men, and how new his words were to these men as yet,
he virtually says to them: "Take time and thought. The whole habit
and bent of your lives cannot be altered in a day. I do not expect you
straightway to accept my words. You are quite right in not accepting them
until you know that I too am come forth from God; and I can wait until you
do."
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
How
many, and how weighty, are the subjects for reflection suggested by the
talk at Matthew's table. It suggests, first, that whatever the sorrows by
which we may be tried, there is set before us a joy capable of sustaining
us underall the sorrows and fluctuations of time; and that having this joy
we should let it give a festal tone to our lives-lives which would
otherwise be overcast with sadness. It suggests, in the second place, that
the true ritualism, the service in which we best express Christian
piety, consists of love and holiness; that it lies, not in our scrupulous
observance of ecclesiastical forms, but in acts of kindness, and
neighborly good will, and in keeping ourselves unspotted from the world.
It suggests in the third place, that we are neither to impose our
conceptions of truth and duty on our brethren, nor to submit to them when
they try to impose their conceptions on us; but that, walking in the.holy
freedom which bows to no spiritual authority save that of Christ, we are
to act out our own views of truth and duty, and to cheerfully accord to
others the freedom we claim for ourselves. And finally it suggests that in
our endeavors to minister the Gospel to others, either in the Church or in
the world, we are to proceed warily and patiently, remembering that it is
only as our labors have the cooperation of God's holy spirit that any
lasting result, whether in ourselves or in others, may be secured.
-
P. L. Read.
"The
Word of God is quick and powerful." - Hebrews 4:12.
THIS
is one of the great texts of the Bible -- a statement of truth at once
profound and inexhaustible. It has its source in the personality of God
himself, its channel in the person of the Logos -- in later times our
Lord Jesus Christ -- and its concluding effects in those inexplicable
experiences in his saints where conscience reigns supreme.
Sometimes
it is applied to the Holy Book which we affectionately term the Bible,
and, as a consequence, an aura of sanctity is accorded to the Book in a
most exclusive sense, a sanctity accorded to no other book no matter how
it may have helped in the molding of our lives. The reading of the Bible
is held by all good men to be infinitely more essential to our growth in
knowledge and in grace than the reading of the best commentaries and
dissertations that the world's libraries contain. And experience has
proved, and still continues to prove, that comparative assertion true.
But
the text contains much more than a reference to the printed book, peerless
and incomparable though the book may be. The Word of God may be embodied
"in" the words of the book, but it is much more than the words.
It is the living thought of God, seeking to reveal and disclose itself
through the languages of men.
It
is most essential that we remember its place as it stands in the argument
of this Epistle. It begins with the great idea of "God
speaking," and it is this great idea which carries through to our text.
"The Word of God" maintains the idea of "God speaking"
still.
In
the introductory passage of Chapter One, we read that God "at sundry
times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
Prophets," and that "in these last times" he has been
speaking unto us by
a Son
-- literally "in" a Son. Neither the Prophets nor the Son
spake "of" or "from" themselves, but only as God
gave them utterance.
We
cannot read this first section of Hebrews without being reminded of the
first words in Genesis: "In the beginning, God." In that place
and in this -- indeed,
in every
place in
Holy Writ, that
is the first implication. The first step in faith is to believe that God
"is"; the next to believe that he is a rewarder of those that
diligently seek him.
Later
he spake through Moses and Joshua -- then came the long line of prophets,
priests, and two kings. The statement of the writer passes under review
these methods of the "time past" angels, leaders, prophets, and
priests, and then proceeds to set in contrast with them all, the ministry
of the Son.
All
through the "time past," the word spoken was the "Word of
God," not only the word of prophet, priest, or king. When they
thundered forth the arresting words, "Thus saith the Lord," it
was intended to blazon forth the fact that it was the declaration of
God, through the prophet's lips, and that it would be avouched and
underwritten by the act of God, if necessary. As such, it cowed and
subdued haughty king or stubborn peasantry. All Scripture given by inspiration
was the Word of God, and as such emanated and flowed forth from the mind
of God.
THE MESSAGE SUPREME
Not
less is this true when the mind of God was and is expressed in or through
"the Son." Jesus came to earth as his "messenger,"
bringing with him words and thoughts which had been given him by his
Father. "I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him
... as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. . . . I speak that
which I have seen with my Father.... He that is of God heareth God's
words." - John 8:26, 28, 38, 47.
"The
Word of God" in our text is, therefore, "God still
speaking" through his appointed messenger. That it is still personal
(a messenger), and not theoretical (a message) is amply demonstrated
by the next verse: "Him with whom we have to do," from whose
"sight" nothing can be hid. Whether the "him" here
described is God, or Jesus, makes no difference to the force or sense of
the passage, though the connections within and following the text incline
one to say that the person of our Lord Jesus, as the great High Priest, is
intended.
But
every messenger must have a message and must deliver it faithfully if
sender, messenger, and message are to operate as one. Hence, though differentiation
between them is very necessary in order that they may be seen in their
respective relationships to each other, cohering is just as necessary for
the allocation of final authority for what is being said.
In
the "time past" God's message had been tentative and
fragmentary; in these "last days" it is final and complete. Not
that all men have heard or will hear it during this present Church period.
None the less the finality of God's speech to men through his Son is most
definitely asserted in the opening passages, and argued for throughout the
whole range of the Epistle. There is never to be another Messenger, but
the delivery of the message is to be according to the times, and according
to the needs of the men involved. Thus the Messenger has a message today
appropriate for this Gospel Age, but, at its close, a further installment
of the message, appropriate to the Age to come, will be made by him, and
by those acting under him. This is quite in line with the time factors of
the Book of Hebrews -- it begins by speaking of the "world to come
whereof we speak" (Heb. 2:5); it depicts some of the blessings which
the true believer enjoys as "the powers of the world to come"
(Heb. 6:5); it encourages believers to wait patiently under present
distress "yet a little while" till "he that shall come will
come, and will not tarry" (Heb. 10:37); while its final picture is
that of the complete gathering to Mount Zion of the whole assembly of
the Elect Church, of just men made perfect (Ancient Worthies), of a New
Covenant (newly made), of God as the judge of all (or alternatively as a
judge who is God of all), and of Jesus, the illustrious One who has
mediated the newly made Covenant between God and the House of Israel (Heb.
12:22-24); and all this long period is the "speaking period" of
God, by the Son, which, in one single brief word is descriptively styled
"Today" (Heb. 4:7) -- a "today" spanning the centuries
from Jesus' baptism long ago, to that better day, when, Israel gathered
and restored, is fit and ready to enter again into Covenant relationship
with her God.
A BOOK, A PERSONALITY, A
MESSAGE
The
Word (Logos) of God is thus not merely a Book but a Personality, the
Living Word -- plus the message which proceeds from his mouth at this or
that stage of the Plan, according as need requires. That this message has
been embodied in a book is a fact no enlightened student of its pages will
dispute, but that the message is there for all and sundry to take at their
wish is not true. Thousands read the Holy Book, but it yields no message
to them. Thousands more dissect and carve it up -- this part to J, that
part to P, etc., etc. - but it falls to pieces, meaningless and
purposeless in their hands. Others use it to pile text on text to prove
what they desire, only to find fetters and shackles firm -- riveted on
heart and mind. The truth of the matter is that the Book is a textbook,
but it needs a Teacher to explain it. And that Teacher is the one chosen
by God, long ago. God's illuminating power (his holy spirit) acting on
the spoken (and written) Word makes it live and operate; without that holy
power the Book is dead. Without that power it is of no greater influence
than the works of Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, or other earthly sage. The
message without its Messenger and Author is impotent, inert, and
pointless, and does not do the work it was sent to do.
But
with the Messenger and Author behind it (or with it), how amazingly and
wonderfully it operates! It dissects and divides between soul and spirit,
between joint and marrow, and discerns even the very thoughts and
intents of the heart.
The
word -- picture here is drawn from the thoroughness and carefulness of the
priestly scrutiny as he slew and prepared the animal for sacrifice. The
word tetrachelismena
from trachelizo
in
verse 13 (opened to the eyes of him) means to "bend back the
neck" and thus leave the throat exposed. This was the first stage of
the sacrificial work as the priest brought down the keen blade upon the
throat of the victim stretched before him. With the same keen blade the
priest, after proper drainage of the blood, proceeded to dissect joint
from joint, organ from organ, opening up to view even the marrow in the
bones.
Every
hair was searched, every joint examined, every organ scrutinized with
extreme thoroughness, and thus, the priest himself satisfied, the freewill
gift was passed and permitted to be offered to God in worship and
sacrifice. The internal economy of the lamb (or other animal) was set
naked and opened before the eyes of the sacrificing priest.
Thus
is the believer opened up before the eyes of him with whom we have to
do, by the sharp cutting instrument, sharper than any two-edged sword. The
Word of God -- the Living Personality of the great High Priest -- opens up
for scrutiny and inspection the surrendered personality of the saint, by
the sharp cutting action of his Holy Word, separating between the
desires of the flesh and those of the spirit -- the new creature. It
divides between those emotions and intentions springing from the exercise
of our five natural senses -- seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching
-- whereby we influence or are influenced by our fellowmen, and their
spiritual counterparts, by means of which we are able to hold communion
with God. Then the figurative application of the joints and the marrow
could well represent the difference between the form and the essence,
the extrinsic and the intrinsic appearance of every act, word, or thought.
DISCERNER OF THE THOUGHTS AND INTENTS OF THE HEART
Thus,
there is no act or word or thought, nor any motive, emotion, or intent
which is beyond the sharp -- cutting edge of the Word of God. It is a discerner
(Greek, kritikos,
able to
judge) of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It can thus sit in
judgment, in the seat of conscience, upon belief and unbelief, upon right
-- doing and wrong, upon true thinking and false, and determine for us the
uprightness or deceit of every motion of the soul. With a balance more
infinitely sensitive than the apothecary's scales it can weigh up the
righteousness or unrighteousness of every intent, and indicate to which
side our leaning inclines.
"Quick
to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart" . . . Christ
Jesus our Lord is very concerned about these, because what a man thinks,
that he will be sooner or later, in life. We must expect to have our most
secret thoughts, relations, and purposes questioned, criticized, and
measured by Jesus, the Living Word, through the precepts of the Bible --
the written Word. No court of inquiry was ever presided over by a more
exacting Inquisitor than this. He is the critic of all the secrets of the
heart, and as each thought or intention rises and begins to take effect,
he searches it through and through.
Where
does the intangible line of demarcation between soul and spirit come?
Where does the one end and the other begin? We cannot tell, but the Word
of God knows! For instance, if we are tired and overwrought, would the
claims of the natural life have precedence over those of the new creature?
-- too tired to go to the Class meeting, but not too tired to go to
work! Or that use of our resources? -- too much to give for a spiritual
cause, but not too much to spend on ourselves! Or that artistic mood? --
too boring to sing a hymn of praise, but not too boring to play
Mendelssohn or Mozart, et al!
Here
is the battle -- ground for the child of God, and the conflict must last
to his dying day. Spiritual seeing versus natural seeing; spiritual
hearing versus natural hearing; spiritual tasting versus natural tasting;
spiritual feeling versus natural feeling; spiritual touch versus natural
touch -- which shall it be? And yet: it need not be the one or the other
exclusively, so long as they are rightly placed and suitably followed.
There is no criminality in our weariness and tiredness so long as it
deters us from the natural as from the spiritual exercise. There is no
wrong in the use of our resources if the spiritual receives not less
attention than the natural. Good clothes, good furnishments, and good
holidays can all be bought to the glory of God. Nor is there anything
inappropriate in playing Mozart and Mendelssohn, if thereby a song of
praise to the Most High is evoked.
It
is to enable us to attain that end, and find the right balance between
soul and spirit, between natural man and new creature, that the Word of
God has come to preside in our lives. He has come to deal with the causes
of unrest in the human compound personality. If strange and contradictory
complexes lie at the center of our restlessness, he has come to
disentangle them and set them in their right relationship. He enters and
supervises the whole personality, distinguishing between what is
spiritual and what is not, and determines for us not only what is right
and true, but also what is best and life-promoting.
His
dissecting knife bespeaks a life of sacrifice, it cuts part away from
part, so that it may be laid in lowly worship before the Most High, yet,
contemporaneously, his presiding Personality, dwelling in our inmost
heart, separates, disentangles, and loosens up all the jangling,
discordant, restless complexes, and brings them all to rest, straightened
out, adjusted, balanced, because they find their place of rest in him.
Do
not dread or fear the incoming of the Word of God into your heart of
hearts, for close after these searching, scorching words, come those of
comfort and hope. "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest,
that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast
our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like
as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne
of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of
need."
Our
Redeemer has passed this way too. The Word of God in his heart searched
him out through and through. He too lay like the flayed, dissected victim
'neath his Father's searching gaze, as part after part was scrutinized, as
joint and marrow were opened up and laid bare. But, thank God, there was
no flaw or blemish in him. Soul and spirit, the natural and the spiritual,
were at equipoise and rest in him.
His
yoke was easy and his burden light; he touched life's deepest chords and
was broken thereby. But for him the Cross was the prelude to the Crown.
The reproaches of men broke his heart, but in that breaking he came to
understand broken hearts, and thus it is that he is able to save to the
uttermost those that come unto God by him. Our hearts must be broken too
if we are to help heal broken hearts in a coming day, but while they are
on the breaking wheel, he is near to help and sustain. "He was
tempted in all points like as we are," and thus he knows and cares.
The
chosen High Priest of God has been given a twofold work on our behalf.
He must slay and dissect our sacrifice; he must also comfort and console
those that bring the sacrifice. In Israel, in time past, a goat, a lamb,
or a bird suffered as the one; the presented of the goat, the lamb, or
bird enjoyed the other. In these "last days" the twofold
experience befalls the same man. He must bring himself as lamb, goat, or
bird, and be slain as a man, but thank God, the same Hands that occasion
his death, also wipe away his tears, soothe his fears, and set his heart
to rest with the comfort of the Lord. Oh! that he may ever be to us the
Word of God ... and our great High Priest, searching and comforting us
simultaneously!
-- T. Holmes, Eng.
"Thou
shalt consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son,
so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee." - Deut. 8:5.
IN
THE words of one
observer
"We are living in an undisciplined age. The old disciplines are
breaking down, and the
foundations
of society
are therefore
crumbling. The discipline of the home seems to be vanishing in the new
psychology which teaches 'parents, obey your children.' The discipline of
the schoolroom is becoming unpopular according to the so-called Progressive
Education, lest the personality of the child be thwarted by the imposition
of a will higher than his own.
"Above
all, the disciplines of divine grace are derided as legalism, or are
entirely unknown to a generation that is largely illiterate as to the
Scriptures.
"We
need the
rugged
strength of Christian character that can come only from discipline, the
discipline of spirit, of mind, of body, and of society. Otherwise, the
home will lose its heart as well as its hearth, the schoolroom its
strength and the textbooks their exactness, the Scriptures their
sanction."
We
do not share in the expectation that the trnd will stop this side of a
complete breakdown of the present social order, prior to the setting up of
the Kingdom, at which time Kingdom laws will require disciplines rightly
directed, which will have the desired effect in character development.
The
thought of Christian discipline runs counter to the tendency of the
fallen nature, and is therefore generally unpopular. Discipline, as
such, is variously employed by all who hope that by its use they may the
more quickly attain to a desired goal in such fields as scholastics,
athletics, science, etc. In all of these fields we may find individuals
who deprive themselves of many luxuries and comforts of life in order to
complete a course of study that will fit them for their life's work, and a
fair opportunity of attaining eminence in their particular field. The
scholar will burn "midnight oil" in pursuit of knowledge. The
athlete will submit to the most rigorous training whilst denying himself
the pleasure of indulging his appetites. The scientist loses all
consciousness of time and awareness of social responsibilities in pursuit
of his laboratory experiments. In each case their interest or goal takes
precedence over every other consideration. Would that every professing Christian would
apply the same energy and zeal, the same oneness of purpose in living the
Christ-life. The way would then not seem so hard or rough, nor the course
so long as it appears to those who enter it half-heartedly and travel it
with faltering steps.
Christian
education has taught all of us the need for discipline in our daily life,
and if self-applied will render less necessary those divinely directed
experinces that are calculated to impress needed lessons upon our minds
and hearts, some of which are not as pleasant as we would like them to be.
If we persist in ignoring the opportunities for sacrifice and self-denial
while walking in the narrow way, we should not be surprised if
disciplinary experiences are permitted in order to awaken us to a deeper
appreciation of our responsibilities.
EXPERIENCES THAT DISCIPLINE
What experiences in life serve as disciplinary in our
Christian walk! Our first step in response to the call involves a degree
of discipline that is at once apparent, and suggested by the words of
Jesus: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me." Discipleship means discipline; the two
words have a common root. The disciple is that one who has been taught
or trained by the Master, having heeded his call, "Come unto
me." Discipleship requires the discipline of conversion.
Recognizing our lost estate because of rebellion against God, we come in
repentance to our Lord Jesus, assenting with our hearts to the facts
that "all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to
his own way" (Isa. 53:6); that "all have sinned and come short of the glory
of God" (Rom. 3:23); that
"the Scripture hath concluded all under sin" (Gal. 3:22);
and that we
"were by nature the children of wrath, even as others "
strangers from the covenants of promise; having no hope, and without God
in the world." (Eph. 2:3,
12.) Such
an admission requires a measure of discipline, for it is difficult for
the natural heart to humble itself to admit of its sin and shame, and
the need for the provision made for us in Christ Jesus.
Discipline
comes also in the consideration of the cost of discipleship. "He
that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me-, and he
that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me."
(Matt. 10:37.)
This is
further exemplified in Luke 14:26,
where the
Master says, "If any man come after me and hate not his father and
mother, wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life
also, he cannot be my disciple." This is strong language. What can
be the meaning of it? We know that love is the very essence of the
character of our God and of our Lord Jesus whom we are endeavoring to
follow. How then can we interpret such instruction in connection with
discipleship? Does it not mean that we are to make our Lord Jesus supreme,
permanent, and preeminent in our heart, so that no person, no thing,
shares that place in our life? No person, no possession, nor life itself
is too great to surrender for his sake.
This
is doubtless the reason why Jesus advised each one considering
discipleship to sit down first and count the cost. (Luke 14:28.) This denial of all, including ourselves, is the
greatest of all disciplines. There are those who are dearer to us than
life itself, but they should not be dearer than the Savior. For him and
his cause we have died to these and to every other earthly creature or
pleasure. It is "Jesus only!" And the step should not be taken
lightly or thoughtlessly, as is illustrated in Luke 14:28-33.
Discipleship
also requires the discipline of cross-bearing, one of the three things
considered a daily necessity: our daily bread, our daily work, our daily
cross. "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross daily,
and follow
me." (Luke 9:23.)
"And
whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me, cannot be my
disciple." (Luke 14:27.) This
cross is not that which our Savior bore to Calvary. We are, however,
privileged to join with him insofar as self-denial is concerned, as seen
in his ministry from Jordan to Calvary. It was the Son's chief delight
to do the Father's will, and should it not therefore be ours also? The attainment
of this standard will mean self-denial in the deepest sense of the word.
"I
take, O crosss, thy shadow
For my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
The sunshine of His face;
Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all the cross!"
In
Hebrews 12
the
question of discipline comes up for consideration. Here the Apostle
advises all to consider the great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and
to lay aside every encumbrance and the close girding sin, to run with
patience the course marked out for us, looking not at self, but away from
self to the Leader or Perfecter of our faith. His great motive was the joy
that was set before him, enabling him to endure the cross and to
disregard the shame. His chief delight was the doing of the Father's will.
As he expressed it: "My meat and my drink is to do the will of him
that sent me." I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is
within my heart. "
The
Apostle urges us to consider Him attentively, and to note the opposition
that he endured from his own people in order that we may not be wearied,
nor discouraged, when brought face to face with the same difficulties,
pointing out at the same time that we have not yet resisted unto blood
striving against sin.
We
are then reminded of an Old Testament Scripture which carries an obvious
truth: "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord; neither
be weary of his correction For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth, even
as a father the son in whom he delighteth. " (Prov. 3 11, 12.) And
"Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth
his son, so the Lord chasteneth thee." - Deut. 8:5.
The
Diaglott rendering of this Old Testament Scripture, as quoted in Hebrews
12:5, 6, uses the word discipline as follows: "My son, slight not the
discipline of the Lord, neither be discouraged when reproved by him; for
whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he
receives. If you endure discipline, God deals with you as with sons. For
is there any son whom a father does not discipline? "
DISCIPLINE A SIGN
OF THE FATHER'S LOVE
These
Scriptures are suggestive of a close and remarkable relationship which
exists between the believer and his God and Heavenly Father, pointing
out the fact that discipline is based on love. This makes it more
educational than punitive. In other words, it is for our Christian
development and not merely for punishment. If there is no discipline in
the Christian life, then we may have reason to feel concerned about our
being true sons. "But if you are without discipline, of which all
have become partakers, then are ye spurious and not sons." All of us
have been subject to parental discipline in our early years, some of
which, administered with the aid of "the rod,'' doubtless left a
lasting impression, and very likely caused us to hold the parent in high
regard, since we doubtless knew that the discipline was deserved, although
it may not have been administered in the proper spirit. How much more
satisfactory, then, to submit ourselves to the Father of spirits and
live. Our earthly parents disciplined us in the way that seemed right to
them, but the Heavenly Father disciplines for our advantage, in order that
we may partake of his holiness. No discipline as it relates to the present
seems to be joyous, but rather grievous, "yet afterwards it returns
the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by
it."
LESSONS FROM THE DISCIPLINING OF MOSES
We
may gain some helpful lessons on this subject by considering the
experiences of Moses and the children of Israel in their deliverance
from Egypt, and in their wilderness wanderings. The story of Moses
reveals divine oversight and protection in the preparation of one destined
to play a most important role in the affairs of Israel. Educated in the
palace of Pharaoh in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, Moses came to a time
of life when it became necessary to make a most important decision,
and "He chose to suffer the reproaches of his own people rather
than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." Did this require
discipline? It is obvious that for the advantage of the flesh, the thing
for Moses to have done would have been to remain where he was and perhaps
one day be a Pharaoh himself, and then by reason of his high position and
mighty authority be able to emancipate the entire host of Israel. Is it
not possible that some such thought occurred to him? His decision to
abandon any hope of promotion in Pharaoh's court in favor of a less
prominent position, and even one of reproach, shows a strength of
character that would lend itself very easily to divine leading. He here
displays a meekness that is precious in the sight of the Lord. "The
meek will he guide in judgment; the meek will he teach his way." In
this attitude Moses was teachable as subsequent events proved well.
First,
however, he must learn the lesson of dependence on God, and waiting on him
for instruction. This was very soon forthcoming when Moses, with very
grave consequences, essayed to settle the personal quarrels and
strivings of one of his own people with an Egyptian. The second attempt
along this line resulted in Moses fleeing from Egypt to the land of
Midian, where he almost drops from sight for forty years, during which
time he tended the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro. We should not
assume either that they were wasted years even though spent at such a
menial task as being a shepherd. Some of the world's great men have been
those who were privileged to learn the lessons of discipline, amid the
scenes of pasturelands, while caring for such submissive creatures as
sheep.
Forty
years seems to be a very long time, and how interesting that its end
coincided with the end of the prophesied period of Israel's bondage,
which meant that Moses' preparation for the divinely appointed task was
completed. This was signalized by a very remarkable event. There in the
quietness of the desert a bush broke into flame, but, wonder of wonders,
the bush was not consumed. Still more awful was the voice that came from
the midst of the burning bush, "Moses, Moses." Moses replied,
"Here am I," and the voice said, "Remove thy shoes from off
thy feet for the place where thou standest is holy ground." This
dialogue evidently illustrates the need for discipline in reverence.
Thus
begins a new chapter in the life of one who in the years to come was to
learn more and more concerning the disciplines of the Lord and the
inestimable privileges of communion and fellowship that were necessary
in order to fit and sustain him for the tremendous tasks that lay ahead.
Now
the entire history of these great events presents a most interesting
picture or type of the deliverance of the Church from the powers of
Satan and the world as represented by Pharaoh and Egypt. Instructions
divinely given were followed out to the last detail in the preparations
for departure, so that when the final blow was struck and the "first
born" of the land of Egypt fell under the power of the "angel
of death," their taskmasters and rulers, including hard-hearted
Pharaoh himself, were only too glad to let them go. So they came out,
600,000 men, besides women and children, with great substance because the
Egyptians loaded them with jewels and gold and silver, so much so that
they spoiled the Egyptians.
It is here that their discipline as a nation began,
and very soon we find them confronted with a most distressing situation,
and one in which their faith was sorely tried. With the Red Sea before
them, hemmed in on both sides by mountains, and with Pharaoh's hosts in
hot pursuit coming up on their rear, things looked very grim indeed, so
much so that the people lost heart and began to murmur against Moses.
"Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to
die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us? . . . It
had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in
the wilderness." Surely there is here a deep lesson for all who have
come under the blood and taken up the cross to follow in the footsteps of
the Master.
In
Numbers 11:1 we are told "And when the people complained it
displeased the Lord." Is it any less displeasing to him for us to
fail in the same way? "Godliness with contentment is great
gain." Discontentment disregards the divine presence promised to
the Lord's own. In their wilderness journey the children of Israel had
the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night to go before
them in the way, to defend them from their foes, to show them where they
should pitch their tents and when and where they should journey. These
were the outward, visible assurances of divine presence. By day or night
they had only to look to the pillar above the Tabernacle to receive that
assurance. To Moses had been given the encouraging promise: "My presence
shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest."
In
the New Testament times since the days of the Apostles, we have no visible
indications of his presence with his people, but we have the strong and
sure promises of the Savior,, "All power in heaven and in earth is
given unto me," and, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the
end of the age." This is effected by the holy spirit and its work in
the hearts of his people. So when we become discontented, we give evidence
of a lack of that spirit. Discontent is an outward evidence of lack of
faith in the promises of God. The children of Israel had been led out of
the iron furnace of Egypt by the strong hand of God to go to the land
promised unto their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When
dissatisfaction gripped their spirit, they "despised the pleasant
land," and remembered only "the cucumbers, and the melons, and
the leeks, and the onions, and garlic." Complaint caused them to
prefer these in Egypt's hard bondage, to freedom in a land flowing with
milk and honey. Discontentment discounts the provision God makes for us.
For the children of Israel there was the daily bread day by day in the
form of manna, enough for everybody. To the hungry, grateful people to
whom it came, it was like the coriander seed, white; and the taste of it
was like wafers made with honey. When they became disgruntled they could
say, "But now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all,
besides this manna before our eyes." By that time the taste of it was
like the taste of fresh oil -- the taste of honey when they were
delighted, and the taste of fresh oil when they were discontented.
Does
this alteration of taste caused by a change of attitude seem altogether
far-fetched, or do we remember seasons when the Word of God was
exceedingly sweet to our taste, and then. when under a cloud of complaint
we found it tasteless and commonplace? Discontentment displeases God, and
our relationship to him can be so marred by it that our progress is
greatly retarded and our pilgrimage made much more difficult. This, of
course, is a lack of faith. Of Israel it is said, "they believed
not his word, but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the
voice of the Lord."
Discontentment
may be a part of our disposition, but contentment can become a major
characteristic of our Christian life. The Apostle Paul said, "I have
learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both
how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things,
I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to
suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me."
The
discipline of discontentment is to turn from a complaining spirit, from
criticism that corrodes and the dissatisfaction that displeases God, to a
thankful attitude, to faith and praise, that will be pleasing to him who
said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." We may boldly
say, "The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do
unto me."
Bunyan
paints a colorful portrait of contentment in his description of th
shepherd boy in the valley of humiliation: "Now as they were going
along and talking they espied a boy feeding his father's sheep. The boy
was in very mean clothes, but of a very fresh and well favored
countenance; and as he sat by himself he sang:
'He
that is down, need fear no fall,
He
that is low, no pride.
He
that is humble, ever shall
Have
God to be his guide.
I
am content with what I have,
Little
be it, or much;
And,
Lord, contentment still I crave,
Because
thou savest such,
Fullness
to such a burden is,
That
go on pilgrimage;
Here
little, and hereafter bliss
Is
best from age to age.'"
If
we have to any degree succumbed to the spirit of the times, which is
restlessness and discontent, the need for discipline is very urgent; and
much good may result from mentally retracing our steps from the time we
first enrolled in the school of discipleship to the present moment.
Perhaps our sense of values has changed since first we sat down and
counted the cost. If this be true, the cross will have become heavier as
time has gone on, and the tendency to lay it down more marked. Let us
then consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners against
himself lest we be weary and faint in our minds; and in addition let us
note the sense of values expressed by the great Apostle Paul in the words:
"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us."
If
we have to any degree succumbed to the spirit of the times, which is
restlessness and discontent, the need for discipline is very urgent; and
much good may result from mentally retracing our steps from the time we
first enrolled in the school of discipleship to the present moment.
Perhaps our sense of values has changed since first we sat down and
counted the cost. If ~ this be true, the cross will have become heavier as
time has gone on, and the tendency to lay it down more marked.' Let us
then consider him who endured
such contradiction of sinners against himself lest we be weary and faint
in our minds; -and in addition let us
note the sense of values expressed by the great Apostle Paul in the
words: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to 'be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in
us."
No
doubt Paul suffered more for the sake of the Gospel than any other,
person, save the Lord Jesus himself. Paul never lost his keen appreciation
of what the Master had suffered for him, nor did he ever let slide away
the vision of the glory that was to be revealed when the spirit that had
so quickened him would, be poured out upon all flesh.
Moses
too was one whose sense of
values enabled him to enter the way of the surrendered life in order that
he might serve the Living God. Nor did he lay
down the privilege of carrying out the divine directions until his mission was accomplished. We
detect no note of
disappointment or dissatisfaction
coming from Mount Pisgah, but rather the acquiescence of a meek and
quiet spirit as, Moses is brought to the close of a life of service and
discipline.
The
true disciple is the one who sees in all of life's affairs the supervisory
and overruling, hand of the One who has enrolled him in the School of
Christ, even our Heavenly Father; and if the lessons in that school be
disciplinary even to, the point of scourging, the response. should be
"Content
whatever lot I see,
Since 'tis God's hand that leadeth me."
-
J. B. Webster
The
following is taken from a letter written by a patient in a "Home for
Incurables" to a sister who visits, the Home and was used of the Lord
to introduce His Plan of Salvation to his young brother and some of his
associates, and thus bring much comfort and joy to these dear ones. We
might add that regular meetings are held in this Home, and when a Pilgrim
visits the Class he has the privilege of serving these friends and giving
comfort and refreshment as well as receiving encouragement from them and
their glad response to the Message:
Dear
Sister:
I
have had many experiences in the past year, and some I never want to live
over, but I feel that all of my experiences have been for my good and
that they have yielded the peaceable fruits of righteousness to, a degree.
Anyway, I feel in my heart that I know more of Gods love, and the real
things are more important to me now than ever before in my life; and I am
determined to enter the New Year with the thought of being more pleasing
to God. I make so many mistakes, but God is really my life. I know be is
giving me strength when everything else falls. He keeps me up and able to
be what I am to my friends and the people who visit me.
The
Christian way is a wonderful way, and it is not a weak way. A Christian
has every experience, but he also has God's power and strength, which is
worth all the world a million times. I can ache and suffer so much, but
when I see some of my friends faces whom God has blessed me with,
immediately I feel a sense of responsibility that is greater than any
pain, and I' have a joy that nothing can take away. Ii is true that I get
weak at times, but God is giving use all I need to make me worthy of his
Kingdom, so all I ask for is his strength to bear my cross, whatever it
may be.
I
am beginning to realize that this life is wonderful, and death is
wonderful, and the resurrection is even more wonderful. To me life used
to mean one thing, and that was suffering; and death was even worse. I
believed that the good people were going to heaven and the bad ones to
hell. I knew I was bad, and was ill tempered because I couldn't help it,
and didn't think it was my fault. But now, thanks to God, he has seen fit
to show me the meaning of life and loath and a little of the hereafter.
Life, with the knowledge of God, is a great and wonderful thing, and
each day is a day of learning and of rejoicing. Each tear has a place, and
so does each smile. A Christian should never just take anything for
granted. In every word is a lesson; and in every experience is an.
opportunity: Death is when our schooling is finished, and we have paid our
debt or price of sin, and Satan has no, more influence over us. This, to
me, is wonderful to know. The next voice we hear will be that of Jesus
calling us to be with him; and Paul and John say that we shall see him as
he is. , This will be a happy time, not only for those who have learned
their lessons here., but it will be for all mankind; and who knows-we may
hear those angels sing of "Peace on earth, good will to men"
again, and this time it will be a reality.
These-
are my hopes and dreams, and they are what hold ma up. Anything else I
might do or say is false, but this isn't. The things of God are always new
and real the other things are old and shabby. They are a part of an
earthen vessel which contains a tiny spark of the spirit of life which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord. "Now we see through a glass darkly, but
then face to face; now we know in part, but then shall we know even as we
are known."
May
God bless us in the new year and help us to walk closer to him day by day,
is my prayer.
J.
B. -- Va.
New Edition of Hymnal
Plans
are completed for the publishing of a new edition of our "Hymns of
Millennial Dawn," with many additions, and also whatever possible,
music well known and loved by our English brethren being substituted.
Friends in the States will doubtless consider the tunes superior to the
present ones in most instances as well as more reverential. The brethren
publishing this edition cannot know what the price will be until they know
the approximate number to be printed. A prompt sending in of your orders
will therefore be appreciated. The price may be as high as $4.20 per copy,
but the Brethren hope for enough advance orders that it may be sold in
America for $2.80.
You
may send your orders to Midland Group, c/o Mr. G. E. "Chivers, The
Haven, Oldbury Road, Hartshill, Nuneaton, England. (The postage on letters
to England is now eight cents.) Or the orders may be sent to us.
Sr. Levina B. Daigh, Seattle, Wash. - (Nov.)
Sr. Gertrude Eiber, Kent, Ohio - (Nov.)
Sr. Edna Eichlin, Easton, Pa. (Oct.)
Sr. Grace A. Hollister, Brooklyn, N. Y. - (Nov.)
Br. Lapinski, Wallingford, Conn. - (Nov.)
Br. Andrew Larson, Pueblo, Colo. - (Oct.)
Sr. Clyde Lorenz, Baldwin Park, Cal. - (Nov.)
Sr. Alice McGlashan, Chicago, Ill. - (Nov.)
Sr. Sylvia Mendenhall, Denver, Col. - (Nov.)
Sr. Dorothy Milner, Columbus, Ohio - (Nov.)
Sr. Lola Payne, Richmond, Va. - (Nov.)
Br. Christian Ruesch, Kamloops, B.C. - (Nov.)
Br. Andrew Shirk, Dayton, Ohio - (Nov.)
Sr. Florence Snyder, Chicago, Ill. - (June)
Br. J. H. Sonntag, Dorchester, Mass. - (Dec.)
1954 Index
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