VOL.
XLIX September/October 1966 No. 5
The Holy City and the River of Life
Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart
The True Unity of Christ's Church Has Judgment Day Begun?"God hath appointed a
day in which he will judge the world in righteousness THE
words of our text are those of the Apostle Paul, spoken from Mars' Hill, in his
celebrated discourse to the men of Athens. Of such great import are his words
that they have been inscribed in Greek on a bronze plaque on the hillside. Some
have expressed the thought that we may have already entered a judgment Day, if
not the Judgment Day of our text, and
have asked the question: Has Judgment Day begun? Before
attempting an answer to this question, let us consider the two terms
"judgment" and "day" and see how they are employed in the
Scriptures. The
term "judgment" signifies more than merely the rendering of a
verdict. It includes the idea of a trial, as well as a decision based upon that
trial. And this is true not only of the English word judgment but also of the
Greek word which it translates. The
term "day," both in the Scriptures and in common usage, though most
frequently used to represent a period of twelve or twenty-four hours, really
specifies any definite or special ,period of time. Thus, for instance, we speak
of Noah's day,
Luther's
day, Washington's day; and thus in the Bible the entire time of creation is
called a day, where we read of "the day that Jehovah God made the earth
and the heavens" (Gen. 2:4) -- a long, definite period. Then we read of
"the day of temptation in the wilderness" -- forty years (Heb. 3:8,
9); also of the "day of Christ," the "day of judgment," and
"his day"; terms applicable to the Milennial Age, in which Messiah
will reign over, rule, and judge the world in righteousness, granting trial as
well as rendering sentence. Those who will carefully consult a complete
concordance of the Bible with reference to the Day of Judgment, and note the
kind and amount of work to be accomplished within that period, will soon see
the absurdity of the common view of a twelve or twenty-four hour day, and the
necessity for giving to the term "day" its wider significance. The
Scriptures make mention of a number of judgment days. Two of these relate to
the human race as a whole. Between these two, several others are stated as
taking place. The
first of the world's two judgment days was at the beginning, in the Garden of
Eden, when the whole human race was judged representatively in Adam, its head.
Some have been disposed to resent this judgment, insisting that Adam
misrepresented rather than represented them, but God, whose wisdom is
infinite, states the contrary to be true. The
second and final Judgment Day for the world is yet future, when each will be
judged individually. WHO WILL BE THE JUDGE?We
are further informed that when God gives the world this individual trial, it
will be under Christ as Judge, whom God will thus honor because of his obedience
even unto death for our redemption. God has highly exalted him, even to the
divine nature, that he may be a Prince and a Savior (Acts 5:31), that he may be
able to recover from death and grant judgment (including trial) to all whom he
purchased with his own precious blood. Since it is the plain declaration of
Scripture that "God has committed all judgment unto the Son," and has
given him "all power in heaven and in earth," there is nothing to
dread, but on the contrary, there is great cause for rejoicing on the part of
all, in looking forward to the Judgment Day. The character of the Judge is a
sufficient guarantee that the judgment will be just and merciful, with due
consideration for the infirmities of all, until the willing and obedient are
brought back to the original perfection lost in Eden. With this conclusion all
the prophetic declarations agree. It is written: "With righteousness
shall he judge the world, and the people with equity" (Psa. 98:9). BY WHAT LAW WILL THE WORLD BE JUDGEDThis
coming judgment will be on exactly the same principles as the first. The same
law of obedience will be presented, with the same reward of life and the same
penalty of death. And as the first trial had a beginning, progressed, and
culminated in a verdict and sentence, so also will the second; and the sentence
will be life to the righteous and death to the unrighteous. The second trial
will be more favorable than the first because of the experience gained under
the results of the first trial. Unlike the first trial, the second trial will
be one in which every man will stand the test for himself alone and not for
another. None will then die because of Adam's sin or because of inherited imperfections.
It shall no more be said, "The fathers have eaten a sour grape and the
children's teeth are set on edge; but he that eateth the sour grape, his teeth
shall be set on edge." "The soul that sinneth, it [and not its
children] shall die" (Ezek. 18:4; Jer. 31:29, 30), Under
the reign of Christ, mankind will be gradually educated, trained, disciplined,
until they reach perfection, And when they have reached perfection, perfect
harmony with God will be required, and any who then fall short of perfect
obedience will be cut off, being judged unworthy of life. God had a right to
demand perfect obedience of Adam, since he was created perfect; and he will
demand the same of all men when the great work of restoring them is complete.
None will be permitted to have everlasting life who then in the slightest
degree fall short of perfection. To fall short of perfection, then, will be to
sin willfully against full light and perfect ability. We
do not wish to be understood as ignoring the present responsibility of the
world, which every man has, according to the measure of light enjoyed, whether
it be much or little, whether it be the light of nature or of revelation.
"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the
good," and "God shall bring every work into judgment, with every
secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil" (Prov. 15:3;
Eccles. 12:14). The good and evil deeds of the present time will receive a
just recompense of reward either now or hereafter. JUDGMENT OF TWO SPECIAL CLASSESBetween
the world's two judgment days discussed in the foregoing sections, a period of
about six thousand years intervenes. During this long period, God has been
selecting two special classes from among men, and specially trying, testing,
disciplining, and training them to be his honored instruments during the second
of the world's judgment days. These
two classes are respectively designated by St. Paul as the "house of
sons" and the "house of servants" (Heb. 3:5, 6), the former
being composed of those overcomers tried and found faithful during the
Christian dispensation (the Gospel Age), and the latter being composed of the
faithful overcomers who lived before the Christian dispensation. Those who
successfully pass the trial for either of these special classes will not come
into judgment (including trial) with the world, but will enter upon their
reward when the world is coming into its second judgment day. They will be
God's agents in the blessing of the world; in giving to men the instruction and
training necessary for their final testing and judgment. "Do ye not know
that the saints shall judge the world?" (1 Cor. 6:2). JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONSThe
world's second judgment day is immediately preceded by a judgment of the
nations, as such. They are to be judged politically, ecclesiastically, and
socially. Many Scriptures make this clear. However, while noting these, it is
important to bear in mind the difference between national judgment and
individual judgment. While the nation is composed of individuals, and individuals
are largely responsible for the courses of nations, and must and do suffer
greatly in the calamities which befall them, nevertheless the judgment of the
world, as individuals, will be distinct from its judgment as nations. The day
of individual judgment for the world will be the Millennial Age, as previously
noted. Then, under the favorable conditions of the New Covenant, and granted a
clear knowledge of the truth and every possible assistance and incentive to
righteousness, all men individually, and not collectively as nations, will be
on trial, or judgment, for eternal life. The
judgment of the nations which precedes this individual trial is a judgment of
men in their collective capacities. The civil institutions of the world,
social, political, religious, have had a long lease of power. And now, as the
"Times of the Gentiles" come to a close, they must render up their
accounts. And the Lord's judgment, expressed beforehand by the Prophets, is
that not one of them will be found worthy of a renewal of that lease or a
continuance of life. The decree is that the dominion shall be taken from them
and that he whose right it is shall take the Kingdom, and the nations shall be
given to him for an inheritance (Ezek. 21:27; Dan. 7:27; Psa. 2:8; Rev. 2:26,
27). Let
us listen to a few passages from the pen of other Prophets which bear directly
on this subject: "Come near, ye nations, to hear, and hearken, ye people
... for the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all
their armies" (Isa. 34:1, 2). Again: "The Lord . . . is an everlasting
King; at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able
to abide his indignation" (Jer. 10:10). "A noise shall come even to
the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations. Thus
saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and
a great whirlwind [that is, intense and complicated trouble and commotion]
shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord
shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the
earth" (Jer. 25:31-33). In
calling attention to this subject, it is not our intention to arouse a mere
sensation or to seek to gratify idle curiosity. Nor can we hope to produce in
the minds and hearts of men such a condition of repentance as would work a
change in the present social, political, and religious order of society, and
thus avert the calamity. All the powerful causes which produce the trouble have
been long at work; and no human power is able to arrest their operation and
progress toward their certain end. No hand but the hand of the Lord could stay
the progress of the present current of events, and his hand will not do so
until the bitter experiences of this conflict shall have sealed their
instruction upon the hearts of men. Our only object, therefore, in mentioning
the subject at all, is to forewarn, forearm, comfort, encourage, and
strengthen the "household of faith," so that they may not be dismayed
but be enabled to look beyond the severest measures of divine disciplining in
the chastening experiences of the world and see by faith the glorious outcome
in the precious fruits of righteousness and enduring peace. HAS THE JUDGMENT DAY OF THE NATIONS BEGUN?As
we look about us and note the conditions in the world today, it is difficult to
escape the conclusion, especially when these conditions are considered in
connection with time prophecies, that the nations have already entered their
judgment day, that they are even now being weighed in the balances and found wanting.
Indeed, for years it has been seen that the gathering of the nations and
assembling of the kingdoms, preparatory to pouring upon them his indignation,
"even all his fierce anger," as yet another Prophet (Zeph. 3:8, 9)
graphically describes it, has been in process. Modern
discovery and invention have made the remotest ends of the earth neighbors to
each other. Travel, mailing facilities, the telegraph, the telephone, the radio
and television have brought all the world into a community of thought and
action hitherto unknown. Truly, the nations are "assembled" in a
manner not expected, yet in the only manner in which they could be assembled,
namely, in common interest and activity; but alas, not in brotherly love, for
selfishness marks every step of this progress. The spirit of enterprise, of
which selfishness is the motive power, has prompted the construction of the
railways, the steamships, the airplanes, the telegraphs, the cables, the
telephones, the radios, the television sets. Selfishness regulates commerce and
international relationships, and every other energy and enterprise except the
preaching of the Gospel and the establishment of benevolent institutions; and
even in these it is to be feared that much that is done is inspired by motives
other than pure love for God and humanity. Selfishness has gathered the nations
and has been steadily preparing them for the predicted, and now fast
approaching, retribution which is so graphically described by the Prophet as
the "fire of God's jealousy," or anger, which is about to consume
utterly the present social order. Yet this is speaking only from the human
standpoint. From the standpoint of the Prophet, this gathering of the nations
is ascribed, not to man's own efforts, but to God. Both standpoints are true;
for while man is permitted the exercise of his free agency, God, by his
overruling providence, is shaping human affairs for the accomplishment of his
own wise purposes. And therefore, while men and their works and ways are the
agents and agencies, God is the great Commander who now gathers the nations
and assembles the kingdoms from one end of the earth to the other, preparatory
to the transfer of earth's dominion to him "whose right it is" --
Immanuel. The
Prophet tells us why the Lord thus gathers the nations, saying, "That I
may pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger." This
message would bring us sorrow and anguish only, were it not for the assurance
that the results shall work good to the world, overthrowing the reign of selfishness
and establishing, through Christ's Millennial Kingdom, the reign of
righteousness referred to in the words of the Prophet: "Then will I turn
unto the people a pure language [their communications with each other shall no
longer be selfish but pure, truthful, and loving, to the intent] that they may
all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent." CLOSING THOUGHTSWe
see the
deepening clouds of trouble. We hear the thunder-tones of judgment that
"call the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down
thereof" (Psa. 50:1) from the east to the west. We see the
lightning-flashes of truth and righteousness, and observe how the whole earth
is now in the shaking process which will eventuate in the complete overthrow of
all existing institutions, systems, and governments. Present events indeed
speak in trumpet tones. Even as these words are being set up in type, a
military expert (note -- not a preacher but an army general) ends his radio
news-broadcast with a quotation from the Bible: "A sound of battle is in
the land, and of great destruction" (Jer. 50:22). How shall we regard
these things? Surely, dear reader, it will be with thoughtful and reverent
hearts! In this eventful period everything
that can be shaken will be shaken, that only the unshakeable things of truth
and righteousness may remain (Heb. 12:25-29). Every one called to a share in
the coming Kingdom must be a lover of righteousness, one who will courageously
and loyally exercise an influence which is always favorable to righteousness,
justice, mercy, and peace. All others will be shaken out. In the end only the
true will remain. "Seeing that we look for these things, [let us] be
diligent, that we may be found of him in [inward] peace, without spot, and blameless,"
as the Apostle exhorts (2 Pet. 3:14). When
our Lord was here in the flesh, the destruction of Jerusalem and the utter ruin
of Palestine were close at hand. In those days our Savior forewarned his
disciples against laying up treasures for themselves on earth. His counsel and
advice to them was to lay up their treasures in heaven, and in the end they
would find them there. The Lord's true people of today occupy a similar
position. The great, symbolic burning day is near. Christendom is about to be
destroyed. In this great symbolic conflagration the possessions of earth will
be valueless. The opportunities for laying up treasures in heaven will soon be overpast. Let us,
therefore, brethren, heed the Master's words, dedicating, or rededicating, as
the case may be, our all of earthly life and fortune upon his altar and seek
to employ time, talent, and ability in the service of him who hath called us
from darkness to light; of him who will at last welcome the faithful to the
place that he has gone to prepare, in the Father's house of many mansions; for
there we shall find the heavenly treasures that can never fade, never tarnish,
never rust, and the glory and luster of which will abide throughout all time.
Amen. - P.
L. Read The Holy City and the River of Life"And I John saw the holy
city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. . And he shewed me a pure river of water of
life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." - Rev. 21:2; 22:1. THE
vision of the new Jerusalem, the account of which concludes the Book of
Revelation and the Bible, is a symbolic representation of the final phase, the
consummation, of the Divine Plan. John saw a wonderful city descending out of
the heavens, to settle everlastingly upon the new earth created by God, to take
the place of that old earth which had passed away. This city was to become the
dwelling-place of God, where he would dwell with men, and into it there should
nothing defiling ever enter; only those could enter who were accounted worthy
of everlasting life. From the city there flowed a "river of life,"
having "trees of life" growing upon its banks, and from this water
and food of life the sin-sick nations of the world were to derive sustenance
and healing. The vision closes with a gracious invitation to all men, that they
come and partake of the water of life freely. This
is not a vision of heaven, as so many have supposed. Its essential basis is the
coming of divine government to the earth and the presence of God to be with men. It foreshadows the
restoration of Edenic conditions upon earth, for the connection of this river
and these trees of life with the Genesis story is too plain to be ignored. It
pictures the time when this rebellious earth has become fully reconciled to God
and, to use Paul's words in Rom. 8:21: "The creation itself shall be
delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the
children of God." The Church of Christ has already (in the 20th chapter)
been exalted to heaven and eternal association with Christ the Lord; the 21st
and 22nd chapters tell of the corresponding completion of the Divine Plan for
the earth, a completion which is to be effected during the Millennial Age. John's
introductory synopsis of the vision (Rev. 21:1-8) records the words he heard
from heaven: "Behold the tabernacle [dwelling-place] of God is with
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there
be any more pain; for the former things are passed away." It is sometimes suggested
that this chapter records two separate descents of the Holy City to earth;
this is not likely. It is more probable that John prefaced his account of the
actual vision with a short summary and then, in Rev. 21:9, addressed himself to
the vision in detail. The
city as it appeared to John was square in outline, surrounded by a high wall of
gleaming green jasper, the golden buildings set in terraces, one above another
so that at the center its height appeared to be as great as the width. This
square form symbolized the justice and righteousness of the new Divine
government; and its intimate connection with the heavenly powers was shown by
its towering up to the skies. The wall rested upon twelve foundations bearing
the names of the twelve Apostles, and at each of the twelve lofty gateways there
was posted a guardian angel. The number twelve had particular significance to
the ancients, for they pictured the sun as issuing forth from twelve successive
portals in the heavens in turn, as month succeeded month, and this, with the
division of the day into twelve hours, invested the number with the idea of
earthly or material completeness and universality. Hence the twelve gateways,
facing three each to north, south, east, and west,
symbolized the universal invitation to all peoples of earth to enter the Holy
City: "Whosoever will, let him come" (Rev. 22:17). "In this mountain
will the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things" (Isa. 25:6). The twelve foundations bearing the names of the Apostles stood for
the universal appeal of the Gospel upon which the City is built. The height of
the wall, one hundred and forty-four cubits, indicated the full comprehensive
nature of the Kingdom, that it will contain all of God's earthly perfected
creation; nothing will be left outside. The
first function of the Holy City is to cleanse the nations. God is pictured as
dwelling in the center of the City, seated upon his Throne, his Son Jesus
Christ beside him, for the purpose of "wiping away all tears" from
the eyes of men (Rev. 21:4; Rev. 22:3-5), and bringing healing to all. This
work is denoted by the spectacle of a River of Life, seen by John to proceed
from the Throne and issue forth from the City to flow through the country
outside. The Authorized Version verse division of Rev. 22:1, 2 is unfortunate and obscures the
true sense. Rightly expressed, the passage reads: "And he shewed me a
pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of
God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the street of it [the city]. And on
either side of the river was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner
of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month and the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of the nations." The term "street" means a
broad highway, and "tree of life" is a generic term referring, not to
one single tree, but to the species generally. John saw this broad highway
extending outward from the city and the river flowing along its center,
the sides of the river being flanked with trees of life bearing twelve
varieties of fruit. This is much like the vision seen by Ezekiel when he saw
the river of life issuing from the Millennial Temple and flowing out to the
east country, the trees of life on its bank also being for food and healing
(Ezek. 47:1-12). This "street" corresponds to the "Highway of
Holiness" spoken of by Isaiah in his 35th chapter: "And an highway
shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The Way of Holiness; the
unclean shall not pass over it [overlook it or miss finding it]; for he shall
be with them." This "Highway of Holiness" is the symbolic road
along which mankind will be invited and exhorted, during the Millennial Age, to
travel, toward harmony and reconciliation with God through faith in Jesus
Christ and acceptance of him as Savior. "And
the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it; and the
kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it" (21:24). These are the
peoples to whom are addressed the words in the Parable of the Sheep and Goats: "Come,
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world" (Matt. 25:34). When the evangelical work of the
Millennial Age has been completed and all who are capable of recovery have
become reconciled to God and attained human perfection, they are depicted as
being the perpetual citizens of the Holy City. Every man will be a king, for
God created man lord of the earthly dominion, and all men will share in the
task of administering this earthly dominion in harmony with divine laws. Hence
all are "kings" and all will bring the glory and honor of sinless
manhood into it. Here
the veil is drawn. The Holy Scriptures do not take us beyond the end of the
Millennial Age to talk in detail of the "ages of glory to follow." Of
the condition and life of the redeemed through the everlasting years they say nothing.
We are shown the Plan of God for this earth at its triumphant conclusion, sin
and evil banished forever, irreclaimable evildoers destroyed, the Church of
Christ exalted to the heavens, and all the nations fully converted to God and
enjoying his munificence on the restored and perfected earth. "Not a
stain of sin mars the peace and harmony of a perfect society." For
the further glories of revelation, of knowledge and of activity that must
assuredly be the lot of all the redeemed, we must wait until the time shall
come; but we can wait in full assurance that as Isaiah predicted (Isa. 32:17), "the
work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness
and assurance for ever." -
A. O. Hudson, Eng. Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart"Thy Word
is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." - Psa. 119:105. IN
THE tabernacle erected in the wilderness the Holy of Holies represented the
place of God's dwelling among His people. Within that sacred place there was
the ark of the covenant, and enshrined in that ark, covered by the mercy-seat,
overshadowed by the cherubim, and illuminated by the glory of the shekinah
light, there rested the two tables of the law-holy words graven by the hand of
God, these words representing His righteousness and man's consistent attitude
thereto. Thus in the heart of that sacred enclosure, curtained off by the
surrounding white linen wall, God placed in this inmost shrine a sacred and
profoundly significant revelation of a holy God to sinful but not forsaken men. In
the age of law there was necessarily this fixed location for that which would
represent God's presence with Israel, and toward which center the worshiper's
mind would habitually turn. Thus it was that the beloved Daniel opened his
window toward Jerusalem as three times a day he made supplication to his God.
But in this our favored day, since "grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ," the approach to God is through "a new and living way."
No longer is it necessary to think that alone in Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim may
worship be offered to God, but access to the sacred place of worship and
intimate communion is now open to all who in any place offer Him worship in
spirit and in truth. Once
God spoke to His people "at sundry times and in divers manners," but
now He "hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son." (Heb.
1:1, 2.) Once it was in the words of the law spoken from clouds of
"blackness and darkness and trumpet," but now His voice is heard in
the tender tones of grace, speaking peace through One of whom He has said,
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him." -
Matt. 17:5. Still,
however, at the center of our worship, and as the inmost shrine of our
devotion, there the Word of God must be. If we would worship in truth, surely
the instructions of the Word are of greatest importance lest "strange
fire" mingle with our approach to Him. In true prayer we speak to God, and
our prayers are purified of dross only when they are offered as directed by the
Word. In that same Word God speaks to us, but "the word spoken" will
profit us nothing if the heart is out of tune with the infinite One who speaks
through that medium of communication with us. This is made important because
for us the New Testament contains a message peculiarly intended for the ears
of the heart, and thus the apostle prays, "That the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in
the full knowledge of Him, the eyes of your heart having been enlightened,
that ye may know what is the hope of His invitation, what the glorious wealth
of His inheritance among the saints." - Eph. 1:17, 18,
"Diaglott." In
this New Testament message there is a revelation, perfect, grand in its
simplicity, and purifying in its influences, which ought to lie deeply fixed
in our heart of hearts. This message should pervade all our worship, give
clearness to our reason, ennoble our affections, and cause our daily walk to
bear witness to its elevating power. Therefore, says the same apostle,
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord." Antecedent to Paul's day, having the
Word deep in the heart was recognized as important. The Psalmist found it so
and thus gave testimony thereto: "Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I
might not sin against Thee." (Col. 3:16; Psa. 119:11.) Certain it is, if
our minds are well stored with the Word, our songs will be of His grace, and
because that Word enlightens our pathway, the pitfalls of sin will be discerned
and avoided. How Much of the Word is Hidden in our Heart?Church
history tells of a time when the Bible was forbidden to the people. It was
buried in dead languages, and at most there were only a few copies, and these
chained to pulpits in places of worship. Today we have it printed in many
languages and dialects, and over its pages the devout searcher for truth, in
most countries, may meditate and pray with perfect freedom. But notwithstanding
the more favorable conditions of this time, are there as many as might be whose
devotion to this, divine revelation is such as we have expressed in the
familiar lines:
If
all copies of our Bible and all Biblical literature with which we are familiar
were somehow destroyed, what portions of that professedly treasured Word could
we contribute toward its restoration? Remembering the inspired warning,
"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we
have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip," is it not made important
that we too may say with the Psalmist, "Thy Word have I hid in my
heart"? Many are the reasons why the Word of God should be stored up in
the memory. Blindness can come, various physical afflictions can remove from us
the joy of reading its pages for ourselves, but if the memory be filled with
its promises, prophecies, and precepts, there can be unbroken contact therewith.
Then, too, what weapon is so effective as "the Sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God," when Satan comes with his subtle temptations? No
better weapon has been given us whereby we may "quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked one." Fortified with that Word, our faith will never
be found standing "in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God,"
for a "thus saith the Lord" will be required for every item of our
faith. Such
a book as the Bible is needed by the human heart. "Whoever made that book
made me," was the remark of a Chinese teacher who, himself a Confucianist, was reading the New Testament in Chinese in order to teach the
English missionary the language of China. And will this testimony not be
corroborated by every openhearted reader of that same book? It reveals, as no
other literature in the world does, the heart of God in relation to the sons of
men, whose joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, sins and doubts, and longings and
failures remain ever the same. Only in the light of that revelation can these
varied experiences find a satisfactory interpretation. It has been well said by
some one, "As long as the heart has passions, and as long as life has
woes" the comfort of the Holy Scriptures will be the boon of the inquiring
or troubled heart. And what a telescope it is by which the eye of faith may
look far beyond the horizons of physical sight, seeing the King in His beauty,
and catching visions of future glories and perfect knowledge framed in the
large dimension of eternity. The
whole earth seems to be explored for figures with which to convey to our minds
the completeness of the Bible, of which the words of Paul are beautifully
corroborative when he says, "All Scripture given by inspiration of God is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto
all good works." (2 Tim. 3:16, 17.) It is a lamp and light to guide individual
steps along life's devious paths, a sun above showing whither the path as a
whole trends and leads even to heaven itself. (Psa. 119:105.) God's Word comes
as the rain in showers of refreshing, and it distils as the dew when the heart
is stilled into meditative quietness, and sweet as honey to the taste. (Deut.
32:2; Psa. 19:10; 119:103.) There is milk for babes and strong meat for the
mature. Freedom is its promise. "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free." He who follows it walks at large in liberty, is the
word of the Old "Testament writer, and Paul in prison declares, "The
Word of God is not bound." (2 Tim. 2:9.) Great treasure indeed to the
individual believer, and also to the Church of Christ collectively. Its
Author--One, though speaking by many voices--is the Author and ruler of life, who
in His Word describes, directs, rebukes, consoles, elevates the soul which
none but He Himself can thoroughly know, and none but He can abidingly satisfy,
none but Himself can finally save. "Speak, Lord, for Thy Servant
Heareth"
No
"private interpretation" of individual or church can ever be allowed
to petrify or fossilize the Word, which holy men spake because
"moved" to do so by the Holy Spirit, and which that same spirit will
move humble searchers to study and understand. Nothing is made clearer in the
Bible than the fact that the Holy Spirit will ever be making fresh applications
of that Word to our present need. To be what God wants it to be to us, it must
be taken as a personal message, a message calculated to wash and sanctify us.
Possible it is to treat the Bible as an idol, to make it a book valued mainly
because it is understood to support a line of interpretations dear to us, the
product of our own imaginations. The remedy for this is a rich possession of
the spirit, the spirit of teachableness and obedience, which prays,
"Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth." Then the Word will be made a
living message, with new power, new aspirations, and "the man of God may
be thoroughly furnished" at all times and have his feet directed
according to that Word. "The
Light of the world is Jesus." In Scripture all leads up to Him or on from
Him. Therefore, to make Him the Master-light of our life is to follow a sound
and wise law of interpretation based on the facts of the case. In this we have
His own example, when He would clear away misunderstandings and fill hearts
with burning joy, "beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded
unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." (Luke
24:27.) Thus we look unto Jesus our Light and Life, and He is also "the
Apostle and High Priest of our profession." This looks into the future
associations promised those who shall reign with Him. All this, therefore,
involves an eventual attainment of perfect training and a fixity of character
in the principles of righteousness. And for this same training and character,
this mature power to judge of all things in the light of perfect truth, and estimating
all issues with proper insight, the Word of God is the chosen instrument Jesus
taught us the spirit would use. Thus, indeed, it was written long ago: "I
have more understanding than all my teachers, for Thy testimonies are my
meditation." - Psa. 119:99. Many
passages of Scripture set forth the close relationship between the pure Word
and our sanctification through its assimilation. In John 17:17 our Lord
prayed, as given in the Authorized Version, "Sanctify them through Thy
truth," and this may well be taken to prove the Word the most effective
medium of our sanctification. The Revised Version reads, "Sanctify them
in the truth." At first sight this may not seem so easy to understand.
But this version implies rather strongly that there is need for a devotion to
the whole sphere of purifying truth, all of truth brought within our reach as
we endeavor to "comprehend with all saints" the immeasurable lengths
and depths of divine revelation. Thus, only as we seek to be sanctified in the
truth can we be preserved from blending its pure gold with the alloy of human
invention, or altogether debasing its lofty inspiring significance and
standards. Can
we affirm to God, "Thy Word have I hid in my heart"? Can we affirm it
so truthfully that under test we will be found fortified, sanctified, and
matured by it? Then, remembering that He who is the Living Word has made us
know that He too must be enthroned in the heart, can we affirm in confidence
that He has an undisputed rulership there? Truly, if the written Word and the
Living Word are both in possession of our hearts, sin can never gain the
mastery over us. This
being so, how deep a truth lies in the words of another apostle: "If we
walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John
1:7.) Here love is the test of our light and cleansing. The proof that we are
in the light of God's Word is found in our universal fellowship with all who
have Jesus as their light and the cleansing of His blood. He who walks in this
love is in the light. He who walks not in this love walks in darkness, and in
that darkness there can be no vision of the face of Jesus Christ. If no vision
of His face, "the light of the glory of God as it shines in the face of Jesus
Christ" is obscured; therefore, no sanctification, no transformation into
His image. Like the foolish virgins of the parable, whose lamps were no doubt
as well trimmed as those carried by the wise, but alas! no oil in their vessels
with the lamps-so it can be with us. A well known Bible is no substitute for a
Christ-filled heart. It is only when the beauty of His perfection is brought
into our hearts and lives that we see light in His light and gloriously receive
and reflect the light of the glory of God. Shall we not prize still more highly
the Word of God, knowing that it really is a "boon most sacred from the
Lord." Shall our prayer not be:
-
Contributed by J. J. Blackburn The Divine Shelter"See! a
King shall rule justly, and princes do right, and a Man THE
STRIKING language of the Prophet in this text contains a wealth of meaning to
all who are weary of the dark night of sin and sorrow, and who cling with
undiminished faith to the promise of a joyful morning without clouds, when
sighing and crying shall flee away forever. Indeed the prophecy is so striking
that we may well inquire, Of whom does the Prophet speak when he tells of one
who shall be so complete a hiding place? If we are to understand him to refer
to one among the sons of men, where can such an one be found? For six thousand
years mankind has sought in vain for such a deliverer, only to discover that
no arm of flesh has been competent toward off the succeeding waves of storm and
tempest. The pages of history carry the records of
man's shattered hopes, as through the ages he has repeatedly chosen some
trusted leader to guide him into a happier state, only to find that it is not
in the power of any human agency to break the fetters under which the whole
creation groans and travails. Surely the experience of threescore centuries
has demonstrated the verity of the inspired declaration, "Put not your
trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts
perish." (Psa. 146:3, 4.) Who then is the man foreseen by the Prophet
Isaiah? Even
if it be admitted that in some manner such a prophecy might be a forecast of a
man's future glory and service to his fellows, yet it seems that the only
possible ,application which would give full weight to the prophecy of so great
a wealth of blessing, would be that it refers to the "Man" whom God
has appointed to abolish sin and death, and to fill the earth with perpetual
rest and peace. "The Man Christ Jesus" is the only One who can be the
deliverer and the refuge from all the adverse conditions of wind and storm, and
bring forth streams in the desert, or be the shadow of a great Rock in a weary
land. In Him alone may the Church now and. a sin-sick world by and by find the
fruition of all true desire for emancipation and peace, for only in and through
Him is it possible to find a complete satisfaction of the unutterable longings
of the heart for perfect harmony with infinite love. A Thousand Years Earth's Coming GloryTaken
as a prophecy of earth's future glory under the reign of its rightful King in
association with His Bride, the Church, our text leaves nothing more to be
desired. Ever since man was driven out from the happy home provided for him,
"eastward in Eden," where he had enjoyed intimate communion with
God, and then because of disobedience sent out into the earth, cursed for his
sake, to dwell where "the wrath of God is revealed against all
unrighteousness," and toil with sweat of brow against the thorns and
thistles, the disappointments, suffering, and exposure to the unrelenting
malice of a malignant Adversary, O how greatly he has needed a hiding place.
Surely unnumbered souls have felt as Job must have done when he prayed in the
midst of his affliction, "O that Thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that
Thou wouldest keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past, that Thou wouldest
appoint me a set time, and remember me!" (Job 14:13.) "Many indeed
have similarly longed to escape the afflictions traceable to the entrance of
sin into the world, and to go "where the wicked cease from troubling and
the weary are at rest." How blessed then to know that for a thousand
wonderful years mankind will he in the hands of Christ and His Church, and
through the Kingdom protections and advantages be hidden from the demands of a
perfect law, until qualified to fall into the hands of the living God without
fear. In that glad day they shall find the promise fulfilled, far beyond all
the dreams which have kept hope springing eternal in the human breast. Truly,
it is not in the power of human tongue or pen to portray the glorious
perfection of the coming earthly Paradise condition when mankind have found
shelter in the Rock of Ages and complete deliverance from sin and death
through Emmanuel's reign. It is beyond our present powers of imagination to
visualize the happiness of man's estate, when the great work of reconciliation
between God and man is complete, and "the tabernacle of God is with men,
and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself
shall be with them, and be their God." (Rev. 21:3.) But this we know that
in that glad day every God implanted longing of which a perfect heart is
capable, will find its full realization and expression. Man will be at rest in
God, world without end. Every Man shall Love His FellowHarmony
with God will mean perfect harmony with each brother man in that eternal
Kingdom of joy and peace; for then no more will "man's inhumanity to man
make countless thousands mourn," but instead, earth's society will be
fashioned after the order of that which fills the courts of heaven itself. O
what a wealth of possibilities divine love has planted within the mind of man!
Created in the image and likeness of God, there are springs of infinite and
eternal possibilities hidden in that image and likeness far beyond our present
ability to even catch a dim outline. Man, as God intends he shall yet be, is a
noble, lovable, marvelous creation. When we read, "God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life," we must not confine the meaning of
this love of God for man to the limits of a great sympathy for him in his
fallen condition. The love of God for man is centered in His eternal purpose,
when in the exercise of His creative love and power He added a perfect human
being to "the whole family of God." Is
there not more of heaven-born love, rather than mere human reaction, when a
new-born babe adds to the number of the family circle. The two or three
children who have preceded it are not loved less, but the new arrival becomes
the center of every one's affection, and all combine to welcome the added
treasure given them to love and cherish. So it must have been among the
heavenly host when man appeared among the children of God. Are we not told that
"the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for
joy" over the works of creation? And who but the First-born of all creation
is represented in these illuminating words, "The Lord [Jehovah] possessed
Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. Before the mountains
were settled, before the hills was I 'brought forth. Then was I by Him, as one
brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him;
rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth, and My delights were with the sons of men." (Job 38:7; Prov.
8:22, 25, 30, 31.) Do these Scriptures not tell us something of the thrills of
joy experienced by all former members of "the family of God" when
roan, "crowned with glory and honor" came from the hand of Him whose
name means Love? And
it was this noble creature that "God so loved." It was this marvelous
being that Jesus gave His life to reclaim, and it is this conception of man as
God beholds him by and by, that fills our own hearts with that unexplainable
present love for mankind, even though for the present moment he is so marred
and defiled by sin. Underneath the marred and sadly disfigured image borne by
the mean as we see him today, we realize there are those latent qualities which
six thousand years of the exceeding sinfulness of sin has not entirely
eradicated. And so with "the love of God shed abroad in our hearts,"
and faith in His power to reclaim and perfect even to the uttermost all who
come unto Him, do we not find a sheltering love creeping into our own souls and
feel the surging floods of living water welling up in our hearts for every
struggling human being, filling us with, a longing to refresh them with its
thirst-quenching sweetness? Surely, to have had contact with the
"Man," that "shadowing Rock in a wearisome land," has
filled our lives with love for the world, for whom He gave His life to reclaim
from sin, that He might again crown them with the glory and honor of perfect
manhood. If
these be the reactions we experience today as we come under the benevolent
influences of the redemptive love of God, shall it not be so with the world of
mankind when Jesus reigns from "the river unto the ends of the
earth"? In that day "every man" shall indeed "love his
fellow, justice give to each and all, dwell in love, and dwell in Jesus, who
redeemed them from the fall. Living, as each one will be, under the sheltering
wings of Christ's Kingdom reign, and receiving through its beneficent
provisions; all needed sympathy and encouragement, "the brotherhood of
man" will then become a beautiful reality. Living in constant contact
with Christ and His Bride will bring them into an understanding touch with
everything in human life. They shall learn to look for the man God intends, and
forget the warped and twisted characters undergoing the regenerative
operations of that glorious restitution day. The love of Christ will constrain
them, to practice a sympathy with "all sorts and conditions of men"
in all sorts of deformity, and thus together they shall attain the goal of
perfect Godlikeness -- perfect life, perfect love, perfect rest, completeness.
Verily the prophetic picture given in our text is no overdrawn forecast of
earth's coming glory, or of the completeness of the deliverance man shall
enjoy from wind and storm, arid conditions, or from the inhumanity of man to
man. Great Need of Compassion for the Groaning CreationSuch
a picture as we have before us of God's present sympathy for mankind in his
fallen condition, and of His ultimate purpose in his full recovery, cannot
but fill our hearts with comfort and joy. No one who has himself really
experienced the love of God in pardoning grace can be a. stranger to the
impulses that love creates. True, there will be those who, like the man in our
Lord's pointed illustration, though forgiven an enormous debt themselves, will,
nevertheless, keep a strangle hold on a debtor owing but a few pence. Such, however,
have not really experienced the thrill of conscious forgiveness, for none are
forgiven beyond their own willingness and delight in forgiving. But
we are thinking now of those who really know by experience that mysterious
inflow of sympathetic love which must have filled the heart of Stephen, when
with glory-lightened countenance he entreated that his murderers be not charged
with their crime. May it not be that the answer to that prayer is a matter over
which we need not dispute. Who knows but that it was that forgiving love radiating
from his angel-like face that burned so deeply into the innermost soul of Saul,
and prepared his troubled heart for the voice of Jesus on the Damascus road.
Sweeter to the heart of the noble Stephen than vindictive retribution could
ever be, would be the adding of a character like Paul to the number of the
elect of. God. And what would it have meant to us if his murderers had been
served with the punishment their crime deserved? Would we have ever known Saul
as anything but a heartless zealot, blind to every human claim of love and
pity? Surely we would never have felt the power that every true Christian has
realized as flowing through this "chosen vessel," had God not
certainly answered Stephen's prayer. But let it be remembered, Stephen could
not have foreseen the immediate results of his forgiving spirit. He did not
pray thus because he knew that ere long Paul would shake the Jewish world with
his championship of the cause of Christ. No, he prayed thus solely because he
had caught the spirit of his Master, who came not to destroy men's lives but to
save them. And in all this we may find a lesson never more needed than at the
present time. Strong to Bear InjusticeManifestly
many of the saints today are being placed in circumstances where there is
plenty of opportunity to allow bitterness against others to gain no little
possession of the mind. The world is full of injustice. In so many ways every
man's hand seems to be against his neighbor, and the survival of the individual
seems more and more to depend on a willingness to use any method to attain a
reasonable share of life's necessities. In the midst of such conditions it is
easy enough to develop a vindictive attitude, to be unmindful of the example
of Jesus, who opened not His mouth in complaint against His murderers, and to
forget the spectacle of angelic rapture never to be forgotten by Saul of
Tarsus. When it comes to the matter of our daily life with its round of
"all things working together for good," how little we can really
know of the meaning of a thousand and one things that come and go from day to
day. Could we always realize the possibilities hidden in our contacts with
all sorts and conditions of men, is it not safe to say that many times our
reactions toward their selfish ways and their unjust methods, would be
different from what it often is. May there not be times when, if we have
developed the spirit of Stephen, and are ready to really believe that
"they know not what they do," we will find it so much easier to curb
any bitterness that might be creeping in. Surely, if keeping company with the
Son of Man cannot make one strong to bear injustice, and fortify one against
the toil and pain of daily contact with any circumstance divine love sees best for
us, then how can Jesus say to us, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest"? - Matt. 11:28. Only
let us remember that it was after He had suffered all the terrible agonies of
Gethsemane that He said to His disciples, "O fools, and slow of heart to
believe all that the Prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into
His glory?" (Luke 24:25, 26.) The whole tenor of Scripture teaching from
first to last shows that the Christ must be first a suffering Christ before the
right to reign can be enjoyed. How we need to constantly remind ourselves of
our need of sharing the experiences of our Lord and Head if we would be
qualified to reign with Him by and by. Did He not learn obedience by the things
which He suffered, and at the same time was He not being made a merciful High
Priest through being touched with a feeling of our infirmities? He gained
thereby a greater sympathy with tried and sin-wounded men, and became thus a
Savior more perfectly equipped for His saving work. And thus it is that
chastening becomes so vital a part of the peculiar heritage of the sons and
daughters of God. The great Husbandman does not prune wild brambles growing
outside of His garden wall, but every branch within the wall that beareth
fruit, He purgeth it that it may bring forth more and more fruit. Then better
far to be His wounded tree, bleeding from prunings perhaps, but from which
richer fruit will yet appear. Let
us keep God's vision of perfect man consistently before our mind, not the
warped and deformed creature who now afflicts us because sin has made him so.
Let us visualize the everlasting benefits yet to come to men through the permission
of evil, and train our vision on that ever brightening horizon where the
prophetic beams of light are already promising the speedy coming of "the
times of restitution of all things, spoken by the mouth of God's holy prophets
since the world began." Thus, even now, we shall find ourselves enjoying
more and more of the spirit of Stephen, and thereby become sympathetic
intercessors for those who, because blinded by the god of this world, cause us
suffering and disappointment. Taking
this view of present experiences, and learning to interpret all of our trials
in the light of preparatory lessons in patience and love, qualifying us for
our future work in the Kingdom, shall we not even now, because of our abiding
faith in God, by our manifest peace and joy though troubled on every side, and
by our freedom from any taint of vindictiveness, be to weary, chafing hearts
all about us, a guide to "a shadowing Rock in a wearisome land." How
better can we honor our God and reveal the quietness of spirit a knowledge of
the truth can bring, than by our daily testimony witnessing to the fact that we
have found the Man Christ Jesus a blessed shelter from the biting winds and
stormy blast, a sheltering Rock under whose shadow there is peace, perfect
peace. O what if we do sow in tears for a little while? What if we do find the
struggle at times seemingly more than we can bear? The promise is sure,
"We shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing our sheaves with
us." When at last the long hoped for Kingdom reign does come, and the work
of lifting mankind out of sin and death is our Age-long blessed occupation,
shall we not then rejoice that we have had so much opportunity in the school
of Christ to learn how to exercise the love of Christ for sinful man? "Then
cometh the end." And what an end! As the result of the work of Christ and
His Church, the earth will be filled with a happy human family all in perfect
harmony with their Creator. There will be no more one absent "prodigal
son" among the children of God, but the "whole family of God in
heaven and earth" one in eternal unity, eternal peace, and in a
never-ending enjoyment together of the ceaseless unfoldings of the love and
power and goodness of our gracious God. Surely God's "elect shall long
enjoy the work of their hands." Then dear tried and warfare encompassed
saints, "let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and
entire wanting nothing" for so great an undertaking as shall be given to
us, when in a little while it shall be our privilege to lead the race back over
the long way, until it rests again in the Paradise of God. - "The Herald" The True Unity of Christ's Church
"And thou shalt take
fine meal, and bake it in twelve cakes.... THE
injunction was very precise: "Thou shalt set upon the table the
Presence-bread before me alway." In two passages it is described as the
"continual bread" (Num. 4:7; 2 Chron. 2:4). When the trumpet gave
the signal for the march, the loaves and vessels were left undisturbed in their accustomed places, and over them all
three coverings were placed, of blue, of scarlet, and of sealskin. There was
therefore no interruption of the continued symbolism of the Unity of the Chosen
People. This
thought pervades the Scriptures. If we go back to the days of the judges when
the land was repeatedly swept by whirlwinds of judgment, when every man did as
seemed right in his eyes, and there was no unity of government or authority, we
find that the Presence bread was still offered with undeviating regularity.
This is established by the incident told of David, when he sought the
hospitality of the High Priest at Nob, and did "eat the shewbread, which
is not lawful to eat but for the priests" (Mark 2:25, 26). Evidently,
through those stormy centuries the twelve loaves stood before God, an emblem of
the essential unity of Israel. When, afterwards, schism came, and the ten
tribes, under the leadership of Jeroboam, broke away from the house of David,
still upon the holy table, in Solomon's temple, the twelve loaves were presented,
representing an unimpaired oneness. So
when Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord, that had been broken down by
Jezebel's orders, he took twelve stones, "according to the number
of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came,
saying, Israel shall be thy name." In the Prophet's thought, as in
God's, the sorrowful strife and alienation between the northern and southern
groups were as though they were not, in view of the Eternal Covenant, ordered
in all things and sure. A WITNESS TO THE UNITY OF THE PEOPLEWhen
the ten tribes were carried into captivity, and scattered far and wide through
Babylonia, Persia, and Asia Minor, still each Sabbath the priests brought the
twelve loaves, and placed them on the Table of Presence, as though God knew
well where to find his scattered people, and in his judgment they continued
one. Then followed the captivity of the seventy years, and afterward the
return to the Temple of the priests, the people, and the holy bread. And in our
Lord's time, though Israel was rent and scattered, and Simeon and Dan had long
since disappeared, still the twelve loaves were presented; and in a
remarkable sentence Paul, speaking before Agrippa of the promise made unto the
fathers, expressed his belief in the unbroken number of the tribes, when he
said: "Unto which promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God, night and day, hope to
attain." In the opening of his epistle, James sends greetings to the
twelve tribes of the dispersion. Our Lord assured his Apostles, that in the
regeneration they should sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel. On the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem are written the names of the
twelve tribes of the children of Israel. Dan is indeed missed out of the
enumeration of Revelation 7, but the sacred associations of the twelve are
still maintained by the dual representation of Joseph. Remember also Ezekiel's
unfulfilled prophecy (Eze. 37:15-17, 21, 22). THE UNITY OF CHRIST's CHURCHThroughout
this is one of those deep and subtle suggestions of the way in which the
objective ideal of the Church, as an undivided and sacred unity, stands before
God. . . . Amid all the storms that have swept the world since our Lord
constituted his Church, throughout those disastrous periods of division and
distraction, there have still been, in the Divine estimation, "one Body,
and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,
who is over all, and through all, and in all." Always the twelve loaves,
the wine of his blood, and the frankincense of his merit, for we are made
"accepted in the Beloved." NOT NECESSARILY A VISIBLE UNITYIt need
hardly be remarked that this unity was never intended to be organic, because
Jesus prayed that his own might be one as the Father and he were one.
"Holy Father," he said "keep them in thy Name which thou hast
given me, that they may be one, even as we are." . . . It is therefore
certain that those who suppose that the unity of the Church must be patent to
the senses have wholly misconceived the Divine ideal. The members of the Body of
Christ were never intended to be gathered into one organization, to repeat one
formulary, or march in military array. Uniformity is far removed from unity;
and you may have perfect unity apart from uniformity. A tree is a unity, though
there is a vast diversity between the gnarled branches and the cones which it
tosses on the forest floor. A house is a unity, though there is no similarity
between the gabled roof and the deep laid foundations. A body is a unity, but
the eyelash differs widely from the bones of the skeleton. Uniformity
is impossible where there is life, as the most superficial consideration of the
autumnal produce of orchard, field and garden proves. Wherever, therefore, uniformity has
been insisted on, death has ensued. Just before the Reformation of the sixteenth
century, it seemed as though the Inquisition had extinguished every trace of
nonconformity with the tenets and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.
Indeed, she might have almost literally adopted the proud boast of Babylon:
"As one gathereth eggs that are forsaken, so have I gathered all the
earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or that opened the mouth, or
chirped" (Isa. 10:14, R.V.). But at this period it is incontestable that
the religious life of Christendom was dead; except where the limited Piedmontese, in the high Alps, kept a spark burning amid the gray ashes. EXTERNAL UNIFORMITY UNATTAINABLEThe
same mistake is perpetrated by those who demand uniformity of creed as by those
who insist on uniformity of ritual. You cannot make all men climb alike, or
express identical conceptions in identical words. A creed is, after all, an
intellectual effort, whereas religion is not the creature of mind or reason,
but of the heart and spirit. It is a life, . . . the inauguration of that
eternal condition of existence which will be still young when all human
formularies and conceptions have been put away, as a man puts away the things
of childhood. If your soul is united to the Head of the Church by a living
faith, through which the life of Christ enters and pervades it, you must be
reckoned a member of the Body, though you may have passed through none of
those ecclesiastical systems which at the best are but broken lights,
reflecting the sunlight at different angles. VARIETY WITHIN THE CHURCH OF CHRISTIn
the Church there is room, therefore, for an infinite variety. Each brings his
own contribution; and we must gather with all saints, if we would comprehend the length, and
breadth, and depth, and height of the love of Christ. You cannot see the whole
sky, the whole mountain, the whole broad ocean, nor can I; but I will tell you
what I have seen, tasted, and handled of the Word of Life, and you shall tell
me what you have experienced. Thus our spirits shall have fellowship one with
another. There will be a mutual
exchange in commodities, as we report our discoveries of the unsearchable
riches of Christ. For none has exactly the same viewpoint as another has; and
none exactly the same definition or formula. Be yourself! Make your own
discoveries of the manifold grace of Christ. If you cannot bring grapes from
Eschol, bring pomegranates or figs. Bartimaeus and the man born blind had
different stories to tell of the way in which they were healed, but they both
saw, and owed the sight which revealed the world to the same voice and touch.
Whether you swam to shore or floated on a broken piece of ship furniture, or a
spar, makes very little difference, so long as you have been saved from the
storm, and stand there with the rest in the circle round the fire lighted
because of the cold. You are probably right in what you affirm, but wrong in what you deny. You
are justified in holding firmly to your special fragment of Truth, but be
willing to admit that you have not everything, and that others may be as
conscientious, as to truth, and as eager for its maintenance and diffusion as
yourself. Seek
to gain from others whatever will perfect your religious life, rounding it to
a more complete circle, and touching it to finer issues. "I long to see
you," said the Apostle, "that I may impart unto you some spiritual
gift . . . that I with you may be comforted in you, each of us by the other's
faith" (Rom. 1:11,
12, R.V.). CHRIST THE BOND OF UNITYChrist
is the bond of unity to his Church -- Christ in each individual, and each
individual in Christ. Let us never forget that gracious reciprocity. The sponge
must be in the ocean and the ocean in the sponge. Each believer is written in
the Lamb's Book of Life by the same fingers. Each of us has been grafted into
the true Vine, though in different places. Each of us has some function in the
mystical Body. We were in him when he died, and rose, and entered the Father's
presence. In him we have access into this grace wherein we stand. We are in
him, as those twelve loaves stood on that pure table. The gift of Christ, on
the other hand, has been made to each one of us, that he might realize himself
through all the experiences of his members. As of old it required four Gospels to reveal to mankind
what Jesus Christ was, so all believers
are required to set forth and exemplify to the world all the excelling glories
of our Emmanuel. It is for this reason that we are told that the Church is his
Body, "the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Eph. 1:23). ALL ONE IN HIMWas
it not of this that our Lord spoke, when he said: "The glory which thou
gayest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and thou in me"
(John 17:22, 23)
? In such
radiance the Church now stands before God. He sees her essential unity. Its
denial does not disintegrate it. Its obscuration does not impair it. The very
members of the Church that compose the Unity may be unaware of it, and may
denounce each other; but even so, the twelve stones are in the same breastplate
and the twelve loaves stand side by side on the same table. The members of a
large family of boys and girls may be scattered far and wide over the world,
but to the mother, in her daily and nightly prayer, there is but one family,
and to her they seem sheltered still under the wings of her brooding love. When
Savonarola was about to be burned, the Papal Legate, dressed in his scarlet
robes, stood beside his scaffold, and cried: "I cut thee off from the
Church triumphant and the Church militant." But the martyr replied truly:
"You may cut me off from the Church militant, but over the Church triumphant
thou hast no power." Only two things can cut a man off from the Holy
Catholic Church, considered in her loftiest ideals, and these are unforgiveness
to the brethren and departure from the living God. But
as surely as the Lord accounts us members of the same mystical Body, he bids us
give diligence to keep the
unity of that Body in the bonds of peace. We are not required to create the unity, but
to manifest it. We are to recognize as one with us, those who may differ ... in their
ritual and creedal expression. . . Without the other neither can be made
perfect. Let us, therefore, in this way hasten the time when our Lord shall
present the Church to himself, a glorious Church, without spot, wrinkle, or
any such thing. - F. B. Meyer The Beauty of Holiness"Having
therefore these promises, dearly beloved, HOLINESS
IS moral purity; and it is written that "Without holiness no man shall see
the Lord" (Heb. 12:14); and again, "Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God." (Matt. 5:8.) Purity of heart signifies purity of
the will or intention, the mainspring- of life. To be perfectly holy or pure in
every sense of the word would signify absolute 'perfection, which no man can
now claim; but those who by faith are clothed with the righteousness of Christ
are now reckoned "holy and acceptable unto God" (Rom. 12:1), the
righteousness of Christ being imputed to them by faith. These, whose hearts are
fully consecrated and loyal to the Lord, are "the pure in heart,"
whose privilege it is to see God. While
the heart of every accepted child of God must be pure from the very beginning
-of his Christian life (otherwise he is not accepted or owned as a child),
yet, as the Apostle suggests above, there must be from that time onward a
gradual work of perfecting holiness in the fear (filial fear) of God; that is
(being graciously reckoned of God as holy through Christ, from the hour of our
entire consecration to His will, because our will and effort are to be so), we
are to go on striving daily against our natural imperfections, and endeavoring
as nearly as possible to make the reckoned holiness more and more actual. Thus
we should continue to grow in grace and in the actual likeness of the Lord. Some
Christians make the very serious mistake of supposing that they, as merely
passive subjects, may receive instantaneously the blessing of holiness as a
mark of God's special favor. But such a conception is very far from the
Apostle's idea, as expressed above. He presents the attainment of holiness as a
life work, and the individual Christian as the active, and not as the passive,
agent in accomplishing it. From the standpoint of a reckoned holiness, he is
to go on day after day, and year after year, in the work of actual cleansing of
himself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit-of person and of
mind-"perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord." In
the exceeding great and precious promises we have abundant incentives to strive
daily to perfect holiness; but these must be held before the mind that they be
not crowded into the background by the cares of this life and the deceitfulness
of its pursuits. The pure in heart-whose will is only t,) serve and please
Him-do see God by faith and with the eyes of their understanding. They see Him
in His Word and His Plan, as He graciously opens it up to their minds as meat
in due season; they see Him in His mighty works of creation, and of redemption
and salvation; they see Him in nature, whose open book is ever eloquent in His
praise to those who have eyes to see; by faith they see Him in the secret
closet communions when there is no eye to see and no ear to hear but God's,
where the heart may freely unburden itself of its load and lay down its cares
and feel that unutterable sense of divine sympathy and love which only those
can understand who have taken the Lord as their personal friend and counselor.
They see Him, too, in His providences; for, having entered into their closets
and shut to the door and prayed to their Father in secret, the open reward of
His sure and safe leading always follows, according to His promise. How
blessed it is thus to see God -- to realize His presence and power and His
abiding favor in all the vicissitudes of life; to watch Him and see how, as the
days and years go by, He makes all things work together for good to them that
love Him, and to see also, from the grand standpoint of observation He gives
us, how glorious a destiny He has carved out for us and for all the willing and
obedient subjects of His authority. If
we cultivate acquaintance with God and with our Lord Jesus, communing with them
through the divine Word and prayer, almost unconsciously to ourselves the work
of perfecting holiness progresses. To he thus in communion with Them is to receive
more and more of Their mind and disposition. And having the mind of God thus in
us, as the controlling principle of our actions, to what purification of the
flesh it will also lead! It
begins at once to clean up the whole man. Old unclean, as well as sinful,
habits are put away; unseemly conversation is not permitted to pass the door
of the lips, or if, by force of old habit, slips of this kind occur, they are
promptly repented of and rectified; and unholy thoughts are not entertained.
The same spirit of holiness prompts also to the cleansing and purifying- of the
body, the clothing, the home, and all with which we have to do; for the outward
man must be in conformity with the pure heart within, and with the heavenly
Guests that make Their abode with us. - John 14:23. It
is quite possible, however, that the more we succeed in purifying ourselves of
the old carnal nature, the more we may realize the imperfections that still
remain; for the purifying process is also an educating one: we learn to
appreciate and admire purity, holiness, the more thoroughly we assimilate it,
until "the beauty of holiness" becomes the most desirable of all possessions,
that which is lacking of its glory is our deepest concern, and the great work
of perfecting holiness becomes the chief business of life. Let the good work go
on, dearly beloved, and, in the end, the Lord Himself shall be your exceeding
great reward. - "The Herald" RECENTLY DECEASED
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