VOL.
L. May/June 1967 No. 3
Our Priceless Heritage in the Bible The Pentecostal Message"Received ye the spirit?" - Galatians
3:2. WAIT
for the promise of the Father,
which ye heard from me, for John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be
baptized in the holy spirit not many days hence.... Ye shall receive power when
the holy spirit is come upon you." It is Jesus who has been speaking to
the disciples, having "led them out until they were over against Bethany:
and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he
blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven." (Luke
24:50-53. A. R. V.) A cloud received him out of their sight, and at the
bidding of an angel the little company wended its way over the three-quarters
of a mile back to Jerusalem, passing Gethsemane, where forty days before, the
One they had just now seen ascend into heaven had first been "lifted up from the earth."
There is no record left us of the many questions that were raised in that short
journey and in the days that
followed. But we do read that they "all with one accord continued steadfastly in
prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of
Jesus, and with his brethren." "And when the day of Pentecost was now
come, they were all with
one
accord in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there
appeared unto them tongues parting asunder [Margin: parting among them, or
distributing themselves], like as of fire; and it sat upon each of them. And
they were all filled
with the holy spirit." - Acts 2:1-4. FORETOLD IN TYPES"In
the passover, we have the death of Christ," Brother Mackintosh writes, "in the sheaf of firstfruits, we
have the resurrection of Christ;
and in the feast of Pentecost, we have the descent of the holy spirit to form
the Church. All this is divinely perfect. The death and resurrection of Christ
had to be accomplished, ere the Church could be formed. The sheaf was offered
and then the loaves were baked. And, we observe, 'They shall be baken with leaven.' Why was this? Because they
were intended to foreshadow those who, though filled with the holy spirit, and
adorned with his gifts and graces, had, nevertheless, evil dwelling in them," and
soon that fact came to light in their association. The
brethren who received the outpouring of the holy spirit at Pentecost were those
who had become followers of the Lord Jesus before his sacrifice, and therefore
before he had appeared in the presence of God for them, and thus before they
could be begotten to sonship. John testifies: "The spirit was not yet
given; because Jesus was not yet glorified." (John 3:39.) While they
walked with Jesus he could say to them, "The spirit of truth dwelleth with you"; but could promise
additionally, "and shall be in you," not merely "with" and "upon" you,
as was the case with the prophets of the previous Age. (Luke 2:25; John 14:17.)
What a misfortune for them and for all of us if he had heeded their desire and
stayed with them
for the establishment of a merely fleshly government. "It is expedient for
you that I go away," are his words; "for if I go not away, the
comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send him unto you."
- John 16:7. EVIDENCES OF POSSESSING THE SPIRITThe
miracle of Pentecost was intended in part to attract the attention of the
people in Jerusalem, and to convince those who were in heart condition to
believe, as well as to give confidence to those who were already disciples.
Evidently the need for such miracles passed with the passing of the Apostles
and those upon whom they bestowed the gifts of the spirit, but the need for
"full assurance of faith has never ceased. It is therefore of great
importance for us to be able to find a convincing statement as to how we may
know whether we have been called, have been begotten (have, received the
spirit), and are being developed, all by "the self same spirit" that
operated both on and in the early disciples. Is it still true that "the
manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit withal"? (1 Cor. 12:7,
11.) Brother
John writes: "We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he who is
not of God heareth us riot. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit
of error." (1 John 4:6.) Attention to the Word of Truth as it came through
the Apostles is then a fundamental test as to whether one is being guided of
the holy spirit, "the spirit of truth, which the world cannot
receive." We can let our light shine upon them, but we cannot give them
our oil. Long
ago it was promised that the spirit would have the effect of obedience to the
Lord's commands: "I will put my spirit within you [when the stony hearts
are removed], and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances,
and do them." (Ezek. 36:27.) Not the ways or the thinking of our own flesh
or of any other natural man will be our guide, for "as for you, the
anointing which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one
teach you [any human intellect, such as the philosophers to whom he refers];
but as his anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no
lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him." (1 John 2:27.) Since the
spirit cannot contradict itself, the "any one" not needed as a
teacher must be outside the Body of Christ, for the spirit had revealed that
God had set teachers within the Body for its edification. They only can speak according to the spirit,
and should speak only according to the
spirit, as Paul intimates in 1
Corinthians 2:12 and 13: "We received not the spirit of the world, but the
spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given
to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom
teacheth, but which the spirit teacheth; comparing spiritual things with
spiritual." "Ye are not in the flesh [or dependent on the flesh] but
in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwelleth in you." - Rom.
8:9. We
can know assuredly that his spirit does not dwell in us to use us as his temple
if ours is not the spirit of reverence, devotion, holiness; separation from the
things of the outside world and the ways of the flesh. "Know ye not that
ye are a temple of God, and that 'the spirit of God dwelleth in you?" And that temple will
have no "parish house" attached where provision can be made for the
flesh to satisfy the desires thereof. A
primary step toward the receipt of the holy spirit is repentance, a regret for
our former association with things of the world and the flesh and a turning
from them with a positive determination they shall no more be permitted to
control our lives. The story Brother Blackburn used to tell illustrating this
is a very apt one. It was the definition a small child gave: "Repentance
is being so sorry, you will never do it again." The message of the early
Church was: "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the holy
spirit," (Acts 2:38) "the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba,
Father." Doubtless thousands who had no right, to do so sent up that cry, but in the context the
Apostle indicates what are the credentials of those who can legitimately so
address him: "The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we
are children of God." "For as many as are led by the spirit of God,
these are sons of God." (Rom. 8:14-16.) The direction of its leading is
"into all the truth." (John 16:13.) That leading should be a
continuous process until that which "is perfect is come" beyond the
veil. Then we shall
know fully even as we are now fully known by the Father. (1 Cor. 13:9-12.)
However, conformity to the spirit's leading can this side the veil have the
sealing of the spirit, the stamp of its approval. Paul calls this being
"sealed with the spirit of the promise, the holy spirit which is an
earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of the acquisition; unto his
glorious praise." (Eph. 1:13, 14, Rotherham.) It is easy to know
this precious promise and to talk fluently about it to every willing ear, and
many an unwilling one, too-for this is that promise that takes in "all the
families of the earth." But to acquire its spirit is quite a different
thing from just talking about it. Having its spirit means to have a love broad
enough to take in all the world, our enemies, and all the brethren. BEGINNING A NEW LIFEThe
story of man's creation is simply told: "The Lord God formed man of the
dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath [wind, spirit] of
life; and man became a living soul." (Gen. 2:7.) Did the spirit inspire
this record so that it would fitly represent how lifeless humans, dead in
trespasses and sins, are given life by putting his spirit within them? "Of
his own will begat he us with the Word of truth." The result is a
spiritual new creature, for "Thy words are spirit and they are life."
Such creatures need have no fear of the second death, if they are entirely
dependent on that Word as their source of strength, for they have been begotten
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God,
which liveth and abideth." (1 Peter 1:23.) Having been begotten
"through the Gospel" (1 Cor. 4:15), "the Gospel preached
beforehand unto Abraham," if its work is permitted to continue in us, we will daily have more of its
spirit until, marked with its sealing power, the image of our heavenly Father
will be indelibly impressed upon this new creation of his. Our Pentecost then
will have "fully come" and passed. PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD NECESSARYAs
God created a son "in his own likeness, after his image, so the new
creation "which after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness
of the truth," "is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of
him that created him." (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10.) Knowledge that does not
work to that end will be detrimental, puffing up instead of building up. This
all makes it very clear why the Bible lays its great stress on knowing God, and
how irreparable the loss to those who are content just to know about him and
his Plan. Also it is clear that the distinction between the two classes will be
that the one will be sealed with his spirit, while the other company are those
who are marked with Babylon's method of thinking, following the guidance of the
intellect instead of the spirit, and contented to rely upon works instead of
growth into his likeness. Jesus
finished his course at the cross. We begin ours there. Before the cross our
condition was "dead in sin since the cross, "dead unto sin, but alive
unto God in Christ Jesus." (Rom. 6:11.) Babylon and its, spirit hopes for
life because of penances, book selling, and other substitutes for the cross on
which Christ died for our sins and on which the world is crucified unto us and
we unto the world. But this is not accomplished without the guidance and
assistance of the spirit. "If ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds
of the body, ye shall live." (Rom. 8:13.) "Walk in the spirit and ye
shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh." That is the "law of the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus that hath made us free from the law of sin and
death." - Rom. 8:2. "The
God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body
be preserved entire without blame at the coming [Literally: in the presence]
of our Lord. Jesus Christ," 'to "present you faultless before the
presence of his glory with exceeding joy." - 1 Thess. 5:23; Jude 24. -
P. E. Thomson Our Priceless Heritage in the Bible
THE
greatest of God's priceless gifts to men are the Living and the Written Word. Many are the statements within the pages of the written Word, bearing
testimony to the inestimable value of these gifts of His love. In the ages
past, as in the present time, God's making known His
will and character to men has been a source of incalculable joy and
inspiration. It was so when in times past God spoke by the Prophets, but vastly
more so now when "in these last days" He has spoken and revealed
Himself through His Son. The greatly tried and afflicted patriarch job prized
above his daily food, the revelation he had of God. (Job 23:12.) The Psalmist
found it "more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold sweeter
also than honey and the honeycomb." (Psa. 19:10.) And to him it was a
source of constant joy and of progression toward
man's true objective, to glorify God by attaining the ultimate purposes of His will. "Blessed," he sings, "is the man that walketh not in the
counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the
way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in
the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night" - and
with what blessed results: "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers
of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not
wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." (Psa. 1:1-3.) No wonder
that he later wrote, "Thy Word. have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee " - Psa. 119:11. From
the lips of Him who spake as never man could speak, how often the words were
heard, "It is written" and expressions of like portent. Blindness He
attributed to a lack of knowledge of the Word of God, saying, "Ye do err,
not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God." To perplexed and
disappointed men He came, "And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He
expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things
concerning Himself," and left them saying, "Did not our heart burn
within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the
Scriptures?" Luke 24:25-32. No
marvel then that Apostolic testimony to the importance of the Word itself is in
similar tone. We cannot wonder at Paul urging: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly"; nor are we surprised to find him
making special note of the qualifications of Timothy for efficient service in
the Church-"From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are
able to make thee wise unto salvation." (Col. 3:16 2 Tim. 3:15.) And thus
it 'is that from the pages of this Book of books, adapted to the needs of all
who love its unfoldings, there comes so much of "comfort of the Scriptures,"
so much that 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.) To think of but a few of the
influences and characteristics of that "precious Word": Human
schemes and achievements astound a generation or two, then pass into the realm
of the obsolete, relics of primitive stages in the onward course of progress.
The classics in human literature are generally limited to the confines of a
certain language. Shakespeare spoke to the race that speaks his tongue, and
how unintelligible his greatest works are to numberless other tongues and
races. The Bible speaks as clearly, as potently, as comforting and illuminating
to 'all "kindreds and
nations and tongues." Its language is universally complete. "All
flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. But the
Word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the Word which by the Gospel is
preached unto you." (1 Pet. 1:24, 25.) How illuminating is that Word!
"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the
Lord is sure, making wise the simple." (Psa. 19:7.) How manifestly it came
from the One who in judgment is "no respecter of persons," for
"the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
(Heb. 4:12.) To a race sold under sin, helpless to break the chains of bondage,
how assuring the word spoken by the Son: "Ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free." (John 8:32.) To sinners
saved by grace, how assuring of . ultimate sanctification is the Savior's
prayer "Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth." (John
17:17.) To "the called according to His
purpose" how comforting the words: "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these
ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that
is in the world through lust." (2 Pet. 1:4.) Well indeed has Jesus said,
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God." - Matt. 4:4. The Bible Wounded in the House of its FriendsThat the great Adversary of
God and man should be the enemy of a Book in which the character of God and
His benevolent purposes for man are set forth, is no surprise. We marvel not
that "'the god of this world bath blinded the
minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto
them." (2 Cor. 4:4.) But to know that in the house of its professed
friends that Word has suffered greatly because of misrepresentation is both
sad and surprising. No wonder some hungry, seeking soul poured out his prayer,
and in that prayer caught up the cry of many bewildered seekers after God,
seekers perplexed by "so many creeds, so many ways that wind and
lead"
* * *
It has been said that
"Every Christian is either a Bible or libel." . Perhaps this was the
very same thought in the mind of the Apostle that caused him to so urge the brethren to "adorn the doctrine of God
our Savior in all things." (Tit. 2:10.) And perhaps it was the same thing
which led him to admonish Timothy to be "an example of
the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in
spirit, in faith, in purity." (1 Tim. 4:12.) What other reason did he have
when reminding other brethren that they should remember that as "the
epistle of Christ" they were being known and read of all men? Indeed it
was the failure of some professing Christians to thus adorn the Gospel of Christ by their daily lives that caused him in tears
to write: "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are
the enemies of the cross of Christ." As we live and move before any who
are praying for "some new ray of light for guidance on our, way," are we a libel or a Bible? Are we
fulfilling the glorious purposes of our calling, and being as Jesus said we
should be, "the light of the world"? Are we really shining as lights
in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, and known as such by those
who know us, or are 'we causing others to look beyond us and say, "We
seek to know Thee as Thou art"? Are we revealing to others within the
circle of believers, and to such as are without, that we "have been with
Jesus and learned of Him"? That Paul was not alone in his tears over the Bible's misrepresentation in the
house of its friends, is well attested by the laments of
many others. Dean Farrar will be remembered by many as an outstanding character
of some years ago, and some will remember his fearless exposure of the
unscriptural teaching of eternal torment for the majority of our race. From his
pen we cull the following pertinent quotations: "It is one of our trials
that the Bible, with its tender and hallowed bearing upon all that is sweet and
noble in our lives -- with its words so stately and full of wonder, and full of music, like the voice of an
Archangel -- should have been made in these days the wrangling-ground for
sectarian differences; but if with our whole hearts we are striving to live according to its spirit, we need fear but little that
we shall trip in a right pronunciation of the shibboleths of its letter.
Surely it is deplorable that, because of mere questions which after all are but
questions of doubtful authorship, of historical accuracy, or verbal criticism,
having for the most
part little or no bearing on the spiritual
or moral life, party should be denouncing party, and Christian excommunicating
Christian, and so many hands tearing in anger the seamless robe of Christ. It
is, alas, the due punishment for our lack of
charity, that while we have been so eager about such controversies, the love of many should wax cold." The Bible Alone Makes Wise Unto Salvation"The Bible teaches us its best lessons when we search its pages as wise- and humble learners; when we judge of it by the truth, which we learn from it, and not by the prejudices and prepossessions which we bring to it..... Let me entreat you not to confuse mere questions of exegetical or scientific learning with the deep, awful, and imperishable lessons which the Bible, and the Bible only, can bring home to your souls. In whatever way those questions may be decided, the infinite inner sacredness of God's Word remains inviolate forever. There may be shifting clouds about it, but through them break beams of eternal radiance; there may be mingled voices, but clear and loud among them all are- heard the utterances of eternal wisdom. Other books may make you learned or eloquent or subtle; this Book alone can make you wise unto salvation. Other books may fascinate the intellect; by this alone can you cleanse the heart. In other literature may trickle here and there some shallow streams from the 'unemptiable Fountain of wisdom' -- and even these, alas! turbid too often with human passions, fretted with human obstacles, and choked at last in morass or sand -- but in this Book, majestic and fathomless, flows the river of the water of life itself, proceeding from the throne of God, and of the Lamb." From the "Divine Plan of
the Ages" we quote in similar strain from Chapter III: "The Bible is the torch
of civilization and liberty. Its influence for good in society has been
recognized by the greatest statesmen, even though they for the most part have
looked at it through the various glasses of conflicting creeds, which, while
upholding the Bible, grievously misrepresent its teachings. The grand old Book
is unintentionally but woefully misrepresented by its friends, many of whom
would lay down life on its behalf; and yet they do it more vital injury than
its foes, by claiming its support to their long-revered misconceptions of its
truth, received through the traditions of their fathers. Would that such would
awake, reexamine their oracle, and put to confusion its enemies by disarming
them of their weapons! . . Other writings upon religion and the various
sciences have done good and have ennobled and blessed mankind, to some extent; but all other books combined have failed to
bring the joy, peace and blessing to the groaning creation that the Bible has
brought to both the rich and the poor, to the learned and the unlearned. The
Bible is not a hook to be read merely: it is a book to be studied with care and
thought; for God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways than
our ways. And if we would comprehend the plan and thoughts of the
infinite God, we must bend all our energies to that important work. The richest
treasures of truth do not always lie on the surface." To this we all agree as being
applicable to Christian people in general. Are we as willing to test ourselves
by the same rule? Honesty demands that we shall so examine ourselves. God's BookThe Bible is not only the
special book of God because inspired by Him; it is His book in the sense that
he has the sole right and ownership of it. And
because it is God's property, and intended by Him to be the book of the common
people, it has never been recognized by Him as being the peculiar possession of
a clergy class. And yet; no blacker pages in human history can be found than
those recording the attempts made from time to time to make the Word of God to
men the exclusive right of the few. For twelve hundred years it was kept
"clothed in sackcloth," the sackcloth of dead languages. When it was
brought out of that state and given to the people, only God can fully estimate
the cost. Could we with Him number up the years of imprisonment its possession
meant to faithful students of its pages in darker clays; could we with Him
measure the pains, the sufferings borne on rack and stake, by which the freedom
of that Word was secured to us of a happier day, would we ever cease to give
thanks to God for its preservation at so great a
cost? If all the fires of martyrdom were caused to pass before our vision --
fires John was given to see in his Patmos vision of the "souls of them
that were slain for the Word of God, grid for the testimony which they
held," would we ever be found fighting against liberty of conscience in
the study of an open Bible? Surely not! Lest we forget that the human heart is
ever capable of reacting to influences which make wrong to appear right, and
that wrong be thought "doing God service," let us take but one leaf
from the pages on pages of the blackest record of man's inhumanity to man --
his religious intolerance: "Besides the common forms
of persecution and death, such as racking, burning, drowning, stabbing,
starving and shooting with arrows and guns, fiendish hearts meditated how the
most delicate and sensitive parts of the body, capable of the most excruciating
pain, could be affected; molten lead was poured into the ears; tongues were cut
out and lead poured into the mouths; wheels were arranged with knife blades
attached so that the victim could be slowly chopped to pieces; claws and
pincers were made red hot and used upon sensitive parts of the body; eyes were
gouged out; finger nails were pulled off with red hot irons; holes, by which
the victim was tied up, were bored through the heels; some were forced to jump
from eminences onto long spikes fixed below, where, quivering with pain, they
slowly died. The mouths of some were filled with gunpowder, which, when fired,
blew their heads to pieces; others were hammered to pieces on anvils; others,
attached to bellows, had air pumped into them until they burst; others were
choked to death with mangled pieces of their own bodies; others with urine,
excrement, etc., etc. "Some of these fiendish
atrocities would be quite beyond belief were they not well authenticated. They
serve to show to what awful depravity the human heart can descend; and how
blind to right. and every good instinct, men can become tinder the influence of
false, counterfeit religion." Ah, present day Christian,
say not your Bible cost only a few dollars or pence. Its cost is written in the
anguish, the horror, the inhuman and Satanic awfulness inflicted on these
suffering souls who purchased for you the liberty to read its pages unmolested
and unafraid. And again, "lest we
forget," and because we live in a different day, and far removed from such
inhuman treatment as the historian records of the past we then conclude that
there is little danger either of our being called upon to thus suffer "for
the Word of God," or of our being among those blinded into being the ones
to inflict suffering on other faithful witnesses, let us remember that the
"souls under the altar" are still being told that "they should
rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also and their
brethren, should be killed as they were." In God's way of looking at such
things it matters not what the mode of being "killed" may be. Thus
until the last members of the Church have finished their appointed time, there lies within the
bounds of possibility for each one of us, a state of mind by which the
afflicted or the afflicters may be our role, as pertaining to this altar
picture. Shall
we not then prize the liberty -we enjoy today. Shall we not rejoice
in the possession of a Book which is not of man, but God's own revelation,
inspired by His Spirit,. and taught to the humblest of His children by that
same Spirit? Shall we not remember that it is written "They shall all be
taught of God," and the one great fundamental lesson He teaches is that
"He that Bath the Son path life; and he that bath not the Son bath not
life," and "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, lie is none of
His." Shall we not remember that as great truths are dearly bought, so has
the liberty we enjoy been purchased at tremendous cost, and that it should be
very zealously guarded against all expedients calculated to discourage its
right and proper enjoyment? Shall we not all make it our special concern to see
that we are ourselves closely following the Living Word, and through Him being
truly sanctified by the written Word? And will it not be our greatest concern
to assist others to know our Jesus and the power of His Spirit in their life
also? Surely so. Then
"With each individual Christian standing fast in the liberty wherewith he
was made free by the Lord (Gal. 5:1; John 8:32), and each individual Christian
united in loyalty to the Lord and to His Word, very quickly the original unity
which the Scriptures inculcated would be discerned and all true children of
God, all members of the New Creation, would find themselves drawn to each other
member similarly free, and bound each to the other by the cords of love far
more strongly than are men bound in earthly systems and societies. 'The love
of Christ constraineth us' [holds us together, Young's Concordance]."-
'Blessed Bible, precious Word may we ever seek to find --
- Herald, June 1938. The Separated Life"Be ye
separate, saith the Lord." - 2 Cor. 6:17 SO
LONG as the Church remains amid earthly environments and more or less subject
to the enticements presented by "the world, the flesh, .and the devil,"
she will find it necessary to keep fresh in mind the real facts of the
separated life God expects of His people. She will also find it necessary to be
frequently reminded that it is an important part of Christian experience to
spend and be spent in the service of God. Inasmuch as the New Testament
abounds in references to self-effacing sacrifice as a feature of our privilege
in imitating Christ, let us give consideration to some of these, turning first
to the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John "As the Father hath loved Me,
so have I loved you; continue ye in My love. This is My commandment, that ye
love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that
a man lay dawn his life for his friends. If I then, your Lord and. Master, have
washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given
you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." - John 15:9, 12,
13; 13:14, 15. True Nature of LoveIn
these several texts Jesus distinctly tells us to imitate Him -- "do as I
have done unto you." Here He teaches us that there will need to be a
laying aside of all feelings of superiority in our approach to our 'brethren.
He gives no encouragement to any one to note the soiled feet of others and then
in self-congratulation take the position that one's own are not soiled, and
become occupied in parading the infirmities of others-some of which may be
real enough to be seen, and some perhaps wholly imaginary. It is the true
nature of. love to "cover a multitude of sins." It is the spirit of
true sacrificial love to believe that we would find it better than we thought,
if we only understood. Verily, the noblest trait of Christian character
springing out of loving God with all the heart, is that of loving one's
neighbor as oneself. Will not such love abounding in one's heart be manifested
in: "esteeming others better than themselves"? Will it not lead us
to minimize the defects, and "if there be any virtue, any praise, any good
report" to magnify these? With this love, which is the love of God and of
Christ, really abounding in all hearts, will it not be easier to make all
needed provision and allowance for diversities, which in the very nature of
things will be found among believers so long as the Church is in the flesh?
Surely so! We
know full well why God's Word makes love for the brethren so vital a matter,
and makes our spiritual sonship dependent on our love for them. . He has told
us why, by pointing us to the Son in whom He was well pleased. That Son pleased
not Himself. He came to reveal the love of God to sinful, selfish men. He came
to completely separate His own from the world and its spirit by implanting
love for righteousness and' hatred for sin in their hearts, and He came to
unite in a compact and heavenly unity the Church He redeemed, unifying them not
by creeds and rituals but by the cords of the love wherewith He loved them.
Love of self must necessarily be eradicated from the heart before this feature
of sacrificial love will hold sway there. United in a Bond of Benevolent LoveBetween
the saints who shared the experiences of the day of Pentecost, and those of us
now awaiting the completion of the Church, there have been many differences of
character, of experience,) of knowledge, and of service, but in heart the
saints have been, and the saints still are, one in faith, because there has
been faith in the one Lord. They have one hope, because waiting for the same
consummation, "that blessed hope." They have been one in love, when
the love of God has been shed abroad in their hearts, and blest be that
complete tie. When
believers are rivals in their love for the Lord, each heart absorbed with the
greatness of the love and mercy by which salvation and sonship has come to them
personally, they can be, praise God, united to one another in a bond of
benevolent love which the influences of this present time of shaking will not
disturb, and which eternity will wonderfully enlarge and confirm. The highest
blessing of heaven will therefore rest on the one, who has labored by word and
deed to foster the spirit of loving consideration for others, who has by life
and conduct striven to remove barriers between brethren, by bringing them
together in the bonds of Christ's love. Barriers that will grow higher and
higher whatever other remedy for discord may be tried, will melt away before
the warmth of the love of God. shed abroad in a truly sanctified, loving,
benevolent Christian heart. And, beloved, if we want to have a place in the
heart of God, the way thereto lies directly through the pierced heart of the
beloved Son of God. That heart which knew no selfishness, no enmity, but which
was full to overflowing with love to God and man. O that we may in a fuller and
greater measure be known as "imitators of God, as dear children; and walk in love even as the Anointed One loved
us." -
Herald, June 1937 Everlasting Punishment"Ungodly men are like the restless sea,
that never can be still, THERE
are laws of right-doing and equity which cannot be broken without incurring
grave consequences. The prospect before men in the life to come is one of
constantly widening experience and deepening knowledge of God and his creation,
but that life must be conducted in harmony with right principles to be
sustained by the Giver of all life. The violation of those principles is called
sin by the Bible, and the consequence of continued and incorrigible sin, the
Bible declares, is cessation of life. A wise man of Old Testament days expressed
this vital law in pithy words: "As righteousness tendeth to life: so he
that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death"; "In the way of
righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death" (Prov.
11:19; 12:28). St. Paul said that "the wages of sin is death; but the
gift of God is eternal life" (Rom. 6:23). This is the basis upon which
is built the Scriptural doctrine of the consequences of sin. The
term "everlasting punishment" appears in the Authorized Version only
once, in Matt. 25:46. Human ideas of "punishment," usually involving
an element of revenge, reprisal or retaliation, are not what the New Testament
means when it deals with the consequences of sin. A preferable term is penalty
or, better still, retribution. The underlying principle is laid down by St.
Paul in Gal. 6:7: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap." A passage in the Epistle of
James puts the case very clearly: "Each person is tempted when he is
lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives
birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death" (James
1:14, 15 RSV). The penalty must not be looked upon as a kind of arbitrary
Divine retaliation against rebels who displease him; it is rather the logical
and inevitable operation of natural law which demands that every disorderly or
disruptive element must eventually be eliminated that the purpose of God in
creation be realized in the happiness and fullness of life of every living being.
The fact that we see not yet this law bringing forth its final results does not
deny its truth; humanity is at this moment still in the early stages of that
long experience which is at length to achieve that end. The close of this
present life in the death of the body is only an incident in this long process
and there is more, much more, to come. Eventually it will be evident that sin
bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction and the sinner who will
not renounce his rebellion against God signs his own death warrant. EVIL AND SIN TO DISAPPEARThe
Bible emphasizes that eventually evil and sin will disappear from creation. In
the whole wide realm of Divine government there will be no such thing as evil
and no such thing as sin. In 1 Cor. 15:24-28 St. Paul looks forward to a time
when the enemies of God have been overthrown, death has become a thing of the
past, and in the plenitude of his sovereignty God has become "all in
all." Eph. 1:9, 10 (RSV) stresses that God will, at the end, "unite
all things in him [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth." In
what is perhaps one of the grandest flights of eloquence in the New Testament,
the Epistle to the Philippians speaks of the time to come when "at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow ... and every tongue confess, that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10, 11).
These and other lines of Scripture argument make clear that evil will
eventually cease to be. All
life is the gift of God; no created being can continue to live except by the
power of God constantly animating his bodily frame and enlivening his mind. "The
Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground" says the Genesis
account (Gen. 2:7), "and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
and man became a living soul." If that flow of life-power ceases, or
if God withdraw it, death results, consciousness ends, and the inert body
returns to the elements of which it is composed, "ashes to ashes, dust to
dust." In a vivid passage relating to the animal creation the Psalmist defines
the process: "thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to
their dust" (Psa. 104:29). Hope for a man's future life after death
rests entirely with God, Who can invest that life with a new body adapted to
its new environment, and this is what is involved in the Christian doctrine of
the resurrection from the dead. St. Paul in 2 Cor. 5 talks of being "clothed
upon" with a "house from heaven" following the
dissolution of "our earthly house of this dwellingplace." The
relation between such a resurrection to everlasting life and the contrasting
destiny of the obdurately evil is laid down very plainly by our Lord when he
said "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that
believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on
him" (John 3:36). In
line with this principle the Scriptures present the ultimate end of the sinner
as withdrawal of the gift of life. If, at the end, sin and evil are to be no
more, if all intelligent life in every sphere is to bow the knee to Jesus and
give praise and worship to him, then there must come a time when sinners are no
more. Says job: "they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the
same. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are
they consumed" (Job 4:8, 9). "He that sinneth against me
wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death" runs Prov.
8:36. The two prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel unite in the terse declaration: "The
soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Jer. 31:30; Ezek. 18:4). David adds his word: "The face of
the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut of the remembrance of them from
the earth" (Psa. 34:16), and puts the responsibility squarely where it
belongs in the brief maxim "Evil shall slay the wicked" in verse 21
of the same Psalm. These are not just a few casual observations having no
particular authority behind them; they are expressions of a fundamental truth
which these men, and others like them, being men of God profoundly influenced
by his holy spirit, fully understood and held tenaciously. These writings form
the true basis of Christian theology and must be given due heed on that
account; they insist that the penalty for sin is withdrawal of life, the ending
of conscious existence. MISUNDERSTOOD SCRIPTURESThere
are two words in the New Testament which have been productive of much
misunderstanding. One is damnation and the other is everlasting. The first,
damnation, has a meaning today which it did not bear in the seventeenth century
when the Authorized Version was produced. At that time it meant, simply and
positively, to be condemned; the nature and duration of the condemnation depended
upon the circumstances of the case. Thus in Wycliffe's Bible the words of Jesus
to the woman taken in adultery are "Woman, hath no man damned thee?"
Likewise the "resurrection of damnation" of John 5:29 is literally a
"resurrection to judgment" which at least brings the case of
"those who have done evil" before the judge for consideration. The Greek
is rendered "judgment" and "condemnation" some eighty
times and "damnation" only fourteen times, and the Revised Version
has abandoned "damnation" altogether. Thus wherever the word
"damnation" is found it must not necessarily be assumed that the
condemnation is final and irrevocable. It may in some cases be limited in
scope, as in Rom. 14:23: "He that doubteth is damned if he eat,"
where the meaning is that the person partaking of the Lord's supper
"unworthily" stands condemned or judged in his action but not
necessarily doomed. One
of the strangest and .most misunderstood statements of Jesus is that in Matt.
25, where the King in the parable says to the unworthy "Depart from me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels ... and
these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life
eternal." "Punishment" here is kolasis, a word which means,
primarily, to cut off or lop the branches of a tree as in pruning, and in
general indicated restraint or correction. From this it became a term for the
restraint of offenders or criminals to prevent continuance of their misdeeds,
and this is the sense in which it is used here. ("Fear hath torment"
in 1 John 4:18, where "torment" is kolasis, is another example where
restraint rather than punishment is the obvious meaning.) Penal punishment is
timoria, a totally different word. Here in Matt. 25 the contrast is between
the everlasting life of the worthy, who enter into what elsewhere is called
"the glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8:21) and the
everlasting restraint from sin of the unworthy. This is the same thing as the
everlasting fire of the same passage. Another reference to the same judgment is
found in Rev. 20:11-15 where the King seated on the Great White Throne --the
"throne of his glory" of the Matt. 25 parable -- arrays all people
before him to be judged "and they were judged every man according to their
works." Here, under a very similar symbol to that employed in Matt 25, the
unworthy are "cast into the lake of fire." Earlier in this 20th
chapter of Revelation the Devil also has been cast into this lake of fire, a
parallel allusion with the fate of the "devil and his angels" in
Matt. 25. In both passages the picture is one of judgment which proceeds
throughout the Messianic Age, the "Day of judgment," and the outcome
at its end when the eternal issues, for good or for evil, are decided for every
man. The everlasting fire and the fiery lake are symbols for that utter destruction
which overtakes all evil and every incorrigibly evil being. Isaiah saw the same
thing when at the close of his vision of the new heavens and new earth he said
of those who have right of entry into that eternal world: "they shall go
forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men who have transgressed against me;
for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they
shall be an abhorring to all flesh" (Isa. 66: 24). The worm is undying
until there is nothing left upon which it can feed; the fire unquenched until
it has consumed all there is to burn -- just as in Jer. 17:27 where a fire was
to be kindled in Jerusalem that "shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem
and it shall not be quenched." Passages
which speak of sinners destroyed by everlasting fire are metaphors taken
sometimes from the story of the destruction of the sinful cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah by fire from heaven and sometimes from the known use of the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem for idolatrous human sacrifice by fire in the days of
the Hebrew kings, and its later use for continuous burning of the city garbage.
"Gehenna" -- the Greek form of Hinnom -- occurs fourteen times in the
sayings of Jesus (rendered "Hell" in the AN.); the idea in each case
is that of utter destruction, a destruction as complete as by fire. In Matt.
3:12 and Luke 3:17 the chaff which has been separated from the wheat is burnt
up with "unquenchable fire." In Matt. 9:43-48 it is better to enter
into life maimed than being whole to go into the unquenchable fire, the
parallel passage in Matt. 18:8 calling this the "everlasting fire."
In the same passages it is shown that Gehenna and the unquenchable fires
relate to one and the same thing, and in Matt. 10: 28 the assertion is plainly
made that it is possible for God to "destroy both soul and body" in
Gehenna. This corresponds with declarations such as Psa. 92:7: "when all
the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for
ever." "WHATSOEVER A MAN SOWETH"Thus
understood, the consequence of sin in the face of full light and full
opportunity is incurred solely by the individual's own choice and will. It
might well be that deliberate continuance in evildoing can destroy a man's
capacity for repentance and conversion to the good life. Perhaps a man is
capable of destroying his own soul. Sixty years ago Dr. Paterson Smyth wrote
"We must believe that through all eternity, if the worst sinner felt touched by the
love of God and wanted to turn to him, that man would be saved. What we dread
is that the man may not want, and so may have rendered himself incapable of
doing so. We dread not God's will, but the man's own will. Character tends to
permanence. Free will is a glorious but a dangerous prerogative. All experience
leads towards the belief that a human will may so distort itself as to grow
incapable of good." More recently Prof. Alexander Finlay said "If life depends upon
fellowship with God, the possibility must remain that the time may come when a
man, no longer being capable of fellowship with God, shall die and become extinct,
simply because there is no life left in him, because his soul is dead." In
a sermon delivered by Dr. Samuel Holmes, a Presbyterian minister of the United
States, in 1907, he said "It is implicit in the teachings of both Jesus
and Paul that when a soul, through its persistence in sin, comes to the point
where it is morally irrecoverable, it comes also to its final death . . . A
living creature remains alive only so long as it conforms to the conditions of
living. Shall we think otherwise of the human soul ... When a man has continued
in sin, has gone on dwarfing his moral and spiritual nature until every appeal
of God is in vain, is it not in accordance with the analogies of life that
extinction is the certain outcome?" A noted Churchman of the late nineteenth century, Dr.
C. A. Row, Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral, summed up his book, "Future
Retribution," in the words "the disease of moral evil,
willfully persisted in, for aught we know to the contrary, may be capable of
destroying man as a conscious being ... Inasmuch as man is destitute of
self-existence the length of the period during which he will continue to exist
must be dependent on the good pleasure of Him who by his all powerful energy
maintains him in being every moment . . . Evil beings will cease to exist
whenever it pleases the All-merciful to cease to exert that energy which alone
maintains in existence the evil and the good." Eloquent
in its brevity is the word of the Psalmist (Psa. 37:10), a word expressed in
literal down-to-earth terms which cannot be misunderstood: "For yet a
little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider
his place, and it shall not be." - A.
O. Hudson, England Jeremiah's Three Questions"Is there no balm in
Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then, is not the health
of the daughter of My people recovered?" - Jer. 8:22. GILEAD
was a place of aromatics, and was termed a mountain of spices. It was first
called Gilead by Jacob by reason of a covenant that was there made 'between
him and Laban, his father-in-law. It is written that "He set his face
toward Mount Gilead." The expression was evidently by anticipation, as
though given by him in advance of his reaching there, for after arriving there
we, find him making no further effort to continue his journey, but he remained
there until overtaken by Laban. It was as though he had received a certain
assurance in advance that a treaty of peace and reconciliation would be made
between him and Laban, that the balm of friendship would be poured upon the
sore of enmity that had existed between them. Gilead was very fruitful, abounding in both
the necessities and the luxuries of life, thereby yielding both profit and
pleasure, being full of people. It therefore was a prosperous land from a
material standpoint. God, in a statement in the Psalms, said,
"Gilead is Mine." Many strangers resorted to Gilead to profit by its
merchandise; this we will find referred to in the account of Joseph being sold
by his brethren into Egypt. In Jeremiah's use of the words contained in
his three questions, we know that he did not refer to the physical condition
of Israel, he did not refer to the natural balm contained in the balsam tree of
Gilead, nor did he refer to the physicians of the natural body, any more than
do we in using this text which was placed on record for our meditation and our
use. Jeremiah uses it in reference to the moral condition of Israel after the
flesh, even as we would use it in reference to the heart condition of Israel
after the spirit. Balm Still in GileadThe balm of the word of the Lord was still in
Gilead of old. There were still competent physicians of that word, valiant
prophets of God who would have skillfully applied the healing balm, who would
have gladly ministered to the sickness of Israel. Then why was Israel not recovered? Simply because
she applied not to those true physicians who had the healing balm, who since
the world began had preached of judgments and of Restitution. It is written of
Israel that she had "hewn out for herself cisterns, broken cisterns, that
could hold no water." Israel repaired not to those true prophets or
physicians who held the balm or word of God, but she appointed and hearkened to
a false priesthood, who were no longer repositories for the true word of God,
but who had become "broken cisterns that could hold no water." This
is why Israel was not recovered. A substantiation of this is found in an
overwhelming mass of evidence from God's Word, amongst which we might cite
Hosea 8:11-14; Psa. 74:4-9; Mal. 2:7, 8; Ezek. 22:7, 8, 12, 25-28. Untempered MortarIn
the concluding portion of the last cited Scripture we note the following
words, "And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar."
How significant, how full of meaning is this statement! Instead of the rightly
tempered, perfectly balanced balm which would have been applied by the true
prophets of God, these false prophets daubed with untempered mortar, no longer
a soothing, healing balm, but in the removal of the spirit of God's law, that
law had lost its temper; it had become a dead, lifeless letter, had become
unbalanced; and these false prophets, instead of having the true balm with
which to heal, daubed with untempered mortar which rendered the recovery of
Israel impossible. And
thus do we find it today. Among religious teachers are to be found those
attempting to instruct and to teach the people who are themselves lacking in a
knowledge of the truths of the Bible. Again there are those who have a great
head knowledge of the Scriptures, but who, lacking the love, lacking the
spirit of those Scriptures, also attempt to teach others. Both of these classes
are equally "daubers of untempered mortar"; and so let us avoid
either of these obnoxious extremes, let us be balanced dispensers of the balm
of Gilead,-- the precious Word of God. As
a judgment upon Israel for her neglect of the balm placed in Gilead, for her
neglect of the physicians there, Gilead, together with Mount Zion, the holy
Sanctuary, was given a prey to the Romans. The fruitful land was turned into
barrenness, and it was polluted with the blood of her people. Jehovah who had
once said "Gilead is Mine" now has a different story to tell of her.
Through the Prophet Hosea He says in chapter 6, verse 8 (Hosea 6:8): "Gilead
is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood." Lessons from the Balsam TreeThe
balsam tree of Gilead had medicinal virtue all through the wood or tree itself,
the seed of the tree, and the sap of the tree. In the wood, or the tree itself, we have a
beautiful picture of the Word of God. The balsam tree was a saving, healing
tree; the Word of God as expressed in Jesus and the Scriptures, is the only
means of salvation, either for the Church or for the world of mankind. The balsam tree carries a
seed with it that well pictures the seed of the new nature; a seed that through
the operation of the Holy Spirit is generated within a tabernacle of flesh,
which like the seed of the balsam tree, when planted in the ground, germinates
and brings forth. What a beautiful picture does it present of our begettal by
the Holy Spirit as new creatures, and an earnest, if we shall continue
faithful, of the new birth to come -- a birth which shall be not from a
corruptible seed, not from a seed which being mortal contains the possibility
of corruption within itself, and which under the reign of sin and death must
finally eventuate in death and decay. But it shall be a birth from an
incorruptible seed, which will never die, and which will never decay, even as
says the Apostle Peter: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." -
1 Pet. 1:23. In the sap of the balsam
tree we have a beautiful picture of the Holy Spirit circulating through God's
Word. Even as the sap of the balsam tree of Gilead circulating through that
tree imparted life and vitality to it, so does the Holy Spirit circulating
through the Word of God, impart life and vitality and generating power to it,
without which it would be but a dead letter of knowledge, a fit for the head
but a misfit for the heart, as sounding brass and a clanging cymbal. As
the sap of the balsam tree generates or causes the seed of that tree to form, so does the Holy Spirit operating within our minds
and hearts, generate the seed of a new nature, fertilizing, sustaining,
nourishing, and promoting its welfare until triumphantly it shall finally
emerge from its womb of flesh. The leaves of the balsam
tree of Gilead were white and were very thickly distributed over its branches,
literally covering the tree and giving it a very white appearance. This might
very properly picture the covering robe of Christ's righteousness, also the
purity and spotlessness of the Word of God. In Psalm 12:6 we read that
"The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of
earth, purified seven times"; and in Prov. 30:5: "Every word of God
is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him." The
balm of Gilead had rather a sharp, biting taste, but was wholesome to the
digestion. How like unto the Word of God, which is indeed sharp and unsavory to
the unregenerate appetite. We read that it was folly to the Jews and a
stumbling block to the Gentiles, but to the chosen ones of both Jews and
Gentiles it was the power of God unto salvation. Ofttimes the truth is sour to
the taste, bot afterwards it becomes sweet. There is a class who have tasted
and seen that the Lord is good, who in days gone by have experienced the
healing power of the balm of God's Word, but who for various reasons have again
become sick, yet refuse to apply that precious balm for their recovery. They
have become deaf to the warnings of the Holy Spirit; they are in the attitude
of crucifying the Lord afresh, and of putting Him to an open shame. To such-a
class a solemn warning has come through the Prophet Isaiah in the following
words "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness
for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for
bitter!" (Isa. 5:20.) Such a course if persisted in can have only one
final ending. "The Sympathizing Jesus"The
balsam tree of Gilead exudes or weeps a kind of gum very much in the form of
tears, a picture of the tears of grief and sympathy shed by Jesus, that Word
which was made flesh and dwelt among us. We see Him over Jerusalem, as He
grieved and wept over her, and we hear those sweet words of pathos :
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them
that are sent unto thee, how oft would I have gathered thee as a hen gathereth
her chickens under her wings, but ye would not." And behold Him at the
grave of Lazarus, when with a heart full of sympathy for those sorrowing sisters,
the emotion of grief gripped Him and He wept tears of sympathy. The
balsam tree of Gilead was first granted to but one land, that of Judea; from
thence it was introduced to other peoples; but it was taken to them first by
merchants of Judea. And so was it with the balm of the Word of God; to the
Israelites was it first given. We read in Psalm 147:19, 20: "He showeth
His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgments unto Israel. He hath not
dealt so with any nation; and as for His judgments, they have not known
them." We
remember Jesus expressly commanding His disciples not to go into the way of the
Gentiles nor any city of the Samaritans, but only to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. But when the time came for the spiritual -balm of
Gilead to go to other nations and to other peoples, it was even as with the
natural balm of Gilead, it was taken to them by Jewish spiritual merchants. To
refresh our memories we refer to two Jewish evangelists, Paul and Barnabas
where they are spoken of in Acts 13:46 as follows: "Then Paul and Barnabas
waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have
been spoken to you but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy
of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." Grew Only in the King's GardenHistorians tell us that when
first the balsam tree grew in Judea,
it was permitted to grow in the King's
garden only. Subjects of the King had full access to the balm for their needs
and sicknesses, but they were not permitted to control the output of the balm
or the balsam tree itself. And so is it with the spiritual balm, the Word of
God. It was not of men nor did it originate with man, but it came from heaven
itself; it was given to man through Jesus and the Apostles and through the Prophets
by whom it was preached since the world began. Historians also tell us not alone that it was permitted
to grow only in the King's garden, but that it grew in two orchards of the
King's garden; that the King's garden was laid out in two parts or orchards,
and one of these orchards was much larger and finer than was the other. What a
beautiful picture does this present of that day so shortly to come when there
will be two phases of God's Kingdom in operation: not only the heavenly or
larger, greater phase of that Kingdom, but also the lesser or earthly phase of
that Kingdom which also will be glorious, and from both phases of which shall flow the healing balm of the even-balanced, even-tempered
Word of God. Speaking of that time Isaiah says in chapter 29, verse 24 (Isa.
29:24): "They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and
they that murmured shall learn doctrine." Here we see a day is coming when
the spirit of love and the truths of the Bible will go hand in hand, it will be
a rightly tempered, perfectly balanced Gospel, not untempered mortar. It has been written of the
balm of Gilead that it was recommended for the breaking up or dissolving of
stones or calcium formations in the body. What a picture again is this of the
spiritual balm of God's Word in its power to break up and dissolve the hardest
formation of all in a man or woman, a stony heart. Jeremiah 23:29 says:
"Is not My Word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that
breaketh the rock in pieces?" Again we read in Ezekiel
(Ezekiel 36:26): "A new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." "The Great Physician Now is Near"Today a world distraught is
casting about for healing balm. She sees one by one her concoctions failing to
bring peace, failing to bring healing to the sickness of the peoples of the
earth. She seeks for balm, but refuses to seek it in Gilead; she seeks a
physician, but refuses to seek for him in Gilead. She refuses the only
Physician who can heal all her diseases. Fascism, communism and other
isms will be tried by a despairing, dying world, and all failing to bring about
healing, this world will finally gaze on a discarded mound of broken cisterns,
for even as did Israel after the flesh, even as did many of Israel
after the spirit, so will the nations of this present evil world heap to
herself cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. But as final destruction
descends upon her, there will be those who will cry out: "Save, Lord, or
we perish. To those will be granted an opportunity of life in the next Age
"wherein dwelleth righteousness." And as the great Physician is then
seen pointing the way to the healing balm, to those who shall have been
delivered from the besieged city, who shall have been delivered from the power
of Satan, He will be seen pointing toward literal Gilead, the Gilead of old,
for from Palestine shall the word of the Lord go forth, the healing balm for every
ill. Jeremiah's Cry Goes Forth TodayWe sometimes wonder if there
are those who, coming among the Lord's people, ever have occasion to ask of us
the question of Jeremiah, "Is there no balm in Gilead?" Possibly this
question may come from some lonely heart, it may come from some seeker after
truth and righteousness. Has such an one ever come to us in search of the true
balm of Gilead and gone away without receiving it? This is a question to which
each one of us should give serious thought. And then again in those all
too rare moments of self-examination, , does that question come to each one of
us? How about our heart and mind? Is the balm of Gilead to be found
there? Is the true and great Physician reigning within our hearts? Does
He hold individual sway there? Let us hold fast those
spiritual blessings that have been bequeathed to us, ever remembering that we
wrestle not with flesh and blood, for our great Adversary is watching spiritual
Israel at this time as never before, and if we let
down our guard, he will be sure to reach some vulnerable spot. So let us shine as lights in
a dark place. Thus will we be "living epistles known and read of all
men;" so shall we fight the good fight of faith; so shall we lay hold on
eternal life; so shall we at last be caught up to that heavenly phase of the
King's garden, from where we shall be used in assisting the world up from
sickness to health, from death to life, and from destitution to restitution. -
Herald, September 1936 The Question BoxRomans 5:15-17.Question: In
Romans 5:15-17 St. Paul seems to be arguing that the sacrifice of Christ was
more than a corresponding price for the forfeited life of Adam. In Rom. 5:15 he
says the grace of God and the gift by grace "much more" abounded. In
Rom. 5:16 he says that the gift was "not as it was by one that
sinned" - the context implying that it was greater. In Rom. 5:17 the
phrase "much more" is once again employed in reference to the work of
Christ in contrast to that of Adam. How are we to understand these verses? Answer: This
question is a most interesting one. To secure a satisfactory answer to it is a
rewarding study. Let
us first glance back at what has gone before. In the development of his great
theme, namely, that the salvation of every man, whoever he may be, rests on
the righteousness which faith procures (Rom. 1:17), St. Paul has shown: (1)
The need of the whole world, both Gentile and Jew (Rom. 1:18-3:20). (2)
God's provision to meet that need (Rom. 3:21-26). (3)
That the wondrous gift of salvation was offered to Gentiles as well as to Jews
in accordance with the principle of Jewish monotheism (Rom. 3:27-31). Such
a conclusion would be very difficult for his readers, especially his Jewish
readers, to accept, and so he devoted a whole chapter (Rom. 4) to show that
this mode of justification is in keeping with the decisive example, Abraham. In
the first eleven verses of the following chapter he shows that the
righteousness thus obtained will not fail the consecrated believer no matter
what the tribulations of the present may be. Next
comes the paragraph containing the verses to which our question relates, a
paragraph which runs from verse 12 to the end of the chapter. (Rom. 5:12-21) The
main argument in this paragraph is given in verses 12, 18, and 19. (Rom. 5:12,
18-19) In
the Authorized Version Rom. 5:13-17 are shown in parentheses. Omitting, for the
moment, these parenthetical verses and reading only Rom. 5:12, 18-19, the main
argument may be more readily discerned. We offer the following paraphrase: "Since,
condemned as we all were, we have found reconciliation in Christ, there is,
therefore, between our relation to him and our relation to Adam the following
resemblance, namely: Verse
12 "As
by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men for that [in Adam] all sinned; Verse
18: "Therefore,
as by one offense [the disobedience of Adam] there was condemnation for all
men, so also by one act of justification [the act of God who, in consequence of
the death of Christ has pronounced justification for all sinners] there was for
all men justification of life. Verse
19: "For
as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one
[the holy life and vicarious death of Christ] shall many be made
righteous." It
must be apparent that in these three verses St. Paul is arguing the parity between
the two works-the work of Adam and the work of Christ -- not their
disparity. However, in Rom. 5:15-17 he ascribes a certain superiority of
action to Christ's work as compared to Adam's. Why does he thus interrupt his
parity argument? The
parity argument is clear: Even as death passed upon all because of certain
matters stated (Rom. 5:12) so the free gift came upon all men to justification
of life (Rom. 5:18). Since
this parity idea is the main argument, it follows that Rom. 5:15-17, when
properly understood, demonstrate this parity. Let us see if they are
capable of being thus understood. In
these verses the thought of the Apostle appears to be this: "If, from the
first factor which, from one point of view may be regarded as a comparatively
insignificant one, namely, the offense of one, there could go forth an action
which spread over the whole multitude of mankind, will not the conclusion hold all
the more strongly, that from two factors (the grace of God and. the gift of
Jesus through this grace) acting on the opposite side, powerful and rich as
they are, there must result an action, the extension of which shall not be less
than that of the first factor, and shall consequently also reach the whole of
the multitude? If the offense affected all mankind, shall not these also?" If
we have correctly understood the Apostle's thought, it will be seen that the
"much more" of Rom. 5:15 is to be understood in the sense of
"much more certainly." The Apostle is not here concerned with
demonstrating that there is more of grace in Christ than there was of death in
Adam. What he wishes to prove is that if a slight cause could bring sentence of
death on all mankind, this same race, every member of it, could surely experience
the effect of a cause much more powerful. The
point may be illustrated thus If a very weak spring could flood a meadow, is it
not safe to assume that a much more abundant spring, if it spread over the same
space of ground, could not fail to submerge it? If Adam's act could bring death
to all, much more certainly can we believe that the grace of God and the gift
of Jesus must be capable of extending a saving influence to the same multitude
of people. When
we reach Rom. 5:16, a second difference between the work of Adam and that of
Christ is brought to view. In the case of Adam and his ruinous work there was
only one actual sinner -his race played only an unconscious and purely passive
part, being yet unborn. Contrast this with the work of redemption to be
wrought by Christ. Here it is not a case of one sinner to be justified but that
of a multitude, having added their own contingent of sins to the original
transgression. In the matter of condemnation in Adam, mankind were passively
and collectively subjected to the sentence of death, whereas in regard to their
relationship to Christ, we have to do with persons who lay hold individually
and personally of the decree which justifies them. "Note well this
circumstance," instructs the Apostle, "unlike the judgment of
condemnation which resulted from the sin of one, Adam, the free gift of
justification has reference to the sins of many (Adam's entire family)."
There, on the one hand, was a single and solitary condemnation, which embraced
them all through the deed of one; here, on the other hand, is a justification
(collective, indeed, but appropriated by each individually, and thus
transformed into as many personal justifications as there are believing sinners)
which cannot fail to establish the reign of life as firmly, nay more firmly,
than the reign of death resulted from the condemnation of all in Adam. The
superiority of the work of Christ is thus a second time noted as proving the
Apostle's main (his parity) argument. It is as though he were to say:
"What a difference between the power of a spark which sets fire to the
forest by lighting a withered branch, and the power of the instrument which
extinguishes the conflagration at the moment when every tree is on fire and
makes them all live again!" We
come now to Rom. 5:17. Here once again, as in Rom. 5:15, "much more"
has the sense of "much more certainly." Unquestionably there is a
greater abundance of life in Christ than there was of death in Adam. - P.
L. Read God is Love
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