VOL.
LIX. September/October 1976 No. 5 The Blessedness of Longing
"My soul longeth, yea,
even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: AMONG
the many paradoxical expressions of the Lord's Word, perhaps few are more of
this nature than the frequent reminders that to hunger and thirst represents a
state of blessedness. This seeming contradiction of thought appears in the
repeated promises that those who thirst for God, "shall never thirst"
after they drink of the living water he supplies. Yet Christian experience
seems to contradict that expectation; for is it not true that a greater and yet
greater thirst is created by that wonderful living water? Will not the
testimony of all who drink deeply of that water agree that it produces a
soul-thirst such as our text clearly teaches? How, then, can it be said that
such "shall never thirst"? To be filled with a longing such as this
text represents would seem suggestive of a rather unhappy or unsatisfied state
of mind and therefore the very reverse of blessedness, yet how many there are
who will readily confess that
In
spiritual life, longing is a sign of a healthy state of the soul, whereas
satisfaction frequently gives evidence of disease. The very best evidence of
heart relationship with the Lord, according to his own Word, is to be found in
being possessed of so intense a love for him, that he alone can satisfy the
deepest longings of our soul. Thus viewed, our text is not suggestive of a
heart painfully unsatisfied, seeking for some unfound source of delight and joy,
but of a heart that has found a source so completely satisfying that
nothing else could possibly supply its need. This thought is contained in
several of the Psalms. In the sixty-third we find it expressed in these words,
"My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and
thirsty land" (v. 1). And again we read, "As the hart panteth after
the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God" (Ps. 42:1). In
both of these sublime expressions of the heart's longing after God, we are shown
that "there is something deeper and more urgent than the intellectual
craving for the Infinite, the natural desire and impulse of the human mind to
seek a perfect object for its thought. It is something more even than the
aspiration of a sinful and self disappointed soul towards moral beauty and
sinless holiness. It is the personal longing for intimate communion with the
living God. To come into vital contact with God, not as a Remote Thought, but
as a Living Person; to feel that he who made the universe is not only the
Eternal Wisdom but the Wise God, not only the Infinite Love, but the Loving
Father; to be assured by touch of soul that he is an ever present reality, and
to perceive the gentle flow of his affection within the channel of the
heart--this is the water of everlasting life, the only draught that can truly
quench the craving of the spirit. The assurance of immortality alone is not
enough. For if we are told that we are to live forever and still be left
without God, eternity stretches before us like a boundless desert, a perpetual
and desolate orphanage. It is divine companionship that the spirit needs
first of all and most deeply." WHAT IS LONGING?
This,
then, is the larger meaning of our Lord's statement, "Blessed are they who
do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (Matt.
5:6). Just so long as such longing continues to be an active factor in the
life, just so long will the search after God be continued. As the heart
expands through the knowledge of God, so will the capacity to enjoy him also
continue to expand. The thirsty yet happy satisfied heart, well knows that
"of all the myriad moods of mind" there is nothing "so dear, so
kind, so beautiful, as longing" after the living God. A
divine law always operative in God's dealings with his people is given us by
the Apostle James (James 4:8): "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to
you." Our hearts must be reaching out with intense desire for the
enriching knowledge of God ere he will reveal himself to us. The door to this
intimate fellowship stands open to all who desire to enter, and once really
entered, it will reveal boundless fields waiting our survey and exploration.
There is therefore no condition of heart more to be sought after than this
desire to draw nigh to God, since his law or requirement is that we furnish
this evidence of a genuine longing for the special blessings he desires to give
us. This being true, we must agree that "the highest state is one of
hunger and thirst, intense desire for more life, more holiness, more power,
closer communion with God, more of the divine likeness in the soul. The
Gospel promises rest to those who come to Christ. Peace was one of the
benedictions the Savior left for his people. Contentment is one of the graces
and duties enjoined upon the Christian, but spiritual hunger is not incompatible
with either peace or contentment. It is not unrest; it is not anxiety or
worry: it is not murmuring discontent: it is a deep longing for more and ever
more of all blessings -- calmer rest, sweeter peace, more perfect contentment,
with richer heartfulness of Christ, and more and more of all the gifts of the
spirit. It is depicted in the Psalms as an intense thirst for God, not the
bitter cry of an unforgiven soul for mercy, but the deep, passionate yearning
of a loving spirit for closer, fuller, richer, more satisfying communion with
God himself. We find it in the life of the greatest of the Apostles, who,
wherever we see him, on whatever radiant height, is still pressing on, with
unsatisfied longing and quenchless ardor, toward loftier summits and more
radiant peaks, crying ever for more intimate knowledge of Christ, and more and
more of the fullness of God. The ideal Christian life is one of insatiable
thirst, never pausing in any arbor of spiritual content, but ever wooed on by
visions of new joys and attainments." ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVEHow
wonderful it is that God should leave it to us to determine the measure of
happiness we shall enjoy. Though the storehouse of his gifts is full to
overflowing, and though opening the windows of heaven to flood us with
blessings beyond our capacity to contain does not in any way diminish its
supply, yet for all that, the measure we receive will be proportionate to our
asking in faith. As in the case of the widow whose supply of oil was
replenished by the Prophet just in proportion to the number and size of the
vessels she brought to him, so with us, as we come desiring more of God, more
of the holy spirit, according to our faith and the intensity of our longing, it
shall be given unto us. Longing, therefore, is the very soul of true faith
expecting answers to prayer. Certainly we really desire nothing more than we
are eager to ask for. There are many who pray for a closer walk with God, and
for a more definite experience of his presence, but all such praying is
profitless if it does not represent a consuming desire, a longing to enter into
such a joy and fellowship. Mere desire will of itself open none of the windows
of heaven to us, take us into no greater experiences of the power of Christ in
the heart, give us no verification of promises actually fulfilled to us,
wherein God has pledged himself to reward our never ceasing desire to know him
better. Without effort, prayer is null and void. Inactive daydreaming is not
prayer. Only when there is that peculiar combination of experience, earnest
longing and consistent effort, illustrated in the various expressions of the
Psalmist which we are now considering, does the Lord have any interest in our
petitions. Only let our longing be such as will make it possible for us to
truthfully say, "My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the
Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God," and there will
be no vagueness of conviction about 'the meaning of God's promise to open
heaven's windows. BECOMES A TRANSFORMING POWERThe
hunger of heart of which the Bible speaks, must, like every holy aspiration,
have its origin in God. This very longing of our heart, therefore, is nothing
more nor less than the life of God imparted to us and yearning within us to
grow from glory to glory up into the full stature of Christ. Under God's
gracious hand this hunger becomes a transforming power, purifying these
characters of ours, changing them little by little, and day by day, into the
likeness of his own dear Son. In other words, we are "transformed by the
renewing of our mind, proving [experiencing] what is that good, and acceptable,
and perfect, will of God." Thus Scripture teaches us that, "as a man thinketh in his heart so is he." The heavenly ideal ever kept before the
mind, and longed after with intensity of desire, carves it into the soul. What
an incentive to great ideals and large expectations! Who would think it sufficient
to sit down contented with present attainments of knowledge and grace, or to
merely sigh for a greater measure of the more abundant life? Properly
understood and acted upon, our every longing after God should at once begin to
fill us with an impulse as effective as thirst impels the hart to search for
the water brooks. As the poet has very well expressed it,
As we find our heart's cry for the living God being answered by his drawing nearer and nearer to us, what results may be expected? Will there be any tangible evidence that life and character do change under the influence of an enlarging revelation of God? Surely so! If in truth it can be said, "A man is known by the company he keeps," and who can dispute it? then if we keep company with God and Jesus, will there not be a manifest evidence of it? Surely there will be. If keeping company with Jesus affected men so manifestly years ago, so that their none too sympathetic contemporaries were ready to acknowledge that "they had been with Jesus and learned of him," can it be otherwise today? It cannot be. As they were molded by his presence, so we will be. DWELLING WITH THE ROSEVery
beautifully has this truth been set forth in familiar verse, and who can read
it without feeling a strengthening impulse to keep very much closer to him
whose garments are "perfumed with myrrh and frankincense:
A
daydream, surely! An impractical idealism, likely to vitiate the real business
of Christian life! Yes, so some might think. Must we then conclude that the
Psalmist in the texts we are considering cannot be regarded as a
personification of practical devotion? God's blessed Word answers in numberless
ways, No, that cannot be! From a vast multitude who have in all ages known what
it means to long after God with heart and flesh like the Psalmist, will come an
emphatic, No! it cannot be. Many such bear testimony to having ofttimes fainted
for the courts of the Lord, with heart and flesh crying out for the living God,
and have gratefully appropriated to themselves the words of the Psalmist so expressive
of longings that only God centered hearts can know, and heaven-inspired language can express. Oh!
"Great is the mystery of godliness!" --"Christ in you the hope
of glory!" The "life of Christ manifest in our mortal bodies."
"I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." "Know ye not that
your body is the temple of the holy spirit which is in you, which ye have of
God, and ye are not your own?" What
real possibilities lie in these "spirit and life" statements of the
Word of God! If our crying after God is an intelligent searching after him,
with a clearly defined objective before us, will not the ultimate result be a
blessed verification of all the texts quoted above, wrought out in our lives?
Surely so! and this alone is the only possible satisfaction to the soul athirst
for God. Brethren,
to what we have already attained of these blessed verities, let us follow on by
the same rule, until that which is perfect has come, until we see Him face to
face, until we awake satisfied forever with his likeness. Praise his name for
the assurance of such consummation to all who with thirsty, hungering, longing
hearts, perserveringly "follow on to know the Lord." - J. J. Blackburn My Ain Countrie
- Mary Lee Demarest (1860-1881) The Opened Hand of God
"When thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good things." IN THE Scriptures there is
much written concerning God's hand. Hand especially signifies God's power, his
care, protection, or providence. The Scriptures unanimously testify that man
is not an independent creature and that without God's help he cannot exist. The
very existence of man is dependent upon God. "For in him we live, and
move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28). In Psalm 104 the inspired writer
mentions a variety of creatures. Beginning from verse 24, we read: "The
earth is full of thy creatures ... living things both small and great ... these
all look to thee, to give them their food in due season. When thou openest thy
hand, they are filled with good things" (R.S.V.). The Scriptures
repeatedly declare that without God's help man cannot properly order his ways.
At every step man is confronted with certain needs, though it is but rarely
that he knows or realizes the extent of these needs. The importance of this need
is not brought home to the heart and mind of man because of the universal
generosity of Almighty God. Only if God withdrew his activities from this
planet entirely, would man come face to face with the absoluteness and
universality of his needs. If God kept back the rains which fall impartially
upon the just and the unjust; if he withheld the fruitful seasons (Acts 14:17)
with their bounteous harvests; if he locked up his winds in their treasuries,
then man would realize the utter helplessness of his position in the scheme of
things. The effects of local famines
have been serious and have brought ruin and destruction to man and beast. But
these famines have usually been localized. There has generally been abundance
elsewhere, and relief has usually been dispatched from the region of abundance
to the place of want. God has never withheld his gifts worldwide. He, has never
caused the universal harvest to fail. So unfailingly, yet naturally, has the
bountiful God bestowed his gifts, that men sow, doubting not for a moment but
that they will reap, and call the sowing and reaping Nature's common round.
But should God withhold or close his hand, their sowing would be vain. Man
may plant, and man may water, but without God there would be no increase, no
gathering or harvest. GOD'S ABILITY AND WILLINGNESS TO GIVEThe other side of the
question, obverse to man's need is God's ability and disposition to give. These
two factors in universal life are linked together inseparably. God is the Giver
of every good and perfect gift and the source of unfailing abundance, man is
the creature of unending need. -James 1:17; 10-18. This is no less so in the
religious life of man. Here again the persistently reiterated theme of Holy
Writ is man's utter helplessness and universal need. Again the other side of
the question, obverse to man's need, is God's ability and willingness to give. The beginning of God's
generosity to fallen man dates from Eden days, when in the act of imposing the
sentence required by his broken Law, God promised that mother Eve's seed should
eventually bruise or crush the Serpent's head. Such generosity He repeated to
Noah, in that he promised summer and winter, seedtime and harvest. To Abraham God gave the most
wonderful promise which is the basic feature of the whole Plan of Redemption.
By the gift of his promise God also gave hope to fallen man. God said to man;
"I will bring blessing to you." Man, musing on the promise, said:
"God will bring blessing to us some day," and so hope and expectancy
was born. GOD'S GREATEST AND BEST GIFTIn due time God gave to man
his greatest and most precious gift, his well-beloved Son. This was the gift
that lay dearest to his own heart. This beloved Son of God came to earth
bearing the tidings of the Almighty's great love for men, especially for those
who were the children of God's friend, Abraham (James 2:23; Isa. 41:8). What
tremendous possibilities God set before that generation in Jerusalem when
Messiah came to them (Dan. 9:25). In the first place God purposed to give
through his Son repentance to Israel for their national sins (Luke 1:68-79;
Acts 5:31). God desired to touch the deeper springs of their hearts by the
ministry of his beloved Son, and thus to lead them to repentance. Jesus was destined to be a
bringer of light to his people. God desired to bestow the gift of understanding
to that generation, so that it would comprehend what his higher purposes were,
that the heavenly things were to begin to displace the earthly carnal things.
To those who were responsive to the new teachings, God gave an understanding of
the mysteries of the kingdom. "Unto you it is given to know" what was
"hidden" from other ages and generations. - Matthew 13:11; Mark
4:11. THE LIFE-GIVING BREADGod gave Jesus to that
people, to be to them as Bread of Life. In a manner similar to the Wilderness
days when God strewed the earth morning by morning with manna, so again
"Today" (Heb. 4:7) God provided Living Bread for the children of
Abraham (John 6:2765). In some supernatural way the words of the Lord would
have sustained their deeper life (John 6:63), and eventuated in eternal life.
In some super-mundane way his flesh would sustain the life of the world. God
gave Living Bread to those who would eat (John 6:32). Again to sustain life, everlasting life, God
gave Jesus as the Water of Life, of which if anyone should drink, it would
satisfy his thirst forever. - John 4:10-15. God
gave Israel a Shepherd, who would have guided and pastured the flock of God in
paths of righteousness (John 10:1-16). But there was no beauty about him;
nothing that would please them. They wanted a king, a conquering Messiah. Jesus
came as a sufferer, a Man of Sorrows, an offering for sin. The nation rejected
him, but to as many as received him, God gave the privilege to become his own
sons (John 1:12). To those whose hands were open to take, God gave many other
gifts along with and through his beloved Son. God was giving generously and
regularly to all those who knew their need and were ready to receive. Indeed
God is the Giver of every good and perfect gift. "Thanks be to God for his
unspeakable gift." - 2 Cor. 9:15. Even
after they despised and crucified his Son, God still kept the door of
opportunity open for all who needed more than the ritual and ceremonial
sacrifices of the Temple. To many of them the words of Jesus had opened a new
world of possibilities. He told them of opportunities and privileges which
their fathers had never heard (Matt. 13:35). He set new longings in their
hearts. But because they had been powerless against the Sanhedrin and the
priests and had not been able to prevent their fearful deeds, Jesus had been
slain. But how readily they listened on that wonderful morning, when
"Peter stood up with the eleven" and told the people that God had
raised Jesus from the dead, and again desired through him to give repentance
to Israel. - Acts 2:14; 5:31. But
only a remnant were found willing to repent and accept the gift of God. To fill
the place vacated by this hardhearted race, God turned to the Gentiles to take
out of them a people for his name. To these also God gave repentance unto salvation.
"Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us [the true
Israelites], who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could
withstand God?" or "How could I stand in God's way," said Peter
in his own defense (Acts 11:17). "Then hath God also to the Gentiles
granted repentance unto life" was the response of those who listened to
his preaching. Was then repentance a gift of God? Yes indeed! They who
received the word of Truth into honest and good hearts, were those whose hearts
the Lord had "opened" (Acts 16:14). No man comes to the Son except he
whom the Father draws (John 6:44, 65). The "faith" that saves is the
gift of God (Eph. 2:8) through the operation of his Word (Rom. 10:13-17) and
his holy spirit in our hearts. The "peace" that guards our hearts
comes also from God (Phil. 4:7; John 14:27). This is a precious gift to the
dwellers in this evil and tempestuous world. Perfect peace is bestowed upon all
who dwell upon the Rock of Ages-Isaiah 26:3, 4. GOD'S LOVE IS SHED IN OUR HEARTSLove,
that most desirable Godlike quality, is shed abroad in our hearts by the
invisible power of God, his holy spirit, which he gives to us (Rom. 5:5). We
cannot add one inch to our spiritual stature by worry or anxiety. It is
possible to spend much time talking over the necessity for our growth in love
and yet be forgetful that love is a fruitage, manifested by an abundance of
good works (Gal. 5:22, 23). And this is as much a matter of the husbandman's
[God's] concern as that of the branch in the vine itself. God is more willing
to give the holy spirit to those that ask him than any earthly father is to
give his children food (Matt. 7:11). The more the holy spirit is in our hearts
the more love we shed abroad in this life. This love also is a gift from God,
for we love him because he first loved us. - 1 John 4:10. The
bestowment of the holy spirit in our hearts is the basis of character
development (2 Cor. 3:18), and is also God's pledge of the inheritance we hope
to receive. It is the assurance that God has taken us into his family and into
his service; and that if we faithfully discharge our present duties, our
promised final reward will be sure. Therefore the Apostle's advice is:
"Look to yourselves, that you may not lose what you have worked for, but
may win a full reward" (2 John 8, R.S.V.). "God hath sealed us, and
given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts. - 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5. This
gift of the holy spirit is an energizing power. It is not a spirit of fear or
timidity, but is of cool, reasoned courage, and of a sound mind. It produces a
sense of sanctity blended with sanity in our minds, a well-balanced and properly
ordered sanctification of life. This, too, is a gift from the great and
benevolent Giver, and is by no means the outcome of psychological
self-attainment. It is God who develops and prepares us for our resurrection
change (2 Cor. 5:5). The transformation is accomplished by the power of his
spirit. "We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are
being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this
comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:18-R.S.V.). For the
day-to-day struggle, He giveth grace and strength to such as draw near his
Throne of grace, humbly beseeching assistance in their time of need. - Heb.
4:16; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5. Thus
the whole range of the Christian's life and experience is called into being and
sustained by the opening of God's hand and by bountifully bestowing his
gracious gifts; but it does not end even there, for he will give us the complete
victory over death and the grave. When that which is mortal is swallowed up in
victory, the faithful followers of the Lord will see him as he is and be with
him for evermore. "Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ."-1 Cor. 15:57. -
J. Muzikant Gallery of Witnesses
SINCE the Apostles
"fell asleep" a number of Christian scholars, particularly those
living during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, testified to their
belief in a hope which extended beyond the grave-that probation for eternal
life does not end for all mankind when this present earthly life ends. While
such scholars, in other respects, were not fully aware of the truths in the
Divine Plan which have been unfolded in the clearer light of our day they,
nevertheless, did see and preached this hope. Albert O. Hudson, editor of
the Bible Study Monthly, well and favorably known to our readers, addresses
himself to this subject in his new book Future Probation in Christian
Belief. With his permission, we present below the fifth of a series of
seven articles excerpted from that book. That
probation after death is provided for in the Divine purpose has been and is
asserted by a goodly number of ministers and theologians both in sermon and in
book. The basic principle is perhaps nowhere better stated than by Archdeacon
R. H. Charles already partially quoted. "The idea that forgiveness is
impossible in the next life has only to be stated in order to be rejected; for
till absolute fixity of character is reached, repentance and forgiveness,
being moral acts, must be possible under a perfectly moral Being ... thus this
conception" (that men after death are incapable of further ethical
progress) "is mechanical and unethical if judged in the light of Christian
theism. It precludes moral change in beings who are under the rule of a
perfectly moral Being, who wills not that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance." "The theology of the New Testament with
its doctrine of the Fatherhood of God," he says, in Religious
Development
Between the Old and New Testaments, "demands some form of future probation";
there are those who "simply cannot relegate it to the region of God's
uncovenanted mercies, seeing that it affects so deeply the character of God
himself." At
the opposite extreme from the calm logic of Dr. Charles stands the warmhearted
spiritual insight of Dr. Paterson Smyth, onetime Professor of Theology at the
University of Dublin and Rector of St. George's, Montreal. "Our goal is
to grow into the likeness of God ... how many of us are even in sight of that goal
when we die? ... If there be no growth or purification in the waiting life,
what hope is there ever for any one of us of fitness for the presence of the
all-holy God? Think that the great majority of those who die, even though penitent
and striving after right, have much of evil clinging to them -- that many,
after a whole life of ingraining their characters with evil, have brought
sorrowfully to Christ at last their poor defiled souls-that even the best is
not without many faults and stains. If nothing that defileth shall enter
Heaven, if growth is a law of life as far as we know it, are we not practically
compelled to believe that the growth and purification needed to fit us for
God's presence shall take place in the great waiting Life? ... We are bound to
believe that in that judgment no man will be lost till the Father has, as it
were, put his arms around him and looked him in the eyes with his 'unutterable
love and been finally rejected." Something
of this principle, that growth and development must continue in the future
life, was obviously in the mind of Dr. Samuel Cox, c. 1870-1890, Baptist
Minister and onetime Editor of the Expositor, when he wrote, "It is
not reasonable to expect that, while we are in this chrysalis and initial stage
of our being, we should be able to comprehend what the final stage of our
career will be like, if indeed there can be a final condition to finite
creatures who are to live, and to grow, forever, and who must therefore, one
should think, be ever reaching forth to that which is before and above
them." From this reflection Dr. Cox goes on to consider the unsatisfactory
state of man's experience in this life, with no guarantee, in so many cases, of
any real opportunity to know the gospel. "It seems hard and unjust,"
he says, "that a man's salvation, a man's life, should hang on the age
into which he is born; that the sinners of Sodom, for example, should have had
a worse chance than the greater sinners of Capernaum. There are thousands and
tens of thousands in this Christian land today who have never had a fair chance
of being quickened into life. Conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity, inheriting
defects of will and taints of blood, cradled in ignorance and vice, they have
hardly heard the name of Christ save as a word to curse by. And there are
thousands more to whom the faith of Christ has been presented in forms so
meager and narrow, or in forms so fictitious and theatrical, that the only
wonder is that so many of them care to worship him at all. ... What shall we
say then? For myself I can only say that I see no way out of the difficulty, no
single loophole of escape, so long as we assume what the Bible does not teach,
that there is no probation beyond the grave, that no moral change is possible
in that world towards which all the children of time are traveling.... In an immense
variety of ways the New Testament teaches us to believe that men who die in
their sins will be adjudged to a state in which for an age, or for ages if need
be, they will be exposed to a corrective discipline far more searching and
severe than that to which they are now exposed, and by which we may hope they
will be recovered to righteousness and life." So he sums up with,
"For the great mass of our fellowmen, we may hope and believe that those
who have had no chance of salvation here will have one there; that those who
have had a poor chance will get a better one; that those who have had a good
chance and lost it will get a new but a severer chance, and even as they suffer
the inevitable results of their folly and sin will feel the hands that reach
through darkness, molding men." By
far the most notable protagonist for this conviction at the turn of the century
was Charles T. Russell, of New York City Temple and founder of the Bible Student
movement. Of Congregational origin, but strongly imbued with Adventist
expectations, it was inevitable that he should bring the then current
Congregational leaning toward future probation into focus with Adventist views
regarding the nature and purpose of the Second Advent and in consequence he
was one of the first, with his Anglican contemporary Dr. C. A. Row, of St.
Paul's Cathedral, to perceive clearly that the Messianic reign of Christ over
the earth commencing with the Second Advent is in fact the era of future
probation for the entire race of mankind. C. T. Russell, like others of his
time, already perceived the essential difference between celestial and
terrestrial natures and that the Church of this Age is called to celestial
salvation, to be the evangelists and tutors of the remainder of mankind in the
final time of probation, the Messianic Age. Similar views in a less matured
form had been advanced previously by others, but it was Russell who saw clearly
and laid down the fundamental principle that although the death of Christ on
the cross is adequate for the salvation of every man, without exception, no
man can attain that salvation without deliberate and intelligent repentance
and acceptance of Christ and consequent reconciliation with God; hence it must
logically follow that in some way and at some time before the final judgment
every man must have a full and complete opportunity to learn, understand and
accept the offer of salvation in Christ. "There is," he said in The
Divine Plan of the Ages, "an immense aggregate who went down into
death without faith and hope in the only name given in heaven or among men
whereby we must be saved. The vast majority of these never knew or heard of
Jesus, and could not believe in him of whom they had not heard. What was to
become of this vast multitude, of which figures give a wholly inadequate idea?
What is, and is to be, their condition? Did God make no provision for these,
whose condition and circumstances he must have foreseen? Or did he, from the
foundation of the world, make a wretched and merciless provision for their
hopeless, eternal torment, as many claim? Or has he yet in store for them, in
the heights and depths and lengths and breadths of his Plan, an opportunity for
all to come to the knowledge of that only Name, and by becoming obedient to the
conditions, enjoy everlasting life? "To
the view that God excuses many of them on account of ignorance the majority of
Christians of all denominations assent, from a feeling that any other view would
be irreconcilable with justice on God's part. But do the Scriptures support
this view? Do they teach that ignorance is a ground of salvation? No. The only
ground of salvation mentioned in the Scriptures is faith in Christ as our
Redeemer and Lord. Justification by faith is the underlying principle of the
whole system of Christianity. When asked, 'What must I do to be saved?' the
apostles answered, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.' There is none other name
given under heaven whereby we must be saved. "The
Bible, which is full of the missionary spirit, does not teach that there are
several ways of salvation -- one way by faith, another by works, and another by
ignorance. While it shows every other door of hope closed against the race, it
throws wide open the one, the only door, and proclaims that whoever will may
enter into life, and it shows that all who do not now see or appreciate the
blessed privilege of entering shall in due time be brought to a full knowledge
and appreciation. The only way by which any and all of the condemned race may
come to God is not by meritorious works, neither by ignorance, but by faith in
the blood of Christ which taketh away the sin of the world (1 Pet. 1:19; John
1:29). This is the Gospel, the good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all
people. "The
thought that so many of our fellow-creatures should at any time be lost from
lack of having had the knowledge which is necessary to salvation would be sad
indeed to all who have a spark of love or pity. In the light of the past and
present as the only opportunities, laying aside all hope through restitution
in the coming age, how shall we understand the statement 'God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish' (John 3:16)? Would it not seem that if God loved the world so much
he might have made provision, not only that believers might be saved, but also
that all might hear in order to believe? The key is found in the text, 'Who
gave himself a Ransom for all, to be testified in due time' (1 Tim. 2:5, 6).
God has a due time for everything. The prevailing opinion is that death ends
all probation, but there is no Scripture which so teaches; and the above, and
many more Scriptures, would be meaningless or worse if death ends all hope for
the ignorant masses of the world." Dr.
C. A. Row, Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral c. 1870-1900, raised the same
question in his book Future Retribution. "How then stands the case
with the overwhelming majority of mankind, who have lived and died in the
condition in which they were born and educated, and who never heard of Jesus
Christ, his Gospel, or his Father as revealed in him? The same question may
with equal justice be asked with respect to those vast multitudes in nominally
Christian countries, in which the gospel which has been ,proclaimed has failed
to set forth Jesus Christ in the loveliness of his Divinely attractive
character, or the character of God as a God who is holy, loving, just and true.
The former have never once had the opportunity of catching a glimpse of the
rays of Him who is the sun of the spiritual and moral world, and of receiving
those vivifying influences which flow from the steady beholding and contemplation
of him. Can the latter be said to have rejected him, when perhaps what they
have rejected has been some miserable caricature of his Divinely attractive
Person? For according to his own declaration, it is only to those who have
been guilty of rejecting him that the following utterance (John 12:48) is
applicable.... What then will be their fate? One thing is certain. The
righteous judge of all the earth will condemn no man for not having accepted a
gospel of which he has either never heard, or of which he has heard only an imperfect
version. Will then this overwhelming majority of mankind be simply annihilated?
It is difficult to believe that they will be so in face of the reiterated
declarations both of the Gospel and the Epistle that the Father sent the Son to
be the Savior of the world, and of our Lord's declaration, 'I, if I be lifted
up, will draw all men unto me.' But it is certain that an overwhelming majority
of the human race have lived and died in a state of spiritual and moral
degradation, and therefore that they have not possessed the life spoken of in
the utterances which we have been considering. What then awaits them? ... I can
only conceive ... a condition of things beyond the grave in which they will
enter upon a more favorable state of probation than has been vouchsafed them
here; for the wrath of God can only abide on those whose sinful condition is
the result of their own voluntary act. St. Paul assures us that Christ's
Messianic reign will continue until he has put all enemies under his feet, and
that he will not resign the kingdom to the Father until all things have been
subdued unto him; and he elsewhere tells us that God has highly exalted him
'that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and
things on earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue shall
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.' What then, I
ask, is there in Scripture which implies that for the persons above referred to
probation will not be continued during the whole period of Christ's Messianic
reign?" Dr.
F. W. Farrar, chaplain to Queen Victoria, and Dean of Canterbury, held the same
belief. While declaring his inability to accept the Universalist position, his
heart was large enough to wish that all men might ultimately be saved, but his
understanding of Scripture told him that salvation depends upon conversion and
faith, as witness this quotation from Mercy and Judgment: "I cannot
but fear, from one or two passages of Scripture, and from the general teaching
of the Church, and from certain facts of human experience, that some souls may
be ultimately lost; that they will not be admitted into the vision and Sabbath
of God. I trust that by God's mercy, and through Christ's redemption, the
majority of mankind will ultimately be saved. Yet, since they die unfit for
heaven -- since they die in a state of imperfect grace -- I believe that in
some way or other, before the final judgment, God's mercy may reach them, and
the benefit of Christ's atonement be extended to them, beyond the grave."
Dean Farrar's personal convictions are well revealed in two short passages from
Eternal Hope, a record of five sermons on the subject of future
probation preached in Westminster Abbey during 1877: "Is it not almost
blasphemous to suppose that He who made a human being with such rich capacities
will in one moment throw it from him into everlasting darkness?" and
again, "While admitting the immense importance attributed by all
Scripture to life as a period of probation, and the certainty that future
retribution will be proportionate to the willingness and heinousness of our
earthly sins, neither Scripture, nor the Church, nor anything that we can learn
from any source within or without us respecting God, in any way sanctions the
popular dogma of an irreversible doom at the moment of death." Landfall
"So he bringeth them
unto their desired haven." - Psalm 107:30. IT
HAS been well said that "A Christian in the world is like' a ship in the
ocean-the ship is quite safe in the ocean, as long as the ocean is not in the
ship!" One
wonders why this apt comparison has not been used more frequently and extended
further. For, in some ways at least, there could be no more instructive allusion
to the Christian's journey through life, under his Heavenly Father's and his
loving Savior's guidance and control. "Launch
out into the deep," said the Master and Leader of men to his first
disciples (Luke 5:4). For those lives which have been surrendered to him and
devoted to his Father, sailing instructions are often sealed instructions
-- to be opened and read only after we
have launched out in response to his call and have entrusted the frail vessel
of our lives to him. Having done so, let us have confidence. He will bring us
eventually in safety to the Port he has invited us to seek. He will employ his
heavenly powers -- infinite, limitless, and unfathomable-to guide us to the
end. For "He is faithful that promised" and "We are made
partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto
the end." - Hebrews 10:23; 3:14. A ship putting out to sea
needs various things. First and foremost, it must be soundly and completely
equipped. And so we have the like figure: "All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be
perfect, thoroughly furnished [completely equipped, as another translation has
it] unto every good work." - 2 Timothy 3:16, 17. It would never do if a ship
voyaging into the deep, to a destination far over the horizon and out of sight,
left harbor without a compass and chart, without navigation lights, rudder and
steering wheel, to direct its course! "God's Word is thy
Compass, Christ is thy Light," once said an inspired commentator. God's Word,
of course, is more than the compass by which we guide -- it is also the chart
by which we plot our course. The chart gives the direction in which a ship should
travel -- the compass shows the direction in which it is traveling.
But how, in this vast tumbling waste of waters, do we know the distance
traveled and exactly where we are? "All I ask is a tall
ship, and a star to steer her by," read the lines of a once well-known and
wellloved song, "Sea Fever," by John Ireland. Yes, we need in addition to
compass and chart, a Celestial Guide, and this we have in "the bright and
morning star" (Rev. 22:16) for
and we can continually check
and verify our position by him. Consider -- He is not only
our bright and morning star -- he is also our Pilot who, if we gladly invite
and welcome aboard, will keep his hand on the wheel besides ours, to check,
control, and continually guide our course.
So the first thing to ensure
is that we have our Pilot aboard with us -- that he is not (changing the
metaphor scripturally) "standing outside and knocking" for admission
but that he is fully and completely with us -- not only aboard but inside the
ship of our life, and that everything is shared with him. "If a man love me, he
will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and
make our abode with him. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it
is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I
will love him, and will manifest myself to him" (John 14:23,21). "He
that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood" [as we do in symbol at the
annual Memorial and in practice all the time] "shares my life and I share
his" - as the beautiful Phillips rendering of John 6:56 puts it. So first, last, and all the
time, let us be sure we have the Pilot aboard. "Ask the Savior to help
you; he will carry you through." And this we know -- our Pilot
steers! "My presence shall go with thee," both he and his Father
alike say, "and I will give you rest." So our ship forges steadily
onward through the tumbling waste of waters, its position checked and verified
by the Word of God and the Star. Now a star, though steadfast,
fixed and sure, and an infallible guide, may not always be discerned. Mist and
cloud alike can temporarily obscure it, and one must be very swift to catch
the needful glimpse when it is given to firmly plot one's exact position from
that sight, pending the next. Keep checking with the "morning star,"
brethren, and then, with his help, we shall set our course and position
accurately. There is a double metaphor in
the illustration we have considered. First is the individual small ship of our
lives; but then there is the large ship of all those lives devoted to the Lord,
welded and compacted together by his grace -- in other words, Zion! This ship
which set sail with us aboard when our lives were devoted to God -- although
others, of course, had preceded us! And now it appears to us that we are
approaching very close -- very close indeed-to the Land of Heart's Desire, the
Kingdom of God in all its fullness, in earth as well as in heaven. The signs
are unmistakable that at any moment He may suddenly appear for us and Oh! what
will be the glory, not only for him, but for us who have so longed to see him
glorified in the hearts and lives of all men-honored, loved, exalted! Surely, infallibly,
irresistibly, the ship is being guided to its destination and its Landfall! - T. Ballantyne, Scot.
Living by Faith"According to your faith be
it unto
you." - Matthew 9:29 THE PRINCIPLE laid down in
the above statement has been generally recognized as being particularly
applicable throughout the Gospel Age, though there are instances in the Old
Testament records where the same principle applied. Abraham, Moses, Samuel, and
Elijah, and many others of the Old Testament Worthies, received "according
to their faith." As we recall some of the many
instances in which this principle was used by our Lord and his disciples at the
beginning of the Age, we find in each case a practical demonstration of the
power of God available to those who have the necessary faith. Not only so, but
we also recognize that the divine power made available is limited only by the
degree of faith manifest before God. Meditating upon the
foregoing, most of the Lord's people no doubt will agree that this doctrine is
in full accord with God's Word, but in spite of the acceptance of it in a
general sense, how many of us demonstrate in our daily life, and to what
extent, that this principle is applicable to us? "Examine yourselves
whether ye be in the faith," says the Apostle Paul. May we suggest that we
do examine ourselves along that line? Let us examine our everyday conduct. When
we are in the midst of sorrow or affliction, do we remember that our Lord said,
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest"? And do we really go to the Lord with our burden, sincerely seeking
his aid, and then confidently expecting to receive the help we need; or do we
arise from our knees still trying to carry the burden alone, as though we had
not asked his loving aid? Again, when we meet with the difficulties and
perplexities of life, perhaps not knowing which way to turn, do we ask for the
Lord's guidance and then trembling and almost afraid to move, go through the experience
in dread of making a mistake? Or remembering the dear Lord's promise to lead
all who earnestly seek his guidance, do we use our best judgment as to what
would be most in accord with his will, going forward with an assurance of faith
in his precious promise that he will guide us aright and that the outcome of
the experience will be for our lasting good? As we are made conscious of
our great lack of wisdom and remember the admonition of the writer of the
Epistle of James, do we ask God for the wisdom we need and really expect him to
give us that wisdom liberally, as promised; or do we go on lamenting our lack
of wisdom in mock humility, "being blown about with every wind of
doctrine," not daring to take our stand for this or for that, lest we make
a mistake? And last but not least, when we recall our dear Lord's assurance
that our heavenly Father is more willing to give us his holy spirit than we are
to ask or receive, do we really expect to be filled with that holy spirit when
we pray for it? Many of us seem to go through our everyday life, and while
admitting the promises are in the Holy Word (yet apparently not appropriating
them to ourselves), we live as though those precious promises did not apply to
us. Let us review a few of those
wonderful promises written for our benefit, upon whom the end of the Age has
come: "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray believe that ye shall
receive them" (Mark 11:24). "Ask and it shall be given unto you"
(Matt. 7:7). "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name that I will do"
(John 14:13). "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to
all men liberally, and upbraideth not" (James 1:5, 6). "Seek ye first
the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added
unto you" (Matt. 6:33). "If ye abide in me and my words abide in you,
ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7).
These are only a few of the many precious promises given and well known to most
of the Lord's people, yet how many fail to enter into the realities of such a
life of faith, which God's Word indicates is possible even now to those who can
really take God at his Word. Is it not true that if any of our experiences do
not draw us closer to God, giving us a more earnest desire to have each
experience work out in our heart the peaceable fruits of righteousness, the
fault must be with us? "God cannot lie," and "all the promises
of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus," we are told; but the extent to
which we appropriate those promises to ourselves will be in direct proportion
to the degree of our faith. The habit of generalizing
when speaking or thinking of the Word of God can cause one to miss that
personal contact which we believe is essential to a full realization of the
relationship that is the present heritage of the children of God; and it does
not tend to instill in us or build us up in our most holy faith. We must admit
that though the promise, "according to faith," is a general promise
in that it applies to all of the Lord's people, it is also quite personal in
its working principle. It was the personal faith of the woman who for twelve
years had a hemorrhage, that enabled her to receive that
healing grace from our Lord, as he said, "Daughter, thy faith bath made
thee whole" (Luke 8:48). It
was the personal faith of the Centurion that caused our Lord to heal the sick
servant without going to the house where the sick servant lay (Luke 7:2-10). It was the personal faith of
Abraham which enabled him to be the father of the promised Seed which is to
bless all the families of the earth (Rom. 4:19-22). In contrast, it was because of a lack of that same
faith that our Lord did not do many mighty works in his own town (Matt. 13:58). Again, it was the personal
faith of Peter, John, and Paul that enabled them to do many wonderful works in
Christ Jesus' precious name, throughout their Christian journey, and gave them
the victory over the world, the flesh, and the Adversary. Seeing
we are encompassed about with so great a company of witnesses, and are assured
of the power of God through faith, and knowing that we began our walk with
Jesus through a wholehearted faith in our Lord's precious sacrifice on our
behalf, surely we can take God at his Word and confidently expect that he will
supply that promised grace sufficient for our every need. "As ye have received
Christ Jesus the Lord [by faith], so walk ye in him." Then we shall be kept from falling and be
presented faultless before the presence of his glory. We shall be kept by the power of God,
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, in direct
proportion to our wholehearted appropriation of that wonderful assurance:
"According to your faith be it unto you." "Now
unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our
Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever.
Amen." - H. J. Barlow
If Ye Do These Things"If ye do these things
ye shall never fall." - 2 Peter
1:10. THE WORDS quoted above are
peculiarly appropriate at the present time. Are we not reminded by them of the
very solemn warning with which Jesus brought to a close his discourse, which is
generally referred to as "the Sermon on the Mount" (Matt. 7:24-29). On every side there appears to be a fatal tendency on
the part of the Lord's professed followers to ignore the plain meaning of the
Master's solemn words. The words in verses 21-23 should be
carefully studied until we know that we understand their meaning. "Not
every one who says to me, Master, Master, will enter into the Kingdom of the
heavens; but he who performs the will of that Father of mine in the heavens.
Many will say to me in that day, Master, Master, have we not taught in thy
Name? And in thy Name expelled demons? And in thy Name performed many wonders?
And then I will plainly declare to them, I never approved of you. Depart from
me you who practice iniquity." - Diaglott. Perhaps all the brethren in
Present Truth are more or less familiar with these words, but their designed
effect cannot be accomplished, because we have learned to apply them to the
nominal systems. We think the warning is not for us, but for others. We say, in
effect, if not in words, that having been brought into Present Truth, we have
only to hold fast certain beliefs which separate us from others and all will be
well. On the other hand, if the words were intended to warn all true believers
that holiness alone would meet with the Master's approval, how all-important
it is that we should have a clear understanding of them and not to rest in a
delusive sense of security which accompanies the belief that what we know is of greater importance than what we are. It is true that knowledge is important, but
wisdom is of far greater importance. We do not read that Christ is made unto
us knowledge, etc.; but that Christ is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and deliverance. The
close of the last century was marked by tremendous advances in knowledge, both
secular and religious. In a very true sense these advances were the climax of
years of patient study and research by students of science and religion. It
would be most unfair and unwise to forget the labors of these students, and to
think that we could have stepped into the clear light we enjoy apart from the
valuable help contributed by each generation of truth-seekers since the Lord
raised up the Reformers in the Sixteenth Century. Let
us, however, assume that we are living in the Apostolic Age, when Peter wrote
his letter to those who had obtained an equally precious faith with him (2 Pet.
1:1). Let us ask the question: Were these Christians deficient in the knowledge
of the broad outlines of the Divine Plan of the Ages? Would their knowledge of
the Divine Plan compare favorably with the knowledge possessed by the brethren
in Present Truth? If we allow ourselves to be guided by the words of the
Apostles, we must conclude that the Church of God at that time was not
deficient in the knowledge of the broad outlines of the Divine Plan of the
Ages, and further that the knowledge that believers possessed would compare
favorably with our own at the present time. If this be admitted, then it is
clear that the knowledge we have obtained and now enjoy, has only put us on
equal terms with the brethren who lived during the Apostolic Age of the Church.
We know from Church history that when the Apostles fell asleep, error more or
less rapidly displaced the Truth, until just before the Reformation almost
complete darkness had settled down upon the professed Church of God. During
the interval between the Reformation and our own day, Truth has been gradually
restored to God's people, and today we enjoy the Truth as it was taught by the
Apostles, with the added advantage that the pilgrimage of the Church is nearly ended,
and the establishment of the Kingdom is very near. It
seems clear then that the Truths which separated believers in the Apostolic Age
from all others, are the same Truths we now appreciate. However, as the
believers in the Apostolic Age were exhorted to make their calling and
election sure, so are we. The knowledge they enjoyed would not entitle them to
a share in the Kingdom, and the knowledge we enjoy will only add to our confusion,
if we fail to give all diligence to make our calling and election sure.
"If ye know these things, happy [blessed] are ye if ye do them." It
should be clear to us all that the greatest danger to those in Present Truth
is modern gnosticism. It is far easier to claim to be superior to your brother
on a point of knowledge, than to prove your superiority by the excellence of
your character. Our
great Adversary divided the early Church along these lines, and he is still
successfully pursuing the same policy. Should we not consider one another to
provoke unto love and good works? If we have a difference of opinion on one or
more points of doctrine, we may not conclude that, because we believe- we are
right, the Lord has ceased to love our brother. This being so, should we not
love our brother still more, for is not his need of love and forbearance
greater? How could we hope to win our brother by any other means? From the
limitless fountain of our Lord's love and compassion we all draw freely, and
we may not overlook his words, "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain
mercy." It
may be profitable for us all to note the experiences and the example of the
Apostle Paul as recorded in the letter known to us as 2 Corinthians. Paul's
activities in Corinth are described in Acts 18. Guided by a vision from the
Lord he labored much in the city and many of the citizens became Christians. At
the time of writing his second letter to the Church at Corinth much opposition
to Paul had arisen, and his reaction to this is of the greatest value to all
the brethren in Present Truth. Paul did not freeze up. Read his words in 2
Corinthians 6:11, 12 (Diaglott): "Our mouth is opened toward you, O
Corinthians! Our heart has been enlarged. You are not straitened in us, but you
are contracted in your own tender affections." In similar circumstances
many good Christians would feel justified in showing marked coolness and
reserve. Why did Paul act differently? The answer is, Paul was here knowing
that he spoke truly when he said, "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in
me." Paul never forgot that Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for
it. It was therefore the spirit of Christ in Paul that overlooked every cause
for complaint, and continued to exercise the love that covers all things;
believes all things; hopes all things; endures all things.
The
present is a very solemn time for all in Present Truth who are looking forward
to meeting our great Pilot face to face. It cannot be doubted that when this
thought dominates our hearts, the differences which separate brethren in Christ
seem far less important, for we believe that we shall then share on equal terms
all the excellencies of wisdom and knowledge. Nothing of our present human
imperfections will mar our equal appreciation of all the delightful things
provided by an Omniscient Creator and ministered by the glorious Bridegroom to
his faithful and adoring Bride. Surely
it is only through the wily one, Satan, that any of us at the present time
would dare to think that our present differences are due to insincerity on the
part of any. We may not condemn one another. The oneness for which our Master
prayed will soon be ours, and to the eyes of our hearts an eternity of glory
and blessing is ever drawing nearer. -D.
W. Black Our Fellowship in Christ THE Scotch have a saying that some things are better felt than telt,
and perhaps this is especially
true of Christian fellowship. Difficult to describe, it is easy to enjoy. As illustrating this, a story
is told of a mother who taught her children that each day they should make it a
point to do something for others which would greatly please Jesus. At the end
of one day her twelve-year-old daughter reported that her good deed had been to
read aloud to a blind lady. The nine-year-old boy had visited a schoolmate who
was in bed with a broken leg. When it came the little four-year-old's turn to
render her account she could think of nothing. However, in response to prompting,
she remembered that across the street there was another little girl her own age
whom she had seen sitting on the steps of her house, sobbing bitterly. Not knowing
what else to do she had crossed the street, thrown her arm around her and,
"Mother, I cried too." Ah! she could not define
fellowship as it is done in the dictionary, and knew nothing about analyzing
it; but she knew how to weep with those who weep. And who shall say that she
had not learned the very essence of the matter at the tender age of four? BIRDS OF A FEATHERSometimes we hear the expression:
"May we have fellowship with thus and so?" Or, "Do you think we
ought to have fellowship with so and so?" Such questions indicate that
those who ask them do not fully understand what the word fellowship means.
Suppose the reply were: "Yes, we may have fellowship with thus and
so"; would that reply bring fellowship about, where before there was none?
Or suppose the reply were: "No! -- we ought not to have fellowship with so
and so"; would that reply hinder, in any way, a fellowship which really
existed? You know very well it would not. Let me give you another
illustration of true fellowship, this time from the birds. All of us will
recall the proverb: "Birds of a feather flock together." Now we know
that this proverb is true. Birds of a feather do not hold a meeting to discuss
the matter, and pass resolutions as to whether they shall or shall not, but by
nature they actually do flock together. This is true also of men. A
man who is of a generous mind never, under any circumstances, longs after, and
seeks out, the company of a miser; a humble-minded man never, by any chance,
delights himself in the company of a man who is proud in heart. It just isn't
done. ALL ONE BODY WEFellowship never constructs
fences. It is true that from time to time, while endeavoring to keep the unity
of the spirit in the bonds of peace, the Lord's people have found themselves
separated by fences which others have constructed. But to these footstep
followers of Jesus has been given God's own holy spirit, and those who yield themselves
to its sweet influence find themselves possessed of a strange wisdom, a wisdom
which knows how to climb over the walls of separation others might build, which
knows how to reach through the fences others might construct, and clasp in warm
and loving greeting the hand of a brother Christian. Such have been able
always truthfully to sing: "We are not divided, all one body we." DOCTRINAL DIFFERENCESThe question is sometimes
asked: In what respect does an understanding of doctrine affect fellowship? To
this I reply: It all depends on the individuals concerned. I find in myself and in
others a natural disposition to give attention to doctrine rather than to
conduct, whereas, what attention we give to doctrine should ever be with a view
to a closer walk with God. There is in this a great danger. One may hold the
most accurate views regarding the fundamentals of Christian doctrine, may be
able to state them in the most precise formulas, may be thoroughly instructed
in dispensational and prophetic truth, and may know familiarly the teaching
embodied in the types, and yet be barren of fruit. There may be little life
where there is much light. Brethren, let us thank God
that our faith is not in a creed, not in a statement of belief, but in a Person,
our blessed Lord Jesus, whose personality embraces every grace, in loyalty to
whom we can all find fellowship and unity, yea, and if it did but know it, a
distracted world could find its life. If Jesus stood in our midst
today so that we could see him with the eyes of flesh, I venture the assertion
that he would identify himself with none of us; but with what gladness-nay, in
what a delirium of delight, would we identify ourselves with him! TOGETHEROne more little story: A few
years ago three of us stood on a station platform waiting until the train, in
which another friend was to take a journey, pulled out. As we stood there, the
train conductor came along. He was one of those kindly, genial-faced men, who
had grown gray in the service of the public. As he walked down the platform
near to where we stood, the engineer of the train, also one whose face showed
his kindly character, walking a little faster, caught up with him. Said the
engineer to the conductor: "Are you going with me today, or am I going
with you?" The smiling face of the conductor remains with me still, as I
remember his reply: "Let's go," said he, "together." - P. L Rea Entered Into Rest
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