\nHis first pastoral work was as an intern assisting John Davis at Higham Ferrers in 1718 at age 21. He became pastor at the Strict Baptist church at Goat Yard Chapel, Horsleydown, Southwark in 1719. His pastorate lasted 51 years. In 1757 his congregation needed larger premises and moved to a Carter Lane, St. Olave's Street, Southwark. This Baptist church was once pastored by Benjamin Keach and would later become the New Park Street Chapel and then the Metropolitan Tabernacle pastored by Charles Spurgeon. During Gill's ministry, the church strongly supported the preaching of George Whitefield at nearby Kennington Common.
<\/p>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0John Gill was an English Baptist, biblical scholar, \"Jehovist\", and held to a staunch Calvinistic Soteriology. Born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, he attended Kettering Grammar School where he mastered the Latin classics and learned Greek by age 11. He continued self-study in everything from logic to Hebrew, his love for the latter remaining throughout his life.<\/p>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At the age of about 12, Gill heard a sermon from his pastor, William Wallis, on the text, \"And the Lord called unto Adam, and said unto him, where art thou?\" (Genesis 3:9). The message stayed with Gill and eventually led to his conversion. It was not until seven years later that he made a public profession when he was 18.<\/p>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His first pastoral work was as an intern assisting John Davis at Higham Ferrers in 1718 at age 21. He became pastor at the Strict Baptist church at Goat Yard Chapel, Horsleydown, Southwark in 1719. His pastorate lasted 51 years. In 1757 his congregation needed larger premises and moved to a Carter Lane, St. Olave\u2019s Street, Southwark. This Baptist church was once pastored by Benjamin Keach and would later become the New Park Street Chapel and then the Metropolitan Tabernacle pastored by Charles Spurgeon.<\/p>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In 1748, Gill was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Aberdeen. He was a profound scholar and a prolific author, publishing many works.<\/p>","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=category&cid=844;http:\/\/articles.ochristian.com\/preacher583-1.shtml","selected":1,"selected_reason":null,"article_amount":695,"quote_count":12,"book_count":262,"wiki_summary":"
John Gill<\/b> was an English Baptist pastor, biblical scholar, and theologian who held to a firm Calvinistic soteriology. Born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, he attended Kettering Grammar School where he mastered the Latin classics and learned Greek by age 11. He continued self-study in everything from logic to Hebrew, his love for the latter remaining throughout his life.<\/p>","wiki_url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/John_Gill_(theologian)","wiki_name":"John Gill","goodreads_link":"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/164411.John_Gill","names":null}},{"id":8023,"author_name":"Paris Reidhead","author_id":14,"title":"Rubbish","slug":"rubbish","scriptures":"John 4:23;Gen. 22:18;Acts 1:8;Matthew 16;Matt. 16:21;Matt 16:22;Matt. 16:23;Matt. 16:24;Mark 7:13;John 5:39;Psalm 40;Rom. 7:24;Phil. 3:7-9;Rom. 7:18","type":"","topic":"","content":"
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\nRubbish By Paris Reidhead*
\nNehemiah, Chapter 4. I might say that I had no intention of bringing a series of messages from Nehemiah when we began, but I have had great delight and joy in reading and meditating upon the Chapter, and I felt led of the Lord to share with you that which it has spoken to my heart. And so I begin reading with the 1st verse of the 4th Chapter, the Book of Nehemiah.
\n1But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. 2And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? 3Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall. 4Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity: 5And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders. 6So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work. 7But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, 8And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. 9Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. 10And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall. 11And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.
\nMy theme this morning, as the bulletin announced is \u201cRUBBISH,\u201d and my text is the latter part of the 10th verse, \u201c...and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.\u201d
\nMany score years before the time of which Nehemiah writes Nebuchadnezzar had laid siege against Jerusalem, and had destroyed the walls. Now, he was thorough. There were many other cities that he destroyed, also, and archeologists can always tell when they come on the rubble of one of Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s victories. It was so thorough. Nothing of value was left. Every thing that was not confiscated was broken. And, digging as they have, they have been able to check and say as they would put a well down into the ground. This is where Nebuchadnezzar laid siege. This was the kind of a city that Jerusalem was when Ezra came and rebuilt the Temple. Now the Temple speaks to us of reestablished worship, and fellowship with God. You understand, of course, that there is no real testimony for God, nor is there any glory for God unless worship is reestablished. All service that has any value must flow out of worship.
\nWe are amazed at times to discover that we can say, without really thinking, We are saved to serve. And this is not correct, because the Scripture makes it clear that God is Spirit, and \u201cthey that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth;\u201d and it declares, \u201cGod seeketh such to worship Him.\u201d (John 4:23) And all service that has any value must flow out of worship. And, therefore, there must be a building of the Temple before there can be any effective service for the Lord. But we discover that Ezra\u2019s generation were appalled by the task overwhelmed by the odds, discouraged by the difficulties, and thought that they could stay within the Temple and thus please God. But you recall how that Hanani had come to Shushan where Nehemiah was and told him that, though the Temple had been erected and worship was resumed, God still had no testimony. There were no walls. The gates were burned, and they could go in and out within being stopped or hindered or discouraged, or made afraid. And so Nehemiah\u2019s heart became greatly burdened, the Temple was there, but there was still no testimony. Those faithful ones had retired within and had forgotten that God is greatly burdened about others. He said to Abraham, \u201cIn thee and in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed.\u201d(Gen. 22:18) And again He said by our Lord Jesus to the church on the mount of ascension, \u201cAfter that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.\u201d (Acts 1:8) This is personal worship, and vital relationship with the Lord. You are the temple of the Holy Ghost. \u201cAfter that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, ye shall be witnesses unto Me.\u201d And the outflow of worship is always witness. This, Israel had not.
\nAnd so we find that Nehemiah was used of God to join his work with that of Ezra in order that God could get the glory that He wanted. Now these things are written for our learning. And though there is nothing in the Scripture that identifies this as a
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\ntype, I feel perfectly free in taking it as an analogy and an as an illustration. Therefore, when my text states, There is much rubbish so that we are not able to build the wall, I feel that there is an illustration here of a deep vital, spiritual truth, that is so clearly given that perhaps by this means, and none other, we can bring into focus the task of the people of God in seeking to secure a testimony for God in the middle of the 20th century.
\nNow you will recall that when our Lord Jesus came He made it perfectly clear that that which He was doing had no relationship to Israel other than that He was the fulfillment of the pictures, the types and the shadows, that had been lost by Israel\u2019s blindness. And so, as our Lord began to build His church, He had to deal with the rubbish of Phariseeism. The whole of the Sermon on the Mount was given by our Lord, I believe, to delineate the difference between that which the Lord was doing and that which the Jews knew, that which Judaism had. He was doing this in order that He could establish the complete otherness, the total difference between this that He was bringing and that with which the people were familiar.
\nYou recall that He said in Matthew 16 verse 18, \u201cUpon this rock I will build My church.\u201d And immediately Peter understood what He meant; The fact that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God was now to become the foundation; and Peter and James and John were prepared to go out and use their organizational skill, their talent, and their techniques in order that they could give to the Lord the weapons that He needed to accomplish the task of Messiah, which was to give back to Israel the glory that she had. So even with His disciples, these that He called to Himself, that spent three years with Him, to whom He spoke most clearly and distinctly, and frequently, yet on the day when our Lord was walking toward Emmaus, you recall that one of them still spoke from Pharisaical blindness, We thought that it had been He that would have restored the kingdom to Israel. We were confident that He had come for that purpose. Even though He had told them repeatedly that He had nothing to do whatever with that with which they were familiar. The Pharisees, of course, stumbled at this stumbling stone, as did Peter. For when our Lord said, \u201cUpon this rock I will build My church;\u201d and said then, \u201cHe must go into Jerusalem and suffer, and be killed, and be raised the third day, Peter said, Be it far from Thee, Lord.\u201d(Matt. 16:21,22)
\nHe was not going to let the Lord build the way He had purposed to build. Now from Pharisaical tradition, Peter was going to instruct the Lord in a Biblical architecture, and in church polity. But our Lord turned upon him, and said to Peter and to any that would come after and take away anything from what He had established, \u201cGet thee behind me, Satan.\u201d(Matt. 16:23) And I believe, by inference, He was saying that throughout the centuries to come there would be a satanic effort to change the complete distinction between that which had been and that which the Lord Jesus brought. Then He fixed it, \u201cIf any come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and come follow Me.\u201d(Matt. 16:24)
\nTo become a convert to Judaism, one had to deny his idolatry. Yes. One had to deny his nationality. Yes. One had to deny his name and take a new Israelitish name. One had to be circumcised and baptized, and become a proselyte. Oh there was a way for the Gentiles, for heathen to get into Judaism, but our Lord said, In His new thing it would not be like that at all. They would have to be born, not of the man, not of the will of flesh, not of blood, but of God. There would have to be a supernatural impartation of life; God would have to perform a miracle if anyone was to have any part in the church that He was building. And so our Lord had to contend with the rubbish of Phariseeism, as He would build the church. For all those who came to Him were trying to drag along, trailer loads of Pharisaical rubbish, and synagogue-itis, and all the other putrefying diseases that had corrupted to the place where our Lord had to just write Ichabod over it all. The Pharisees themselves stumbled and could not come. He said of them, \u201cThe traditions of the elders have made the Word of God of none effect.\u201d (Mark 7:13) They did not go to the Word to find out what God said. Whenever an issue was raised, they went to their favorite Rabbi to find out what he said about God\u2019s Word. It was not to let God\u2019s Word speak authoritatively. They had to have someone else, over and above and beyond the Word, And then again, He said, \u201cYe search the Scriptures, for ye think that in them ye have eternal life.\u201d (John 5:39) And our Lord made it clear that eternal life is not in the Scripture, but it is in Himself. He that hath the Son hath life. And I believe, therefore, that we cannot understand the church beginning without seeing the rubbish that was there, from the ruins of man\u2019s efforts to improve on the simple, plain truth of God.
\nYou understand, of course, that there was not only the original rubbish, but there also was the rubbish which came into the church as it passed on through the decades and the centuries. And I would like to suggest to you some of the rubbish that had been accumulated outside the walls of the church when you came into it, for we are all seeing the church visible in some respect today.
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\nFirst, may I make it perfectly clear that we know that the foundation is laid, already laid. No other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid. So today we may have problems and difficulties, but the Foundation of the walls are there. They have been set deep. They have been set firm. And we need not tremble there. This is not the issue in the present time, for we know that. We have the Word. And I believe on these foundational, fundamental truths as to what God\u2019s Word establishes there is very little question in the evangelical community. But then, the moment that you go above the surface is when you find the residue of invaders.
\nFor you will discover, after just a little while in studying the Word, that there has been tremendous rubbish accumulated from pagan philosophers. If you should wish to use the time, and I can suggest far more profitable ways of using that time than this, but if you should wish to use the time to read the philosophers going back to those who proceeded Socrates, and Socrates, and Plato and others, you would be amazed to discover when you had come to the Pauline Epistles how many of the old pagan ideas had invaded the church. Reading the epistle to the Colossians, for instance, you find that Gnosticism, this dualistic system that said, \u201cMatter is bad, spirit is good,\u201d (Satan\u2019s lie to get himself whitewashed, if you please), had already come into the church and somewhere recently I mentioned how that down South, I heard a speaker address a young people\u2019s conference from that text, \u201cTouch not, taste not, handle not,\u201d the three-fold instructions to young people in the 20th century. And I was appalled by it, because the text actually says, \u201cand they that shall perish with the using.\u201d
\nThis was Gnosticism. This was the old pagan idea that matter is bad, spirit is good. And it had crept in like Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s armies and battered down the truth of the Church that God created matter and that it was not bad in itself, in its essence, but it was the use to which it was put that gave it a moral quality. And the consequence of it, therefore, was that Gnosticism, and then its later little grandchild, Manichaeism, when the Persian by the name of Mani had taken the Gnosticism of the pagans and given it words much in the same way that some of the cultists have taken the truths of the Word and given other ideas. And so we find that there was this invasion early.
\nAnd then later on we discover across the centuries that humanism has invaded. And humanism is that teaching that the chief end of all being is the happiness of man; related to religion it is from a liberal point of view, \u201cThe chief end of religion is to make man happy while he is alive,\u201d because liberalism theologically has no heaven nor hell, nor any answer to the fears of death. But it does say this, \u201cWell if you come to church, let us read to you poetry, and give you platitudes. We\u2019ll make life a little happier for you while you are alive. We have no answer to the dilemma of life, or to the enigma of it, nor to the dark portal through which you are called to go, but at least we exist to make man happy.\u201d This is humanism.
\nAnd then, in a fundamental context, it would turn out like this, \u201cThe chief end of fundamental religion is to make man happy when he dies.\u201d And so we find that even today this pagan idea that the chief end of being is the happiness of man has crept into the church, and if you will read and listen you will discover that much evangelical preaching is basically not Christian, not theocentric, but it is humanistic, making God a means instead of the glorious end that He is. And people are so undiscerning as not to see it, and not to recognize that this is the rubbish that is there. It is not a wall at all. It is rubbish that has been pushed in by the bulldozers of pagan philosophers that took the garments of the church without taking Christ.
\nWe find that today it has come to a type of hedonism, that pleasure is the end of being, and that the highest morality that anyone can achieve is the ultimate that exploration and satisfaction of their appetites for pleasure. And so, today, outside of the church, in the world around us, we would have to conclude that most of the people we see are hedonists, living just for pleasure, living just to satisfy themselves, and please themselves, and amuse themselves, and this now has become the whole end of being.
\nAnd so, we find that the church has been invaded through the centuries by these things. I cannot possibly pass this concept of rubbish in the church as you came into it, without reminding you that for a thousand years the church was submerged under the rubbish of Romanism, and Romanism was a combination of Manichaeism and Hinduism, and many of the other oriental religions that had come into the Mediterranean basin at the time of the 3rd and 4th centuries. And so we find that Romanism then was the whole answer to the church. It seemingly was though we know that parallel to Rome there were those rebels who refused to the yoke of tyranny and were hated. You can go back to the Montanists, and the Albigenses, and the Waldenses, and the Anabaptists, and find a continuous strain of blood all across the centuries of those who refused to submit to Rome. But essentially Christendom as it was known was under this rubbish of Rome.
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\nOccasionally, you would find some man like Savonarola, Francis of Assisi, Meister Eckhart, Julian of Norwich, some of these others that would rise up and burrow through the rubbish and stand there with a testimony that blessed all who have heard or read it. But basically Christianity was covered with rubbish.
\nAnd then we remember that Luther and the reformers broke with that, just as Nehemiah broke with Jerusalem that had nothing but rubbish instead of a testimony. The difficulty of course was that Luther did not live long enough. He did valiantly while he was alive, but as soon as he died his followers said, \u201cHe has gone as far as there is to go.\u201d And so since that time we have had another accumulation of rubbish around the walls of the church, and that is the rubbish of denominationalism, until today we have 312 denominations that are listed with the government, and we have many church groups of one or two churches or three or four churches, or even one church, so that a recent author has said, \u201cLet\u2019s take the number of the man of sin and call it \u2018666\u2019 denomination.\u201d Well whether it be that many more or less is beside the point, but we still know this, that whenever you come into the church, you come into a group. Every church is part of a group, and every Christian sooner or later becomes part of a church, and so he becomes part of the group.
\nIt was Robert Finley of International Students that stood here a few years ago and told of his experience up in Chungking in the heart of China. He saw a man and he surmised him to be a Christian, and went to him and said, \u201cAre you a Christian?\u201d And the man stood straighter and said, \u201cAm I a Christian? I would have you know that I am a Lutheran of the Missouri Synod.\u201d Well then Mr. Finley said, \u201cPray tell, what has the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran church got to do out in Chungking when there is a war on?\u201d But this somehow has been part of the rubbish with which we have carried into the Gospel, until almost everywhere we have gone we have been building the testimony and spreading the rubbish outside of the walls. Somehow it behooves us, therefore, to recognize that when we came into the church, when God, by His grace and power, put us into Christ this is what we had, just as when Nehemiah came to Jerusalem the walls were there.
\nBut what is the answer to this? I believe that God in His grace, by one means or another, is going to get a testimony, just as by one means or another the walls were built around Jerusalem. And out of all of this rubbish that we have seen, someway God is going to use circumstances and men in His Sovereign, supernatural power, and e\u2019er the Lord comes He is going to get a testimony for Himself. He may have to do it by the alchemy of war, He may have to do it by the capture of all Christendom, by ecumenical powers. I do not know. But I know this, that God is vitally interested in getting something that is wholly His own, totally His, a wall up around the Temple, so that His testimony to His grandeur, and His glory, His majesty can be seen, and I believe that you and I have some little part in this.
\nBut remember, when you came into the church there was not only rubbish in the church but you brought some along with you. We must not forget this, the rubbish from which you came, and even brought with you. If you would care to turn to Psalm 40 and the 2nd verse, I think you would find that there is one before us that had the candor and the honesty to recognize this, and because of his recognition he was in a place where God could do something for him; \u201cI waited patiently for the Lord,\u201d said David, \u201cand He inclined unto me and heard my cry.\u201d And then notice what he said, \u201cHe brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.\u201d
\nNever forget this, dear heart. It behooves all of us to remember the pit from which we have been dug. It behooves all of us to remember that when we came we came as every other sinner has ever come, standing naked, and empty, and broken, and helpless with nothing to bring Him but a mountain of guilt, and a heart filled with corruption and uncleanness. This is how you came to Christ. This is how everyone else has come to Him; He has never made another door. No one can go in through the 2nd story, and no one can come in lower, through a basement entrance. Everyone that comes in, comes in through the door, comes in a self-confessed sinner, comes in hopeless, comes in helpless, comes in broken, and comes in as one in the miry clay sinking, with none to deliver. Such were you, such was I. And take anyone, however fine their apparel may be, out of the miry clay, and out of the filthy pit, and, they are all bedaubed with the dirt of their own sin. And so, consequently, it behooves none of us to think of ourselves any other than David thought of himself as he says, \u201cHe brought me up out of a horrible pit, and out of the miry clay.\u201d
\nBut I would also have you see something else. You were in willing bondage. It was not a pit into which you were forced and being held. You did not have to be chained there. You were there and I was there because we liked the pit. We could swim in it. It was our natural habitat. We were content there until something happened to awaken us to realize there was something
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\nbetter. Oh, let us never think that we were chained in that pit. We were there swimming in it, just as the child disobeys and goes into the forbidden pool, so it was with us. We were as corrupted by, in bondage to the eye and the ear, and the heart and the mind, and the memory all clogged with the rubbish that held us. What was it? We were held in the chains of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
\nNow notice what David said. \u201cHe brought me up.\u201d That is why our Lord Jesus said, \u201cI will build My church.\u201d \u201cHe set my feet.\u201d Oh, there are those that think they climbed out by their decision, or they somehow swam out by their prayers, but my friend if you ever got out of the miry clay and the filthy pit, God brought you out. You would have stayed there till you died in your doom if God had not brought you out. Let us never forget it, never lose sight of it. He brought me out. He set my feet. I did not do it. He did it. And if you are here today and you are a candidate for grace and mercy and God has done something in your life, never forget it. He did it. And He is going to build His church out of those that He has brought up out of the miry clay. And if you have been brought up by Him, you hate the pit. If He brought you out and set your feet on the solid rock, you hate the clay. And when I find someone that names the name of Christ, and is prepared to go back and swim in the pit, and jump in again and feel it as his natural habitat, all I can think of is the dog returning to his vomit and the sow to her wallow.
\nFor there is nothing there that evidences that He brought them up, for when He does He gives a new heart, and a new nature, and a new Spirit, and a new life, and makes you a new creation. For He says, \u201cI will build my church.\u201d And we have tried to build it. We have built it out of the products of our energy, and have about ruined it. But when He builds it, ah, it is a different matter.
\nAnd so we find that the first thing that God does, when He brings you up out of the miry pit, is to make you hate rubbish, the attitudes, as well as the actions. It is not just the deeds you have done. It is the attitudes that produced deeds. It is the thoughts, it is the impulses, it is the emotions. And when God has given you a new heart, you discover that you hate these things as well as the words or the deeds. And you discover that you hate the motives as well as the emotions. You are not only prepared to say that you do not want to be that kind of a person any longer and do that kind of thing, but you want God to do something to your heart, and He does. Bless God, He does. And, therefore, if you have been made His Child, and He brought you up, and He has done something to you, you hate the rubbish, just as Nehemiah hated it, just as he despised it. For you find that the thing that stands in the way of God getting the walls built around your life...and, my dear, He says, Flee, flee uncleanness, flee iniquity, and flee sin, And just as Israel \u2014 the Jews, rather, trying to build the walls, saw the rubbish and realized that it was an impediment, a hindrance that their enemy could creep up through it and destroy them, so if you have been born of God you hate rubbish.
\nWhat is this rubbish? Oh, hear the Apostle Paul as he cries out, \u201cWho shall deliver me from the bondage of this death?\u201d (Rom. 7:24) Who shall deliver me from the rubbish that I have carried with me. And some might say, Well Paul didn\u2019t know any answer, but he did have an answer, for he said, I thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord. But he will have to recognize it as rubbish. You have to hate it as rubbish. You have to see it as rubbish standing in the way. You cannot make peace with it. You cannot defend it. You cannot justify it. Rubbish it is. Rubbish it remains. Rubbish it will ever be. And God cannot get a testimony until we treat it as rubbish.
\nWhat is it? Pride. Personal pride. Family pride. National pride. Racial pride. And above all, spiritual pride. Oh, what rubbish. How it hinders! Have you declared war on it? Have you recognized that this is nothing but the walls that were broken down by the enemy, and when you see the rising of tide you see it as rubbish? Have you looked upon unbelief, the natural state of the sinner, and the natural atmosphere of the world, as rubbish? or have you somehow tried to rationalize it and justify it? Have you looked upon anger as the sin that it is, the rubbish of the old nature? For if you are in Him, then He is on the Throne, why need you be angry?
\nHave you looked upon despondency and discouragement as rubbish? For if God is on the Throne and has committed Himself to love you and to love me, how can you ever fear what man can do to you? Have you looked upon self-exaltation, the exalting of oneself, eating ambition to get position and place as rubbish carried in from the old life? Have you seen it as such? Have you declared war upon it? Have you recognized that evil imagination and lusting of mind and heart is rubbish that stands in the way of God getting His walls built to His glory? Have you realized that old habits of thought and old habits of speech, old habits of action, of self-defense and self-vindication are all just rubbish?
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\nHave you come to the fact that legal thoughts, legal acting, legal fears are all rubbish? Have you come to the place where is not disciplining yourself alone? Oh, there is that, but not just that. There is something of the infusion of His power, and the pouring forth of Himself. Have you recognized that worldly associations and the communications that they bring are all just rubbish? How often it is that a child grows up in church and when he gets older and his heart lusts for the things of the world, and he looks back on his father\u2019s religion and says, \u201cIt\u2019s rubbish.\u201d He never met the Lord. But oh when you have met the Lord Jesus, and you have come to Him, and you come into His church, you look back upon the world, and you say, Rubbish. Standing in the way. Have you done that?
\nYou say, Yes I have done that. I have done it. But what am I going to do? How can I keep from being held down, and bound and defeated by the rubbish that I brought with me? Is there any answer? And I say to you this morning, Bless God, there is an answer. There is an answer, but it first has to be this. Paul speaking of this very same conflict said, \u201cThe things I counted gain to me, I count lost to Christ; yea, and I count all things but as rubbish, refuse, No value, that I might win Christ, and be found in Him, not having my righteousness, but His.\u201d (Phil. 3:7-9) Oh, if you will come to the place where you will recognize that everything that is not of Christ is rubbish, everything that is not for Him is rubbish, everything that is not by Him and to His glory is rubbish. Then there is hope. And then we can come with Paul and say, I see me. \u201cIn my flesh dwelleth no good thing.\u201d (Rom. 7:18) But I see Christ, and I see myself crucified with Him, and buried with Him, and quickened with Him and raised with Him, and seated with Him. Oh, see it this morning. Rubbish. See it is you. For when He went outside to the cross, He took His place on that Cross, He went to the place of offscouring, He went to the refuse heap, He went to the place where rubbish was carried. Can you see that? Can you recognize that? Can you realize that? Can you see and understand that He is asking you to go outside the camp, bearing His reproach, and bearing your cross, and come to that place where you and I together shall as long as we live realize that the only way we can get victory over the rubbish of the world is to come to that place in union with Christ in death, crucified with Him, where it is nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. There is victory over rubbish. It need not stand in the way of building the wall of testimony in your life, but it will unless you will treat it for what it is. But oh how glad I am that He set the way. Follow those blood prints on the soil, and you will come to the place where He was raised in your place upon a gibbet, a cross, and when He died, you died that we might be saved from tyranny of rubbish.
\nShall we pray.
\nLook deep into our hearts this morning, our Father. We sit before Thee in eternity bound company of men and women and young people. We will never be quite as we are this moment. Some it may be the closest moment; to some it may be the time when they are most sensitive to Thy Spirit\u2019s speaking voice. Oh God of grace, that Thou in Thy sweet love would be pleased to stretch forth Thy hand and save some among us today. And then that Thou in Thy great grace wouldst reach down, and some that have been covered cumbered, hidden there in the rubbish of the past, O God, that Thou wouldst cause us to see what it is, and to hate it for what it is, and turn from it as for what it is, and come out to that place where our Lord Jesus died as us. And then, Lord, we pray. Oh, we pray as Thou hast bid us pray for the peace of Jerusalem, so we pray for the purity of the church. Somehow save it from all the rubbish that has been thrust upon it, and in these last days, get glory to Thyself through the church and make us part of it. For Jesus\u2019 sake. Amen
\nLet us stand for the benediction. Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be and abide with each of us now and until Jesus come again. Amen
\n* Reference such as: Delivered at The Gospel Tabernacle Church, New York City on Sunday Morning, November 26, 1961 by Paris W. Reidhead, Pastor. \u00a9PRBTMI 1961
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\n","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=article&aid=45980","source":"collect","new_content":"Rubbish By Paris Reidhead*
\nNehemiah, Chapter 4. I might say that I had no intention of bringing a series of messages from Nehemiah when we began, but I have had great delight and joy in reading and meditating upon the Chapter, and I felt led of the Lord to share with you that which it has spoken to my heart. And so I begin reading with the 1st verse of the 4th Chapter, the Book of Nehemiah.
\n1But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. 2And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? 3Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall. 4Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity: 5And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders. 6So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work. 7But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, 8And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. 9Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. 10And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall. 11And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.
\nMy theme this morning, as the bulletin announced is \u201cRUBBISH,\u201d and my text is the latter part of the 10th verse, \u201c...and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.\u201d
\nMany score years before the time of which Nehemiah writes Nebuchadnezzar had laid siege against Jerusalem, and had destroyed the walls. Now, he was thorough. There were many other cities that he destroyed, also, and archeologists can always tell when they come on the rubble of one of Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s victories. It was so thorough. Nothing of value was left. Every thing that was not confiscated was broken. And, digging as they have, they have been able to check and say as they would put a well down into the ground. This is where Nebuchadnezzar laid siege. This was the kind of a city that Jerusalem was when Ezra came and rebuilt the Temple. Now the Temple speaks to us of reestablished worship, and fellowship with God. You understand, of course, that there is no real testimony for God, nor is there any glory for God unless worship is reestablished. All service that has any value must flow out of worship.
\nWe are amazed at times to discover that we can say, without really thinking, We are saved to serve. And this is not correct, because the Scripture makes it clear that God is Spirit, and \u201cthey that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth;\u201d and it declares, \u201cGod seeketh such to worship Him.\u201d (John 4:23) And all service that has any value must flow out of worship. And, therefore, there must be a building of the Temple before there can be any effective service for the Lord. But we discover that Ezra\u2019s generation were appalled by the task overwhelmed by the odds, discouraged by the difficulties, and thought that they could stay within the Temple and thus please God. But you recall how that Hanani had come to Shushan where Nehemiah was and told him that, though the Temple had been erected and worship was resumed, God still had no testimony. There were no walls. The gates were burned, and they could go in and out within being stopped or hindered or discouraged, or made afraid. And so Nehemiah\u2019s heart became greatly burdened, the Temple was there, but there was still no testimony. Those faithful ones had retired within and had forgotten that God is greatly burdened about others. He said to Abraham, \u201cIn thee and in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed.\u201d(Gen. 22:18) And again He said by our Lord Jesus to the church on the mount of ascension, \u201cAfter that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.\u201d (Acts 1:8) This is personal worship, and vital relationship with the Lord. You are the temple of the Holy Ghost. \u201cAfter that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, ye shall be witnesses unto Me.\u201d And the outflow of worship is always witness. This, Israel had not.
\nAnd so we find that Nehemiah was used of God to join his work with that of Ezra in order that God could get the glory that He wanted. Now these things are written for our learning. And though there is nothing in the Scripture that identifies this as a
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\ntype, I feel perfectly free in taking it as an analogy and an as an illustration. Therefore, when my text states, There is much rubbish so that we are not able to build the wall, I feel that there is an illustration here of a deep vital, spiritual truth, that is so clearly given that perhaps by this means, and none other, we can bring into focus the task of the people of God in seeking to secure a testimony for God in the middle of the 20th century.
\nNow you will recall that when our Lord Jesus came He made it perfectly clear that that which He was doing had no relationship to Israel other than that He was the fulfillment of the pictures, the types and the shadows, that had been lost by Israel\u2019s blindness. And so, as our Lord began to build His church, He had to deal with the rubbish of Phariseeism. The whole of the Sermon on the Mount was given by our Lord, I believe, to delineate the difference between that which the Lord was doing and that which the Jews knew, that which Judaism had. He was doing this in order that He could establish the complete otherness, the total difference between this that He was bringing and that with which the people were familiar.
\nYou recall that He said in Matthew 16 verse 18, \u201cUpon this rock I will build My church.\u201d And immediately Peter understood what He meant; The fact that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God was now to become the foundation; and Peter and James and John were prepared to go out and use their organizational skill, their talent, and their techniques in order that they could give to the Lord the weapons that He needed to accomplish the task of Messiah, which was to give back to Israel the glory that she had. So even with His disciples, these that He called to Himself, that spent three years with Him, to whom He spoke most clearly and distinctly, and frequently, yet on the day when our Lord was walking toward Emmaus, you recall that one of them still spoke from Pharisaical blindness, We thought that it had been He that would have restored the kingdom to Israel. We were confident that He had come for that purpose. Even though He had told them repeatedly that He had nothing to do whatever with that with which they were familiar. The Pharisees, of course, stumbled at this stumbling stone, as did Peter. For when our Lord said, \u201cUpon this rock I will build My church;\u201d and said then, \u201cHe must go into Jerusalem and suffer, and be killed, and be raised the third day, Peter said, Be it far from Thee, Lord.\u201d(Matt. 16:21,22)
\nHe was not going to let the Lord build the way He had purposed to build. Now from Pharisaical tradition, Peter was going to instruct the Lord in a Biblical architecture, and in church polity. But our Lord turned upon him, and said to Peter and to any that would come after and take away anything from what He had established, \u201cGet thee behind me, Satan.\u201d(Matt. 16:23) And I believe, by inference, He was saying that throughout the centuries to come there would be a satanic effort to change the complete distinction between that which had been and that which the Lord Jesus brought. Then He fixed it, \u201cIf any come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and come follow Me.\u201d(Matt. 16:24)
\nTo become a convert to Judaism, one had to deny his idolatry. Yes. One had to deny his nationality. Yes. One had to deny his name and take a new Israelitish name. One had to be circumcised and baptized, and become a proselyte. Oh there was a way for the Gentiles, for heathen to get into Judaism, but our Lord said, In His new thing it would not be like that at all. They would have to be born, not of the man, not of the will of flesh, not of blood, but of God. There would have to be a supernatural impartation of life; God would have to perform a miracle if anyone was to have any part in the church that He was building. And so our Lord had to contend with the rubbish of Phariseeism, as He would build the church. For all those who came to Him were trying to drag along, trailer loads of Pharisaical rubbish, and synagogue-itis, and all the other putrefying diseases that had corrupted to the place where our Lord had to just write Ichabod over it all. The Pharisees themselves stumbled and could not come. He said of them, \u201cThe traditions of the elders have made the Word of God of none effect.\u201d (Mark 7:13) They did not go to the Word to find out what God said. Whenever an issue was raised, they went to their favorite Rabbi to find out what he said about God\u2019s Word. It was not to let God\u2019s Word speak authoritatively. They had to have someone else, over and above and beyond the Word, And then again, He said, \u201cYe search the Scriptures, for ye think that in them ye have eternal life.\u201d (John 5:39) And our Lord made it clear that eternal life is not in the Scripture, but it is in Himself. He that hath the Son hath life. And I believe, therefore, that we cannot understand the church beginning without seeing the rubbish that was there, from the ruins of man\u2019s efforts to improve on the simple, plain truth of God.
\nYou understand, of course, that there was not only the original rubbish, but there also was the rubbish which came into the church as it passed on through the decades and the centuries. And I would like to suggest to you some of the rubbish that had been accumulated outside the walls of the church when you came into it, for we are all seeing the church visible in some respect today.
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\nFirst, may I make it perfectly clear that we know that the foundation is laid, already laid. No other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid. So today we may have problems and difficulties, but the Foundation of the walls are there. They have been set deep. They have been set firm. And we need not tremble there. This is not the issue in the present time, for we know that. We have the Word. And I believe on these foundational, fundamental truths as to what God\u2019s Word establishes there is very little question in the evangelical community. But then, the moment that you go above the surface is when you find the residue of invaders.
\nFor you will discover, after just a little while in studying the Word, that there has been tremendous rubbish accumulated from pagan philosophers. If you should wish to use the time, and I can suggest far more profitable ways of using that time than this, but if you should wish to use the time to read the philosophers going back to those who proceeded Socrates, and Socrates, and Plato and others, you would be amazed to discover when you had come to the Pauline Epistles how many of the old pagan ideas had invaded the church. Reading the epistle to the Colossians, for instance, you find that Gnosticism, this dualistic system that said, \u201cMatter is bad, spirit is good,\u201d (Satan\u2019s lie to get himself whitewashed, if you please), had already come into the church and somewhere recently I mentioned how that down South, I heard a speaker address a young people\u2019s conference from that text, \u201cTouch not, taste not, handle not,\u201d the three-fold instructions to young people in the 20th century. And I was appalled by it, because the text actually says, \u201cand they that shall perish with the using.\u201d
\nThis was Gnosticism. This was the old pagan idea that matter is bad, spirit is good. And it had crept in like Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s armies and battered down the truth of the Church that God created matter and that it was not bad in itself, in its essence, but it was the use to which it was put that gave it a moral quality. And the consequence of it, therefore, was that Gnosticism, and then its later little grandchild, Manichaeism, when the Persian by the name of Mani had taken the Gnosticism of the pagans and given it words much in the same way that some of the cultists have taken the truths of the Word and given other ideas. And so we find that there was this invasion early.
\nAnd then later on we discover across the centuries that humanism has invaded. And humanism is that teaching that the chief end of all being is the happiness of man; related to religion it is from a liberal point of view, \u201cThe chief end of religion is to make man happy while he is alive,\u201d because liberalism theologically has no heaven nor hell, nor any answer to the fears of death. But it does say this, \u201cWell if you come to church, let us read to you poetry, and give you platitudes. We\u2019ll make life a little happier for you while you are alive. We have no answer to the dilemma of life, or to the enigma of it, nor to the dark portal through which you are called to go, but at least we exist to make man happy.\u201d This is humanism.
\nAnd then, in a fundamental context, it would turn out like this, \u201cThe chief end of fundamental religion is to make man happy when he dies.\u201d And so we find that even today this pagan idea that the chief end of being is the happiness of man has crept into the church, and if you will read and listen you will discover that much evangelical preaching is basically not Christian, not theocentric, but it is humanistic, making God a means instead of the glorious end that He is. And people are so undiscerning as not to see it, and not to recognize that this is the rubbish that is there. It is not a wall at all. It is rubbish that has been pushed in by the bulldozers of pagan philosophers that took the garments of the church without taking Christ.
\nWe find that today it has come to a type of hedonism, that pleasure is the end of being, and that the highest morality that anyone can achieve is the ultimate that exploration and satisfaction of their appetites for pleasure. And so, today, outside of the church, in the world around us, we would have to conclude that most of the people we see are hedonists, living just for pleasure, living just to satisfy themselves, and please themselves, and amuse themselves, and this now has become the whole end of being.
\nAnd so, we find that the church has been invaded through the centuries by these things. I cannot possibly pass this concept of rubbish in the church as you came into it, without reminding you that for a thousand years the church was submerged under the rubbish of Romanism, and Romanism was a combination of Manichaeism and Hinduism, and many of the other oriental religions that had come into the Mediterranean basin at the time of the 3rd and 4th centuries. And so we find that Romanism then was the whole answer to the church. It seemingly was though we know that parallel to Rome there were those rebels who refused to the yoke of tyranny and were hated. You can go back to the Montanists, and the Albigenses, and the Waldenses, and the Anabaptists, and find a continuous strain of blood all across the centuries of those who refused to submit to Rome. But essentially Christendom as it was known was under this rubbish of Rome.
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\nOccasionally, you would find some man like Savonarola, Francis of Assisi, Meister Eckhart, Julian of Norwich, some of these others that would rise up and burrow through the rubbish and stand there with a testimony that blessed all who have heard or read it. But basically Christianity was covered with rubbish.
\nAnd then we remember that Luther and the reformers broke with that, just as Nehemiah broke with Jerusalem that had nothing but rubbish instead of a testimony. The difficulty of course was that Luther did not live long enough. He did valiantly while he was alive, but as soon as he died his followers said, \u201cHe has gone as far as there is to go.\u201d And so since that time we have had another accumulation of rubbish around the walls of the church, and that is the rubbish of denominationalism, until today we have 312 denominations that are listed with the government, and we have many church groups of one or two churches or three or four churches, or even one church, so that a recent author has said, \u201cLet\u2019s take the number of the man of sin and call it \u2018666\u2019 denomination.\u201d Well whether it be that many more or less is beside the point, but we still know this, that whenever you come into the church, you come into a group. Every church is part of a group, and every Christian sooner or later becomes part of a church, and so he becomes part of the group.
\nIt was Robert Finley of International Students that stood here a few years ago and told of his experience up in Chungking in the heart of China. He saw a man and he surmised him to be a Christian, and went to him and said, \u201cAre you a Christian?\u201d And the man stood straighter and said, \u201cAm I a Christian? I would have you know that I am a Lutheran of the Missouri Synod.\u201d Well then Mr. Finley said, \u201cPray tell, what has the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran church got to do out in Chungking when there is a war on?\u201d But this somehow has been part of the rubbish with which we have carried into the Gospel, until almost everywhere we have gone we have been building the testimony and spreading the rubbish outside of the walls. Somehow it behooves us, therefore, to recognize that when we came into the church, when God, by His grace and power, put us into Christ this is what we had, just as when Nehemiah came to Jerusalem the walls were there.
\nBut what is the answer to this? I believe that God in His grace, by one means or another, is going to get a testimony, just as by one means or another the walls were built around Jerusalem. And out of all of this rubbish that we have seen, someway God is going to use circumstances and men in His Sovereign, supernatural power, and e\u2019er the Lord comes He is going to get a testimony for Himself. He may have to do it by the alchemy of war, He may have to do it by the capture of all Christendom, by ecumenical powers. I do not know. But I know this, that God is vitally interested in getting something that is wholly His own, totally His, a wall up around the Temple, so that His testimony to His grandeur, and His glory, His majesty can be seen, and I believe that you and I have some little part in this.
\nBut remember, when you came into the church there was not only rubbish in the church but you brought some along with you. We must not forget this, the rubbish from which you came, and even brought with you. If you would care to turn to Psalm 40 and the 2nd verse, I think you would find that there is one before us that had the candor and the honesty to recognize this, and because of his recognition he was in a place where God could do something for him; \u201cI waited patiently for the Lord,\u201d said David, \u201cand He inclined unto me and heard my cry.\u201d And then notice what he said, \u201cHe brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.\u201d
\nNever forget this, dear heart. It behooves all of us to remember the pit from which we have been dug. It behooves all of us to remember that when we came we came as every other sinner has ever come, standing naked, and empty, and broken, and helpless with nothing to bring Him but a mountain of guilt, and a heart filled with corruption and uncleanness. This is how you came to Christ. This is how everyone else has come to Him; He has never made another door. No one can go in through the 2nd story, and no one can come in lower, through a basement entrance. Everyone that comes in, comes in through the door, comes in a self-confessed sinner, comes in hopeless, comes in helpless, comes in broken, and comes in as one in the miry clay sinking, with none to deliver. Such were you, such was I. And take anyone, however fine their apparel may be, out of the miry clay, and out of the filthy pit, and, they are all bedaubed with the dirt of their own sin. And so, consequently, it behooves none of us to think of ourselves any other than David thought of himself as he says, \u201cHe brought me up out of a horrible pit, and out of the miry clay.\u201d
\nBut I would also have you see something else. You were in willing bondage. It was not a pit into which you were forced and being held. You did not have to be chained there. You were there and I was there because we liked the pit. We could swim in it. It was our natural habitat. We were content there until something happened to awaken us to realize there was something
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\nbetter. Oh, let us never think that we were chained in that pit. We were there swimming in it, just as the child disobeys and goes into the forbidden pool, so it was with us. We were as corrupted by, in bondage to the eye and the ear, and the heart and the mind, and the memory all clogged with the rubbish that held us. What was it? We were held in the chains of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
\nNow notice what David said. \u201cHe brought me up.\u201d That is why our Lord Jesus said, \u201cI will build My church.\u201d \u201cHe set my feet.\u201d Oh, there are those that think they climbed out by their decision, or they somehow swam out by their prayers, but my friend if you ever got out of the miry clay and the filthy pit, God brought you out. You would have stayed there till you died in your doom if God had not brought you out. Let us never forget it, never lose sight of it. He brought me out. He set my feet. I did not do it. He did it. And if you are here today and you are a candidate for grace and mercy and God has done something in your life, never forget it. He did it. And He is going to build His church out of those that He has brought up out of the miry clay. And if you have been brought up by Him, you hate the pit. If He brought you out and set your feet on the solid rock, you hate the clay. And when I find someone that names the name of Christ, and is prepared to go back and swim in the pit, and jump in again and feel it as his natural habitat, all I can think of is the dog returning to his vomit and the sow to her wallow.
\nFor there is nothing there that evidences that He brought them up, for when He does He gives a new heart, and a new nature, and a new Spirit, and a new life, and makes you a new creation. For He says, \u201cI will build my church.\u201d And we have tried to build it. We have built it out of the products of our energy, and have about ruined it. But when He builds it, ah, it is a different matter.
\nAnd so we find that the first thing that God does, when He brings you up out of the miry pit, is to make you hate rubbish, the attitudes, as well as the actions. It is not just the deeds you have done. It is the attitudes that produced deeds. It is the thoughts, it is the impulses, it is the emotions. And when God has given you a new heart, you discover that you hate these things as well as the words or the deeds. And you discover that you hate the motives as well as the emotions. You are not only prepared to say that you do not want to be that kind of a person any longer and do that kind of thing, but you want God to do something to your heart, and He does. Bless God, He does. And, therefore, if you have been made His Child, and He brought you up, and He has done something to you, you hate the rubbish, just as Nehemiah hated it, just as he despised it. For you find that the thing that stands in the way of God getting the walls built around your life...and, my dear, He says, Flee, flee uncleanness, flee iniquity, and flee sin, And just as Israel \u2014 the Jews, rather, trying to build the walls, saw the rubbish and realized that it was an impediment, a hindrance that their enemy could creep up through it and destroy them, so if you have been born of God you hate rubbish.
\nWhat is this rubbish? Oh, hear the Apostle Paul as he cries out, \u201cWho shall deliver me from the bondage of this death?\u201d (Rom. 7:24) Who shall deliver me from the rubbish that I have carried with me. And some might say, Well Paul didn\u2019t know any answer, but he did have an answer, for he said, I thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord. But he will have to recognize it as rubbish. You have to hate it as rubbish. You have to see it as rubbish standing in the way. You cannot make peace with it. You cannot defend it. You cannot justify it. Rubbish it is. Rubbish it remains. Rubbish it will ever be. And God cannot get a testimony until we treat it as rubbish.
\nWhat is it? Pride. Personal pride. Family pride. National pride. Racial pride. And above all, spiritual pride. Oh, what rubbish. How it hinders! Have you declared war on it? Have you recognized that this is nothing but the walls that were broken down by the enemy, and when you see the rising of tide you see it as rubbish? Have you looked upon unbelief, the natural state of the sinner, and the natural atmosphere of the world, as rubbish? or have you somehow tried to rationalize it and justify it? Have you looked upon anger as the sin that it is, the rubbish of the old nature? For if you are in Him, then He is on the Throne, why need you be angry?
\nHave you looked upon despondency and discouragement as rubbish? For if God is on the Throne and has committed Himself to love you and to love me, how can you ever fear what man can do to you? Have you looked upon self-exaltation, the exalting of oneself, eating ambition to get position and place as rubbish carried in from the old life? Have you seen it as such? Have you declared war upon it? Have you recognized that evil imagination and lusting of mind and heart is rubbish that stands in the way of God getting His walls built to His glory? Have you realized that old habits of thought and old habits of speech, old habits of action, of self-defense and self-vindication are all just rubbish?
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\nHave you come to the fact that legal thoughts, legal acting, legal fears are all rubbish? Have you come to the place where is not disciplining yourself alone? Oh, there is that, but not just that. There is something of the infusion of His power, and the pouring forth of Himself. Have you recognized that worldly associations and the communications that they bring are all just rubbish? How often it is that a child grows up in church and when he gets older and his heart lusts for the things of the world, and he looks back on his father\u2019s religion and says, \u201cIt\u2019s rubbish.\u201d He never met the Lord. But oh when you have met the Lord Jesus, and you have come to Him, and you come into His church, you look back upon the world, and you say, Rubbish. Standing in the way. Have you done that?
\nYou say, Yes I have done that. I have done it. But what am I going to do? How can I keep from being held down, and bound and defeated by the rubbish that I brought with me? Is there any answer? And I say to you this morning, Bless God, there is an answer. There is an answer, but it first has to be this. Paul speaking of this very same conflict said, \u201cThe things I counted gain to me, I count lost to Christ; yea, and I count all things but as rubbish, refuse, No value, that I might win Christ, and be found in Him, not having my righteousness, but His.\u201d (Phil. 3:7-9) Oh, if you will come to the place where you will recognize that everything that is not of Christ is rubbish, everything that is not for Him is rubbish, everything that is not by Him and to His glory is rubbish. Then there is hope. And then we can come with Paul and say, I see me. \u201cIn my flesh dwelleth no good thing.\u201d (Rom. 7:18) But I see Christ, and I see myself crucified with Him, and buried with Him, and quickened with Him and raised with Him, and seated with Him. Oh, see it this morning. Rubbish. See it is you. For when He went outside to the cross, He took His place on that Cross, He went to the place of offscouring, He went to the refuse heap, He went to the place where rubbish was carried. Can you see that? Can you recognize that? Can you realize that? Can you see and understand that He is asking you to go outside the camp, bearing His reproach, and bearing your cross, and come to that place where you and I together shall as long as we live realize that the only way we can get victory over the rubbish of the world is to come to that place in union with Christ in death, crucified with Him, where it is nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. There is victory over rubbish. It need not stand in the way of building the wall of testimony in your life, but it will unless you will treat it for what it is. But oh how glad I am that He set the way. Follow those blood prints on the soil, and you will come to the place where He was raised in your place upon a gibbet, a cross, and when He died, you died that we might be saved from tyranny of rubbish.
\nShall we pray.
\nLook deep into our hearts this morning, our Father. We sit before Thee in eternity bound company of men and women and young people. We will never be quite as we are this moment. Some it may be the closest moment; to some it may be the time when they are most sensitive to Thy Spirit\u2019s speaking voice. Oh God of grace, that Thou in Thy sweet love would be pleased to stretch forth Thy hand and save some among us today. And then that Thou in Thy great grace wouldst reach down, and some that have been covered cumbered, hidden there in the rubbish of the past, O God, that Thou wouldst cause us to see what it is, and to hate it for what it is, and turn from it as for what it is, and come out to that place where our Lord Jesus died as us. And then, Lord, we pray. Oh, we pray as Thou hast bid us pray for the peace of Jerusalem, so we pray for the purity of the church. Somehow save it from all the rubbish that has been thrust upon it, and in these last days, get glory to Thyself through the church and make us part of it. For Jesus\u2019 sake. Amen
\nLet us stand for the benediction. Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be and abide with each of us now and until Jesus come again. Amen
\n* Reference such as: Delivered at The Gospel Tabernacle Church, New York City on Sunday Morning, November 26, 1961 by Paris W. Reidhead, Pastor. \u00a9PRBTMI 1961
\n
\n","processed":1,"summary":"Rubbish By Paris Reidhead* Nehemiah, Chapter 4. I might say that I had no intention of bringing a series of messages from Nehemiah when we began, but I have had great delight and joy in reading and meditating upon the Chapter, and I felt led of the Lord to share with you that which it has spoken to ","published":1,"contents":null,"content_processed":0,"created_at":null,"updated_at":null,"author":{"id":14,"status":1,"author":"Paris Reidhead","slug":"Paris-Reidhead","date":"","image":"https:\/\/img.sermonindex.net\/pdf\/parisreidhead.png","description":"Paris Reidhead (1919 - 1992)<\/h1>\nWas a Christian missionary, teacher, writer, and advocate of economic development in impoverished nations. A spiritual crisis during this period\u2014as he described two decades later in what is probably his best-known recorded teaching, \"Ten Shekels and a Shirt\"--left Reidhead with the conviction that much of evangelicalism had adopted utilitarian and humanistic philosophies contradictory to Biblical teaching. The end of all being, he came to believe, was not the happiness of man, but the glorification of God. This theme would recur throughout his later teaching.\n
\nSince Mr. Reidhead's death in 1992, Bible Teaching Ministries, Inc. continues under the leadership of his wife, Marjorie, and daughter, Virginia Teitt, a dedicated Board, and the many people who have donated time and talent after being changed by God\u2019s Word through this message. The message of the Gospel is reaching an ever-widening audience all over the world.
<\/p>","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=category&cid=32;http:\/\/articles.ochristian.com\/preacher32-1.shtml","selected":1,"selected_reason":null,"article_amount":235,"quote_count":1,"book_count":5,"wiki_summary":"
Paris Reidhead<\/b> was a Christian missionary, teacher, writer, and advocate of economic development in impoverished nations.<\/p>","wiki_url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paris_Reidhead","wiki_name":"Paris Reidhead","goodreads_link":"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/1279968.Paris_Reidhead?from_search=true&from_srp=true","names":null}},{"id":8150,"author_name":"Robert Murray M'Cheyne","author_id":15,"title":"Memoirs: 3. First Years of Labor in Dundee 59","slug":"memoirs-3-first-years-of-labor-in-dundee-59","scriptures":"Acts 20:18;Acts 20:19;Isa. 26:3;1Tim. 4:15;Isa. 6:8;Isaiah 61:1-3;John 15:5;Psalm 1;Exod. 31:17;Psalm 103:14;Psalm 22;Psalm 51;Psalm 25;Psalm 25:2;Psalm 40;2Corinthians 13:7;Isaiah 26:16-19;Revelation 1:15;Acts. 13:40;Hebrews 2:1;Phil. 4:7;1Tim. 3:3;1Sam. 2:30;Song_of_Solomon 4:16;Acts 2:41;Acts 8:39;Acts 16:35;Romans 4:6;Romans 15:13;Romans 15:1;Psalm 34:5;Romans 7;Galatians 5:17;Song_of_Solomon 6:3;John 20:27;John 20:28;Matthew 11:28;1Tim. 4:16","type":"","topic":"","content":"
\n
\nCHAPTER 3
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\nFirst Years of Labor in Dundee
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\nYe know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations. Acts 20:18, 19
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\nThe day on which he was ordained pastor of a flock, was a day of much anxiety to his soul. He had journeyed by Perth to spend the night preceding under the roof of his kind friend Mr. Grierson, in the manse of Errol. Next morning, before he left the manse, three passages of Scripture occupied his mind. 1. \"Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee\" (Isa. 26:3). This verse was seasonable; for, as he sat meditating on the solemn duties of the day, his heart trembled. 2. \"Give thyself wholly to [these things]\" (1 Tim. 4:15). May that word (he prayed) sink deep into my heart. 3. \"Here am I, send me\" (Isa. 6:8). \"'To go, or to stay-to be here till death, or to visit foreign shores, whatsoever, wheresoever, whensoever Thou pleaseast.\" He rose from his knees with the prayer, \"Lord, may Thy grace come with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery.\"
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\nHe was ordained on November 24, 1836. The service was conducted by Mr. Roxburgh of St. John's, through whose exertions the new church had been erected, and who ever afterward cherished the most cordial friendship toward him. On the Sabbath following he was introduced to his flock by Mr. John Bonar of Larbert, with whom he had labored as a son in the gospel. He preached in the afternoon on Isaiah 61:1-3, \"The Spirit of the LORD is upon me,\" etc; of which he writes, \"May it be prophetic of the object of my coming here!\" And truly it was so. That very sermon-the first preached by him as a pastor-was the means of awakening souls, as he learned later; and ever onward the impressions left by his words seemed to spread and deepen among his people. To keep up the remembrance of this solemn day, he used in all the subsequent years of his ministry to preach from this same text on the anniversary of his ordination. In the evening of that day, Mr. Bonar again preached on \"These Times of Refreshing.\" \"A nobel sermon, showing the marks of such times. Ah! when shall we have them here? Lord bless this word, to help their coming! Put Thy blessing upon this day! Felt given over to God, as one bought with a price.\"
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\nThere was a rapid growth in his soul, perceptible to al lwho knew him well, from this time. Even his pulpit preparations, he used to say, became easier fromthis date. He had earnestly sought that the day of his ordination might be a time of new grace; he expected it woudl be so; and there was a peculiar work to be done by his hands, for which the Holy Spirit speedily prepared him.
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\nHis diary does not contain much of his feelings during his residence in Dundee. His incessant labors left him little time, except what he scrupulously spent in the direct exercises of devotion. But what we have seen of his manner of study and self-examination at Larbert, is sufficient to show in what a constant state of cultivation his sould was kept; and his habits in these respects continued with him to the last. Jeremy Taylor recommends: \"If though
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\nmeanest to enlarge they religion, do it rather by enlarging thine ordinary devotions than thy extraordinary.\" This advice describes very accurately the plan of spiritual life on which Mr. McCheyne acted. He did occasionally set apart seasons for special prayer and fasting, occupying the time so set apart exclusively in devotion. But the real secret of his soul's prosperity lay in the daily enlargtement of his heart in fellowship with his God. And the river deepened as it flowed on to eternity; so that he at least reached the feature of a holy pastor which Paul pointed out to Timothy (4:15): \"His profiting did appear to all.:
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\nIn his own house everything was fitted to make you feel that the service of God was a cheerful service, while he sought that every arrangement of the family should bear upon eternity. His morning hours were set apart for the nourishment of his own soul; not, however, with the view of laying up a stock of grace for the rest of the day--for manna will corrupt if laid by--but rather with the view of \"giving the eye the habit of looking upward all the day, and drawing down gleams from the reconciled countenance.\" He was sparing in the hours devoted to sleep, and resolutely secured time for devotion before breakfast, althought often wearied and exhausted when he laid himself to rest. \"A soldier of the cross,\" was his remark, \"must endure hardness.\" Often he sang a psalm of praise, as soon as he arose, to stire up his soul. Three chapters of the Word was his usual morning portion. This he thought little enough, for he delighted exceedingly in the Scriptures: they were better to him than thousands of gold or silver. \"When you write,\" he said to a friend, \"tell me the meaning of Scriptures.\" To another, in expressing his value fo rthe Word, he said, \"One gem from that ocean is worth all the pebbles of earthly streams.\"
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\nHis chief season of relaxation seemed to be breakfast time. He would come down with a happy countenance and a full soul; and after the sweet season of family prayer, immediately begin forming plans for the day. When he was well, nothing seemed to afford him such true delight as to have his hands full of work. Indeed, it was often remarked that inhim you found--what you rarely meet with--a man of high poetic imagination and deep devotion, who nevertheless was engagted unceasingly in the busiest and most laborious activities of his office.
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\nHis friend could observe how much his soul was engrossed during his times of study of devotion. If interrupted on such occasions, though he never seemed ruffled, yet there was a kind of gravity and silence that implised--\"I wish to be alone.\" But he further aimed at enjoying God all the day. And referring on one occasion to those blank house which so often are a believer's burden--hours during which the sould is dry and barren--he observed, \"They are proofs of how little we are filled with the presence of God, how little we are branch like (Zec4:12; John 15:5) in our faith.\"
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\nThis careful attention to the frame of his spirit did not hinder his preparation for his people; on the contrary, it kept alive his deep conscientiousness, and kept his warm compassion ever yearning. When asked to observe a Saturday as a day of fasting and prayer, along with some others who had a special object in view, he replied, \"Saturday is an awkward day for ministers; for though I love to seek help from on high, I love also diligently to set my thoughts in order for the Sabbath. I sometimes fear that you fail in this latter duty.\"
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\nDuring his first years in Dundee, he often rode out in an afternoon to the ruined church of Invergowrie, to enjoy an hour's perfect solitude; for he felt meditation and prayer to be the very sinews of his work. Such notices, also, as the following, show his systematic pursuit of personal holiness:
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\n\"April 9, 1837, Evening-A very pleasant quietness. Study of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Came to a more intelligent view of the first six chapters than ever before. Much refreshed by John Newton; instructed by Edwards. Help and freedom in prayer. Lord, what a happy season is a Sabbath evening! What will heaven be!\"
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\n\"April 16, Sabbath evening-Much prayer and peace. Reading the Bible only.\"
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\n\"June 2-Much peace and rest tonight. Much broken under a sense of my exceeding wickedness, which no eye can see but thine. Much persuasion of the sufficiency of Christ, and of the constancy of His love. Oh how sweet to work all day for God, and then to lie down at night under His smiles!\"
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\n\"June 17, 1838-At Dumbarney communion. Much sin and coldness two days before. Lay low at His feet; found peace only in Jesus.\"
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\n\"Sept. 25-Spent last week at Blairgowrie; I hope not in vain. Much sin, weakness, and uselessness; much delight in the Word also, while opening it up at family prayer. May God make the word fire. Opened 1 Thessalonians, the whole; enriching to my own mind. How true is Psalm 1 ! yet observedin my heart a strange proneness to be entangled with the affairs of this life; not strange because I am good, but because I have been so often taught that bitterness is the end of it.\"
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\n\"Sept. 27-Devoted chief part of Friday to fasting. Humbled and refreshed.\"
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\n\"Sept. 30, Sabbath-Very happy in my work. Too little prayer in the morning. Must try to get early to bed on Saturday, that I may 'rise a great while before day.'\" These early hours of prayer on Sabbath he endeavored to have all his life; not for study, but for prayer. He never labored at his sermons on a Sabbath. That day he kept for its original end, the refreshment of his soul (Exod. 31:17).
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\nThe parish of St. Peter's, to which he had come, was large and very destitute. It is situated at the west end of the town, and included some part of the adjacent country. The church was built in connection with the Church Extension Scheme. The parish was a quoard sacra parish, detached from St. John's. It contains a population of 4,000 souls, very many of whom never crossed the threshold of any sanctuary. His congregation amounted at the very outset, to about 1,100 hearers, one-third of whom came from distant parts of the town.
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\nHere was a wide field for parochial labor. It was also a very dead region-few, even of those who were living Christians, breathing their life on others; for the surrounding mass of impenetrable heathenism had cast its sad influence even over them. His first impressions of Dundee were severe. \"A city given to idolatry and hardness of heart. I fear there is much of what Isaiah speaks of: 'The prophets prophesy lies, and the people love to have it so.'\"
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\nHis first months of labor were very trying. He was not strong in bodily health, and that winter a fatal influenza prevailed for two or three months, so that most of his time in his parish was spent in visiting the sick and dying. In such cases he was always ready. \"Did I tell you of the boy I was asked to see on Sabbath evening, just when I got myself comfortably seated at home? I went, and was speaking to him of the freeness and fullness of Jesus, when he gasped a little and died.\"
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\nIn one of his first visits to the sick, the narrative of theLord's singular dealings with one of his parishioners greatly encouraged him to carry the glad tidings to the distressed under every disadvantage. Four years before, a young woman had been seized with cholera, and was deprived of the use of speech for a whole year. The Bible was read to her, and men of God used to speak and pray with her. At the end of the year her tongue was loosed, and the first words heard from her lips were praise and thanksgiving for what the Lord had done for her soul. It was in her chamber he was now standing, hearing from her own lips what the Lord had wrought.
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\nOn another occasion during the first year of his ministry, he witnessed the deathbed conversion of a man who, till within a few days of his end, almost denied that there was a God. This solid conversion, as he believed it to be, stirred him up to speak with all hopefulness, as well as earnestness, to the dying.
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\nBut it was, above all, to the children of God that his visitations seemed blessed. His voice, and his, very eye, spoke tenderness; for personal affliction had taught him to feel sympathy with the sorrowing. Though the following be an extract from a letter, yet it will be recognized by many as exhibiting his mode of dealing with God's afflicted ones in his visitations: \"There is a sweet word in Exodus (3:7), which was pointed out to me the other day by a poor bereaved child of God: 'I know their sorrows.' Study that; it fills the soul. Another word like it is in Psalm 103:14: 'He knoweth our frame.' May your own soul, and that of your dear friends, be fed by these things. A dark hour makes Jesus bright. Another sweet word: 'They knew not that it was Jesus.'\"
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\nI find some specimens of his sick visits among his papers, noted down at a time when his work had not grown upon his hands. \"January 25, 1837-Visited Mt. M'Bain, a young woman of twenty-four, long ill of decline. Better or worse these ten years past. Spoke of 'The one thing needful' plainly. She sat quiet. February 14-Had heard she was better-found her near dying. Spoke plainly and tenderly to her, commending Christ. Used many texts. She put out her hand kindly on leaving. 15th-Still dying like; spoke as yesterday. She never opened her eyes. 16th-Showed her the dreadfulness of wrath;freeness of Christ; the majesty, justice, truth of God. Poor M.is fast going the way whence she shall not return. Many neighbors also always gather in. 17th-Read Psalm 22; showed the sufferings of Christ; how sufficient an atonement; how feeling a High Priest. She breathed loud, and groaned through pain. Died this evening at seven. I hardly ever heard her speak anything; and I will hope that thou art with Christ in glory, till I go and see. 20th-Prayed at her funeral. Saw her laid in St. Peter's churchyard, the first laid there, by her own desire, in the fresh mould where never man was laid. May it be a token that she is with Him who was laid in a new tomb.\"
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\nHe records another case: \"January 4, 1837-Sent for to Mrs. S-. Very ill; asthmatic. Spoke on 'No condemnation to them that are in Christ.' She said, 'But am I in Christ?, seemingly very anxious. Said she had often been so, and had let it go by. 5th-Still living; spoke to her of Christ, and of full salvation. (Myself confined in the house till the 16th.)-Much worse. Not anxious to hear, yet far from rest. Dark, uneasy eye. Asked me, 'What is it to believe?' Spoke to her on 'God, who made light shine out of darkness.' She seemed to take up nothing. Lord, help! 17th-Still worse; wearing away. No smile; no sign of inward peace. Spoke of 'Remember me.' Went over the whole gospel in the form of personal address. She drowsy. 18th-Quieter. 'My Lord and my God.' She spoke at intervals. More cheerful; anxious that I should not go without prayer. Has much knowledge; complete command of the Bible. 19th-Spoke on 'Convincing of sin and righteousness.' Rather more heart to hear. 20th-Psalm 51. Her look and her words were lightsome. 23d-Faintish and restless; no sign of peace. 'I am the way,' and Psalm 25. 24th-Still silent and little sign of anything. 26th-Psalm 40, 'The fearful pit.' Very plain. Could not get anything out of her. February 1-Died at twelve noon; no visible mark of light, or comfort, or hope. The day shall declare it.\"
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\nOne other case: \"February 5, 1839-Called suddenly in the evening. Found him near death. Careless family. Many round him. Spoke of the freeness and sufficiency of Jesus. 'Come unto me,' etc., and 'The wrath of God revealed from heaven.'Told him he was going where he would see Christ! asked him if He would be his Saviour? He seemed to answer; his father said, 'He is saying, Yes.' But it was the throe of death. One or two indescribable gasps, and he died! I sat silent, and let God preach. 7th-Spoke of the 'Widow of Nain,' and 'Behold I stand at the door.'\"
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\nAttendance at funerals was often to him a season of much exercise. Should it not be to all ministers a time for solemn inquiry? Was I faithful with this soul? Could this soul have learned salvation from me every time I saw him? And did I pray as fervently as I spoke? And if we have tender pity for souls, we will sometimes feel as Mr. McCheyne records: \"September 24-Buried A. M. Felt bitterly the word, 'If any man draw back.' etc. Never had more bitter feelings at any funeral.\"
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\nAll who make any pretension to the office of shepherds visit their flocks; 3 yet there is a wide difference in the kind of visits that shepherds give. One does it formally, to discharge his duty and to quiet conscience; another makes it his delight. And of those who make it their delight, one goes forth on the regular plan of addressing all in somewhat of the same style; while another speaks freely, according as the wounds of his sheep come to view. On all occasions, this difficult and trying work must be gone about with a full heart, if it is to be gone about successfully at all. There is little in it to excite, for there is not the presence of numbers, and the few you see at a time are in their calmest, everyday mood. Hence there is need of being full of grace, and need of feeling as though God did visit every hearer by your means. Our object is not to get duty done, but to get souls saved. 2 Corinthians 13:7. Mr. McCheyne used to go forth in this spirit, and often after visiting from house to house for several hours, he would return to some room in the place in the evening, and preach to the gathered families. \"September 26, 1838-Good visiting day. Twelve families; many of them go nowhere. It is a great thing to be well furnished by meditation and prayer before setting out;it makes you a far more full and faithful witness. Preached in A. F's house on Job, 'I know that my Redeemer liveth.' Very sweet and precious to myself.\"
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\nPartly from his state of health, and partly from the vast accumulation of other labors, and the calls made on him for evangelizing elsewhere, he was never able to overtake the visitation of the whole district assigned him. He was blessed to attract and reclaim many of the most degraded; and by Sabbath schools and a regular eldership, to take superintendence of the population to a great extent. Still he himself often said that his parish had never fully shared in the advantages that attend an aggressive system of parochial labor. Once when spending a day in the rural parish of Collace, as we went in the afternoon from door to door, and spoke to the children whom we met on the roadside, he smiled and said, \"Well, how I envy a country minister; for he can get acquainted with all his people, and have some insight, into their real character.\" Many of us thought that he afterward erred, in the abundant frequency of his evangelistic labors at a time when he was still bound to a particular flock.
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\nHe had an evening class every week for the young people of his congregation. The Catechism and the Bible were his textbooks, while he freely introduced all manner of useful illustrations. He thought himself bound to prepare diligently for his classes, that he might give accurate and simple explanations, and unite what was interesting with the most solemn and awakening views. But it was his class for young communicants that engaged his deepest care, and wherein he saw most success. He began a class of this kind previous to his first Communion, and continued to form it again some weeks before every similar occasion. His tract, published in 1840. \"This do in remembrance of Me,\" may be considered as exhibiting the substance of his solemn examination on these occasions.
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\nHe usually noted down his first impressions of his communicants, and compared these notes with what he afterward saw in them. Thus: \"M. K., sprightly and lightsome, yet sensible; she saw plainly that the converted alone should come to the Table, but stumbled at the question, If she were converted? Yet she claimed being awakened and brought to Christ.\" Another: \"Very staid, intelligent-like person, with a steady kind of anxiety, but, I fear, no feeling of helplessness. Thought that sorrow and prayer would obtain forgiveness. Told her plainly what I thought of her case.\" Another: \"Knows she was once Christless; now she reads, and prays, and is anxious. I doubt not there is some anxiety, yet I fear it may be only a self-reformation to recommend herself to God and to man. Told her plainly.\" \"A.M., I fear much for him. Gave him a token with much anxiety; warned him very much.\" \"C.P does not seem to have any work of anxiety. He reads prayer-books, etc. Does not pray in secret. Seems not very intelligent.\"
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\nHe sought to encourage Sabbath schools in all the districts of his parish. The hymn, \"Oil for the Lamp,\" was written to impress the parable on a class of Sabbath scholars in 1841. Some of his sweet, simple tracts were written for these schools. \"Reasons Why Children Should Fly to Christ\" was the first, written at the New Year 1839; and \"The Lambs of the Flock\" was another at a later period. His heart felt for the young. One evening, after visiting some of his Sabbath schools, he writes: \"Had considerable joy in teaching the children. Oh for real heart-work among them!\" He could accommodate himself to their capacities; and he did not consider it vain to use his talents in order to attract their attention, for he regarded the soul of a child as infinitely precious. Ever watchful for opportunities, on the blank leaf of a book which he had sent to a little boy of his congregation, he wrote these simple lines:
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\nPeace be to thee, gentle boy! Many years of health and joy! Love your Bible more than play, Grow in wisdom every day. Like the lark on hovering wing, Early rise, and mount and sing; Like the dove that found no rest Till it flew to Noah's breast, Rest not in this world of sin,Till the Saviour take thee in.
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\nHe had a high standard in his mind as to the moral qualifications of those who should teach the young. When a female teacher was sought to conduct an evening school in his parish for the sake of the mill girls, he wrote to one interested in the cause: \"The qualifications she should possess for sewing and knitting you will understand far better than I. She should be able to keep up in her scholars the fluencey of reading, and the knowledge of the Bible and Catechism which they may have already acquired. She should be able to teach them to sing the praises of God with feeling and melody. But, far above all, she should be a Christian woman, not in name only but in deed and in truth-one whose heart has been touched by the Spirit of God, and who can love the souls of little children. Any teacher who wanted this last qualification, I would look upon as a curse rather than a blessing-a centre of blasting and coldness and death, instead of a centre from which life and warmth and heavenly influence might emanate.\"
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\nIt was very soon after his ordination that he began his weekly prayer meeting in the church. He had heard how meetings of this kind had been blessed in other places, and never had he any cause to regret having set apart the Thursday evening for this holy purpose. One of its first effects was to quicken those who had already believed; they were often refreshed on these occasions even more than on the Sabbath. Some of the most solemn seasons of his ministry were at those meetings. At their commencement, he wrote to me an account of his manner of conducting them: \"I give my people a Scripture to be hidden in the heart-generally a promise of the Spirit or the wonderful effects of his outpouring.(4) I give them the heads of a sermon upon it for about twenty minutes. Prayer goes before and follows. Then I read some history of Revivals, and comment in passing. I think the people are very interested in it: a number of people come from all parts of the town. But oh! I need much the living Spirit to my own soul; I want my life to be hid with Christ In God. At present there is too much hurry, and bustle, and outward working, to allowthe calm working of the Spirit on the heart. I seldom get time to meditate, like Isaac, at evening-tide, except when I am tired; but the dew comes down when all nature is at rest-when every leaf is still.\"An example of the happy freedom and familiar illustrations that his people felt to be peculiar to these meetings, may be found in the notes taken by one of his hearers, of \"Expositions of the Epistles to the Seven Churches,\" given during the year 1838. He had himself great delight in the Thursday evening meetings. \"They will doubtless be remembered in eternity with songs of praise,\" he said on one occasion; and at another time, observing the tender frame of a soul that was often manifested at these seasons, he said, \"There is a stillness to the last word-not as on Sabbaths, a rushing down at the end of the prayer, as if glad to get out of God's presence.\" So many believing and so many inquiring souls used to attend, and so few of the worldlings, that you seemed to breathe the atmosphere of heaven.
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\nBut it was his Sabbath day's services that brought multitudes together, and were soon felt throughout the town. He was ever so ready to assist his brethren so much engaged in every good work, and also so often interrupted by inquiries, that it might be thought he had no time for careful preparation, and might be excused for the absence of it. But, in truth, he never preached without careful attention bestowed on his subject. He might, indeed, have little time-often the hours of a Saturday was all the time he could manage-but his daily study of the Scriptures stored his mind, and formed a continual preparation. Much of his Sabbath services was a drawing out of what he had carried in during busy days of the week.
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\nHis voice was remarkably clear-his manner attractive by its mild dignity. His form itself drew the eye. (5) He spoke from the pulpit as one earnestly occupied with the souls before him. He made them feel sympathy with what he spoke, for his own eye and heart were on them. He was, at the same time, able to bring out illustrations at once simple and felicitous, often with poetic skill and elegance. He wished to use Saxon words, for the sake of being understood by the most illiterate in his audience. And while his style was singularly clear, this clearness itself was so much the consequence of his being able thoroughly to analyze and explain his subject, that all his hearers alike reaped the benefit.
\n
\nHe went about his community work with awesome reverence. So evident was this, that I remember a countryman in my parish observed to me: \"Before he opened his lips, as he came along the passage, there was something about him that sorely affected me.\" In the vestry there was never any idle conversation; all was preparation of heart in approaching God; and a short prayer preceded his entering the pulpit. Surely in going forth to speak for God, a man may well be overawed! Surely in putting forth his hand to sow the seed of the kingdom, a man may even tremble! And surely we should aim at nothing less than to pour forth the truth on our people through the channel of our own living and deeply affected souls.
\n
\nAfter announcing the subject of his discourse, he generally used to show the position it occupied in the context, and then proceed to bring out the doctrines of the text, in the manner of our old divines. This done, he divided his subject; and herein he was eminently skillful. \"The heads of his sermons,\" said a friend, \"were not the milestones that tell you how near you are to your journey's end, but they were nails which fixed and fastened all he said. Divisions are often dry; but not so his divisions-they were so textual and so feeling, and they brought out the spirit of a passage so surprisingly.
\n
\nIt was his wish to arrive closer to the primitive mode of expounding Scripture in his sermons. Therefore, when one asked him if he was never afraid of running short of sermons some day, he replied, \"No; I am just an interpreter of Scripture in my sermons; and when the Bible runs dry, then I shall.\" And in the same spirit he carefully avoided the too common mode of accommodating texts-fastening a doctrine on the words, not drawing it from the obvious connection of the passage. He endeavored at all times to preach the mind of the Spirit in a passage; for he feared that to do otherwise would be to grieve the Spirit who had written it. InterpretaLion was thus a solemn matter to him. And yet, adhering scrupulously to this sure principle, he felt himself in no way restrained from using, for every day's necessitites, all parts of the Old Testament as much as the New. His manner was first to ascertain the primary sense and application, and so proceed to handle it for present use. Thus, on Isaiah 26:16-19, he began: \"This passage, I believe, refers literally to the conversion of God's ancient people.\" He regarded the prophecies as history yet to be, and drew lessons from them accordingly as he would have done from the past. Every spiritual gift being in the hands of Jesus, if he found Moses or Paul in the possession of precious things, he immediately was led to follow them into the presence of that same Lord who gave them all their grace.
\n
\nThere is a wide difference between preaching doctrine and preaching Christ. Mr. McCheyne preached all the doctrines of Scripture as understood by our Confession of Faith, dwelling on ruin by the Fall, and recovery by the Mediator. \"The things of the human heart, and the things of the Divine Mind,\" were in substance his constant theme. From personal experience of deep temptation, he could lay open the secrets of the heart, so that he once said, \"He supposed the reason why some of the worst sinners in Dundee had come to hear him was, because his heart exhibited so much likeness to theirs.\" Still it was not doctrine alone that he preached; it was Christ, from whom all doctrine shoots forth as rays from a center. He sought to hang every vessel and battle on Him. \"It is strange,\" he wrote after preaching on Revelation 1:15: \"It is strange how sweet and precious it is to preach directly about Christ, compared with all other subjects of preaching.\" And he often expressed a dislike of the phrase \"giving attention to religion,\" because it seemed to substitute doctrine, and a devout way of thinking, for Christ himself.
\n
\nIt is difficult to convey to those who never knew him a correct idea of the sweetness and holy unction of his preaching. Some of his sermons, printed from his own manuscripts (although almost all are first copies), may convey a correct idea of his style and mode of preaching doctrine. But there are no notes that give any true idea of his affectionate appeals to theheart and searching applications. These he seldom wrote; they were poured forth at the moment when his heart filled with his subject; for his rule was to set before his hearers a body of truth first-and there always was a vast amount of Bible truth in his discourses-and then urge home the application. His exhortations flowed from his doctrine, and thus had both variety and power. He was systematic in this; for he observed: \"Appeals to the careless, etc., come with power on the back of some massy truth. See how Paul does (Acts. 13:40), 'Beware, therefore, lest,' etc., and (Hebrews 2:1), 'Therefore we should,' etc.\"
\n
\nHe was sometimes a little unguarded in his statements, when his heart was deeply moved and his feelings stirred, and sometimes he was too long in his addresses; but this also arose from the fullness of his soul. \"Another word,\" he thought, \"may be blessed, though the last has made no impression.\"
\n
\nMany will remember forever the blessed Communion Sabbaths that were enjoyed in St. Peter's. From the very first these Communion seasons were remarkably owned of God. The awe of His presence used to be upon His people, and the house filled with the odor of the ointment, when his name was poured forth (Song of Sol. 1:3). But on common Sabbaths also many soon began to journey long distances to attend St. Peter's-many from country parishes, who would return home with their hearts burning, as they talked of what they had heard that day.
\n
\nMr. McCheyne knew the snare of popularity, and naturally was one that would have been fascinated by it; but the Lord kept him.
\n
\nHe was sometimes extraordinarily helped in his preaching; but at other times, though not perceived by his hearers, his soul felt as if left to its own resources. The cry of Rowland Hill was constantly on his lips, \"Master, help!\" and often is it written at the close of his sermon. Much affliction, also, was a thorn in the flesh to him. He described himself as often \"strong as a giant when in the church, but like a willow-wand when all was over.\" But certainly, above all, his abiding sense of the divine favor was his safeguard. He began his ministry in Dundee with this sunshine on his way. \"As yet I have been keptnot only in the light of his reconciled countenance, but very much under the guiding eye of our providing God. Indeed, as I remember good old Swartz used to say, 'I could not have imagined that He could have been so gracious to us.'\" I believe that while he had some deeper conflicts, he had also far deeper joy after his return from Palestine than in the early part of his ministry, though from the very beginning of it he enjoyed the sense of the love of God that \"keeps the heart and mind.\" (Phil. 4:7) This was the true secret of his holy walk, and of his calm humility. But for this, his ambition would have become the only principle of many an action; but now the sweeter love of God constrained him, and the natural ambition of his spirit could be discerned only as suggesting to him the idea of making attempts that others would have declined.
\n
\nWhat monotony there is in the ministry of many! Duty presses on the heels of duty in an endless circle. But it is not so when the Spirit is quickening both the pastor and his flock. Then there is all the variety of life. It was so here. The Lord began to work by his means almost from the first day he came. There was always one or another stricken, and going apart to weep alone.
\n
\nThe flocking of souls to his ministry, and the deep interest excited, drew the attention of many, and raised the wish in some quarters to have him as their pastor. He had not been engaged many months in his laborious work when he was invited to move to the parish of Skirling, near Biggar. It was an offer that presented great advantages above his own field of labor as to worldly gain, and in respect of the prospect it held out of comparative ease and comfort; for the parish was small and the salary great. But as it is required of a bishop, that he be \"not greedy of filthy lucre,\" nay, that he be \"one who has no love of money\" (1 Tim. 3:3) at all, so was it true that in him these qualifications eminently shone. His remarks in a letter to his father contain the honest expression of his feelings: \"I am set down among nearly 4000 people; 1100 people have taken seats in my church. I bring my message, such as it is, within the reach of that great company every Sabbath-day. I dare not leave 3000 or 4000,for 300 people. Had this been offered me before, I would have seen it a direct intimation from God, and would heartily have embraced it. How I should have delighted to feed so precious a little flock-to watch over every family-to know every heart-'to allure to brighter worlds and lead the way!' But God has not so ordered it. He has set me down among the noisy mechanics and political weavers of this godless town. He will make the money sufficient. He that paid His taxes from a fish's mouth, will supply all my need.\" He had already expressed the hope, \"Perhaps the Lord will make His wilderness of chimney-tops to be green and beautiful as the garden of the Lord, a field which the Lord hath blessed!\"
\n
\nHis health was delicate; and the harassing care and endless fatigue incident to his position, in a town like Dundee, seemed unsuitable to his spirit. This belief led to another attempt to remove him to a country area. In the summer of this same year (1837) he was strongly urged to preach as a candidate for the vacant parish of St. Martin's, near Perth, and was assured of the appointment if he would only come forward. But he declined again: \"My Master has placed me here with His own hand; and I never will, directly or indirectly, seek to be removed.\"
\n
\nThere were circumstances in this latter case that made the call on him appear urgent in several points of view. In coming to a resolution, he mentions one interesting element in the decision, in a letter to me, dated August 8. \"I was much troubled about being asked to go to a neighboring parish at present vacant, and made it a matter of prayer; and I mention it now because of the wonderful answer to prayer which I think I received from God. I prayed that in order to settle my own mind completely about staying, He would awaken some of my people. I agreed that that should be a sign He would wish me to stay. The next morning I think, or at least the second morning, there came to me two young persons I had never seen before, in great distress. What brought this to my mind was, that they came to me yesterday, and their distress is greatly increased. Indeed I never saw any people in such anguish about their soul. I cannot but regard this as a real answer to prayer. I have also several other persons in deep distress, andI feel that I am quite helpless in comforting them. I would fain be like Noah, who put out his hand and took in the weary dove; but God makes me stand by and feel that I am a child. Will God never cast the scenes of our labor near each other? We are in His hand; let Him do as seemeth Him good. Pray for me, for my people, for my own soul, that I be not a cast away.\"
\n
\nFew godly pastors can be willing to change the scene of their labors, unless it is plain that the cloudy pillar is pointing them away. It is perilous for men to choose for themselves; and too often has it happened that the minister who, on slight grounds, moved away from his former watchtower, has had reason to mourn over the disappointment of his hopes in his larger and wider parish. But while this is admitted, probably it may appear unwarrantable in Mr. McCheyne to have prayed for a sign of the Lord's will. It is to be observed, however, that he decided the point of duty on other grounds; and it was only with the view of obtaining an additional confirmation by the occurrences of providence, that he prayed in this manner, in submission to the will of the Lord. He never held it right to decide the path of duty by any such signs or tokens; he believed that the written Word supplied sufficient data for guiding the believing soul; and such providential occurrences as happened in this case he regarded as important only as far as they might be answers to prayer. Indeed, he himself has left us a glance of his views on this point in a fragment, which (for it is not dated) may have been written about this time. He had been thinking on Gideon's Fleece.
\n
\nWhen God called Gideon forth to fight\"Go, save thou Israel in thy might,\" The faithful warrior sought a sign That God would on his labors shine.
\n
\nThe man who, at thy dread command,
\n
\nLifted the shield and deadly brand.
\n
\n\u0095\tdo thy strange and fearful work
\n
\nThy work of blood and vengeance, Lord!
\n
\nMight need assurance doubly tried,
\n
\n\u0095\tprove Thou wouldst his steps betide.
\n
\nBut when the message which we bring
\n
\nIs one to make the dumb man sing;
\n
\n\u0095\tbid the blind man wash and see,
\n
\nThe lame to leap with ecstasy;
\n
\n\u0095\traise the soul that's bowed down,
\n
\n\u0095\twipe away the tears and frown
\n
\n\u0095\tsprinkle all the heart within From the accusing voice of sinThen, such a sign my call to prove, To preach my Saviour's dying love, I cannot, dare not, hope to find.
\n
\nAt the close of the same year 1837, he agreed to become Secretary to the Association for Church Extension in the country of Forfar. The Church Extension Scheme, though much misrepresented and much misunderstood, had in view as its genuine, sincere endeavor, to bring to overgrown parishes the advantage of a faithful minister, placed over such a number of souls as he could really visit. Mr. McCheyne cheerfully and diligently forwarded these objects to the utmost of his power. \"It is the cause of God.\" he said, \"and therefore I am willing to spend and be spent for it.\" It compelled him to ride much from place to place; but riding was an exercise of which he was fond, and which was favorable to his health. As an example-\"Dec. 4, 1838. Travelled to Montrose. Spoke along with Mr. Guthrie at a Church Extension meeting; eight or nine hundred present. Tried to do something in the Saviour's cause, both directly and indirectly. Next day at Forfar. Spoke in the same cause.\"
\n
\nHow heartily he entered into this program may be seen from the following extract. In a letter of late date to Mr. Roxburgh, he says: \"Every day I live, I feel more and more persuaded that it is the cause of God and his kingdom in Scotland in our day. Many a time, when I thought myself a dying man, the souls of the perishing thousands in my own parish, who never enter any house of God, have lain heavy on my heart. Many a time have I prayed that the eyes of our enemies might be opened, and that God would open the hearts of our rulers, to feel that their highest duty and greatest glory is to support the ministers of Christ, and to send these to every perishingIsoul in Scotland.\" He felt that their misery was all the greater, and their need the deeper, that such neglected souls had no wish for help, and would never ask for it themselves. Nor was it that he imagined that, if churches were built and ministers endowed, this would of itself be sufficient to reclaim the multitudes of perishing men. But he sought and expected that the Lord would send faithful men into His vineyard. These new churches were to be like cisterns-ready to catch the shower when it should fall, just as his own did in the day of the Lord's power.
\n
\nHis views on this subject were summed up in the following lines, written one day as he sat in company with some of hiszealous brethren who were deeply engaged in the program: Give me a man of God the truth to preach, A house of prayer within convenient reach,Seat-rents the poorest of the poor can pay, A spot so small one pastor can survey:
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\nGive these-and give the Spirit's genial shower, Scotland shall be a garden all in flower!
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\nAnother public duty to which, during all the years of his ministry, he gave constant attention, was attendance at the meetings of presbytery. His candor, and uprightness, and Christian generosity, were felt by all his brethren; and his opinion, though the opinion of so young a man, was regarded with more than common respect. In regard to the great public questions that were then shaking the Church of Scotland, his views were decided and unhesitating. No policy, in his view, could be more ruinous to true Christianity, or more fitted to blight vital godliness, than that of Moderatism. He wrote once to a friend in Ireland: \"You don't know what Moderatism is. It is a plant that our heavenly Father never planted, and I trust it is now to be rooted up.\" The great question of the church's independence of the civil power in all matters spiritual, and the right of the Christian people to judge if the pastor appointed over them had the Shepherd's voice, he invariably held to be part of Scripture truth, which, therefore, must be preached and carried into practice, at all hazards. In like manner he rejoiced exceedingly in the settlements of faithful ministers. The appointments of Mr. Baxter to Hilltown, Mr. Lewis to St. David's, and Mr. Miller to Wallacetown at a later period, are all noticed by him with expressions of thankfulness and joy; and it occasioned the same feelings if he heard of the destitution of any parish in any part of the country supplied. He writes, Sept. 20, 1838: \"Present at A. B.'s ordination at Collace with great joy. Blessed be God for the gift of this pastor. Give testimony to the word of Thy grace.\"
\n
\nBusy at home, he nevertheless always had a keenly evangelistic spirit. He might have written much and have gained a name by his writings; but he laid everything aside when compared to preaching the everlasting gospel. He scarcely ever refused an invitation to preach on a weekday; and traveling from place to place did not interrupt his fellowship with God. His occasional visits during these years were much blessed. At Blairgowrie and Collace his visits were longed for as times of special refreshment; nor was it less so at Kirriemuir, when he visited Mr. Cormick, or at Abernyte in the days when Mr. Hamilton (now of Regent Square, London), and afterward Mr. Manson, were laboring in that vineyard. It would be difficult even to enumerate the places where he watered at Communion seasons; and in some of these it was stated of him that not the words he spoke, but the holy manner in which he spoke, was the chief means of arresting souls.
\n
\nOccasionally two or three of us, whose lot was cast within convenient distance, and whose souls panted for the same water brooks, used to meet together to spend a whole day in confession of ministerial and personal sins, with prayer for grace, guiding ourselves by the reading of the Word. At such times we used to meet in the evening with the flock of the pastor in whose house the meeting had been held through the day, and there unitedly pray for the Holy Spirit being poured down upon the people. The first time we held such a meeting, there were tokens of blessing observed by several of us; and the week after he wrote: \"Has there been any fruit of the happy day we spent with you? I thought I saw some the Sabbath after, here. In due season we shall reap if we faint not; only be thou strong, and of a good courage.\" The incident that encouraged him is recorded in his diary. An elderly person came to tell him how the river of joy and peace in believinghad that Sabbath most singularly flowed through her soul, so that she blessed God that she ever came to St. Peter's. He adds \"N.B.-This seems a fruit of our prayer-meeting, begun last Wednesday at Collace-one drop of the shower.\"
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\nIt should have been mentioned before now, that during all his ministry he was careful to use not only the direct means appointed for the conversion of souls, but those also that appear more indirect, such as the key of discipline. In regard to the Lord's Supper, his little tract explains his views. He believed that to keep back those whose profession was a credible profession, even while the pastor might have strong doubts as to their fitness in his own mind, was not the rule laid down for us in the New Testament. At the same time, he as steadily maintained that no unconverted person ought to come to the Lord's Table; and on this point \"they should judge themselves if they would not be judged.\"
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\nWhen communicants came to be admitted for the first time, or when parents who had been communicants before came for baptism for their children, it was his custom to ask them solemnly if their souls were saved. His dealing with them was blessed to the conversion of a number of young persons who were coming carelessly forward to the Communion; and and he records the blessing that attended his faithful dealing with a parent coming to speak with him about the baptism of his child. The man said that he had been thinking and believed himself in the right way-that he felt his disposition better, for he could forgive others. Mr. McCheyne showed him that nevertheless he was ignorant of God's righteousness. The man laid it to heart; and when Mr. McCheyne said that he thought it would be better to defer the baptism, the man at once offered to come again and speak on the matter. On a subsequent visit, he seemed really to have seen his error, and to have cast away his own righteousness. When his child was baptized, it was joy to the pastor's heart to have the good hope that the man had received salvation.
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\nIn connection with the superstitious feeling of the most depraved as to baptism, he related an affecting occurrence. A careless parent one evening entered his house, and asked him to come with him to baptize a dying child. He knew thatneither this man nor his wife ever entered the door of a church; but he rose and went with him to the miserable dwelling. There an infant lay, apparently dying; and many of the female neighbors, equally depraved with the parents, stood around. He came forward to where the child was, and spoke to the parents of their ungodly state and fearful guilt before God, and concluded by showing them that, in such circumstances, he would consider it sinful in him to administer baptism to their infant. They said, \"He might at least do it for the sake of the poor child.\" He told them that it was not baptism that saved a soul, and that out of true concern for themselves he must not do as they wished. The friends around the bed then joined the parents in upbraiding him as having no pity on the poor infant's soul! He stood among them still, and showed them that it was they who had been cruel to their child; and then lifted up his voice in solemn warning, and left the house amid their ignorant reproaches.
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\nNor did he make light of the church session's power to rebuke and deal with an offender. Once from the pulpit, at an ordination of elders, he gave the following testimony: \"When I first entered upon the work of the ministry among you, I was exceedingly ignorant of the vast importance of church discipline. I thought that my great and almost only work was to pray and preach. I saw your souls to be so precious, and the time so short, that I devoted all my time, and care, and strength, to labor in word and doctrine. When cases of discipline were brought before me and the elders, I regarded them with something like abhorrence. It was a duty I shrank from; and I may truly say it nearly drove me from the work of the ministry among you altogether. But it pleased God, who teaches His servants in another way than man teaches, to bless some of the cases of discipline to the manifest and undeniable conversion of the souls of those under our care; and from that hour a new light broke in upon my mind, and I saw that if preaching be an ordinance of Christ, so is church discipline. I now feel very deeply persuaded that both are of God that two keys are committed to us by Christ: the one the key of doctrine, by means of which we unlock the treasures of the Bible; the other the key of discipline, by which we open orshut the way to the sealing ordinances of the faith. Both are Christ's gift, and neither is to be resigned without sin.\"
\n
\nThere was still another means of enforcing what he preached, in the use of which he has excelled all his brethren, namely, the holy consistency of his daily walk. Aware that one idle word, one needless contention, one covetous act, may destroy in our people the effect of many a solemn expostulation and earnest warning, he was uniquely circumspect in his everyday walk. He wished to be always in the presence of God. If he traveled, he labored to enjoy God along the way, as well as to do good to others by dropping a word in season. In riding or walking, he seized opportunities to give a useful tract; and, on principle, he preferred giving it to the person directly, rather than casting it on the road. The former way, he said, was more open-there was no stealth in it; and we ought to be as clear as crystal in speaking or acting for Jesus. In writing a note, however short, he sought to season it with salt. If he passed a night in a strange place, he tried to bear the place especially on his soul at the mercy seat; and if compelled to take some rest from his too exhausting toils, his relaxation was little else than a change of occupation, from one mode of glorifying God to another. (Baxter's words are not less than the truth: \"Recreation to a minister must be as whetting is with the mower, that is, only to be used so far as is necessary for his work. May a physician in the plague-time take any more relaxation or recreation than is necessary for his life, when so many are expecting his help in a case of life and death?\" \"Will you stand by and see sinners grasping under the pangs of death, and say, God doth not require me to make myself a drudge to save them? Is this the voice of ministerial
\n
\nor Christian compassion, or rather of sensual laziness and diabolical cruelty?\"-Ref. Past. 6:6) His beautiful hymn, \"I Am a Debtor,\" was written in May 1837, at a leisure hour.
\n
\nWhatever is said in the pulpit, men will not regard much though they may feel it at the time, if the minister does not say the same in private, with equal earnestness, in speaking with his people face to face; and it must be in our moments of closest intercourse with them, that we are thus to put the seal to all we say in public. Close moments are the times when the things that are most closely twined around the heart are brought out to view; and shall we, by tacit consent, introduce the Lord that bought us into such happy hours? We must not only speak faithfully to our people in our sermons, but live faithfully for them too. Perhaps it may be found that the reason why many who preach the gospel fully and in all earnestness are not used of God in the conversion of souls, is to be found in their defective exhibition of grace in these easy moments of life. \"Them that honour me, I will honour\" (1 Sam. 2:30). It was noticed long ago that men will allow you to preach against their sins as much as you will, if you will be easy with them when you have finished, and talk as they do, and live as they live. How much different it was with Mr. M'Cheyne, as all who knew him can testify.
\n
\nHis visits to friends were times when he sought to do good to their souls; and never was he satisfied unless he could guide the conversation to dwell on the things of eternity. When he could not do so, he generally remained silent. And yet his demeanor was easy and pleasant to all, exhibiting at once meekness of faith and delicacy of feeling. There was in his character a high refinement that came out in poetry and true politeness; and there was something in his graces that reminded one of his own remark, when explaining the spices of Song of Solomon 4:16, when he said that \"some believers were a garden that had fruit-trees, and so were useful; but we ought also to to have spices, and so be attractive.\" Wishing to convey his grateful feelings to a fellow laborer in Dundee, he sent him a Hebrew Bible, with these few lines prefixed:
\n
\nAnoint mine eyes,
\n
\nO holy dove! That I may prize
\n
\nThis book of love.
\n
\nUnstop mine ear,
\n
\nMade deaf by sin, That I may hear
\n
\nThy voice within.
\n
\nBreak my hard heart,
\n
\nJesus, my Lord; In the inmost part
\n
\nHide Thy sweet word.
\n
\nIt was on a similar occasion, in 1838, that he wrote the lines, \"Thy Word Is a Lamp Unto My Feet.\" At another time, sitting under a shady tree, and casting his eye on the hospitable dwelling in which he found a pleasant retreat, his grateful feelings flowed out to his kind friend in the lines that follow:
\n
\nPEACE TO THIS HOUSE
\n
\nLong may peace within this dwelling
\n
\nHave its resting-place;
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\nAngel shields all harm repelling
\n
\nGod, their God of grace.
\n
\nMay the dove-like Spirit guide them
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\nTo the upright land!
\n
\nMay the Saviour-shepherd feed them
\n
\nFrom His gentle hand!
\n
\nNever was there one more beloved as a friend, and seldom any whose death could cause so many to feel as if no other friend could ever occupy his room. Some, too, can say that so much did they learn from his holy walk, \"that it is probable a day never passes wherein they have not some advantage from his friendship.\"
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\nI find written on the leaf of one of his notebooks, a short memorandum: \"Rules worth remembering. -When visiting in a family, whether ministerially or otherwise, speak particularly to the strangers about eternal things. Perhaps God has brought you together just to save that soul.\" And then he refers to some instances that happened to him, in which God seemed to honor a word spoken in this incidental way,
\n
\nIn this spirit he was enabled for nearly three years to give his strength to his Master's service. Sickness sometimes laid him aside, and taught him what he had to suffer; but he rose from it to go forth again to his joyful labors. Often, after a toilsome day there were inquirers waiting for him, so that he had to begin work afresh in a new form. But this was his delight; it was a kind of interruption that he allowed even on a Saturday, in the midst of his studies. He was led to resolve not to postpone any inquirers until a future time, by finding that having done so on one occasion at a pressing moment, the individuals never returned; and so alive was he to the responsibilities of his office, that he ever after feared to lose such an opportunity of speaking with souls at a time when they were aroused to concern. Busy one evening with some extra-parochial work, he was asked if any person should be admitted to see him that night. \"Surely-what do we live for?\" was his immediate reply. It was his manner, too, on a Saturday afternoon, to visit one or two of his sick who seemed near the point of death, with the view of being thus stirred up to a more direct application of the truth to his flock on the morrow, as dying men on the edge of eternity.
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\nWe have already observed that in his doctrine there was nothing that differed from the views of truth laid down in the standards of our church. He saw no inconsistency in preaching an electing God, who \"calleth whom he will,\" and a salvation free to \"whosoever will\"; nor in declaring the absolute sovereignty of God, and yet the unimpaired responsibility of man. He preached Christ as a gift laid down by the Father for every sinner freely to take. In the beginning of his ministry, as he preached the fullness of the glad tidings, and urged on his people that there was enough in the glad tidings to bring direct and immediate assurance to every one who really believed them, some of his flock were startled. For he always preached that, while it is true that there are believers, like Heman or Asaph, who do not enjoy full assurance of the love of God, yet certainly no true believer should remain satisfied in the absence of this blessed peace. Not a few had up to now been accustomed to take for granted that they might be Christians, though they knew of no change, and had never thought of enjoying the knowledge of the love of God as their present portion. They heard that others, who were considered believers, had doubts; so they had come to consider fears and doubts as the very marks of a believing soul. The consequence had been that in past days many concluded themselves to be Christians because they seemed to be in the very state of mind of which those who were reputed to be believers spoke, viz. doubt and alarm. Alas! in their case there could be nothing else, for they had only a name to live.
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\nSomeone wrote to him, asking him several questions concerning conversion, assurance, and faith, which had been stirred up by his ministry. The import of the questions may be gathered from his reply, which was as follows:
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\n\"1. I doubt if there are many saints who live and die without a comfortable sense of forgiveness and acceptance with God. The saints of whom the Bible speaks seem to have enjoyed it richly both in life and death. See the murderers of our Lord, Acts 2:41; the Ethiopian, Acts 8:39; the jailor, Acts 16:35. David also felt it, sinful man though he was, Romans 4:6. Paul also prayed that the Romans might have it, Romans 15:13. 1 fear this objection is generally made by those who are living in sin, and do not wish to know the dangerous road they are on.
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\n\"2. A sense of forgiveness does not proceed from marks seen in yourself, but from a discovery of the beauty, worth, and freeness of Christ, Psalm 34:5. We look out for peace, not in. At the same time, there is also an assurance rising from what we see in ourselves; the seal of the Spirit, love to the brethren, etc., are the chief marks.
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\n3. \"Feeling a body of sin is a mark that we are like Paul, and that we are Christ's, Romans 7; Galatians 5:17. Paul was cheerful with a body of sin; and so ought we to be. So was David, and all the saints.
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\n4. \"I do not think there is any difference between those converted within these few years and those who were Christians before. Many of those converted since I came are, I fear, very unholy. I fear this more than anything. I fear there is too much talk and too little reality. Still there are many good figs-many of whom I am persuaded better things, and things that accompany salvation. The answer to your question I fear is this, that many used to be taken for Christians before, who had only a name to live, and were dead. I think there is more discrimination now. But take care and be not proud, for that goes before a fall. Take care of censorious judging of others, as if all must be converted in the same way.\"God moves in a mysterious way. He hath mercy on whom He will have mercy. To Him alone be glory.\"
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\nHe thus stated his views on another occasion. Referring to Song of Solomon 6:3, \"My beloved is mine,\" following \"My beloved is gone down into his garden,\" he said, \"This is the faith of assurance-a complete, unhesitating embracing of Christ as my righteousness and my strength and my all. A common mistake is, that this clear conviction that Christ is mine is an attainment far on in the divine life, and that it springs from evidences seen in my heart. When I see myself a new creature, Christ on the throne in my heart, love to the brethren, etc., it is often thought that I may begin then to say, 'My Beloved is mine.' How different this passage! The moment Jesus comes down into the garden to the beds of spices-the moment He reveals himself, the soul cries out, 'My Beloved is mine!' So saith Thomas, John 20:27, 28. The moment Jesus came in and revealed his wounds, Thomas cried out, 'My Lord and my God.' He did not look to see if he was believing, or if the graces of love and humility were reigning; but all he saw and thought of was Jesus and Him crucified and risen.\" At a subsequent period, when preaching on Matthew 11:28, \"Come unto me,\" he said, \"I suppose it is almost impossible to explain what it is to come to Jesus, it is so simple. If you ask a sick person who had been healed, what it was to come and be healed, he could hardly tell you. As far as the Lord has given me light in this matter, and looking at what my own heart does in like circumstances, I do not feel that there is anything more in coming to Jesus, than just believing what God says about His Son to be true. I believe that many people keep themselves in darkness by expecting something more than this. Some of you will ask, 'Is there no appropriating of Christ? no putting out the hand of faith? no touching the hem of His garment?' I quite grant, beloved, there is such a thing, but I do think it is inseparable from believing the record. If the Lord persuades you of the glory and power of Emmanuel, I feel persuaded that you cannot but choose Him. It is like opening the shutters of a dark room; the sun that moment shines in. So, the eye that is opened to the testimony of God, receives Christ that moment.\"
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\nIn the case of a faithful ministry, success is the rule; want of it the exception. For it is written: \"In doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee, (1 Tim. 4:16). Mr. McCheyne expected it, and the Lord exceeded all his hopes.
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\nIt was not yet common for persons in anxiety to go to their pastor for advice; but soon it became an almost weekly occurrence. While it was yet rare, two of his young people wrote a joint note, asking permission to come and speak with him, \"for we are anxious about our souls.\" Among those who came, there were those who had striven against the truth; persons who used to run out of hearing when the Bible was read throw down a tract if the name of God was in it-go quickly to sleep after a Sabbath's pleasure in order to drown the fear of dropping into hell. There were many whose whole previous life had been but a threadbare profession. There were some open sinners, too. In short, the Lord glorified Himself by the variety of those whom His grace subdued, and the variety of means by which His grace reached its object:
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\nOne could tell him that the reading of the chapter in the church, with a few remarks, had been the time of her awakening. Another had been struck to the heart by some expression he used in his first prayer before the sermon one Sabbath morning. But most were moved by the preaching of the word. An interesting case was that of one who was aroused to concern during his sermon on \"Unto whom coming as unto a living stone.\" As he spoke of the Father taking the gem out of His bosom, and laying it down for a foundation stone, she felt in her soul, \"I know nothing of this precious stone; I am surely not converted.\" This led her to come and speak with him. She was not under deep conviction; but before going away, he said, \"You are a poor, vile worm; it is a wonder the earth does not","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=article&aid=26698","source":"collect","new_content":"CHAPTER 3
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\nFirst Years of Labor in Dundee
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\nYe know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations. Acts 20:18, 19
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\nThe day on which he was ordained pastor of a flock, was a day of much anxiety to his soul. He had journeyed by Perth to spend the night preceding under the roof of his kind friend Mr. Grierson, in the manse of Errol. Next morning, before he left the manse, three passages of Scripture occupied his mind. 1. \"Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee\" (Isa. 26:3). This verse was seasonable; for, as he sat meditating on the solemn duties of the day, his heart trembled. 2. \"Give thyself wholly to [these things]\" (1 Tim. 4:15). May that word (he prayed) sink deep into my heart. 3. \"Here am I, send me\" (Isa. 6:8). \"'To go, or to stay-to be here till death, or to visit foreign shores, whatsoever, wheresoever, whensoever Thou pleaseast.\" He rose from his knees with the prayer, \"Lord, may Thy grace come with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery.\"
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\nHe was ordained on November 24, 1836. The service was conducted by Mr. Roxburgh of St. John's, through whose exertions the new church had been erected, and who ever afterward cherished the most cordial friendship toward him. On the Sabbath following he was introduced to his flock by Mr. John Bonar of Larbert, with whom he had labored as a son in the gospel. He preached in the afternoon on Isaiah 61:1-3, \"The Spirit of the LORD is upon me,\" etc; of which he writes, \"May it be prophetic of the object of my coming here!\" And truly it was so. That very sermon-the first preached by him as a pastor-was the means of awakening souls, as he learned later; and ever onward the impressions left by his words seemed to spread and deepen among his people. To keep up the remembrance of this solemn day, he used in all the subsequent years of his ministry to preach from this same text on the anniversary of his ordination. In the evening of that day, Mr. Bonar again preached on \"These Times of Refreshing.\" \"A nobel sermon, showing the marks of such times. Ah! when shall we have them here? Lord bless this word, to help their coming! Put Thy blessing upon this day! Felt given over to God, as one bought with a price.\"
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\nThere was a rapid growth in his soul, perceptible to al lwho knew him well, from this time. Even his pulpit preparations, he used to say, became easier fromthis date. He had earnestly sought that the day of his ordination might be a time of new grace; he expected it woudl be so; and there was a peculiar work to be done by his hands, for which the Holy Spirit speedily prepared him.
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\nHis diary does not contain much of his feelings during his residence in Dundee. His incessant labors left him little time, except what he scrupulously spent in the direct exercises of devotion. But what we have seen of his manner of study and self-examination at Larbert, is sufficient to show in what a constant state of cultivation his sould was kept; and his habits in these respects continued with him to the last. Jeremy Taylor recommends: \"If though
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\nmeanest to enlarge they religion, do it rather by enlarging thine ordinary devotions than thy extraordinary.\" This advice describes very accurately the plan of spiritual life on which Mr. McCheyne acted. He did occasionally set apart seasons for special prayer and fasting, occupying the time so set apart exclusively in devotion. But the real secret of his soul's prosperity lay in the daily enlargtement of his heart in fellowship with his God. And the river deepened as it flowed on to eternity; so that he at least reached the feature of a holy pastor which Paul pointed out to Timothy (4:15): \"His profiting did appear to all.:
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\nIn his own house everything was fitted to make you feel that the service of God was a cheerful service, while he sought that every arrangement of the family should bear upon eternity. His morning hours were set apart for the nourishment of his own soul; not, however, with the view of laying up a stock of grace for the rest of the day--for manna will corrupt if laid by--but rather with the view of \"giving the eye the habit of looking upward all the day, and drawing down gleams from the reconciled countenance.\" He was sparing in the hours devoted to sleep, and resolutely secured time for devotion before breakfast, althought often wearied and exhausted when he laid himself to rest. \"A soldier of the cross,\" was his remark, \"must endure hardness.\" Often he sang a psalm of praise, as soon as he arose, to stire up his soul. Three chapters of the Word was his usual morning portion. This he thought little enough, for he delighted exceedingly in the Scriptures: they were better to him than thousands of gold or silver. \"When you write,\" he said to a friend, \"tell me the meaning of Scriptures.\" To another, in expressing his value fo rthe Word, he said, \"One gem from that ocean is worth all the pebbles of earthly streams.\"
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\nHis chief season of relaxation seemed to be breakfast time. He would come down with a happy countenance and a full soul; and after the sweet season of family prayer, immediately begin forming plans for the day. When he was well, nothing seemed to afford him such true delight as to have his hands full of work. Indeed, it was often remarked that inhim you found--what you rarely meet with--a man of high poetic imagination and deep devotion, who nevertheless was engagted unceasingly in the busiest and most laborious activities of his office.
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\nHis friend could observe how much his soul was engrossed during his times of study of devotion. If interrupted on such occasions, though he never seemed ruffled, yet there was a kind of gravity and silence that implised--\"I wish to be alone.\" But he further aimed at enjoying God all the day. And referring on one occasion to those blank house which so often are a believer's burden--hours during which the sould is dry and barren--he observed, \"They are proofs of how little we are filled with the presence of God, how little we are branch like (Zec4:12; John 15:5) in our faith.\"
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\nThis careful attention to the frame of his spirit did not hinder his preparation for his people; on the contrary, it kept alive his deep conscientiousness, and kept his warm compassion ever yearning. When asked to observe a Saturday as a day of fasting and prayer, along with some others who had a special object in view, he replied, \"Saturday is an awkward day for ministers; for though I love to seek help from on high, I love also diligently to set my thoughts in order for the Sabbath. I sometimes fear that you fail in this latter duty.\"
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\nDuring his first years in Dundee, he often rode out in an afternoon to the ruined church of Invergowrie, to enjoy an hour's perfect solitude; for he felt meditation and prayer to be the very sinews of his work. Such notices, also, as the following, show his systematic pursuit of personal holiness:
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\n\"April 9, 1837, Evening-A very pleasant quietness. Study of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Came to a more intelligent view of the first six chapters than ever before. Much refreshed by John Newton; instructed by Edwards. Help and freedom in prayer. Lord, what a happy season is a Sabbath evening! What will heaven be!\"
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\n\"April 16, Sabbath evening-Much prayer and peace. Reading the Bible only.\"
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\n\"June 2-Much peace and rest tonight. Much broken under a sense of my exceeding wickedness, which no eye can see but thine. Much persuasion of the sufficiency of Christ, and of the constancy of His love. Oh how sweet to work all day for God, and then to lie down at night under His smiles!\"
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\n\"June 17, 1838-At Dumbarney communion. Much sin and coldness two days before. Lay low at His feet; found peace only in Jesus.\"
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\n\"Sept. 25-Spent last week at Blairgowrie; I hope not in vain. Much sin, weakness, and uselessness; much delight in the Word also, while opening it up at family prayer. May God make the word fire. Opened 1 Thessalonians, the whole; enriching to my own mind. How true is Psalm 1 ! yet observedin my heart a strange proneness to be entangled with the affairs of this life; not strange because I am good, but because I have been so often taught that bitterness is the end of it.\"
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\n\"Sept. 27-Devoted chief part of Friday to fasting. Humbled and refreshed.\"
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\n\"Sept. 30, Sabbath-Very happy in my work. Too little prayer in the morning. Must try to get early to bed on Saturday, that I may 'rise a great while before day.'\" These early hours of prayer on Sabbath he endeavored to have all his life; not for study, but for prayer. He never labored at his sermons on a Sabbath. That day he kept for its original end, the refreshment of his soul (Exod. 31:17).
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\nThe parish of St. Peter's, to which he had come, was large and very destitute. It is situated at the west end of the town, and included some part of the adjacent country. The church was built in connection with the Church Extension Scheme. The parish was a quoard sacra parish, detached from St. John's. It contains a population of 4,000 souls, very many of whom never crossed the threshold of any sanctuary. His congregation amounted at the very outset, to about 1,100 hearers, one-third of whom came from distant parts of the town.
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\nHere was a wide field for parochial labor. It was also a very dead region-few, even of those who were living Christians, breathing their life on others; for the surrounding mass of impenetrable heathenism had cast its sad influence even over them. His first impressions of Dundee were severe. \"A city given to idolatry and hardness of heart. I fear there is much of what Isaiah speaks of: 'The prophets prophesy lies, and the people love to have it so.'\"
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\nHis first months of labor were very trying. He was not strong in bodily health, and that winter a fatal influenza prevailed for two or three months, so that most of his time in his parish was spent in visiting the sick and dying. In such cases he was always ready. \"Did I tell you of the boy I was asked to see on Sabbath evening, just when I got myself comfortably seated at home? I went, and was speaking to him of the freeness and fullness of Jesus, when he gasped a little and died.\"
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\nIn one of his first visits to the sick, the narrative of theLord's singular dealings with one of his parishioners greatly encouraged him to carry the glad tidings to the distressed under every disadvantage. Four years before, a young woman had been seized with cholera, and was deprived of the use of speech for a whole year. The Bible was read to her, and men of God used to speak and pray with her. At the end of the year her tongue was loosed, and the first words heard from her lips were praise and thanksgiving for what the Lord had done for her soul. It was in her chamber he was now standing, hearing from her own lips what the Lord had wrought.
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\nOn another occasion during the first year of his ministry, he witnessed the deathbed conversion of a man who, till within a few days of his end, almost denied that there was a God. This solid conversion, as he believed it to be, stirred him up to speak with all hopefulness, as well as earnestness, to the dying.
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\nBut it was, above all, to the children of God that his visitations seemed blessed. His voice, and his, very eye, spoke tenderness; for personal affliction had taught him to feel sympathy with the sorrowing. Though the following be an extract from a letter, yet it will be recognized by many as exhibiting his mode of dealing with God's afflicted ones in his visitations: \"There is a sweet word in Exodus (3:7), which was pointed out to me the other day by a poor bereaved child of God: 'I know their sorrows.' Study that; it fills the soul. Another word like it is in Psalm 103:14: 'He knoweth our frame.' May your own soul, and that of your dear friends, be fed by these things. A dark hour makes Jesus bright. Another sweet word: 'They knew not that it was Jesus.'\"
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\nI find some specimens of his sick visits among his papers, noted down at a time when his work had not grown upon his hands. \"January 25, 1837-Visited Mt. M'Bain, a young woman of twenty-four, long ill of decline. Better or worse these ten years past. Spoke of 'The one thing needful' plainly. She sat quiet. February 14-Had heard she was better-found her near dying. Spoke plainly and tenderly to her, commending Christ. Used many texts. She put out her hand kindly on leaving. 15th-Still dying like; spoke as yesterday. She never opened her eyes. 16th-Showed her the dreadfulness of wrath;freeness of Christ; the majesty, justice, truth of God. Poor M.is fast going the way whence she shall not return. Many neighbors also always gather in. 17th-Read Psalm 22; showed the sufferings of Christ; how sufficient an atonement; how feeling a High Priest. She breathed loud, and groaned through pain. Died this evening at seven. I hardly ever heard her speak anything; and I will hope that thou art with Christ in glory, till I go and see. 20th-Prayed at her funeral. Saw her laid in St. Peter's churchyard, the first laid there, by her own desire, in the fresh mould where never man was laid. May it be a token that she is with Him who was laid in a new tomb.\"
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\nHe records another case: \"January 4, 1837-Sent for to Mrs. S-. Very ill; asthmatic. Spoke on 'No condemnation to them that are in Christ.' She said, 'But am I in Christ?, seemingly very anxious. Said she had often been so, and had let it go by. 5th-Still living; spoke to her of Christ, and of full salvation. (Myself confined in the house till the 16th.)-Much worse. Not anxious to hear, yet far from rest. Dark, uneasy eye. Asked me, 'What is it to believe?' Spoke to her on 'God, who made light shine out of darkness.' She seemed to take up nothing. Lord, help! 17th-Still worse; wearing away. No smile; no sign of inward peace. Spoke of 'Remember me.' Went over the whole gospel in the form of personal address. She drowsy. 18th-Quieter. 'My Lord and my God.' She spoke at intervals. More cheerful; anxious that I should not go without prayer. Has much knowledge; complete command of the Bible. 19th-Spoke on 'Convincing of sin and righteousness.' Rather more heart to hear. 20th-Psalm 51. Her look and her words were lightsome. 23d-Faintish and restless; no sign of peace. 'I am the way,' and Psalm 25. 24th-Still silent and little sign of anything. 26th-Psalm 40, 'The fearful pit.' Very plain. Could not get anything out of her. February 1-Died at twelve noon; no visible mark of light, or comfort, or hope. The day shall declare it.\"
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\nOne other case: \"February 5, 1839-Called suddenly in the evening. Found him near death. Careless family. Many round him. Spoke of the freeness and sufficiency of Jesus. 'Come unto me,' etc., and 'The wrath of God revealed from heaven.'Told him he was going where he would see Christ! asked him if He would be his Saviour? He seemed to answer; his father said, 'He is saying, Yes.' But it was the throe of death. One or two indescribable gasps, and he died! I sat silent, and let God preach. 7th-Spoke of the 'Widow of Nain,' and 'Behold I stand at the door.'\"
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\nAttendance at funerals was often to him a season of much exercise. Should it not be to all ministers a time for solemn inquiry? Was I faithful with this soul? Could this soul have learned salvation from me every time I saw him? And did I pray as fervently as I spoke? And if we have tender pity for souls, we will sometimes feel as Mr. McCheyne records: \"September 24-Buried A. M. Felt bitterly the word, 'If any man draw back.' etc. Never had more bitter feelings at any funeral.\"
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\nAll who make any pretension to the office of shepherds visit their flocks; 3 yet there is a wide difference in the kind of visits that shepherds give. One does it formally, to discharge his duty and to quiet conscience; another makes it his delight. And of those who make it their delight, one goes forth on the regular plan of addressing all in somewhat of the same style; while another speaks freely, according as the wounds of his sheep come to view. On all occasions, this difficult and trying work must be gone about with a full heart, if it is to be gone about successfully at all. There is little in it to excite, for there is not the presence of numbers, and the few you see at a time are in their calmest, everyday mood. Hence there is need of being full of grace, and need of feeling as though God did visit every hearer by your means. Our object is not to get duty done, but to get souls saved. 2 Corinthians 13:7. Mr. McCheyne used to go forth in this spirit, and often after visiting from house to house for several hours, he would return to some room in the place in the evening, and preach to the gathered families. \"September 26, 1838-Good visiting day. Twelve families; many of them go nowhere. It is a great thing to be well furnished by meditation and prayer before setting out;it makes you a far more full and faithful witness. Preached in A. F's house on Job, 'I know that my Redeemer liveth.' Very sweet and precious to myself.\"
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\nPartly from his state of health, and partly from the vast accumulation of other labors, and the calls made on him for evangelizing elsewhere, he was never able to overtake the visitation of the whole district assigned him. He was blessed to attract and reclaim many of the most degraded; and by Sabbath schools and a regular eldership, to take superintendence of the population to a great extent. Still he himself often said that his parish had never fully shared in the advantages that attend an aggressive system of parochial labor. Once when spending a day in the rural parish of Collace, as we went in the afternoon from door to door, and spoke to the children whom we met on the roadside, he smiled and said, \"Well, how I envy a country minister; for he can get acquainted with all his people, and have some insight, into their real character.\" Many of us thought that he afterward erred, in the abundant frequency of his evangelistic labors at a time when he was still bound to a particular flock.
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\nHe had an evening class every week for the young people of his congregation. The Catechism and the Bible were his textbooks, while he freely introduced all manner of useful illustrations. He thought himself bound to prepare diligently for his classes, that he might give accurate and simple explanations, and unite what was interesting with the most solemn and awakening views. But it was his class for young communicants that engaged his deepest care, and wherein he saw most success. He began a class of this kind previous to his first Communion, and continued to form it again some weeks before every similar occasion. His tract, published in 1840. \"This do in remembrance of Me,\" may be considered as exhibiting the substance of his solemn examination on these occasions.
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\nHe usually noted down his first impressions of his communicants, and compared these notes with what he afterward saw in them. Thus: \"M. K., sprightly and lightsome, yet sensible; she saw plainly that the converted alone should come to the Table, but stumbled at the question, If she were converted? Yet she claimed being awakened and brought to Christ.\" Another: \"Very staid, intelligent-like person, with a steady kind of anxiety, but, I fear, no feeling of helplessness. Thought that sorrow and prayer would obtain forgiveness. Told her plainly what I thought of her case.\" Another: \"Knows she was once Christless; now she reads, and prays, and is anxious. I doubt not there is some anxiety, yet I fear it may be only a self-reformation to recommend herself to God and to man. Told her plainly.\" \"A.M., I fear much for him. Gave him a token with much anxiety; warned him very much.\" \"C.P does not seem to have any work of anxiety. He reads prayer-books, etc. Does not pray in secret. Seems not very intelligent.\"
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\nHe sought to encourage Sabbath schools in all the districts of his parish. The hymn, \"Oil for the Lamp,\" was written to impress the parable on a class of Sabbath scholars in 1841. Some of his sweet, simple tracts were written for these schools. \"Reasons Why Children Should Fly to Christ\" was the first, written at the New Year 1839; and \"The Lambs of the Flock\" was another at a later period. His heart felt for the young. One evening, after visiting some of his Sabbath schools, he writes: \"Had considerable joy in teaching the children. Oh for real heart-work among them!\" He could accommodate himself to their capacities; and he did not consider it vain to use his talents in order to attract their attention, for he regarded the soul of a child as infinitely precious. Ever watchful for opportunities, on the blank leaf of a book which he had sent to a little boy of his congregation, he wrote these simple lines:
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\nPeace be to thee, gentle boy! Many years of health and joy! Love your Bible more than play, Grow in wisdom every day. Like the lark on hovering wing, Early rise, and mount and sing; Like the dove that found no rest Till it flew to Noah's breast, Rest not in this world of sin,Till the Saviour take thee in.
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\nHe had a high standard in his mind as to the moral qualifications of those who should teach the young. When a female teacher was sought to conduct an evening school in his parish for the sake of the mill girls, he wrote to one interested in the cause: \"The qualifications she should possess for sewing and knitting you will understand far better than I. She should be able to keep up in her scholars the fluencey of reading, and the knowledge of the Bible and Catechism which they may have already acquired. She should be able to teach them to sing the praises of God with feeling and melody. But, far above all, she should be a Christian woman, not in name only but in deed and in truth-one whose heart has been touched by the Spirit of God, and who can love the souls of little children. Any teacher who wanted this last qualification, I would look upon as a curse rather than a blessing-a centre of blasting and coldness and death, instead of a centre from which life and warmth and heavenly influence might emanate.\"
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\nIt was very soon after his ordination that he began his weekly prayer meeting in the church. He had heard how meetings of this kind had been blessed in other places, and never had he any cause to regret having set apart the Thursday evening for this holy purpose. One of its first effects was to quicken those who had already believed; they were often refreshed on these occasions even more than on the Sabbath. Some of the most solemn seasons of his ministry were at those meetings. At their commencement, he wrote to me an account of his manner of conducting them: \"I give my people a Scripture to be hidden in the heart-generally a promise of the Spirit or the wonderful effects of his outpouring.(4) I give them the heads of a sermon upon it for about twenty minutes. Prayer goes before and follows. Then I read some history of Revivals, and comment in passing. I think the people are very interested in it: a number of people come from all parts of the town. But oh! I need much the living Spirit to my own soul; I want my life to be hid with Christ In God. At present there is too much hurry, and bustle, and outward working, to allowthe calm working of the Spirit on the heart. I seldom get time to meditate, like Isaac, at evening-tide, except when I am tired; but the dew comes down when all nature is at rest-when every leaf is still.\"An example of the happy freedom and familiar illustrations that his people felt to be peculiar to these meetings, may be found in the notes taken by one of his hearers, of \"Expositions of the Epistles to the Seven Churches,\" given during the year 1838. He had himself great delight in the Thursday evening meetings. \"They will doubtless be remembered in eternity with songs of praise,\" he said on one occasion; and at another time, observing the tender frame of a soul that was often manifested at these seasons, he said, \"There is a stillness to the last word-not as on Sabbaths, a rushing down at the end of the prayer, as if glad to get out of God's presence.\" So many believing and so many inquiring souls used to attend, and so few of the worldlings, that you seemed to breathe the atmosphere of heaven.
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\nBut it was his Sabbath day's services that brought multitudes together, and were soon felt throughout the town. He was ever so ready to assist his brethren so much engaged in every good work, and also so often interrupted by inquiries, that it might be thought he had no time for careful preparation, and might be excused for the absence of it. But, in truth, he never preached without careful attention bestowed on his subject. He might, indeed, have little time-often the hours of a Saturday was all the time he could manage-but his daily study of the Scriptures stored his mind, and formed a continual preparation. Much of his Sabbath services was a drawing out of what he had carried in during busy days of the week.
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\nHis voice was remarkably clear-his manner attractive by its mild dignity. His form itself drew the eye. (5) He spoke from the pulpit as one earnestly occupied with the souls before him. He made them feel sympathy with what he spoke, for his own eye and heart were on them. He was, at the same time, able to bring out illustrations at once simple and felicitous, often with poetic skill and elegance. He wished to use Saxon words, for the sake of being understood by the most illiterate in his audience. And while his style was singularly clear, this clearness itself was so much the consequence of his being able thoroughly to analyze and explain his subject, that all his hearers alike reaped the benefit.
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\nHe went about his community work with awesome reverence. So evident was this, that I remember a countryman in my parish observed to me: \"Before he opened his lips, as he came along the passage, there was something about him that sorely affected me.\" In the vestry there was never any idle conversation; all was preparation of heart in approaching God; and a short prayer preceded his entering the pulpit. Surely in going forth to speak for God, a man may well be overawed! Surely in putting forth his hand to sow the seed of the kingdom, a man may even tremble! And surely we should aim at nothing less than to pour forth the truth on our people through the channel of our own living and deeply affected souls.
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\nAfter announcing the subject of his discourse, he generally used to show the position it occupied in the context, and then proceed to bring out the doctrines of the text, in the manner of our old divines. This done, he divided his subject; and herein he was eminently skillful. \"The heads of his sermons,\" said a friend, \"were not the milestones that tell you how near you are to your journey's end, but they were nails which fixed and fastened all he said. Divisions are often dry; but not so his divisions-they were so textual and so feeling, and they brought out the spirit of a passage so surprisingly.
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\nIt was his wish to arrive closer to the primitive mode of expounding Scripture in his sermons. Therefore, when one asked him if he was never afraid of running short of sermons some day, he replied, \"No; I am just an interpreter of Scripture in my sermons; and when the Bible runs dry, then I shall.\" And in the same spirit he carefully avoided the too common mode of accommodating texts-fastening a doctrine on the words, not drawing it from the obvious connection of the passage. He endeavored at all times to preach the mind of the Spirit in a passage; for he feared that to do otherwise would be to grieve the Spirit who had written it. InterpretaLion was thus a solemn matter to him. And yet, adhering scrupulously to this sure principle, he felt himself in no way restrained from using, for every day's necessitites, all parts of the Old Testament as much as the New. His manner was first to ascertain the primary sense and application, and so proceed to handle it for present use. Thus, on Isaiah 26:16-19, he began: \"This passage, I believe, refers literally to the conversion of God's ancient people.\" He regarded the prophecies as history yet to be, and drew lessons from them accordingly as he would have done from the past. Every spiritual gift being in the hands of Jesus, if he found Moses or Paul in the possession of precious things, he immediately was led to follow them into the presence of that same Lord who gave them all their grace.
\n
\nThere is a wide difference between preaching doctrine and preaching Christ. Mr. McCheyne preached all the doctrines of Scripture as understood by our Confession of Faith, dwelling on ruin by the Fall, and recovery by the Mediator. \"The things of the human heart, and the things of the Divine Mind,\" were in substance his constant theme. From personal experience of deep temptation, he could lay open the secrets of the heart, so that he once said, \"He supposed the reason why some of the worst sinners in Dundee had come to hear him was, because his heart exhibited so much likeness to theirs.\" Still it was not doctrine alone that he preached; it was Christ, from whom all doctrine shoots forth as rays from a center. He sought to hang every vessel and battle on Him. \"It is strange,\" he wrote after preaching on Revelation 1:15: \"It is strange how sweet and precious it is to preach directly about Christ, compared with all other subjects of preaching.\" And he often expressed a dislike of the phrase \"giving attention to religion,\" because it seemed to substitute doctrine, and a devout way of thinking, for Christ himself.
\n
\nIt is difficult to convey to those who never knew him a correct idea of the sweetness and holy unction of his preaching. Some of his sermons, printed from his own manuscripts (although almost all are first copies), may convey a correct idea of his style and mode of preaching doctrine. But there are no notes that give any true idea of his affectionate appeals to theheart and searching applications. These he seldom wrote; they were poured forth at the moment when his heart filled with his subject; for his rule was to set before his hearers a body of truth first-and there always was a vast amount of Bible truth in his discourses-and then urge home the application. His exhortations flowed from his doctrine, and thus had both variety and power. He was systematic in this; for he observed: \"Appeals to the careless, etc., come with power on the back of some massy truth. See how Paul does (Acts. 13:40), 'Beware, therefore, lest,' etc., and (Hebrews 2:1), 'Therefore we should,' etc.\"
\n
\nHe was sometimes a little unguarded in his statements, when his heart was deeply moved and his feelings stirred, and sometimes he was too long in his addresses; but this also arose from the fullness of his soul. \"Another word,\" he thought, \"may be blessed, though the last has made no impression.\"
\n
\nMany will remember forever the blessed Communion Sabbaths that were enjoyed in St. Peter's. From the very first these Communion seasons were remarkably owned of God. The awe of His presence used to be upon His people, and the house filled with the odor of the ointment, when his name was poured forth (Song of Sol. 1:3). But on common Sabbaths also many soon began to journey long distances to attend St. Peter's-many from country parishes, who would return home with their hearts burning, as they talked of what they had heard that day.
\n
\nMr. McCheyne knew the snare of popularity, and naturally was one that would have been fascinated by it; but the Lord kept him.
\n
\nHe was sometimes extraordinarily helped in his preaching; but at other times, though not perceived by his hearers, his soul felt as if left to its own resources. The cry of Rowland Hill was constantly on his lips, \"Master, help!\" and often is it written at the close of his sermon. Much affliction, also, was a thorn in the flesh to him. He described himself as often \"strong as a giant when in the church, but like a willow-wand when all was over.\" But certainly, above all, his abiding sense of the divine favor was his safeguard. He began his ministry in Dundee with this sunshine on his way. \"As yet I have been keptnot only in the light of his reconciled countenance, but very much under the guiding eye of our providing God. Indeed, as I remember good old Swartz used to say, 'I could not have imagined that He could have been so gracious to us.'\" I believe that while he had some deeper conflicts, he had also far deeper joy after his return from Palestine than in the early part of his ministry, though from the very beginning of it he enjoyed the sense of the love of God that \"keeps the heart and mind.\" (Phil. 4:7) This was the true secret of his holy walk, and of his calm humility. But for this, his ambition would have become the only principle of many an action; but now the sweeter love of God constrained him, and the natural ambition of his spirit could be discerned only as suggesting to him the idea of making attempts that others would have declined.
\n
\nWhat monotony there is in the ministry of many! Duty presses on the heels of duty in an endless circle. But it is not so when the Spirit is quickening both the pastor and his flock. Then there is all the variety of life. It was so here. The Lord began to work by his means almost from the first day he came. There was always one or another stricken, and going apart to weep alone.
\n
\nThe flocking of souls to his ministry, and the deep interest excited, drew the attention of many, and raised the wish in some quarters to have him as their pastor. He had not been engaged many months in his laborious work when he was invited to move to the parish of Skirling, near Biggar. It was an offer that presented great advantages above his own field of labor as to worldly gain, and in respect of the prospect it held out of comparative ease and comfort; for the parish was small and the salary great. But as it is required of a bishop, that he be \"not greedy of filthy lucre,\" nay, that he be \"one who has no love of money\" (1 Tim. 3:3) at all, so was it true that in him these qualifications eminently shone. His remarks in a letter to his father contain the honest expression of his feelings: \"I am set down among nearly 4000 people; 1100 people have taken seats in my church. I bring my message, such as it is, within the reach of that great company every Sabbath-day. I dare not leave 3000 or 4000,for 300 people. Had this been offered me before, I would have seen it a direct intimation from God, and would heartily have embraced it. How I should have delighted to feed so precious a little flock-to watch over every family-to know every heart-'to allure to brighter worlds and lead the way!' But God has not so ordered it. He has set me down among the noisy mechanics and political weavers of this godless town. He will make the money sufficient. He that paid His taxes from a fish's mouth, will supply all my need.\" He had already expressed the hope, \"Perhaps the Lord will make His wilderness of chimney-tops to be green and beautiful as the garden of the Lord, a field which the Lord hath blessed!\"
\n
\nHis health was delicate; and the harassing care and endless fatigue incident to his position, in a town like Dundee, seemed unsuitable to his spirit. This belief led to another attempt to remove him to a country area. In the summer of this same year (1837) he was strongly urged to preach as a candidate for the vacant parish of St. Martin's, near Perth, and was assured of the appointment if he would only come forward. But he declined again: \"My Master has placed me here with His own hand; and I never will, directly or indirectly, seek to be removed.\"
\n
\nThere were circumstances in this latter case that made the call on him appear urgent in several points of view. In coming to a resolution, he mentions one interesting element in the decision, in a letter to me, dated August 8. \"I was much troubled about being asked to go to a neighboring parish at present vacant, and made it a matter of prayer; and I mention it now because of the wonderful answer to prayer which I think I received from God. I prayed that in order to settle my own mind completely about staying, He would awaken some of my people. I agreed that that should be a sign He would wish me to stay. The next morning I think, or at least the second morning, there came to me two young persons I had never seen before, in great distress. What brought this to my mind was, that they came to me yesterday, and their distress is greatly increased. Indeed I never saw any people in such anguish about their soul. I cannot but regard this as a real answer to prayer. I have also several other persons in deep distress, andI feel that I am quite helpless in comforting them. I would fain be like Noah, who put out his hand and took in the weary dove; but God makes me stand by and feel that I am a child. Will God never cast the scenes of our labor near each other? We are in His hand; let Him do as seemeth Him good. Pray for me, for my people, for my own soul, that I be not a cast away.\"
\n
\nFew godly pastors can be willing to change the scene of their labors, unless it is plain that the cloudy pillar is pointing them away. It is perilous for men to choose for themselves; and too often has it happened that the minister who, on slight grounds, moved away from his former watchtower, has had reason to mourn over the disappointment of his hopes in his larger and wider parish. But while this is admitted, probably it may appear unwarrantable in Mr. McCheyne to have prayed for a sign of the Lord's will. It is to be observed, however, that he decided the point of duty on other grounds; and it was only with the view of obtaining an additional confirmation by the occurrences of providence, that he prayed in this manner, in submission to the will of the Lord. He never held it right to decide the path of duty by any such signs or tokens; he believed that the written Word supplied sufficient data for guiding the believing soul; and such providential occurrences as happened in this case he regarded as important only as far as they might be answers to prayer. Indeed, he himself has left us a glance of his views on this point in a fragment, which (for it is not dated) may have been written about this time. He had been thinking on Gideon's Fleece.
\n
\nWhen God called Gideon forth to fight\"Go, save thou Israel in thy might,\" The faithful warrior sought a sign That God would on his labors shine.
\n
\nThe man who, at thy dread command,
\n
\nLifted the shield and deadly brand.
\n
\n\u2022\tdo thy strange and fearful work
\n
\nThy work of blood and vengeance, Lord!
\n
\nMight need assurance doubly tried,
\n
\n\u2022\tprove Thou wouldst his steps betide.
\n
\nBut when the message which we bring
\n
\nIs one to make the dumb man sing;
\n
\n\u2022\tbid the blind man wash and see,
\n
\nThe lame to leap with ecstasy;
\n
\n\u2022\traise the soul that's bowed down,
\n
\n\u2022\twipe away the tears and frown
\n
\n\u2022\tsprinkle all the heart within From the accusing voice of sinThen, such a sign my call to prove, To preach my Saviour's dying love, I cannot, dare not, hope to find.
\n
\nAt the close of the same year 1837, he agreed to become Secretary to the Association for Church Extension in the country of Forfar. The Church Extension Scheme, though much misrepresented and much misunderstood, had in view as its genuine, sincere endeavor, to bring to overgrown parishes the advantage of a faithful minister, placed over such a number of souls as he could really visit. Mr. McCheyne cheerfully and diligently forwarded these objects to the utmost of his power. \"It is the cause of God.\" he said, \"and therefore I am willing to spend and be spent for it.\" It compelled him to ride much from place to place; but riding was an exercise of which he was fond, and which was favorable to his health. As an example-\"Dec. 4, 1838. Travelled to Montrose. Spoke along with Mr. Guthrie at a Church Extension meeting; eight or nine hundred present. Tried to do something in the Saviour's cause, both directly and indirectly. Next day at Forfar. Spoke in the same cause.\"
\n
\nHow heartily he entered into this program may be seen from the following extract. In a letter of late date to Mr. Roxburgh, he says: \"Every day I live, I feel more and more persuaded that it is the cause of God and his kingdom in Scotland in our day. Many a time, when I thought myself a dying man, the souls of the perishing thousands in my own parish, who never enter any house of God, have lain heavy on my heart. Many a time have I prayed that the eyes of our enemies might be opened, and that God would open the hearts of our rulers, to feel that their highest duty and greatest glory is to support the ministers of Christ, and to send these to every perishingIsoul in Scotland.\" He felt that their misery was all the greater, and their need the deeper, that such neglected souls had no wish for help, and would never ask for it themselves. Nor was it that he imagined that, if churches were built and ministers endowed, this would of itself be sufficient to reclaim the multitudes of perishing men. But he sought and expected that the Lord would send faithful men into His vineyard. These new churches were to be like cisterns-ready to catch the shower when it should fall, just as his own did in the day of the Lord's power.
\n
\nHis views on this subject were summed up in the following lines, written one day as he sat in company with some of hiszealous brethren who were deeply engaged in the program: Give me a man of God the truth to preach, A house of prayer within convenient reach,Seat-rents the poorest of the poor can pay, A spot so small one pastor can survey:
\n
\nGive these-and give the Spirit's genial shower, Scotland shall be a garden all in flower!
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\nAnother public duty to which, during all the years of his ministry, he gave constant attention, was attendance at the meetings of presbytery. His candor, and uprightness, and Christian generosity, were felt by all his brethren; and his opinion, though the opinion of so young a man, was regarded with more than common respect. In regard to the great public questions that were then shaking the Church of Scotland, his views were decided and unhesitating. No policy, in his view, could be more ruinous to true Christianity, or more fitted to blight vital godliness, than that of Moderatism. He wrote once to a friend in Ireland: \"You don't know what Moderatism is. It is a plant that our heavenly Father never planted, and I trust it is now to be rooted up.\" The great question of the church's independence of the civil power in all matters spiritual, and the right of the Christian people to judge if the pastor appointed over them had the Shepherd's voice, he invariably held to be part of Scripture truth, which, therefore, must be preached and carried into practice, at all hazards. In like manner he rejoiced exceedingly in the settlements of faithful ministers. The appointments of Mr. Baxter to Hilltown, Mr. Lewis to St. David's, and Mr. Miller to Wallacetown at a later period, are all noticed by him with expressions of thankfulness and joy; and it occasioned the same feelings if he heard of the destitution of any parish in any part of the country supplied. He writes, Sept. 20, 1838: \"Present at A. B.'s ordination at Collace with great joy. Blessed be God for the gift of this pastor. Give testimony to the word of Thy grace.\"
\n
\nBusy at home, he nevertheless always had a keenly evangelistic spirit. He might have written much and have gained a name by his writings; but he laid everything aside when compared to preaching the everlasting gospel. He scarcely ever refused an invitation to preach on a weekday; and traveling from place to place did not interrupt his fellowship with God. His occasional visits during these years were much blessed. At Blairgowrie and Collace his visits were longed for as times of special refreshment; nor was it less so at Kirriemuir, when he visited Mr. Cormick, or at Abernyte in the days when Mr. Hamilton (now of Regent Square, London), and afterward Mr. Manson, were laboring in that vineyard. It would be difficult even to enumerate the places where he watered at Communion seasons; and in some of these it was stated of him that not the words he spoke, but the holy manner in which he spoke, was the chief means of arresting souls.
\n
\nOccasionally two or three of us, whose lot was cast within convenient distance, and whose souls panted for the same water brooks, used to meet together to spend a whole day in confession of ministerial and personal sins, with prayer for grace, guiding ourselves by the reading of the Word. At such times we used to meet in the evening with the flock of the pastor in whose house the meeting had been held through the day, and there unitedly pray for the Holy Spirit being poured down upon the people. The first time we held such a meeting, there were tokens of blessing observed by several of us; and the week after he wrote: \"Has there been any fruit of the happy day we spent with you? I thought I saw some the Sabbath after, here. In due season we shall reap if we faint not; only be thou strong, and of a good courage.\" The incident that encouraged him is recorded in his diary. An elderly person came to tell him how the river of joy and peace in believinghad that Sabbath most singularly flowed through her soul, so that she blessed God that she ever came to St. Peter's. He adds \"N.B.-This seems a fruit of our prayer-meeting, begun last Wednesday at Collace-one drop of the shower.\"
\n
\nIt should have been mentioned before now, that during all his ministry he was careful to use not only the direct means appointed for the conversion of souls, but those also that appear more indirect, such as the key of discipline. In regard to the Lord's Supper, his little tract explains his views. He believed that to keep back those whose profession was a credible profession, even while the pastor might have strong doubts as to their fitness in his own mind, was not the rule laid down for us in the New Testament. At the same time, he as steadily maintained that no unconverted person ought to come to the Lord's Table; and on this point \"they should judge themselves if they would not be judged.\"
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\nWhen communicants came to be admitted for the first time, or when parents who had been communicants before came for baptism for their children, it was his custom to ask them solemnly if their souls were saved. His dealing with them was blessed to the conversion of a number of young persons who were coming carelessly forward to the Communion; and and he records the blessing that attended his faithful dealing with a parent coming to speak with him about the baptism of his child. The man said that he had been thinking and believed himself in the right way-that he felt his disposition better, for he could forgive others. Mr. McCheyne showed him that nevertheless he was ignorant of God's righteousness. The man laid it to heart; and when Mr. McCheyne said that he thought it would be better to defer the baptism, the man at once offered to come again and speak on the matter. On a subsequent visit, he seemed really to have seen his error, and to have cast away his own righteousness. When his child was baptized, it was joy to the pastor's heart to have the good hope that the man had received salvation.
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\nIn connection with the superstitious feeling of the most depraved as to baptism, he related an affecting occurrence. A careless parent one evening entered his house, and asked him to come with him to baptize a dying child. He knew thatneither this man nor his wife ever entered the door of a church; but he rose and went with him to the miserable dwelling. There an infant lay, apparently dying; and many of the female neighbors, equally depraved with the parents, stood around. He came forward to where the child was, and spoke to the parents of their ungodly state and fearful guilt before God, and concluded by showing them that, in such circumstances, he would consider it sinful in him to administer baptism to their infant. They said, \"He might at least do it for the sake of the poor child.\" He told them that it was not baptism that saved a soul, and that out of true concern for themselves he must not do as they wished. The friends around the bed then joined the parents in upbraiding him as having no pity on the poor infant's soul! He stood among them still, and showed them that it was they who had been cruel to their child; and then lifted up his voice in solemn warning, and left the house amid their ignorant reproaches.
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\nNor did he make light of the church session's power to rebuke and deal with an offender. Once from the pulpit, at an ordination of elders, he gave the following testimony: \"When I first entered upon the work of the ministry among you, I was exceedingly ignorant of the vast importance of church discipline. I thought that my great and almost only work was to pray and preach. I saw your souls to be so precious, and the time so short, that I devoted all my time, and care, and strength, to labor in word and doctrine. When cases of discipline were brought before me and the elders, I regarded them with something like abhorrence. It was a duty I shrank from; and I may truly say it nearly drove me from the work of the ministry among you altogether. But it pleased God, who teaches His servants in another way than man teaches, to bless some of the cases of discipline to the manifest and undeniable conversion of the souls of those under our care; and from that hour a new light broke in upon my mind, and I saw that if preaching be an ordinance of Christ, so is church discipline. I now feel very deeply persuaded that both are of God that two keys are committed to us by Christ: the one the key of doctrine, by means of which we unlock the treasures of the Bible; the other the key of discipline, by which we open orshut the way to the sealing ordinances of the faith. Both are Christ's gift, and neither is to be resigned without sin.\"
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\nThere was still another means of enforcing what he preached, in the use of which he has excelled all his brethren, namely, the holy consistency of his daily walk. Aware that one idle word, one needless contention, one covetous act, may destroy in our people the effect of many a solemn expostulation and earnest warning, he was uniquely circumspect in his everyday walk. He wished to be always in the presence of God. If he traveled, he labored to enjoy God along the way, as well as to do good to others by dropping a word in season. In riding or walking, he seized opportunities to give a useful tract; and, on principle, he preferred giving it to the person directly, rather than casting it on the road. The former way, he said, was more open-there was no stealth in it; and we ought to be as clear as crystal in speaking or acting for Jesus. In writing a note, however short, he sought to season it with salt. If he passed a night in a strange place, he tried to bear the place especially on his soul at the mercy seat; and if compelled to take some rest from his too exhausting toils, his relaxation was little else than a change of occupation, from one mode of glorifying God to another. (Baxter's words are not less than the truth: \"Recreation to a minister must be as whetting is with the mower, that is, only to be used so far as is necessary for his work. May a physician in the plague-time take any more relaxation or recreation than is necessary for his life, when so many are expecting his help in a case of life and death?\" \"Will you stand by and see sinners grasping under the pangs of death, and say, God doth not require me to make myself a drudge to save them? Is this the voice of ministerial
\n
\nor Christian compassion, or rather of sensual laziness and diabolical cruelty?\"-Ref. Past. 6:6) His beautiful hymn, \"I Am a Debtor,\" was written in May 1837, at a leisure hour.
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\nWhatever is said in the pulpit, men will not regard much though they may feel it at the time, if the minister does not say the same in private, with equal earnestness, in speaking with his people face to face; and it must be in our moments of closest intercourse with them, that we are thus to put the seal to all we say in public. Close moments are the times when the things that are most closely twined around the heart are brought out to view; and shall we, by tacit consent, introduce the Lord that bought us into such happy hours? We must not only speak faithfully to our people in our sermons, but live faithfully for them too. Perhaps it may be found that the reason why many who preach the gospel fully and in all earnestness are not used of God in the conversion of souls, is to be found in their defective exhibition of grace in these easy moments of life. \"Them that honour me, I will honour\" (1 Sam. 2:30). It was noticed long ago that men will allow you to preach against their sins as much as you will, if you will be easy with them when you have finished, and talk as they do, and live as they live. How much different it was with Mr. M'Cheyne, as all who knew him can testify.
\n
\nHis visits to friends were times when he sought to do good to their souls; and never was he satisfied unless he could guide the conversation to dwell on the things of eternity. When he could not do so, he generally remained silent. And yet his demeanor was easy and pleasant to all, exhibiting at once meekness of faith and delicacy of feeling. There was in his character a high refinement that came out in poetry and true politeness; and there was something in his graces that reminded one of his own remark, when explaining the spices of Song of Solomon 4:16, when he said that \"some believers were a garden that had fruit-trees, and so were useful; but we ought also to to have spices, and so be attractive.\" Wishing to convey his grateful feelings to a fellow laborer in Dundee, he sent him a Hebrew Bible, with these few lines prefixed:
\n
\nAnoint mine eyes,
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\nO holy dove! That I may prize
\n
\nThis book of love.
\n
\nUnstop mine ear,
\n
\nMade deaf by sin, That I may hear
\n
\nThy voice within.
\n
\nBreak my hard heart,
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\nJesus, my Lord; In the inmost part
\n
\nHide Thy sweet word.
\n
\nIt was on a similar occasion, in 1838, that he wrote the lines, \"Thy Word Is a Lamp Unto My Feet.\" At another time, sitting under a shady tree, and casting his eye on the hospitable dwelling in which he found a pleasant retreat, his grateful feelings flowed out to his kind friend in the lines that follow:
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\nPEACE TO THIS HOUSE
\n
\nLong may peace within this dwelling
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\nHave its resting-place;
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\nAngel shields all harm repelling
\n
\nGod, their God of grace.
\n
\nMay the dove-like Spirit guide them
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\nTo the upright land!
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\nMay the Saviour-shepherd feed them
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\nFrom His gentle hand!
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\nNever was there one more beloved as a friend, and seldom any whose death could cause so many to feel as if no other friend could ever occupy his room. Some, too, can say that so much did they learn from his holy walk, \"that it is probable a day never passes wherein they have not some advantage from his friendship.\"
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\nI find written on the leaf of one of his notebooks, a short memorandum: \"Rules worth remembering. -When visiting in a family, whether ministerially or otherwise, speak particularly to the strangers about eternal things. Perhaps God has brought you together just to save that soul.\" And then he refers to some instances that happened to him, in which God seemed to honor a word spoken in this incidental way,
\n
\nIn this spirit he was enabled for nearly three years to give his strength to his Master's service. Sickness sometimes laid him aside, and taught him what he had to suffer; but he rose from it to go forth again to his joyful labors. Often, after a toilsome day there were inquirers waiting for him, so that he had to begin work afresh in a new form. But this was his delight; it was a kind of interruption that he allowed even on a Saturday, in the midst of his studies. He was led to resolve not to postpone any inquirers until a future time, by finding that having done so on one occasion at a pressing moment, the individuals never returned; and so alive was he to the responsibilities of his office, that he ever after feared to lose such an opportunity of speaking with souls at a time when they were aroused to concern. Busy one evening with some extra-parochial work, he was asked if any person should be admitted to see him that night. \"Surely-what do we live for?\" was his immediate reply. It was his manner, too, on a Saturday afternoon, to visit one or two of his sick who seemed near the point of death, with the view of being thus stirred up to a more direct application of the truth to his flock on the morrow, as dying men on the edge of eternity.
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\nWe have already observed that in his doctrine there was nothing that differed from the views of truth laid down in the standards of our church. He saw no inconsistency in preaching an electing God, who \"calleth whom he will,\" and a salvation free to \"whosoever will\"; nor in declaring the absolute sovereignty of God, and yet the unimpaired responsibility of man. He preached Christ as a gift laid down by the Father for every sinner freely to take. In the beginning of his ministry, as he preached the fullness of the glad tidings, and urged on his people that there was enough in the glad tidings to bring direct and immediate assurance to every one who really believed them, some of his flock were startled. For he always preached that, while it is true that there are believers, like Heman or Asaph, who do not enjoy full assurance of the love of God, yet certainly no true believer should remain satisfied in the absence of this blessed peace. Not a few had up to now been accustomed to take for granted that they might be Christians, though they knew of no change, and had never thought of enjoying the knowledge of the love of God as their present portion. They heard that others, who were considered believers, had doubts; so they had come to consider fears and doubts as the very marks of a believing soul. The consequence had been that in past days many concluded themselves to be Christians because they seemed to be in the very state of mind of which those who were reputed to be believers spoke, viz. doubt and alarm. Alas! in their case there could be nothing else, for they had only a name to live.
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\nSomeone wrote to him, asking him several questions concerning conversion, assurance, and faith, which had been stirred up by his ministry. The import of the questions may be gathered from his reply, which was as follows:
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\n\"1. I doubt if there are many saints who live and die without a comfortable sense of forgiveness and acceptance with God. The saints of whom the Bible speaks seem to have enjoyed it richly both in life and death. See the murderers of our Lord, Acts 2:41; the Ethiopian, Acts 8:39; the jailor, Acts 16:35. David also felt it, sinful man though he was, Romans 4:6. Paul also prayed that the Romans might have it, Romans 15:13. 1 fear this objection is generally made by those who are living in sin, and do not wish to know the dangerous road they are on.
\n
\n\"2. A sense of forgiveness does not proceed from marks seen in yourself, but from a discovery of the beauty, worth, and freeness of Christ, Psalm 34:5. We look out for peace, not in. At the same time, there is also an assurance rising from what we see in ourselves; the seal of the Spirit, love to the brethren, etc., are the chief marks.
\n
\n3. \"Feeling a body of sin is a mark that we are like Paul, and that we are Christ's, Romans 7; Galatians 5:17. Paul was cheerful with a body of sin; and so ought we to be. So was David, and all the saints.
\n
\n4. \"I do not think there is any difference between those converted within these few years and those who were Christians before. Many of those converted since I came are, I fear, very unholy. I fear this more than anything. I fear there is too much talk and too little reality. Still there are many good figs-many of whom I am persuaded better things, and things that accompany salvation. The answer to your question I fear is this, that many used to be taken for Christians before, who had only a name to live, and were dead. I think there is more discrimination now. But take care and be not proud, for that goes before a fall. Take care of censorious judging of others, as if all must be converted in the same way.\"God moves in a mysterious way. He hath mercy on whom He will have mercy. To Him alone be glory.\"
\n
\nHe thus stated his views on another occasion. Referring to Song of Solomon 6:3, \"My beloved is mine,\" following \"My beloved is gone down into his garden,\" he said, \"This is the faith of assurance-a complete, unhesitating embracing of Christ as my righteousness and my strength and my all. A common mistake is, that this clear conviction that Christ is mine is an attainment far on in the divine life, and that it springs from evidences seen in my heart. When I see myself a new creature, Christ on the throne in my heart, love to the brethren, etc., it is often thought that I may begin then to say, 'My Beloved is mine.' How different this passage! The moment Jesus comes down into the garden to the beds of spices-the moment He reveals himself, the soul cries out, 'My Beloved is mine!' So saith Thomas, John 20:27, 28. The moment Jesus came in and revealed his wounds, Thomas cried out, 'My Lord and my God.' He did not look to see if he was believing, or if the graces of love and humility were reigning; but all he saw and thought of was Jesus and Him crucified and risen.\" At a subsequent period, when preaching on Matthew 11:28, \"Come unto me,\" he said, \"I suppose it is almost impossible to explain what it is to come to Jesus, it is so simple. If you ask a sick person who had been healed, what it was to come and be healed, he could hardly tell you. As far as the Lord has given me light in this matter, and looking at what my own heart does in like circumstances, I do not feel that there is anything more in coming to Jesus, than just believing what God says about His Son to be true. I believe that many people keep themselves in darkness by expecting something more than this. Some of you will ask, 'Is there no appropriating of Christ? no putting out the hand of faith? no touching the hem of His garment?' I quite grant, beloved, there is such a thing, but I do think it is inseparable from believing the record. If the Lord persuades you of the glory and power of Emmanuel, I feel persuaded that you cannot but choose Him. It is like opening the shutters of a dark room; the sun that moment shines in. So, the eye that is opened to the testimony of God, receives Christ that moment.\"
\n
\nIn the case of a faithful ministry, success is the rule; want of it the exception. For it is written: \"In doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee, (1 Tim. 4:16). Mr. McCheyne expected it, and the Lord exceeded all his hopes.
\n
\nIt was not yet common for persons in anxiety to go to their pastor for advice; but soon it became an almost weekly occurrence. While it was yet rare, two of his young people wrote a joint note, asking permission to come and speak with him, \"for we are anxious about our souls.\" Among those who came, there were those who had striven against the truth; persons who used to run out of hearing when the Bible was read throw down a tract if the name of God was in it-go quickly to sleep after a Sabbath's pleasure in order to drown the fear of dropping into hell. There were many whose whole previous life had been but a threadbare profession. There were some open sinners, too. In short, the Lord glorified Himself by the variety of those whom His grace subdued, and the variety of means by which His grace reached its object:
\n
\nOne could tell him that the reading of the chapter in the church, with a few remarks, had been the time of her awakening. Another had been struck to the heart by some expression he used in his first prayer before the sermon one Sabbath morning. But most were moved by the preaching of the word. An interesting case was that of one who was aroused to concern during his sermon on \"Unto whom coming as unto a living stone.\" As he spoke of the Father taking the gem out of His bosom, and laying it down for a foundation stone, she felt in her soul, \"I know nothing of this precious stone; I am surely not converted.\" This led her to come and speak with him. She was not under deep conviction; but before going away, he said, \"You are a poor, vile worm; it is a wonder the earth do","processed":1,"summary":"CHAPTER 3 First Years of Labor in Dundee Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations. Acts 20:18, 19 The day on which he was ordained pastor of a flock, was ","published":1,"contents":null,"content_processed":0,"created_at":null,"updated_at":null,"author":{"id":15,"status":1,"author":"Robert Murray M'Cheyne","slug":"Robert-Murray-M'Cheyne","date":"","image":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/c\/cd\/M%27Cheyne_self_portrait.png","description":"Robert Murray M'Cheyne (1813 - 1843)<\/h1>\nScottish divine, youngest son of Adam McCheyne, writer to the signet, was born in Edinburgh, 21 May 1813. At the age of four he knew the characters of the Greek alphabet, and was able to sing and recite fluently. He entered the high school in his eighth year, and matriculated in November 1827 at Edinburgh University, where he showed very versatile powers, and distinguished himself especially in poetical exercises, being awarded a special prize by Professor Wilson for a poem on 'The Covenanters.' In the winter of 1831 he commenced his studies in the Divinity Hall, under Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Welsh; and he was licensed as a preacher by the Annan presbytery on 1 July 1835.\n
\nMcCheyne devoted all his energies to preaching; and although he was an accomplished Hebrew scholar, he left few permanent proofs of his erudition. He had refined musical taste, and was one of the first of the Scottish ministers to take an active part in the improvement of the congregational service of praise. Long after his death he was constantly referred to as 'the saintly McCheyne.'
<\/p>","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=category&cid=101","selected":1,"selected_reason":null,"article_amount":75,"quote_count":15,"book_count":55,"wiki_summary":"
Robert Murray M'Cheyne<\/b> was a minister in the Church of Scotland from 1835 to 1843. He was born at Edinburgh on 21 May 1813, was educated at the University and at the Divinity Hall of his native city, and was assistant at Larbert and Dunipace. A mission of inquiry among the Jews throughout Europe and in Palestine, and a religious revival at his church in Dundee, made him feel that he was being called to evangelistic rather than to pastoral work, but before he could carry out his plans he died, on 25 March 1843. McCheyne, though wielding remarkable influence in his lifetime, was still more powerful afterwards, through his Memoirs and Remains<\/i>, edited by Andrew Bonar, which ran into far over a hundred English editions. Some of his hymns became well known and his Bible reading plan is still in common use.<\/p>","wiki_url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Robert_Murray_M'Cheyne","wiki_name":"Robert Murray M'Cheyne","goodreads_link":"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/4874771.Robert_Murray_M_Cheyne?from_search=true&from_srp=true","names":null}},{"id":8186,"author_name":"Robert Murray M'Cheyne","author_id":15,"title":"The Transfiguration Of Christ","slug":"the-transfiguration-of-christ","scriptures":"Mark 5:35-37;Daniel 10: 11;James 2:23;Psalm 40:12;Psalms 22:21;Psalms 69:1;Psalms 69:2;John 17;2Peter 1: 17;2Peter 1:18;Revelation 3:18;Luke 22:43;John 17:24;Revelation 5:12;Revelation 21:27;John 10:27","type":"","topic":"","content":"
\n
\nTHE TRANSFIGURATION OF CHRIST SEEMS ordinarily to be but little understood. It is like Gethsemane, darkness hangs around it. Gethsemane showed the deepness of his sorrow; mount Tabor showed the height of his glory, which passeth knowledge.
\n
\nLet us go over the different things mentioned in these words.
\n
\nFirst, let us observe the favourite three: 'And it came to pass, about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John, and James, and went up into a mountain to pray' (verse 28). It is interesting to notice that these three disciples were often peculiarly favoured of the Lord. Christ seems to have exercised peculiar sovereignty to the three.
\n
\nThe first time that he distinguished them was when he raised the ruler's daughter. 'While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead; why troublest thou the Master any farther? ... And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James' (Mark 5:35-37). You will notice that these three were the same three. He took them into the ruler's house and showed them his power to raise the dead.
\n
\nThe second time that he distinguished them is in the passage before us. A little before he said: 'But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God' (verse 27). And eight days after he took them up to the mount, and gave them a glimpse of the coming glory.
\n
\nThe next time was when in the garden of Gethsemane. When he wanted some to be witnesses of his agony, he took with him Peter, James and John. O brethren! it was a great honour to be permitted to see his glory; but oh! it was more glorious to see his agony.
\n
\nThere have always been men in the Church greatly honoured by God. Some are not only of the twelve, but of the three. There was a Noah, and there was a Daniel. You remember, God says, ' Daniel, a man greatly beloved' (Daniel 10: 11). And there was an Abraham, who was called 'the friend of God' (James 2:23). There have been many in the Church who have been eminent among the twelve, but it is far better to be among the three.
\n
\nAnd this is quite different from worldly covetousness \u0097 it is quite different from mere worldly ambition. It is not like the wish of Zebedee's wife for her children; she wanted them to have more worldly honour and glory than the rest. But oh! to covet Christ, to be like Christ \u0097 this is to be happy. Mr. Edwards says, 'Suppose there never were to be but one in the world at a time, who is properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity shining in its true lustre, appearing amiable from whatever part, and under what character so ever viewed. Resolved to act just as I would do, as if I strove with all my might to be that one.'
\n
\nAh, brethren, resolve to be an eminent Christian. There are not many Christians nowadays that see far into Gethsemane's gloom \u0097 they are not many who have glimpses of Tabor's glory. One star of the first magnitude gives more glory to God than a dozen lesser stars do. One eminent minister gives more honour to Christ than a dozen other ministers do. One eminent Christian gives more honour to God than a dozen others. Covet earnestly, brethren, to reflect all Christ's image.
\n
\nThe next point to consider is the prayer meeting on the hill. Matthew says, 'He went up into a mountain apart.' Luke says, it was 'to pray'. Christ loved to pray alone. We are told by Mark that he arose a great while before day and went out to pray. We are told by Matthew that after feeding the five thousand, he went up into a mountain apart to pray; and we are told by Luke at another time, when he was beset by his enemies, he went into the wilderness to pray; and we are told at another time by Luke, when he was to ordain apostles, he went out, and continued all night in prayer. This shows that Christ loved secret prayer.
\n
\nAh, you are no Christian, if you do not love secret prayer. O brethren! a prayerless man is an unconverted man. Disguise it as you may; defend it as you can; explain it as you like; but a prayerless man is a Christless man. Christ loved the prayer meeting. We are told in the 18th chapter of Luke, 1st verse, of Christ praying with his disciples. Another example is where we have been reading - the 17th of John. O how wonderful to have heard Christ pray!
\n
\nIt must have been wonderful to hear Abraham pray \u0097 if you take the 11th of Genesis as an example; it must have been wonderful to hear Paul pray \u0097 if you take his prayer for the Ephesians as an example \u0097 the man who could pray that he might be filled with all the fullness of God. It was wonderful to hear Luther pray; one friend says, 'It was awful to hear him pray, there was such a reverence, and yet such a holy familiarity in his approaches to God.'
\n
\nBut that was nothing like hearing Christ pray. It must have been wonderful among the trees of Tabor, to hear him confessing all the sins that had been put upon him. 'Innumerable evils have compassed me about, and mine iniquities have taken such hold upon me that I cannot look up' (Psalm 40:12). It must have been wonderful to hear Christ's strong cries and tears for deliverance - to hear him say, 'Save me from the lion's mouth. Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire where there is no standing; I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me' (Psalms 22:21; 69:1, 2). Or to hear him pray for his believing disciples. 'I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me out of the world. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil. Father, I will that they also, which thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory' (John 17). Such, no doubt, was the prayer that was listened to on Tabor's mount that night.
\n
\nBrethren, such are the prayers that are offered up yet on Zion! Brethren, if you had been behind some of the trees on Tabor's mount, and heard him mention your name in prayer, saying, 'I do not pray for Peter only, or for James, or John, but for this soul. Father, sanctify this soul through thy truth. Father, I will that this soul be with me where I am, that it may behold my glory.' Say, doubting sinner, if you had heard Christ mentioning thy name, would it not have given you peace? Does distance make any difference? Suppose you heard a friend praying for you in the next room, or suppose you were told that a friend residing in a foreign land prayed for you, would it make any difference? Now, supposing you are told Christ prays for you \u0097 for he prays for all his believing people \u0097 will you not take the comfort of it?
\n
\nThirdly, let us look at the answer to prayer. The first answer to prayer was the transfiguration, verse 29: 'And, as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistening.' You will observe this was an answer to prayer, for it is said, 'As he prayed the fashion of his countenance was altered.' Matthew says, 'It did shine as the sun.' Luke says, 'his raiment was white and glistening.' Matthew says, 'it was white as the light'. I believe that the answer to prayer came for two reasons: (a) for his own sake; (b) for his disciples' sake.
\n
\nFor his own sake. He prayed, 'Glorify thou me', and here was the answer. Brethren, this was sweet proof to Christ that he would go through with his work. I believe that this was often his prayer \u0097 that he might finish his work; so here is a glimpse of the coming glory, as a proof that he would finish it.
\n
\nFor the disciples' sakes that they might believe in the coming glory. Peter, when an old man, often looked back to this scene.
\nHe received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount (2 Peter 1: 17, 18).
\nYou will notice, brethren, that Peter was now an old man, yet he looked back to the scene he witnessed on Tabor's mount that night. It was a sweet assurance to the disciples that Christ would yet finish the work and be glorified, and they glorified in him. Ah! brethren, it is sweet assurance to you and me that Christ is now glorified. His raiment is now white as the light, and that raiment is what he offers to you and me. 'I counsel thee to buy of me ... white raiment that thou mayest be clothed' (Revelation 3:18). And that answer to prayer was given for our sakes.
\n
\nThere was another answer to prayer: 'And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem' (verses 30, 3 1). Compare this with Luke 22:43: 'And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.' In Gethsemane, you will notice it was an angel that came down from heaven to strengthen him. On Tabor's top, it was two redeemed sinners. I believe that this answer to prayer was also for his own and the disciples' sake. I believe it was an answer to that prayer, 'Father, I will that they also which thou hast given me be with me, where I am, that they may behold my glory' (John 17:24). What an assurance was this that he would finish the work! The Father had received them into heaven on the ground of the work which Christ should finish. And it was a sweet assurance to the disciples; they learned that Christ can save sinners; and they learned also that saints in glory love to talk about the decease which he accomplished at Jerusalem.
\n
\nBrethren, let us take one of these lessons. Learn that the redeemed love to talk about the decease which he accomplished at Jerusalem. They love to sing about it: 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain' (Revelation 5:12). Ah! there are some that would take this world as their portion; they love not to talk about the decease which he accomplished at Jerusalem. Ah, brethren, this shows you are not saved. Brethren, think whether you would like to sing the song the redeemed sing in the New Jerusalem, or be back on earth again. Ah! filthy dreamers, how could you walk on the golden streets of the New Jerusalem who love earth better? \u0097 it cannot be: 'And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie' (Revelation 21:27).
\n
\nI come now to the fourth thing, and that is to notice the three disciples: 'But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep ...' (verses 32-33). Observe their sin \u0097 they were weary, and had fallen asleep. What! asleep, when there was such a glory around Christ. Asleep, when redeemed men had come down from heaven and were talking with him. O Lord, what is man? Man is but dust. Ali! brethren, does not this show that ordinances in themselves will not do? If anything could have kept them from sleep it was surely this; but just as they slept at Gethsemane, so they slept at Tabor; they slept both in his sufferings and in his glory. Often you say, If I had but these privileges - If I but sat under a faithful ministry, I would be holy. It is not all the ordinances in the world that will do; grace, and grace alone will do.
\n
\nObserve Peter's joy, 'Master, it is good for us to be here There are many that could not have endured to be there. Many of you cannot bear the conversation of the redeemed on earth, how could you relish their conversation when they came down from heaven? This shows the old man, and this also shows the new man. The old man is, 'Let us make three tabernacles'; The new man is, 'Lord it is good for us to be here.' So that you can say, it is good to be here.
\n
\nLast of all, notice the Father's answer: 'While he thus spake, there came a cloud and overshadowed them; and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him' (verses 34-35). This was the third answer to prayer, 'This is my beloved Son.' He received from the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' When the disciples came down from the mount, they would hear Christ in another manner, they would hear him as one whom they had seen in heaven. And so, brethren, in like manner, if you can get a sight of the glory to which the Father has exalted him, you will hear in a different manner: 'My sheep hear my voice ... and they follow me' (John 10:27). Once we heard Christ's voice, and now we follow him, and soon we shall hear his voice again, and be where he is, and to all eternity we shall follow him. Amen.
\n","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=article&aid=475","source":"collect","new_content":"THE TRANSFIGURATION OF CHRIST SEEMS ordinarily to be but little understood. It is like Gethsemane, darkness hangs around it. Gethsemane showed the deepness of his sorrow; mount Tabor showed the height of his glory, which passeth knowledge.
\n
\nLet us go over the different things mentioned in these words.
\n
\nFirst, let us observe the favourite three: 'And it came to pass, about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John, and James, and went up into a mountain to pray' (verse 28). It is interesting to notice that these three disciples were often peculiarly favoured of the Lord. Christ seems to have exercised peculiar sovereignty to the three.
\n
\nThe first time that he distinguished them was when he raised the ruler's daughter. 'While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead; why troublest thou the Master any farther? ... And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James' (Mark 5:35-37). You will notice that these three were the same three. He took them into the ruler's house and showed them his power to raise the dead.
\n
\nThe second time that he distinguished them is in the passage before us. A little before he said: 'But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God' (verse 27). And eight days after he took them up to the mount, and gave them a glimpse of the coming glory.
\n
\nThe next time was when in the garden of Gethsemane. When he wanted some to be witnesses of his agony, he took with him Peter, James and John. O brethren! it was a great honour to be permitted to see his glory; but oh! it was more glorious to see his agony.
\n
\nThere have always been men in the Church greatly honoured by God. Some are not only of the twelve, but of the three. There was a Noah, and there was a Daniel. You remember, God says, ' Daniel, a man greatly beloved' (Daniel 10: 11). And there was an Abraham, who was called 'the friend of God' (James 2:23). There have been many in the Church who have been eminent among the twelve, but it is far better to be among the three.
\n
\nAnd this is quite different from worldly covetousness \u2014 it is quite different from mere worldly ambition. It is not like the wish of Zebedee's wife for her children; she wanted them to have more worldly honour and glory than the rest. But oh! to covet Christ, to be like Christ \u2014 this is to be happy. Mr. Edwards says, 'Suppose there never were to be but one in the world at a time, who is properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity shining in its true lustre, appearing amiable from whatever part, and under what character so ever viewed. Resolved to act just as I would do, as if I strove with all my might to be that one.'
\n
\nAh, brethren, resolve to be an eminent Christian. There are not many Christians nowadays that see far into Gethsemane's gloom \u2014 they are not many who have glimpses of Tabor's glory. One star of the first magnitude gives more glory to God than a dozen lesser stars do. One eminent minister gives more honour to Christ than a dozen other ministers do. One eminent Christian gives more honour to God than a dozen others. Covet earnestly, brethren, to reflect all Christ's image.
\n
\nThe next point to consider is the prayer meeting on the hill. Matthew says, 'He went up into a mountain apart.' Luke says, it was 'to pray'. Christ loved to pray alone. We are told by Mark that he arose a great while before day and went out to pray. We are told by Matthew that after feeding the five thousand, he went up into a mountain apart to pray; and we are told by Luke at another time, when he was beset by his enemies, he went into the wilderness to pray; and we are told at another time by Luke, when he was to ordain apostles, he went out, and continued all night in prayer. This shows that Christ loved secret prayer.
\n
\nAh, you are no Christian, if you do not love secret prayer. O brethren! a prayerless man is an unconverted man. Disguise it as you may; defend it as you can; explain it as you like; but a prayerless man is a Christless man. Christ loved the prayer meeting. We are told in the 18th chapter of Luke, 1st verse, of Christ praying with his disciples. Another example is where we have been reading - the 17th of John. O how wonderful to have heard Christ pray!
\n
\nIt must have been wonderful to hear Abraham pray \u2014 if you take the 11th of Genesis as an example; it must have been wonderful to hear Paul pray \u2014 if you take his prayer for the Ephesians as an example \u2014 the man who could pray that he might be filled with all the fullness of God. It was wonderful to hear Luther pray; one friend says, 'It was awful to hear him pray, there was such a reverence, and yet such a holy familiarity in his approaches to God.'
\n
\nBut that was nothing like hearing Christ pray. It must have been wonderful among the trees of Tabor, to hear him confessing all the sins that had been put upon him. 'Innumerable evils have compassed me about, and mine iniquities have taken such hold upon me that I cannot look up' (Psalm 40:12). It must have been wonderful to hear Christ's strong cries and tears for deliverance - to hear him say, 'Save me from the lion's mouth. Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire where there is no standing; I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me' (Psalms 22:21; 69:1, 2). Or to hear him pray for his believing disciples. 'I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me out of the world. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil. Father, I will that they also, which thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory' (John 17). Such, no doubt, was the prayer that was listened to on Tabor's mount that night.
\n
\nBrethren, such are the prayers that are offered up yet on Zion! Brethren, if you had been behind some of the trees on Tabor's mount, and heard him mention your name in prayer, saying, 'I do not pray for Peter only, or for James, or John, but for this soul. Father, sanctify this soul through thy truth. Father, I will that this soul be with me where I am, that it may behold my glory.' Say, doubting sinner, if you had heard Christ mentioning thy name, would it not have given you peace? Does distance make any difference? Suppose you heard a friend praying for you in the next room, or suppose you were told that a friend residing in a foreign land prayed for you, would it make any difference? Now, supposing you are told Christ prays for you \u2014 for he prays for all his believing people \u2014 will you not take the comfort of it?
\n
\nThirdly, let us look at the answer to prayer. The first answer to prayer was the transfiguration, verse 29: 'And, as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistening.' You will observe this was an answer to prayer, for it is said, 'As he prayed the fashion of his countenance was altered.' Matthew says, 'It did shine as the sun.' Luke says, 'his raiment was white and glistening.' Matthew says, 'it was white as the light'. I believe that the answer to prayer came for two reasons: (a) for his own sake; (b) for his disciples' sake.
\n
\nFor his own sake. He prayed, 'Glorify thou me', and here was the answer. Brethren, this was sweet proof to Christ that he would go through with his work. I believe that this was often his prayer \u2014 that he might finish his work; so here is a glimpse of the coming glory, as a proof that he would finish it.
\n
\nFor the disciples' sakes that they might believe in the coming glory. Peter, when an old man, often looked back to this scene.
\nHe received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount (2 Peter 1: 17, 18).
\nYou will notice, brethren, that Peter was now an old man, yet he looked back to the scene he witnessed on Tabor's mount that night. It was a sweet assurance to the disciples that Christ would yet finish the work and be glorified, and they glorified in him. Ah! brethren, it is sweet assurance to you and me that Christ is now glorified. His raiment is now white as the light, and that raiment is what he offers to you and me. 'I counsel thee to buy of me ... white raiment that thou mayest be clothed' (Revelation 3:18). And that answer to prayer was given for our sakes.
\n
\nThere was another answer to prayer: 'And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem' (verses 30, 3 1). Compare this with Luke 22:43: 'And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.' In Gethsemane, you will notice it was an angel that came down from heaven to strengthen him. On Tabor's top, it was two redeemed sinners. I believe that this answer to prayer was also for his own and the disciples' sake. I believe it was an answer to that prayer, 'Father, I will that they also which thou hast given me be with me, where I am, that they may behold my glory' (John 17:24). What an assurance was this that he would finish the work! The Father had received them into heaven on the ground of the work which Christ should finish. And it was a sweet assurance to the disciples; they learned that Christ can save sinners; and they learned also that saints in glory love to talk about the decease which he accomplished at Jerusalem.
\n
\nBrethren, let us take one of these lessons. Learn that the redeemed love to talk about the decease which he accomplished at Jerusalem. They love to sing about it: 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain' (Revelation 5:12). Ah! there are some that would take this world as their portion; they love not to talk about the decease which he accomplished at Jerusalem. Ah, brethren, this shows you are not saved. Brethren, think whether you would like to sing the song the redeemed sing in the New Jerusalem, or be back on earth again. Ah! filthy dreamers, how could you walk on the golden streets of the New Jerusalem who love earth better? \u2014 it cannot be: 'And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie' (Revelation 21:27).
\n
\nI come now to the fourth thing, and that is to notice the three disciples: 'But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep ...' (verses 32-33). Observe their sin \u2014 they were weary, and had fallen asleep. What! asleep, when there was such a glory around Christ. Asleep, when redeemed men had come down from heaven and were talking with him. O Lord, what is man? Man is but dust. Ali! brethren, does not this show that ordinances in themselves will not do? If anything could have kept them from sleep it was surely this; but just as they slept at Gethsemane, so they slept at Tabor; they slept both in his sufferings and in his glory. Often you say, If I had but these privileges - If I but sat under a faithful ministry, I would be holy. It is not all the ordinances in the world that will do; grace, and grace alone will do.
\n
\nObserve Peter's joy, 'Master, it is good for us to be here There are many that could not have endured to be there. Many of you cannot bear the conversation of the redeemed on earth, how could you relish their conversation when they came down from heaven? This shows the old man, and this also shows the new man. The old man is, 'Let us make three tabernacles'; The new man is, 'Lord it is good for us to be here.' So that you can say, it is good to be here.
\n
\nLast of all, notice the Father's answer: 'While he thus spake, there came a cloud and overshadowed them; and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him' (verses 34-35). This was the third answer to prayer, 'This is my beloved Son.' He received from the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' When the disciples came down from the mount, they would hear Christ in another manner, they would hear him as one whom they had seen in heaven. And so, brethren, in like manner, if you can get a sight of the glory to which the Father has exalted him, you will hear in a different manner: 'My sheep hear my voice ... and they follow me' (John 10:27). Once we heard Christ's voice, and now we follow him, and soon we shall hear his voice again, and be where he is, and to all eternity we shall follow him. Amen.
\n","processed":1,"summary":"THE TRANSFIGURATION OF CHRIST SEEMS ordinarily to be but little understood. It is like Gethsemane, darkness hangs around it. Gethsemane showed the deepness of his sorrow; mount Tabor showed the height of his glory, which passeth knowledge. Let us go over the different things mentioned in these words","published":1,"contents":null,"content_processed":0,"created_at":null,"updated_at":null,"author":{"id":15,"status":1,"author":"Robert Murray M'Cheyne","slug":"Robert-Murray-M'Cheyne","date":"","image":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/c\/cd\/M%27Cheyne_self_portrait.png","description":"Robert Murray M'Cheyne (1813 - 1843)<\/h1>\nScottish divine, youngest son of Adam McCheyne, writer to the signet, was born in Edinburgh, 21 May 1813. At the age of four he knew the characters of the Greek alphabet, and was able to sing and recite fluently. He entered the high school in his eighth year, and matriculated in November 1827 at Edinburgh University, where he showed very versatile powers, and distinguished himself especially in poetical exercises, being awarded a special prize by Professor Wilson for a poem on 'The Covenanters.' In the winter of 1831 he commenced his studies in the Divinity Hall, under Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Welsh; and he was licensed as a preacher by the Annan presbytery on 1 July 1835.\n
\nMcCheyne devoted all his energies to preaching; and although he was an accomplished Hebrew scholar, he left few permanent proofs of his erudition. He had refined musical taste, and was one of the first of the Scottish ministers to take an active part in the improvement of the congregational service of praise. Long after his death he was constantly referred to as 'the saintly McCheyne.'
<\/p>","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=category&cid=101","selected":1,"selected_reason":null,"article_amount":75,"quote_count":15,"book_count":55,"wiki_summary":"
Robert Murray M'Cheyne<\/b> was a minister in the Church of Scotland from 1835 to 1843. He was born at Edinburgh on 21 May 1813, was educated at the University and at the Divinity Hall of his native city, and was assistant at Larbert and Dunipace. A mission of inquiry among the Jews throughout Europe and in Palestine, and a religious revival at his church in Dundee, made him feel that he was being called to evangelistic rather than to pastoral work, but before he could carry out his plans he died, on 25 March 1843. McCheyne, though wielding remarkable influence in his lifetime, was still more powerful afterwards, through his Memoirs and Remains<\/i>, edited by Andrew Bonar, which ran into far over a hundred English editions. Some of his hymns became well known and his Bible reading plan is still in common use.<\/p>","wiki_url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Robert_Murray_M'Cheyne","wiki_name":"Robert Murray M'Cheyne","goodreads_link":"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/4874771.Robert_Murray_M_Cheyne?from_search=true&from_srp=true","names":null}},{"id":9625,"author_name":"Thomas Brooks","author_id":17,"title":"The heaviest burden in all the world!","slug":"the-heaviest-burden-in-all-the-world","scriptures":"Psalm 40:12;Psalm 38:4;Romans 7:24","type":"","topic":"","content":"
\n
\n\"My sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
\nThey are more than the hairs of my head, and
\nmy heart fails within me.\" Psalm 40:12
\n
\n\"For my sins have flooded over my head; they are
\na burden too heavy for me to bear.\" Psalm 38:4.
\n
\nOf all burdens\u0097sin is the heaviest burden in all
\nthe world!
\n
\nPoor souls; sin is a burden that so troubles them and
\npuzzles them, that so presses and oppresses them, as
\nthat it wrings many bitter tears from their eyes, and
\nmany sad and grievous sighs and groans from their
\nhearts. \"Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will
\nfree me from this life that is dominated by sin?\"
\nRomans 7:24
\n
\n
\n","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=article&aid=22158","source":"collect","new_content":"\"My sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
\nThey are more than the hairs of my head, and
\nmy heart fails within me.\" Psalm 40:12
\n
\n\"For my sins have flooded over my head; they are
\na burden too heavy for me to bear.\" Psalm 38:4.
\n
\nOf all burdens\u2014sin is the heaviest burden in all
\nthe world!
\n
\nPoor souls; sin is a burden that so troubles them and
\npuzzles them, that so presses and oppresses them, as
\nthat it wrings many bitter tears from their eyes, and
\nmany sad and grievous sighs and groans from their
\nhearts. \"Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will
\nfree me from this life that is dominated by sin?\"
\nRomans 7:24
\n
\n
\n","processed":1,"summary":"\"My sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.\" Psalm 40:12 \"For my sins have flooded over my head; they are a burden too heavy for me to bear.\" Psalm 38:4. Of all burdens\u2014sin is the heaviest burden in all the world! Poor souls; s","published":1,"contents":null,"content_processed":0,"created_at":null,"updated_at":null,"author":{"id":17,"status":1,"author":"Thomas Brooks","slug":"Thomas-Brooks","date":"","image":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/4\/42\/Thomas_Brooks.jpg","description":"Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680)<\/h1>\nMuch of what is known about Thomas Brooks has been ascertained from his writings. Born, likely to well-to-do parents, in 1608, Brooks entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1625, where he was preceded by such men as Thomas Hooker, John Cotton, and Thomas Shepard. He was licensed as a preacher of the Gospel by 1640. Before that date, he appears to have spent a number of years at sea, probably as a chaplain with the fleet.\n
\nAfter the conclusion of the First English Civil War, Thomas Brooks became minister at Thomas Apostle's, London, and was sufficiently renowned to be chosen as preacher before the House of Commons on December 26, 1648. His sermon was afterwards published under the title, 'God's Delight in the Progress of the Upright', the text being Psalm 44:18: 'Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Thy way'. Three or four years afterwards, he transferred to St. Margaret's, Fish-street Hill, London.\nIn 1662, he fell victim to the notorious Act of Uniformity, but he appears to have remained in his parish and to have preached as opportunity arose. Treatises continued to flow from his pen.[3]
<\/p>\r
Thomas Brooks was a nonconformist preacher. Born into a Puritan family, he was sent to Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He soon became an advocate of the Congregational way and served as a chaplain in the Civil War. In 1648 he accepted the rectory of St. Margaret's, New Fish Street, London, but only after making his Congregational principles clear to the vestry.\r
\r
On several occasions he preached before Parliament. He was ejected in 1660 and remained in London as a Nonconformist preacher. Government spies reported that he preached at Tower Wharf and in Moorfields. During the Great Plague and Great Fire he worked in London, and in 1672 was granted a license to preach in Lime Street. He wrote over a dozen books, most of which are devotional in character. He was buried in Bunhill Fields.\r
","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=category&cid=228;http:\/\/christian-quotes.ochristian.com\/Thomas-Brooks-Quotes\/;http:\/\/articles.ochristian.com\/preacher228-1.shtml","selected":1,"selected_reason":null,"article_amount":650,"quote_count":109,"book_count":67,"wiki_summary":"
Thomas Brooks<\/b> (1608\u20131680) was an English non-conformist Puritan preacher and author.<\/p>","wiki_url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thomas_Brooks_(Puritan)","wiki_name":"Thomas Brooks","goodreads_link":"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/7484577.Thomas_Brooks?from_search=true&from_srp=true","names":null}},{"id":10939,"author_name":"Book Of Common Prayer 1979","author_id":56,"title":"Ordination of a Bishop","slug":"ordination-of-a-bishop","scriptures":"Isaiah 61:1-8;Isaiah 42:1-9;Psalm 99;Psalm 40:1-14;Psalm 40:100;Hebrews 5:1-10;1Timothy 3:1-7;2Corinthians 3:4-9;John 20:12-23;John 17:1-9;John 17:18-21;Luke 24:44-49a","type":"","topic":"","content":"
\n
\nHymns, psalms, and anthems may be sung during the entrance of the bishops and other ministers.
\n
\nThe people standing, the Bishop appointed says
\nBlessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
\nPeople And blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever. Amen.
\n
\nIn place of the above, from Easter Day through the Day of Pentecost
\n
\nBishop Alleluia. Christ is risen.
\nPeople The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.
\n
\nIn Lent and on other penitential occasions
\n
\nBishop Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.
\nPeople His mercy endures for ever.
\n
\nThe Bishop then says
\n
\nAlmighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
\n
\nThe Presentation
\nThe bishops and people sit. Representatives of the diocese, both Priests and Lay Persons, standing before the Presiding Bishop, present the bishop-elect, saying
\n
\nN., Bishop in the Church of God, the clergy and people of the Dioecese of N., trusting in the guidance of the Holy Spirit, have chosen N.N. to be a bishop and chief pastor. We therefore ask you to lay your hands upon him and in the power of the Holy Spirit to consecrate him a bishop in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop then directs that the testimonials of the election be read.
\n
\nWhen the reading of the testimonials is ended, the Presiding Bishop requires the following promise from the Bishop-elect
\n
\nIn the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, I, N.N., chosen Bishop of the Church in N., solemnly declare that I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation; and I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church.
\n
\nThe Bishop-elect then signs the above Declaration in the sight of all present. The witnesses add their signatures.
\n
\nAll stand.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop then says the following, or similar words, and asks the response of the people
\n
\nBrothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, you have heard testimony given that N.N. has been duly and lawfully elected to be a bishop of the Church of God to serve in the Diocese of N. You have been assured of his suitability and that the Church has approved him for this sacred responsibility. Nevertheless, if any of you know any reason why we should not proceed, let it now be made known.
\n
\nIf no objections are made, the Presiding Bishop continues
\n
\nIs it your will that we ordain N. a bishop?
\n
\nThe People respond in these or other words
\n
\nThat is our will.
\n
\nPresiding Bishop
\n
\nWill you uphold N. as bishop?
\n
\nThe People respond in these or other words
\n
\nWe will.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop then says
\n
\nThe Scriptures tell us that our Savior Christ spent the whole night in prayer before he chose and sent forth his twelve apostles. Likewise, the apostles prayed before they appointed Matthias to be one of their number. Let us, therefore, follow their examples, and offer our prayers to Almighty God before we ordain N. for the work to which we trust the Holy Spirit has called him.
\n
\nAll kneel, and the Person appointed leads the Litany for Ordinations, or some other approved litany. At the end of the litany, after the Kyries, the Presiding Bishop stands and reads the Collect for the Day, or the following Collect, or both, first saying
\n
\nThe Lord be with you
\nPeople And also with you.
\n
\nLet us pray.
\nO God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquillity the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were being cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
\n
\nThe Ministry of the Word
\nThree Lessons are read. Lay persons read the Old Testament Lesson and the Epistle.
\n
\nThe Readings are ordinarily selected from the following list and may be lengthened if desired. On a Major Feast or on a Sunday, the Presiding Bishop may select Readings from the Proper of the Day.
\n
\nOld Testament Isaiah 61:1-8, or Isaiah 42:1-9
\nPsalm 99, or 40:1-14, or 100
\nEpistle Hebrews 5:1-10, or 1 Timothy 3:1-7, or 2 Corinthians 3:4-9
\nThe Reader first says
\n
\nA Reading (Lesson) from ______________________.
\nA citation giving chapter and verse may be added.
\nAfter each Reading, the Reader may say
\nThe Word of the Lord
\nPeople Thanks be to God
\nor the Reader may say Here ends the Reading (Epistle).
\n
\nSilence may follow.
\n
\nA Psalm, canticle, or hymn follows each Reading.
\n
\nThen, all standing, a Deacon or a Priest reads the Gospel, first saying
\nThe Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to _________________.
\nPeople Glory to you, Lord Christ.
\nJohn 20:12-23, or John 17:1-9,18-21, or Luke 24:44-49a
\n
\nAfter the Gospel, the Reader says
\nThe Gospel of the Lord.
\nPeople Praise to you, Lord Christ.
\nThe Sermon
\n
\nAfter the Sermon, the Congregation sings a hymn.
\n
\nThe Examination
\nAll now sit, except the bishop-elect, who stands facing the bishops. The Presiding Bishop addresses the bishop-elect
\n
\nMy brother, the people have chosen you and have affirmed their trust in you by acclaiming your election. A bishop in God's holy Church is called to be one with the apostles in proclaiming Christ's resurrection and interpreting the Gospel, and to testify to Christ's sovereignty as Lord of lords and King of kings.
\n
\nYou are called to guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church; to celebrate and to provide for the administration of the sacraments of the New Covenant; to ordain priests and deacons and to join in ordaining bishops; and to be in all things a faithful pastor and wholesome example for the entire flock of Christ.
\n
\nWith your fellow bishops you will share in the leadership of the Church throughout the world. Your heritage is the faith of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and those of every generation who have looked to God in hope. Your joy will be to follow him who came, not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
\n
\nAre you persuaded that God has called you to the office of bishop?
\n
\nAnswer I am so persuaded.
\n
\nThe following questions are then addressed to the bishop-elect by one or more of the other bishops
\n
\nBishop Will you accept this call and fulfill this trust in obedience to Christ?
\n
\nAnswer I will obey Christ, and will serve in his name.
\n
\nBishop Will you be faithful in prayer, and in the study of Holy Scripture, that you may have the mind of Christ?
\n
\nAnswer I will, for he is my help.
\n
\nBishop Will you boldly proclaim and interpret the Gospel of Christ, enlightening the minds and stirring up the conscience of your people?
\n
\nAnswer I will, in the power of the Spirit.
\n
\nBishop As a chief priest and pastor, will you encourage and support all baptized people in their gifts and ministries, nourish them from the riches of God's grace, pray for them without ceasing, and celebrate with them the sacraments of our redemption?
\n
\nAnswer I will, in the name of Christ, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.
\n
\nBishop Will you guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church of God?
\n
\nAnswer I will, for the love of God.
\n
\nBishop Will you share with your fellow bishops in the government of the whole Church; will you sustain your fellow presbyters and take counsel with them; will you guide and strengthen the deacons and all others who minister in the Church?
\n
\nAnswer I will, by the grace given me.
\n
\nBishop Will you be merciful to all, show compassion to the poor and strangers, and defend those who have no helper?
\n
\nAnswer I will, for the sake of Christ Jesus.
\n
\nAll stand. The Presiding Bishop then says
\n
\nN., through these promises you have committed yourself to God, to serve his Church in the office of bishop. We therefore call upon you, chosen to be a guardian of the Church's faith, to lead us in confessing that faith.
\n
\nBishop-elect
\n
\nWe believe in one God.
\n
\nThen all sing or say together
\n
\nWe believe in one God,
\nthe Father, the Almighty,
\nmaker of heaven and earth,
\nof all that is, seen and unseen.
\n
\nWe believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
\nthe only Son of God,
\neternally begotten of the Father,
\nGod from God, Light from Light,
\ntrue God from true God,
\nbegotten, not made,
\nof one Being with the Father.
\nThrough him all things were madand was made man.
\nFor our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
\nhe suffered death and was buried.
\nOn the third day he rose again
\nin accordance with the Scriptures;
\nhe ascended into heaven
\nand is seated at the right hand of the Father.
\nHe will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
\nand his kingdom will have no end.
\n
\nWe believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
\nwho proceeds from the Father and the Son.
\nWith the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
\nHe has spoken through the Prophets.
\nWe believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
\nWe acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
\nWe look for the resurrection of the dead,
\nand the life of the world to come. Amen.
\nThe Consecration of the Bishop
\nAll continue to stand, except the bishop-elect, who kneels before the Presiding Bishop. The other bishops stand to the right and left of the Presiding Bishop.
\n
\nThe hymn, Veni Creator Spiritus, or the hymn, Veni Sancte Spiritus, is sung.
\n
\nA period of silent prayer follows, the people still standing.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop then begins this Prayer of Consecration
\n
\nGod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of mercies and God of all comfort, dwelling on high but having regard for the lowly, knowing all things before they come to pass: We give you thanks that from the beginning you have gathered and prepared a people to be heirs of the covenant of Abraham, and have raised up prophets, kings, and priests, never leaving your temple untended. We praise you also that from the creation you have graciously accepted the ministry of those whom you have chosen.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop and other Bishops now lay their hands upon the head of the bishop-elect, and say together
\n
\nTherefore, Father, make N. a bishop in your Church. Pour out upon him the power of your princely Spirit, whom you bestowed upon your beloved Son Jesus Christ, with whom he endowed the apostles, and by whom your Church is built up in every place, to the glory and unceasing praise of your Name.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop continues
\n
\nTo you, O Father, all hearts are open; fill, we pray, the heart of this your servant whom you have chosen to be a bishop in your Church, with such love of you and of all the people, that he may feed and tend the flock of Christ, and exercise without reproach the high priesthood to which you have called him, serving before you day and night in the ministry of reconciliation, declaring pardon in your Name, offering the holy gifts, and wisely overseeing the life and work of the Church. In all things may he present before you the acceptable offering of a pure, and gentle, and holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and power and glory in the Church, now and for ever.
\n
\nThe People in a loud voice respond Amen.
\n
\nThe new bishop is now vested according to the order of bishops.
\n
\nA Bible is presented with these words
\n
\nReceive the Holy Scriptures. Feed the flock of Christ committed to your charge, guard and defend them in his truth, and be a faithful steward of his holy Word and Sacraments.
\n
\nAfter this other symbols of office may be given.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop presents to the people their new bishop.
\n
\nThe Clergy and People offer their acclamation and applause.
\n
\nThe Peace
\n
\nThe new Bishop then says
\nThe peace of the Lord be always with you.
\nPeople And also with you.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop and other Bishops greet the new bishop.
\n
\nThe People greet one another.
\n
\nThe new Bishop also greets members of the clergy, family members, and the congregation.
\n
\nThe new Bishop, if the Bishop of the Diocese, may now be escorted to the episcopal chair.
\n
\nAt the Celebration of the Eucharist
\n
\nThe liturgy continues with the Offertory.
\n
\nDeacons prepare the Table.
\n
\nThen the new Bishop goes to the Lord's Table as chief Celebrant and, joined by other bishops and presbyters, proceeds with the celebration of the Eucharist.
\n
\nAfter Communion
\n
\nIn place of the usual postcommunion prayer, one of the bishops leads the people in the following.
\n
\nAlmighty Father, we thank you for feeding us with the holy food of the Body and Blood of your Son, and for uniting us through him in the fellowship of your Holy Spirit. We thank you for raising up among us faithful servants for the ministry of your Word and Sacraments. We pray that N. may be to us an effective example in word and action, in love and patience, and in holiness of life. Grant that we, with him, may serve you now, and always rejoice in your glory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
\n
\nThe new Bishop blesses the people, first saying
\n
\nOur help is in the Name of the Lord;
\nPeople
\nThe maker of heaven and earth.
\nNew Bishop
\nBlessed be the Name of the Lord;
\nPeople
\nFrom this time forth for evermore.
\nNew Bishop
\nThe blessing, mercy, and grace of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you, and remain with you for ever. Amen.
\n
\nA Deacon dismisses the people
\n
\nLet us go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit.
\nPeople Thanks be to God.
\n
\nFrom Easter Day through the Day of Pentecost, \"Alleluia, alleluia,\" may be added to the dismissal and to the response.
\n","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=article&aid=42289","source":"collect","new_content":"Hymns, psalms, and anthems may be sung during the entrance of the bishops and other ministers.
\n
\nThe people standing, the Bishop appointed says
\nBlessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
\nPeople And blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever. Amen.
\n
\nIn place of the above, from Easter Day through the Day of Pentecost
\n
\nBishop Alleluia. Christ is risen.
\nPeople The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.
\n
\nIn Lent and on other penitential occasions
\n
\nBishop Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.
\nPeople His mercy endures for ever.
\n
\nThe Bishop then says
\n
\nAlmighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
\n
\nThe Presentation
\nThe bishops and people sit. Representatives of the diocese, both Priests and Lay Persons, standing before the Presiding Bishop, present the bishop-elect, saying
\n
\nN., Bishop in the Church of God, the clergy and people of the Dioecese of N., trusting in the guidance of the Holy Spirit, have chosen N.N. to be a bishop and chief pastor. We therefore ask you to lay your hands upon him and in the power of the Holy Spirit to consecrate him a bishop in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop then directs that the testimonials of the election be read.
\n
\nWhen the reading of the testimonials is ended, the Presiding Bishop requires the following promise from the Bishop-elect
\n
\nIn the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, I, N.N., chosen Bishop of the Church in N., solemnly declare that I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation; and I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church.
\n
\nThe Bishop-elect then signs the above Declaration in the sight of all present. The witnesses add their signatures.
\n
\nAll stand.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop then says the following, or similar words, and asks the response of the people
\n
\nBrothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, you have heard testimony given that N.N. has been duly and lawfully elected to be a bishop of the Church of God to serve in the Diocese of N. You have been assured of his suitability and that the Church has approved him for this sacred responsibility. Nevertheless, if any of you know any reason why we should not proceed, let it now be made known.
\n
\nIf no objections are made, the Presiding Bishop continues
\n
\nIs it your will that we ordain N. a bishop?
\n
\nThe People respond in these or other words
\n
\nThat is our will.
\n
\nPresiding Bishop
\n
\nWill you uphold N. as bishop?
\n
\nThe People respond in these or other words
\n
\nWe will.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop then says
\n
\nThe Scriptures tell us that our Savior Christ spent the whole night in prayer before he chose and sent forth his twelve apostles. Likewise, the apostles prayed before they appointed Matthias to be one of their number. Let us, therefore, follow their examples, and offer our prayers to Almighty God before we ordain N. for the work to which we trust the Holy Spirit has called him.
\n
\nAll kneel, and the Person appointed leads the Litany for Ordinations, or some other approved litany. At the end of the litany, after the Kyries, the Presiding Bishop stands and reads the Collect for the Day, or the following Collect, or both, first saying
\n
\nThe Lord be with you
\nPeople And also with you.
\n
\nLet us pray.
\nO God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquillity the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were being cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
\n
\nThe Ministry of the Word
\nThree Lessons are read. Lay persons read the Old Testament Lesson and the Epistle.
\n
\nThe Readings are ordinarily selected from the following list and may be lengthened if desired. On a Major Feast or on a Sunday, the Presiding Bishop may select Readings from the Proper of the Day.
\n
\nOld Testament Isaiah 61:1-8, or Isaiah 42:1-9
\nPsalm 99, or 40:1-14, or 100
\nEpistle Hebrews 5:1-10, or 1 Timothy 3:1-7, or 2 Corinthians 3:4-9
\nThe Reader first says
\n
\nA Reading (Lesson) from ______________________.
\nA citation giving chapter and verse may be added.
\nAfter each Reading, the Reader may say
\nThe Word of the Lord
\nPeople Thanks be to God
\nor the Reader may say Here ends the Reading (Epistle).
\n
\nSilence may follow.
\n
\nA Psalm, canticle, or hymn follows each Reading.
\n
\nThen, all standing, a Deacon or a Priest reads the Gospel, first saying
\nThe Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to _________________.
\nPeople Glory to you, Lord Christ.
\nJohn 20:12-23, or John 17:1-9,18-21, or Luke 24:44-49a
\n
\nAfter the Gospel, the Reader says
\nThe Gospel of the Lord.
\nPeople Praise to you, Lord Christ.
\nThe Sermon
\n
\nAfter the Sermon, the Congregation sings a hymn.
\n
\nThe Examination
\nAll now sit, except the bishop-elect, who stands facing the bishops. The Presiding Bishop addresses the bishop-elect
\n
\nMy brother, the people have chosen you and have affirmed their trust in you by acclaiming your election. A bishop in God's holy Church is called to be one with the apostles in proclaiming Christ's resurrection and interpreting the Gospel, and to testify to Christ's sovereignty as Lord of lords and King of kings.
\n
\nYou are called to guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church; to celebrate and to provide for the administration of the sacraments of the New Covenant; to ordain priests and deacons and to join in ordaining bishops; and to be in all things a faithful pastor and wholesome example for the entire flock of Christ.
\n
\nWith your fellow bishops you will share in the leadership of the Church throughout the world. Your heritage is the faith of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and those of every generation who have looked to God in hope. Your joy will be to follow him who came, not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
\n
\nAre you persuaded that God has called you to the office of bishop?
\n
\nAnswer I am so persuaded.
\n
\nThe following questions are then addressed to the bishop-elect by one or more of the other bishops
\n
\nBishop Will you accept this call and fulfill this trust in obedience to Christ?
\n
\nAnswer I will obey Christ, and will serve in his name.
\n
\nBishop Will you be faithful in prayer, and in the study of Holy Scripture, that you may have the mind of Christ?
\n
\nAnswer I will, for he is my help.
\n
\nBishop Will you boldly proclaim and interpret the Gospel of Christ, enlightening the minds and stirring up the conscience of your people?
\n
\nAnswer I will, in the power of the Spirit.
\n
\nBishop As a chief priest and pastor, will you encourage and support all baptized people in their gifts and ministries, nourish them from the riches of God's grace, pray for them without ceasing, and celebrate with them the sacraments of our redemption?
\n
\nAnswer I will, in the name of Christ, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.
\n
\nBishop Will you guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church of God?
\n
\nAnswer I will, for the love of God.
\n
\nBishop Will you share with your fellow bishops in the government of the whole Church; will you sustain your fellow presbyters and take counsel with them; will you guide and strengthen the deacons and all others who minister in the Church?
\n
\nAnswer I will, by the grace given me.
\n
\nBishop Will you be merciful to all, show compassion to the poor and strangers, and defend those who have no helper?
\n
\nAnswer I will, for the sake of Christ Jesus.
\n
\nAll stand. The Presiding Bishop then says
\n
\nN., through these promises you have committed yourself to God, to serve his Church in the office of bishop. We therefore call upon you, chosen to be a guardian of the Church's faith, to lead us in confessing that faith.
\n
\nBishop-elect
\n
\nWe believe in one God.
\n
\nThen all sing or say together
\n
\nWe believe in one God,
\nthe Father, the Almighty,
\nmaker of heaven and earth,
\nof all that is, seen and unseen.
\n
\nWe believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
\nthe only Son of God,
\neternally begotten of the Father,
\nGod from God, Light from Light,
\ntrue God from true God,
\nbegotten, not made,
\nof one Being with the Father.
\nThrough him all things were madand was made man.
\nFor our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
\nhe suffered death and was buried.
\nOn the third day he rose again
\nin accordance with the Scriptures;
\nhe ascended into heaven
\nand is seated at the right hand of the Father.
\nHe will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
\nand his kingdom will have no end.
\n
\nWe believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
\nwho proceeds from the Father and the Son.
\nWith the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
\nHe has spoken through the Prophets.
\nWe believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
\nWe acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
\nWe look for the resurrection of the dead,
\nand the life of the world to come. Amen.
\nThe Consecration of the Bishop
\nAll continue to stand, except the bishop-elect, who kneels before the Presiding Bishop. The other bishops stand to the right and left of the Presiding Bishop.
\n
\nThe hymn, Veni Creator Spiritus, or the hymn, Veni Sancte Spiritus, is sung.
\n
\nA period of silent prayer follows, the people still standing.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop then begins this Prayer of Consecration
\n
\nGod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of mercies and God of all comfort, dwelling on high but having regard for the lowly, knowing all things before they come to pass: We give you thanks that from the beginning you have gathered and prepared a people to be heirs of the covenant of Abraham, and have raised up prophets, kings, and priests, never leaving your temple untended. We praise you also that from the creation you have graciously accepted the ministry of those whom you have chosen.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop and other Bishops now lay their hands upon the head of the bishop-elect, and say together
\n
\nTherefore, Father, make N. a bishop in your Church. Pour out upon him the power of your princely Spirit, whom you bestowed upon your beloved Son Jesus Christ, with whom he endowed the apostles, and by whom your Church is built up in every place, to the glory and unceasing praise of your Name.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop continues
\n
\nTo you, O Father, all hearts are open; fill, we pray, the heart of this your servant whom you have chosen to be a bishop in your Church, with such love of you and of all the people, that he may feed and tend the flock of Christ, and exercise without reproach the high priesthood to which you have called him, serving before you day and night in the ministry of reconciliation, declaring pardon in your Name, offering the holy gifts, and wisely overseeing the life and work of the Church. In all things may he present before you the acceptable offering of a pure, and gentle, and holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and power and glory in the Church, now and for ever.
\n
\nThe People in a loud voice respond Amen.
\n
\nThe new bishop is now vested according to the order of bishops.
\n
\nA Bible is presented with these words
\n
\nReceive the Holy Scriptures. Feed the flock of Christ committed to your charge, guard and defend them in his truth, and be a faithful steward of his holy Word and Sacraments.
\n
\nAfter this other symbols of office may be given.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop presents to the people their new bishop.
\n
\nThe Clergy and People offer their acclamation and applause.
\n
\nThe Peace
\n
\nThe new Bishop then says
\nThe peace of the Lord be always with you.
\nPeople And also with you.
\n
\nThe Presiding Bishop and other Bishops greet the new bishop.
\n
\nThe People greet one another.
\n
\nThe new Bishop also greets members of the clergy, family members, and the congregation.
\n
\nThe new Bishop, if the Bishop of the Diocese, may now be escorted to the episcopal chair.
\n
\nAt the Celebration of the Eucharist
\n
\nThe liturgy continues with the Offertory.
\n
\nDeacons prepare the Table.
\n
\nThen the new Bishop goes to the Lord's Table as chief Celebrant and, joined by other bishops and presbyters, proceeds with the celebration of the Eucharist.
\n
\nAfter Communion
\n
\nIn place of the usual postcommunion prayer, one of the bishops leads the people in the following.
\n
\nAlmighty Father, we thank you for feeding us with the holy food of the Body and Blood of your Son, and for uniting us through him in the fellowship of your Holy Spirit. We thank you for raising up among us faithful servants for the ministry of your Word and Sacraments. We pray that N. may be to us an effective example in word and action, in love and patience, and in holiness of life. Grant that we, with him, may serve you now, and always rejoice in your glory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
\n
\nThe new Bishop blesses the people, first saying
\n
\nOur help is in the Name of the Lord;
\nPeople
\nThe maker of heaven and earth.
\nNew Bishop
\nBlessed be the Name of the Lord;
\nPeople
\nFrom this time forth for evermore.
\nNew Bishop
\nThe blessing, mercy, and grace of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you, and remain with you for ever. Amen.
\n
\nA Deacon dismisses the people
\n
\nLet us go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit.
\nPeople Thanks be to God.
\n
\nFrom Easter Day through the Day of Pentecost, \"Alleluia, alleluia,\" may be added to the dismissal and to the response.
\n","processed":1,"summary":"Hymns, psalms, and anthems may be sung during the entrance of the bishops and other ministers. The people standing, the Bishop appointed says Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. People And blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever. Amen. In place of the above, from Easter Day through the Da","published":1,"contents":null,"content_processed":0,"created_at":null,"updated_at":null,"author":{"id":56,"status":1,"author":"Book Of Common Prayer 1979","slug":"Book-Of-Common-Prayer-1979","date":"","image":"","description":"","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=category&cid=1000","selected":0,"selected_reason":null,"article_amount":47,"quote_count":35,"book_count":303,"wiki_summary":null,"wiki_url":null,"wiki_name":null,"goodreads_link":"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/4698428.The_Episcopal_Church","names":null}},{"id":11534,"author_name":"Charles Alexander","author_id":70,"title":"Christ-The Uncreated Word\" Ch.1:1-18","slug":"christ-the-uncreated-word-ch-1-1-18","scriptures":"Ephesians 6:12;2Thess. 2: 3-12;Revelation 13;1John 2:18;1Cor. 1: 24;Genesis 1:1;Job 38: 7;Psalm 19;Psalm 8: 4-5;Psalm 8;Hebrews 2;John 1;John 1:14;Genesis 3;Genesis 3:15;John 1: 5;Psalm 2;Heb. 2: 14-15;Romans 3:2;John 1: 12-13;John 1;John 1:13;Eph. 1;Eph 1:5-9;Psalm 40;Psalm 40:7-8;Heb 10: 9-10;John 17;John 17;John 17: 2-3;John 3;John 3:19;Isaiah 53:11;2Cor. 4: 6;Proverbs 8;Prov. 8:22-23;Matthew 23: 34-35;Luke 11: 49-51;Proverbs 8;Proverbs 8;Revelation 3;Col. 1:17;1Cor. 1:24;Isaiah 9:6;Genesis 18;Malachi 3:1;Gen. 18:33;Gen. 32: 24-30;Hosea 12: 3-6;Genesis 32: 30;Hosea 12: 3-5;Genesis 48: 15-16;John 1: 51;Genesis 31: 11-13;Exodus 23: 20-23;1Cor. 10:4;Acts 7;Exodus 23: 20-23;Exodus 33:2;Deuteronomy 7: 21-24;Joshua 5: 13-15;Acts 7: 30-33;Judges 13;Judges 13:18;Isaiah 9;Judges 6;Daniel 10;Daniel 12;Mal. 3: 1;Matthew 11: 3;Malachi 3: 1;Exodus 23: 21;Isaiah 63: 9;Joshua 5: 14;Joshua 6:2;Matt. 10: 40;Mark 9:37;Luke 9:48;John 13:20;John 4:34;Isaiah 6;Psalm 45:3-4","type":"","topic":"","content":"
\n
\nThe Prologue to the Gospel of John, consisting of verses 1 - 18 of the first chapter, ought to be known by heart to every Christian.
\n
\nThis Prologue is in three periods, each complete in itself and together forming an arch bridging the entire expanse of the unveiling of theGodhead as touching the divine nature and purpose, in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Our translators have very properly marked the three periods with the usual paragraph signs.
\n
\n1. Verses 1-5 introduce the Uncreated Word, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, through whom the Eternal God reveals Himself and by whom all the wisdom of God in time and in eternity is brought forth.
\n
\n2. Verses 6-14 begin at that point of Old Testament prophecy where the Old Testament terminates that is, the return of Elijah (not in person, but in the spirit and power of the great prophet) in the ministry of John the Baptist, who announces publicly the entry into the world of that Eternal Word through whom grace and favour, light and truth and life eternal, are brought back to our fallen race as a new creation and a new beginning of the world.
\n
\n3. Verses 15-16 record the public identification by John of that Eternal Word in the Person of Jesus Christ, here named for the first time (verse 17) and shown to be (in words proceeding not from the Baptist but from the apostle) the only begotten Son, He who dwelt in the bosom of the Father, who from all eternity had looked upon the Father\u0092s face and now, coming in human flesh, declares and unfolds the mystery of the Godhead.
\n
\nThereafter the history of the earthly manifestation of the Word proceeds, beginning with the ministry of John the Baptist subsequent to the Baptism (upon which the forerunner is looking back) in which the first of the apostles is introduced to Christ as the Baptist points Him out in the words, \u0093Behold the Lamb of God\u0094. Thereafter John the Baptist begins to fade from the picture. His short ministry nears its end. His task is done. Martyrdom awaits him. While Christ increases he must decrease. He has heard the bridegroom's voice, and his joy is fulfilled (chap. 3: 29-30).
\n
\nIMPERIAL ROME AND ITS GHOST
\n
\nWe return to the first part of our Prologue to consider John's inspired doctrine of the Eternal Word (the Logos as it is in the Greek, in which language John wrote).
\n
\n\u0093In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
\nand the Word was God\u0094.
\n
\nThe time was significant when John took up his inspired pen.
\n
\nThe Kingdom of Christ (the mystic Church) was in collision with the power of this world, represented then by Imperial Rome. There were no visible means by which the testimony of Christ and the people of Christ were to be preserved. Divine omnipotence assumes strange forms, for earthly events are not the realities. Behind them are the forces of which earthly powers and events are but the means to the end, and sometimes only the pawns. We war not with flesh and blood but with the unseen principalities and powers which operate in the realm of the spirit (says Paul, Ephesians 6:12). The cruel Domitian under whom John suffered at Patmos was the first of a long line of oppressors and usurpers who would raise up all power against the confessors of Christ. The wearer of the imperial purple of Rome would be taken out of the way in the course of the centuries to make way for that full development of the antichristian kingdom which would masquerade as God and truth (2 Thess. 2: 3-12). The beastly Roman Empire which had sprawled across the world far so long in its exercise of iron power over the nations, would have served its purpose, and would make way for that far more subtle and dangerous delusion, the Roman apostasy. The last head of imperial Rome would receive its fatal wound, yet its very death would be the signal for its resurrection from heathenism in a new, more terrible antichristian form, more outlasting, more cruel, more blasphemous, more bloodthirsty in its oppression of the saints of the Most High - and all the world would wonder and be deceived when the deadly wound was healed, and the ghost of the Roman empire would appear on the grave thereof, exercising all the power of the first beast, creating an image thereof (a kingdom and an empire like unto that which it supplanted) and cause all men to receive its mark and bow before it (Revelation 13).
\n
\nOur readers will perceive at once that we dismiss that strange imagination, born of the evangelical aberrations of the early 19th century, that the Book of Revelation has naught to do with Christian history, but that all its pages with very few exceptions relate to a fragment of time actually and literally to consist of 1260 DAYS whereas for that period of YEARS and more, the Christian church (that is, the true saints of God) was to be harried and slain, persecuted and scattered, by the power of this world and of Satan.
\n
\nWe cannot reiterate too often, in view of the sad delusion now infecting the evangelical world, that both Paul and John were prophets of the Church and of no-one else, and spoke of that which should befall the Church in the course of history.
\n
\nThis was clearly seen by all our forefathers in unbroken succession. It is not we who are innovators but those who have thus compressed all the warnings (and the comforts) of Paul and John into a fragment of time not yet reached - a time which it is claimed will be irrelevant to the Church of Christ. The evil which this theory has done to Bible exposition, is incalculable, and the present state of the evangelical pulpit owes more than we can ever say, to this false system of handling the Word of God.
\n
\nBut not only was the Church of our Saviour Jesus Christ trembling on the brink of vast events in the political world when John wrote his Gospel, but she was also assaulted by devilish and blasphemous errors, the target of which was Christ Himself. He was being degraded from His Godhead, dragged down from His essential deity, reduced to creaturely status and made the figment of a purely human philosophy. \u0093Even now,\u0094 writes John in his first epistle, \u0093there are many antichrists\u0094 (1 John 2:18) - by which we know (adds the apostle) that THIS time, (that is the time of the Church), is THE LAST TIME (after which there can be no other time, only eternity).
\n
\nCHRIST - THE ANSWER TO ALL ERROR
\n
\nIn view of what the future held, a future already being unfolded to John in the errors and oppressions even then troubling the people of the Lord, John was commissioned to write the Gospel which bears his name, as well as the other four writings which are from his hand.
\n
\nHe begins the Gospel, as he begins the first Epistle, and the Book of Revelation, with an exhibition of the supreme glory of Christ, and the clearest of all statements elucidating the mystery of that Godhead which was veiled in flesh which he had seen with his eyes, his ears had heard, and his hands had handled, even the Word of Life. The supremacy and sovereign omnipotence of Christ are always the answer to every foe.
\n
\nThe term LOGOS which John uses to describe the mystery of Christ's Person (translated \u0091WORD\u0092 in our version, there being no other available term in our language by which the Greek word and its deep, subtle meaning could be expressed) can only be explained by its usage and by the collateral descriptions given elsewhere in the Bible.
\n
\nJohn derives the doctrine of the LOGOS direct from the Holy Spirit who speaks from the depths of Old Testament prophecy. It is from Solomon and from Moses and the prophets that John takes his doctrine, as we shall presently see.
\n
\nWhen the apostle Paul writes of \u0093Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1: 24) he is describing by extended expression what in John is THE LOGOS. The term means more than REASON, more than EXPRESSION OF A THOUGHT, more than WISDOM and more than POWER, but all these things combined, personified, deified and presented in the All-Glorious form of the eternal and only begotten of the Father. This is John's doctrine of the LOGOS. He could find no other single word to express his inspired thought - there is no other such word, and the word he used must be understood not by lexicography, not by manipulation of the dictionary, but by deep study of the Divine Word, the Scriptures of Truth.
\n
\nThe Gospel of John is no ordinary book. None of the Books of the Bible is that, but John is the last of the divine penmen and who writes for all, Christ's last word to His church during the long ages of waiting till all His foes are made His footstool.
\n
\nThat last word of Christ is about Himself - His eternity, His place in the Godhead, His constant care of His Church in the ceaseless ministration of the Holy Spirit. The object is not merely to write a history, but to go behind history so that the people of God in their age-long tribulation and conflict with evil powers, seen or unseen, might know who is with them, what His name is, how supreme in all creation, how unchallengeable His omnipotence to deliver and save and preserve, how faithful and true in the direst hour.
\n
\nWe have seen that this is how Christ appeared to John in the Patmos vision when He made the fullest revelation of Himself to the beloved apostle in the time of the church's greatest peril.
\n
\nFor the chief consolation of the suffering saint is Christ Himself, and John was supremely chosen to give the fullest, widest, most glorious unveiling of Christ as the Only Begotten, the Eternal Word, that we all might know our full comfort and security in Him.
\n
\n\u0093IN THE BEGINNING\u0094
\n
\nThere is a very profound connection between the opening words of the Bible (Genesis 1:1) and the commencing words of the Fourth Gospel \u0096
\n\u0093In the beginning\u0094.
\n
\n\u0093In the beginning God, created....\u0094 tells us something of surpassing importance about God. It is this: that God's eternal purpose is to express Himself and make visible and intelligible His glory. In this sense Creation was an inevitable thing (for whatever God does He does in an eternal sense, as a requirement of His Being and wisdom). It is impossible for God to be in Himself all - wisdom and all-power, without exercising that wisdom and power. Without that field in which to exercise His attributes and without a \u0093theatre\u0094 of intelligent and moral beings capable of applauding those works and perceiving in them the fullness of the divine perfection, it would be as though God were not. It is not without very profound, meaning that the Scriptures tell us that in the day of creation \u0093the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy\u0094 (Job 38: 7).
\n
\nBecause God is light He must create light as the glorious pattern of what He is. Because He is wisdom and power there must be a universe which, in the marvelous construction of all its parts from the least to the greatest, provides a means of displaying and discerning those infinite qualities of God.
\n
\nThus the Psalmist: \u0093The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night showeth knowledge ... their sound is gone out to all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world ....\u0094(Psalm 19).
\n
\nHow quickly the thought in that majestic psalm passes to the moral creation where the Word of God reigns: \u0093The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple....\u0094
\n
\nThe eighth psalm, displays the same transcendent philosophy: \u0093O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth\u0094. As with the rush of cherubim wings, the psalmist is instantly transported above the natural creation into the firmament of redemption. He meditates on the creation of MAN, the peculiar treasure of God - the masterpiece of God's holy wisdom - yet not man in himself so much as man in his true head and pattern ... the Son of Man, the Emmanuel, God with us: \u0093What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him? Thou hast made him (for a little while) lower than the angels: and hast crowned him with glory and honour\u0094 (Psalm 8: 4-5).
\n
\nPaul completes the thought of Psalm 8 in Hebrews 2, where he tells us that the dominion over creation originally given to man, is realised in, Christ Jesus, the God-man, through the atonement.\u0093We see Jesus made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour\u0094.
\n
\nReturning to John we find the same principle observed and enlarged upon. On the obvious pattern of Genesis, the inspired apostle writes: \u0093In the beginning....\u0094 But there he breaks off and his thought travels immediately to that which lies beyond creation - beyond time - that which is the origin and the end of creation \u0096 \u0093the WORD\u0094.
\n
\nGod reveals Himself. The commanding word of Creation is not just a created word. It is God putting forth Himself. He tells us what He is, but not in natural speech. The Word is a Person; that Person is One who was always His companion and partner. That Word is more. It is God Himself.
\n
\nNow is our thought carried beyond time and beyond the natural and the physical to that of which the outward creation is only the garment. Here is the Reason behind all things, the Cause of all created being, the full and final and utter disclosure of who and what God is, in that glorious Second Person of the Godhead, the Eternal Son, the Only Begotten, \u0093Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God\u0094.
\n
\nThis eternal Word which stands forth is not a Word about God, but a Word which is God, which dwelt with God in the timeless eternity which subsisted before the beginning, that Word which truly never was and never will be, but always IS, and which in the full development of the grand design of the Godhead \u0093became flesh and dwelt among us\u0094, that in Him and by Him we might behold the eternal glory \u0096 \u0093the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth\u0094 (John 1. 14).
\n
\nCREATION AND ITS REDEMPTION
\n
\nIt is thus that the uncreated Word transcends creation, and through creation takes form, uniting the visible to the invisible and the created to the uncreated, that in and through Himself the purpose of God from the beginning should be achieved and the fullness of God's wisdom love and power, light and grace and truth, be displayed to the adoring wonder of redeemed creation to all eternity.
\n
\nBut there is a limitation implied. We are now in the moral sphere. Angels have fallen without prospect of redemption. Man has fallen, yet in hope of redemption (Genesis 3. 15), though redemption is not co-extensive with the race.
\n
\nAs in natural creation, the glory of God is perverted and denied by the blindness and hardness of fallen and rebellious man, so in the spiritual creation or regeneration in which God is engaged, there is a blind incomprehension and obstinate refusal to see and know.
\n
\n\u0093The light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not\u0094 (John 1: 5).
\n\u0093He came unto his own and his own received him not\u0094. The moral creation does not respond to the law of God as does the natural creation in its perfect union with the divine will. The moral creation, by the very fact that it is moral and not merely physical, manifests itself in revolt and repudiation of the holy Law which in its intention confers upon man his greatest dignity, privilege and glory, but which in the outcome is the instrument by which man rises up against his Creator.
\n
\n\u0093Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us\u0094 (Psalm 2).
\n
\nThe fatal result is death - spiritual death, of which the death of the body is but the awful symbol. This is a death which is in trespasses and sins, a region of death where the overlord is the prince of darkness and death, himself a fallen spirit in revolt against, and in defiance of, the divine holiness (see Heb. 2: 14-15).
\n
\nLet no man in his perversity assume that redemption is the creative right of all created beings. The devil knows the answer to that and his implacable hatred of all good and consecration of his perverted powers to all evil, is only too sure a token that there is a region of evil from which there is neither repentance nor return, but which, in the judgment thereof, shall eternally declare the holiness and righteousness of God, just as the region of redemption will eternally display the treasures of His mercy and love.
\n
\nLet him who revolts against that take care lest his rebellious thought harden at the last into that final condition to which Satan and his kingdom are already arrived: \u0093Have not I chosen you twelve and one of you is (already become) a devil?\u0094
\n
\nThere are, then, those who \u0093receive him not\u0094 and among these the most privileged of mankind (the Jewish race), who by birth and descent, by the advantage of light and truth bestowed upon them through their own prophets and righteous men down the centuries, ought to have been \u0093a people prepared for the Lord\u0094. They \u0093received him not\u0094. But their unbelief could not make \u0093the faith of God\u0094 of none effect (Romans 3:2).
\n
\nThe divine wisdom decreed that the purpose be worked out in the widest possible field. A people was reserved by the Lord and for the Lord in whom His original and full purpose of manifesting His glory must be realised, for:
\n
\n\u0093To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God\u0094.
\nJohn 1: 12-13.
\n
\nTHE DIVINE WILL AND MAN'S WILL
\n
\nIt is unthinkable - indeed subversive to faith - to suppose that the supreme object of creation, namely, the incarnation of the Word and the bringing forth of a new creation by moans of redemption from sin and death and renewal by the Spirit of God - should be left to the accident of the human will, that same will which had already turned the old creation into chaos.
\n
\nThe now order must clearly be founded upon that which is in its nature unchangeable. John names it - \u0093the will of God\u0094 (John 1. 13).
\n
\nPaul's word is, \u0093the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved ... having made known the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself\u0094
\n(Eph. 1. 5-9)
\n
\nThis \u0093will of God\u0094 is not suspended on the fallibility of human choice or instrumentality. It is hinged eternally and irrevocably on the obedience of the Son.
\n
\n\u0093Then said I. Lo, I come: in the volume of the book (that is, in the decrees of the everlasting covenant of grace) it is written of me; I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea thy law is within my heart\u0094.
\nPsalm 40. 7-8.
\n
\nIn the divine commentary upon this statement, the apostle Paul (Heb 10: 9-10) tells us that by this \u0093will of God\u0094 the first covenant (of works) is taken away, that the second (of grace) might be established, and that all the elect might be \u0093sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all\u0094.
\n
\nRising to the highest pinnacle of that which is revealed, the apostle John records the New Covenant prayer of Christ (John 17) in which the Son reckons with the Father on the terms of that contract by which the life of the triune God is pledged and conditioned. For the so-called \u0093High Priestly prayer\u0094 of Christ is that and very much more than that. It is the declaration and exposition of the New Covenant, in prayer form, in the presence of selected human witnesses, at the most solemn moment in all Creation - the night the Son of God was betrayed; the night when the symbols of the New Covenant were presented and ordained in bread and wine. John 17 records the declaration by Christ of that same Everlasting Covenant for which the world was made and for which the Son came into the world. These are His words:
\n
\n\u0093Father, the hour is come: glorify thy Son that thy Son also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.\u0094
\n(John 17: 2-3).
\n
\nThe new creation which issues from the tomb of Christ is founded upon the bedrock of Christ's righteous obedience to death and hence is beyond the possibility of another fall. A new order came in with the resurrection and exaltation of Emmanuel, and in that new order the grace and power and gift of God assemble from mankind, those whom His mysterious wisdom has sealed so that the Father's gift of the Kingdom to the Son is in no part founded upon the fallibility of the creature or exposed to the perversity of fallen nature.
\n
\nWhence then man\u0092s moral responsibility for his continued impenitence and unbelief, if his repentance and faith are guaranteed on other grounds than his own disposition to be saved?
\n
\nLet all men beware of making the Holy One the cause of sin and unbelief. The cause is in ourselves. On the other hand, let all men beware of giving to man the last and sovereign act by which the purposes of God are realised. This would be to destroy the world and fill creation with confusion.
\n
\nAs darkness does not comprehend light and ignorance cannot conceive knowledge, and as heaven is higher than earth, so the recesses of divine wisdom are not accessible to human exploration. We may know the fact revealed, but the processes of that holy will which governs all, we may not know.
\n
\nWhat we do know is the fact of that grace which alone makes the difference, and those who hang upon grace shall not believe in vain, nor be disappointed at last of their hope. It is equally a fact revealed that the wicked shall be turned into hell and their condemnation lies only in themselves, for \u0093this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil\u0094. (John 3. 19).
\n
\nThe election of grace is the assurance of Christ's reward under the Everlasting Covenant. It is underwritten by the decree of God in the atonement: \u0093He shall see of the travail of his soul and shell be satisfied\u0094. (Isaiah 53:11)
\n
\nLet us bow heart and intellect before the mystery of this divine grace, and (like Christ) be \u0093satisfied\u0094.
\n
\n\u0093God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of 'the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ\u0094. (2 Cor. 4: 6).
\n
\nLight in the soul is as much a creative act-of God as the shining of the firstborn light into the blackness of ancient, primeval night.
\n
\nTHE LOGOS OF PLATO AND THE BIBLE LOGOS
\n
\nWe must now clear from all imputation the integrity of that word \u0093LOGOS\u0094 which John uses to describe that mystery of godliness; the Person of the Only Begotten Son.
\n
\nThere have never been wanting those enemies of the truth who allege that John borrowed the word from the Greek classics, either direct from Plato or at least secondhand from the Alexandrine Jew, Philo, a first century philosopher who traded in the speculations of the Greek.
\n
\nThe answer to this false charge is twofold. First, the Logos of Philo, and of Plato, bears no resemblance whatever to the Logos of John \u0096 \u0093In the beginning was the Word (Logos)\u0094. Secondly, John goes much further back than Philo or Plato or any previous philosopher. He goes right back to Solomon for his word - 1,000 years before Philo and four centuries before Plato. Further, he goes back to Moses, more than five centuries before Solomon and a thousand years before Plato.
\n
\nJohn\u0092s doctrine of Christ rises only in the sanctuary. We refer in the first instance to the famous \u0093Wisdom\u0094 passage in Proverbs 8, especially verses 22-31. Wisdom is here personified and is the equivalent in meaning of John's word LOGOS.
\n
\nDr. Hengstenberg dismisses the objection that in Proverbs wisdom is introduced only as an attribute of God, poetically represented.
\n
\n\u0093Opposed to such a view is the fact that what is pronounced here of the Second Person of the Godhead sharing in the creation of the world, coincides with the distinction occurring elsewhere (in the doctrine of the Angel of Jehovah) between the hidden God and His revealer. Add to this that it could not be declared of Wisdom, as an attribute of God, that it had been formed and brought forth from eternity\u0094.
\n(Prov. 8:22-23) Dr. Hengstenberg.
\n
\nHengstenberg also dismisses the objection that as \u0093wisdom\u0094 in Proverbs is a feminine word it could not properly represent the Second Person of the Godhead. \u0093But the divine Mediator of Creation appears as personal wisdom (feminine) because here He is considered according to His wisdom unfolded in creation, as similarly in Ecclesiastes, Solomon is represented as incarnate Wisdom (feminine)\u0094 - in the word \u0093Koheleth\u0094 (or \u0093the Preacher\u0094, \u0093Ecclesiastes\u0094).
\n
\nChrist also designates Himself as Wisdom
\n(compare Matthew 23: 34-35 and Luke 11: 49-51).
\n
\nThat John's doctrine of the Word (LOGOS) is deeply rooted in Proverbs 8 there can be no doubt when Solomon's passage is carefully considered. There are 10 verses. The first five (22-26) describe the existence of the Word (Wisdom) before creation, and the remaining five (27-31) of the participation of the Word in creation itself.
\n
\nThe first three verses of John's gospel are but a condensation of this passage in Proverbs. Verse 22, Proverbs 8, declares that He (Wisdom, or the Word) was possessed by God before the works of creation. Again in verse 23, Wisdom is \u0091set up from\u0092 everlasting, from the beginning or ever the earth was\u0094.
\n
\nIn Revelation 3, verse 14, Christ describes Himself as \u0093the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the Creation of God\u0094, that is, Christ is the \"living beginning\" or source from whence all creation proceeds. The errorists who allege, from this verse that Christ was the product of the first act of creation do not deserve an answer.
\n
\n\u0093When the creation began, God already possessed Wisdom, the LOGOS was already with Him, so that He was before all things and only by Him do all things consist (Col. 1:17)\u0094. Dr.Hengstenberg
\n
\nWe add to our celebrated exegete's comments the description of Christ as given by Paul in 1 Cor. 1:24 \u0096 \u0093Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God\u0094. This is Paul's interpretation of the LOGOS - that He who bears that description bears it in view of His complete identification with the Godhead as the full expression of the omnipotence and eternal wisdom of God. He who thus expresses God must be God Himself - which is precisely what John is saying.
\n
\nIt is thus that John introduces the Saviour in all His supremacy as the great Creator, the Wisdom of the Eternal, or to borrow from Isaiah his description of the LOGOS \u0096 \u0093Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace\u0094 (Isaiah 9:6).
\n
\nTHE ANGEL OF JEHOVAH
\n
\nThe second Old Testament source from which the doctrine of the LOGOS is derived is the appearance of the Angel of the Lord who throughout the history of the people of God in the Old Testament acts for God as the protector and redeemer of His people.
\n
\nThat the Angel of the Lord was none other than the Eternal and Only Begotten Son in His pre-incarnation manifestation to Israel, there has never been any doubt. The rabbis have always recognised the Messiah in this mysterious Angel, though they deny the identity of the Angel with the Lord Jesus.
\n
\nFrom Genesis 18 when He first appeared to Abraham, till the announcement of Malachi 3:1, this mysterious One constantly emerges. To Abraham in the plains of Mamre He appeared with two angelic companions, to announce the destruction of Sodom and to foretell the birth of Isaac. The chapter begins with the statement, \u0093The Lord (Jehovah) appeared unto him \u0085.\u0094
\n
\nWhen Sarah, behind the tent door, heard the announcement of the
\nforthcoming birth of Isaac, she laughed inwardly - and incredulously. \u0093And the Lord (Jehovah) said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh...?\u0094
\n
\nAt the close of the interview we read, \u0093and the Lord (Jehovah) went his way as soon as he had left off communing with Abraham\u0094 (Gen. 18:33)
\n
\nFrom that time forth the \u0093Angel of the Lord\u0094 constantly appears in the history of the Old Testament people, leading, guiding, rebuking, delivering, preparing the way for His own Incarnation at Bethlehem.
\n
\nJacob - that great and glorious man - wrestled with this Angel at Peniel
\n(\u0093the face of God\u0094) and held Omnipotence in his ten fingers
\n(Gen. 32: 24-30). For that Angel was the Lord God, as Hosea the prophet
\nlater confirms:
\n
\n\u0093By his strength he (Jacob) had power with God: Yea, he had power over the angel and prevailed. He wept and made supplication unto him. He found him in Bethel and there he spake with us: even the Lord God of hosts: the Lord is his name\u0094. (Hosea 12: 3-6).
\n
\nTHE GOD OF BETHEL WAS CHRIST
\n
\nThe angel with whom Jacob wrestled at Peniel was none other than Jehovah in His manifestation as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, for Jacob named the place PENIEL which means (\u0093The face of God\u0094 because said he, \u0093I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved.\u0094
\n(Genesis 32: 30; compare Hosea 12: 3-5)
\n
\nOf this Angel of the Lord's Presence, he later speaks when blessing the two sons of Joseph: \u0093The God who fed me all my life long unto this day; the Angel which redeemed me from all evil....\u0094 (Genesis 48: 15-16).
\n
\nJacob's vision at Bethel of the heavenly ladder with the Lord (Jehovah) standing above it, is claimed by Christ to be a picture of His own divine glory as He says to Nathaniel:
\n
\n\u0093Hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man\u0094. (John 1: 51)
\n
\n\u0093I am the God of Bethel\u0094 declares the Angel of God to Jacob when warning him to flee from Paden Aram (Genesis 31: 11-13). So Christ (significantly recorded in our Gospel of John) shows to Nathaniel that his (Nathaniel's) confession that He was \u0093the Son of God, the King of Israel\u0094 was to be crowned with the knowledge that He was none other than that Jehovah, that God of Bethel, that Redeemer of Israel who appeared at that most critical period of the nation's history when at Bethel the Lord proclaimed Himself the God, the Saviour, the Redeemer of His people.
\n
\nIt was this Angel of the Lord who went before. Israel in the wilderness to keep and guide the people of God and bring them into their inheritance.
\n
\n\u0093Behold, I send an Angel before thee to keep thee in the way and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him and obey his voice, provoke him not for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him\u0094. (Exodus 23: 20-23)
\n
\n\u0093They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them,\u0094 says Paul \u0093and that Rock was Christ\u0094 (1 Cor. 10:4). (In the margin, the words underlined read \u0093that went with them\u0094). So the Angel of the Lord's Presence was Christ.
\n
\nIt was He who gave the Law to Moses on Sinai (see in Acts 7, verse 38, where the Lord is described as \u0093the angel which spake\u0094 to Moses). It was He who led the Israelites through the wilderness.
\n
\n\u0093Behold I send an angel before thee ... Beware of him and obey his voice. Provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions, FOR MY NAME IS IN HIM ... For mine angel shall go before thee and bring thee in....\u0094 (Exodus 23: 20-23)
\n
\nIn Exodus 33:2 God promises to send \u0093an angel\u0094 before His people to drive out the Canaanite and in Deuteronomy 7: 21-24 Moses tells the people that it is \u0093the Lord thy God, mighty and terrible\u0094 who should be the One so promised in the form of the Angel.
\n
\nCAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST
\n
\nThe One who appeared to Joshua with drawn sword (Joshua 5: 13-15) was this same Angel whom Moses foretold would drive out the heathen from before the tribes of the Lord. He claims from Joshua divine honours: \u0093As captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.... Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy\u0094.
\n
\nThe language which this Exalted One uses to Joshua confirms that he is the identical Person who appeared to Moses at the Burning Bush, and that Person was Jehovah. Thus Stephen:
\n
\n\u0093Then appeared to him (Moses) in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an Angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, \"I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Put off the shoes from thy feet, for the place where thou standest is holy ground\u0094.
\n(Acts 7: 30-33)
\n
\nTHE ASCENT IN THE FLAME
\n
\nIt was Christ as the Angel of Jehovah, the Eternal Word or Logos of God, who appeared to Manoah and his wife, the parents of Samson (Judges 13) and \u0093did wondrously\u0094 by ascending in the flame of Manoah\u0092s offering.
\n
\n\u0093Then Manoah knew that he was an Angel of the Lord ... and Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die because we have seen God\u0094.
\n
\nManoah desires to know the Angel's name, and the reply of the Angel is of high importance \u0096 \u0093why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?\u0094 (Judges 13:18). That word \u0093secret\u0094 is the same word in the Hebrew, translated in Isaiah 9, verse 6, \u0093His name shall be called WONDERFUL...\u0094 Likewise Jacob inquired of the Person with whom he wrestled at Peniel \u0093What is thy name?\u0094 and received the same reply as Manoah: \u0093Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?\u0094
\n
\nFor the Name of God is incommunicable. It is secret and wonderful and it is the name of the Angel, the Sent One, the Eternal Word, the Son of God, the Logos, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.
\n
\nThe true identity of Manoah's Angel as being Jehovah Himself, the Redeemer of His people, is marvelously portrayed in the sequel, when the Angel ascends to heaven in the flame of the altar. We quote from an 18th century writer whose name we do not know but whom we have reason to believe is Ambrose Searle:
\n
\n\u0093The Angel enjoined Manoah to make (his) sacrifice to Jehovah, and when the flame was ascending, the Angel ascended in it. This signified to Manoah and the Church that He was Christ who thus appeared; and that this Christ, by the oblation of Himself, would pacify the divine wrath and be that true sacrifice of His people, by which not only their offerings should be accepted but that Himself also would ascend from them to plead their cause before the throne of glory. This gracious revelation perfectly corresponds with His name Wonderful; for surely this act of Christ in atoning for poor sinners is the most admirable of all the works of the Lord. It was this which caused Manoah and his wife, when they saw the figure of their Redeemer entering the flame and ascending in it as the true propitiation with God, to fall down upon their faces in humble adoration and to say concerning this Angel Jehovah Himself, that they had seen God\u0094.
\n
\nGIDEON AND THE ANGEL
\n
\nGideon likewise recognised this Angel as the Redeemer of Israel, Jehovah Himself (Judges 6). \u0093The Angel appeared unto him and said, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said, O my Lord, if the Lord be with us why has this befallen us? ... And the Lord (Heb. Jehovah) looked upon him and said, Go in this thy might and thou shalt save Israel: have not I sent thee\u0094.
\n
\nMICHAEL IS CHRIST
\n
\nThere is formidable proof that the great Angel of Daniel 10 was \u0093Michael the Archangel\u0094 and that Michael is Christ in His office as ruler of the angelic host, \u0093the great Prince who stands for the children of thy people\u0094 (Daniel 12).
\n
\nMALACHI
\n
\nThe title \u0093Malachi\u0094 given to the last book of the Old Testament is derived from the character of the Book and not from the supposed name of a prophet, for \u0093Malachi\u0094 is the Hebrew for \u0093My Angel\u0094 or \u0093My Messenger\u0094 and Malachi (the Book) is supremely that portion of the Old Testament specially written as God's last word to the O.T. Church, before the coming of Christ, heralded by John the Baptist:
\n
\n\u0093Behold I will send my messenger and he shall prepare, the way before me: and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger (i.e. Malachi, angel) of the covenant whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come saith the Lord of hosts\u0094 (Mal. 3: 1).
\n
\nJohn the Baptist, who knew his commission so well and was as great as the greatest of all who went before him, sent disciples to Jesus to ask him
\n\u0093Art thou he that should come ....?\u0094 (Matthew 11: 3).
\nThis question was derived from Malachi 3: 1.
\n
\nHENGSTENBERG'S SUMMARY
\n
\nHengstenberg, summarising the teaching of the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, well remarks:
\n
\n\u0093The angel of God, or of Jehovah, is represented as far exalted above the sphere of the inferior angels. Of him are predicated all the attributes of the true God, who speaks in His name, claims for Himself the honours due to the Eternal and is addressed and treated as God. In Exodus 23: 21 He is designated as the Angel in whom is God\u0092s name: i.e. His nature is historically unfolded and attested. In Isaiah 63: 9 He is spoken of as the Angel of His Presence (or face) i.e. the Angel in whom God Himself appears, in opposition to the inferior, created angels. In Joshua 5: 14 He appears as Captain of the Lord\u0092s host, on account of His Godlike majesty and glory. He attributes Divine honours to Himself, commanding Joshua to loose his shoe from his feet because the place was holy. In Joshua 6:2, He is called Jehovah. The powers of heaven, material and spiritual, the stars and angels, are subject to Him. He appears surrounded by the latter, who are attentive to His words, in the first vision of Zechariah where he is represented as the Protector of the covenant people, the Mediator between them and God, their Intercessor at the throne of grace\u0094.
\n
\nHE WHO WAS SENT
\n
\nAll the revelatory appearances of God in the O.T. are by means of His angel, that is, through THE WORD, through Christ, the Eternal Son, the LOGOS.
\n
\nThat John\u0092s mind dwelt very considerably on the O.T. doctrine of the Angel (the Sent One) of the Lord is clear from the unique place the word \u0093sent\u0094 has in his gospel. Whereas in the other three gospels the word occurs only once in this connotation (see Matt. 10: 40; Mark 9:37 and Luke 9:48, in which the three share the same quotation as in John 13:20) John has the expression no fewer than 30 times, each of them highly significant and unmistakably joined to the doctrine of the Angel - LOGOS, the theme of this glorious Book.
\n
\nNote particularly:
\n
\nMy meat is to do the will of him that sent me (John 4:34)
\n
\nHe that believeth on me believeth on him that sent me (5:24).
\n
\nThe works that I do bear witness that the Father hath sent me (5:36-37).
\n
\nNo man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. (6:44).
\n
\nI must work the works of him that sent me while it is day (9:4).
\nHe that seeth me seeth him that sent me (12:45).
\n
\nThis is life eternal, to know Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent (17:3)
\n
\nSays Hengstenberg of this phenomenal feature of John\u0092s gospel: \u0093By this expression is everywhere intimated the personal identity of Christ with the O.T. Angel or Messenger of the Lord. John rests on the doctrine of the Angel of the Lord when here and in verse 11 (chapter 1) he designates the covenant people as the property of Christ; and when (in 12: 41) he says without further explanation, that Isaiah saw the glory of Christ, while in the O.T. it is the glory of Jehovah which is spoken of (Isaiah 6)\u0094.
\n
\nThus, He who is the Angel, the Sent One, of the Lord, is also Himself of the same Essence as the Father and the doctrine of the Logos is thereby fully unfolded - that the WORD is the Revealer of God, the WISDOM that ever dwelt with God, the GLORIOUS IMAGE of the ETERNAL, the Bearer of His NAME and LIKENESS and at the same time is Himself GOD, in a sense most absolute and true.
\n
\nBy this likewise we are permitted to see in the otherwise inaccessible regions of the Divine and Holy Being of God, a filial love, a perfect harmony, a glorious society, an intimate and most sacred communion, a holy joy, an accord, a triumphant wisdom, an ineffable peace.
\n
\nSuch is our Saviour, the Uncreated, the First and the Last, the Alpha and Omega, the sum total of all wisdom and knowledge, the beginning and the end of all things, for whom and by whom all things are created, the Royal Heir to the Throne of the Universe, the One who by His proven merit, is fit and worthy to bear the rule of all things and who can and will bring all things to their predestined end.
\n
\n\u0093Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty; and in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.\u0094 (Psalm 45:3-4)
\n","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=article&aid=22395","source":"collect","new_content":"The Prologue to the Gospel of John, consisting of verses 1 - 18 of the first chapter, ought to be known by heart to every Christian.
\n
\nThis Prologue is in three periods, each complete in itself and together forming an arch bridging the entire expanse of the unveiling of theGodhead as touching the divine nature and purpose, in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Our translators have very properly marked the three periods with the usual paragraph signs.
\n
\n1. Verses 1-5 introduce the Uncreated Word, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, through whom the Eternal God reveals Himself and by whom all the wisdom of God in time and in eternity is brought forth.
\n
\n2. Verses 6-14 begin at that point of Old Testament prophecy where the Old Testament terminates that is, the return of Elijah (not in person, but in the spirit and power of the great prophet) in the ministry of John the Baptist, who announces publicly the entry into the world of that Eternal Word through whom grace and favour, light and truth and life eternal, are brought back to our fallen race as a new creation and a new beginning of the world.
\n
\n3. Verses 15-16 record the public identification by John of that Eternal Word in the Person of Jesus Christ, here named for the first time (verse 17) and shown to be (in words proceeding not from the Baptist but from the apostle) the only begotten Son, He who dwelt in the bosom of the Father, who from all eternity had looked upon the Father\u2019s face and now, coming in human flesh, declares and unfolds the mystery of the Godhead.
\n
\nThereafter the history of the earthly manifestation of the Word proceeds, beginning with the ministry of John the Baptist subsequent to the Baptism (upon which the forerunner is looking back) in which the first of the apostles is introduced to Christ as the Baptist points Him out in the words, \u201cBehold the Lamb of God\u201d. Thereafter John the Baptist begins to fade from the picture. His short ministry nears its end. His task is done. Martyrdom awaits him. While Christ increases he must decrease. He has heard the bridegroom's voice, and his joy is fulfilled (chap. 3: 29-30).
\n
\nIMPERIAL ROME AND ITS GHOST
\n
\nWe return to the first part of our Prologue to consider John's inspired doctrine of the Eternal Word (the Logos as it is in the Greek, in which language John wrote).
\n
\n\u201cIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
\nand the Word was God\u201d.
\n
\nThe time was significant when John took up his inspired pen.
\n
\nThe Kingdom of Christ (the mystic Church) was in collision with the power of this world, represented then by Imperial Rome. There were no visible means by which the testimony of Christ and the people of Christ were to be preserved. Divine omnipotence assumes strange forms, for earthly events are not the realities. Behind them are the forces of which earthly powers and events are but the means to the end, and sometimes only the pawns. We war not with flesh and blood but with the unseen principalities and powers which operate in the realm of the spirit (says Paul, Ephesians 6:12). The cruel Domitian under whom John suffered at Patmos was the first of a long line of oppressors and usurpers who would raise up all power against the confessors of Christ. The wearer of the imperial purple of Rome would be taken out of the way in the course of the centuries to make way for that full development of the antichristian kingdom which would masquerade as God and truth (2 Thess. 2: 3-12). The beastly Roman Empire which had sprawled across the world far so long in its exercise of iron power over the nations, would have served its purpose, and would make way for that far more subtle and dangerous delusion, the Roman apostasy. The last head of imperial Rome would receive its fatal wound, yet its very death would be the signal for its resurrection from heathenism in a new, more terrible antichristian form, more outlasting, more cruel, more blasphemous, more bloodthirsty in its oppression of the saints of the Most High - and all the world would wonder and be deceived when the deadly wound was healed, and the ghost of the Roman empire would appear on the grave thereof, exercising all the power of the first beast, creating an image thereof (a kingdom and an empire like unto that which it supplanted) and cause all men to receive its mark and bow before it (Revelation 13).
\n
\nOur readers will perceive at once that we dismiss that strange imagination, born of the evangelical aberrations of the early 19th century, that the Book of Revelation has naught to do with Christian history, but that all its pages with very few exceptions relate to a fragment of time actually and literally to consist of 1260 DAYS whereas for that period of YEARS and more, the Christian church (that is, the true saints of God) was to be harried and slain, persecuted and scattered, by the power of this world and of Satan.
\n
\nWe cannot reiterate too often, in view of the sad delusion now infecting the evangelical world, that both Paul and John were prophets of the Church and of no-one else, and spoke of that which should befall the Church in the course of history.
\n
\nThis was clearly seen by all our forefathers in unbroken succession. It is not we who are innovators but those who have thus compressed all the warnings (and the comforts) of Paul and John into a fragment of time not yet reached - a time which it is claimed will be irrelevant to the Church of Christ. The evil which this theory has done to Bible exposition, is incalculable, and the present state of the evangelical pulpit owes more than we can ever say, to this false system of handling the Word of God.
\n
\nBut not only was the Church of our Saviour Jesus Christ trembling on the brink of vast events in the political world when John wrote his Gospel, but she was also assaulted by devilish and blasphemous errors, the target of which was Christ Himself. He was being degraded from His Godhead, dragged down from His essential deity, reduced to creaturely status and made the figment of a purely human philosophy. \u201cEven now,\u201d writes John in his first epistle, \u201cthere are many antichrists\u201d (1 John 2:18) - by which we know (adds the apostle) that THIS time, (that is the time of the Church), is THE LAST TIME (after which there can be no other time, only eternity).
\n
\nCHRIST - THE ANSWER TO ALL ERROR
\n
\nIn view of what the future held, a future already being unfolded to John in the errors and oppressions even then troubling the people of the Lord, John was commissioned to write the Gospel which bears his name, as well as the other four writings which are from his hand.
\n
\nHe begins the Gospel, as he begins the first Epistle, and the Book of Revelation, with an exhibition of the supreme glory of Christ, and the clearest of all statements elucidating the mystery of that Godhead which was veiled in flesh which he had seen with his eyes, his ears had heard, and his hands had handled, even the Word of Life. The supremacy and sovereign omnipotence of Christ are always the answer to every foe.
\n
\nThe term LOGOS which John uses to describe the mystery of Christ's Person (translated \u2018WORD\u2019 in our version, there being no other available term in our language by which the Greek word and its deep, subtle meaning could be expressed) can only be explained by its usage and by the collateral descriptions given elsewhere in the Bible.
\n
\nJohn derives the doctrine of the LOGOS direct from the Holy Spirit who speaks from the depths of Old Testament prophecy. It is from Solomon and from Moses and the prophets that John takes his doctrine, as we shall presently see.
\n
\nWhen the apostle Paul writes of \u201cChrist the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1: 24) he is describing by extended expression what in John is THE LOGOS. The term means more than REASON, more than EXPRESSION OF A THOUGHT, more than WISDOM and more than POWER, but all these things combined, personified, deified and presented in the All-Glorious form of the eternal and only begotten of the Father. This is John's doctrine of the LOGOS. He could find no other single word to express his inspired thought - there is no other such word, and the word he used must be understood not by lexicography, not by manipulation of the dictionary, but by deep study of the Divine Word, the Scriptures of Truth.
\n
\nThe Gospel of John is no ordinary book. None of the Books of the Bible is that, but John is the last of the divine penmen and who writes for all, Christ's last word to His church during the long ages of waiting till all His foes are made His footstool.
\n
\nThat last word of Christ is about Himself - His eternity, His place in the Godhead, His constant care of His Church in the ceaseless ministration of the Holy Spirit. The object is not merely to write a history, but to go behind history so that the people of God in their age-long tribulation and conflict with evil powers, seen or unseen, might know who is with them, what His name is, how supreme in all creation, how unchallengeable His omnipotence to deliver and save and preserve, how faithful and true in the direst hour.
\n
\nWe have seen that this is how Christ appeared to John in the Patmos vision when He made the fullest revelation of Himself to the beloved apostle in the time of the church's greatest peril.
\n
\nFor the chief consolation of the suffering saint is Christ Himself, and John was supremely chosen to give the fullest, widest, most glorious unveiling of Christ as the Only Begotten, the Eternal Word, that we all might know our full comfort and security in Him.
\n
\n\u201cIN THE BEGINNING\u201d
\n
\nThere is a very profound connection between the opening words of the Bible (Genesis 1:1) and the commencing words of the Fourth Gospel \u2013
\n\u201cIn the beginning\u201d.
\n
\n\u201cIn the beginning God, created....\u201d tells us something of surpassing importance about God. It is this: that God's eternal purpose is to express Himself and make visible and intelligible His glory. In this sense Creation was an inevitable thing (for whatever God does He does in an eternal sense, as a requirement of His Being and wisdom). It is impossible for God to be in Himself all - wisdom and all-power, without exercising that wisdom and power. Without that field in which to exercise His attributes and without a \u201ctheatre\u201d of intelligent and moral beings capable of applauding those works and perceiving in them the fullness of the divine perfection, it would be as though God were not. It is not without very profound, meaning that the Scriptures tell us that in the day of creation \u201cthe morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy\u201d (Job 38: 7).
\n
\nBecause God is light He must create light as the glorious pattern of what He is. Because He is wisdom and power there must be a universe which, in the marvelous construction of all its parts from the least to the greatest, provides a means of displaying and discerning those infinite qualities of God.
\n
\nThus the Psalmist: \u201cThe heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night showeth knowledge ... their sound is gone out to all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world ....\u201d(Psalm 19).
\n
\nHow quickly the thought in that majestic psalm passes to the moral creation where the Word of God reigns: \u201cThe law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple....\u201d
\n
\nThe eighth psalm, displays the same transcendent philosophy: \u201cO Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth\u201d. As with the rush of cherubim wings, the psalmist is instantly transported above the natural creation into the firmament of redemption. He meditates on the creation of MAN, the peculiar treasure of God - the masterpiece of God's holy wisdom - yet not man in himself so much as man in his true head and pattern ... the Son of Man, the Emmanuel, God with us: \u201cWhat is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him? Thou hast made him (for a little while) lower than the angels: and hast crowned him with glory and honour\u201d (Psalm 8: 4-5).
\n
\nPaul completes the thought of Psalm 8 in Hebrews 2, where he tells us that the dominion over creation originally given to man, is realised in, Christ Jesus, the God-man, through the atonement.\u201cWe see Jesus made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour\u201d.
\n
\nReturning to John we find the same principle observed and enlarged upon. On the obvious pattern of Genesis, the inspired apostle writes: \u201cIn the beginning....\u201d But there he breaks off and his thought travels immediately to that which lies beyond creation - beyond time - that which is the origin and the end of creation \u2013 \u201cthe WORD\u201d.
\n
\nGod reveals Himself. The commanding word of Creation is not just a created word. It is God putting forth Himself. He tells us what He is, but not in natural speech. The Word is a Person; that Person is One who was always His companion and partner. That Word is more. It is God Himself.
\n
\nNow is our thought carried beyond time and beyond the natural and the physical to that of which the outward creation is only the garment. Here is the Reason behind all things, the Cause of all created being, the full and final and utter disclosure of who and what God is, in that glorious Second Person of the Godhead, the Eternal Son, the Only Begotten, \u201cChrist, the power of God and the wisdom of God\u201d.
\n
\nThis eternal Word which stands forth is not a Word about God, but a Word which is God, which dwelt with God in the timeless eternity which subsisted before the beginning, that Word which truly never was and never will be, but always IS, and which in the full development of the grand design of the Godhead \u201cbecame flesh and dwelt among us\u201d, that in Him and by Him we might behold the eternal glory \u2013 \u201cthe glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth\u201d (John 1. 14).
\n
\nCREATION AND ITS REDEMPTION
\n
\nIt is thus that the uncreated Word transcends creation, and through creation takes form, uniting the visible to the invisible and the created to the uncreated, that in and through Himself the purpose of God from the beginning should be achieved and the fullness of God's wisdom love and power, light and grace and truth, be displayed to the adoring wonder of redeemed creation to all eternity.
\n
\nBut there is a limitation implied. We are now in the moral sphere. Angels have fallen without prospect of redemption. Man has fallen, yet in hope of redemption (Genesis 3. 15), though redemption is not co-extensive with the race.
\n
\nAs in natural creation, the glory of God is perverted and denied by the blindness and hardness of fallen and rebellious man, so in the spiritual creation or regeneration in which God is engaged, there is a blind incomprehension and obstinate refusal to see and know.
\n
\n\u201cThe light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not\u201d (John 1: 5).
\n\u201cHe came unto his own and his own received him not\u201d. The moral creation does not respond to the law of God as does the natural creation in its perfect union with the divine will. The moral creation, by the very fact that it is moral and not merely physical, manifests itself in revolt and repudiation of the holy Law which in its intention confers upon man his greatest dignity, privilege and glory, but which in the outcome is the instrument by which man rises up against his Creator.
\n
\n\u201cLet us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us\u201d (Psalm 2).
\n
\nThe fatal result is death - spiritual death, of which the death of the body is but the awful symbol. This is a death which is in trespasses and sins, a region of death where the overlord is the prince of darkness and death, himself a fallen spirit in revolt against, and in defiance of, the divine holiness (see Heb. 2: 14-15).
\n
\nLet no man in his perversity assume that redemption is the creative right of all created beings. The devil knows the answer to that and his implacable hatred of all good and consecration of his perverted powers to all evil, is only too sure a token that there is a region of evil from which there is neither repentance nor return, but which, in the judgment thereof, shall eternally declare the holiness and righteousness of God, just as the region of redemption will eternally display the treasures of His mercy and love.
\n
\nLet him who revolts against that take care lest his rebellious thought harden at the last into that final condition to which Satan and his kingdom are already arrived: \u201cHave not I chosen you twelve and one of you is (already become) a devil?\u201d
\n
\nThere are, then, those who \u201creceive him not\u201d and among these the most privileged of mankind (the Jewish race), who by birth and descent, by the advantage of light and truth bestowed upon them through their own prophets and righteous men down the centuries, ought to have been \u201ca people prepared for the Lord\u201d. They \u201creceived him not\u201d. But their unbelief could not make \u201cthe faith of God\u201d of none effect (Romans 3:2).
\n
\nThe divine wisdom decreed that the purpose be worked out in the widest possible field. A people was reserved by the Lord and for the Lord in whom His original and full purpose of manifesting His glory must be realised, for:
\n
\n\u201cTo as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God\u201d.
\nJohn 1: 12-13.
\n
\nTHE DIVINE WILL AND MAN'S WILL
\n
\nIt is unthinkable - indeed subversive to faith - to suppose that the supreme object of creation, namely, the incarnation of the Word and the bringing forth of a new creation by moans of redemption from sin and death and renewal by the Spirit of God - should be left to the accident of the human will, that same will which had already turned the old creation into chaos.
\n
\nThe now order must clearly be founded upon that which is in its nature unchangeable. John names it - \u201cthe will of God\u201d (John 1. 13).
\n
\nPaul's word is, \u201cthe good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved ... having made known the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself\u201d
\n(Eph. 1. 5-9)
\n
\nThis \u201cwill of God\u201d is not suspended on the fallibility of human choice or instrumentality. It is hinged eternally and irrevocably on the obedience of the Son.
\n
\n\u201cThen said I. Lo, I come: in the volume of the book (that is, in the decrees of the everlasting covenant of grace) it is written of me; I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea thy law is within my heart\u201d.
\nPsalm 40. 7-8.
\n
\nIn the divine commentary upon this statement, the apostle Paul (Heb 10: 9-10) tells us that by this \u201cwill of God\u201d the first covenant (of works) is taken away, that the second (of grace) might be established, and that all the elect might be \u201csanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all\u201d.
\n
\nRising to the highest pinnacle of that which is revealed, the apostle John records the New Covenant prayer of Christ (John 17) in which the Son reckons with the Father on the terms of that contract by which the life of the triune God is pledged and conditioned. For the so-called \u201cHigh Priestly prayer\u201d of Christ is that and very much more than that. It is the declaration and exposition of the New Covenant, in prayer form, in the presence of selected human witnesses, at the most solemn moment in all Creation - the night the Son of God was betrayed; the night when the symbols of the New Covenant were presented and ordained in bread and wine. John 17 records the declaration by Christ of that same Everlasting Covenant for which the world was made and for which the Son came into the world. These are His words:
\n
\n\u201cFather, the hour is come: glorify thy Son that thy Son also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.\u201d
\n(John 17: 2-3).
\n
\nThe new creation which issues from the tomb of Christ is founded upon the bedrock of Christ's righteous obedience to death and hence is beyond the possibility of another fall. A new order came in with the resurrection and exaltation of Emmanuel, and in that new order the grace and power and gift of God assemble from mankind, those whom His mysterious wisdom has sealed so that the Father's gift of the Kingdom to the Son is in no part founded upon the fallibility of the creature or exposed to the perversity of fallen nature.
\n
\nWhence then man\u2019s moral responsibility for his continued impenitence and unbelief, if his repentance and faith are guaranteed on other grounds than his own disposition to be saved?
\n
\nLet all men beware of making the Holy One the cause of sin and unbelief. The cause is in ourselves. On the other hand, let all men beware of giving to man the last and sovereign act by which the purposes of God are realised. This would be to destroy the world and fill creation with confusion.
\n
\nAs darkness does not comprehend light and ignorance cannot conceive knowledge, and as heaven is higher than earth, so the recesses of divine wisdom are not accessible to human exploration. We may know the fact revealed, but the processes of that holy will which governs all, we may not know.
\n
\nWhat we do know is the fact of that grace which alone makes the difference, and those who hang upon grace shall not believe in vain, nor be disappointed at last of their hope. It is equally a fact revealed that the wicked shall be turned into hell and their condemnation lies only in themselves, for \u201cthis is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil\u201d. (John 3. 19).
\n
\nThe election of grace is the assurance of Christ's reward under the Everlasting Covenant. It is underwritten by the decree of God in the atonement: \u201cHe shall see of the travail of his soul and shell be satisfied\u201d. (Isaiah 53:11)
\n
\nLet us bow heart and intellect before the mystery of this divine grace, and (like Christ) be \u201csatisfied\u201d.
\n
\n\u201cGod who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of 'the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ\u201d. (2 Cor. 4: 6).
\n
\nLight in the soul is as much a creative act-of God as the shining of the firstborn light into the blackness of ancient, primeval night.
\n
\nTHE LOGOS OF PLATO AND THE BIBLE LOGOS
\n
\nWe must now clear from all imputation the integrity of that word \u201cLOGOS\u201d which John uses to describe that mystery of godliness; the Person of the Only Begotten Son.
\n
\nThere have never been wanting those enemies of the truth who allege that John borrowed the word from the Greek classics, either direct from Plato or at least secondhand from the Alexandrine Jew, Philo, a first century philosopher who traded in the speculations of the Greek.
\n
\nThe answer to this false charge is twofold. First, the Logos of Philo, and of Plato, bears no resemblance whatever to the Logos of John \u2013 \u201cIn the beginning was the Word (Logos)\u201d. Secondly, John goes much further back than Philo or Plato or any previous philosopher. He goes right back to Solomon for his word - 1,000 years before Philo and four centuries before Plato. Further, he goes back to Moses, more than five centuries before Solomon and a thousand years before Plato.
\n
\nJohn\u2019s doctrine of Christ rises only in the sanctuary. We refer in the first instance to the famous \u201cWisdom\u201d passage in Proverbs 8, especially verses 22-31. Wisdom is here personified and is the equivalent in meaning of John's word LOGOS.
\n
\nDr. Hengstenberg dismisses the objection that in Proverbs wisdom is introduced only as an attribute of God, poetically represented.
\n
\n\u201cOpposed to such a view is the fact that what is pronounced here of the Second Person of the Godhead sharing in the creation of the world, coincides with the distinction occurring elsewhere (in the doctrine of the Angel of Jehovah) between the hidden God and His revealer. Add to this that it could not be declared of Wisdom, as an attribute of God, that it had been formed and brought forth from eternity\u201d.
\n(Prov. 8:22-23) Dr. Hengstenberg.
\n
\nHengstenberg also dismisses the objection that as \u201cwisdom\u201d in Proverbs is a feminine word it could not properly represent the Second Person of the Godhead. \u201cBut the divine Mediator of Creation appears as personal wisdom (feminine) because here He is considered according to His wisdom unfolded in creation, as similarly in Ecclesiastes, Solomon is represented as incarnate Wisdom (feminine)\u201d - in the word \u201cKoheleth\u201d (or \u201cthe Preacher\u201d, \u201cEcclesiastes\u201d).
\n
\nChrist also designates Himself as Wisdom
\n(compare Matthew 23: 34-35 and Luke 11: 49-51).
\n
\nThat John's doctrine of the Word (LOGOS) is deeply rooted in Proverbs 8 there can be no doubt when Solomon's passage is carefully considered. There are 10 verses. The first five (22-26) describe the existence of the Word (Wisdom) before creation, and the remaining five (27-31) of the participation of the Word in creation itself.
\n
\nThe first three verses of John's gospel are but a condensation of this passage in Proverbs. Verse 22, Proverbs 8, declares that He (Wisdom, or the Word) was possessed by God before the works of creation. Again in verse 23, Wisdom is \u2018set up from\u2019 everlasting, from the beginning or ever the earth was\u201d.
\n
\nIn Revelation 3, verse 14, Christ describes Himself as \u201cthe Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the Creation of God\u201d, that is, Christ is the \"living beginning\" or source from whence all creation proceeds. The errorists who allege, from this verse that Christ was the product of the first act of creation do not deserve an answer.
\n
\n\u201cWhen the creation began, God already possessed Wisdom, the LOGOS was already with Him, so that He was before all things and only by Him do all things consist (Col. 1:17)\u201d. Dr.Hengstenberg
\n
\nWe add to our celebrated exegete's comments the description of Christ as given by Paul in 1 Cor. 1:24 \u2013 \u201cChrist, the power of God and the wisdom of God\u201d. This is Paul's interpretation of the LOGOS - that He who bears that description bears it in view of His complete identification with the Godhead as the full expression of the omnipotence and eternal wisdom of God. He who thus expresses God must be God Himself - which is precisely what John is saying.
\n
\nIt is thus that John introduces the Saviour in all His supremacy as the great Creator, the Wisdom of the Eternal, or to borrow from Isaiah his description of the LOGOS \u2013 \u201cUnto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace\u201d (Isaiah 9:6).
\n
\nTHE ANGEL OF JEHOVAH
\n
\nThe second Old Testament source from which the doctrine of the LOGOS is derived is the appearance of the Angel of the Lord who throughout the history of the people of God in the Old Testament acts for God as the protector and redeemer of His people.
\n
\nThat the Angel of the Lord was none other than the Eternal and Only Begotten Son in His pre-incarnation manifestation to Israel, there has never been any doubt. The rabbis have always recognised the Messiah in this mysterious Angel, though they deny the identity of the Angel with the Lord Jesus.
\n
\nFrom Genesis 18 when He first appeared to Abraham, till the announcement of Malachi 3:1, this mysterious One constantly emerges. To Abraham in the plains of Mamre He appeared with two angelic companions, to announce the destruction of Sodom and to foretell the birth of Isaac. The chapter begins with the statement, \u201cThe Lord (Jehovah) appeared unto him \u2026.\u201d
\n
\nWhen Sarah, behind the tent door, heard the announcement of the
\nforthcoming birth of Isaac, she laughed inwardly - and incredulously. \u201cAnd the Lord (Jehovah) said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh...?\u201d
\n
\nAt the close of the interview we read, \u201cand the Lord (Jehovah) went his way as soon as he had left off communing with Abraham\u201d (Gen. 18:33)
\n
\nFrom that time forth the \u201cAngel of the Lord\u201d constantly appears in the history of the Old Testament people, leading, guiding, rebuking, delivering, preparing the way for His own Incarnation at Bethlehem.
\n
\nJacob - that great and glorious man - wrestled with this Angel at Peniel
\n(\u201cthe face of God\u201d) and held Omnipotence in his ten fingers
\n(Gen. 32: 24-30). For that Angel was the Lord God, as Hosea the prophet
\nlater confirms:
\n
\n\u201cBy his strength he (Jacob) had power with God: Yea, he had power over the angel and prevailed. He wept and made supplication unto him. He found him in Bethel and there he spake with us: even the Lord God of hosts: the Lord is his name\u201d. (Hosea 12: 3-6).
\n
\nTHE GOD OF BETHEL WAS CHRIST
\n
\nThe angel with whom Jacob wrestled at Peniel was none other than Jehovah in His manifestation as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, for Jacob named the place PENIEL which means (\u201cThe face of God\u201d because said he, \u201cI have seen God face to face and my life is preserved.\u201d
\n(Genesis 32: 30; compare Hosea 12: 3-5)
\n
\nOf this Angel of the Lord's Presence, he later speaks when blessing the two sons of Joseph: \u201cThe God who fed me all my life long unto this day; the Angel which redeemed me from all evil....\u201d (Genesis 48: 15-16).
\n
\nJacob's vision at Bethel of the heavenly ladder with the Lord (Jehovah) standing above it, is claimed by Christ to be a picture of His own divine glory as He says to Nathaniel:
\n
\n\u201cHereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man\u201d. (John 1: 51)
\n
\n\u201cI am the God of Bethel\u201d declares the Angel of God to Jacob when warning him to flee from Paden Aram (Genesis 31: 11-13). So Christ (significantly recorded in our Gospel of John) shows to Nathaniel that his (Nathaniel's) confession that He was \u201cthe Son of God, the King of Israel\u201d was to be crowned with the knowledge that He was none other than that Jehovah, that God of Bethel, that Redeemer of Israel who appeared at that most critical period of the nation's history when at Bethel the Lord proclaimed Himself the God, the Saviour, the Redeemer of His people.
\n
\nIt was this Angel of the Lord who went before. Israel in the wilderness to keep and guide the people of God and bring them into their inheritance.
\n
\n\u201cBehold, I send an Angel before thee to keep thee in the way and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him and obey his voice, provoke him not for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him\u201d. (Exodus 23: 20-23)
\n
\n\u201cThey drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them,\u201d says Paul \u201cand that Rock was Christ\u201d (1 Cor. 10:4). (In the margin, the words underlined read \u201cthat went with them\u201d). So the Angel of the Lord's Presence was Christ.
\n
\nIt was He who gave the Law to Moses on Sinai (see in Acts 7, verse 38, where the Lord is described as \u201cthe angel which spake\u201d to Moses). It was He who led the Israelites through the wilderness.
\n
\n\u201cBehold I send an angel before thee ... Beware of him and obey his voice. Provoke him not, for he will not pardon your transgressions, FOR MY NAME IS IN HIM ... For mine angel shall go before thee and bring thee in....\u201d (Exodus 23: 20-23)
\n
\nIn Exodus 33:2 God promises to send \u201can angel\u201d before His people to drive out the Canaanite and in Deuteronomy 7: 21-24 Moses tells the people that it is \u201cthe Lord thy God, mighty and terrible\u201d who should be the One so promised in the form of the Angel.
\n
\nCAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST
\n
\nThe One who appeared to Joshua with drawn sword (Joshua 5: 13-15) was this same Angel whom Moses foretold would drive out the heathen from before the tribes of the Lord. He claims from Joshua divine honours: \u201cAs captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.... Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy\u201d.
\n
\nThe language which this Exalted One uses to Joshua confirms that he is the identical Person who appeared to Moses at the Burning Bush, and that Person was Jehovah. Thus Stephen:
\n
\n\u201cThen appeared to him (Moses) in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an Angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, \"I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Put off the shoes from thy feet, for the place where thou standest is holy ground\u201d.
\n(Acts 7: 30-33)
\n
\nTHE ASCENT IN THE FLAME
\n
\nIt was Christ as the Angel of Jehovah, the Eternal Word or Logos of God, who appeared to Manoah and his wife, the parents of Samson (Judges 13) and \u201cdid wondrously\u201d by ascending in the flame of Manoah\u2019s offering.
\n
\n\u201cThen Manoah knew that he was an Angel of the Lord ... and Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die because we have seen God\u201d.
\n
\nManoah desires to know the Angel's name, and the reply of the Angel is of high importance \u2013 \u201cwhy askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?\u201d (Judges 13:18). That word \u201csecret\u201d is the same word in the Hebrew, translated in Isaiah 9, verse 6, \u201cHis name shall be called WONDERFUL...\u201d Likewise Jacob inquired of the Person with whom he wrestled at Peniel \u201cWhat is thy name?\u201d and received the same reply as Manoah: \u201cWherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?\u201d
\n
\nFor the Name of God is incommunicable. It is secret and wonderful and it is the name of the Angel, the Sent One, the Eternal Word, the Son of God, the Logos, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.
\n
\nThe true identity of Manoah's Angel as being Jehovah Himself, the Redeemer of His people, is marvelously portrayed in the sequel, when the Angel ascends to heaven in the flame of the altar. We quote from an 18th century writer whose name we do not know but whom we have reason to believe is Ambrose Searle:
\n
\n\u201cThe Angel enjoined Manoah to make (his) sacrifice to Jehovah, and when the flame was ascending, the Angel ascended in it. This signified to Manoah and the Church that He was Christ who thus appeared; and that this Christ, by the oblation of Himself, would pacify the divine wrath and be that true sacrifice of His people, by which not only their offerings should be accepted but that Himself also would ascend from them to plead their cause before the throne of glory. This gracious revelation perfectly corresponds with His name Wonderful; for surely this act of Christ in atoning for poor sinners is the most admirable of all the works of the Lord. It was this which caused Manoah and his wife, when they saw the figure of their Redeemer entering the flame and ascending in it as the true propitiation with God, to fall down upon their faces in humble adoration and to say concerning this Angel Jehovah Himself, that they had seen God\u201d.
\n
\nGIDEON AND THE ANGEL
\n
\nGideon likewise recognised this Angel as the Redeemer of Israel, Jehovah Himself (Judges 6). \u201cThe Angel appeared unto him and said, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said, O my Lord, if the Lord be with us why has this befallen us? ... And the Lord (Heb. Jehovah) looked upon him and said, Go in this thy might and thou shalt save Israel: have not I sent thee\u201d.
\n
\nMICHAEL IS CHRIST
\n
\nThere is formidable proof that the great Angel of Daniel 10 was \u201cMichael the Archangel\u201d and that Michael is Christ in His office as ruler of the angelic host, \u201cthe great Prince who stands for the children of thy people\u201d (Daniel 12).
\n
\nMALACHI
\n
\nThe title \u201cMalachi\u201d given to the last book of the Old Testament is derived from the character of the Book and not from the supposed name of a prophet, for \u201cMalachi\u201d is the Hebrew for \u201cMy Angel\u201d or \u201cMy Messenger\u201d and Malachi (the Book) is supremely that portion of the Old Testament specially written as God's last word to the O.T. Church, before the coming of Christ, heralded by John the Baptist:
\n
\n\u201cBehold I will send my messenger and he shall prepare, the way before me: and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger (i.e. Malachi, angel) of the covenant whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come saith the Lord of hosts\u201d (Mal. 3: 1).
\n
\nJohn the Baptist, who knew his commission so well and was as great as the greatest of all who went before him, sent disciples to Jesus to ask him
\n\u201cArt thou he that should come ....?\u201d (Matthew 11: 3).
\nThis question was derived from Malachi 3: 1.
\n
\nHENGSTENBERG'S SUMMARY
\n
\nHengstenberg, summarising the teaching of the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, well remarks:
\n
\n\u201cThe angel of God, or of Jehovah, is represented as far exalted above the sphere of the inferior angels. Of him are predicated all the attributes of the true God, who speaks in His name, claims for Himself the honours due to the Eternal and is addressed and treated as God. In Exodus 23: 21 He is designated as the Angel in whom is God\u2019s name: i.e. His nature is historically unfolded and attested. In Isaiah 63: 9 He is spoken of as the Angel of His Presence (or face) i.e. the Angel in whom God Himself appears, in opposition to the inferior, created angels. In Joshua 5: 14 He appears as Captain of the Lord\u2019s host, on account of His Godlike majesty and glory. He attributes Divine honours to Himself, commanding Joshua to loose his shoe from his feet because the place was holy. In Joshua 6:2, He is called Jehovah. The powers of heaven, material and spiritual, the stars and angels, are subject to Him. He appears surrounded by the latter, who are attentive to His words, in the first vision of Zechariah where he is represented as the Protector of the covenant people, the Mediator between them and God, their Intercessor at the throne of grace\u201d.
\n
\nHE WHO WAS SENT
\n
\nAll the revelatory appearances of God in the O.T. are by means of His angel, that is, through THE WORD, through Christ, the Eternal Son, the LOGOS.
\n
\nThat John\u2019s mind dwelt very considerably on the O.T. doctrine of the Angel (the Sent One) of the Lord is clear from the unique place the word \u201csent\u201d has in his gospel. Whereas in the other three gospels the word occurs only once in this connotation (see Matt. 10: 40; Mark 9:37 and Luke 9:48, in which the three share the same quotation as in John 13:20) John has the expression no fewer than 30 times, each of them highly significant and unmistakably joined to the doctrine of the Angel - LOGOS, the theme of this glorious Book.
\n
\nNote particularly:
\n
\nMy meat is to do the will of him that sent me (John 4:34)
\n
\nHe that believeth on me believeth on him that sent me (5:24).
\n
\nThe works that I do bear witness that the Father hath sent me (5:36-37).
\n
\nNo man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. (6:44).
\n
\nI must work the works of him that sent me while it is day (9:4).
\nHe that seeth me seeth him that sent me (12:45).
\n
\nThis is life eternal, to know Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent (17:3)
\n
\nSays Hengstenberg of this phenomenal feature of John\u2019s gospel: \u201cBy this expression is everywhere intimated the personal identity of Christ with the O.T. Angel or Messenger of the Lord. John rests on the doctrine of the Angel of the Lord when here and in verse 11 (chapter 1) he designates the covenant people as the property of Christ; and when (in 12: 41) he says without further explanation, that Isaiah saw the glory of Christ, while in the O.T. it is the glory of Jehovah which is spoken of (Isaiah 6)\u201d.
\n
\nThus, He who is the Angel, the Sent One, of the Lord, is also Himself of the same Essence as the Father and the doctrine of the Logos is thereby fully unfolded - that the WORD is the Revealer of God, the WISDOM that ever dwelt with God, the GLORIOUS IMAGE of the ETERNAL, the Bearer of His NAME and LIKENESS and at the same time is Himself GOD, in a sense most absolute and true.
\n
\nBy this likewise we are permitted to see in the otherwise inaccessible regions of the Divine and Holy Being of God, a filial love, a perfect harmony, a glorious society, an intimate and most sacred communion, a holy joy, an accord, a triumphant wisdom, an ineffable peace.
\n
\nSuch is our Saviour, the Uncreated, the First and the Last, the Alpha and Omega, the sum total of all wisdom and knowledge, the beginning and the end of all things, for whom and by whom all things are created, the Royal Heir to the Throne of the Universe, the One who by His proven merit, is fit and worthy to bear the rule of all things and who can and will bring all things to their predestined end.
\n
\n\u201cGird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty; and in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.\u201d (Psalm 45:3-4)
\n","processed":1,"summary":"The Prologue to the Gospel of John, consisting of verses 1 - 18 of the first chapter, ought to be known by heart to every Christian. This Prologue is in three periods, each complete in itself and together forming an arch bridging the entire expanse of the unveiling of theGodhead as touching the divi","published":1,"contents":null,"content_processed":0,"created_at":null,"updated_at":null,"author":{"id":70,"status":1,"author":"Charles Alexander","slug":"Charles-Alexander","date":"","image":"","description":"","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=category&cid=764","selected":0,"selected_reason":null,"article_amount":42,"quote_count":0,"book_count":0,"wiki_summary":null,"wiki_url":null,"wiki_name":null,"goodreads_link":null,"names":null}},{"id":11559,"author_name":"Charles Alexander","author_id":70,"title":"\"Discourse On The Bread Of Life Pt.1\" Ch. 6:22-40","slug":"discourse-on-the-bread-of-life-pt-1-ch-6-22-40","scriptures":"John 6:63;John 6;Ezekiel 36:25-26;John 6;John 6;John 6:26-27;Hebrews 11;Proverbs 24:30-34;Isaiah 55:2;Daniel 7;Daniel 7:13-14;John 6:27;Romans 8;John 5:18;Genesis 3:15;Ephesians 3:10-11;Ephesians 1:4;Genesis 11;Genesis 18;Exodus 3:8;Exodus 19:20;Malachi 3:1;Revelations 20;Psalm 110;John 6;John 6:38-40;Psalm 40;John 4;1John 4:10;1John 3:1;1John 4:9;Isaiah 53:10;2Cor. 5:21;John 6:37;John 6:39;John 6:36;Romans 3:3;John 10:29;John 17;Isaiah 35;Genesis 49:10;Numbers 24:17;Isaiah 53;Philippians 2;Romans 11:33-36","type":"","topic":"","content":"
\n
\nIt is surely a fact of high significance that John alone of the four evangelists omits any reference in his gospel to the institution of the memorial feast at the Last Supper. He makes no reference to the breaking of the memorial bread or the giving of the testamentary cup. This is all the more remarkable because John gives us more information about events in the Upper Room than any of the other three. He devotes five entire chapters to the paschal night: Chapter 13, in which is narrated the washing of the disciples\u0092 feet; Chapters 14-16, in which he records the entire Upper Room discourse of the Lord in His parting counsels before going forth to Gethsemane; and Chapter 17, in which is recorded the Covenant Prayer of Christ when about to take His departure. Why no mention of the institution of the Lord\u0092s Supper?
\n
\nThe answer is found in Christ\u0092s discourse on the Bread of Life recorded only by John, in Chapter 6. This discourse spoken to the Jews who followed Him across the lake after the miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand contains a sevenfold reference to Himself as the Bread of Life to be eaten by faith in order to the obtaining of everlasting life (see verses 50, 510 53, 54, 56, 57, 58). In four of these verses, the Lord adds the figure of drinking to eating; and the first of this series, verse 53, is sealed, by the use of the double \u0093Amen\u0094 or \u0093Verily\u0094\u0097\u0093Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.\u0094 The following three verses each enlarge upon the eating and drinking of the flesh and blood of the Son of Man.
\n
\nSo unparalleled an utterance requires deep attention. We have no doubt in our own mind that the omission from John\u0092s Upper Room account, of any reference to the broken bread and testamentary cup was an example of inspired deliberation to expel any lingering notion of some carnal efficacy in the substance of the bread and wine, which Satan has erected into one of the most destructive of all errors in the history of the Church.
\n
\nJohn, who wrote a generation after the other gospels were in circulation (probably in the reign of Domitian in the closing years of the first century, as we believe the Book of Revelation makes clear), was given to see, the first signs of antichristian error; and in his Gospel he purposely omitted what the other Evangelists had already set down and just as purposely supplied what the other three had omitted, so that by diligent comparison of the accounts the Church might come to the true doctrine of the paschal ordinance\u0097 \u0093This is my body\u0085This is my blood\u0085.\u0094
\n
\nIn short, John gives us the DOCTRINE of the last ordinance as anticipated in the very words of the Son of God when presenting Himself to the unbelieving nation as the Bread of Life sent down from heaven.
\n
\nHere it is made abundantly plain that \u0093the flesh profiteth nothing.\u0094 The words spoken by Christ are \u0093spirit and life\u0094 (verse 63). This was in reply to the remonstrance of the carnal Jews, \u0093How can this man give us his flesh to eat?\u0094; and the bewilderment of many of His nominal disciples, \u0093This is an hard saying; who can hear it?\u0094 (verses 52 and 60).
\n
\nBAPTISM OF CHRIST UNRECORDED BY JOHN
\n
\nAll the circumstances make it abundantly plain that any idea of a special virtue being imparted in what we know as \u0093The Lord\u0092s Supper\u0094 must be rigorously rejected. As befits the \u0093spiritual gospel\u0094 which John was inspired to write, all idea of the conveyance of spiritual grace by carnal means is carefully excluded, and it should be cause for reflection by all who are beguiled by the idea of sacramental virtues that John as carefully avoids all historic reference to the actual baptism of Christ in chapter 1 as he does to the inauguration of the Lord\u0092s Supper in chapter 13. In chapter 1 a careful reading will show that any direct reference to the baptism of Christ in the Jordan is carefully excluded, although all the other parts of the record are there as described in the earlier three evangelists; and although additional matter is included not reported by the others, John does not mention the baptism of Christ. So with the Upper Room events, John takes us there and records the whole of the Lord\u0092s address to the apostles, concluding with the Prayer of the New Covenant (chapter 17), and goes so far as to mention the supper, but records not a word of the inauguration of the memorial feast.
\n
\nHe who does not see in this singular fact an inspired and silent protest against the sacramentalism, which by the art and craft of the Evil One was destined to overwhelm the historic church in the course of the ages, must not be capable of seeing very far. Antichrist has used baptism and the Lord\u0092s Supper to supplant the Word by substituting the sacramental virtues of the font and the altar, and the error rages in our day with unabated strength far beyond the Pope\u0092s domain.
\n
\nIt was Zwingli who in Reformation times saw so clearly that the 6th chapter of John was the answer to a thousand years of sacramental error. In his dispute with Luther, he challenged the entire fabric of the heresy of externalism by the words of the Lord in John 6:63, \u0093It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.\u0094
\n
\nLuther, apprehensive of the outcome of the encounter, had previously chalked upon the table covering the Latin words of the institution of the Supper, \u0093HOC EST CORPUS MEUM\u0094\u0097\u0093This is my body,\u0094 and in exasperation swept the covering from the table and waved it in Zwingli\u0092s face. We enter not into the mystery of that providence which permitted Luther (that great servant of Christ) to betray so obvious a weakness and to refuse the hand of his brother Reformer at the end of the interview, but we simply record the fact to show how ready is the human heart even in the best of men to confuse flesh and spirit and fall under the charm of religious externalism.
\n
\nChrist just as plainly said in John 6, \u0093He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood\u0085.\u0094 as later at the paschal feast He declared, \u0093This is my body...This is my blood.\u0094 But as He made it clear beyond a shadow of a doubt in the former place that His words were to be understood only in a spiritual sense; so, in the latter place, only a mind overborne by the weight of centuries of false teaching could allow a meaning which involved the carnal mastication of the body of Christ or any of the contingent variations and modifications with which Reformers and their successors have tried to teach two opposites in one phrase.
\n
\nThere is added justification therefore for our conviction that when the Lord said to Nicodemus, \u0093Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit\u0085.\u0094, He was referring not to baptismal water but to the prophetic emblem of the Holy Ghost taken from Ezekiel 36:25-26, where water and Spirit are conjoined in one statement making clear that the one is the symbol of the other.
\n
\nInto the general question of the mode and purpose of Christian baptism we do not, enter here, as it is not the purpose of our passage in John 6. Our present object is simply to safeguard faith from the inroads of the flesh and to claim that in John\u0092s gospel this is exquisitely done in such a way as not to invalidate the sign while rigorously suppressing the abuse thereof.
\n
\nTHE FIGURE SEVEN IN THE LORD\u0092S DISCOURSE
\n
\nWe turn now more particularly to our Lord\u0092s discourse on the Bread of Life sent down from heaven (John 6), arising out of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. As we should expect in so spiritual and prophetic a writer as John, there is a careful preservation of the usual numerical features which mark so many of the Lord\u0092s discourses--features which we ought to expect in the utterances of One Who is the Everlasting Word, all whose sayings bear the hallmark of completeness and finality. The figure 7 enters prominently into the discourse.
\n
\nWe find a sevenfold reference to the fact of Christ\u0092s having come down from heaven. There is also the sevenfold reference (already the subject of our comments above) to the \u0093eating\u0094 of His flesh as the Bread of Life. In addition, the numeral four comes into prominence--the number which indicates in the Scriptures the idea of universality. Four times the Lord uses the phrase; \u0093I will raise him up at the last day\u0094 (see verses 39, 40, 44 and 54). Likewise, there are the four \u0093double Amen\u0092s\u0094 of verses 26, 32, 47, and 53.
\n
\nThe first double Amen from Him Who is the AMEN, the Fulfiller of all the Wisdom, of God and the Bearer of the Divine Name, commences this historic discourse:
\n
\n\u0093Verily, verily I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed\u0094
\n(John 6:26-27).
\n
\nThe words have a far-reaching design. There is an immediate application to the Jewish nation, which He was then addressing in the representative people who were before Him, the witnesses of that, great miracle of the loaves and fishes which fully evinced who He was and what was His purpose in coming into the world. Israel then (and now) was taken up with religious externalism and the temporal benefits of the \u0093most, favored nation.\u0094 To them, their Jewish origin had no spiritual significance. Even their conception of the coming of Messiah had no reference to their sins, but only to their worldly convenience, and advantage. To them, a divine Redeemer meant no more than a national deliverer such as Jephtha or Samson, who rid them of the temporal inconvenience of foreign oppression, or even as Moses, who fed their bellies with manna in the wilderness. See their remark a few verses lower down: \u0093What sign shewest thou then that we may see, and believe thee? What dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert: as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.\u0094
\n
\nTheir answers showed plainly the fatal error under which the nation for so long had labored. They did not look beyond the sign. This brought in the Lord\u0092s second Amen, Amen: \u0093Verily, verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.\u0094
\n
\nBut we return to the Lord\u0092s opening statement and His warning to the unbelieving nation, bound helplessly in their carnal conceptions of truth and in the consequent blindness of unbelief. \u0093Labour not for the meat which perisheth but for that which endureth unto everlasting life\u0085.\u0094
\n
\nHere is a word for Jew and gentile, for Calvinist and Arminian, for all men alike. The Jew expected bread without labor at the appearance of Messiah. Many a professing Christian, with better notions of divine grace, nevertheless displays the same indolence in things spiritual and divine. There is a theology of the Sovereignty of God which endorses human indolence. It is a bad theology. More people are destroyed by spiritual indolence than by any other means, and none ever enter heaven unless they are in earnest about Christ. Those, who substitute theological points for earnest, persistent, tireless seeking after Christ and His Word will not be accounted great in the Kingdom of Heaven. The paramountcy of faith in the justification of the sinner is not inconsistent with \u0093laboring\u0094 for it in the sense in which Christ speaks.
\n
\nIf Christ is the true \u0093Promise\u0094 made to Abraham and to Israel, if Christ is the Kingdom and Christ the Way, then were the Jews in fatal error in supposing that the Messianic kingdom which they awaited could be obtained and realized without labor and wrestling. Equally in error are those prophetical theories (so fondly accepted in Christian circles) which in the face of history and in face of the words of Christ reassure the Jew that he will have the kingdom yet on no other score than that he is a Jew. \u0093Labour\u0085for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life,\u0094 says Christ to Jew and gentile of any and every age.
\n
\nThe Kingdom of Heaven (that is, the Messianic kingdom long promised by the prophets and which Christ came at His first advent to establish) is always invisible, spiritual and to be taken by faith alone. \u0093The kingdom of God is within you.\u0094 \u0093The violent take it by storm.\u0094 \u0093Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven.\u0094 \u0093Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u0094 \u0093Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u0094 These are always the Savior\u0092s terms. There is no faith without repentance and no repentance without faith. There is no righteousness without hunger and thirst for it, no conversion without meekness and simplicity, no eating of the bread of life without \u0093laboring\u0094 for it.
\n
\nNo one obtains the \u0093world\u0094 of grace and redemption except those who forsake this present evil world like Abraham, who was not mindful of the country whence he came out because he sought another, that is, a heavenly (Hebrews 11).
\n
\nFaith is wrestling, as Jacob at the ford, who said, \u0093I will not let thee go except thou bless me.\u0094
\n
\nSome may say, \u0093This cannot be the gospel, for the gospel is without human effort or work. It is sovereign and free.\u0094
\n
\nTrue, but when the Savior said, \u0093Labour for it,\u0094 He was not speaking of the labor of merit, but, the ardent, earnest seeking for it to the exclusion of all else. The Calvinist who defines God\u0092s sovereign and electing grace, in terms of the imposing of faith upon a soul in a state of passivity is as much in error as the earnest Arminian preacher who \u0093offers Christ\u0094 to the hearer without any significant reference to that deep penitence for sin, without which there can be no faith.
\n
\n\u0093Labour not therefore, for the bread which perishes, but labour for the bread which endures to everlasting life.\u0094 Indolence destroys the soul, as Solomon taught long ago.
\n
\n\u0093I went by the field of the slothful and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth and thy want as an armed man\u0094 (Proverbs 24:30-34).
\n
\nDivine sovereignty does not transgress its own laws, and never does it endorse indolence or carelessness. \u0093Watch and pray,\u0094 says the Saviour, \u0093lest ye enter into temptation.\u0094 Peter heard this in the solemnities of the Garden, but he did not heed and fell instantly into temptation.
\n
\nA CONTINUING PROCESS
\n
\nTo labor for the bread which endures to everlasting life is a continuing process throughout the Christian life. How many of those who read these lines have read their Bibles this day? With what ardor and eagerness have they this day sought Christ and longed for a glimpse of His glory and grace? How much of this world\u0092s seeking (however lawful in its place) have they brought under rigorous discipline that they might grasp after the Word of Life sent down from heaven?
\n
\n\u0093Labour\u0085 for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.\u0094
\n
\n\u0093Which the Son of Man shall give unto you.\u0094
\n
\nAt His hand alone, then, is this eternal benefit received. The soul has to do with Christ, however much the office of preacher is needed to present Christ in all His grace and sufficiency. In the end, the soul must go to Christ in order to receive.
\n
\nThere is a clear reference in Christ\u0092s words to those which by His Spirit He imparted many centuries before to Isaiah: \u0093Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me and eat ye that which is good and let your soul delight itself in fatness\u0094 (Isaiah 55:2).
\n
\nIn thus identifying Himself with the prophecy, He names Himself as the only source and means of eternal life and thus demonstrates His claim to be of the Godhead. There is a peculiar force in these words, \u0093Which the Son of Man shall give unto you.\u0094
\n
\nThe title \u0093Son of Man\u0092 is taken from Daniel 7, verse 13. The vision of the Four Monarchies (Chaldea, Persia, Greece and Rome) under the symbols of the four great beasts is followed in that chapter by the appearance of Christ to take the dominion for ever: \u0093Behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven...and there, was, given him dominion, and glory and a kingdom...His-dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed\u0092 (Daniel 7:13-14).
\n
\nThe use of the term, \u0093Son of Man,\u0094 therefore was a specific claim by Christ to be the Person of the prophecy, the all-conquering Redeemer before whom all powers, seen or unseen, must fall, whose kingdom and dominion are everlasting.
\n
\nThe Jaws could not fail to perceive the daring nature of the claim, reinforced as it was by the miracle to which they had been witness the previous day (the feeding of, the five thousand) and His subsequent miraculous crossing of the sea.
\n
\nSurely, Christ referred to this when in verse 36 of our chapter He rebuked the Jews with the words, \u0093But I said unto you that ye also have seen me and believe not.\u0094
\n
\nIdentifying Himself with Daniel\u0092s prophecy was an unmistakable declaration that He was, the Messiah, the King of Heaven, the Beloved One of the Ancient of Days. As Son of Man, He is the champion of the people of God, their defender, representative and mediator with the Father.
\n
\nTHE SEALING OF THE SON
\n
\nThe connection with the prophecy is the more to be perceived in the further words of Christ, \u0093for him hath God the Father sealed.\u0094 The sealing of the Son of God to be the Son of Man, the Savior of His people, is the sealing of appointment and dedication beforehand to the task. Daniel\u0092s prophecy shows that Christ was so appointed, not only those many centuries before, but even from the eternal moment in the counsel of the Holy Trinity before the world was, to fulfil in time the task to which Deity had set Itself--the task of manifesting the Divine glory and wisdom in redemption.
\n
\nChrist\u0092s declaration to the Jews showed that the Incarnation did not involve any defect of knowledge. The task to which He was eternally dedicated was ever with Him, as when a boy in the temple; He rebuked Joseph and Mary with the remarkable words, \u0093How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father\u0092s business?\u0094
\n
\nLatent in the same glorious verse (John 6:27 is also the, doctrine of the Holy Trinity. In the words, \u0093God the Father,\u0094 He plainly implies that there must be One who is God the Son; and though the Holy Spirit is not named here, His mysterious operation is implied in that eternal \u0093sealing\u0094 of Christ. For the Holy Spirit is the Seal of God. By the Holy Spirit the elect are \u0093sealed\u0094 unto the day of redemption. \u0091Ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,\u0094 writes Paul to the Ephesians. So He is the Father\u0092s seal upon the Son. \u0093The Father hath hung His Seal and Bull upon the son\u0094 (Martin Luther).
\n
\nJEWISH UNBELIEF PROVOKED
\n
\nThe subsequent dialogue with the Jews arose out of the impact made upon the hearers that they must \u0093Labor\u0094 for the bread which endures to everlasting life.
\n
\n\u0093What must we do to work the works of God?\u0094 is their ignorant inquiry, their attention always being focused on the merit of their own works.
\n
\n\u0093This is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent,\u0094 is Christ\u0092s reply. No merit here, just the paramountcy of faith in the Kingdom of God. Their Messiah could only be recognized, received, and adored by faith. Their Abrahamic birth-certificate was not enough.
\n
\nTheir unbelief is now provoked, and they quickly reveal the state of their hearts. \u0093What sign shewest thou that we may see and believe? What dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.\u0094
\n
\nThis their error sprang from their complete incompetence to recognize the One standing before them. They were \u0093children in whom is no faith.\u0094 \u0093Bread from heaven\u0094 signified to them the satisfaction of a carnal appetite. They understood not the text they quoted and its prophetic purpose. How then could they recognize in Him who stood before them the Bread of Life sent down from heaven? \u0093Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.\u0094
\n
\nDignified and emphasized by the \u0093double Amen,\u0094 this word of Christ declares plainly the special relationship of Christ in the Godhead and also the purpose for which He came into the world.
\n
\n\u0093My Father\u0094 is a deliberate claim to be the Eternal Son of God. It would be highly improper for any man then, or now, to use the pronoun for the first person singular to describe his relationship with God. \u0093Our Father which art in heaven\u0085.\u0094 Yes, indeed, but not \u0093my Father.\u0094 The Spirit of Christ crying in our hearts \u0093Abba, Father\u0094 denotes the Spirit of adoption sealing to us our new relationship to God in Christ (Romans 8), but it remains improper for the individual believer to use the possessive first person as Christ does here. The Jews well understood that such a claim constituted a title to deity: \u0093He said that. God was his Father, making himself equal with God\u0094 (John 5:18).
\n
\nThe Scottish Calvinists of the 18th century held that the words of Christ to the unbelieving multitude, \u0093My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven,\u0094 gave them the right to address gospel overtures promiscuously to all men.
\n
\nLet no one suppose that it was an easy thing for Christ to tell the Jews that it was His prerogative to give life to the world. The hand extended to us is a pierced hand. The Bread of God sent down from heaven was not as the manna in the wilderness, a mere benefaction from the granaries of heaven. This bread which Christ gives is HIMSELF, offered upon redemption\u0092s altar, crucified, dead and buried. With awful deliberation Christ unveils His own fate as He declares in advance of the Cross that the bread He will give is His own flesh, which He gives for the life of the world. Seven times He proceeds to tell the unbelieving crowd that salvation consists in the eating of His flesh and the drinking of His blood.
\n
\nLet the soul bow itself before this mystery of love giving itself for the undeserving and bringing life from death. Let the bloody sweat of Gethsemane, the putting to shame in the judgment hall, and the ghastly expiation of sin's guilt at the cross speak for the price which love was willing to pay in order that sinners might live.
\n
\nThe empty response of the Jewish audience, \u0093Lord, evermore give us this bread,\u0094 is in stark contrast with all that was involved in the bestowal of that bread. They knew not, and cared not, that only by stupendous suffering and sacrifice could that bread be given to them, and that only by the \u0093labor\u0094 of repentance, faith, earnest seeking and desiring and forsaking all that they had could they receive it.
\n
\nNor did these time-serving Jews perceive the grace of God in that statement of Christ, \u0093For the bread of God is he that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world\u0094 (verse 33). Had their ears been open they would have felt the impact of that word, \u0093the world.\u0094 The manna in the wilderness was for the twelve tribes. The bread from heaven was not Israel\u0092s exclusive benefit. There never was any intention that the coming of Christ should be a mere promise of blessing to the Jews. The PROTEVANGELIUM from which all prophecy proceeds (that the seed of the woman should bruise and break the kingdom and power of Satan, (Genesis 3:15) could never be confined to one insignificant nation. The deliverance was to be as worldwide as the usurpation. Christ did not come down from heaven to give life and salvation to the Jew, with gentile added by courtesy of the people of the old covenant and as a compensation to Christ for the unbelief of those to whom it was originally sent. The New Testament church, in which all the tribes and kindreds of mankind commingle, was not an afterthought of providence or a makeshift and strictly temporary expedient to fill the gap made by Jewish unbelief. The Church of the New Testament supersedes the temporal privileges of the Old Testament people and is in itself THE ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD (Ephesians 3:10-11).
\n
\nThe fall of Israel must needs be permanent. There can be no revival of Jewish privilege or precedence, or the nature of the Church would be unhinged. The \u0093election of grace\u0094 precedes all history. Paul tells us that the choice was made in Christ \u0093before the foundation of the World\u0094 (Ephesians 1:4).
\n
\nHence the universality of the Protevangelium and the words of the Savior \u0091the bread of God is he which came down from heaven and giveth life unto the world.\u0094
\n
\nWe must insist upon the principle of prophetic interpretation, because much more depends upon it than merely the establishment of a theory. The Galatian and Ephesian epistles were specifically written to teach the spiritual nature of the new covenant established in Christ and the end of genealogical privilege or distinction.
\n
\nAlways, the new order set up by Christ is the final form of the Kingdom of God on earth, and therefore the whole range of Old Testament prophecy must belong to the Church. It is one of the most destructive heresies of this age to teach otherwise, and this false theory lies at the rest of the inability of this Age to produce in any quantity worthy expositors of the Word of God.
\n
\nWHAT IT MEANS TO \u0093COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN\u0094
\n
\nVerse 33 of our chapter contains the first of the seven occurrences of the Lord\u0092s saying that He had \u0093come down from heaven.\u0094
\n
\nIn the prophetic scriptures of the Old Testament, to \u0093come down from heaven\u0094 means a divine descent from the throne of all power and glory to execute some design of grace or judgment. It is a word descriptive of deity in the movement of divine omnipotence and sovereign purpose, and in applying the expression to Himself Christ makes a supreme and absolute claim to deity.
\n
\nIn Genesis 11, verses 4 and 7, we find it recorded that God \u0093came down\u0094 to see the city and tower (Babel) which men built; and he declared, \u0093Let us go down and confound, their language.\u0094
\n
\nIn Genesis 18, verse 21, God declares, \u0093I will go down now, and see whether they (in Sodom) have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me.\u0094
\n
\nTo Moses in Exodus 3:8, God declares, \u0093I have seen the affliction of my people and I am come down to deliver them.\u0094
\n
\nAt Sinai (Exodus 19:20) God \u0093comes down\u0094 upon the mount with fearful tokens of fiery majesty to promulgate His holy law.
\n
\nThe psalmist (Psalms, 18:19) tells us that when he cried unto the Lord in his distress God \u0093bowed the heavens and came down.\u0094
\n
\nWe have our eye also on that 20th chapter of Revelation, so relevant to the times in which we live, in which the gospel triumph of Christ in His victory over death and the grave, sin and Satan, is portrayed in the symbol of an Angel (surely Christ Himself, the Angel--or Messenger--of the Covenant, as in Malachi 3:1) coming down from heaven to bind and restrain Satan\u0092s power during the last, and greatest era of world history--that era which began with His first Advent two thousand years ago and which will end with His second Advent, which (for aught we know to the contrary) may now be imminent.
\n
\nThis glorious era must end, according to Revelations 20, with that \u0093little season\u0094 of Satan\u0092s unloosing wherein the atheistic and heathenish forces of Satan\u0092s doomed empire rise up for the last time (as they now appear to be risen up) to menace and threaten and destroy the last remnants of divine testimony amongst mankind (as they now endeavor to do), but at the last moment must be robbed of their prey when fire (judgment) descends from God out of heaven and devours them.
\n
\nLet all proud philosophers and rulers beware--all atheistic and evolutionary scientists--all those blind moles who in dens of false scholarship burrow their way through the Bible to cast out, destroy, and devour the Word of God--all politicians and educationists who ignore the laws of God--all rulers and advocates of Sodom and Gomorrah who intend to bring back, again into our once-Christian society their ancient filthiness to destroy all that is moral and upright and pure and of good report, to discredit the righteous and to blame the good and mangle the reputation and defame the name of the dear children of God, as the ungodly go on their way of lust, worldly pleasure and defiance of God\u0092s holy laws.
\n
\nThe judgment of God slumbers long and is longsuffering, but in the end the omnipotent Lord will tread down the wicked. \u0093The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath: he will fill the places with the dead bodies (of his foes) and wound the heads over many countries\u0094 (Psalm 110).
\n
\nHere, however, in our passage in John 6, the Lord \u0093comes down from heaven\u0094 for another and milder purpose, who yet shall come down in a day of universal judgment \u0093in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u0094
\n
\nIn John\u0092s account in chapter 6, He comes down in gospel grace and mercy: \u0093The bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world.\u0094
\n
\nPaul tells us he had received his apostolic power and authority not for destruction but for edification.
\n
\nWhen men reject the gospel and refuse Him who came down from heaven not to destroy but to save, what means will there be at the last to save the guilty as they stand speechless before the One who was despised, rejected, crucified, now enthroned in divine splendor?
\n
\nOur Lord now goes further and declares that His errand of mercy is not His own private affair but the eternal purpose of the Godhead\u0097\u0093I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.\u0094 Three times in three verses He repeats this statement (John 6:38-40). In Psalm 40, the Son speaks through David in anticipation of His \u0093coming down from heaven\u0092 in the gospel\u0097\u0093Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 God.\u0094
\n
\nChrist therefore came by the will of the Father to do the will of the Father, as He says in John 4, \u0093My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.\u0094
\n
\nFailure to perceive this has led to much inept and misleading sermonizing, in which Christ is represented as volunteering to take the sinner\u0092s part against an angry God, whereas \u0093God so loved that he gave his only begotten Son.\u0094 And John elsewhere bids us behold the love of God: \u0093Herein is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins\u0094 (1 John 4:10). (1 John 3:1; 4:9)
\n
\nThe grave distortion of the Father\u0092s part in the atonement is shown in the almost universal misconception which prevails as to the meaning of the Savior\u0092s cry, \u0093My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.\u0094 (See our pamphlet on \u0093The Concert of the Trinity.\u0094) (Editor\u0092s note: see 022 & 023)
\n
\nWith what eagerness and delight the Son looked forward to the day when through Him the Father\u0092s eternal will and pleasure would be realized, though that realization meant His own humiliation and the anguish of the cross.
\n
\nWhat Christ suffered and endured was not by decree of His own will but of the Father\u0092s will, except that in the bosom of the Godhead His will was always the Father\u0092s will. \u0093It pleased the Lord to bruise him\u0094; \u0093God hath made him to be sin for us (who knew no sin) that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.\u0094 (Isaiah 53:10 and 2 Cor. 5:21).
\n
\nEverywhere the initiative in redemption is attributed to the Father, yet there is, and can only be, one will in the Godhead. There is one God in three Persons.
\n
\nSo great a decree--so great a sacrifice--such obedience unto death- could have only one result: the salvation of all whom the divine foreordination provided in the Counsel of Eternity as the Son\u0092s everlasting reward.
\n
\n\u0093ALL THAT THE FATHER GIVETH ME SHALL COME\u0094
\n
\nMystery profound reigns here, but there can be no mistaking the import of the repeated statement by the Son that \u0093all whom the Father had given\u0094 to Him should be eternally saved.
\n
\nThe idea that divine election is a device for keeping out of heaven a multitude of souls who would otherwise choose to go there is an invention of either ignorance or prejudice. The object of election is not to prevent the salvation of any, but to ensure the salvation of \u0093a great multitude which no man can number.\u0094
\n
\nHence, Christ, who lived in the will of the Father, in complete possession of the Father\u0092s mind, asserts: \u0093All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out\u0094 (John 6:37). \u0093And this is the Father\u0092s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day\u0094 (John 6:39).
\n
\nIt is significant that the Lord makes these definitive statements on divine election in view of the unbelief of Israel (represented in the multitude gathered to hear Him).
\n
\nIsrael, who received the manna at the time of Moses, now refuses the bread of life sent down from heaven (and as a nation still refuses). \u0093I said unto you that you also have seen me and believe not\u0094 (John 6:36).
\n
\nWhat then? Must Christ leave heaven and lay aside His glory to assume the curse and shame of the cross all in vain? Is there not to be a sure reward for His obedience, His Merit, His holy abandonment to the Father\u0092s will? Will the unbelief of Israel make the faith of God (the gospel) of none effect? (Romans 3:3)
\n
\n\u0093Not so,\u0094 says Christ. The reward of the Son is sure. \u0093All that the Father giveth me shall come to me\u0085.\u0094 (See also John 10:29 and seven times in John 17).
\n
\nIt is impossible by any artifice of language to alter the fixed and deliberate significance of these words, that just as surely as God sent the Son to be the Savior of \u0093the world\u0094 so surely will the uttermost of the predestined host of the redeemed \u0093come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads\u0094
\n(Isaiah 35).
\n
\nThe Bible doctrine of the election of grace is inescapable, and those who oppose it do so by reserving for the sovereign will of man that which belongs to the sovereign will of God.
\n
\nThis is not the place to enter into a full theological examination of predestination, but in the context of Christ\u0092s words to unbelieving Israel the requirements of the divine mercy and wisdom demand that grace should \u0093reign\u0094 in eternal sovereignty in the leading to Christ of a redeemed Bride that the heavenly Bridegroom should have the fulness of love\u0092s reward.
\n
\nNot by the human will does Christ receive His due, yet not without the human will, for it is unthinkable that any should ever be brought to glory who has no desire to be there and who does not as willingly consent to \u0093go with this man\u0094 as Rebekah consented to go with Abraham\u0092s servant to a husband she loved but had never seen, yet whose tokens in the jeweled pledges placed upon her by the faithful messenger (the Holy Spirit in type) assured her in advance that there was a place for her at his side for ever. \u0093I will go,\u0094 says Rebekah when the question was put, and truly bride never went to husband more willingly.
\n
\nSo the soul says, as the impulse of divine love thrills through its awakened being, \u0093I will go\u0094--and this is WILL, glorious and free. Yet the willingness to go is only aroused because of a prior will, a firm decree, a counsel of everlasting wisdom, a covenant in the mysterious counsel of the Godhead from all eternity, a decree without beginning and without ending.
\n
\nTHE NATURE AND BEING OF GOD
\n
\nFor brethren, here we stand on the borders of a vast universe of mystery--the Nature and Being of God. We can enter but a little way into this territory, for our comprehension is feeble and we see but through a glass darkly. Perhaps the doctrine of God is the least considered of all doctrines, whether in the pulpit or in the study or in the halls of learning.
\n
\nTo put the idea of God in the strait-jacket of human comprehension is a feature not confined to those who, argue for a liberty in man\u0092s will inconsistent with the facts of creation\u0092s meaning and purpose. There is no region of absolute liberty anywhere in creation, and even in the Godhead liberty is a mysterious subordination of the Son to the Father in the all-yielding love of the Spirit. \u0093Not my will,\u0094 He cries, \u0093but thine be done\u0094--even to awful death and curse.
\nIn short, the only liberty in the universe is the liberty of love. Augustine once said, \u0093The best thing that man can say about God is to be silent about Him.\u0094
\n
\nAgain, another has strangely but wisely said, \u0093Of God Himself can no man think. By love He may be gotten and holden, but by thought, never.\u0094
\n
\nThis we know that God is holy LOVE, and even His anger is not an emotion in contrast with love but the repulsion of His holy Being of Love to that which is unholy.
\n
\nNothing \u0093begins\u0094 with God. God is a Being without a history, not subject to the limitations of time, but belonging to the Eternal NOW, which has neither past nor future. To put God in the spectrum of time and space is to deny His Godhead by imposing a limitation upon Him--and God is unlimited, measureless, \u0093immense,\u0094 the \u0093I AM,\u0094 the \u0093I AM THAT WHICH I AM.\u0094
\n
\nAs the timeless, ever-present Originator of all things, He cannot be subject to history since history proceeds only from Him as the consequence in time and space of His own eternal and changeless wisdom and All-Knowing, projecting into created \u0093time,\u0094 His own immutable, changeless, predestined counsel and purpose. What we know as \u0093the end\u0094 is an ever-present reality with God, wrapped up in \u0093the beginning.\u0094
\n
\nGod never \u0093begins\u0094 to plan or purpose anything. His counsel is as eternal as Himself so that the event, in time-history, of Christ\u0092s atoning death is spoken of in terms of \u0093the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.\u0094
\n
\nTruly, the purpose of redemption is as surely fixed in its accomplishment, as when God spoke the PROTEVANGELIUM in the Garden\u0097\u0093It (the Seed of the woman) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.\u0094
\n
\nThe Shiloh whom Jacob foresaw in his dying moments (Genesis 49:10), the Star whose rising was foretold by Balaam (Numbers 24:17), the King eternal whom David saw and worshipped in enraptured rhythms, the Suffering One of Isaiah 53, the Smitten Shepherd of Zechariah, the Angel of the Covenant foretold by Malachi--all represent that Word which was in the Godhead, the consummation of divine love, the expression of the divine wisdom, and the realization of the eternal purpose to display Himself in all His manifold wisdom to an intelligent world consisting of endless circles of adoring angels and redeemed men.
\n
\nThere never could be any doubt as to the number and identity of the redeemed. They were not \u0093given\u0094 to Christ as nonentities whose names were to be determined in the course of time by their own sovereignty, with a helpless deity waiting in the wings to record results.
\n
\nThe moral liberty of angels and men is exercised within the boundaries of the divine wisdom. None attain the eternal realm of the blessed without desiring it, and none fail of eternal life save those who choose death and hate the light.
\n
\nThe fate of the wicked is from themselves. The joy of the redeemed is by that same sovereign choice of God which appointed to Isaac his bride. It is a false evangelism which makes the sinner the ultimate target of all the divine striving. Not the sinner, but Christ, is the consummation of the divine purpose; and Christ must have His Bride. \u0093From heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride. With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.\u0094
\n
\nNevertheless in such a situation fraught with such consequences, the soul of man is not a pawn in a game, nor the toy of providence. The consequence of a moral creation was a mortal fall, and the work of redemption was a wrestling with the problem of creation itself. And the agony of the Godhead in Christ is the deepest mystery of all.
\n
\nNot without pain and sorrow, tears and crying, agony and shame, must God wade through oceans of blood--His own--to achieve the fulfillment of His life and replenish the new creation with light, life, peace, and fulness of joy and love. He must be reverently allowed by faith to achieve the glorious end in His own matchless way.
\n
\nAt the judgment seat none will complain that it was a decree which excluded him from bliss, for that would be to make God the only sinner in the universe, and Satan\u0092s plot would therein be realized. The awakened conscience of wicked men and devils will approve at the last the righteousness of the holy decrees of God so that creation will be unanimous in this one great thing: \u0093That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father\u0094 (Philippians 2).
\n
\nChrist will reign as surely in hell as He does in heaven, and it will be Satan\u0092s hell and the hell of wicked men to acknowledge this and taste the eternal bitterness of defeat.
\n
\nThe rich man of the gospel story asked for the compassionate ministrations of the righteous whom he had despised, and finding this impossible solicited aid for his brethren still in the world that they might not come to such an end as his. Satan certainly does not reign in hell, for hell is his prison, not his domain. Nor are the souls of lost men his prisoners, for in them the fires of conscience still speak for God and truth, and the compassion they never showed on earth is a lively element in their torment.
\n
\nAll things therefore serve the glory of God, and there is a warranty written into creation that the will of God should finally and always prevail. What is the promise of the coming Redeemer in Genesis and throughout the Old Testament but the supreme example of divine predestination? That Christ must die and that He must not die in vain but should have that for which He suffered is as certain a destiny as the life of God itself.
\n
\nThere is no need to fear the doctrine of God\u0092s eternal choice, when the alternative is total human apostasy.
\n
\nAs to that which determines the divine choice of the elect, it lies within \u0093the good pleasure of His will,\u0094 and if there is anything more it is not revealed. One thing is certain, and that is that it involves nothing of human merit but is all of grace.
\n
\nAll mysteries will be solved in eternity. Till then the soul leans upon the Apostle\u0092s conclusion of the whole matter: \u00930 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen\u0094 (Romans 11:33-36).
\n","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=article&aid=22406","source":"collect","new_content":"It is surely a fact of high significance that John alone of the four evangelists omits any reference in his gospel to the institution of the memorial feast at the Last Supper. He makes no reference to the breaking of the memorial bread or the giving of the testamentary cup. This is all the more remarkable because John gives us more information about events in the Upper Room than any of the other three. He devotes five entire chapters to the paschal night: Chapter 13, in which is narrated the washing of the disciples\u2019 feet; Chapters 14-16, in which he records the entire Upper Room discourse of the Lord in His parting counsels before going forth to Gethsemane; and Chapter 17, in which is recorded the Covenant Prayer of Christ when about to take His departure. Why no mention of the institution of the Lord\u2019s Supper?
\n
\nThe answer is found in Christ\u2019s discourse on the Bread of Life recorded only by John, in Chapter 6. This discourse spoken to the Jews who followed Him across the lake after the miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand contains a sevenfold reference to Himself as the Bread of Life to be eaten by faith in order to the obtaining of everlasting life (see verses 50, 510 53, 54, 56, 57, 58). In four of these verses, the Lord adds the figure of drinking to eating; and the first of this series, verse 53, is sealed, by the use of the double \u201cAmen\u201d or \u201cVerily\u201d\u2014\u201cVerily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.\u201d The following three verses each enlarge upon the eating and drinking of the flesh and blood of the Son of Man.
\n
\nSo unparalleled an utterance requires deep attention. We have no doubt in our own mind that the omission from John\u2019s Upper Room account, of any reference to the broken bread and testamentary cup was an example of inspired deliberation to expel any lingering notion of some carnal efficacy in the substance of the bread and wine, which Satan has erected into one of the most destructive of all errors in the history of the Church.
\n
\nJohn, who wrote a generation after the other gospels were in circulation (probably in the reign of Domitian in the closing years of the first century, as we believe the Book of Revelation makes clear), was given to see, the first signs of antichristian error; and in his Gospel he purposely omitted what the other Evangelists had already set down and just as purposely supplied what the other three had omitted, so that by diligent comparison of the accounts the Church might come to the true doctrine of the paschal ordinance\u2014 \u201cThis is my body\u2026This is my blood\u2026.\u201d
\n
\nIn short, John gives us the DOCTRINE of the last ordinance as anticipated in the very words of the Son of God when presenting Himself to the unbelieving nation as the Bread of Life sent down from heaven.
\n
\nHere it is made abundantly plain that \u201cthe flesh profiteth nothing.\u201d The words spoken by Christ are \u201cspirit and life\u201d (verse 63). This was in reply to the remonstrance of the carnal Jews, \u201cHow can this man give us his flesh to eat?\u201d; and the bewilderment of many of His nominal disciples, \u201cThis is an hard saying; who can hear it?\u201d (verses 52 and 60).
\n
\nBAPTISM OF CHRIST UNRECORDED BY JOHN
\n
\nAll the circumstances make it abundantly plain that any idea of a special virtue being imparted in what we know as \u201cThe Lord\u2019s Supper\u201d must be rigorously rejected. As befits the \u201cspiritual gospel\u201d which John was inspired to write, all idea of the conveyance of spiritual grace by carnal means is carefully excluded, and it should be cause for reflection by all who are beguiled by the idea of sacramental virtues that John as carefully avoids all historic reference to the actual baptism of Christ in chapter 1 as he does to the inauguration of the Lord\u2019s Supper in chapter 13. In chapter 1 a careful reading will show that any direct reference to the baptism of Christ in the Jordan is carefully excluded, although all the other parts of the record are there as described in the earlier three evangelists; and although additional matter is included not reported by the others, John does not mention the baptism of Christ. So with the Upper Room events, John takes us there and records the whole of the Lord\u2019s address to the apostles, concluding with the Prayer of the New Covenant (chapter 17), and goes so far as to mention the supper, but records not a word of the inauguration of the memorial feast.
\n
\nHe who does not see in this singular fact an inspired and silent protest against the sacramentalism, which by the art and craft of the Evil One was destined to overwhelm the historic church in the course of the ages, must not be capable of seeing very far. Antichrist has used baptism and the Lord\u2019s Supper to supplant the Word by substituting the sacramental virtues of the font and the altar, and the error rages in our day with unabated strength far beyond the Pope\u2019s domain.
\n
\nIt was Zwingli who in Reformation times saw so clearly that the 6th chapter of John was the answer to a thousand years of sacramental error. In his dispute with Luther, he challenged the entire fabric of the heresy of externalism by the words of the Lord in John 6:63, \u201cIt is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.\u201d
\n
\nLuther, apprehensive of the outcome of the encounter, had previously chalked upon the table covering the Latin words of the institution of the Supper, \u201cHOC EST CORPUS MEUM\u201d\u2014\u201cThis is my body,\u201d and in exasperation swept the covering from the table and waved it in Zwingli\u2019s face. We enter not into the mystery of that providence which permitted Luther (that great servant of Christ) to betray so obvious a weakness and to refuse the hand of his brother Reformer at the end of the interview, but we simply record the fact to show how ready is the human heart even in the best of men to confuse flesh and spirit and fall under the charm of religious externalism.
\n
\nChrist just as plainly said in John 6, \u201cHe that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood\u2026.\u201d as later at the paschal feast He declared, \u201cThis is my body...This is my blood.\u201d But as He made it clear beyond a shadow of a doubt in the former place that His words were to be understood only in a spiritual sense; so, in the latter place, only a mind overborne by the weight of centuries of false teaching could allow a meaning which involved the carnal mastication of the body of Christ or any of the contingent variations and modifications with which Reformers and their successors have tried to teach two opposites in one phrase.
\n
\nThere is added justification therefore for our conviction that when the Lord said to Nicodemus, \u201cExcept a man be born of water and of the Spirit\u2026.\u201d, He was referring not to baptismal water but to the prophetic emblem of the Holy Ghost taken from Ezekiel 36:25-26, where water and Spirit are conjoined in one statement making clear that the one is the symbol of the other.
\n
\nInto the general question of the mode and purpose of Christian baptism we do not, enter here, as it is not the purpose of our passage in John 6. Our present object is simply to safeguard faith from the inroads of the flesh and to claim that in John\u2019s gospel this is exquisitely done in such a way as not to invalidate the sign while rigorously suppressing the abuse thereof.
\n
\nTHE FIGURE SEVEN IN THE LORD\u2019S DISCOURSE
\n
\nWe turn now more particularly to our Lord\u2019s discourse on the Bread of Life sent down from heaven (John 6), arising out of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. As we should expect in so spiritual and prophetic a writer as John, there is a careful preservation of the usual numerical features which mark so many of the Lord\u2019s discourses--features which we ought to expect in the utterances of One Who is the Everlasting Word, all whose sayings bear the hallmark of completeness and finality. The figure 7 enters prominently into the discourse.
\n
\nWe find a sevenfold reference to the fact of Christ\u2019s having come down from heaven. There is also the sevenfold reference (already the subject of our comments above) to the \u201ceating\u201d of His flesh as the Bread of Life. In addition, the numeral four comes into prominence--the number which indicates in the Scriptures the idea of universality. Four times the Lord uses the phrase; \u201cI will raise him up at the last day\u201d (see verses 39, 40, 44 and 54). Likewise, there are the four \u201cdouble Amen\u2019s\u201d of verses 26, 32, 47, and 53.
\n
\nThe first double Amen from Him Who is the AMEN, the Fulfiller of all the Wisdom, of God and the Bearer of the Divine Name, commences this historic discourse:
\n
\n\u201cVerily, verily I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed\u201d
\n(John 6:26-27).
\n
\nThe words have a far-reaching design. There is an immediate application to the Jewish nation, which He was then addressing in the representative people who were before Him, the witnesses of that, great miracle of the loaves and fishes which fully evinced who He was and what was His purpose in coming into the world. Israel then (and now) was taken up with religious externalism and the temporal benefits of the \u201cmost, favored nation.\u201d To them, their Jewish origin had no spiritual significance. Even their conception of the coming of Messiah had no reference to their sins, but only to their worldly convenience, and advantage. To them, a divine Redeemer meant no more than a national deliverer such as Jephtha or Samson, who rid them of the temporal inconvenience of foreign oppression, or even as Moses, who fed their bellies with manna in the wilderness. See their remark a few verses lower down: \u201cWhat sign shewest thou then that we may see, and believe thee? What dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert: as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.\u201d
\n
\nTheir answers showed plainly the fatal error under which the nation for so long had labored. They did not look beyond the sign. This brought in the Lord\u2019s second Amen, Amen: \u201cVerily, verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.\u201d
\n
\nBut we return to the Lord\u2019s opening statement and His warning to the unbelieving nation, bound helplessly in their carnal conceptions of truth and in the consequent blindness of unbelief. \u201cLabour not for the meat which perisheth but for that which endureth unto everlasting life\u2026.\u201d
\n
\nHere is a word for Jew and gentile, for Calvinist and Arminian, for all men alike. The Jew expected bread without labor at the appearance of Messiah. Many a professing Christian, with better notions of divine grace, nevertheless displays the same indolence in things spiritual and divine. There is a theology of the Sovereignty of God which endorses human indolence. It is a bad theology. More people are destroyed by spiritual indolence than by any other means, and none ever enter heaven unless they are in earnest about Christ. Those, who substitute theological points for earnest, persistent, tireless seeking after Christ and His Word will not be accounted great in the Kingdom of Heaven. The paramountcy of faith in the justification of the sinner is not inconsistent with \u201claboring\u201d for it in the sense in which Christ speaks.
\n
\nIf Christ is the true \u201cPromise\u201d made to Abraham and to Israel, if Christ is the Kingdom and Christ the Way, then were the Jews in fatal error in supposing that the Messianic kingdom which they awaited could be obtained and realized without labor and wrestling. Equally in error are those prophetical theories (so fondly accepted in Christian circles) which in the face of history and in face of the words of Christ reassure the Jew that he will have the kingdom yet on no other score than that he is a Jew. \u201cLabour\u2026for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life,\u201d says Christ to Jew and gentile of any and every age.
\n
\nThe Kingdom of Heaven (that is, the Messianic kingdom long promised by the prophets and which Christ came at His first advent to establish) is always invisible, spiritual and to be taken by faith alone. \u201cThe kingdom of God is within you.\u201d \u201cThe violent take it by storm.\u201d \u201cExcept a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven.\u201d \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d These are always the Savior\u2019s terms. There is no faith without repentance and no repentance without faith. There is no righteousness without hunger and thirst for it, no conversion without meekness and simplicity, no eating of the bread of life without \u201claboring\u201d for it.
\n
\nNo one obtains the \u201cworld\u201d of grace and redemption except those who forsake this present evil world like Abraham, who was not mindful of the country whence he came out because he sought another, that is, a heavenly (Hebrews 11).
\n
\nFaith is wrestling, as Jacob at the ford, who said, \u201cI will not let thee go except thou bless me.\u201d
\n
\nSome may say, \u201cThis cannot be the gospel, for the gospel is without human effort or work. It is sovereign and free.\u201d
\n
\nTrue, but when the Savior said, \u201cLabour for it,\u201d He was not speaking of the labor of merit, but, the ardent, earnest seeking for it to the exclusion of all else. The Calvinist who defines God\u2019s sovereign and electing grace, in terms of the imposing of faith upon a soul in a state of passivity is as much in error as the earnest Arminian preacher who \u201coffers Christ\u201d to the hearer without any significant reference to that deep penitence for sin, without which there can be no faith.
\n
\n\u201cLabour not therefore, for the bread which perishes, but labour for the bread which endures to everlasting life.\u201d Indolence destroys the soul, as Solomon taught long ago.
\n
\n\u201cI went by the field of the slothful and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth and thy want as an armed man\u201d (Proverbs 24:30-34).
\n
\nDivine sovereignty does not transgress its own laws, and never does it endorse indolence or carelessness. \u201cWatch and pray,\u201d says the Saviour, \u201clest ye enter into temptation.\u201d Peter heard this in the solemnities of the Garden, but he did not heed and fell instantly into temptation.
\n
\nA CONTINUING PROCESS
\n
\nTo labor for the bread which endures to everlasting life is a continuing process throughout the Christian life. How many of those who read these lines have read their Bibles this day? With what ardor and eagerness have they this day sought Christ and longed for a glimpse of His glory and grace? How much of this world\u2019s seeking (however lawful in its place) have they brought under rigorous discipline that they might grasp after the Word of Life sent down from heaven?
\n
\n\u201cLabour\u2026 for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.\u201d
\n
\n\u201cWhich the Son of Man shall give unto you.\u201d
\n
\nAt His hand alone, then, is this eternal benefit received. The soul has to do with Christ, however much the office of preacher is needed to present Christ in all His grace and sufficiency. In the end, the soul must go to Christ in order to receive.
\n
\nThere is a clear reference in Christ\u2019s words to those which by His Spirit He imparted many centuries before to Isaiah: \u201cWherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me and eat ye that which is good and let your soul delight itself in fatness\u201d (Isaiah 55:2).
\n
\nIn thus identifying Himself with the prophecy, He names Himself as the only source and means of eternal life and thus demonstrates His claim to be of the Godhead. There is a peculiar force in these words, \u201cWhich the Son of Man shall give unto you.\u201d
\n
\nThe title \u201cSon of Man\u2019 is taken from Daniel 7, verse 13. The vision of the Four Monarchies (Chaldea, Persia, Greece and Rome) under the symbols of the four great beasts is followed in that chapter by the appearance of Christ to take the dominion for ever: \u201cBehold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven...and there, was, given him dominion, and glory and a kingdom...His-dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed\u2019 (Daniel 7:13-14).
\n
\nThe use of the term, \u201cSon of Man,\u201d therefore was a specific claim by Christ to be the Person of the prophecy, the all-conquering Redeemer before whom all powers, seen or unseen, must fall, whose kingdom and dominion are everlasting.
\n
\nThe Jaws could not fail to perceive the daring nature of the claim, reinforced as it was by the miracle to which they had been witness the previous day (the feeding of, the five thousand) and His subsequent miraculous crossing of the sea.
\n
\nSurely, Christ referred to this when in verse 36 of our chapter He rebuked the Jews with the words, \u201cBut I said unto you that ye also have seen me and believe not.\u201d
\n
\nIdentifying Himself with Daniel\u2019s prophecy was an unmistakable declaration that He was, the Messiah, the King of Heaven, the Beloved One of the Ancient of Days. As Son of Man, He is the champion of the people of God, their defender, representative and mediator with the Father.
\n
\nTHE SEALING OF THE SON
\n
\nThe connection with the prophecy is the more to be perceived in the further words of Christ, \u201cfor him hath God the Father sealed.\u201d The sealing of the Son of God to be the Son of Man, the Savior of His people, is the sealing of appointment and dedication beforehand to the task. Daniel\u2019s prophecy shows that Christ was so appointed, not only those many centuries before, but even from the eternal moment in the counsel of the Holy Trinity before the world was, to fulfil in time the task to which Deity had set Itself--the task of manifesting the Divine glory and wisdom in redemption.
\n
\nChrist\u2019s declaration to the Jews showed that the Incarnation did not involve any defect of knowledge. The task to which He was eternally dedicated was ever with Him, as when a boy in the temple; He rebuked Joseph and Mary with the remarkable words, \u201cHow is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father\u2019s business?\u201d
\n
\nLatent in the same glorious verse (John 6:27 is also the, doctrine of the Holy Trinity. In the words, \u201cGod the Father,\u201d He plainly implies that there must be One who is God the Son; and though the Holy Spirit is not named here, His mysterious operation is implied in that eternal \u201csealing\u201d of Christ. For the Holy Spirit is the Seal of God. By the Holy Spirit the elect are \u201csealed\u201d unto the day of redemption. \u2018Ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,\u201d writes Paul to the Ephesians. So He is the Father\u2019s seal upon the Son. \u201cThe Father hath hung His Seal and Bull upon the son\u201d (Martin Luther).
\n
\nJEWISH UNBELIEF PROVOKED
\n
\nThe subsequent dialogue with the Jews arose out of the impact made upon the hearers that they must \u201cLabor\u201d for the bread which endures to everlasting life.
\n
\n\u201cWhat must we do to work the works of God?\u201d is their ignorant inquiry, their attention always being focused on the merit of their own works.
\n
\n\u201cThis is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent,\u201d is Christ\u2019s reply. No merit here, just the paramountcy of faith in the Kingdom of God. Their Messiah could only be recognized, received, and adored by faith. Their Abrahamic birth-certificate was not enough.
\n
\nTheir unbelief is now provoked, and they quickly reveal the state of their hearts. \u201cWhat sign shewest thou that we may see and believe? What dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.\u201d
\n
\nThis their error sprang from their complete incompetence to recognize the One standing before them. They were \u201cchildren in whom is no faith.\u201d \u201cBread from heaven\u201d signified to them the satisfaction of a carnal appetite. They understood not the text they quoted and its prophetic purpose. How then could they recognize in Him who stood before them the Bread of Life sent down from heaven? \u201cVerily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.\u201d
\n
\nDignified and emphasized by the \u201cdouble Amen,\u201d this word of Christ declares plainly the special relationship of Christ in the Godhead and also the purpose for which He came into the world.
\n
\n\u201cMy Father\u201d is a deliberate claim to be the Eternal Son of God. It would be highly improper for any man then, or now, to use the pronoun for the first person singular to describe his relationship with God. \u201cOur Father which art in heaven\u2026.\u201d Yes, indeed, but not \u201cmy Father.\u201d The Spirit of Christ crying in our hearts \u201cAbba, Father\u201d denotes the Spirit of adoption sealing to us our new relationship to God in Christ (Romans 8), but it remains improper for the individual believer to use the possessive first person as Christ does here. The Jews well understood that such a claim constituted a title to deity: \u201cHe said that. God was his Father, making himself equal with God\u201d (John 5:18).
\n
\nThe Scottish Calvinists of the 18th century held that the words of Christ to the unbelieving multitude, \u201cMy Father giveth you the true bread from heaven,\u201d gave them the right to address gospel overtures promiscuously to all men.
\n
\nLet no one suppose that it was an easy thing for Christ to tell the Jews that it was His prerogative to give life to the world. The hand extended to us is a pierced hand. The Bread of God sent down from heaven was not as the manna in the wilderness, a mere benefaction from the granaries of heaven. This bread which Christ gives is HIMSELF, offered upon redemption\u2019s altar, crucified, dead and buried. With awful deliberation Christ unveils His own fate as He declares in advance of the Cross that the bread He will give is His own flesh, which He gives for the life of the world. Seven times He proceeds to tell the unbelieving crowd that salvation consists in the eating of His flesh and the drinking of His blood.
\n
\nLet the soul bow itself before this mystery of love giving itself for the undeserving and bringing life from death. Let the bloody sweat of Gethsemane, the putting to shame in the judgment hall, and the ghastly expiation of sin's guilt at the cross speak for the price which love was willing to pay in order that sinners might live.
\n
\nThe empty response of the Jewish audience, \u201cLord, evermore give us this bread,\u201d is in stark contrast with all that was involved in the bestowal of that bread. They knew not, and cared not, that only by stupendous suffering and sacrifice could that bread be given to them, and that only by the \u201clabor\u201d of repentance, faith, earnest seeking and desiring and forsaking all that they had could they receive it.
\n
\nNor did these time-serving Jews perceive the grace of God in that statement of Christ, \u201cFor the bread of God is he that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world\u201d (verse 33). Had their ears been open they would have felt the impact of that word, \u201cthe world.\u201d The manna in the wilderness was for the twelve tribes. The bread from heaven was not Israel\u2019s exclusive benefit. There never was any intention that the coming of Christ should be a mere promise of blessing to the Jews. The PROTEVANGELIUM from which all prophecy proceeds (that the seed of the woman should bruise and break the kingdom and power of Satan, (Genesis 3:15) could never be confined to one insignificant nation. The deliverance was to be as worldwide as the usurpation. Christ did not come down from heaven to give life and salvation to the Jew, with gentile added by courtesy of the people of the old covenant and as a compensation to Christ for the unbelief of those to whom it was originally sent. The New Testament church, in which all the tribes and kindreds of mankind commingle, was not an afterthought of providence or a makeshift and strictly temporary expedient to fill the gap made by Jewish unbelief. The Church of the New Testament supersedes the temporal privileges of the Old Testament people and is in itself THE ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD (Ephesians 3:10-11).
\n
\nThe fall of Israel must needs be permanent. There can be no revival of Jewish privilege or precedence, or the nature of the Church would be unhinged. The \u201celection of grace\u201d precedes all history. Paul tells us that the choice was made in Christ \u201cbefore the foundation of the World\u201d (Ephesians 1:4).
\n
\nHence the universality of the Protevangelium and the words of the Savior \u2018the bread of God is he which came down from heaven and giveth life unto the world.\u201d
\n
\nWe must insist upon the principle of prophetic interpretation, because much more depends upon it than merely the establishment of a theory. The Galatian and Ephesian epistles were specifically written to teach the spiritual nature of the new covenant established in Christ and the end of genealogical privilege or distinction.
\n
\nAlways, the new order set up by Christ is the final form of the Kingdom of God on earth, and therefore the whole range of Old Testament prophecy must belong to the Church. It is one of the most destructive heresies of this age to teach otherwise, and this false theory lies at the rest of the inability of this Age to produce in any quantity worthy expositors of the Word of God.
\n
\nWHAT IT MEANS TO \u201cCOME DOWN FROM HEAVEN\u201d
\n
\nVerse 33 of our chapter contains the first of the seven occurrences of the Lord\u2019s saying that He had \u201ccome down from heaven.\u201d
\n
\nIn the prophetic scriptures of the Old Testament, to \u201ccome down from heaven\u201d means a divine descent from the throne of all power and glory to execute some design of grace or judgment. It is a word descriptive of deity in the movement of divine omnipotence and sovereign purpose, and in applying the expression to Himself Christ makes a supreme and absolute claim to deity.
\n
\nIn Genesis 11, verses 4 and 7, we find it recorded that God \u201ccame down\u201d to see the city and tower (Babel) which men built; and he declared, \u201cLet us go down and confound, their language.\u201d
\n
\nIn Genesis 18, verse 21, God declares, \u201cI will go down now, and see whether they (in Sodom) have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me.\u201d
\n
\nTo Moses in Exodus 3:8, God declares, \u201cI have seen the affliction of my people and I am come down to deliver them.\u201d
\n
\nAt Sinai (Exodus 19:20) God \u201ccomes down\u201d upon the mount with fearful tokens of fiery majesty to promulgate His holy law.
\n
\nThe psalmist (Psalms, 18:19) tells us that when he cried unto the Lord in his distress God \u201cbowed the heavens and came down.\u201d
\n
\nWe have our eye also on that 20th chapter of Revelation, so relevant to the times in which we live, in which the gospel triumph of Christ in His victory over death and the grave, sin and Satan, is portrayed in the symbol of an Angel (surely Christ Himself, the Angel--or Messenger--of the Covenant, as in Malachi 3:1) coming down from heaven to bind and restrain Satan\u2019s power during the last, and greatest era of world history--that era which began with His first Advent two thousand years ago and which will end with His second Advent, which (for aught we know to the contrary) may now be imminent.
\n
\nThis glorious era must end, according to Revelations 20, with that \u201clittle season\u201d of Satan\u2019s unloosing wherein the atheistic and heathenish forces of Satan\u2019s doomed empire rise up for the last time (as they now appear to be risen up) to menace and threaten and destroy the last remnants of divine testimony amongst mankind (as they now endeavor to do), but at the last moment must be robbed of their prey when fire (judgment) descends from God out of heaven and devours them.
\n
\nLet all proud philosophers and rulers beware--all atheistic and evolutionary scientists--all those blind moles who in dens of false scholarship burrow their way through the Bible to cast out, destroy, and devour the Word of God--all politicians and educationists who ignore the laws of God--all rulers and advocates of Sodom and Gomorrah who intend to bring back, again into our once-Christian society their ancient filthiness to destroy all that is moral and upright and pure and of good report, to discredit the righteous and to blame the good and mangle the reputation and defame the name of the dear children of God, as the ungodly go on their way of lust, worldly pleasure and defiance of God\u2019s holy laws.
\n
\nThe judgment of God slumbers long and is longsuffering, but in the end the omnipotent Lord will tread down the wicked. \u201cThe Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath: he will fill the places with the dead bodies (of his foes) and wound the heads over many countries\u201d (Psalm 110).
\n
\nHere, however, in our passage in John 6, the Lord \u201ccomes down from heaven\u201d for another and milder purpose, who yet shall come down in a day of universal judgment \u201cin flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d
\n
\nIn John\u2019s account in chapter 6, He comes down in gospel grace and mercy: \u201cThe bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world.\u201d
\n
\nPaul tells us he had received his apostolic power and authority not for destruction but for edification.
\n
\nWhen men reject the gospel and refuse Him who came down from heaven not to destroy but to save, what means will there be at the last to save the guilty as they stand speechless before the One who was despised, rejected, crucified, now enthroned in divine splendor?
\n
\nOur Lord now goes further and declares that His errand of mercy is not His own private affair but the eternal purpose of the Godhead\u2014\u201cI came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.\u201d Three times in three verses He repeats this statement (John 6:38-40). In Psalm 40, the Son speaks through David in anticipation of His \u201ccoming down from heaven\u2019 in the gospel\u2014\u201cLo, I come to do thy will, 0 God.\u201d
\n
\nChrist therefore came by the will of the Father to do the will of the Father, as He says in John 4, \u201cMy meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.\u201d
\n
\nFailure to perceive this has led to much inept and misleading sermonizing, in which Christ is represented as volunteering to take the sinner\u2019s part against an angry God, whereas \u201cGod so loved that he gave his only begotten Son.\u201d And John elsewhere bids us behold the love of God: \u201cHerein is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins\u201d (1 John 4:10). (1 John 3:1; 4:9)
\n
\nThe grave distortion of the Father\u2019s part in the atonement is shown in the almost universal misconception which prevails as to the meaning of the Savior\u2019s cry, \u201cMy God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.\u201d (See our pamphlet on \u201cThe Concert of the Trinity.\u201d) (Editor\u2019s note: see 022 & 023)
\n
\nWith what eagerness and delight the Son looked forward to the day when through Him the Father\u2019s eternal will and pleasure would be realized, though that realization meant His own humiliation and the anguish of the cross.
\n
\nWhat Christ suffered and endured was not by decree of His own will but of the Father\u2019s will, except that in the bosom of the Godhead His will was always the Father\u2019s will. \u201cIt pleased the Lord to bruise him\u201d; \u201cGod hath made him to be sin for us (who knew no sin) that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.\u201d (Isaiah 53:10 and 2 Cor. 5:21).
\n
\nEverywhere the initiative in redemption is attributed to the Father, yet there is, and can only be, one will in the Godhead. There is one God in three Persons.
\n
\nSo great a decree--so great a sacrifice--such obedience unto death- could have only one result: the salvation of all whom the divine foreordination provided in the Counsel of Eternity as the Son\u2019s everlasting reward.
\n
\n\u201cALL THAT THE FATHER GIVETH ME SHALL COME\u201d
\n
\nMystery profound reigns here, but there can be no mistaking the import of the repeated statement by the Son that \u201call whom the Father had given\u201d to Him should be eternally saved.
\n
\nThe idea that divine election is a device for keeping out of heaven a multitude of souls who would otherwise choose to go there is an invention of either ignorance or prejudice. The object of election is not to prevent the salvation of any, but to ensure the salvation of \u201ca great multitude which no man can number.\u201d
\n
\nHence, Christ, who lived in the will of the Father, in complete possession of the Father\u2019s mind, asserts: \u201cAll that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out\u201d (John 6:37). \u201cAnd this is the Father\u2019s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day\u201d (John 6:39).
\n
\nIt is significant that the Lord makes these definitive statements on divine election in view of the unbelief of Israel (represented in the multitude gathered to hear Him).
\n
\nIsrael, who received the manna at the time of Moses, now refuses the bread of life sent down from heaven (and as a nation still refuses). \u201cI said unto you that you also have seen me and believe not\u201d (John 6:36).
\n
\nWhat then? Must Christ leave heaven and lay aside His glory to assume the curse and shame of the cross all in vain? Is there not to be a sure reward for His obedience, His Merit, His holy abandonment to the Father\u2019s will? Will the unbelief of Israel make the faith of God (the gospel) of none effect? (Romans 3:3)
\n
\n\u201cNot so,\u201d says Christ. The reward of the Son is sure. \u201cAll that the Father giveth me shall come to me\u2026.\u201d (See also John 10:29 and seven times in John 17).
\n
\nIt is impossible by any artifice of language to alter the fixed and deliberate significance of these words, that just as surely as God sent the Son to be the Savior of \u201cthe world\u201d so surely will the uttermost of the predestined host of the redeemed \u201ccome to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads\u201d
\n(Isaiah 35).
\n
\nThe Bible doctrine of the election of grace is inescapable, and those who oppose it do so by reserving for the sovereign will of man that which belongs to the sovereign will of God.
\n
\nThis is not the place to enter into a full theological examination of predestination, but in the context of Christ\u2019s words to unbelieving Israel the requirements of the divine mercy and wisdom demand that grace should \u201creign\u201d in eternal sovereignty in the leading to Christ of a redeemed Bride that the heavenly Bridegroom should have the fulness of love\u2019s reward.
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\nNot by the human will does Christ receive His due, yet not without the human will, for it is unthinkable that any should ever be brought to glory who has no desire to be there and who does not as willingly consent to \u201cgo with this man\u201d as Rebekah consented to go with Abraham\u2019s servant to a husband she loved but had never seen, yet whose tokens in the jeweled pledges placed upon her by the faithful messenger (the Holy Spirit in type) assured her in advance that there was a place for her at his side for ever. \u201cI will go,\u201d says Rebekah when the question was put, and truly bride never went to husband more willingly.
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\nSo the soul says, as the impulse of divine love thrills through its awakened being, \u201cI will go\u201d--and this is WILL, glorious and free. Yet the willingness to go is only aroused because of a prior will, a firm decree, a counsel of everlasting wisdom, a covenant in the mysterious counsel of the Godhead from all eternity, a decree without beginning and without ending.
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\nTHE NATURE AND BEING OF GOD
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\nFor brethren, here we stand on the borders of a vast universe of mystery--the Nature and Being of God. We can enter but a little way into this territory, for our comprehension is feeble and we see but through a glass darkly. Perhaps the doctrine of God is the least considered of all doctrines, whether in the pulpit or in the study or in the halls of learning.
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\nTo put the idea of God in the strait-jacket of human comprehension is a feature not confined to those who, argue for a liberty in man\u2019s will inconsistent with the facts of creation\u2019s meaning and purpose. There is no region of absolute liberty anywhere in creation, and even in the Godhead liberty is a mysterious subordination of the Son to the Father in the all-yielding love of the Spirit. \u201cNot my will,\u201d He cries, \u201cbut thine be done\u201d--even to awful death and curse.
\nIn short, the only liberty in the universe is the liberty of love. Augustine once said, \u201cThe best thing that man can say about God is to be silent about Him.\u201d
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\nAgain, another has strangely but wisely said, \u201cOf God Himself can no man think. By love He may be gotten and holden, but by thought, never.\u201d
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\nThis we know that God is holy LOVE, and even His anger is not an emotion in contrast with love but the repulsion of His holy Being of Love to that which is unholy.
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\nNothing \u201cbegins\u201d with God. God is a Being without a history, not subject to the limitations of time, but belonging to the Eternal NOW, which has neither past nor future. To put God in the spectrum of time and space is to deny His Godhead by imposing a limitation upon Him--and God is unlimited, measureless, \u201cimmense,\u201d the \u201cI AM,\u201d the \u201cI AM THAT WHICH I AM.\u201d
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\nAs the timeless, ever-present Originator of all things, He cannot be subject to history since history proceeds only from Him as the consequence in time and space of His own eternal and changeless wisdom and All-Knowing, projecting into created \u201ctime,\u201d His own immutable, changeless, predestined counsel and purpose. What we know as \u201cthe end\u201d is an ever-present reality with God, wrapped up in \u201cthe beginning.\u201d
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\nGod never \u201cbegins\u201d to plan or purpose anything. His counsel is as eternal as Himself so that the event, in time-history, of Christ\u2019s atoning death is spoken of in terms of \u201cthe Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.\u201d
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\nTruly, the purpose of redemption is as surely fixed in its accomplishment, as when God spoke the PROTEVANGELIUM in the Garden\u2014\u201cIt (the Seed of the woman) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.\u201d
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\nThe Shiloh whom Jacob foresaw in his dying moments (Genesis 49:10), the Star whose rising was foretold by Balaam (Numbers 24:17), the King eternal whom David saw and worshipped in enraptured rhythms, the Suffering One of Isaiah 53, the Smitten Shepherd of Zechariah, the Angel of the Covenant foretold by Malachi--all represent that Word which was in the Godhead, the consummation of divine love, the expression of the divine wisdom, and the realization of the eternal purpose to display Himself in all His manifold wisdom to an intelligent world consisting of endless circles of adoring angels and redeemed men.
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\nThere never could be any doubt as to the number and identity of the redeemed. They were not \u201cgiven\u201d to Christ as nonentities whose names were to be determined in the course of time by their own sovereignty, with a helpless deity waiting in the wings to record results.
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\nThe moral liberty of angels and men is exercised within the boundaries of the divine wisdom. None attain the eternal realm of the blessed without desiring it, and none fail of eternal life save those who choose death and hate the light.
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\nThe fate of the wicked is from themselves. The joy of the redeemed is by that same sovereign choice of God which appointed to Isaac his bride. It is a false evangelism which makes the sinner the ultimate target of all the divine striving. Not the sinner, but Christ, is the consummation of the divine purpose; and Christ must have His Bride. \u201cFrom heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride. With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.\u201d
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\nNevertheless in such a situation fraught with such consequences, the soul of man is not a pawn in a game, nor the toy of providence. The consequence of a moral creation was a mortal fall, and the work of redemption was a wrestling with the problem of creation itself. And the agony of the Godhead in Christ is the deepest mystery of all.
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\nNot without pain and sorrow, tears and crying, agony and shame, must God wade through oceans of blood--His own--to achieve the fulfillment of His life and replenish the new creation with light, life, peace, and fulness of joy and love. He must be reverently allowed by faith to achieve the glorious end in His own matchless way.
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\nAt the judgment seat none will complain that it was a decree which excluded him from bliss, for that would be to make God the only sinner in the universe, and Satan\u2019s plot would therein be realized. The awakened conscience of wicked men and devils will approve at the last the righteousness of the holy decrees of God so that creation will be unanimous in this one great thing: \u201cThat at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father\u201d (Philippians 2).
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\nChrist will reign as surely in hell as He does in heaven, and it will be Satan\u2019s hell and the hell of wicked men to acknowledge this and taste the eternal bitterness of defeat.
\n
\nThe rich man of the gospel story asked for the compassionate ministrations of the righteous whom he had despised, and finding this impossible solicited aid for his brethren still in the world that they might not come to such an end as his. Satan certainly does not reign in hell, for hell is his prison, not his domain. Nor are the souls of lost men his prisoners, for in them the fires of conscience still speak for God and truth, and the compassion they never showed on earth is a lively element in their torment.
\n
\nAll things therefore serve the glory of God, and there is a warranty written into creation that the will of God should finally and always prevail. What is the promise of the coming Redeemer in Genesis and throughout the Old Testament but the supreme example of divine predestination? That Christ must die and that He must not die in vain but should have that for which He suffered is as certain a destiny as the life of God itself.
\n
\nThere is no need to fear the doctrine of God\u2019s eternal choice, when the alternative is total human apostasy.
\n
\nAs to that which determines the divine choice of the elect, it lies within \u201cthe good pleasure of His will,\u201d and if there is anything more it is not revealed. One thing is certain, and that is that it involves nothing of human merit but is all of grace.
\n
\nAll mysteries will be solved in eternity. Till then the soul leans upon the Apostle\u2019s conclusion of the whole matter: \u201c0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen\u201d (Romans 11:33-36).
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\nJohn Ch. 17 v 1, \u0093These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to Heaven, and said, Father the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.\u0094
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\nThese profound words indicate the dividing of time and the dividing even eternity itself. The hour is come; what hour? The hour of His death. The hour of atonement. He had given to His disciples the symbols of the bread and the wine in remembrance of what He was about to do, the symbols of His death and passion, to be celebrated and observed until He should come again, as the most important thing, representing or pointing to the most important event of all events, the meaning of all history and the dividing point of the whole human race.
\n
\nYou will notice as that it is the atonement, of which He speaks, and for which He is preparing Himself and His disciples by this last audible dedicatory prayer of Himself. You will observe that He speaks about the glory of God, which was about to be achieved. \u0093Father the hour is come,\u0094 the hour to which the great life of God had been moving from all eternity, the hour in which the full revelation of God would be made. That would be done in that hour for which all creation waited, and without which being has no meaning at all. In the events of this hour, God would glorify His Son, and by glorifying His Son, the Son would be able to glorify the Father. In accordance with the eternal purpose of God, the Son would be glorified in death, and in the overcoming of death in the rising again from the dead, and the ascension to the eternal throne.
\n
\nThe throne from which He came, He returns to, but not in the same condition as when He left it, for He left it as God. He returns as God and man, raising in Himself our humanity to the eternal throne of God, and thus fulfilling, as Paul elsewhere tells us in the second chapter of Hebrews, the whole design of God in the creation of man, that is the creation of all things, that man should have dominion over the works of the divine hand. It was to thwart this that Satan, in his hated of God and man, intervened in the Garden of Eden, and was so permitted to intervene.
\n
\nThere is a profound saying on the part of one of the great men of poetic history, that evil, strangely, mysteriously, is necessary to God, in the working out of the divine purpose and the expression of the divine life. Bold and tremendous words, which we can only utter with bated breath, but they are true We may not be able to comprehend the whole mystery of evil, anymore than we can comprehend the wisdom of God, or the being of God, but one day we shall, and it shall be the theme of heaven and the point that we shall be exploring throughout all eternity. If there is any occupation in heaven we know it must be this that eternally we shall be probing the depths of Christ and His unsearchable riches, the meaning of the life of God.
\n
\nWe have the formula of all things, the formula of creation, and the formula of the atonement in these opening words of the Saviour in His prayer, \u0093Father the hour has come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also might glorify thee.\u0094 When we have understood that, there is nothing more remaining to be understood, in time or in eternity regarding the being and nature and purpose of God, the movement of His great life, the design and end which He has in view. The reason why we are here, is all summarised in these few words, \u0093The hour is come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee,\u0094 for it is in the glorification of the Son, that is victory over death and the grave, that is over the totality of evil, that God himself is manifest, and made known at last to all creation. That there is a veil over this mystery, we see only the glimmerings of the ultimate truth, it must surely be self- evident.
\n
\nWe have long esteemed the great darkness which fell over the earth at the sixth hour of the atonement. Christ was crucified at the third hour. At the sixth hour which was midday according to the time then calculated, darkness came over all the earth until the ninth hour. Three hours of darkness. At the ninth hour, there was that succession of four cries to heaven, four cries which in themselves summarise the whole meaning of the atonement, two of which at least can be found in Psalm twenty two. That this darkness was a prophetic darkness, an actual darkness, sent by God for a prophetic purpose there could be no shadow of doubt. I don\u0092t think anyone has expressed it as well as Mr. Spurgeon. This is him at his highest and best. In his entire wonderful ministry he never said anything so profound and so powerful, so weighty, so far reaching as this. He says \u0093This darkness tells us all that the passion is a great mystery. I have tried to explain it as a substitution, and I feel that where the language is explicit I may and must be explicit too. But yet I feel that the idea of substitution does not cover the whole of the dread mystery, and that no human conception can grasp the whole. Tell me the death of the Lord Jesus was a grand example of self sacrifice, I can see that, and much more. Tell me it was a wondrous obedience to the will of God, I can see that, and much more. Tell me it was the bearing, of what ought to have been borne by myriads of sinners of the human race, and the chastisement of their sin, I can see that, and found my best hopes upon it. But do not tell me that this is all that there is in the cross. No, great as this would be, there is much more in the redeemer\u0092s death. God veiled the cross in darkness, and in darkness much of the deep meaning lies, not because God would not reveal it, but because we have not the capacity to discern it all.\u0094 So for Mr. Spurgeon in that great statement he made; his great mind was confronted with the dark mystery of the cross, where our Saviour died.
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\nToo often the cross has been represented as a kind of a court scene, God is the judge and there is the sinner, someone steps in and intervenes, the mediator, to take the offence upon Himself, and God the Father is too often represented as an angry God, menacing the sinner with his eternal fate, and the Son stepping in to avert the anger of God. But this is entirely a false meaning of the atonement, because one of the greatest texts upon the matter says \u0093God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.\u0094 So the cross is the greatest example of all, of the love of God. The surrender of his own Son to death, the great heart of God burdened and rent by the view, a view we can never behold ourselves, not in this world anyway, because we do not see, what God sees, the whole mystery of evil, the whole question mark which hangs over all creation, settled in one tremendous moment, in the only way that it could be settled. The only way of destroying evil is by evil, there is no other way, and there's no other one to assume evil but God Himself, and therefore you cannot understand the atonement, without understanding somewhat the mystery of the Holy Trinity. This is central to the whole understanding of the atonement, to know that God is One, yet three persons, not three Gods but One God, in three modes of being, as the early church theologians so correctly put it; God revealed in the person of the Father, in the person of the Son, in the person of the Holy Spirit Three persons not to be confused, one God not to be divided, and it is impossible to separate the persons in all their activity. You say what about the cross? It was the Son who hung dying there, but the Father loved the world He had made, and gave the Son. It was the Father\u0092s love you see there pinioned upon the tree, and \u0093Christ through the eternal spirit offered Himself without spot to God.\u0094 The mystery of the Holy Spirit, in the one Spirit of the Godhead, there present to offer as in burning flame, the sacrifice of love and obedience to the Almighty Father. Nor could you have the atonement unless the persons of the Godhead were so related, it must be Father, Son and Holy Spirit and in that order. The Father eternal, The Son eternal, The Holy Ghost eternal, yet there are not three eternals but one eternal, as the Athanasian creed so profoundly tells us. It is only as we perceive this, that the Godhead moves always in unity, in its grand design, to the great and dramatic conclusion, in which God, will reveal Himself finally, in all His perfection, glory, beauty and eternity, to the whole assembled creation. Now this is the intention of God in creation, this is why he made the heaven and the earth, the heaven first, the heaven of angels, Those bright celestial spirits in all their vast innumerable circles of living light, and then, the lower world our three dimensional world,, with sky and the firmament, earth and sea, and all that therein is. It was not in heaven, but upon earth, this lowly passing frail earth in which we live, it was here, that God designed to work out the meaning and purpose of His own life.
\n
\nLet us remember this, when foolish men, scientists some of them, speculate about intelligent life being found somewhere else in the universe; they will never find it, they cannot find it even in the solar system. Only one planet, only one spot in the entire Universe could contain man, because here the most important events of all time and eternity happened, and it could not happen twice. It may not happen anywhere else and if evil is here, it is throughout all creation, and therefore God would have to die a thousand times upon some other cross, in some other world in order to bring all to His feet. The cross determines all scientific questions, my friend, make no mistake about that, it is the answer to all questions and all mystery, the happenings on this earth could happen nowhere else. This was the stage; lowly as it may seem to scientists, in comparison to the vastness of the universe. Why is the universe so vast? Not that it might contain other forms of life, but that you and I, through true science might have a yardstick, by which we can measure the eternity and the Almightiness of God, and see how great a God He was, and is, how unsearchable is His wisdom. \u0093The Heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament showeth His handiwork, day unto day uttereth speech, night unto night showeth knowledge.\u0094 This is the purpose of creation, so far as it shows forth the wisdom, and the providence, the Almightiness of our great God and Saviour, the cross answers this question, it puts everything in right proportions. The intention of God in creation therefore, was to reveal and to prove Himself.
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\nWhat do we mean by to prove Himself? He didn't need to prove Himself to Himself, but to creation, he had to show forth, that He was worthy to be Creator, He was worthy to bear rule over all things. That is the whole point of sin; the meaning of sin lies just there, that was the original sin. Satan refused this acknowledgement of God\u0092s absolute right to create, and to create what He did, and as He did, is beyond question. The original sin in heaven, was the mystery that was revealed to the angels, at what point of their existence we cannot tell, that God\u0092s purposes were not to be fulfilled in them, except in a secondary sense, that they were to be the servants of another creation, of a feeble, frail creature called man, whose destiny was to be higher than the angels, who should be subject to time, and all that that means, as angels are not subject to it, and even to death itself. But through this means, man would be exalted to the eternal throne, to reign over all the works of God, and Satan in the midst of the stones of Holy fire, pondered upon this, and in his heart rebelled against it. That he should be a servant of such a creature as this, and deprived of the ultimate crown, which he thought was his due, and with the thought, the light went out in his spirit and he became darkness. As Milton so eloquently puts it, Satan discovers Hell. But what is that Hell he discovered? I am Hell he says, I am Hell. I am Hell. Some of the early divines used to say, that the bottomless pit is the soul of impenitent man, there is far more truth in that perhaps, than in the ideas which have survived from the middle ages, and the Spanish inquisition, of the kind of Hell which might be suitable for a body indeed, but certainly would not be suitable for a mind.
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\nNow how would God deal with such a situation as this? The fall of angels was without remedy, because they sinned against total light; there is no redemption for fallen angels, there cannot be. There is for fallen man, because he is a limited creature, they weren't. Man depends upon those who have gone before him, father, son, and grandson and so on, it goes on and on. A short life compassed about with trials, and questions, difficulties and problems and enigmas; man only sees the little world that is around him, he has light for very little more. He is a limited creature and therefore the possibility of redemption arises in man. When the Lord Jesus was revealed, when as the Son came forth from the bosom of the Father, bearing the Father\u0092s credentials, to bring all creation back to Himself, then we read, \u0093verily He took not on him the seed of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham, to be made in all points like unto His brethren.\u0094
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\nOh the glory and the wonder of the incarnation. The babe of Bethlehem. Where was the Godhead, when it lay an unconscious embryo in the womb of the virgin, or hung upon that maiden\u0092s breast, where was the Godhead then? Oh the mystery, as the hymn writer said, \u0093Our God contracted to a span, incomprehensibly, made man.\u0094 He, who was the Godhead, in whom the whole Godhead resided, the second person thereof, became the nursemaid of the human race, the second man. There have only been two men, the first was Adam, the second is the Lord from heaven in whom mankind is renewed, and creation is made again without evil, without the possibility of evil because now God is in it. Whereas before he presided over it, now He enters into His own creation, as a helpless babe at Bethlehem, and gives Himself to the death of the cross. At the appointed hour, at the appointed moment, He renders up His life. And we approach the meaning of the atonement and the profundity of it. When we go back to the original sin and see what it is that sin does, sin denies the purpose of creation, it denies the wisdom of God, it denies the right of God to act, according to His own wisdom, which is always according to perfect love, and perfect love is the only dimension upon which creation can exist. So Satan whatever his original name was, moved through the holy stones of fire, and covered as a cherub the very throne of God, denied his own being and was a traitor to his own nature, and to perfect love, when he heard the news and knew the wisdom, that a lesser creature would be made who would be exalted at last above the angels to the very throne of God, and would be one, with God in his eternal reign. He did not know, of course, for it was hidden from him, that it would only be realised through the Son. It would have been no test to Satan and to the fallen angels, if they had known beforehand all the details, for they have to be saved eternally by faith, and eternal and perfect love, just as we are saved by faith, strange that, isn't it? Faith in heaven? Yes there\u0092s a place for it, even in Heaven, the kind of faith, which relies upon the wisdom of God, even when it does not see to the end of it, and says, if there is a purpose that some should be exalted above us, we should love them the more on that account because perfect love seeketh not her own. I don't know what passed through the soul of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, I don\u0092t know what burden it was that crushed Him there, and caused him to say even at this late hour \u0093O Father, if it be possible,\u0094 if there is another way, \u0093let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not what I will, but thy will be done.\" Without Gethsemane, there would not have been that extremity of dedication, which we find in the Saviour, when He discarded all possibility finally and fully, as man of any alternative and said thy will be done.
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\nThat is the answer to sin, because Satan had revolted against the will of God, He did not assent or consent to the divine wisdom, he regarded himself as a creation that had the right and title to be independent of the eternal God, else God had no right to create him. You hear the same thing echoing in many a man\u0092s heart and mouth in these days, I didn't ask to come here, I didn\u0092t ask to be put in this world. Whereas life itself, is so infinite a treasure, that we ought to bow in deep thankfulness before God every day of our lives, and thank him that it pleased Him to create us, and grant unto us the joy and the fullness of life and the promise of the glory that is to be. So that if Christ, bore all the evil of all the universe, and answered the great question which hangs over all creation, both in Heaven and in earth, and by this means proved Himself, in perfect love and absolute sacrifice, and self negation to be worthy of the eternal rule, to be worthy of being Creator, that all creation henceforth might worship Him, not simply because He was wise and Almighty, but because He was humble and meek, and because He became the lowest of all. Because He had shown us what perfect love was, which is the element of all heaven, and of the being of God, and so provided for us the certainty, the sureness of that destiny which awaits.
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\nHence in this sense, the atonement is cosmic. There is a theological term that is very much in evidence in these days, we call it the doctrine of the limited atonement, personally I never use that term. If I want a term that expresses what this is supposed to represent, I always use the term particular redemption. I think it\u0092s safer and is more understandable, because there\u0092s a sense in which the atonement cannot be limited, it affects not only all men, but it affects all angels, it affects all Hell, it affects the devil himself. It has to do with the final answer to the evil that is in the Universe, so that evil can never again rise up, and even in hell there will be unanimity amongst fallen angels and impenitent men. For all eternity there will be unanimity as to the worthiness of Christ to rule. Does not Paul say that at the name of Jesus every knee must bow to him, of things in Heaven, things in earth and things under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
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\nLet us remember this, there will be no sin in hell, there will be no possibility of sin ever being committed anymore, Satan will just bear eternally the consequences of his own evil, in the silence and the dumbness of his final assent, to the glory of God and the name of Christ, and along with him every soul cast away into the blackness of that darkness for ever, that darkness that descends upon spirits, takes possession of spirits, which were once light, but have now departed from light. There will be unanimity in all creation, and never again will sin rise up a second time to disturb the peace and the state of perfect love in the regions of the divine triumph.
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\nSo we perceive that the atonement is cosmic, it affects all being therefore it cannot be limited, except as to its application to the penitent, and the believing. For in order to enjoy the benefits of Christ\u0092s atonement, it is perfectly obvious that we too in a great act of self surrender which we call faith and repentance, we turn from our own sins, we acknowledge the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and in an instant that righteousness becomes ours. As a justifying righteousness we enter into a great new birth, into the new creation and we begin to learn the lesson of perfect love.
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\nSo we see that the salvation of the sinner is not an end in itself, it is only the beginning of the glory of God, the first step that we take on the road back, which shall end at the throne of God, when this word shall be completely understood.
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\n\u0093To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I overcame, and I am sat down with my Father in His throne,\u0094 or again in the 17th chapter of John, where He so wonderfully says \u0093That they all might be one.\u0094 That\u0092s not the ecumenical oneness in this world, this is the eternal oneness of the redeemed in Heaven, with the eternal Father. It Is a wonderful oneness, \u0093That they all might be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they might be one in us, that the whole creation might know, that I am thine, and thou art mine, and these are mine.\u0094 The final word must ever be, that which penetrated the soul of John the divine, when there was given to him the vision of the Revelation, \u0093Every creature which was in heaven, and earth and under the earth heard I saying, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and glory and riches and honour and blessing forever and forever\u0094. Amen.
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\nChapter 2Gethsemane
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\nJohn ch.18.v.1 \u0093When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.\u0094
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\nSimple words aren\u0092t they? They are just a homely account of something which happened, but also affects the whole history of the world and our history now. When Jesus had spoken these words, what words? We have to go right back to the beginning of the 14th chapter of John to find out what the words were that John is referring to, they are words which was first spoken by the Lord in the upper room on the same night that He is betrayed, We have been reading of the betrayal and arrest of the Lord on that last dreadful night before that even more dreadful day, when He was lifted up upon the cross and died for the sins of the world. This is the importance of this verse before He left the upper room, and after He had broken the bread and gave to His disciples the wine saying \u0093Take, eat; this is my body, drink ye all of this cup it is the New Testament in my blood.\u0094 He then spoke some parting words and counsel which are of infinite importance, so marvellous in there depth, \u0093Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me,\u0094 familiar words which we use at the bedsides of the sick and the dying.
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\nGoing on to the 15th chapter, the parable of the true vine and the 16th chapter with its solemn warnings, of sorrow, tragedy, and trial to come, for Christ\u0092s people and the church right through the ages. When they rose up to go forth to the garden of Gethsemane and to the Judgment Hall leading finally to the cross, the Lord lifts up His eyes to heaven and prays in that great 17th chapter of John that prayer in which He commits Himself to the Father, and all the issue of His dying and His living again, and in particular, the protection and the preservation for all time those who had been given into His charge, we believe from the foundation of the world, that He might be their Redeemer and Saviour and bring them through all tribulation, right down the centuries until everyone of them shall land safely upon the other shore and not one of us be left behind.
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\nWhen Jesus had spoken these words, the final solemn important words which lie at the basis of our redemption, of our hope and of our comfort and of all the strength we receive from God as the days go by, a light which we specially need for these dark days into which we are now passing. When Jesus had spoken these words He went forth with His disciples from the upper room through the streets of the city of Jerusalem, they were there for the Passover, a land of silence speaks at midnight. They had no proper street lighting in those days, and in the darkness they went through the city wall and, made their way down the paths which lead into the depths of that ravine. That deep cleft in the earth between the high wall and summit of Jerusalem, then the steep ascent of the Mount of Olives at the bottom of the ravine flows the brook Cedron. \u0093They went over the brook Cedron,\u0094 now why did John the apostle make a note of that, what has the brook Cedron got to do with it? Why should John tell us He went forth over the brook Cedron into a place where there was a garden? We know from other writers that it was the garden of Gethsemane, on the accent going up to the Mount of Olives. Well he mentions it because it is of great prophetic importance, the brook Cedron was a very important river in the history of the children of Israel and there was one particular portion of that history which we shall mention. Those who know your Bibles will know how it figured largely in the history of King David. David\u0092s son Absalom rose up against his father in a colossal rebellion which involved the whole of the country, all of the twelve tribes were descending upon Jerusalem with a mighty army to put an end to his own father\u0092s reign that he, Absalom, might be crowned in his father\u0092s room and stead. When tidings of this reached David he knew that if he entered the city he and all hope of Israel would be destroyed. So he gathered together his household and his faithful guards some of whom had met David during the time much earlier on in his life, when he was driven by king Saul from Israel, and had to find refuge in foreign and heathen lands, There he became the centre of a band of men gathered from all parts who were faithful to him, they were hard men wild and warlike, some had been fugitives from justice, but they became the terror of all other armies at that time because of their military prowess and warlike zeal, but few in number, they could not stand up against a mighty army which was coming down.
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\nSo David left with the people that would go with him, faithful guards, and they went down across the brook Cedron almost at the same time that Absalom was about to enter at the other side of the city, they went up the slope of the Mount of Olives. They were not safe until they had mounted that ascent and had got into open country and beyond, unto the high roads where they could make progress, and escape from that which was hanging over them. It is said that the Mount of Olives is no small obstacle for anybody fleeing in that direction from Jerusalem. It is a fairly steep ascent and hampered with the women and children and little ones and all that they were taking with them. It was a serious exercise in which they were engaged and as they went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, we read that king David wept bitterly. You will find in the Old Testament the weeping of King David, as he fled from Jerusalem as he went up the Mount of Olives.
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\nWe don\u0092t know where the garden of Gethsemane was, there is a place marked out now with a stone there I believe on the Mount of Olives as it exists today, people go there and are told by the guides this is the garden of Gethsemane, but there\u0092s nothing authentic about it. Anybody who ever goes to the Holy Land need to take with a large spoonful of salt, any tale which is told you about different places here and there. They will even show you the upper room where the Holy Spirit came down upon the waiting church on the day of Pentecost. Anybody who has any knowledge knows that the city which Christ knew and the apostles, is buried thirty feet below the rubbish of successive cities of Jerusalem which have been destroyed, built, destroyed again and again, because war has passed over that region so many times that the present city is built upon the heaped up rubbish of successive cities, as they have been built and fallen in there turn. So there\u0092s nothing recognisable in Jerusalem today, even the so called Wailing Wall is simply the foundations of the outer court of the Temple, which in the days of the Romans was cast down, along with the whole of the city, so that not one stone upon another above the surface of the city then is left standing. So nobody can tell us where the Garden of Gethsemane was, it\u0092s just as well because people make a superstition of these things, and shrine worship and all the rest of it and that is an abomination in the site of a Holy God. \u0093Neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem,\u0094 He told the woman of Samaria, \u0093shall men worship the Father, but the true worshippers shall worship in Spirit and in truth,\u0094
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\nBut this much we can say, that the garden of Gethsemane was not very far from the place where David wept, despised and rejected by his people as he was forced out by them, and treated as an object of curse and contempt, as he fled from the city as good as dead. He wept, and I sometimes like to think, though the spot can never be identified, that it was at that very self same place where David wept bitterly that the Lord cast himself down upon the ground that night, \u0093and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood, falling down to the ground, as He cried as the despised and rejected one, bearing the curse and sin of the world, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not my will but thine be done.\u0094
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\nThere it was, in that garden when He had finished his prayer, three times praying in like manner, the band of soldiers arrived, this formidable company of men coming in the dark with their lanterns, their torches, their weapons to arrest their God, and to tie the hands of the great Creator behind his back. A thing which they could not do if He had not willingly given Himself into their hands, receiving the kiss of the traitor Judas, going forth to meet those who were His foes, they were foe to Him, though He was no foe to them. This was what confronted Him on the other side of the brook Cedron, they came to take Him, but it was by His own divine appointment. He said on another occasion \u0093this is your hour and the power of darkness,\u0094 this concerning His arrest and bringing Him before His false accusers. It was all part of the divine plan of our redemption. How then could men be working out a historical drama as it were? And doing these things to the Saviour? Like Judas who betrayed Him and Caiaphas in condemning Him, and the men arresting and binding Him? They were only carrying out the will of God, why should they be blamed? This is the question which often arises, you see the answer is plain but it\u0092s not too simple, and in that God is the ruler of all. He is the great Governor of the nations and of all men, and in God\u0092s government it is proper with God to use evil to punish evil, and to take the evil of men\u0092s heart and make it an instrument for their own chastisement, and at the same time a means of carrying out His own blessed design of bringing out of evil a greater good than ever otherwise could be. This is the wisdom of God; this is the power and the sovereignty of God. Let us remember that when we talk of that strange and mysterious word predestination, that some people are terribly afraid of, and others not afraid but ought to be afraid of it. They make much of it and talk about it from platforms, and who focus and make very poor work of describing a glorious mystery of God. Let us remember that predestination works this way, it works through flesh and blood, that works through the evil of men\u0092s hearts, and through all the goodness and wisdom of God at all times and all stages.
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\nDivine predestination never does violence to the sacredness and integrity of the human soul, that the integrity of the human individual is preserved intact and inviolate of the mysterious sovereign foreordination of God, so that men do freely what they do, for good or ill, and yet back of it all a directing, and all embracing providence of God. Who perceiving the end from the beginning, because He Himself has foreordained the end, from the beginning and all the means leading up to the end, and yet He sets majestic wisdom doing violence to nobody, and preserving the integrity at all times of each individual human personality. Further than that we can\u0092t go, but thus far we can go, or as necessary, we should go. We assure everybody that there is nothing in divine predestination, which does violence to them or the dispositions of their own heart.
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\nThe highest level of predestination was the Son of God in the garden, under the burden of that immense sorrow, and the Son of God upon the cross bearing the sins of the whole world, that is divine predestination, although He who was upon the cross, was party to the foreordination in the council of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, before the world began. Though this was that for which the world was created; although He knew all about it before hand. He needed not to be told, who had the whole picture of it in His heart and mind He Himself in the Old Testament had moved through the prophecy. He was the prophet of the prophets, it was His word that Isaiah spoke when he said, \u0093He was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed\u0094.
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\nIt was Christ speaking in Isaiah, of his own death eight hundred years before it took place. This is divine predestination, although He knew all and was waiting for all, and was ready for all, \u0093For the joy that was set before him, he endured this cross, despising the shame.\u0094
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\nNevertheless there was not in that glorious predestination a relief, or abatement or a modifying of one pine of sorrow, one moment of distress, one agonising pain of soul or body, as He went forward to the work of our redemption. \u0093He was the man of sorrows acquainted with grief,\u0094 the reality of His suffering. Let them set that not against His foreknowledge of His sufferings, but in relation to the nature of God\u0092s sovereignty, and how He works. \u0093He spared not his own Son, but freely, gave him up for us all.\u0094 In this matter of the creation of the whole world, an entire universe the government and control of all history, the history of mankind that God has managed from the beginning, and will to the end. In all this there is a deep mystery and a deep tragedy which only eternity will disclose.
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\nThink ye not, that when the Lord God Almighty, the Eternal Father, \u0093spared not His own Son but freely gave Him up for us all,\u0094 There was not likewise an agony in the heart of the Eternal Father Himself? Do you think it was with pleasure He did behold the shame and curse and suffering, laid upon the only begotten, when He cried, \u0093Awake oh sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord, smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.\u0094 Think ye not that there was not the reality of the cross in the heart of the Eternal God when this took place? And so it is that a divine predestination rends the heart of the Godhead. There must be something mysterious and tremendously holy glorious, and thanks be unto God, that it is there, because now we are sure about what the outcome will be. We know there is a sure and certain end to all history, to yours and mine, and as far as the Son of God is concerned and all His people. He will stand in the midst of them at the end of the day, and He will say, \u0093Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition.\u0094 So when you hear about divine sovereignty, about Calvinism to use a common term about predestination, you will know now won\u0092t you? And you'll never forget it.
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\nKing David went up the ascent, of the Mount of Olives and wept bitterly, because he was a type of the One who should follow in the same footsteps, which he had planted on that sacred soil, and would water the ground with His tears too, He was the eternal God. David wept for himself and his family, and the tragedy that overwhelmed him, and Christ wept that He may understand even if He could understand the smallest portion of the mystery, of what took place when Christ wept drops of blood. That the Son of God, suffered even as David suffered before him, because He was bearing the tragedy of a world which He loved, who had rebelled against Him? You and I amongst them and had brought down upon creation all that weight of sorrow and curse and divine displeasure, upon the righteousness and fearful holiness of Almighty God, and He Himself must bare it Who Himself set up the law in all its majesty which could not be passed by, and there in one hour it all passed. All the pain and sorrow, all the tears and sadness that sin had ever brought upon the world in one hour that passed through His soul in the garden of Gethsemane, and Luke tells us, unless that there had appeared an angel of God from heaven strengthening Him, His human frame would never have survived that burden of sorrow in the garden That intense weeping and sorrow, and agony, which was the prelude to the cross itself, And so the reality of the suffering that Christ endured, and that predestination did not spare Him one tear.
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\nSo it is you may say, in that faith which you have in our great and gracious God, when affliction comes upon you will say, well I know it must have been predestined, but the sorrow is just the same. This pose is just as agonising as I feel, this parting with loved one\u0092s is a very real thing. I know that God has His times and seasons, a time to live and a time to die, I know it all well but it does not relieve me of pain and anguish all it did to me, it was this, It held before me a bright and glorious hope, and it was that, that helped me to dry my tears and to bare, what it pleased God to lay upon me. Because I know as a child of God by faith and by the Word, and by what I know of God, that He does nothing but what is good, nothing which is not absolutely in conformity too, and in consistency with His own nature and position. He cannot deny Himself, He cannot be other than what He is. He must at all time be good, the Almighty, be glorious and righteous.
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\nTherefore, all that He has in view and for which He has made full provision, is bound to be worked out on those principles, whatever the outcome it will always be the highest possible that the wisdom of God could define or decree, and we are the more embolden to grasp this fact.
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\nAs we company with our blessed Lord from the upper room, having heard Him praying that most majestic of all prayers, for the preservation of His people, and for their final glory. We go out with Him through the door, and into the silent streets of Jerusalem into that dark valley of the brook Cedron. To him as it was to David, the valley of the shadow of death. Because He went through it we can say, \u0093Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.\u0094 But they will only comfort me, thy rod and thy staff, because thou as the shepherd of thy sheep has gone before me, and there was none to give thee thy comfort.
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\n\u0093If it be possible let this cup pass from me, never the less, not my will but thine be done.\u0094 Let me endure all without feeling, let me be carried through it all that the will of the eternal Father, might be accomplished in the redemption of His people, and none of them be lost but the son of perdition. I say let us company with our blessed Lord in this dark passage in this dark way, this fearsome savage road which He must press with His own blessed footprints. As He goes up the accent of the Mount of Olives, to lead His people from captivity from danger and bring them out at last into the broad planes of the divine grace of mercy and provision.
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\nThat place we now occupy through what He has done, of the forgiveness of our sins. Think of the stain of those sins you\u0092ve committed, that we have all committed, the apathy of our souls, the forgetfulness of Christ, when we ought to have remembered how slighting we\u0092ve passed over our reading of God\u0092s Word today. It is His Word and there was a sacrifice though it meant so much to Him it has meant so little to us. It has perhaps not brought from us today one expression to the Lord of thankfulness, for giving His life for me. That we haven\u0092t got a mind or a heart to feel after Him as we ought this day. Let us think of this, as the stain of our sin, of the littleness of our attainments in grace, and we ought to apply ourselves more and more than we do. To prayer and the seeking after Him and rejoicing in Him, in praising and adoring the name of our blessed Redeemer.
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\nSomehow or other we are birds with broken wings; we haven\u0092t attained yet. We would like at times to soar into the upper regions of heaven, and there attain to that heightened eminence and glory which God has planted in our soul. But the Lord help us our wings won\u0092t carry us, not enough grace yet, not enough divine awe under our plumage, but one day we will be set free. One day we will soar and we'll rise to the highest limits of divine glory, and there see Him upon the throne we often have longed for and see that face, as John Bunyan says, \u0091which we have come so far to behold.\u0092 There we shall see Him, whose name is Immanuel, the Word of God, and God with us, there in noble and sweeter strains we shall praise Him for what He\u0092s done. Amen
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\nWe again think of that tragic journey which He undertook across the brook Cedron, and up the steep accent of the Mount of Olives. Who might be pressed out of measure in that garden with our sins and our sorrows, that we might not bear that load in all eternity. We pray the Lord will open our hearts more and more to understand that sovereign and glorious grace. He has bestowed upon us. Amen
\nChapter 3Arrest and Betrayal
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\nJohn Chapter 18, vs.1 - 9 The subject before us is the arrest and betrayal of our Lord; the circumstances of His arrest in the garden of Gethsemane. We have not left the garden following the night of agony in which we have endeavoured to describe, \u0093He had said to his disciples sleep on and take your rest, he that betrayeth me is at hand, arise let us be going.\u0094 It seems a contradiction on one hand, to sleep on and take your rest, while the other is \u0093arise, and let us go forth to meet them\". But the contradiction is only seeming; their sleep was to continue for another forty days, until the Holy Spirit should descend upon them at Pentecost from on high. With enlightenment they should be wakened to the full light and glory of the New Testament day.
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\nIn the meantime they must accompany Him as witnesses until the moment of His arrest, when the multitude of soldiers, and officials came into the garden at that time for Him with Judas the traitor at their head. In the accounts in the other gospels we read that Judas came forward first of all and kissed Him, and said \u0093Hail Master.\u0094 The Lord said, \u0093betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?\u0094 John does not describe the actual betrayal, but he tells us that Judas was there, at the end of verse 5 of chapter18 we read \u0093Judas also which betrayed Him stood with them.\u0094 Now John does not describe the kiss of betrayal or the words of the Lord at that time, this had been fully dealt with by the earlier writers Matthew, Mark and Luke.
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\nThe purpose was to proceed from that point to matters of a very great moment indeed, so we select John\u0092s account for our consideration. We have noted the order of events so far as the other gospels are concerned. We join the little band, the Lord and His companions in the garden, actually at the time when the kiss of betrayal had been administered. We proceed from there with those who had come to take him. In the meantime we remind ourselves according to John\u0092s account that the events in the upper room had taken place, that the Lord\u0092s comforting words, words of enlightenment and instruction for the guidance of His church at all subsequent times have been uttered in chapters fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen, commencing with the words, \u0093Let not your heart be troubled, \u0085 believe also in Me, in my Fathers house are many mansions\u0094.
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\nThen having completed that great discourse in the upper room He proceeds to pray that great prayer of John 17.
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\nHaving completed that prayer, He goes forth with His disciples over the brook Cedron, into a place where there is a garden. John does not mention Gethsemane, but we know it was Gethsemane into which He entered with His disciples. Now the brook Cedron, flows in the deep valley, on one side of Jerusalem, on one side is the Mount on which Zion is built, and on the other is the Mount of Olives. It was across this brook that King David went with his household and those men who were faithful to him, having been rejected by his own people. A vast army had been assembled, by his renegade son Absalom, who sought to seize the throne, an army which David had not the resources to meet, so while there was time he left the city of Jerusalem and fled across the brook Cedron, ascended the mount of Olives and made his escape into the open country beyond, before he could be trapped in the city, by the army of his foes,
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\nIt is significant that it was across this same brook that the Lord went and entered upon the ascent of the Mount of Olives, in the very footsteps of King David. He too was rejected by the people from being King; He too like King David lived again and returned to His throne. Came back from death and the grave and His kingdom was established but not the earthly, but upon the invisible heavenly throne of His kingdom, where now He continues to reign, and shall reign at the right hand of God until all His foes are made His footstool.
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\nIt is obvious that in the prophetic nature of events in which our Lord Jesus Christ continually moved, that the flight of David from Absalom when he was rejected from being King was designed as a type of what should take place with Christ Himself, as He followed in the very footsteps of David. With this end in view so that when He entered into Gethsemane He cast Himself down in that mysterious and dreadful agony. \u0093If it be possible let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not what I will, but thine be done\u0094. That all this was appointed and He knew that it was appointed, He was fulfilling the part, determined and decreed for Him to do. Nevertheless, that did not abate the smallest portion or weight, of that agony and distress, which was necessary for His soul to bear and to experience.
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\nNow crossing the brook Cedron in the footsteps of David, He enters immediately into the garden of Gethsemane which probably laid some small way off the accent of the Mount of Olives. There was a garden which was called Gethsemane, of which its name means the oil press. There was an oil press in the garden because the olive trees were there. When the olive berries were harvested they were crushed through the oil press so as to extract the golden oil therefrom.
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\nYou would immediately consider and you would be right in doing so, that it had to be Gethsemane and nowhere else, as it had to be the brook Cedron. So it had to be Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives, for it was there that those trees grew in abundance and still do we are told. Those olive trees are a symbol of the church; Romans eleven makes that clear. Paul uses the olive tree as a parable of the covenanted mercy of God, towards Israel. First of all, the earthly Israel, and then when, they were rejected, the heavenly spiritual Israel of Jew and Gentile. We are grafted into the olive tree, which is the covenant of God\u0092s mercy. Originally promised to Abraham and his seed, we are grafted in so we become the seed of Abraham, the inheritors of the promises, this is what Paul tells us in Romans eleven.
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\nNow the precious oil of the Spirit is the oil of the olive, it is the Holy Spirit who is intended in this representation of the oil, the sap which arises, and the oil which is produced in the fruition of those branches through the blessing of God. So we who are grafted in are filled with the Spirit. But this precious oil of the Spirit may only come through the oil press, hence the pressure of soul which Christ endured in the Garden of Gethsemane. That through His sufferings, through the crushing of His life, His soul, there might flow out the abundance of the oil, from the heavenly Gethsemane. This is a picture which is given to us, and was the token of all His sufferings unto death. What is blood and sweat to Christ becomes thereby the spirit or life from the dead to us, The Holy Spirit comes only because our Lord Jesus Christ is glorified. He is given through the sufferings of Christ and because of those sufferings, the Holy Spirit in His fullness made available to you and to me. The blood and sweat of Gethsemane, becomes to us the oil of the spirit the oil of gladness and of the divine fullness to us.
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\nLikewise this garden in which the betrayal and arrest took place as well as the agony, has been rightly compared right down the ages by godly men of that original garden where sin entered in to the human race. Here the Garden of Eden where man rejected God and again this garden of Gethsemane, where Christ was repudiated by man, Betrayed, taken, bound, led away to be crucified, Here God identified Himself in Christ with man\u0092s death, and assumed man\u0092s cursed state and condition, became despised and rejected, and entered into the long history of man\u0092s suffering, because of sin from the Garden of Eden onwards to the end of time.
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\nAll that burden and curse which man has borne, because of his sinfulness and his repudiation of God, Christ entered into the deepest innermost meaning of it, being perfectly identified with man, and with man\u0092s sin. \u0093Though he knew no sin, God made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.\u0094 Somewhere in that region of suffering, in the transference of guilt to His Holy Soul, there lies the meaning of the great agony which he endured. One of the earlier accounts we read that in the midst of His agony, \u0093an Angel appeared unto him from Heaven strengthening him\u0094. This ministry of Angels sent from the Father confirm upon Christ a renewal of His human or physical strength that He might not die there in the garden, as He otherwise could have done. That He might not die prematurely, but that He should have enough resource of strength, human strength, to continue just for another twelve hours, until the time of His crucifixion, and death the following day and so He endured till the end, to expiate our sins, yours and mine.
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\nNow we proceed to verse two. \u0093And Judas also which betrayed him, knew the place; for Jesus oftentimes resorted thither with His disciples\u0094. This garden of Gethsemane to it our Lord Jesus Christ went throughout the days of this holy week, which concluded with His crucifixion. We read in Luke\u0092s account in chapter 21 v. 37 that He was in Jerusalem, \u0093In the daytime and at night He went out and abode in the mount that is called the Mount of Olives\u0094. Now this is not meant to be that he slept rough in the open air, it means that in the garden of Gethsemane, there was not only the wine press, but there was the house, the farm house which was probably covering the whole of the mount of olives.
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\nThere were farmhouses in which men dwelt with their families and looked after the olive trees. These were enclosed in their particular field, or portion on the Mount of Olives, and undoubtedly, in one of these houses the one that was known as the house belonging to the garden of Gethsemane, He would dwell, and is just as certain as certain can be, that the young man, the unknown unnamed young man mentioned in the Gospel of Mark at the time of Christ\u0092s arrest, ran out of the house wrapped around with a sheet. Having no other clothes on and just risen from bed wrapping a sheet around his naked body, and ran out into the garden, to do what he could undoubtedly to rescue the Saviour, and the soldier\u0092s sought to lay hands upon him, and got hold of the sheet, he slipped out of the sheet and ran away naked in the dark, and so made good his escape. It is just as certain as certain can be that this young man was the son of the house, where the Lord was abiding during the nights of that week which lead up to the Passover and the betrayal and the crucifixion.
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\nSo that Judas was well aware where the Saviour was to be found, the authorities were afraid to arrest Him while He was in the daylight in Jerusalem, because the crowds of people, who thronged about Him, were so great that they feared a tumult would be created. \u0093So they said not in the daytime lest there be a tumult, but at night time.\u0094 Judas said unto them I know where He will be at night-time, I can take you to the very place, and it was long enough to know He was in the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is a very a big mountain, it was extensive and there were many houses, many hiding places, many trees, one would need to know in the dark, no street lighting of any kind, would need to know where to go, and where to find the person whom they would arrest, Jesus knew all this and the Saviour placed Himself in that position that He might be betrayed, because so it was appointed.
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\nIt was designed to be that Christ was there to afford Judas his opportunity, and to surrender Himself to suffering and death, showing that He Himself was the master of His own fate. He was not the victim of circumstances; He knew He was to be betrayed. \u0093He had given the sop to Judas, and said what thou doest, do quickly, immediately Judas went out and it was night,\u0094 night in His soul as well, it was night in every other sense. \u0093No man, taketh my life from me says Christ,\u0094 \u0093no man is able to lay his hands upon me, hither to because his hour was not yet come,\u0094 but now His hour was come. \u0093This is your hour he said, and the power of darkness.\u0094 The moment had come appointed from all eternity that He should be arrested and brought to judgement. Within twelve hours of this very moment He would be upon the tree
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\nSo He was decidedly in Gethsemane for the purpose of the agony that last night, and for the subsequent betrayal and arrest. It had to be this way, so would He surrender Himself, and place Himself within the power of His enemies who had no power over Him, otherwise than what is permitted and ordained.
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\nNow verse three proceeds to tell us \u0093Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons\u0094. Now by the words which are used in connection with this force, or company of men who came to arrest Him we know that it was a Roman military detachment, which had been brought in for the purpose; a description of the officers and of the detachment itself and the weapons which the men bore, we know that Roman terms were being used by John and other writers, and that this was no mere round up of Jewish rowdies which had been assembled, but a regular force of military supplied by the Roman governor, in accordance with his own instructions from Caesar. At all costs to maintain order, to prevent riots, and to see that those who moved sedition are brought to book, before they can do harm to the Roman rule. So it was represented to the Roman authorities who are in Jerusalem that this man must be arrested, or there would be trouble for Caesar.
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\nSo a Roman military detachment came along with Judas, who was their guide, for they needed a guide, and servants of the High priest and officers of the temple, were there to from the scribes and the Pharisees, in order to see that the thing was done, and that the right man was arrested. The words indicate there was a complete cohort of Roman soldiers, a display of force to meet all possibilities, for the Romans were a very careful people. They anticipated trouble, and sent a sufficient force of men to prevent any attempt which might be made at escape, or of raising a tumult on behalf of the prisoner. They sought to take, this is what verse three means. \u0093Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the Chief priests\u0094 (that is through the mediation of the Chief priests and Pharisees, with the Roman governor) \u0093cometh thither with the lanterns and torches and weapons\u0094. \u0093Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, whom seek ye?\u0094 Notice these important words, \u0093Jesus knowing all things that should come upon him\u0094. He knew all things that should come upon Him, not only because He was God, and came from God, but because it was His spirit, which inspired the prophets and the writers of Holy Scriptures, and all these things, were written of Him beforehand.
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\nHe knew all things, and John the writer is very careful to tell us about this, because he would have us know, that although our Lord had laid aside his divine prerogatives and glory, that He might become true man for our redemption. Nevertheless there was through the spirit, the Holy Spirit given to Him, with out measure as man, in communication all the time of divine knowledge, of communion with the Father, His illuminated human mind was given all knowledge concerning our redemption and all that was necessary to be done. So as we read in the fortieth Psalm, verse seven, \u0093Then said I, Lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me. I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.\u0094 So He was our perfect mediator, knowing all things that are necessary to know for our redemption, and all things He should do. The complete range, of the divine Holy will of the Father, which He should execute, and bring it to pass, nothing was hidden from Him and he knew all things. All things that should come upon Him, He went forth at the head of his little band of disciples, having already received the traitors.
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\nJudas no doubt detached himself from the multitude, he went on ahead, I\u0092ll show you the man, There is a company of men here, I\u0092ll show you the one to arrest, so he went up to Him and said, \u0093Hail Master\u0094 and kissed him, while the force of men stood there waiting, watching to perform their duty. Judas returns to them and the Saviour advances towards them, before they could come to Him, He went to them, \u0093Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth (that is went forth to them, advanced towards them) and said into them, whom seek ye?\u0094 They being Romans having received only one name that was given to them, they said Jesus of Nazareth, and this was the name by which He was known, Jesus of Nazareth?
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\nThis was the name that was given to him upon the cross, Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews. Pilate wouldn\u0092t alter it, because he couldn\u0092t, even if he desired, which he didn\u0092t desire. Pilate refused to alter it, they said to Him, put rather He said I am the King of the Jews, he said, No what I have written I have written Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. What he wrote was the truth, was something in Pilate\u0092s heart that involved him, and which he was writing?
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\nSo He came forward and said unto them, \u0093whom seek ye?\u0094 They answered Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am He; As soon then as he had said unto them, I am He, they went backward, and fell to the ground.
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\nNow this is the event which only John describes, and we must pay strict attention to it. It is not the first time the Lord uses these words, whom seek ye? They occur in the Gospel of John on at least two other important occasions. One, at the beginning, and the other at the end of the Gospel. In chapter one, the two young men John and Andrew, separate themselves from John the Baptist, and follow Jesus, when John the Baptist says, \u0093Behold the Lamb of God\u0094. Jesus turned, when he sees the young men following him, and says what seek ye? He said unto him Master where dwellest thou? Come and see,\u0094 Again the twentieth chapter, the day of his Resurrection, He stands there besides Mary Magdalene in the garden, she\u0092s a weeping woman. \u0093Why weepiest thou, whom seekest thou?\u0094
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\nSo likewise to these who had come to betray, and to arrest He said \u0093Whom seek ye? Whom seekest thou? Whom do ye seek? But what were blessed words to John and Andrew, and to Mary Magdalene, are also words of terrible severity and Judgement upon those who came to arrest him the garden. \u0093Whom seek ye?\u0094 Jesus of Nazareth\u0094. \u0093I am He\u0094 You will notice in your bibles the He is in italics. What He really said is, \u0093I AM,\u0094 the name of Jehovah; I AM. When he said this, they fell to the ground; they went backward and fell to the ground. This action shows two things. First, that they could have no power over Christ, except that which God permitted them to have. They had brought the whole Roman army there, and not just a section of it, a portion of a Legion, a Cohort, as if the whole mighty Roman army had been assembled from all over the world. They could not have laid a finger upon Him unless as God pleased. That when He spoke to them, I AM. His Deity flashed out like a discharge of lightening, upon their face; and they fell backwards in dismay, and rolled upon the ground. The second thing that this action showed was that their business was with Him alone, because this was part of the process, of securing the immunity of the other Apostles from arrest. There were eleven of them, with Him, they must be allowed to go their way.
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\nThis exhibition of His power prevented any attempt which they might have considered of arresting the others, who were with Him as well. Their business was with Him alone; His business was with them with what was to follow. So it is that we read in verse eight, \u0093Jesus answered, I have told you, that I am He; If therefore you seek me, let these go their way that the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.\u0094
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\nNow in these words, the proof of the atonement, and the nature of the atonement for our redemption, is made clear and plain. They went backwards, now this is an Old Testament expression; they went backwards and fell to the ground. You will notice it was mentioned in our Psalm 40, verse 14. Remember, this is the Saviour speaking in prophecy, \u0093Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backwards and put to shame that wish me evil\u0094. \u0093They went backward and fell to the ground\u0094, again Isaiah 42 and verse 17, \u0093They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.\u0094 This expression, they shall be turned back, they shall be made to go back is a decree of God, and is an exhibition of divine sovereignty and power, hence when they went backward, and fell to the ground in the garden of Gethsemane, this was a token that Christ\u0092s word, I AM or I AM HE, was loaded with divinity, with divine prerogative and omnipotence to repel them and to convince them that they could do nothing against this man, as it was permitted them by God. Jeremiah chapter 46, v 5, \u0093Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? And their mighty ones are beaten down and are fled apace, and look not back; for fear was round about, saith the LORD.\u0094 This was a description of the overthrow of Pharaoh\u0092s army. In prophesy, Psalm 35, v 4 \u0093Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul; Let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.\u0094 This is Christ speaking again. \u0093Psalm 129, v 5 \u0093Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.\u0094 These and other scriptures can be quoted to show that John knew exactly what he was writing, when he described this thing, \u0093They went back and fell to the ground.\u0094
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\nNow this is part of the truth of the nature of the atonement being declared, because the atonement for our sins to be valid and relevant and acceptable, with God, it had to be not a thing of man\u0092s but of God\u0092s decree and of God\u0092s provision when it was necessary that Christ should die by the decree of God. Hence Peter says on the day of Pentecost, \u0093Him, being delivered by the determinate council of God, and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.\u0094 And if this wasn\u0092t proof to the Jews, it is proof to us, and proof to the Church, the people of the Heavenly Zion. That our Salvation is secure in the atonement of Christ, in as much as what befell Him at the crucifixion was the will of God, and not the will of man. It wasn\u0092t the Devil who made the sacrifice; the Devil only heaped the wood together and applied the kindling to it as it were. But it was God who placed the sacrifice upon the altar, and the savour of it, ascended into Heaven for our redemption
\n","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=article&aid=22414","source":"collect","new_content":"John Ch. 17 v 1, \u201cThese words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to Heaven, and said, Father the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.\u201d
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\nThese profound words indicate the dividing of time and the dividing even eternity itself. The hour is come; what hour? The hour of His death. The hour of atonement. He had given to His disciples the symbols of the bread and the wine in remembrance of what He was about to do, the symbols of His death and passion, to be celebrated and observed until He should come again, as the most important thing, representing or pointing to the most important event of all events, the meaning of all history and the dividing point of the whole human race.
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\nYou will notice as that it is the atonement, of which He speaks, and for which He is preparing Himself and His disciples by this last audible dedicatory prayer of Himself. You will observe that He speaks about the glory of God, which was about to be achieved. \u201cFather the hour is come,\u201d the hour to which the great life of God had been moving from all eternity, the hour in which the full revelation of God would be made. That would be done in that hour for which all creation waited, and without which being has no meaning at all. In the events of this hour, God would glorify His Son, and by glorifying His Son, the Son would be able to glorify the Father. In accordance with the eternal purpose of God, the Son would be glorified in death, and in the overcoming of death in the rising again from the dead, and the ascension to the eternal throne.
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\nThe throne from which He came, He returns to, but not in the same condition as when He left it, for He left it as God. He returns as God and man, raising in Himself our humanity to the eternal throne of God, and thus fulfilling, as Paul elsewhere tells us in the second chapter of Hebrews, the whole design of God in the creation of man, that is the creation of all things, that man should have dominion over the works of the divine hand. It was to thwart this that Satan, in his hated of God and man, intervened in the Garden of Eden, and was so permitted to intervene.
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\nThere is a profound saying on the part of one of the great men of poetic history, that evil, strangely, mysteriously, is necessary to God, in the working out of the divine purpose and the expression of the divine life. Bold and tremendous words, which we can only utter with bated breath, but they are true We may not be able to comprehend the whole mystery of evil, anymore than we can comprehend the wisdom of God, or the being of God, but one day we shall, and it shall be the theme of heaven and the point that we shall be exploring throughout all eternity. If there is any occupation in heaven we know it must be this that eternally we shall be probing the depths of Christ and His unsearchable riches, the meaning of the life of God.
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\nWe have the formula of all things, the formula of creation, and the formula of the atonement in these opening words of the Saviour in His prayer, \u201cFather the hour has come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also might glorify thee.\u201d When we have understood that, there is nothing more remaining to be understood, in time or in eternity regarding the being and nature and purpose of God, the movement of His great life, the design and end which He has in view. The reason why we are here, is all summarised in these few words, \u201cThe hour is come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee,\u201d for it is in the glorification of the Son, that is victory over death and the grave, that is over the totality of evil, that God himself is manifest, and made known at last to all creation. That there is a veil over this mystery, we see only the glimmerings of the ultimate truth, it must surely be self- evident.
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\nWe have long esteemed the great darkness which fell over the earth at the sixth hour of the atonement. Christ was crucified at the third hour. At the sixth hour which was midday according to the time then calculated, darkness came over all the earth until the ninth hour. Three hours of darkness. At the ninth hour, there was that succession of four cries to heaven, four cries which in themselves summarise the whole meaning of the atonement, two of which at least can be found in Psalm twenty two. That this darkness was a prophetic darkness, an actual darkness, sent by God for a prophetic purpose there could be no shadow of doubt. I don\u2019t think anyone has expressed it as well as Mr. Spurgeon. This is him at his highest and best. In his entire wonderful ministry he never said anything so profound and so powerful, so weighty, so far reaching as this. He says \u201cThis darkness tells us all that the passion is a great mystery. I have tried to explain it as a substitution, and I feel that where the language is explicit I may and must be explicit too. But yet I feel that the idea of substitution does not cover the whole of the dread mystery, and that no human conception can grasp the whole. Tell me the death of the Lord Jesus was a grand example of self sacrifice, I can see that, and much more. Tell me it was a wondrous obedience to the will of God, I can see that, and much more. Tell me it was the bearing, of what ought to have been borne by myriads of sinners of the human race, and the chastisement of their sin, I can see that, and found my best hopes upon it. But do not tell me that this is all that there is in the cross. No, great as this would be, there is much more in the redeemer\u2019s death. God veiled the cross in darkness, and in darkness much of the deep meaning lies, not because God would not reveal it, but because we have not the capacity to discern it all.\u201d So for Mr. Spurgeon in that great statement he made; his great mind was confronted with the dark mystery of the cross, where our Saviour died.
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\nToo often the cross has been represented as a kind of a court scene, God is the judge and there is the sinner, someone steps in and intervenes, the mediator, to take the offence upon Himself, and God the Father is too often represented as an angry God, menacing the sinner with his eternal fate, and the Son stepping in to avert the anger of God. But this is entirely a false meaning of the atonement, because one of the greatest texts upon the matter says \u201cGod so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.\u201d So the cross is the greatest example of all, of the love of God. The surrender of his own Son to death, the great heart of God burdened and rent by the view, a view we can never behold ourselves, not in this world anyway, because we do not see, what God sees, the whole mystery of evil, the whole question mark which hangs over all creation, settled in one tremendous moment, in the only way that it could be settled. The only way of destroying evil is by evil, there is no other way, and there's no other one to assume evil but God Himself, and therefore you cannot understand the atonement, without understanding somewhat the mystery of the Holy Trinity. This is central to the whole understanding of the atonement, to know that God is One, yet three persons, not three Gods but One God, in three modes of being, as the early church theologians so correctly put it; God revealed in the person of the Father, in the person of the Son, in the person of the Holy Spirit Three persons not to be confused, one God not to be divided, and it is impossible to separate the persons in all their activity. You say what about the cross? It was the Son who hung dying there, but the Father loved the world He had made, and gave the Son. It was the Father\u2019s love you see there pinioned upon the tree, and \u201cChrist through the eternal spirit offered Himself without spot to God.\u201d The mystery of the Holy Spirit, in the one Spirit of the Godhead, there present to offer as in burning flame, the sacrifice of love and obedience to the Almighty Father. Nor could you have the atonement unless the persons of the Godhead were so related, it must be Father, Son and Holy Spirit and in that order. The Father eternal, The Son eternal, The Holy Ghost eternal, yet there are not three eternals but one eternal, as the Athanasian creed so profoundly tells us. It is only as we perceive this, that the Godhead moves always in unity, in its grand design, to the great and dramatic conclusion, in which God, will reveal Himself finally, in all His perfection, glory, beauty and eternity, to the whole assembled creation. Now this is the intention of God in creation, this is why he made the heaven and the earth, the heaven first, the heaven of angels, Those bright celestial spirits in all their vast innumerable circles of living light, and then, the lower world our three dimensional world,, with sky and the firmament, earth and sea, and all that therein is. It was not in heaven, but upon earth, this lowly passing frail earth in which we live, it was here, that God designed to work out the meaning and purpose of His own life.
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\nLet us remember this, when foolish men, scientists some of them, speculate about intelligent life being found somewhere else in the universe; they will never find it, they cannot find it even in the solar system. Only one planet, only one spot in the entire Universe could contain man, because here the most important events of all time and eternity happened, and it could not happen twice. It may not happen anywhere else and if evil is here, it is throughout all creation, and therefore God would have to die a thousand times upon some other cross, in some other world in order to bring all to His feet. The cross determines all scientific questions, my friend, make no mistake about that, it is the answer to all questions and all mystery, the happenings on this earth could happen nowhere else. This was the stage; lowly as it may seem to scientists, in comparison to the vastness of the universe. Why is the universe so vast? Not that it might contain other forms of life, but that you and I, through true science might have a yardstick, by which we can measure the eternity and the Almightiness of God, and see how great a God He was, and is, how unsearchable is His wisdom. \u201cThe Heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament showeth His handiwork, day unto day uttereth speech, night unto night showeth knowledge.\u201d This is the purpose of creation, so far as it shows forth the wisdom, and the providence, the Almightiness of our great God and Saviour, the cross answers this question, it puts everything in right proportions. The intention of God in creation therefore, was to reveal and to prove Himself.
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\nWhat do we mean by to prove Himself? He didn't need to prove Himself to Himself, but to creation, he had to show forth, that He was worthy to be Creator, He was worthy to bear rule over all things. That is the whole point of sin; the meaning of sin lies just there, that was the original sin. Satan refused this acknowledgement of God\u2019s absolute right to create, and to create what He did, and as He did, is beyond question. The original sin in heaven, was the mystery that was revealed to the angels, at what point of their existence we cannot tell, that God\u2019s purposes were not to be fulfilled in them, except in a secondary sense, that they were to be the servants of another creation, of a feeble, frail creature called man, whose destiny was to be higher than the angels, who should be subject to time, and all that that means, as angels are not subject to it, and even to death itself. But through this means, man would be exalted to the eternal throne, to reign over all the works of God, and Satan in the midst of the stones of Holy fire, pondered upon this, and in his heart rebelled against it. That he should be a servant of such a creature as this, and deprived of the ultimate crown, which he thought was his due, and with the thought, the light went out in his spirit and he became darkness. As Milton so eloquently puts it, Satan discovers Hell. But what is that Hell he discovered? I am Hell he says, I am Hell. I am Hell. Some of the early divines used to say, that the bottomless pit is the soul of impenitent man, there is far more truth in that perhaps, than in the ideas which have survived from the middle ages, and the Spanish inquisition, of the kind of Hell which might be suitable for a body indeed, but certainly would not be suitable for a mind.
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\nNow how would God deal with such a situation as this? The fall of angels was without remedy, because they sinned against total light; there is no redemption for fallen angels, there cannot be. There is for fallen man, because he is a limited creature, they weren't. Man depends upon those who have gone before him, father, son, and grandson and so on, it goes on and on. A short life compassed about with trials, and questions, difficulties and problems and enigmas; man only sees the little world that is around him, he has light for very little more. He is a limited creature and therefore the possibility of redemption arises in man. When the Lord Jesus was revealed, when as the Son came forth from the bosom of the Father, bearing the Father\u2019s credentials, to bring all creation back to Himself, then we read, \u201cverily He took not on him the seed of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham, to be made in all points like unto His brethren.\u201d
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\nOh the glory and the wonder of the incarnation. The babe of Bethlehem. Where was the Godhead, when it lay an unconscious embryo in the womb of the virgin, or hung upon that maiden\u2019s breast, where was the Godhead then? Oh the mystery, as the hymn writer said, \u201cOur God contracted to a span, incomprehensibly, made man.\u201d He, who was the Godhead, in whom the whole Godhead resided, the second person thereof, became the nursemaid of the human race, the second man. There have only been two men, the first was Adam, the second is the Lord from heaven in whom mankind is renewed, and creation is made again without evil, without the possibility of evil because now God is in it. Whereas before he presided over it, now He enters into His own creation, as a helpless babe at Bethlehem, and gives Himself to the death of the cross. At the appointed hour, at the appointed moment, He renders up His life. And we approach the meaning of the atonement and the profundity of it. When we go back to the original sin and see what it is that sin does, sin denies the purpose of creation, it denies the wisdom of God, it denies the right of God to act, according to His own wisdom, which is always according to perfect love, and perfect love is the only dimension upon which creation can exist. So Satan whatever his original name was, moved through the holy stones of fire, and covered as a cherub the very throne of God, denied his own being and was a traitor to his own nature, and to perfect love, when he heard the news and knew the wisdom, that a lesser creature would be made who would be exalted at last above the angels to the very throne of God, and would be one, with God in his eternal reign. He did not know, of course, for it was hidden from him, that it would only be realised through the Son. It would have been no test to Satan and to the fallen angels, if they had known beforehand all the details, for they have to be saved eternally by faith, and eternal and perfect love, just as we are saved by faith, strange that, isn't it? Faith in heaven? Yes there\u2019s a place for it, even in Heaven, the kind of faith, which relies upon the wisdom of God, even when it does not see to the end of it, and says, if there is a purpose that some should be exalted above us, we should love them the more on that account because perfect love seeketh not her own. I don't know what passed through the soul of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, I don\u2019t know what burden it was that crushed Him there, and caused him to say even at this late hour \u201cO Father, if it be possible,\u201d if there is another way, \u201clet this cup pass from me, nevertheless not what I will, but thy will be done.\" Without Gethsemane, there would not have been that extremity of dedication, which we find in the Saviour, when He discarded all possibility finally and fully, as man of any alternative and said thy will be done.
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\nThat is the answer to sin, because Satan had revolted against the will of God, He did not assent or consent to the divine wisdom, he regarded himself as a creation that had the right and title to be independent of the eternal God, else God had no right to create him. You hear the same thing echoing in many a man\u2019s heart and mouth in these days, I didn't ask to come here, I didn\u2019t ask to be put in this world. Whereas life itself, is so infinite a treasure, that we ought to bow in deep thankfulness before God every day of our lives, and thank him that it pleased Him to create us, and grant unto us the joy and the fullness of life and the promise of the glory that is to be. So that if Christ, bore all the evil of all the universe, and answered the great question which hangs over all creation, both in Heaven and in earth, and by this means proved Himself, in perfect love and absolute sacrifice, and self negation to be worthy of the eternal rule, to be worthy of being Creator, that all creation henceforth might worship Him, not simply because He was wise and Almighty, but because He was humble and meek, and because He became the lowest of all. Because He had shown us what perfect love was, which is the element of all heaven, and of the being of God, and so provided for us the certainty, the sureness of that destiny which awaits.
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\nHence in this sense, the atonement is cosmic. There is a theological term that is very much in evidence in these days, we call it the doctrine of the limited atonement, personally I never use that term. If I want a term that expresses what this is supposed to represent, I always use the term particular redemption. I think it\u2019s safer and is more understandable, because there\u2019s a sense in which the atonement cannot be limited, it affects not only all men, but it affects all angels, it affects all Hell, it affects the devil himself. It has to do with the final answer to the evil that is in the Universe, so that evil can never again rise up, and even in hell there will be unanimity amongst fallen angels and impenitent men. For all eternity there will be unanimity as to the worthiness of Christ to rule. Does not Paul say that at the name of Jesus every knee must bow to him, of things in Heaven, things in earth and things under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
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\nLet us remember this, there will be no sin in hell, there will be no possibility of sin ever being committed anymore, Satan will just bear eternally the consequences of his own evil, in the silence and the dumbness of his final assent, to the glory of God and the name of Christ, and along with him every soul cast away into the blackness of that darkness for ever, that darkness that descends upon spirits, takes possession of spirits, which were once light, but have now departed from light. There will be unanimity in all creation, and never again will sin rise up a second time to disturb the peace and the state of perfect love in the regions of the divine triumph.
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\nSo we perceive that the atonement is cosmic, it affects all being therefore it cannot be limited, except as to its application to the penitent, and the believing. For in order to enjoy the benefits of Christ\u2019s atonement, it is perfectly obvious that we too in a great act of self surrender which we call faith and repentance, we turn from our own sins, we acknowledge the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and in an instant that righteousness becomes ours. As a justifying righteousness we enter into a great new birth, into the new creation and we begin to learn the lesson of perfect love.
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\nSo we see that the salvation of the sinner is not an end in itself, it is only the beginning of the glory of God, the first step that we take on the road back, which shall end at the throne of God, when this word shall be completely understood.
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\n\u201cTo him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I overcame, and I am sat down with my Father in His throne,\u201d or again in the 17th chapter of John, where He so wonderfully says \u201cThat they all might be one.\u201d That\u2019s not the ecumenical oneness in this world, this is the eternal oneness of the redeemed in Heaven, with the eternal Father. It Is a wonderful oneness, \u201cThat they all might be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they might be one in us, that the whole creation might know, that I am thine, and thou art mine, and these are mine.\u201d The final word must ever be, that which penetrated the soul of John the divine, when there was given to him the vision of the Revelation, \u201cEvery creature which was in heaven, and earth and under the earth heard I saying, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and glory and riches and honour and blessing forever and forever\u201d. Amen.
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\nChapter 2Gethsemane
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\nJohn ch.18.v.1 \u201cWhen Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.\u201d
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\nSimple words aren\u2019t they? They are just a homely account of something which happened, but also affects the whole history of the world and our history now. When Jesus had spoken these words, what words? We have to go right back to the beginning of the 14th chapter of John to find out what the words were that John is referring to, they are words which was first spoken by the Lord in the upper room on the same night that He is betrayed, We have been reading of the betrayal and arrest of the Lord on that last dreadful night before that even more dreadful day, when He was lifted up upon the cross and died for the sins of the world. This is the importance of this verse before He left the upper room, and after He had broken the bread and gave to His disciples the wine saying \u201cTake, eat; this is my body, drink ye all of this cup it is the New Testament in my blood.\u201d He then spoke some parting words and counsel which are of infinite importance, so marvellous in there depth, \u201cLet not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me,\u201d familiar words which we use at the bedsides of the sick and the dying.
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\nGoing on to the 15th chapter, the parable of the true vine and the 16th chapter with its solemn warnings, of sorrow, tragedy, and trial to come, for Christ\u2019s people and the church right through the ages. When they rose up to go forth to the garden of Gethsemane and to the Judgment Hall leading finally to the cross, the Lord lifts up His eyes to heaven and prays in that great 17th chapter of John that prayer in which He commits Himself to the Father, and all the issue of His dying and His living again, and in particular, the protection and the preservation for all time those who had been given into His charge, we believe from the foundation of the world, that He might be their Redeemer and Saviour and bring them through all tribulation, right down the centuries until everyone of them shall land safely upon the other shore and not one of us be left behind.
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\nWhen Jesus had spoken these words, the final solemn important words which lie at the basis of our redemption, of our hope and of our comfort and of all the strength we receive from God as the days go by, a light which we specially need for these dark days into which we are now passing. When Jesus had spoken these words He went forth with His disciples from the upper room through the streets of the city of Jerusalem, they were there for the Passover, a land of silence speaks at midnight. They had no proper street lighting in those days, and in the darkness they went through the city wall and, made their way down the paths which lead into the depths of that ravine. That deep cleft in the earth between the high wall and summit of Jerusalem, then the steep ascent of the Mount of Olives at the bottom of the ravine flows the brook Cedron. \u201cThey went over the brook Cedron,\u201d now why did John the apostle make a note of that, what has the brook Cedron got to do with it? Why should John tell us He went forth over the brook Cedron into a place where there was a garden? We know from other writers that it was the garden of Gethsemane, on the accent going up to the Mount of Olives. Well he mentions it because it is of great prophetic importance, the brook Cedron was a very important river in the history of the children of Israel and there was one particular portion of that history which we shall mention. Those who know your Bibles will know how it figured largely in the history of King David. David\u2019s son Absalom rose up against his father in a colossal rebellion which involved the whole of the country, all of the twelve tribes were descending upon Jerusalem with a mighty army to put an end to his own father\u2019s reign that he, Absalom, might be crowned in his father\u2019s room and stead. When tidings of this reached David he knew that if he entered the city he and all hope of Israel would be destroyed. So he gathered together his household and his faithful guards some of whom had met David during the time much earlier on in his life, when he was driven by king Saul from Israel, and had to find refuge in foreign and heathen lands, There he became the centre of a band of men gathered from all parts who were faithful to him, they were hard men wild and warlike, some had been fugitives from justice, but they became the terror of all other armies at that time because of their military prowess and warlike zeal, but few in number, they could not stand up against a mighty army which was coming down.
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\nSo David left with the people that would go with him, faithful guards, and they went down across the brook Cedron almost at the same time that Absalom was about to enter at the other side of the city, they went up the slope of the Mount of Olives. They were not safe until they had mounted that ascent and had got into open country and beyond, unto the high roads where they could make progress, and escape from that which was hanging over them. It is said that the Mount of Olives is no small obstacle for anybody fleeing in that direction from Jerusalem. It is a fairly steep ascent and hampered with the women and children and little ones and all that they were taking with them. It was a serious exercise in which they were engaged and as they went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, we read that king David wept bitterly. You will find in the Old Testament the weeping of King David, as he fled from Jerusalem as he went up the Mount of Olives.
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\nWe don\u2019t know where the garden of Gethsemane was, there is a place marked out now with a stone there I believe on the Mount of Olives as it exists today, people go there and are told by the guides this is the garden of Gethsemane, but there\u2019s nothing authentic about it. Anybody who ever goes to the Holy Land need to take with a large spoonful of salt, any tale which is told you about different places here and there. They will even show you the upper room where the Holy Spirit came down upon the waiting church on the day of Pentecost. Anybody who has any knowledge knows that the city which Christ knew and the apostles, is buried thirty feet below the rubbish of successive cities of Jerusalem which have been destroyed, built, destroyed again and again, because war has passed over that region so many times that the present city is built upon the heaped up rubbish of successive cities, as they have been built and fallen in there turn. So there\u2019s nothing recognisable in Jerusalem today, even the so called Wailing Wall is simply the foundations of the outer court of the Temple, which in the days of the Romans was cast down, along with the whole of the city, so that not one stone upon another above the surface of the city then is left standing. So nobody can tell us where the Garden of Gethsemane was, it\u2019s just as well because people make a superstition of these things, and shrine worship and all the rest of it and that is an abomination in the site of a Holy God. \u201cNeither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem,\u201d He told the woman of Samaria, \u201cshall men worship the Father, but the true worshippers shall worship in Spirit and in truth,\u201d
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\nBut this much we can say, that the garden of Gethsemane was not very far from the place where David wept, despised and rejected by his people as he was forced out by them, and treated as an object of curse and contempt, as he fled from the city as good as dead. He wept, and I sometimes like to think, though the spot can never be identified, that it was at that very self same place where David wept bitterly that the Lord cast himself down upon the ground that night, \u201cand his sweat was as it were great drops of blood, falling down to the ground, as He cried as the despised and rejected one, bearing the curse and sin of the world, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not my will but thine be done.\u201d
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\nThere it was, in that garden when He had finished his prayer, three times praying in like manner, the band of soldiers arrived, this formidable company of men coming in the dark with their lanterns, their torches, their weapons to arrest their God, and to tie the hands of the great Creator behind his back. A thing which they could not do if He had not willingly given Himself into their hands, receiving the kiss of the traitor Judas, going forth to meet those who were His foes, they were foe to Him, though He was no foe to them. This was what confronted Him on the other side of the brook Cedron, they came to take Him, but it was by His own divine appointment. He said on another occasion \u201cthis is your hour and the power of darkness,\u201d this concerning His arrest and bringing Him before His false accusers. It was all part of the divine plan of our redemption. How then could men be working out a historical drama as it were? And doing these things to the Saviour? Like Judas who betrayed Him and Caiaphas in condemning Him, and the men arresting and binding Him? They were only carrying out the will of God, why should they be blamed? This is the question which often arises, you see the answer is plain but it\u2019s not too simple, and in that God is the ruler of all. He is the great Governor of the nations and of all men, and in God\u2019s government it is proper with God to use evil to punish evil, and to take the evil of men\u2019s heart and make it an instrument for their own chastisement, and at the same time a means of carrying out His own blessed design of bringing out of evil a greater good than ever otherwise could be. This is the wisdom of God; this is the power and the sovereignty of God. Let us remember that when we talk of that strange and mysterious word predestination, that some people are terribly afraid of, and others not afraid but ought to be afraid of it. They make much of it and talk about it from platforms, and who focus and make very poor work of describing a glorious mystery of God. Let us remember that predestination works this way, it works through flesh and blood, that works through the evil of men\u2019s hearts, and through all the goodness and wisdom of God at all times and all stages.
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\nDivine predestination never does violence to the sacredness and integrity of the human soul, that the integrity of the human individual is preserved intact and inviolate of the mysterious sovereign foreordination of God, so that men do freely what they do, for good or ill, and yet back of it all a directing, and all embracing providence of God. Who perceiving the end from the beginning, because He Himself has foreordained the end, from the beginning and all the means leading up to the end, and yet He sets majestic wisdom doing violence to nobody, and preserving the integrity at all times of each individual human personality. Further than that we can\u2019t go, but thus far we can go, or as necessary, we should go. We assure everybody that there is nothing in divine predestination, which does violence to them or the dispositions of their own heart.
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\nThe highest level of predestination was the Son of God in the garden, under the burden of that immense sorrow, and the Son of God upon the cross bearing the sins of the whole world, that is divine predestination, although He who was upon the cross, was party to the foreordination in the council of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, before the world began. Though this was that for which the world was created; although He knew all about it before hand. He needed not to be told, who had the whole picture of it in His heart and mind He Himself in the Old Testament had moved through the prophecy. He was the prophet of the prophets, it was His word that Isaiah spoke when he said, \u201cHe was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed\u201d.
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\nIt was Christ speaking in Isaiah, of his own death eight hundred years before it took place. This is divine predestination, although He knew all and was waiting for all, and was ready for all, \u201cFor the joy that was set before him, he endured this cross, despising the shame.\u201d
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\nNevertheless there was not in that glorious predestination a relief, or abatement or a modifying of one pine of sorrow, one moment of distress, one agonising pain of soul or body, as He went forward to the work of our redemption. \u201cHe was the man of sorrows acquainted with grief,\u201d the reality of His suffering. Let them set that not against His foreknowledge of His sufferings, but in relation to the nature of God\u2019s sovereignty, and how He works. \u201cHe spared not his own Son, but freely, gave him up for us all.\u201d In this matter of the creation of the whole world, an entire universe the government and control of all history, the history of mankind that God has managed from the beginning, and will to the end. In all this there is a deep mystery and a deep tragedy which only eternity will disclose.
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\nThink ye not, that when the Lord God Almighty, the Eternal Father, \u201cspared not His own Son but freely gave Him up for us all,\u201d There was not likewise an agony in the heart of the Eternal Father Himself? Do you think it was with pleasure He did behold the shame and curse and suffering, laid upon the only begotten, when He cried, \u201cAwake oh sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord, smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.\u201d Think ye not that there was not the reality of the cross in the heart of the Eternal God when this took place? And so it is that a divine predestination rends the heart of the Godhead. There must be something mysterious and tremendously holy glorious, and thanks be unto God, that it is there, because now we are sure about what the outcome will be. We know there is a sure and certain end to all history, to yours and mine, and as far as the Son of God is concerned and all His people. He will stand in the midst of them at the end of the day, and He will say, \u201cThose that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition.\u201d So when you hear about divine sovereignty, about Calvinism to use a common term about predestination, you will know now won\u2019t you? And you'll never forget it.
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\nKing David went up the ascent, of the Mount of Olives and wept bitterly, because he was a type of the One who should follow in the same footsteps, which he had planted on that sacred soil, and would water the ground with His tears too, He was the eternal God. David wept for himself and his family, and the tragedy that overwhelmed him, and Christ wept that He may understand even if He could understand the smallest portion of the mystery, of what took place when Christ wept drops of blood. That the Son of God, suffered even as David suffered before him, because He was bearing the tragedy of a world which He loved, who had rebelled against Him? You and I amongst them and had brought down upon creation all that weight of sorrow and curse and divine displeasure, upon the righteousness and fearful holiness of Almighty God, and He Himself must bare it Who Himself set up the law in all its majesty which could not be passed by, and there in one hour it all passed. All the pain and sorrow, all the tears and sadness that sin had ever brought upon the world in one hour that passed through His soul in the garden of Gethsemane, and Luke tells us, unless that there had appeared an angel of God from heaven strengthening Him, His human frame would never have survived that burden of sorrow in the garden That intense weeping and sorrow, and agony, which was the prelude to the cross itself, And so the reality of the suffering that Christ endured, and that predestination did not spare Him one tear.
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\nSo it is you may say, in that faith which you have in our great and gracious God, when affliction comes upon you will say, well I know it must have been predestined, but the sorrow is just the same. This pose is just as agonising as I feel, this parting with loved one\u2019s is a very real thing. I know that God has His times and seasons, a time to live and a time to die, I know it all well but it does not relieve me of pain and anguish all it did to me, it was this, It held before me a bright and glorious hope, and it was that, that helped me to dry my tears and to bare, what it pleased God to lay upon me. Because I know as a child of God by faith and by the Word, and by what I know of God, that He does nothing but what is good, nothing which is not absolutely in conformity too, and in consistency with His own nature and position. He cannot deny Himself, He cannot be other than what He is. He must at all time be good, the Almighty, be glorious and righteous.
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\nTherefore, all that He has in view and for which He has made full provision, is bound to be worked out on those principles, whatever the outcome it will always be the highest possible that the wisdom of God could define or decree, and we are the more embolden to grasp this fact.
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\nAs we company with our blessed Lord from the upper room, having heard Him praying that most majestic of all prayers, for the preservation of His people, and for their final glory. We go out with Him through the door, and into the silent streets of Jerusalem into that dark valley of the brook Cedron. To him as it was to David, the valley of the shadow of death. Because He went through it we can say, \u201cYea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.\u201d But they will only comfort me, thy rod and thy staff, because thou as the shepherd of thy sheep has gone before me, and there was none to give thee thy comfort.
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\n\u201cIf it be possible let this cup pass from me, never the less, not my will but thine be done.\u201d Let me endure all without feeling, let me be carried through it all that the will of the eternal Father, might be accomplished in the redemption of His people, and none of them be lost but the son of perdition. I say let us company with our blessed Lord in this dark passage in this dark way, this fearsome savage road which He must press with His own blessed footprints. As He goes up the accent of the Mount of Olives, to lead His people from captivity from danger and bring them out at last into the broad planes of the divine grace of mercy and provision.
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\nThat place we now occupy through what He has done, of the forgiveness of our sins. Think of the stain of those sins you\u2019ve committed, that we have all committed, the apathy of our souls, the forgetfulness of Christ, when we ought to have remembered how slighting we\u2019ve passed over our reading of God\u2019s Word today. It is His Word and there was a sacrifice though it meant so much to Him it has meant so little to us. It has perhaps not brought from us today one expression to the Lord of thankfulness, for giving His life for me. That we haven\u2019t got a mind or a heart to feel after Him as we ought this day. Let us think of this, as the stain of our sin, of the littleness of our attainments in grace, and we ought to apply ourselves more and more than we do. To prayer and the seeking after Him and rejoicing in Him, in praising and adoring the name of our blessed Redeemer.
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\nSomehow or other we are birds with broken wings; we haven\u2019t attained yet. We would like at times to soar into the upper regions of heaven, and there attain to that heightened eminence and glory which God has planted in our soul. But the Lord help us our wings won\u2019t carry us, not enough grace yet, not enough divine awe under our plumage, but one day we will be set free. One day we will soar and we'll rise to the highest limits of divine glory, and there see Him upon the throne we often have longed for and see that face, as John Bunyan says, \u2018which we have come so far to behold.\u2019 There we shall see Him, whose name is Immanuel, the Word of God, and God with us, there in noble and sweeter strains we shall praise Him for what He\u2019s done. Amen
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\nWe again think of that tragic journey which He undertook across the brook Cedron, and up the steep accent of the Mount of Olives. Who might be pressed out of measure in that garden with our sins and our sorrows, that we might not bear that load in all eternity. We pray the Lord will open our hearts more and more to understand that sovereign and glorious grace. He has bestowed upon us. Amen
\nChapter 3Arrest and Betrayal
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\nJohn Chapter 18, vs.1 - 9 The subject before us is the arrest and betrayal of our Lord; the circumstances of His arrest in the garden of Gethsemane. We have not left the garden following the night of agony in which we have endeavoured to describe, \u201cHe had said to his disciples sleep on and take your rest, he that betrayeth me is at hand, arise let us be going.\u201d It seems a contradiction on one hand, to sleep on and take your rest, while the other is \u201carise, and let us go forth to meet them\". But the contradiction is only seeming; their sleep was to continue for another forty days, until the Holy Spirit should descend upon them at Pentecost from on high. With enlightenment they should be wakened to the full light and glory of the New Testament day.
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\nIn the meantime they must accompany Him as witnesses until the moment of His arrest, when the multitude of soldiers, and officials came into the garden at that time for Him with Judas the traitor at their head. In the accounts in the other gospels we read that Judas came forward first of all and kissed Him, and said \u201cHail Master.\u201d The Lord said, \u201cbetrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?\u201d John does not describe the actual betrayal, but he tells us that Judas was there, at the end of verse 5 of chapter18 we read \u201cJudas also which betrayed Him stood with them.\u201d Now John does not describe the kiss of betrayal or the words of the Lord at that time, this had been fully dealt with by the earlier writers Matthew, Mark and Luke.
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\nThe purpose was to proceed from that point to matters of a very great moment indeed, so we select John\u2019s account for our consideration. We have noted the order of events so far as the other gospels are concerned. We join the little band, the Lord and His companions in the garden, actually at the time when the kiss of betrayal had been administered. We proceed from there with those who had come to take him. In the meantime we remind ourselves according to John\u2019s account that the events in the upper room had taken place, that the Lord\u2019s comforting words, words of enlightenment and instruction for the guidance of His church at all subsequent times have been uttered in chapters fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen, commencing with the words, \u201cLet not your heart be troubled, \u2026 believe also in Me, in my Fathers house are many mansions\u201d.
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\nThen having completed that great discourse in the upper room He proceeds to pray that great prayer of John 17.
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\nHaving completed that prayer, He goes forth with His disciples over the brook Cedron, into a place where there is a garden. John does not mention Gethsemane, but we know it was Gethsemane into which He entered with His disciples. Now the brook Cedron, flows in the deep valley, on one side of Jerusalem, on one side is the Mount on which Zion is built, and on the other is the Mount of Olives. It was across this brook that King David went with his household and those men who were faithful to him, having been rejected by his own people. A vast army had been assembled, by his renegade son Absalom, who sought to seize the throne, an army which David had not the resources to meet, so while there was time he left the city of Jerusalem and fled across the brook Cedron, ascended the mount of Olives and made his escape into the open country beyond, before he could be trapped in the city, by the army of his foes,
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\nIt is significant that it was across this same brook that the Lord went and entered upon the ascent of the Mount of Olives, in the very footsteps of King David. He too was rejected by the people from being King; He too like King David lived again and returned to His throne. Came back from death and the grave and His kingdom was established but not the earthly, but upon the invisible heavenly throne of His kingdom, where now He continues to reign, and shall reign at the right hand of God until all His foes are made His footstool.
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\nIt is obvious that in the prophetic nature of events in which our Lord Jesus Christ continually moved, that the flight of David from Absalom when he was rejected from being King was designed as a type of what should take place with Christ Himself, as He followed in the very footsteps of David. With this end in view so that when He entered into Gethsemane He cast Himself down in that mysterious and dreadful agony. \u201cIf it be possible let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not what I will, but thine be done\u201d. That all this was appointed and He knew that it was appointed, He was fulfilling the part, determined and decreed for Him to do. Nevertheless, that did not abate the smallest portion or weight, of that agony and distress, which was necessary for His soul to bear and to experience.
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\nNow crossing the brook Cedron in the footsteps of David, He enters immediately into the garden of Gethsemane which probably laid some small way off the accent of the Mount of Olives. There was a garden which was called Gethsemane, of which its name means the oil press. There was an oil press in the garden because the olive trees were there. When the olive berries were harvested they were crushed through the oil press so as to extract the golden oil therefrom.
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\nYou would immediately consider and you would be right in doing so, that it had to be Gethsemane and nowhere else, as it had to be the brook Cedron. So it had to be Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives, for it was there that those trees grew in abundance and still do we are told. Those olive trees are a symbol of the church; Romans eleven makes that clear. Paul uses the olive tree as a parable of the covenanted mercy of God, towards Israel. First of all, the earthly Israel, and then when, they were rejected, the heavenly spiritual Israel of Jew and Gentile. We are grafted into the olive tree, which is the covenant of God\u2019s mercy. Originally promised to Abraham and his seed, we are grafted in so we become the seed of Abraham, the inheritors of the promises, this is what Paul tells us in Romans eleven.
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\nNow the precious oil of the Spirit is the oil of the olive, it is the Holy Spirit who is intended in this representation of the oil, the sap which arises, and the oil which is produced in the fruition of those branches through the blessing of God. So we who are grafted in are filled with the Spirit. But this precious oil of the Spirit may only come through the oil press, hence the pressure of soul which Christ endured in the Garden of Gethsemane. That through His sufferings, through the crushing of His life, His soul, there might flow out the abundance of the oil, from the heavenly Gethsemane. This is a picture which is given to us, and was the token of all His sufferings unto death. What is blood and sweat to Christ becomes thereby the spirit or life from the dead to us, The Holy Spirit comes only because our Lord Jesus Christ is glorified. He is given through the sufferings of Christ and because of those sufferings, the Holy Spirit in His fullness made available to you and to me. The blood and sweat of Gethsemane, becomes to us the oil of the spirit the oil of gladness and of the divine fullness to us.
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\nLikewise this garden in which the betrayal and arrest took place as well as the agony, has been rightly compared right down the ages by godly men of that original garden where sin entered in to the human race. Here the Garden of Eden where man rejected God and again this garden of Gethsemane, where Christ was repudiated by man, Betrayed, taken, bound, led away to be crucified, Here God identified Himself in Christ with man\u2019s death, and assumed man\u2019s cursed state and condition, became despised and rejected, and entered into the long history of man\u2019s suffering, because of sin from the Garden of Eden onwards to the end of time.
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\nAll that burden and curse which man has borne, because of his sinfulness and his repudiation of God, Christ entered into the deepest innermost meaning of it, being perfectly identified with man, and with man\u2019s sin. \u201cThough he knew no sin, God made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.\u201d Somewhere in that region of suffering, in the transference of guilt to His Holy Soul, there lies the meaning of the great agony which he endured. One of the earlier accounts we read that in the midst of His agony, \u201can Angel appeared unto him from Heaven strengthening him\u201d. This ministry of Angels sent from the Father confirm upon Christ a renewal of His human or physical strength that He might not die there in the garden, as He otherwise could have done. That He might not die prematurely, but that He should have enough resource of strength, human strength, to continue just for another twelve hours, until the time of His crucifixion, and death the following day and so He endured till the end, to expiate our sins, yours and mine.
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\nNow we proceed to verse two. \u201cAnd Judas also which betrayed him, knew the place; for Jesus oftentimes resorted thither with His disciples\u201d. This garden of Gethsemane to it our Lord Jesus Christ went throughout the days of this holy week, which concluded with His crucifixion. We read in Luke\u2019s account in chapter 21 v. 37 that He was in Jerusalem, \u201cIn the daytime and at night He went out and abode in the mount that is called the Mount of Olives\u201d. Now this is not meant to be that he slept rough in the open air, it means that in the garden of Gethsemane, there was not only the wine press, but there was the house, the farm house which was probably covering the whole of the mount of olives.
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\nThere were farmhouses in which men dwelt with their families and looked after the olive trees. These were enclosed in their particular field, or portion on the Mount of Olives, and undoubtedly, in one of these houses the one that was known as the house belonging to the garden of Gethsemane, He would dwell, and is just as certain as certain can be, that the young man, the unknown unnamed young man mentioned in the Gospel of Mark at the time of Christ\u2019s arrest, ran out of the house wrapped around with a sheet. Having no other clothes on and just risen from bed wrapping a sheet around his naked body, and ran out into the garden, to do what he could undoubtedly to rescue the Saviour, and the soldier\u2019s sought to lay hands upon him, and got hold of the sheet, he slipped out of the sheet and ran away naked in the dark, and so made good his escape. It is just as certain as certain can be that this young man was the son of the house, where the Lord was abiding during the nights of that week which lead up to the Passover and the betrayal and the crucifixion.
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\nSo that Judas was well aware where the Saviour was to be found, the authorities were afraid to arrest Him while He was in the daylight in Jerusalem, because the crowds of people, who thronged about Him, were so great that they feared a tumult would be created. \u201cSo they said not in the daytime lest there be a tumult, but at night time.\u201d Judas said unto them I know where He will be at night-time, I can take you to the very place, and it was long enough to know He was in the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is a very a big mountain, it was extensive and there were many houses, many hiding places, many trees, one would need to know in the dark, no street lighting of any kind, would need to know where to go, and where to find the person whom they would arrest, Jesus knew all this and the Saviour placed Himself in that position that He might be betrayed, because so it was appointed.
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\nIt was designed to be that Christ was there to afford Judas his opportunity, and to surrender Himself to suffering and death, showing that He Himself was the master of His own fate. He was not the victim of circumstances; He knew He was to be betrayed. \u201cHe had given the sop to Judas, and said what thou doest, do quickly, immediately Judas went out and it was night,\u201d night in His soul as well, it was night in every other sense. \u201cNo man, taketh my life from me says Christ,\u201d \u201cno man is able to lay his hands upon me, hither to because his hour was not yet come,\u201d but now His hour was come. \u201cThis is your hour he said, and the power of darkness.\u201d The moment had come appointed from all eternity that He should be arrested and brought to judgement. Within twelve hours of this very moment He would be upon the tree
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\nSo He was decidedly in Gethsemane for the purpose of the agony that last night, and for the subsequent betrayal and arrest. It had to be this way, so would He surrender Himself, and place Himself within the power of His enemies who had no power over Him, otherwise than what is permitted and ordained.
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\nNow verse three proceeds to tell us \u201cJudas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons\u201d. Now by the words which are used in connection with this force, or company of men who came to arrest Him we know that it was a Roman military detachment, which had been brought in for the purpose; a description of the officers and of the detachment itself and the weapons which the men bore, we know that Roman terms were being used by John and other writers, and that this was no mere round up of Jewish rowdies which had been assembled, but a regular force of military supplied by the Roman governor, in accordance with his own instructions from Caesar. At all costs to maintain order, to prevent riots, and to see that those who moved sedition are brought to book, before they can do harm to the Roman rule. So it was represented to the Roman authorities who are in Jerusalem that this man must be arrested, or there would be trouble for Caesar.
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\nSo a Roman military detachment came along with Judas, who was their guide, for they needed a guide, and servants of the High priest and officers of the temple, were there to from the scribes and the Pharisees, in order to see that the thing was done, and that the right man was arrested. The words indicate there was a complete cohort of Roman soldiers, a display of force to meet all possibilities, for the Romans were a very careful people. They anticipated trouble, and sent a sufficient force of men to prevent any attempt which might be made at escape, or of raising a tumult on behalf of the prisoner. They sought to take, this is what verse three means. \u201cJudas then, having received a band of men and officers from the Chief priests\u201d (that is through the mediation of the Chief priests and Pharisees, with the Roman governor) \u201ccometh thither with the lanterns and torches and weapons\u201d. \u201cJesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, whom seek ye?\u201d Notice these important words, \u201cJesus knowing all things that should come upon him\u201d. He knew all things that should come upon Him, not only because He was God, and came from God, but because it was His spirit, which inspired the prophets and the writers of Holy Scriptures, and all these things, were written of Him beforehand.
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\nHe knew all things, and John the writer is very careful to tell us about this, because he would have us know, that although our Lord had laid aside his divine prerogatives and glory, that He might become true man for our redemption. Nevertheless there was through the spirit, the Holy Spirit given to Him, with out measure as man, in communication all the time of divine knowledge, of communion with the Father, His illuminated human mind was given all knowledge concerning our redemption and all that was necessary to be done. So as we read in the fortieth Psalm, verse seven, \u201cThen said I, Lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me. I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.\u201d So He was our perfect mediator, knowing all things that are necessary to know for our redemption, and all things He should do. The complete range, of the divine Holy will of the Father, which He should execute, and bring it to pass, nothing was hidden from Him and he knew all things. All things that should come upon Him, He went forth at the head of his little band of disciples, having already received the traitors.
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\nJudas no doubt detached himself from the multitude, he went on ahead, I\u2019ll show you the man, There is a company of men here, I\u2019ll show you the one to arrest, so he went up to Him and said, \u201cHail Master\u201d and kissed him, while the force of men stood there waiting, watching to perform their duty. Judas returns to them and the Saviour advances towards them, before they could come to Him, He went to them, \u201cJesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth (that is went forth to them, advanced towards them) and said into them, whom seek ye?\u201d They being Romans having received only one name that was given to them, they said Jesus of Nazareth, and this was the name by which He was known, Jesus of Nazareth?
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\nThis was the name that was given to him upon the cross, Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews. Pilate wouldn\u2019t alter it, because he couldn\u2019t, even if he desired, which he didn\u2019t desire. Pilate refused to alter it, they said to Him, put rather He said I am the King of the Jews, he said, No what I have written I have written Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. What he wrote was the truth, was something in Pilate\u2019s heart that involved him, and which he was writing?
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\nSo He came forward and said unto them, \u201cwhom seek ye?\u201d They answered Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am He; As soon then as he had said unto them, I am He, they went backward, and fell to the ground.
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\nNow this is the event which only John describes, and we must pay strict attention to it. It is not the first time the Lord uses these words, whom seek ye? They occur in the Gospel of John on at least two other important occasions. One, at the beginning, and the other at the end of the Gospel. In chapter one, the two young men John and Andrew, separate themselves from John the Baptist, and follow Jesus, when John the Baptist says, \u201cBehold the Lamb of God\u201d. Jesus turned, when he sees the young men following him, and says what seek ye? He said unto him Master where dwellest thou? Come and see,\u201d Again the twentieth chapter, the day of his Resurrection, He stands there besides Mary Magdalene in the garden, she\u2019s a weeping woman. \u201cWhy weepiest thou, whom seekest thou?\u201d
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\nSo likewise to these who had come to betray, and to arrest He said \u201cWhom seek ye? Whom seekest thou? Whom do ye seek? But what were blessed words to John and Andrew, and to Mary Magdalene, are also words of terrible severity and Judgement upon those who came to arrest him the garden. \u201cWhom seek ye?\u201d Jesus of Nazareth\u201d. \u201cI am He\u201d You will notice in your bibles the He is in italics. What He really said is, \u201cI AM,\u201d the name of Jehovah; I AM. When he said this, they fell to the ground; they went backward and fell to the ground. This action shows two things. First, that they could have no power over Christ, except that which God permitted them to have. They had brought the whole Roman army there, and not just a section of it, a portion of a Legion, a Cohort, as if the whole mighty Roman army had been assembled from all over the world. They could not have laid a finger upon Him unless as God pleased. That when He spoke to them, I AM. His Deity flashed out like a discharge of lightening, upon their face; and they fell backwards in dismay, and rolled upon the ground. The second thing that this action showed was that their business was with Him alone, because this was part of the process, of securing the immunity of the other Apostles from arrest. There were eleven of them, with Him, they must be allowed to go their way.
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\nThis exhibition of His power prevented any attempt which they might have considered of arresting the others, who were with Him as well. Their business was with Him alone; His business was with them with what was to follow. So it is that we read in verse eight, \u201cJesus answered, I have told you, that I am He; If therefore you seek me, let these go their way that the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.\u201d
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\nNow in these words, the proof of the atonement, and the nature of the atonement for our redemption, is made clear and plain. They went backwards, now this is an Old Testament expression; they went backwards and fell to the ground. You will notice it was mentioned in our Psalm 40, verse 14. Remember, this is the Saviour speaking in prophecy, \u201cLet them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backwards and put to shame that wish me evil\u201d. \u201cThey went backward and fell to the ground\u201d, again Isaiah 42 and verse 17, \u201cThey shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.\u201d This expression, they shall be turned back, they shall be made to go back is a decree of God, and is an exhibition of divine sovereignty and power, hence when they went backward, and fell to the ground in the garden of Gethsemane, this was a token that Christ\u2019s word, I AM or I AM HE, was loaded with divinity, with divine prerogative and omnipotence to repel them and to convince them that they could do nothing against this man, as it was permitted them by God. Jeremiah chapter 46, v 5, \u201cWherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? And their mighty ones are beaten down and are fled apace, and look not back; for fear was round about, saith the LORD.\u201d This was a description of the overthrow of Pharaoh\u2019s army. In prophesy, Psalm 35, v 4 \u201cLet them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul; Let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.\u201d This is Christ speaking again. \u201cPsalm 129, v 5 \u201cLet them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.\u201d These and other scriptures can be quoted to show that John knew exactly what he was writing, when he described this thing, \u201cThey went back and fell to the ground.\u201d
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\nNow this is part of the truth of the nature of the atonement being declared, because the atonement for our sins to be valid and relevant and acceptable, with God, it had to be not a thing of man\u2019s but of God\u2019s decree and of God\u2019s provision when it was necessary that Christ should die by the decree of God. Hence Peter says on the day of Pentecost, \u201cHim, being delivered by the determinate council of God, and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.\u201d And if this wasn\u2019t proof to the Jews, it is proof to us, and proof to the Church, the people of the Heavenly Zion. That our Salvation is secure in the atonement of Christ, in as much as what befell Him at the crucifixion was the will of God, and not the will of man. It wasn\u2019t the Devil who made the sacrifice; the Devil only heaped the wood together and applied the kindling to it as it were. But it was God who placed the sacrifice upon the altar, and the savour of it, ascended into Heaven for our redemption
\n","processed":1,"summary":"John Ch. 17 v 1, \u201cThese words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to Heaven, and said, Father the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.\u201d These profound words indicate the dividing of time and the dividing even eternity itself. The hour is come; what hour? The hour of His","published":1,"contents":null,"content_processed":0,"created_at":null,"updated_at":null,"author":{"id":70,"status":1,"author":"Charles Alexander","slug":"Charles-Alexander","date":"","image":"","description":"","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=category&cid=764","selected":0,"selected_reason":null,"article_amount":42,"quote_count":0,"book_count":0,"wiki_summary":null,"wiki_url":null,"wiki_name":null,"goodreads_link":null,"names":null}},{"id":12758,"author_name":"Daily Light","author_id":86,"title":"NOVEMBER 12 - morning","slug":"november-12-morning","scriptures":"II_COR. 7:10;Matt. 26:75;I_John 1:9;I_John 1:7;Psa. 40:12;Psa 40:13;Hos. 12:6;Psa. 51:17;Psa. 147:3;Mic. 6:8","type":"","topic":"","content":"
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\nGodly sorrow worketh repentance not to be repented of.
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\nPeter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly. \u0097 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. \u0097 The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
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\nMine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head: therefore my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: O Lord, make haste to help me.
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\nTurn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God con-tinually.
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\nThe sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. \u0097 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. \u0097 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
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\nII COR. 7:10. Matt. 26:75. ‑I John 1:9. ‑I John 1:7. Psa. 40:12,13. Hos. 12:6. Psa. 51:17. ‑Psa. 147:3. ‑Mic. 6:8.
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\n","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=article&aid=12615","source":"collect","new_content":"Godly sorrow worketh repentance not to be repented of.
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\nPeter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly. \u2014 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. \u2014 The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
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\nMine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head: therefore my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: O Lord, make haste to help me.
\n
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\nTurn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God con-tinually.
\n
\n
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\nThe sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. \u2014 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. \u2014 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
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\nII COR. 7:10. Matt. 26:75. ‑I John 1:9. ‑I John 1:7. Psa. 40:12,13. Hos. 12:6. Psa. 51:17. ‑Psa. 147:3. ‑Mic. 6:8.
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\n","processed":1,"summary":"Godly sorrow worketh repentance not to be repented of. Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly. \u2014 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all un","published":1,"contents":null,"content_processed":0,"created_at":null,"updated_at":null,"author":{"id":86,"status":1,"author":"Daily Light","slug":"Daily-Light","date":"","image":"","description":"","url":"https:\/\/www.sermonindex.net\/modules\/articles\/index.php?view=category&cid=610","selected":0,"selected_reason":null,"article_amount":731,"quote_count":0,"book_count":0,"wiki_summary":null,"wiki_url":null,"wiki_name":null,"goodreads_link":null,"names":null}}],"meta":{"pagination":{"count":10,"per_page":10,"current_page":"2","total_pages":3,"total":null,"links":{"previous":1,"next":3}}}}