Notes on the book of Exodus Part 5

And I will bring you in unto the land concerning the which I did swear to give it unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am the Lord.'" (Ver. 6-8.) All this speaks the purest, freest, richest grace. Jehovah presents Himself to the hearts of His people as the One who was to act _in_ them, _for_ them, and _with_ them, for the display of His own glory. Ruined and helpless as they were, He had come down to show forth His glory, to exhibit His grace, and to furnish a sample of His power, in their full deliverance. His glory and their salvation were inseparably connected.

They were afterwards reminded of all this, as we read in the book of Deuteronomy,--"The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn onto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt." (Chap. vii. 7, 8.)

Nothing is more calculated to a.s.sure and establish the doubting, trembling heart than the knowledge that G.o.d has taken us up _just as we are_, and in the full intelligence of what we are; and, moreover, that He can never make any fresh discovery to cause an alteration in the character and measure of His love. "Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." (John xiii.) _Whom_ He loves and _as_ He loves, He loves unto the end. This is an unspeakable comfort. G.o.d knew all about us--He knew the very worst of us, when He manifested His love to us in the gift of His Son. He knew what was needed, and He provided it; He knew what was due, and He paid it; He knew what was to be wrought, and He wrought it; His own requirements had to be met, and He met them. It is all His own work. Hence, we find Him saying to Israel, as in the above pa.s.sage, "I will bring you out,"

"I will bring you in," "I will take you to Me," "I will give you the land," "I am Jehovah." It was all what _He would do_, as founded upon what _He was_. Until this great truth is fully laid hold of, until it enters into the soul, in the power of the Holy Ghost, there cannot be settled peace. The heart can never be happy, or the conscience at rest, until one knows and believes that all divine requirements have been divinely answered.

The remainder of our section is taken up with a record of "the heads of their fathers' houses," and is very interesting, as showing us Jehovah coming in and numbering those that belonged to Himself, though they were still in the possession of the enemy. Israel was G.o.d's people, and He here counts up those on whom He had a sovereign claim.

Amazing grace! To find an object in those who were in the midst of all the degradation of Egyptian bondage! This was worthy of G.o.d. The One who had made the worlds, who was surrounded by hosts of unfallen angels, ever ready to "do His pleasure," should come down for the purpose of taking up a number of bond-slaves with whom He condescended to connect His name. He came down and stood amid the brick-kilns of Egypt, and there beheld a people groaning beneath the lash of the taskmasters, and He uttered those memorable accents, "Let _My_ people go;" and, having so said, He proceeded to count them up, as much as to say, These are Mine; let Me see how many I have, that not one may be left behind. "He taketh up the beggar from the dunghill, to set him amongst the princes of His people, and to make him inherit the throne of glory."(1 Sam. ii.)

CHAPTERS VII.-XI.

These five chapters form one distinct section, the contents of which may be distributed into the three following divisions, namely, the ten judgments from the hand of Jehovah, the resistance of "Jannes and Jambres," and the four objections of Pharaoh.

The whole land of Egypt was made to tremble beneath the successive strokes of the rod of G.o.d. All, from the monarch on His throne to the menial at the mill, were made to feel the terrible weight of that rod.

"He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen. They showed His signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness and made it dark; and they rebelled not against His word. He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings. He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies and lice in all their coasts. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He smote their vines also, and their fig-trees; and brake the trees of their coasts.

He spake, and their locusts came, and the caterpillars, and that without number, and did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He smote also all the first-born in their land, the chief of all their strength." (Ps. cv. 26-36.)

Here the inspired Psalmist has given a condensed view of those appalling inflictions which the hardness of Pharaoh's heart brought upon his land and upon his people. This haughty monarch had set himself to resist the sovereign will and course of the Most High G.o.d; and, as a just consequence, he was given over to judicial blindness and hardness of heart. "And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had spoken unto Moses. And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord G.o.d of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me, For I will at this time send all My plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like Me in all the earth. For now I will stretch out My hand that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee My power, and that My name maybe declared throughout all the earth.'" (Exod. ix. 12-16.)

In contemplating Pharaoh and his actings, the mind is carried forward to the stirring scenes of the book of Revelation, in which we find the last proud oppressor of the people of G.o.d bringing down upon his kingdom and upon himself the seven vials of the wrath of the Almighty.

It is G.o.d's purpose that Israel shall be pre-eminent in the earth; and, therefore, every one who presumes to stand in the way of that pre-eminence must be set aside. Divine grace must find its object; and every one who would act as a barrier in the way of that grace, must be taken out of the way,--whether it be Egypt, Babylon, or "the beast that was, is not, and yet is," it matters not. Divine power will clear the channel for divine grace to flow, and eternal woe be to all who stand in the way. They shall taste, throughout the everlasting course of ages, the bitter fruit of having exalted themselves against "the Lord G.o.d of the Hebrews." He has said to His people, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper," and His infallible faithfulness will a.s.suredly make good what His infinite grace hath promised.

Thus, in Pharaoh case, when he persisted in holding, with an iron grasp, the Israel of G.o.d, the vials of divine wrath were poured forth upon him; and the land of Egypt was covered, throughout its entire length and breadth, with darkness, disease, and desolation. So will it be by and by, when the last great oppressor shall emerge from the bottomless pit, armed with satanic power, to crush beneath his "foot of pride" the favored objects of Jehovah's choice. His throne shall be overturned, his kingdom devastated by the seven last plagues, and, finally, he himself plunged, not in the Red Sea, but "in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone." (Comp. Rev. xvii. 8; xx. 10.)

Not one jot or one t.i.ttle of what G.o.d has promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob shall fail. He will accomplish all. Notwithstanding all that has been said and done to the contrary, G.o.d remembers His promises, and He will fulfill them. They are all "yea and amen in Christ."

Dynasties have risen and acted on the stage of this world; thrones have been erected on the apparent ruins of Jerusalem's ancient glory; empires have flourished for a time, and then fallen to decay; ambitious potentates have contended for the possession of "the land of promise"--all these things have taken place; but Jehovah has said concerning Palestine, "The land shall not be sold forever: for the land is Mine." (Lev. xxv. 23.) No one, therefore, shall ever finally possess that land but Jehovah Himself, and He will inherit it through the seed of Abraham. One plain pa.s.sage of Scripture is quite sufficient to establish the mind in reference to this or any other subject. The land of Canaan is for the seed of Abraham, and the seed of Abraham for the land of Canaan; nor can any power of earth or h.e.l.l ever reverse this divine order. The eternal G.o.d has pledged His word, and the blood of the everlasting covenant has flowed to ratify that word. Who, then, shall make it void? "Heaven and earth shall pa.s.s away, but that word shall never pa.s.s away." Truly, "there is none like unto the G.o.d of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in His excellency on the sky. The eternal G.o.d is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou, O Israel, who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thy enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places." (Deut. x.x.xiii. 26-29.)

We shall now consider, in the second place, the opposition of "Jannes and Jambres," the magicians of Egypt. We should not have known the names of these ancient opposers of the truth of G.o.d, had they not been recorded by the Holy Ghost, in connection with "the perilous times" of which the apostle Paul warns his son Timothy. It is important that the Christian reader should clearly understand the real nature of the opposition given to Moses by those magicians, and in order that he may have the subject fully before him, I shall quote the entire pa.s.sage from St. Paul's epistle to Timothy. It is one of deep and awful solemnity.

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of G.o.d; having a form of G.o.dliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers l.u.s.ts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further; for their folly shall be manifest unto all, as theirs also was." (2 Tim. iii. 1-9.)

Now, it is peculiarly solemn to mark the nature of this resistance to the truth. The mode in which "Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses" was simply by imitating, as far as they were able, whatever he did. We do not find that they attributed his actings to a false or evil energy, but rather that they sought to neutralize their power upon the conscience, by doing the same things. What Moses did they could do, so that after all there was no great difference. One was as good as the other. A miracle is a miracle. If Moses wrought miracles to get the people out of Egypt, they could work miracles to keep them in; so where was the difference?

From all this we learn the solemn truth that the most satanic resistance to G.o.d's testimony in the world is offered by those who, though they imitate the effects of the truth, have but "the form of G.o.dliness," and "deny the power thereof." Persons of this cla.s.s can do the same things, adopt the same habits and forms, use the same phraseology, profess the same opinions as others. If the true Christian, constrained by the love of Christ, feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, visits the sick, circulates the Scriptures, distributes tracts, supports the gospel, engages in prayer, sings praise, preaches the gospel, the formalist can do every one of these things; and this, be it observed, is the special character of the resistance offered to the truth "in the last days"--this is the spirit of "Jannes and Jambres." How needful to understand this! How important to remember that, "_as_ Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, _so_ do"

those self-loving, world-seeking, pleasure-hunting professors "resist the truth." They would not be without "a form of G.o.dliness;" but, while adopting "the form," because it is customary, they hate "the power," because it involves self-denial. "The power" of G.o.dliness involves the recognition of G.o.d's claims, the implanting of His kingdom in the heart, and the consequent exhibition thereof in the whole life and character; but the formalist knows nothing of this.

"The power" of G.o.dliness could never comport with any one of those hideous features set forth in the foregoing quotation; but "the form,"

while it covers them over, leaves them wholly unsubdued; and this the formalist likes. He does not want his l.u.s.ts subdued, his pleasures interfered with, his pa.s.sions curbed, his affections governed, his heart purified. He wants just as much religion as will enable him "to make the best of both worlds." He knows nothing of giving up the world that is, because of having found "the world to come."

In marking the forms of Satan's opposition to the truth of G.o.d, we find that his method has ever been, first, to oppose it by violence; and then, if that did not succeed, to corrupt it by producing a counterfeit. Hence, he first sought to slay Moses (Chap. ii. 15.), and having failed to accomplish his purpose, he sought to imitate his works.

Thus, too, has it been in reference to the truth committed to the Church of G.o.d. Satan's early efforts showed themselves in connection with the wrath of the chief priests and elders, the judgment-seat, the prison, and the sword. But in the pa.s.sage just quoted from 2 Timothy, we find no reference to any such agency. Open violence has made way for the far more wily and dangerous instrumentality of a powerless form, an empty profession, a human counterfeit. The enemy, instead of appearing with the sword of persecution in his hand, walks about with the cloak of profession on his shoulders. He professes and imitates that which he once opposed and persecuted; and, by so doing, gains most appalling advantages for the time being. The fearful forms of moral evil which, from age to age, have stained the page of human history, instead of being found only where we might naturally look for them, amid the dens and caves of human darkness, are to be found carefully arranged beneath the drapery of a cold, powerless, uninfluential profession; and this is one of Satan's grand masterpieces.

That man, as a fallen, corrupt creature, should love himself, be covetous, boastful, proud, and the like, is natural; but that he should be all these beneath the fair covering of "a form of G.o.dliness," marks the special energy of Satan in his resistance to the truth in "the last days." That man should stand forth in the bold exhibition of those hideous vices, l.u.s.ts, and pa.s.sions which are the necessary results of departure from the source of infinite holiness and purity, is only what might be expected, for man will be what he is to the end of the chapter. But on the other hand, when we find the holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ connected with man's wickedness and deadly evil,--when we find holy principles connected with unholy practices,--when we find all the characteristics of Gentile corruption, referred to in the first chapter of Romans, a.s.sociated with "a form of G.o.dliness," then, truly, we may say, these are the terrible features of "the last days"--this is the resistance of "Jannes and Jambres."

However, there were only three things in which the magicians of Egypt were able to imitate the servants of the true and living G.o.d, namely, in turning their rods into serpents (Chap. vii. 12.), turning the water into blood (Chap. vii. 22.), and bringing up the frogs (Chap.

viii. 7.); but in the fourth, which involved the exhibition of life, in connection with the display of nature's humiliation, they were totally confounded, and obliged to own, "This is the finger of G.o.d."

(Chap. viii. 16-19.) Thus it is also with the latter-day resisters of the truth. All that they do is by the direct energy of Satan, and lies within the range of his power. Moreover, its specific object is to "resist the truth."

The three things which "Jannes and Jambres" were able to accomplish were characterized by satanic energy, death, and uncleanness; that is to say, the serpents, the blood, and the frogs. Thus it was they "withstood Moses;" and "so do these also resist the truth," and hinder its moral weight and action upon the conscience. There is nothing which so tends to deaden the power of the truth as the fact that persons who are not under its influences at all, do the self-same things as those who are. This is Satan's agency just now. He seeks to have all regarded as Christians. He would fain make us believe ourselves surrounded by "a Christian world;" but it is counterfeit Christianity, which, so far from being a testimony to the truth, is designed by the enemy of the truth, to withstand its purifying and elevating influence.

In short, the servant of Christ and the witness for the truth is surrounded, on all sides, by the spirit of "Jannes and Jambres;" and it is well for him to remember this--to know thoroughly the evil with which he has to grapple--to bear in mind that it is Satan's imitation of G.o.d's reality, produced, not by the wand of an openly-wicked magician, but by the actings of false professors, who have "a form of G.o.dliness, but deny the power thereof," who do things apparently right and good, but who have neither the life of Christ in their souls, the love of G.o.d in their hearts, nor the power of the Word in their consciences.

"But," adds the inspired apostle, "they shall proceed no further, for their folly shall be manifested unto all, as theirs also was." Truly the "folly" of "Jannes and Jambres" was manifest unto all, when they not only failed to imitate the further actings of Moses and Aaron, but actually became involved in the judgments of G.o.d. This is a solemn point. The folly of all who are merely possessed of the form will, in like manner, be made manifest. They will not only be quite unable to imitate the full and proper effects of divine life and power, but they themselves become the subjects of those judgments which will result from the rejection of that truth which they have resisted.

Will any one say that all this has no voice for a day of powerless profession? a.s.suredly it has. It should speak to each conscience in living power; it should tell on each heart, in accents of impressive solemnity. It should lead each one to inquire seriously whether he is testifying for the truth, by walking in the power of G.o.dliness, or hindering it, and neutralizing its action, by having only the form.

The effect of the power of G.o.dliness will be seen by our "continuing in the things which we have learned." None will continue, save those who are taught of G.o.d; those, by the power of the Spirit of G.o.d, have drunk in divine principle, at the pure fountain of inspiration.

Blessed be G.o.d, there are many such throughout the various sections of the professing Church. There are many, here and there, whose consciences have been bathed in the atoning blood of "the Lamb of G.o.d," whose hearts beat high with genuine attachment to His Person, and whose spirits are cheered by "that blessed hope" of seeing Him as He is, and of being eternally conformed to His image. It is encouraging to think of such. It is an unspeakable mercy to have fellowship with those who can give a reason of the hope that is in them, and for the position which they occupy. May the Lord add to their number daily. May the power of G.o.dliness spread far and wide in these last days, so that a bright and well-sustained testimony may be raised to the name of Him who is worthy.

The third point in our section yet remains to be considered, namely, Pharaoh's four subtle objections to the full deliverance and complete separation of G.o.d's people from the land of Egypt. The first of these we have in chapter viii. 25.--"And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, 'Go ye, _sacrifice to your G.o.d in the land_.'" It is needless to remark here, that whether the magicians withstood, or Pharaoh objected, it was, in reality, Satan that stood behind the scenes; and his manifest object, in this proposal of Pharaoh, was to hinder the testimony to the Lord's name--a testimony connected with the thorough separation of His people from Egypt. There could evidently be no such testimony had they remained in Egypt, even though they were to sacrifice to Him. They would have taken common ground with the uncirc.u.mcised Egyptians, and put Jehovah on a level with the G.o.ds of Egypt. In this case, an Egyptian could have said to an Israelite, I see no difference between us; you have your worship and we have ours; it is all alike.

As a matter of course, men think it quite right for every one to have a religion, let it be what it may. Provided we are sincere, and do not interfere with our neighbor's creed, it does not matter what shape our religion may happen to wear. Such are the thoughts of men in reference to what they call religion; but it is very obvious that the glory of the name of Jesus finds no place in all this. The demand for separation is that which the enemy will ever oppose, and which the heart of man cannot understand. The heart may crave religiousness, because conscience testifies that all is not right; but it craves the world as well. It would like to "sacrifice to G.o.d in the land;" and Satan's object is gained when people accept of a worldly religion, and refuse to "come out and be separate." (2 Cor. vi.) His unvarying purpose from the beginning has been to hinder the testimony to G.o.d's name on the earth. Such was the dark tendency of the proposal, "Go ye, sacrifice to your G.o.d in the land." What a complete damper to the testimony, had this proposal been acceded to! G.o.d's people in Egypt and G.o.d Himself linked with the idols of Egypt! Terrible blasphemy!

Reader, we should deeply ponder this. The effort to induce Israel to worship G.o.d in Egypt reveals a far deeper principle than we might, at first sight, imagine. The enemy would rejoice, at any time, by any means, or under any circ.u.mstances, to get even the semblance of divine sanction for the world's religion. He has no objections to such religion. He gains his end as effectually by what is termed "the religious world" as by any other agency; and hence, when he can succeed in getting a true Christian to accredit the religion of the day, he gains a grand point. As a matter of actual fact, one knows that nothing elicits such intense indignation as the divine principle of separation from this present evil world. You may hold the same opinions, preach the same doctrines, do the same work; but if you only attempt, in ever so feeble a manner, to act upon the divine commands, "From such turn away" (2 Tim. iii. 5.), and "Come out from among them" (2 Cor. vi. 17.), you may reckon a.s.suredly upon the most vigorous opposition. Now how is this to be accounted for? Mainly by the fact that Christians, in separation from this world's hollow religiousness, bear a testimony for Christ which they never can bear while connected with it.

There is a very wide difference between human religion and Christ. A poor, benighted Hindoo might talk to you of his religion, but he knows nothing of Christ. The apostle does not say, If there be any consolation in religion; though, doubtless, the votaries of each kind of religion find what they deem consolation therein. Paul, on the other hand, found his consolation in Christ, having fully proved the worthlessness of religion, and that, too, in its fairest and most imposing form. (Comp. Gal. i. 13, 14; Phil. iii. 4-11.)

True, the Spirit of G.o.d speaks to us of "pure religion and undefiled;"

but the unregenerate man cannot, by any means, partic.i.p.ate therein; for how could he possibly take part in aught that is "pure and undefiled"? This religion is from heaven, the source of all that is pure and lovely; it is exclusively before the eye of "G.o.d and the Father;" it is for the exercise of the functions of that new nature with which all are endowed who believe on the name of the Son of G.o.d.

(John i. 12, 13; James i. 18; 1 Peter i. 23; 1 John v. 1.) Finally, it ranges itself under the two comprehensive heads of active benevolence and personal holiness,--"To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." (James i.

27.)

Now, if you go through the entire catalogue of the genuine fruits of Christianity, you will find them all cla.s.sed under these two heads; and it is deeply interesting to observe that, whether we turn to the eighth of Exodus or to the first of James, we find separation from the world put forward as an indispensable quality in the true service of G.o.d. Nothing could be acceptable before G.o.d--nothing could receive from His hand the stamp of "pure and undefiled," which was polluted by contact with an "evil world." "'Come out from among them, and be ye separate,' saith the Lord, 'and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters,' saith the Lord Almighty." (2 Cor. vi. 17, 18.)

There was no meeting-place for Jehovah and His redeemed in Egypt; yea, with them, redemption and separation from Egypt were one and the same thing. G.o.d had said, "I am come down to deliver them," and nothing short of this could either satisfy or glorify Him. A salvation which would have left them still in Egypt could not possibly be G.o.d's salvation. Moreover, we must bear in mind that Jehovah's purpose in the salvation of Israel, as well as in the destruction of Pharaoh, was, that "His name might be declared throughout all the earth;" and what declaration could there be of that name or character were His people to attempt to worship Him in Egypt? Either none whatever or an utterly false one. Wherefore it was essentially necessary, in order to the full and faithful declaration of G.o.d's character, that His people should be wholly delivered and completely separated from Egypt; and it is as essentially necessary now, in order to a clear and unequivocal testimony for the Son of G.o.d, that all who are really His should be separated from this present world. Such is the will of G.o.d; and for this end Christ gave Himself. "Grace unto you and peace from G.o.d the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of G.o.d and our Father; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."

(Gal. i. 3-5.)

The Galatians were beginning to accredit a carnal and worldly religion--a religion of ordinances--a religion of "days, and months, and times, and years;" and the apostle commences his epistle by telling them that the Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for the purpose of delivering His people from that very thing. G.o.d's people must be separate, not, by any means, on the ground of their superior personal sanct.i.ty, but because they are His people, and in order that they may rightly and intelligently answer His gracious end in taking them into connection with Himself, and attaching His name to them. A people still amid the defilements and abominations of Egypt could not have been a witness for the Holy One; nor can any one now, while mixed up with the defilements of a corrupt worldly religion, possibly be a bright and steady witness for a crucified and risen Christ.

The answer given by Moses to Pharaoh's first objection was a truly memorable one. "And Moses said, 'It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our G.o.d; lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our G.o.d, as He shall command us.'" (Chap. viii. 26, 27.) Here is true separation from Egypt--"three days' journey." Nothing less than this could satisfy faith. The Israel of G.o.d must be separated from the land of death and darkness, in the power of resurrection. The waters of the Red Sea must roll between G.o.d's redeemed and Egypt ere they can properly sacrifice to Jehovah.

Had they remained in Egypt, they would have to sacrifice to the Lord the very objects of Egypt's abominable worship.[5] This would never do. There could be no tabernacle, no temple, no altar, in Egypt. It had no site, throughout its entire limits, for aught of that kind. In point of fact, as we shall see further on, Israel never presented so much as a single note of praise until the whole congregation stood, in the full power of an accomplished redemption, on Canaan's side of the Red Sea. Exactly so is it now. The believer must know where the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ have forever set him, ere he can be an intelligent worshiper, an acceptable servant, or an effectual witness.

[5] The word "abomination" has reference to that which the Egyptians worshiped.

It is not a question of being a child of G.o.d, and, as such, a saved person. Many of the children of G.o.d are very far from knowing the full results, as regards themselves, of the death and resurrection of Christ. They do not apprehend the precious truth, that the death of Christ has made an end of their sins forever, and that they are the happy partakers of His resurrection life, with which sin can have nothing whatever to do. Christ became a curse for us, not, as some would teach us, by being born under the curse of a broken law, but by hanging on a tree. (Compare, attentively, Deut. xxi. 23; Gal. iii.

13.) We were under the curse because we had not kept the law; but Christ, the perfect Man, having magnified the law and made it honorable, by the very fact of His obeying it perfectly, became a curse for us by hanging on the tree. Thus, in His life He magnified G.o.d's law, and in His death He bore our curse. There is therefore now no guilt, no curse, no wrath, no condemnation for the believer; and, albeit, he must be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ; but even there the question of _sin_ is not raised. The cross of Christ has settled that forever; so that it is written of those that believe, "_And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more_." (Heb. x.

17.) The Christian's whole course must indeed be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ; but the Judge Himself has put away all his sins, and is his righteousness, so that the judgment-seat cannot but be friendly to him. He surely will not condemn His own work. The righteousness that was required, G.o.d Himself has provided it. He surely will not find any flaw therein. The light of the judgment-seat will be bright enough to disperse every mist and cloud which might tend to obscure the matchless glories and eternal virtues which belong to the cross, and to show that the believer is "clean every whit."

(John xiii. 10; xv. 3; Eph. v. 27.)

It is because these foundation-truths are not laid hold of in the simplicity of faith that many of the children of G.o.d complain of their lack of settled peace--the constant variation in their spiritual condition--the continual ups and downs in their experience. Every doubt in the heart of a Christian is a dishonor done to the Word of G.o.d and the sacrifice of Christ. It is because he does not, even now, bask in the light which shines from the cross of Christ, that he is ever afflicted with a doubt or a fear. And yet those things which so many have to deplore--those fluctuations and waverings--are but trifling consequences, comparatively, inasmuch as they merely affect their experience. The effect produced upon their worship, their service, and their testimony, is far more serious, inasmuch as the Lord's honor is concerned. But, alas! this latter is but little thought of, generally speaking, simply because personal salvation is the grand object--the aim and end--with the majority of professing Christians. We are p.r.o.ne to look upon everything that affects ourselves as _essential_; whereas, all that merely affects the glory of Christ in and by us is counted _non-essential_.

However, it is well to see with distinctness, that the same truth which gives the soul settled peace, puts it also into the position of intelligent worship, acceptable service, and effectual testimony. In the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, the apostle sets forth the death and resurrection of Christ as the grand foundation of everything.--"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." (Ver.

1-4.) Here is the gospel in one brief and comprehensive statement. A dead and risen Christ is the ground-work of salvation. "He was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification."

(Rom. iv. 25.) To see Jesus, by the eye of faith, nailed to the cross, and seated on the throne, must give solid peace to the conscience and perfect liberty to the heart. We can look into the tomb, and see it empty; we can look up to the throne, and see it occupied, and go on our way rejoicing. The Lord Jesus settled everything on the cross on behalf of His people; and the proof of this settlement is that He is now at the right hand of G.o.d. A risen Christ is the eternal proof of an accomplished redemption; and if redemption is an accomplished fact, the believer's peace is a settled reality. We did not make peace, and never could make it; indeed, any effort on our part to make peace could only tend more fully to manifest us as _peace-breakers_. But Christ, having made peace by the blood of His cross, has taken His seat on high, triumphant over every enemy. By Him, G.o.d preaches peace.

The word of the gospel conveys this peace; and the soul that believes the gospel, has peace--settled peace before G.o.d, for Christ is his peace. (See Acts x. 36; Rom. v. 1; Eph. ii. 14; Col. i. 20.) In this way, G.o.d has not only satisfied His own claims, but, in doing so, He has found out a divinely righteous vent through which His boundless affections may flow down to the guiltiest of Adam's guilty progeny.