The Assembly of God Part 4

Oh, may the Spirit of G.o.d lead any anxious soul to find settled repose in Jesus. May He lead you to look away from all besides, straight to an all-sufficient atonement. May He give clearness of apprehension, and simplicity of faith to all; and may He especially endow all who stand up to teach and preach with the ability "rightly to divide the word of truth," so that they may not apply to the unregenerate sinner, or the anxious inquirer, such pa.s.sages of Scripture as refer only to the established believer. Very serious damage is done both to the truth of G.o.d, and to the souls of men, by an unskilful division and application of the Word. There must be spiritual life, before there can be spiritual action; and the _only_ way to get spiritual life is by _believing_ on the name of the Son of G.o.d[V.] (John i. 12, 13; iii. 14-16, 36; v. 24; xx.

31). If, therefore, the precepts of G.o.d's word be applied to persons who have not the spiritual life to act in them, confusion must be the result.

The precious privileges of the Christian are turned into a heavy yoke for the unconverted. A strange system of half-law half-gospel is propounded, whereby true Christianity is robbed of its characteristic glory, and the souls of men are plunged in mist and perplexity. There is urgent need for clearness in setting forth the true ground of a sinner's peace. When souls are convicted of sin, and have life, but not liberty, they want a full, clear, unclouded gospel. The claims of a divinely-awakened conscience can only be answered by the blood of the Cross. If anything, no matter what, be added to the finished work of Christ, the soul must be filled with doubt and darkness.

May G.o.d grant us to know more fully the true place and value of simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and of earnest prayer in the Holy Ghost.

C. H. M.

FOOTNOTE:

[V.] When the jailer at Philippi inquired of Paul and Silas, "What must I do to be saved?" they simply replied, "_Believe_ on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts xvi. 30, 31). It would, surely, be well if this method of dealing with an anxious inquirer were more faithfully adopted.

"GILGAL"

JOSHUA V.

"Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope"

(Rom. xv. 4). These few words furnish a t.i.tle, distinct and unquestionable, for the Christian to range through the wide and magnificent field of Old Testament Scripture, and gather therein instruction and comfort, according to the measure of his capacity and the character or depth of his spiritual need. And were any further warrant needed, we have it with equal clearness in the words of another inspired epistle: "Now all these things happened unto them (Israel) for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (I Cor. x. 11).

No doubt, in reading the Old Testament, as in reading the New, there is constant need of watchfulness--need of self-emptiness, of dependence upon the direct teaching of the Holy Spirit, by whom all Scripture has been indited. The imagination must be checked, lest it lead us into crude notions and fanciful interpretations, which tend to no profit, but rather to the weakening of the power of Scripture over the soul, and hindering our growth in the divine life.

Still, we must never lose sight of the divine charter made out for us in Rom. xv. 4--never forget for a single moment that "whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning." It is in the strength of these words that we invite the reader to accompany us back to the opening of the book of Joshua, that we may together contemplate the striking and instructive scenes presented there, and seek to gather up some of the precious "learning" there unfolded. If we mistake not, we shall learn some fine lessons on the banks of the Jordan, and find the air of Gilgal most healthful and bracing for the spiritual const.i.tution.

We have all been accustomed to look at Jordan as the figure of death--the death of the believer--his leaving this world and going to heaven. Doubtless the believer has often read and heard these lines:

"Could we but stand where Moses stood, And view the landscape o'er, Not Jordan's stream nor death's cold flood Could fright us from the sh.o.r.e."

But all this line of thought, feeling and experience is very far below the mark of true Christianity. A moment's reflection in the true light which Scripture pours upon our souls would be sufficient to show how utterly deficient is the popular religious thought as to Jordan. For instance, when a believer dies and goes to heaven, is he called to fight? Surely not. All is rest and peace up yonder--ineffable, eternal peace. Not a ripple on that ocean. No sound of alarm throughout that pure and holy region. No conflict there. No need of armor. We shall want no girdle, because our garments may flow loosely around us. We shall not need a breast-plate of righteousness, for divine righteousness has there its eternal abode. We shall have no need of sandals, for there will be no rough or th.o.r.n.y places in that fair and blissful region. No shield called for there, inasmuch as there will be no fiery darts flying. No helmet of salvation, for the divine and eternal results of G.o.d's salvation shall then be reached. No sword, inasmuch as there will be neither enemy nor evil occurrent throughout all that blissful, sunny region.

Hence, therefore, Jordan cannot mean the death of the believer and his going to heaven, for the simplest of all reasons, that it was when Israel crossed the Jordan that their fighting, properly speaking, began.

True they had fought with Amalek in the wilderness; but it was in Canaan that their real war commenced. The careful reader of the Scriptures will readily see this.

But does not Jordan represent death? Most surely it does. And must not the believer cross it? Yes; but he finds it dry, because the Prince of Life has gone down into its deepest depths, and opened up a pathway for His people, by the which they pa.s.s over into their heavenly inheritance.

Moses, from Pisgah's top, gazed upon the promised land. _Personally_, under the governmental dealings of G.o.d, he was prevented from going over Jordan. But looking at him _officially_, we know that the law could not possibly bring the people into Canaan; so Moses' course must end there, for he represents the law.

But Christ, the true Joshua, has crossed the Jordan, and not only crossed it, but turned it into a pathway by which the ransomed host can pa.s.s over dry-shod into the heavenly Canaan. The Christian is not called to stand shivering on the brink of the river of death, as one in doubt as to how it may go with him. That river is dried up for faith. Its power is gone. Our adorable Lord "has abolished death, and brought life and incorruptibility to light by the gospel." Faith can now, therefore, sing triumphantly, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be to G.o.d, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Cor. xv. 55-57).

Glorious, enfranchising fact! Let us praise Him for it. Let all our ransomed powers adore Him. Let our whole moral being be stirred up to chant the praises of Him who has taken the sting from death, and destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and conducted us into a sphere which is pervaded throughout with life, light, incorruptibility, and glory. May our entire practical career be to His glory!

We shall now proceed to examine more particularly the teaching of Scripture on this great subject, and may the Holy Spirit Himself be our immediate instructor!

"And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from s.h.i.ttim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they pa.s.sed over. And it came to pa.s.s after three days, that the officers went through the host; and they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your G.o.d, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. _Yet there shall be a s.p.a.ce between you and it_, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, _that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not pa.s.sed this way heretofore_" (Josh. iii. I-4).

There are three deeply important points in Israel's history which the reader would do well to ponder. There is, first, the blood-stained lintel, in the land of Egypt; secondly, the Red Sea; thirdly, the river Jordan.

Now in each of these we have a type of the death of Christ, in some one or other of its grand aspects--for, as we know, that precious death has many and various aspects, and nothing can be more profitable for the Christian, and nothing, surely, ought to be more attractive, than the study of the profound mystery of the death of Christ. There are depths and heights in that mystery which eternity alone will unfold; and it should be our delight now, under the powerful ministry of the Holy Ghost, through the perfect light of Holy Scripture, to search into these things for the strength, comfort and refreshment of the inward man.

Looking, then, at the death of Christ, as typified by the blood of the paschal lamb, we see in it that which screens us from the judgment of G.o.d. "I will pa.s.s through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the G.o.ds of Egypt I will execute judgment; I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pa.s.s over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt" (Ex. xii.).

Now, we need hardly say, it is of the deepest moment for the exercised, consciously guilty soul, to know that G.o.d has provided a shelter from wrath and judgment to come. No right-minded person would think for a moment of undervaluing this aspect of the death of Christ. "When I see the blood, I will pa.s.s over you." Israel's safety rested upon G.o.d's estimate of the blood. He does not say, "When _you_ see the blood." The Judge saw the blood, knew its value, and pa.s.sed over the house. Israel was screened by the blood of the lamb--by G.o.d's estimate of that blood, not by their own. Precious fact!

How p.r.o.ne we are to be occupied with our thoughts about the blood of Christ, instead of with G.o.d's thoughts! We feel we do not value that precious blood as we ought--who ever did, or ever could? and then we begin to question if we are safe, seeing we so sadly fail in our estimate of Christ's work and in our love to His person.

Now if our _safety_ depends in the smallest degree upon our estimate of Christ's work, or our love to His person, we are in more imminent danger than if it depended upon our keeping the law. True it is,--most true--who could think of denying it?--we ought to value Christ's work, and we ought to love Himself. But if all this be put upon the footing of a righteous claim, and if our safety rests upon our answering to that claim, then are we in greater danger and more justly condemned than if we stood on the ground of a broken law. For just in proportion as the claims of Christ are higher than the claims of Moses, and in proportion as Christianity is higher than the legal system, so are we worse off, in greater danger, farther from peace, if our safety depends upon our response to those higher claims.

Mark, it is not that we ought not to answer to such claims; we most certainly ought. But who among us does? and hence, so far as we are concerned, our ruin and guilt are only made more manifest, and our condemnation more righteous, if we stand upon the claims of Christ, because we have not answered to them. If we are to be saved by our estimate of Christ, by our response to His claims, by our appreciation of His love, we are worse off by far than if we were placed under the claims of the law of Moses.

But, blessed be G.o.d, it is not so. We are saved by grace,--free, sovereign, divine and eternal grace,--not by our sense of grace. We are sheltered by the blood, not by our estimate of the blood. Jehovah did not say, on that awful night, "When _you_ see the blood, and estimate it as you ought, I will pa.s.s over you." Nothing of the kind. This is not the way of our G.o.d. He wanted to shelter His people, and to let them know that they were sheltered,--perfectly, because divinely sheltered,--and therefore He places the matter wholly upon a divine basis; He takes it entirely out of their hands, by a.s.suring them that their safety rested simply and entirely upon the blood, and upon His estimate thereof. He gives them to understand that they had nothing whatever to do with providing the shelter. It was His to _provide_. It was theirs to _enjoy_.

Thus it stood between Jehovah and His Israel in that memorable night; and thus it stands between Him and the soul that simply trusts in Jesus now. We are not saved by _our_ love, or _our_ estimate, or _our_ anything. We are saved by the blood behind which faith has fled for refuge, and by G.o.d's estimate of it, which faith apprehends. And just as Israel, within that blood-stained lintel screened from judgment,--safe from the sword of the destroyer,--could feed upon the roasted lamb, so may the believer, perfectly sheltered from the wrath to come,--sweetly secure from all danger, screened from judgment,--feed upon Christ in all the preciousness of what He is.

But more of this by and by.

We are specially anxious that the reader should weigh the point on which we have been dwelling, if he be one who has not yet found peace, even as to the question of safety from judgment to come, which, as we shall see (if G.o.d permit) ere we close this paper, is but a part, though an ineffably precious part, of what the death of Christ has procured for us.

We have very little idea indeed of how much of the leaven of self-righteousness cleaves to us, even after our conversion, and how immensely it interferes with our peace, our enjoyment of grace, and our consequent progress in the divine life. It may be we fancy we have done with self-righteousness when we have given up all thought of being saved by our works; but alas, it is not so, for the evil takes new forms; and of all these, none is more subtle than the feeling that we do not value the blood as we ought, and the doubting our safety on that ground. All this is the fruit of self-righteousness. We have not done with _self_.

True, we are not, it may be, making a saviour of our _doings_, but we are of our _feelings_. We are seeking, unknown to ourselves perhaps, to find some sort of t.i.tle in our love to G.o.d or our appreciation of Christ.

Now all this must be given up. We must rest simply on the blood of Christ, and upon G.o.d's testimony to that blood. He sees the blood. He values it as it deserves. He is satisfied. This ought to satisfy us. He did not say to Israel, When I see how you behave yourselves; when I see the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, the girded loins, the shod feet, I will pa.s.s over you.

No doubt all these things had their proper place; but that proper place was not as the ground of safety, but as the secret of communion. They were called to behave themselves--called to keep the feast; but it was as _being_, not _in order to be_, a sheltered people. This made all the difference. It was because they were divinely screened from judgment that they could keep the feast. They had the authority of the word of G.o.d to a.s.sure them that there was no judgment for them; and if they believed that word, they could celebrate the feast in peace and safety.

"Through faith he kept the pa.s.sover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest He that destroyed the firstborn should touch them" (Heb. xi. 28).

Here lies the deep and precious secret of the whole matter. It was by faith he kept the pa.s.sover. G.o.d had said, "When I see the blood, I will pa.s.s over you," and He could not deny Himself. It would have been a denial of His very nature and character, and an ignoring of His own blessed remedy, had a single hair of an Israelite's head been touched on that deeply solemn night. It was not, we repeat, in anywise a question of Israel's state or Israel's deservings. It was simply and entirely a question of the value of the blood _in G.o.d's sight_, and of the truth and authority of His own word.

What stability is here!--what peace and rest! What a solid ground of confidence! The blood of Christ! the word of G.o.d! True, divinely true--let it never be forgotten or lost sight of--it is only by the grace of the Holy Spirit that the word of G.o.d can be received, or the blood of Christ relied upon. Still, it is the word of G.o.d and the blood of Christ, and nothing else, which give peace to the heart as regards all question of coming judgment. There can be no judgment for the believer. And why? Because the blood is on the mercy-seat, as the perfect proof that judgment has been already executed.

"He bore on the tree the sentence for me, And now both the Surety and sinner are free."

Yet, all praise to His name, thus it stands as to every soul that simply takes G.o.d at His word, and rests in the precious blood of Christ. It is as impossible that such an one can come into judgment, as that Christ Himself can. All who are sheltered by the blood are as safe as the word of G.o.d is sure--as safe as Christ Himself. It seems perfectly wonderful for any poor sinful mortal to be able to pen such words; but the blessed fact is, it is either this or nothing. If there is any question as to the believer's safety, then the blood of Christ is not on the mercy-seat, or it is of no account in the judgment of G.o.d. If it be a question of the believer's state, of his worthiness, of his feelings, of his experience, of his walk, of his love, of his devotedness, of his appreciation of Christ, then would there be no force, no value, no truth in that glorious sentence, "When I see the blood, I will pa.s.s over;" for in that case the form of speech should be entirely changed, and a dark and chilling shade be cast over its heavenly l.u.s.tre. It should then be, "When I see the blood, and----"

But no, beloved, anxious reader, it is not, and it never can be, thus.

Nothing must ever be added--not the weight of a feather, to that precious blood which has perfectly satisfied G.o.d as a Judge, and which perfectly shelters every soul that has fled for safety behind it. If the righteous Judge has declared Himself satisfied, surely the guilty culprit may well be satisfied also. G.o.d is satisfied with the blood of Jesus; and when the soul is satisfied likewise, all is settled, and there is peace as regards the question of judgment. "There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." How can there be, seeing He has borne the condemnation in their stead? To doubt the believer's exemption from judgment is to make G.o.d a liar, and to make the blood of Christ of none effect.

The reader will note that thus far we have been occupied only with the question of deliverance from judgment--a most weighty question surely.

But, as we shall see in the course of this series of papers, there is far more secured for us by the death of Christ than freedom from judgment and wrath, blessed as that is. That peerless sacrifice does a great deal more for us than keep G.o.d out as a Judge.

But for the present we pause, and shall close this paper with a solemn and earnest question to the reader, _Art thou sheltered by the blood of Jesus_? Do not rest, beloved, until you can answer with a clear and unhesitating "Yes." Remember, you are either sheltered by the blood, or exposed to the horrors of eternal judgment.

PART II.

In our last paper we had before us Israel under the shelter of the blood. A grand reality, most surely: who could duly estimate it? What human language could suitably unfold the deep blessedness of being screened from the judgment of G.o.d by the blood of the Lamb--of being within that hallowed circle where wrath and judgment can never come? Who can speak aright of the privilege of feeding in perfect safety on the Lamb whose precious blood has forever averted from us the wrath of a sin-hating G.o.d?

But blessed as all this is, there is much more than this. There is far more comprehended in the salvation of G.o.d than deliverance from judgment and wrath. We may have the fullest a.s.surance that our sins are forgiven, that G.o.d will never enter into judgment with us on account of our sins, and yet be very far indeed from the enjoyment of the true Christian position. We may be filled with all manner of fears about ourselves--fears occasioned by the consciousness of indwelling sin, the power of Satan, the influence of the world. All these things may crop up before us, and fill us with the gravest apprehensions.