The Great Commission Part 21

Marvelous question! It stands alone in the annals of eternity. No such question had ever been asked before; no such question has ever been asked since; and no such question can ever be asked again. Whether we consider the One who asked the question, or the One of whom it was asked, or the answer, we must admit that it is perfectly unique. That G.o.d should forsake such an One is the most profound and marvelous mystery that could possibly engage the attention of men or angels.

Human reason cannot fathom its depths. No created intelligence can comprehend its mighty compa.s.s.

Yet there it stands, a stupendous fact before the eye of faith. Our blessed Lord Himself a.s.sures us that it was absolutely necessary.

"Thus it is written, and thus it _behooved_ Christ to suffer." But why was it necessary? Why should the only perfect, sinless, spotless Man have to suffer? Why should He be forsaken of G.o.d? The glory of G.o.d, the eternal counsels of redeeming love, man's guilty, ruined, helpless condition--all these things rendered it indispensable that Christ should suffer. There was no other way in which the divine glory could be maintained; no other way in which the claims of the throne of G.o.d could be answered; no other way in which heaven's majesty could be vindicated; no other way in which the eternal purposes of love could be made good; no other way in which sin could be fully atoned for, and finally taken away out of G.o.d's creation; no other way in which sins could be forgiven; no other way in which Satan and all the powers of darkness could be thoroughly vanquished; no other way in which G.o.d could be just, and yet the Justifier of any poor unG.o.dly sinner; no other way in which death could be deprived of its sting, or the grave of its victory; no other way in which any or all of these grand results could be reached save by the sufferings and death of our adorable Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ.

But, blessed forever be His holy name, He went through it all. He went down under the heavy billows and waves of G.o.d's righteous wrath against sin. He took the sinner's place, stood in his stead, sustained the judgment, paid the penalty, died the death, answered every question, met every demand, vanquished every foe; and having done all, He ascended into the heavens and took His seat on the throne of G.o.d, where He is now crowned with glory and honor as the divine and all-glorious Accomplisher of the entire work of man's redemption.

Such, then, reader, is the _basis_ of "the great commission" whereof we speak. Need we wonder at the _terms_, when we contemplate the basis? Can there be anything too good, anything too great, anything too glorious, for the G.o.d of all grace to bestow upon us poor sinners of the Gentiles, seeing He has been so fully glorified in the death of Christ? That most precious death furnishes a divinely righteous ground on which our G.o.d can indulge the deep and everlasting love of His heart in the perfect remission of our sins. It has removed out of the way every barrier to the full flood-tide of redeeming love which can now flow through a perfectly righteous channel, to the very vilest sinner that repents and believes in Jesus. A Saviour-G.o.d can now publish a full and immediate remission of sins to every creature under heaven. There is positively no hindrance. G.o.d has been glorified as to the question of sin; and the time is coming when every trace of sin shall be forever obliterated from His fair creation, and those words of John the Baptist shall have their full accomplishment, "Behold the Lamb of G.o.d that taketh away the sin of the world." Meanwhile, the heralds of salvation are commanded to go forth to the ends of the earth and publish, without let or limitation, perfect remission of sins to every soul that believes. It is the joy of G.o.d's heart to pardon sins; and it is due to the One who bore the judgment of sin on the cross that in His name forgiveness of sins should be thus freely published, fully received, and abidingly enjoyed.

But what of those who reject this glorious message--who shut their ears against it and turn away their hearts from it? This is the solemn question. Who can answer it? Who can attempt to set forth the eternal destiny of those who die in their sins, as all must who refuse G.o.d's only basis of remission? Men may reason and argue as they will; but all the reasoning and argument in the world cannot set aside the word of G.o.d, which a.s.sures us in manifold places, and in terms so plain as to leave no possible ground for questioning, that all who die in their sins--all who die out of Christ--must inevitably perish eternally, must bear the consequences of their sins, in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.

To quote the pa.s.sages in proof of the solemn truth of eternal punishment would require a small volume. We cannot attempt it here; nor is it necessary, inasmuch as we have gone into the subject again and again in other places.

But we would here put a question which arises naturally out of our present thesis. It is this: Was Christ judged, bruised and forsaken on the cross--did G.o.d visit His only begotten and well beloved Son with the full weight of His righteous wrath against sin--and shall impenitent sinners escape? We solemnly press this question on all whom it may concern. Men talk of its being inconsistent with the idea of divine goodness, tenderness and compa.s.sion that G.o.d should send any of His creatures to h.e.l.l. We reply, Who is to be the judge? Is man competent to decide as to what is morally fitting for G.o.d to do? And further, we ask, What is to be the standard of judgment? Anything that human reason can grasp? a.s.suredly not. What then? _The cross on which the Son of G.o.d died, the Just for the unjust_--this, and this only, is the great standard by which to judge the question as to sin's desert.

Who can harken to that bitter cry emanating from the broken heart of the Son of G.o.d, "My G.o.d, my G.o.d, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" and question the eternal punishment of all who die in their sins? Talk of tenderness, goodness, and compa.s.sion! Where do these shine out most brightly and blessedly? Surely in "the great commission" which publishes full and free forgiveness of sins to every creature under heaven. But would it be just, or good, or compa.s.sionate, to suffer the rejecter of Christ to escape? If we would see the goodness, kindness, mercy and deep compa.s.sion of G.o.d, we must look at the cross.

"He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all." "It pleased Jehovah to bruise Him. He hath put Him to grief." "He hath made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of G.o.d in Him."

But if men reject all this, and go on in their sins, in their rebellion, in their infidel reasonings and impious speculations--what then? If men maintain that suffering for sin is not necessary, and that there is another and a better way of disposing of the matter--what then? Our Lord declared in the ears of His apostles that "it was necessary that Christ should suffer"--that there was no other way possible by which the great question could be settled. Whom are we to believe? Was the death of Christ gratuitous? Was His heart broken for nothing? Was the Cross a work of supererogation? Did Jehovah bruise His Son and put Him to grief for an end which might be gained some other way?

How monstrous are the reasonings, or rather the ravings, of infidelity! Infidel doctors begin by throwing overboard the word of G.o.d--that peerless and perfect revelation; and then, when they have deprived us of our divine guide, with singular audacity, they present themselves before us, and undertake to point out for us a more excellent way; and when we inquire what that way is, we are met by a thousand and one fine-spun theories, no two of which agree in anything save in shutting out G.o.d and His Word.

True, they talk plausibly about a G.o.d; but it is a G.o.d of their own imagination--one who will connive at sin--who will allow them to indulge in their l.u.s.ts, and pa.s.sions, and pleasures, and then take them to a heaven of which they really know nothing. They talk of mercy, and kindness, and goodness; but they reject the only channel through which these can flow, namely, the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. They speak not of righteousness, holiness, truth, and judgment to come. They would fain have us to believe that G.o.d put Himself to needless cost in delivering up His Son. They would ignore that marvelous transaction which stands alone in the entire history of the ways of G.o.d--the atoning death of His Son. In one word, the grand object of the devil, in all the skeptical, rationalistic and infidel theories that have ever been propounded in this world, is to shut out completely the word of G.o.d, the Christ of G.o.d, and G.o.d Himself.

We solemnly call upon all our readers, specially our young friends, to ponder this. It is our deep and thorough conviction that the harboring of a single infidel suggestion is the first step on that inclined plane which leads straight down to the dark and terrible abyss of atheism--down to the blackness of darkness forever.

We shall have occasion to recur to the foregoing line of thought when we come to consider the _authority_ on which "the great commission"

comes to us. We have been drawn into it by the sad fact that in every direction, and on every subject, we are a.s.sailed by the contemptible reasonings of infidelity; and we feel imperatively called upon to warn all with whom we come in contact against infidel books, infidel lectures, infidel theories in every shape and form. _May the inspired word of G.o.d be more and more precious to our hearts! May we walk in its light, feel its sacred power, bow to its divine authority, hide it in our hearts, feed upon its treasures, own its absolute supremacy, confess its all-sufficiency, and utterly reject all teaching which dares to touch the integrity of_ THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.

PART VI.

We have seen that the _basis_ of "the great commission" is the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This must never be lost sight of. "It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day." It is a risen Christ that sends forth His heralds to preach "repentance and remission of sins." The incarnation and the crucifixion are great cardinal truths of Christianity; but it is only in resurrection they are made available for us in any way.

Incarnation--precious and priceless mystery though it be--could not form the groundwork of remission of sins, for "without shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb. ix. 22). We are justified by the _blood_, and reconciled by the _death_ of Christ. But it is in resurrection that all this is made good unto us. Christ was delivered for our offenses, and raised again for our justification (Rom. iv. 25; v. 9, 10). "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" (1 Cor. xv. 3, 4).

Hence, therefore, it is of the very last possible importance, for all who would carry out our Lord's commission, to know in their own souls, and to set forth in their preaching, the grand truth of resurrection.

The most cursory glance at the preaching of the earliest heralds of the gospel will suffice to show the prominent place which they gave to this glorious fact.

Harken to Peter on the day of Pentecost, or rather to the Holy Ghost, just come down from the risen, ascended and glorified Saviour. "Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of G.o.d among you by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which G.o.d did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of G.o.d, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: _whom G.o.d hath raised up_, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it.... _This Jesus hath G.o.d raised up_, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of G.o.d exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear" (Acts ii.). So also in chapter iii.: "The G.o.d of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the G.o.d of our fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied Him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, _whom G.o.d hath raised from the dead_; whereof we are witnesses.... Unto you first _G.o.d, having raised up His Son Jesus_, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.... And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and _preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead_."

Their preaching was characterized by the prominent place which it a.s.signed to the glorious, powerful and telling fact of resurrection.

True, there was the full and clear statement of incarnation and crucifixion, with the great moral bearings of these facts. How could it be otherwise? The Son of G.o.d had to become a man to die, in order that by death He might glorify G.o.d as to the entire question of sin; destroy the power of Satan; rob death of its sting, and the grave of its victory; put away forever the sins of His people, and a.s.sociate them with Himself in the power of eternal life in the new creation, where all things are of G.o.d, and where a single trace of sin or sorrow can never enter. Eternal and universal homage and adoration to His peerless name!

But let all preachers remember the place which resurrection holds in apostolic preaching and teaching. "With great power gave the apostles witness." Of what? Incarnation or crucifixion merely? Nay; but "of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus." This was the stupendous fact that glorified G.o.d and His Son Jesus Christ. It was this that attested, in the view of all created intelligences, the divine complacency in the work of redemption. It was this that demonstrated, in the most marvelous way, the complete and eternal overthrow of the kingdom of Satan and all the powers of darkness. It was this that declared the full and everlasting deliverance of all who believe in Jesus--their deliverance, not only from all the consequences of their sins, but from this present evil world, and from every link that bound them to that old creation which lies under the power of evil.

No marvel, therefore, if the apostles, filled as they were with the Holy Ghost, persistently and powerfully presented the magnificent truth of resurrection. Hear them again before the council--a council composed of the great religious leaders and guides of the people. "The G.o.d of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, and hanged on a tree." They were at issue with G.o.d on the all-important question as to His Son. They had slain Him, but G.o.d raised Him from the dead. "Him hath G.o.d exalted with His right hand, a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins."

So also in Peter's address to the Gentiles, in the house of Cornelius, speaking of Jesus of Nazareth, he says, "whom they slew, and hanged on a tree, _Him G.o.d raised up the third day, and showed Him openly_: not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of G.o.d, to us who did eat and drink with Him after He rose from the dead."

The Holy Ghost is careful to set forth the weighty and, to us, profoundly interesting fact that "G.o.d raised up His Son Jesus." This fact has a double bearing. It proves that G.o.d is at issue with the world, seeing He has raised, exalted and glorified the very One whom they slew and hanged on a tree. But, blessed throughout all ages be His holy name, it proves that He has found eternal rest and satisfaction as to us, and all that was or could be against us, seeing He has raised up the very One who took our place and stood charged with all our sin and guilt.

But all this will come more fully out as we proceed with our proofs.

Let us now listen for a moment to Paul's address in the synagogue at Antioch. "Men, brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth G.o.d, to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew Him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning Him. And though they found no cause of death in Him, yet desired they Pilate that He should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree, and laid Him in a sepulchre.

_But G.o.d raised Him from the dead._ And He was seen many days of them which came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, G.o.d hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. And as concerning that _He raised Him up from the dead_, no more to return to corruption, He said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore He saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of G.o.d, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: but _He whom G.o.d raised again_ saw no corruption."

Then follows the powerful appeal which, though not bearing upon our present line of argument, we cannot omit in this place. "Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and _by Him_ all that believe _are justified from all things_, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. _Beware_ therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets: Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you" (Acts xiii. 26-41).

We shall close our series of proofs from the Acts of the Apostles by a brief quotation from Paul's address at Athens. "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of G.o.d, we ought not to think that the G.o.dhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

And the times of this ignorance G.o.d overlooked; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent; because He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given a.s.surance unto all, _in that He hath raised Him from the dead_" (Acts xvii.).

This is a very remarkable and deeply solemn pa.s.sage. The proof that G.o.d is going to judge the world in righteousness--a proof offered to all--is that He has raised His ordained Man from the dead. He does not here name the Man; but at verse 18 we are told that some of the Athenians deemed the apostle a setter forth of strange G.o.ds, "because he preached unto them _Jesus and the resurrection_."

From all this it is perfectly plain that the blessed apostle Paul gave a most prominent place in all his preachings to the glorious truth of resurrection. Whether he addresses a congregation of Jews in the synagogue at Antioch, or an a.s.sembly of Gentiles on Mars' Hill at Athens, he presents a risen Christ. In a word, he was characterized by the fact that he preached not merely the incarnation and the crucifixion, but the resurrection; and this, too, in all its mighty moral bearings--its bearing upon man in his individual state and destiny; its bearing upon the world as a whole, in its history in the past, its moral condition in the present, and its certain doom in the future; in its bearing upon the believer, proving his absolute, complete and eternal justification before G.o.d, and his thorough deliverance from this present evil world.

And we have to bear in mind that in apostolic preaching the resurrection was not presented as a mere doctrine, but as a living, telling, mighty moral fact--a fact, the magnitude of which is beyond all power of human utterance or thought. The apostles, in carrying out "the great commission" of their Lord, pressed the stupendous fact that G.o.d had raised Jesus from the dead--had raised the Man who was nailed to the cross and buried in the grave. In short, they preached a resurrection gospel. Their preaching was governed by these words, "It was necessary that Christ should suffer, and rise from the dead the third day."

We shall now turn for a moment to the Epistles, and see the wondrous way in which the Holy Ghost unfolds and applies the fact of resurrection. But ere doing so we would call the reader's attention to a pa.s.sage which is sadly misunderstood and misapplied. The apostle, in writing to the Corinthians, says, "We preach Christ crucified." These words are continually quoted for the purpose of casting a damper on those who earnestly desire to advance in the knowledge of divine things. But a moment's serious attention to the context would be sufficient to show the true meaning of the apostle. Did he confine himself to the fact of the crucifixion? The bare idea, in the face of the body of Scripture which we have quoted, is simply absurd. The fact is, the glorious truth of resurrection shines out in all his discourses.

What, then, does the apostle mean when he declares, "We preach Christ crucified?" Simply this, that the Christ whom he preached was the One whom the world crucified. He was a rejected, outcast Christ--one a.s.signed by the world to a malefactor's gibbet. What a fact for the poor Corinthians, so full of vanity and love for this world's wisdom!

A crucified Christ was the one whom Paul preached, "to the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but to those that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of G.o.d, and the wisdom of G.o.d. Because the foolishness of G.o.d is wiser than men, and the weakness of G.o.d is stronger than men."

Remarkable words! words divinely suited to people p.r.o.ne to boast themselves in the so-called wisdom and greatness of this world--the vain reasonings and imaginations of the poor human mind, which all perish in a moment. All the wisdom of G.o.d, all His power, all His greatness, all His glory, all that He is, in short, comes out in a crucified Christ. The Cross confounds the world, vanquishes Satan and all the powers of darkness, saves all who believe, and forms the solid foundation of the everlasting and universal glory of G.o.d.

We shall now turn for a moment to a very beautiful pa.s.sage in Rom.

iv., in which the inspired writer sets forth the subject of resurrection in a most edifying way for us. Speaking of Abraham, he says, "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: _he staggered not_ at the promise of G.o.d through unbelief,"--which is always sure to stagger,--"but was _strong in faith, giving glory to G.o.d_"--as faith always does; "and being _fully persuaded_ that what He had promised He was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness." And then, lest any should say that all this applied only to Abraham, who was such a devoted, holy, remarkable man, the inspiring Spirit adds, with singular grace and sweetness, "Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that"--what? Gave His Son?

Bruised His Son on the cross? Not merely this, but "_that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead_."

Here lies the grand point of the apostle's blessed and powerful argument. We must, if we would have settled peace, believe in G.o.d as the One who raised up Jesus from the dead, and who in so doing proved Himself friendly to us, and proved too His infinite satisfaction in the work of the Cross. Jesus, having been "delivered for our offenses," could not be where He now is if a single one of these offenses remained unatoned for. But, blessed forever be the G.o.d of all grace, He raised from among the dead the One who had been delivered for our offenses; and to all who believe in Him righteousness shall be reckoned. "It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day." See how this glorious theme, the _basis_ of the great commission, expands under our gaze as we pursue our study of it!

One more brief quotation shall close this paper. In Heb. xiii. we read, "_Now the G.o.d of peace, that brought again from the dead_ our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant."

This is uncommonly fine. The G.o.d of judgment met the Sin-bearer at the cross, and there, with Him, entered thoroughly into and definitively settled the question of sin. And then, in glorious proof that all was done--sin atoned for--guilt put away--Satan silenced--G.o.d glorified--all divinely accomplished--"the G.o.d of peace" entered the scene, and raised from the dead our Lord Jesus, that "great Shepherd of the sheep."

Beloved reader, how glorious is all this! How enfranchising to all who simply believe! Jesus is risen. His sufferings are over forever. G.o.d has exalted Him. Eternal Justice has wreathed His blessed brow with a diadem of glory; and, wondrous fact, that very diadem is the eternal demonstration that all who believe are justified from all things, and accepted in a risen and glorified Christ. Eternal and universal hallelujahs to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost!

PART VII.

We are now called to consider the deeply important subject of the _authority_ on which the great commission proceeds. This we have presented to us in that one commanding and most comprehensive sentence "_It is written_"--a sentence which ought to be engraved in characters deep and broad on the tablet of every Christian's heart.

Nothing can possibly be more interesting or edifying than to note the way in which our blessed Lord on all occasions and under all circ.u.mstances exalts the Holy Scriptures. He, though G.o.d over all, blessed forever, and as such the Author of all Scripture, yet, having taken His place as man on the earth, He plainly sets forth what is the bounden duty of every man, and that is to be absolutely, completely and abidingly governed by the authority of Scripture. See Him in conflict with Satan! How does He meet him? Simply as each one of us should meet him--by the written Word. It could be no example to us had our Lord vanquished him by the putting forth of divine power. Of course He could, there and then, have consigned him to the bottomless pit or the lake of fire, but that would have been no example for us, inasmuch as we could not so overcome. But on the other hand, when we find the blessed One referring to Holy Scripture, when we find Him appealing again and again to that divine authority, when we find Him putting the adversary to flight simply by the written Word, we learn in the most impressive manner the place, the value and the authority of the Holy Scriptures.

And is it not of the very last possible importance to have this great lesson impressed upon us at the present moment? Unquestionably it is.