Does this prove that the two and a half tribes were right? Nay; but it proves that G.o.d was good, and that He must ever act like Himself, spite of all our weakness and folly. Could He leave a poor slayer without a place of refuge in the land of Gilead, though Gilead was not Canaan? Surely not. This would not be worthy of the One who says, "_I bring near_ My righteousness." He took care to bring the city of refuge "near" to the slayer. He would cause His rich and precious grace to flow over and meet the needy one just where he was. Such is the way of our G.o.d, blessed be His holy name for evermore!
"And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel: these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt, on this side Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt: and they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; from Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto Mount Sion, which is Hermon, and all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah."
Here closes this marvelous discourse. The Spirit of G.o.d delights to trace the boundaries of the people, and dwell on the most minute details connected with their history. He takes a lively and loving interest in all that concerns them--their conflicts, their victories, their possessions, all their landmarks; every thing about them is dwelt upon with a minuteness which, by its touching grace and condescension, fill the heart with wonder, love, and praise. Man, in his contemptible self-importance, thinks it beneath his dignity to enter upon minute details; but _our_ G.o.d counts the hairs of our heads, puts our tears into His bottle, takes knowledge of our every care, our every sorrow, our every need. There is nothing too small for His love, as there is nothing too great for His power. He concentrates His loving care upon each one of His people as though He had only that one to attend to; and there is not a single circ.u.mstance in our private history, from day to day, however trivial, in which He does not take a loving interest.
Let us ever remember this, for our comfort; and may we learn to trust Him better, and use, with a more artless faith, His fatherly love and care. He tells us to cast _all_ our care upon Him, in the a.s.surance that He careth for us. He would have our hearts as free from care as our conscience is free from guilt. "Be careful for _nothing_; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto G.o.d. And the peace of G.o.d, which pa.s.seth _all_ understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Phil. iv. 6, 7.)
It is to be feared that the great majority of us know but little of the real depth, meaning, and power of such words as these. We read them and hear them, but we do not take them in and make our own of them--we do not digest them and reduce them to practice. How little do we really enter into the blessed truth that our Father is interested in all our little cares and sorrows, and that we may go to Him with all our little wants and difficulties. We imagine that such things are beneath the notice of the high and mighty One who inhabiteth eternity and sitteth upon the circle of the earth. This is a serious mistake, and one that robs us of incalculable blessing in our daily history. We should ever remember that there is nothing great or small with our G.o.d: all things are alike to Him who sustains the vast universe by the word of His power, and takes notice of a falling sparrow. It is quite as easy to Him to create a world as to provide a breakfast for some poor widow. The greatness of His power, the moral grandeur of His government, and the minuteness of His tender care, do all alike command the wonder and the worship of our hearts.
Christian reader, see that you make your own of all these things. Seek to live nearer to G.o.d in your daily walk. Lean more upon Him. Use Him more. Go to Him in all your need, and you will never have to tell your need to a poor fellow-mortal. "My G.o.d shall supply _all_ your need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." What a source--"G.o.d"! What a standard--"His riches in glory"! What a channel--"Christ Jesus"! It is your sweet privilege to place all _your need_ over against _His riches_, and lose sight of the former in the presence of the latter. His exhaustless treasury is thrown open to you, in all the love of His heart; go and draw upon it, in the artless simplicity of faith, and you will never have occasion to look to a creature-stream or lean on a creature-prop.
CHAPTER V.
"And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep and do them.""
Let us carefully note these four words, so specially characteristic of the book of Deuteronomy, and so seasonable for the Lord"s people at all times and in all places: "_Hear_," "_Learn_," "_Keep_," "_Do_."
These are words of unspeakable preciousness to every truly pious soul--to every one who honestly desires to walk in that narrow path of practical righteousness so pleasing to G.o.d, and so safe and so happy for us.
The first of these words places the soul in the most blessed att.i.tude in which any one can be found, namely, that of _hearing_. "Faith cometh by _hearing_, and hearing by the Word of G.o.d." "I will _hear_ what G.o.d the Lord will speak." "_Hear_, and your soul shall live." The hearing ear lies at the very foundation of all true, practical Christian life. It places the soul in the only true and proper att.i.tude for the creature. It is the real secret of all peace and blessedness.
It can scarcely be needful to remind the reader that when we speak of the soul in the att.i.tude of hearing, it is a.s.sumed that what is heard is simply the Word of G.o.d. Israel had to hearken to "the statutes and judgments" of Jehovah, and to nothing else. It was not to the commandments, traditions, and doctrines of men they were to give ear, but to the very words of the living G.o.d, who had redeemed and delivered them from the land of Egypt--the place of bondage, darkness, and death.
It is well to bear this in mind. It will preserve the soul from many a snare, many a difficulty. We hear a good deal, in certain quarters, about obedience, and about the moral fitness of surrendering our own will and submitting ourselves to authority. All this sounds very well, and has great weight with a large cla.s.s of very religious and morally excellent people; but when men speak to us about obedience, we must ask the question, Obedience to what? when they speak to us about surrendering our own will, we must inquire of them, To whom are we to surrender it? when they speak to us about submitting to authority, we must insist upon their telling us the source or foundation of the authority.
This is of the deepest possible moment to every member of the household of faith. There are many very sincere and very earnest people who deem it very delightful to be saved the trouble of thinking for themselves, and to have their sphere of action and line of service laid out for them by wiser heads than their own. It seems a very restful and very pleasing thing to have each day"s work laid out for us by some master-hand. It relieves the heart of a great load of responsibility, and it looks like humility and self-distrust to submit ourselves to some authority.
But we are bound, before G.o.d, to look well to the basis of the authority to which we surrender ourselves, else we may find ourselves in an utterly false position. Take, for example, a monk, or a nun, or a member of a sisterhood. A monk obeys his abbot, a nun obeys her mother-abbess, "a sister" obeys her "lady-superior;" but the position and relationship of each is utterly false. There is not a shadow of authority in the New Testament for monasteries, convents, or sisterhoods; on the contrary, the teaching of holy Scripture, as well as the voice of nature, is utterly opposed to every one of them, inasmuch as they take men and women out of the place and out of the relationship in which G.o.d has set them, and in which they are designed and fitted to move, and form them into societies which are utterly destructive of natural affection, and subversive of all true Christian obedience.
We feel it right to call the attention of the Christian reader to this subject just now, seeing that the enemy is making a vigorous effort to revive the monastic system in our midst under various forms. Indeed some have had the temerity to tell us that monastic life is the only true form of Christianity. Surely, when such monstrous statements are made and listened to, it becomes us to look at the whole subject in the light of Scripture, and to call upon the advocates and adherents of monasticism to show us the foundations of the system in the Word of G.o.d. Where, within the covers of the New Testament, is there any thing, in the most remote degree, like a monastery, a convent, or a sisterhood? Where can we find an authority for any such office as that of an abbot, an abbess, or a lady-superior? There is absolutely no such thing, nor the shadow of it; and hence we have no hesitation in p.r.o.nouncing the whole system, from foundation to top-stone, a fabric of superst.i.tion, alike opposed to the voice of nature and the voice of G.o.d: nor can we understand how any one, in his sober senses, could presume to tell us that a monk or a nun is the only true exponent of Christian life. Yet there are those who thus speak, and there are those who listen to them, and that, too, in this day when the full, clear light of our glorious Christianity is shining upon us from the pages of the New Testament.[13]
[13] We must accurately distinguish between "_nature_" and "_flesh_."
The former is recognized in Scripture; the latter is condemned and set aside. "Doth not even nature itself teach you?" says the apostle. (1 Cor. xi. 14.) Jesus beholding the young ruler in Mark x, "loved him"
although there was nothing but nature. To be without natural affection is one of the marks of the apostasy. Scripture teaches that we are dead to sin, not to nature, else what becomes of our natural relationships?
But, blessed be G.o.d, we are called to obedience. We are called to "hear"--called to bow down, in holy and reverent submission, to authority. And here we join issue with infidelity and its lofty pretensions. The path of the devout and lowly Christian is alike removed from superst.i.tion on the one hand and from infidelity on the other. Peter"s n.o.ble reply to the council, in Acts v, embodies, in its brief compa.s.s, a complete answer to both.--"We ought to obey G.o.d rather than men." We meet infidelity, in all its phases, in all its stages, and in its very deepest roots, with this one weighty sentence, "We ought to _obey_;" and we meet superst.i.tion, in every garb in which it clothes itself, with the all-important clause, "We ought to _obey G.o.d_."
Here we have set forth, in the most simple form, the duty of every true Christian. He is to obey G.o.d. The infidel may smile contemptuously at a monk or a nun, and marvel how any rational being can so completely surrender his reason and his understanding to the authority of a fellow-mortal, or submit himself to rules and practices so absurd, so degrading, and so contrary to nature. The infidel glories in his fancied intellectual freedom, and imagines that his own reason is quite a sufficient guide for him. He does not see that he is further from G.o.d than the poor monk or nun whom he so despises. He does not know that, while priding himself in his self-will, he is really led captive by Satan--the prince and G.o.d of this world. Man is formed to obey--formed to look up to some one above him. The Christian is sanctified unto the obedience of Jesus Christ, that is, to the very same character of obedience as that which was rendered by our adorable Lord and Saviour Himself.
This is of the deepest possible moment to every one who really desires to know what true Christian obedience is. To understand this is the real secret of deliverance from the self-will of the infidel and the false obedience of superst.i.tion. It can never be right to do our own will: it may be quite wrong to do the will of our fellow: it must always be right to do the will of G.o.d. This was what Jesus came to do, and what He always did.--"Lo, I come to do Thy will, O G.o.d."--"I delight to do Thy will, O My G.o.d; yea, Thy law is within My heart."
Now, we are called and set apart to this blessed character of obedience, as we learn from the inspired apostle Peter, in the opening of his first epistle, where he speaks of believers as "elect according to the foreknowledge of G.o.d the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ."
This is an immense privilege, and at the same time a most holy and solemn responsibility. We must never forget for a moment that G.o.d has elected us, and the Holy Spirit has set us apart, not only to the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, but also to His obedience.
Such is the obvious meaning and moral force of the words just quoted--words of unspeakable preciousness to every lover of holiness--words which effectually deliver us from self-will, from legality, and from superst.i.tion. Blessed deliverance!
But it may be that the pious reader feels disposed to call our attention to the exhortation in Hebrews xiii.--"Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account; that they may do it with joy and not with grief; for that is unprofitable for you."
A deeply important word, most surely, with which we should also connect a pa.s.sage in 1 Thessalonians--"And we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work"s sakes." (Chap. v. 12, 13.) And again, in 1 Corinthians xvi. 15, 16--"I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first-fruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry [or service] of the saints,) that ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us and laboreth." To all these we must add another very lovely pa.s.sage from the first epistle of Peter--"The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: feed the flock of G.o.d which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over G.o.d"s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." (Chap. v. 1-4.)
We may be asked, Do not the above pa.s.sages set forth the principle of obedience to certain men? and if so, why object to human authority?
The answer is very simple. Wherever Christ imparts a spiritual gift, whether it be the gift of teaching, the gift of rule, or the gift of pastorship, it is the bounden duty and privilege of Christians to recognize and appreciate such gifts. Not to do so would be to forsake our own mercies. But then we must bear in mind that in all such cases the gift must be a reality--a plain, palpable, _bona-fide_, divinely given thing. It is not a man a.s.suming a certain office or position, or being appointed by his fellow to any so-called ministry. All this is perfectly worthless, and worse than worthless; it is a daring intrusion upon a sacred domain which must, sooner or later, bring down the judgment of G.o.d.
All true ministry is of G.o.d, and based upon the possession of a positive gift from the Head of the Church; so that we may truly say, No gift, no ministry. In all the pa.s.sages quoted above, we see positive gift possessed, and actual work done. Moreover, we see a true heart for the lambs and sheep of the flock of Christ; we see divine grace and power. The word in Hebrews xiii. is, "Obey them that guide you [????e????]." Now, it is essential to a true guide that he should go before you in the way. It would be the height of folly for any one to a.s.sume the t.i.tle of guide if he were ignorant of the way, and neither able nor willing to go in it. Who would think of obeying such?
So also when the apostle exhorts the Thessalonians to "know" and "esteem" certain persons, on what does he found his exhortation? Is it upon the mere a.s.sumption of a t.i.tle, an office, or a position?
Nothing of the kind. He grounds his appeal upon the actual, well-known fact that these persons were "over them, _in the Lord_," and that they admonished them. And why were they to "esteem them very highly in love"? Was it for their office or their t.i.tle? No; but "for their work"s sake." And why were the Corinthians exhorted to submit themselves to the household of Stephanas? Was it because of an empty t.i.tle or a.s.sumed office? By no means; but because "they addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints." They were actually in the work. They had received gift and grace from Christ, and they had a heart for His people. They were not boasting of their office or insisting upon their t.i.tle, but giving themselves devotedly to the service of Christ, in the persons of His dear people.
Now this is the true principle of ministry. It is not human authority at all, but divine gift and spiritual power communicated by Christ to His servants, exercised by them, in responsibility to Him, and thankfully recognized by His saints. A man may set up to be a teacher or a pastor, or he may be appointed by his fellows to the office or t.i.tle of a pastor; but unless he possesses a positive gift from the Head of the Church, it is all the merest sham, a hollow a.s.sumption, an empty conceit; and his voice will be the voice of a stranger, which the true sheep of Christ do not know and ought not to recognize.[14]
[14] The reader will do well to ponder the fact that there is no such thing in the New Testament as human appointment to preach the gospel, teach in the a.s.sembly of G.o.d, or feed the flock of Christ. Elders and deacons were ordained by the apostles or their delegates, Timothy and t.i.tus; but evangelists, pastors, and teachers were never so ordained.
We must distinguish between gift and local charge. Elders and deacons might possess a special gift or not; it had nothing to do with their local charge. If the reader would understand the subject of ministry, let him study 1 Corinthians xii.-xiv. and Ephesians iv. 8-13. In the former we have, first, the _basis_ of all true ministry in the Church of G.o.d, namely, _divine appointment_--"G.o.d hath set the members,"
etc.; secondly, _the motive-spring_--"love;" thirdly, _the object_--"that the Church may receive edifying." In Ephesians iv. we have the _source_ of all ministry--a risen and ascended Lord; the _design_--"to perfect the saints for the work of the ministry;" the _duration_--"till we all come unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
In a word, ministry, in all its departments, is _entirely_ a divine inst.i.tution. It is not of man or by man, but of G.o.d. The Master must, in every case, fit, fill, and appoint the vessel. There is no authority in Scripture for the notion that every man has a right to minister in the Church of G.o.d. Liberty for men is radicalism and not Scripture. Liberty for the Holy Ghost to minister by whom He will is what we are taught in the New Testament. May we learn it.
But, on the other hand, where there is the divinely gifted teacher, the true, loving, wise, faithful, laborious pastor, watching for souls, weeping over them, waiting upon them, like a gentle, tender nurse, able to say to them, "Now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord"--where these things are found, there will not be much difficulty in recognizing and appreciating them. How do we know a good dentist?
Is it by seeing his name on a bra.s.s plate? No; but by his work. A man may call himself a dentist ten thousand times over, but if he be only an unskillful operator, who would think of employing him?
Thus it is in all human affairs, and thus it is in the matter of ministry. If a man has a gift, he is a minister; if he has not, all the appointment, authority, and ordination in the world could not make him a minister of Christ. It may make him a minister of religion; but a minister of religion and a minister of Christ--a minister in christendom and a minister in the Church of G.o.d, are two totally different things. All true ministry has its source in G.o.d; it rests on divine authority, and its object is to bring the soul into His presence, and link it on to Him. False ministry, on the contrary, has its source in man; it rests on human authority, and its object is to link the soul on to itself. This marks the immense difference between the two. The former leads to G.o.d; the latter leads away from Him: that feeds, nourishes, and strengthens the new life; this hinders its progress, in every way, and plunges it in doubt and darkness. In a word, we may say, true ministry is of G.o.d, through Him, and to Him: false ministry is of man, through him, and to him. The former we prize more than we can say; the latter we reject with all the energy of our moral being.
We trust sufficient has been said to satisfy the mind of the reader in reference to the matter of obedience to those whom the Lord may see fit to call to the work of the ministry. We are bound, in every case, to judge by the Word of G.o.d, and to be a.s.sured that it is a divine reality and not a human sham--a positive gift from the Head of the Church, and not an empty t.i.tle conferred by men. In all cases where there is real gift and grace, it is a sweet privilege to obey and submit ourselves, inasmuch as we discern Christ in the person and ministry of His beloved servants.
There is no difficulty, to a spiritual mind, in owning real grace and power. We can easily tell whether a man is seeking, in true love, to feed our souls with the bread of life, and lead us on in the ways of G.o.d, or whether he is seeking to exalt himself, and promote his own interests. Those who are living near the Lord can readily discern between true power and hollow a.s.sumption. Moreover, we never find Christ"s true ministers parading their authority, or vaunting themselves of their office; they do the work and leave it to speak for itself. In the case of the blessed apostle Paul, we find him referring again and again to the plain proofs of his ministry--the unquestionable evidence afforded in the conversion and blessing of souls. He could say to the poor misguided Corinthians, when, under the influence of some self-exalting pretender, they foolishly called in question his apostleship, "Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me ... examine yourselves."
This was close, pointed dealing with them. They themselves were the living proofs of his ministry. If his ministry was not of G.o.d, what and where were they? But it was of G.o.d, and this was his joy, his comfort, and his strength. He was "an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and G.o.d the Father, who raised Him from the dead." He gloried in the source of his ministry; and as to its character, he had but to appeal to a body of evidence quite sufficient to carry conviction to any right mind. In his case, it could be truly said, it was not the speech, but the power.
Thus it must be, in measure, in every case. We must look for the power: we must have reality. Mere t.i.tles are nothing. Men may undertake to confer t.i.tles and appoint to offices, but they have no more authority to do so than they have to appoint admirals in her majesty"s fleet or generals in her army. If we were to see a man a.s.suming the style and t.i.tle of an admiral or a general, without her majesty"s commission, we should p.r.o.nounce him an idiot or a lunatic.
This is but a feeble ill.u.s.tration to set forth the folly of men taking upon them the t.i.tle of ministers of Christ without one atom of spiritual gift or divine authority.
Shall we be told, We must not judge? We are bound to judge. "Beware of false prophets." How can we beware if we are not to judge? But how are we to judge? "By their fruits ye shall know them." Can the Lord"s people not tell the difference between a man who comes to them in the power of the Spirit, gifted by the Head of the Church, full of love to their souls, earnestly desiring their true blessing, seeking not theirs but them--a holy, gracious, humble, self-emptied servant of Christ; and a man who comes with a self-a.s.sumed or a humanly conferred t.i.tle, without a single trace of any thing divine or heavenly either in his ministry or in his life? Of course they can; no one in his senses would think of calling in question a fact so obvious.
But further, we may ask, What mean those words of the venerable apostle John--"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of G.o.d; because many false prophets are gone out into the world"? How are we to try the spirits, or how are we to discern between the true and the false, if we are not to judge? Again, the same apostle, writing to "the elect lady," gives her the following most solemn admonition: "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him G.o.dspeed; for he that biddeth him G.o.dspeed is partaker of his evil deeds." Was she not responsible to act on this admonition? a.s.suredly.
But how could she if we are not to judge? And what had she to judge?
Was it as to whether those who came to her house were ordained, authorized, or licensed by any man or body of men? Nothing of the kind. The one great and all-important question for her was as to the doctrine. If they brought the true, the divine doctrine of Christ--the doctrine of Jesus Christ come in the flesh, she was to receive them; if not, she was to shut her door, with a firm hand, against them, no matter who they were or where they came from. If they had all the credentials that man could bestow upon them, yet if they brought not _the truth_, she was to reject them with stern decision. This might seem very harsh, very narrow-minded, very bigoted; but with this she had nothing whatever to do. She had just to be as broad and as narrow as the truth. Her door and her heart were to be wide enough to admit all who brought Christ, and no wider. Was she to pay compliments at the expense of her Lord? was she to seek a name for largeness of heart or breadth of mind by receiving to her house and to her table the teachers of a false Christ? The very thought is absolutely horrible.
But finally, in the second chapter of Revelation, we find the church at Ephesus commended for having tried those who said they were apostles and were not. How could this be if we are not to judge? Is it not most evident to the reader that an utterly false use is made of our Lord"s words in Matthew vii. 1--"Judge not, that ye be not judged," and also of the apostle"s words in 1 Corinthians iv.
5--"Therefore judge nothing before the time"? It is impossible that Scripture can contradict itself; and hence, whatever be the true meaning of our Lord"s "Judge not," or the apostle"s "Judge nothing,"
it is perfectly certain that they do not, in the most remote way, interfere with the solemn responsibility of all Christians to judge the gift, the doctrine, and the life of all who take the place of preachers, teachers, and pastors in the Church of G.o.d.
And then, if we be asked as to the meaning of "Judge not" and "Judge nothing," we believe the words simply forbid our judging motives, or hidden springs of action. With these we have nothing whatever to do.
We cannot penetrate below the surface, and, thanks be to G.o.d, we are not asked to do so--yea, we are positively forbidden. We cannot read the counsels of the heart; it is the province and prerogative of G.o.d alone to do this: but to say that we are not to judge the doctrine, the gift, or the manner of life of those who take the place of preachers, teachers, and pastors in the Church of G.o.d, is simply to fly in the face of holy Scripture, and to ignore the very instincts of the divine nature implanted in us by the Holy Ghost.
Hence, therefore, we can return, with increased clearness and decision, to our thesis of Christian obedience. It seems perfectly plain that the fullest recognition of all true ministry in the Church, and the most gracious submission of ourselves to all those whom our Lord Christ may see fit to raise up as pastors, teachers, and guides in our midst, can never, in the smallest degree, interfere with the grand fundamental principle set forth in Peter"s magnificent reply to the council--"We ought to obey G.o.d rather than men."