Then, in the burning lamp, we have those points in Israel"s eventful history at which Jehovah graciously appeared for their relief, such as their deliverance from Egypt, by the hand of Moses; their deliverance from under the power of the kings of Canaan, by the ministry of the various judges; their return from Babylon, by the decree of Cyrus; and their final deliverance, when Christ shall appear in his glory. The inheritance must be reached through the furnace; and the darker the smoke of the furnace, the brighter and more cheering will be the lamp of G.o.d"s salvation.
Nor is this principle confined merely to the people of G.o.d as a whole; it applies just as fully to individuals. All who have ever reached a position of eminence as _servants_, have endured the furnace before they enjoyed the lamp. "An horror of great darkness" pa.s.sed across the spirit of Abraham. Jacob had to endure twenty-one years of sore hardship, in the house of Laban. Joseph found his furnace of affliction in the dungeons of Egypt. Moses spent forty years in the desert. Thus it must be with all G.o.d"s _servants_. They must be "tried" first, that, being found "faithful," they may be "put into the ministry." G.o.d"s principle, in reference to those who serve him, is expressed in those words of St. Paul, "not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil." (1 Tim. iii. 6.)
It is one thing to be _a child of G.o.d_; it is quite another to be _a servant of Christ_. I may love my child very much, yet, if I set him to work in my garden, he may do more harm than good. Why? Is it because he is not a dear child? No; but because he is not a practised servant.
This makes all the difference. Relationship and office are distinct things. Not one of the Queen"s children is at present capable of being her prime minister. It is not that all G.o.d"s children have not something to do, something to suffer, something to learn. Undoubtedly they have; yet it ever holds good that _public service_ and _private discipline_ are intimately connected in the ways of G.o.d. One who comes forward much in public will need that chastened spirit, that matured judgment, that subdued and mortified mind, that broken will, that mellow tone, which are the sure and beautiful result of G.o.d"s secret discipline; and it will generally be found that those who take a prominent place without more or less of the above moral qualifications, will sooner or later break down.
Lord Jesus, keep thy feeble servants very near unto thine own most blessed person, and in the hollow of thine hand!
CHAPTER XVI.
Here we find unbelief casting its dark shadow across the spirit of Abraham, and again turning him aside for a season from the path of simple, happy confidence in G.o.d. "And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold the Lord hath restrained me from bearing." These words bespeak the usual impatience of unbelief; and Abram should have treated them accordingly, and waited patiently on the Lord for the accomplishment of his gracious promise. The poor heart naturally prefers any thing to the att.i.tude of _waiting_. It will turn to any expedient, any scheme, any resource, rather than be kept in that posture. It is one thing to believe a promise at the first, and quite another thing to wait quietly for the accomplishment thereof. We can see this distinction constantly exemplified in a child. If I promise my child any thing, he has no idea of doubting my word; but yet, I can detect the greatest possible restlessness and impatience in reference to the time and manner of accomplishment. And cannot the wisest sage find a true mirror in which to see himself reflected in the conduct of a child? Truly so. Abraham exhibits faith, in Chapter xv. and yet he fails in patience in Chapter xvi. Hence the force and beauty of the apostle"s word, in Hebrews vi.
"followers of them who through _faith and patience_ inherit the promises." G.o.d makes a promise: faith believes it; hope antic.i.p.ates it; patience _waits_ quietly for it.
There is such a thing in the commercial world as "the present worth" of a bill or promissory note; for if men are called upon to wait for their money, they must be paid for waiting. Now, in faith"s world, there is such a thing as the _present_ worth of G.o.d"s promise; and the scale by which that worth is regulated is the heart"s experimental knowledge of G.o.d; for according to my estimate of G.o.d, will be my estimate of his promise; and moreover, the subdued and patient spirit finds its rich and full reward in waiting upon him for the accomplishment of all that he has promised.
However, as to Sarah, the real amount of her word to Abraham is this, "The Lord has failed me; it may be, my Egyptian maid will prove a resource for me." Any thing but G.o.d for a heart under the influence of unbelief. It is often truly marvellous to observe the trifles to which we will betake ourselves when once we have lost the sense of G.o.d"s nearness, his infallible faithfulness, and unfailing sufficiency. We lose that calm and well-balanced condition of soul so essential to the proper testimony of the man of faith; and, just like other people, betake ourselves to any or every expedient, in order to reach the wished-for end, and call that "a laudable use of means."
But it is a bitter thing to take ourselves out of the place of absolute dependence upon G.o.d. The consequences must be disastrous. Had Sarah said, "Nature has failed me, but G.o.d is my resource," how different it would have been! This would have been her proper ground; for nature really had failed her. But then it was nature in one shape, and therefore she wished to try nature in another. She had not learnt to look away from nature in every shape. In the judgment of G.o.d and of faith, nature in Hagar was no better than nature in Sarah. Nature, whether young or old, is alike to G.o.d; and, therefore, alike to faith; but, ah! we are only in the power of this truth when we are experimentally finding our living centre in G.o.d himself. When the eye is taken off that glorious Being, we are ready for the meanest device of unbelief. It is only when we are consciously leaning on the only true, the only wise, the living G.o.d, that we are enabled to look away from every creature stream. It is not that we shall despise G.o.d"s instrumentality. By no means. To do so would be recklessness and not faith. Faith values the instrument, not because of itself, but because of him who uses it. Unbelief looks only at the instrument, and judges of the success of a matter by the apparent efficiency thereof, instead of by the sufficiency of him who, in grace, uses it. Like Saul, who, when he looked at David, and then looked at the Philistine, said, "Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for thou art but a youth." Yet the question in David"s heart was, not as to whether he was able, but whether Jehovah was able.
The path of faith is a very simple and a very narrow one. It neither deifies the means on the one hand, nor despises it on the other. It simply values it, so far as it is evidently G.o.d"s means, and no further. There is a vast difference between G.o.d"s using the creature to minister to me, and my using it to shut him out. This difference is not sufficiently attended to. G.o.d used the ravens to minister to Elijah, but Elijah did not use them to exclude G.o.d. If the heart be really trusting in G.o.d, it will not trouble itself about his means. It waits on him, in the sweet a.s.surance that by what means soever he pleases, he will bless, he will minister, he will provide.
Now, in the case before us, in this chapter, it is evident that Hagar was not G.o.d"s instrument for the accomplishment of his promise to Abraham. He had promised a son, no doubt, but he had not said that this son should be Hagar"s; and, in point of fact, we find from the narrative, that both Abraham and Sarah "multiplied their sorrow," by having recourse to Hagar; for "when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes." This was but the beginning of those multiplied sorrows which flowed from hastening after nature"s resources. Sarah"s dignity was trampled down by an Egyptian bond-woman, and she found herself in the place of weakness and contempt. The only true place of dignity and power is the place of felt weakness and dependence. There is no one so entirely independent of all around as the man who is really walking by faith, and waiting only upon G.o.d; but the moment a child of G.o.d makes himself a debtor to nature or the world, he loses his dignity, and will speedily be made to feel his loss. It is no easy task to estimate the loss sustained by diverging, in the smallest measure, from the path of faith. No doubt, all those who walk in that path will find trial and exercise; but one thing is certain, that the blessings and joys which peculiarly belong to them are infinitely more than a counterpoise; whereas, when they turn aside, they have to encounter far deeper trial, and naught but that.
"And Sarai said, My wrong be _upon thee_." When we act wrong, we are ofttimes p.r.o.ne to lay the blame on some one else. Sarah was only reaping the fruit of her own proposal, and yet she says to Abraham, "My wrong be upon thee;" and then, with Abraham"s permission, she seeks to get rid of the trial which her own impatience had brought upon her.
"But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face." This will not do. "The bond-woman" cannot be got rid of by hard treatment. When we make mistakes, and find ourselves called upon to encounter the results thereof, we cannot counteract those results by carrying ourselves with a high hand. We frequently try this method, but we are sure to make matters worse thereby. If we have done wrong, we should humble ourselves and confess the wrong, and wait on G.o.d for deliverance. But there was nothing like this manifested in Sarah"s case. Quite the reverse. There is no sense of having done wrong; and, so far from waiting on G.o.d for deliverance, she seeks to deliver herself in her own way. However, it will always be found that every effort which we make to rectify our errors, previous to the full confession thereof, only tends to render our path more difficult. Thus Hagar had to return, and give birth to her son, which son proved to be not the child of promise at all, but a very great trial to Abraham and his house, as we shall see in the sequel.
Now, we should view all this in a double aspect; first, as teaching us a direct practical principle of much value; and secondly, in a doctrinal point of view. And, first, as to the direct, practical teaching, we may learn that when, through the unbelief of our hearts, we make mistakes, it is not all in a moment, nor yet by our own devices, we can remedy them. Things must take their course. "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." This is an unalterable principle, meeting us again and again on the page of inspiration, and also on the page of our personal history. Grace forgives the sin and restores the soul, but that which is sown must be reaped. Abraham and Sarah had to endure the presence of the bond-woman and her son for a number of years, and then get rid of them in G.o.d"s way. There is peculiar blessedness in leaving ourselves in G.o.d"s hands. Had Abraham and Sarah done so on the present occasion, they would never have been troubled with the presence of the bond-woman and her son; but, having made themselves debtors to nature, they had to endure the consequences.
But, alas! we are often "like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke," when it would be our exceeding comfort to "behave and quiet ourselves as a child that is weaned of his mother." No two figures can be more opposite than a stubborn bullock and a weaned child. The former represents a person senselessly struggling under the yoke of circ.u.mstances, and rendering his yoke all the more galling by his efforts to get rid of it; the latter represents one meekly bowing his head to every thing, and rendering his portion all the sweeter by entire subjection of spirit.
And now, as to the doctrinal view of this chapter. We are authorized to look at Hagar and her son, as figures of the covenant of works, and all who are thereby brought into bondage. (See Gal. iv. 22-25.) "The flesh"
is, in this important pa.s.sage, contrasted with "promise;" and thus we not only get the divine idea as to what the term "flesh" implies, but also as to Abraham"s effort to obtain the seed by means of Hagar, instead of resting in G.o.d"s "promise." The two covenants are allegorized by Hagar and Sarah, and are diametrically opposite the one to the other. The one gendering to bondage, inasmuch as it raised the question as to man"s competency "to do" and "not to do," and made life entirely dependent upon that competency. "The man that doeth these things shall live in them." This was the Hagar-covenant. But the Sarah-covenant reveals G.o.d as the G.o.d of promise, which promise is entirely independent of man, and founded upon G.o.d"s willingness and ability to fulfil it. When G.o.d makes a promise there is no "if"
attached thereto. He makes it unconditionally, and is resolved to fulfil it; and faith rests in him in perfect liberty of heart. It needs no effort of nature to reach the accomplishment of a divine promise.
Here was, precisely, where Abraham and Sarah failed. They made an effort of nature to reach a certain end, which end was absolutely secured by a promise of G.o.d. This is the grand mistake of unbelief. By its restless activity, it raises a hazy mist around the soul, which hinders the beams of the divine glory from reaching it. "He could there do no mighty works, because of their unbelief." One great characteristic virtue of faith is, that it ever leaves the platform clear for G.o.d to show himself; and truly, when he shows himself, man must take the place of a happy worshipper.
The error into which the Galatians allowed themselves to be drawn, was the addition of something of nature to what Christ had already accomplished for them by the cross. The gospel which had been preached to them and which they had received, was the simple presentation of G.o.d"s absolute, unqualified, and unconditional, grace. "Jesus Christ had been evidently set forth crucified among them." This was not merely promise divinely made, but promise divinely and most gloriously accomplished. A crucified Christ settled every thing in reference both to G.o.d"s claims and man"s necessities. But the false teachers upset all this, or sought to upset it, by saying, "Except ye be circ.u.mcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." This, as the apostle teaches them, was in reality "making Christ of none effect." Christ must either be a _whole_ Saviour, or _no_ Saviour at all. The moment a man says, "Except _ye_ be this or that, ye cannot be saved," he totally subverts Christianity; for in Christianity I find G.o.d coming down to me _just as I am_, a lost, guilty, self-destroyed sinner; and coming moreover with a full remission of _all_ my sins, and a full salvation from my lost estate, all perfectly wrought by himself on the cross.
Hence, therefore, a man who tells me, "You must be so and so, in order to be saved," robs the cross of all its glory, and robs me of all my peace. If salvation depends upon our being or doing aught, we shall inevitably be lost. Thank G.o.d it does not; for the great fundamental principle of the gospel is, that G.o.d is ALL,--man is NOTHING. It is not a mixture of G.o.d and man. It is all of G.o.d. The peace of the gospel does not repose in part on Christ"s work, and in part on man"s work; it reposes _wholly_ on Christ"s work, because that work is perfect,--perfect forever; and it renders all who put their trust in it as perfect as itself.
Under the law, G.o.d as it were stood still to see what man could do; but in the gospel G.o.d is seen acting, and as for man, he has but to "stand still and see the salvation of G.o.d." This being so, the inspired apostle hesitates not to say to the Galatians, "Christ is become of no effect unto you; whosoever of you are justified by law ([Greek: en nomo]), ye are fallen from grace." If man has any thing to do in the matter, G.o.d is shut out; and if G.o.d is shut out, there can be no salvation, for it is impossible that man can work out a salvation by that which proves him a lost creature; and then if it be a question of _grace_, it must be all grace. It cannot be half grace, half law. The two covenants are perfectly distinct. It cannot be half Sarah and half Hagar. It must be either the one or the other. If it be Hagar, G.o.d has nothing to do with it; and if it be Sarah, man has nothing to do with it. Thus it stands throughout. The law addresses man, tests him, sees what he is really worth, proves him a ruin, and puts him under the curse; and not only puts him under it, but keeps him there so long as he is occupied with it,--so long as he is alive. "The law hath dominion over a man so long as he liveth;" but when he is dead, its dominion necessarily ceases so far as he is concerned, though it still remains in full force to curse every _living_ man.
The gospel, on the contrary, a.s.suming man to be lost, ruined, dead, reveals G.o.d as he is,--the Saviour of the lost,--the Pardoner of the guilty,--the Quickener of the dead. It reveals him, not as exacting aught from man, (for what could be expected from one who has died a bankrupt?) but as exhibiting his own independent grace in redemption.
This makes a material difference and will account for the extraordinary strength of the language employed in the Epistle to the Galatians: "I marvel"--"Who hath bewitched you?"--"I am afraid of you"--"I stand in doubt of you"--"I would they were even cut off that trouble you." This is the language of the Holy Ghost, who knows the value of a full Christ and a full salvation; and who also knows how essential the knowledge of both is to a lost sinner. We have no such language as this in any other epistle; not even in that to the Corinthians, although there were some of the grossest disorders to be corrected amongst them. All human failure and error can be corrected by bringing in G.o.d"s grace; but the Galatians, like Abraham in this chapter, were going away from G.o.d, and returning to the flesh. What remedy could be devised for this? How can you correct an error which consists in departing from that which alone can correct any thing? To fall from grace, is to get back under the law, from which nothing can ever be reaped but "the CURSE." May the Lord establish our hearts in his own most excellent grace!
CHAPTER XVII.
Here we have G.o.d"s remedy for Abraham"s failure set before us. "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said unto him, _I am the Almighty G.o.d_: walk before _me_, and be thou _perfect_."[15] This is a most comprehensive verse. It is very evident that Abraham had not been walking before the Almighty G.o.d when he adopted Sarah"s expedient in reference to Hagar. It is faith alone that can enable a man to walk up and down before an Almighty One.
Unbelief will ever be thrusting in something of self, something of circ.u.mstances, second causes, and the like, and thus the soul is robbed of the joy and peace, the calm elevation, and holy independence, which flow from leaning upon the arm of One who can do every thing. I believe we deeply need to ponder this. G.o.d is not such an abiding reality to our souls as he ought to be, or as he would be, were we walking in more simple faith and dependence.
"Walk before _me_." This is true power. To walk thus, implies our having nothing whatever before our hearts save G.o.d himself. If I am founding my expectation upon men and things, I am not walking before G.o.d, but before men and things. It is of the utmost importance to ascertain who or what I have before me as an object. To what am I looking? On whom or what am I leaning, at this moment? Does G.o.d _entirely_ fill my future? Have men or circ.u.mstances aught to do therein? Is there any s.p.a.ce allotted to the creature? The only way in which to get above the world is to walk by faith, because faith so completely fills the scene with G.o.d, that there is no room for the creature,--no room for the world. If G.o.d fills up my entire range of vision, I can see nothing else; and then I am able to say with the Psalmist, "My soul, wait thou _only_ upon G.o.d; for my expectation is from him. He _only_ is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence, I shall not be moved." (Ps. lxii. 5, 6.) This word "only" is deeply searching. Nature cannot say this. Not that it will, save when under the direct influence of a daring and blasphemous skepticism, formally shut out G.o.d altogether; but it, a.s.suredly, cannot say, "_He only_."
Now, it is well to see that, as in the matter of salvation, so in all the details of actual life, from day to day, G.o.d will not share his glory with the creature. From first to last, it must be "he only;" and this, too, in reality. It will not do to have the language of dependence upon G.o.d on our lips, while our hearts are really leaning on some creature resource. G.o.d will make all this fully manifest; he will test the heart; he will put faith into the furnace. "Walk before me, and be thou perfect." Thus it is we reach the proper point. When the soul is enabled, by grace, to get rid of all its fondly-cherished creature expectations, then, and only then, it is prepared to let G.o.d act; and when he acts all must be well. He will not leave any thing undone. He will perfectly settle every thing on behalf of those who simply put their trust in him. When unerring wisdom, omnipotent power, and infinite love combine, the confiding heart may enjoy unruffled repose. Unless we can find some circ.u.mstance too big or too little for "the Almighty G.o.d," we have no proper base on which to found a single anxious thought. This is an amazing truth, and one eminently calculated to put all who believe it into the blessed position in which we find Abraham in this chapter. When G.o.d had, in effect, said to him, "Leave _all_ to me and I will settle it for you, beyond your utmost desires and expectations; the seed and the inheritance, and every thing pertaining thereto, will be fully and everlastingly settled, according to the covenant of the Almighty G.o.d,"--then "_Abram fell on his face_."
Truly blessed att.i.tude! the only proper one for a thoroughly empty, feeble, and unprofitable sinner to occupy in the presence of the living G.o.d, the Creator of heaven and earth, the possessor of all things, "the Almighty G.o.d."
"And G.o.d talked with him." It is when man is in the dust that G.o.d can talk to him in grace. Abraham"s posture here is the beautiful expression of entire prostration, in the presence of G.o.d, in the sense of utter weakness and nothingness. And this, be it observed, is the sure precursor of G.o.d"s revelation of himself. It is when the creature is laid low that G.o.d can show himself in the unclouded effulgence of what he is. He will not give his glory to another. He can reveal himself, and allow man to worship in view of that revelation; but until the sinner takes his proper place, there can be no unfolding of the divine character. How different is Abraham"s att.i.tude in this and the preceding chapter! There, he had nature before him; here, he has the Almighty G.o.d. There, he was an actor; here, he is a worshipper. There, he was betaking himself to his own and Sarah"s contrivance; here, he leaves himself and his circ.u.mstances, his present and his future, in G.o.d"s hands, and allows him to act in him, for him, and through him.
Hence, G.o.d can say, "I will make"--"I will establish"--"I will give"--"I will bless." In a word, it is all G.o.d and his actings; and this is real rest for the poor heart that has learnt any thing of itself.
The covenant of circ.u.mcision is now introduced. Every member of the household of faith must bear in his body the seal of that covenant.
There must be no exception. "He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circ.u.mcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh, for an everlasting covenant. And the uncirc.u.mcised man-child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not circ.u.mcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people: he hath broken my covenant." We are taught in Romans iv., that circ.u.mcision was "a seal of the righteousness of faith." "Abraham believed G.o.d, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." Being thus counted righteous, G.o.d set his "seal" upon him.
The seal with which the believer is now sealed is not a mark in the flesh, but "that Holy Spirit of promise, whereby he is sealed unto the day of redemption." This is founded upon his everlasting connection with Christ, and his perfect identification with him, in death and resurrection; as we read, in Colossians, "And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all princ.i.p.ality and power. In whom also ye are _circ.u.mcised_ with the circ.u.mcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circ.u.mcision of Christ; buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him, through the faith of the operation of G.o.d who hath raised him from the dead.
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncirc.u.mcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespa.s.ses." This is a most glorious pa.s.sage, unfolding to us the true idea of what circ.u.mcision was meant to typify. Every believer belongs to "the circ.u.mcision" in virtue of his living a.s.sociation with him who, by his cross, has forever abolished every thing that stood in the way of his church"s perfect justification. There was not a speck of sin on the conscience, nor a principle of sin in the nature of his people, for which Christ was not judged on the cross; and they are now looked upon as having died with Christ, lain in the grave with Christ, been raised with Christ, perfectly accepted in him,--their sins, their iniquities, their transgressions, their enmity, their uncirc.u.mcision, having been entirely put away by the cross. The sentence of death has been written on the flesh; but the believer is in possession of a new life, in union with his risen Head in glory.
The apostle in the above pa.s.sage teaches that the Church was quickened out of the grave of Christ; and moreover, that the forgiveness of all her trespa.s.ses is as complete, and as entirely the work of G.o.d, as was the raising of Christ from the dead; and this latter, we know, was the result of "G.o.d"s mighty power," or, as it may be rendered, "according to the energy of the might of his power" (Eph. i. 19),--a truly wonderful expression, calculated to set forth the magnitude and glory of redemption, as well as the solid basis on which it rests.
What rest--perfect rest--for the heart and conscience is here! What full relief for the burdened spirit! _All_ our sins buried in the grave of Christ,--not one--even the smallest--left out! G.o.d did this for us!
All that his searching eye could detect in us, he laid on the head of Christ when he hung upon the cross! He judged him there and then, instead of judging us, in h.e.l.l forever! Precious fruit, this, of the admirable, the profound, the eternal counsels of redeeming love! And we are "sealed," not with a certain mark cut in our flesh, but with the Holy Ghost. The entire household of faith is sealed thus. Such is the dignity, the value, the changeless efficacy of the blood of Christ, that the Holy Ghost--the Third Person of the eternal Trinity--can take up his abode in all those who have put their trust therein.
And now, what remains for those who know these things, save to "be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." Thus may it be, O Lord, through the grace of thy Holy Spirit!
FOOTNOTES:
[15] I would here offer a remark as to the word "perfect." When Abraham was called upon to be "perfect," it did not mean perfect to himself; for this he never was, and never could be. It simply meant that he should be perfect as regards the object before his heart,--that his hopes and expectations were to be perfectly and undividedly centred in the "Almighty G.o.d."
In looking through the New Testament, we find the word "perfect" used in at least four distinct senses. In Matt. v. 48, we read, "Be ye therefore _perfect_, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Here we learn from the context that the word "perfect" refers to the principle of our walk. At verse 44, we read, "love your enemies, ... that ye may be the sons of your Father which is in heaven; for he maketh the sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and sendeth rain upon the just and the unjust." Hence to be "perfect" in the sense of Matt. v. 48 is to act on a principle of grace toward all, even toward those who are injurious and hostile. A Christian going to law, and a.s.serting or contending for his rights, is not "perfect as his Father;"
for his Father is dealing in _grace_, whereas he is dealing in _righteousness_.
The question here is not as to the right or wrong of going to law with worldly people (as to brethren, 1 Cor. vi. is conclusive). All I contend for is, that a Christian so doing is acting in a character the direct opposite to that of his Father; for a.s.suredly he is not going to law with the world. He is not now on a judgment-seat, but on a mercy-seat--a throne of grace. He showers his blessings upon those who, were he to go to law with them, should be in h.e.l.l. Wherefore it is plain that a Christian, when he brings a man before the judgment-seat, is not "perfect as his Father which is in heaven is perfect."
At the close of Matt. xviii. we have a parable which teaches us that a man who a.s.serts his rights is ignorant of the true character and proper effect of grace. The servant was not _unrighteous_ in demanding what was due to him; but he was _ungracious_. He was totally unlike his master. He had been forgiven ten thousand talents, and yet he could seize his fellow by the throat for a paltry hundred pence. What was the consequence? He was delivered to the tormentors. He lost the happy sense of _grace_, and was left to reap the bitter fruits of having a.s.serted his _rights_, while being himself a subject of _grace_. And, observe further, he was called "a _wicked_ servant," not because of having owed "ten thousand talents," but because of not having forgiven the "hundred pence." _The master_ had ample grace to settle the former, but _he_ had not grace to settle the latter. This parable has a solemn voice for all Christians going to law; for although in the application of it, it is said, "so shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you from your heart, forgive not every one _his brother_ their trespa.s.ses," yet is the principle of general application, that a man acting in righteousness will lose _the sense_ of grace.
In Hebrews ix. we have another sense of the term "perfect." Here, too, the context settles the import of the word. It is "perfect, as pertaining to the conscience." This is a deeply important use of the term. The worshipper under the law never could have a perfect conscience, for the simplest reason possible, because he never had a perfect sacrifice. The blood of a bullock and a goat did well enough _for a time_, but it could not do _forever_, and therefore could not give a perfect conscience. Now, however, the weakest believer in Jesus is privileged to have a perfect conscience. Why? Is it because he is a _better man_ than the worshipper under the law? Nay; but because he has gotten a _better sacrifice_. If Christ"s sacrifice is perfect forever, the believer"s conscience is perfect forever. The two things necessarily go together. For the Christian not to have a perfect conscience is a dishonor to the sacrifice of Christ. It is tantamount to saying that his sacrifice is only temporary, and not eternal in its effect; and what is this but to bring it down to the level of the sacrifices under the Mosaic economy.
It is very needful to distinguish between perfection in the flesh and perfection as to conscience. To pretend to the former, is to exalt _self_; to refuse the latter, is to dishonor Christ. The babe in Christ should have a perfect conscience; whereas St. Paul had not, nor could have, perfect flesh. The flesh is not presented in the word as a thing which is to be perfected, but as a thing which has been crucified. This makes a wide difference. The Christian has sin in him, but not _on_ him. Why? Because Christ who had no sin _in_ him, ever, had sin on him when he was nailed to the cross.
Finally, in Phil. iii. we have two other senses of the word "perfect."
The apostle says, "not as though I had already attained, either were already _perfect_;" and yet a little farther on he says, "Let as many as be _perfect_ be thus minded." The former refers to the apostle"s full and everlasting conformity to Christ in glory. The latter refers to our having Christ as the all-engrossing object before the heart"s affections.
CHAPTER XVIII.