I do not, however, forget a pa.s.sage which has often been used, or rather abused, to defend the worldly, unbelieving practice of h.o.a.rding up. I allude to 2 Corinthians xii. 14.--"Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children." How glad people are when they get a semblance of Scripture-authority for their worldliness! In this pa.s.sage it is but a semblance of authority; for the apostle is certainly not teaching Christians to h.o.a.rd up--he is not teaching heavenly men to lay up treasure upon the earth, for any object. He simple refers to a common practice _in the world_, and to a common feeling _in nature_, in order to ill.u.s.trate his own mode of dealing with the Corinthians, who were his children in the faith. He had not burdened them, and he would not burden them, for he was the parent.
Now, if the saints of G.o.d are satisfied to go back to the world and its maxims, to nature and its ways, then let them h.o.a.rd up with all diligence--let them "heap treasure together for the last days;" but let them remember that the moth, the canker-worm, and the rust will be the end of it all. Oh for a heart to value those immortal "bags" in which faith lays up its "unfading treasure," those heavenly storehouses where faith "bestows all its fruits and its goods"! Then shall we pursue a holy and elevated path through this present evil world--then, too, shall we be lifted upon faith"s vigorous pinion above the dark atmosphere which inwraps this Christ-rejecting, G.o.d-hating world, and which is impregnated and polluted by those two elements, namely, _hatred of G.o.d, and love of gold_.
I shall only add, ere closing this paper, that the Lord Jesus--the Adorable, the Divine, the Heavenly Teacher, having sought to raise, by His unearthly principles, the thoughts and affections of His disciples to their proper centre and level, gives them two things to do; and these two things may be expressed in the words of the Holy Ghost--"To serve the living and true G.o.d, and wait for His Son from heaven." The entire of the teaching of Luke xii, from verse 35 to the end, may be ranged under the above comprehensive heads, to which I call the Christian reader"s prayerful attention. We have no one else to serve but "the living G.o.d", and nothing to wait for--nothing worth waiting for but "His Son." May the Holy Ghost clothe His own Word with heavenly power, so that it may come home to the heart and conscience, and tell upon the life of every child of G.o.d, that the name of the Lord Christ may be magnified, and His truth vindicated in the conduct of those that belong to Him. May the grace of an honest heart, and a tender, upright, well-adjusted conscience, be largely ministered to each and all of us, so that we may be like a well-tuned instrument, yielding a true tone when touched by the Master"s hand, and harmonizing with His heavenly voice.
Finally, if this paper should fall into the hands of one who has not yet found rest of conscience in the perfected atonement of the Son of G.o.d, I would say to such an one, You will surely lay this paper down and say, "This is a hard saying, who can hear it?" You may be disposed to ask, "What would the world come to, if such principles were universally dominant?" I reply, It would cease to be governed by Satan, and would be "the kingdom of G.o.d." But let me ask you, my friend, "To which kingdom do you belong? Which is it--_now_, or _then_--with you? Are you living for time, or eternity,--earth, or heaven,--Satan, or Christ?" Do, I affectionately implore of you, be thoroughly honest with yourself in the presence of G.o.d. Remember, "there is _nothing_ covered that shall not be revealed." The judgment-seat will bring _all_ to light. Therefore I say, Be honest with yourself, and now ask your heart, "Where am I? How do I stand?
What is the ground of my peace? What are my prospects for eternity?"
Do not imagine that G.o.d wants _you_ to buy heaven with a surrender of earth. No; He points you to Christ, who, by bearing sin in His own body on the cross, has opened the way for the believing sinner to come into the presence of G.o.d in the power of divine righteousness. You are not asked to do or to be any thing; but the gospel tells you what Jesus is, and what He has done; and if you believe this in your heart, and confess it with your mouth, you shall be saved. Christ--G.o.d"s Eternal Son--G.o.d manifest in the flesh--co-equal with the Father, being conceived by the Holy Ghost, was born of a woman, took upon Him a body prepared by the power of the Highest, and thus became a REAL MAN--very G.o.d and very man,--He, having lived a life of perfect obedience, died upon the cross, being made sin and a curse, and having exhausted the cup of Jehovah"s righteous wrath, endured the sting of death, spoiled the grave of its victory, and destroyed him that had the power of death, He went up into heaven, and took His seat at the right hand of G.o.d. Such is the infinite merit of His perfect sacrifice, that all who believe are justified from ALL THINGS--yea, are accepted in Him--stand in His acceptableness before G.o.d, and can never come into condemnation, but have pa.s.sed from death into life.
This is the gospel!--the glad tidings of salvation, which G.o.d the Holy Ghost came down from heaven to preach to every creature. My reader, let me exhort you, in this concluding line, to "behold the Lamb of G.o.d that taketh away the sin of the world." BELIEVE AND LIVE!
_C. H. M._
THE ALL-SUFFICIENCY OF CHRIST
When once the soul has been brought to feel the reality of its condition before G.o.d--the depth of its ruin, guilt, and misery--its utter and hopeless bankruptcy, there can be no rest until the Holy Spirit reveals a full and an all-sufficient Christ to the heart. The only possible answer to our total ruin is G.o.d"s perfect remedy.
This is a very simple, but a most important truth; and we may say, with all possible a.s.surance, the more deeply and thoroughly the reader learns it for himself the better. The true secret of peace is, to get to the very end of a guilty, ruined, helpless, worthless self, and there find an all-sufficient Christ as G.o.d"s provision for our very deepest need. This truly is rest--a rest which can never be disturbed.
There may be sorrow, pressure, conflict, exercise of soul, heaviness through manifold temptations, ups and downs, all sorts of trials and difficulties; but we feel persuaded that when a soul is really brought by G.o.d"s Spirit to see the end of self, and to rest in a full Christ, it finds a peace which can never be interrupted.
The unsettled state of so many of G.o.d"s dear people is the result of not having received into their hearts a full Christ, as G.o.d"s very own provision for them. No doubt this sad and painful result may be brought about by various contributing causes, such as a legal mind, a morbid conscience, a self-occupied heart, bad teaching, a secret hankering after this present world, some little reserve in the heart as to the claims of G.o.d, of Christ, and of eternity. But whatever may be the producing cause, we believe it will be found, in almost every case, that the lack of settled peace, so common amongst the Lord"s people, is the result of not seeing, not believing, what G.o.d has made His Christ to be to them and for them, and that forever.
Now, what we propose in this paper is, to show the anxious reader, from the precious pages of the Word of G.o.d, that there is treasured up for him in Christ all he can possibly need, whether it be to meet the claims of his conscience, the cravings of his heart, or the exigencies of his path. We shall seek, by the grace of G.o.d, to prove that the _work_ of Christ is the only true resting-place for the _conscience_; His _Person_, the only true object for the _heart_; His _Word_, the only true guide for the _path_.
And first, then, let us dwell for a little upon
THE WORK OF CHRIST AS THE ONLY RESTING-PLACE FOR THE CONSCIENCE.
In considering this great subject, two things claim our attention; first, what Christ has done for us; secondly, what He is doing for us.
In the former, we have atonement; in the latter, advocacy. He died for us on the cross: He lives for us on the throne. By His precious atoning death He has met our entire condition as sinners. He has borne our sins, and put them away forever. He stood charged with all our sins--the sins of all who believe in His name. "Jehovah laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isa. liii.) And again, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to G.o.d." (1 Pet. iii. 18.)
This is a grand and all-important truth for the anxious soul--a truth which lies at the very foundation of the whole Christian position. It is impossible that any truly awakened soul, any spiritually enlightened conscience, can enjoy divinely settled peace until this most precious truth is laid hold of in simple faith. I must know, upon divine authority, that all my sins are put away forever out of G.o.d"s sight; that He Himself has disposed of them in such a manner as to satisfy all the claims of His throne and all the attributes of His nature; that He has glorified Himself in the putting away of my sins, in a far higher and more wonderful manner than if He had sent me to an everlasting h.e.l.l on account of them.
Yes, He Himself has done it. This is the very gist and marrow--the heart"s core of the whole matter. G.o.d has laid our sins on Jesus, and He tells us so in His holy Word, so that we may know it upon divine authority--an authority that cannot lie. G.o.d planned it; G.o.d did it; G.o.d says it. It is all of G.o.d, from first to last, and we have simply to rest in it like a little child. How do I know that Jesus bore my sins in His own body on the tree? By the very same authority which tells me I had sins to be borne. G.o.d, in His marvelous and matchless love, a.s.sures me, a poor guilty, h.e.l.l-deserving sinner, that He has Himself undertaken the whole matter of my sins, and disposed of it in such a manner as to bring a rich harvest of glory to His own eternal name, throughout the wide universe, in presence of all created intelligence.
The living faith of this must tranquilize the conscience. If G.o.d has satisfied Himself about my sins, I may well be satisfied also. I know I am a sinner--it may be, the chief of sinners. I know my sins are more in number than the hairs of my head; that they are black as midnight--black as h.e.l.l itself. I know that any one of these sins, the very least, deserves the eternal flames of h.e.l.l. I know--because G.o.d"s Word tells me--that a single speck of sin can never enter His holy presence; and hence, so far as I am concerned, there was no possible issue save eternal separation from G.o.d. All this I know, upon the clear and unquestionable authority of that Word which is settled forever in heaven.
But, oh, the profound mystery of the cross!--the glorious mystery of redeeming love! I see G.o.d Himself taking all my sins--the black and terrible category--all my sins, as He knew and estimated them. I see Him laying them all upon the head of my blessed Subst.i.tute, and dealing with Him about them. I see all the billows and waves of G.o.d"s righteous wrath--His wrath against my sins--His wrath which should have consumed me, soul and body, in h.e.l.l, throughout a dreary eternity,--I see them all rolling over the Man who stood in my stead, who represented me before G.o.d, who bore all that was due to me, with whom a holy G.o.d dealt as He should have dealt with me. I see inflexible justice, holiness, truth, and righteousness dealing with my sins, and making a clear and eternal riddance of them. Not one of them is suffered to pa.s.s! There is no connivance, no palliation, no slurring over, no indifference. This could not possibly be, once G.o.d Himself took the matter in hand. His glory was at stake; His unsullied holiness, His eternal majesty, the lofty claims of His government.
All these had to be provided for in such wise as to glorify Himself in view of angels, men, and devils. He might have sent me to h.e.l.l--righteously, justly, sent me to h.e.l.l--because of my sins. I deserved nothing else. My whole moral being, from its profoundest depths, owns this--must own it. I have not a word to say in excuse for a single sinful thought, to say nothing of a sin-stained life from first to last--yes, a life of deliberate, rebellious, high-handed sin.
Others may reason as they please as to the injustice of an eternity of punishment for a life of sin--the utter want of proportion between a few years of wrong-doing and endless ages of torment in the lake of fire. They may reason, but I thoroughly believe, and unreservedly confess, that for a single sin against such a Being as the G.o.d whom I see at the cross, I richly deserved everlasting punishment in the deep, dark, and dismal pit of h.e.l.l.
I am not writing as a theologian; if I were, it would be a very easy task indeed to bring an unanswerable array of Scripture evidence in proof of the solemn truth of eternal punishment. But no; I am writing as one who has been divinely taught the true desert of sin, and that desert, I calmly, deliberately, and solemnly declare, is, and can be, nothing less than eternal exclusion from the presence of G.o.d and the Lamb--eternal torment in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.
But--eternal halleluiahs to the G.o.d of all grace!--instead of sending us to h.e.l.l because of our sins, He sent His Son to be the propitiation for those sins. And in the unfolding of the marvelous plan of redemption, we see a holy G.o.d dealing with the question of our sins, and executing judgment upon them in the Person of His well-beloved, eternal, and co-equal Son, in order that the full flood-tide of His love might flow down into our hearts. "Herein is love, not that we loved G.o.d, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John iv. 10.)
Now, this must give peace to the conscience, if only it be received in the simplicity of faith. How is it possible for a person to believe that G.o.d has satisfied Himself as to his sins and not have peace? If G.o.d says to us, "Your sins and iniquities I will remember no more,"
what could we desire further as a basis of peace for our conscience?
If G.o.d a.s.sures me that all my sins are blotted out as a thick cloud--that they are cast behind His back--forever gone from His sight, should I not have peace? If He shows me the Man who bore my sins on the cross, now crowned at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, ought not my soul to enter into perfect rest as to the question of my sins? Most a.s.suredly.
For how, let me ask, did Christ reach the place which He now fills on the throne of G.o.d? Was it as G.o.d over all, blessed forever? No; for He was always that. Was it as the eternal Son of the Father? No; He was ever that--ever in the bosom of the Father--the object of the Father"s eternal and ineffable delight. Was it as a spotless, holy, perfect Man--One whose nature was absolutely pure, perfectly free from sin?
No; for in that character, and on that ground, He could at any moment, between the manger and the cross, have claimed a place at the right hand of G.o.d. How was it, then? Eternal praise to the G.o.d of all grace!
it was as the One who had by His death accomplished the glorious work of redemption--the One who had stood charged with the full weight of our sins--the One who had perfectly satisfied all the righteous claims of that throne on which He now sits.
This is a grand, cardinal point for the anxious reader to seize. It cannot fail to emanc.i.p.ate the heart and tranquilize the conscience. We cannot possibly behold, by faith, the Man who was nailed to the tree, now crowned on the throne, and not have peace with G.o.d. The Lord Jesus Christ having taken upon Himself our sins, and the judgment due to them, He could not be where He now is if a single one of those sins remained unatoned for. To see the Sin-bearer crowned with glory is to see our sins gone forever from the divine presence. Where are our sins? They are all obliterated. How do we know this? The One who took them all upon Himself has pa.s.sed through the heavens to the very highest pinnacle of glory. Eternal justice has wreathed His blessed brow with a diadem of glory, as the Accomplisher of our redemption--the Bearer of our sins; thus proving, beyond all question, or possibility of a question, that our sins are all put away out of G.o.d"s sight forever. A crowned Christ and a clear conscience are, in the blessed economy of grace, inseparably linked together. Wondrous fact! Well may we chant, with all our ransomed powers, the praises of redeeming love.
But let us see how this most consolatory truth is set forth in holy Scripture. In Romans iii. we read, "But now the righteousness of G.o.d without law [????? ????] is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of G.o.d by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of G.o.d; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: _whom G.o.d hath set forth_ a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission [or pa.s.sing over] of sins that are past [in time gone by], through the forbearance of G.o.d; to declare at this time His righteousness; that He might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."
Again, in chapter iv, speaking of Abraham"s faith being counted to him for righteousness, the apostle adds, "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 raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offenses, and raised again for our justification_." Here we have G.o.d introduced to our souls as the One who raised from the dead the Bearer of our sins. Why did He do so? Because the One who had been delivered for our offenses had perfectly glorified Him respecting those offenses, and put them away forever. G.o.d not only sent His only begotten Son into the world, but He bruised Him for our iniquities, and raised Him from the dead, in order that we might know and believe that our iniquities are all disposed of in such a manner as to glorify Him infinitely and everlastingly. Eternal and universal homage to His name!
But we have further testimony on this grand fundamental truth. In Hebrews i. we read such soul-stirring words as these: "G.o.d, who at sundry times and in divers manners [or in divers measures and modes]
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by [His] Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, _when He had by Himself purged our sins_, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." Our Lord Christ, blessed be His name! would not take His seat on the throne of G.o.d until He had, by the offering of Himself on the cross, purged our sins. Hence, a risen Christ at G.o.d"s right hand is the glorious and unanswerable proof that our sins are all gone, for He could not be where He now is if a single one of those sins remained. G.o.d raised from the dead the self-same Man on whom He Himself had laid the full weight of our sins. Thus all is settled--divinely, eternally settled.
It is as impossible that a single sin can be found on the very weakest believer in Jesus as on Jesus Himself. This is a wonderful thing to be able to say, but it is the solid truth of G.o.d, established in manifold places in holy Scripture, and the soul that believes it must possess a peace which the world can neither give nor take away.
PART II
Thus far, we have been occupied with that aspect of the work of Christ which bears upon the question of the forgiveness of sins, and we earnestly trust that the reader is thoroughly clear and settled on this grand point. It is a.s.suredly his happy privilege so to be, if only he will take G.o.d at His word. "Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to G.o.d."
If, then, Christ hath suffered for our sins, should we not know the deep blessedness of being eternally delivered from the burden of those sins? Can it be according to the mind and heart of G.o.d that one for whom Christ suffered should remain in perpetual bondage, tied and bound with the chain of his sins, and crying out, from week to week, month to month, and year to year, that the burden of his sins is intolerable?
If such utterances are true and proper for the Christian, then what has Christ done for us? Can it be true that Christ has put away our sins and yet that we are tied and bound with the chain of them? Is it true that He bore the heavy burden of our sins and yet that we are still crushed beneath the intolerable weight thereof?
Some would fain persuade us that it is not possible to know that our sins are forgiven--that we must go on to the end of our life in a state of complete uncertainty on this most vital and important question. If this be so, what has become of the precious gospel of the grace of G.o.d--the glad tidings of salvation? In the view of such miserable teaching as this, what mean those glowing words of the blessed apostle Paul in the synagogue of Antioch?--"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man [Jesus Christ, dead and risen] is preached [not promised as a future thing, but proclaimed now] the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all who believe _are_ [not shall be, or hope to be] justified from _all things_, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." (Acts xiii. 38, 39.)
If we were resting on the law of Moses, on our keeping the commandments, on our doing our duty, on our feeling as we ought, on our valuing Christ and loving G.o.d as we ought, reason would that we should be in doubt and dark uncertainty, seeing we could have no possible ground of a.s.surance. If we had so much as the movement of an eyelash to do in the matter, then, verily, it would be the very height of presumption on our part to think of being certain.
But on the other hand, when we hear the voice of the living G.o.d, who cannot lie, proclaiming in our ears the glad tidings that through His own beloved Son, who died on the cross, was buried in the grave, raised from the dead, and seated in the glory--that through Him alone--through Him, without any thing whatever of ours--through His one offering of Himself once and forever, full and everlasting remission of sins is preached, as a present reality, to be enjoyed now by every soul who simply believes the precious record of G.o.d, how is it possible for any one to continue in doubt and uncertainty? Is Christ"s work finished? He said it was. What did He do? He put away our sins. Are they, then, put away, or are they still on us?--which?
Reader, say which? where are thy sins? Are they blotted out as a thick cloud? or are they still lying as a heavy load of guilt, in condemning power, on thy conscience? If they were not put away by the atoning death of Christ, they will never be put away; if He did not bear them on the cross, you will have to bear them in the tormenting flames of h.e.l.l forever and ever and ever. Yes; be a.s.sured of it, there is no other way of disposing of this most weighty and momentous question. If Christ did not settle the matter on the cross, you must settle it in h.e.l.l. It must be so, if G.o.d"s Word be true.
But glory be to G.o.d, His own testimony a.s.sures us that Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to G.o.d; not merely bring us to heaven when we die, but bring us to G.o.d _now_. How does He bring us to G.o.d? Tied and bound with the chain of our sins? with an intolerable burden of guilt on our souls? Nay, verily; He brings us to G.o.d without spot or stain or charge. He brings us to G.o.d in all His own acceptableness. Is there any guilt on Him?
No. There was, blessed be His name, when He stood in our stead, but it is gone--gone forever--cast as lead into the unfathomable waters of divine forgetfulness. He was charged with our sins on the cross. G.o.d laid on Him all our iniquities, and dealt with Him about them. The whole question of our sins, according to G.o.d"s estimate thereof, was fully gone into and definitively, because divinely, settled between G.o.d and Christ, amid the awful shadows of Calvary. Yes, it was all done, once and forever, there. How do we know it? By the authority of the only true G.o.d. His Word a.s.sures us that _we have_ redemption through the blood of Christ, the remission of sins, according to the riches of His grace. He declares to us, in accents of sweetest, richest, deepest mercy, that our sins and our iniquities He will remember no more. Is not this enough? Shall we still continue to cry out that we are tied and bound with the chain of our sins? Shall we thus cast a slur upon the perfect work of Christ? Shall we thus tarnish the l.u.s.tre of divine grace, and give the lie to the testimony of the Holy Ghost in the Scripture of truth? Far be the thought! It must not be so. Let us rather hail with thanksgiving the blessed boon so freely conferred upon us by love divine, through the precious blood of Christ. It is the joy of the heart of G.o.d to forgive us our sins.
Yes, G.o.d delights in pardoning iniquity and transgression. It gratifies and glorifies Him to pour into the broken and contrite heart the precious balm of His own pardoning love and mercy. He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up, and bruised Him on the cursed tree, in order that He might be able, in perfect righteousness, to let the rich streams of grace flow forth from His large, loving heart, to the poor, guilty, self-destroyed, conscience-smitten sinner.
But should it be that the reader still feels disposed to inquire how he may have the a.s.surance that this blessed remission of sins--this fruit of Christ"s atoning work--applies to him, let him hearken to those magnificent words which flowed from the lips of the risen Saviour as He commissioned the earliest heralds of His grace.--"And He said unto them, "Thus it is written, and thus _it was necessary_ for Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."" (Luke xxiv. 46, 47.)
Here we have the great and glorious commission--its basis, its authority, its sphere. Christ has suffered. This is the meritorious ground of remission of sins. Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins; but by the shedding of blood, _and by it alone_, there is remission of sins--a remission as full and complete as the precious blood of Christ is fitted to effect.
But where is the authority? "_It is written._" Blessed, indisputable authority! Nothing can ever shake it. I know, on the solid authority of the Word of G.o.d, that my sins are all forgiven, all blotted out, all gone forever, all cast behind G.o.d"s back, so that they can never, by any possibility, rise against me.