Romans 5:1-11.
1. 1884 137.
"Great and glorious promises indeed," some may say, "but who can boast of possessing and realizing them?" Dear reader, all these promises have been accomplished long since by and in Him, in whom all the promises of God are "yea" and "amen" for the glory of God by us. Those glorious things mentioned above, for the possession and realisation of which many an upright soul, in ignorance of the full truth of the gospel, has longed and sighed with prayers and tears, are the sure and present portion of every believer, who in childlike faith accepts the testimony of God's word, as to the perfect person of His Son Jesus Christ, and the eternal redemption accomplished by Him. It is thus he appropriates these precious truths.
The real impediment to such an appropriation by simple faith exists, I need scarcely say, not on the part of God and of His unchangeable word. It lies solely on our (i.e., the human) side; for we are so inclined to look at our own poor hearts and their constantly changing deceiving feelings, or to trust our unreliable experiences and our poor foolish understanding, instead of confiding in God and His word, as the sole, eternal and immoveable foundation of truth. If we look at the human side (i.e., our feelings, our experiences, or our understanding of the truth), where are we to find peace, light, hope, or joy? We might just as well look for peace in the midst of a battle, or for sunshine by night, or talk of hope in a shipwreck, when the ship is sinking and no shore nor lifeboat near, or of joy at a funeral. In looking at the human side, i.e., ourselves, all is uncertain, fluctuating, and dark. But if we look at the divine side, i.e., at God and His Son Jesus Christ the only true and possible Mediator between God and men, and simply believe the testimony of His word as to the value and virtue of His perfect atoning sacrifice and redemption work, all is sure, clear, and settled.
For the sake of such as have not been able hitherto to enjoy true solid peace with God and the blessings resulting therefrom, as mentioned at the head of this paper, I offer a few remarks, which, under God's grace, may be blessed to them.
First of all it appears necessary to be fully clear as to the true meaning of the term, "Peace with God."
What does it mean, to have "peace with God"? To be clear about this question, let us first ask what is the meaning of the word "peace"? This word is used pretty much in the same sense in the spiritual as in the natural way.
The word "peace" has a three-fold meaning. — It signifies:
1. The opposite of trouble;
2. The opposite of enmity and war, and
3. The opposite of wrath, punishment, or judgment ("Thy sins are forgiven. Go in peace." Luke 7:50).
Through sin man has lost peace in all these three aspects. Sin has robbed him of his inward peace, and given him instead of it a troubled guilty conscience and a restless, never-satisfied heart. Sin has robbed him also of his outward peace. Our first parents before the fall had enjoyed that outward and inward peace in the paradise in a life without care and trouble. But Adam fell, and the lord of the earth, reduced to the stooping posture of a labouring bondman, had to wrest, in the sweat of his face, his food from the earth, which yielded him not only herbs for nourishment, but also thistles and thorns, as the rods of chastisement and constant mementos of his fall.
But sin has not only deprived man of his inward and outward peace, in the first of the three meanings of that word, as mentioned above. It has filled his heart with distrust and enmity against God, and thus made him an enemy of God. That enmity, which in the world is now ripening fast towards its full development to culminate, at a not very distant time, in a general war of rebellion against the "Lord of Lords," and "King of kings" (Rev. 19), we find immediately after the fall at work in Adam's heart (Gen. 3:12), who lays his sin, so to speak, at God's door. Thus man fallen not only became a sinner but an enemy of God (Rom. 5:8, 10), and "the way of peace he has not known" (Rom. 3:17).
God, who is "Holy, Holy, Holy," could not leave sin unpunished. A bit of clay wanted to be like God. The creature had rebelled against His majesty, and dared to doubt His love and truth, in believing the arch-enemy and liar, who essayed to instill suspicion against God. The sentence of death, announced to man in case of disobedience, was now pronounced over Adam and Eve; and they were banished forever from the paradise of earthly happiness, the access to which and to the tree of life was henceforth barred by the flaming sword of the Cherubim. The Damocles-sword of death was suspended over man. The peace and safety of the paradise had vanished forever.
But God be praised! no sooner has He pronounced over fallen man the penalty for sin, when immediately after, in His judgment upon the serpent, within hearing of our fallen parents though not speaking to them — for God cannot make light of sin, as the cross of His dear Son proves — He announces the way of salvation in His Son, "the woman's Seed," who was to bruise the serpent's head, abolish death, and bring to light life and incorruption by the gospel. And when Adam's first-born had become the murderer of his brother, and the earth soon began to fill with violence and corruption, and after the deluge, with idolatry; and when, after the lapse of four thousand years, man's probation terminated in the rejection, expulsion, and crucifixion of the last Adam, even the Son of God, and Satan the prince and god of this world appeared to triumph: it was then and there we know, that the promise, given in paradise, was fulfilled, and Satan's defeat accomplished. The same precious blood of the Son of God which was the proof of man's complete guilt and irreparable ruin, was according to God's wondrous counsels of grace, the means of putting away all guilt and sin for everyone who believes in that precious blood, which "cleanseth from all sin." But at the same time the cross, where Satan appeared to triumph, was the means of his complete defeat. For he who through Adam's fall had acquired the power of death, was brought to naught through death, by Him who being "the woman's Seed" triumphed on the cross over Satan, that old serpent, "spoiling principalities and powers, and making a show of them openly" (Col. 2:15).
But the cross of Jesus Christ, as it procured and was the blessed accomplishment of the promise given in paradise, at the same time filled up the measure of man's sins. Therefore "the last Adam," who is "the Lord from heaven," before He became obedient unto the death of the cross, repeated the sentence pronounced upon the first Adam in paradise, though increased and intensified by those solemn words: "Now is the judgment of this world." But, — blessed be His name, — He did not fail, even then to add the promise of redeeming grace and love. "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." And later on the Holy Ghost repeats the sentence of death pronounced in paradise, though with a terribly solemn addition, saying, "And as it is appointed unto men, once to die, but after this the judgment." Jesus, before He was crucified, had announced the judgment upon this world, to be settled in that terrific series of judgments recorded in the closing book of Holy writ. But the same book of Revelation instructs us as to the meaning of the Spirit when adding the solemn words, "but after this the judgment" (Rev. 20:11-15). We there find that these words, "but after this the judgment," mean nothing less than "the second death," which is "the lake of fire," "where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched."
Yet even there (Heb. 9:27-28) the wondrous grace of God does not only say, "And as it is appointed unto men, once to die, but after this the judgment," but the Holy Spirit adds: "So Christ, once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear the second time without sin for salvation to those that look for him."
The first part of that announcement of divine grace for penitent sinners, so closely following upon the pronouncing of the sentence of divine justice, we find in the closing verse of ch. 4 of our Epistle, (Rom. 4), as having been accomplished by the work of Christ, "Who has been delivered for our offences and has been raised for our justification."
Mark, believing reader. It is not said here, "Who has been delivered for our sins," but for our "offences." We know that Christ died for our sins. Why then does the Spirit of God say here "for our offences"? God intends to give us in this blessed portion of His word the clear and full assurance that the sacrifice of His Son is so precious and fully availing in His sight, that even if we look at sin in its worst aspect of "offence" or "transgression" of God's distinct and express commandments (i.e., of insubordination against His will, and rebellion against His majesty), the redemption work of His Son Jesus Christ, whose blood cleanses from all sin, is so fully availing before His holy eye, that it has effected a full atonement and perfect clearance as to all and every debt of sin, for every one who believes.
Let us take a case from common life. It is always wrong for children to run about in bad company in the streets at night. But suppose some careless parents had not forbidden their boy to do so, his act, wrong as it might be in itself, would not be regarded as open disobedience, or transgression of a positive commandment, and consequently contempt of parental authority. But if the boy in spite of the express prohibition of his father had been running about in the streets, at night, his act wrong and improper in itself would assume the aggravated character of positive disobedience and rebellion against the will and authority of his father. This then appears to me to be the reason why the Holy Spirit in Rom. 4:25 does not use the word "sins" but "offences." It is to give to the sinner repentant but believing the happy assurance, removing the last shadow of fear, that God in all the just and righteous claims of His majesty, so shamefully outraged by us, and of His holiness, righteousness, and truth, against all of which we had sinned so grievously, has been so fully met and satisfied by the death of His Son who was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, that on that cross "mercy and truth are met together," and "righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (Psalm 85:10). Therefore the father could "kiss" his returning prodigal son. Reader, have you felt that "kiss of peace" of the Father? You receive it in the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. In ch. 8 we get the "best garment" and the "ring" and the "shoes."
One word more before we enter upon the fifth chap. In the last verse of ch. iv. the apostle continues, "and has been raised for our justification." Why is it not said, "for the forgiveness of our sins"? We know that "we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace" (Eph. 1:7), and that if Christ was not raised, we are still in our sins (1 Cor. 15). Why then do we find in this verse nothing of sins, but only "offences"? and why "justification"?
The first part of this question, why "offences" instead of sins? we have just answered. But why does the Spirit of God speak here of "justification" instead of "forgiveness of sins?" Simply for the same reason that "offences" was said instead of "sins." The work of Jesus Christ is so precious in the sight of God, and has so fully met and satisfied all His righteous claims, that it has not only wrought a full atonement for our sins, even when looked at in their worst aspect, but absolutely cleared away the debt of the debtor, so that he through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ is considered justified, as if he had never been a guilty sinner or a debtor! The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the proof of it. He is not only the "First-born from among the dead," but also the "Firstborn of many brethren." How infinitely richer and greater than human grace is the grace of God! If a criminal of this world has spent some years in prison and commended himself by a penitent spirit and good conduct to the prison authorities, he is permitted in some countries to return home before the term of his penalty has expired. He then receives a "ticket of leave," and goes to his home "on leave," where he for the remainder of the time of his penalty is under the surveillance of the police, with the brand of shame as a "ticket-of-leave man" upon him. And should his conduct not satisfy the expectations of the authorities, he is liable to be sent back to prison. Is this the way that God pardons sinners and criminals? (and what criminals!) Does He send them into the world with Cain's mark of shame upon them? John 20:19–21, and the fifth chapter of our precious Epistle furnish us with the answer.
Let us now pass from the last verse of Rom. 4 the threshold as it were of the fifth chapter, to a closer meditation on the latter.
2. 1884 187.
At the very entrance of chap. 5 we find peace with God for all who have been justified by faith in the quickening power of God and in His word. This peace with God is the first result of the work of Christ mentioned in the last verse of the preceding chapter, our justification by faith being connected with the verse before (24) of that chapter. First comes justification before God, then peace with God. Both do not necessarily always take place at the same time, I do not mean on God's side but on the side, i.e. in the soul, of the believer. The first word of our risen Saviour in the midst of His own was: "PEACE!" but not only peace, but "peace unto you!" — "And when He had so said, He showed them His hands and His side," i.e. He pointed to His wounds, to His accomplished redemption work, as the fountain and foundation of their salvation and peace with God. Thus the disciples beheld in their Risen Saviour at the same time before their wondering eyes the work and person of Jesus, who had made peace by the blood of His cross, and whom God in His redeeming love had delivered for their — and our — offences, and in divine power had raised again for their — and our — justification.
Over our Saviour's empty grave arose peacefully the sun, reflecting the glory of His Father who had raised Him from the dead, gilding with its beams the dark entrance of the grave and the stone, on which the heavenly messenger of resurrection in his long white garment was seated (Mark 16:2-5). Not a single cloud on the blue sky. The last grumbling of the thunder from Sinai has died away; for the handwriting of ordinances that was against us had been nailed to the cross, where Jesus, who had magnified the law and had borne its curse, had been made a curse for us. The wrath of God, who is a consuming fire, had spent itself at the cross upon the "Son of His love," when He who knew no sin, was made sin for us; and when He, whom none could convince of sin, "Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree," when He, who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows, was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, when the chastisement of our peace was upon Him that by His stripes we might be healed. God's majesty which we had offended, His righteousness contrary to which we had acted, His holiness against which we had sinned and His truth which we had dared to belie, had been so fully met on the cross, and satisfied in all their inalienable claims, that God raised His Son from the dead, not only because this was due to Him in His threefold character, (1.) as Son of Man, (2.) as Son of David, and (3.) as Son of God (compare Acts 2:24 -28, 30-32, 34; Rom. 1:3-4), but because He, who as our Substitute had been "delivered for our offences," must be raised for our justification, not only as the "first-born from among the dead," but as the "first-born of many brethren." Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
It was on the cross that God's "mercy and truth met together," and "righteousness and peace kissed each other." Therefore God could bid His sun of peace rise over the empty tomb of His Son, until the risen One Himself with His own eyes brought His mourning disciples the joyful message of peace. Conqueror in the most awful of all battles, He appeared in their midst, and announced to them the first result of His sufferings and death: "PEACE UNTO YOU!"
From the deep waters of death that had been beneath and around Him, and from the fiery billows of Jehovah that had rolled over His head, when deep called unto deep at the noise of His water-spouts, when all His waves and His billows had gone over Him, Jesus had come up victoriously.
"Peace" was the first word of our risen Saviour. Peace, "peace with God," the Holy Ghost repeats at the very entrance of our chapter, as the first result of the work and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, mentioned at the close of the chapter preceding. "Grace to you and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ," is the apostolic and heavenly greeting through the Spirit of God to the divers churches.
"Grace and mercy through the Son,
Is the answer from the throne."
This "peace with God," mark, christian reader, does not depend upon our feelings nor our experiences, but rather produces them suitably. More than eighteen hundred years ago that "peace" was made. It rests on the work of Jesus Christ, and is inseparably connected with it. By that redemption work of His Son, accomplished on the cross, God has been fully satisfied in all His claims, and therefore we, who are justified by faith, have peace with God. When Jesus bowed His head upon the cross and said, "It is finished," God from heaven pronounced His "yea" and "Amen," by rending in two from the top to the bottom the veil that was in the temple, and which had hitherto been the partition between His holy presence and the sinner. A man would have rent it from the bottom to the top; God rent it from the top to the bottom, as a sign that He in all His claims of divine righteousness, holiness and truth has been so fully met and satisfied through the sacrifice of His Son, that henceforth there was no more separation wall between Him and even the vilest sinner, who has no other passport but the Name, and no other title to present to God but the blood, of His Son Jesus Christ which cleanseth from all sin.
I repeat, reader, that our peace with God does not rest upon our feelings, nor upon our experiences, but on the atoning sacrifice and redemption work of Jesus Christ, which has been accomplished once for all. Therefore our peace with God (not with ourselves) is just as firm and secure and as eternally founded, as is the precious foundation itself, on which it rests. If I were to found that peace upon my poor heart and its constantly changing feelings and experiences, I might just as well found it on the high and low tide of the sea. At high tide the ship enters the harbour with all sails set, and after a few hours at low tide it lies helpless on one side in the mud! How many who seek peace with themselves, i.e. with their own poor heart, instead of with God, find themselves in this lamentable condition; while there are others, who knowing well that "he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool" (Prov. 28:26), are yet seeking to make their peace with God dependent on the work of the Holy Spirit within them, and thus confound the work of the Son of God accomplished on the cross for us, with the work of the Spirit of God within us, — again looking at their own hearts only in another way. They forget, that not the Holy Ghost, but Jesus Christ, is our Saviour. The work of Jesus Christ is a work of salvation and redemption, which has been accomplished without, or outside us, once for all. The work of the Spirit of God is a work of sanctification, continually going on within us, who have been justified by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, and in the power of God who raised Him from the dead, and thus we have peace with God.
This reminds me of a christian lady, of whom I once read, who had long tried to make her peace with God dependent upon her feelings. She was upright in all her endeavours but felt all the more miserable. But "unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness," and their "end is peace." One night she dreamt that she was rolling down a steep hill towards a deep precipice. In her distress she caught hold of a small projecting branch at the mouth of the pit, and cried, "Lord Jesus, save me!" A voice from the deep answered her, "Let go the twig." "Why, it is my only support to keep me from falling." Again she cried with a louder voice, "Lord Jesus, save me!" The same voice again answered, "Let go the twig.
"Impossible!" she thought, "I cannot let go the twig: it would be certain destruction." For the third time she cried in extreme agony, "Lord Jesus, have mercy upon me; save me." And again the same voice replied, "Unless you let go the twig, you cannot be saved!" She then let go the twig, and fell down — right into the arms of her Saviour. She awoke; and it did not cost her much trouble to understand and realize the truth conveyed to her by that dream. The little twig to which she had clung, and which she had made her refuge, was her own heart with its changing and unreliable feelings, which she had trusted rather than her Lord and Saviour, and His ever perfect valid redemption work. She had built her peace upon sand; but now she rested it on Christ, who has made peace and is our peace.
3. 1885 214.
We have seen how firm and immovable (because divine) is the foundation on which our peace with God rests, and how vain every attempt to obtain it in our own (i.e., human) way, instead of that ordained by God. That peace with God we acquire by faith, which does not look at our poor heart, but at God and His Son Jesus Christ, and His written word and testimony as to the complete and all-sufficient work of Jesus Christ, and finds rest and peace there, where God Himself rests, for ever satisfied in all His claims.
God then by His Spirit fills the heart, of one who has been justified by faith and become a child of God, "with joy and peace in believing;" so that in the quiet assurance of faith we may enjoy that peace procured by Jesus Christ. Every believer, who has peace with God, knows this from God's own word (Rom. 15:13) and from his own experience, which is 'very different from making that peace with God dependent upon our experience and feelings.
True peace is deep and lasting and something far more solid than mere joy, which often is of a transitory and superficial nature. Peace with God, on the contrary, rests on that which has been settled for evermore. In Matt. 13 the Lord refers to a class of souls who receive the word with joy, yet wither and fall away when the heat of tribulation and persecution arises. Where the grace of God is perceived, and self for a moment lost sight of, there may be much joy, without the conscience being purged, and therefore there is no peace. The eye of faith looks at God and His Son Jesus Christ; unbelief looks at I self and our own heart.
I have dwelt more explicitly on this first part of our blessed relationship to God, which forms the subject of our meditations, because it is the foundation for all that follows; true enjoyment and realisation would be impossible without a clear perception, by faith, of this foundation. Thus it will be possible to deal more concisely with the following, though no less blessed, privileges of grace, they being the natural result, as has just been said, of an unbroken peace with God, and closely connected with it. — Concerning then,
1. Our past, we have peace with God. All our past) that is, everything connected with the old man, not only the sins, committed by us, but also sin, which is in us, that is, all that we are by nature) has been dealt with, put away and settled as to every believer. The result of it is: Perfect unbroken peace with God.
2. As to the present: Jesus Christ, through whom we have peace with God, has also, as being our living way, opened up for us an access to God's blessed presence in the unclouded sunshine of His favour. As that dying believer triumphantly exclaimed,
"Not a spot within,
Not a cloud above."
"Yes, such cases there are indeed," I hear some readers of the old school say, "on the deathbed of some pious Christians, where God in His mercy grants them such a peaceful cloudless sunset after many struggles and earnest wrestling in prayer. But as to me, I have not yet attained to being able to say, 'Not a spot within, not a cloud above.'" To such I can only say: The difference between us, dear friend, is just this: you are speaking of the sunset, and I of the sunrise. You have been taught to look at that unbroken peace with God and the unclouded sunshine connected therewith, as being the goal of a Christian's course of life, whilst I, and I trust many of the christian readers of these pages, have learnt, through the grace of God and from His own word, to look at it as the starting post of our christian race. In the very first verse of our chapter (5) of the Epistle to the Romans we find this unbroken peace with God. Every one who simply believes what is written in the word of God, that "the blood of His Son Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin," and that those who thus worship God have no more conscience of sins, and therefore, liberty to enter into the holiest through the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He has consecrated through the veil, that is to say, His flesh, is enabled already now to chime in with the triumphal strain of that dying christian man.
"Not a spot within,
Not a cloud above."
Many souls confound "no more conscience of sins" with consciousness of sins, and thus are kept in a constant state of uncertainty. Only the true christian worshipper can draw nigh into God's thrice holy presence with a perfect conscience, i.e. a conscience which has been thoroughly purged through the blood of Jesus Christ. How could we otherwise dare as worshippers to approach Him before Whom even His holy angels cover their faces? It would be nothing less than the most daring and unholy boldness, to approach God as worshippers even with one single spot on our conscience; just as it would be a gross affront to the majesty of a king, if anyone would dare to appear in his presence in an unclean attire, or even with one spot upon it. The brilliancy of the light surrounding the person of the King would at once expose the spot, and the irreverent intruder expelled into the darkness without.
What then does it mean to have "no more conscience of sins "? (Heb. 10:2.) It simply means that the conscience of the worshipper who approaches God has been so thoroughly purged, that is, made perfect through the precious blood of Jesus Christ which "cleanseth from all sin," that the worshipper, in drawing nigh, can appear there without any consciousness of guilt upon him, — yea, justified (Rom. 5:1), fearless; nay, with holy boldness and perfect confidence and liberty. For he knows that the perfect light of God's holy presence, which would expose the smallest speck or stain, makes manifest the precious blood sprinkled on the mercy-seat and before it, which has cleansed him from every sin. The blood was sprinkled on the mercy-seat in the sight of God, who looks at the blood, and not at the sin that has been put away by the blood. It was sprinkled before the mercy-seat in the sight of the approaching worshipper, as a proof that God will "no more remember his sins and transgressions." Thus the worshipper can appear and stand before God with a purged conscience without any sense of guilt, that is, with a perfect conscience.
But it is not only with a perfect conscience that the christian worshipper, — one who has peace with God, appears before Him, but also with perfect (though holy) liberty and confidence of heart. If God (in Heb. 10:17) had only said, "I will pardon your sins and transgressions" (not bring you into judgment for them), it would give peace to the conscience, but not to the heart. It would be similar to a child who having offended its father, but repented of and confessed its sin, had obtained pardon and freedom from punishment. The child then would appear without fear in the presence of its father, having no longer an evil conscience before him. But suppose he saw in the face of his father — no cloud indeed, but — sadness at the offence that had been committed, what would be the effect? The conscience of the child would be at peace and free before his father, but his heart would not feel free and at liberty in his presence, he would be shy and would keep at a distance. But if on the contrary the child perceived by the smiling face of the father, that he had not only forgiven the offence, but did not longer think of it, he would approach his father with a free and confident heart and with a grateful and joyful face, and enjoy, as hitherto, the father's love and favour without hindrance, though with a humbled and chastened joy, which would not in the least impede his liberty, and only give it its proper subdued and reverential character.
4. 1885 232.
Only we must not, as I have said already, confound "consciousness of sins" with "conscience of sins." The worshipper once purged, has no more conscience of sins in the presence of God. He knows, that if God would impute to him even one single sin, this would involve nothing less than judgment and condemnation. "Lord, enter not into judgment with thy servant." But he knows also that God has imputed all his sins to Jesus in the judgment executed on the cross, and that He therefore neither can nor will impute them again to us. "There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." He has therefore no more conscience i.e. consciousness of guilt before God as Judge. He no longer dreads the light of His holy presence, which penetrates and lays bare everything; but he loves it (if he walks in sincerity, though in conscious weakness before God), and desires that this light, formerly so dreaded, and rightly so, should shine into every corner of his inner man and discover there everything contrary to that light of God's holiness and grace, in order that he may not only discover, but at once judge it in God's presence.
It is just because such a worshipper, "once purged," has peace with God and "no more conscience of sins," and no longer dreads the light of His presence when approaching Him, that he has an all the more humbling deeper consciousness of his own sinfulness, and of every sin, by which he might have been overtaken at an unguarded moment from want of watchfulness and prayer. For the same light, which instead of fearing it, he now invites to shine into every secret recess, or may be idol-closet, of his heart (perhaps unknown to himself), and there to lay bare everything inconsistent with it, that it may be judged and put away — the same light, I say, in all searching and manifesting power, keeps him constantly in the humbling consciousness of his own sinfulness and weakness and entire dependence upon the abundant grace of God in Christ Jesus, without whom "we can do nothing," but through whom we "can do all things." At the same time the consciousness of that grace strengthens his heart and fills it with joyful gratitude towards God.
Thus our being conscious of our sinfulness and failures has nothing to do with a perfect conscience once for all purged in the presence of God by the blood of Jesus Christ; nor with our relationship to God, which rests upon the divinely solid basis of the work of Christ; nor with our position before God, which is inseparably connected with the power of Christ, although it is the necessary consequence of it in every upright Christian.
I have thought it necessary, more closely to enter upon this difference between consciousness of sin in ourselves and conscience of sins before God, as the confounding these two truths tends to keep so many dear souls of God's children at a fearful distance from God, instead of following His gracious invitation to "draw near to Him with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water" (Heb. 10:22).
A believer, who as a worshipper once purged has peace with God, has therefore not to wait till he comes to die (if he does not wait for the fulfillment of a better hope) to be able to say
"Not a spot within,"
for he knows it is his blessed privilege to say this from the moment he has found peace with God. But he is also able to add
"Not a cloud above."
Even the smallest shadow of a cloud of judgment has disappeared, and the sun of God's grace and favour now shines on us with full splendour. As we have found peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by Him, (as our living way,) we have also access to God, to His God and our God, to His Father and our Father, — unimpeded access to the divine favour of His and our Father. By Christ we are just as welcome in His presence as His own beloved Son Himself, for we are "accepted in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6). But as the Epistle to the Romans rather deals with what we are through Christ in our relationship and access to God, and not with what we are in Christ as to our position before God in glory (of which the apostle speaks in his Epistle to the Ephesians and other Epistles), we will not enter here upon the truth of our position before God in Christ. We hope to do so later, if the Lord will. Suffice it, for the present, to know that through Jesus Christ we have an ever open access to the unclouded sunshine of the divine favour, in which we stand.
"Unclouded!" we again hear some or other of our readers exclaiming: "this, at all events, is not my experience. I must confess, that clouds often appear to come between God and me, and hide His gracious face from me." But whence, dear reader, come those clouds that hide the sun? Do they come from the sun or from the earth? From the earth of course. And whence comes those clouds of doubt and unbelief, that appear to hide God's face from you? Do they come from God or from you? Certainly, you would not dare to say, they come from God. For it would be nothing less than charging God with that which is the work of the tempter and of the natural evil heart, or of ignorance of our salvation in Christ Jesus. "But," said a lady once to me, "Does not every believer make the experience of such cloudy hours of doubts and uncertainty? And is it not constantly with us a going up and down, as it were? Nay, do not those very doubts and fears prove the existence of spiritual life in us? For if we were unconverted, i.e. spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, we should have no such doubts at all. As our good man said the other day: 'If you never doubt, I doubt of you.'" I answered her in the words of another "good man:" "You might just as well say, If someone has rheumatism or the ague, it is a sign that he is alive: for if he were dead, he would have neither rheumatism nor the ague. But you might just as well live, and much better too, without suffering from those diseases."
All this is but the sad effect of that Jewish-Christian religious system, which is a mixture of law and grace, under whose yoke so many of God's blessed children are sighing in an uncertain disconsolate twilight, groping their way between darkness and light, instead of enjoying with the unanswerable assurance of faith the bright and warm sunshine of our God and Father's favour, "in which we stand," and to which we have constant access through our Lord Jesus Christ. May He, who is "the Son, who maketh truly free," have pity on such, and make them free through the power of His word.
High above those fogs and clouds of doubts and fears for so many hearts, sincere but misguided through false religious teaching, the cloudless sun of divine grace and favour shines on all His beloved children. How sad, that so many of them should exclude from themselves the light and warmth of that glorious Sun of divine love and grace, through such clouds of doubt and unbelief, arising from the poor natural heart! May God grant them light, simplicity of faith, unbroken peace and thus the enjoyment of the unclouded sunlight of His favour, according to His abundant grace in Christ Jesus.
5. 1885 281.
3. "'We rejoice in hope of the glory of God." How different from the hopes of the world is this hope! It does not, like human hopes, end on this side of the grave in painful disappointment, but reaches beyond death and the grave up to the glory of God, where faith will be changed into sight, and hope into possession, and love "abide for ever." Whilst the natural man, even if he, like Saul of Tarsus, had reached the highest round of the religious ladder of human attainments, "comes short of the glory of God," in that "all have sinned" (Rom. 3:23), the youngest child of God, who today for the first time has learnt to stammer, "Abba, Father," and justified by faith, has found peace with God, is able to say with a heavenward look of joyful gratitude:
"To what glory and bliss,
Blessed God, I am come!
In a world like this
Thy child to become!
As fading as an autumn leaf,
Poor dust — of many sinners chief —
And yet so highly honoured!
In Christ I am view'd
With a Father's smile;
With raiment endued,
Like bridal attire.
In Christ, my Righteousness, I'm clothed,
To Him, Thine own dear Son, betrothed,
And call Thee, "Abba, Father."
Come want, grief, or pain?
I take them to Thee;
Then nothing can pain,
When coming from Thee.
I am Thy child, O blissful thought!
And as Thine heir, to glory brought,
Shall reign with Christ in glory."
Man's path of life from the cradle to the grave, is strewn with dead hopes. The natural man rejoices and glories in his worldly hopes, which are set on the vain glories and perishable beauties of this world. But his joy is turned into bitterness, and his glorying into shame. When he believes he has reached the desired object of his hope, behold, it is, as everything under the sun, "vanity and vexation of spirit." But christian hope, like christian faith, begins there where the world's faith and hope cease, i.e. beyond and above the sun, where the glories of God and the Lamb do dwell. And as sure as is the Christian's faith, as sure is his hope. Neither of them can ever be disappointed. The man of this world says, "I see, therefore I believe." The Christian says, "I believe, therefore I see." This world's faith does not go beyond the range of its telescopes and microscopes. Christian faith says, "Where your telescopes and microscopes cease, there my faith begins." The child of this age says, "I have the best prospect of soon reaching the object of my hope, for I possess all the means for doing so." The child of God replies, "What, if God should say to you, 'Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee?' Whose will it all be? Thank God, I can say, 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for' us."
The hopes of this world resemble those fabled "apples of Sodom," that were said to grow on the shores of the "Dead Sea," once the site of voluptuous and libidinous Sodom. They were of an enticing appearance; but when the thirsty traveller greedily stretched out his hand to the lovely fruit and seized it to quench his thirst, it crumbled into little fragments under his grasp. The attractive fruit was nothing but a thin hollow shell, containing nothing but a little dust and ashes! It was "vanity and vexation of spirit." What a picture of this world's deceptive hopes! What a contrast to the Christian's never-deceiving hope, and to Christ Himself, "Who is our hope" and has procured for us through His cross and victorious resurrection that "living hope," even our incorruptible, undefiled and unfading inheritance reserved in heaven.
"The heavens now we open see,
O Christ, since Thine ascension;
Thou art our living Way, and we
Draw nigh to God. Those mansions
Will soon receive us, faith knows well,
Where we'll for ever with Thee dwell,
Who hast our place prepared.
And if our Head in heaven we see,
Thy members, Lord, we know it,
Can ne'er from heaven excluded be,
Thou'lt leave not one below it:
Where Thou art now, we soon shall be,
And, glorified, Thy beauty see
With joy and praise unceasing.
Thou radiant Light in heaven above,
Our hope and joy and treasure!
Beyond earth's richest treasure throve
Beyond all price and measure.
Our way is open to the throne
What heavenly wealth, what glorious home
Are ours through grace in Jesus!"
1885 295 Yes, beloved, our blessed Lord and Saviour is our Head in glory, Who has promised, "In my Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." He will soon (and oh, how soon!) come again to accomplish His blessed promise.
This world with all its vanities, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, will, like a rare apple of Sodom, one day collapse into dust and ashes in the fire of God's true and righteous judgment. But long — more than a thousand years — before that awful day arrives, our Saviour will come for us, Whom we expect from heaven, where our conversation or citizenship is: "For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry." At His quickening word of command, His sleeping saints of all ages will arise from the dust of their graves in glorious bodies, in a moment — in the twinkling of an eye. At the same moment these corruptible "bodies of humiliation" of ours will be transformed into the likeness of His own glorious body, and He will lead us to the mansions in His Father's house. "Behold, I and the children which God hath given me."
His great "new name," that glorious name of JESUS, which is above every Name; that name at which every knee shall bow, of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the earth — that precious Name will then in the blaze of glory be written on the foreheads of His servants.
And when the day shall appear, when the Lord will "make up His jewels" (Malachi 3:17), every tear wept for His sake will then shine like a diamond in the sunlight of His face, "when He will come to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in all them that believed." Then the countless hosts of His saints will fitly reflect His beauty, as the dewdrops in the field at the rising of the sun; like precious jewels, in variegated colours reflecting the glory of the heavenly orb.
And what is it, beloved, that enables those tiny dewdrops to reflect the light of that glorious orb, the splendour of which blinds the human eye? Is it not because those little drops are pure and free of earthly alloy? They come from heaven, and therefore are able to reflect heavenly glory. Thus it will be with the saints, the Lord's servants, when they shall appear with Him in glory, each "clothed upon with our house which is from heaven," in glorified bodies — the livery of glory, the "gala-uniform," as it were, of the servants and soldiers of Christ. Then there will be no more impediment in their bodies, no earthly nor fleshly alloy, no intrusion of vain-glorious self in our poor little service, to impede our reflecting the glories of the once-despised Jesus of Nazareth, when He, Whose "visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men," shall appear from heaven with all His saints, to "sprinkle many nations;" and "His face as the sun shineth in his strength," yet "with healing in his wings," for His earthly people. Oh, what a radiant reflex of His glory and beauty will His servants then be! How different from what we are now! Would to God, we were now more like dewdrops — little, pure and empty, i.e. clear of alloy! What different lights we then should be, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, and in what different ways should we now reflect the beauties and perfections of Christ in such a world and in days like these!
May we learn, in the power of an ungrieved Spirit (that "Spirit of glory, which rests upon us" and is "the earnest of our inheritance"), more truly to "rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
I pray the kind indulgence of my christian reader and fellow-heir of glory, for having introduced some hymns in this part of our meditations. Hymns are not scripture, it is true; but they often serve to convey the precious truths of Holy Writ with renewed freshness to the heart, carrying it on the wings of joyful praise, heavenward, Godward, Christward. When spring comes, the jubilant lark rises heavenward. And should not we sing when He, Who is our hope, is so near? The weary wanderer, on sighting the battlements of his native town, forgets his weariness, and with song and winged steps hastens towards the goal of his desire and hope.
"Jerusalem on high,
…
The grace that made me Thine."
We thus have Peace, Grace, Hope, expressing the believer's past, present, and future: as to the past unbroken peace with God; as to the present, the unclouded sunshine of His favour; as to the future, the never-to-be-disappointed hope of the glory of God. May that calm and secure peace, that blessed and establishing grace, and that cheering hope, shine out more and more in our walk and daily life!
We now proceed to the fourth part of the subject of our meditations: "Joyful tribulations."
6. 1885 329.
We now come to a very different part in the spiritual life of a child of God, I mean the school of tribulations, so distasteful to the natural heart.
The same wondrous love and grace of God, which has secured for us above an inalienably safe portion, and infinite blessings through and in Jesus Christ, and on the unchangeable foundation of His finished work of eternal redemption — blessings ordained from eternity and secured for eternity, have also to carry on a work within us, and whilst here below, in the school of tribulations, to enable us, during our journey through this barren wilderness, to realise those blessings, and to put away every thing around or within us that would prevent our enjoyment of them, and our corresponding faithful witness and godly walk.
Many might be inclined to think, "Perfect peace with God with regard to the past, and unchanging divine favour as to the present, and a secure hope of glory as to the future, for all eternity — what do I want more?" Stop, there is something more. God, in His unsearchable wisdom, grace and love, has something else in. store for you and me, christian reader, not up there, but down here in the wilderness.
"And not only so, but we rejoice also in tribulations." Certainly, it is something beautiful to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. But to rejoice in tribulations is a very different thing. The Israelites sang a lofty song of praise to Jehovah, when God had led His people dry-shod through the Red Sea to the shore of safety and deliverance, after they had seen the returning waves covering Pharaoh and his numberless chariots, horses and horsemen. But what do we find at the end of the same chapter? Scarcely had the last note of that high triumphant song of redemption died away, when close upon its heels followed the murmuring, for "they came to Marah," and "they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter." So did Israel, the earthly people of God. And what about us, His heavenly people, dear christian reader? "These things are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come." How much nearer, than that of Israel, is our relationship to God! How much higher and more perfect our position, our vocation, our hope; and how incomparably greater are our blessings than those of Israel! The difference is just as wide as that between heaven and earth. And have we, when coming to "Marah," murmured like Israel? Or have we, perhaps, after having sung a hymn of praise at the Lord's table, on the resurrection-day of our Lord, murmured the next hour, when coming to some bitter water? It is well to sing:
Jesus Christ, the Lord, is risen;
He has made the sea dry land;
Our pursuer is drowned, defeated,
All his power in vain was spent.
Free, unfetter'd,
Joyfully gather'd,
We on safety's shore now stand.
Egypt's mighty legions slain!
Even death's become our gain.
Death, whose fear did once enslave us,
Death, the slayer of every one
Who from his dread power could save us?
He, in whom Life's light here shone.
Watchmen prostrate,
Seal and stone-gate,
Grave's securing bolts withdrawn!
Lo! death's jaws are empty now:
Triumph crowns the Victor's brow.
But there are some other no less happy songs in the wilderness, the singing of which requires some practical training in God's school of tribulations; for instance,
Dost Thou, my God, through deserts lead me?
I follow, leaning on Thy hand.
From clouds the bread comes down to feed me,
And waters from the rock descend.
Thy ways I trust, whilst onward pressing;
I know they end in peace and blessing.
Thou with me art: this is enough!
Thou leadest downward, humblest, bendest
Those whom to honour Thou intendest
Beyond the sun and stars above.
It is a fine thing to rise above the pressure of circumstances in the power of faith; it is quite another thing, to bend in patience under them and learn that christian endurance, which can only be made our own in the school of God. Flesh and nature do not relish the crucible, and to those who have not peace with God, the tempter often whispers: "God is against you. He deals as Judge with you for your sins, which proves that your sins are unforgiven and that you are none of His children. This is only a foretaste of the eternal judgment awaiting you, if you should die with this disease, or if your heart should break under this crushing blow God has inflicted upon you."
"Not at all," says the child of God that enjoys peace with Him. "God is for me, and for this very reason He has sent me these trials, for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth … for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? God is dealing with me as a Father, not as a Judge."
Take a case from common life, to make this clear. Suppose a judge has had to sentence some one for theft to some years' penal servitude; when coming home he finds that one of his sons has robbed him of a sum of money. How does he meet the sad case? Does he send for a policeman? Or does he put on his judicial gown, ascend the tribunal and sentence him to penal servitude? No, but he takes the rod and punishes the evildoer, for it is his son, and at home in his family he is not a judge, but a father. This makes all the difference.
And in answer to the suggestions of the adversary who always is busy to make us suspect God, or to accuse us before Him, the child of God continues: "Should I resist the rod of His chastening love, which in divine justice fell as the rod of divine wrath upon the Son of His love for me, a "child of wrath," when "Jehovah laid upon Him the iniquity of us all, and the chastisement of our peace was upon Him?" Should I murmur and complain against God, whose Son, when He was oppressed and afflicted for my sake, "opened not His mouth?" Should I resist the rod of His love, when the Son of man, was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and opened not His mouth, as a sheep before her shearers is dumb? God forbid! No, indeed, I not only yield to His rod, but I kiss it; for my divine Father's hand is as tender as it is mighty, and He knows so to make me feel the sweetness of His love in the bitter rod, that even the bitterness produces the sweet fruits of thanksgiving and of "rejoicing in tribulations," not to speak of the "peaceable fruit of righteousness."
But we must not anticipate the order of the Spirit in our chapter, by speaking of experience, instead of commencing at "patience." The word does not mean here that natural patience, implanted by a merciful Creator in many of His creatures, subject to burdens, that they may better be able to bear them. It is to be feared, there are not a few who try to make a merit out of their natural patience, and bring it with them as a dowry, so to speak, into the school of tribulations, instead of learning it there. Such are inclined to rejoice in their patience, which often ends in impatience and shame, and is a very different thing from "rejoicing in tribulations." Christian patience and natural patience are quite distinct things. The latter is like a silvered copper coin, which does not stand the test of the refining process of the crucible, where natural patience often becomes red hot, and the silvery tinge disappears.
Christian patience is the opposite of our own will. What is the first spot that appears in every new-born child? Is it not that old inherited sin, our own will, i.e. the spirit of disobedience? To break our natural self-will and the idolatrous heart, both will and heart perverted and corrupted through disobedience, is God's gracious intention in His school of tribulations. His will alone is good and right; ours, bad and perverse. It was God's will that we should not die and perish in our sins; our will was bent on our own sinful way. Should it, therefore, not be our heart's desire to learn in everything, what is God's wise and good and perfect will? Certainly. But our own natural will, being constantly opposed to the divine will, and our natural God-alienated heart preventing us from knowing God's perfect and gracious will and His perfect heart full of divine love to us, He uses the tribulations to bridle the stubborn will and to break the idolatrous heart. Only in the same measure as our will has been broken in His school of discipline, can God reveal His will unto us; and only in the same measure as our rebellious and idolatrous natural heart practically has been broken, can Jesus manifest to us His heart — Himself, in all His love and grace and tender sympathy. First comes the plough, then the seed, then the harrow, to break the hard clods, that would impede the springing up and the growth of the young seed. Such is the order in God's (as man's) husbandry. The tribulations are the harrow.
The world sometimes says of a new convert: "What a sad change has come over him! Formerly he used to be full of life and activity amongst us, taking interest in everything; and when his mind was once set on something, he was sure to carry it out. Now he appears to be dead, apathetic and spoilt for everything useful, and can hardly be said to have a will of his own!" Poor world! It knows not that God has turned a bondman of Satan into a freedman, i.e. a bondman of Christ, Whose service is true liberty, and Whose yoke is easy and His burden light. In the world it is said: This one or that one "died of a broken heart." God teaches us to live with a broken heart, and not only to live, but to be very happy with it too!
For Jacob it required a whole life time to learn what the three things mean which we find in Ps. 51: — i.e.
1. broken bones (the bones being the seat of our natural strength);
2. a broken spirit (being the seat of our natural prudence and wisdom); and
3. a broken heart (being the seat of our natural idolatrous propensities).
Jacob did not glorify God much in his life, but in his death, when the dying patriarch, leaning upon the top of his staff, worshipped Him and blessed the sons of Joseph. The staff, which he held in his hands, reminded him of all his own ways and strayings, and was at the same time a memorial of that wondrous grace, patience and mercy of the God of his fathers Abraham and Isaac. And leaning upon the top of that staff he worshipped God. What a glorious halo shone around Jacob's deathbed! God makes the bones rejoice, which He has broken (Ps. 51:8).
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (ver. 17).
The first effect, then, of tribulations is patience or endurance. (The Greek word, hupomone, seems to imply both the patient bearing up under the present evil, and the enduring unto the end.) But patience and endurance work experience or being approved. The word in the original (dokime) appears to indicate both. While being impatient in tribulations we only make human experiences, which, though necessary, are humbling and apt to weigh us down, and ought to be so. But if we learn in God's school to be still and patient under His hand and to listen to His voice, we make divine, that is, elevating experiences, learning what God is. The former kind of experiences, humbling though they be, impart no strength, and often lead to a sort of sham humility, as will often appear in meetings of legal christians for so-called "edification." They often seem to have met solely for the purpose of talking of their human experiences instead of speaking of God and His Son, the ground of our "most holy faith" and of all true edification, and of the experiences which they have made of Him. If we cannot say anything good of ourselves, we like to say something bad of ourselves. But it is always self instead of Christ. This is not building up but pulling down one another and often leads to something worse: sham humility, — a kind of emulation which of them has made the most experiences of self, and thus one learns to boast in that which ought to be our shame, instead of "rejoicing in tribulations," that is boasting in God, and "rejoicing in Christ."
Many of the wise men of this world, from Socrates and Plato down to our times, could boast of a great deal of human experiences, i.e. about self and our own heart, without ever having had to do with God about it. The French sage, in a treatise on vanity, wrote, "vanity is so deeply rooted in the human heart, that I, the writer of this treatise on 'vanity,' am not sure, whether I am not vain and proud to have written on 'vanity.'"
A witty and, in a natural way, honest and true remark about sin! But had the writer ever learnt and realised the truth of it in the holy light of God's presence? God knows; but the very style of the writer gives just cause to doubt it.
I have remarked already, that the Greek word for "patience" used by the Spirit, expresses at the same time "endurance," or "patience to the end" (compare James 1:4), and further, that the original word for "experience" also implies "being approved." There appears to be a deep and beautiful meaning in this. Each of these two words thus appears to have a subjective and at the same time an objective, meaning, i.e. an inward and outward. That is to say, ' the inward patience, wrought within us by means of tribulations, manifests itself outwardly, or before men, by endurance, or patience unto the end. And, further, the inward experience, wrought by both, will manifest itself outwardly by our being approved before God and men (in a similar sense as the works of faith in James 2). Where the inward patience is genuine, christian patience, the outward patience, or endurance, will not fail to appear. And where the fruit of true patience, or inward experience is of the right kind, the outward experience of us on the part of others (by their taking knowledge of us), that is, our being approved before God and men, will not be wanting. So it was with the apostle of the church. May God in His rich grace grant us such experiences, for His own and His dear Son's glory and honour. Amen.
This kind of experience and approbation then produces in us that subjective (or inward) hope which answers to the objective (or outward) hope of the glory of God in Rom. 5:2. I need scarcely say, that this is not the same as "Christ in us, the hope of glory." It corresponds in us, as we have seen, with the heavenly hope of the glory of God, set before us in ver. 2, as the Spirit of Christ in us, "Christ in us, the hope of glory," corresponds with Jesus Himself, "Who is our hope," "The bright and Morning Star."
Also in Israel, His earthly people, now in their exile scattered through the world, God will at the time of "Jacob's trouble," in the school of the greatest of all tribulations, work that patience and endurance, that experience and approbation, and that hope (though merely as to millennial glory and kingdom), which He, in a higher and more blessed way, is now working in us.
A few remarks as to the ways of God's grace, for working that hope in Israel, as He does in us, must be reserved for the next number, D.V.
(To be continued.)