GOSPEL HARDENED

GOSPEL HARDENED

"Cease, my son, to hear instruction, only to err from the words of knowledge" Prov. 19:27

This is a proverbial appeal. The voice is that of a father deliberately counselling his son not to listen to instruction unless he intends to obey. The truth involved is, that it is better not to know, than, knowing, to fail to do. This cuts at the root of that most pernicious heresy, which yet is so largely held, that knowledge is in itself power. It is not so in any realm of life—scientific, economic, artistic, or moral. KNOWLEDGE IS ONLY POWERFUL WHEN IT IS THE INSPIRATION OF ACTIVITY IN HARMONY WITH ITSELF. The application of the truth in this proverb is in the realm of wisdom, and so of things moral and spiritual. The advice is good, because it is not only true that to know is of no avail apart from the doing which it demands—it is also true that UNLESS KNOWLEDGE IS OBEYED, in process of time it ceases to appeal. This means that knowledge of the way of right, which is merely intellectual, exerts a hardening effect upon the finer things of the soul. In that sense familiarity breeds contempt, or indifference, which is, after all, the subtlest form, of contempt. There is an old phrase, which some of us heard our fathers use. They spoke of some people as being "Gospel-hardened." A human being may become so accustomed to the Gospel message that it ceases to make any appeal to mind or heart or will. It is this grave peril which gives warrant to this appeal. If we are purposed to error from the words of knowledge, it is better to cease to hear instruction.

TELL NO MAN THAT HE WAS THE CHRIST

TELL NO MAN THAT HE WAS THE CHRIST

"I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake love, until it please" Song of Songs 8:4

Let us go back and read 2:7 and 3:5. The similarity to this verse is at once recognized. In each case I omit in reading the "my" which is suggested by translators, and adopt the marginal reading "it” instead of “he.” In each case there is identity in the call; the only difference is that in this last occurrence the illustrative words "By the roes, and by the hinds of the field" are omitted. When this great Song is carefully set out, it is found to consist in the main of words of the Bride and Bridegroom. To these are added certain words of the virgins addressed to Bride or Bridegroom. But on these three occasions it is yet another voice. This is the voice of Wisdom, uttering a warning, which is needed, and which is made powerful by the matchless love-story. What is this warning? That love is so sacred a thing that it must not be trifled with. It is not to be sought. It stirs and awakens of itself. To trifle with the capacity for it, is to destroy that very capacity. This is the evil of all philandering, would that these words could be sung into the deepest soul of all youths and young girls. The tragedies of disobedience to the warnings are everywhere. Is there any application of these words possible in that higher realm which we have had in mind throughout our reading? I think there is. They warn us against the peril of endeavoring to FORCE AN EXPERIENCE OF LOVE to Christ and God in others. Our privilege is to introduce our loved ones, our children, our friends, everybody, to Christ; but they must fall in love with Him for themselves. Was not this in His mind, when He told His disciples to TELL NO MAN THAT HE WAS THE CHRIST (Matt. 16:20)? As He had said to Peter, that revelation comes, not of flesh and blood, but of the Father (Matt. 16:17). We wrong the souls of the young, and indeed of any, when we endeavor to force an experience. Let us lead them to Him. HE WILL AWAKEN LOVE.

ETERNAL SIN

ETERNAL SIN

"The man and his wife hid them­selves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden" Gen. 3:8

That is the first revelation of the sense of the soul towards God, resulting from distrust and rebellion. It is the sense of sin. They hid because they were AFRAID. Their FEAR was not the outcome of any change in God. The change was in themselves. They had yet to learn that there can be NO HIDING from God. And, moreover, they had yet to learn that their only chance of restoration lay in that fact that there could be NO HIDING from Him. They had cut themselves off from the possibility of COMMUNION with Him, but they had NOT ESCAPED either from His law or His love. These are the highest revela­tions of this account. How true all human experience is to this first picture! The fear of God which prompts men to de­sire to escape Him, and to hide from Him, is as potent today as ever. The hiding may take the form of denial of His existence, of rebellion against His law, of indifference to His claim. It is always the same, a dislike of God, born of fear; and it is always caused, not by what God is, but because of what MAN IS. The fear of God is always a witness to the holiness of God, even though it is a proof of IGNORANCE OF HIS LOVE. In so far, therefore, it is a principle of real value. In that sense the fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING OF WISDOM as the Psalms and Proverbs teach (Psa. 111:10; Prov. 1:7; 9:10). But it is only the beginning. If when, in spite of our hiding, He find us and make known to us His love, we yet per­sist in fleeing His presence, and refusing His claims, then we commit the sin that has NO PARDON, nor can have. That is what Jesus described as ETERNAL SIN. The only safe hiding-place from the holy wrath of God is in the wounded heart of God. There is a Tree which will hide us, but that is the Tree where we find God in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.

REMEMBRANCES

REMEMBRANCES

"He hath remembered His covenant forever" Psa. 105:8

This song has close connection with the next, with which the fourth Book of Psalms closes. In this, the theme is that of God's faithfulness; in the next, it is that of Israel's infidelity. The burden of this song is expressed in these words. This is the fact which inspired the praise. Whatever the story of His people may be, God has never forgotten His covenant; and WITH GOD, TO REMEMBER IS TO ACT. The song is an illustration of this fact by selections from the history of the people, which prove it. The covenant was made with Abraham, ratified by oath to Isaac, and confirmed to Jacob, and so to Israel. He remembered it, and preserved them while they wandered among the nations, possessing no land, in the earlier days of their history. He remembered it in the days of famine, and prepared for their security through Joseph. He remembered it when they came to be oppressed in Egypt, and sent Moses to deliver them. He remembered it when they found themselves free, but in a wilderness, and guided them by cloud and fire, supplying all their wants. He remembered it amid the discipline of the years of wilderness wandering, and at last brought them out therefrom, and into the land promised. A review of history, personal or national, always becomes a revelation of the persistent faithfulness of God to His covenants with man and especially with Israel. He will remember them in the two-weeks of tribulation with the last week called great tribulation. (Matt. 24:21; Rev. 7:14)

Rev. 7:14

"And I said unto him, Sir, thou know. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

GOD LOOKS AND REMEMBERS

GOD LOOKS AND REMEMBERS

"I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth" Gen. 9:13

Thus God selected one of the already existing and most beautiful of natural phenomena, and made it the abiding sign of the covenant that He had made with man. Apart from clouds and rain there can be no rainbow. But the rainbow is never seen on the clouds except when the sun is shining. In view of the instrument of the judgment through which the earth had just passed, that of the rain and the flood, this was an exquisitely fitting symbol of that covenant made with man by the God of mercy and of grace. The context shows us the use to be made of it. Necessarily when seen in the cloud it would speak to man of this covenant, and without any doubt that was within the mind of God. But that is not the purpose for its adoption as a sign which is stated in the account. It is rather that God said: "The bow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant" (vv. 14, 15); and that is still further emphasized by the words, "The bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it that I may remember" (vs. 16). The full value of the rainbow in the cloud, then, was not so much that when man looked at it he remembered the covenant; but rather that he remembered that GOD WAS LOOKING AND REMEMBERING. That touches a deeper note, and creates a profounder sense of peace. When next we see the rainbow, let us remind ourselves that we are looking at something at which GOD IS LOOKING, and that as He looks He REMEMBERS.

CURSED BY LAWLESSNESS

CURSED BY LAWLESSNESS

"Why is this come to pass in Israel, that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel?" Judges 21:3

This is a very sad chapter, and gives us the last of the illustrations of the conditions obtaining when there was no king in Israel, and I’m not talking about Trump or any other earthly head. We have thrown out God from all portions of our government and country. We have allowed false religion to enter in His place.  As we have seen, more than once the writer drew attention to the fact, and, so traced the LAWLESSNESS TO THE LACK OF AUTHORITY. The truth is that Israel had lost its living relation to its one and only King. Uninstructed zeal, even in the cause of righteousness, often goes beyond its proper limits, and does harm rather than good. The ter­rible slaughter of the men of Benjamin continued until not more than six hun­dred of the tribe was left. Then an­other of those sudden revulsions which characterize the action of inflamed peo­ples occurred. Israel is seen suddenly filled with pity for the tribe so nearly exterminated. They realized that the unity and completeness of the family of Jacob was threatened by their action. The sad part of the story is that, to remedy the threatened evil, they re­sorted to means which were utterly unrighteous. Wives were provided for the men of Benjamin by further unholy slaughter at Jabesh-Gilead, and by the vilest iniquity at Shiloh. It is impos­sible to read these last five chapters without realizing how perilous is THE CONDITION OF ANY PEOPLE WHO ACT WITH­OUT SOME CLEARLY DEFINED PRINCIPLE. Passion moves to high purpose only as it is governed by principle. If it lacks that, at one moment it will march in heroic determination to establish high ideals; and purity of life; and almost immediately, by some change of mood, will act in brutality and all manner of evil. HUMANITY WITHOUT ITS ONE KING IS CURSED BY LAWLESSNESS.

RACIAL REVELATION OF GOD

RACIAL REVELATION OF GOD

“Till we ALL attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." (Eph. 4:13)

Thus the redemption that is in Christ Jesus will finally make every individual a REVELATION OF GOD, in the measure that is possible to each individual capacity. Here, however, again there breaks upon the consciousness that larger vision of the Divine purpose which consists in a race made up of individuals each one contributing something to the FINAL PERFECTION through which race all the glorious fullness of the Deity is to have its perfect outshining. This also is according to God’s original intention. The creation of the first man was the creation of a race, and while he was in the image of God, it was in the larger creation of the whole family that the ultimate manifestation of the glory of God was to be made. This is the true doctrine of the solidarity of humanity, and the inter-relationship of individuals. Towards this, man is forever attempting to grope his way, and forever absolutely failing. Perfect human society has never been realized outside the economy of grace, be­cause perfect human individuality does not exist. In the redemption of the individual, Christ prepares for, and makes possible the final realization of the race, through which the Divine glory will be manifested. The best inspiring argu­ments concerning this are to be found in the writings of the apostle Paul, whose vision of the Church in its consummation was forever that of a society dominated by the One Life, walking in the One Light, obeying the One Love. The ultimate victory of redemption therefore will consist in the realization of the first Divine purpose in a race which, being composed of individuals, each of whom perfectly answers the Divine ideal, will in its entirety re­veal God, and thus be His utmost medium of manifesta­tion throughout the coming ages. Christ will only be completed in that whole race which united to Him, is to form His body.

Twice at least the apostle Paul uses the word Christ with reference to that whole race, including the Head and all the members. In writing to the Corinthians he said “for as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ." (1 Cor. 12:12) Here evidently the reference is to Christ and the Church, the complete fulfillment of the Divine thought and purpose.

And again, in writing to the Ephesians, he speaks of the building up of the body of Christ, “till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." (Eph. 4:13) "Christ in this passage (so full of the idea of the oneness in, and with the Lord of His mystical body) is, in effect, Christ and His Church. The Lord the Son becomes in accomplished fact all that He wills, and is willed, to be, only when He is the Head, of a perfected mystical Body, which lives by His sacred life, and is His incorporate 'limbs, His immortal vehicle of action, if we may so speak. So He and they are guardedly and reverently spoken of here and there as One Christ with full reservation, from other Scriptures, of the truth of the undying personality of each individual limb of the glorious Head, and of His Divine Personality." (Bishop Handley Moule) The specific purpose of this unity is declared by the apostle in the glorious doxology with which the first part of his Ephesian letter closes. “Unto Him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations forever and ever. Amen." (Eph. 3:21)

It is not, however, sufficient to declare that redemption's final victory is that of the realization of this original Divine intention. While that is true, it must not be lost sight of that the peculiar and marvelous plan of the victory lies in the future, that this result is produced by Christ through victory gained over the original failure. The glory of the first ideal was great, but the glory of the realization of that ideal, out of all the awful results of human sin, is infinitely greater. Perhaps the note that now wakes the profoundest wonder in the mind of unfallen intelligences concerning the issue of redemption is that suggested when in speaking of the glories of Christ in his Colossian epistle, the apostle refers to Him as “the First-born from the dead." (Col. 1:18) As to all creation Christ is the First-born, but the added wonder with regard to the new creation is that it has been created by the emergence of the last Adam from the death which resulted from the failure of the first Adam, and His having brought out of that death, members of the new race. Thus redemp­tion's greatest victory lies, not merely in the fact that through the new race the glory of God is to be manifest, but that the profounder truth will be revealed that His greatest glory lies in the mighty working of His wondrous grace. The most inspirational and profoundest song of all will be that ascription of praise, which occurring in the first chapter of the Apocalypse, prepares for, and includes within itself all the subsequent numbers of that majestic oratorio, the subject of which is the movement to finality of the dispen­sations of God. "Unto Him that loves us, and loosed us from our sins by His blood; and He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen." (Rev. 1:5-6)

Crown Him with many crowns, 

The Lamb upon His throne;

Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns

All music but its own.

Awake, my soul, and sing

Of Him Who died for thee,

And hail Him as thy chosen King Through all eternity.

“Crown Him, the Lord of Love!

Behold His Hands and Side

Rich Wounds, yet visible above

In beauty glorified:

No angel in the sky

Can fully bear that sight,

But downward bends his burning eye

At mysteries so bright.

“Crown Him, the Lord of Peace:

Whose power a scepter sways

From pole to pole—that wars may cease

Absorbed in prayer and praise:

His reign shall know no end,

And round His pierced Feet

Fair flowers of paradise extend

Their fragrance ever sweet.

“Crown Him, the Lord of Years,

The Potentate of time;

Creator of all rolling spheres,

Ineffably sublime:

All hail! Redeemer, hail!

For Thou hast died for me:

Thy praise shall never, never fail

Throughout eternity."

—M. BRIDGES

DIVINE IN THE HUMAN

DIVINE IN THE HUMAN

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matt. 5:48

This consideration demonstrates without need of argument that man being restored to the likeness of God in Christ, is therefore restored to the essential possibility and purpose of his own being. Referring once again to that analysis of human personality, which was considered in the earlier articles, INTELLIGENCE, EMOTION, AND WILL, it will be seen how in becoming like God, man becomes himself in all the spaciousness of that primal in­tention. The INTELLIGENCE having passed from underneath the eclipse which was the result of sin is able to set all things in their true perspective, and to value them in their right proportion. Not in measure or degree, but in method and direction, the human intelligence now apprehends with the Infinite Intelligence. In this realm, as in every other, all things have become new. The new understanding of God has issued in a new appreciation of man and of all that creation which is apparent to the mind, but which is now known to be a window through which the Infinite is seen; and which, consequently is of less value than that which it reveals. The feverish restlessness resulting from limitation ceases, as the mind recognizes that beyond all natural phenomena there exists the one Eternal Verity, of which all phenomena are but the transitory expressions.

The EMOTIONAL NATURE having been freed from its degra­dation now operates in conformity with the Divine Love. Affections are set upon the things above the upper things, the dominant, and the eternal. Every movement of love is henceforth conditioned by the relation of the object to God, and all its operation seeks the highest good of the loved one.

The WILL is restored to its relation to the true governing principle. It does not cease to be, and therefore its activity is not discontinued. Now however instead of choosing and deciding upon the false basis of rebellion against government, it perpetually elects to act under the compulsion of that Eternal One, Whose essence is Love. Thus by redemption man becomes a being, whose will decides in answer to the impulse of pure affection, in the light of unclouded intelligence. The center and throne of personality being thus restored to the true Divine order, all the powers and capacities conditioned can be directed and employed at their highest and their fullest. The sense of beauty, expressing itself in music, or in art, becomes dominated by that unswerving holiness, which is the character of love. Wherever this is so, all discords cease, and harmonies are perfected; all that is grotesque and untrue is corrected by the lines of undeviating loveliness, and the colors of undimmed beauty. The capacity for investigation is now enlarged, and science emerging from the mists of mere hypotheses, affirms with actual accuracy of statement, for which she has so long sought, and yet been unable to discover. At this point again the understanding of all that lies in the future for man is necessarily limited, but it may surely be affirmed that "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report," (Phil. 4:8) in human nature as we know it, will not be lost in the hereafter, but rather found and fulfilled in all power and perfection.

The present application of this consideration is that even today the measure of man's appropriation of the redemption in Christ Jesus, is the measure in which, what he is in the essential of his Divinely created being is realized and ennobled and through such realization and ennoblement man is seen to be Godlike. The expression of this likeness here, as in the former case, will be found in the consecration of man's own redeemed personality to such cooperation with God as shall move towards the future perfect unfolding of the DIVINE IN THE HUMAN (Matt. 5:48).

CHARACTER AND CONDUCT

CHARACTER AND CONDUCT

There is no necessity to deal with the close relation existing between CHARACTER and CONDUCT, except to declare the fact as necessary to an understanding of the line of the present article. It must, however, be kept in mind that they are necessarily and indissolubly connected. Conduct is always an expression of character, and character therefore is the cause of conduct. Character is the condition of being, while conduct is the expression thereof in doing. In both these, Christ was the Revelation of God, and in proportion as man is Christ like, he is therefore like God. Zacharias, filled with the Holy Spirit, referring to the coming of Messiah, declared that the purpose of His coming was that man should serve God "in holiness and righteousness." (Luke 1:75) These words cover the whole fact of life as to its general trend, holiness referring to character, and righteousness to conduct. It is at once seen that these words belong primarily to God, the first declaring the ultimate truth concerning His character and the latter that concerning His conduct. He is holy, and therefore acts righteously. Both these facts are however the result of another and profounder one, that namely, of the love which is of the very essence of His Being. Holiness of character is the result of the nature of love, and so also is righteousness of conduct. In Christ these facts concerning God have been revealed, and always in this setting and proportion. The holiness of the character of Christ was the inevitable necessity of His Love. His righteousness of conduct was the immediate outworking of His holiness of character which resulted from Love. By the impartation of His life to man, and its realization progressively man is subdued by Love, and obedience to this new nature issues in holiness of character, and righteousness of conduct.

The finality of all this is that man's essential nature being transformed into perfect conformity to that of God, his holiness of character will be forever established, and he will then be perfectly prepared for all that exercise of life, which expresses itself in righteousness of conduct, which is always that of cooperation with God. Here the point of difficulty is reached, because it is impossible to know today along what line the activities of God will be continued, in the ages lying ahead. There are certain principles how­ever which may contribute at least to a lofty conception of what the activity of redeemed man will be. The question of character need not therefore be discussed because conduct is its outward expression. It may therefore be affirmed that as the activity of God is constructive, and never destructive, man in union with Him will cooperate in the expression of the Infinite Energy, along the pathway of perpetual perennial manifestations of that essential Love, which is fullness of joy and pleasure forevermore.

For today man's likeness to God, in likeness to Christ, is manifest in his approximation to the character of holiness, and his cooperation in the work of redemption. Said Jesus, "My Father works even until now, and I work." (John 5:17) The work of God and the work of Christ are identical, and the proportion in which man is already like God, is manifest by his cooperation with Him in the inspiring and serious enterprises of seeking and saving the lost. Man is only equal to this cooperation upon the basis of likeness to God in character, and he is only holy in proportion as he is indwelt and impulsed by love.

MAN LIKE GOD IN CHRIST

MAN LIKE GOD IN CHRIST

The final fact in redemption is that of the restoration of man to the image and likeness of God. Underling every creation of God is a most definite purpose. This may not always be easy to trace, but the general principle is most certainly revealed in the vast majority of cases, and therefore it is reasonable to believe it to be universal, and the fact that it is beyond the power of human intelligence always to discover the reason, is to be accounted for by the limitation of that intelligence, rather than by the absence of the purpose. The purpose of angelic life is certainly that of service. In the great Psalm of thanksgiving, angels are referred to in such a way as to declare the very mean­ing of their existence:—

“Bless Jehovah, ye His angels,

That are mighty in strength,

That fulfill His word,

Hearkening unto the voice of His word," (Psa. 103:20)

And the writer of the letter to the Hebrews asks, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation?" (Heb. 1:14) while all the sacred history reveals them as occupied ever in serving in gladness the will of the King. That was our one of original intent.

The purpose underlying the creation of man was far more inspirational. He was made in the Divine image in a sense that angels never were and in the very nature of that creation there is revealed its purpose. Man was intended as a medium for the Divine manifestation, one through whom; because of his likeness to God it would be possible for God to express Himself to other creations more perfectly. Redemption therefore is only complete when man is re­stored to the perfection of his own being, and thus to fit­ness for the fulfillment of the Divine purpose. This then is the ultimate issue of the work of Christ in man. For the accomplishment of this, vital restoration is the power, and restoration to knowledge is the process. The life of Christ imparted to man by the Holy Spirit is the constrain­ing, transforming power, and the new vision of God in Christ is at once the pattern, towards the carrying out of which the power works, and therefore the governing prin­ciple to which the will of the saint being submitted, the Christ life is the product.

The 1rst fact in redemption that of restoration to God was perfected in JUSTIFICATION;

the 2nd, that  of restoration to the  knowledge of God,  is being perfected through SANCTIFICATION;

the 3rd,  that of restoration to  the likeness of God  will be perfected in GLORIFICATION.

 Redemption is thus seen to be the restora­tion of man to fellowship with the Father. John, who writes most minutely of the great subject under this aspect, affirms that as to standing, that fellowship is accomplished. "Now are we children of God," that as to finality it will be accomplished, "we know that, if He shall be mani­fested, we shall be like Him" that as to process the work goes ever forward, "every one that hath this hope set on Him purifies himself, even as He is pure." (1 John 3:2) The founda­tion fact is created by the reception of the Christ life in germ, the experimental advancement is being caused by the mastery of the whole being by that ever-conquering life; the final fact will be consummated by the complete conformity of the whole life to the Christ. Therefore as Christ is the express Image of the Father, in perfect like­ness to Him, man will fulfill the primary Divine purpose, by becoming restored to the image and the likeness of God. Thus it is evident at once that the present life is, by com­parison with the life to come, as utterly insignificant, as the days of school are, when compared with the sternness and importance of the days for which they are but preparatory. And yet this view of the finality, in another sense, lends new meaning and urgency to the life that now is; for School-days very largely determine the place to be occupied in the more mature opportunities of life.

In considering this last phase of the plenteous redemp­tion, difficulties confront the mind, which it is better at once to recognize, as John did when he wrote, “It is not yet made manifest what we shall be." (1 John 3:2) It will be per­fectly safe, however, to accept the certainty as declared by John, "We know . . . we shall be like Him," (Matt. 5:48) and within that assurance, consider

1st, man becoming like God in his realization of the character and conduct of Christ;

2nd, man becoming like God in his realization of himself;

3rd, man becoming like God, becomes a revelation of God.

HATE TURNED TO LOVE

HATE TURNED TO LOVE

"Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isa. 25:9

Thus God is known to man, and that after the method of the original Divine intention through a Man Who is His express Image. Redeemed man acts upon the same principle as fallen man in his search after God, with a distinction and a difference both in method and in result. Man's darkened understanding, still conscious of his need of a god, projected into immensity himself, with the result that his conception of God was that of a monster, because not only were the essentials of his nature, intelligence, emotion, and will, magnified in the process, but their degra­dation. Restored to God, man still projects Man into in­finity, but not himself. It is now by the magnifying of the Man Christ Jesus, Who by the Spirit indwells the be­liever, that God is found. The intelligence of Jesus, char­acterized by clearness, freedom from questioning, and unanswerable statement of truth, surprises and startles the soul anew in every fresh understanding of it through the Spirit's interpretation. And as these lines are projected from the wisdom of Christ into infinity, the mind catches some conception of what the wisdom of the infinite God is in its perfectly clear understanding of all things, so that "in Him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5) His freedom from per­plexity carried out into the immeasurable, aids man in his apprehension of that great reason for the quiet calm of Deity, in the midst of the things which, coming of their imperfect understanding, so trouble and vex the heart of the finite. Every century of consideration of the Word of Jesus proving as it has, that His teaching was not a de­duction from appearances, but the uttering forth of eternal principles in the speech of man, has given to men a new conception of the authority of God, as based upon the necessity of the things that are.

Perhaps the utmost consciousness of God, however, has come by the projection into immensity of what may still be spoken of as the EMOTIONAL FACT in the Person of Jesus. In Him love proceeded out of the necessity of its own might, and expressed itself in self-forgetfulness to the point of absolute sacrifice, and that without regard to any worth in the object upon which it was set. In Him moreover, love was patient, optimistic, and powerful. No lack of response was sufficient to quench its zeal, no degradation sufficient to extinguish its hopefulness, no opposition equal to overcome its might. It was this revelation of His love that made it possible for there ever to have been written the statement, so simple and inspiring, so sweet in its con­straint, so manifold in its beauty, that heaven's music will be needed to express its harmonies, while earth's discords are by it being changed towards the heavenly symphony, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16) It was surely with his eye resting upon the Man of Nazareth, and his heart speaking of his consciousness of the marvel of the love of the Perfect One, that Paul wrote his classic passage descriptive of love. (1 Cor. 13)

And yet again, the action of the will of Jesus as respon­sive forever to the supreme will of His Father, and moving always under the impulse of love, has revealed forever­more the truth of unutterable value, that the will of God operates not arbitrarily, but under constraint, the constraint of the essential fact of His own nature, that of an infinite and immeasurable love.

Thus Jesus the perfect Man, standing before the soul in all His perfection, is the gateway through which the mind passes out to a conception of God which arrests, subdues, and commands the loyalty of the life. It is in His pres­ence that man exclaims "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." (Isa. 25:9)

To say this is to declare also the difference in result. Man of old, projecting himself until he found an enormity, learned only to hate and to fear his conception of God. Today, man, projecting the perfect One finds infinite satisfaction in the revealed Father, and his heart goes out in adoring love, and his life is spent in glad service. Thus in Christ, man is restored to the knowledge of God by the enlightening of his intelligence, and the presentation thereto of all the gracious facts, in such way, and in such measure as he is able to bear, and capable of receiving.

SPIRIT CONSTANT UNVEILING CHRIST

SPIRIT CONSTANT UNVEILING CHRIST

Leaving the subject now in its historic setting, it will be best to consider somewhat more carefully the ap­prehension of Christ through the Spirit by the individual. The first work of the Spirit of God towards this end is that of the preparation of the spirit of man. That spirit originally created as a medium for the knowledge of God, was polluted, and disorganized by sin, and therefore became useless for, the fulfillment of its original intention. By the impartation of Christ to the spirit of man, the Holy Spirit of God cleanses from pollution. By uniting the spirit of man with Christ He readjusts the instrument, and by lifting man into the place where he looks out upon all things in fellow­ship with Christ, He focusses the lens, that so the pictures may no longer be distorted, blurred, and inaccurate, but defi­nite, clear, and precise. This PRELIMINARY WORK of the Spirit is most immediate and most gracious. And yet its value is only known in the results which follow.

Man's experience of this work is not in a new self-con­sciousness, even though it is that of purity and illumina­tion. It is rather an experience of the issue, that namely of a new apprehension of Christ, and consequently a new knowledge of God.

Then follows necessarily the work of the Spirit in PRESENTING THE OBJECT to this restored instrument: THAT OBJECT IS CHRIST. The method of the Spirit here is always governed by the individual necessity of the believer, and by capacity. It may be safely affirmed that the Spirit of God has no stereotyped system of theology to teach men. The great facts concerning Christ are never taught by the Spirit to companies of men, but to individual lives, and the lesson now being learned by any single person, is the one necessary for the growth of that particular individual. To some today He will reveal the Master's sympathy, to others His severity; and so, according to the necessity of each, will He minister the revelation of the living Lord.

It is equally true that He does not measure His teaching by the standards of time, but by the capacity of the dis­ciple, revealing only that which each is able to bear. His method is moreover perpetually characterized by the fact that every individual revelation of Christ to the spirit of the disciple has within it some new claim, DEMANDING IMMEDI­ATE OBEDIENCE, and the measure of the obedience is the measure of an increased capacity for yet new revelations.

Thus man, indwelt by the Spirit, is the subject of a perpetually growing consciousness of the excellence and completeness of Christ, through a perpetually growing understanding of His simplicities. Thus it is that while the youngest believer may seem to be in possession of all the facts concerning Christ; as the years pass, through the varied disciplines of life, and the operation of an abiding communion, it is seen that the things known were hardly known, that the facts recognized were imperfectly realized; and gradually and yet surely with the passing of the years, through every window, new light is streaming, and new meanings are dawning on the soul. In the earliest years of discipleship there must be recognition of the simplicity of Christ, as the story of His life is read; of His perpetual peacefulness as He passed through scenes that might have been expected to disturb the stoutest heart; of the sweetness of His disposi­tion, in spite of all the occasions which so often end in the embittering of the human heart; of the severity of His Spirit against all forms of wrong and of tyranny; and of His ever active sympathy with all sorts and conditions of men. All these things, however, are only learned as to their fullness of value, and of meaning, as the Spirit reveals them according to the demand of occasion, and the capacity of the learner. Through this great process it is discovered that the simplicity of Christ is due to His sublimity of the consciousness of the straightness of the line of truth; and His serenity is due to the abiding sense of the permanence of righteousness; and His sweetness manifest because of His understanding of the ultimate victory of love; while His severity is the necessary out-flaming anger of that love against all that for the time may seem to violate it; and His sympathy is the natural, spontaneous relation of essen­tial love to all the consciousness of those upon whom such love is set.

Thus the issue of the indwelling Spirit is not merely the unveiling before the spirit of man of the fact of Christ; but also the preparation of the spirit of man, which issues in a true and ever growing apprehension of THE UNVEILED ONE.

THE HISTORIC AND INDIVIDUAL WORK OF THE SPIRIT

THE HISTORIC AND INDIVIDUAL WORK OF THE SPIRIT

"To whom it was revealed, that not to themselves but to you they ministered those things, which have now been announced to you by those who have declared to you the glad tidings by [the] Holy Spirit, sent from heaven, which angels desire to look into."  1 Peter 1:12

The Spirit's revelation of the Christ has been INDIVIDUAL and HISTORIC. He commenced His work with individuals, and then for the sake of the generations to come, proceeded, in cooperation with such individuals, to prepare for the future. By personal revelation of Christ to individuals: He prepared men for the creation of a written record concerning Christ. (1 Pet. 1:11-12) He then through men thus prepared became the Author of the new record. That record being completed, He has given an exposition of it through the centuries, in constant cooperation with men. The Spirit commenced His work when upon the day of Pentecost He baptized the company of waiting souls into new union with God in Christ. In tracing His work therefore, it is necessary to begin with the Acts of the Apostles, while of course in a study of His revelation, the structure of the New Testament is the true order. In the Acts of the Apostles, the Spirit is seen communicating life to individual men, and then directing them definitely and immediately in all the affairs of their life. One of the special notes of the narrative of the early Church is that of how men were specifically led by the Spirit, and yet, it is always to be observed that their action under His guidance is that of loyalty to Christ. The Spirit hinders, or impulses, but they are restrained when He hinders, or go forward when He impulses, as loyal to Christ. Thus it is evident that while these men were conscious of the immediate interference of the Spirit, they recognized that that interference was an interpretation to them of the will of their crowned Lord.

Eventually, for the consolidation of the Church in its relation to Christ, and for the continuity of its consciousness of Christ, it was necessary that such record of Him as a Person in HISTORY, as should form a perpetual basis for the Spirit's interpretation, should be written. Out of this necessity came what are known now as the New Testament Scriptures. In these writings the Spirit's one subject is Christ. In the Gospels there are recorded such facts concerning His Person and teaching, as are necessary. In them He is seen very largely in splendid loneliness, separated from, while yet in the midst of men; glorious in true Kingliness, as Matthew's story shows; patient in unceasing service, as Mark's record reveals; ultimate in the realization of the Divine ideal of humanity, as Luke's evangel demonstrates; and mysterious in the essential majesty of Deity, as John's writings declare.

Then follows that treatise in which Christ is manifest in new union with men, continuing the work commenced in loneliness, in cooperation with such as are united to Him by the Holy Spirit. This record has to do almost exclu­sively with Christ as He calls outsiders to Himself for the remission of sins, for the renewal of life, for the restoration of the lost order. Passing from this the Spirit in the great writings that teach revealing Christ as realized in the believer, and as expressing Himself through the Church. While in the Acts He is almost exclusively seen calling the outsider, in the epistles He is seen again almost exclusively in His relation to those who have come in obedience to His call. Then in the Apocalypse to a man who is "in the Spirit” there is granted Christ's own vision of His coming victory, and the consummation of all the purposes of God concern­ing men, realized in Christ.

At this point the writings being complete, the Spirit did not cease His work, but rather commenced it, in all its fullness and beauty. Through the centuries of the Chris­tian era, there may be traced an ever-broadening and deep­ening apprehension of Christ, due invariably to the Spirit's revelation to the Church of Christ, a revelation constantly proceeding in harmony with the inspired Writings, so that nothing has been revealed in addition to the facts recorded therein, while yet in an ever-enlarging understanding of their meaning, there has come this ever-increasing appre­ciation of the Christ.

It may safely be affirmed that the Person and work of Jesus are more perfectly understood than they have ever seen, and that He, by the Spirit, is demanding and receiving a larger and profounder loyalty, than has ever been the case before. This statement is made with a very keen recognition of the fact that the conflict which has been going forward in the outworks of the Christian revelation, is gathering around the central citadel of the Person of Christ. In view and in presence of that conflict, there is no fear in the heart of such as are conscious of the continued presence and work of the Spirit. The issue must be a new vindication of the Personality of the God-man, and a new appreciation of that concerning Him which will ever be beyond the possibility of formulated statement on the part of man.

Thus it is seen that the Holy Spirit of truth, through processes of infinite patience, whether it be to the individual, or in the history of the race, continues His sacred work of revealing Christ, interpreting His Word, and administering His work.

MAN KNOWING GOD

MAN KNOWING GOD THROUGH CHRIST

"Show us the Father, and it suffices us," John 14:8

The restoration of man to God necessarily issues in the restoration to man of the knowledge of God. The original purpose of man's creation was that he should be a being capable of the consciousness of, and in communion, and cooperation with God Himself. To all this he is restored in Christ. As the vital union between God and man is created and maintained by the Spirit, so also is the work of revealing God to man that of the Spirit. He "the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God;" and these

"Things which eye saw not and ear heard not,

And which entered not into the heart of man,

Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love Him;" that is, the things of the love of God in Christ, which man in clouded intelligence was ignorant of, “unto us God re­vealed them through the Spirit." (1 Cor. 2:9-10) Thus while in Christ God has provided Himself with a Medium of Self-Revelation, Christ is revealed to man by the Spirit. This scheme of revelation must be understood, if there is to be a true appreciation of the revelation itself. The whole perfect system is revealed in the last discourses of Jesus with His disciples, prior to His Passion. When Philip, speaking in larger degree as the mouthpiece of fallen humanity than he knew, said to Jesus "Show us the Father, and it suffices us," (John 14:8) there was neither doubt nor uncertainty in the Lord's reply. He distinctly declared,

"He that hath seen Me,

hath seen the Father." (John 14:9)

This declaration is in perfect harmony with the inspired statement of John that "no man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." (John 1:18) There is no way by which man can know God except through Christ. All at­tempts on the part of man, to formulate a conception of God, or declare a doctrine concerning Him, are futile, except as the conception and doctrine are based upon, and perpetually true to, the Revelation He has made of Himself in Christ.

Recognizing man's inability to know God apart from Himself, the Lord also recognizes that men were unable to understand the revelation of God in Himself, unless it should be explained by that Spirit Who "searches all things, yea, the deep things of God." (1 Cor. 2:10) He therefore immediately followed Philip's question with THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT, and such teaching concerning Him, as should fit the disciples for His coming and work. From the body of that final teaching, three main statements will be sufficient, as giving the teaching of Christ under this head.

1st. "The Holy Spirit—He shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you." (John 14:26)

2nd. "The Spirit of truth—He shall bear witness of Me." (John 15:26)

3rd. "The Spirit of truth—He shall glorify Me: for He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you." (John 16:13-14)

These words clearly demonstrate two things.

1st, that the work of the Spirit is essentially that of revealing Christ to those in whom He has taken up His abode; and

2nd that man can only know Christ through the Spirit's illumination, as man can only know God through Christ's revelation. By the testimony of 2 or more facts are confirmed (John 8:17).

Any Christology which is not the direct issue of the Spirit's teaching, is false; for the mystery of His Person, and the meaning of His work, are alike inscrutable to the mind of man in its darkened condition, and can only be apprehended as the light of God falls upon them. Through Christ, the Spirit of truth indwells the believer, and through the Spirit of truth therefore Christ becomes the indwelling One; and as He by the Spirit is made known to man, man is restored to the knowledge of God, which he had lost through sin.

Man's knowledge of God through Christ by the Spirit may be contemplated therefore by considering;

1st, the unveiling of Christ by the Spirit;

2nd, the apprehension of Christ through the Spirit;

3rd, the consequent knowledge of God.

GOVERNMENTAL RESTORATION

GOVERNMENTAL RESTORATION

The sequence of this vital restoration in the life of man is that of a GOVERNMENTAL RESTORATION. As at the first, man ruined himself by rebellion (Gen. 3:6-7), so now his redemption being accomplished by the operation of God in Christ, within the realm of law and of justice he must abide in the will of God. This is not an arbitrary and capricious requirement. It is rather, as the whole history of man in his ruin demonstrates a necessity upon the fulfillment of which love must insist, or cease to be love. Outside the realm of the Divine will, man is in the place of ruin and of death. Within that will, he is in the sphere of permanence and of perfection.

Now however it is possible to refer to ABIDING IN THE WILL OF GOD in new terms, which are the terms of a plenteous redemption. (Psa. 130:7) To abide in that WILL is to abide in Christ. The restoration of man to God in Christ being, as has been shown, VITAL AS WELL AS JUDICIAL, it is therefore GOVERN­MENTAL ALSO, in a way which reveals the infinite love and wisdom of God, as perhaps it is nowhere else revealed, be­cause it appeals to man at the point of his ultimate consciousness of weakness. The God-man is the meeting place between God and man. Rejecting man, God en­throned Jesus. Rejecting himself, man enthrones Jesus. Thus the Divine and the human will move into union of decision and purpose. God and man meet in Christ. Upon this basis, the Spirit communicates the life which creates vital relationship, and that life henceforth becomes the directing, controlling, suggesting principle in the life of the saint. Moving along the line of the perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2), as it ever has and ever must, it regulates all the life of the saint, within the government of God, "casting down reasonings, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." (2 Cor. 10:5) It is because of this that the Christian is no longer under the law (Rom. 6:14-15), which consists in commandments outside the personality. He in Christ answers the law of the Spirit of life, which is at once a perpetual illumination, and a constant power. God in Christ by the Spirit works in “to will and to work, for His good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13)

It was in view of this great truth the apostle declared "for if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be kept safe in His life." (Rom. 5:10) Thus plenteous indeed, even in super-abounding fullness, does Christ answer the call of man distanced by sin, in restoring him to God. In Christ, man is restored judicially, and there is no condemnation; vitally, and there is no separation governmentally, and there is no alienation. (Bishop Handley Moule's translation)

MADE FULL WITH NEW DIVINE LIFE

MADE FULL WITH NEW DIVINE LIFE

The fact of vital restoration has necessarily been already stated incidentally, but it now remains to be more fully considered. In order to a right appreciation of this, there must be a clear understanding of the nature of the life communicated by the Holy Spirit. In speaking of re­generation it is not sufficient to say that there is an imparta­tion of new human vitality. Neither is it absolutely correct to speak only of the communication of a new measure of Divine life. It is neither, merely because it is BOTH. Herein is the great mystery and wonder of Chris­tianity. The Spirit imparts in regeneration the Christ life, and that is at once human and Divine. Thus, all essential human life is surcharged with NEW LIFE OF ITS OWN MOST PERFECT ORDER, but it is also energized with the force of LIFE DIVINE, in inseparable union therewith. Thus in Christ, man is restored to the possibilities of his own nature, but also he is introduced to a new vital union with God more marvelous as to its potentiality and possibility than that of original man.

“Where He displays His healing power,

Death and the curse are known no more:

In Him the tribes of Adam boast

More blessings than their fathers lost." (Watts)

All man's inability is overcome in God's ability. The sinner is lifted from the impotence of his fallen nature, into the potency of the perfect Man Jesus in cooperation with the might of the Eternal God. What wonder that Paul exclaimed, “I can do all things in Him that strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13)

The great theme of the Colossian epistle is that of the perfection of the Church in the perfection of the Christ. All its inspiring doctrine gathers around two main state­ments, first, “It was the good pleasure of the Father that in Him should all the fullness dwell; “ (Col. 1:19) and second, "In Him ye are made full." (Col. 2:10) The fullness dwelling in Christ is fullness of Deity, which is fullness of LIFE, fullness of LIGHT, fullness of LOVE. It is in Him and in His fullness that man is made full. Can anything be added to such statements as these? Some idea of their value, and yet of the difficulty of expressing that value, and even of appre­ciating it, may be gathered from examining one paragraph in that letter. Here the word “mystery" occurs three times. First the apostle refers to the Church as the mystery "which hath been hid for ages and generations: but now hath it been manifested to His saints." (Col. 1:26) He then declares the mystery lying behind the mystery of the Church to be that of "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Col. 1:27) And yet further on he speaks of "the mystery of God, even Christ." (Col. 2:2) Evidently here the apostle is moving backward through great mysteries of effect to the primal mystery of cause. Let this threefold mystery be stated thus:

1. Christ. (Col. 2:2)

2. Christ in the saints. (Col. 1:27)

3. Christ in the Church. (Col. 1:26)

The central mystery is that of Christ Himself, (Col. 2:2) the mystery of His Person, in its unity of the human and the Divine, and the mystery of His passion in the preparation of the life, and the propitiation of the death; a veritable mystery, most evidently revealed and most absolutely defying analy­sis or explanation.

Then follows the mystery of personal realization: “Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Col. 1:27) Christ the human and the Divine, in one indissoluble unity in the believer, administering the virtue of His life through the value of His death.

Then finally the Christ in all believers, (Col. 1:26) finding at last His own completion, His body, that through which in con­junction with Himself all the infinite fullness of the Infinite God, is to find through unending ages, a medium of manifestation, is to be in fact the new form of God through which His wisdom and His love may be known by other creations through the never ending ages.

This stupendous vision of the issue of the Christ and His work in its individual application with regard to trust­ing souls reveals how in Christ, man is restored to God by actual sharing of the life Divine: God in Christ in a new sense, shares human life. Man in Christ in a new sense, shares Divine life. This is the final realization of the Atonement, and consists in man's restoration to God on a basis infinitely beyond that from which he fell by his sin.

JUDICIALLY RESTORED

JUDICIALLY RESTORED

“To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”  Rom. 3:26

Man's JUDICIAL RESTORATION to God is indicated by the great word justification. The term is forensic (scientific tests or techniques used in connection with the detection of crime.). Behind it lays the fact of law, (Deut. 25:1) and also the profounder fact of justice. (Deut. 25:1) The greatest problem in man's redemption was that of how it was possible for God to be just and yet to justify the sinner. (Rom. 3:26) The answer is to be found in the restoration of man in Christ Jesus. In the mystery of the Master's passion He endured what was not His due. Considering this for a moment without reference to the need of the sinner, it is immediately seen how that in the realm of law, and in the presence of the eternal principle of justice, these sufferings created a value which was not required by the One Who suffered, and apart from the fact of man’s sin, is an over plus in the working of the Infinite Order. This value has been created for those who have violated law, and is placed at the disposal of all such. Those receiving the benefit by submission to, and trust in, the Savior, are thus so far as the guilt of sin is concerned, justified before God and made near to Him.

Yet again, by thus cancelling sin the perfection of the life of Jesus is made to count for others also, and God IMPUTES (credits) it to those for whom the value of His death has cancelled the guilt of sin. This union with Christ is wrought by the Holy Spirit in the communication of life. This is done when man, under the conviction of the Spirit, believes in Christ, so that God may be "just, and the Justifier of him that has faith in Jesus." (Rom. 3:26) Man exercising faith in Christ, has imputed (credited) to him by the grace of God the value created by Christ's death, for pardon; and all the perfection of Christ's life for righteousness. Therefore the sinner standing in Jesus is a sinner no longer, but a SAINT and is called such numerous times, separated in Christ to God, and so restored. He has NO GUILT; that is cancelled. He has RIGHTEOUSNESS; that is bestowed. Such a one is restored to God, because the reasons of his exclusion are all removed. THE SWORD GUARDING THE WAY TO THE TREE OF LIFE BECOMES THE LIGHT OF TRUTH, ILLUMINATING THE ENTIRE PATHWAY. THE VEIL ENCLOSING THE HOLY OF HOLIES, AND EXCLUDING MAN, BEING RENT, BECOMES THE GLORIOUS PORTAL TO THE INNER PLACES OF FULLEST COMMUNION. From that point forward neither hell, nor earth, nor heaven can condemn the trusting soul, for in Christ Jesus every claim has been fully met, and every provision perfectly made.

ATONEMENT REALIZED FINALLY

ATONEMENT REALIZED FINALLY

In previous articles two subjects have been dealt with, which must now be recalled and carefully remembered. First that man by his sin, distanced himself from God, passed out of the region of communion, and was “alienated from the life of God." (Eph. 4:18) Second, in the raising of Jesus of Nazareth from among the dead, God accepted Him as the One Who perfectly realized His original design in the creation of man, and by that raising finally rejected man in his failure and in his sin. He nevertheless, in that same reception by resurrection, received in Christ all those for whom He stood in the sacred and awful mystery of His death on the Cross. It becomes evident therefore that when, by the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit, man is joined to Christ, he is RESTORED TO GOD. This restoration is marvelous in its completeness and overwhelming as a manifestation of the wisdom of God. Some understanding of it may be gained by an examination under three aspects, as JUDICIAL, VITAL, and GOVERNMENTAL.

MAN REDEEMED

RESULTANT

THE ANSWER OF CHRIST

MAN REDEEMED

As at the first, in order to a correct understanding of the meaning of Christ's mission, it was necessary to consider the nature and extent of the calamity which constituted the call for Christ, so now at the close of the articles it will be profitable to contemplate how perfectly He has responded, in the plenteous redemption He has provided.

The statement of the case concerning that provision may be made in three propositions, which correspond to the threefold statement concerning man's need,

1st, Man restored to God by Christ.

2nd, Man knowing God through Christ.

3rd, Man-made like God in Christ.

The actual experience of the threefold redemption in human life always results from the direct work of the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father had promised, and Who was given through the Son on the day of Pentecost dispen­sationally, and to each individual for indwelling life, when in response to His work of conviction from without, Jesus is glorified. As these articles are to be devoted rather to an examination of the resulting facts than to the initial act, it is fitting that that act should first be dealt with briefly, as to its condition and its actuality.

The first work of the Spirit with fallen man is that of producing conviction concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. All these subjects are dealt with, however, from the center of Christ and His work. Sin is shown to consist in the rejection of the Savior; righteousness is de­clared to be possible through the fact of His ascension; and judgment is pronounced against all rebellion, "Because the prince of this world hath been judged." (John 16:8-11) The initial work of grace therefore is that of bringing the sinner to a consciousness of the truth concerning these vital matters. At this point human responsibility commences. If man refuses to yield to the truth understood, he remains outside the sphere of salvation. If on the other hand, he responds to conviction by submission to Christ, and trust in Him, then the spirit performs the stupendous miracle of regenera­tion. By communicating to the man "dead through tres­passes and sins," (Eph. 2:1) the life of Christ, He quickens his spirit. This act of God restores man to his own true balance and proportion, lifting to the throne of his personality the spirit so long neglected, and dethroning the flesh so long having occupied the place of power. More than this, the Spirit of God enters now into a PERPETUAL PARTNER­SHIP with the spirit of man, and thus initiates the life of power and of victory.

Upon the basis of this statement it is now pos­sible to pass to an examination of the redemption provided, under the propositions stated.