THE MESSAGE OF REVELATION

THE MESSAGE OF REVELATION

            In attempting to discover the message of the book of Revelation, it is important that we should remember that differing interpretations of detail need not detain or trouble us, because its essential message is not interfered with, whatever view may be held as to how the book should be interpreted in such matters of detail.

            There are at least four schools of interpretation of this wonderful book. I simply mention them in passing. They have been described as the Preterist, the Historic, the Futurist, and the Spiritual. The first affirms that in this book we have Jewish history to the fall of Jerusalem, and to the fall of pagan Rome set forth in symbolic form. The second interprets the book as giving an outline of events through the whole of the Christian era. The third treats the book as giving the events associated with the Second Advent of our Lord. The fourth deals with the book as being entirely spiritual, declaring that therein in signs and by symbols we have the revelation of the principles of the perpetual conflict between good and evil until the winning of the final victory. I am not going to enter into discussion as between these views. I believe there is an element of truth in every one of them. I do not think either of them exhausts the truth. However full of mystery this book is, it is the only book in the Bible which opens with a distinct blessing promised to the man who reads it, and keeps its words. That fact at least should arouse our attention, and give us to see that we ought not to treat the book carelessly, or lightly, or pass it over. I admit quite freely the difficulty of interpretation in the matter of detail; and there is no book in the Bible which I have read so often, no book to which I have tried to give more patient and persistent attention. As I have said, all the views to which I have referred may be partially true. The present study, how­ever, is not concerned with them.

            The first word of the Greek document is the keyword to the message as well as to the content. That is the word Revela­tion, the Greek word Apthalupsis. We have Anglicized that word and now speak of the Apocalypse. In the Greek there is no definite article. The book opens with the word Apokalupsis, which means quite literally, uncovering, and disclosure. A literal translation is not always a correct one; for we must always understand the use of the word as well as its root meaning. Quite literally this word apocalypse means un­covering; far more beautiful and therefore nearer the truth for us is our word unveil­ing. That is the first word of the book. It is the key to the content, and it is positively, and inclusively, the key to the message. An interesting fact is that this is the only occurrence of the word in the whole book; it is not found again. The word does not often occur in the New Testament. Paul uses it, and so does Peter. This is the one and only place in the writings of John where this word is to be found. It is as though it were reserved for this book. I do not mean that John reserved it, for it is quite pos­sible that this book was written before his letters. It may be that if I could have talked to John the aged, after he had written the last of his words for his beloved children, I should have found that he did not know that he had never used the word but once, and only there. These are very human documents so far as the men who wrote them were concerned. It is in the recognition of the human that we come to the discovery of the Divine in the study of the Bible. While not now staying to enter into all that is involved, I believe that the Spirit presided over and led men in the arrangement of the Canon, as certainly as He presided over and led men in the writing of the books. I do not think the Spirit was withdrawn when the last inspired literature was given to the Church.

            I think the Spirit still presided over human choices until the Library was completely arranged. I repeat, therefore, that it is as though this word Unveiling were reserved for this book.       We read the first word Unveiling; and it is as though the great doors swing open, and visions of glory appear, introduced by this word. We have been following from Genesis, through message after message, and at last we come to the final book in the Library, and it opens with this word Unveiling. It is the ulti­mate book in the Bible; the final book in the canon; and the attention is imme­diately centered upon a Person. It is "the unveiling of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show unto His servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass : and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John." The Unveiling of Christ, the final truth about Christ is in this last book of the Bible. That is the key to its message.

            Let us first consider the essential message. The central teaching is all suggested by the word Unveiling. This book is for the friends of Jesus. The proportion of our understanding of secret things is the pro­portion of our love for the Lord. There are too many things assumed here, for the book to be apprehended by any except those who know the secret of the Lord.

            First we have the unveiled Person; described as "The Alpha and the Omega"; a phrase which occurs three times, and only at the most remarkable situations. The message concerning Him is concerned with identification and vocation. The threefold use of that title identifies the Person; and shows the vocation of that Person in human history. Let us observe the three occasions.

            It first occurs in the eighth verse of the first chapter. The "Even so, Amen" of verse seven is not the language of the one speaking before; it is the introduction to the affirmation of verse eight, and should be read in close connection with it, and is more forcible, I think, in the older form, "Yea, amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty."

            The next occurrence is in chapter twenty-one, verse six, "They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the begin­ning and the end."

            The third is in chapter twenty-two, verses twelve and thirteen, "Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to render to each man according as his work is. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." That is the unveiling of the Person. The whole book is about that Person. Everything circles about that Person.

            The first affirmation is characterized by simplicity; there is no ambiguity, there can be no mistake as to the meaning; "I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty." There is no verse in the Bible more explicit than that, as a description of absolute and positive Deity. Thus in the first occurrence of this strange yet wonderfully symbolic and beautiful description, "the Alpha and the Omega," the first and the last, the beginning and the end, it is used of God Himself. He is described by the concep­tions of the Old Testament, condensed into brief statements, "The Lord God, which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty." All the titles of God in the Old Testament are represented in that description. The qualities of every Old Testament title for God are in that wonderful passage.

            The next occurrence is in the chapter of the final triumph. The millennium is described in six verses in the twentieth chapter. Beyond it there is conflict, and a great assize, and then the Kingdom of the Son is established, which must not be confused with the thousand years. It is in that unmeasured period that the city of God, descending out of heaven, God dwells with men; and concerning that ultimate triumph the words are employed; "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end." The process began when the Word Who was with God, and was God, "became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth." It will end with the ultimate victory. "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them. . . . I am the Alpha and the Omega." That again is evidently the language of God.

            The final occurrence is in the promise, "Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to render to each man according as his work is." Who now is the speaker? The answer is immediately given; "I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things."

            The first reference is obviously to the God of the Old Testament, the Sovereign Lord, the Almighty God, the Becoming One, Who is and was and is to come, the Almighty. The last is linked to that simple declaration, "I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things." Thus the identification is com­plete. Jesus is Jehovah.

            In these connections the Person is un­veiled as to vocation. The first declaration was made in answer to an ascription of praise; "Unto Him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by His blood." The answer was "I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, which is and

which was and which is to come, the Almighty." That reveals the Person as Priest.

            The next was made in connection with the fall of Babylon. The ultimate victory is won; the Kingdom has come; then the word is again spoken, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end." That reveals the Person as King as well as Priest.

            At the close of the book when the solemn warning is given that the words of the prophecy are not to be sealed, that the great teaching is to be the open secret of all those who read it; then again the voice is heard, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." That reveals the Person as Prophet.

            Thus the Person is Jehovah—Jesus, at once Priest, King, and Prophet. The whole of the Old Testament is answered. The Pentateuch sighs for a Priest, but never finds Him. The historic books cry for a King, but He does not appear. The prophetic books attempt in broken words to speak the Word, the abiding Truth; but they were never harmonized, and final. The Old Testament says, Humanity needs a Priest, a King, and a Prophet. Here we have the Priest, the King, and the Prophet unveiled; and He is the Alpha and the Omega, the One from Whom all came, to Whom all proceeds, and through Whom the end is assured from the beginning. This One is the mystic, mighty, very God of Gods; and this One is Jesus. That is what this book teaches. No man can read it and escape from the conviction that this is what the writer thought.

            In the second place we have in this book the unveiled power of the Person; and it is revealed as personal, instrumental, and effectual.

            The personal power is first inherent, and second acquired. He is, as we have seen, the essential Being; and we cannot read this book without feeling the awfulness of the power of God. We are made conscious of how terrible are the powers which are against God, in the figurative language which describes them as beasts, dragons. That is only the first impression. The final impression is that all these beasts and dragons are in the grip of God and cannot escape Him.     That is a revelation of the inherent power of the unveiled Person. Then there is the acquired power; we see not the throne only, but also the Lamb in the midst of it, as it had been slain. That is power won out of some mystery of passion and pain and suffering. The book opens with the anthem of this acquired power, "Unto Him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by His blood."

            The instrumental power of the unveiled Person is also unveiled. All elemental forces, earthquakes, lightning, thunder; forces of the air; plagues; He makes use of. Spiritual forces also; angels, good and evil; all of them are under His com­mand.

            The effectual power of this One Person is seen to be both destructive and con­structive. When we get rid of the idea that God can destroy, we get rid of the idea that God can construct. There must be destruction in order to construction in a world like this. The two activities are seen operating through this entire book, and always through the same Person.

            Third we find the unveiled purpose, both ultimately and progressively. The ultimate purpose of God is to dwell with men; man is to be blessed in God; God is to be glorified in man.            We do not find in this revelation any reference to the highest glory of all. We must go to the Ephesian letter for that, and see the Church telling the wisdom of God to the ages to come. Here the glory is that of the King­dom established in this world. This is the program of God's final methods in the world. The ultimate note is that of the tabernacling of God with men; the city of God coming out of heaven; the realization of the Divine purpose on earth.

            The progressive purpose of God is that He is at war against sin. He is destroying sin. I thank God for this book. Symbolic as it is, full of signs and wonders, the significance of which I have not yet been able to understand in detail; it nevertheless clearly presents this picture of God, the Alpha and the Omega, at war with sin; and it is as full of comfort as anything within the covers of the Divine Library. Per­suade me for a single moment that God is going to make peace with sin, and I become the most hopeless man in the world. Let me see God with drawn sword fighting against sin; then I see a God of such infinite love, that I know that "though a wide compass first be fetched," the kingdom of the world shall become the Kingdom of this One.

            The abiding appeal consists of an open­ing word of courage; and a closing word of caution. When John was in Patmos he saw a vision of his Lord, a wonderful vision, symbolically revealing sublime things with which we are not going to deal in detail.

            When he saw that vision, he became as one dead; then there came to him the touch of the human hand, and the sound of the human voice, and the great "Fear not." "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as one dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last, and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever­more, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things which are." If you take the "therefore" out of the verse you have lost much. The "therefore" links the command to write, with the great "Fear not." Write therefore the things you have seen, the things that are, and the things which shall be; write these visions and fear not.

            Because I have said, "Fear not," there­fore write. Write without fear. That is indeed a great word of courage, to the man who writes the book, and to the man who reads the book. Be not afraid, because I am He that liveth, and I have the keys Do .you not feel that you could walk with Him, through hell itself? Let us see the end of the whole matter. Let us watch the process of that righteous judgment that makes no peace with sin until it has established righteousness on the earth. Sin slew Him; but He slew sin. He was alive, and was dead; but is alive for ever­more. The great “Fear not" I hear it now, not only through the reading of the book, but above the clamor of the hour in which I live, amid the clash of arms, amid all the babel of earth's confused noises. "Fear not." This unveiled Person fills the vision. It is He that was dead but is alive for evermore. "Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change, and though the mountains be moved in the heart of the seas."

            Then there is a closing word of caution, "I testify." No additions must be made to this book, any subtractions from it. No additions; no speculative deductions. Take the things written and attempt to under­stand them; ponder them, but beware of speculative deductions. No subtractions; no unbelieving denials, no declaration that these things cannot be, because we cannot understand them. The Person as He is revealed; the power as it is unveiled; the purpose as it is declared; without addition or subtraction. That is the final caution of the book.

            In making application of the message of this book first to the Church, I would say again what I have already said. This is pre-eminently a book for the friends of Jesus. To know it is to be saved from mistakes about His Person, about His power, about His program.

            No man who denies the absolute and final Deity of Jesus can accept this book, he must get rid of it.

            No man who has any panic in his heart as to the issue, can believe this book. There is no book in the Bible to which I turn more eagerly in hours of depression than to this, with all its mystery, all the details which I do not understand. I go back to it, to the throne, and to the Lamb as it had been slain; and my puzzled mind and troubled heart, feel the healing virtue; and I hear the song, and am ready for another day's fighting, for I know that Jesus shall reign.

            No man who reads this book expects that the world is going to be converted by gospel preaching, without judgment. There must be a period of judgment. God will have the double harvest. There will be the harvest of evil; evil must work itself out to its final manifestation. It is not to be smothered. It is to be seen, not upon the housetop of the earthly city merely, but in the universe of God. What dignity rests upon this little planet of ours that it is to be the scene of the working out of evil, in order for its destruction. We shall make no mistake about the program of God if we read this book.

            To the individual this book says, Behold the new creation; and by observing that understand the truth about thyself. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Study well the beauty and the glory of life governed by this Person, and know the meaning of thy life in Christ. Study well the processes of life in the new creation, and understand the principles of thy life in Christ. Know that this new creation with­in thy experience can only come to its final perfecting, as God fights within thee against sin and slays it. The ultimate victory is not reached in a moment. Pardoned, justi­fied, made nigh, we are, in a moment; but all the processes are necessary for the subjection of the territory, and the estab­lishment of the Kingdom; thunder, earth­quake, as well as the gentle and caressing touch of the dawning of the morning. Jesus Who is the Lamb in the midst of the throne is God; and in His presence is the place of worship; and in His power is the place of refuge.

THE MESSAGE OF JUDE

THE MESSAGE OF JUDE

            This letter is one of the briefest of the New Testament writings; but it is by no means unimportant. It is characterized by great and grave gravity, making appeal to “them that are called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Christ Jesus." It is universal in church scope, and has perpetual application to the people of God.

            Its purpose is evident. We have to spend no time in seeking to discover its message; it is in itself a definite message. Its gravity is increased by the fact that the writer declares that whereas he had purposed writing on an entirely different subject, he turned aside from that original purpose, in view of the urgency of the need, as he saw it, for solemn warning.

            Glancing at the early verses of the letter, let us notice first the reason for the writing; second, his own declared purpose in writ­ing; and then, before turning to the state­ment of the message, let us notice the method he adopted in the writing.

            The reason is declared in verse four; there were certain "ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." When Jude was giving all diligence, that is, making careful preparation, to write a treatise on the subject of our common salvation, his spirit was made aware of the necessity for writing this letter, because there were certain men within the circle of the Church, who had crept in secretly, and were being received and listened to, and whose influence was affecting the life of Christian people. They were "turning the grace of our Lord into lasciviousness, and denying our only Master (DESPOT) and Lord, Jesus Christ."

            Jude gave with equal clearness, the pur­pose for which he wrote the letter, in the words, "I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints."

            The method of the letter is that of giving illustrations of apostasy, showing its nature and results; and also instructions for faithfulness.

            Here again, in another way, and from another viewpoint, and with other em­phasis, the great theme is that of the Hebrew letter, the two great values of which were the revelation of the perils of apostasy, of how death comes through apostasy; and of the powers of faith, how the righteous man lives by his faith. The same two underlying thoughts are in this brief letter. The central teaching of the letter is that of the peril of apostasy.

            Apostasy is first defined, as to its char­acter, and its characteristics. Second, illustrations of its nature and issue are given; Israel, Angels, Sodom and Gomor­rah, Cain, Balaam, and Korah.

            The abiding appeal consists of an in­clusive command; an exposition thereof; and finally an inspirational Doxology.

            The central teaching has to do with apostasy; which is first defined.

            When I speak of apostasy being defined, I am referring of course to apostasy with­in the Christian faith and fact. The illustrations are taken from the Scriptures and history of the Hebrew people; conse­quently they touch the underlying prin­ciple, rather than the immediate fact of the apostasy of which Jude was afraid as he wrote this letter to Christian people.

            Apostasy is not finally intellectual; it is volitional; but it is closely united with the intellectual. It may be very difficult for us to say whether apostasy from Christ, the denial of faith, the turning of the back upon the Lord Himself, begins with intel­lectual doubt, or moral declension. If I were asked personally for an opinion—which I shall only give as a personal opinion—I should be inclined to say that the very order in which Jude has stated it is a revelation of the order in which it happens. First some moral declension, some disobedience to the Lord Himself, some turning of the grace of God into lasciviousness, the out­come of which is some denial of the Lord and Master Himself. My own conviction is that heresy within the Church is almost invariably the outcome of disloyalty to the teaching of the Lord at some point in the life.           When a man turns the grace of God into lasciviousness, when he consents to act upon the idea that because he stands in grace, therefore his conduct is of very little moment, he is apostatizing. That is the most terrible of all apostasies. There have been periods when that apostasy has been formulated into a definite doctrine; the antinomian heresy declared that because a man is in Christ he cannot be lost, and therefore it matters little what his conduct may be, because nothing he can do can sever as between Christ and himself. That is apostasy in its worst form. No man can hold that doctrine without denying the Lord and Master. That is to deny every­thing for which He stood; to deny the real meaning and purpose of His dying, to deny the whole purpose of His heart, as He came to destroy the works of the Devil, in order to make possible to man a life of purity, to save man not merely from the punishment, of sin, but from sin itself. He came to make it possible for a man to stand before the Bema Seat of Christ with boldness because of the change in his life (1 John 4:17). To continue in sin that grace may abound is to deny the perfection of His Person; the passion of His heart that bore Him through the Cross; and His purpose for the establishment of the Kingdom of God in righteousness and holiness through the whole world. Too many in the church make no movement towards the perfection Christ died and resurrected to bring about for men (Jude 24).

            Doubt is not apostasy. I believe there are a great many that, passing through a period of honest doubt and difficulty and inquiry in the presence of the great mystery of our Lord's Person, do not apostatize, because they remain true to the measure of light they have, and they do not turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. In other words, apostasy according to this first definition and whole argument is not intellectual mistake, but moral failure on the part of those who name the name of Christ.

            In verses, twelve, sixteen, and nineteen, we have the characteristics of apostasy; they each begin with the same words. Perhaps there is no more forceful passage in the whole of the New Testament than that of verses twelve and thirteen. It is figurative but graphic. Reading it, one is conscious of the awfulness of apostasy. In verses sixteen and nineteen we have a description of those who apostatize, what they are in themselves, and what they do in the church assemblies.

            Between the declaration of the character of apostasy and the description of its characteristics, we have a series of very start­ling illustrations. In Israel the form of apostasy was that of unbelief, the one sin that so easily beset all of Israel (Heb. 12:1); and the issue of it was that they were destroyed. The nature of the apostasy of angels was. rebellion; they kept not their proper habitation, they moved out of their God-appointed orbit; choosing for themselves, they wandered out of bounds; and the issue was that they are kept in bonds. They wandered out of the bounds of His law, and therefore they are kept in bonds, reserved in darkness until the final day.

            Sodom and Gomorrah afford a startling illustration, in its recognition of the solemn fact that light is given in some measure to every nation and man, and that men are judged by God according to the light they have. The apostasy of Sodom and Gomorrah consisted in their giving them­selves over to all manner of lust and fornication. The issue was that of the age-abiding fire.

            Then three persons are given as illus­trations; Cain who was self-righteous; Balaam whose sin was greed; and Korah whose sin was presumption. All these are contrary to faith.

            Go over the ground again. In the first illustration it is plainly stated, the sin of unbelief. The angels when they left their first estate, their proper habitation, did so as the result of unbelief. In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah it was failure of faith. The sensual life is the opposite of the life of faith. Sodom and Gomorrah, when they gave themselves to fornication, were answering the clamoring call of the carnal and sensual which is always a con­tradiction to faith. Cain's attitude was devoid of faith; his was the self-righteous attitude of life. Balaam's attitude was in contradiction to faith. In a sense Balaam had faith; he had belief intellectually. He failed in faith in that he did not obey. So also with Korah's presumption.

            Where faith fails, morality fails. I pray you interpret that word morality in its widest sense, not as it is interpreted by the man in the street or by the maga­zine writer. The immorality of the angels was the denial of the government of God, and rebellion against it. Wherever you find it, immorality is denial of faith. Not the ending of intellectual conviction—that is not immorality. Immorality is refusal to obey the truth of which I am con­vinced, and that is also apostasy.

            Where there is such apostasy, inevitably the judgment must fall. It is contained in germ within the apostasy. "My right­eous one shall live by faith." If faith fail, God is not unfaithful; which does not mean that He will maintain the promise when the conditions are broken; but that He cannot maintain the promise when the conditions are broken.

            Turning to the abiding appeal; we have first the inclusive statement. Jude wrote exhorting us to "contend earnestly for the faith." The one word translated "contend earnestly" occurs nowhere else. The root of the word is found in the New Testa­ment in other applications; where it is said for instance that Epaphras strove in prayer, we have the same word, which might be rendered agonises. Here the word is intensified by its context, consequently our translation is, "contend earnestly." There is not the slightest suggestion of argu­ment. We are not asked to defend the faith by arguing for it. What then is the thought of the word? It is that of passionate and determined effort. The word really has in it the thought of the abandon and cautiousness of the athlete. "Contend earnestly for the faith." The apostle did not mean, Lecture on Chris­tian evidences. That may be a perfectly proper thing to do in its place. He did not mean, Form a league for the defense of the Bible. He did not mean, Argue with every man you meet that these things are so. The final argument for faith in the world is not the argument of words, but the argument of life. What he meant was this; Put into the business of your defense of this great faith pas­sionate and determined effort; let there be the abandon and cautiousness of the athlete.

            In the closing verses we have the ex­position of the way in which we are to obey the command to contend earnestly for the faith, "building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." We are to keep ourselves in the love of God; not to put ourselves there; we are in the love of God; being there, we are to keep ourselves in that love; which again does not mean that we are to remain there, but seeing that we are there, we are to behave as we ought to behave. We are in that love; therefore we are to respond to it, obey it. How are we to do that? By building, praying, looking. "Building up yourselves on your most holy faith," that is by answering the claim of the faith we possess, carrying it into all the activities of our everyday life so that we become stronger and grow perpetually. "Praying in the Holy Spirit." If our personal effort is that of building; our perpetual consciousness is that of depen­dence, praying. All this with the goal in view, "looking," the eye ever fixed upon the ultimate consummation, the glorious issue.

            If we desire to contend for the faith that is how we are to do it. The pro­foundest argument, indeed the only argu­ment in favor of faith, is life homed in the love of God, building itself up on faith, forever praying in the Holy Spirit, and for evermore looking for the mercy of our Lord unto age-abiding life. Find the man or woman, boy or girl, professing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, holding in that sense the faith of Christianity, who stays in the love of God, builds up the life upon faith, never undertaking any enterprise except as it is conditioned by the underlying facts of Christianity, living for evermore under the Holy Spirit, in dependence upon that Spirit's co-operation, looking always for the ultimate perfecting; such an one is doing more for the defense of the faith than all wordy argument. The faith is contended for by the whole business of life, by consecration characterized by caution and courage; the putting out of our lives of all the things that are contrary to the will of the Lord and Master, refusing to turn the grace of God into lasciviousness; never denying, but for evermore affirming in life, the Lord and Master of us all.

            There is something else. We cannot contend for the faith and keep ourselves, except as we help others. How are we to help them? "On some have mercy, who are in doubt; and some save, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh."

            Finally, what is the inspiration of this life in which we contend for the faith? "Now unto Him that is able to guard you—as with a garrison—from stumbling, and to set you before the presence of His glory without blemish in exceeding joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and power, before all time, and now, and for evermore." The inspiration is the certainty that the Master is able to guard us from stumbling, and at last to set us before the presence of God with exceeding joy and without blemish. But He cannot guard us from stumbling if we deny Him. He cannot guard us from stumbling if we are apostate, if we deliber­ately continue in unbelief as in the case of Israel; in speculative attempts to act on our own behalf as in the case of the angels; in descent toward sensual things and fornication as in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah; in self-righteous satisfaction even in our worship as in the case of Cain; in greed as in the case of Balaam; in presumption as in the case of Korah. If in any of these things we are guilty of apostasy, He cannot guard us from apostasy. If we are abiding in the love of God, building on faith, praying in the Spirit, looking for mercy, then all hell cannot make us stumble, because He is able to guard us as with a garrison from stumbling.

            A final word by way of application. First to the Church. What is the faith for which we are to contend? The faith once for all delivered to the saints; that is, the whole system of truth. What is the system of truth? That truth is centered in a Person. That Person is the Person of these New Testament revela­tions; the Person of the Gospels, the Acts, the Epistles. The Person is seen in the flesh in the first four pamphlets; but is interpreted by the Spirit in the apostolic writings. That is the faith. It is that truth embodied in a Person, operating in grace and holiness, for which we are to contend.

            Then to the individual. What is the contending which defends the faith? Con­stant loyalty to Christ; ceaseless caution in the presence of things contrary to His will; courage and confidence. By these things we shall indeed defend the faith. It is possible for a man to attempt to defend the faith by argument, and suc­cessfully by argument to state the facts of the faith, while instead of defending it, he is actually destroying it by his own life, by his own character. Faith, and contending for the faith by obedience to the claims of the faith will forevermore make apostasy impossible.

THE MESSAGE OF THE LETTERS OF JOHN

THE MESSAGE OF THE LETTERS OF JOHN

            The three letters of John are intimately related to each other. In the first we have teaching, and in the second and third, illustrations; but the message is one.

            There is moreover, a close relation between these letters and the Gospel according to John. Two statements, one in the Gospel, and one in the letters, in which the apostle declared the purpose of his writing in each case, reveal that relation.

            The purpose for which the Gospel was written was that those reading it should believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that as a result of their belief, they might themselves enter into life. This the writer clearly declared in the words, "These are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in His name" (John 20:31).

            The purpose for which the letters were written was that those reading them, having already believed on the name of the Son of God, might have the means whereby to find assurance of their possession of eternal life. This with equal clearness John declared in the words, "These things have I written unto you, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:13). (Not will get but have in your possession.) And if you don’t know, you had better find out why you don’t because John  says you should know.

            In the Gospel, then, we have the un­veiling of eternal life in its manifestation in the Son of God; and the revelation of the fact that this life is, through Him, placed at the disposal of men through the mystery of His death, and the victory of His resurrection. When we read the Gospel story, we know what eternal life really is, for it is clearly manifested in the Son of God; and further, we learn that we may share in that life by believing in His name. Thus the theme of the Gospel is that of eternal life; as it is revealed in the Son of God; and as the Son of God is able to communicate it to believing souls.

            In the letters, the theme is still that of eternal life, only in these we, see its mani­festation in the children of God, that is, in those who through faith in the Son of God, have received that life. So that the theme of the letters is that of eternal life, as it is revealed in the children of God, as they are under the mastery of the Son of God.

            The theme of the Gospel and the letters is thus seen to be the same. It is that of age-abiding life, that is, life according to the will and purpose of God. In the Gospel we see one lonely figure, that of the Son of God, revealing and communi­cating eternal life. In the epistles we see the children of God, those whom the Son brings into this life, that is all such as believe on His name.

            In the prologue of the Gospel, John wrote of the Son of God, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us . . . full of grace and truth" (John 1:1 and 14).

            In the parenthesis of the fourteenth verse, John, in evident exultation of spirit, wrote, "And we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father full of grace and truth," and in that brief and almost abrupt phrase, "full of grace and truth," he gave the distinguishing facts of the "glory."

            When we turn to his letters, we find the same facts of grace and truth domi­nating his thought: the first of them illustrating the power of grace in the life of all those who believe in the Son of God, and the second and third insisting upon the importance of truth, by showing the necessity for loyalty thereto on the part of those who share the privileges of grace.

            These letters, then, afford a teaching and a test. They teach us what eternal life is in the experience of the child of God; and they enable us therefore to test our life, and to know whether it is eternal life. In dealing with the essential message we find that its central teaching is an explana­tion of the life of fellowship; while its abiding appeal is that of a declaration of the responsibilities of fellowship.

            As we commence our reading of the first letter, the word fellowship is found, and it is the key-note of the three epistles, the master-thought of the writer being that eternal life is life in fellowship with God; we enter upon eternal life when we are brought into fellowship with God; we continue in eternal life as we abide in fellowship with God.

            The explanation of the life of fellowship falls into two parts, the first dealing with resources, and the second with realization.

            The resources of the life of fellowship are objectively presented in the pattern provided in the Son of God; and subjectively received in the power provided when we are begotten children of God.

            The pattern of eternal life is given in Christ, and the writer dealt with it in its twofold aspect of light and of love.

            When dealing with the subject of light, the apostle wrote, "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself to walk even as that One walked" (1 John 2:6).

            It is evident from that literal translation that as John wrote he had before his vision the Lord and Master Whom he knew so intimately. If we desire an accurate inter­pretation of the phrase, "that One," we must go back to the Gospel to find it, for there we see the One upon Whom John was looking in spirit, and by faith, when he wrote the words. In that Gospel the Son of God is revealed, walking in light, and therefore, as the sinless One, never consenting to darkness, never hiding from God, or attempting so to do; the One of Whom it was pre-eminently true that in His spirit there was no guile, no deceit.

            He is the pattern therefore, of eternal life, as perfect conformity to light. In the measure in which we walk as He walked, we walk in light.

            It must be remembered that this writing was for the children of God, that the Lord Jesus Christ is not presented as a pattern to men until they have yielded themselves to Him; for the perfection of His life is such that to present it as an ideal to be realized, would be but to mock the impotence of unregenerate men. It is perfectly true that we may present Him as the great Ideal to men who have not yet received His gift of life; but in doing so we only succeed in revealing to them their inability to imitate the pattern, and so reveal to them the necessity for the new birth. Having become His by the gift of life, we are called upon to live the life of fellowship with God, and our first resource is that of the pattern which He thus presents.

            In dealing with the subject of love, the apostle wrote, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the Propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10).

            In all the life of the Son of God thus sent by the Father there was a revelation of the attitude and activity of perfect love. No word ever passed His lips but that was love inspired. He wrought no deed but in answer to the demand of love. Thus in Him we see eternal life in the sinlessness of light, and the selflessness of love.

            If however, as we have already indicated, our resources in Christ are only objective, then we are left helpless indeed. The more carefully I contemplate the revelation of eternal life in Christ, the more impossible do I feel it to be to imitate the pattern given. Those who speak of imitating Jesus Christ, and seem to hope to realize the ideal in their own strength, have surely never seen Him in that marvelous wonder of perfect sinlessness and absolute love which John has presented to us in his Gospel. The pattern is not enough, and therefore in deal­ing with our resources, he shows that Christ is not merely objectively presented to us as from without, that we may gaze upon Him; but that by the communication of His own life to us He becomes a subjective, an actual power, working within our lives.

            This is true both with regard to light and to love. The light only comes when comes the life, and the love only comes when comes the life. When a man is begotten of God, he sees, he becomes sensitive in the matter of sin; he knows exactly what he ought to do. Moreover, when a man is begotten of God, the first impulse of his new life is love, which drives him out upon the pathway of sacrificial service on behalf of other men.

            The relation of life to light in the case of the children of God is revealed in two statements; "Ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things." "And as for you, the anointing which ye received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that anyone teach you; but as His anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in Him" (1 John 2:20 and 27).

            While there are many values in these statements, for the purpose of our present meditation we may summarize their teach­ing in this respect by saying that the child of God is never left in doubt by God as to the thing which is sinful, and the thing which is right. That statement may be challenged, but let it be carefully pondered in the light of Christian experi­ence.        There are times when we may be tempted to argue with ourselves that we are not sure; but in the deepest fact of our life in Christ we always know. As we have received His life, that life is always light, and though there may be moments when on some threshold between light and darkness we waver and wonder, that very uncertainty does but demonstrate the necessity for flee­ing the danger and pressing back into the clear light. The man begotten of God sees, and if we are conscious of the loss of a keen sense of sin, we may know that our life is at low ebb.

            The relation of life to love in the case of the children of God is revealed in the words; "Everyone that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7).

            The man begotten of God loves. That is the very essence of Christianity. The first movement in the soul of a man born of God is a movement inspired by love and impelling to service. Let that be illustrated in the simplest possible way. Here is a man born again in some service, or it may be, in the loneliness of his own home. Then immediately, and without any excep­tion, he thinks of someone else whom he loves, and desires that such an one may share his joy; and is consequently impelled to go and tell that one the secret of his new-found life. There is no exception to this. The life of God is love, and the moment we share it, we love. We may quench love, be afraid to let it lead us to full expression, but all such action reacts upon life itself. The truth of infinite value is that the most loveless become love-mastered as they are born of God.

            These writings reveal not the resources of life alone, but also the values of its realization. These are twofold, the value to us, and the value to God.

            The value of the life of fellowship to us is that of the realization of our own life, the perfection of our being, in friendship with God.

            Some time ago I received a letter, in which the writer said, "How am I to find the secret that will admit me to the realization of all of which I am conscious? Life seems to me as though it ought to be made up of love and laughter, but I am afraid that this is an improper definition of life." In answer to that letter I said that such is life indeed, according to the will of God, and that life only becomes love and laughter as it is eternal life, or life in fellowship with God. It is self-evident that when I use the word laughter I am not referring to such laughter as the preacher described in the book of Ecclesiastes, when he wrote, "For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity" (7:6).

            I refer rather to that exultant hilarity which results from full consciousness of life. When a man is born of God, he is made to realize what God meant when He first made man. That is eternal life.

            That way of stating the fact may surprise a great many truly Christian people who seem to have an idea that eternal life changes a man into some other order of being. Let us always carefully remember that what we are essentially, in our first creation, we are by the will and power of God. He creates each human being a member of the great kingdom of humanity, necessary for the perfecting of the whole. We never come to a realization of these powers, or make our contribution to the larger whole, until we are living eternal life, that is, life in fellowship with God. The words of Jesus are most significant in this respect, in which He declares, "Whoso­ever loseth his life shall find it," that is, the very life he loses. He that loses his life for Christ's sake does not find a different life. He finds rather, the key to his own life, which unlocks its secrets and the power which enables him to realize its potentialities. The value of eternal life to us then is the perfecting of our personalities in friendship with God, according to the will of God. Eternal life is true life, life as God intended it should be.

            Realization of eternal life by the children of God is valuable to God Himself, in that He finds in every human being who lives in fellowship with Himself, a medium through which He can manifest Himself, and an instrument through which He is able to accomplish His purposes. When a man begins to live the life eternal, God gains in him an opportunity to show Himself in the shop or the office where he works, in the circle of men and women among whom he moves.

The abiding appeal of these letters con­sists in their declaration of the respon­sibilities of the life of fellowship. These responsibilities are those of light and love.

            With regard to light, the first respon­sibility is that its testing must be sought. It is not enough that I should say that light must be obeyed. Our first duty is to seek the light. We often say that we have no light on a given subject. Let it be remembered that if that is so, the fault is with us. We can have light if we will. That fact is most clearly taught by Paul in one of his letters, in which he said, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee." (Eph. 5:14) This does not merely mean once, at the beginning, but along the whole pathway of life. It is possible for us not to seek the light, not to want to have the light, not to desire its shining and our first responsibility therefore is that we do seek the light. If indeed we bear His name and profess to live the life of fellow­ship, we have no right to undertake any business without seeking light, no right to enter upon any pleasure without desiring to know His will. There must be the testing of the life by light on the part of all those who are living in fellowship with God.

            Then when the light shines, it must be obeyed wherever it leads, and at whatever cost.

Our responsibilities as to love are that its impulse must be yielded to, and its holiness must be maintained.

            It is a matter for the most solemn con­sideration that we may destroy our capacity for love by not yielding to its impulse. There is a time in the earlier experiences of all Christian life when the soul is con­scious of a great passion for lost men and women. It is possible to lose this. It is possible to continue the service, and yet to have lost the love. We lose the love impulse when we refuse to obey its sug­gestions. Love asks for some sacrificial service, and we listen to some calm, cal­culating, satanic voice, and caring for our­selves, we stifle love. If the life of God in the soul of a man is in its first movement an impulse of love, our first responsibility is that of obedience thereto. Love will lead us to the doing of such things that the world will be unable to understand. Judas will still ask, "Why this waste?" If we listen to that criticism, and cease to respond to love, love will die. If we turn a deaf ear to such suggestions of Satan, and yielding ourselves to love, serve in answer to its impulse, love will deepen and in­tensify.

            We are not only to yield to love; we are to guard its holiness. It is possible to be led astray from the activity of true love by yielding to a false charity. Food pantries without one word of the gospel. Christ said to them “all you want is bread.” At the very center of love is light. That is not true love which sacrifices principle. God has never acted in love at the expense of light. If I could be persuaded for one moment that God can be so loving as to pass lightly over sin, then I should feel that the government of the universe was insecure. The fact is otherwise. He loves with such intensity that He never can excuse sin. In all our love therefore, we must see to it that the light is shining, and that holiness is maintained.

            These letters have an immediate appli­cation to the individual and to the Church. That to the individual may thus be briefly stated. Life must be tested by light and by love. That is a word full of solemnity. We talk of our fellowship with God. How are we to prove to ourselves that we are really living in fellowship with Him? The test of the life is that of light and love. If the light is not shining clearly, or if shining, we are disobedient to it; if the love that once burned and inspired is no longer operative then may God deliver us from mere satisfaction with the formula of ortho­doxy, or correct intellectual apprehensions of the doctrines of grace.

            As to the Church, the law of its fellow­ship is life, and as in the case of the individual, life must be tested by light and by love. We have no right to be so broad in our Church fellowship as to receive men who deny Christ as He is presented in the Gospel, and as He has accomplished His victories in the souls of men in the centuries of the Christian era. We may respect the convictions of these men, but there can be no fellowship with them in Church life, which does not weaken the testimony of the Church. It would be infinitely better that the fellowship of any Church should be smaller than that its numbers should be enlarged by the inclu­sion of those who fail to walk in light, or to respond to love.

            It is a remarkable fact and not to be lightly passed over, that in these writings of John, who has become known pre­eminently as the apostle of love, we find the sternest words as to the necessity for loyalty to truth; and the Church of God needs to remember that fellowship with God necessitates separation from all who fail to fulfill the responsibilities of fellowship in light, or in love.

THE MESSAGE OF 2 PETER

THE MESSAGE OF 2 PETER

            The main purpose of this second letter, like that of the first, is the establish­ment of believers in their faith and in their life. Both were undoubtedly written in fulfillment of the charge of the Lord Jesus to Peter; "When once thou hast turned again, establish thy brethren."

The first letter was written to "the elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia"; and the opening words of the third chapter of the second epistle lead us to believe that it was written to the same people. In each case the method is the same, although the Apostle was dealing with different difficulties. In the former, he dealt with perils threatening the spiritual life of the Church from without. In this, he dealt with perils threatening the spiritual life of the individual believer from within.

            There is a sense in which this second letter touches a deeper note than the first. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it has a more searching effect; its note is deeper, in the sense that it deals with us personally, individually, whereas the first presented to us in a more general way the great and inspiring truth of the sufficiency of that grace wherein we stand. Grace is sufficient; that was the theme of the first letter. That is still the message; but now it is insisted on that grace is only sufficient as its laws are obeyed. No man has any right to say God's grace is sufficient to keep him if he is breaking the laws of grace, and so putting himself in peril. God's grace is not sufficient to keep a man from falling who is not obedient to the law of that grace, and to the revealed will of God. The first letter began "Grace to you and peace be multiplied," and ended "Stand ye fast there­in." The second letter begins, "Grace to you and peace be multiplied," and ends "Grow in the grace." The same beginning in each case, reminds us of the fountain­head and the flowing river. The final word of the first is, "Stand ye fast therein," that is live in Emmanuel's land, watered and fertilized by this great flowing river of grace. The last word of the second letter is "Grow in the grace," that is, being in the land, appropriate its resources and grow. It is not enough to abide, to stand fast; there must also be growth. In the first epistle the burden is that of the sufficiency of grace, and the consequent first responsibility of standing fast. In the second letter the burden is that of the responsibility which the fact of being in grace creates.

            This must be clear. The great burden of the first letter is the sufficiency of grace; grace in every time of need; ending with the one note indicating responsibility, "Stand ye fast therein." The burden of the second letter takes for granted the bur­den of the first, that grace is sufficient, and sets forth the responsibility that rests upon those who are in grace, revealing two grave perils forever threatening the life of those in grace. While its burden is that of re­sponsibility, and while it ends with the note which insists upon responsibility, "Ye therefore . . . grow in the grace"; the thought of this last word is also that of sufficiency, as it really means, being in the grace, grow; you are in the grace, God has put you in His grace, you are in the land watered by the river of His grace, therefore grow.

            Let us then consider the essential mes­sage of this second letter as to its central teaching; and as to its abiding appeal.

            The central teaching has to do with the responsibilities of grace; first, the resource creating the responsibilities, and second the responsibilities created by that resource. After the introduction in the first two verses, the Apostle wrote; "Seeing that His divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that called us by His own glory and virtue." An in­terpretation of this letter must be sought in the light of the Mount of Transfiguration. If that be kept in mind, this declaration immediately becomes full of meaning. The central thought is that of Divine power. This power grants us "all the things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that called us by His own glory and virtue." Put the things of grace which are there referred to, "glory and virtue," against the things for which power is provided, "life and godliness," and it is immediately seen that they are mutually explanatory. The Divine power being at our disposal, we have everything that is necessary for life, according to His glory; and for godliness, according to His virtue.

            His glory these men had seen on the Mount. What they saw was not the outshining of the Deity of our Lord, but the coming to final perfection of His humanity. Deity has never had that kind of outshining. Deity has no manifestation to the eyes of sense. When God hid Him­self in flesh, then men saw God; the glory of Deity was revealed not in any splendor, but in the humanity of our Lord. That humanity came to its perfection on the Mount. The story of the life of Jesus may be told thus; innocent in babyhood and childhood; holy in youth and manhood; coming to ultimate glory on the Mount of Transfiguration. There humanity was re­vealed at its highest and best.

            It was glory, but it was also virtue; that is, it was not merely what life was in itself, inherently, in its perfection, but it was the fact that that life was filled with every excellency which made God declare, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased."

            The word virtue here has not the meaning which it usually has when we make use of it. We recall the great passage in the first letter, "Ye are . . . that ye may show forth the excellencies," "the praises," as the Authorized version has it. The word ex­cellencies or praises is exactly the same word as virtue. Virtue refers there to that in Him which was excellent, that in Him which satisfied the heart of God.

            His Divine power has given us all that we need, in order that life may come to the pattern of that glory; and that godliness may be the realization of that virtue. These are the resources of His power.

            Then there are the resources of His coming. These are also referred to in the first chapter; "Whereby He hath granted unto us His precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may be­come partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust." "For thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." "The eternal Kingdom" is an arresting phrase, and this is the only occasion in the New Testament in which it is used. In this letter the subject of the Second Advent is not dealt with as it is in some of the other writings of the New Testament. The main thought of the Apostle is not that the Second Advent will mean the setting up of the Kingdom of God in this world, but that it will result in the perfecting of the saints. We should always draw a distinction between the Coming of the Lord and the Day of the Lord, that Day of Judgment ushering in the reign of right­eousness. The Apostle is here dealing with the value of the Coming to the saint. In that Coming we shall finally, perfectly escape from' the corruption that is in the world by lust. In that Corning we shall enter into the age-abiding Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with a non-sinning eternal body.

            Here again is the resource provided for us in grace. If I stand in grace, I have power sufficient to conform my life to the perfect pattern of His life, so that it shall be well pleasing to God. If I stand in grace I stand in the light of the Parousia, the Presence, the Corning; which for the world will lead to His process of judgment establishing righteousness; but which for me, standing in grace, will be the hour when I finally escape from corruption. There is a sense in which every believer has already escaped in the economy and purpose of God; but in the hour of that Coming, that Advent at which scoffers are still scoffing, we shall finally escape from corruption. This corruptible must put on in-corruption. (1 Cor. 15:53) Then shall be brought to pass the word that is written. That is the final outcome of our Christian life; and we lose a very great deal if we forget or neglect, as a part of the resources of grace, the presence or coming of our Lord.

            What then are the responsibilities which these resources create? They can be expressed in two words; appropriation of the resources; and avoidance of the perils.

           Two words will indicate the method of appropriation; first remembrance, and second, response. In proportion as we forget the beginning we are in danger of wandering from the pathway that leads to the end. It is an ill day in my Christian life when I do not remember my Lord's death, and that Cross from which I receive the benefit of my life. There is a great value in the Lord's command, "This do in remembrance of Me." When gathering about the table, one of our first responsibili­ties is that there we remember the beginning of our Christian life by His atonement; and we must keep our life day by day set in relation to these things, the first things. But we are to remember not only the first things, but also the ultimate things. When I forget the ultimate, forget the Coming, and then my life becomes careless. I am per­fectly sure that Dr. Denney is right when he says in his volume on Thessalonians, that the very bloom of the beauty of the Christian communion in the early days was that of their ever expecting the return of the Lord; and I believe he is perfectly right when he says that the measure in which the Church has lost that expectation, is the measure in which the bloom of that beauty has been brushed from her character. By remembrance of these things, I appro­priate them.

            But infinitely more is needed. If I re­member them only as an intellectual exer­cise, there is no value in that. I must respond to them. Remembering the Cross and what it means with regard to sin, I am to put sin away and yield myself to its inspiration for service. (1 Pet. 2:1)         Remembering the Advent, His return, then "what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God?" So, resources are to be appropriated by remem­brance and response.

            That necessarily involves the second thought, avoidance of the perils. The solemnity and searching power of the second chapter are great. There is no pity in the heart of this man for false prophets; for very love of truth, there cannot be. He warns against the false prophets; and in the next chapter he charges them that they "remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets." How are we to avoid the perils? By remembering the truth, the messages of the prophets, of the Lord Himself, of the apostles. We are to test prophecy by the established prophecies of essential truth. We are to avoid the peril of evil living that grows out of listening to false prophets, by all holy living and godliness resulting from obedience to the holy prophets.

            The abiding appeal of the letter is that we give diligence. This we do first by co-operation with the Power. "Adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue; and in your virtue knowledge; and in your knowledge temperance; and in your temperance patience; and in your patience godliness; and in your godliness love of the brethren; and in your love of the brethren love." First faith appropriates power; then diligence develops the charac­ter which is potentially taken hold of by faith. Faith is the first thing. Faith appropriates the Divine power. The Divine power has put all things at my disposal, and faith appropriates that power. That is not enough. I am to give diligence to supply. That process is described through the flowering of faith, until the fruit is reached, which is love. The figure is that of the opening flower. The root principle is faith taking hold of the resources of power; then we see the flower open; until we get at last to the fruit, love. If we want to know what love is, we leave Peter and go to Paul, "The fruit of the Spirit is love; joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance." In order to that development from faith to love, cultivation is needed; self‑cultivation, and diligence with all.

            It is perfectly true we grow; and it is perfectly true that not by effort can we grow, not by taking thought can we add one cubit to our stature even spiritually; but it is equally true that we are to be diligent in adding, not adding to, as though we got from somewhere else a new quality; but bringing out the thing that is already there; reach­ing down into the Divine power until all the petals of the perfect flower are un­folded, and until the fruit itself is formed, which is love.

            The appeal of the letter goes farther. We are to give diligence, not only to co­operate with power, but also in view of the Coming. "Seeing that ye look for these things, give diligence that ye may be found in peace, without spot and blameless in His sight." Just as we saw faith appropriating power, now we see faith looking for the coming. It is faith and nothing else that looks for the Coming. The scoffers are always present, saying; "Where is the promise of His coming?" As things have been, so they will remain. Faith looks up, and expects the fulfillment of the sure word of prophecy. Faith is certain that what God has spoken He will do. Faith does not attempt to explain away the prophecies of the Old Testament as though they had happened, when most evidently they have not happened. Faith looks and expects, and affirms that though there be no flush of dawn to the eyes of sense, He is coming, and the day is coming in which the elements shall melt away with fervent heat.

            I speak out of my own experience. Unless I looked for that coming I would be of all men the most miserable, and the most hopeless. In this matter God is working as He always has worked, through processes leading to crises. Faith is looking for the coming, and it must give diligence that in the crisis we may be found in peace, with­out spot, and blameless in His sight.

            That is the abiding appeal. Give dili­gence with regard to the power, to co-operate with it for the development of character. Give diligence with regard to the Coming, to look for it and to guard character so that at any moment—to quote from John for the illumination of Peter—we may not be ashamed from Him at His Coming.

            The application of the letter to the in­dividual is first that it reveals the law of relation to that Divine power which is at his disposal in Christ; remembrance in order to diligence, remembrance the inspira­tion of diligence. To forget is to become negligent; to remember is to be forever more diligent.

            It also reveals the law of relation to the coming; anticipation in order to realization. If I really anticipate His coming, if I really live so that I may be ready when He comes —how the thought touches all life—if I really believe He may disturb me at my work, or worship, or play, then I shall work and worship and play so as not to be ashamed when He comes. If we have lost that, how much we have lost.

            The application of this letter to the Church is first that it reveals her only perils. The first is that of denial of the Master. "There arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destruc­tive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction." Denying the Master; His glory and His virtue, those essentials concerning Him which were revealed to Peter and the Church for all time upon the holy mount. Denying all that He is in Himself, denying that which was the central subject of the conversation of the holy mount, the exodus, not death, but the fact that through death He would break a highway into life. The second peril is that of deny­ing His coming; "In the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of His coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things con­tinue as they were from the beginning of the creation." When the Church joins in the mockery of the mocker, and denies the prophetic utterance of the Scriptures, and the definite declarations of the Lord and His apostles, then she is in peril, for to lose the sense of His coming is to lose the most powerful force and inspiration for holy living.

            The inter-relation of these perils is mani­fest. To deny Him in any sense is to deny His coming. To deny Him by making Him merely a moral example is to doubt the saving value of His death, and to deny His resurrection; and to deny the resurrec­tion is to deny His Second Advent.

            The issue of such denial is nearsighted­ness, seeing only the things that are near. This issues in lust. And lust brings forth death.

            The note of the letter is one of great solemnity, I had almost said severity; but it

is the severity of a great love and a great desire for the strengthening of believers. Let us forever hear its great words to us; in remembrance, give diligence. Grace is sufficient; but we must discover and obey its laws, or it is valueless.