Answers to Correspondents

J. A. P. — The Sabbath is distinctly connected with the first creation; it marked the completion of God’s work therein; and then, all being “very good,” He “rested from all His work which He had created and made.”

When God separated Israel from the nations, He gave them the law which, if kept, would have enabled them to enjoy the blessings of the first creation, for theirs were earthly blessings, and the Sabbath was given to them as the sign of His covenant with them as ‘a people in responsibility on earth (Ex. 31:13 and 17).

But as God’s Sabbath was broken in upon by sin in Eden, so Israel failed to enjoy it because of their transgressions, and in consequence God had no rest or satisfaction in them. Thus, when Jesus came to earth, there was no Sabbath for Him, for sin was here; and He had to say “My Father worketh hitherto and I work.”

But the Sabbath as given to Israel (along with everything else that belonged to the old covenant) was but the shadow of good things to come; Christ is the substance; in Him alone could rest be found. This the Pharisees refused. They held to the letter of the law, which could only slay them, while refusing Him, who was the spirit of it, and who alone could give life and rest.

Everything is changed for the Christian. Old things have passed away, and his blessings are not connected with earth, but heaven. He has not to labor six days to keep the law, and enter into rest if he does this; for he owns that he has come short of God’s standard, and that the law could only curse him; but he has turned from the law to Christ who bore its curse, and his soul has entered a new day, with not rest at the end of toil, but rest when he begins to serve the Lord in newness of spirit.

Nothing could prove the utter breakdown of man in his place of responsibility in God’s creation like the fact that Jesus, who was the Creator, lay in death on the Sabbath day. Nothing proves the greatness of His triumph and the completion and perfection of His works as does His resurrection from the dead, which took place on the first day of the week. That is the day of days for the Christian: the day of a great triumph, the inauguration of a new creation, all secured in, and to be brought into full completion by the First Begotten from the dead. The day is distinctly honored in Scripture. The Lord appeared to His disciples on it on at least two occasions; the early disciples met on it to commemorate the Lord’s death in the breaking of bread; and it is distinctly spoken of as the Lord’s day in Revelation 1. Because of this the Christian cannot view it lightly, though he does not regard it at all in the light of the Sabbath, which belonged to the old creation, to the dispensation of law and shadows.

When God takes up Israel again and places them as His redeemed earthly people, secure from harm in the land of promise, then the Sabbath will be kept according to the mind of God; that is future.

But Christian blessings are not earthly, but heavenly. Before the earth was, or any covenant existed between God and man upon it, our heavenly, holy calling, and all the blessings connected with it, were purposed and secured for us in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 1:9).

Our Lord's Humanity

— F. writes as to the use of the expression “condition” on page 34 of our February issue, as applied to our blessed Lord in the words, “Come.... into manhood, into the condition of His lost and fallen creature,” and fears lest these words should give the impression that Christ partook of the sinful mature of man. Far be the thought! The Son of God in incarnation was absolutely unique. In Him was no trace or taint of sin; His every thought and word and act was of, and according to the Spirit of God.

But while earnestly insisting on this, it is needful also to insist on the reality of His manhood, for there is a phase of doctrine abroad today, which seems to view the Lord Jesus as having merely assumed the form of man, and nothing more. That is not the truth; else we had no real Savior, no true Substitute or Mediator. His was not merely the outward form and likeness, but also the whole condition that belonged to humanity (always perfect in Him). He was in all points tempted like as we are, sin apart (Heb. 4:15, N.T.). He could “hunger” and “thirst,” and knew what it was to be “wearied” by the way; He came into manhood, too, in all the reality of that condition of being Godward (Heb. 5:7). Moreover, though the suffering and weakness is over, He still retains His manhood in resurrection. See Hebrews 2:13: “Again, I will put My trust in Him.”

The mystery of incarnation is inscrutable, but through it is presented to us, for the adoration of our souls, One who was, is, and ever shall be, God over all, blessed forever, and yet is the peerless “Man Christ Jesus.”

The Kingdom and the Church

W. R. — Your question as to the kingdom of God and the Church opens up a very large subject, and one which the space at our disposal this month will not allow us to go into. For a full and clear unfolding of the truth of the kingdom we recommend you to get a copy of a book on that subject by J. A. Trench (price 4d.) from the office of this magazine.

As to the Church, in its completed aspect, it will be made up of all believers on the Lord Jesus in this present period, that is, from Pentecost to the coming of the Lord (see 1 Thess. 4:16-17). These are all indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and thus linked up with Christ, their risen Head in Heaven. A series of articles commencing this month, in this paper, entitled “The Mystery of God,” will, we trust, be helpful to the understanding of this great subject.

Manna - The Omer

Just as no house in Egypt was too big for the lamb — setting before us the sufficiency of Christ’s death to meet our lost and ruined and sinful condition — so no man’s eating was too great for an omer of manna (Ex. 16-18) i.e., the life of Jesus, what He is in Himself, as expressed in His life of dependence on earth, is sufficient to feed, sustain, and satisfy the greatest desires of the new life. That one omer was also laid up before the Lord, would signify that He is also all-sufficient for the satisfaction and delight of God (Ex. 16:33).

Baptism

R.J.R. asks several questions as to Baptism. To these we offer reply as follows:

The “one baptism” of Ephesians 4:5 is Christian baptism, and stands in connection with “one faith” and “one Lord.”

Christian baptism is by water (Acts 8:36-38), in the light of God fully revealed (Father, Son and Holy Spirit, of Matt. 28:19), and is unto Christ as Lord. It is both an ordinance (that is, an authoritative instruction) and a privilege.

Israel was baptized in the cloud and in the sea to Moses (1 Cor. 10:2): Christians are baptized to Christ, who is the Antitype of what Moses was as the deliverer of God’s earthly people. Read Romans 6:2 and Gal. 3:27, where “into” should properly be read “unto”.

In the examples referred to (Acts 2:38; 10:48; 19:5) the record does not assume to state the whole formula of words used on the occasion of each baptism, but singles out for attention that which was distinctive, that is, the name of the One who had just been rejected and crucified, but whom God had exalted, and in connection with whom alone was any place of refuge and safety opened out to the guilty and the lost.

As to the most correct formula to be used, the expressions found in the Acts are really involved in the words given in Matthew 28:19 (that scripture, be it noted, does not limit the formula used to only the words there given), but we think Scripture supposes that definite recognition in baptism of the Christian place in subjection to the Lord, which is so explicitly conveyed in the expressions used in Acts. This would mean baptism “unto the Lord Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” We may remark that the closing verses of Matthew 28 do not contemplate the disciples in exactly the distinctively Christian relationship, but, in their scope, reach out so as to include evangelizing by the believing Jewish remnant in a coming day.

Ephesians 4:5 does not allude to baptism “with the Holy Ghost.” This latter must not be confounded with our individually receiving the Holy Spirit of promise, who comes to indwell each of those who have believed the gospel (Eph. 1:13).

Baptism with the Holy Spirit is (in this dispensation) spoken of in relation to that which is collective. The expression is used firstly as to what occurred on the day of Pentecost, when the “one Body” was formed — though the truth of it was not revealed until later — (Acts 1:5; 1 Cor. 12:13), and secondly, as to the distinctive bringing in of the Gentiles, so that they might be of the “same Body” (Acts 11:16 and Eph. 3:6).

Baptism by or with the Spirit (for it is the same word) was thus initiatory to the Church’s collective relationship to Christ as His Body. This is not repeated, and as we come individually to believe in Christ, and individually receive the Spirit, we find that we come into a wonderful collective relationship with Christ as His body, the assembly, which was formed long ago by baptism with the Holy Spirit.

Baptism by water on the other hand is entirely individual, and is initiatory to the Christian position as bearing Christ’s name; in it we each one become identified with the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ — “as many... as have been baptized into [or unto’] Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27).

John 5:21

T.M. — “For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. — We do not think what is here said as to the Father refers to” His work in souls in Old Testament times. “In the first place “raising” the dead is not a work in the soul, and secondly, we do not think there is any point of time in the passage at all. The statements are characteristic. What is true of the Father, as to the essentially divine power here spoken of, is true also of the Son, who is co-equal with the Father, and exercises quickening power in respect of “whom He will,” albeit taking the place in manhood of a recipient, even as to that which belongs to Him in His own proper rights as a divine Person (see the connection of the statements in this verse with those in the two verses preceding).

Verbal Inspiration

R. — We do not see any difficulty as to “verbal inspiration” in the fact that in what seem to be identical addresses, Matthew should use the term “Kingdom of Heaven,” and Luke “Kingdom of God.”

During the three years that the Lord spent with His disciples, He must have instructed them, not only as to that character of the Kingdom which Matthew presents to us, but also in that which is peculiar to Luke. And as much of what the Lord said, and did, is not recorded at all, we judge that what seem to be identical utterances are not so.

When the Holy Spirit inspired these writers to pen their gospels, He controlled their thoughts, and brought to their minds just those words of the Lord, which are in perfect keeping with that presentation of Christ, which it was their part to portray. Thus all is in beautiful order, and divine inspiration is evidenced at every step.

NOTE. — The tune to Missionary Hymn published last month on page 70, is, as is there stated, No. 723 in the old editions of the Bristol Tune Book, but it should be added that in the new edition of that book the tune referred to is No. 742.

The Fall, and the Generations of Adam

J. L. inquires of what kind was the forbidden fruit of which Adam and Eve partook; also why Cain is not included in the “generations of Adam.”

As to the first question Scripture does not enlighten us, nor is the answer of the smallest importance, for the seriousness of partaking of that fruit evidently lay, not in any evil properties inherent in the fruit itself, but in the fact that it was placed there as the necessary test of man’s loyalty to his Creator.

The bounteous provision of “every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food” left man without any excuse or natural inducement to infringe the one positive precept laid upon him; which, small as it was, served the necessary end of practically defining the proper relations between Creator and creature.

As to the second question, it is very evident that there are two lines presented to us side by side in Genesis 4 and 5. — two orders of generations.

The first (for the natural always precedes the spiritual, cf. 1 Corinthians 15:46), in Genesis 4, is the worldly line — Cain’s line. Cain was a guilty and unrepentant exile from God in the land of Nod (wandering”). He founded the first city, and with his descendants Scripture records the rise of the arts, luxury, music, and poetry, but along with distance from God and moral degradation. The whole of this line perished in the flood.

In chapter 5 we can trace the line of faith, which is derived through Seth (“appointed”). In Noah the line of faith passed through the flood; and through that line is traced the genealogy of Christ in Luke 2 Throughout Scripture these two lines are separate and distinct whilst every attempt at co-mingling the two has been disastrous.

In Genesis 6:2, we read of a certain co-mingling of the two lines, resulting in moral corruption which brought on the flood. In the history of this dispensation [historically at the stage represented by Pergamos (“intermarriage”) in Revelation 2:12-15] a sadly similar mingling of the ostensible line of faith and the worldly line has taken place, with the disastrous results we see all around us today, and which will issue eventually in the rejection and judgment of that which professes Christ’s Name but bears not His character (Rev. 3:16 and 19:2).

"Sleep Through Jesus"

W.R. inquires the meaning of “them also which sleep in Jesus” (1 Thess. 4:14).

Those spoken of in this expression are identical with those described in the 16th verse as “dead in Christ.” For us Christ tasted death in all its meaning, and for us it is robbed of its sting, so that the death of a believer can be spoken of as “sleep.”

Rightly translated the preposition should be translated “through” not “in” Jesus. These have fallen asleep through Jesus.

Observe the perfection of Scripture; Jesus is the name which describes our Lord as man personally, thus believers are not spoken of exactly as in Jesus, but in Christ, “the anointed,” which is the title under which we come into relationship with Him in resurrection (Acts 2:36).

Between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2

Hy. J. — As to such interval of time as may separate these verses nothing is definitely revealed, and we may not be wise above what is written. From Isaiah 45:18, it seems clear however, as already pointed out — page 101, April issue that during this period some terrific cataclysm overwhelmed this earth as a result of divine judgment. With this passage read Jeremish 4:23-26, and Isaiah 24:1. In the words of another we may add: “The face of the earth bears everywhere the marks of such a catastrophe. There are not wanting intimations which connect it with a previous testing and fall of angels. See Ezekiel 28:12-15 and Isaiah 14:9-14, which certainly go beyond the kings of Tyre and Babylon.” (Schofield Reference Bible: Note fi. 3; see also pp. 726 and 871).

As often in the prophetic writings what is said in these passages has a scope embracing much more than is immediately contemplated. Many of the expressions in Ezekiel 28:12-15 are incapable of full application to any mere man. There is no doubt that the addresses to the Prince and the King of Tyrus have a threefold bearing: first they describe to us Satan the inspirer and unseen ruler of all such pomp and pride as that of Tyre and other successive world powers; secondly, they apply to the then reigning ruler as Satan’s tool (more particularly perhaps verses 1 to 10 addressed to the Prince); and thirdly, they look on to the terrible development of this character of evil in the last days before Christ’s public return.

Ezekiel 28:17 should be read with 1 Timothy 3:6: pride was the condemnation, or more correctly translated, the fault of the devil. Here we get sin in its inception, manifested in the “I will” of Lucifer, day star (Isa. 14:9-14) who can be no other than Satan. There are many passages which lead us to the conclusion that in bygone ages Satan was set in a place of great dignity, and that that dignity, though he has fallen by sin, still attaches to him in measure according to the permit of God in the working out of His ways. Thus see Jude 8-9.

Eternal Punishment

“Anxious.” — Your inquiry runs “would God our Father who is merciful commit anyone to eternal punishment for wrongdoing;” and your letter passes on to the question of whether there is or is not “a sort of purgatory where we purify after death to fit us for heaven.”

The witness of the Scriptures to the dread reality of eternal punishment is plain and direct. It is impossible for anyone who honestly and implicitly accepts the Bible as the Inspired Word of God to doubt the fact of judgment being “eternal” (Heb. 6:2). The same word is used to describe the duration of the punishment of the wicked as is used to describe the duration of the blessing of the just (Matt. 25:46; and note here that the two words used in the verse, “everlasting” and “eternal,” are both the same in the original); the same word is used moreover as to the very existence of God Himself (Rom. 16:26).

God has only one measure of judgment for sin, and that is infinite. Sin is rebellion against God, hence it is infinite in its character, and judgment against it must be infinite.

For the believer that infinite judgment has been exhausted in an infinite Sacrifice, but he who rejects the free offer of mercy and pardon on the basis of that infinite Sacrifice must himself, as the only possible alternative in the righteous ways of God, come under the weight of eternal judgment.

As to the last question, the idea proceeds on the assumption that punishment is reformatory. It is not. The history of Pharoah in the book of Exodus is evidence of how the enmity of man’s heart is unaltered by judgment; stroke after stroke of wrath from God fell upon him; there were apparent momentary repentances, but the instant these judgments were withdrawn the irreconcilable enmity of the sinner’s heart was manifested in renewed rebellion against God. For an awful New Testament example of this truth see Revelation 16:10, 11; “they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven.”

Sin Which Hath Never Forgiveness

“An enquirer.” — “But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: because they said, He hath an unclean spirit” (Mark 3:29, 30).

If this passage is read with the parallel passage in Matthew 12, it will be seen that the Lord had just healed one possessed of a devil, blind and dumb. The people were amazed and said “Is not this the Son of David” but the Pharisees said “This fellow doth not cast out devils but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.” This was the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which hath never forgiveness, as Mark 3:30 distinctly states.

The occasion was unique. The Son of God, who was Israel’s Messiah, was there in the midst of the people, and through Him the grace of God was displayed in delivering power. His mighty works were the witness to them as to who He was, and for the moment the people confessed Him, but the Pharisees, seeing His works, willfully and deliberately charged Him with being in league with Beelzebub. This was no passing thought, causing them poignant grief afterward, but their deliberate verdict after having weighed the evidence; and it proved the intensity of their hatred of Him. There was no mixture of the failure of the sinful creature in anything that the Lord did: in Him everything was absolutely perfect, and altogether of God; and yet they attributed that which was altogether of God, the manifest working of the Spirit of God, to the Devil; and that which was purely good they called unmixed evil. There was no other test for them: their doom was sealed by their own attitude towards the only One who could have saved them; and they manifested in this way an utterly reprobate state that would not bow to receive forgiveness.

Strictly speaking the commission of such a sin is impossible today, though the deliberate and final choice of evil in the known presence of good entails now, as always, consequences which are eternal and irrevocable. It was by words, not acts or thoughts, this sin was committed: certainly those of whom “Enquirer” writes “into whose minds blasphemous, thoughts have entered, unbidden and hated” have not committed it: their very grief because of these thoughts, which they hate, and which are attacks of the evil one, are proof of this. Let all such be assured that the grace of God is free and boundless. He will eternally forgive all who turn to Him in repentance. The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth from all sin (1 John 1:7).

"A Little While"

Miss. T. — Replying to your inquiry for copies in leaflet form of this hymn, which appeared in our April issue, we have to intimate that copies (music and words) can now be had at 6d. per dozen from the office of this paper, 12, Paternoster Row, London, E.C.

China

The following is an extract from a communication just to hand from a missionary in China:

“Some kind friend sent me a March copy of Scripture Truth’ this week, and I shall be grateful if January and February copies can be sent and the remaining copies for this year... you may have a distribution fund.

“It is sad, very sad indeed, to find even in the China Mission field so much teaching that is not Scriptural. We have quite a little ‘modern Theology’ here, and you will be doing good service in helping those who stand up for the Bible, the Word of God.”

This request is being attended to; but we print the extract for the sake of half-a-dozen words in it: “You may have a distribution fund.” Well, we have not; but we think we should these are days of terrible departure on every hand, and there is not a question as to the need of spreading sound Christ-honoring teaching to the utmost limits of our power, or of strengthening the hands of those of our brethren and sisters in Christ who are standing for the truth, often in most difficult circumstances.

We propose, therefore, to commence such a fund forthwith; and as we prefer for several reasons to keep the working of the fund separate altogether from the editorial conduct of this magazine, we have secured the kind consent of our brother in Christ, D. R. Huntley, of Stocksfield-on-Tyne, to undertake the management of the same.

Contributions may be sent to Mr. Huntley at his address given below, and will be duly acknowledged by him jointly with a colleague whose name and address will be published next month, and moneys thus received will be applied to the free distribution of monthly copies of “Scripture Truth,” principally to Christian workers in the foreign mission field.

Some hundreds of copies at least are being sent abroad in this way already by friends known to us, to whom we have supplied names and addresses of missionaries in distant lands (and letters of appreciation are being received from such); but we have the addresses of many hundreds of others to whom we long to supply copies.

Oft-times too we may remark a single copy reaches many workers: thus in a letter to hand from Egypt the writer says: “It is with much pleasure that I have received the second copy of “Scripture Truth” which you have so kindly sent to me. Please accept my hearty thanks for the same. It is being read with interest and profit by our little band lien-e-for we realize how necessary it is to hold closely to the Scripture of Truth in these days when so many of God’s children are being led into error.

“We are holding the fort here in a dark and difficult field, for the darkness and fanaticism of Mohammedanism is hard to break down, and how hardly are men saved from its power; and were we not assured that God’s Word shall not return unto Him void we should often faint and be discouraged, but we know that the gospel must triumph. To this end pray for us that the Word of God may have free course, and God be glorified in the conversion of men and women, and in us His representatives.

“With hearty thanks, and praying that much blessing may result from the publication of Scripture Truth.’”

Address to which contributions to “Scripture Truth Free Distribution Fund” may be sent D. R. Huntley, New Ridley, Stocksfield-on-Tyne, England.

Along with our practical aid in this direction, may we not also pray with increasing fervency to God: “O send out Thy light and Thy truth.”

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“Go quickly.” Not with angel

hosts the glad commission lies:

‘Tis thine the blessed news to bear.

Redeemed lips His love declare,

A joy which angels may not share,

The work is thine! Arise!

“Go quickly,” urgent is the call, it will not brook delay;

Go forth with loyal heart and brave,

Go win the souls He died to save,

Go tell them of the empty grave;

Go speed thee in thy way,

Happy who so Christ’s word convey,

That He may meet them on their way.

“Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:14).

The Seventy Weeks of Daniel

Daniel 9:24-27

C.S.R. You ask whether the first half of the seventieth week of Daniel has already been fulfilled in the three-and-a-half years ministry of Christ on earth, as has been suggested.

We think not. You will notice that it is distinctly stated that after the three score and two weeks (mentioned immediately following the first seven weeks, or forty-nine years, during which the wall of Jerusalem would be re-built “in troublous times”) Messiah would be cut off. The cutting off of Messiah is thus placed not in the midst of the seventieth week, but after sixty-nine weeks in all had run their course: that is, of course, in the symbolism of Daniel’s prophecy, weeks of years, that is, 483 years. The period of 483 years runs from “the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem:” this commandment was evidently that given to Nehemiah in the l0th year of the reign of Artaxerxes, for the earlier decrees recorded as to Jerusalem concerned simply “the house of the Lord God of Israel” (Ezra 1:1-3; 6:38; 7:7); and the dates of secular history confirm the fulfillment of the prophecy in the fact of the 483 years running out in the time of Christ, His crucifixion, and the suspension of God’s special dealings with the Jews. From that point they were left to the mercy of the Gentiles, and very soon “the people of the prince” (the Romans) besieged and destroyed the city and the sanctuary.

So that the last week, or seven years, still awaits fulfillment. This week will commence when God resumes His special dealings with the Jews. This will be of course after the rapture of the Church (1 Thess. 4:14-18), but how soon after is not revealed.

It is interesting to notice that it does not say “the prince” will destroy the city and the sanctuary, but “the people of the prince;” the prince himself comes into the arena during the last week, which is still future. He will belong to the Roman Empire, for he is of the same people that destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70; but it is the Roman Empire divided into ten kingdoms, the ten horns (the horn is symbolical of power) of Daniel 7:24. He shall arise and subdue three of these kingdoms. At the appearance of this prince it would seem that many of the Jews are already gathered in unbelief to their own land, their temple rebuilt and the sacrifices resumed, and they will make a covenant with him, in order, probably, to save themselves from “the overflowing scourge” — some great power from the North (Isa. 28:15). Nothing corresponding to this covenant of verse 27 has taken place since the events of verse 26.

But the alliance thus formed with this blasphemous prince will be broken by him in the midst of the week; he will force idolatry upon them, and even erect an idol in the holy place within the temple — the abomination of desolation (Matt. 24:15, see also Rev. 13:5). There are several Scriptures which evidently refer to this point of history: “In the midst of the week (i.e., in the middle of the seven years) he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease,” etc. (Dan. 9:27). “He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High (the true remnant of Israel), and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time, and times, and the dividing of time” — three years and a half (Dan. 7:25). Then under the figure of the “beast” (power) “there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months” — three years and a half (Rev. 13:5-7.) “And the holy city shall be trodden underfoot forty and two months” (Rev. 11:2).

It will probably be, during this period that the Jews will go through the “great tribulation” (Matt. 24:3-25), the time of Jacob’s sorrow, the result of her rejection of her Messiah. But through all this period the true remnant of Israel shall be preserved of God “for a time, and times, and half a time” (Rev. 12:14). Finally those days of sorrow will be shortened for the elect’s sake (Matt. 24:22). The Lord will answer the cries of His people by coming to Mount Olivet (Zech. 14:14) to the exact spot from whence He left the earth (Acts 1:11, 12). And the seventy weeks will close in “everlasting righteousness” brought in by Him, who, in His cutting off as Messiah, made “reconciliation for iniquity” (Dan. 9:24).

The Fullness of the Gentiles

Romans 11:25

R.H. This is not identical with “the times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24) to which you also refer. This latter is the whole period during which Jerusalem is subject to Gentile rule: it began with the Babylonian captivity of Judah under Nebuchadnezzar, and will extend until the time when at the close of Daniel’s seventieth week the Gentile world power is smitten and destroyed by the “stone cut out without hands” (Dan. 2:34-35, 44), that is, at the coming of the Lord as predicted in Revelation 19:11.

As to “the fullness of the Gentiles,” however, we may point out that God’s dealings with Israel as His specially favored and chosen people on earth, were suspended as a result of their rejection of Christ as their Messiah; they were blind and saw not in the One who came “meek and sitting on an ass” their all-glorious King; they were deaf and would not listen to His word of emancipation and life. So they stumbled, and He became a rock of offense to them. But by their fall, salvation has gone out to the Gentiles (verse II), and the harvest of this gospel amongst the Gentiles will be the Church, the Bride of Christ. This is the fullness of the Gentiles.

But when the fullness of the Gentiles is gathered in — that is, when the Church has been caught up to her appointed place in heaven above — God will resume (from the beginning of Daniel’s seventieth week) His dealings with Israel, beloved for the fathers’ sakes, “and so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written. There shall come out of Zion a Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (ver. 26).

So that Israel’s rejection of Christ did but further God’s gracious and eternal purpose of gathering out of the nations a people for Himself, nor will the promises made to Abraham and David fail of fulfillment. Thus God makes the very wrath of men to praise Him, and well may we exclaim with the apostle, as we view it all: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counselor? or who hath first given to Him and it shall be recompensed unto Him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen” (verses 33-36).

Idolatry

SCAR. It is clear from Deuteronomy 32:17 and 1 Corinthians 10:20 that our contributor was right in stating that “idolatry is demon-worship,” and the Israelites were undoubtedly guilty of this sin when they bowed down before the golden calf (Ex. 32).

Yet as you point out the worship of the calf “Thy gods, O Israel” is not made prominent in 1 Corinthians 10:7, but the fact that “the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” The fear of Moses, which doubtless had had a restraining effect upon their evil tendencies was removed, and they gave rein to their passions, and made themselves merry in his absence.

There is certainly in this a warning for us, and to this end it is quoted in Corinthians. The Lord is absent from this earth, it is our privilege and responsibility to remain true to Him and to watch for His return, and in this way all Israel ought to have acted as regards Moses. But we need to seek grace from God, that we may be kept in true heart separation from the world, lest we fall into this snare, and we be found like the one in Matthew 24:48-49, “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken.” This is idolatry. It is those who have professed loyalty to a rejected and absent Lord, turning again to the world that rejoices at His absence (John 16:20) and making themselves merry with it.

Covetousness is also spoken of as idolatry (Col. 3:5). Whether it be the using of things possessed in self-gratification, or the lust for things not possessed, the heart is in bondage to something other than God, and it is idolatry.

In Other Lands

As to the “Scripture Truth” Free Distribution Fund (for free supply of copies of “Scripture Truth” to missionaries and Christian workers in other lands), we have to announce that our brother in Christ, Mr. Thos. Bell, of “Summerleigh,” Monkseaton, Northumberland, has kindly undertaken to conduct this fund jointly with Mr. D. R. Huntley, whose address was published last month. Contributions may be sent to either of them, and will be acknowledged by them jointly.

“Freely ye have received, freely give” (Matt. 10:8).

Will All Be Saved?

W.W., Manchester. — You must not allow the caviling of the universalist to hinder you in the proclamation of the glad tidings; indeed, the very passages quoted by him should give you a great incentive to go on with your work.

1 Timothy 2:3-4

Take the first: “God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved” (1 Tim. 2:3, 4). The gospel is for all, and is sent to every sinner on earth: this you can freely make known. Moreover a righteous basis for the blessing of all is found in that “Christ Jesus... gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (verse 6). This must be made known world-wide.

But salvation which God is willing to bestow upon all, is linked with coming “to the knowledge of the truth,” and here the will of man comes in and he refuses it; and in this is his condemnation, for men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil (John 3:19). But God is dealing with men in grace, it is the day of salvation, and He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). If; however, in self-will a man refuses repentance and the gospel, his doom is clearly foretold in the Word of God:

“The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels.

“In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (2 Thess. 1:7-9).

And all such will be without excuse.

The word “will” in verse 4 is not the will of purpose, it is the will of desire, embracing all men both in the thought of His heart and in the bearing of the one all-availing ransom. But the will of purpose is not thus general: it is definitive of some “chosen” in the inscrutable sovereignty of grace (see Eph. 1:4, 5).

1 Corinthians 15:22

The passage in 1 Corinthians 15:22: “For as in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive,” certainly does not prove that all men will be saved. It is a simple statement of the fact that on the one hand all that are in Adam die, and that on the other hand all who are in Christ shall be made alive. But all men are not “in Christ.” Hence all will not be made alive, that is, not made alive in the sense in which this verse speaks of being made alive or quickened.

It is interesting to note that the word quickening applied in verse 45 to Christ, “the last Adam a quickening Spirit,” is cognate to the verb used in this verse. Hence there is contrast between the two Adams. Each is head of a race. Death prevails in one line, life in the other. In Adam all die, in Christ, the last Adam, all are made alive.

Though verse 22 does not pass beyond those in Christ, yet we may remark that more is involved (though not developed) in verse 24 where the destruction of the last enemy, death, is spoken of. Death is here viewed as an enemy which has invaded God’s creation: that enemy must be destroyed and this involves the resurrection even of the wicked — not their being “made alive” in the sense of verse 22, but the bringing together of the component parts of man — body, soul and spirit by the destruction of that which had separated them. Thus is God vindicated in respect of that which had brought disintegration into His creation: and of this the resurrection of Christ is the pledge. But the resurrection of the lost is in view not of life, but of judgment, hence it is spoken of in John 5:29 as the resurrection of damnation (or judgment) and is contrasted there with the resurrection of life, and in Revelation 20:4-6 with the first resurrection, from which it is separated by an interval of a thousand years.

Romans 5:18

As to Romans 5:18. This runs thus:

“As by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation: even so by the righteousness of one (or by one righteousness’ margin) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”

The words “judgment came” and also the words “the free gift came” are in italics in the A.V., as indicating that they are not in the original. Omitting these words the simple meaning of the Scripture is evident: as the offense of one had its bearing towards all men to condemnation so the bearing of the one righteousness is towards (literal translation) all men unto justification of life. That does not mean that all men receive the blessing which flows from that one accomplished righteousness, but it does mean that it is towards all alike in view of justification of life. We have a somewhat similar statement in the third chapter, where we read (verse 22) of “the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all”: that is to say it is towards all men, but, mark, it does not say “upon all men” but goes on, “and upon all them that believe.”

1 Timothy 4:10

You ask again as to 1St Tim. 4, 10:

“For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe.”

Here the word “Savior” should be translated “Preserver.” God is the Preserver of all men. His rain descends upon the just and upon the unjust. He sustains all in life. But His beneficent care in this way is specially marked towards those that believe, and hence the apostle’s confidence in the midst of suffering and reproach.

One passage from the Old Testament and one from the New will serve in few words to prove the falsity of the universalist’s reasoning. “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting, life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2). “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth: they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28, 29).

The Father's House, and the Judgment Seat of Christ

H.H. — We know of no definite passage of Scripture to guide us in replying to your inquiry as to whether believers will pass before the judgment seat of Christ prior to entrance into the Father’s house, or whether that will be subsequent to our entrance there. For this reason we can only state our thought as to this in the way of suggestion.

There are two things that must ever be distinguished, namely, grace and responsibility. The Father’s house is on the former line, and the judgment seat upon the latter. Infinite love has chosen us as children, we have been given by the Father to the Son, our Lord Jesus (John 17 to); and the time is speedily coming when He will receive us to Himself in His Father’s house (John 14:1-3). This is all grace, and all that is needed for that place is the “body of glory” (Phil. 3:21). This wondrous change will take place at the coming of the Lord (1 Thess. 4.) in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15:52), and we believe that we shall at once enter the Father’s house.

The judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:20) has to say to the things done in the body, and of course is on the line of our responsibility. There we shall behold everything in the light of the Lord. We shall there receive His judgment (not in the sense of condemnation) as to our whole course on earth; and being no longer cramped and limited by our mortal flesh, but being clothed upon with our house which is from heaven (2 Cor. 5:1, 2), we shall have the capacity without hindrance of fully appreciating the matchless grace of God, and also the degradation and hatefulness of that from which that grace has saved us.

The hour in which all will thus be manifested is evidently connected in Scripture with “the day” of the Lord, and rewards are linked with it (1 Cor. 3:13-15). From Matthew 25:14-30, we gather that these rewards determine the respective places of saints individually in their sharing in the glorious millennial reign of Christ over the earth. We incline to the conclusion, therefore, that the judgment seat of Christ, as it applies to believers in this dispensation, will immediately precede our return to earth with the Lord to reign with Him over it.

But the judgment seat in no wise determines our place in the Father’s house: infinite love has already done this, and we have nothing to fear, for we shall there be in perfect and eternal accord with the One who for the fullness of our blessing and joy will rightly appraise for us all that has passed in our life below, and fuller and deeper will be the praise that we shall then render to Him.

Perpetual Sleep

W.P. Jer. 51 is a picture drawn beforehand by the Lord of the destruction of the great city of Babylon because of the evil she did to Zion. It was a great city, a city of carousals and debauchery, and the mighty men ceased to fight and became like women, verse 30, and in the midst of this state of luxury and vice it was overthrown and sleeps with a perpetual sleep, i.e. a sleep from which there shall never be an awakening (verses 39 and 57), for Isaiah’s prophecy predicts of the overthrown city that “it shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation (Isa. 13:20).

Secular history strikingly confirms the fulfillment not only of the event itself, but also the precise manner of its accomplishment as predicted in verses 30-44. Verse 37 is a graphic description of the present condition of the ruined city.

Saul and the Woman of En-Dor (1 Sam. 28)

The woman of En-dor was possessed of a familiar spirit-a demon. This spirit evidently personated any departed person with whom those who resorted to her desired to converse. Her exact counterpart is found in the modern spiritualistic mediums, who, poor deceived souls, are not the mouthpiece of departed human beings, but of the demons that possess them.

Saul was abandoned by God for his disobedience, and there was no true repentance in him, for instead of humbling himself before the God whose word he had disregarded he had recourse to this woman. At his word the séance commenced, but to her astonishment and horror the familiar spirit did not respond as usual: instead there was an intervention of God, and Samuel himself appeared to pronounce God’s judgment upon rebellious Saul.

As in those days, so in these, the turning to familiar spirits instead of to God is a terrible snare of Satan, and should not be touched by any who are the Lord’s.

From Samuel Rutherford's Letters

Let ten thousand thousand new-made worlds of angels and elect men, and double them in number ten thousand thousand thousand times; let their heart and tongue be ten thousand thousand times more agile and large than the heart and tongue of the seraphim that stand before the Lord. When they have said all for the glorifying and praising of the Lord Jesus, they have but spoken little or nothing; His love will exceed the praise of all possible creatures.

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“O if the heaven, and the heaven of heavens were paper, and the sea ink, and the multitude of mountains pens of brass, and I were able to write that paper, within and without, full of the praises of my fairest, my dearest, my loveliest, my sweetest, and my most marvelous Well-Beloved!

Woe is me, I cannot set Him out to men and angels. O there are few tongues to sing of His incomparable excellency. What can I, a poor prisoner, do to exalt Him? Or what course can I take to extol my lofty and lovely Lord Jesus? I am put to my wits and how to get His Name made great. Blessed are they who would help me in this.”

The Word of God

W.H.T. writes us as follows:

On page 271 of “Scripture Truth” I notice the phrase, “the Bible, the word of God,” and again on page 286 the term “The word of God” is apparently applied to the Bible.

1. Am I right in saying that the “Word of God” is a title of dignity and glory applied to the Lord Jesus, and that it is this adorable Person spoken of in the following (amongst others) scriptures: — John 1: 1; Hebrews 4:12 and 13; Hebrews 11:3; Revelation 1:2 and 9; Revelation 6:9; Revelation 20:4?

2. Is there any scriptural authority for calling the Holy Scriptures or any part thereof the “Word of God”?

3. What do people mean by the term when they apply it to the Scriptures?

4. Assuming the title belongs to the Lord Jesus alone, would it not be in some degree derogatory to Him to apply it to the Scriptures as well?

We hold the Bible to be the very word of God; in it is communicated to men in human language the whole truth as to God, as He has been pleased to reveal Himself, and blessed indeed are they who have ears to hear.

In the case of the words of the Lord this will not be questioned, for we read, “He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God,” and again, “I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest me” (John 3:34 and 17:8).

When we come to the testimony of the apostles we find that their words were not the words of man’s wisdom, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth (1 Cor. 2:13), and what they wrote was the commandments of the Lord (14:37).

In the Old Testament we have the “Thus saith the Lord” of Moses and the prophets, and the Lord spoke of the written commandments of Moses as “the word of God” (Mark 7:13); and the prophecies are distinctly said to be the words of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:16; Heb. 3:7; 4:7, &c.).

There are, then, the distinct and direct words of God, which come under the head of revelation, and there is also the record of the lives and sayings of men, which were given by inspiration of God; but these latter are not merely historical writings, like the uninspired writings of men, and they cannot be judged by the same standard; but in them God makes known His ways with men, and therein is made manifest for our learning, what men are as departed from God, and what God is in His mercy and justice, His grace and righteousness towards men. The Old and New Testaments are both needed for this, and that we might have them “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21), and every scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16), and so we rightly speak of the Bible as the word of God.

The expression the “word of God” occurs about forty times in the New Testament, and in most instances describes God’s testimony as to the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom is the whole revelation of the truth of God; this was committed to His servants, this they preached and for it they suffered gladly. This is all contained in the Scripture.

Several of the passages quoted in your letter do not refer to the Lord personally, but to this testimony of God. Revelation 1:2 and 9 relates to that which is going forth in this present day of Grace; and Revelation 6:9; 20:4 to that which will go forth during the interval following the rapture of the Church and the coming of the Lord to His Kingdom.

Hebrews 11:3 is the spoken word of power by which the worlds were called into being.

Hebrews 4:12 and 13 is the word of God and its effect in the soul; “out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword” (Rev. 1:16); this word for us is in the Scriptures, the immediate reference throughout chapters 3 and 4 being to Psalm 95.

Revelation 19:13 presents the Lord personally as the One in and through whom God’s righteous judgment is displayed in the overthrow of all that is opposed to God.

John 1:1 stands alone. “The Word” occurs there as a title of Deity which none but the Son could claim; He is the full and perfect expression of all that God is, whether in creation, redemption or judgment. He could not be this were He not God, for only One who is Himself God can make God known to men; but the Word, who was in the beginning, who was with God and was God, was made flesh and dwelt among us for this purpose.

Everlasting Punishment

Question — Upon what texts do the holders of non-eternity of punishment base their views, and will you explain them and give some passages which prove this doctrine. — W.P.

The more advanced of those who deny the truth of eternity of punishment, do not appeal to any passage in the Bible: that Book is discarded by them as being without authority. R. J. Campbell tells us that what Paul wrote, for instance, should have less weight with us than the opinions of a pious mother; so that we are not surprised to have from his pen the statement, “Perhaps it would help to clear up the subject if I were to say frankly, before going any further, that there is no such thing as punishment, no far-off Judgment Day, no great white throne, and no Judge external to ourselves.” He makes this emphatic assertion without a shadow of proof, and has no authority for it except his own personal feelings on the subject. No earnest seeker after the truth will be satisfied with that.

There are others, of whom the late Canon Farrar was representative, who build up a doctrine of salvation after death upon the much discussed text, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit; By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah” (1 Peter 3:18-20).

Their interpretation of this is that the gospel is preached to men after death, but there is no other passage in the Bible to support this view, moreover it is in direct contradiction to several plain scriptures, about which there can be no question. For instance, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment” (Heb. 9:27).

“Behold now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

“And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed; so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence” (Luke 16:26).

We know that there are no contradictory teachings in the Holy Scriptures, so that this interpretation of the passage must be rejected, and one in keeping with the whole body of scriptural truth sought in its place.

The whole question hangs upon the time when the preaching to the spirits now in prison took place, and about this there ought not to be any difficulty.

In this same epistle, Peter speaks of the Spirit of Christ testifying in the prophets (2 Peter 1:10-11). When did the Spirit of Christ — the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21) — testify in the prophets? When they uttered their prophecies. When did Christ in (as it should be) the Spirit preach to the spirits who are in prison? When Noah uttered his prophecy of the coming flood. It was not Noah’s word merely that they rejected, but the warning of Him who is the Eternal Word.

This is confirmed in the account of the preaching in Genesis 6:3, where we read, “And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man... yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” And so in great longsuffering the Spirit of Christ — the Holy Spirit — continued to strive for 120 years, but men continued disobedient, and the door of mercy closed, and closed for them forever. There is not the slightest ground in this passage upon which to build the doctrine of hope for those who die without mercy (Heb. 10:28, 29), and in their sins (John 8:21).

The following passages speak clearly upon this solemn subject — everlasting punishment — and need no comment —

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal (the same word in both oases) “ (Matt. 25:46).

“Into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched “ (Mark 9:43, 44).

“Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power “ (2 Thess. 1:9).

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8).

1 Corinthians 10, Questions on

R.J.R. — What is the meaning of the term (in 1 Cor. 10:21), “The Cup of the Lord”?

What is the meaning of the term, “The Lord’s Table”?

What does the expression “Partake of the Lord’s Table” convey?

Is it right to speak of being “At the Lord’s Table”?

Can believers “Receive (other believers) to the Lord’s Table”?

Do all true believers “partake of the Lord’s Table” or some only?

The Cup and Table speak in symbol of the foundation of Christian fellowship, which is the Lord’s death. The Cup is also described as “the cup of blessing”; it is the new testament in the blood of Christ; in it is set forth the blessing and love in which we are called to participate, blessing and love of which His blood is the pledge and token.

The Table probably brings the bread more into prominence, and here we have the communion of the body of Christ, and in breaking it we manifest our fellowship as one body. They are called the cup and table of the Lord in contrast to the cup and table of devils’; it was morally impossible to partake of, or “hold with,” (as the word means) both. In partaking there is complete identification with the Lord’s death in all the blessings and responsibilities attaching to this identification.

Scripture does not speak of being at the Lord’s Table; it is not a point of locality but a matter of Christian profession, and should be a great exercise as to whether our conduct and profession are consistent with each other.

We do not read of believers receiving other believers to the Lord’s Table, but we are exhorted to receive one another, and this of course is to Christian fellowship. In doing this we acknowledge those whom God has received. There may be doubt in the mind as to some, as in the case of Saul (Acts 9:26, 27), but when all question is settled it would be an act of disobedience to the Lord to refuse one of His own, except in such cases as are made abundantly clear by Scripture.

As to the last question, the chapter contemplates all true believers — the whole Christian “we” as breaking the one loaf (verses 16, 17) and so partaking of, or in communion with, the Lord’s table; not to do so is to be in an altogether anomalous position, whereas the chapter is treating of what is normal.

The State of the Dead

W.T.M. — It is evident that the spirits of those who die in the Lord are immediately present with Him (see Phil. 1:23; Acts 7:59; Luke 23:43), and this must mean bliss for them, even though they remain in the disembodied state until the coming of the Lord, when their bodies will be raised in glory (1 Cor. 15:43, 51-53).

It is also clear that those who die without Christ are in the place of torment (Luke 16:23 and 24), though they await the last resurrection when at the great white throne they receive their final sentence to the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11-15).

Numbers 26:64-65; Hebrews 3:19; Jude 5

F.K.M. writes —

I shall be glad of a little help in regard to the above-mentioned scriptures.

In Hebrews 3:19 we read “so we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” Similarly Jude 5 states “that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.”

From these scriptures it is quite clear that unbelief prevented their entrance into “the land.” My difficulty, however, is this: Are we to view the company referred to as true believers or only professors? If the former, do we understand them to represent worldly believers who never rise to their heavenly standing? If, however, on the other hand, they are simply “professors,” how are we to reconcile this with the fact that they are under the shelter of the blood, and delivered from the power of the enemy?

In reply to this question we would point out that the people of Israel are viewed (typically) in Scripture in a double aspect: first as one whole as a people sheltered by blood in Egypt, redeemed by power at the Red Sea, divinely guided in the wilderness, and finally brought in victorious strength into their possession in the promised land (compare Psa. 78:51-55). When thus viewed, their history typifies that of the believer, and the very fact that all the men of war perished ere they crossed the brook Zered (Deut. 2:14-15) becomes luminous with meaning, for though the link of identity between the Israel who came out of Egypt and the Israel who entered the land is clearly maintained in Caleb and Joshua (Num. 26:64, 65), yet the constitution of the host was otherwise entirely changed; and so in the case of the believer, he enters the glory in the likeness and beauty of Christ, an utterly changed man morally from what he was when, typically speaking, he was “in Egypt,” and yet he remains in identity the same person.

The second aspect in which the people of Israel are viewed in Scripture, is that which takes them up in detail as a people outwardly set in relation with God, but the reality of whose profession would be, and was, tested in the path of faith. It is this aspect which is so prominent in the epistles addressed to those who have professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; and undoubtedly the destruction spoken of in such scriptures as those quoted is typical not of God’s governmental ways with true believers (which are brought out in other passages), but of the eternal destruction which awaits those who, whilst in the outward profession of Christ’s name, are not really and truly believers. If this distinction of aspect be observed, difficulty disappears.

We would remark in conclusion that it is important to notice that the rest spoken of in Hebrews 3 and 4 is distinctly future (cf. 4:9, 10): it is not simply the spiritual rest which is ours today, but looks on to the end of all the present period of testing, labor, and trial, and when this is seen the parallel in Hebrews 3:18,19 becomes unmistakable.

He Cannot Sin

H. C. K. The passage you find it difficult to understand runs in the A.V. as follows: “Whosoever is born of God doth not Commit sin: for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

A more correct rendering of the words “doth not commit sin” reads “does not practice sin” (J. N. Darby’s New Translation), and the change makes more clear the great truth stated: that is, that the practice of the child of God is not sin. He has been born of God, and in consequence his nature is to love what God loves, and hate what God hates.

This Scripture moreover views the child of God abstractly as such, and hence the statement “he cannot sin”: he revolts from it as foreign to his nature, somewhat as Joseph in the words “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” It is not that he may not unguardedly be betrayed into sin, inasmuch as he still has in him the flesh with its sinful tendencies, but that is abnormal, and a grief to the child of God: he does not practice sin, it is not his deliberate choice, it is not what marks his manner of life.

A sheep does not wallow in the mire, a sow does (2 Pet. 2:22): in the figure the children of God answer to the sheep, and the children of the devil (1 John 3:10) to the swine.: nevertheless though a sheep does not wallow in the mire, that being contrary to its nature, it may fall in; but if so, is distressed, and seeks to get out again, just as the Christian who has been betrayed into sin is distressed and grieved, and seeks restoration.

We hope these remarks will make clear to you what has been a difficulty.

Several answers to correspondents must be held over until our January issue owing to lack of space.

Our thanks are due to those correspondents who have kindly called our attention to the fact that G. V. Wigram’s hymn, inserted last month as “hitherto unpublished,” appeared some years ago in at least two collections.