Because I Live, Ye Shall Live Also
Table of Contents
Because I Live, Ye Shall Live Also: Part 1
OHN 14:19{IT is of vast importance-whether for our fellowship with God in the gospel of His Son, or for our service to Christ in the Spirit, or in hope of the coming glory of the Lord-to see that the confidence and assurance of the apostles for each of these objects rested entirely on the sufficiency of God,' and the supply of the grace of Christ. This is remarkably seen in the forefront of the epistle to the Corinthians: " I thank my God always on: your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by, Jesus Christ; that in everything ye are enriched by-Him." And we may remark that this confidence in the faithfulness of God ran along side by side, and to: the extent of His own calling and purpose about them, " who shall also confirm you unto the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." Moreover, it is added, " God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord "-thus establishing and completing the entire circle of their Christian privileges and final blessing, as well as confirming them by the assurance of "grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ" as their present portion.
The epistle to the Philippians shows likewise- that the confidence of the apostle rested on the same basis for himself and for them, and affords us another example of the sufficiency of the supply of the Spirit for the furtherance of the gospel which he preached. Through this too even " the mind of Christ " was to be manifested in Paul, as the new rule for life and walk, in all the danger and opposition that surrounded him in his service for the saints. Accordingly he speaks to them of his earnest expectation and hope-" That in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death." Nor is this sufficiency of God and grace of Christ limited to himself; but, on the contrary, he says, " I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now." Once more, and on a yet larger scale (which will open up to us the immediate subject of this paper), he writes, " Being confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." After this manner it is that Paul encourages these saints to rest their confidence and faith and hope upon the same foundation as his own, and for similar purposes, and to the same extent; viz., "that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christi being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." This plantation on earth, and this right hand planting, and these plants with their flowers and fruits, only reach their perfection in the garden of the Lord at their transplanting in the day of Jesus Christ, " Because I live, ye shall live also."
Moreover, it is well to observe that "the work" spoken of here, or in the quotations from 1 Corinthians, alike embrace the coming of Jesus Christ and His appearing, and cannot be limited to our existence in this world, or to what is theologically called, the final perseverance of the saints. Maintaining such a notion as this, is only the last enthronement of self (and by the abuse of Christianity too), where it is excluded and brought to its end by the death of Christ. It is in fact only making oneself (as a saint) the object around which new ideas and expectations cling, though false ones; and in this way, and to this extent, excluding Christ as the only but all-sufficient One, for the revelation of God's intentions concerning us, as well as the way' " which it becomes Him " to adopt for their accomplishment. The spring of all present service in communion with the Father, and the Father's love to us, must be in Christ and Christ alone, and He is the glorified object of revelation to us in the Spirit's power now, and for the display of the Father's counsels eternally. Indeed it is out from the secret of God's presence, where the exalted Son of man has been raised " by the glory of the Father," that Paul received his commission from the Lord to be a minister and a witness of the things " thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear to thee." It is in accordance with this heavenly revelation from the Lord in glory, and according to this new order and rule from the Son of man, at the right hand of God, that this apostle dates his mission, and opens out his testimony to the Christ of God, who had appeared to him " above the brightness of the sun," and as such he addresses himself to "all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi, or Corinth, or elsewhere."
By such ways and means another and a new-born company of God's elect (believers in Christ, and indwelt by the Spirit) are being gathered out from this world as " new creatures in Christ;" and so identified in life and righteousness, and in the hope of glory with the risen Lord, that Paul refuses to know them after any other pattern and name. Nor will he reckon on any other wisdom or power for the work below, than that which has been wrought in Christ on high, and " which power is to usward who believe." On such a foundation as this is-for another creation, and with the Second Man as the head and beginning thereof, to whose image we are predestinated to be conformed "that He might be the firstborn among many brethren "-what wonder is it that Paul should make his boast in the Lord for the accomplishment of this, and all besides in which Christ appeared to him-" Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."
Primarily in this Philippian epistle, Christ is presented in chap. 2. in the grace and perfection of His own humiliation and obedience unto death, even the death of the cross, followed by the glory of His exaltation, in which God has given Him a name which is above every name. He has also issued his decree, "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." God has set man for Himself on high, for every end and purpose; but all the 'unfoldings of the glory of His person, whether upon the earth in humiliation, or in the heavens by ascension, take their rise and spring from who and what he essentially is " as equal with God;" for who besides He could make death a new-measuring reed, for His perfect obedience before God as Man, the servant Son? The hidden mystery of Christ unveils itself in this epistle, and He comes forth like the rising sun of a new system to make all plain, which else would be inexplicable as to the purposes of God, and to reveal Himself in His own light to us for their, accomplishment. Under the anointing of the Spirit, how well we understand the mystery, " who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but Made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men."
This Second Man-fore-ordained of God-is become the firstfruits of another beginning for the new heavens and the new earth, in whom we are created anew, in righteousness and true holiness. Besides this there are changes as regards ourselves down here, which correspond to the nature and character of Christ, not only as the Second Man before God, to whose image we shall be conformed eternally, but as our example while we are upon this earth, from which He has been rejected. For instance, Paul says of himself, " For me to live is Christ;" and again, as to these Philippians, "For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake; having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me."
The changes and differences between this economy, which is characterized by Christ in humiliation and rejection, of which we are speaking; and the previous one which was distinguished by Solomon upon his throne in outward splendor and prosperity, can be easily understood when compared, or rather contrasted, with each other. Such an one as our Lord Jesus Christ, having come forth from the Father, and come into this world to glorify God, and to finish the work which was given Him to do, became a new center for the display of the hidden wisdom and power of God before all the dwellers in heaven and the inhabitants of the earth, as our Kinsman-Redeemer. He entered upon this marvelous work by the mystery of His incarnation; and by the further mystery of redemption through His precious blood, accomplished in His death and resurrection, He became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey Him. Moreover, as "the Word made flesh " in Him was life, and the life was the light of men while here below, and He was led by the Spirit, through the length and breadth of this mission, that finally by atonement and propitiation He might reach His appointed place as " the Lamb of God, the taker away of the sin of the world." Lastly, as the fruit and measure thereof, according to the counsels of God, He was declared as "the same is He that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." (To be continued, D.V.)
Because I Live, Ye Shall Live Also: Part 2
THE Evangelists in their ministry preached "the kingdom of heaven as at hand," when Jesus as the prophet and teacher of Israel was in their midst, and presented it to them as the promised Messiah. By its rejection through their testimony, He made Peter and James and John acquainted with the further mysteries of the King of glory, and of His millennial kingdom at the Mount of transfiguration, but postponed till " His people should be willing in the day of His power." More remarkably too, when He joined them on the other side of His death, and after His resurrection, He reproved them for their slowness of heart, adding, " Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and" (by the pathway of His sufferings and rejection) " to enter into His glory 1" It is upon these foundations of eternal wisdom and power, and upon such a basis as the death and resurrection of Christ, that a revelation from God came forth which declares the only begotten Son to be " the Yea and Amen" of His promises and counsels from everlasting to everlasting; and that the times and seasons for their fulfillment are held in His hands. Paul's commission was distinctly from this risen Son of man, " whom God had made strong for Himself "-the Son of man in the glory of God; and these are the glad tidings which He preached to every creature under heaven, and which He opened out "for the obedience of faith." What wonder was it in a sinful world, and by declaring " one Jesus " as the central object before God for every purpose, present and future, that He should be accused of turning the world upside down? Nor is it any marvel that by setting aside "man in the flesh " in all his pretensions, and thus exposing the world, and Satan in his rebellion, he became "the prisoner of the Lord " in it, and in chains. Christianity was thus established in Christ above, and upon this earth beneath, through this very Christ of God raised from the dead by "the glory of the Father," and seated in His place on high as Head over all things to the Church which is His body-" the fullness of Him that filleth all in all." "Because I live, ye shall live also."
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, as minister and witness, is correspondingly in his proper place below to perfect the testimony as a suffering prisoner in a world that had broken loose from God, and avowed its enmity by rejecting and crucifying His Son. " Lo, I come to do thy will, O God," lay outside and beyond all mere human responsibility, and brought the Son from the Father's bosom, to act according to the power which was given Him over all flesh; viz., " that He should give eternal life to as many as thou past given Him." In the power of this life eternal, and as united to Christ, and under the anointing of the Spirit, Paul came forth with " the mind of Christ " in ch. 3., to throw off the things which distinguished him as a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and which made him of reputation among men, "that he might win Christ, and be found in Him." His new consistency " as a minister and witness" was consistency with Christ, and therefore he says, " What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ;" and in carrying out this rule of trans figuration, he adds, " Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss: for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." In the power of the Holy Ghost, Christ is thus become the pattern to whom this apostle is conformed, "by the will of God," as a servant in the energy of his new life and nature. Not only does this man of previous renown and attainments in the Jew's religion (who, touching the righteousness which is in the law, was blameless) make himself of no reputation, and count the things that were gain to him loss for Christ, but he refuses to trust in the flesh, and boast any longer of his pedigree, or even to know himself as of the stock of Israel. He goes ahead of all that he was by birth and natural descent from this favored race, in order to ennoble himself "by grace and calling," and to boast of another genealogy through " power from on high." He even writes of himself according to this new style, " When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him among the. Gentiles, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood."
The " power of the Highest " shall overshadow thee, were the words of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary at the annunciation; " therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." The twelve apostles began and continued their testimony to the Messiah, in a world scarcely woke up as yet out of the fall; but primarily to the Israel of the living God, till another messenger, and a witness from the risen Lord in glory, was sent forth to preach Christ among the Gentiles likewise. Guided in his course by the Spirit to Philippi, Paul made known this power in grace to Lydia, " whose heart the Lord opened," and to the women who were gathered together by the riverside, where prayer was wont to be made. The great text for Paul's life in the Son of God was, "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death." The power which wrought in Christ was ever before his soul, and having this life in Christ (by the energy of the Spirit), he neither could nor would tread any other path. It was as having "the mind of Christ," he writes to the Philippians, " this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Adversities only favored him in this course; for once and again in the region about Lycaonia he had become a witness and a sufferer with Christ, and literally conformed to His death; for " the people having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead." The power of resurrection wrought in measure for Paul (and the other apostles of Jesus Christ), and displayed itself the more by these unlikely means-" Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up and came into the city." J. E. B.
As spirituality becomes feeble, the exercise of mind, and the "play of mere natural feelings, becomes a necessary aliment. But to the soul fresh in its spirituality, the word of God has more sweetness in its least statements (for they come from God) than any indulgence whatever of the mental powers.
(Continued from page 269.)
DIFFERENT USES OF THE WORD MAN.
MAN as a creature of God is a tripartite being, composed of body, soul, and spirit (1 Thess. 5:23); but these two last are often spoken of under the one term-the soul: " Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." (Matt. 10:28.) The soul is immortal, so it never dies, and it never sleeps. Hence all the dead live unto God (Luke 20:38), a solemn thought for the unsaved. But man as such is said to live only when in his body; for he is not complete as a man without it. As for the body it can die; but, if it dies, it will be raised to die no more (Rev. 20); that the person as a whole-body, soul, and spirit, may live forever, whether in weal or in woe. The death of the body is but temporal. The second death, which is the lake of fire, is not in any sense a ceasing to exist; the person as a whole, who is cast into it, and as alive, will be tormented there forever and ever. (Rev. 20:10.) Resurrection then of the body is a consequence of death, because man is a responsible creature, and so must render an account of his deeds to God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, before whose judgment-seat we must all be manifested, whether converted or unconverted (2 Cor. 5:10), to receive the things done in the body, according to what we have done, whether it be good or bad. Hence the sleeping saints; i.e. those whose bodies are in the dust, will share in the resurrection from the dead; whilst the ungodly will only share in the resurrection of the dead. For, alas! man is now a fallen creature; and since all are not saved, there will be a resurrection of the just and also of the unjust; a resurrection unto life, and a resurrection unto judgment. (Acts 24:15; John 5:29.)
Such is the creature man. But as there are different senses in which the word man is used, it may be helpful to some to distinguish them. We read of the outer man and the inner man; of the old man and of the new man; of the first man and of the second man. To this we may add the natural man, the fleshly man, and the spiritual man.
Now, first, of the outward man and the inner man. These are the two parts of every man, whether converted or unconverted; the outward man referring to the body which can die (2 Cor. 4:16); the inner man (Rom. 7:22; 2 Cor. 4:16; Eph. 3:16) referring to the heart, mind, etc.; all that is within the body, but is distinct from it, and which can never die. Eph. 3:16 may help to make this clear, as we read, "That ye may be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." And again (Rom. 7:22), " I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind," etc. Here the heart and the mind are the inward man. These terms then, outward and inward, contrast the material and the spiritual parts of man as a child of Adam.
The old man and the new man speak of two natures, both of which are only found together in one really born of God. The old man, παλαίος (Rom. 6:6; Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9) is a term used of that sinful nature which governs the unconverted, and which we all inherit from Adam. It is also called the flesh, and sin. (Gal. 5:19; Rom. 7:20.) The new man (καινος in Eph. 4:24, and νεὸς, in Col. 3:10) tells us that this nature, derived from the new birth, is to man one wholly new in kind, and so called καινὸς; and new as to time, seeing he did not formerly possess it, so it is called also νεὸς. That which formerly characterized him ere his conversion, the walking after the dictates of the old or former man, is to characterize him no longer. For that old man has been crucified with Christ; i.e. judicially dealt with by God at and on the cross; and now the nature that the Christian has received, as born of God, is to be seen working in him. For the new man is created, according to God, in truthful righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:24); but though new as to time—νεὸς it is a nature only, and not power, so is to be renewed, ἀνακαινόυμενον, unto full knowledge, ἐπίγνωσιν, according to the image of Him that has created him. (Col. 3:10.) As new then, καιωὸς, it is wholly different from the old, παλαίος man; and as new, νέος, or recent, there was a time when the person did not possess it. The man then, the Christian, is a person composed of parts-body, soul, and spirit; with two natures diametrically opposite the one to the other; the one, the old man, only and wholly evil; the other, the new man, which is impeccable. At times the person may be viewed as identified with the one, and at times as identified with the other. An instance in Gal. 2:20 will make this plain: " I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Him: self for me." The new man is not crucified with Christ. The old man was. So "I am crucified with Christ " views the person as identified with the old man, for whose actions he is and will be held responsible. " I live," etc., views the same person as identified with the new man.
Further, the distinction between the two natures in the Christian's inner man can be seen in Eph. 4:22-24: " Your having put off according to the former conversation the old man, corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and being renewed in the spirit of your mind; and having put on the new man," etc. Here the old man and the new man designate of course the two natures, and the mind refers to the inward man; one part of every child of Adam, whether converted or not.
3. We come now to the terms, the first man and the second man. These are two persons, Adam and the Lord Jesus Christ; the two heads of races, the natural and the spiritual. All of us by nature are ranged under the headship of Adam; and every Christian is ranged under the headship of Christ. So we speak of being in Adam, or in Christ. The condition of the first man, consequent on his act of disobedience, characterizes, and the results which flow from his act involve, all ranged under his headship. The condition consequent on the act of obedience to death of the second man characterizes, and the results of His obedience concern, all who are ranged under His headship. All mankind are involved in the one. All saints share in the other. That we learn from Rom. 5:12-18. But this truth of headship has not only a moral application, it concerns the person of the saint in his body as well. So we read, " The first man out of the earth, earthy (χοἴκός); i.e. made of dust; the second man, out of heaven. Such as he made of dust, such also those made of dust; and such as the heavenly One, such also the heavenly ones. And as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly One." (1 Cor. 15:47-49.) The reader will be helped in the understanding of the passage, if he remembers that the apostle is treating of the resurrection of the body. We bear in our bodies the image of the earthy one; i.e. the one made of dust. We shall in our bodies bear, when we see the Lord Jesus, the image of Him, the heavenly One. The contrast here is not a moral one, as the term earthy, not earthly, will show.
Lastly (4) we read of the natural (ψυχικός) man, the fleshly (σάρκιωος.), and the spiritual man (πνευματικός). All three are mentioned in 1 Cor. 2:14; 3:1. These are different states or conditions, in one of which every person on earth must be classed. The natural man (ψυχικός) describes a person without spiritual life, animated only by his created soul. The fleshly one (σάρκινος) is one born of God, but without the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost. So in Rom. 7, in delighting in the law of God after the inward man, he finds he has no power to do what is right. So he says, "I am fleshly " (not carnal, which would be σαρκικός) " sold under sin." Again the apostle, addressing the Corinthians, who, though really richly endowed with all spiritual gifts, were not walking in the energy of the Holy Ghost, tells them he writes to them as unto fleshly (not canal); i.e. as to those who were quickened, yet were without the energizing power of the Spirit, for they were not using it. They were not really fleshly, but he addresses them as such. But the spiritual man is one in whom the Spirit is, and who is guided and energized by Him. Every true Christian then is spiritual as to his condition, though he may be walking like a fleshly person, and be even carnal in his ways.
Briefly then, to sum up, we have first (1) the different parts of man, which will always characterize him as the creature man. Those parts which he has by his birth as a man will exist in eternity. He will, as raised or changed, always have a body, a soul, and a spirit. (1 Thess. 5:2,3.) But from the saint all taint and presence of sin will be removed, and his body will be fashioned like to Christ's body of glory.
Next (2) we have glanced at the two natures now in the saint. But, thank God, he will by-and-by be freed forever from the old man, the fruit of the fall, and only have throughout eternity the new man.
Thirdly (3) we have two persons, two heads of races, under the term first man and second man. Saints are now by the Holy Ghost in Christ ranged under His headship, though still bearing the image of the. first man, looking forward when the change comes to bearing instead, and then forever, the image of the second, the heavenly One.
Lastly (4) we learn there are three conditions, in one of which every person on earth must be classed, either natural, fleshly, or spiritual, this last condition not being reached by attainment or walk, but consequent on being sealed with the Spirit. It is plain then we must not confound the inner man with the new man, nor the first man with the old man, if we would speak or think correctly. C. E. S.
Because I Live, Ye Shall Live Also: Part 3
(A SIMILAR opportunity waited him at Philippi; indeed the path was one and the same to him who trod it with the Lord, whatever the variations were. This "demonstration of the Spirit" had also its deeper voice of instruction, by its divine mode of conquest over men and women, to Paul and Silas. He adopts these principles which he learned from the obedience unto death of his Lord, and writes, " For I know that this" (his own imprisonment) " shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." The sights of all others in the wide world were its palace, and Paul therein in bonds; and this prison in Macedonia, into which had been brought the salvation of God, and in which He had so marvelously wrought as to turn it into a habitation and temple for His worship and praise. Not a sigh nor a groan are recorded, as being heard within its walls; but, on the contrary, when they had laid many stripes upon them, and thrust them into the inner prison, " at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them." The seaside, where prayer was wont to be made, or the jailer of the prison, where the apostle's feet were fast in the stocks, are both alike to God, or even a Saul of Tarsus, breathing out threatenings and slaughter when on his way to Damascus. God must, by supreme power, finally put down every adversary who won't give way, as surely as He has highly exalted the Son of man, who humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
The Lord was Himself the door into this secret highway of heavenly fellowship, by means of this world's enmity and reproach. But we are slow of heart still, to observe and walk with Him along this divine path, though it be written again, " If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." Paul knew no other path, and how could there be another to any who were, like himself, following the rule of chap. 2.—" Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus "? To him the way of obedience in such a world, was but the sure high road of a continuous salvation, which lies between the point of present suffering and the future glory, even as resurrection to the right hand by the power of God's might, was the actual deliverance to Christ Himself. In this way, and after this manner, He encourages these Philippians " to be in nothing terrified by their adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God."
The object in these various quotations is to mark the contrast. (which God, having sent forth His Son, makes) between this economy and the former, between Christianity and Judaism, between the first Man and the last Adam, and between Solomon the wonder of the world, and Christ the rejected from this earth-contrasts which must be drawn by any who rightly divide the word of God. To any others, may be pointed out the vast difference, morally and circumstantially, which existed between a land flowing with milk and honey; and, dispensationally, when the Word made flesh dwelt among us, and took this world as Adam had subjected it to sin and Satan, not having in it where to lay His head. It is not now a mighty interposing power, making the earth bring forth of itself, as in Immanuel's land, when the people enjoyed its Sabbaths, and their seventh year of release, and their fiftieth year of jubilee, and when silver was of no account. Nor has it been in these nineteen centuries like it was under the leadership of Moses, when he bade Israel to rise up and take their journey; for Jehovah would "begin to put the dread of them and the fear of them upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, which shall hear the report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee."
Nor is the believer's manner of conflict and battle after the old style and order-" Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight," and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword-but quite otherwise, and wherefore? Because they rejected Christ, and said, " This is the heir, let us kill him, and seize upon his inheritance," and they cast him out. But the Son of man, in the glory of God, who appeared to Saul on the way, is raised from the dead, and sitting on the right hand of the majesty in the heavens, and it is this triumphant fact which changes the entire nature and character of true Christian position, and service, and warfare; for " we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against wicked spirits in the heavenly places." Conflict takes its character from where God has set Christ, and where we are seated in Him. Satan is not yet cast out of heaven, therefore the word to us is, " Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might, and put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." The glorious power and might which Paul knew and bore witness to was that by which God had wrought in Christ, and which is to usward who believe, whether for communion, or service, or conflict in the Spirit, or devotedness in daily life, and so he writes in all his epistles.
If we turn to that of the Colossians, his prayer for them is, "That ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord," &c. This glorious power of God goes in company with the life of Christ, to " strengthen with might the inner man," so that the difficulties and dangers become bread for us, like they were to Caleb and Joshua in their day. Any such will realize in the Spirit no other fruit than " joyfulness," through patience and long-suffering; for these fruits were but the normal product of the life of Christ in those who are His; for example, Paul writes, " Ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in the heavens a better and an enduring substance." Another apostle writes of the same joyfulness at the day of Jesus Christ, "But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."
The application of this mighty power (which first wrought in Christ) made Paul what he was, so that he could Bay to these Philippians, "Yea, and if I be poured forth upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me," "losing their life in this world, that they might keep it unto life eternal." God had begun the good work in them, and every circumstance was as right for this as could be, whether in the prison, where he was; and equally right for them in the midst of their adversaries, where they were. Interpreting these trials for them according to this new version, he says, " Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake." Jealous over them, lest their trials and difficulties should press upon their hearts, and be only viewed in a natural way, so as to produce fear and terror (instead of as tokens of salvation, and that of God), he brings the consolation of Christ, the comfort of love, and the fellowship of the Spirit (this unfailing well, to which Jehovah led His people in former days), and bade them drink. As "Israel did at Beer," when under Moses, so these witnesses do under the ministry of the chiefest of the apostles, and in a world that has grown old in its iniquity, having cast out Christ, and cast Him off too. In the face of their last enemy Israel sang this song, " Spring up, O well!" Sing ye unto it. "Fulfill ye my joy," is the word now spoken by this apostle of the Gentiles, and the princes again dig the well under his direction-" Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have already obeyed, not as in my presence only, but how much more in my absence, work out," &c.
Patience and long-suffering, with joyfulness, flow together now out of this perennial spring unto eternal salvation. Obedience unto death, even the death of the cross, was the Lord's pathway to the throne, where He now is seated; nor did the afflictions of Christ separate Paul from this course and the joy set before him. He would judge nothing before the time, and that time was " the day of Christ;" for furtherances and hindrances, or loss and gain, stood in their new connections with Christ and the coming of the Lord; nor was there any intermediate standard, or test of valuation, between now and then. "It is God that worketh in you to will and to do of His good pleasure," was the divine energy, and the only but effectual way by which to profit through all afflictions and trials, in order that these might turn to their salvation outside the prison, as Paul was doing for himself inside its walls. The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, "by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves;" therefore Paul says to us in this day, "Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life." The present moment took its character with him from the coming of Christ, which is in fact the only proper birthplace for faith and Christian hope, and he adds to the foregoing scripture, " That I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain." Dispensationally, the previous ministry of life and peace from Christ on the earth, as announced by the angel's song, has given place to the springs' which take their rise, and flow out from the unfathomable love of God, and the Son at His right hand, in whom it hath pleased the Father that all the fullness should dwell.
This epistle further declares that this mighty power of God, which was working in them then to will and to do of His good pleasure, waited to perfect itself in the day of Christ, by changing them into His own likeness, and fitting them to be forever with the Lord in His kingdom and glory. "For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the power wherewith He is able to subdue all things unto Himself." The power of life, that works its way in us while in the body below, has yet to perform its own work with these bodies of ours, and perfect us "for the day of Christ's glory." Nor is the good work of our salvation (according to God and to Christ) completed and concluded till we are like Him, and with Him, and see Him as He is. " Because I live, ye shall live also."
The last chapter brings the sufficiency of God and the grace of Christ, into these adverse and difficult circumstances, to turn them round for our profit, morally, while we are in the school of God, even as they will have suited and served for "working out their salvation." Therefore Paul says to them, as scholars in this divine philosophy, "Those things, 'Which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." Further, as to his own tuition and advancement in this school of God, he adds, "Not that I speak in respect of want; for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Mark another step in this heavenly learning and attainment, " I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." What are he and they doing and gaining by all these exercises of soul, unless it be this secret science, that it is God who worketh in them to will and to do of His good pleasure? What is this practice but a "getting meat out of the eater, and honey' out of the strong"? Yea, and Paul waxing much more confident by his bonds in the palace, and triumphantly affirming, " I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
Our degrees and advancements in this school of God! can only be by keeping the sentence of death on ourselves-that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raiseth the dead. Our password is, "Stand fast in the Lord;" for surely, if any person or thing of moment be more present to us than the Lord is, He has not got His place, nor are we in ours, and we shall quail, because circumstances are found to be much nearer to our hearts than Himself. "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand." These watchwords are echoed and re-echoed for our faith and confidence, when the wind is high and the sea rough. Alas! we are often so close to both, as to rise and fall as they do, though the Lord is seen to be walking upon them; or perhaps so at home with us in the ship as to be asleep in the hinder part. We are practically out of this school if we have any will or choice of our own, and especially if we think of making any change of circumstances to suit ourselves, when the Master is bent on changing us to suit Himself, and lead us forward in the cultivation " of the mind" that was in Christ. If we are afraid of the consequences of obedience and its attendant circumstances, we shall not merely be grieving the Spirit, but prove in the end false to Christ, and lose the present opportunity which obedience gives of working out the salvation of God through the world as it is, with everything against us. "Because I live, ye shall live also."
What is the new lesson in this school for such a state of deviation as this? It is threefold-" Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." It is His fullness of grace and power supplied, that will carry such an one beyond himself and his own fearful experiences, and will work even by means of these adverse circumstances, to lead into the very position where Jesus lay His head. And, oh, what a pillow it is, where flesh and blood and sense rule no more, but " the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keeps the heart and mind through Christ Jesus."
This antagonism only led one and all onward in the ways of God, to learn Christ in the power of His resurrection, and "to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." This great and glorious position was reached, not by Jesus escaping the cross, nor would it be by Paul saved out of prison; but by prayer, and the supply of the Spirit. And so he writes to others, " In nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God."
This last chapter gives a final proof of the power of God, and the assurance Paul experienced by his dependence thereon " unto the day of Jesus Christ." Like the great prophet Elijah who, in the time of Ahab's wickedness and the dearth upon the land of Israel, was miraculously fed' by the ravens, so Paul accepts and magnifies the ways and means of his supply. I have all, and abound; I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God." This ministry, from the Son of God in the glory, must far exceed Elijah's, who could only open and shut the heavens, or carry the secret of a plentiful supply of rain in the midst of dearth, by the cloud no bigger than a man's hand, wonderful as it was 1 Paul stands forth by faith and confidence in the mighty power of God and its resources where He dwells on high, and proclaims this sufficiency for all the exigencies and difficulties and disasters of "this present evil age," and says, "My God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus."
He who was with others set apart as " a steward of the mysteries of God " when they were in mystery, has fulfilled that ministry by declaring them to the Church of the living God; and now as the treasurer of " the unsearchable riches of Christ " to the Gentiles, he leads them by means of their need to this new order of supply, "according to his riches in glory, by Christ Jesus." What a source has thus been opened up to us, and what a resource have we in " the fullness of Him that filleth all in all!" This is the well of which the Lord still speaks, and this is the eternal spring from which He gives them to drink. And in company with Paul we will sing to Him, and utter forth His praises-"Now unto God and our Father be glory forever and ever. Amen."
" Lord, 't is enough, we ask no more;
Thy grace around us pours
Its rich and unexhausted store,
And all this grace is ours."
Continued from page 308.)
J. E. B.
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