Unsearchable Riches

E.Dennett.

Preface.

The following chapters, of which this volume is composed, are neither lectures (although the writer may have occasionally spoken upon the same subjects), nor notes of lectures. They are rather written studies or meditations; and inasmuch as they have been helpful to the writer himself, he ventures to hope that they may also be for the edification of his readers.

They are very simple, and suited, therefore, to the apprehension of the feeblest of the saints of God. Hence nothing has been taken for granted; for the conviction has been forced upon the mind of the writer, after some little experience, that it is a mistake to assume that either readers or hearers are beyond the necessity of the re-statement of fundamental truths. It may be added, that each chapter is complete in itself; and, on this account, repetitions have not been avoided, if thereby the subject in hand could be rendered more intelligible or more complete.

The subject is one: it is Christ Himself; and no one will feel more deeply than the writer how feeble has been his attempt to portray some of the relationships which He sustains towards His people. But it is profitable to be occupied with Christ in any measure; and it is the writer's prayer that the Lord may condescend to use these pages to lead His own into an increasing acquaintance with Himself, and that He may thus glorify Himself by ministering blessing to His saints, according to His own heart. And to His own name shall be all the praise!

Blackheath, 1878.

UNSEARCHABLE RICHES:

OR,

SOME OF THE RELATIONSHIPS OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE.

CHAPTER 1. CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR.

THIS is the first character under which Christ is apprehended. Son of God, Son of Man, the Christ of God, etc., — all these are titles and glories of which we have but little, if any, conception until after we have been enabled, by the grace of God, to apprehend Him as meeting our need as sinners, and by faith to lay hold upon Him as our Saviour. Then, at peace with God, our hearts are at leisure; and, led by the Holy Spirit, we delight to trace out, study, and feast upon, every aspect in which He is presented for our contemplation in the Scriptures. This order is maintained in Matthew's Gospel. Thus when the angel visited Joseph, to direct him in his perplexity concerning Mary, he said, "She shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins" (Matt. 1: 21). It is true, that we have His royal lineage and His miraculous conception previously set forth; but still the first announcement concerning Him is in His character as Saviour. So in the Epistle to the Romans. After the salutation and introduction, we have first of all the state and need of man — whether Gentile or Jew — set forth; and immediately thereon the blood of Christ as meeting man's guilt is introduced — i.e., Christ as Saviour. "There is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth a propitiation (mercy-seat) through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Rom. 3: 22-26).*

*It is not forgotten that the Lord Jesus can only present Himself as Saviour on the ground of accomplished redemption. Hence, in this respect, He is first Redeemer and then Saviour. But we speak here of the order of apprehension.

In considering Christ, then, as Saviour, two things are mainly included, viz., His Person and His Work. Besides this, there is the action of God in raising Him from the dead and setting Him at His own right hand. But this is rather declarative, being the response of God to what Christ had done, — God's estimate of His work, of what was due to the One who had glorified Him on the earth, and finished the work which He had given Him to do (John 17: 4). Thereby God both exhibits and declares Him to be Saviour in virtue of His finished work — in virtue of the Cross.

The Person of Christ as the Saviour may first engage our attention. In the Scriptures already cited His person claims the precedence. Thus in Romans it is "the gospel of God concerning His Son (I quote the true order), who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 1: 1-4). In Matthew also He is said to be the Son of David, the son of Abraham (Matt. 1: 1); and then to have been begotten of the Holy Ghost — before He is announced as the Saviour. It is the Person that attracts the gaze before we can consider His work. It is otherwise with the sinner. As a rule he first learns the value of the work of Christ before he considers the truth of His person. The blessed Lord Himself, in His conversation with Nicodemus, first declares the mysterious dignity of His Person; and then proclaims His rejection and death. "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3: 13-15).

There are, then, two sides to the person of Christ. He was God manifest in flesh. "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1: 14). The Word was the Eternal Son, and the Eternal Son became man. He was thus God and man — a union of extremes which was not possible in any other, and rendering His person so unfathomable, so incomprehensible, that He Himself said, "No man knoweth the Son but the Father" (Matt. 11: 27). But it is essential that we hold fast both His true Divinity and His as equally true humanity. For had He not been true man, He could not have been a sacrifice for sin, and had He not been God, His sacrifice could not have been available for all. Satan knows this, and hence, in every age, he has sought to undermine the one or the other of these truths, insinuating doubts sometimes concerning His humanity and sometimes concerning His Divinity. But it is the glory of the person of Christ that He is both Divine and human, that He is, in His one person, both God and man. This truth lies at the foundation of, and, indeed, gives its character to, redemption.

How vast a field is thus opened for our contemplation! Following Christ in His pathway down here, from the manger at Bethlehem to the cross at Calvary, we see the unfoldings both of the human and Divine. As we behold Him, His lowly guise, "His visage so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men" (Isa. 52: 14); as we mark Him in companionship with His disciples, and see Him weary and resting, eating and drinking, weeping with those who wept (John 11), and sleeping, too, on a pillow in the hinder part of the ship (Mark 4: 38), we cannot doubt that He was man. It was, indeed, the proofs of His humanity which, meeting their eyes, confounded His adversaries, and blinded them to His higher claims.

On the other hand, the evidences of His Divinity are no less clear to the anointed eye. Who but God could cleanse the leper, open the eyes of the blind, raise the dead to life, and control the winds and the waves? Hence He said to Philip, in answer to his demand to show him the Father, "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works' sake" (John 14: 10, 11). And what He was, what He is declared to be in the Scriptures is, if possible, still more conclusive. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him" (John 1: 1, 18). He is said to be "the brightness of God's glory, and the express image of His person" (Heb. 1: 3). In another epistle He is described as "the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature: for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist" (Col. 1: 15-17). Consider moreover His own words: "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father" (John 14: 9); "I and My Father are One" (John 10: 30); "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8: 58); and who can doubt that He claimed to be Divine?*

*When speaking of the proofs of our Lord's Divinity, it has always seemed to me that if you grant all that He claims, you must concede that He is God. For example, if we believe in, come unto, love, and serve Him as He requires, we make Him Divine: for if He were but a man it would be derogatory to the claims of God for Him to require, or for us to give, what He continually demands.

We cannot too often bless God for the four Gospels, in which are blended these two aspects of the person of Christ. Hence they are the profoundest of all the Scriptures — because they contain the unfoldings of a Divine-human life. No doubt the narratives are simple on their surface; but as we are led on by the Spirit of God we begin to discover that there are depths of which we had never dreamt, and into which we must gaze, and continue to gaze, if we would behold the treasures that are therein contained. And the more we are familiarised with their contents, the more shall we be impressed with the majesty of the person of Christ as the God-Man, God manifest in flesh. And it should never be forgotten that there can be no stability where there is any uncertainty as to the person of our Saviour. What strength it gives to the soul to be able to say (to quote the language of another) — "The pillars of the earth rest upon that Man who was despised, spit upon, and crucified!" It is the knowledge of what He is, no less (if not more) than what He has done, that draws out our hearts in confidence, adoration, and praise. For indeed He is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen (Rom. 9: 5).

We may now pass to the work of Christ. By it we generally understand what He accomplished on the cross — His death. In a larger view of it, there would be included His life as well as His death; but there is a broad and essential distinction between these two things. It was in His death alone that He bore the sins of His people (1 Peter 2: 24).* His life revealed what He was, showing, if we may so speak, His qualification to be an offering for sin, and proved Him to be the Lamb without spot or blemish — the Lamb of God; but it was on the cross alone that He stood in the sinner's place, met all God's righteous claims, and endured the wrath that was due to sin. It is the blood that maketh atonement (Lev. 17: 11; see also Lev. 1, 2, and 16). It was, therefore, on the cross alone that God dealt with Christ concerning the question of sin and sins. All through His life, though He was the Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, He reposed in the consciousness of the Father's love and smile: not a cloud ever passed between His soul and God. But when He was on the cross, there was a total change; for there it was that He was made sin; and in the unfathomable anguish of His spirit, when all God's waves and billows rolled over Him, He cried, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27: 46). He was thus forsaken of Godforsaken because of the place He had voluntarily taken as the sacrifice for sin. At that awful moment, therefore, God was dealing with Him, instead of us, about the question of sin; though He was never more precious to God than then: for it was on the cross that He proved His obedience to the uttermost. "Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again" (John 10: 17).

*We are quite aware of the controversy which has been raised upon this passage. For the make of maintaining particular views, it has been contended by some that ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον taken with the verb should be translated "up to the tree." But not only is this contention shown to be baseless by the usage of the words themselves, but the whole teaching of Scripture on the doctrine of the Atonement is exactly opposed to it.

It was, then, on the cross — by the shedding of His blood, by all, indeed, that He suffered there, by His death, that atonement was accomplished. Hence, ere "He bowed His head and gave up the ghost," He cried, anticipatively,* "It is finished" (John 19: 30). Then the work was completed which so glorified God, that on that foundation He saves, and is righteous, nay, He is glorified, in saving every one who believes. All the blessings of all the redeemed, the millennial blessing of the earth, the reconciliation of all things, the eternal happiness of saints of all dispensations, the perfection of the new heavens and the new earth — all these manifold blessings and varied glories will flow from the finished work of Christ.

*We use the word "anticipatively," inasmuch as His death was not then actually accomplished. But all things were now fulfilled. (See verses 28-30.)

This work, to speak generally, has two aspects — towards God, and towards man. The first, and, we may add, the essential aspect is God-ward. Thus on the great day of atonement, the blood of the sin-offering was carried within the veil and sprinkled "upon the mercy-seat eastward; and before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times" (Lev. 16: 14). This was done both with the blood of the bullock which was the offering for Aaron and his house (specially typical of the Church as the priestly family of God), and also with the blood of the goat of the sin-offering which was for Israel. Without entering here upon the characteristic differences and details of these sacrifices, the point I press is that the blood in both cases was for God. I do not say (for that would be to forget other scriptures) that the blood is never for us, but here it is wholly for God; for indeed it was sprinkled before as well as upon the mercy-seat, and sprinkled there seven times, so that when the worshipper drew near he might find its perfect testimony in the presence of God. Still it was for God, atonement being made therewith according to the requirements of His holiness, and the righteousness of His throne. It made propitiation for the sins of the people. So with Christ. "- He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the whole world" (1 John 2: 2). The efficacy, therefore, of the blood of Christ is according to its value in the eyes of God; and that is infinite. Thus if the blood sprinkled upon the mercy-seat availed, on the one hand, to make propitiation for the sins of His people; on the other, because of its unspeakable preciousness before God, inasmuch as He had been so glorified by it, and at such a cost, it became the foundation on which God is able to deal in grace with the whole world, and to send out His servants with the entreating message, Be ye reconciled to God. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3: 16).

The other aspect to which we have alluded is that of substitution — shadowed forth by the live goat. After the blood had been sprinkled, according to Divine direction, it is said, "he shall bring the live goat: and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness" (Lev. 16: 20-22). This exactly answers to what we have in Romans. At the end of the third chapter Christ is shown as the mercy-seat through faith in His blood (ver. 25); and then at the end of the fourth, we read, "Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (ver. 25). Thus not only has propitiation been made to God through the blood of Christ, but, if we are believers, we can say that He was delivered for our offences, that He has borne our sins in His own body on the tree, and carried them away into a land not inhabited — and left them there — where they can no more be found; for if He was delivered for our offences, He has been raised again for our justification.

One other thing may be added. Our sin, as well as our sins, has been dealt with in the cross. "What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (Rom. 8: 3). Thus not only has God been glorified, but the whole case — both the need and the state of the sinner — is met by the work of Christ. The truth of all the sacrifices is embodied in it — the burnt-offering, as well as the sin-offering, the paschal lamb, as well as the sacrifices on the day of atonement. All these were but adumbrations — shadows of the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world — of that one sacrifice which, in the consummation of the ages, was accomplished on Calvary. But it is only after we know Him as our Saviour that we learn these things. Then, at peace with God, we delight — as we shall do throughout eternity — to contemplate the death of Christ, and to trace out, even though we may see but in part, the wondrous outlines of the work it effected, and its manifold relations both to God and ourselves.

The resurrection of Christ has a particular and special significance. "Him," says Peter, "being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it" (Acts 2: 23, 24). And, again and again, he emphasises the fact that God had raised up, and exalted at His right hand, the One whom they had rejected and crucified (see Acts 3: 14, 15; Acts 4: 10; Acts 5: 30, 31). The Apostle Paul likewise enforces the same truth (see Acts 13: 27-31; Acts 17: 31, etc.; also Rom. 4: 24, 25; 1 Cor. 15; Eph. 2, etc., for his doctrinal teaching on the whole subject of the resurrection of Christ). The point I would here dwell upon is, that the resurrection of Christ was God's declaration of satisfaction with His work, that setting Him in the glory at His right hand was the expression of His estimate of its value — the response of His heart to the preciousness of the One who had done it, as well as to the claim which Christ had established upon Him by it. Our blessed Lord Himself presents this truth. Thus He said, after the traitor had gone out to accomplish his evil work, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him" (John 13: 31, 32). Accordingly, when, in the seventeenth chapter, He takes His place in spirit beyond the cross He pleads His work as constituting a claim upon the Father, to glorify Him with the glory which He had with the Father, before the world was (vers. 4 and 5). God's righteousness, indeed, was thus displayed in glorifying the One at His right hand, who to glorify Him "had become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2: 8-10).

But this fact has another voice to the believer. If Christ bore our sins in His own body on the tree, went down into death under the wrath and judgment which were our due, the fact of His resurrection by God shows, proves indisputably, that our sins are gone. For where is our substitute? In the glory of God. If, then, He is in the glory of God, we know, not only that our sins are left behind, but also, that God rests in perfect complacency in the One who expiated them by His death, inasmuch as He has given Him the supreme place in heaven. To borrow the language of another — "I cannot see the glory of Christ now without knowing that I am saved. How comes He there? He is a man who has been down here mixing with publicans and sinners, the friend of such, choosing such as His companions. He is a man who has borne the wrath of God on account of sin; He is a man who has borne my sins in His own body on the tree (I speak the language of faith); He is there, as having been down here amidst the circumstances, and under the imputation, of sin; and yet it is in His face I see the glory of God. I see Him there consequent upon the putting away of my sin, because He has accomplished my redemption. I could not see Christ in the glory if there were one spot or stain of sin not put away. The more I see the glory, the more I see the perfectness of the work that Christ has wrought, and of the righteousness wherein I am accepted. Every ray of that glory is seen in the face of One who has confessed my sins as His own, and died for them on the cross, of One who has glorified God on the earth, and finished the work that the Father had given Him to do. The glory that I see is the glory of redemption. Having glorified God about the sin — 'I have glorified Thee on the earth; I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do' — God has glorified Him with Himself there. When I see Him in that glory, instead of seeing my sins, I see that they are gone. I have seen my sins laid on the Mediator. I have seen my sins confessed on the head of the scapegoat, and they have been borne away. So much has God been glorified about my sin (that is, in respect of what Christ has done on account of my sins), that this is the title of Christ to be there, at the right hand of God. I am not afraid to look at Christ there. Where are my sins now? where are they to be found in heaven or on earth? I see Christ in the glory. Once they were found upon the head of that blessed One; but they are gone, never more to be found. Were it a dead Christ, so to speak, that I saw, I might fear that my sins would be found again; but with Christ alive in the glory the search is in vain. He who bore them all has been received up to the throne of God, and no sin can be there."

How, then, we may ask in conclusion, are we connected with Christ? It is by faith. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3: 36). Again, "He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life" (John 6: 47). "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16: 31). "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5: 1). God, in the Gospel, presents the Christ, of whom we have spoken, as the Saviour. It is therefore the Gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4: 4), as well as of God's grace. Receiving His testimony, bowing before Him, in self-judgment, exercising repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, we are saved, linked with Christ, and are brought to God in all the acceptance of Christ Himself. Every believer is thus associated with Christ before God, and is brought into the enjoyment of all that Christ is for us, as well as of all the blessings which He has secured for us through His meritorious death and resurrection. How unspeakably blessed, then, is it to be enabled by the Spirit of God to say, Christ our Saviour. Beloved reader, are you able to claim Him as such? If not, how unspeakably sorrowful is your position. But God, even now, in the tender yearnings of His grace, meets you, as He directs your gaze to Christ at His own right hand, and proclaims by His Word, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." If you are able to call Him your Saviour, then we have no words to express your blessedness; but we may remind you of the obligation under which you are thereby placed, to show, by word and life, that you are saved, and to testify to that grace which has called you out of darkness into God's marvellous light.

"Oh, draw me, Saviour, after Thee,

So shall I run and never tire:

With gracious words still comfort me:

Be Thou my hope, my sole desire.

On Thee I'd roll each weight and fear

Calm in the thought that Thou art near.

What in Thy love possess I not?

My star by night, my sun by day,

My spring of life when parch'd with drought;

My wine to cheer, my bread to stay,

My strength, my shield, my safe abode,

My robe before the throne of God!"

CHAPTER 2.  CHRIST OUR REDEEMER.

IT is only by the consideration of every aspect in which Christ is presented to us in the Scriptures, that we are enabled in any measure to apprehend what He is to, and for, us; as well as the fulness of the truth of our salvation. We have contemplated Christ as our Saviour, and it might seem to some as if this title included also what He is as our Redeemer; but we shall find, as we trace out the subject, that we are led into new aspects both of His work and of our condition.

As a matter of fact, indeed, He accomplished redemption before He could be presented as Saviour; for He is able to save only on the ground of His finished work. On God's side, therefore, redemption precedes salvation: but we speak here rather of the order in which Christ is apprehended in the soul.

Remarkably enough, He is never once in the New Testament — in so many words — given this title. He is said to have redeemed us; and we are said to have redemption in Him, through His blood, etc.; but He is never termed our Redeemer. In the Old Testament on the other hand, the title is of frequent occurrence (see Job 19: 25; Ps. 19: 14, Ps. 78: 35; Isa. 41: 14, Isa. 43: 14, Isa. 44: 6, Isa. 47: 4, Isa. 49: 26, etc.). But the fact of Christ having redeemed us, and therefore being our Redeemer, is found in almost every book of the New Testament Scriptures; and the elders in heaven, as they behold the Lamb taking the book of God's counsels, sing a new song, saying, "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation," etc. (Rev. 5: 9). In every dispensation, therefore, God has been a Redeemer; and hence there is no subject more worthy of our meditation.

In the Hebrew Scriptures there are two words in frequent use to express the truth of redemption. The one signifies "to buy back;" "to redeem by the payment of a ransom"; and the other, "to loose" and hence also, used very much in the same  sense as the other, though the primary meaning is, "to loose." In the New Testament there is but one word (λυτρόω); but it comprises the meanings of both Hebrew words — viz., to release on receipt of ransom. There are thus two thoughts in the word "redemption," the payment of the ransom, and the consequent deliverance; our being freed, and the state into which we are brought as the result of having been redeemed.

Before, then, we are in a position to look at Christ as our Redeemer, we must first consider the state in which we were, which necessitated His advent in this character. It is not only that we were sinners. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5: 12). Through sin, therefore, death reigned over the whole world. But there was more than this, awful as such a statement may seem. Through the Fall — man's sin — Satan had acquired rights over him, and held the power of death, wielding it, indeed, as the just judgment of God (Heb. 2: 14). He thus became, in that all had sinned, the prince of the world (John 12: 31, 16: 11); the god of this world (2 Cor. 4: 4); holding all men captive under his power and thrall (Acts 26: 18; Col. 1: 13). We therefore were in a state of hopeless captivity, sold by our sin under the power of Satan, who reigned over as, and afflicted our souls with the hard rigour of his bondage. And we were as helpless as we were hopeless; for having fallen through our own sin under the penalty of death, and thereby under the power of Satan, and having no means to provide a ransom, we were shut up for ever, unless some one from without, competent and able, should intervene to deliver us from the prison-house of our captivity. Hence Paul says, "Ye were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience," etc. (Eph. 2: 1, 2).

Such was our condition. We had failed to answer God's claims upon us, and had consequently fallen under the penalties of sin; and, at the same time, we came under the dominion of Satan, who reigned over us through the power of death which he wielded as the judgment of God upon us on account of our sins. Then it was, when we not only had no claim upon God, but had incurred the just penalty of our sins, that He, according to the counsels of His grace, being rich in mercy, in His love and in His pity redeemed us — redeemed us not with corruptible things, as silver and gold . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (1 Peter 1: 18).

We will now consider more particularly the method by which our redemption was effected. It consisted properly of two parts, the price paid, and the deliverance effected; the claims of God met, and our deliverance from the hand and power of Satan; and we shall find these two things historically illustrated in the redemption of Israel.

(1) The price paid, or the ransom money. Speaking to the disciples, our blessed Lord said, "The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20: 28). In another scripture we read that Christ "gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (1 Tim. 2: 6). That is, He gave Himself in death — corresponding so far with the other scripture quoted, "gave His life." The significance of these statements will be explained by a passage from the Old Testament "The life of the flesh is in THE BLOOD: and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls: for it is THE BLOOD THAT MAKETH AN ATONEMENT FOR THE SOUL" (Lev. 17: 11). Hence, "without shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb. 11: 22). It was therefore the blood of Christ (for the life is in the blood) that constituted our ransom money: this was the price paid for our redemption. Hence Paul says, "In whom we have redemption through His blood" (Eph. 1: 7); and Peter, in the scripture we have before cited, that we are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. It is no wonder that he terms it "precious," since it availed to meet all the claims of a holy God upon us, so that on that foundation he could proclaim salvation to all. For, in truth, it not only satisfied God's claims, but so infinite was its value that the Lord Jesus, by the shedding of His own blood, glorified God in all that He was, — in every attribute of His character, — and thus He can righteously justify every one that believeth in Jesus. Yea, more, He glorifies Himself, in bringing every believer to Himself, in making him His child, and if a child, then an heir, an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ (Rom. 8: 17).

The blood of Christ is, therefore, the redemption money; and hence every one who is under its shelter is safe for ever from judgment. This was prefigured in the case of Israel in Egypt. When God was about to smite the land of Egypt, to pass through it as a Judge, and had thus raised the question of sin, His own people — Israel — were as obnoxious to the stroke of the destroyer as the Egyptians. How, then, could Israel be as righteously spared, as Egypt was as righteously judged? In one of His messages to Pharaoh, He says, "I will put a REDEMPTION (see marginal reading) between My people and thy people" (Ex. 8: 23); and this was done in a remarkable way, when by Jehovah's direction, "Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bases, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the bases; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you" (Ex. 12: 21-23). The Lord thus redeemed His people by blood, — figure of the blood of the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1: 29). But mark an important distinction. The command was given to all to sprinkle the blood — the provision was therefore for all; but unless in the obedience of faith the people carried out the directions they received, they would not be protected. So now the blood of Christ is sufficient for the shelter of all the world; but unless there be faith it will be of no avail. "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth (none other) in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3: 16). "Whom God hath set forth a propitiation through faith in His blood" (Rom. 3: 25).

(2) The first part, then, of redemption was the payment of the ransom; and that, as we have seen, was done by the blood of Christ. But Israel was not redeemed — though perfectly safe under the shelter of the blood — as long as they were in Egypt. Hence the second part, or the completion of their redemption, was effected when God, with a high hand and an outstretched arm, brought them out of the land of Egypt through the Red Sea, and destroyed Pharaoh and all his host in its mighty waters. On the basis of the shed blood, God — having been satisfied as Judge — can now act for His people as their Deliverer; and hence He brings them out of Egypt in power. Then they could sing — they could not while in Egypt — "The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation. . . . Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth Thy people which Thou hast redeemed: Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation" (Exodus 15: 1-13). They are now, and henceforward, a redeemed people.

So with believers now, they cannot be said to be redeemed until they know deliverance; not only that they are sheltered by the blood, but brought clean out of the enemy's territory — through death and judgment — by the death and resurrection of Christ. In the case of Israel, since it was historical, the sprinkling of the blood and the crossing of the Red Sea were necessarily two successive stages. But now the work has been done, in the death and resurrection of Christ, which answers to both; and though, as a matter of fact, the two parts — the shelter of the blood, and deliverance — are often successive in our apprehension, there is yet no reason why the fulness of redemption should not be received and enjoyed at the same time. And it would be far more frequently, were a full gospel more commonly proclaimed; whereas it seldom goes beyond the forgiveness of sins, and hence souls are kept in ignorance of the completeness of the salvation which God has wrought out for them in Christ.

But it may be well to explain somewhat more fully how our deliverance is effected in Christ. It is, then, of the first importance to know that not only has God dealt with the question of our sins — our guilt — but that He also has dealt with sin — our evil nature — in the death of Christ. "God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Already, therefore, He has judged sin, root and branch; and hence Christ met and broke the whole power of Satan (even as God broke the whole power of Egypt in the Red Sea — figure of Satan's power) in His death. The consequence is that, believing in Christ, I am brought through His death out of the old condition in which I was (out of Egypt), and by His resurrection I am brought into a new place — a place (in Christ Jesus) not only where there is no condemnation, but where also the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8: 1, 2). Consequently, God can now say to believers, "Ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you" (Rom. 8: 9). Our redemption, therefore, is complete; God has acted for us — on His claims having been met and satisfied by the blood of Christ — and brought us out of our old condition unto Himself. "He has guided us by His strength unto His holy habitation." Already have we passed from death unto life, with death and judgment for ever behind. We are no longer in the flesh, looked upon as children of Adam; but since we have died with Christ, every tie that bound us to that state is snapped; and we are now in Christ, and in Christ where He is, and consequently a redeemed people. Now we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose; and assured that, according to that purpose, we are to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; that whom He did predestinate, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified; we can take up the apostle's triumphant language, If God be for us, who [can be] against us? Yea, we can rest in the full persuasion that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8: 28-39).

(3) One thing, however, has to be noted. While we are redeemed — as to our souls completely, we have to wait for the consummation of our redemption as to the body. Brought out of Egypt, and through the Red Sea, fully delivered, and receiving the Holy Spirit as the earnest of our inheritance, we wait for the adoption — the redemption of our body. For in truth, we are still in the wilderness, and through our bodies linked with a groaning creation; and hence we ourselves which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the time when even our bodies will be redeemed (Rom. 8: 23).

"Our earthen vessels break;

The world itself grows old;

But Christ our precious dust will take

And freshly mould.

He'll give these bodies vile

A fashion like His own,

He'll bid the whole creation smile,

And hush its groan."

"For this we wait until He returns to receive us unto Himself" (Phil. 3: 20, 21); and we thus see how gloriously complete is the redemption which He has effected for His people, so complete that nothing shall be left in the hands of the enemy; but spirit, soul, and body alike are rescued and made His own.

As we then survey this work in all its extent, we can surely acknowledge with joyful hearts that Christ is our Redeemer. And never should we forget at what a cost He has redeemed us to God. It is familiar to us to say — with His blood. But how little we apprehend the meaning of the words; how little do we enter into the wondrous fact that He gave Himself to die, went down under all the wrath that was due to us, was made sin for us that we might become God's righteousness in Him. Surely as we meditate upon it, it will evoke from our hearts the more constant cry of adoration, "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father: to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen" (Rev. 1: 5, 6).

*We do not enter in this paper upon the wider aspect of redemption. Christ also tasted death for everything (Heb. 2: 9); and hence everything will be brought under His power (Eph. 1: 10; Heb. 2: 8). We are distinctly told that He bought the whole field (Matt. 13: 44); and all men (2 Peter 2: 1).

What then, are our responsibilities as a redeemed people. First and foremost, the acknowledgement that we belong to Him who has redeemed us. This truth is continually brought out even in the Old Testament Scriptures: "But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not; for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by name; thou art Mine" (Isa. 43: 1). Hence it is that the apostle, as we may notice more fully in the next chapter, so often terms himself the slave (δοῦλος) of Jesus Christ. For since the Lord Jesus has paid, in His wondrous grace and love, our ransom money, He has acquired the full right and title to all that we are and have. We are henceforward His property. But this involves a twofold aspect — privilege and responsibility. We have the privilege of belonging to Christ, of being His own, of being bound to Him by special ties (for He loved the Church and gave Himself for it), and therefore of being the special objects of His care, tenderness, and love. We now say, My Beloved is mine, and I am His; yea more, I am my Beloved's, and His desire is toward me (Cant. 2: 16; Cant. 7: 10). And how sweet and blessed a thought it is that He has acquired, by a title which none can ever dispute, possession of us! What rest it gives to our souls to remember that we are His! In sorrow, trouble, or bereavement — in the silent watches of the night — in isolation from all about us — what unspeakable solace to raise our eyes to Him, and to be able to say, Thou hast redeemed us, and we are Thine — Thine for ever!

But the privilege involves the responsibility of showing practically in our walk and conversation that we are His — of living not to ourselves, but unto Him who has died for us, and risen again (2 Cor. 5: 15). For by our redemption we are separated from all the peoples of the earth, and are, therefore, to be distinguished by testifying in our ways that we belong to our Redeemer. It is for us, each one, as before the Lord, to ask ourselves, How far we are doing this? Whether we, as a redeemed people, are as separate from those about us, as Israel was, for example, from the tribes that surrounded them when passing through the desert? True that, so far, this was an external separation; but surely this was meant to be a type and figure of a separation more real than theirs — more real because of the profounder character of our redemption. The question, however, is, Are we daily confessing with heart, life, and lip, that we belong to Christ?

And this question brings us to a special responsibility in connection with our redemption, as stated by the apostle Paul. He says to the Corinthians, "What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? . . . Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body"* (1 Cor. 6: 19, 20). The Lord, therefore, claims our bodies because He has bought us with a price; and therefore He would have our bodies as organs for the exhibition of Himself in this scene. Hence, after the full statement of redemption in the Epistle to the Romans, the apostle says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, your reasonable service" (Rom. 12: 1). What an honour thus put upon us — that He should take up these bodies of ours, which were once the instruments of Satan, and make them the means of the display of Himself — that God might be glorified! Ah! Satan little knew what he was doing when he urged the Jews to put Christ to death. He succeeded in getting Him cast out of this scene; but what has been the consequence? That there are thousands of Christ's followers whose only business is to reflect His likeness, to bear about in their bodies the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in their bodies (2 Cor. 4: 10). How far are we individually meeting in this respect our responsibility? We all shall own it; and if we own it, and at the same time have to confess our failure in responding to it, we may, and surely shall, cast ourselves upon Him for grace and strength to yield ourselves wholly to God as alive from the dead, and our members as instruments of righteousness unto God (Rom. 6: 13).

*I do not add the words, "And in your spirit, which are Gods," as they are without sufficient authority — the argument itself indeed showing that they are an unwarranted addition.

Paul also teaches that being redeemed, we should disown, and reject every authority that conflicts with that of Christ. "Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men" (1 Cor. 7: 23). It need hardly be said that he does not mean that we are not to have masters in this world. On the other hand, he has, by the Spirit, given special directions to those who are thus placed. But what he here asserts is the supremacy of the authority of Christ; and that we, since He has bought us with a price, belong to Him whatever our situation. "He that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant. Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men" (1 Cor. 7: 22, 23). In like manner, enforcing the same truth, he reminds servants, in another epistle, that they "serve the Lord Christ" (Col. 3: 24). Whatever our position, therefore, in this world, however subject it may be, we are never to forget that we belong to Christ, that He has purchased us with His own blood; and hence our eye must ever be upon Him, for He is our Lord, and it is Him whom we serve.

Another scripture will indicate a further responsibility. "Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2: 14). We have already seen that the Lord has acquired us by redemption, and this thought is also expressed in the words, "purify unto Himself a peculiar people;" but two things are here added, which He desires should characterise the people whom He has redeemed. His object was to redeem us from all iniquity, both from its power (see Rom. 6: 14), and its practice; and that we should be zealous of good works. As being redeemed, therefore, we should be known by separation from evil, and separation unto Christ, marked out as a peculiar people — a people peculiar and proper to Himself, and known by zeal for good works.

It is well to judge ourselves often by such a scripture, that we may detect our failures and discover how far we are answering the mind of Christ about us — His object in our redemption. And especially may we apply the phrase "zealous of good works." For while there is no greater snare at the present time than excessive activity, in which the soul often loses all communion, and hence all power, there should never be a carelessness concerning works which are according to the mind of God. Indeed, we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (Eph. 2: 10). We are responsible, therefore to, be zealous of such good works.

If we now turn to 1 Peter, we shall find another character of responsibility in connection with our redemption. "If ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1: 17, 18). Peter thus sets us down in the presence of God the Father, and sets us down there as pilgrims, that we should pass the time of our sojourning in fear, that holy fear which is begotten by His holiness according to which our works are even now judged. He would have us as pilgrims who have been brought out of Egypt, in our passage through the wilderness, to maintain holiness, to be holy, because God is holy (ver. 16). For it is to God that we are redeemed; and hence He requires us in our walk and ways to be suitable to Himself-to His own character. How watchful, then, should we be to keep apart from evil, to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called, having the fear of God before our eyes, knowing that He marks all our ways, and that without holiness shall no man see the Lord (Heb. 12: 14).

Finally, we are ever bidden to look onward to the day of redemption. Thus we are told that the indwelling Spirit "is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession" (Eph. 1: 14); and again, that we are not to grieve "the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Eph. 4: 30). Then it is that the full fruits of redemption will be entered upon and enjoyed, when the Lord will take possession, in power, of all that has been purchased by His precious blood. We have already dwelt upon this as to the body. But there is more than this. We have the Spirit as the earnest "of our future full participation in the heritage that belongs to Christ — an inheritance to which He has a right through redemption, whereby He has purchased all things to Himself, but which He will only appropriate by His power when He shall have gathered together all the co-heirs to enjoy it with Him." It is for this we wait — not only for the coming of Christ, the resurrection of our bodies, and our being glorified together with Him, but also for the time when, as joint-heirs with Himself, we shall enter with Him upon the possession of all that scene of dominion, blessedness, and glory, which He has acquired through His death — His works of redemption — all being the purchase of His own precious blood. What wonder that we are told that this consummation is to the praise of God's glory! Our present acceptance in the Beloved is to the praise of the glory of His grace; our share with Christ in His inheritance will be to the praise of His glory. On that scene of blessedness and exaltation, by the grace of our God, we shall soon enter. For since we are children, we are heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; and He is waiting for the moment when He can accomplish the desire of His own heart in having us with Himself, according to His own prayer, "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17: 2 4). May He enable us to walk now as those who are waiting for the consummation of such blessedness!

CHAPTER 3.  CHRIST OUR LORD.

AS soon as we know Christ as our Saviour and Redeemer, we are also taught that He is our Lord. His Lordship, indeed, is universal, and hence has reference to men as such, though at the same time He sustains this relationship in a special way towards believers. The Apostle Peter declared this truth on the day of Pentecost. "Therefore," he said, "let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both LORD and Christ" (Acts 2: 36). So also Paul: for after describing the long descent of Christ from "being in the form of God," down to His "being found in fashion as a man," and humbling Himself, and becoming "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross," he says, "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:  6-11). The Lord Jesus Himself, after His resurrection, says, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and earth" (Matt. 28: 18). Once more, Peter, dealing with another aspect of the same truth, tells us of false teachers "who shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them" (2 Peter 2: 1).

*The word Lord here is δεσπότης, not κύριος.

We have then, so far, two things: first, that God has made Christ Lord on the ground of redemption, giving Him this place of universal supremacy to mark His appreciation (if we may thus reverently speak) of the work which He had wrought out by His death; and secondly, that, as we saw in the last chapter, Christ has acquired Lordship over all by purchase. This thought we find in one of the parables: "The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field" (Matt. 13: 44). The consequence is that He is Lord of all, having "power (ἐξουσίαν — authority) over all flesh" by the appointment of God (John 17: 2; see also Acts 10: 36; Rom. 14: 9). When, however, we, as believers, speak of Christ as "our" Lord, we express another thought, because then we bring in the idea of relationship — the relationship of servants. It is the same Lordship, but we, by the grace of God, have been brought to own it, to bow before Him in this character; to accept His authority and rule, and to take the place of subjection. This, indeed, was one of the objects of His death, as Paul tells us — "He died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again" (2 Cor. 5: 15). And again, "None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living" (Rom. 14: 7-9). We, therefore, recognise, through the grace of our God, not only that Christ is Lord of all — as He truly is — but also that He is in a more intimate way our Lord. He is our Lord, not only in virtue of His appointment as such, as the rejected Christ and now glorified Man, but also because He has acquired this place over us through redemption. It is, therefore, our joy to confess Him as Lord; and how solemn to remember that all, even those who reject Him in this day of grace, will one day be constrained by power — power, too, significant of destruction — to own Him also as Lord (Phil. 2: 10, 11). It is the more incumbent upon us who are believers to recognise, declare, and be subject to His authority, that we may, in some measure, be witnesses for Him in this day of His rejection.

Seeing that Christ holds this place, what are our privileges and responsibilities with reference to Him in this character?

(1) The first thing to be named is worship; for it is before Him as Lord we fall down in adoration. This is taught, in principle, in one of the psalms. "He is thy Lord, and worship thou Him" (Psalm 45: 11). So also in the passage already cited from the Philippians — every knee is to bow, and every tongue confess that He is "Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2: 10, 11). Theologians take pains to argue that Christ is to be worshipped equally with the Father, inasmuch as He is God as well as man. And this is true; but, at the same time, it misses the Scriptural teaching concerning His present position and the worship due to Him in it. He is God; but the wonder and the characteristic of His present place is that He occupies it as man. It was the same Jesus whom the Jews crucified who is now made both Lord and Christ; and He has taken up even the glory which He had with the Father before the world was as man. It is a great mistake to suppose that He was man down here, and God in heaven, as if the two natures could thus be divided. The truth is — if we may draw the distinction — when down here, while He was truly man, He was the presentation of God to us; whereas now, while He never loses His essential Divinity, He sits at the right hand of God as man. Hence, though it is perfectly true that we worship Him as God, and, indeed, all the adoration which ascends up to God of necessity is offered to Him — inasmuch as the term God includes all the persons of the Godhead — it is rather as the man who is in the glory of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, that we bow before Him in praise and worship.

And surely it is a sweet thought to our souls that He who down here was scorned, rejected, cast out, and crucified — He whom even His own disciples forsook, abandoning Him in the hour of His greatest sorrow — is now exalted, and set forth as the object of our homage. Oh, how infinitely precious He must be to God, and what unspeakable value must His work have in His eyes, that He should thus set Him in the highest place, and constitute Him the object of adoration both of angels and saints! Thus John writes, "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed to God by Thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made them unto our God kings and priests: and they shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped"* (Rev. 5: 9-14). What ineffable grace, then, that even now we should have been taught that He is worthy of our praise!

*The reader will notice several variations from the English Text. On the 9th and 10th verses the authorities are very much divided, but what is given above is believed by those competent to form an opinion to be the more exact reading. There can be no doubt whatsoever about the omission, in the 14th verse, of the words, "Him that liveth for ever and ever." — See "Textual Criticism," by C. E. Stuart.

"Father, Thy holy name we bless,

Gracious and just Thy wise decree,

That every tongue shall soon confess,

Jesus the Lord of all to be.

But, oh! Thy grace has taught us now

Before that Lord the knee to bow.

Him as our Lord we gladly own:

To Him alone we now would live;

Who bow'd our hearts before Thy throne,

And gave us all that love could give.

Our willing voices cry aloud,

Worthy art Thou, O Lamb of God!"

(2) Just as we worship Him, so also we pray to Him, as Lord. There are two striking exemplifications of this principle recorded in the Scriptures. When Stephen was martyred by the infuriated Jews, it is said, "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7: 59). Paul, too, speaking of the thorn in the flesh, says, "For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12: 9). Now, that it was Christ he thus addressed as Lord is evident; for he adds, "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power (δύναμις, the same word as is translated 'strength') Of CHRIST may rest upon me." These instances afford most important instruction as to the character in which Christ is to be addressed in prayer. It is as Lord — not as "Jesus" or "Christ," as is sometimes unhappily heard. A moment's consideration will show us the fitness of this. To use the appellation — His name — of Jesus, or the term Christ, when bowing before Him, is surely to forget our place as suppliants, as well as His place as Lord. It savours of familiarity, even if not of irreverence; though it is freely admitted that it may be done without the slightest feeling of the kind. Be this as it may, we should never forget His exaltation and dignity, when approaching Him in supplication. The spiritual instincts of the child of God will suffice to teach him that, at such a time, the title of Lord should never be omitted. It becomes Him to receive, and us to render it; marking, in some humble measure at least, our sense of His claims, and also, indeed, of our place in His presence. The angel used it, when calming the fears of the women at the sepulchre on the resurrection morn, and in a most significant manner. He said, "Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the LORD lay" Matt. 28: 5, 6). He thus reminded them that Jesus, whom they sought, was the Lord. The malefactor, also, on the cross, taught undoubtedly of the Spirit of God, addresses Him aright. "Lord," he says, "remember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom" (Luke 23: 42). Let us, then, be ever careful to remember what is due to the One before whom we bow, and from whom we seek grace and blessing.

If this were the place, we might point out (what a careful examination of the Scriptures would assuredly justify) that there are special subjects which we more fittingly bring before the Lord. For example, there is, as we may see further on, a special relationship between the servant and the Lord. He Himself thus taught His disciples, "Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest." The apostle, likewise, as already seen in the matter of the thorn in the flesh which he felt was hindering his service, addresses himself to Christ as Lord. It will suffice to have given this indication, because it needs acquaintance with, and divine intelligence to be rightly guided as to this. It is a subject, however, which ought to be carefully considered; for nothing is more painful than to hear the interchange of "God," "Father," or "Lord," in prayer, without intelligence, in meetings for prayer or worship.

But passing from this, it is surely no mean consolation to remember when we are addressing Him in prayer that He is our Lord. It constitutes both a claim, and an assurance; a claim, because of the relationship into which we have thus been brought, and an assurance, because it reminds us of what He is to us and for us in this character. Ah! indeed, He is no stranger to us, and if it is very sweet to us to utter the words, what joy to Him to hear us address Him as our Lord. Led by the Spirit of God, may we be increasingly bold in the use of the term — with the holy boldness which confidence in His love alone can inspire!

(3) The correlative of "Lord" is "servant." We are therefore specially reminded by the term "our Lord," that we are His servants. We are His servants because He has bought us with His own blood; and we are therefore absolutely His property. Hence it is that Paul delights to call himself a servant — a slave (δοῦλος) — of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1: 1; Phil. 1: 1, etc.). We speak, of course, here of all believers as servants, and not of the special class whom the Lord has been pleased to endow with gifts, and send forth to labour amongst the saints, or in connection with the gospel. We lose much if we confine the term "servant" to this class; for whatever the position we occupy, all are as truly the Lord's servants as if engaged in any public way — as, for example, in the ministry of the Word.

This being the case, it will at once be observed that the Lord's will is our only law. It is indeed the characteristic of the Christian that he has no will; for the moment his will is active, the flesh appears. Thus he has — i.e., he should have — absolutely no will. He can say with the apostle, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2: 20). The Lord has shown us also this path. "I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me" (John 6: 38). Hence it is actually said that "He took upon Him the form of a servant" (a slave — δοῦλος, Phil. 2: 7). Just, therefore, as He had no will, but in all He thought, spoke, and did, was governed by the will of the Father, so we in all things should have respect to His will — it being no longer we, but Christ in us, and these bodies of ours but organs for the expression of Himself — His will.

Our responsibility, then, as servants is obedience. As the Lord said to certain professors, "Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6: 46). Or, as He said to His disciples, "Ye call Me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet" (John 13: 13, 14). As soon, therefore, as Christ is revealed to us as our Saviour, and we acknowledge Him as our Lord, we should take the attitude of Saul when he said, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" (Acts 9: 6; Acts 22: 10). From that moment we must accept the place of obedience to His will; and not only accept it, but find our joy in it, even as He Himself said that it was His meat to do His Father's will, and to finish His work (John 4: 34). Nor can any believer plead ignorance of what His will is. It is true that many are ignorant; but since He has been pleased to give us in the Scriptures the revelation of His mind for us, to mark out the path in which He would have us walk, to assure us of guidance in every difficulty and perplexity, and since He has sent the Comforter to guide us into all truth (John 16: 13), we have no excuse if we remain in ignorance.

How simple, then, is our path! We have now to please but One. It needs therefore only that the eye be always fixed on Him. As the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so should our eyes be ever upon the Lord, to catch the first intimation of His will, so that our willing feet may be ever quick to execute His commands. And what an honour is thus conferred upon us! Christ our Lord is the centre of the glory. The eyes of all heaven are directed to Him — the Object of their unbounded reverence, homage, and delight. What, then, are we that He should deign to make us His servants? Nothing — nothing but that we have been made through the sovereign grace of our God, in virtue of His finished work. Surely, therefore, we should have a deeper sense of the wondrous honour conferred upon us, so that our hearts swelling with grateful love may increasingly delight to prove their love by keeping His commandments (John 14: 15).

(4) We have a further responsibility connected with the Lordship of Christ. As pointed out, He is Lord of all (Acts 10: 36). Not only have we, therefore, as believers, to take the position of obedience, but we have also to acknowledge His authority over all connected with us — over our families and our households. It is a question of increasing importance, whether the doctrine of the universal Lordship of Christ has not been too much overlooked. The state of the families of many believers demands that it should be imperatively considered. It is a fatal mistake, into which many fall, to suppose that the unconverted members of our families have no relationship to Christ. He is Lord of all; and they are under the responsibility of owning, as believers are under the obligation of enforcing, that Lordship. The rule of Christ has to be maintained throughout the whole circle of the responsibility of the saints — thus within that circle, at least, anticipating the millennium.* It is in this, that the families of saints should present an entire contrast with those of the world; and thus be a living testimony to the authority of a rejected and an absent Christ — Christ our Lord.

*See, for a larger discussion of this subject, "The Christian Household," by E. Dennett.

(5) Again, if we remembered that He who is our Lord, is also universal Lord, it would give us far greater power to deal with souls. When charging upon them the sin of rejecting Christ, how often do they evade, or turn aside the stroke, by the thought, We had nothing to do with the act of the Jews and Romans eighteen hundred years ago. Not that it is difficult to meet this objection, if once fairly spoken; but if the fact of the present Lordship of Christ were pressed, we can apply a test which cannot be escaped. Do they acknowledge the place which has been given to Him by God? Do they confess and submit to His authority? Then — as we know they do not — they stand convicted — palpably convicted — of refusing and rejecting now the One who has been made both Lord and Christ. This weapon, if skilfully used, might, in the power of the Spirit, reach many a conscience, and bring souls to repentance before God. Especially might this be the case, if the truth already touched upon were connected with it, that if they persist in refusing to own Christ now, in the day of grace, they must do so before the great white throne, and own Him then, alas! to their everlasting destruction. It is a question worthy of consideration whether we do not give man, as such, too large a place in preaching the gospel; whether we do not concede to him too much the position of choosing or refusing. Of course, his responsibility must never be overlooked; for it is on this side that his conscience is the soonest reached. Nor must we forget to present the grace, the mercy, and the love of God; and surely every presentation of the gospel should be the expression of His own heart. Conceding all this, and, indeed, insisting on it, it may yet be asked whether, as a rule, the claims of Christ as Lord are sufficiently pressed. What subject could supply a more fruitful field for argument and appeal? Man everywhere owned, and Christ disowned. Alas! it is still true that there is no room for Christ in the inn (the world). It is man's wisdom, man's precepts, and man's authority; and all these combine in saying, We will not have Christ to reign over us. And yet He is Lord of all. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. It knows Him not still, and thus goes onward to destruction. For God will have His Christ universally acknowledged, for the decree has gone forth and cannot be altered; and yet the world passes on, banishing Him who is Lord out of all their thoughts, vainly dreaming that all is, and that all will be, well. But even while we write, the hour may be about to strike when He shall leave His place at God's right hand to receive His people to Himself, and then they will ever be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4: 17). Thereon will commence that series of awful judgments predicted in the Scriptures, which will be preparatory to, and will usher in, His return with His saints, when out of His mouth, will go "a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron. and He treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS" (Rev. 19: 15, 16). Then He will take to Himself His great power and reign; "He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." Then "all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him" (Ps. 72: 8-11). Be wise, therefore, dear reader, and now, while it is the accepted time and the day of salvation, bow before God and own Christ as Lord; for "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Rom. 10: 9). But if you should be, alas! of the number who remain indifferent to, and reject His claims, not only must you finally bow the knee before Him, when He shall be seated as the Judge on the great white throne, but you must also hear at the same time the irrevocable sentence of your everlasting doom — the doom of the second death (Rev. 20). Oh! then, kiss the Son — now while it is the day of grace, and God's long-suffering lingers — lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, and perish for ever, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Reconciled to Him, it will be the joy of your hearts to confess, and to worship Him as Lord.

CHAPTER 4.  CHRIST OUR SHEPHERD.

IT may be questioned whether this relationship of our blessed Lord to His people occupies its due place in our souls. It is quite true that it is found most frequently in the Old Testament Scriptures; but it would be to suffer great loss to suppose that it was only a Jewish relationship. Indeed, John (John 10) expressly forbids this conclusion, for the Lord distinctly states, "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock (not fold — the word is ποίμνη), and one Shepherd" (ver. 16). Peter, also, writing to believers of this dispensation, says, "Ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls" (1 Peter 2: 25); and again, "Feed (shepherd) the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over [God's] heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away" (1 Peter 5: 2-4). Paul uses the same figure, when addressing the elders of the Church at Ephesus. "Take heed," he says, "therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed (shepherd) the Church of God," etc. (Acts 20: 28).

Christ, therefore, is the Shepherd of His people now; and they are His sheep — collectively, His flock. There is, however, this difference. To the Jews — had they received Him, He would have been a Shepherd on earth; and even in the millennium He will be the Shepherd of His earthly people. "And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even my servant David; He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd" (Ezek. 34: 23; see also Jer. 23: 1-4). But He is our Shepherd as the One who has died, risen again, and is seated at the right hand of God. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews thus says, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep," etc. (Heb. 13: 20). It is, therefore, from His place on high that He now shepherds His people; and hence He is termed the Chief Shepherd, because in His tender care for the sheep, being absent from them, He provides those who shall "feed the flock" under His guidance and directions. When He therefore ascended up on high, He gave some, pastors, etc. Eph. 4: 11); for it is through these, and such as have the place of rule, that He now exercises the functions of the Shepherd for His people.

The relationship, then, in both dispensations is expressed by the same term; but the blessings secured by it are determined by the respective positions and needs of the sheep. Hence that beautiful Twenty-third Psalm — the solace of God's people in all ages — could be adopted by saints of all dispensations. Nay, it is so worded that the Lord Himself, when on the earth as a man, could use its language, as well as the pious remnant among the Jews, and believers at the present time.

(1) Let us, then, in the first place, consider a little the Shepherd Himself. To the Jews He said, "He that entereth in by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep" (John 10: 2). And there He stood before them as the One who alone came in to Israel by the way appointed of God, who answered to all the conditions predicted of Him in the Scriptures — the One, therefore, to whom the door was divinely opened to give Him access to His sheep. But the people as such received Him not; and hence He became also the Door of the sheep (ver. 7). "All that ever came before Me," He says, "are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the Good Shepherd the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep" (John 10: 8-11).

Here, then, is the great characteristic of the Good Shepherd — He giveth His life for the sheep. He is the Christ who has died; and if He died for all, then were all dead (2 Cor. 5: 14). This brings in the whole secret of redemption. The sheep had gone astray — were lost, and would have perished everlastingly, but the Good Shepherd went after that which was lost — even down into death — the death of the cross — and sought until He found. This explains to us the epithet — "Good" Shepherd. All we like sheep had gone astray, and turned every one to his own way; but the Good Shepherd offered Himself for our sins, gave His life for the sheep, and the Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of us all (Isa. 53: 6). As the Apostle Paul reasons, seeking to extol the unprecedented character of God's love, "When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us. in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5: 6-8), The whole heart of Christ, as well as of God, was revealed by His death; for there was nothing in us to draw out His affection, to move Him to take our place, and to redeem us with His precious blood. "In the same night in which He was betrayed, He took bread and gave thanks "and founded the memorial of His accomplished sacrifice. Thus side by side we behold His perfect goodness, and man's perfect evil; but the full exhibition of what man was could not hinder the manifestation of what He was. Nay, just as the light of the sun when shining on a dark thundercloud seems all the more bright and intense, so the love, grace, and goodness of Christ are magnified by the unmitigated evil which on man's part brought Him to the cross. The Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.

By giving His life for the sheep He acquired the title to their possession. Thereon follows another action, He giveth life to the sheep. "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10: 10); and again, "I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish" (ver. 28). With this we may connect another word, "I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved," etc. (ver. 9). We add this scripture, to show the way in which Christ bestows life, that it is never apart from faith in Himself. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3: 36). So here He is presented as the Door, and whosoever enters in by Him is saved — has eternal life. It were a fatal mistake to suppose that while He absolutely bestows life as a gift, — and indeed as a sovereign gift, — that it could ever be possessed without personal faith. For this is the appointed means of its possession — that, indeed, which characterises them as His sheep, and thus separates them from the world.

Again, it is said, "He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out" (ver. 3); also that "He knows His sheep" (vers. 14-27). He had just exemplified this in the case of the blind man. He had met him in his blindness, opened his eyes, led him out of Judaism, and made him a worshipper of Himself as the Son of God. There are also several beautiful illustrations of these characteristics of the Good Shepherd recorded in the gospel. Take one from the first chapter of this gospel. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto Him, Whence knowest Thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee" (John 1: 47, 48). From all eternity He has known His sheep; and in His own time He addresses them by name, calls them by a word of power, and His voice penetrates into their souls, and leads them out, constraining them to recognise it as that of the Good Shepherd. Just as on the morning of His resurrection when He said, "Mary," and she instantly responded, Rabboni: so now, He speaks, and the sheep hear His voice, and straightway follow Him. It is thus He has called every one of His flock, and thus that He will still gather His sheep, until the last one that is straying upon the mountains or in the deserts is brought under His shepherd care. "I know my sheep," is surely a word of rich consolation to the hearts of His own. In the wilderness still — though following His lead — and often faithless and weary, how often does the temptation come to doubt His care and love! "I know My sheep," should calm every anxiety, and dispel every fear, revealing, as it does, that His eye is ever upon us, comprehending all our case, all our needs, yea, knowing us altogether!

We have already alluded to the composite character of His flock — being now made up of Jews and Gentiles, — as He teaches in the sixteenth verse. Indeed, the whole history of the formation of the flock is there set forth — "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: these also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd." This is the special feature of the flock during this dispensation. In the past, Israel alone was His flock; hence the Twenty-third Psalm commences, Jehovah is my Shepherd. But inasmuch as when He came unto His own, His own received Him not, He by His death "broke down the wall of enclosure that separated the Jews from the Gentiles, and laid the foundation in His blood for the gathering out of both alike through faith in His name. Ever since Pentecost, therefore, He has been calling His sheep from every land, and from every clime, and they hear His voice, and they are brought, and together, whether Jews or Gentiles, they form the one flock under the one Shepherd.

Another characteristic of the Shepherd is, that He keeps His sheep in safety. "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall any* pluck them out of My hand. My Father, who gave them Me, is greater than all; and none can pluck them out of My Father's hand" (vers. 28, 29). He thus guarantees absolute security to His own. The wolf may catch (same word as pluck — αρπάζω) the sheep away from him who is an hireling, and not the shepherd, but none can catch, pluck, them out of His hands. What rest of heart it should give us, as we read these blessed words!

*I do not insert the word "man" with our translation, for the term any will include Satan as well as man — as it was intended to do.

(2) It may be profitable, if we ponder a little more in detail upon some of the characteristics of the sheep.

They hear His voice (vers. 4, 16, 27). This goes back, as already explained, to the very commencement, when He calleth His own sheep by name, and is that which distinguishes them as His sheep. The Lord Himself draws the contrast. "Ye" (He said to the Jews), "ye believe not, because ye are not of My sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear My voice," etc. (vers. 26, 27). We may combine with this another trait, "They know not the voice of strangers" (ver. 5). Herein lies the safety of the flock. They at once recognise the voice of the Shepherd; but though a stranger should simulate the tones of the Shepherd ever so closely, they know not his voice; i.e., they detect it as that of a stranger. This is that which is taught by the Apostle John. "Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. . . . These things I have written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him" (1 John 2: 20-27). There is no need, therefore, that we should seek to be familiar with all the errors that abound on every hand in order to escape their seductions: it is enough for us that we know the voice of the Shepherd; and our safety will be in ever listening to it, becoming increasingly acquainted with it, maintaining evermore the attitude of her who sat at the feet of Jesus, and heard His word (Luke 10: 39). This will be at once our preservative from danger, and the means of our safety and blessing.

Consequent upon hearing His voice, the sheep follow the Shepherd. "He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice" (vers. 4, 27). The sheep has no will but that of the Shepherd; and ceasing to follow Him it becomes a wandering sheep. "All we like sheep," says the prophet, "have gone astray, and turned every one to his own way" (Isa. 53: 6). In Eastern lands, and indeed in some parts of Europe, the shepherd ever goes before his sheep; and when he moves onward, they follow, and when he stops, they stop likewise. Our blessed Lord alludes to this in the scripture before us, and uses the custom to convey most striking instruction. For to follow the Shepherd necessitates that the eye of the sheep should be ever upon Him, that, indeed, they should ever be on the watch to ascertain when He would have them to move, and where He would have them follow. Everything is thus left in the Shepherd's hands: it is His to discern a coming danger, to provide for their sustenance, and to indicate their path. Their responsibility is to follow — to follow the Shepherd wherever He may lead — to follow Him until He shall come to receive them to Himself.

It is also said that the sheep know the Shepherd. They not only know His voice; but they also know Himself. "I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine, even as the Father knoweth Me, and I the Father" (John 10: 14, 15). This is the highest blessing of which the sheep are capable; for it implies entering into His own thoughts, ways, and desires, yea, the knowledge of Himself. It is thus that we are brought into communion with Him. We may know His voice, and be following Him, and yet be without much acquaintance with His character. To know Him, is what John gives as descriptive of the fathers in God's family. "I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning" (1 John 2: 13). This, therefore, is the highest and most blessed attainment which the believer can make. And the Lord desires that it should be made — and in an infinite measure — "as the Father knoweth Me, and I the Father." He knows us, and He desires that we should know Him. May He Himself lead us into an ever-increasing acquaintance with Himself, so keep Himself before our souls that we may grow daily in the knowledge of Him — of what He is, as well as what He is to us, and for us — through the power of the Holy Ghost!

(3) It may help us still further to understand the relationship, as well as the privileges of the sheep, if we add to the foregoing considerations, the teaching of Psalm 23.

The Lord (Jehovah) is my Shepherd. Everything depends upon the relationship, whether we can truly adopt this language. Every one can say the Lord is a Shepherd; and hence all the significance of this statement is connected with the little word "my." To say "my" Shepherd is the language of faith: the word "my" is, therefore, the doorway into the psalm. How blessed if we can, then, adopt these words as our own, and say He is our Shepherd. And what follows? "I shall not want." We shall not want, not because we are sheep, but because He is our Shepherd. This conclusion flows, not from what we are to Him, but from what He is to us. It is very strengthening to the soul to see this clearly, for many of us are apt to begin with ourselves; and consequently, as we discover what poor, feeble, wayward creatures we are, we fall into doubts and anxieties. But when we begin with the Lord, consider what He is — what He is in Himself, as well as what He is in relationship to us, we obtain the well-grounded assurance that we "shall not want." For surely it belongs to the Shepherd to provide for the sheep. How foolish it were even in children to question their parents as to how their wants were to be met on the morrow! Much more foolish would it be on our parts — when we have such a Shepherd. Enough for our hearts surely to know that He is ours, and in that sweet confidence we can leave everything in His hands, "who shall feed (tend) His flock like a Shepherd" (Isa. 40: 11). He is ours, and we have everything in Him; and hence the heart can rest in perfect peace — in the full assurance of His unfailing love, omnipotent power, and unwearied care.

"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters" — or, as we have it in the margin, pastures of tender grass, and waters of quietness. He thus provides suited blessings — needed sustenance, and rest and refreshment. But even this fails to convey the richness and bounty of the provision which He makes for His flock. The pastures are — pastures of tender grass, on which the sheep feed with appetite and delight, until they are satisfied; and when they are satisfied — as with marrow and fatness — they lie down by the cool and refreshing waters of quietness. As it is said in John 10 — "I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (ver. 9). What unfolding of the heart of the Shepherd — ministering thus to the need of His own, watching over them to minister to all their necessities. Happy are the sheep who are placed under such constant, loving, and faithful care!

"He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Ps. 23: 3). As a hymn says -

"If e'er I go astray,

He doth my soul restore."

This belongs here also to His office of Shepherd. We need not say that the foundation on which He does this is His own finished work — the propitiation which He has made for our sins (1 John 2: 1, 2). But in the psalm this restoration is looked at as effected by the Shepherd. The sheep wanders, goes astray, and the Shepherd goes after that which is lost, and finding, brings it safely back. Every sheep is thus under His eye, and cannot stray without His knowledge; and when any of us have strayed, we surely should have perished, if He had not followed after, and drawn us back again by the ministrations of His love.

And just as we are indebted to Him for restoration, so also for being kept and guided into right paths — paths of righteousness — paths which are according to His own will. Mark, moreover, that He so leads us "for His name's sake." It is again — it cannot be repeated too often — what He is — on account of His own name; and therefore His own glory is concerned in guiding us into these paths of righteousness. We can thus ever plead with Him on this ground; and whenever we do so, our plea is irresistible. It was so with Joshua. When the Israelites were smitten, after the gin of Achan, before the men of Ai, Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord, and pleaded with God; and the whole burden of his cry was at last expressed in the one question, "And what wilt Thou do unto Thy great name?" (Joshua 7: 6-9). Rising to this height, the answer immediately came. Let it always, then, be remembered that the Lord is concerned for His own name's sake, to lead us in the path which is according to His will.

The Psalmist now waxes more bold. He has told us what Jehovah is, and what He does. This gives him confidence, and he is consequently able to say, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me" (Ps. 23: 4). The valley of the shadow of death is not so much passing through death, as the character of our pathway through this scene. We are passing through a judged world. Death hangs over it like a pall; and hence to the believer, who enters into God's thoughts about it, it is the valley of the shadow of death. But what is his antidote against fear? It is that "Thou art with me." This indeed is the source of all our security and blessing — the Lord is with us. And being with us, we have His rod and His staff to comfort us — His rod to direct, and His staff to support. Do we sufficiently enter into this? Is it as constantly present to our souls as it should be — that the Lord is with us? and that His rod and His staff comfort us? The scene may be never so dark and desolate, and we may be never so weak and weary, but we have boundless resources in the One who is our Shepherd — His own presence to cheer our souls, and His rod and His staff to guide in perplexity, and to support in weakness. Blessed be His name!

We have now another feature, as well as another character, of blessing. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over" (ver. 5). It is not only that the path may lie through the valley of the shadow of death, but enemies are around. But He that is with us is all-sufficient for His difficulty. They may race, and seek to destroy, but, says David, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." He will be the sustenance of His people, and cause their enemies to see that they are upheld, sustained, and provided for, by the Lord. As the apostle writes, "He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man can do unto me" (Heb. 13: 5, 6). But we have more; "Thou anointest my head with oil" — the unction of God — the Spirit of power; and. hence he adds, "My cup runneth over." Nothing is wanting; nay, he is filled to overflowing with goodness and mercy, and in such a scene as this. This is all the result of having the Lord as our Shepherd; for all flows from Him — from what He is to us in this relationship. And let it not be forgotten that this is our present portion. These are not blessings which we shall have, but blessings which we now have. How we narrow the heart of God by our unbelief! And hence our need of learning ever more of Himself, that we may understand more fully the immensity of His grace, and the riches of His provision for us, while passing through the wilderness. Surely we may say, "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want! "

The conclusion is as simple as beautiful. "Surely goodness and mercy shall (not have followed, but shall) follow me all the days of my life." How do we know this? Because of what the Lord is as our Shepherd. It is confidence in Him, and the knowledge of what is suited to Him, that enables us thus to speak. And yet more — "And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." All leads up to this. Blessed as we are now, and enjoying so much because of what Christ is to us as our Shepherd, we shall enter upon larger blessings and more perfect joys, when He shall return to receive us to Himself, and we shall be for ever with Him. But we must not miss the present application of the words. The effect of grace upon the heart is to draw us ever closer to Him from whom it flows, and to produce in us the desire to dwell in His house for ever — yea, to dwell before Him, and in His presence, everlastingly. "One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire (meditate) in His temple" (Ps. 27: 4). The heart is thus attracted to, and absorbed in the contemplation of, the One whose beauty had been unfolded in His ways of grace and love; and hence can find no rest or satisfaction except in the presence of its Object. All — every blessing — is concentred in Him, and, therefore, the soul that knows it desires to be always with Him. Happy are they who have learnt the lesson, that they want nothing outside of Christ; that He is enough their hearts and minds to fill!

May the Lord Himself unfold more and more to us of His beauty, as well as the unspeakable character of the blessings which are ours, because by grace we have been brought into relationship with Him as our Shepherd.

"I love the Shepherd's voice

His watchful eyes shall keep

My pilgrim soul among

The thousands of God's sheep.

He feeds His flock, He calls their names,

And gently leads the tender lambs."

CHAPTER 5.  CHRIST OUR LIFE.

WHEN the Lord Jesus came into the world, "darkness covered the earth, and thick darkness the people;" yea, the night of death prevailed throughout the whole globe. It was, to borrow the language of Job, in speaking of death, a land of darkness, and the shadow of death; a land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness" (Job 10: 21, 22). For "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5: 12). There was, therefore, not a ray of light to relieve the total darkness of man's state and condition. Not only so, but Satan also r