Table of Contents

The Red Heifer

The great Day of Atonement.

Leviticus 16.

The Sin-Offering.

Leviticus 4.

The Red Heifer.

Number 19.

Job's Three Questions

THE FIRST QUESTION, WHEREFORE WAS I BORN?

JOB'S SECOND QUESTION, "HOW CAN MAN BE JUST WITH GOD?"

JOB'S THIRD QUESTION, IF A MAN DIE SHALL HE LIVE AGAIN?"

The Prophet Habakkuk

Habakkuk 1

Introduction

God is not Indifferent to the Sins of His People

A Cry of Faith

Unrighteousness and Ungodliness

God's Response

A Wicked Power

Relying on One's Own Strength

God Cannot Behold Evil

Indifference about the Wickedness of the Enemy?

Judgment Over the Oppressor,

Habakkuk 2.

The Prophet on His Watchtower

A Not-Sealed Vision

The Ultimate Fulfillment

The Heart of the Book of Habakkuk

Difference in Application

Pride of the Chaldean

The “Song of the Curse,” Prelude to the Future Glory (Habakkuk 2: 6-20)

The Final Answer to Habakkuk

The First Strophe

Second Strophe

Third Strophe

Fourth Strophe

Fifth Strophe

Habakkuk's Prayer — Habakkuk 3

God Heard

The Salvation of the Lord

Comparing Past and Future Deliverance

Rest Today and in the Future

Full Fellowship with the Lord

Worship

Summary

John the Baptist

The Nation and the Remnants.

Luke 1 - 3.

His Birth.

Luke 1: 15.

John the Baptist in the Wilderness.

Luke 1: 80; Matt. 3.

John the Baptist as Prophet.

Matthew 3.

John the Baptist as a Man and a Witness.

John 1; John 3: 28-31.

Failure of John the Baptist.

Matthew 11.

John the Baptist's Death.

Matt. 14: 1-12; Mark 6: 14-29.

Simon Peter

"I am a sinful man."

Luke 5: 1-11.

Peter going to Jesus on the water.

Matthew 14: 22-33.

Personal Acquaintance with Christ.

Matthew 16: 13-23.

"Come after me;'

Matthew 16: 24-28.

Beholding Christ in Glory.

The Father's House.

Luke 9: 34-36.

Relationship with the Son.

Matthew 17: 24-27.

Washing of the Feet and Communion.

John 13.

Peter enters into Temptation.

Luke 22: 31-62.

The Sepulchre.

John 20: 1-18.

Service and Food.

John 21: 1-14.

The Soul Restored.

John 21: 15-19.

"Follow me."

John 21: 18, 19.

What is a Meeting of the Assembly?

THE LOCAL ASSEMBLY.

THE ASSEMBLY MEETING.

THE WORSHIP MEETING.

THE PRAYER MEETING.

THE OPEN MEETING.

H. L. Rossier - Some Writings

H. L. Rossier

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With the prayerful desire that the Lord Jesus Christ will use this God-given ministry in this form for His glory and the blessing of many in these last days before His coming. © Les Hodgett (contact@stempublishing.com) (2011)

The Red Heifer

The Red Heifer.

H. Rossier.

Christian Friend vol. 15, 1888, p. 99 etc.

(Translated from the French.)

In the books of Leviticus and Numbers we find three aspects of the sin-offering — the great day of atonement (Leviticus 16); the sin and the trespass-offerings (Leviticus 4 5); and, lastly, the sacrifice of the red heifer. (Numbers 19.) Before turning our attention to the last, which is indeed the subject of these pages, let us glance rapidly at the two other kinds of sin-offering.

I.

The great Day of Atonement.

Leviticus 16.

God had redeemed Israel at the Passover and the crossing of the Red Sea, sheltering them from judgment, and delivering them from the bondage of Egypt, in order to bring them at last into the land of promise. From the moment they entered the wilderness, the Israelites were the people of God in virtue of redemption; thenceforth God could dwell in their midst. But, in point of fact, Israel was a people in the flesh, defiled by sin, and so the tabernacle of God remained "among them in the midst of their uncleanness." (Leviticus 16: 16.) This is what a holy and righteous God could not tolerate; for He would have denied His own character, and proclaimed that sin did not sunder every relationship between man. and Him. Hence God must find a way of receiving Israel before Him, which would maintain His character and not derogate from His glory; a means of purifying the sanctuary, His abode, from the uncleanness contracted from the presence of a defiled people; a means too of assuring to His people the happy certainty that for God the question of sin was settled by removing from the conscience of every Israelite all trace of past guilt before Him. God provided this way for Israel by means of the offerings of the day of atonement.

The first and most important of the four acts which characterized this day was the high priest's entrance into the most holy place with the blood of the bullock for himself, and of the goat of the sin-offering for the people. This blood, placed upon and before the mercy-seat, proclaimed the worth of the offering for the reconciliation of the people to God, and the perfection of its results in permitting Israel to draw nigh to God. The purification of the holy place prefigured the reconciliation of all things (see Col. 1: 19, 20) — the purification of the whole creation defiled by sin, but which, in virtue of the work of Christ, will one day be put in complete harmony with God's character, so that God can dwell among men. (See Rev. 21: 3. Compare John 1: 29.) The high priest's coming out from the holy place made known to the people the fact that the work had been accepted, and the question of sin settled between Israel's representative and God; indeed, the iniquities of the people confessed over the head of the scapegoat were borne away into a land not inhabited, and were never to be found again; so that the consciences of the children of Israel were cleansed and delivered from the weight which had hitherto bowed them down in affliction of soul before God.

But the law made nothing perfect. As to the real efficacy of this great day, we know that the blood of bulls and of goats can never take away sins; propitiation, had it been efficacious, would have been so only for a year. Moreover, all that took place on that day testified that the way into the holiest was not open, that the veil was there, and that sinful man was banished from the holy place where God dwells.

Now all that Israel did not know, and of which they could only catch a glimpse in the future through a veil, is at the present time possessed by Christians in perfection. It is the great truth which the epistle to the Hebrews teaches. The offering of the blood of Christ, which is of eternal efficacy, will never be repeated. Christ, the High Priest, is entered, not into the holy places made with hands, but into heaven itself, and has sat down at the right hand of God. The veil is rent, the way is for ever open, and the worshipper can go into the holy place with boldness, having no more conscience of sins. The end of Hebrews 9.* corresponds with the four acts of this solemn day. There we find, first, that as the high priest went into the holy place with blood, so Christ, after having offered Himself without spot to God, is gone into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (v. 24); secondly, that once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (v. 26) — a putting away which corresponds with the purification of the sanctuary;† thirdly, that, as the scapegoat, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many (v. 28); fourthly, that, like the high priest coming out of the tabernacle, He will appear the second time without sin unto salvation to those that look for Him. (v. 28.)

*The whole of this epistle, with the exception of a few details, treats of the offerings of the great day of atonement — a circumstance calculated to bring to light the immense importance for us of this day considered as a type.

†It is clear that the whole value of the work is likewise included in this verse 26.

The type then of the great day of atonement has been fully fulfilled in Christ. If as yet we do not see sin put away, we know that the work is accomplished which is the foundation of it. If our High Priest be still hidden in the holy place, we have nevertheless the positive certainty, by the Spirit sent down from heaven, that our relationships with God are definitely and unchangeably established; and we do not need, like Israel, to await the coming out of the High Priest to learn this. And yet, better than Israel could, we await Him without sin unto salvation. In short, if our sins are put away from before God, they are so also from our consciences, and they are carried into a land not inhabited, where even the eye of God will never find them again.

II.

The Sin-Offering.

Leviticus 4.

(For brevity's sake we omit, in what follows, the trespass-offering.)

In this chapter we have quite a different case to that of the great day of atonement. Here the question is, not how God can dwell in the midst of His people, or rather upon what basis He can establish and keep His relationships with them, but upon what terms either people or individuals can draw nigh to God when communion has been broken by some specific sin. What in fact is striking at the outset in this chapter (as also in the case of the red heifer) is, that the point is not to establish relationships with a God who is still just while justifying the believer, but that it is a question of restoration for each sin which has spoiled the enjoyment of these relationships.* This is the reason why the sin-offering follows the peace-offering of Leviticus 3. The latter was the type of the believer's communion with God about the sacrifice of Christ. If this communion had been broken by sin, how could it be restored? Chapter 4 gives us the answer.

*It must however be added, that in reality, under the law, relationship with God was disturbed by every sin, hence the continual renewal of blood-sprinkling. Besides Lev. 4 and 5 present the sin-offering in the aspect of satisfaction offered to God for every act of sin.

Before proceeding further, let us remark how little we really know of fellowship with God. It may be defined in few words - having but one mind and one heart with God. About what? do you say? About everything — sin, the world, ourselves — but, above all, about the work and person of Christ. And when we do know something of this communion, how little do we enjoy it, for it is broken by the smallest sin that we commit, even in thought.

The only sins dealt with in Leviticus 4 are sins of ignorance — sins which would have been ignored by the people or individuals, had there not been someone intelligent enough to make them known to them.* To argue about ignorance and a state of inability to be aware of a trespass was useless, for ignorance was already a fruit of sin.† It was precisely such trespasses which served to show how abominable sin is in the sight of God. For these sins there must be sacrifice, for they had robbed the Israelite of all possibility of approach to God, either before the veil for worship (Lev. 4: 6, 17), or at the altar of incense for communion (Lev. 4: 7, 18), or even at the altar of burnt-offering (Lev. 4: 25, 34), where the worshipper was individually received before God, according to the perfection of the sacrifice. This being the case, the sinner through ignorance brought a victim who must be identified with him. In certain cases the priest ate the victim, appropriating the sin, so to speak, and removing it from the guilty. The blood of the victim, sprinkled at the very place where the one who had sinned must draw nigh to God, resembled provision made beforehand to permit of his resuming his place. The victim burned outside the camp answered to the righteousness of God acting in judgment; and finally, the fat consumed on the altar showed the full satisfaction which the heart of God found in the sacrifice. Upon every fresh sin of ignorance (or trespass) the offering must be repeated and the victim's blood shed, in order to reopen the way to God and to allow the sinner to draw near. But for a Christian there is nothing of the kind. If he have sinned, he does not come to the blood of Christ to be re-washed, he does not need to await a further shedding of blood to enable him to draw nigh; for the work accomplished on the cross, and which laid the foundation of his reconciliation, has at the same time established once and for ever the basis of his communion. He learns that, if he have sinned, Christ is, not will be, the propitiation for his sins; and that if he have been in need of an Advocate with the Father, he may find this Advocate in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the propitiation for his sins. Thus he can approach with boldness. The perfectness of the sprinkling — sevenfold sprinkling  - is before God (v. 17) long before the believer is restored. That which this type prefigures is contained in these words: "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 2: 1, 2.)

*Besides, for Israel under law wilful sin was without resource. The law admitted of none. Whoever committed it should be put away from amidst the people. Remark, amongst others, the case of Achan, a wilful sinner who had to be cut off, whilst Israel, on the same occasion, having sinned through ignorance, could be restored. Under grace there is a perfect resource for all sins — "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." There is only one wilful sin which is now without resource, it is apostasy from Christianity; that is to say, the abandonment of Christ and His sacrifice. "If we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins." (Heb. 10: 26.)

†Notice amongst others this terrible word — "If a soul touch any unclean thing . . . and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty." (Lev. 5: 2.)

In the application to the Christian of the two preceding types, we have noticed, in the first, reconciliation accomplished and relationship with God established once for all. In the second, the means of restoration — the basis of communion being laid once for all in the blood which admits of the sinner's approach to God. But these types by no means include all that is necessary for the restoration of a soul out of communion. There must be, before it is regained, deep exercise of conscience, with which Numbers 19 will occupy us in detail.

III.

The Red Heifer.

Number 19.

The subject of the book of Numbers is the journey of the children of Israel across the desert, typifying the Christian's journey through this world. On the road he is exposed to all sorts of defilements which effectually interrupt communion with God. Their character is worthy of remark, and should speak seriously to our consciences. They are no longer sins committed by mistake, or through ignorance, as in Leviticus 4, and made known to us by others;* but they are sins committed inadvertently, or from lack of vigilance. Simple Christian watchfulness is the way to avoid losing communion during our daily life. Besides this characteristic, there was another which was common to these sins. In every case defilement was contracted by contact with death, or the result of death. It was impossible when unclean to allege ignorance as an excuse, for no one could deny what death was. It was the most palpable and absolute proof of sin: "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." "The wages of sin is death." Sin was then made evident by its consequences, so that the man who touched death had no excuse to proffer.

*When the high priest had sinned (Leviticus 4) it is not said, "If his sin . . . come to his knowledge," as in verses 14, 23, 28. In proportion to our nearness to God, so does the Holy Spirit, acting by the Word upon our conscience, make us aware of the least sin, without any need of human intervention to point it out to us.

Defilement on account of death might be contracted in two places — in the tent or in the fields. In the second case, the individual only was unclean; in the first, the defilement extended to all that was in the tent, and particularly to every uncovered vessel. Of what frequent occurrence is this kind of defilement among Christians! In the fields, in public, amidst the world, there is usually more watchfulness, because of the liability to observation from hostile people, who seek to find fault in order to have an opportunity of speaking against the gospel. In the tent, in the more or less restricted family circle, it is easy to be inattentive, and less on the watch. Things are tolerated which would not be before every one, and there is less restraint because it is private life. Certain worldlinesses are accepted which would be avoided in public; such and such an evil is excused on the ground that there is no one to criticise. Death is in the tent. What is the result? If there be an uncovered vessel it is defiled. Uncleanness contracted within the tent spreads to our immediate surroundings. How is it that the children of Christians become so often worldly in their ways, and give up the truth which has been taught them in their father's house? Doubtless there may be many causes for it; and I admit that, in most cases, great worldliness on the parents' part is not the reason; but have they not often to acknowledge with humiliation, that they have tolerated in the family circle some worldly defilement which has influenced the uncovered vessels, thus exposed through our negligence to such an influence?

The second kind of uncleanness from death was that contracted in the open fields. There, if lacking in vigilance, death might be encountered under four different aspects; a bone, a man who had died a violent death, a case of ordinary death, or a grave.

A bone is only distantly allied to a dead body. Corruption is no longer at work there. Sun and rain, the effect of time, the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field, have long ago removed every vestige of adhering matter; while its remoteness from its origin only renders it the more common; at any moment bones may be trodden under foot in the fields, and men have come to consider them useful, and even indispensable. What then is this common sin symbolized by a bone — this sin accepted by all, so frequent as to be unheeded, and which the world is surprised to see dealt with by some as a scandal and a shame? Dear Christian reader, — you will meet with it everywhere, when, like the Israelite in the fields, you are obliged to be with the world. At every step you will be met by — the seller who deceives the buyer as to the quality of his goods; the banker who prefers his own interests; the physician who deceives his patients; the man of the world who compliments to the face, and disparages behind the back — all this, and much besides may be likened to the oft-recurring — bone. Are we Christians getting tainted by such principles? Are we, in any measure, ceasing to regard them as defiling? Let us be careful, for the destroy all communion with God.

The second and the third cases were those of violent or natural deaths; violence and corruption, the two great classes of sins which God had before Him when He said that He would destroy the world by a flood. The world has not changed. The declarations, "They have corrupted themselves;" "Destruction and misery are in their ways;" "Violence covereth them as a garment," are still true; but the question for us Christians is, Are these things absent from our walk when we have to do with the world? If we are wronged or slandered; if we have personal grievances against others, what do we manifest? Is it a peaceful or a violent spirit? On the other hand, there is a moral corruption surrounding us, like the air we breathe, which is to be found in what we hear, or read, or see, in the people who pass by us; it shows itself in broad daylight, insinuates itself amongst the shades of night. Do our desires go after these things, and do we allow ourselves to be touched by this surrounding corruption? Ah!! let us be watchful to keep our eyes and our ears, our hands and our feet, our thoughts and our hearts, from such defilement; let us hate "even the garment spotted by the flesh."

The fourth case was a grave. A grave might be unwittingly walked over. (Luke 11: 44.) The Lord makes use of the figure of a sepulchre to portray the hypocrisy of a heart which presents a pleasant appearance, whilst within it is full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. (Matthew 23: 27, 28.) The grave is a heart that voluntarily hides its internal corruption beneath a fair exterior. Such were the Pharisees whom the Lord blamed. And what multitudes of God's children come in contact with such graves in their daily life, accepting the principles of the world's religion, and contenting themselves with a religion of forms to which the state of the heart in nowise corresponds! Alas! a Christian may be defiled by a grave. He may also be, in this sense, a hypocrite himself. The apostle Paul had avoided such uncleanness. He did not seek the approval of men, but of God. He said, "We are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences." (2 Cor. 5: 11.)

Touching a grave is defiling, and destroys communion; and an evil thought is enough, a single lust hidden in the heart and ignored by every other being. Often we are dry and barren, the Word is uninteresting to us, and joy and power are lacking. Why? We may not know the cause; but the fact is, communion is lost. Let us ask God the reason. He will reply, that we have touched a grave. We may only have to judge a single lust which the heart has involuntarily cherished without having even carried it into action; it suffices to render us defiled persons.

Let us now consider what was to be done when an Israelite was unclean from contact with death.

The means of purification was a red heifer without spot, and upon which had never come yoke. This was a type of Christ, a Man without sin, who had not even been subjected in His nature to the consequences of sin. This heifer was to be slain before Eleazar the priest, and her blood sprinkled seven times directly before the tabernacle of the congregation — the place where the people stood before God to worship. It was not as on the great day of atonement, when the blood was carried into the holy place within the veil, and placed upon the mercy-seat, under the eye of God. Here the blood met the eye of the man who was drawing nigh to God after having sinned. It was an act analogous to that of the sin-offering, although in the latter case the sprinkling of blood took place elsewhere. For restoration it was necessary, above everything, that the eye of faith should encounter the blood offered for the propitiation, and which had arrived before the sinner at the place where he could meet God.* Without this first act restoration could not be possible. When we have failed, if we do not know that Jesus Christ, the righteous One, is the propitiation for our sins before God, we shall remain at a distance, instead of drawing nigh to Him. Our ignorance makes us think that we have lost through sin what never can be lost, even our relationship with God, and we make these relationships depend upon our conduct, whilst in point of fact our communion depends on it. The fruit of this ignorance is not restoration, but despair. Real purity of walk will always be founded on the full assurance which the blood of Christ in the presence of God gives to our souls, and which we behold as having perfectly satisfied God about sin.

*There is no place of meeting for man with God where the blood is not to be found. Be it at the altar of burnt-offering (Lev. 4: 25, 34), before the tabernacle of the congregation (Num. 19: 4), at the golden altar (Lev. 4: 7, 18), before the veil (Lev. 4: 6, 17), or before or upon the mercy-seat. (Lev. 16: 14, 15.)

The body of the heifer that had been slain was burned outside the camp. It was the same with the victim offered for the sin of the high priest or the people (Lev. 4), and the offering on the great day of atonement; for it is said, "No sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire." (Lev. 6: 30.) The body burnt outside the camp denoted the holiness of God, who must banish sin from His presence, even when borne by Christ. What then was the severity of His judgment, since this judgment consumed the holy victim who bore the sin! The victim, it is said, was a thing most holy. But the ashes of the burnt heifer loudly proclaimed at the same time that sin was not imputed to the sinner, and that this great question had been definitely settled between Christ and God.

Three things were cast into the fire to be consumed with the victim (v. 6) — cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet. Cedar wood in Scripture represents the greatness of man, hyssop his littleness, and they are the two extremes that comprise the natural man, the two extremes likewise of his wisdom and knowledge (1 Kings 4: 33), all of which is only fit for the fire. Man, in whatever way looked at, finds his end and his judgment in the cross of Christ. Scarlet is a picture of the glory of the world, of that which is of renown here, of the world in the aspect which most attracts the attention of man. Moreover, God has judged the world at the cross.*

*The same elements are to be found in the cleansing of the leper. (Lev. 14: 6.) There all the glory of the world, all that man is, all that die knows, must be dipped into the blood, must bear the stamp of death.

Thus the Israelite who was defiled encountered at the outset, before the work of his purification began, three great facts, without which his restoration would have been impossible; three facts accomplished outside of himself in his favour, and which were entitled to encourage him during the solemn moments through which he would have to pass. So it is that God shows to the believer, who has contracted defilement in his progress through this world, that propitiation and non-imputation of sin are the answer to his state; and more, that he has been crucified with Christ, and the world crucified to him.

Another detail may be added. All those who had touched the body of the heifer which was burned were unclean until the even. This is indeed well calculated to impress upon the soul of the believer a horror of sin, for even the preciousness of the perfect victim could only enhance the character of the sin which demanded the sacrifice. Remark, on the other hand (Lev. 6: 24-30), that all who touched or eat the flesh of the sin-offering were sanctified by it. It was "most holy." If God turned away His face from Christ made sin, the Saviour was none the less "most holy," and was at the very moment when He offered Himself the Object of perfect satisfaction to the Father's heart. Once atonement accomplished, the Father could manifest His good pleasure in Him by raising Him from the dead, and seating Him at His right hand.

Let us now examine in what way the restoration of an unclean person was accomplished.

A man that was clean gathered up the ashes of the heifer, and laid them by carefully in a clean place. When an Israelite was defiled by contact with death, part of these ashes was taken, and running water poured upon them in a vessel, after which a clean person sprinkled, with hyssop dipped in the water, the tent, and the vessels, and the unclean person. Scripture teaches us the signification of this type. Living water (John 7: 38, 39) is the Holy Ghost, in this case applying to the soul by means of the Word, not the blood to cleanse afresh, but the remembrance of the sufferings borne by Christ under the judgment of God, by which God has judged man and condemned the world. His love in giving Christ to this effect, has accomplished the work to deliver and to bring us to Himself, so that we may walk in holiness before Him.

This typical act shows us then, in a vivid manner, all the conscience-work necessary in order that a child of God, if he have sinned, may regain fellowship with his Father. What! have I lost, by my negligence, that fellowship, which, together with salvation, is our most precious possession. It is the highest privilege which a believer can enjoy, and with a view to which I have received eternal life (1 John 1); fellowship, that is being called to share in the thoughts and joys of the heart of God concerning everything! Had I been watchful I should have been maintained in this fellowship; I should, even instinctively, have had a horror of all that God abhors. Had I been in communion, I should have valued Christ and His sacrifice as God does; I should have shrunk from the sin which was the cause of the sufferings of Christ; I should have had love enough for Him to keep me from touching what caused Him to suffer.

This is what the ashes mixed with running water typified to the conscience of a defiled Israelite. This purifying sprinkling necessarily brings humiliation with it, at the same time presenting to the soul the infinite value of that which was accomplished on the cross for it. At length the restored soul learns not to have any more confidence in the flesh. Our short-comings, judged in the presence of God, open our eyes to see that neither God nor we can expect anything from ourselves, since at the cross God condemned sin in the flesh; that the point for us is, not to make resolutions to sin no more, for man's resolutions can accomplish nothing, but to accept the fact of the total ruin of man, in order to be able to walk in the holy liberty and power of the new man.

A long time must not be allowed to elapse between the failure and the restoration. God appointed three days, at the end of which the water of purification was applied for the first time. He who thinks he has done everything when he has confessed his sin at the very moment of his defilement, is generally more or less superficial; while he who puts off humbling himself, commonly allows his conscience to become deadened by the delay. Satan persuades him that the fault is not so serious, that many others have acted as badly; and thus the soul gets sleepy, and forgets the gravity of the sin. In many cases this forgetfulness leaves the coast clear for Satan to return to the attack. Hence it is that so many Christians end by being put away from the assembly. "But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean." (v. 20.)

The unclean person was sprinkled twice, on the third and on the seventh day. Communion is easily lost, but not so easily regained. Humiliation is not communion, but only the road to it. A lapse of three days, forming part of a period of seven days, was necessary for restoration. If we have enjoyed the blessing of intimacy with the Lord, we would gladly be restored directly we have sinned. We should like instantly to recover, both the power lost through our neglect, and those blessed communications with the Father which are the fruit of unclouded confidence. It is not, cannot be so. This practical cleansing is not accomplished at once; it is a longer process. Humiliation must precede joy.

Think seriously of it, dear reader. If we really value the power and the joy of fellowship with the Father and the Son, do not let us allow anything to rob us of it. On the one hand, nothing can be compared to it; on the other, everything which we encounter in the world destroys it. The world is like a scarlet rag, which, in spite of the brilliancy of its exterior, is only fit for the fire; at bottom it is but a place of bones, corruption, and graves; and if we, with hearts so easily deceived, set forth to walk carelessly on this unclean soil, we shall very quickly be defiled ourselves, and suffer the sad loss of communion. Let us then be on the watch against all these things. May we value communion with God sufficiently to hate, with our whole renewed man, whatever would interrupt it. H. R.

Job's Three Questions

Job's Three Questions and Their Answers

H. L. Rossier.

(The quotations from the Bible are from Darby's "New Translation").

Hardly is man born than he is full of questions. From his early childhood he faces numberless problems and unsolvable riddles.

This must be so, for man should not pass through this earth in indifference. But how many questions remain unanswered — or what is much worse — are answered wrongly!

Most people in the days of outward prosperity are content with satisfying their earthly needs. They pass their days as a dream and put away all disquieting thoughts. But when they get into trouble and straits when all human supports break down; then they ask for the original causes of things, seeking comfort in some reply to their questions. Unfortunately it often happens then that the "liar and murderer from the beginning" gives the answer and drives them to despair, or what is worse still, by poisonous lies numbs their minds again.

True believers have, through Jesus; received a satisfactory answer to all questions. Blessed be His name! God Himself is fully satisfied, why should not the believer be so also?

In the book of Job we find the highest and deepest questions, and some of them elucidated in a way far exceeding any other revelations in the Old Testament. It is marvellous to see how in this book all-important questions that man can put in his seeking for forgiveness, and in his searching out the mysterious ways of God are satisfactorily answered. Even the presumptuous cavillings of the doubter are here silenced. For these reasons the study of the book of Job can only be a blessing to the believer and especially in these days when many Christians are, perhaps, like Job, tempted to argue with God.

May the Lord therefore help us to learn from the book of Job, to the glory of His Name!

Job was evidently a man of fine perceptions and deep emotions. All the more then must he have suffered from the blows that Satan was allowed to deliver. But no word of murmuring escaped his lips. The temptation only brought to light his perfect submission to God's will. Even whilst suffering the greatest bodily tortures and when his wife spoke as "one of the foolish women" he still uttered words of wisdom and devotion, which have since then instructed and comforted many a soul. Although not understanding why all this calamity came over him. he yet held fast the assurance that God had permitted it, and that it would work together for good. He had received good from God's hand should he not also receive evil?

How this puts us to shame to whom God's love in Christ Jesus has been so fully revealed, and to whom God's word distinctly says that all things must work together for good! How often do minor trials make us disagreeable and rebellious or cause doubts to arise in our hearts. One thing is worthy of notice; it was Satan not God who killed Job's children, who destroyed his possessions, and smote him with boils. God certainly permitted it; not only in order to prove Satan a liar but also to teach Job a needed lesson. The lesson which Job and his friends learnt was of such great importance that he later indeed considered his suffering of no account compared with it.

At first, of course, everything seemed incomprehensible to him. At the end of the first chapter we read "in all this Job sinned not nor ascribed anything unseemly to God." In Job 2: 10, however, it says only "In all this Job did not sin with his lips." Surely God would have wished to spare Job his sufferings; also what Satan was permitted to do did not come directly from the hand of God. This is a mystery, hard to understand, and if Job later on did charge God foolishly it was partly because he did not understand this mystery. Job's patience was admirable and has rightly become proverbial. When his three friends arrived, however, and through their seven days' silence showed only that they had no words of comfort for him but rather thought in their hearts that Job was receiving the due reward of his deeds, then he began to despair of all and in the bitterness of his heart uttered his first presumptuous "why?" "Wherefore is light given to him that is in trouble, and life to those bitter of soul?" "Why, yes why?" Many millions have asked the same question since. Why do I live at all? Would it not be better if I had never been born? See Job 3: 10-20. In Isaiah 45: 9-12, we see a grave woe pronounced on those who ask such questions.

THE FIRST QUESTION, WHEREFORE WAS I BORN?

The first question of Job, "Why has God given me life only to send me such suffering now?" is the language of the natural man in rebellion against his Maker. Contending with the Almighty man wants to instruct Him (see Job 40: 2). He curses the past, reviles the present and all his future hope is gone, just as Jeremiah (Jer. 20: 14-18) not only bemoans his torments but also his very existence. What a state to be in!

Yet both Job and Jeremiah were faithful and devoted men of God. How did they come to forget themselves? What led them even for a moment to despair of the power and goodness of God?

First of all, these men passed through very unusual exercises of soul. All blessings seemed to them to be changed into curses, and instead of hearing words of comfort and sympathy, they were covered with reproach. Their best friends had ceased to show loving sympathy; but, worse than all, they themselves could no longer understand why they should so suffer, and saw neither purpose nor profit in it. Just as Asaph in Ps. 73 they came to the conclusion: "Truly I have purified my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency," and with the Preacher, looking only on visible things, they said "All is vanity." The original cause of such despair lies deeper. If the creature had not in the beginning turned away from his Creator he would not now curse his existence. The fact that men like Job and Jeremiah were capable of cursing the day of their birth, only proves how far man has drifted away from God. As long as all goes well the rebelliousness and sullenness of the human heart do not show themselves, but trials bring them to light. Temptations are therefore good and necessary, not in order that God may find out what is in man's heart (to Him the hidden things of the heart are manifest, and whatever comes out of it does not increase His knowledge), but that man may learn to know himself. By nature, as we have said, man is in rebellion against God, and even when born again still the old nature constantly shows itself in times of temptation. Let no one think, however, that he is more capable than Job of bearing temptations, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10: 12).

Although Job in bitterness of soul said many perverse things, the result of it all was to God's glory and to the blessing of His servant. Many of the questions which he in anguish asked, became clear to him in the course of his pleading in defence of himself. Others were answered for him by Elihu, and again God answered some in the whirlwind and that mostly by counter questions.

Every question can be asked in two ways, either in humility and with the sincere desire to learn, or else in presumptuous rebellion against the solution, be it what it may. In the first case the questioner honestly takes the place of a learner, which is the right thing for him to do; in the second case he takes for granted that there is no satisfactory answer or else that it is definitely withheld. Alan either comes before God in sincerity and with the prayer which later Elihu taught Job "What I see not teach Thou me" (Job 34: 32) or he asks in rebellion "Why is everything so different from what it ought to be?"

He who does not wish to sit at the feet of the Master and say "I will demand of Thee and answer Thou me" takes the place of judge against his God. The vessel says to the potter "What makest thou?" Foolish as the question is, we yet find it frequently among the children of Adam, the generation of backsliders. The so-called Higher Criticism that has done so much harm in Christianity puts all its questions in the latter way. In our day, when the spirit of independence forces an entrance everywhere, and all men want to be free to think and do as they please, this fundamental error is almost universal. Even believers must take heed lest they be affected by the spirit of the times. Moreover there is nothing new under the sun. In reality the men of Job's time had to solve the same problems as we have to-day; only with this great difference, that God's counsel has since then been more clearly revealed. There may be some excuse for Job arguing with God, but for the Christian professor who possesses the whole word of God, it is a terrible thing to doubt the wise and loving providence of God.

Job's first great question implies a doubt about the purpose of human existence, and therefore also about the wisdom of the Creator. This is an insult against God Himself, answered by Him at the end of the book and by a series of counter questions. Then Job submits, and his tormenting questions find a satisfactory answer in the power and goodness of God. But for the man without God, and without a Saviour, there is really no adequate answer to Job's question "Why have I been born?" What is the purport of the terrible words pronounced by the Lord Jesus over the traitor Judas: "It were good for that man if he had not been born," for all the millions who have since then gone to their own place? Will mockers like Tom Paine, Voltaire, and others in the place of torment, indeed curse their day through all eternity? Yea, truly, he who does not submit to God's verdict and accept Christ as the Redeemer, will never receive light about the purpose of man's existence nor about creation generally. Only in the restoration of all things (Acts 3: 21) promised by God and pledged through the cross, will the problems of present day suffering be solved. Only when the groaning creation is delivered from the bondage of corruption (Rom. 8: 21) will all questions be satisfactorily answered. This was shown to Job figuratively in his own experience.

It is only in the New Testament, however, that God has revealed His plan for man. Only since the Holy Ghost has come down has the Third Person of the Godhead shown to the nations through the apostles' writings that "the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us." It is only in our time, to him who hears and believes, that it has been proclaimed that we according to God's will are heirs of His glory through Jesus Christ. This Spirit, also called the Spirit of promise, is the pledge of our heirship (see Eph. 1: 13, 14).

Therefore the viewpoint of the Christian cannot ever be so dark as that of Job. Job saw only as from afar off and groped in the dark, but we are brought nigh to God through Christ and walk in the light. Should we not, therefore, so much the more guard ourselves from harbouring doubting thoughts and from presumptuously arguing with the Almighty? We may, indeed, in all humility, ask what the purpose of our life is, but let us beware of the rebel's spirit and of the language of the presumptuous.

It is also good for the Christian to remind himself daily what the ultimate aim of his life is and when he does this in the spirit of communion with the Lord, he comes to the point where he can "glory in tribulation."

When the ungodly man however, because of the vanity of earthly things curses his very being, or when the mere professor in times of trial, loses his apparent faith and argues with God, then he adds rebellion to his sin. The spirit of independence develops into open rebellion, and the state of mind previously hidden shows itself in action. May the Lord grant to every child of God to keep the purpose of his life and the end of his course always before his eyes, so that he may be kept from the presumption of Job in arguing with the Almighty! And if there be one of my readers who has not yet accepted God's answer to Job's question, oh, let him shake off his indifference, and flee from the ranks of the rebellious before it is too late! Do not seek the answer with the pride of the rebellious, or the perversity of the doubter, but with a humble and submissive heart. Then only in learning of Jesus will you find rest unto your soul.

JOB'S SECOND QUESTION, "HOW CAN MAN BE JUST WITH GOD?"

The oldest of Job's three friends had answered the first argument. Eliphaz was a wise, eloquent, and pious man, and his first speech is perhaps, the best of the speeches of the friends, (none of the speeches were equal to Job's either in form or contents, not to mention those of Elihu and Jehovah's own). In this speech Eliphaz takes trouble to show Job that everyone on the earth reaps what he sows. "Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity and sow mischief reap the same" (Job 4: 8). All he says is true in principle but in Job's case false. Although right in itself it is wrong in its connection, for often the wicked become old in sin, and the good in the strength of their youth are cut off. The ungodly often live in plenty while the god-fearing have to do without the common necessities of life. Eliphaz and his two friends drew false conclusions, just as it often happens nowadays. According to his opinion, Job's sufferings proved that his former righteousness was only malicious hypocrisy. He describes with great eloquence a dream, in which a spirit was revealed to him, in order to show Job that the reason of his suffering was to be found in his own folly. Job had expected, and rightly too, more understanding for, and deeper sympathy with, his sufferings. He says "For him that is fainting kindness is meet from his friend," and soon after "Return, I pray you, let there be no wrong; yea, return again, my righteousness shall be in it" (Job 6: 14, 29). He cannot admit that he deserved such a trial. The words of his friends are now harder to bear than the sufferings of his tortured body. The death of his children and the loss of his goods were terrible blows; the sickness with which Satan had visited him was of the most trying and horrible kind, but both the silence and the speeches of his friends were as the innumerable poisonous arrows which pierced his soul. In these three men Satan had found unconscious but all the more efficient tools. Instead of really comforting Job they brought him to despair. Instead of reminding him that the goodness of God endureth for ever, and that the reason of his ways although hidden for a time, would in the end be revealed as glorious, they accused the poor man, first in their hearts, then openly, of the grossest crimes, simply because they could not account for his sufferings in any other way. Who then can still be surprised that Job became vexed and wished that God might destroy him? (Job 6: 9). He saw deeper than his friends and recognised the dealings of God clearer than they did. For this reason they received at the end a sharper rebuke from God than he did. His mistake consisted in taking for granted it was God who tormented him, and in his presumption in calling God to account. And yet in his bitterest speeches we find gleams of light which break out as rays of hope in the darkest night, and cause him to see from afar God's salvation out of all his troubles. Thus his sad speech ends with a request to God Himself and not to his friends, and he already admits that he needs forgiveness for his transgressions, and pardon for his misdeeds (Job 7: 20, 21).

Bildad the Shuhite answers Job's second question. He is more personal than Eliphaz and calls Job's words a "strong wind." At the same time he declares that Job and his children are only receiving the due reward of their deeds. The story of Job's friends should be a solemn warning to us. There is nothing so dangerous as a truth falsely applied. One can do the greatest harm with a word of Scripture in a wrong place. This is one of the devil's methods, and only unbroken communion with God can keep us from it. How important then is the exhortation "be slow to speak," especially in spiritual matters. Conclusions too quickly drawn and hasty judgments are often bitterly repented of, just as Job's friends were surely ashamed of their mistakes when it was too late. At the end of his speech Bildad points out that God will not forsake the perfect man but assuredly fill him with joy and gladness, whereas he could hardly know that this would in Job's case be fulfilled to the letter.

Bildad's speech is poetical and picturesque, as are all the other speeches, but he does not bring out anything new. His words do not help to a better understanding of the question which troubles poor Job. Therefore the latter begins his third speech with the words "Of a truth I know it is so, but how can man be just with God?" And the words about God which follow are words of insight which are becoming for the creature towards the Creator. Job's question shows that all Bildad's statements were worthless and comfortless for him. Morally it is the vital question of man's being on earth since the fall. Peace for the heart of man is dependent on the answer. Here lies the mystery of a conscience brought to rest. The believers of the O.T. from Adam onwards, sought to solve this problem. Both before and after the flood, before and after the Law, every sincere soul puzzled over this question. What does the expression "be just with God" mean? First of all we must remember that in God's vocabulary there are no words of uncertain meaning. Any comparison or diminution of adjectives is here not admissible. That which is good in His eyes does not require any improvement, and to be just before Him implies to think, to speak, and to do what is right; and to be as is meet to be before the eyes of a thrice holy God. With Him alone is the standard of measure Think a little over this, dear reader, and you will agree that so it must be. Whoever has understood this, does not need to be told that "There is none righteous, no not one." He who does not deceive himself must admit that the thoughts of his heart are often impure and corrupted, that his words are frequently wrong and irresponsible, and his actions again and again unjust and wicked. In short, that he in his innermost being (and the question here is about this) is anything but "just with God."

And now perhaps someone will say: "Although that is man's condition it does not necessarily follow that he must remain so. What is not can be. Have not the sages and teachers of religion from ancient times onward been working for the moral betterment of mankind? Is there no progress visible in the development of the human spirit? Do not thinkers and poets of all generations teach us that we should further our powers for good? Is there no remedy? Is there no hope of recovery? Has man neither strength nor gift nor invention to fight against unrighteousness, that greatest of all evils, and cast it out of the world?"

All these questions can only be answered by a decisive "No." Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Who can bring a clean man out of the unclean? Not one. Can a slave whose whole time is spent in weary working for a hard taskmaster earn his ransom? Can man escape the bondage of sin? Will Satan allow him to go? Can man outwit the devil? or is he able, after having-been captured by him, to fight and overcome him? Can prisoners put the hosts of the enemy to flight? Has that "murderer from the beginning" left any weapons for his victims with which they could fight for their freedom? These questions are all to be answered in the negative. There is no hope of salvation to be looked for from the side of fallen man. The exertion of all his strength, the display of all his learning cannot make him "just with God." There is no remedy from within. There is no improvement to be hoped for on the part of man, neither from the individual or from mankind in general.

The talk of a progress towards goodness, towards human virtue, is a phantom, a deception, a lie of Satan's, that "liar from the beginning." What then? Is the fall of man quite hopeless? Is there none capable and willing to redeem the slaves of Satan? Can no strong hero be found in the whole universe who is able to wrest the spoil from the strong man? Is there nowhere a physician capable of healing the death wound of the human race? God be praised! Job already received satisfactory answers to these questions although not so clear and detailed as we find them developed in the N.T. First the Spirit of God leads him to give utterance to the words, "I know that my Redeemer liveth," and later Elihu speaks to him of a messenger "an interpreter, one among a thousand" (Job 19: 25; Job 33: 24) so that God can have mercy on him and (to the messenger) say "Deliver him from going down to the pit I have found a ransom." We do not know to what extent the believers of the old covenant understood these words, for the Scripture says that they, for the most part, ministered not unto themselves but unto us the things which are now reported unto us (comp. Job 33: 23, with 1 Peter 1: 12). But doubtless Job heard in spirit the words "I have found a ransom" as he in shame and repentance threw himself at his Judge's feet. And that is the only way to be "just with God." The eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews shows clearly that all the saints of the O.T. were only justified through faith, and only so could they be well-pleasing to God. What, however, was the ground of their faith? For faith must have a person whom it can trust, a staff on which it can lean, an object to which it can look. Was it not the seed of the woman, whose heel the serpent bruised, that should destroy death and bring life and incorruptibility to light through the gospel? Yes, the object of Job's faith was no other than the one we have, although it could not then be told him in so many words that God is now just when He justifies him whose faith is in Jesus. See Rom. 3: 26.

Now it goes without saying that the man who is justified by faith should henceforth walk in righteousness. That is indeed another part of the truth which is explained in Rom. 6: 1, and elsewhere in the N.T. But before we turn to the third and last question of Job I would entreat the reader who has not yet found a satisfactory answer to the question, "How can man be just with God ?" prayerfully to look for the same in the word of God and that without delay.

JOB'S THIRD QUESTION, IF A MAN DIE SHALL HE LIVE AGAIN?"

Job asks his third question in his fourth speech, where he also answers Zophar's hard words. This man had called Job a prattler and had challenged him to put his wickedness away. In this, his attitude resembled that of the other friends. He points out that the hope of the ungodly (and such he considers Job) ends in the breathing out of life (Job 11: 20). In other words the motto of the ungodly is, "Let us eat and drink for to-morrow we die" (Isa. 22: 13). It is really astonishing to see what a lack of discernment Job's friends showed at that time. But are we to-day more intelligent than they? Do we not often judge before the time? Do not the children of God very often judge according to appearance in spite of the solemn warning, "Judge not that ye be not judged." It is no wonder that Job, with biting irony, answers, "Truly ye are the people and wisdom shall die with you !" What was the use of reciting truisms in flowery language? Such speeches brought neither comfort nor light to the sufferer. "Who does not know the same?" asks Job, and then he shows that he had already long ago carefully thought over their questions and that he can develop them in all their variety not in a one-sided way as Zophar. "I also have understanding as well as you, I am not inferior to you." Yes, Job recognized the unsolved questions of man's moral existence much clearer than these glib-tongued talkers, and quite rightly did he tell them plainly, "Ye indeed are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value." And then he turns again to the Almighty and seeks to justify himself before Him. He is convinced of his innocence and wishes to convince God. He desires rest and wonders whether he will find it in death. Man withers as does a flower, and dies off as a tree. "Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and put forth boughs like a young plant." The tree dies and lives again, but what happens to man, who clearly in this earthly life seldom gets what he deserves? For very often "a derision is the just and upright man," while the "desolators are in peace" (Job 12: 4-6). The houses of the wicked are "safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them" (Job 21: 9). If death is the end for both, then the motto of the godless ("Let us eat and drink for to-morrow we die") is after all the best. But then, what would become of God's righteousness? Would not mankind sink into a desperately hopeless selfishness, every man's hand against the other for evil? None feels deep down in his heart that life on earth is the only or the final existence. Some may deny life after death, others may spend their days in indifference to this question; but the majority of men have, throughout the ages, demonstrated through the practices of their religions (wrong and corrupt as most may be) that in reality they do not suppose that all ends with death. From the mummies and pyramids of the ancient Egyptians to the ancestral worship of the Chinese (which to be sure is already thousands of years old) man shows that he believes in a resurrection or at least in a continuance of existence after death.

Certainly this belief is in most cases unconscious or else subconscious. It is misty and indistinct and seldom clearly formulated. The myths and fables of the nations offer no firm foundation for the faith of the heathen. Concerning the resurrection of the body, Job is perhaps the only one in the O.T. who clearly asks this question and who in Job 19: 25, 27, through the Spirit, answers it. The wonderful words "I know that my Redeemer liveth and the Last he shall stand upon the earth. And (if) after my skin this shall be destroyed, yet from out of my flesh I shall see God; Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold and not another, my reins are consumed within me," may have been in Job's restoration partially fulfilled, but doubtless they find their definite fulfilment m Him who is the Resurrection and the Life. And how precious it is for faith to find out that Job already in the prophecy was able to suggest how close the life of the Redeemer is connected with the resurrection. "Because I live ye shall live also," said the Lord before He departed from His disciples, and the apostle points out in 1 Cor. 15 that because Christ has risen those who sleep in Him shall be raised through Him. The life of the Redeemer is always in the present. He lives forever, as the Last One He will stand on the earth. He is the last Adam, a "quickening spirit." From all those whom the Father has given Him, He would lose none but raise them at the last day. Job had the assurance that he himself in his own person (not merely in spirit as some perverse dreamers fancy) would see God. And our Redeemer says in His so-called high-priestly prayer, "Father (as to) those whom Thou hast given Me I desire that where I am they also may be with Me that they may behold My glory."

What a blessed hope! What a glorious outlook! No wonder that Job in the consciousness of his present sufferings adds, "My reins are consumed within me." The contrast between such a glorious hope for the future and the torture he had to bear in the present was so great that he nearly fainted for the longing after this unspeakable bliss. But after his restoration and recovery it is certain that he often strengthened himself with this hope. Surely many a time did he think over, and enquire as to what the full significance of those wonderful words might be which the Spirit of Christ had revealed to him. But he had to satisfy him self with the assurance that God was ruling all in wisdom and righteousness and that He would yet bring all to a glorious end. Only at the appointed time could God's counsel with regard to the resurrection be fully revealed. Now there is no more excuse for the fools who raise stupid questions concerning the resurrection. There is a kind of ignorance that is criminal. It springs from the preconceived disinclination to learn about things which might disturb man's false security. He who believes in a resurrection of the dead, must arrange his life in the light of eternity. He who waits for the "last Adam" will prepare himself for His reception. But he who has to fear a reckoning after death acts often like the ostrich when he is pursued and sees no escape; he hides (so they say) his head in the sand and denies the presence of the hunter. An unpleasant truth simply does not exist for that class of people. The judgment on such fools will be dreadful but deserved.

The Prophet Habakkuk

H. L. Rossier.

Habakkuk 1

Introduction

“The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see” (Hab. 1: 1)

Everything in Scripture is given for our learning, both in its speaking and in its silence. It tells us nothing about Habakkuk himself, nor about the time of his prophecy. The most careful and precise inquiries by the critics about the time in which the prophet wrote have resulted in conflicting conclusions. When the facts presented in God's Word are sufficiently clear and allow us to place the prophecy in the sphere in which it was produced, we receive much clarity and edification. But when God does not speak, the researches of scholars are of limited value to the Christian, no matter how interesting they might be.

Certain indications, however, make it quite probable that Habakkuk prophesied during the reign of King Josiah. Two circumstances could support this idea: (1) Israel's idolatry is not mentioned in Habakkuk; (2) the Chaldean rather than the Assyrian (who was the adversary during the reign of Hezekiah and Manasseh) is seen as Israel's enemy. Whatever the case, the fact that God's Spirit does not mention the circumstances during the time when the prophecy was given, accentuates the spiritual character of this book. Habakkuk reveals very few prophetic events. He described the character of God's ways in view of the moral condition of the people and the nations. Moreover, this Book shows us the result this revelation had in the prophet's heart. Thus he became a picture of the spiritual condition of the remnant of the last days.

All this is of great importance and significance for us. Because all historical details have been omitted, it is immediately evident that we have to do with the principles which rule us today just as they did the people of Habakkuk's days. These principles prove God's perfect governmental ways and the holiness of His Being. When the Christian meditates on these things, he can only worship the divine perfection found in them.

The spiritual condition in the midst of which Habakkuk lived is as follows. Though he records many misdeeds in Israel, there is no mention of idolatry, as in Zephaniah; among its enemies, the Chaldeans, a coarse kind of idolatry was overshadowed by the glorification of man. The prophet himself displayed an indignant spirit and a sorrowful heart, though enlightened by the divine instruction. He learned to live by faith in anticipation of the coming glory, but he overflowed with songs of praise even before he had received the promise.

We already mentioned that there is a remarkable agreement between the day of Habakkuk and our day. This causes the prophecy to be tremendously significant for us, as confirmed in the New Testament. The quotations from Habakkuk support and illustrate Paul's whole doctrine of God's righteousness, of faith, of life, of the resurrection of Christ and His coming, of the wrath of God revealed from heaven, and, finally, of the glory! Only the mystery of the Assembly, which is not revealed in the Old Testament, is lacking from this summary. Thus the harmony between the various parts of God's Word is confirmed, forming one whole. Awareness of this harmony will keep the believer from giving credence to learned critics, enemies of the Word, of whom God Himself declares, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and set aside the understanding of the understanding ones” (1 Cor. 1: 19; Isa. 29: 14).

God is not Indifferent to the Sins of His People

“Jehovah, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee, Violence! and thou dost not save. Why dost thou cause me to see iniquity, and lookest thou upon grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up. Therefore the law is powerless, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked encompasseth the righteous; therefore judgment goeth forth perverted” (Hab. 1: 2-4).

Even in these first verses we notice that among the minor prophets the Book of Habakkuk displays a special character. In Micah we see, as it were, a conversation consisting of questions and answers between the Lord, His prophet, and various other speakers. That discourse ends with a court session in which the accused appears before his judges. In Nahum, the Lord alone addresses, in turn, the various persons involved. In Habakkuk we are present during a most intimate talk between the prophet and His God. Habakkuk spoke to the Lord and He answered him. In this respect there is a similarity with Jeremiah. But here this touching event takes place in the heart and conscience of Habakkuk. It is not interrupted by any event of a personal nature as it was during the course of Jeremiah's prophecy. Fear beset him when he saw what was happening, but the events themselves did not seem to affect him personally. They gave rise to questions of such a besetting nature that he felt the need to pour out his heart before the Lord, to be delivered from the deep-seated unrest these events had brought about within him.

Habakkuk was a man of faith and his first word: “Lord, how long...” shows this. However, his faith needed strengthening and enlightenment. It was mixed with weakness. And indeed, it found an answer full of mercy, for God reprimands unbelief, but not the weakness of our human nature. Our weakness is met with the compassion of Him who was “tempted in all things in like manner, sin apart” (Heb. 4: 15).

In our case, weakness is always to a greater or lesser degree accompanied by sin. The apostle himself could glory in his weaknesses insofar as these were not mixed with the flesh (2 Cor. 9-10). In his weaknesses the Lord could accomplish His power in His beloved apostle.

A Cry of Faith

The expression “How long” is a cry of faith that we often encounter in the psalms and prophets. It expresses faith in the certainty that God, when the time has come, will answer. In the meantime, it accepts the tribulation as a necessary trial. The faithful remnant of Israel that during the last days will go through the trials of the Great Tribulation will utter this cry too. The remnant, however, will have the assurance that these trials are the last word of God's judgments, being the preparation for the glorious coming of the Messiah, to reign in liberty, righteousness, and peace.

In our chapter it is a little different. The prophet was a witness who stood separated from the people. Personally he did not suffer under the violence as will be the case with the remnant. He was a spectator and observed the suffering. It was not a case of Israel's idolatry here, but of that which characterized man corrupted by sin ever since the beginning of his history (Gen. 6: 11): violence, with its train of injustice, oppression, destruction, discord, and disunity among the people (vv. 2-3).

Today, as in the day of the prophet, every heart that is concerned about the Lord's interests can readily observe these things. They are “before our eyes” just as they were before the eyes of Habakkuk. Our resulting heaviness of heart increases all the more, as did Habakkuk's, when we see how these things take place among those who pretend to be God's people, during a time when the Lord has already forsaken them. Then, if our soul, just as weak as the prophet's, has not yet learned why God allows these evils to continue without bringing them to an end, we call: “Why dost Thou cause me to see iniquity, and lookest Thou upon grievance?”

In speaking thus, we forget two things which the prophet Nahum established (1: 3, 7): “Jehovah is slow to anger” and “Jehovah is good.” We call upon Him: “I cry out unto Thee, Violence! and Thou dost not save.” We would like to see God intervening against a spiritual and moral condition which we know He abhors. Actually, although this cry expresses our love for the believers who endure these disastrous times, our weakness manifests a touch of egoism!

“Thou dost not save.” The issue here is not a spiritual salvation, but a a temporal deliverance. The anxious soul would like to see peace restored, and the violent ones judged and taken away. The violence is there, it occurs under our eyes, and — God does not answer! We repeat: this is not a lack of faith, but the cry of alarm uttered by a heart that, while not yet sufficiently established in trusting faith, sees itself confronted with a problem that thus far remains insolvable in his eyes. Why does God allow the evil? How can He seemingly forget His own who are defenseless in the midst of the wicked systems of man? The prophet would soon receive the answer, but a different one than he expected. He had to experience a sorrowful time of training that would become a rich blessing for his soul, before he understood what God would bring about in the hearts of His own in days of trial.

Unrighteousness and Ungodliness

“Therefore the law is powerless.” The purpose of the law, earlier given by the Lord Himself, was to break the will of man. “Justice,” which man ought to have learned to apply under the protection of the law, “doth never go forth.” To the contrary, “the wicked encompasses the righteous.” We need to take special note of this phrase: “the righteous.” In chapter 2 we will find it again.

The prophet was well aware of his own uprightness. Later, when Israel's remnant will go through the judgments of the last days, it will also be aware of this. But Habakkuk had not yet received an answer and only saw the victory of evil over good. He directed his “why's” to God. He would certainly not have done so without trusting that God would answer him. How can it be that “justice doth never go forth” and that, when it is eventually pronounced, it is “perverted,” the opposite of what a God-fearing, righteous soul might have expected? No matter where the faithful believer turns, everywhere he meets injustice and ungodliness.

The Lord would soon answer. Meanwhile, the righteous one can conclude only that which God has observed ever since sin came into the world. Apart from those who have been justified through faith, there is not one righteous person in this world.

Regarding Israel's national character, the Word of God teaches us that during the reign of Rehoboam “in Judah there were good things” (2 Chr. 12: 12). And during Hezekiah's time, no matter how guilty Judah might have been, Scripture tells us: “Judah yet walketh with God, and with the holy things of truth” (Hosea 11: 12). However, during subsequent reigns this was not so. During that of Josiah we read (in the prophet Zephaniah) God's thoughts about the “nation without shame,” about the “rebellious and corrupted...oppressing city,” about its princes, judges, prophets, and priests (2: 1; 3: 1-4). At the end of its history, Israel's moral condition was not better than that of man at the beginning of man's history. This condition, actually, has never changed.

So we see that God caused the blessings for the people to depend on the behaviour of their kings, Israel's responsible leaders. During the reign of some of Judah's kings, the evil was halted, justice was established, piety toward the Lord was acknowledged, and the temple service was restored, but all without any change in the heart of the people as a result. On the other hand, the reign of a godless king aggravated this unhappy spiritual and moral condition of shameless idolatry, to which the corrupted heart of the people immediately abandoned itself.1

God's Response

“See ye among the nations, and behold, and wonder marvellously; for I work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be declared to you” (Hab. 1: 5).

Here we find the answer to the prophet's question. It is not directed at him, but at the wicked ones about whom he had complained. They better “see among the nations” and observe with amazement how the Lord would recompense their deeds. At that particular moment, the Assyrian had not yet been annihilated; the Lord would, however, raise up the Chaldean. He would subject the other nations to this power but first of all cause His people to become subservient to them. Perhaps Israel expected to be delivered for good from oppression after it was set free from the yoke of the Assyrian. To the contrary, it would fall under an entirely different heavy and cruel yoke. And, what was even a more terrible judgment, the Lord would take the kingdom from Israel and commit it to Babel, to “the golden head” of the Gentile empire. That fate awaited the wicked nation. Simultaneously, the prophet received an answer upon his cry: “I cry out unto Thee, Violence! and Thou dost not save.” Thereby the Lord showed His servant that if He did not deliver the righteous from the violence of the wicked ones, it is because they will soon be chastised by Him. Israel would with its land fall under the stroke of Babylonia and be brought into slavery.

The Holy Spirit gives to this prophecy a much wider application, as we see in Acts 13. When Paul with Barnabas arrived in Antioch in Pisidia, he gave a message in the synagogue. The careful reader will note that it dealt precisely with Habakkuk 1: 5. When there was no salvation, and the prophet said: “Thou dost not save,” God raised up a Saviour to Israel who had died and who was risen. “The “word of this salvation” was sent specifically to those who had rejected Christ. They all heard this word, and they who feared God were called to accept it (Acts. 13: 23, 26).

The nation had neither known the Lord Jesus nor understood the voice of the prophets who had announced Him. Worse: it had condemned its Messiah and in so doing had fulfilled what Habakkuk had said of them: “Judgment goeth forth perverted” (1: 4). Therefore the apostle applied the word “of the prophets” to them, and in particular that of Habakkuk. He quoted and declared it in connection with the condition of those to whom he was speaking: “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye will in no wise believe if one declare it to you” (Acts 13: 41). They did no longer have to “see among the nations.” Long since, the Chaldeans had been replaced by other powers, finally by Rome, the last of all.

Since the days of Habakkuk the nation had lain under the yoke of the Gentiles. At the time of Paul's preaching, Israel was subject to the fourth Gentile power. Therefore the apostle did not say, like Habakkuk: “I will work a work in your days” (1: 5 KJV). God did the work, and it was not judgment. The great salvation was announced, first to the Jews, and if they despised it, and therefore proved to be despisers, the apostle would turn to the Gentiles. Then these would see among the Jews and observe the judgment over this nation because it had rejected the grace that had come to them in the Lord Jesus Christ. This took place in the same city of Antioch, where the Jews, because they thrust God's salvation in Christ from them, did not judge themselves to be worthy of eternal life.

The apostles “having shaken off the dust of their feet against them, came to Iconium” (Acts 13: 46, 51).

According to Paul, the gospel was the answer to the prophet's complaint: “Thou dost not save.” It was salvation when the nation deserved judgment. But when the Jews despised grace, a much more terrible judgment than the Babylonian exile, yes, than the yoke of the Romans, would remain for them. The destruction of Jerusalem and their definitive scattering among the nations stood at the door. Here we have an example of the way in which God uses His own Word, and we will find other examples of this during the course of this exposition.

Again and again, God brings truths to light that announce grace, whereas the world could only expect judgment. How terrible then will be the judgment if man firmly rejects this grace! It is important to observe here, as it is with the exposition of every prophecy, that the imminent judgment by means of the Chaldeans foreshadowed a future judgment.

A Wicked Power

“For behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, which marcheth through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves” (Hab. 1: 6-7).

The Lord took care that the prophet would learn another lesson. When He raised up the Chaldeans it was not because He had discovered any spiritual or moral good in them. Rather the contrary; they were a cruel nation. How could God ever appreciate this? They were impetuous, taking the initiative in attack, advancing over the breadth of the earth, conquering the countries of the world, and taking possession of inhabited regions not belonging to them.

This zeal to take possession of the territory of others and to annex it differs in no respect to what we see happening in our day. But the Chaldeans were the rod in God's hand to chasten Israel as well as the nations. The Lord had said, “See ye among the nations.” This all-overflowing stream, racing through the world, this flood wave of God's judgments had to fall on Israel. Prior to swallowing it, though, it would in its violence and terror swipe away everything it encountered in its path. That was surely well-suited to fill hearts with anxiety.

“Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.” His own will determined what the Chaldean called his right. So it was also with his dignity. He did not take other's dignity into account. He felt that his own dignity exalted him above others. Highhandedness and boundless pride led him. Don't we know similar examples in our day? The believer might wish that this pride were put down, but God says to him: Don't you see that these judgments come from Me, and that they, though they begin with the nations surrounding you, are meant for you?

Then follows the lively and terrible description of the Chaldean power: “Their horses are swifter than the leopards, and are more agile than the evening wolves; and their horsemen prance proudly, and their horsemen come from afar: they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour. They come all of them for violence: the crowd of their faces is forwards, and they gather captives as the sand. Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a scorn unto him; he derideth every stronghold: for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it” (Hab. 1: 8-10). More than once Jeremiah uses the same expressions (Jer. 4: 13; 5: 6; etc.). The Assyrian and the Chaldean showed common characteristics, but the Assyrian does not use such an organized way of conquering and slaughtering. The swiftness and agility of the Chaldeans were like those of a pack of hungry wolves rushing on silently. With gleaming eyes glowing in the dark, they were sure to reach their prey. Just at the right moment the horsemen came storming on, swift as eagles.

It was an attack filled with rage, just as we found in the prophecy of Nahum (ch. 2: 3-4; 3: 1-3). “They come all of them for violence.” The prophet, terrified about the condition of the people, calls to the Lord: “Violence!” God showed him that this violence would find its just retribution in the violent behaviour of Babel. “They gather captives as the sand...he derideth every stronghold.” History repeats itself, people say with resignation. Doubtless, but that is only so since the characteristics of sinful man repeat themselves, challenging God's holiness, daring Him. When in turn, however, Babel's power begins to fall, its kings and rulers will be the laughingstock of others, just as the kings of the nations had been previously.

Relying on One's Own Strength

“Then will his mind change, and he will pass on, and become guilty: this his power is become his god” (Hab. 1: 11).

A moment came at which the head of the Chaldean nation, which the Lord held to be the person responsible for the task that God had entrusted to him, changed his mind. Instead of seeing himself as an instrument, he went beyond what he had been charged with and sinned thereby. It isn't as if he had not sinned a thousand times by his cruelties, pride, and idolatry. But the time came when his own strength assumed the place of God. The power that God had laid into his hands became his god. He worshipped that power: his power. He trusted in it, he honoured it.

The head of the Chaldean empire was not alone in this. During the events of the last days Babylon's successor, the Roman beast, healed of its deadly wound, will have no other religion. It is the religion propagated by the philosophy of Nietzsche [the gbermensch — exalted by the military powers during the author's days]. During the events of mankind's last days there will be much less mention of raw idolatry than of the worship of man, whom the world will make its idol. The idolaters of bygone days worshipped an unknown god in his characteristics of power, goodness, and righteousness. In their imagination they gave this god the form of a man or a beast. The future object of worship will be man. The tendency to this was evident already early in the history of the world empires (Dan. 3: 6-7, 11) and in days past it reached its peak in the deifying of the Roman emperors. But the deified man himself cannot do without a god. The Antichrist, who will demand that he be worshipped as a god, will himself become a worshipper of the powers that Satan will have subjected to him (Dan. 11: 38).

God Cannot Behold Evil

“Art thou not from everlasting, Jehovah my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. Jehovah, Thou hast ordained him for judgment; and Thou, O Rock, hast appointed him for correction. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on mischief” (vv. 12-13).

Although God's Word announced only judgments (vv. 5-10), the prophet's heart overflowed with thankfulness to the Lord. The fellowship with God gave him the assurance that God, his God, was his Holy One, a God who maintained a connection with him, a weak, failing, and ignorant man, who, though a prophet, was scarcely acquainted with His thoughts. That God is “from everlasting” and therefore the God of the promises given to Israel. He took Habakkuk, the representative of His people, in protection. He had given Himself to His prophet, and the prophet belonged to Him. What a privilege when the soul may speak so intimately with God!

How much greater it is for us, who know God as He has revealed Himself fully in Christ, who can say: “My Father, My Lord, My Saviour!

“We shall not die.” How can one doubt any longer that life, eternal life, is our part when one knows such a God personally? Because Habakkuk didn't have, as we do, the full revelation of “the Word of life,” he could not go as far as we. He knew, however, that God's people would not die, that the divine chastening that had come over Israel would not end with its annihilation. He had received the answer on his first “Why?” and understood what was a mystery for him: The Chaldean had been “ordained” and “appointed” for judgment and chastisement due because of the violence and unrighteousness of the people. For that reason he had been raised up. But this proved that the Rock of ages, “the Rock of Israel,” had not deserted His people for good. When a father chastises his child, it is not to kill it, but to form it according to his own character. This is how God deals with us too, “that we may become partakers of His holiness” (Heb. 12: 10). This is a comforting thought. God acknowledges us as His children when He chastens us. He chastens us precisely because we are His children.

It is, however, impossible for Him to see evil without occupying Himself with it. He must reject it; His eyes are too pure to behold it. In verse 3 the prophet had said: “Why dost Thou cause me to see iniquity, and lookest Thou upon grievance?” Now he had learned that, though God had caused him to see unrighteousness (and how else would he learn to judge it?) God cannot tolerate it in His presence. His eyes can only satisfy themselves with what is perfect and pure and rest on that which is purely good. In the midst of the darkest circumstances, sin, and uncleanness He sees a most humbled Man, Christ, who in the midst of His humiliation was the perfect Man. And in Him His love has found all its pleasure. The prophet also learned in answer to his quest: “Why dost Thou look upon grievance?” that God cannot “look on mischief” (v. 13). What blindness had laid hold on even a prophet that he was unfit to understand this riddle when he had to do with God's government?

How is it that one must know God to understand this? Looking upon evil never leads us to the true knowledge of God, but knowledge of God teaches us about the true character of evil.

Indifference about the Wickedness of the Enemy?

That which the prophet had just learned awakened within him a warm affection for his people. At first he had only been occupied with the terrible condition into which Israel had sunk. Later he understood the interest God had for Israel, and simultaneously he was instructed in the principles of God's governmental ways towards His people. While he enjoyed the fellowship with his God, as we saw in verse 12, he took courage to pose another question: “Wherefore lookest Thou upon them that deal treacherously, and keepest silence when the wicked swalloweth up a man more righteous than he?” (v. 13). Thou art not able to look upon the misery, the oppression, yet it seems that Thou remainest unmoved toward those who act unfaithfully. Instead of intervening, Thou seemest to be indifferent towards the evil that comes over Thy people, that, though ever so guilty, is more righteous than its enemies.

True enough, there were in Israel not only many wicked things but also some “good things” that the surrounding nations lacked. During the reign of Josiah these good things were present. In fact, Israel was more righteous than its adversaries. The prophet wanted to know the answer to this problem as well. If God observed something good with those who were oppressed by the wicked one, why did He then favour them in their undertakings? There was, however, one thing that the prophet did understand before he received the divine answer: “Thou makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them” (v. 14).

When God has entrusted a government to men, He has the right to take it entirely away from them and to deliver them as prey to those in whose hands He gives the power. Thus it would soon go with the nations conquered by Babel. The same fate would fall upon Israel, that once stood as one whole under God's government. It had deserted the Lord and would be abandoned without king, without prince, and without help against the enemy (Isa. 63: 19; Hosea 3: 4).

“He taketh up all of them with the hook, he catcheth them in his net, and gathereth them into his drag; therefore he rejoiceth and is glad: therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; for by them his portion is become fat, and his meat dainty” (vv. 15-16).

The prophet began to understand a little of what was about to happen. He was of one mind with God's thoughts expressed in verse 11: “Whose power is his god.” He saw that the enemy made use of the power that had been entrusted to him to make an idol of his “net” and his “drag.” Well may we ask ourselves whether, though under a different form, things are really different today. And if things are so, “Shall he therefore empty his net, and not spare to slay the nations continually?” (v. 17). The prophet's two great questions concerned therefore God's governmental ways with his people and with the world. In the New Testament the First and the Second Epistles of Peter give an answer to these questions.

The questions of the prophet betray a great confidence toward God. Simultaneously they contain an acknowledgment of ignorance and a strong desire to be taught by Him. He had felt it already before, but would soon fully realize that to know God's ways it is sufficient to know God Himself. Without this knowledge of His Person all that happens in the world will forever remain an unsolvable mystery to us.

Judgment Over the Oppressor,

Habakkuk 2.

The Prophet on His Watchtower

“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will look forth to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer as to my reproof” (v. 1).

The Prophet took the place of an observer on “his watchtower,” which means that he took up a position at that place where the enemy would attack his people. Rather than keep far from the matter, he tried to imagine the reality of the coming judgment. He did not assume this position, however, to resist the enemy, for he knew that the word of the Lord would certainly be fulfilled. His observation had a twofold purpose: to see what the Lord would say to him at the threat of the enemy's attack, and what he himself would answer.

Regarding this coming event Habakkuk expected a new revelation from God's thoughts. He had not yet learned all he had to know. Although he was aware that God could not bear Israel's unrighteousness, and that He would judge it by means of the Chaldeans (Hab. 1: 6); he also knew that God could not tolerate the unrighteousness of the Chaldeans. However, he did not know yet what God intended to do.

Above all, how would the Lord be able to deliver the righteous ones who had trusted in Him if He had to judge both the Israelites and the Chaldeans? Habakkuk expected to have to answer, as Moses did in earlier days when the Lord strove with him about Israel after it had made the golden calf (Ex. 32: 7-14; Ex. 33: 12-16). But his intention to present a reply would receive a most definite answer that was beyond dispute. There would be no more room for making even a single remark, as he had intended to do. The second wish of his heart could, therefore, not be realized because he would not meet a God who was going to dispute with him.

From then on he would say: “I heard,” and thank God for his salvation (Hab. 3).

A Not-Sealed Vision

“And Jehovah answered me and said, Write the vision, and engrave it upon tablets, that he may run that readeth it” (v. 2).

God desired that the vision which the prophet would receive would be written, engraved, to make it durable, so that it could be kept and read (see also Isa. 30: 8), for it concerned both imminent and future matters of immense significance. Indeed, here Habakkuk did not just receive instructions about the ways of God with His people, as in chapter 1. While learning about the final judgment over the nations and the calamities that would overcome them, he discovered that all things had as their goal God's honour, the glory of Christ's eternal rule. And, finally, he learned what the attitude of the righteous had to be while awaiting that rule, and what the great work of redemption is toward them. This vision was not only to be read and well understood, but also to be quickly shared with others, for the time was short.

We believe the significance of the words is: “that he may run that readeth it.” Impressed by the importance of this answer from the Lord, he was forced to go and spread it in the world. Here it was not, as in Daniel, a book that is sealed until the last days (Dan. 12: 4), but a clear, understandable announcement of God's thoughts, meant to be quickly spread everywhere. This vision, that bore an evangelical character, was certainly not to be sealed. Daniel's vision, once sealed, is no longer sealed to the believer; that of Habakkuk, however, has never been sealed.

“For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but it hasteth to the end, and shall not lie” (v. 3).

Doubtless, this vision announced the approaching demise of the Chaldean power which was about to appear on the scene. The time of its activity had been predetermined, but the vision reaches much further: it speaks of the end, of the glory of Christ's kingdom. Although these latter things are still future, yet they are perfectly established, for a vision given by God Himself cannot fail. Consequently, He took care to have it engraved on tablets just as He had earlier engraved the law on tables of stone; the law, whose contents was never sealed.

The Ultimate Fulfillment

“Though it tarry, wait for it; for it will surely come, it will not delay” (v. 3).

God's Spirit draws to our attention the fact that the vision speaking about the end can still tarry.

What was announced by it about the Chaldeans has been fulfilled 25 millennia ago. But the end of which the vision spoke still tarries. The believer still waits for that glorious time today, building on God's promises. It will certainly come. The sign that will announce it is not deceiving. This sign is, as we know, the coming of the Lord Jesus in judgment. In Hebrews 10: 37 the apostle Paul applied Habakkuk 2: 3 to the appearance of Christ in the last days when he wrote: “For yet a very little while He that comes will come, and will not delay,” while in Habakkuk it refers to the Chaldeans at a set time.

Once more we remark how the Holy Spirit Himself explains the Word of God; we already saw this in chapter 1, and we will also see it as we continue our study. We, “upon whom the ends of the ages are come” (1 Cor. 10: 11), — who by the cross of Christ have been introduced — receive a much further-reaching explanation of the prophecy than Habakkuk did. We live in the time of the end but have not yet reached the prophetic times. For us the end of the age (dispensation) will begin at the coming (parousia) of the Son of God. Then the prophetic times will start to run their course and will end with the appearing (epiphania) of the Son of man, which will introduce Christ's glorious reign on earth (v. 14). Christ is always the goal, the end, the last word of prophecy. This verse, therefore, is also of great importance because it shows us that when prophecy has an historic or partial fulfillment, this fulfillment is never the last we have heard of it. Only in the last days will the historical event find its full and definite significance. Its explanation can only be truly known when we have our eye focused on the person of Christ and the glory that follows upon His suffering (1 Peter 1: 11).

And so, a comparison or Hebrews 10: 37 with Habakkuk 2: 3 totally destroys teaching that rests on the purely historical explanation of the prophecies. It also shows that the Scriptures form one entire whole. We must not consider any passage separate from others. Each part belongs to the whole and God's Spirit explains it according to whether the subject is imminent events or events of the last days. We already saw an example of this in Habakkuk 1: 5, which the apostle explained in Acts 13. Only God's Spirit can explain to us what He has revealed. Man's mind, his spirit, could never presuppose the total bearing of the revelation with which we are dealing, if God's Spirit did not assume the role of teacher. The vision is still tarrying, and soon we will see the reason for this. But its fulfillment will certainly come, and our attitude has to be one of waiting. The Lord is coming. Hebrews 10: 37 does not deal with His coming (parousia) for the Church to take up all saints, but with His appearing (epiphania) as King, which, just as His coming, is the object of our expectation. For then, Christ's reign on earth, the subject of nearly every Old Testament prophecy, will be introduced, and the faithful ones will receive their crowns.

The Heart of the Book of Habakkuk

“Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright within him” (v. 4)

The promise mentioned in verse 3 is a truth that is completely foreign to all proud men. They lack uprightness. No doubt this is an allusion to the Chaldean, but it is also applicable to every soul who is in the same condition as the Chaldean. Pride makes man unfit for understanding God's thoughts; which are only made known to those who believe. Only faith “is the substantiating of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” And so God adds: “But the just shall live by his faith” (v. 4).

This important verse is the heart of the entire book of Habakkuk. It is directed at those who are in the same circumstances as the prophet, for the prophecy can only be understood by those who are righteous; the world is totally ignorant of it.

Only when one sees things “by his faith” are they clear, and only righteous ones are able to live this way. The deliverance will certainly come; the glorious reign of Christ will rise like the sun when the obstructions against God have been cast down, obstructions that Satan puts in its way by the glorification of man's pride.

Faith, which on its watchtower observes things, sees that obstruction destroyed and awaits the Lord of glory. Until that moment the righteous one is neither downcast nor without help. His faith sustains him, and that faith feeds his life. This is the bearing of Habakkuk 2: 4b.

But in the New Testament God's Spirit goes much further. Paul's doctrine was entirely permeated by this phrase. Three times he quoted it, and, similar to what we have observed before, each time he gave a different explanation for it. In Romans 1: 17 the issue is righteousness, in Galatians 3: 11 it is faith, in Hebrews 10: 38 it is life. These three words have to do with the teaching contained in each of the epistles referred to. Let us, therefore, consider the particulars of these passages.

1. Romans 1: 16-17. “For I am not ashamed of the glad tidings; for it is God's power to salvation, to every one that believes, both to Jew first and to Greek: for righteousness of God is revealed therein, on the principle of faith, to faith: according as it is written, But the just shall live by faith.”

In verse 16 the apostle began to establish the character of the gospel: God Himself, who acts with power when man is totally lost. Therefore, where the gospel is brought, God no longer asks anything from man; He does not demand works as a way of straightening things out between him and God. God acts; His power is working for the benefit of man. Not to help him, but to save him, for this power is for salvation. Faith is the means whereby one secures salvation, which is for both Jew and Greek. for oneself. The law, given to Israel, is therefore set aside as a means of salvation, and faith has taken its place.

The law did not reach beyond Jewish boundaries, faith reaches far beyond them, for the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone that believes. The gospel is that power for salvation because God's righteousness (the grand subject of the Epistle to the Romans) is revealed therein. The righteousness of God, which stands in the greatest possible contrast to the righteousness of man, is revealed therein. It does not demand, as the righteousness of man does. There is no other basis for receiving this righteousness than faith. At the very moment faith has received it, it has become “the property of faith.” The believer is righteous from that moment on. He possesses a divine righteousness that is not on the basis of human works, for he is only righteous by faith. And if by faith, it is on the basis of pure grace, for only through grace does man come to faith and receive the revelation of righteousness.

This portion from Romans 1 does not yet mention the work of Christ as the only means whereby righteousness can become our portion. This cardinal truth is expounded in the remainder of the epistle. Here, only the great fact is established that now an entirely new and absolute righteousness has been revealed and become the possession of faith — the righteousness of God Himself. Therefore Paul quotes Habakkuk: “The just shall live by [or on the basis of] faith.” That is, the believer must prove by a life of faith that he possesses this righteousness.

2. Galatians 3: 11. “But that by law no one is justified with God is evident, because The just shall live on the principle of faith; but the law is not on the principle of faith; but, He that shall have done these things shall live by them.”

The subject of the law — which in Romans 1 was only touched upon as something quite incidental, to receive full light in Chapter 7 — is in the Epistle to the Galatians dealt with in great detail. It is shown in Galatians 3: 10 that all who stand on the basis of the law are under the curse, as declared in Deuteronomy 27: 26. For Israel, the nations under the law, there was only an Ebal (curse) and it was deprived of Gerizim (blessing). After this, the apostle quoted Habakkuk. He wrote: “that by law no one is justified with God is evident, because “the just shall live on the principle of faith.” Here, then, faith is put in the forefront, and Paul did not stop there, although he did not lose sight of its link with righteousness or with life. He put faith in juxtaposition with the law, which could neither give the one nor the other. Next, he proved that the law is not on the basis of faith because the law pointed to works as the means of receiving life or righteousness (Lev. 18: 5; Rom. 10: 5). Finally, he showed how the setting free from the law had been brought about: “Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, (for it is written, Cursed is every one hanged upon a tree)” (Gal. 3: 13).

3. Hebrews 10: 36-39. “For ye have need of endurance in order that, having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise. For yet a very little while he that comes will come, and will not delay. But the just shall live by faith; and, if he draw back, my soul does not take pleasure in him. But we are not drawers back to perdition, but of faith to saving the soul.”

Here Paul quoted the entire verse from Habakkuk. First the words: “For yet a very little while he that comes will come, and will not delay,” which Habakkuk ascribed to the Chaldean for a set time. The apostle applied them to the last days, that is to say, to Christ's appearing in glory, not to an event, but to a person, to Him who will come and not delay.

After this we read the quote: “But the just (or “My just,” meaning, God's just one) shall live by faith.” This means that the righteous person shall continue living by faith until the coming of Christ. Living by faith is the share of the righteous ones only. It is the great subject of Hebrews 11 in which we see the life of faith in all its various characteristics. By faith Abel approached God through faith with a animal sacrifice and was thereby declared righteous; Enoch, who walked with God, was taken away; Noah showed patience, and, while waiting those many years during which the ark was being prepared, preached the righteousness of faith., and finally we see the patriarchs who, living as strangers and pilgrims, waited for a better country. Everywhere the apostle showed that the life of a righteous man is a life by faith that ends in glory.

Difference in Application

In Hebrews 10 the quote from Habakkuk is filled out in a very remarkable way. The prophet had said: “ Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright within him: but the just shall live by his faith.” Paul rearranged the sentence: “But the just shall live by faith; and, if he draw back, my soul does not take pleasure in him.” This second part of the sentence, quoted from the Septuagint, agrees with the words: “His soul is puffed up, it is not upright within him.” Paul sets over against each other: the person who “draw[s] back” and the person who “live[s] by faith.” The first one will be lost, perishes; the other saves his life. Habakkuk first presented him who was proudly puffed, and applied this character more to the Chaldean enemy than to any other. The apostle, who used the translation by the Seventy, applied it to the Hebrews who had accepted Christianity, but were in danger of returning to Judaism. He rearranged both sentences to avoid giving ground to the assumption that he had the proud nations in view, as like Habakkuk did. Thereby he wanted to warn the Israelites who had come to know and confess Christianity, but who did not walk right as a result of their Jewish pride which promoted holiness-by-works.

Here we have one of the many examples of the use God's Spirit made of an imperfect, although not incorrect translation. The Hebrew text of Habakkuk 2: 4 contains a certain vagueness in the words “his soul,” although they are clearly applied to the Chaldean. The soul of one who withdraws to return to the law is never correct. It is always pride which separates him from Christ and grace. Consequently, God has no pleasure in him. He has pleasure in the just one who, by faith, lives humbly before Him.

We cannot stress sufficiently how greatly valuable all these quotes become to us through the different applications the Holy Spirit gives to them. “The just shall live by his faith” is therefore the heart of the Book of Habakkuk. The faith of the prophet had already shown itself in chapter 1: 12, when it dealt with his relationships to God. But that was not all; he had to live out of it to the end. The Lord wanted this truth to be set forth in connection with the Chaldean, Israel's enemy.

Pride of the Chaldean

“And moreover, the wine is treacherous: he is a proud man, and keepeth not at rest, he enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and he is like death and cannot be satisfied; and he assembleth unto him all nations, and gathereth unto him all peoples” (v. 5).

This man, the Chaldean, was drunk with self-importance and ambitious desires. He could not be content with achieved successes and he was never satisfied (Prov. 30: 16; Isa. 5: 14). He made himself the centre of everything, of the people and the nations. Wasn't (and isn't) this from beginning to end, in the past and in the present, the thought, the longing, and the politics of those who lead the nations? Their ambitious egoism prides itself that they consider themselves far above other people, and their wish is that their country may dominate other nations. Fundamentally it is the pride that is prepared to sacrifice everything to own personal greatness. Because of the unfaithfulness of His people God had given the reign to Babel. But He could not allow man to exercise that power apart from Him to satisfy his own ambitious heart that, rather than subject itself to God, was occupied with self.

God would judge him, but we will first see how the curse of all whom he wanted to oppress fell upon him. They would see through his motives, judge his striving, curse his ungodliness and pride. This fifth verse is the introduction to the song that now follows.

The “Song of the Curse,” Prelude to the Future Glory (Habakkuk 2: 6-20)

The Final Answer to Habakkuk

The song of the curse is truly a poem. It consists of five strophes each of three lines, each strophe, except the fifth which deviates a little, begins with the words “Woe (un)to him.” The third line of the first four strophes begins with the word “for” (or “because”) and gives the impression of the old round-dances, since they draw the conclusion of the “Woe to him,” that is announced in the first two lines (cf. Ex. 15: 20-21). “Shall not all these take up a proverb about him, and a taunting riddle against him?” (v. 6). Our attention is drawn to the fact that it has not the simple significance of a curse uttered by the oppressed against their oppressors.

This song against the Chaldean brings us to the last days. The king who is its subject is not mentioned once, for the characteristics with which he is presented are not those of him alone. It is a proverb, a symbolic portrayal, that is to be understood, a riddle that needs to be solved; it leads us toward the establishment of Christ's glorious reign. In some respects the words “Woe to him” remind us of those we find in Isaiah 5 and Micah 2: 1-2. But those are directed to Israel, whereas these are meant for the nations and their heads. This song about Babel and its king is the final answer of the Lord to the second “Why” of the prophet, and concerns the oppressor of his people (ch. 1: 13).

To His servant, who on his watchtower looked for what the Lord would speak to him, God had first answered that faith was the first prerequisite for the just. Faith was not to expect the immediate punishment of the evil, for one must live by faith, with patience, and not count on an imminent realization of the things one hopes for. And indeed faith is that assurance until it is exchanged for sight.

The First Strophe

“Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? — and to him that loadeth himself with pledges! Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and they awake up that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? Because thou hast plundered many nations, all the rest of the peoples shall plunder thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city, and all that dwell therein” (vv. 6-8).

The first “Woe” is pronounced over him who collects the possessions of others, goods that do not belong to him. He loads himself with a burden of goods that he pledges against usury. The same things had taken place in Israel (Amos 2: 6-8). The play on words — “pledges” or “thick mud” — indicates that this detestable looting could only lead to shame for the Chaldean, that he would reap no other “advantage” than contempt because of the lowness of his act. Such behaviour is something abominable in God's eyes. How much retribution could the leaders spare themselves and the nations over which they rule if they realized the lowness of such deeds!

The “how long” from the mouths of the singing oppressed ones seems to correspond to what the prophet himself had said regarding Israel (ch. 1: 2). Here the nations utter this cry.

Through faith Habakkuk had learned to exercise patience. He knew that the vision would not deceive. However, the nations that would be spared had to wait too for the fulfillment of this hope. The man who, to enrich himself, laid hold of others' goods would suddenly be attacked by those he had robbed. They would bite him as a thief jumped upon by dogs, and in turn he would fall prey to them (v. 7). Verse 8 is the sequence to and confirmation of the preceding. This man had plundered; the remnant of the nations that will be spared to experience Christ's ascension to the throne (for let us not forget that Babel's fall is but a symbol of what will take place in the last days) will in turn rob the plunderer.

This revenge will not only find its reason in the shed blood of men, but also in “the violence done to the land, to the city, and all that dwell therein” by this vicious nation. About the unrighteousness of his own nation the prophet had cried: “Violence” and “how long?” God had answered him that Israel would be punished for this violence by the Chaldean. Therefore, the moment would come that the nations would revenge the violence of the Chaldean against Israel. Thus, in God's governmental ways, the one revenge follows the other. Doubtless, “the land, the city, and all that dwell therein” refers to Palestine, Jerusalem, and its inhabitants. It seems, therefore, unnecessary to supply the numerous proofs of this. God never loses sight of His people. The unrighteous acts of the Chaldean, the looting and murder of which he had been guilty toward the nations would be righteously revenged. How much the more then when his violent acts were poured out over Israel. God had to temporarily set His people aside, but He will again renew His relationship with them as soon as the judgments are passed. He never forgets those who truly belong to Him. When it pleases Him to chasten them, then woe to those who, in doing so, pursue their own advantage.

Second Strophe

“Woe to him that getteth iniquitous gain to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the grasp of evil! Thou hast devised shame to thy house, by cutting off many peoples, and hast sinned against thine own soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it” (vv. 9-11).

In these verses the enemy is accused of having made unrighteous gain with the purpose of building a safe house for himself that had not to fear any disaster (see Jer. 22: 13). In this way he wanted to prevent all evil. In vain, for the disaster, the “woe,” would fall upon him anyway. Although each can apply these accusations to himself, they are from a to z directed to the great powers. Upon them lies a terrible and heavy responsibility. In history we see again and again that governmental leaders invade forcefully the territory of other nations, conquering it so as to enlarge their power. They thereby create the greatness of their own house by means of what they have exhorted from others; they build their nest high. Did not Napoleon, and so many other emperors with him, strive to extend their power at the cost of others? The same pride drove Edom to built its nest between the stars (Obadiah 1: 4). In the final analysis all such plans do not have any other result than the demise and shame of such ambitious rulers. They discovered that they had sinned against their own soul (v. 10). Every stone, every beam of this beautiful edifice that by ambition and pride was founded on deceit became a living testimony against the oppressor. In contrast, the believer who wants to serve God never thinks of enlarging his house. His joy and his honour consist in this, that he, like David, gathers the building materials for the house of his God. So did Solomon, Joash, and Josiah to enlarge the temple of the Lord, to make it firm and strong (1 Kings 5: 18; 2 Kings 12: 12; 22: 5-6).

Third Strophe

“Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by unrighteousness! Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labour for the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain? For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea” (vv. 12-14).

The first “woe” spoke of the nation, the second of the “house”; the third has the capital as its subject. That is not “the city” (Jerusalem), as in verse 8, but a city, a town. In its direct application to the Chaldean this portion refers to Babel, that was founded on the slaughter of the nations and the blood of men. This was true too of Nineveh (Nahum 3: 1). All this raging of those nations would find its end in the judgment. Their exertion would have no other result than their demise; nothing of it would remain: they “weary themselves in vain.” Isn't it a serious thought that all glory, the riches, the beauty, with which the capitals are adorned, will have to vanish and sink into nothingness? Faith, however, understands this “riddle,” it understands the reason for all these turn-abouts. The everlasting kingdom of Christ can only be established when all evil has been judged. To establish this realm unrighteousness must disappear, all that exalts itself against the Ruler of the whole earth must be cast down and brought low. The way of the Lord can only be prepared by the bringing low of every high mountain (Isa. 40: 3-5). Then the whole world will know the glory of the Lord and be filled with it. Evil will, as it were, be drowned in the depths of the sea. Again and again the Lord has announced that these things will take place despite the judgments that He of necessity had to mete out. In a single verse (v. 14) we find here a sketch of the glorious millennial reign of Christ which the prophet Isaiah described in great detail. It will be the time of “the restoration of all things, of which God has spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets since time began” (Acts 3: 21).

Fourth Strophe

“Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink,  - that pourest out thy flask, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness! Thou art filled with shame instead of glory; drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of Jehovah's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and a shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee, and the destruction of beasts which made them afraid; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city, and all that dwell therein” (vv. 15-17).

This strophe describes the low and shameful abandon that characterised the Chaldean nation. How can one speak of his glory, when the choir has just sung of the glory of the Lord? “Thou art filled with shame instead of glory.” “A shameful spewing shall be on thy glory,” so is the cry full of mocking bitterness and revengeful anger. All these corrupting things are accompanied by violence, for since Adam's fall these evils have always supported and augmented each other among men who have united themselves into fellowships (Gen. 6: 11-13).

The glory of the Lord will cover the earth, but the violence of man will not be forgotten; it will fall upon him and cover him. Violence (notice how this word is so often repeated) will be answered with violence, as we have already seen in chapter 1. And the choir adds by way of refrain what the Lord feels when His land, His city, and its inhabitants are the target of the enemy's violence (v. 8).

The prophet Isaiah did not put this song about the king of Babel on the lips of the nations, but on those of Israel itself that would exult when the pride of Babel's king would descend into hades and his scepter would be broken. The cedars of Lebanon rejoiced over him and said: “Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us....Thy pomp is brought down to Sheol, the noise of thy lyres: the maggot is spread under thee, and worms cover thee” (Isa. 14: 8, 11).

Fifth Strophe

What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it? the molten image, and the teacher of falsehood, that the maker of his work dependeth thereon, to make dumb idols? Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake! to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall it teach? Behold it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. But Jehovah is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him!” (vv. 18-20).

As we mentioned already, the fifth strophe differs from the others. The reason for this is, I suppose, to be found in the fact that God is directly involved in the matter. The boundless pride of Babel's king had exalted itself against the Lord Himself, no longer against the nations, or even against the people of God. Over against the only true God he had put his deceiving images of wood, iron, silver, and gold. And this became the main cause for his definite destruction. It is remarkable that in this entire allegory the Spirit of God carefully hides the name of the king of Babel. It is a “riddle” that far exceeds the historical judgment over the Chaldean, reaching to the time of Christ's glorious reign.

From the Book of Revelation we know that in the last days another Babylon will appear on the stage as a last unfolding of idolatry. Her golden cup will be full of abominations (or idols), and the Roman Empire, the last form of the great world empires, will insist on the same idolatrous demands as the head of the first realm with the golden head (Rev. 17: 4; 13: 14-15; Dan. 3: 1). This idolatry is branded as a shameful spot by all prophets (see Isa. 44: 9-20; Jer. 2: 27; 3: 9, etc.).

It is remarkable that here the “peoples and nations” (Hab. 2: 5-6) pronounce the “woe” over those who adhere to the idols, that they proclaim the vanity of the gentile religions. This is due to the fact that their song is a song of the last days, after they have abandoned their earlier gentile religion to turn to the true God and to recognize His kingdom. The last Babylon is silently included in this symbolic presentation. Therefore the song ends with acknowledging the Lord as the only One whom the nations worship. Not only will the knowledge of His glory cover the entire renewed earth (v. 14), but the knowledge of Himself. He will be “in His holy temple,” in His temple at Jerusalem; for these words do not refer to heaven, but to His house on earth (Micah 1: 2; Ps. 11: 4). From that moment on, the glory of the Lord that had left the temple (Ezek. 11: 23) will have returned (Ezek. 43: 4). The entire earth will be silent before Him. He will rule and because of His majesty no one will dare to raise a voice in His presence. This truly is a worthy conclusion of the song of the nations who will from that moment on be subjected to His power.

How must the anxious heart of the prophet have been comforted by this vision of future events. In it he foresaw the outcome of a faith that has learned to wait patiently for the end of God's ways: the pride of man brought low, the nations delivered and subjected to Him, the nation Israel restored, the Lord, who makes Jerusalem and His temple the centre of His glory, praised, and all creatures silent before Him. It caused the prophet to forget to “answer” (2: 1). How could he, now that God, instead of chiding him, caused to pass before his eyes His righteousness in the judgment over evil; His grace toward His people that He will also show in the restoration of the nations; and finally, His glory which will cover the whole earth during a reign of righteousness and peace for which the entire world will only be able to keep silent!

Habakkuk's Prayer — Habakkuk 3

God Heard

“A Prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth” (v. 1).

The prophet summarized the conclusion of all that he had heard from the mouth of the Lord in a prayer that was simultaneously a plea, a thanksgiving, and a psalm of praise. It proceeded from a faith that was fully assured that the Lord would be faithful to His promises. This prayer consists of four parts.

The first part is contained in the second verse.

“Jehovah, I heard the report of Thee, and I feared. Jehovah, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known: In wrath remember mercy!”

In chapter 1: 2 the prophet had said: “Jehovah, how long shall I cry and Thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto Thee...” How could he ever have expressed such words: “Thou wilt not hear”? In all the instructions the Lord gave him afterwards, He showed him that He had heard and always hears. With near fatherly feelings He made it clear to him that the judgments which He had to allow over His people and over the enemies of His people were righteous judgments. However, God also showed him that the righteous is not without help while going through the judgments, for he shall live by his faith. Finally God declared to him that in a future day He will be glorified and personally highly praised, and the whole earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord's glory.

Therefore the prophet could say: “I heard”; not: “Thou hast heard,” for his question had resulted from his weak faith. Now, however, he had knowledge of God's thoughts. The Lord had given this to him, and he did not have to wait for His governmental ways before he could understand them. Through faith he had come to know them already.

Yet, at the announcements of these judgments he said, “And I feared.” Indeed, God's judgments are terrible, they must fill the heart with a wholesome fear! Still one thing he wanted to ask: Revive Thy work of grace toward Thy people! “In the midst of the years,” before the end time of which Thou didst speak. Act in mercy toward us!

The deliverance out of Egypt constituted “the beginning of years,” in which the Lord had shown His work of grace on behalf of His people. The prophet desired that God would take it up again before He would give deliverance at the end of years which would introduce the Millennium. He knew that he lived in the time of wrath.

This was all the more a reason to call upon God's mercy, for just when He pours out His judgments over the world we ought to trust His grace, today as much as in the past. The prophetical prayer of Habakkuk will be answered at the revival of Israel, more particularly toward the faithful remnant of which the prophet was a type.

The Salvation of the Lord

The second part is contained in the verses 3 to 15. It describes the deliverances of the Lord in the past and His intervention in favour of His people in the last days.

The first section of the second part is covered in verses 3-6. “God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covereth the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise. And His brightness was as the light; rays came forth from His hand; and there was the hiding of His power. Before Him went the pestilence, and a burning flame went forth at His feet” (vv. 3-5). Here the Exodus from Egypt is described. These verses show us the Lord coming from the east, from Teman and the mountains of Paran which dominate the wilderness known by that name, in short, from Edom's territory. He comes to the aid of His people, to deliver it out of the bondage of Egypt by the destruction of the nations who oppressed it and resisted Israel.

Deuteronomy 33: 2 says that the Lord came from Sinai, out of Seir and from Paran to deliver His people and to give them the law. According to Judges 5: 4 Deborah sang about the Lord's intervention, coming from Seir, to destroy the enemies of His people. We find the same in Psalm 18: 8-20, but there it concerns more particularly the enemies of the last days. Psalm 68 identifies the deliverance out of Egypt with that of the people in the last days. Psalm 77 draws out of the deliverance from Egypt the confidence that the Lord will deliver His people in the time of the Great Tribulation. And so, all these portions, just as Habakkuk's prayer, sing of God's past intervention to save His people as an earnest of the deliverance in the last days.

“He stood, and measured the earth; He beheld, and discomfited the nations; and the eternal mountains were scattered, the everlasting hills gave way: His ways are everlasting” (v. 6). The nations who sought to resist Israel were scattered, the power of ancient Egypt broken. The eternal hills — picturing the authorities established by God Himself, whose rule should therefore have been of unlimited duration — gave way before Him who came from His holy mountain to deliver His people. The prophet adds: “His ways are everlasting.”

What assurance gives this thought to faith! What God has done in the past, He will also do in the future; with Him “is no variation nor shadow of turning” (James 1: 17).

Whether it is a question of judgment or of deliverance, God's ways of righteousness and of life are ever the same, reaching “unto the bounds of the everlasting hills” (Gen. 49: 26).

Comparing Past and Future Deliverance

The second section of the second part is covered in verses 7-15. In these verses we find a comparison between the future deliverance and that out of Egypt, which was only a weak picture of the former.

“I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble” (v. 7). With awe the prophet thought of the events that still had to take place, but which he in his vision saw as already having taken place. The territories of Cush to the West and to the North, Arabia to the East and the South, will tremble before the Lord. The past deliverance when Israel went out of Egypt did not by any means stretch as far as the here-described future deliverance.

“Was Jehovah wrathful with the rivers? Was Thine anger against the rivers? Was Thy rage against the sea, That Thou didst ride upon Thy horses, Thy chariots of salvation?” (v. 8). God will do away with the boundaries of the nations, He Himself will slay them in their confusion. But when He will act in this manner, His purpose is not just judgment, for His chariots are “chariots of salvation.” Certainly, the judgments will have to run their course until the end, the stripes foretold by God's Word come down upon the nations and their boundaries are obliterated (v. 9). The governmental authorities will be terrified, the whole world will utter cries of fear, while the people will in vain lift up their hands in the midst of the flood of judgments that will be poured out over them (v. 10). Nothing will be able to stay the Lord's battle against the godless until they are completely consumed. It will be as it was in the days of Joshua: “And the sun stood still, and the moon remained where it was, until the nation had avenged themselves upon their enemies” (v. 11; Joshua 10: 13).

Moreover, God's wrath will not spare the land, Israel's territory. The unbelieving and apostate part of the people will, like the nations, receive the stripes of the Lord's indignation (v. 12).

Salvation, deliverance for Israel, will be the result of this tremendous flood of disasters: “Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people, for the salvation of thine anointed; Thou didst smite off the head from the house of the wicked, laying bare the foundation even to the neck” (v. 13). Isn't this a wonderful thing? To such degree will that small nation — and even then only represented by a small, insignificant remnant — be the object of the loving care of the almighty God, that He will bring the whole world in turmoil to save that nation. It is, because Israel is His anointed: He has put the seal of His Spirit upon it; He wants to have it near Him as partaker of His glory in the centre of a reign wherein His eternal righteousness will rule. The true Israel may be little in the eyes of men; in the day in which He exercises His authority it will be His “precious jewel.”

Here we do not speak of the Assembly, the bride of the Lamb, whose blessings exceed those of Israel as far as the heavens are above the earth. The Old Testament never speaks about this bride. Our heart is interested in “the Jewish bride,” because Christ, the Lord, her Messiah and King, has such interest in her. With pleasure He looks upon her as His precious jewel. All His promises made before — which to Him were always without repentance — He will fulfill. No matter how great Israel's unfaithfulness may have been, the heart of the King is not changed toward His people. Though He had to cast her off for a time as an unfaithful wife, He will receive her again after He has purified her in the fire of judgment by the Great Tribulation which caused the heart of the prophet to tremble in anticipation. The thought expressed in verse 13 we find back in that beautiful portion of Isaiah where we see the Lord coming out of Edom, from Bozrah, with His great power. He has trodden the winepress alone, treading the nations in His fury; and then He says: “For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redeemed had come” (Isa. 63: 1-6).

Then will “the head from the house of the wicked” be smitten, and “the foundation even to the neck [the last stone]” be laid bare (v. 13). These words refer doubtless to the Chaldean who had founded his house on unrighteousness. They carry our thoughts, however, to the “godless one” of the last days whose house will also be destroyed from the rooftop to the foundation.

And so it is with verse 14 in which the last conflict is described. All nations will rush in to scatter this poor, tested, powerless remnant and to devour it in a secret place. In our expositions of the prophets we have more than once brought it to the reader's attention that the nations of the last days will not publicize their plans. In secret they will decide to snatch their prey from their allies of one day. But when Christ appears, it will be sufficient that the horses of this mighty Warrior show themselves to break through and destroy the tremendous might stirred up by Satan against Him and His people. Revelation 19: 11-16 gives more details of this battle scene. There we see it from its heavenly perspective, something the Old Testament never does.

Rest Today and in the Future

The third part is contained in verse 16.

“I heard, and my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice; rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in my place, that I might rest in the day of distress, when their invader shall come up against the people.”

This verse is the conclusion and summary of what has been said in the previous verses. In verse 2 we read what the prophet had heard and how it had caused him to be frightened when he thought of the Divine wrath. Then he had interceded for the people to remind the Lord of His mercies. The entire scene of the last days had then passed before his eyes. He had been reminded of the judgments that once had been executed over Egypt and over all Israel's enemies when God wanted to deliver His people. Next his prophetic vision had dwelled on the judgments of the last days, and he had understood that these had only the salvation of the God's people in view, just as in earlier days. This all he had seen and accepted as reality. Yet, that did not stop him from trembling to his bones, even more than he had done at the beginning of his song. It was with him as it had been with Daniel who said, when he saw “the great vision,” “And my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength” (Dan. 10: 8). This is a necessary preparation for receiving prophetic information in order to enter into the thoughts of God. Therefore the angel had comforted Daniel: “Fear not, man greatly beloved; peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong” (Dan. 10: 19).

And so it is in this concisely presented scene. Habakkuk trembled; it was as if the entire judgment was poured out over himself, yet he was at rest while awaiting the day of distress. A similar work of the conscience, this feeling of total incapability and this conviction that our nature is corrupt, are unavoidable if we are to find rest, whether it concerns the history of men in the past, the present, or the future. Here it is a question of rest in the future. The prophet wished it to Israel in the day of distress, the day of the Great Tribulation, in which the enemy would come up against the people.

From numerous places in the prophets we know who that enemy will be, which armies will come up against Jerusalem. The prophet was sure of the eventual deliverance and the lasting rest. However, the Word presents here a rest that can be enjoyed ahead of time. It is the rest of soul even in the midst of the most sorrowful tribulations. That is a peace that can only be obtained once one has learned to judge oneself totally and after one has come to know God's love and mercy.

Full Fellowship with the Lord

The fourth part is contained in verses 17-19.

“For though the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive-tree shall fail, and the fields shall yield no food; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength, and He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and He will make me to walk upon my high places.

In this fourth part of the song we find the faith of the prophet beautifully put into words. Since the beginning of his conversations with the Lord his faith had steadily increased. He expected a future deliverance (see v. 16).

But he also knew that this deliverance could still tarry. His faith answered therefore to the word: “Though it tarry, wait for it” (2: 3). He therefore waited for it in the assurance that the deliverance would be preceded by distress.

For him, however, there would be in the midst of this breaking loose of the storm, a safe secure hiding place, a little sanctuary, where he could find the rest of the presence of the Lord. That hope sufficed him. He knew that the rest would come as soon as the distress was passed. But what was he to do at present? It was a time a great scarcity that mirrored the spiritual condition of the Jewish people in our days. The fig-tree, the vine, and the olive-tree are without fruit — all symbols of that nation. Nothing is produced for God. Wheat, sheep, cattle, everything is lacking; there is even no longer a sacrifice to establish communion between Israel and God.

In Christendom it is not any better. Everywhere there is scarcity and hunger on the Christian terrain; great weakness of the Christian testimony; a confession without life and without communion with God.

“Yet...” adds the prophet. He lived by his faith and had accepted the promised deliverance as if it was already his. He did, however, not rejoice in the rest that he had not yet reached, not even in the salvation. He had a much higher joy: he possessed the Lord Himself, the God of his salvation. Him in whom he rejoiced and would always rejoice was the God who did not hide anything from him, who acted toward him as a friend, who made his most secret thoughts known to him. He could count on His mercy, even when all would fail, because He is the God whose blessings endure forever. “We will be glad and rejoice in Thee,” said the Shulamite bride, “We will remember Thy love more than wine” (Song 1: 4). Thus God gives songs in the night (Job 35: 10). These experiences gave the prophet full fellowship with the Lord. At first he had understood that “the Lord, His God and holy One,” is light and that He is “of purer eyes than to behold evil” (1: 12-13). Now he rejoiced himself in Him, he enjoyed all the perfection of His person, and understood the love of “the God of my salvation.”

But the Lord was not only his joy, He was also the prophet's strength (v. 19) when he was powerless. “Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee” (Ps. 84: 5). Thanks to Him our feet are made as hind's feet during a time of utmost weakness, when as yet not a single promise for the future has been fulfilled. We may rise up to our high places and walk through them with light, joyful, quick, and free steps. The heavenlies are for us, believers of today, the terrain where we find ourselves in Christ. What does scarcity mean to those who enjoy all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies?

Worship

“To the Chief Musician. On my stringed instruments” (19).

How could we then wonder about it that during those disastrous times Habakkuk rediscovered worship as in the days of David and Solomon. He handed his song over to the Chief Musician to sing it accompanied with harp and lyre. Here he realized even beforehand the song of praise that Israel will sing in a future day in His restored temple. And don't we have the same privilege? The certain knowledge that the things of earth are nothing drives us to the Lord, and when we then rejoice in the boundless, unfathomable riches, only one thought overpowers our whole being: to cast ourselves at His feet and to worship Him! The worship of God's children may be found anew in the midst of the ruin of Christendom.

We want to close this exposition with the words of another who said about the prophecy of Habakkuk:

“There is nothing finer than this development of the thoughts of the Spirit of God, the sorrows and anxieties produced by Him, the answer of God to give understanding and strengthen faith, in order that the heart may be in full communion with Himself” (Habakkuk by JND).

Summary

Habakkuk occupied a very special place among the prophets, although Jeremiah as far as his personal experiences are concerned, resembled him in certain aspects. Yet, Jeremiah's horizon stretched further. Initially, Habakkuk rebelled against the regime of violence among his people; he cried: “How long?” But as soon as the Lord announced the judgment over Israel by the Chaldeans the heart of this man was deeply moved for his people. Like Moses he pleaded as mediator with the Lord for Israel. God answered that He would judge the Gentiles who were the rod in His hand. But Habakkuk learned a personal lesson that is at all times and under all circumstances of great value: “The just shall live by his faith.” Faith was the only principle on which he had to lean even in the most evil day. This verse is the kernel, the centre of the entire prophecy. From this moment on, his faith fathomed the “why” of the judgments. He viewed the past deliverances, realizing those of the future, and went through the present tribulations with an unmixed joy that clung to the person of the Redeemer with the power that God Himself was for him, and with the unconstrained, happy joy of the eternal blessings. Enriched with such blessing the man of faith had found entrance to the sanctuary, which he entered to bring worship to God.

The path of faith is most glorious, for it raises us above all hindrances, even above our personal experiences, and fixes our eyes on the things that are not seen, “for the things that are seen are for a time, but those that are not seen eternal” (2 Cor. 4: 18).

John the Baptist

John the Baptist.

H. Rossier.

Christian Friend vol. 14, 1887, p. 15 etc.

(This instructive little work is translated from the French.)

Chapter 1.

The Nation and the Remnants.

Luke 1 - 3.

The title of this little book might mislead the reader; its subject is not so much John the Baptist as Christ. All-important and interesting as his personality may be, John can only be like the background of a picture intended to bring into relief One who was greater than he; and it is thus, as his words and his life prove, that the prophet himself would have written his history.

Luke 1 very strikingly portrays the circumstances in which Israel was found at the coming of the fore-runner, and which preceded the manifestation of the Messiah. A great change had come over the circumstances of Israel since the days of Nehemiah. The people had been brought into subjection to the last universal Gentile empire, but morally their state differed little from that revealed by the prophet Malachi 450 years before Christ. Israel was no longer in open warfare with Jehovah; the false gods had disappeared out of the house which was swept and garnished, the fig-tree was covered with the leaves of an empty profession, but absolute barrenness lay hidden beneath this outside show. Indifference and insensibility, worse than hatred, were to be found in the heart of the people. One feature of the apostasy is, that God is no longer esteemed worth the trouble of thinking about, and men of our days are in process of casting Him aside as a thing of the past. That which will bow to the very dust the forehead of the repentant remnant of Israel, when at last their eyes are opened to Christ, will be the fact of having been able to pass by the Man of Sorrows with indifference, setting no value on Him. (Isaiah 53.)

Such were the relations of Israel with God in the time of Malachi. When Jehovah said to them in the tenderest accents, "I have loved you," they replied, "Wherein hast thou loved us?" for they knew not the heart of God. When He said to the priests, "You have despised my name," they replied, "Wherein have we despised thy name?" so blinded were they as to their own state and transgressions. They polluted the table of the Lord, and "offered the lame and the sick;" because, in spite of all their religious forms, God was not in their heart or their life, nor had they the least conscience as to the dishonour they brought upon Him. (Mal. 1.) Such a religion must end some time or other by seeming superfluous to those who practise it. What is the good? "Behold, what a weariness is it!" they say. (Mal. 1: 13.) It is thus that the heart of a professor expresses itself; and if beneath religious weariness he do not become an idolater himself, he soon returns to the idolatrous world, connects himself with it, "marries," as says the prophet, "the daughter of a strange god," and becomes one flesh with her in the eyes of an avenging God, who will execute judgment on both. (Mal. 2: 11-16.)

This is a great danger even for the Christian in these days of ruin. Asaph expressed it thus: "Therefore His people return hither [towards the wicked] and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them," when times of affliction came upon him, contrasting with the growing prosperity of the world. (Psalm 72.) But for the believer there is a second and more subtle danger than this, because a more plausible one; and that is to isolate himself in proportion as he sees the increase of the indifference and worldliness so general among the children of God. Now this tendency is diametrically opposed to God's thought for His own, and it is precisely in view of these times of ruin that the prophet says to us, "Then, they that feared the Lord spake often one to another." (Mal. 3: 16.) The apostasy does not isolate those who fear the Lord; it incites them to come together. As the psalmist says, "I am a companion of all them that fear thee." (Ps. 119: 63.) It is the same at every dark epoch in the history of the people of God; it was thus with the youthful witnesses during the Babylonish captivity. (Dan. 2: 17.) Such is now the case in the perilous times of the end (2 Tim. 2: 22); so it was during the gloomy hours that followed the cross, when the still ignorant disciples communed one with another on the road to Emmaus; and in the early chapters of the Gospel of Luke we see a present. and striking realization of His word.

"They that feared the Lord spake often one to another" is God's resource for days of ruin. Look at these few faithful saints, amidst the barren waste of a lifeless profession, seeking and finding one another, and holding converse together. Mary and Elizabeth talk one to another, Zacharias and his neighbours commune of these things, the shepherds publish them, Simeon announces them, and Anna speaks of them "to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." Remark, moreover, that there is but one subject of intercourse for all these faithful ones — it is the consolation of Israel; it is Christ, the Messiah; it is the person of the Saviour; and such conversation is pleasing to God, who lends an attentive ear thereto. He records these things in a book of remembrance — a special book. Nothing is so pleasing to God as hearts appreciating His beloved Son. Dear reader, He takes note of the value that you and I set on the name of Jesus. Those who appreciate Christ in days of affliction will have God's own approval at a future day of glory. "They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels." (Mal. 3: 17.) Is not such a promise well fitted to encourage our souls?

"Spake often one to another." This occupation of the faithful allies itself with the most simple daily duties of this life. Zacharias accomplishes his priestly functions, and offers incense; Elizabeth is in the country; Mary journeys; the shepherds keep their flocks. It even connects itself with the apparent inactivity of a Simeon, who dwells at Jerusalem; of an Anna advanced in years, weakened by age, confined to the temple, but preserving unimpaired the most precious part of her activity, the hidden life of her soul with God, "night and day." But what an element of freshness and joy the person of Christ brings into the intercourse of these saints! Souls are running over, conversation changes into adoration, and those who speak one to another necessarily realize what worship is. (Luke 1: 46, 68; Luke 2: 29.)

Two messages had been brought by the angel Gabriel, the one concerning John the Baptist, the other about Jesus; and both elicit praises from the mouths of those by whom they are received. Still, even before His birth, as ever after, John the Baptist disappears before Christ to male way for the universal song, which rises around this little child from the lips of all the faithful. Whom does Elizabeth celebrate? Not her son, but the Lord. And Zacharias, while announcing the glorious mission of his new-born infant, only does so to exalt the Lord, the God of Israel, the Horn of Deliverance, the Christ, the Most High. With true witnesses it is always so. Blessings from the hand of God are only used by them as occasions of praise to Him who is the origin and centre of these blessings.

The circumstances which accompanied and preceded the Saviour's first coming seem to me, in many ways, applicable to the present time. As then (see Luke 3: 1, 2) organization is increasing in the world, which seeks a ground of safety in its own institutions; as then, under the auspices of the world, a traditional and orthodox religion prevails, indifferent, self-righteous, and ripe for the apostasy; as then, sects flourish, such as the Rationalistic Sadducees, or the Herodians, who pronounced the then existing administration excellent; as then, the Lord's coming, or rather return, is at hand; but does this happy message produce now in the hearts of the saints the same fruit as then? Oh that there might be found in our hearts that freshness of hope, those divine rays from the morning star appearing for faith in the splendour of its pristine dawn, that star resplendent with grace, herald of the glory, whose sight causes the heart to overflow with unspeakable adoration! Dear reader, if we are awaiting it, we shall be found speaking one to another until the day of glory, when we shall be the peculiar treasure of One who is coming.

Chapter 2.

His Birth.

Luke 1: 15.

The angel Gabriel was commissioned to announce two glad tidings — the one to Zacharias, the other to Mary of Nazareth; but the circumstances and the import of these two messages present more of contrast than of similitude. Zacharias and his wife "were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." Nevertheless, old age had crept over them, and Elizabeth was barren.

May we not see in them a picture of godly Israelites under the law, and of the utter inability of the law to bring forth fruit even in a regenerated man? Moreover, it does not produce intimacy with God any more than fruit; for Zacharias, who was of exemplary piety, seeing the angel, "was troubled, and fear fell upon him." Finally, it does not induce confidence, which grace alone calls forth. The priest under the law was unbelieving as to the message of grace brought by Gabriel, and so this representative of Israel remained dumb until the day when, the divine promise having in grace been fulfilled, he could, like the remnant by-and-by, praise the Author of his salvation. Mary was not only pious, but humble and simple — an object of grace, and not an exponent of the law. "Thou hast found favour with God," said the angel. She was subject — "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord;" and her confidence was in the word of God, for she added, "Be it unto me according to thy word." (Luke 1: 30-38.)

The contrast between these two messages is worthy of remark. John should be "great in the sight of the Lord." Of Jesus the angel said, "He shall be great." We will return to this subject in another chapter. All John the Baptist's greatness depended on the Person whose herald he was, whilst Jesus was great in Himself and of Himself. From the place whence I write, I can see, in the light of the rising sun, the shadow of a chestnut tree assuming gigantic proportions; yet this shadow is not a picture of the size of the tree, but a witness to the sun's rising and splendour. Such was John — great because he had the signal honour of being the messenger of One of whom the angel said, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom their shall be no end." (Luke 1: 32, 33.)

But these words of Gabriel's — "He shall be great in the sight of the Lord" — do not express all that should characterize the Baptist; for he adds, "And he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink." This is Nazariteship; at least, the first mark thereof. John could only be great in the sight of the Lord by being a Nazarite. From Numbers 6 we see that to be a Nazarite was "to separate one's self unto the Lord." There were three distinct signs. First, the Nazarite abstained from wine and strong drink; next, he allowed the hair of his head to grow; and finally, he "came at no dead body." He deprived himself of wine — sign of joy to the heart of the natural man in the company of his equals. His long hair proclaimed that he abandoned the dignity and rights of man for subjection to the will of God, whose claims on him he acknowledged; and lastly, he avoided all that could bring him into contact with sin, whose wages is death. Such was the ordering and the secret of a Nazarite. Separation to God could only subsist at the expense of these three things, and they were carried out in the life of John the Baptist. But in this passage he is presented to us as especially set apart from all that constitutes the joy of a social man. The world, no doubt, on seeing him, would have said, "He is a sad and dismal misanthrope." What a mistake! This natural joy, the only one known to the world, was replaced in the prophet's heart by a joy which communion with the Saviour gives. These two joys are opposed to each other, and cannot subsist together; and it is only in proportion as we deny ourselves the former that we can enjoy the latter. Throughout his career divine joy was one of the characteristic features of this most austere man. As a miraculous babe in his mother's womb, his first movement is one of joy when the salutation of the mother of his Lord reaches Elizabeth's ears (Luke 1: 44); and at the end of his course he says again, "This my joy therefore is fulfilled." (John 3: 29.)

We must not forget that every Christian is called to be a Nazarite, and that with regard to this there is no longer any thought of a special class of persons among God's people; neither is it now a question for us as for the Nazarite Jew of an external separation or one consisting in forms. True Nazariteship  - separation to God — is of the heart. The world sees the effects in life, joy, and power, without understanding them; but separation in itself is a secret between the soul and God. Proclaiming that I am separate, occupies others with me; saying that I am in dependence on God, is to be so no longer, since I ascribe something to myself. I surrender by so doing my secret to the world, and, like Samson, abandon my flowing locks to its scissors. When once Satan and the world have learned the secret of my strength, they will not rest till they have robbed me of it. But if there are Christians to be found who are so satisfied with themselves as to divulge the secret of their Nazariteship, there are others who are constantly talking about their failures; doubtless two extremes, but two formed of the same pride. The one does not see the spots on his coat, while the other displays them; but both neglect the only things needful — humiliation and purification. If in any particular we have broken our Nazarite vow, if we have defiled ourselves for the dead, restoration is possible. (Num. 6: 9-12.) Let us examine ourselves. With humiliation we shall find purification. But, alas! and it is a solemn thing, we lose through sin a joy such as the Baptist's, and a power such as the man of Zorah's. We must begin over again. It took time for Samson to recover, along with his hair, strength to break down the pillars in Dagon's temple.

To the  words, "He shall drink neither wine nor strong drink," Gabriel adds, "He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." Here it is as if the special power of the Holy Ghost were connected with Nazariteship. Many Christians imagine that to be filled with the Holy Ghost is a special favour, that only could belong to privileged ones among the people of God. No such thing. This condition is in point of fact the normal state of the Christian — he is qualified to be filled with the Holy Spirit, that is to say, in order that the Spirit may restrain and annul every manifestation of the flesh which the child of God has in him. Every believer is a temple of the Holy Ghost; but every believer is not filled by Him. And why? Is it a lack of power to do so on the part of the Holy Ghost? Certainly not, or it would not be the Holy Spirit of God. Is it perhaps that we are unable to do aught but grieve Him? In this case we do not, as believers, know deliverance. What then is lacking, even among Christians knowing deliverance, in order to be filled with the Spirit? The reality of Nazariteship. As it is said in Eph. v. 18, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." Oh, beloved children of God, what power of enjoyment, testimony, conformity to Christ would be ours if, true Nazarites, we were filled with the Spirit' Have we never, were it but for a moment, tasted such a blessing?

Stephen enjoyed it to the full during his short career as a witness. "Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," it is said after the first mention of him; "Stephen, full of grace and of power," the Word adds, when this Nazarite, full of the Spirit, was in active service among the people; Stephen, "being full of the Holy Ghost," it says again, when the sanhedrim were gnashing their teeth on him. (Acts 6: 5, 8; 7: 5-5.) And there, in presence of those who were stoning him  - the ungrieved power of the Spirit fixing Stephen's eyes on heaven — he sees "the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." His eyes and his heart, occupied by the Spirit with this heavenly vision, are arrested by an object - Jesus in glory. This man on earth sees the Son of man in heaven, and rejoices in the One who, having finished His work, has, in His own person, prepared that glorious place. Our inability to "see Jesus," our want of personal acquaintance with this precious Saviour, is connected — note it well — with the measure in which we realize the apostle's recommendation, "Be filled with the Spirit."

But Stephen not only enjoys Christ; he is a witness, and says, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." That with which he is filled by the Spirit flows abundantly from his lips. He does not say to himself that he must bear testimony. The river overflowed its banks and watered the earth. Supplied from a heavenly source, it became in Stephen's heart a fountain of springing water. Moreover, this blessed martyr does not only bear witness; he is himself changed, while beholding, with unveiled face, the glory of the Lord. He reflects on earth, and without dimming their lustre, the character, ways, and words of the Saviour. All this, I repeat, is not a special gift, but the fruit of the Holy Spirit acting in our hearts without hindrance. Let us then exhort one another with these words, "Be filled with the Spirit."

Alas! in many ways we all fail. Jesus only, the true Nazarite, never failed. Jesus, conceived of the Holy Spirit, baptized by the Spirit, full of the Spirit (Luke 1: 35, Luke 3: 22), realised all these things in absolute perfection, without a shadow of failure. Man of sorrows on this earth, His joy was full; humble amongst the humble, He was possessed of a divine power which made Him victorious in conflict with Satan when led by the Spirit into the wilderness, which caused "His word to be with power" when "He returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee." (Luke 4: 1-14, 32.) Pure and holy, He could say, Satan "hath nothing in me." May He be the pattern of our Nazariteship — "He that was separated [a Nazarite] from his brethren." (Gen. 49: 26; Deut. 33: 16.) Then in the power of the Holy Ghost we shall follow Him, at a distance of two thousand cubits, no doubt, as Israel followed the ark; but we shall follow Him nevertheless, and to follow Him is to grow in His likeness.

Chapter 3.

John the Baptist in the Wilderness.

Luke 1: 80; Matt. 3.

The two passages at the head of the chapter describe the life of John the Baptist from his birth "till the day of his showing unto Israel." "The child grew, and waxed strong in spirit," it is said. To be a Nazarite is, as we have seen, the first condition necessary to the normal development of the man of faith. Then the Spirit can exercise His activity in order to make us grow, and to strengthen us with might in the inner man. Nothing will grieve Him, and He will not need to be occupied in rebuking and correcting us; we shall be like a tree planted in good soil, watered by streams of living water, and exposed to the sun's vivifying rays. The tree develops under such a salutary influence: its buds become flowers, and its flowers fruit, according to the season. Such were the characteristics of the prophet when still a child, and yet he was but a feeble picture of the One whose coming he was about to announce.

Of Jesus, John the Baptist's Lord, it is said, when a child that, He "grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him." And again, "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." (Luke 2: 40, 52.) He would not have been truly a man, if He had not from His birth passed through the successive stages of a man's life; He would not have been God, had He not done so in absolute perfection. John was in need of help to grow and wax strong in spirit; and the evangelist says, "The hand of the Lord was with him." (Luke 1: 66.) Jesus grew and waxed strong of Himself, so to speak, although, as man, in absolute dependence. In Luke we find the perfection of this unfolding. The flower is in bud, not a blemish; it is in full bloom, not a defect; divine favour, the dew of heaven, fills its chalice; its perfume and grace are such as may delight God and men. It gives promise of fruit which appears in due season, the divine development of perfect maturity.

We have seen the moral state of the son of Zacharias. Let us briefly consider his external condition, such as it would, from his youth, have appeared to a human observer. The Word tells us that he "was in the deserts." What a contrast with the world by which he was surrounded: The Roman "beast" was at the zenith of its prosperity, and stable as no empire which had preceded it. (Luke 3: 1.) Its administration, army, art, religion, even the Jewish religion (Luke 3: 2), were organized to a remarkable degree. This certainly did not resemble the desert; and it was pleasant to live under such an economy. Between the desert and Judea under Herod a Lot would not have hesitated. John the Baptist found nothing there to attract him; he was in the desert, separated from the world wholly and visibly. Hence when, sent by God, he crosses the threshold of the desert to prophesy amidst the world and its noisy activity, his heart is met by emptiness and silence — "the voice of one crying in the wilderness," he says, for the world was a wilderness to him. He asks nothing of it; he does not go to it seeking "soft raiment;" he brings into it the customs of the country of his choice. His raiment is of camel's hair, the only coarse garment that the desert can offer him; he has a leathern girdle about his loins, as had in other times the prophet Elijah, when he presented himself to the officers of Ahaziah (2 Kings 1: 8); his meat is locusts and wild honey, which he gathers in these desolate places. Like Elijah by the brook Cherith, he depends entirely for subsistence on that which God had prepared for him in a barren land — dependence painful to the flesh, but doubly blessed, for it is the power for all true ministry. John the Baptist was qualified by his wilderness life and experience to be the "voice" of Him who makes Himself heard there, and, like Elijah, fearlessly to fulfil his dangerous mission.

But there is One who has distanced John the Baptist in these experiences, He of whom it is said, in Psalm 110, "He shall drink of the brook in the way"  - a short sentence expressing the Saviour's earthly career. In this psalm David views Him as already at God's right hand; but also he considers the way which will lead Him thither. How much is contained in these words: "He shall drink of the brook in the way." It is a picture of a man on the march hastening to accomplish his mission. Our thoughts are straightway carried back to Gideon's companions, who were raised up by the Lord for the deliverance of the people, and who drank of the brook in the way. (Judges 7.) There were three hundred of them chosen for a temporal deliverance: Jesus was alone and took the responsibility of an eternal salvation. Nothing arrested Him even for a moment. Of provisions He has none, only water to quench His thirst; and He does not deviate from the path to seek any. The resources which God has put in His way suffice, for He has only one end in view, the accomplishment of the mission on which His heart is wholly set. He would not have gone down upon His knees beside the brook to drink at His ease.

Have you ever noticed in the Gospels how many times the Saviour drank of the brook in the way? The springs of refreshment which He meets with after long stages under a burning sun are quickly counted springs produced by some beneficent rain wherewith heaven has for a moment watered His path, and whereat He has drunk without slackening His pace. When, at the well of Sychar, the conscience of a wretched woman of Samaria was reached by One who asked of her a drink, when she knew not even how to give Him a drop of water, the brook was flowing in the Saviour's path. And with what joy does He quench His thirst thereat by the way — "I have meat to eat that ye know not of . . . . He that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together!" (John 4: 32-36.) When at the Pharisee's table, a poor woman, a sinner already convicted of sin, brought her tears, her kisses, and her ointment to the feet of grace, to Him who alone can forgive, it was not of Simon's repast which the Saviour partook, but of the table which God had prepared in the heart of this woman. While Martha, "careful and troubled," and "cumbered about much serving," prepared to receive Jesus into her house, He drank of the brook in the way with His eyes resting on Mary, who, seated in silence at His feet, listened to and found in Him the good part. And at the extreme limit of the last stage of His journey, where beneath the consuming fire He was about to cry, "I thirst," He finds a second time, not at the table at Bethany, but in Mary's house, the brook made ready for Him, when, anticipating the day of His burying, she expended all her perfume on the feet and head of the Saviour about to die.

Ah! these occasions were rare, but they were enough for a heart so perfect, so entirely subject to and dependent on the Father. Blessed Saviour! Thou hast drunk of the brook in the way, but Thou shalt lift up the head. Already Thou art in the highest place, seated on the Father's throne at His right hand. Thou hast the joy of having finished Thy work to the glory of Thy Father, and Thy presence on high is the unalterable witness thereto. In virtue of this work Thou hast been saluted of God a High Priest for ever for us, after the order of Melchisedec. But it yet remains for Thee to occupy Thy throne, to take Thy place there, and to make Thine enemies Thy footstool. Then Thou wilt have us with Thyself. Thou shalt see of the travail of Thy soul, and shalt be satisfied!

Chapter 4.

John the Baptist as Prophet.

Matthew 3.

In Matthew 3 we have the public ministry of John the Baptist presented to us. A few words of the Saviour's, uttered in defence of John before the multitude, seem to me to characterize this ministry. "A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet." (Matt. 11: 9.) John the Baptist was a prophet, but even as such his position and ministry went beyond those of the ancient prophets. These last prophesied at Jerusalem, in Israel, or in the midst of the captive or returned people. John the Baptist separates himself from the people; he dwells in the desert. The only prophet to whom he can be likened in other respects is Elijah; but his failure, and not Jehovah, led him into the wilderness. (1 Kings 19.) A remnant of Judah had returned from captivity in Babylon, but in the eyes of the prophet it did not merit the name. Henceforth there was but a remnant of this remnant which could be recognized as Israel.

This is why John the Baptist does not appeal to the people as a whole, like the prophets who had preceded him. He says, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness." Israel was a wilderness for God. The prophet's appeal is henceforth based on their irretrievable ruin, whilst that of the ancient prophets always supposed the possibility of a national return to Jehovah. Divine judgment was not then definitively pronounced on the human race, and the prophets were authorized by their mission to search and see if there were any good in man by which he might be brought back to God. Like them, doubtless, John the Baptist had preached repentance, but a repentance founded on ruin without remedy. Therefore Isaiah, describing the ministry of John, adds, "The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it surely the people is grass." What remains of man? Nothing. The wrath of the Lord has blown upon him. Henceforth repentance owned that there must be self-judgment in the presence of God; and they "went out" to the prophet, "confessing their sins," to be baptized of him in Jordan. The sinner did not confine himself to the confession of his sins, but owned that henceforth the only answer to his state was death, that there was no remedy.

Moreover, the period about to dawn in the world's history rendered such a ministry necessary. The Lord was appearing upon the scene. The history of the first man was virtually at a close (it was ended, in fact, at the cross), to make way for the history of the second Man, to whom henceforth it was a question of belonging. The way to belong to this living Messiah on the earth* was to pass condemnation on oneself, and to accept grace. Thus Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, prophecies of the little child, "Thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death." (Luke 1: 76-79.)

*John baptized to a living Christ, Christian baptism is to the death of Christ.

And what kind of people are seen coming to the prophet's baptism? Publicans, men whose character was openly despicable; soldiers, accustomed to oppress the people. Corruption and violence, but owned and judged, find a meeting-place at the baptism of repentance. "John," said the Lord, "came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him." (Matt. 21: 32.) For such people there is no resource, and God can only recognize in them the fruit of His own work. "God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." (Matt. 3: 9.)

There is another character of prophetic ministry which cannot be lacking in John the Baptist, and which he presents more fully and strikingly than his predecessors. It is judgment in contrast to grace. The Pharisees and Sadducees went with the crowd to his baptism. They did not come as guilty, but as self-righteous. The sight of the work of God in publicans and harlots produced among these people neither remorse nor faith (Matt. 21: 32), and their final sentence is pronounced. A "generation of vipers" can only be destined to "the wrath to come;" such cannot be taught to flee from it. If they accepted this judgment, they would bring forth fruits meet for repentance. The seed of Abraham, according to the flesh, was set aside. God would raise up children to Abraham by giving life to that which was dead and hard as stone. (Matt. 3: 9.)

John adds, "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees." As in a forest the trees to be cut down are marked with a hatchet, so already the objects of judgment were designated; but it was no longer a question of cutting off branches or even the trunk; the root was bad. "Nothing will remain of you," said the prophet, "in view of the judgment which is at hand." And who will execute this judgment? Christ. "He," said he, "shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." (v. 11.) He possesses the two means of destroying sin — the Spirit, the gift of grace consequent on the Saviour's work; and fire, consuming judgment. It seems as if the prophet said, "I cannot do a work in your favour. I baptize with water; but He brings to you complete deliverance, and to the world definitive judgment." Then, describing what the Lord is about to do in Israel, he contemplates in the future the final result of His action, "whose fan is in His hand"  - a judgment which separates the chaff, but which preserves the grain to be gathered into His garner. This is what will take place for Israel. Then the threshing-floor of Jehovah will be thoroughly purged, and there will be no more defilement, but unquenchable fire will destroy all the chaff. Such then is one of the features of the ministry of John the Baptist — the fulness of judgment and the greatness of deliverance, both made known in the person of the Messiah.

This brings us to the Lord's second word, "Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet." John the Baptist is the only prophet heralded by the prophets themselves (Isaiah 60; Mal. 3; Mal. 4), but that does not constitute the especial greatness which raises him above them. He does not announce in the midst of Israel future glories introduced by the coming Messiah, but he is the messenger of the Lord Himself, sent to prepare His way before Him. (Matt. 3: 1; Luke 1: 76.) The Messiah whom he announces is a coming Messiah, already present among His people. The kingdom of heaven was there; not near at hand, but having come in the person of Christ. (Matt. 3: 2.) The Lord was going, if received, to take in hand the government of the earth immediately. John did not fail in his mission. He prepares the way before the Lord. (Mal. 3: 1.) He appeals to faith, and finds an answer in the heart of a feeble remnant of Israel. He cries, "Prepare ye the way." This way by which the Lord could enter was repentant hearts convicted of sin, confessing their guilt, finding the end of the flesh, in death and grace the only resource. John had hardly said the words, "He that cometh after me," before Jesus came Himself. (Matt. 3: 13.) John opens the door, and in the person of Jesus — this Man, poor and abused — the Messiah of Israel appears upon the threshold.

How admirable at this moment is the great prophet, John the Baptist! He stoops lower than the latchet of the sandals of Christ. (Matt. 3: 11; John 1: 27.) He declares that he has need to be baptized of Him. (Matt. 3: 14.) Thus humbling himself, he exalts, on the one hand, the personal dignity of his Lord; and owns, on the other, in the presence of such perfection, his own condition as a sinner. But how much more worthy of admiration still is the Saviour Himself! He, the most high, humbles Himself still lower than John, who stooped to the sandals of His feet. "Suffer it to be so now," He says; and taking His place in grace at the baptism of John with those who repent, He finds His delight in broken and contrite hearts, and associates Himself with the "excellent" of the earth. Then, not content with abasing Himself, He adds, "It becometh us to fulfil all righteousness," raising John to a level with Himself, and making him a companion in the accomplishment of the will of God. "The heavens were opened" upon and occupied with such perfection, and our hearts too may well be opened to contemplate it.

Chapter 5.

John the Baptist as a Man and a Witness.

John 1; John 3: 28-31.

We have been considering John the Baptist's greatness as a prophet, according to the Lord's words in Matthew 11: 9. A second word in this same chapter presents to us rather his greatness as a man — "Verily," said the Lord, "among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist" (v. 11.)* In the first chapter of John's gospel he is great in three ways personally, as a witness, and morally.

*We do not forget that Luke 7: 26 applies this same passage to the prophet John the Baptist.

Let us first consider his PERSON. From the opening of the gospel, after having brought before us, to borrow another's words, "that which the Lord is divinely in Himself" (vv. 1-5), the Holy Spirit solemnly introduces a man upon the scene who was distinguished by his mission from all other men — "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." (v. 6.) Then (v. 8) he characterizes him by a negative sign — "He was not that Light." What must have been the personal worth of this man, for the Holy Spirit to declare that he was not that which God Himself is in His essence! The Lord proclaims in John 5 what he actually was — "He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light" (v. 35.) As a lamp, his brightness was so great, that when he appeared he brought with him nearly as much joy as the daystar brings. When the Jews send priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask who he is, John replies, "I am not the Christ" nor "that prophet" (announced in Deut. 18: 15-18). Such was his worth in the eyes of men, that he must needs announce that he is not the most noted person in Israel. Except Christ, never was there in this world a greater than he.

Let us now examine his TESTIMONY. It was well-nigh unbounded as connected with Christ's divine character in this gospel. It was manifold, even though referring to an only and unique object.

First, "he came to bear witness of the light" — a mission unprecedented in the history of man. Morally the world was a desolate place, buried in perpetual night. John the Baptist comes upon the scene, announcing the appearance of a Luminary which would dissipate the darkness, and bring health and joy and life to the miserable. Such is the earliest testimony of this man. Alas! its results ought to have been in proportion to its importance, for John came "that all men through him might believe" (v. 7); but the predicted Light was neither comprehended by the darkness, known by the world, nor received by His own (Israel). These last were very willing to rejoice for a season in the light, but they would not come to the Son to have life. (John 5: 35, 40.)

Secondly, John the Baptist bears witness to the Word made flesh (v. 15), to God become man, come down to change our state and to reveal to us the Father. What a testimony was that in contrast with what God had revealed in past ages! The law was given by Moses, but that which in grace could meet man's state while also revealing it had till now been unknown. Israel had been able to know God as Jehovah. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, has brought us into relationship with the Father. Moreover, the testimony of John admits of this revelation.

A third testimony is found in verse 19; a negative testimony you may say, for John tells us here what he is not. It is this to which the Lord apparently alludes when He says, "Ye have sent unto John" (comp. John 1: 19), "and he bare witness unto the truth." (John 5: 33.) Now this record sets John the Baptist aside entirely. The truth was that he was nothing, and that the Christ  - the Prophet whom he had not yet seen — was everything. This testimony is of exceeding beauty. John the Baptist sets himself aside for the triumph of the truth. Later on, the Christ announced by John, after having made nothing of himself, appears before Pilate, witnesses to the fact that He is a King, and sets no value on His life in order to maintain the truth. John the Baptist had said, "I am not;" Jesus said, — "I am." On this occasion the Lord might have kept silence; but when it is a question of the truth He speaks, and His reply is like the signature to His condemnation.

We now come to a fourth testimony (v. 29) of particular importance in the career of this man of God. Until now John did not know the Lord personally. "He seeth Jesus coming unto him," and he utters a cry of joy. He does not say, "Behold the Light," or the Word made flesh, or the Christ; but, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." The value of the work and person of Christ are made known to him at one and the same time. In Jesus he recognizes the perfect victim and the Saviour. He beholds the work of the "Lamb of God" right on to the confines of eternity. He contemplates it in its results until the new heavens and the new earth are established, where righteousness dwells, where sin shall be for ever banished. He is still occupied with its results. When bearing record, he says, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him . . . . The same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." (vv. 32, 33.) By this baptism the believer is henceforth assured of the efficacy of this work in his favour. He is filled with the hope of soon being with Christ, and conformed to Him in heaven.

Dear reader, what was the case with John ought to be the case with all of us. We only really appreciate the value of the work of Christ when we know Him as a Person. If John the Baptist had a profound knowledge of these things, it was because Jesus filled every place in his heart. The personal knowledge of Christ increases in our souls the knowledge of every thing, at the same time that it brings us to nothing in our own esteem and in that of the world, or rather in the way in which we seek its esteem. The apostle Paul, while looking at the unsearchable riches of Christ, said, "I, who am less than the least of all saints." But Christ is known only by faith. This is what men discover when with the intellect they seek to find out God — they think that John the Baptist is the Christ, and they say that Christ is John the Baptist. (Matt. 16: 14.)

This testimony, be it remarked, is not strictly prophetic. John, instructed beforehand, understood these things, as we may understand them, in making the acquaintance of the Lamb of God. Also we find, in verse 34, a fifth testimony: "And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God." He can say, "Now I have seen, and borne witness to that which I have seen. This Man, to whom God Himself bears witness by the descent of the Holy Ghost, is the Son of God."

Such a witness as John the Baptist might have, without doubt, had a high opinion of himself. But what renders him MORALLY great (we have already touched on this point) is that he is less than nothing in his own eyes, not because he seeks to put himself out of sight, but because for him Christ fills heaven, earth, eternity, and his own heart, and that He is for him all that is contained in these precious names: Lord, Christ, Prophet, Lamb of God, Delight of Heaven, Son of God, Bridegroom. His whole heart is taken possession of by this Man, who comes after him, but who is before him. So when the emissaries of the Jews ask him, "What sayest thou of thyself?" he replies, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness." "I say nothing of myself; I am a voice." He might have said, "I am the mouthpiece of God;" but no, an instrument might even think itself something. "I am the voice of one crying" — that, so to speak, robs him of his personality; "crying in the wilderness" — a voice which awakens an echo, valueless in the hearing of men. "Why baptizest thou then?" they ask. "I baptize with water," he replies: "what is my baptism beside His?" Then, on the morrow, in company with his disciples, he stands there and looks; he looks upon the Son of God as He walks. His heart goes out to Him, "Behold the Lamb of God," he says. An eminent teacher likes to gather together disciples who listen to his instructions. Is this teacher sent from God? His satisfaction will be enhanced by the thought that he is communicating to them a divine teaching. Well, John incites his disciples to go to Jesus, and remains alone — not alone in the wilderness, he was accustomed to that, but alone amidst that which was about to become the family of God.

In John 3: 26 his disciples have not the same self-abnegation. They come to him and say, "Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to Him." They make John the important man, and Christ the secondary person. "See," they say to John, "how He treats you." John reminds his disciples of his own testimony with regard to Christ. Then he adds, "He that hath the bride is the Bridegroom." (v. 29.) The bride is not John; he knows that. But the great prophet is content to have a secondary place; for he has Christ. He is the "friend of the Bridegroom." He listens to outpourings which are not addressed to him; but what matter? He hears the Bridegroom's voice, and his joy is fulfilled. Others will find their joy in more intimate relationships; but John the Baptist's joy is perfect in an inferior relationship; the Lord has given it to him. It is not the highest, but it is of Him, and that is enough for this man of God. His joy is fulfilled in Him who is the Bridegroom of another. Touching humility in the greatest among them that are born of women!

May it not be truly said that John the Baptist's joy in this inferior position was much greater than ours is generally who have the privilege of being the Bride of Christ? And are we not humbled at the thought of this? John appreciated our relationship, kept his own, and did not covet another. There was no more jealousy in him than among the angels, when at the birth of Christ they celebrated good-will toward man, and magnified a work of which they were not the objects, but which contemplated guilty and lost sinners. John stood by with his eyes fixed on the Bridegroom's face, and his ears strained to hear Him. He found his pleasure in self-forgetfulness, like Mary at the feet of Jesus, and allowed his heart, like an empty vessel, to be filled by the countless perfections of a Bridegroom who was not for him. "He must increase," he adds, "but I must decrease." Christ has increased; John has decreased into nothingness. This great witness, after having recorded his testimony, gathered his disciples around Jesus, and saw his testimony entirely replaced by Christ's. His glory consists in having brought into prominence the glory of the One who alone is worthy of glory. May it be so with us. We are not called to assume John the Baptist's prophetical and personal glory, but may it be ours, in self-forgetfulness, to be clothed with something of his moral greatness, and to have Christ filling our souls!

Chapter 6.

Failure of John the Baptist.

Matthew 11.

We have hitherto considered John the Baptist in the different phases of his progress as a man of faith. We are coming to the only point in his history where weakness and failure are exhibited. The great prophet John, like Elijah, was for a moment disheartened. He was in prison, and his Master had not delivered him; his hopes were disappointed, and apparently there were no fruits to his ministry. The people, "offended in" Christ, had not "gathered under His wings;" the disowned Messiah had not where to lay His head; and this glorious Lord, who had been announced as coming "suddenly to His temple," on the very heels of His messenger, with His fan in His hand to purge His floor, was rejected and despised. Alas! under such circumstances, for the prophet to be discouraged was natural, but it was not faith, for it led John to doubt Christ, to ask himself if He was indeed the promised Messiah, He who was coming according to Mal. 3: 1. John did not in his uncertainty ask himself if he were really the messenger; our failures more readily lead us to suspect God than ourselves. Any way, this scene is somewhat consoling; if John be led to question the Messianic character of the Saviour, he is in no doubt about Him in other respects. The word of Jesus is his only and sufficient resource. "Art thou He that should come? or do we look for another?" It is decline in a career of faith; but, thank God, it is still faith, however small its measure, and it finds, as it always will, a perfect response. John, however, the great witness, failed in his testimony. It is ever so with man; something is lacking, and even be he a John the Baptist, he will not compare with Christ. We lose nothing by it. The Lord alone remains unchangeable. It is beautiful to see in John 1 the man of faith humbling himself before the Lord; the Lord Himself is still more admirable when, man being necessarily lost to sight, He alone remains in view.

Let us consider in greater detail the Saviour's part in this scene. Whilst John is in doubt about Christ, the Lord meets his failure by putting before him His grace. "Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see" (His words and His works): "the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." (vv. 4, 5.) All these miracles, accomplished in presence of John's messengers, were the sign of the presence of Messiah in Israel (Isa. 61: 1, 2), not Messiah in grace. Was grace then a less thing than the glory expected by the Baptist? To his question Jesus replies, "Grace remains in power, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." It is a precious thought, that in the present time — a time of weakness and of the cessation of miracles — a soul may recognize Jesus in the preaching of the gospel to the poor, and say, — "I myself have heard the Lord." Jesus adds: "And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." (v. 6.) In spite of the forsaking of the people, there is a blest remnant convicted of sin, who, instead of awaiting Messiah's glory, have found favour in a rejected Saviour come for sinful man. The knowledge of grace in the person of Jesus constitutes the happiness of such. This was a gentle and delicate reproof to John the Baptist. Ought not the one who had saluted Jesus as Lamb of God to have remembered this grace? "Are you any longer of this blest company?" the Saviour's voice seems to say. But for the glory of Christ, the great prophet John the Baptist must be an object of grace even as others.

Whilst the imprisoned forerunner is for a moment discouraged, and abandons his testimony, the Lord Himself bears witness to John before the multitude. What grace! What divine delicacy in the choice of such a time for re-instating John, whose doubts had lowered him in his capacity of prophet, in the eyes of all! "What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?" A man who in trial was weak and uncertain? Ah!! if he shows himself such at the time when Jesus was speaking, he had not been so at the outset of his career, and it was then that they had been called to make acquaintance with him. Or had they gone to see a rich man clothed like the great ones of this world? Nothing of the kind. But John the Baptist was still the great messenger of whom Malachi 3 speaks, although the Lord had not come to His temple. A little further on, alluding to Malachi 4: 5 (not to Malachi 3), Jesus adds, "And if ye will receive it" (that which I say), "this is Elias, which was for to come." If they received the Lord Jesus, the kingdom might be established, the curse still hanging over the people set aside, and relationships according to God re-established in Israel; in such a case, the future mission of Elias would not be necessary, and John the Baptist, come in the spirit and power of Elias, would occupy the place, so to speak, of the future prophet.*

In what follows (vv. 16-19) Jesus does not content Himself with declaring the greatness of His messenger; in grace, He raises him in presence of the multitudes to the level of his Master, or rather associates Himself with him in testimony. Their testimonies are not alike. John was likened to those who "mourned," when he called the people to repentance; the Lord resembled those who "piped;" He brought the sweet strains of grace to all. The first presented himself with the severity of a prophet, separated from the people on whom judgment was pronounced; the second made Himself accessible to men, in order, if it were possible, to win for God the confidence of sinners. These two testimonies had found no echo; these two witnesses had been rejected; man did worse than that, he accused John of having a devil, and Christ of being a participator in the sins of those He came to save. By refusing grace, by refusing it thus, what a weight of suffering has not man accumulated on the heart of the Saviour

*This explains why John the Baptist said to the messenger of the Jews that he was not Elias. In consequence of the rejection of Messiah, the mission of Malachi 3 will be accomplished by another. Who will this future Elias be'? "Elijah the prophet," it is said. We must remember that Elijah did not see death. Such a man would be a worthy precursor of the One who is coming in judgment.

Whilst John, unstable beneath accumulated rejection and opprobrium, is like a reed shaken by the wind, Christ alone abides unmoved amidst the ruins. The prophet and the man of faith, the wise and prudent of this world, Israel with her cities, nothing of this remains. He abides for ever. He abides, not only in a divine repose, which meets everything, but in an unruffled and ineffable joy, even whilst His human heart is broken and bleeding under undeserved reproach. "In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit," the Gospel of Luke tells us. (Luke 10: 21.) The hopes of Israel were interrupted by the fact of the rejection of Christ; but even that opened to view other vast and infinite prospects. Jehovah hid His face (see Isa. 8: 17); the Father was revealed. Heaven was opened when earth shut the door on Christ. Babes, being of but little value, were raised to the enjoyment of supreme blessings, while the wise and prudent were blinded. The least in the kingdom of heaven was henceforth greater than the greatest of prophets (v. 11), through the enjoyment of privileges unknown to the most eminent among the representatives of the law. Henceforth a little child would be nearer to Christ, in position, in knowledge, and in glory, than the greatest witness to the coming of His kingdom. I repeat it, the Lord sees in His rejection the foundation of present and future kingdom-blessing for the people of God. The people according to the flesh had miserably failed, and there was an end to all right to the kingdom as to fleshly descent; henceforth it would be taken by force, and could not be entered by right of inheritance; to have part in it, there must be a necessary act of faith, the giving up of pre-existing relations, the breaking of natural links.

The mass of the people had turned away, but a remnant remained according to the election of grace, established in virtue of the work accomplished after the Saviour's rejection. Those who formed part of it were not offended because of Him; to these "violent" the kingdom henceforth belonged. As wisdom's children, begotten by her, they justified her by accepting grace. The Lord found all His delight among these few, and even if His work of grace had only brought Him one poor woman of Samaria, it would have been enough to enable Him to say, "The fields are white already to harvest."

The rejected Jesus remains alone amidst the rubbish, unmoved, full of assurance and joy, praising the Father, even though there was nothing more to be expected from man. He is not more perfect — that He could not be — but His perfection shines forth more absolutely in circumstances, which, putting the faith of a man to the test, acknowledged the incompetency and feebleness of man. Abiding alone, a high tower, a sure refuge, He says, "Come unto Me." Neither John nor any other could be resorted to. The weary and heavy-laden of this world could only find rest with Christ. The grace which revealed the Father's heart to poor sinners could only be known in His person; and practical peace of heart in the abandonment of self-will could only be realized after having been learnt of Him, the perfect man, subject to the yoke, the Father's will.

John the Baptist has vanished. The One whose herald he had been remains alone, the only One capable of meeting in grace the failure of His servant, of bearing all the weight of the work of grace which lays the foundation of the new creation, the only Centre of attraction for every poor sinner who thirsts for grace, and the only perfect Model for any who seek to be like Him. The law and the prophets come to an end. In Christ grace abides, set up for eternity, established forever.

Chapter 7.

John the Baptist's Death.

Matt. 14: 1-12; Mark 6: 14-29.

We cannot conclude these meditations without a few words concerning the close of John the Baptist's career. Come in the "way of righteousness" (Matt. 21: 32), he persevered in it to the end; separated to God from his mother's womb, he maintained this precious characteristic to the last. Herod knew him to be "a just man and an holy." (Mark 6: 20.) His practical righteousness and holiness are shown when he says to the king, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." But the testimony of the faithful, instead of improving the world, condemns it, and this is what it cannot bear. A frightful unfolding of the character of Herod fighting against the truth is to be found in this narrative. The lust of the flesh was at work in the heart of this man; and in order to satisfy it he is led into wickedness and pollution. The sinner cannot give up sinning even though under restraint; he goes on in his sin by getting rid of the witness who condemns him. Herod causes John to be taken, bound, and put in prison. (Mark 6: 17.) Corruption is necessarily followed by violence, which, kept within bounds at first, opens the door to murderous thoughts (Matt. 14: 5), and his conscience is hardened more and more. It is not the fear of God which makes him object to the crime, but that of public opinion, and a selfish desire not to lose his influence and prestige. It is also a certain respect for a superior man, who cannot be got rid of without further formality, besides the loss of the profit of his counsels for self-exaltation. (Mark 6: 20.) Herod is led by Herodias, a passionate woman, governed by her hatred, and esteeming the prophet's reproof an unpardonable affront; she also "would have killed him" (Mark 6: 19), but had found Herod's feeling of respect for John a hindrance. (Mark 6: 20.) The passions of these two converge to one point; Herod's are accompanied by some scruples and cunning (Luke 13: 32), while Herodias is more energetic in her accomplishment of evil and triumph over obstacles.

"A convenient day" arrives; the hand of Satan is there urging on his instruments to the final act. Men are blinded, and think to accomplish their own will; they do not see that they are the sport of the devil, and that he is leading them on in warfare against God. It only remains to touch one or two more secret springs in man's heart, and the crime will be perpetrated. The day is well chosen; it is Herod's birthday, whereon his power and sumptuousness are displayed in such a way as to satisfy the pride of life. His lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee surround the king on this occasion. (Mark 6: 21.) The daughter of Herodias comes in, dances, and pleases Herod and those at table with him. The lust of the eyes enters with the damsel, and takes possession of the king, and he promises with an oath, "Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom." (Mark 6: 23.) Incited thereto by her mother, this thoughtless girl, with no conscience, accustomed to see her caprices obeyed, eagerly asks (Mark 6: 25) "straightway" the head of John the Baptist.

Herod is exceeding sorry, but what matter? He is taken in the meshes of Satan. To his heart's secret desire is now added his so-called honour, and the fear of breaking his word before his courtiers. The devil leaves him no time for reflection; he has taken complete possession of his victim, and succeeds in stifling the testimony of God which was opposed to him. The end is attained; the instrument is left to himself and his misery. Of what advantage is his crime to him? Henceforth it will always be his companion. He hears Jesus and His miracles spoken of. "It is John," says he, "whom I beheaded; he is risen from the dead." (Mark 6: 16.) Striking fact, this hardened man, like the Pharisees, believes in the resurrection; but believing a doctrine gives neither satisfaction nor rest of conscience; on the contrary, it is a means of increasing the torment. "He was perplexed." (Luke 9:7.) The desire of getting rid of this vague terror, which had laid hold of him at the thought of finding again the one whom he had put to death, makes him seek to see Jesus (Luke 9: 9), perhaps to kill Him also. (Luke 13: 31.) Anything is better than uncertainty. But the uncertainty remains in spite of all; when at last Herod sees the Saviour, he can neither see His miracles nor hear Him. He meets on earth a silent Christ, whose voice he will not hear until by-and-by when he will see Him as Judge! (Luke 23: 8-10.)

Freed from John the Baptist, Satan succeeds later on in getting rid of Christ by means of other springs in the heart of man. But, blessed be God, Satan, himself deceived, is only an instrument through which God will accomplish His own designs. However, all this wickedness draws forth divine vengeance. The Lord will execute judgment on men, and the God of peace will bruise Satan shortly under our feet. Then also afflicted saints will be at rest, and Christ will be glorified and admired in them, without restriction, in a John the Baptist, and in all those who have believed! H. R.

Simon Peter

Simon Peter.

H. Rossier.

Translated from the French.

Christian Friend vol. 17, 1890, p. 1 etc.

Simon Peter's history is deeply instructive, and portrays, in the main, that of every Christian, from the first step in acquaintance with Christ to the state — alas! so rarely attained or maintained — in which the Holy Ghost can without hindrance show forth His power. During this interval the full energy of grace is unfolded, bringing the soul into the knowledge of Christ and of Christian privileges. We see also the breaking down of soul necessary to enable the believer, after having lost confidence in self, to realize his privileges and follow the Lord in the path marked out by Him.

Peter's history in the word of God divides itself naturally into two parts, one of which we find in the gospels, and the other in the Acts of the Apostles. The first part corresponds with the truths mentioned above; the second — at which, God willing, we shall look later on — is filled (though not without failure on the part of the instrument) with the activity of the Holy Ghost in the ministry of Peter, and with that divine power which sustains him as a witness for Christ amidst obstacles and conflict.

"I am a sinful man."

Luke 5: 1-11.

The way in which Peter comes in contact with the Lord in Luke's gospel is worthy of note.* Simon's wife's mother (Luke 4: 38, 39) was taken with a great fever which rendered her helpless. Jesus heals her and fits her to serve Him. It is often thus that the soul meets Christ for the first time. It comes in contact with Him by means of the blessings bestowed by Him on others. When the moment comes for Him to reveal Himself to our own hearts, we find that He is not altogether a stranger. The Lord uses this preparatory knowledge to shorten the work by which our consciences are awakened to a sense of sin, and our hearts to a sense of grace. In this gospel Simon Peter knew Jesus from having seen Him at work in his house.

*I purposely omit noting what is of interest in Peter's first interview with the Lord in the other gospels. In John's gospel (John 1: 42, 43), for instance, Peter knows Him through the instrumentality of his brother Andrew, who had already found in Him the Christ.

The son of Jonas was a fisherman by trade; he possessed what was requisite for catching fish — a boat and nets. He had used them to obtain what he wanted, and had worked all night for this purpose, but without any result. Thus the natural man employs his faculties, and the means placed at his disposal, to obtain something which will fill and satisfy his heart; but it is in vain, the net remains empty. His labour yields nothing which can answer to the deep need of his soul. The night passes, and the day is about to dawn when even as a fisherman he will no longer be able to labour in pursuit of happiness. Simon and his companions, having taken nothing, quit their boats and wash their nets. They set about washing them, for they had taken up nothing but the mud from the bottom of the sea, and when this is done they will recommence fishing. Is it not thus with a man of the world? His labours to attain a desired end are renewed every day without success.

But when man's powerlessness has been made evident Jesus appears, seemingly otherwise occupied than with Peter. He teaches the multitudes, but in the midst of His ministry His heart is with Simon, and He does not lose sight of him. Entering into one of the ships which was Simon's, He prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. He separates Peter with Himself from the crowd, and thus he hears all the Lord says. Jesus had been no stranger to him previous to this; now he listens to His word, and his position of isolation with Him only contributes to render him the more attentive. Still, from verse 5 we may infer that the conviction of the authority of the Word was all that he retained.

After this we find the Lord more specially occupied with Peter. "Launch out into the deep," said He, "and let down your nets for a draught." Peter had done that all night; but up to this it was by the will of man, now it is at the word of the Lord. Peter believes this word, and submits to it. The first result of God's word is to produce faith, and faith accepts its authority and obeys. The Lord has spoken; that is enough for faith. But Jesus addresses Peter in a yet more powerful way, and shows him in whose presence he is, thus reaching his conscience. He, the Creator who disposes of everything, collects the fishes in broad daylight, when there had been none at night, and fills Peter's nets with them. He fills the human vessels with blessings such as they are unable to contain without breaking, and which surpass the needs of the disciple. His companions arrive with a second ship, which sinks likewise, so abundant are the riches given by the Lord of glory.

Peter sees (v. 8) all this blessing; but it places him for the first time, as he is, in the presence of Him who is its Source and Administrator. Thus it is not only the word of Jesus which strikes him, but Jesus Himself, and the glory of His person. A revolution takes place in his soul. The blessing, instead of producing joy, causes conviction of sin and fear, because it brings him into the presence of the Lord of glory. On the other hand, the sense of his condition, whilst giving him the terrible certainty that Jehovah ought to repulse him, yet casts him at the feet of Jesus as his only resource. Similarly in Psalm 130: 1-4 we see the soul calling for succour from the One whom it has offended. If He marks iniquities it is all over with it; it is lost if the question of sins is not settled. But the God who has been sinned against pardons. God is known in His love.

It is blessed for the sinner to know his real condition, the judgment which is his due, and the holiness of the Lord. "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man." Peter judges himself to be a sinner, and unfit for the presence of God. He trembles before His holiness and righteousness. As yet he only knows half instinctively what grace is, and is ignorant how God can be just in justifying him that believeth in Jesus; but he is at His feet, and he does not flee away, because if there is any hope it is there. As long as he was occupied in washing his nets he knew neither God nor himself; but now he knows both, and it is a remarkable thing that he does not judge what he has done, but what he is. Many souls acknowledge that they have to repent of their guilty acts and judge them, but they have not been brought to see the source of these acts. Underneath the sins there is "a sinful man." The sense of God's presence opens our eyes, shows us what we are, and makes us see that our only refuge is with the One who could condemn us.

Fear had laid hold of Peter, but the Lord never allows fear to exist in His presence. He speaks and banishes the fear, because He is the Lord of grace. He allows everything else to remain — weakening in no wise the effects of the work in the soul — but He removes the fear. "Depart from me." No, the Lord will never depart. He says, "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men" — if I had not met thee to save thee I could not save others by thy instrumentality. He does more than make Simon Peter happy; He bestows a fresh blessing on him, promising him service; so that, instead of remaining a sinner, Peter becomes a servant, able to leave all and follow Jesus.

Peter going to Jesus on the water.

Matthew 14: 22-33.

Jesus had just satisfied the poor in Israel with bread, according to the prophecy in Psalm 132: 15, fulfilling His character of Messiah in the midst of a people who did not receive Him. After having done them good, He had sent away the multitudes, separating Himself in figure from Israel, whom He was about to abandon for a time. Evening being come, the Lord had gone up alone into a mountain apart to pray. Then the night had come for the twelve whom Jesus had constrained to get into a ship. His connection with the people was over, but He had a remnant for Himself who were sailing to the other shore. The disciples were sore troubled, alone during those hours of darkness on the tempestuous sea, when in the fourth watch of the night, towards three o'clock in the morning, the Lord set out to go to them. His coming was the signal for the renewal of His relations with those whom He will again call His people. He came to them on the angry sea amidst difficulties which were nothing to His blessed feet, but which were their pathway for learning to know Him. It is thus that He will make use of "Jacob's trouble." It is a touching scene, and one from which we Christians can draw a moral lesson, though what concerns us more personally is the scene which takes place between Jesus and Peter.

Peter's first act had been to cast himself at Jesus' knees, acknowledging his sinful condition; the second, to set out to meet Him. One cannot insist too strongly on this point.* To go forth to meet the Saviour follows conversion, and precedes service. Peter having as yet only the promise of being made a fisher of men, was already impelled to go to meet Him. He turned to look at the One who descended from the mountain-top, and this was but the beginning of the glorious revelations he was to receive as to the person of Christ. Dear reader, have you gone out to meet Him? If you have not done so since your conversion, you are not yet beyond the knowledge of salvation, and you cannot pretend to the deeper acquaintance with Christ which was Peter's later on, if first of all the Saviour from heaven has not become your object, and filled you with the desire to go to Him.

*We only give here the individual application of this passage, which, properly speaking, completes the general picture in chapter 14, by marking the position of the Church leaving Judaism to go forth to meet Christ, by faith in His word, and the eyes fixed on Him when apparently there was no way.

Peter's knowledge at first is very superficial. "Lord, if it be Thou," he says. But it suffices for the start. Everything depends for him on the identity of the person, and if it be He, His word is sufficient to make Peter quit the ship: "Bid me come unto Thee on the water." It was a serious thing to leave the place of apparent security to walk where there was no way, but, as I said, the word of Christ sufficed him. He knew its power. At His word he had let go the net; at His word he sets forth. It enables him to walk on the water even as it had brought him to know the Saviour. "Bid me come unto Thee." In asking this favour Peter had no thought of making an experiment, or showing off his cleverness in overcoming obstacles; what he wanted was to go to Him. Christ attracted him, and for the moment he thought not of wind or waves. If the natural heart ignores the path which leads to Christ, faith finds a way amidst difficulties of all kinds, in the night as in the storm, and makes use of them to get nearer to the Lord. Faith quits the boat, the only apparent shelter, not esteeming it to be the true place of safety, and, according to a remarkable saying of one of the ancient philosophers, "embarks on a divine word" to reach Jesus, whose presence is worth more to him than getting to the other shore.

We often begin well; the first faith and the first love, the simplicity of a heart filled by an object, sustains us, and then, alas! we allow the eye to be diverted from its object. Satan had sought to trouble the disciples by making them afraid of Jesus (v. 26), but they soon learnt from His lips to be of good cheer. Then the enemy alarms Peter with difficulties. What folly to listen to him; for do not difficulties lead us to Christ? Poor unbelieving creatures that we are! In our trials, as in our needs, the only thing we forget is the very thing we ought not to lose sight of — divine power. In the preceding scene (v. 17) the disciples had not forgotten to count their loaves and fishes, nor to reckon the resources of the villages, but they had not counted on the Lord's presence. Peter also, after having set forth, began to think of the violence of the wind, and to look back on his own strength, forgetting that he had before him a power of attraction stronger than the polar magnet which would infallibly bring him to Jesus. And he begins to sink.

Who has not, like Peter, been on the point of sinking? Have not the Church and individuals shared the same fate? But a cry bursts from the lips of the disciple, "Lord, save me;" not "Depart from me," for the believer knows the Saviour, and that His character is to save. Peter calls for help just as he is on the point of attaining his object, and Jesus has only to stretch forth His hand to draw him to Himself. One moment more of faith, and the disciple would not have sunk. Shall we still doubt, dear readers? We may with regard to many things, but never of Christ. Let us trust Him who is able to save us to the end; for the storm will not cease until the Lord and His own are definitively united.

Personal Acquaintance with Christ.

Matthew 16: 13-23.

Peter had learnt to know the Lord as the One who could meet his needs, as a Saviour for his sins, and for his weakness. Now he had to learn something deeper and more marvellous — what the Lord was in Himself.

It is always so; the believer advances step by step in the knowledge of Christ. Still it was not by his faithfulness that Peter acquired this new blessing, but by the faithfulness of God, who had separated him from men to give him such a revelation. It was the Father, not flesh and blood, who had revealed these things to him. (v. 17.) Introduced by the Father to the centre of blessing, Peter was set in the presence of the living God. He recognized in the Son of man Christ, the object of all the promises, and to whom all the counsels of God were attached, but this Christ was the Son of the living God. He was not only the Man born into the world whom God had declared His Son in saying, "Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee;" but He was the Son of the living God. He possessed a power of life which belonged to God only, and all the fulness of which was found in Christ.

Those from whom Peter had been separated for the reception of this glorious revelation were utterly ignorant of the majesty of Jesus. For them He was only Joseph's son, or, at the most, one of the prophets. They found themselves in the presence of this majesty which was unknown to them; for there must be a revelation from the Father for that. Henceforth Peter knew the Saviour in His personal glory, the source and centre of every blessing; moreover, Simon son of Jonas was pronounced "blessed" by Jesus Himself. Heaven was opened to him, and he possessed happiness with which nothing could compare.*

*I would here remark that this paper does not deal with the way in which Peter laid hold of the things revealed to him, but of the scope of these revelations. In reality Peter and his companions only understood and enjoyed these things after the gift of the Holy Spirit.

But the Father could not reveal the personal glory of His Son to Simon without the Son revealing how this glory was connected with the individual and collective blessing of the redeemed. "And I say also unto thee." Christ also made known to him what flowed from His character as Son of the living God.

First, "Thou art Peter;" as the Father has revealed My name to thee, I will make known to thee thine own. Individually and collectively (i.e., together with all believers) thou hast a place in the edifice which is to be founded on this revelation.

Secondly, the foundation of this edifice being henceforth known (it was to be laid later in the declaration of the Son of God with power, fruit of the resurrection from amongst the dead), the Lord declares that He will build on Himself this Church of which Peter is a living stone. "I will build My Church." It was to be the Church of Christ, to belong to Him, the object of His interest and affection. For us it is an accomplished fact; the Church exists and belongs to Him.

And you, dear readers, do you share in some measure the interest and the thoughts of Christ for His Church? There are, thank God, Christian hearts which enter into them, if feebly, and which, in spite of its ruin, are capable of comprehending its beauty, because they see it as the Saviour sees it, and estimate it at the price with which He acquired it, saying, as the Spirit of old said of Israel, "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither seen perverseness in Israel."

This foundation, a Christ risen and exalted in heaven, gives to the Church a heavenly character. Built, without doubt, on earth, her foundation is in heaven, beyond the gates of hades. She is there already. The power of death, destroyed by a risen Christ who holds the keys of death and of hades, cannot and never shall prevail against her.

Thirdly, in virtue of this declaration, a new dispensation was to be inaugurated. Israel was to be replaced by the kingdom of heaven, of which Peter was to have the keys; he was to be called to introduce Jews and Gentiles into a new sphere of blessing on earth. In virtue of the revelation of the Son of the living God, there was to be, in this world, a ground on which there would be a profession of belonging to Him. Peter was to be, as we shall see in the Acts, the instrument for the introduction into this blessed profession. He would have, so to speak, the external and internal administration of the kingdom, the keys, and the power to bind and loose. Personal acquaintance with Christ opens Peter's eyes to every circle of blessing; he is placed in the centre of blessing, which is Christ, to contemplate the immense domain depending on it. Israel's connection with an earthly Messiah was over. (v. 20.) Later on this relationship will be renewed, but from this moment the Lord revealed to His disciples a total change in their hopes and position, which from being earthly were to become heavenly.

What glorious truths and precious privileges were contained in the revelation made to Peter! But here we find a new and unexpected revelation; these privileges are consequent on the death of Christ, which acquired them for us; and in order to have them, we must accept the cross. "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples, how that He must . . . suffer many things . . . and be killed, and be raised again the third day." (v. 21.) Peter could not accept the fact that Christ must needs undergo such reproach. Could He not accomplish His glorious ends without dying? The disciple took his Master aside, and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee." There was natural affection for Christ in this speech, but it also showed that Peter had not understood or appreciated the revelation imparted to him, and which is only ours at this price. More than this, his words denoted that he would not have such a degradation either for a Christ who promised him such advantages, or for himself who with the twelve formed the retinue of the Messiah.

But if in some measure we perceive the human motives which actuated Peter in rebuking Jesus, he did not suspect that Satan was making use of him to endeavour to put a stumbling-block in Christ's pathway. Satan's most dangerous instruments are believers who, possessing the truth, and perhaps enjoying it, yet fear the reproach and enmity of the world.

To shun the cross is to deny Christianity, and it is the tendency of all our hearts naturally. Our intercourse with the world proves it only too well. It tolerates us when we venture to speak of future events, or of those truths which do not touch the very sources of Christianity; but if we speak of the cross, and the blood of Christ, it despises us. We do not like that, for we want to escape reproach, and so we deserve the Lord's severe rebuke.

What a humiliation for Peter to fall from the height of such revelations, to be convicted of playing the part of the enemy towards Christ! He, who had confessed the Son of the living God, who was a future living stone of the Church, who was invested with the authority of the kingdom, had to hear it said to him by the Master whom he loved, "Get thee behind Me, Satan."

But what folly too it was to come and rebuke the Son of the living God, and suggest to Him what He had to do. Ah! Peter little knew himself or Him whom the Father had just revealed to him.

The whole of this account unveils what the flesh is in the believer, seen in its best light, and with its best intentions. It shrinks from reproach, it is an offence to Christ, and Satan can be identified with it. After having been brought into the presence of the living God, Peter learns that his natural thoughts are not on the things of God, but on those of men. This word says all; the things of men are those over which Satan has the upper hand. Man and Satan are in perfect unison.

"Come after me;'

Matthew 16: 24-28.

The disciples are here called to come after Christ. In order to come after Him there must be the two things which we have had in the preceding chapter — personal acquaintance with Christ, and the knowledge of the cross. Peter had received the first, and he shunned the second. But the cross alone removes every hindrance to following Christ. It is our starting-point, our first step in the Christian pathway; for the believer cannot take a single step unless he starts from the foot of the cross. This upsets all our natural thoughts, all the religious teaching of the day, which amounts to this: Take the first step towards Christ, give up your sins, consecrate yourself to God, and His grace will help you. God never framed such language, as the outset of Peter's history proves. Scripture teaches us that God has taken the first step towards man, and that this first step led the Saviour to the cross, by which alone man can begin to be pleasing to Him.

Such then is our starting-point for following Him. Let us see under what conditions we can walk in this path. "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself." Most Christians translate the words thus, "We must give up certain sins and lusts." The Word tells us we must deny ourselves. This we can only do in the power of the new man, for the old man cannot put off itself. There must be a new man in order to be able to put off the old, and say, "I am crucified with Christ; and I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." The flesh has no more rights or place for the new man; he reckons himself dead. The consequence is that only the Christian can give up all. What are fleshly habits and lusts to the new man? For remark, it is no question of making an effort over oneself to get rid of one's chains. What delivers us is the knowledge of a judgment passed on us at the cross, and of the new place of a man in Christ. The struggle between the two natures follows. To deny oneself is to do what Christ has done, only to us in a different way; for in Him there was no old man to judge. He walked in the absolute power of the new man; for He was, like the heifer, without spot, upon which never came yoke. (Numbers 19.) But Christ as man had a perfect will. He gave it up entirely. He said, "Not My will, but Thine be done." Christ had rights, and He gave them up. He had all power, and He was crucified in weakness. Having entered the scene surrendering Himself, He left it with the same absolute surrender, consummated in the gift of His own life.

"And take up his cross." This is the consequence of self-surrender. He who has completely given up self would find no attraction in what the world offers him, but rather a subject of grief. Christ met temptations, not with indifference, but in suffering. "He hath suffered, being tempted." Thousands of Christians think they are bearing their cross when they are tried, or when the hand of God presses on them in discipline. This is not the cross. Notice the words, "Take up his cross." It is not receiving afflictions from God's hand, but taking up of one's own will - willingly, I might say  -  the burden of suffering that the world offers. This burden is the more real and heavy, inasmuch as in following Christ we walk more in the power of the new man, who, having no link down here, finds nothing in the world but enmity against the Saviour, and against that which is born of God.

"And follow Me." Following is consequent on the two preceding conditions. To follow Him is to imitate Him. To imitate Him is to form our acts and thoughts by Him.

These three things are necessary to coming after Him. Where is the power to realize them? Peter deluded himself as to this in Luke 22: 33. He thought that this power lay in his good intentions and resolutions, in his love for the Saviour. How many Christians think the same. They would readily say, "Lord, I am ready to go with Thee, both into prison, and to death." But this power is not of man (we shall take up this subject later on); it is essentially connected with two things, the gift of the Holy Ghost — the power from on high for our walk, and the loss of all confidence in the flesh. Simon Peter learnt with Satan, by a fall, to mistrust himself; Paul with God by acquaintance with Christ in glory. When Peter is thoroughly broken, the Lord says to him definitely, "Follow Me." (John 21: 19.) And the disciple, following Jesus, sets forth, through death, to reach Christ in glory.

Brethren, let us follow Him to the end. We shall have the present blessed reward of learning here below to know Him in glory, as we shall see in chapter 17 of our gospel.

Beholding Christ in Glory.

Matthew 17: 1-8; Luke 9: 28-34; 2 Peter 1: 16-19.

We have reached a new event in the spiritual life of Peter. Having learnt that blessing could only be acquired by the death and resurrection of Christ, he and his two companions were privileged to behold from this earth the Lord Jesus coming in glory. They were favoured to see where the painful pathway closes which begins at the cross, and to enjoy the vision. It left a deep impression on Peter's spirit, and later on he learnt its full meaning. In chapter 1 of his second epistle, after placing before the saints the conditions of entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, remembering the transfiguration, he explains to them in what the kingdom consists: "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount." (2 Peter 1: 16-18.)

All the truths which referred to the kingdom were summed up in the Person of Christ. It was His power and coming; His majesty was seen; honour and glory were given to Him there by God the Father from the heart of the excellent glory. It was above all Christ who filled the scene of the transfiguration. The disciples had to learn here below who this Christ was who had been speaking to them of His humiliation and cross. Peter needed to know Him, not only as Son of the living God, dispenser of all heavenly blessings to His own, but as a man declared the beloved Son of the Father in glory. He had to behold Him as the centre of this glory, a Man from whom not only every blessing flowed, as in Matthew 16, but to whom all honour and glory were given as the unique Object of earth and heaven. A supreme voice sounded in his ears which declared that all the affections and thoughts of God were centred on this Man. Outside Him there remained nothing. When the voice had said, "Hear Him," they saw no man save Jesus only; and if He had been taken from them, heaven itself would have lost for them its chief blessedness.

The second truth revealed to Peter on the mount was, that men, subject to the same infirmities as we are, were associated with the Son of man in His glory. It was a remarkable fact that Moses and Elias each failed in their responsibility, and were cut off without having pursued to its close the path of faith. The blessing belonging to it was taken from them; at any rate, it was for Elias in his prophetic office. (1 Kings 19: 16.) It was worthy of note that these two men were very great, for they represented the law and the prophets in the eyes of the disciples. However, Moses struck the rock twice, forgetting to sanctify the Lord in the midst of the people; and he had to die on Mount Nebo within sight of the promised land. Elijah lay down under a juniper-tree, requesting to die; and then pleaded against Israel before God, and had to deliver up his office of prophet, anointing another in his room. What marvellous grace which sets them nevertheless in the same glory as Jesus — glory due to Christ, and conferred on His own in virtue of His work! Moses and Elias do not adore here; they talk with Him; a sign of perfect intimacy. The subject of their discourse was His death. The glory is the result of His death, and His death is the subject of their intercourse in glory.

In the third place, Peter had on the holy mount a complete vision of all that constitutes the kingdom — a glorious Christ, saints raised or changed, appearing with Him in glory; earthly saints associated in this blessed scene, all well-known prophetic truths, which I merely touch in passing, and of which the apostle could say, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts." (2 Peter 1: 19.)

The Father's House.

Luke 9: 34-36.

We have seen the disciples permitted to enjoy the glory of Christ before the moment of His manifestation. They did not then understand the bearing of the scene which later on served to support their apostolic authority. Not having been called to behold it from this point of view, we only know it on their testimony; but we also are in present possession of a scene of glory, for it is said, "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. 3: 18.)

However, the holy mount is not only the scene of the future vision, or the present contemplation of the glory, but it gives the disciples a near portion with Christ. Peter, who a few days previously had incurred the Lord's displeasure, is brought by grace with his companions where man had never before entered. A cloud overshadowed the disciples, and they entered into it with Jesus. For a Jew it was a terrible thing. How could they do anything but fear to penetrate into the cloud which was the sign of Jehovah's presence? How not tremble at the remembrance that even the high priest, in order that he might not die when he went into the sanctuary of God, had to envelop himself with a cloud of incense? But the disciples might be reassured; the cloud was no longer for them the abode of Israel's Jehovah, but the Father's house. The presence of Christ with them in the cloud was the means of revealing to them the name of Him who dwelt therein. They became companions not only of the Son of man in His glory, like Moses and Elias, but of the Son in the Father's house. To dwell in the glory is indeed a future blessing which not even one of the saints fallen asleep has yet attained; to dwell in the Father's house is a present as well as a future portion. If I can say in speaking of the future, "I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever" (Psalm 23: 6), I can just as well cry in speaking of the present, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, 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 enquire in His temple." (Psalm 27: 4.) The prodigal son was brought into the Father's house when he was converted; clad in the best robe, and standing in the dignity of a son, he was there given to share in all the Father's possessions, and in the joy which He had in communicating them to him. This house is the secret abode of communion. Many things attracted the gaze of the disciples at the transfiguration; the face of Christ shining as the sun; His raiment white as the light; Moses and Elias, two celebrated men, appearing in glory. There was none of this in the cloud. Like Paul, caught up into paradise, the disciples saw nothing, for Moses and Elias disappeared; but it was in order that the disciples might give undivided attention to a word in which all the mind of God is summed up.

Peter forgot the pre-eminence of Christ as long as he saw Moses and Elias. He said, "Let us make three tabernacles." He wanted to put the law and the prophets on a level with Christ by associating them with Him; and there are many Christians who unconsciously do the same. Poor Peter! How unworthy he showed himself of the vision! His language, his sleep, and his fear, betrayed the state of his soul, and the more the perfection of Jesus shone out, the more Peter's imperfections were multiplied. We find it so at every turn, until he has fully judged himself. The Spirit gives him power, the flesh deprives him of it; the Spirit enlightens his understanding, the flesh shows its ignorance, above all, concerning the cross; the Spirit directs his gaze to the glory of the kingdom, the flesh lowers this glory to the level of failing man. The same thing comes out in the scene of the tribute money, at the supper, in Gethsemane, and in the court of the high priest, until Peter learns what the flesh is, and receives power from on high.

The excellent glory, far from repelling the disciples, attracted them to Christ, and set them at His feet as disciples, saying to them, "Hear Him." Thus Peter, with the rest, was brought to enjoy the thoughts of the Father towards the Son of His love, and the Father's house was the scene of this revelation. The disciples, as we have said, heard one word, the brief expression of what the presence of the Son called forth from the Father's lips, but it is a word which lets us into the secret of His heart: "This is My beloved Son: hear Him."

Such is our present blessing. We have been allowed to share the secret of the Father. He has brought us now into intimacy with Him which cannot be exceeded even in the eternal state, although, of course, it will be more perfectly enjoyed. We shall there see all the display of Christ's glory, and we shall be seen in this glory; but now we are the depositaries of the Father's thoughts revealing the Son, the Father revealed by the Son. "When the voice was past, Jesus was found alone." As we listen to this voice we shall learn more and more what the Father is to Him and to us.

Relationship with the Son.

Matthew 17: 24-27.

Peter had seen on the mount men associated with Christ in the kingdom glory; then, entering into the cloud, he had been permitted to hear the expression of the Father's delight in His beloved Son. Here in the scene of the tribute money the Lord associates Peter with Himself, not in future glory, nor in present heavenly enjoyment, but down here on the earth as a son of God, walking in the consciousness of his dignity as a son.

When the Lord showed to the disciples His companions in glory there came a moment when they disappeared, making room for Jesus only, so that the glory of Christ, more excellent than that of Moses, might be recognized as pre-eminent; but when the Lord associates Peter with Himself as son He sets him and keeps him in the same relationship as Himself to the Father. Three sentences give expression to this blessed relationship: "Then are the children free;" "Lest we should offend them;" and, "Give unto them for Me and thee."

How little we realize and appreciate this. To be a son of God, in the same relationship to Him as Jesus is as Man, would be incredible and impossible were it not affirmed to us by God. At the same time let us hasten to add that Christ is Son of God under two aspects. As the only begotten Son in the bosom of the Father He has a relationship which is not and never will be ours; but as Man He is called Son of God (Ps. 2; Luke 1: 35), and sets us in this relationship, with this difference only between Him and us, that it belongs to Him in virtue of His personal dignity and worth (when Jesus comes into the world God greets Him with these words, "Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee"), while we are sons solely in virtue of His work. But it is marvellous to think that our relationship is absolutely the same as His. "My Father, and your Father; My God, and your God." "Ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." (Compare Mark 14: 36.) "Heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ."

But, alas! here as elsewhere poor Peter's wretched heart is laid bare. When he said, "Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee." his thoughts were human; that is to say, Satanic. As if Jesus could have contemplated self-preservation. On the mount Peter did not know what he said. (Luke 9: 33.) It was ignorance, seeking to make a present out of a future scene. One might compare Peter's words, "It is good for us to be here," with those of Christians in our day who look for the reign of Christ on earth by the gospel during the present economy. Besides, in his ignorance he brought in another authority alongside of Christ; and, as I have already stated, it was like multitudes of Christians who mix law and grace — grace being what saves us, and the law our rule of life. Peter's earthly thoughts were an offence to Christ, and He rebuked him severely; but on the mount God in grace meets his ignorance (what condescension!) by setting Christ before him as the only One to whom he should listen.

In the scene of the tribute money we find Peter anxious to claim for his Master the character of a zealous Jew. This is somewhat similar to the attempt often made nowadays of accommodating Christ to the religion of a world which has rejected Him, in order that He may be accepted, acknowledged, and honoured. Peter did not wish Jesus to be treated as a stranger in the official system, nor that He should seem to separate Himself from it. The Lord showed him that He walked before God, and not before a system. If Christ was thenceforth a stranger to the Jewish system, it was that the latter was estranged from God; whereas Jesus was a Son before God. More than this, the Lord of the temple ought not to pay tribute for the temple. He the Creator, who had all power over creation, could not be compared to the creature. He to whom even a fish from the depths of the sea brought tribute ought not to pay tribute.

When man is delivered over to himself how miserable are his best thoughts concerning Christ. Thus the Lord in His communications is never able to recognize Peter's intelligence, except in the case where he received a direct revelation from the Father which flesh and blood could not have taught him. But, as we have said, the folly of the disciple is met by grace. The Sovereign accepts this position of humiliation which was not His by right so as not to offend them. He does not combat a system abandoned by God, though not yet judged. He who was already in reality rejected would not offend those who had rejected Him. Though a Son, He yet accepts the place of dependence given Him. Moreover, He will not, by refusing to pay tribute, humiliate and belie His poor disciple before the world. What condescension!

He does more than this. In His answer He reveals to Peter his association with Christ as Son of the sovereign God. On the mount the disciples had received the revelation of the Father concerning the Son; here Jesus reveals to Peter a marvellous family relationship. They are both sons of God; but Peter is a son only in virtue of the fact that Christ humbled Himself to save us. Such blessings are present ones. On the mount three poor fishermen, sunk in fear, sleep, and ignorance, were called to enter into the Father's house to hear His expression of delight in His Son; here at Capernaum we see a poor, weak disciple whose human zeal to honour Christ has the effect of lowering Him, called as he was to walk with Him always in humility, yet also in the consciousness of the dignity of a son of God.

Washing of the Feet and Communion.

John 13.

A fresh aspect of the character of Christ and His work is revealed to Peter at the supper — His service in connection with communion. On the holy mount Peter had been brought into the actual scene of this communion, and had heard the Father's expression of delight in His Son; but he had to learn what was necessary in order to enjoy this communion, or maintain it, or be restored to it if lost. We may, like the disciple in Matthew 17, enjoy some measure of intercourse with God, without real communion with Him. Communion is being in thought and heart one with the, Father, and with the Son. The Lord explains it in our chapter when He says to Peter, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me." (v. 8.) Have we part with Christ unreservedly in His estimate of things, His thoughts and affections? Have we God's judgment concerning man, the world, sin? Have we His thoughts as to the work of Christ, and the value of His blood? Have we the same affections as the Son for the Father, and the Father for the Son — common enjoyment with God as to the perfection of Christ, common thoughts with the Son concerning the Father to glorify Him, to please Him, to do His will, to trust in Him, to enjoy to the full His presence?*

*It may be added that "part with Christ" is in the new place on which He was entering — a place, too, made for believers through redemption. — Ed.

Alas! when it comes to realizing these things we are indeed forced to own that we know but little of such communion; for in reality the moments spent in heavenly communion are, as it were, submerged in the rest of our Christian life. And yet there is nothing to hinder its being continual; for we have the eternal life which brings us into it. (1 John 1.) But if our communion is so feeble, let us not be content with our measure of it, and, on the other hand, let us not be discouraged. God has made provision for all our failures and short-comings in the advocacy of Christ, and by washing of the feet, which is the counterpart.

The basis of this service is the love which has been manifested once, but not exhausted, at the cross; for it remains, and will remain, the same to the end. "Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." (John 13: 1.) It was not enough for the Lord to save us; His love would purify us from all defilement; and it is for this that He takes the place of a servant. Nothing can stop or hinder this service for His own. He girds Himself to wash the disciples' feet at the very moment of Judas' betrayal of Him. (John 13: 2.) The possession of all things, His own dignity as coming from God and going to God, do not deter Him either from this service; on the contrary, He makes use of His power, in humbling Himself to serve His beloved ones. Such is His love manifested in the washing of the feet.

The priesthood of Christ itself has many functions. Not to speak of its necessity for making propitiation (Heb. 2: 17), we see it in exercise for the succour of those who are tempted (Heb. 2: 18), and to enable us to draw nigh to the throne of grace. (Heb. 4: 16.) We see it in activity for us that we may have part with the Lord where He is, and recover communion when we have lost it through sin. This is advocacy properly speaking. (1 John 2 and John 13.) Exercised in our favour advocacy has two sides — the Father's and ours. Christ intercedes for us with the Father, and He brings us succour from Him when we have soiled our feet on the pathway.*

*It may be doubted if the distinction between priesthood and advocacy is here sufficiently observed; and whether the object of feet-washing is, as in the next sentence, "to help us." It surely is restoration to communion, if defilement is contracted through sin. — Ed.

In connection with communion we find in this chapter the Advocate coming in to help us; but when Jesus says later on to Peter, "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" (Luke 22: 32), it is advocacy in exercise with the Father for the disciple's restoration. Here we see the Lord placing us in contact with the Word (the water of purification), which He applies Himself by the Spirit to our consciences and our walk, in order to give us, not a future, but a present part with Him. "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me." This is what we see with many blessed details in the type of the red heifer. (Num. 19.)*

*See the paper on "The Red Heifer," Christian Friend, 1888.

But Peter as yet understood nothing of Christ's service so presented to him, and was unable to enter into what would thereby have been his part. Two things were lacking, expressed in these two words: "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter" (v. 7); and, "Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow Me afterwards." (v. 36.) These two things were knowledge and power.

Peter had real affection for the Lord; but this affection could not preserve him from the gravest of falls. He lacked what was indispensable — knowledge — as was proved in the hitherto most striking acts of his life. When he said (Matthew 16: 22), "Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee," it was his affection which spoke; and yet at this very moment Peter was a Satan, who, for want of knowing the heart of Christ, dared to think that the God of love would consent to save Himself. When on the mount' he said, "Let us make here three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias," it was again his affection for Jesus; but the knowledge of the glory of His person was totally lacking, although with his eyes he beheld the manifestation of it. He put divine grace on a level with the "law" which "came by Moses" to condemn, and prophecy which announced judgment. In the scene of the tribute money, Peter's "Yes," in answer to the question, "Doth not your Master pay?" denotes once more affection for his Master, whom he thought to honour in the presence of his compatriots, but without the least knowledge of the dignity of Him who was God, Creator, Lord of the temple, Son of the Sovereign on His throne. In one sense knowledge precedes affection; for in reality it is no other than the apprehension by the Holy Spirit of the work, the love, and the person of Christ. It follows it too, for affection for Christ is the best way of growing in His acquaintance. In the chapter before us, Peter's words, "Thou shalt never wash my feet," denote again his affection, joined to a sense of the dignity of Christ, but also ignorance of the Saviour's love, which found its satisfaction in devoted service. Then, when the Lord says to him, " If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me," he asks to have not only his feet washed, but also his hands and his head. Truly this was affection for Christ, for he esteemed it most precious to have part with Him; but this affection was accompanied by complete ignorance of the work which had already accomplished purification once for all.

*I say "accomplished" because from John 13 to the end of 17 the Lord is seen as if on the other side of the cross, His hour being come to depart out of this world to the Father.

The secret of our intercourse with our brethren is also found in this knowledge of the work and the love of Christ. As the Lord had loved them (v. 34), the disciples were to love one another; as He had washed their feet, they were to wash one another's feet. (v. 14.) And here let us observe in passing, that when we are in need ourselves of feet washing in order to be restored, it is not the moment for us to attempt to wash our brethren's feet. The man himself must be clean who would sprinkle the water of purification on one who had been defiled by a dead body. (Numbers 19.) If we lack vigilance in our walk, we lose not only the communion consequent upon it, but the great privilege of intercessional service towards others.

As we said before, the second thing which Peter lacked was power. Humanly speaking, he was characterized by an energy which led him to face difficulties, but which, being energy of the flesh, did not enable him to overcome them. "I will follow Thee." "I will lay down my life for Thee." "I will not forsake Thee." Such is his usual language. It was always affection, but without divine power, and an affection which did not hinder the disciple from denying his Master. What was lacking was the power of the Spirit, which is exactly contrary to that of the flesh, and which is only displayed in the measure in which the flesh is judged. For its full manifestation there must be the sense of utter powerlessness.

Peter could not have either this knowledge or power previous to the death and resurrection of Christ, or before the gift of the Holy Spirit; but what he had to pass through when he was not yet in possession of these two things was profitable to him, and is, and will be so, to others. In the Acts of the Apostles Peter's career completely changes. Knowledge of Christ, power, self-forgetfulness, blessed service for others, are met with at every step. Old things are passed away, and we have the new career of a new man.

Peter enters into Temptation.

Luke 22: 31-62.

Peter had learnt (John 13) what was necessary in order to have communion with the Lord. Recalling the blessings which had been unfolded to him since the beginning of his career, it would seem as if the circle were complete, and there remained nothing more to learn. But there was one thing without which all these blessings would be of no effect — the knowledge of and judgment of the flesh, and of its absolute incapacity before God; and this we have in Luke 22: 31. Satan had desired to have the poor disciples that he might sift them as wheat. As in Job's case, the enemy had presented himself before God to accuse them. Availing himself of the moment favourable to his designs, when the Lord would be taken away from them, and they would be externally unprotected, he had asked to put them into the sieve, in the certainty that nothing would remain which God could accept. In this way he thought to wrest them from Christ, but he was mistaken. No doubt nothing of man would remain in the sieve; but what God had wrought in the disciples must remain. In his enmity Satan forgot that if he had all power over the flesh, he had none with regard to God and what came from Him. God granted his request because He had purposes of grace and love towards Peter and the disciples, as He had of old towards Job. Peter was to be left in the enemy's hands that he might learn himself. Such dealing was needful for his blessing.

It was otherwise with Saul of Tarsus, who during his first interview with Christ on the way to Damascus learnt what the flesh was. However painful it was, he had the happiness of learning it with God, and had not to come back again to it. From the first he could say, "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing;" and also, We who "have no confidence in the flesh." Until he met Christ, his natural character in its full development had been plainly manifested in its fruits. Circumstances had proved that his flesh was animated without cause or reason by the most terrible enmity against Christ that it was possible to see. His conscience — and he had a great deal, for he said, "I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth"had constituted him an implacable enemy of Jesus. Peter, as we have often said, had a sincere love for the Lord. If there were anything capable of hindering the flesh from acting, and of keeping him, it was that. Yet his love for Christ only produced self-confidence. Even with Paul, who had learnt his lesson, the flesh sought later on to make communion wit God a means of his being puffed up, and he needed an angel of Satan to keep him from falling; just as Peter needed a fall and Satan's sieve to open his eyes.

But if the enemy had displayed his activity, Christ had been at work before him, and had anticipated the moment of the sifting. "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" (v. 32.) He had interceded for Peter even before anything had passed in his conscience. The first priestly act, that which regards God, had taken place unknown to Peter, and in view of his fall, which had not yet occurred. The second act came after the fall, when "the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter" (v. 61), and reached his conscience. One look from Christ was the starting-point of all the blessings which followed, recalling his heart to the love which had been in exercise to prevent his falling; and assuring him that this love, inexhaustible in its supply, was not changed by his unfaithfulness, and at length, reaching his conscience, caused him to shed bitter tears of repentance in presence of such grace.

Then only, when truly restored, would Peter be able to strengthen his brethren (v. 32), and to deal with the hearts and consciences of others. Ministry can only be exercised in self-judgment. All that Peter had previously learnt could not have qualified him to be used in blessing to others. What fitted him for this was the knowledge of grace, starting with what he had had to pass through as to his own utter unworthiness.

The Lord now (v. 33) allowed Peter's self-confidence to be plainly manifested. "Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death." "I am ready." This was the flesh, ready to face everything. The flesh even when warned is always self-confident. If it had had even one atom of strength, the Lord's solemn warning should have hindered it from falling. But now the moment came when Peter, left to his own resources (vv. 35-38), accompanied the Lord to Gethsemane, and the Master was left alone. Not one of His disciples could watch one hour with Him. "Watch and pray," said He, "that ye enter not into temptation." (Matt. 26: 41.) "Watch and pray," that was what Jesus did. If Peter had listened (he slept in presence of temptation as he had done in presence of the glory) he would have been on his guard against the temptation, and in dependence on God, and he would not have entered into it. To enter into temptation as a man in the flesh was to succumb to it. Christ alone could enter into it and come out divinely victorious, obtaining the victory in dependence. He could have used His power to deliver Himself. At the sight of Him His enemies went backward and fell to the ground. He could have asked for legions of angels; but He submits, endures the treachery of Judas, yields all His rights (and what rights!) into the hands of men, as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, without a protestation or murmur. Peter did not watch or pray. He entered into temptation, and succumbed at once. He drew the sword with impatience to defend himself, and shed blood instead of accompanying the Saviour to be struck like Him. He followed afar off, and entered into the high priest's court. The flesh could take him thus far, but then all its strength came to nought at the word of a servant.

The Sepulchre.

John 20: 1-18.

Some women and the beloved disciple had been present during the last scene at the cross. Before bowing His head and yielding up His spirit, the Lord had uttered the words, "It is finished," which conveyed an infinite scope of blessing to the hearts of the disciples, who were thus assured that divine love had taken pity on their state, and had provided for it at all cost. It is finished. Such a work left nothing more to be done. The cross could no longer hold its victim. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were God's chosen instruments for giving the Saviour a place with the rich in His death, and the passage preceding that which we have now read takes us up to that moment.

It was not indeed all, to know a love which had brought the Lord down to death for them; there remained a capital point to be learnt. What did the sepulchre contain? What had death done with the Saviour? or else, What had the Saviour done with death? If the grave had held Him, His work was vain, and not one of those for whom He had given Himself was acquitted or justified. Mary found the sepulchre open. Peter and John ascertained that it was empty. Peter went in and saw. The attributes of death were there, testifying by their presence that death had been unable to hold its prey, and that, without struggle or conflict, the victory over it had been peaceful. The napkin was wrapped together in a place by itself, as one does with a garment when preparing to go out. The "It is finished" was proved. The love which had undertaken the work had completed it; and the disciples, who as yet knew not the Scripture, were convinced by the testimony of their eyes. They believed, and went away again unto their own home with the knowledge of a work thenceforth completed.*

*Peter seems to have been less convinced than John. (Luke 24: 12.)

This was a great step no doubt, but, shame be to these two disciples, it was little in comparison to what a poor, ignorant woman found at the sepulchre. Mary Magdalene —  witness in person of the love of Christ who had delivered her from the seven devils — loved the Lord with an affection which sprang from the greatness of His love, and which far exceeded her intelligence. Happy woman after all; for while the intelligence of Peter and John could be engaged and satisfied with a work, Mary's affection could not be; she needed more, she wanted the Person who was her object. Peter who had gone into the sepulchre had seen only the linen clothes and the napkin; Mary seeking a Person, as she wept stooped down into the sepulchre and saw the angels. The linen clothes had sufficed for the disciples, but the angels were not enough for Mary. Even in their presence, and without awaiting their answer, she turned back; for she wants her Lord. At first her utter ignorance of the things that were to come to pass hindered her from recognizing Him; but Jesus said to her, "Mary" — one single word, "Mary."

Was it surprising that there should be a link of affection from Mary to Jesus, that the Saviour in the perfection of His person should win all the thoughts and love of a failing, ignorant creature, and above all when she had been the object of such goodness and such a deliverance? But that there should be a link of affection from Jesus to Mary — that was the wonderful thing. Amongst thousands of thousands He knew her by name as His sheep. He remembered the most wretched. She said unto Him, "Master." He replies, not, "Go to my servants," but, "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." Mary's affection clinging to Christ received a revelation greater than all those which Peter had had up to this. Love which is set on His person becomes the depositary of further knowledge. Knowing only His work the disciples had gone away again to their own home; Mary Magdalene with love which clung to His person had learnt at the Saviour's feet the most glorious results of His sacrifice. This is why Peter and John are so in the shade in this scene; a weak woman in all the modesty of her position outstrips them. Their feet were swift, no doubt, to lead them to the sepulchre. Mary was the first to know the path which leads straight to the Father, and, retracing her steps with this marvellous revelation, to carry the message to the disciples. H. R.

Service and Food.

John 21: 1-14.

We have in this passage some instruction with regard to the service and food of the Lord's servants, which we will examine in detail.

After Peter's many experiences, it would seem as if he were henceforth qualified for service. He went forth, followed by six other disciples, to fish in the Sea of Tiberias. What characterized this undertaking was that Peter took the initiative himself of setting to work to obtain the results of his labour. It was in vain, and the night waned before he and his companions had seen their efforts crowned with any success. Peter employed the same means as on a corresponding occasion, previous to his conversion. How often when God entrusts us with active service we set about it like men in the flesh, and our work is barren. It is important to understand that in ministry, all, absolutely all, must be of God, and nothing of man.

The scene changed as soon as Jesus stood on the shore; His presence ushered in the dawn of a day of blessing. His presence was what was most needed. As long as they had toiled without Him, their efforts were fruitless. It was daybreak when this scene took place. There is a special moment determined of God for service, and the disciples, unmindful of it, had lost their time during the whole night. They found the fish the right side of the ship, in a special place only known to Jesus, and Peter had to trust to this knowledge before, his activity could be crowned with success. The disciples cast their net at His word, having nothing else to depend on, and they captured one hundred and fifty-three great fishes; their fishing in this place closed with a number determined and known only by the Lord. From this moment they had something else to do; they brought the result of their labour to Jesus. (v. 10.) They did not fish for themselves or for others, but for the Lord alone.

Oh that our hearts, dear servants of Christ, might all learn this lesson! When, where, with whom, by whom, and for whom, are we working? Does our life consist in one long night of human activity directed by the will of man? or is it like an aurora illuminated by the Lord's presence? and do we see our nets filled because we work in dependence on Him?

As to the food, Jesus stood on the shore and said, "Children, have ye any meat? They answered Him, No." Doubtless they thought that this stranger, whom they had not yet recognised, was in need of food. But the question forced them to avow that until now all their labour had given nothing to Christ. Then came the words, "Cast the net" It was as if He said to them, "If you would give me something, you must receive it from me." From that moment John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, could no longer be mistaken; for to him the Lord was One who gave, and to whom nothing was given.

Here another point comes out; the disciples themselves had nothing to eat. Labour does not feed, it causes hunger. Even fruitful labour, a miraculous catch of fish, left the disciples a prey to hunger. How many souls there are in the present day of activity who remain barren, in spite of their work, because they delude themselves as to the profit accruing to their spiritual life from their activity! It was not on the sea amidst all the surrounding effort and agitation, but on the shore where all was still, that the disciples heard the Lord saying unto them, "Come and dine." The meal was not prepared with fish taken from their net, but provided by the Lord Himself, who distributed it to them. They fed on the result of Christ's work, what He alone had done for them.*

*I do not mean this in any way as a typical explanation of this scene. Others have entered upon it in this way, and I can only refer the reader to their writings.

May it be so with us, beloved. When we have brought the result of our service to the Lord that He may do as He thinks best with it, let us sit down, invited by Him to feed on Him in the retirement of the shore. Let us return not only for others, but above all for ourselves, to the holy Word which reveals Christ. Having eaten, Peter was led on a step farther in his service, and enabled to feed the lambs and sheep of the Lord.

The Soul Restored.

John 21: 15-19.

Having fed and satisfied all His disciples, testifying thus to a love which made no distinction between them, the Lord took Peter apart with Himself, and asked him, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?" Peter loved the Lord. Now, there was a disciple who loved Him, I do not say more, but better than Peter. Whilst the latter was occupied in His service, John was occupied with the Lord. He never calls himself the disciple who loved Jesus, but the disciple "whom Jesus loved." What seemed wonderful to him to record was that Jesus should love such an one as he, and he does not weary of repeating it.

Jonathan loved David as his own soul, and yet did not sacrifice his position for him. Abigail's love, which more resembled that of John, was but the sense of its being possible for her to be loved by such a man, she who was but "a servant to wash the feet of the servants of her lord."

John, like Mary Magdalene, was occupied with the person and the love of Christ; therefore he was prompt in recognising Jesus, and did not, like Peter, need some one to tell him, "It is the Lord." Peter, with all the impetuosity of his nature, cast himself into the sea to get to Jesus and show his affection. John is satisfied to be the object of Jesus' love.

"Lovest thou me more than these?" Peter had said that he loved Him more, and yet had denied Him. The Lord takes him, so to speak, by the hand, and leads him back to the spot whence his fall originated — confidence in his own strength and in his love for Christ. Three times during the Saviour's last interviews with His disciples Peter clearly manifests his state of soul. "Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended." (Matthew 26: 33.) "Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death." (Luke 22: 33.) And, "Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake." (John 13: 37.) The Lord takes up these three words, beginning with the first: "Though all men shall be offended." "Lovest thou me more than these?" All, alas! had forsaken Him, but Peter only had denied Him, and can therefore no longer rely on his love compared to that of others. Thus humbled, he appeals, not to his feelings, but to the Saviour's knowledge. He knew. "Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee." He does not add, "More than these;" for he compares himself with Christ, and in humility he esteems others better than himself.

Then Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." Pastoral care for young souls springs from humility, together with love for the Lord. Where the Lord finds these things in His people He can trust them with this service. Other gifts are perhaps not so absolutely connected with the inner state; but one cannot really take up the needs of tender souls without self-abnegation and much love, not only for them, but for Christ.

"Feed my lambs." This one word shows us what they are for Jesus, and the value of what the Lord confides to Peter. They are His property. The heart of Christ had not changed in retard to Simon, and He entrusted him with what He loved at his first step in the painful pathway leading to restoration. Peter's heart was broken, but sustained by Christ in the breaking. Jesus did not probe it three times to give him an answer only at the third; He gave it already at the first. What delicate affection and care in the discipline! If the three questions had been put without the encouragement of a promise with each, Peter's heart, distressed by his failure, would have been overwhelmed with sorrow; but the promise sustained him each time under the stroke intended to break him down. It was like the burning bush, which grace prevented from being consumed. Jesus probed Peter three times; he had denied Jesus three times. The last time nothing remained but what the Lord had produced and could approve. Sorrow was there too, no doubt, but joined to the certainty that the love which was the fruit of His love, though buried to the eyes of all by manifestations of the flesh, the all-seeing eye of Christ was alone able to discern. "Lord, Thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee." After the second and third questions the care of the sheep and the feeding of the whole flock were confided to Peter. It was when, through grace, he had seen himself, and been obliged to appeal to the Lord to discover what he gave up discovering in himself — it was then that he found himself possessed of full and unreserved blessing.

"Follow me."

John 21: 18, 19.

Peter, trusting in himself, had said: "Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death." (Luke 22: 33.) When he had been broken down in soul the Lord could teach him: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest." At the beginning of his career he disposed, so to speak, of his own strength (the girdle is what strengthens a man's loins*). Self-confidence was the result; he went whither he would, and walked thus in independence. "But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." At the close of his career, when his natural strength would have been weakened by old age, he would depend on another for strength, and would consent to be guided by others who would lead him where perhaps his will would never have led him, "into prison, and to death." The thing would take place, but not with man's strength; it would be realized in the weakness of old age. "This spake He, signifying by what death he should glorify God." God would be glorified in this complete breaking down of man, when, old, weak, and led by others against his wishes, he might seem to have become a useless vessel. How habitually our judgment is wrong as to what suits and honours God. When, smitten in our bodies, perhaps even in our intellect, we are set aside by men, when feeling our uselessness, we might be tempted to say with the world, that we are no longer good for anything, God declares that we are of use to Him. Up to this the disciple, with all his energy, had often dishonoured instead of glorifying the Lord. Now he is about to grow old and weak and to die, and in view of his death God says, "This is what glorifies me." In order that this glory should be realized, there must be broken, dependent vessels which have no strength but God's.

*It is interesting to see in the Word that we are girded for the walk (Ex. 12: 11), for service (Luke 12: 35), and for conflict. (Eph. 6: 14.)

It was then that Jesus said, "Follow me." He replies to what Peter had said before, "Why cannot I follow thee now?" (John 13: 37.) Henceforth he would be able to follow Him.

"Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on His breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?" (v. 20.) Three things here characterized the beloved disciple. He was the object of Christ's love, and he knew it; he had confidence in Christ alone, and his attitude during supper showed that he enjoyed an intimacy of communion with the Father which others did not. There is no more simple motive for following Jesus than this, His love, which we know attracts us after Him, wins our confidence naturally, and brings us into communion with the Lord. Peter was now allowed to follow the Lord step by step unto death. His experiences of self, previous to being restored (Luke 22: 32), were over; he had lost confidence in self, gained confidence in Christ, and he entered now on the blessed pathway, in which he was going to learn the realization of dependence unto death. I say "was going to learn," for dependence is not learnt in a day, however deep the work wrought in the soul may be. "When thou shalt be old," said the Lord. Peter had to be tried even to death, and there, as with his Master, would be found the crowning of a life called to glorify God. John had another mission; he was not called to follow the path of Christ in a violent death, but to remain figuratively until the Lord come, present during the decline and ruin of the Church, and with her at the coming in power of the Lord, the picture of which the disciples had seen on the holy mount in connection with the kingdom. But John also follows the Lord. He had not the same need, as Peter, of a command or encouragement to follow Him; love attracted him.

In following the Lord, Peter did not need to be occupied with others. "What is that to thee? Follow thou me." The moment one turns round, one ceases following, and one pauses. It is a serious thing. To follow, there must be unity of thought and a single eye. Peter could not be occupied with John and Christ at the same time. In order to follow the Lord closely, He must have taken possession of us so powerfully, that we belong no longer to ourselves. That is the only means of self-denial and of boldly taking up our cross. We count Jesus alone worthy of being followed down here, even at the cost of a life of suffering. The disciples had followed in two ways, before and after the cross. In the first chapter of John, Jesus said to Philip, "Follow me." In the last chapter He says to Peter, "Follow me." In the first case, before the cross, the disciples had abandoned all to follow Him, for they had faith in Him; but in presence of Calvary their steps halt, and they all flee. Peter went on the last, and followed afar off, but we have seen how it ended.

After the cross the pathway interrupted recommences, but the disciples thenceforth follow a risen, heavenly Christ, who imprints His character on their walk, and it becomes heavenly. Before the cross, the multitude could follow, though it might be from quite other motives and feelings to the disciples; after the cross, the world can do so no longer; for it necessitates the death of the old man and the power of the Spirit, two things which only the believer finds in the death and resurrection of Christ.

May God give us deeper and sustained and increasing energy to follow Him. It is in following Him who has left us an example that we should follow in His steps (1 Peter 2: 21) that we become ensamples to others. Our privilege is to possess in Him a model Man, walking on earth in absolute perfection, and sanctified in heaven for us; but, let me repeat, it is in following Him that we become ensamples to our brethren. The apostle Paul said, "Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample." (Phil. 3: 17.) Paul, in pointing to himself as one to be followed, had no desire to substitute himself for Jesus; but he showed the example of a man who, having no object but this blessed Person, had set forth to follow Him, pressing forward to win Him in glory. Thus Paul's individuality did not hide the Lord from his brethren, but, on the contrary, showed Him forth as the only object worthy of being followed and attained.

What is a Meeting of the Assembly?

What is a Meeting of the Assembly?

Heb. 11: 11, 12; Matt. 18: 15-20; 1 Cor. 14: 23-33.

H. L. Rossier.

The Assembly.

Before answering the above question, it is well to recall briefly what the Assembly is according to the Word.

The Assembly, or Church, is composed of all the redeemed of the present dispensation —  from Pentecost to the Lord's return. In this sense all the saints of this dispensation, whether they are still here below when the Lord comes or have been gathered to Himself before His coming, form part of it; but generally the Word of God considers the Assembly as being composed of all the members of Christ present on the earth at a given moment.

The Assembly is the Bride of Christ, whom He has loved, for whom He has given Himself, "that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church." But the Assembly is also shown to us under two other characters, especially with reference to the subject that is now before us.

Firstly, the Church is the body of Christ. This body was formed at Pentecost (Acts 2). At that time the Lord Jesus, having ascended to heaven and being seated at the right hand of t-he Father, consequent on the work of redemption, sent down the Spirit that He had received (Acts 2: 33), to unite together all the redeemed upon the earth in one body together with Him, their glorified Head in heaven. At Pentecost there remained yet one entire side of this mystery to be revealed, which constitutes the special service of the apostle Paul, namely, that the "Gentiles" were to be "fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel " (Eph. 3: 6). Acts 2 presents to us the Assembly under its Jewish aspect, so to speak, according to the allusion that is made in Psalm 22: 22; nevertheless, it is the Assembly. That which was accomplished at Pentecost by the gift of the Holy Spirit remains, and will remain unto the coming of the Lord. Baptized by one Spirit into one body here below, all believers are eternally united by this one Spirit to their heavenly Head for the final gathering together to be with Himself in the glory. This unity — "one body and one Spirit" (Eph. 4: 4) — exists to-day as at the beginning; it is indestructible, and ruin cannot reach it.

Besides the principle of the Assembly — that is to say, the unity of the body of Christ — the Person of the Lord is the centre of it (later on we shall insist on the immense importance of this fact), and the Holy Spirit the agent of His working. He acts by means of the gifts bestowed by the risen Lord on the Church (Eph. 4), or distributed by the Spirit as it pleases Him (1 Cor. 12). The expression of this gathering on earth is the table of the Lord. It is there that, besides the memorial of His death, the unity of the body is proclaimed (1 Cor. 10: 16, 17).

Secondly, in connection with the descent of the Holy Spirit to the earth, the Assembly is also considered as the House of God here below, as a habitation of God by the Spirit. In the first mention that is made of the Church (Matt. 16), it is as a building, and not as a body. When Peter, to whom it had been revealed by the Father, had declared that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Lord announced to him that on that rock He would build His Assembly, and that the gates of hell (Hades) would not prevail against it. This building was constituted by the descent of the Holy Spirit after that the Son of the living God had been declared "Son of God with power" by the resurrection (Rom. 1: 4). It continues, and will only be completed at His coming, when that which He has built will be translated into heaven to be the city of God, the New Jerusalem, the Temple to which it now grows (Eph. 11: 21). This house is composed of living stones who are built on Him Who is the foundation, "the chief corner-stone." Such a work is perfect, because it is the work of Christ, the Son of the living God. It is as unalterable as the formation of the one body here below.

Just as with the body, the building is also considered as composed of all the redeemed in the whole world at a given moment. "In whom," it is said to the Ephesians, "ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit" (Eph. 11: 22).

On the other hand, the Assembly is not only considered as built by the Lord, but also as entrusted to man's responsibility for its edification (1 Cor. 3), and here we see everything has failed; the Church has become "like a great house where there are vessels to honour and to dishonour " (2 Tim. 2: 20). If the manifestation of the unity of the body on earth has failed, and if none can recognize this unity in the manner in which the Assembly presents itself to-day to the eyes of the world, it is because other materials have entered into the building of the house besides living stones, and in this outward respect the house has been ruined.

THE LOCAL ASSEMBLY.

At Pentecost the Assembly, the whole Assembly, was gathered at Jerusalem. The work having extended, it was not possible to continue to be thus gathered "in one place" (Acts 2: 44). Everywhere local meetings were formed, as we see in the Acts and in the Epistles, but each of them was the representation of the whole, the one body — "Ye are Christ's body" (New Trans.) (1 Cor. 12: 27). It was the Assembly of God in that locality; it was inseparable from "all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours" (1 Cor. 1: 2). The Assembly in a locality comprised all the redeemed who dwelt in that locality. Such was the Assembly o£ God at Corinth, at Antioch, at Jerusalem, at Ephesus, and at all other places. The mind of God as to the local Assembly is, therefore, that it embraces all the redeemed of a locality, and that it represents in the eyes of God, and ought to represent to the eyes of the world, the entire Assembly. This fact is of all importance with respect to the question that we have asked at the beginning of this paper, for it is precisely with the local Assembly that we shall have to occupy ourselves. We cannot insist too strongly on this fact: there is only one principle of gathering according to the Word — that of the unity of the body of Christ. All local Assemblies which are not gathered on the recognition of the whole body of Christ can only be sectarian.

The Word of God supposes, in Matthew 18 and 2 Timothy, and in many other passages, that the ruin of the edifice confided to man's responsibility would change the primitive appearance of the gathering of the saints here below, but it supplies a resource of efficacy at all times and in every circumstance. This resource consists in the presence of the Lord Jesus in the midst of two or three gathered to His name (Matt. 18: 20). It never contemplates that the principle of gathering should be modified on any account whatever. There is one body and one Spirit, and we ought always "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4: 3).

Thus, when we speak today of a local Assembly it might only consist of two or three gathered unto the name of Christ and in recognition of the one body in the midst of hundreds of other Christians who have an unscriptural ground of gathering; but these few would have the privilege of being the representation of the whole Assembly on earth, at the same time having the responsibility of this representation, and the authority of the Lord would be attached to their Assembly acts.

The passage in Matthew 18: 15-20, which presents to us the practical bearing and exercise of the great truth of the Assembly announced in Matthew 16, shows us the working of that Assembly, were it composed of only two or three. It is gathered to His name, and He is in the midst of it; and so it has His authority for administration; and what it decides as gathered, He being present, and under the direction of the Holy Spirit, is ratified in heaven. In this important passage the Lord even provides for personal difficulties between two brothers. With reference to himself (verses 8 and 9), the believer must know no pity; he must cut off and pluck out. If it is a question of his brother, the wrong doubtless cannot be tolerated, but he must act in grace and with much patience. If  he who has sinned against his brother will dot listen to him, nor to the witnesses brought by him, the matter is brought before the assembly, of which both form part, and it intervenes without appeal. The Assembly speaks, and is not heard: then all the means hitherto employed being exhausted, the injured brother should consider him who has sinned against him "as an heathen man and a publican." The Assembly possesses here the competence to decide without appeal in an individual matter.

This seventeenth verse in no way speaks of discipline exercised by the Assembly and of the putting away of the wicked person. Such is not the signification nor the object of the passage. "Let him be unto thee," it says, not "Let him be unto you." It is necessary to look at 1 Corinthians 5, and not here, to find the example of the putting away of a wicked person by the Assembly.

The intervention of a local Assembly in an individual question naturally leads to a second point contained in verse 18, "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The Lord, Who had given authority to the apostle Peter in view of the administration. of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 18: 19), shows here that the authority is now in the Assembly resting on His presence in their midst, and this in view of its administration. In apostolic times, when the Church was founded, the two authorities existed together, without one taking the place of the other, as we can see in the case of the incestuous person at Corinth (1 Cor. 5: 4-5). Since the departure of the apostles there is no longer this individual authority to commit to Satan; but the authority given by the presence of the Lord to the act of two or three gathered to His name remains until His coming.

The Assembly has therefore a duty, that of receiving or putting away. Its decisions are ratified in heaven. Its judicial authority has its source entirely in the fact that the Lord is in the midst and that it also possesses the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is very important to notice that the twentieth verse, "there am I in the midst of them," refers equally to verse 18 as to verse 19, of which we shall speak later. The power remains, were it only in the midst of two or three gathered to His name on the ground of the Assembly, because He is there personally.

THE ASSEMBLY MEETING.

We have just seen what the Assembly is, and also a local Assembly according to the Word. We can now reply to the question which forms the title of our paper. But first let us say what a meeting of the Assembly is not.

Christians may gather for a useful and blessed purpose without being gathered on the ground of the Assembly. A father may gather his family, a master his household, a brother young people to meditate on the Word or study the Scriptures. Elder brethren may assemble for the same end. A brother, gifted of the Lord as an evangelist or teacher, may exercise his ministry before an audience convoked to this end, whether it be in the meeting-room of the Assembly or elsewhere; this same brother may have it on his heart to expound a subject or a portion of the Word consecutively in a series of lectures; and with the consent of the Assembly; these meetings might perhaps take place during the week on the ordinary meeting day. The Assembly would attend these addresses, of which the responsibility rests upon him who exercises his gift; it would profit by them; there would be light granted, effects produced by the Holy Spirit on the conscience; he who thought he did not need such help would suffer loss; but none of the cases that we have just enumerated are Assembly meetings.

An Assembly meeting is gathered according to the principle of the Assembly as such. "When ye come together in the church," says the apostle to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 11: 18). Further, the Assembly, actually gathered around the Lord Who is in the midst of it, is entirely dependent on Him and on the Holy Spirit acting in its midst. When the redeemed understand what the Assembly, the Church, is for the heart of Christ and in the eyes of God, they naturally seek to realize this immense blessing, and have the joy of finding the Lord personally present in the midst of them, according to His promise. This presence is not bodily, as when He stood in the midst of His disciples after His resurrection, but it is none the less real. It is a personal and spiritual presence. Observe that although His own are gathered "to His name" (Matt. 18: 20), His presence is personal. He says, "There am I in the midst of them," and also, "In the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee" (Ps. 22: 22). He does not say, "My Spirit is there," "My Spirit will praise Thee" "My redeemed will praise Thee by the Spirit" —  all of which are true — but "I am there," "I will praise Thee," which goes much further.

The mere number is not of importance. His presence is the same; be they three thousand, as at the beginning, or three as in a time of ruin. His presence in the midst of His own constitutes the altogether peculiar blessing of an Assembly meeting.

This leads us to the different characters which constitute an Assembly meeting.

1. — The first meeting of the Assembly is for worship.

2. — The second meeting of the Assembly is for prayer (Matt. 18: 19, 20).

3. — The third meeting of the Assembly is an "open meeting."

THE WORSHIP MEETING.

The first meeting of the Assembly is for worship.

In a general sense, worship is the collective adoration rendered to God for what He is in Himself — for what He is and has: done on our behalf. Worship is of supreme importance in the eyes of the Father and of the Son. "The hour cometh," said the Lord, "and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4: 23, 24).

Worship is the first thing realized by Christians who have understood what the Assembly is, for it supposes persons united in one body by one Spirit. Worship takes place in the presence of God the Father and around the Lamb. When one takes this place, one thinks of all that the Son is to the Father, and of all that Christ is for God (Rev. 5: 9), of the fact that God has been perfectly glorified here below in the life and in the death of Jesus. But all this work, which, as well as its Author, forms the delight of the Father, has been accomplished on our behalf; We are able in a measure to appreciate its extent, because we are the objects thereof. Thanksgiving, then, mingles in worship with adoration of the Father and the Son. The Lord Himself is the centre of worship as regards praise. He Himself has gathered us together; He takes His place in our midst. His personal presence in worship has such importance that without it there can be no praise worthy of the name. He says: "In the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee'' (Ps. 22: 22). How does He praise? By using the voice of the Assembly as gathered around Himself. It is unquestionable that this can only be by His Spirit and by our mouths, but it is equally true that it is He who praises. Praise is expressed in this psalm towards the God of love Who saves and delivers; but it is Christ Himself Who has been delivered from death. "Thou hast heard Me from the horns of the unicorns." He only can know the extent of this salvation and can celebrate it in an adequate manner. But this deliverance is as much for us as the work which made Jesus to descend into death.

His praises, then, should also be ours; only Christ by His Spirit expresses it with a fullness which is not limited by our appreciation of it. Christ, from having been on the horns of the unicorns, knows perfectly what God is in deliverance and what is the greatness of the deliverance. We know it but very imperfectly; but our infirmity finds consolation and encouragement in the thought that praise ,ascends as a sweet odour in the presence of God the Father, because the Lord Who reveals it to us is the centre of it, the Leader, and He Who expresses it. Without doubt, our moral condition can grieve the Holy Spirit and hinder Him from giving full expression to the praise, but it is none the less true that God is its source (as we read: "My praise shall be of" — rather from — "Thee in the great congregation" (Ps. 22: 25)), that the Lord is the centre of it, and that it is expressed by the Holy Spirit.

We find a second feature of worship in 1 Corinthians 10 and 1 Corinthians 11. The Lord's Supper is presented there as the visible centre of the Assembly gathered at the table of the Lord, the Lord Himself being the invisible centre.

This meeting, with which worship in its highest expression is connected, is pre-eminently an Assembly meeting, and it is considered as such in 1 Corinthians 11, where we find these words which we have previously quoted: "When ye come together in assembly" (verse 18, New Trans.); and, again, "Despise ye the Church of God" (verse 22), words which clearly show the character of the meeting of the Assembly at the table of the Lord. This subject is too well known for us to dwell on longer. It is more necessary, perhaps, to remark that if generally worship be connected with the Lord's Supper, that in no way excludes a meeting of the Assembly for worship without the breaking of bread, different from that on the first day of the week, when the Assembly is gathered at the table of the Lord to break bread  (Acts 20: 7). Often have brethren thus gathered together experienced such happy and blessed worship as finds its expression in those words: "In the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee."

THE PRAYER MEETING.

The next form of Assembly meeting is that for prayer, mentioned in Matthew 18: 19, 20.* In verse 18 the Lord had said to His disciples: " I say unto you . . ." In verse 19 He adds, "Again I say unto you . . ." Joining these two subjects in verse 20, whilst distinguishing the one from the other, "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, here am I in the midst of them." Thus the presence of the Lord is as much assured in a meeting of the Assembly for prayer as for worship.

*One can rightly see in the exercise of reception or putting away in verse 18 of this chapter an Assembly meeting. We only mention it here because it is habitually connected with worship where souls are received or are put away. But one ought to meet more frequently with an Assembly meeting for humiliation. It is implied in 1 Corinthians 5: 2. When a sin is discovered in the Assembly and necessitates the exclusion of the guilty person, the Assembly ought to express grief and humble itself about the sin, making it its own before the Lord. The putting away can be pronounced by the Assembly in this meeting for humiliation, which gives great solemnity to the act.

From a practical point of view it is of all importance to understand this. A meeting for prayer has an altogether special character, as special as that of a worship meeting. A brother might perhaps have some plausible reason for absenting himself from the exercise of such and such ministry, but none can ever have a reason for not being present at a meeting of the Assembly for prayer, for the Lord is there, personally present in the midst of His own. If our hearts appreciate this privilege, that will not happen which only too often takes place, that in a large gathering only five or six feel constrained to come together for prayer. Should we leave Him, the Lord, to present Himself alone, where all the Assembly should be gathered? Without doubt, according to His promise, He is none the less present in the midst of two or three. But what a slight to His person on the part of the Assembly when it might be otherwise! O that we might feel more profoundly our responsibility in this matter!

From whence comes the feebleness of the petitions in our prayer meeting? From whence come the distressing silences? From whence come the vain repetitions, the hackneyed requests presented without conviction and invariably formed after the same model? Does not all this arise from the fact that His presence in the midst of the Assembly is not realized? If it were otherwise, there would be as much power in the prayers as in worship. Without doubt the one differs from the other. In the latter it is praise, in the former requests which ascend to God, but in both the thought of the saints, expressed by the Holy Spirit, is directed by the Lord. Praise is more elevated than supplication; both are perfect in the mouth of the Lord Jesus: "When He cried unto Him, He heard " (Ps. 22: 24).

Let us notice that prayers are not absent from the heavenly scene as long as there are suffering saints still on the earth. The twenty-four elders fall on their faces before the Lamb, having every one of them harps (praise), and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints (Rev. 5: 8). Thus the elders act in both these ways. It is the heavenly "meeting of the Assembly," with the Lamb slain as centre, visible to the eyes of all in the midst of the throne (which He is not to-day), a meeting of the heavenly Assembly for worship and to present the prayers of the saints.

THE OPEN MEETING.

The third Assembly meeting is for edification, and is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14.

To grasp the importance of this chapter it is well to remark that, after the introduction of the epistle (1 Cor. 1 and 1 Cor. 2), the organization of the Assembly as the house of God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit is treated of from the third to the tenth chapter. 1 Corinthians 10: 1-13 speaks of the privileges and responsibility of the Christian profession. 1 Corinthians 10: 14 - 1 Corinthians 14. show us the order of the Assembly in regard to the unity of the body of Christ. The Spirit produces this unity; the Supper is the expression of it (1 Cor. 10 and 11).

In 1 Corinthians 12 we find that "by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body," and that "we have been all made to drink into one Spirit." This unity accords with the diversity of the gifts administered by the Holy Spirit. Each gift has its place in the action of the Assembly. The ministrations rendered by the gifts are exercised under the authority of the Lord and for Him. The doctrine of the gifts of the Spirit is also explained in detail in this passage; then, in verse 28, we have, so to speak, the great gifts placed by God in the Assembly.

In 1 Corinthians 14 the apostle shows us the ministration, and the exercise of the gifts in the Assembly meeting, after having in 1 Corinthians 13 introduced love as the motive for their use and exercise. This being established, let us return to our third Assembly meeting. First of all, it is an Assembly meeting, and nothing else. It is the Assembly gathered as such around the Lord: "If, therefore, the whole Church be come together," it is said in verse 23, using the same expression as in 1 Corinthians 11: 20, when speaking of the Lord's Supper (epi to auto), together, in the same place. It is the technical term for the gathering together from a practical point of view (also see verses 4, 5, 12, 19, 26, 28, 33, 34, 35).

But the object is not now confined to worship or prayer; it is edification: "He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification"; "He that prophesieth edifieth the Church" (verses 3 and 4); "That the Church may receive edifying" (verse. 5); "Seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the Church" (verse 12).

The Assembly, then, is gathered in this case as for the Lord's Supper, in the unity of the Spirit, and having Christ personally present with them; but that which takes place is that blessing is poured out by the Lord on His Assembly instead of ascending to God by Him. It is under His authority that the spiritual gifts are dispensed to His own for their edification.

We have already stated that there may be an exercise of gift in other places than the Assembly, without even speaking of the evangelist who addresses himself to the world, but this is not at all what is spoken of here. We are gathered "in assembly," the Lord being present and the centre; we wait on Him to receive, by His Spirit, that which conduces to the edification of His Church. The fact of His presence lends? particular character to the gifts in the Assembly meeting. It is a question of the edification of the Assembly, that is to say, of the body. Each may have something to give (verse 26).

It is not exactly abiding gifts which are exercised at this time, though a foundation gift (Eph. 2: 20) as prophecy be present. Neither teaching nor tongues are excluded, but we see the working of the body entrusted to all or each, to meet the need according to the operations of the Spirit and the will of the Lord, Who is in the midst of the Assembly in view of its edification and of its real needs known to Him, for He watches over His own and purifies His Assembly by speaking to it ("by the Word" Eph. 5: 26).

On this occasion the scene which unfolds itself is full of blessing. One finds great liberty united with great dependence. A brother rises and prophesies. In our days prophecy, without doubt, differs from that in 1 Corinthians 14, in that the Word of God being complete, there can be no new revelations of His mind; but the communication of the mind of God remains. All the brethren are deemed able to prophesy, for we may again remark that it is not a question of something constant or continuous: "When ye come together every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying" (verse 26). The exercise of the gift of prophecy appears here as a momentary communication of the mind of God, Who works by one or another. " Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the others judge. If anything be revealed to another that-sitteth by, let I the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all be comforted" (verses 29-31). This does not mean that in the course of a single Assembly meeting all ought to prophesy, although they may have the capacity, for the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets (verse 32). We see, on the contrary, that the Holy Spirit confines, in view of order, the exercise of prophecy to two or three, "for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints" (verse 33)

All this activity is thus exercised richly in its diversity, and results in great blessing for souls. They come to seek the Lord. He is there, and it is in this spiritual activity that His presence makes itself felt.

There are different causes for our incapacity to hold Assembly meetings having the character we have just spoken of. Let us consider, in the first place, the fact that brethren do not realize as they do in worship that the Lord is personally present, and that one can confide as perfectly in His presence for the edification of the Assembly as for worship and prayer. The difference between that which passes in our spirit when we go to a worship meeting or to an "open" meeting for edification is the proof of it. In going to a meeting for the breaking of bread, we are peaceful, and without preoccupation as to what will pass there, or as to the action that may take place, because we go to seek and to find the presence of the Lord. But if it is an edification meeting, we ask ourselves with some anxiety, Who will be there? Who will take part? Is this because we do not go there to seek His presence?

It is also want of faith and of confidence in Him which hinders the exercise of the gifts for edification. You will say to me, "No; but I mistrust myself." Undeceive yourself. If you had no confidence in the flesh you would let the Lord act, and He could speak by you, so as to express His mind according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

There is another, and without doubt the principal hindrance to this third form of Assembly meeting. That which is lacking is the being nourished by His Word, by the whole Word of God. One feels oppressed in spirit in stating how much the reading of the Old Testament is neglected. It forms but a small portion of the habitual meditation of the saints; how little even is known of the whole scope of God's mind as revealed in the New Testament! Without this nourishment there is no growth, no progress, no capacity to become an instrument for edification. We are not able to edify others if not edified ourselves. Further, one cannot be in habitual communion with the Lord without this nourishment, and without this communion edification is not possible.

Let us remark again that the working of an Assembly meeting for edification such as that in 1 Corinthians 14 supposes that the Assembly, and in particular all the brothers, are walking in this communion and the piety which accompanies it. The Word always presents things to us in connection with the normal state of Christians. This speaks to our consciences.

Is it not very humiliating for us to be obliged to admit that by our failure, by our want of communion with the Lord, we hinder the manifestation of His presence and the action of the Spirit in our Assembly meetings?

Let us now see what takes place when the Assembly is thus gathered for edification, in the unity of the Spirit, having the Lord personally present. The effects are not only felt by those within, but also by those without.

Order was far from reigning in the Assembly at Corinth. The Corinthians were still little children, carnal, taking advantage of their gifts, and above all of their miraculous gifts, in order to exalt themselves in their own eyes and in the eyes of others. Thus for them to speak with tongues surpassed every other gift, and they abused it, speaking all together in a manner unintelligible, because they did not care about being understood. The apostle re-establishes order according to God.

Two classes of persons are noted as coming to the Assembly when gathered, the unlearned and the unbelieving. The unlearned, in the sense that the Spirit here attaches to this word, are those that have not knowledge (compare verse 16); the unbelieving are those who have no relation with God by faith. How many are there not to-day, in Christendom, of these simple ones who scarcely know the Scriptures, and who have no idea of what the Assembly is!

The Corinthians might have raised the following objections to what the apostle says: It is in view of these unbelievers we give such a place to tongues in the Assembly, for they are "a sign to them that believe not" (verse 22). The apostle did not forbid speaking with tongues in the Assembly meeting (verse 26), for every action of the Spirit has its place there, and who can limit the Lord? But He puts a limit to their use. They were not to speak all together, God not being a God of disorder, but each in his turn, the prophets at the most three: and the tongues not without an interpreter. If it were otherwise, the unlearned and the unbeliever, "would they not say that ye are mad," thus scorning and condemning the Assembly? They would cry out, "These people, instead of speaking to mutual and intelligent edification among themselves, speak things which they do not understand" (compare verse 19).

But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever should come into such a meeting, a blessed work will take place in his soul, a work of power, the result of the action of the Holy Spirit in the Assembly: "He is convinced of all, he is judged of all: and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest." He sees this liberty of the Spirit for edification: he feels also that there is something there that he has never seen or known before, as, let us remember, it is not a gospel meeting, but one for edification.

The unlearned (alas! in the day in which we live, perhaps a Christian) says: "I did not know these things; in what condition, then, is my soul? What veil was blinding it, that I should have remained until now a stranger to the thoughts of God in His Word, that the presence of the Holy Ghost thus revealed should be to such an extent unknown to me? How have I lived till now, indifferent to such blessings?" Thus he is "convinced of all . . . judged of all." That which secretly directed his heart is brought into the light, for he has to do with an invisible Person, acting by these visible instruments, with a Person of whom it is said, "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4: 13). It is the same with the unbeliever. By means of Christians he finds himself in relation with God in the person of Christ, Who is the centre of His Assembly: " And so, falling down on his face, he will do homage to God, and confess that God is amongst you of a truth," that is to say, in the Assembly as a whole (see New Translation).

There is not even in these spectators any thought of admiration for individuals, of attraction towards those who exercise their-gift, of attachment to him who speaks. Why? Because they have found themselves brought directly into God's presence. They fall down and say, "God Himself is there." Indeed, He is there in the person of Christ.

This Assembly meeting offers then a double blessing; first, the Assembly realizes the presence of the Lord and the moral power which flows from it for the edification of His beloved Church; then, those who are without learn to know themselves, to judge themselves, and to know the Lord in the light of His presence.

We have already referred to the difficulty of realizing this third Assembly meeting in the present state of things, accompanied as it is by such general spiritual weakness. It is far easier to let the permanent gifts that the Lord has placed in His Assembly have all the responsibility of action. They are given "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (Eph. 4: 12). However precious their ministry may be, to wait on them for action exercises the conscience and the responsibility of the saints much less than the obligation to come and seek the Lord in the Assembly. In this latter alternative one can no longer rest on the gift, slipping little by little into the clerical spirit which has made so many ravages in the Assemblies. Let us esteem them very highly in love, because of their work, those who labour amongst us; but let us hold fast this truth — that the Assembly meetings have a special importance for the blessing of the dear children of God.

When hearts have enjoyed this blessing they remember it as a special happiness. There are favoured times in the Christian's life when souls are brought into an uninterrupted and undistracted intercourse with the Lord and His Word. Under these conditions an "open" meeting is a thing which flows naturally from its source. Souls having been in communion with the Lord, His presence can be realized. If, then, the effect is not more often produced, it is, as we have already said, because there is not more habitual and daily communion with Him and His Word. Our hearts ought to long for these things; for we should certainly come to seek the Lord in the Assembly, and He would respond to the confidence of His own, and to their sincere desire to enjoy His presence by an abundant activity of His Spirit.

Of what importance would such a realization be in gatherings where there was no distinct gift, but where there was true piety and an active Christian life!

May God give us to understand and to realize much better the true character of Assembly meetings for worship, for prayer, and for edification.