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The Way Made Plain

By the

Rev. JAMES H. BROOKES, D. D.

Juthor of **Hozu to be Saved^^ etc.

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PHILADELPHIA :

American Sunday-School Union,

[8i6 Chestnut Street

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PREFACE

THOSE who carefully read the first tMrteen verses of the tenth chapter of Romans cannot fail to perceive the logical order and marvellous clearness with which the Holy Ghost there sets forth the Way of Life. It is the aim of this little book to follow that order, and in some feeble measure to reflect that clearness. Hence the Scriptures are closely followed at every step of the argument, because they alone can guide our feet in the paths of peace.

Frequently has the author, when dealing with in- quiring souls, undertaken a simple exposition of this instructive and interesting passage, and often has the Lord been pleased to own it in imparting light to the darkened understanding and comfort to the troubled heart of the anxious sinner. To his blessing and favor it is now commended with, the, earnest prayer that, as sent forth by th-i , Ajnerioan Sunday-School Union, it may be more greatly owned in His service, to the glory of Father, Son, and Holy Ghosf forever.

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CONTENTS

CHAP.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

X.

XL

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.

XX.

PAGE

Man's Need of Salvation ... 7 Man's Need of Salvation . . .19 Man's Sincerity Cannot Save Him . 29 Man's Sincerity Cannot Save Him . 40 Man's Righteousness Cannot Save Him 54 Man's Righteousness Cannot Save Him 62 Christ the Saviour of the Believer . yj Christ the Saviour of the Believer . ZZ No Hope for the Sinner in the Law . 103 No Hope for the Sinner in the Law . 115 Nothing Between the Sinner and the

Saviour 132

Nothing Between the Sinner and the

Saviour i44

Belief and Confession . . .163 Belief and Confession . . .176 The Believer's Safety . . .194 The Believer's Safety . . . 208 The Believer Calling on the Lord . 229 The Believer Calling on the Lord . 245 Assurance of Faith .... 263 Assurance of Faith .... 278 Index 299

The Way Made Plain

CHAPTEE I

MAN'S NEED OF SALVATION

" Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." — Romans x. 1.

IN the great work of delivering lost men from the ruin in which they are involved, the Holy Ghost produces the conviction that they need to be saved. Without this conviction " they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear ; which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely." * How- ever alarming their state as " strangers from the cove- nants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world," ^ and however appalling their peril as ex- posed to the righteous infliction of " indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil," ^ they neither understand their condition nor perceive their danger until made to feel that they are sinners.

There are multitudes of our race of whom it can be truthfully said that " they are the enemies of the cross of Christ : whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who

» Ps. Iviii. 4, 5. 2 Eph. ii. 12. ^jjora. ii. 8, 9.

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8 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

mind earthly things ; " * and yet they go their down- ward way profoundly indifferent to their guilt and their doom. They eat and drink, they awake and sleep, they give their thoughts and time entirely to the pursuits of the world, and run their round of business or of pleasure, without one correct concep- tion of the Being who made them, and without one spark of spiritual life.

Their ignorance of their real character and their insensibility to their eternal interests furnish con- clusive evidence both of their sinfulness and of their deplorable unconsciousness of sin. Hence the first practical step towards their recovery is taken when the Divine Spirit, whose office it is to " reprove [or rather, to convince] the world of sin, and of righteous- ness, and of judgment," ^ leads them to see that they are undone, and need an ahnighty Arm to rescue them from impending destruction.

The agency He employs in teaching them this essential and fundamental truth is the revealed word of God, or the Sacred Scriptures, whether communi- cated in the pulpit or through the press ; whether made known in public instruction or in private study ; whether carried to the heart by a popular address or by a personal appeal. " By the word of the Lord were the heavens made," ^ and in the new creation " the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the divi- ding asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents

»Phil. iii. 18, 19. ^ j^^jq ^vi. 8. ^Ps. xxxiii. 6.

man's need of salvation 9

of the heart." ' " Faith cometh by hearing, and hear- mg by the word of God." ^

If, therefore, we would inquire whether man, as such, and as born into the world, is in urgent need of salvation, we must surely consult the testimony of the " word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." ^ Eemember, it is the word of God^ and He is too wise to err, too holy to tell a lie, too just to bring false accusations against His creatures, and too kind to heap upon them undeserved reproaches. Let those who claim that they are entitled to His favor on the ground of their own merits make good their claim, and most gladly will He recognize it and bestow upon them the full reward of their vu^tue. He is not an unfeeling t3rrant rejoicing in the exercise of an un- restrained power to crush and kill ; nor is He an un- merciful Judge, eagerly inclining to inflict upon the terrified delinquent the extremest rigors of the law without regard to the palliating circumstances under which the offence was committed. Not only His name, but His very nature, is " Love ; " ^ and it is cer- tain that His testimony concerning man, and His sentence in view of that testimony, are in perfect harmony with His boundless benevolence and His inexhaustible patience.

But every one must at once see the utter absurdity of accepting as true the revelation which He has made of His attributes in the Bible, and of rejecting as false the revelation which He has made in the same Bible

^Heb. iv. 12. ^j^om. x. 17.

5 1 Peter i. 23. * 1 John iv. 8.

10 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

of ourselves. Either all is true or all is false, or, at best, there is no criterion to distinguish the true from the false, except the odd fancies and foolish whims of the reader. If one is at liberty to set aside as in- credible what the Scriptures affirm of man's char- acteristics, another is at equal liberty to treat with contempt what they declare of God's perfections ; and thus are we hurled back into the darkness of nature, or left to grope our way to the unknown future by the feeble glimmerings of reason.

It must be obvious, after a moment's reflection, that consistency, logic, and sound sense require us to place the teachings of the Bible on a common footing with respect to their authority, authenticity, and genuine- ness. Especially is our faith demanded in a doctrine which pervades the whole book from first to last, and which is interwoven in all the narratives, in all the Psalms, in all the prophecies, in all the parables, in all the sermons, and in all the epistles, that are con- tained in the inspired records. If, then, it can be shown that a uniform testimony is borne from Genesis to Eevelation touching man's pressing need of salva- tion, we are compelled to conclude that by nature we are fallen, lost, and ruined ; or, as the only alterna- tive, we are forced to deny that God has spoken the truth in His blessed Word.

My argument here is not designed for the sceptic who can never be convinced of his fatal error by hu- man wisdom, but for the reader whose ear has been opened to hear the " still small voice " ' breathing

*1 Kiiii^s xix. 12.

man's need of salvation 11

through the Book of books, and whose head is rever- ently bowed in the presence of its recognized divinity. Taking it for granted that those for whom these pages are intended are, through infinite grace, j^ast the dreary region of infidehty, and that they are now turning to the " living oracles " * with the docility of the child Samuel, who said, " Speak, Loed ; for thy servant heareth," ^ I desire to sum up briefly the solemn tes- timony which God gives of man's condition apart from redeeming love, and, therefore, of man's un- speakable need of salvation.

I. We assuredly learn from the language which I have placed at the beginning of this chapter that the Jews as a people, although they were highly favored above all the nations of the earth, were not delivered from the curse and dominion of sin ; for the apostle writes, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." This earnest expression of concern for his countrymen would of course be meaningless or self -contradictory if they were not under the condemnation of God's broken law ; and hence the inspired writer, " moved by the Holy Ghost," ^ asserts that they were still un- saved. The unavoidable inference which we thus gather from his words will be confirmed, and the ar- gument to prove man's need of salvation will be strengthened, if we glance at other statements rela- tive to the condition of the Jewish nation. In the ninth chapter of the Epistle to the Eomans, for exam- ple, the same inspired writer exclaims with the great-

1 Acts vii. 38. ' j gam. Hi. 9. 3 2 Peter i. 21.

12 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

est emotion, " I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were ac- cursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen ac- cording to the flesh : who are Israelites ; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the cov- enants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises ; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." '

The great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart expressed in this touching assurance, and the astound- ing declaration that he could wish that himself were accursed from Christ for his brethren, his kinsmen ac- cording to the flesh, are wholly unaccountable on the supposition that they were already saved. No, they were lost ! and the apostle, taught by the Spirit, knew they were lost, in the very face of their exalted privi- leges and their high religious character in the estima- tion of men. To them pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, and the fathers, and national connection with the Messiah ; but still they needed to be saved. Many of them could say, as did Paul describing his own state pre- vious to his new birth by faith in Jesus, " Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews ; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the

' Roiu. ix. 1-5.

man's need of salvation 13

church ; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless ; " ^ but still they needed to be saved. Many of them, like the Pharisee of whom our Saviour speaks, could stand in the temple and pray by them- selves, and say, " God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this pubKcan. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess ; " ^ but still they needed to be saved. Many of them made broad their phylacteries, and enlarged the borders of their garments, and of- fered long prayers, and scrupulously observed the Sabbath, and compassed sea and land to gain one pros- elyte, and added to the burdensome requirements of the ceremonial law by self-imposed regulations, and in the ardor of their devotion outstripped the demands of divine ordinances by keeping pace with the numer- ous traditions of the elders ; but still they needed to be saved.

Eead the pathetic lamentation of our Lord when He beheld the city of David and wept over it : not the tears of silent sympathy, as at the grave of Laza- rus, but with all the tokens of consummate and con- vulsive grief, saying, ^'If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes." ^ Eead the last message which He delivered in the presence of the people when He cried, " O Jeru- salem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as

iPhil. iii. 5, 6. ^Luke xviii. 11, 12. ^Luke xix. 42.

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THE WAY MADE PLAIN

est emotion, " I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were ac- cursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen ac- cording to the flesh : who are Israelites ; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the cov- enants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises ; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." '

The great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart expressed in this touching assurance, and the astound- ing declaration that he could wish that himself were accursed from Christ for his brethren, his kinsmen ac- cording to the flesh, are wholly unaccountable on the supposition that they were already saved. No, they Avere lost ! and the apostle, taught by the Spirit, knew they were lost, in the very face of their exalted privi- leges and their high religious character in the estima- tion of men. To them pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the la^v, and the service of God, and the promises, and the fathers, and national connection with the Messiah ; but still they needed to be saved. Many of them could say, as did Paul describing his own state pre- vious to his new birth by faith in Jesus, " Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews ; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the

' Rom. ix. 1-5.

MAN^S NEED OF SALVATION

13

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I

I

church ; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless ; " ' but still they needed to be saved. Many of them, like the Pharisee of whom our Saviour speaks, could stand in the temple and pray by them- selves, and say, " God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess ; " ^ but still they needed to be saved. Many of them made broad their phylacteries, and enlarged the borders of their garments, and of- fered long prayers, and scrupulously observed the Sabbath, and compassed sea and land to gain one pros- elyte, and added to the burdensome requirements of the ceremonial law by self-imposed regulations, and in the ardor of their devotion outstripped the demands of divine ordinances by keeping pace with the numer- ous traditions of the elders ; but still they needed to be saved.

Eead the pathetic lamentation of our Lord when He beheld the city of David and wept over it : not the tears of silent sympathy, as at the grave of Laza- rus, but with all the tokens of consummate and con- vulsive grief, saying, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes." ^ Eead the last message which He delivered in the presence of the people when He cried, " O Jeru- salem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as

»Phil. iii. 5, 6,

'Lukexviii. 11, 12.

^ Luke xix. 42.

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12

THE WAY MADE PLAIN

est emotion, " I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were ac- cursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen ac- cording to the flesh : who are Israelites ; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the cov- enants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises ; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." *

The great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart expressed in this touching assurance, and the astound- ing declaration that he could wish that himself were accursed from Christ for his brethren, his kinsmen ac- cording to the flesh, are wholly unaccountable on the supposition that they were already saved. No, they were lost ! and the apostle, taught by the Spirit, knew they were lost, in the very face of their exalted privi- leges and their high religious character in the estima- tion of men. To them pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the la^v, and the service of God, and the promises, and the fathers, and national connection with the Messiah ; but still they needed to be saved. Many of them could say, as did Paul describing his own state pre- vious to his new birth by faith in Jesus, " Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews ; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the

' jRoiu. ix. 1-5.

man's need of salvation

13

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church ; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless ; " ' but still they needed to be saved. Many of them, like the Pharisee of whom our Saviour speaks, could stand in the temple and pray by them- selves, and say, " God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess ; " ^ but still they needed to be saved. Many of them made broad their phylacteries, and enlarged the borders of their garments, and of- fered long prayers, and scrupulously observed the Sabbath, and compassed sea and land to gain one pros- elyte, and added to the burdensome requirements of the ceremonial law by self-imposed regulations, and in the ardor of their devotion outstripped the demands of divine ordinances by keeping pace with the numer- ous traditions of the elders ; but still they needed to be saved.

Eead the pathetic lamentation of our Lord when He beheld the city of David and wept over it : not the tears of silent sympathy, as at the grave of Laza- rus, but with all the tokens of consummate and con- vulsive grief, saying, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes." ^ Eead the last message which He delivered in the presence of the people when He cried, " O Jeru- salem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as

*Phil. iii. 5, 6.

^ Luke xviii. 11, 12.

' Luke xix. 42.

14 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not ! Behold, your house is left unto you des- olate. For I say unto you. Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." ' Surely it requires no other evidence to prove that the Israelites as a bod}^ were unsaved at the time the apostle wrote ; but if they needed to be saved, what must be said of the rest of mankind ? If they were lost, notwithstanding their favorable cu^cumstances, their peculiar advantages, their distinguishing mercies, their strict morality, their religious fervor, their illustrious ancestry, and their wonderful history, — radiant w^ith the glory of Jehovah's presence, — how is it possible that " sinners of the Gentiles"^ have no need of a gracious and mighty hand to pluck them as brands from the burn- ing ? Should any one reply to all this that the Jews were condemned for their rejection of Christ, I admit the justice of the answer, but immediately turn and bring the charge of the same stupendous sin against every unbeliever who may read this book.

II. Yes, my friend, you are involved in the same condemnation, as I shall now proceed to show, and thus bring forward my second argument to convince you of your need of salvation. All who profess to accept any portion of the Scriptures as inspired agree that the words of Jesus must be regarded as authorita- tive and final upon every doctrine which He teaches. Let us see, then, what He repeatedly affirms touching the necessity of faith and the soul-destroying crime of » Matt, xiiii. 37-3©. ' Gal. ii.l5.

man's need of salvation 15

unbelief. In His memorable interview with Nico- demus, after setting forth the amazing love of God in the gift of this dear Son, He adds, " He that believeth on him is not condemned : but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." '

Again we hear His solemn testimony, " Yerily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [or judgment] ; but is passed from death unto life."^ "Then said they unto him. What shall we do, that we might work the works of God ? Jesus answered and said unto them. This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." ^ " Yerily, verily, I say unto you. He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." ^ " If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." ^ " Yerily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. . . . But ye believe not, be- cause ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you." ^ "Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again. He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart ; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them."^ When the Spirit is come He will convince the world " of sin, be- cause they believe not on me."^

These passages are taken almost at random from a

> John iii. 18. ' John v. 24. » John vi. 28, 29.

* John vi. 47. ® John viii. 24. » John x. 7, 26.

' John xii. 39, 40. » John xvi. 9.

16 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

single Gospel, and it is unnecessary to say that there is nothing in all the word of God to contradict them. Elsewhere it is written that the Saviour, whose infinite love for the sinner led Him to the cross, declared among the last words He uttered on earth, " He that believeth not shall be damned ; " ' and the Holy Spirit says, by the apostle John, "He that believeth not God hath made him a liar ; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son." ^ Such, then, is the vital importance of belief in Christ, that salva- tion in all its unutterable meaning, in all its boundless extent, in all its everlasting joys, depends upon its exercise ; and such is the horrible sin of unbelief that if persisted in to the close of life, it will certainly drown the soul in perdition.

How imperative, then, is the duty of the unbeliever to flee for refuge to the cross of Christ ! That such a refuge should have been provided in the immeasurable grace and unsearchable wisdom of God affords over- whelming demonstration of the fact that the entire human race was in extremest need: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." ^ The preciousness of the gift proves the vastness of the want it was designed to meet, and the costliness of the sacrifice reveals the depth of the woe it was intended to reach. Oh, if man did not need salvation, Jesus had not died ; for it is inconceivable that the Father could have sent Him forth from His bosom, and emptied Him of His

^ Mark xvi. 16. ' 1 Johu v. 10. 'John iii. 16.

lY

divine and eternal glory, and humbled Him to be made of a woman, made under the law, and laid upon Him the crushing burden of our iniquities, and looked upon His prostrate form in Gethsemane, and witnessed the blows that bruised His face, and heard His dis- consolate cry on Calvary, unless a stern necessity had demanded this profound condescension and mysterious suffering.

The Russian mother, who threw one and another, and then another, of her children to the howling wolves pursuing her sleigh, showed the desperate straits to which she was driven to save her life ; and the Russian serf, who stayed the hungry pack with his own body that his master might escape their de- vouring jaws, proved how fearful was the emergency that required such an act of dauntless courage and moral heroism. " Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends ; " ^ and when Christ laid down His life, not for His friends, but for His enemies. He gave the most convincing proof of which the human mind can conceive both of the greatness of His love and the greatness of their need.

Unbelief, therefore, is a rejection of love in its highest possible manifestation, and hence it is repre- sented as the root of all other sin and the crowning iniquity. It not only sets at defiance the insulted justice of God, but, far more, it treats with disdain or receives with unmoved indifference His overtures of mercy. It derides His authority, it despises His law, » John XV. 13.

18 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

it ridicules His warnings, it rejects His invitations, it slights His compassion, it calls Him a liar when He says, " He that believeth not shall be damned," and it joins the ribald crowd in reviling His dying Son, or at least it turns with heartless unconcern from that wail of forsaken woe that shook the mighty pillars of the globe.

*^ I asked the heavens, What foe to God hath done This unexampled deed ? The heavens exclaim :

* ^ Tivas man ! and we, in horror, snatched the sun From such a spectacle of guilt and shame ! ^

** I asked the Sea : the Sea in fury boiled,

And answered with his voice of storms, ' ' Ttcas man ! My waves in panic at his crime recoiled, Disclosed the abyss, and from the centre ran ! '

^*I asked the Earth : the Earth replied aghast,

* ' Twas man ! and such strange pangs my bosom rent. That still I groan and shudder at the past ! ^

To man, gay, smiling, thoughtless mail, I went, And asked him next : he turned a scornful eye. Shook his proud head, and deigned me no reply."

Think you that a sin like this, which remains un- subdued and unaffected even at the cross, can be a slight offence, or that man does not need salvation while it holds dominion over him ? H every other sin were forgiven, or if no other sin had been com- mitted, this alone would drive the unbeliever away forever from the presence of God, and rear an insur- mountable barrier between his soul and true happi- ness.

CHAPTEK II MAN'S NEED OF SALVATION III

UNBELIEF and all other iniquities spring from a nature essentially corrupt, according to the abundant testimony of God, and consequently the force of the argument to establish man's need of sal- vation becomes irresistible if this can be shown. Let us look, then, at some of the testimony as it lies scat- tered throughout the Bible. In the beginning of the inspired word, and at a period in the history of our race which poets delight to celebrate as marked by winning simplicity and crowned with childlike inno- cence, we are told, " God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagina- tion of the thoughts of his heart was only evil con- tinually."* The words every and only and evil and continually are exceedingly significant in this connec- tion, for they show that the whole fabrication or formation which distinguished him from the brute creation, including all the imaginations, desires, and purposes of the soul, were sinful, and sinful unceas- ingly.

Again, we read : " God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt ; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." ^ Again, hundreds of years

* Gen. vi. 5. ' Gen. vi. 12.

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20 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

later, it is said: *'The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy : there is none that doeth good, no, not one." ' Again, Jehovah says, by the prophet Isaiah : " The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no sound- ness in it ; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores : they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment."^ Again, He de- clares, by the prophet Jeremiah, that " the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wucked : who can know it ? " ^

Passing by other testimony in the old covenant Scriptures which could be gathered from every book, and in some form from nearly every chapter, we hear our Lord saying, " That which is born of the flesh is flesh," ^ and, " From ^^ithin, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, mur- ders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lascivi- ousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man." *

Glancing forward a little farther, we find the in- spired apostle writing, " We have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin ; as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one : There is none that understandeth, there is none that

* Ps. xiv. 2, 3. ' Isa. i. 5, 6. ' Jer. xvii. 9.

* John iii. 6. ' Mark vii. 21-23.

man's need of salvation 21

seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable ; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre ; with their tongues they have used deceit ; the poison of asps is under their lips : whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness : their feet are swift to shed blood : destruction and misery are in their ways : and the way of peace have they not known : there is no fear of God before their eyes." *

The same apostle also says, " I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing ; " ^ " The carnal mind is enmity against God : for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be ; " ^ and, " You hath he quickened, who were dead [not sick nor dying, but dead] in trespasses and sins ; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience : among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind ; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." ^

Without quoting other declarations of the same import, enough has been said to show that, according to the infallible testimony of God, man is utterly ruined. Whenever, wherever, and however tried, he has proved a miserable fail are. He was tried in Eden, and failed ; for having believed the devil's lie,

1 Rom. iii. 9-18. ^ Eom. vii. 18.

' Rom. viii. 7. * Eph. ii. 1-3.

22 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

and plucked the forbidden fruit, conscious guilt took the place of original innocence, " and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden." ' He was tried before the giving of the law, and failed, for " until the law sin was in the world ; " ^ and the Holy Ghost deduces from the universal prevalence of death the universal supremacy of sin ; leading us to hear in every dying groan the thrilling announcement and to see in every new-made grave the visible demonstra- tion of Jehovah's righteous abhorrence of iniquity. He was tried under the law, and failed ; for it is written, " We know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law : that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight : for by the law is the knowledge of sin." ^ He was tried under grace, and failed ; f or " this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved dark- ness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." * We cannot be surprised at this repeated failure under the most favorable circumstances, when we learn that after Adam fell from the high estate in Avhich he was created, in the image and likeness of God, he " begat a son in his own likeness, after his image." ^ "In Adam all die." ^ "Through the offence of one many be dead." ^ " By one man's dis-

1 Gen. iii. 8. ^ i^o,^^ ^^ 13^ s j^q^j m 19^ 20.

< John iii. 19. » Qen. v. 3. ^ 1 Cor. xv. 22.

' Rom. V. 15.

man's need of salvation 23

obedience many were made [or constituted] sinners." ^ " Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? not one." ^ " Behold, I was shapen in iniquity ; and in sin did my mother conceive me." ^ We discover, therefore, that there is an evil lying back of mere out- ward transgressions ; for God, who knows all about us, declares that we are hy nature children of wrath, or exposed to punishment, and hence by nature we are corrupt. We have no difficulty in understanding what is meant when it is said that a tiger is by nature bloodthirsty ; and he who is willing to accept God's testimony, although it profoundly abases self, can have no difficulty in understanding what the Bible means when it says that by nature we are sinful.

lY. Out of this corrupt nature necessarily spring those evil deeds which are plainly contrary to the law of God, and therefore promptly recognized by an enlightened conscience as sinful. " Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." ^ Do what you will with a tree in cultivating, pruning, or transplanting it, you can never so change its nature that thorns will bring forth grapes and thistles will produce figs. So, do what you will with man by all the appliances of the highest culture and the most refined civilization, you cannot so change his nature that it will become holy. God can

' Rom. V. 19. ^ Job xiv. 4,

8 Ps. li. 5. * Matt. vii. 16-18.

24 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

— and, blessed be His name ! He does — impart a new nature by the power of the Holy Ghost, through faith in Jesus Christ, as revealed in His word; but the nature which we derive by birth from our parents is evil, and only evil, continually.

That the outward manifestations of such a nature should be in open conflict Avith the law of God is just what might be expected. " Sin," we are told, " is the transgression of the law " ; ^ or, to render strictly, " sin is lawlessness " : it is that spirit of insubordina- tion, that inward resistance to Divine authority, which distinguishes the soul, and which finds expression in unceasing and flagrant disobedience. The law says, *' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength : this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."^ Our theological writers are much in the habit of speaking of the law as the transcript or reflection of the Divine nature ; but surely the Divine nature is more than law, " for God is love " ; ^ and hence it would be better to say that the law is the transcript or reflection of the Divine will concerning the duty of man to his Creator and his fel- low creatures.

Of this law it may be afiirmed, first, that it " is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good " ; ^ second, that it is immutable, for it " cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no

» 1 John iii. 4. » Mark xii. 30, 31.

8 1 John iv. 8. * Rom. vii. 12.

25

variableness, neither shadow of turning," ' and " till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled";^ and third, that it has a penalty, for " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them " ;3 " the wages of sin is death " ; "^ and " the soul that sinneth, it shall die." ^ Now, when you add to this the solemn and distinct testimony of the Bible, over and over again repeated that '' all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," ^ it is impossible to resist the conclusion that every man by nature is in immediate and inexpress- ible need of salvation.

Y. After what has been said it is hardly necessary to dwell upon the words of our Lord when He ex- claimed, " Yerily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."^ When He made this statement He was speaking with Nicodemus, who was a master of Israel, a ruler of the Jews, and blameless, as we would say, in all his character and conduct. Even he was in- formed that, Except a man (or, as it is in the original, Except any one. Except every one) be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The best, therefore, can do with nothing less than this, whatever may be their standing in their own estimation or in the estimation of others. " Marvel not that I said unto thee. Ye must be born again." ^ I do not deny for a

^ James i. 17. 2 ^i^^^^ y. 18. ^ Gal. iii. 10.

^ Rom. vi. 23. ^ Ezek. xviii. 4. ^ Rom. iii. 23.

' John iii. 3. ^ John iii. 7.

26 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

moment the possession of amiable traits of character and virtuous principles of conduct by thousands who know nothing of Christ as their Saviour ; but still I dare not go back of His own explicit declaration, " Yerily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." *

All the attractiveness of the most lovely disposition, and all the firmness of the most incorruptible integrity, may exist without the slightest reference to the will and glory of God, and therefore they may exist w^ith- out the least spiritual life. We often witness in the brute creation touching exhibitions of devoted affec- tion, of unswerving fidelit}", of unflinching courage, and of w^hat w^ould be termed in man the loftiest nobility of action ; but among the inferior animals there is a total w^ant of spiritual life, because there is a total want of capacity to know God and to perform these heroic deeds from the high and commanding motive of regard to the pleasure of God. Now, of human beings it may truthfully be affirmed, no less than of the lower orders of beings, that by nature they are incapable of knowing and loving the true God and that they are utterly devoid of spiritual life until born again and made a new^ creation in Christ Jesus. Out of scores of texts that could be easily quoted to sustain this important proposition, two or three must answer for the present : " He that hath the Son hath life ; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." ^ " Whatsoever is not of faith is

' Johu iii. 5. »1 Jobu v. 12.

man's need of salvation 27

sin." ' " Without faith it is impossible to please him." ^ Whatever else a man has, whatever excellences that excite our admiration and win our regard, he has not life until he has the Son by faith in His name ; and hence we again see man's deep need of salvation.

YI. The last argument I advance to prove this fact, which it is absolutely essential that my readers should receive with an intelligent and fixed conviction of its truth, is derived from the oft-repeated declarations of God threatening the most terrible punishment against those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ in His Divine person and atoning work. " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life : and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him." ^ " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that be- lieveth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned." ^ " And these shall go away into everlasting punishment : but the right- eous into life eternal."^ ^'But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone : which is the second death." ^

Every careful reader of the Holy Scriptures knows that such passages are constantly found in the sacred pages ; and if any are disposed to call them in question, they should remember that their controversy is not with the author of this book, but with the Author of

^Rora. xiv. 23. ^Heh. xi. 6. «John iii. 36.

* Mark xvi. 15, 16. ^ Matt. xxv. 46. « Kev. xxi. 8.

28 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

the Bible, God Himself, " the Father of mercies," * who " doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men," ^ has distinctly warned us that if we die in unbelief eternal and intolerable sufferings await us in the future world. Dear, dying reader, heed the warning, I beseech you, and " flee from the wrath to come." ^ I have shown you, upon the testimony of One who cannot lie, that all men, without a single exception, as they are born into the world, need sal- vation, and I pray God that you will not slight this testimony. Your unbelief will not affect its truth for an instant, but as the Lord liveth, your unbelief, if persisted in, will seal your " everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power ; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day." *

*2Cor. i. 3. ^Lam. iii. 33.

3 Matt. iii. 7. * 2 Thess. i. 9, 10.

CHAPTEE III MAN'S SINCERITY CANNOT SAVE HIM

"For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not ac- cording to knowledge." — Romans x. 2.

IT is a common opinion that it matters little what a man's religious views may be, provided he is sin- cere in his belief. This opinion is sometimes advanced with all the assurance of conscious truth, sometimes with all the arrogance of conscious error, and at all times with a confidence in its soundness that surprises the thoughtful mind. It is not only received as an axiom by the world, lulling the dead soul into a pro- founder slumber, but it is held to a lamentable extent by the Church, crippling her energies and nullifying her testimony for Jesus.

"We often hear Christians apply the term " good " to those who embrace and propagate fatal heresies, simply because they appear to be honest in their con- victions and labor for the advancement of various humanitarian and philanthropic schemes. Nay, in some of the most popular pulpits of the day preachers are found sneering at " creeds," and journals profess- edly conducted in the interest of Christ's suffering cause pour contempt through their columns upon what they are pleased to call " a dry orthodoxy." It seems to be taken for granted that the time has come to do

29

30 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

awa}'' with " doctrinal differences," as belonging to a former and darker age, and to substitute a polite edu- cation, a benevolent disposition, and refined manners, in place of regeneration by the Holy Ghost, faith in the Son of God, and holiness of life.

Public speakers and writers of distinction boldly avow that man is no more responsible for his belief than he is for the color of his eyes or the height of his stature ; and they assume that it is the narrowest bigotry to make him an offender not only for his words, but for his very thoughts. It must be con- fessed that their position, viewed from an earthly instead of a heavenly standpoint, is guarded by strong defences, and it is useless to attack it except with " the SAvord of the Spirit, which is the word of God." ' I do not assert that it is impregnable to the assaults of human reason, for, no doubt, arguments can be constructed which would sweep it from its very foundations ; but, after all, it is only the testi- mony of the Sacred Scriptures, accompanied with Divine energy, that can convince the intellect, con- quer the heart, and control the conduct. Some of these arguments may be briefly noticed in their proper place ; but I frankly say I do not expect my readers to receive any real good from the discussion of this important subject unless they bow with implicit sub- mission to the authority of the Bible.

The question, then, is simply this, Does God hold man responsible for his belief as well as for his con- duct, or will mere sincerity, although we may sincerely

1 Eph. vi. 17.

man's sincerity cannot save him 31

believe an error, entitle us to His favor ? The former I affirm, the latter I deny ; and I appeal at once to the inspired Book which contains the authentic de- cision of " the Lord of all the earth."

I. We gather from the words of the apostle which introduce the present chapter that the Jews were not only sincere in their religious convictions, but zealous, and zealous for God ; and yet they were lost, for he writes : " Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." They had zeal, but it was not according to knowledge ; and therefore it could not commend them to the regard of Him who, though abundant in love and mercy, yet desireth " truth in the inward parts." ' The Holy Ghost informs us that they were ignorant of God's righteousness, and that they were held accountable for this ignorance ; for all their efforts to establish their own righteousness ^vere unavailing, and they were finally rejected, and sent as wanderers through the earth under the visible marks of Jehovah's dis- pleasure, " I bear them record," says the apostle, " that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge ; " and hence their sincerity did not save them.

The Saviour tells us that in the ardor of their zeal they compassed " sea and land to make one proselyte ; and when he is made," He adds, " ye make him two- fold more the child of hell than yourselves." "^ Here we see that the most intense sincerity in maintaining their religious opinions, and the most fervent devotion

iPs. li. 6. ^^l^XX,, xxiii. 15.

& &

30

THE WAY 3rADE PLAIN

away with " doctrinal differences," as belonging to a former and darker age, and to substitute a polite edu- cation, a benevolent disposition, and refined manners, in place of regeneration by the Holy Ghost, faith in the Son of God, and holiness of life.

Public speakers and writers of distinction boldly avow that man is no more responsible for his belief than he is for the color of his eyes or the height of his stature ; and they assume that it is the narrowest bigotry to make him an offender not only for his words, but for his very thoughts. It must be con- fessed that their position, viewed from an earthly instead of a heavenly standpoint, is guarded by strong defences, and it is useless to attack it except with " the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." ' I do not assert that it is impregnable to the assaults of human reason, for, no doubt, arguments can be constructed which would sweep it from its very foundations ; but, after all, it is only the testi- mony of the Sacred Scriptures, accompanied with Divine energy, that can convince the intellect, con- quer the heart, and control the conduct. Some of these arguments may be briefly noticed in their proper place ; but I frankly say I do not expect my readers to receive any real good from the discussion of this important subject unless they bow with implicit sub- mission to the authority of the Bible.

The question, then, is simply this, Does God hold man responsible for his belief as well as for his con- duct, or will mere sincerity, although we may sincerely

1 Eph. vi. 17.

man's sincerity cannot save him

31

believe an error, entitle us to His favor ? The former I alfirm, the latter I deny ; and I appeal at once to the inspired Book which contains the authentic de- cision of " the Lord of all the earth."

I. We gather from the words of the apostle which introduce the present chapter that the Jews were not only sincere in their religious convictions, but zealous, and zealous for God ; and yet they were lost, for he writes : " Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." They had zeal, but it was not according to knowledge ; and therefore it could not commend them to the regard of Him who, though abundant in love and mercy, yet desireth " truth in the inward parts." * The Holy Ghost informs us that they were ignorant of God's righteousness, and that they were held accountable for this ignorance ; for all their efforts to establish their own righteousness were unavailing, and they were finally rejected, and sent as wanderers through the earth under the visible marks of Jehovah's dis- pleasure. " I bear them record," says the apostle, " that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge ; " and hence their sincerity did not save them.

The Saviour tells us that in the ardor of their zeal they compassed " sea and land to make one proselyte ; and when he is made," He adds, " ye make him two- fold more the child of hell than yourselves." ^ Here we see that the most intense sincerity in maintaining their religious opinions, and the most fervent devotion

I

1 Ps. li. 6.

2 Matt, xxiii. 15.

32 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

in seeking to spread them abroad, could not deliver them from the fearful charge of being the children of hell, and of involving all whom they persuaded to receive their views in a common ruin. Again, our Lord wept over Jerusalem, exclaiming, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes." ' According to this solemn testimony, their crushing doom came upon them just because they knew not the things which belonged to their peace, and their overthrow as a nation was the result of their ignorance. Again, He said to them, " Now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God. . . . Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own : for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not." ^ They were called the children of the devil, not because they were insincere, irreligious, or indif- ferent to the claims of God upon their worship, but because they believed not the truth when it was made known by Him who is Truth itself.

So the apostle Peter, after boldly telling the people that they had " killed the Prince of life," ^ says : " And, now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers." ^ But did their

' Lnke xix. 42. ^ John viii. 40, 44, 45.

» Acts iii. 15. * Acts iii. 17.

man's sincerity cannot save him 33

ignorance of Christ's true character as the anointed One, or their sincere belief that He was an impious blasphemer, atone for their stupendous crime in put- ting Him to death ? Not at all ; for the same apostle earnestly exhorts them to repent of that crime, de- claring that with wicked hands they had crucified and slain Him. The apostle Paul, also referring to the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory, writes, "Which none of the princes of this world knew ; for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory," ' but their want of knowledge did not release them from responsibility, however sincere their con- victions ; because God has again and again announced that He will bring them into judgment for the murder of His Son.

By the mouth of the prophet Hosea, He said, " My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge : because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee " ; ^ and the same principle holds good under the dispensation of grace. He " will have all men to be saved," we are told, " and to come unto the knowl- edge of the truth " ; ^ and again : " For this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie : that they all might be damned who be- lieved not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteous- ness." ^ " For some," says the apostle, " have not the knowledge of God ; I speak this to your shame." ^ " Why," asked the disciples of our Lord, " speakest

1 1 Cor. ii. 8. 2 jj^g^ j^^ q^ 3 j tj^^ .•_ 4^

* 2 Thess. ii. 11, 12. s i cor. xv. 34.

34: THE WAY MADE PLAIN

thou nnto them in parables ? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance : but who- soever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables : because they seeing see not ; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand." *

But Avithout quoting additional statements of the same import from the inspired word, enough has been said to prove that according to the unerring testimony of God it is not a thing of small moment whether a man does or does not believe the truth. If in His infinite grace and condescension He has given us a revelation, He justly requires us to accept it as true ; and our disbelief of it He justly regards and treats as a sin demanding the severest punishment. Christ is the centre and circumference of that revelation ; for in its symbols and songs, in its prophecies and para- bles, in its doctrines and duties, it all revolves around His Divine person and atoning work on the cross, and hence our reception or rejection of the Saviour is made the turning-point in the destiny of the soul. " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned." ^ " He that be- lieveth on him is not condemned : but he that be- lieveth not is condemned ah^eady, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."^ And to the same effect. He declares, "He

*Matt. xiii. 11-13. ^Mark xvi. 16. 'John iii. 18.

35

that believetti on the Son hath everlasting life : and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him." *

It is a remarkable fact, deserving the serious atten- tion of my reader, that while so many are saying, It is of no consequence what a man believes, provided he is sincere, the " Lord God of truth " ^ is solemnly saying, " He that believeth not the Son shall not see life." The opinion which I am here opposing con- fidently asserts that it is not necessary to believe the very doctrine which our Maker declares to be essential to the deliverance of the soul from endless death ! One says, He that believeth not shall be saved, if he is sincere in his unbelief ; the other says, He that be- lieveth not shall be damned. Judge ye which of these two witnesses is entitled to our confidence. " Let God be true, but every man a liar." ^ " Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ ? " ^ " He that believeth not God hath made him a liar." ^ It comes, then, to this : either the common notion that man is not responsible for his belief is false, or the eternal Creator of heaven and earth has not spoken the truth in the Bible ; for the former is a flat contradiction of the latter. The word of the Lord, the work of Christ and the way of redemption from first to last, all hold forth the necessity not only of a sincere belief, but of a belief according to knowl- edge : and there is no meaning nor reality in any- thing that is written in the Sacred Scriptures if a

» John iii. 36. Ts. xxxi. 5. ^ j^om. iii. 4.

* 1 John ii. 22. ^ 1 John v. 10,

36 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

sinner can be saved by believing an error, although he may believe it with all his heart. Of the saved our Lord says in His prayer to the Father, " This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." ^ Of the lost it is said, they have " the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart " ; ^ and " the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." ^

Even the heathen who walk or stumble in the dim starlight of nature are accountable for their belief ; and hence it is written, " The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, w^ho hold the truth in un- righteousness ; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them ; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the w^orld are clearly seen, being under- stood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead ; so that they are without ex- cuse." ^ Again : '' As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law : and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law ; (for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified : for when

^Tolin xvii. 3. «Eph. iv. 18.

8 2 Thess. i. 7, 8. *Kom. i. 18-20,

MAN'S SIIS^CERITY CANNOT SAVE IIIM 37

the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their con- science also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another;) in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." ^ If then those who have no revelation in the written word are re- sponsible according to the measure of their opportunity for knowing God, surely we who live in the unclouded glory of His grace will be called to a strict account for the manner in which we treat the messages of His love. If we reject them, the plea that we sincerely believed they were not worthy of credit will not avail to justify us at His bar ; for unbelief is the re- sult, as He declares, of unwillingness to believe ; it is the crowning sin of our race ; and our belief or dis- belief cannot alter the nature of eternal truth. " This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." We are compelled, therefore, to surrender the vain conceit that sincerity will save us, or to yield our pretended faith in God's revealed word and take our proper place in the ranks of scoffers and sceptics.

II. The denial that man is responsible for his re- ligious belief leads legitimately and logically to the conclusion that he is not responsible for his conduct : because the two sustain an intimate and indissoluble

iRom. ii. 12-16.

38 THE WAY 3IADE PLAIN

relcation to each other. One is the fountain, the other is the stream ; one is the foundation, the other is the superstructure ; one is the root, the other is the tree which springs from it and bears good or evil fruit. "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit ; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." * Human actions of a moral character are always the result of certain opinions or principles ; and they can neither rise higher than the source from which they spring, nor fail to partake of its nature. Good actions cannot proceed from evil principles, nor can evil actions proceed from good prmciples. A person's principles are himself: and surely it is a shallow philosophy which would not only divide him in twain, but array the separated portions of his being in direct opposi- tion, pronouncing one part of him virtuous and the other vicious.

If a man sincerely believes that there is no God, he will be an atheist practically; if he believes that prayer is a vain and useless ceremony, he will never bow the knee in supplication to the throne of grace ; if he believes that it is unnecessary to confess Christ before men, he will refuse to be enrolled among the number of the Saviour's disciples ; if he believes that the gratification of his a})petites is the highest end of

*Matt. vii. 16-20.

39

life, he will be a sensualist ; if he believes that the acquisition of wealth in any manner is the supreme good, he will be a thief or swindler whenever he can feed the passion of his soul without danger of detec- tion and punishment; and so of every other belief that is connected with our conduct as accountable beings in the unavoidable relations we sustain to our Creator and our fellow creatures. We may or may not believe the assertions of human science, the testi- mony of uninspired history, and the narratives of travellers in new and unknown countries, without damage to our eternal interests, because these matters do not necessarily carry our faith into the high region of morals : but the moment we invade that loftier sphere, our belief is clothed with the dread respon- sibility of personal action, because it is sure to express itself in outward manifestations that exhibit its char- acter as righteous or sinful in the sight of God. If the belief is wrong, the life must be wrong ; and, on the other hand, if the life is wrong, the belief must be wrong. We may say reverently, therefore, that it is impossible for the " Judge of all the earth," ' " which searcheth the reins and hearts," ^ to take notice of the life without also taking notice of the belief which gives shape to the deeds, and tone to the speech, and direction to the behavior, of His creatures. Hence, the more sincerely an error is believed, the more surely it will receive a righteous retribution, because the more certainly it leads to open disregard of His truth or defiance of His authority. 1 Gen. xviii. 25. ^jjev. ii. 23.

CHAPTEK TV

MAN'S SINCEEITY CANNOT SAVE HIM

III

THAT man is responsible for his belief is the dis- tinct testimony of consciousness. The process of reasoning by which this proposition may be estab- lished is simple, but direct and conclusive. That he is conscious of responsibility for his actions is al- most universally admitted, and is fully attested by the sacrifices and superstitions, by the penances and prayers, by the terrors and remorse, that have marked his history in all ages and in all lands. That he is also conscious of responsibility for the dispositions of his heart is equally obvious, for they alone give moral character to his conduct ; and if they are left out of view, he is no more accountable for his deeds than are the brutes that perish. Hence, if he flies into an un- reasonable rage at the bidding of an unsubdued temper, when the calm of sober reflection has succeeded the storm of passion he condemns himself not only for what he has done, but for what he has felt. And our opinion with regard to moral truth being largely under the control of our dispositions, and intimately associated, as has been proved, with our moral actions, a conscious- ness of responsibility for our belief inevitably follows ; and the moment we are awakened from the deep

40

MAKS SIKCEEITY CANNOT SAVE HIM 41

sleep of sill and spiritual death by the quickening voice of the Son of God, we pass judgment upon our belief as wrong, no less than upon our conduct.

The Saviour, describing the work of the Holy Spirit in the salvation of men, says He will convince " of sin, because they believe not on me " ; ' and the first experience, perhaps, of the enlightened and re- generated soul is to see that his unbelief for so many years is the most aggravated of all his iniquities. It is certain, then, that with the millions of Christians who have lived there has been a clear consciousness of responsibility for belief; and if it is not so with others, it only proves that they have fallen under the spell of a dreadful sorcery which has locked them fast in spiritual insensibility. There are multitudes who have no consciousness of sin for their conduct ; but this fact, instead of showing that they are not sinners, only reveals the depth of ruin into which they are plunged. If they are ever raised out of that ruin by the exceeding greatness of God's power, they will not only perceive that they are sinful in their outward ac- tions, but will pass an immediate sentence of condem- nation against themselves for the long-cherished sin of unbelief.

Thus the apostle Paul, referring to the character of his belief before he was a Christian, says : " I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Kazareth. Which things I also did in Jerusalem : and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received

^ John xvi. 9.

42 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

authority from the chief priests ; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them." ' Again, he writes to the Galatians : " Ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' re- ligion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it ; and profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the tradi- tions of my fathers."^ But the sincerity of his at- tachment to the religious system under which he was educated, and the ardor of his zeal in upholding it, did not excuse him even at the bar of his own con- science when he received a knowledge of the truth ; for years after he was saved he speaks of himself as the chief of sinners, and '' the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I perse- cuted the church of God." ^ In the light from heaven tliat flashed around him on the road to Damascus he saw that his conduct had been fearfully wrong ; and as his conduct was the natural and necessary result of his belief, he saw that his belief had been equally wrong, and was worthy of no slighter censure than the cruelties to which it led. So will it be with you, dear reader, if God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shines in your heart " to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." ^

IV. It is the judgment of mankind that we are responsible for our belief, and they hold us account-

1 Acts xxvi. 9, 10. »Gal. i. 13, 14.

'^l Cor. XV. 9. <2Cor. iv. 6.

man's sincerity cannot save iiim 43

able for it both to civil governments and at the bar of public opinion. A criminal is never acquitted on the ground that he sincerely believed the law which he had violated to be wrong, or that he sincerely believed it had been repealed, or that he sincerely believed its penalty would not be enforced. The law goes on the presumption that its subjects are acquainted with its provisions and punishments, and it requires them to answer not only for what they know, but for what they might know. It does not lay its arrest upon the idiotic or the insane to treat them as culprits, but where the moral faculty exists, associated with even a low degree of intelligence, it demands obedience to its authority under pain of its avenging justice.

Let us suppose that a law is enacted by the legisla- tive department of the government, declaring that on and after a certain day the crime of theft shall be punished with death instead of imprisonment. Let us suppose further that this law has received the ap- proval of the Executive and the sanction of the high- est judicial decision pronouncing it to be constitutional in all its features ; and, still further, that it has been fully promulgated through the press and placarded on the streets and highways. If a thief should be ar- rested, tried, and found guilty under this laAV, it would avail him little to plead that he sincerely be- lieved it had not been decreed, or that he sincerely believed its penalty was unreasonably severe, or that he sincerely believed it would remain a dead letter on the statute-book. It is probable that all the thieves in the community would sympathize with his feelings,

44 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

and claim that there was some force in his defence ; but surely every honest man would say that he was responsible for his belief and should be held to a strict account for his felony. If it can be shown that he might have informed himself of the existence of the law and the consequences of its violation, no good citizen would urge that his ignorance or his mistake should form the ground of extenuating, much less of justifying, his offence.

There are some things which a man may believe or disbelieve without receiving either commendation or censure, because the will and the dispositions of the heart are not called into exercise in accepting them as true or in rejecting them as false. We do not say that he deserves praise for believing that two and two make four ; or for refusing to believe that two and two make five ; or for crediting the evidence of his senses ; or for relying upon the testimony of his own con- sciousness. In such cases the action of his mind is in- voluntary, so to speak, and does not depend upon his inclination or power of choice. He is obliged to be- lieve as he does ; or if, owing to some rare eccentricity, he believes otherwise, his condition is justly regarded as demanding pity rather than blame. But there are other subjects which cannot be reached by mathe- matical reasoning, nor perceived by the senses, nor known by intuition, and when these subjects embrace moral truth, they at once determine man's responsibil- ity for his belief, because his belief here depends upon his will and the state of his heart.

I do not assert that he is responsible for believing

45

without sufRcient evidence ; but as evidence cannot bo weighed without attention, and as the attention is sub- ject to his control, he is responsible for directing his thoughts dispassionately, earnestly, and without prej- udice, to questions that claim his regard, and that may at least affect his eternal destiny for weal or for woe. There are duties, for example, which arise from the various relations we sustain to our fellow crea- tures ; and those who are too indifferent to inquire into the nature of these duties, or too depraved to care for them, or too selfish to perform them, we hold respon- sible for being in a condition that prevents the dis- charge of their social obligations. ISTor is it enough to say that they are responsible merely for their con- duct ; because a moment's reflection will convince you that our judgment of them goes back to the state of mind or dispositions out of which their conduct naturally flows. If we know of a man who sincerely believes that he has a right to take his neighbor's property, although he may not actually steal ; or of one who sincerely believes he has a right to take his neighbor's life on some slight provocation, although he may not actually kill ; or of one who sincerely be- lieves he has a right to use his neighbor's name, al- though he may not actually commit forgery, — we do not hesitate to say that his very belief is wrong ; and we could not employ this term unless we held him responsible for his principles as well as his actions. Or if you deny this, then I immediately fasten you upon the other horn of the dilemma by showing that you cannot, with the least degree of consistency, hold

46 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

such a man responsible for his actions, which neces- sarily spring out of his principles ; and thus this wretched theory which I am opposing, if left to work out its legitimate results, would undermine the foun- dations of human gov^ernment and destroy the entire structure of human society.

But it is a noteworthy fact that the warmest advocates of this delusive and dangerous opinion do not pretend to apply it except in man's relations to God. None are more unsparing than they in their denunciations of what they conceive to be his errone- ous political belief, or his wrong views of the standard of integrity that should be observed in business trans- actions, or even his religious convictions when they differ from their own. If man is not responsible for his belief, there is nothing whatever to justify them in so persistently assailing those of us who hold that he is responsible ; since, according to their own notion, it is of no consequence what we believe, provided we are sincere ; and if he is responsible, what becomes of their shallow conceit that he is not responsible ? This alone is sufficient to condemn them ; for why are they so prompt to recognize man's responsibility for his be- lief of the truth, save when they come to the in- finitely important truth contained in the Sacred Scrip- tures ? Does not their position confirm the testimony of the Bible when it declares that " the carnal mind is enmity against God : for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be " ? ' Does it not prove that they have taken counsel together ^' against the

' Kom. viii. 7.

man's siis^ceeity cannot save him 47

Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us " ? ^ Alas ! their astounding inconsistency in hold- ing man responsible for his opinions to themselves, while stoutly denying his responsibility for unbelief towards Christ, only reveals a guilty conscience full of fears, or a wicked purpose to throw the reins upon the neck of the transgressor and encourage him in a career of unrestrained sin.

Y. An argument from analogy is suggested by the admitted fact that man is made responsible for his belief by the physical laws of his being. He sees, for example, a white powder which he sincerely believes to be harmless ; but if it is arsenic, and he is rash enough to act upon his belief by swallowing it, his sincerity will not prevent excruciating pain, and prob- ably death. An intelligent and conscientious physi- cian may inform him that his continued dissipation will result in disease and drag him down prematurely to the grave ; and although he may sincerely believe that his medical adviser is mistaken, his sincerity can- not avert the consequences of his folly and crime. He may be correctly told that a remedy has been dis- covered for some fearful plague which has laid its grasp upon him ; but sincerely believing that his in- formant is mistaken, and preferring to follow the counsels of his own judgment, he may decline to act upon the testimony he has received, and yet his sin- cerity will not stay for a single moment the approach of the fell destroyer. He may be warned by friends 1 Ps. ii. 3.

48 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

that a vessel in which he intends to make a voyage is not seaworthy; but sincerely believing that the warning is the expression of unreasonable prejudice or unmanly fear, he may confidently set sail, and yet his sincerity cannot deliver him from going down with a shriek into the yawning depths when the storm is let loose in its fury upon his frail craft. Without citing other illustrations of a truth so ob- vious that none will have the hardihood to call it in question, it may be asked why a merciful God does not respect the sincerity of His creatures in such cases, and save them from the sufferings which they bring upon themselves. If it be replied that they violate certain fixed laws, and therefore receive the merited penalty, I answer that they also violate a certain and fixed law who refuse to believe the testimony of the Son of God ; and we have already proved that the Almighty will no more interfere to arrest the penalty in one instance than in the other.

]S'o one can assert that the law of gravitation is more thoroughly established in the natural world than is the great law, as I here term it, of the spirit- ual world, which says, " He that hath the Son hath life ; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.'" The glorious Being who ordained both in their different spheres possesses the same adorable and unchangeable perfections whether we view Him as the God of nature or of revelation ; and those, who imagine that because they are sincere they may with impunity reject or neglect the unalterable expression » 1 John V. 12.

49

of His will, however made known, will surely discover that they have been woefully deceived. It is childish, therefore, for the objector to cavil at the harshness of the doctrine I am advocating until he first finds fault with God for the facts that occur in our daily experience and observation. If, however, he is dis- posed to insist that in the natural world man is re- sponsible, not for his opinions, but for his acts, it is sufiicient to remind him of what I have already shown, that it is impossible to hold religious opinions without an expression of thenj in acts of obedience or disobe- dience that at once place him among the friends or the foes of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

If any of the Hebrews on that terrible night of the passover in Egypt had sincerely believed that the blood of a slain lamb sprinkled on the door-posts of their houses could not save them from the stroke of the destroying angel, or that the Almighty was too merciful to inflict the threatened vengeance, their be- lief would have certainly manifested itself in their conduct, and they would have certainly perished with their enemies. If any of them, when bitten of the fiery serpents in the wilderness, had argued that there was no remedial or restorative power in looking at a piece of brass, and hence had sincerely believed that there was more wisdom in expecting help from some other source, they would have refused, of course, to obey the Divine direction ; and of course they would have miserably perished because of their unbelief, however sincere they might have been.

YI. Another argument to prove man's responsi-

50 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

bility for his belief might be derived from the consti- tution of the human mind. As I do not wish to extend this chapter to an undue length, I shall throw out only a hint or two, which, with the blessing of God, may be profitable to the awakened soul. Even the heathen philosophers of ancient times clearly per- ceived that the mind is the organ of truth, as the eye is the organ of vision and the ear the organ of hear- ing. The jaundiced eye can impart a sickly yellow appearance to the pure white snow, and the deaf ear is dull to the most entrancing melody ; but, for all that, no one doubts that'they were originally consti- tuted to be the proper organs of sight and sound. And although it is written that "the wicked are estranged from the womb ; they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies," * yet they were created at first with reference to truth as much as to any other end of their existence. Their minds have be- come sadly diseased and perverted from the use for which they were so wonderfully organized ; but this fact proves their responsibility, because it is the intro- duction of sin which has wrought the change.

A careful observation will convince you that the vast majority of men are so absorbed in their worldly pursuits and pleasures that they are profoundly indif- ferent to religious truth ; or they are so entirely the slaves of prejudice that they will not impartially in- vestigate it ; or they are so anxious to escape persecu- tion and reproach in an apostate world that they are not prepared to suffer for it ; or they are so blinded

^ Ps. Iviii. 3.

51

under the delusive influence of Satan that they do not perceive its divine beauty and inestimable value. In other words, it is manifest that they are led by the dispositions of our corrupt nature; and surely for this they are responsible, if they are responsible for anything. But they turn away from the commands of God with contemptuous unconcern, or with proud reliance upon their own wisdom, or with a fixed pur- pose to admit nothing as an article of faith which will abase them as helpless sinners at the cross of Calvary.

Just here their guilt comes in ; for as our Lord said of the unbelieving world, " If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin ; but now they have no cloak [or, as it is in the margin, no ex- cuse] for their sins." ^ In His blessed grace. He did not ask those to whom He presented Himself as the promised Messiah to receive Him without exhibiting His credentials, so to speak ; for He says, "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works." ^ A few like Nicodemus recognized the validity of the credentials, and said to Him, "We know that thou art a teacher come from God : for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him ; " ^ but the great mass, offended by His lowly appearance and soul-humbling doctrines, refused to give to His claims even a candid examination. The result was, they could not believe because they would not ; and they were brought to a terrible account for

» Johu XV. 22. ^ Johu x. 37, 38. ' John iii. 2.

52 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

their rejection of Christ, even when they thought they did God service in despising His overtures of mercy. " Ye will not come to me," was His sad com- plaint, " that ye might have life ; " ' and this loill not, which was the root of unbelief, as it still is, made them responsible for their opinions, however sincere their plea that they were unable to accept the evi- dences of His Messiahship. If God should command us to look at a beautiful landscape which He had created to glorify Himself and to gratify us, and we should deliberately put out our eyes, our blindness would be no excuse for disobeying His requirement. And so if we have wronged our souls and injured our minds by sin until the wonderful organ of truth which He bestowed on man at first can no longer per- form its proper functions, we have ourselves to blame for groping in darkness.

^' But what is Truth ? 'Twas Pilate's question put To Truth itself, that deigned him no reply. And wherefore ? Will not God impart His light To them that ask if? Freely : 'tis His joy, His glory, and His nature to impart. But to the proud, uncaudid, insincere. Or negligent inquirer, not a spark."

And now, dear reader, I leave what is here written to your reflections ; praying that (however imperfect the discussion of this great subject in these pages) the Lord will lead you to see the hollowness of Satan's crafty device when he would persuade you that man is not responsible for his belief. Depend upon it,

^ John V. 40.

MAN S SINCERITY CANNOT SAVE IIIM i>'3

this is the devil's lie and not God's truth. Even under the Levitical law an offering was provided for sins of ignorance ; and in the Gospel of the grace of God it is written, " How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation ? " ' although we may be perfectly sincere in our neglect. The great Bacon has well said, " Truth and goodness differ but as the print and seal ; for truth prints goodness," and holiness is obedi- ence to the truth. If man, therefore, is responsible for anything, he is surely responsible for his opinions, since they necessarily determine whether his outward life is in accordance with truth and holiness or with error and unrighteousness. " God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."^ "Be not de- ceived ; God is not mocked : for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."^ "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether." ^

^Heb. ii. 3. ^^pgigg xii. 14.

' Gal. vi. 7. * Fs. cxxxix. 1-4.

CHAPTER y MAN'S RIGHTEOUSNESS CANNOT SAVE HIM

"For tliey being iguoraut of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." — Eomans x. 3.

THE first question to be settled here is the mean- ing of the term righteousness. Some idea of the importance of the question may be gathered from the fact that the same word, which is used three times in the passage placed at the head of this chap- ter, occurs ninety-two times in the New Testament, and is found thirty-six times in the Epistle to the Romans. Many inquirers after the way of eternal life are kept in darkness and uncertainty from a fail- ure to see the signification of the language employed by the Holy Ghost in the Sacred Scriptures. They might often be spared weary months of struggling, and feebleness in all their subsequent walk, if dis- tinctly taught at the very beginning of their religious experience the precise import of such expressions as redemption, regeneration, repentance, faith, grace, justification, adoption, sanctification, and righteous- ness.

The last of these it is my purpose to notice at present, with the hope, through God's blessing, of leading my readers to see that their own good char-

54

man's kighteousness canitot save him 55

acter and conduct cannot save them. The word which is so often translated " righteousness " in the Bible is defined in Kobinson's Greek and English Lexicon of the New Testament as follows : " The doing or being what is just or right ; and when spoken of character, conduct, and the like, it is the being just as one should be." So the word translated righteous is explained, when applied to character or conduct, as meaning " just as it should be " ; and hence a righteous man " is strictly one who does right." In the lexicons of Classic Greek the word which is translated righteoits is rendered " observant of the rules of right, upright, in all duties both to gods and men." In the Hebrew the word translated righteous- ness comes from a verb which means "to be right, straight " ; and hence in a moral sense it is " rectitude, right, righteousness, what is right and just, such as it should be " ; and a righteous person is said to be one who is '' obedient to divine laws." In English, Web- ster says righteousness means " purity of heart and rectitude of life ; conformity of heart and life to the divine law." The term righteous he defines as "just, accordant to divine law. Applied to persons, it denotes one who is holy in heart, and observant of the divine commands in practice ; as a righteous man. Applied to things, it denotes consonance to the divine will or to justice; as a righteous act." The word right, he says, means " conformity to the wiU of God, or to His law, the perfect standard of truth and justice. In a literal sense, 7'ight is a straight line of conduct, dJidi wrong a crooked one."

56 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

According to these various authorities, righteous- ness is the state or quality of being righteous, and righteous is that which is right, and right implies some rule, standard, or test to distinguish it from wrong. If there were no such rule, it is obvious that right and wrong would lose their meaning, and the difference between them would instantly cease to exist. Whether this rule is supposed to be found in the decisions of conscience or of custom, of reason or of revelation, its authority is instinctively and uni- versally recognized. JSTot only the best but the worst of men pronounce certain acts to be right and other acts to be wrong, and thus show that they have before their minds, it may be unconsciously, some rule to which the right acts are conformed, and which the wrong acts have violated. A few infidel writers like Hobbes have maintained that the only foundation of right and wrong is the civil law ; and a few like Eousseau have ventured to affirm that all the morality of our actions lies in the judgment we ourselves form of them. But even these reckless sceptics confess that there is a rule, however low and imperfect, that must decide whether our conduct is worthy of commenda- tion or of censure. Although in their view that is right which is conformed to civil law, or which meets the approval of our own judgment, still they acknowl- edge the existence and power of a rule to determine what should be done and what should be left un- done.

Now if it be true that God has made known in the Sacred Scriptures His will concerning the way in

57

which He would have men feel and think and speak and act, it is certain that this revealed will is the supreme rule of duty. Of course, a Being who " is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works " ' cannot enjoin us to be or to do anything in the slight- est degree improper or unbecoming in the relations we sustain to Him and to our fellow creatures ; and as " the law of the Lord is perfect," ^ it will at once be admitted that no higher rule is possible as the stand- ard of right. Webster is correct, therefore, in defin- ing righteousness as " conformity of heart and life to the divine law." The law of God is like a plumb-line (if I may so speak), let down from heaven to test the uprightness of our character and the rectitude of our conduct ; it is like an exact measure applied both to our inward and outward life to discover whether it is according to holiness ; it is like light shining into the chambers of our souls to reveal their real condition. If any are perfectly obedient in every respect to the requirements of the law, they are righteous, and the obedience they render constitutes their righteousness. The phrase "righteousness of God," which fre- quently occurs in the inspired Epistles, next demands our consideration. We find the apostle writing to the Eomans, " I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, . . . for therein is the righteousness of God re- vealed from faith to faith." ^ Again, " The righteous- ness of God without the law is manifested, being wit- nessed by the law and the prophets ; even the right- eousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto

» Ps. cxlv. 17. 2 Ps. xix. 7. 3 Rom. i. 16, 17.

58 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

all, and upon all them that believe." ' Again, " He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that w^e mio^ht be made the rio^hteousness of God in him."^ Again, he expresses an earnest desire to be found in Christ ; not having, he says, " mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." ^ Simon Peter also sends his salutation " to them that have obtained like precious faith w^ith us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."^ The term righteousness, when applied to God, does not so much refer to any one attribute as it denotes the perfection of His nature and sets forth the fact that He is most holy in Himself and most just in all His dealings with His creatures. The righteousness of God as used in the passages just quoted is understood by some writers to mean nothing more than God's method of justification ; but that they are mistaken in their view is evident, first, because the Holy Ghost would have said God's method of justification if this had been the thought in His mind ; and, secondly, be- cause no man can be justified until there is a right- eousness that precedes as the ground upon which the sentence of justification is pronounced. "Wordsworth well says, " This significant phrase, the righteousness of God, is not to be lowered, weakened, and impaired, so as to mean only the method of justification by which God acquits and justifies mankind." Other writers tell us that the expression means " the righteousness

* Rom. iii. 21, 22. 2 2 Cor. v. 21.

' Phil. iii. 9. ■* 2 Peter i. 1.

man's eigiiteousness cannot save iiim 59

wliich God gives and which He approves " ; but while this is the truth, as far as it goes, it is not the whole truth. God might give and approve a creature-right- eousness such as Adam had in the garden of Eden, and such as angels possess in the paradise of heaven ; but there is something better and nobler than this in store for the redeemed sinner.

" The righteous Loed loveth righteousness ; " * and His love for it is so great that when He saw our utter destitution and extreme wretchedness, in His infinite kindness and amazing condescension He gave us His own. He gave Christ, His co-equal, co-eternal, and only-begotten Son, who was and is forevermore the true God in our nature, and who not only furnished the most illustrious exhibition of His Father's right- eousness the universe has ever seen, but by His perfect obedience to all the demands of the divine law, and by His endurance of its penalty in the room and for the justification of His people, becomes their right- eousness ; and this righteousness is the righteousness of God Himself. It is that kind of righteousness which is worthy of admittance into His presence ; and He imputes to believers the righteousness of His Son, which is only another name for His own righteousness. Hence we read such astonishing language as this : "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world ? " ^ " Know ye not that we shall judge an- gels ? " ^ "He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations : and he shall rule them with a rod of iron ; as

1 Ps. xi. 7. « 1 Cor. vi. 2. ^ 1 Cor. vi. 3.

60 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers : even as I received of my Father." * " Him that over- cometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out : and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, Avhich is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God; and I will write upon him my new name."^ "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."^ In other words, the righteousness of God gives a title to those who are saved to be associated with " the Prince of the kings of the earth " Mn the most endeared intimacy and in places of highest dignity, which would be im- possible if they did not stand upon the ground of a perfect righteousness before the Father, arrayed as it were in the robe of His own unsullied perfections.

The righteousness of God, then, is an expression which has a broader and deeper significance than that given to it by those who explain it to mean simply God's method of justification or the righteousness of which God is the author and approver. The law demands righteousness ; and as we cannot meet the high demand, grace gives righteousness ; and as it is a gift, it is bestowed in a manner worthy of God who gives us His own righteousness. Nothing less than this could satisfy the desires of His loving heart, and nothing less than this could suffice to admit us into

» Rev. ii. 26, 27. » Rev. iii. 12.

»Rev. iii. 21. * Rev. i. 5.

man's righteousness cannot save him 61

His blessed presence. If the soul has upon it the faint- est stain of sin, it must be excluded forever from His glorious dwelling-place ; for " there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth," ^ and only those who are righteous in the sense that God Himself is right- eous can appear for a moment in the dazzling splendor of His holiness. Hence, amid the untold wonders of His creation and providence the most wonderful thing He has ever done is to impute a Divine righteousness to the believing sinner who can say, with perfect con- fidence : " Holy Father ! there is no difference now between Thy righteousness and mine ; for I am made the very righteousness of God in Christ." I need not add that this righteousness is no less enduring and immutable than is the self-existent and unchangeable nature of the Almighty ; and never, never can it be torn from those to whom it has been reckoned as the ground of their justification until the eternal Jehovah shall cease to exist or be hurled from His throne. ^ Eev. xxi. 27.

CHAPTEE VI MAN'S EIGHTEOUSNESS CANNOT SAVE HIM

IGNOEANCE of God's righteousness is declared by the Holy Ghost to be as fatal and soul-destroying as the grossest wickedness, because it led the Jews and it leads others to go about the vain attempt to estab- lish their own righteousness ; and therefore they refuse to submit themselves unto the righteousness of God. You will observe that He does not charge the Israel- ites with insincerity, but only with ignorance ; and yet practically one was as ruinous to the soul as the other. When our Lord in His sermon on the mount said to His disciples, " Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven," ' He did not accuse the scribes and Pharisees of hypocrisy as the reason for asserting that we must have a better righteousness than theirs, if we would enter into the kingdom of heaven. Some of them, we know, were hypocrites, but there is not the slightest authority for saying that all of them were practiced and wilful im- postors. Saul of Tarsus, for example, tells us he was perfectly sincere in his religion when he was a Pharisee, and verily thought with himself that he ought to do

1 Matt. V. 20. 62

man's eighteousness cannot save him 63

many things contrary to the name of Jesus of N^aza- reth ; but he afterwards informs us that he did these things " ignorantly in unbelief." ^ Surely there were others equally sincere ; and I have no doubt that among the Jews of that day there were many who attained a height of creature-righteousness which has never been surpassed in the history of the world.

They counted six hundred and thirteen precepts that were binding on man, dividing them into three hun- dred and sixty-five prohibitions and two hundred and forty-eight commands, and were scrupulously exact in striving to observe every one of them. They read the Scriptures diligently ; they prayed constantly ; they kept the Sabbath strictly ; they contributed systemat- ically to support the services of God's house; they adorned themselves with all the beauties of a faultless morality and maintained an incorruptible integrity in their social relations ; but even then our Lord, w^ho can neither deceive nor be deceived, solemnly an- nounced that their righteousness utterly failed to pro- cure for them a title to the heavenly inheritance ; " for they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." Paul, too, assures us that, ''touching the righteousness w^hich is in the law," he w^as blameless before he became a Christian ; and yet this boasted blamelessness could not save him, but afterwards was regarded by him as sinfulness. If, then, the testi- mony of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit speaking

» 1 Tim. i. 13.

64 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

by the apostle is to be believed on any subject, it is cer- tain that a creature-righteousness could not save the Jews, and it is no less certain that it cannot save the Gentiles.

It has been the great purpose of Jehovah from the beginning, I may say, to teach this fundamental truth to mankind, for He stated and rehearsed it as dis- tinctly before the coming of the Saviour into the world as He did afterwards. Thus when our first parents plucked the forbidden fruit, we are told, " the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons." * The violated law in- stantly thundered its curse against them : " Thou shalt surely die ; " * but grace sweetly spoke in the promise of the conquering seed, and then it is added, " Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them." ^ What have we here but the insufiiciency of man's righteousness as well as the precious truth of Divine righteousness taught in symbol ? The attempt which Adam made with his apron of fig-leaves to cover his nakedness utterly failed, and hence he and his wife hid them- selves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden ; but the robe which Jehovah pro- vided, and which told the story of the shedding of blood (as the appointed victim had to be slain before it could be presented), was Divinely perfect in its way ; and when once received we read no longer of the sinner hiding from the view and voice of his

*Geu. iii. 7 «Gen. ii. 17. 'Gen. iii. 21.

man's eighteousness cannot save him 65

Father. Again, in the next chapter, we learn that " in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering : but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth, and why is thy countenance fallen ? If thou doest well [that is. If thou offerest properly], shalt thou not be accepted ? And if thou doest not well [offerest not properly], sin lieth at the door." ' Here we have two altars, the one laden with beautiful fruits and fragrant flowers, the product of the worshipper's honorable toil, and the expression, no doubt, of his grateful and sincere homage, while the other is dripping with the blood of a dead lamb. The difference between the two brothers did not consist in the superiority of either by nature, but in the sacrifices which they presented. The one occupied the ground of man's righteousness in his worship, and hence was rejected ; the other occupied the ground of Divine righteousness, and consequently was accepted ; for the Holy Ghost informs us that " by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gift."^ The offerer and the offering were identified, and stood or fell together, God re- garding the former in the light of the latter, and pro- iGen. iv. 3-7. ^Ueb. xi. 4.

66 THE WAY MADE PLAIl^

claiming, even in that early age, that man's righteous- ness cannot save him.

It would be impossible, without writing a book nearly as large as the Bible itself, to give all the state- ments and illustrations of this essential doctrine found in the Scriptures, for the word of God from first to last views man as hopelessly ruined in himself, and sets forth in every variety of form his need of a bet- ter, even of a Divine, righteousness to enter into life. It is true, Moses said to the Hebrews in the wilder- ness, " It shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us ; " * but the little word "^Z"" is very important in this connection, and the in- spired history shows that they did not observe to do any of the commandments before the Lord their God as He commanded them. When they came to Sinai under the gentle conduct of grace that bare them on eagles' wings and promised to make them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, " all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do ; " ^ and yet scarcely had the rash vow proceeded from their lips before they were found dancing and bowing in idolatrous worship around a golden calf. Alas poor man ! such is ever the end of his effort to obtain a righteousness of his own : defeat, discomfiture, disgrace, is the invariable result. Hence we hear the Psalmist exclaiming : " I will go in the strength of the Lord God : I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only."^ " Who shaU

^Deut. vi. 25. ^E^od. xix. 8. »Ps. Ixxi. 16.

man's eighteousness cannot save him 67

ascend into the hill of the Lord ? or who shall stand in his holy place ? . . . He shall receive the bless- ing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.'" "Mercy and truth are met to- gether; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven." ^ By the mouth of His prophets the Almighty says, " O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself ; but in me is thine help." ^ " Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." ^ " And this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Kighteousness." ^

The Old Testament, then, clearly shows how and where righteousness is to be obtained ; and in every instance it entirely excludes man's righteousness as the ground upon which God pronounces the sentence of justification. " All our righteousness," it declares, " are as filthy rags " ^ (not all our wickednesses merely, for this any one is ready to admit, but all our right- eousnesses are as rags, nay, filthy rags), and " he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool." ^

Even the most illustrious saints whose splendid achievements are recorded in its pages are held up by the Holy Ghost in illustration, not of the value, but of the worthlessness, of creature-righteousness as the means of gaining acceptance w^ith the Holy One of Israel. " For what saith the Scripture ? Abraham believed God, and it [his believing God] was counted

iPs. xxiv. 3, 5. 2ps^ Ixxxv. 10, 11. » Hos. xiii. 9.

Isa. liv. 17. 'Jer. xxiii. 6. ^Isa, Ixiv. 6.

' Prov. xxviii. 26.

68 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

«

unto him for righteousness." ' " Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works." ^ To this must be added the testimony of the selfsame Spirit in the New Testament, who says, "• To him that worketh not, but belie veth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." ^ Again, he speaks of righteousness not as a reward fairly earned, but as a gift freely bestowed : " For if by one man's offence death reigned by one ; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation ; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men [all united to Christ] unto justification of life." ■' Again : '' What shall we say then ? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore ? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law." ^ Again : " After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but ac- cording to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost ; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our

* Rom. iv. 3. ^ Rom. iv. 6. ^ Rom. iv. 5.

« Rom. V. 17, 18. * Rom. ix. 30-32.

Saviour ; that being justified by bis grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." '

It is useless, however, to quote other passages bear- ing the same testimony, because if my readers bow to the authority of God's word they are already con- vinced by w^hat has been written ; and if they refuse to accept that word as true, it would avail nothing to quote the whole Bible. It is certain that there is not a line in the book in conflict with the testimony here given; and hence it is equally certain that man's righteousness cannot save him. It is true " that faith without works is dead ; " ^ but this is not saying that works save ; or that faith and works put together save the soul, for this would make faith itself a work. If it be true that faith without works is dead, do not forget that works without faith are also dead. " What doth it profit, my brethren," writes James, " though a man say he hath faith, and have not works ? Can faith save him ? " ^ What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath ten thousand a year, and have it not ? Can his saying it do him any good ? Depend upon it, Paul and James speak the same things ; for it is one Spirit who speaks through them both. Paul speaks of a real possession of faith ; James of a mere profession of faith. Paul speaks of a faith that justifies us before God ; James of a faith that justifies us in the sight of men. Paul speaks of an inward principle ; James of its active development. Paul speaks of a hidden life ; James of its outward manifestation. Paul speaks of a " faith which work-

^ Tit. iii. 4-7. ^ janies ii. 20. ^ James ii. 14. '

70 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

eth b}^ love," ' and so does James ; and hence these two honored servants of the Lord are in perfect accord, only they view the same landscape from dif- ferent points, and are fighting the same foe of legalism with their backs to each other. Both of them join all the holy men of God who " spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost," ^ in solemnly declaring that righteousness is the gift of grace, that is, of God's mimerited favor ; for " by grace ye are saved," ^ " and if by grace, then it is no more of works : otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace : otherwise work is no more work." ^

II. Keeping in mind that righteousness, when ap- plied to man, signifies the state or condition of being right according to the infallible judgment of God's law, a moment's reflection will show that we can never be saved in virtue of our own good character and conduct. The Holy Spirit tells us that " as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse : for it is written. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." ^ If, therefore, a man expects to be saved by means of his well-doing, it is obvious that he must not only profess to do, or try to do, right, but he must actually do, and continue to do, not only some things, but all things, which are written in the book of the law. If, however, he has failed to do right, and, on the other hand, has done wrong, it is

» Gal. V. 6. 2 2 Pet. i. 21. ' Eph. ii. 5.

* Kom. xi. 6. * Gal. iii. 10.

man's EIGllTEOUSNESS CANNOT SAVE HIM 71

no less obvious that he cannot be saved by his doing, whatever other ground of hope may suggest itself to his mind. "Master," said a certain lawyer to our Saviour, " what shall I do to inherit eternal life ? He said unto him, What is written in the law ? How readest thou? And he answering, said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind ; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right : this do, and thou shalt live." ^ Those, then, and only those, who can truthfully assert that they have always loved God with all the faculties of their being, and their fellow men as themselves, may claim to be righteous, and expect eternal life on the ground of their own right- eousness. But what shall we say when we find it written in the Word of Truth, " There is none right- eous, no not one," ^ " for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God " ?^ Clearly, the only pos- sible conclusion is that reached by the apostle when he argues, " Therefore, by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight : for by the law is the knowledge of sin." ^

It will not remove the difficulty a hair's-breadth to repent and promise to abstain in the future from any violation of the law ; for if such a promise could be kept for a day or an hour, could it atone for past transgressions? Suppose that a criminal, arrested after repeated offences running through a long

1 Luke X. 25-28. « Rom. iii. 10.

3Kom. iii. 23. <Kom. iii. 20.

72 THE AVAY MADE PLAIN

course of years, and put upon his trial and con- victed, and asked by the judge if he had anything to say why sentence should not be pronounced against him, could only reply that he was sorry he had com- mitted the crimes, and would hereafter conduct him- self as a good citizen. Could such a plea be accepted as vindicating the majesty of violated law or as satisfying the claims of insulted justice? But the sinner has been going on all his lifetime breaking the law of God with every breath, and at every beat of the pulse ; and manifestly it is the silliest delusion to expect that he will be acquitted and pronounced right- eous before the high tribunal of heaven simply be- cause he has undertaken at length to perform the duties he was required to perform from the first. But, alas ! his efforts to keep the law in its true intent will be as futile as his hope of acceptance on the ground of his own works. " Thy commandment," says the Psalmist, " is exceeding broad ; " * and it sweeps over the whole extent of our being, including the thoughts and emotions as well as the words and deeds. Our Lord, who knew the meaning of the law, declares that " whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart," ^ and the Spirit declares that " whoso- ever hateth his brother," though the hand may not be raised nor anger gleam from the eye, " is a murderer." ^ " Wherefore, then, serveth the law ? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the ^^romise w^as made." ^ " Moreover, the law

^ Ps. cxix. 96. ' Matt. v. 28. ^ 1 Jolm iii. 15. ^ Gal. iii. 19.

entered that the offence might abound." ^ It was never designed to give life nor to be a rule of life to a sinner with the expectation that he would keep it, but its ministry is to penetrate the soul like the sun- light streaming into a dark room to reveal the dust and defilement that had remained concealed. Hence he who has been truly awakened, and who seeks to be conformed to the law, invariably finds that it keeps ahead of his most earnest strivings, discovering im- purities and iniquities of which he had never dreamed before, and often wringing from him the cry of anguish, " O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? " ^ "If we," says the apostle John, .speaking for himself and all his brethren — " If we say that we have no sin, we de- ceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." ^ " Who- soever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all ; " ^ but " in many things we offend all," ^ and therefore it is sheer madness to claim that man's righteousness can save him, because he has no righteousness, and never will have any, of his own. If, however, any are disposed to argue that, notwithstanding their imperfections, God will be merciful, and bestow eternal life for the sake of the good they have done, you observe that they shift the ground of their hope from their own doings, and really admit that their righteousness cannot save them.

III. The work of Christ shows conclusively that

' Rom. V. 20. 'Rom. vii. 24. '1 John i. 8.

* James ii. 10. * James iii. 2.

74: THE WAY MADE PLAIN

we need a better righteousness than we ourselves can render ; " for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law ; " ' and " if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."^ Yes: he who relies for salvation upon his own works defiantly sets his opinion in opposition to the eternal counsel of Jehovah, and boldly declares that the awful scene on Calvary, when the tender heart of the immaculate and incarnate One was broken by reproach upon the cross, was altogether unnecessary. Every one must see, then, at a glance, the gross inconsistency of pro- fessing to believe the Bible, and, at the same time, denying the necessity of the atonement; for Christ and His cross form the key to unlock the meaning of the Scriptures, and constitute the all-pervading theme of its sacred pages. They exhibit in every possible form of expression the Divine person and mediatorial w^ork of Christ Jesus, " who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God : but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the like- ness of men : and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name : that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

»Gal. iii. 21. »Gal. ii. 21.

75

to the glory of God the Father." ' Whoever, in proud or ignorant dependence upon his good character and conduct, refuses to confess that most worthy name which raises the anthems of heaven to their highest notes, will certainly find his boasted righteousness a foundation of sand when the Lord " ariseth to shake terribly the earth," ^

Dear reader ! be persuaded, " before that great and notable day of the Lord come," ^ to accept the perfect and proffered righteousness of Christ, which alone can stand the inspection of Him whose eyes are as a flame of fire. I do not ask you to " give your heart to God," or to " enter into covenant with God that you will serve him," as the means of obtaining His favor, for this is wretched advice, although you often hear it urged. God is already favorable, and in His in- finite love is holding out to your immediate accept- ance a Divine righteousness, — yea, His own righteous- ness,— as the ground of your instant, complete, and eternal justification. Without this you may unite with any church, or with all the churches, on the face of the earth ; you may be baptized in any mode, or in all the modes ever practiced ; you may receive confir- mation at the hands of the most distinguished ecclesi- astical dignitary in the world ; you may regularly partake of the Lord's Supper in the most stately cathe- dral and amid the most imposing ceremonies ; you may bestow all your goods to feed the poor, and give your body to be burned ; and after all remain the same condemned and ruined sinner you are at present.

1 Phil, ii, 6-11. 'Isa. ii. 19. " Acts ii. 20.

T6 THE AVAY MADE PLAIN

But now the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ is unto all, that is, it is offered to all, and it is actually upon all them that believe. The righteousness of God ! What a wonderful truth ! Blessed be His name, the worst need nothing better than this, but the best can do with nothing less. "While such a righteousness is so generously pressed upon dying men, sad indeed it is to think of the vast multitudes who, " being ignorant of God's righteous- ness, and going about to establish their own right- eousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." I would not undervalue, in the slightest degree, the real worth of morality in its relation to human society, but do not, I beseech you, put it in the place of righteousness ; for the former may shine in its brightest glory without receiving one ray from the latter to mingle v^ith its radiance. " Covet earnestly the best gifts : and yet show I unto you a more excellent way." '

» 1 Cor. xii. 31.

CHAPTEE YII CHEIST THE SAYIOUE OF THE BELIEVEE

** For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." — Romans x. 4.

HAYING proved by the testimony of God, first, that man needs salvation, second, that his sin- cerity cannot save him, and, third, that his righteous- ness cannot save him, it may be asked by my reader. How then can he be saved ? The reply to this in- quiry has already been given incidentally in the passages of Scripture that were quoted for another purpose ; but in the present chapter I ask your atten- tion to the special discussion of a subject which is beyond all comparison the most important that can engage our regard. We know not how soon death may come to summon us away to our unchanging destiny beyond the grave, nor how soon the Lord may come to gather His people to Himself as a prelimi- nary step to the infliction of terrific judgments upon the inhabitants of the earth ; and surely every reason- able man must see that the question of his salvation should be distinctly, definitely, and intelligently set- tled without delay. Blessed be God, it may be settled instantly ; for according to the same unimpeachable testimony which has established the propositions thus far advanced, " Christ is the end of the law for right- eousness to every one that believeth."

77

TS THE WAY MADE PLAIIS-

The precise meaning of the terms in this statement is the first point that demands our notice. The word translated end is used in the New Testament forty-one times. The corresponding verb is sometimes rendered " to accomplish," sometimes *' to finish," sometimes '' to fulfil," and sometimes " to perform." When, therefore, it is said that Christ is the end of the law, we may understand that as the object of its types and the subject of its predictions He accomplished all that it announced as needful to be done ; or that He finished its career in its bearing upon our salvation ; or that He fulfilled its requisitions, its symbols, and its ceremonies ; or that He performed the work which it exacted as essential to the deliverance of the sinner from its curse. But clearer light will be thrown upon the signification of the word if we will inquire for a moment how it is employed in other portions of the sacred volume. For example, we read in Mat- thew, " Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake ; but he that endureth to the end shall be saved." ' " This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations ; and then shall the end come." ^ In Mark we read, " If Satan rise up against himself, and be di- vided, he cannot stand, but hath an end." ^ " When ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troubled : for such things must needs be ; but the end shall not be yet." ^ In Luke we read, " He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever ; and of his

» Matt. X. 22. « Matt. xxiv. 14.

• Mark iii. 26. * Mark xiii. 7.

CHRIST THE SAVIOUR OF THE BELIEVER 79

kingdom there shall be no end." * " For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accom- plished in me, And he was reckoned among the trans- gressors : for the things concerning me have an end." ' In John we read, " Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end." ^ In Ro- mans, " The end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." ^ In Corinthians, " Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ : who shall also confirm you unto the end." ^ " But every man in his own order : Christ the first fruits ; afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father." ^

These quotations are sufficient to illustrate the or- dinary use of the word by the inspired writers, and they show that we are to take it in its obvious sense when it is said, " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that belie veth." The law at Sinai demanded righteousness, but grace at Cal- vary gives righteousness, even the perfect righteous- ness of Christ ; and to him that believeth, the law comes to an end, and nothing remains but the right- eousness of God Himself as the immovable ground upon which the believer forever stands. If a man owes a debt which he cannot discharge, and his surety pays it for him, the law comes to an end so far

* Luke i. 33. ' Lnke xxii. 37. , ^ John xiii. 1.

*Rom. vi. 21, 22. » 1 Cor. i. 7, 8. • 1 Cor. xv. 23, 24.

80 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

as that debtor is concerned, because its requirements have been met and its claims. satisfied, although by another, and it has no further demands upon him. If a murderer has been tried, convicted, and executed for his crime, the law is at an end in his case, because it has been honored and vindicated in the infliction of the threatened penalty, and it cannot cause the lifeless body of the felon to be again swung from the gallows. In like manner, the law of God is at an end in its bearing upon the believer in Jesus, not because it has been set aside and trampled under foot by the lawgiver, but because Christ took the place of the believing sinner, paying his debt and suffering the deadful penalty in his stead.

The word " law " in English is said to be derived from a Saxon term which signifies " to lay." Worces- ter is correct, therefore, in defining it as " a rule of action laid down or prescribed by a superior." The Greek word here used strictly signifies " anything as- signed, distributed, apportioned ; hence a usage, cus- tom, and all that becomes law thereby ; a law ; ordi- nance." We are safe, then, in asserting that the word " law," which occurs about seventy-five times in the Epistle to the Eomans, denotes the rule of action which God has laid down or assigned for the govern- ment of man in his relations to his Creator and his fellow creatures. About this rule of action a few remarks must be made that will carry us back for a moment to ground which we have previously trav- ersed to some extent, but which it is well for us to notice again.

CHRIST THE SAVIOUR OF THE BELIEVER 81

First, It is a rule which it is right and proper for man to observe. " The law is holy, and the com- mandment holy, and just, and good." ' " We know that the law is good."^ It is the expression of the will of a righteous God concerning the way He would have us feel and act, and hence its requirements can- not be wrong. JSTo one will venture to affirm that there is anything unjust or unbecoming in command- ing us to love the Lord our God with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and with all the mind, and our neighbors as ourselves, and " on these two commandments," says the Saviour, " hang all the law and the prophets." ^

Second, It is a rule which applies to the thoughts, emotions, and desires no less than to the words and deeds. We have just seen that it demands supreme, unfaltering, unceasing love to God and to our fellow men, and love exists in the heart. Hence it is writ- ten, " Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity [love], I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mys- teries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity [love], I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity [love], it profiteth me nothing." ^ " Love is the fulfilling of the law." ® I^o man, therefore, can keep the law in its

^ Rom. vii. 12. ^ 1 Tim. i. 8. ^ jvjatt. xxii. 40.

* 1 Cor. xiii. 1-3. ^ Rom. xiii. 10.

82 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

true intent, unless love is the sovereign principle of his soul, subordinating to its imperial and undisputed sway every aspiration and sentiment, every aim and purpose, of his being. His life may be conformed to the highest standard of human integrity, but '' the Lord seeth not as man seeth ; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Loed looketh on the heart." * " I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins," ^ and hence in His sight the look of lust is " adultery," ^ and the secret passion of hate is " mur- der." '

Third, It is a rule which consists of two parts : a precept or command, and a penalty or punishment in case of disobedience. Without this threatened penalty it could not constitute a rule of action. We might have advice or exhortation, but law, in the sense in which the word is here used, cannot exist unless it carries with it rewards and punishments as its high sanction to encourage and enforce obedience. Human governments never lay down or assign a rule of action for the observance of their subjects until they arm it with a penalty, for the simple reason that it could not be a law at all were it not clothed with power to punish the transgression or neglect of its requirements. In the Divine government too, as a matter of fact, penalty is connected with every rule of action which God has laid down for our guidance, so far as our ex- perience and observation extend. There are certain rules of action which apply to our bodies, as the law

^ 1 Sam. xvi. 7. ^ jer. xvii. 10.

» Matt. V. 28. * 1 John iii. 15.

CHEIST THE SAVIOUR OF THE BELIEVER 83

of gravitation, and hygienic laws, or laws pertaining to the preservation of health. If these rules are dis- regarded, the penalty is inevitable. Sometimes it fol- lows instantly, and sometimes it is long delayed, but sooner or later its relentless inflictions are sure to vindicate the majesty of broken law. There are also certain rules of action which pertain to our mental faculties, and the infraction of them entails derange- ment, weakness, or other forms of punishment, unless indeed a miracle is wrought to arrest the merciless operation of violated law. Still further, there are certain rules of action which are plainly intended for the regulation of our moral nature ; and often, very often, we witness the fearful results of disobeying these rules in the agony, remorse, and sufferings of various kinds that overtake the wicked. Indeed, it is universally admitted, I believe, that sin is punished ; while, with strange inconsistency and a feebleness of reasoning actually puerile, many argue, or rather hope and suppose, that it is punished only in the present life. They do not reflect that, if God is too merciful to punish it hereafter. He should be too merciful, ac- cording to their view, to punish it here, since it is a mere question of degree or duration. They seem to recognize the justice, or, at all events, they are com- pelled to acknowledge the fact, of its punishment to some extent ; and hoAV can they hesitate to accept the logical conclusion that God will deal with it in eternity as He deals with it in time, and manifest towards it His righteous displeasure forever? The wish with them is plainly father to their thought ; but whatever

84 THE AVAY MADE PLAIN

their desires and conjectures, it remains unalterably true that God's law has a penalty, and that ever}^ sin committed under His government will be strictly punished either in the person of the sinner or in the person of the Divine Substitute. " The wages of sin is death ; " ' and death includes all the penal evils in- flicted as the consequence of sin both in this world and the world to come. '' When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin ; and sin, when it is finished, bring- eth forth death." ^ " Indignation and wrath, tribula- tion and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil ; of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile." ^

Fourth, It is a rule of action which every human being, except the man Christ Jesus, has violated. Sin is any desire, thought, word, action, or omission con- trary to the law of God, and it is written, " There is no man that sinneth not." ^ " There is not a just man on earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not." ^ " All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." ^ " In many things we offend all." ^ *' If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." ' "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." ^ The conclusion which the apostle draws from such state- ments as these is unavoidable when he writes : " ISTow we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law : that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become

' Rom. vi. 23. ' James i. 15. ^ Rom. ii. 8, 9.

4 1 Kings viii. 46. ^ Eccles. vii. 20. « Rom. iii. 23.

' James iii. 2. ^ i john 1. 10. ^ 1 Johu i. 8.

CHKIST THE SAVIOUE OF THE BELIEVER 85

guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight : for by the law is the knowledge of sin." ' Yes, the plummet has been let down only to prove that there is a total lack of rectitude on our part ; the straight rule has been applied to our character and conduct only to show an utter want of righteousness ; the light from heaven has flashed into our souls only to reveal the defilement of our nature. It is impossible, then, that a sinner can be justified by doing the things re- quired by the law, because he has already failed, and continually fails, to do them ; and the law convicts and condemns, and curses him, as it is said, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." ^ You will observe it is not said. Cursed are some very wicked j)eople, but. Cursed is every one that con- tinueth not in all things — not some things, but all things — which are written in the book of the law to do them ; for again it is said, " Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."^ If a criminal were arraigned for murder, it would avail him little to plead that he had never committed more than one murder, or that there were many other offences, such as theft and burglary, of which he was not guilty. He might be pardoned in view of his general good character, but surely he could not be justified by the law as right- eous, and his pardon could be obtained only by setting the law aside. Neither can you be justified by the * Rom. iii. 19, 20. * Qal. iii. 10. ^ james ii. 10.

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law of God, my unsaved reader, if you have ever broken it in a single particular, for " the soul that sinneth [be it once or ten thousand times], it shall die." ' You may urge that you have done no harm, but the question is not whether you have done any harm ; it is whether you have done good, and nothing but good, out of the high and commanding principle of supreme and unchanging love to your Creator and your fellow men. The law does not pronounce its curse against you because you are a particularly bad person, but because you are a person at all with a nature whose essential characteristic is lawlessness.

Having considered the meaning of the term " end " and the term " law," we must now glance at the im- port of the word " Christ." It properly signifies the Anointed One, and is equivalent to Messiah in Hebrew, as denoting an illustrious personage who was to be anointed or consecrated to the work of sal- vation. From the time the promise of the woman's conquering seed was made to our fallen parents in the garden of Eden, holy men of God who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost constantly uttered predictions concerning this personage, and looked forward to His coming with eager expectation. The entire economy under which they lived was so ordered that its priesthood and offerings and altar, its ark and tabernacle and temple, down to the pillars and ribands, the coverings and curtains, the bars and boards, the loops and taches, found in the sacred building, were radiant with the light of His anticipated appearing

* Ezek. xviii. 4.

CHEIST THE SAVIOUR OF THE BELIEVER 87

and eloquent in His praise. He is presented through- out the Scriptures under a wonderful variety of names, among which we find Him called our Advocate, Alpha and Omega, Almighty, the Amen, the Angel of the Covenant, the Angel of Jehovah, the Apostle of our Profession, the Author of our Faith, the Beginning of Creation, Beloved, Branch, Bread, Bridegroom, Brother, Captain of our Salvation, Creator, Com- mander, Counsellor, Corner Stone, Covert from the Tempest, Daysman, Deliverer, Door, Elect, Ensign, End, Example, Father of Eternity, Faithful Witness, First and Last, Fountain of Life, Foundation, Friend, God, Guard, Guide, Governor, Head, Healer, Helper, Hope, Horn of Salvation, Husband, I am. Image of God, Immanuel, Intercessor, Jesus, Jehovah, Judge, Just One, Keeper, King, Lamb, Leader, Life, Light of the World, Lion, Lord, Maker, Mediator, Mes- senger, Messiah, Morning Star, Passover, Peace, Phy- sician, Priest, Prince, Prophet, Eansom, Kedeemer, Refiner, Resurrection, Righteousness, Restorer, Ruler, Rock, Rose of Sharon, Root of David, Sacrifice, Saviour, Sceptre, Shepherd, Shield, Shiloh, Star, Stone, Sun, Teacher, Tower, Truth, Yine, Way, Witness, Wisdom, and Word.

CHAPTER YIII CHEIST THE SAYIOUE OF THE BELIEVER

AND not only are these remarkable names applied to Him, many of which imply His true and proper divinity, but the attributes of God are ascribed to Him by the inspired writers without the slightest hesitation or apology. Eternity is said to be the measure of His existence ; for it is written, " In the beginning was the Word ; " ' *' Yerily, verily, I say unto you. Before Abraham was, I am ; " ^ " And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was ; " ^ " But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." ^ Immutability belongs to Him ; for God addresses Him in the sublune words, " Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the founda- tion of the earth ; and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest ; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment ; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed : but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail." ^ " Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and

' John i. 1. ' John viii. 58. ^ John xvii. 5.

< Mic. V. 2. 5 Heb. i. 10-12.

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CHRIST THE SAVIOUR OF THE BELIEVER 89

to-day, and forever." ' Omnipotence is His ; for even as Mediator, He could say, " All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth ; " ^ and He reveals Him- self to John on Patmos as the " Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Al- mighty." ^ Omnipresence is His ; for while on earth He spoke of Himself as " the Son of man which is in heaven " ; * and encouraged the hearts of His disciples with the sweet promise, " Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them ; " 5 " and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." ^ Omniscience is His ; for it is said, " He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man : for he knew what was in man ; " ^ and Peter, led of the Holy Spirit, said to Him, " Lord, thou knowest all things ; " ^ and He Himself declares, " I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts." ^

"We look a little farther and find that the works of God are ascribed to Him throughout the Scriptures ; for we learn that " all things were made by him ; and without him was not anything made that was made " ; ^'^ and " by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers : all things were created by him and for him ; and he is before all things, and by

^ Heb. xiii. 8. ^ jyiatt. xxviii. 18. ^ p^ev. i. 8.

* John iii. 13. ^Matt. xviii. 20. « Matt, xxviii. 20.

■> John ii. 24, 25. « john xxi. 17. » Rev. ii. 23.

1^ John i. 3.

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him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the Church." ' " God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last da3^s spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds ; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." ^ " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."^ "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them ; even so, the Son quickeneth whom he will." * " I and my Father are one." * "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me ; and I give unto them eternal life." ^ " If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I depart I will send him unto you," ^ and " he shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." ^ " When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : and before him shall be gathered all nations." ^ " We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." ^° " Again the high priest asked

» Col. i. 16, 18. 5 Heb. i. 1-3. ' John v. 17.

< John V. 21. « John x. 30. « John x. 27, 28.

' John xvi. 7. ^ john xvi. 14. « Matt. xxv. 31, 32.

»0 2Cor. V. 10.

CHRIST THE SAVIOUR OF THE BELIEVER 91

him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed ? And Jesus said, I am : and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." ^

Once more, we find that He is the object of wor- ship which is due to God alone, and which it is the height of blasphemy to render to the most exalted creature in the universe. When Paul and Barnabas were at Lystra, the inhabitants of that city, amazed by a miracle wrought upon a cripple, said, " The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men," and pre- pared to offer sacrifices to the strangers ; " which, when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, cry- ing out, and saying. Sirs, why do ye these things ? " ^ When John had a revelation of the Divine purpose w4th respect to the Church in the heavenly glory and of the world smitten by terrible judgments, he says, " I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel w^hich showed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not : for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God."' But when the risen Christ appeared to Thomas, that doubting disciple, who demanded the evidence of his own senses to satisfy his mind, " said unto him. My Lord and my God ; " * and he said this without the slightest intimation that he was guilty of blasphemy in applying these high titles to Jesus. Our Lord

' Mark xiv. 61, 62. « Acts xiv. 14, 15.

'Rev. xxii. 8, 9. '♦John xx. 28.

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THE WAY MADE PLAIN

him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the Church." ' " God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last daj^s spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds ; who being the brightness of his glor}^, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." ^ " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."^ "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them ; even so, the Son quickeneth whom he will." * "I and my Father are one." * "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me ; and I give unto them eternal life."^ " If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I depart I will send him unto you," ^ and " he shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." ^ " When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : and before him shall be gathered all nations." ^ " We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." ^" "Again the high priest asked

»Col. i. 16, 18. < John V. 21. ' John xvi. 7.

« Heb. i. 1-3. 'John X. 30. * John xvi. 14. "2 Cor. V. 10.

3 John V. 17. « John X. 27, 28. 9 Matt. XXV. 31, 32.

CHRIST THE SAVIOUR OF THE BELIEVER 91

him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed ? And Jesus said, I am : and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." ^

Once more, we find that He is the object of wor- ship which is due to God alone, and which it is the height of blasphemy to render to the most exalted creature in the universe. When Paul and Barnabas were at Lystra, the inhabitants of that city, amazed by a miracle Avrought upon a cripple, said, " The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men," and pre- pared to offer sacrifices to the strangers; "which, when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, cry- ing out, and saying. Sirs, why do ye these things ? " ^ When John had a revelation of the Divine purpose with respect to the Church in the heavenly glory and of the world smitten by terrible judgments, he says, " I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel w^hich showed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not : for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God."^ But when the risen Christ appeared to Thomas, that doubting disciple, who demanded the evidence of his own senses to satisfy his mind, " said unto him. My Lord and my God ; " ^ and he said this without the slightest intimation that he was guilty of blasphemy in applying these high titles to Jesus. Our Lord

' Mark xiv. 61, 62. 'Kev. xxii. 8, 9.

5 Acts xiv, 14, 15. * John XX. 28.

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subsequently appeared to the disciples in a mountain of Galilee where He had appointed to meet them, and it is said that " when they saw him they worshipped him " ; * and they evidently worshipped Him without rebuke, for immediately afterwards He claims uni- versal power, and commands them to teach all nations, baptizing in His name as well as in the name of the Father and of the Holy Ghost, promising to be with them always. IS'ay, He tells us it is the Father's will " that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him." ^ He said to his apostles, " Ye believe in God, believe also in me ; " ^ and we know it is the sovereign pleasure and eternal purpose of God '* that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow ; of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." ^ We are not surprised, then, to learn that when the martyred Stephen fell asleep he addressed his dying prayer to Christ, saying, " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." ^ Nor are we surprised to learn that the inspired writers through the Epistles constantly assert His Divinity, supplicate His blessing, and associate Him on terms of perfect equality with the Father and the Holy Ghost in the apostolic benediction, for the Fa- ther Himself sends forth the royal proclamation, say- ing, "And let all the angels of God worship him."®

^Matt. xxviii. 17. ^ j^i^^ ^ 03. » John xiv. 1.

<Pbil. ii. 10, 11. »Acts vii. 59. ^ Heb. i. 6.

CHKIST THE SAVIOUR OF THE BELIEVER 93

If the Being of whom all this can be truthfully affirmed is not God, surely there is no God. If He who is called by Divine names, who wears Divine titles, who possesses Divine attributes, who performs Divine works, and is represented as worthy of Divine worship, has not a Divine nature, it is simply impos- sible to express the doctrine of the Deity in language. I have hastily skimmed over the surface of a very limited portion of the Scriptures to establish this doctrine, but enough has been said to prove it to the satisfaction of any mind that is submissive to the au- thority of God's word; and I must add that its cordial reception on your part, dear reader, is abso- lutely essential to your salvation. J^othing can be more offensive in the sight of the Father than the denial of the Divinity of His Son ; and hence He says to us by the Spirit, " If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed : for he that biddeth him Godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds." ^ But besides the blasphemy of denying His Divinity, I may say that it becomes an absolute necessity if we are to be saved, because none but a Divine person could be the end of a Divine law. I would not hang the in- terests of my undying soul upon the arm of the strongest seraph in heaven; for angels have sinned and fallen from their high estate ; ^ and I need, yea, I must have, the righteousness, the power, and the un- changeableness of a Divine Eedeemer as the solid foundation of my hope before I can find lasting repose.

1 2 JohD X. 11. 2 2 Pet. ii. 4.

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This need is precisely and perfectly met in the person and work of ^' Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God : but made himself of no reputation [emptied himself], and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men ; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." * If the phrase, " took upon him the form of a servant," means that He was truly man, it is equally certain that the phrase, " being in the form of God," means that He was truly God; and if you ask me how God could become man, I reply, I do not know, nor care to know, because the blessed fact satisfies my mind and heart ; and until I can tell how I raise my hand, or how a blade of grass grows, I shall not reject the glorious doctrine of the incarnation on account of its mystery. "Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness : God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." ^ Man's ignorance should never be weighed against God's positive testimony, and we find that this testimony was given hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus in the form of a prophecy : '•' Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." ^ Turning to the Xew Testament, we read, " Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise : When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she

» Phil. ii. 6-8. 3 1 Tim. iii. 16. » Isa. vii. 14.

CHEIST THE SAVIOUR OF THE BELIEVER 95

was found with child of the Holy Ghost. . . . Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, say- ing, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which, being interpreted, is, God with us." ^ Here the voice of the Eternal is heard speak- ing to the proud intellect, saying, " Be still, and know that I am God : " ^ and here it is the highest province of reason to sit reverently at the manger of Beth- lehem, and gaze with adoring gratitude upon the sub- lime mystery of incarnate love. " When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." ^ " For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh : that the righteous- ness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."*

The word " redeem," in the first of these passages, properly means to deliver by the payment of a ran- som ; and we know the price paid for our deliverance from the curse of the law : for the Saviour tells us "the Son of man came ... to give his life a ransom for many." ^ In the second passage, when it is said, " What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh," we are to understand that

J Matt. i. 18, 22, 23. ^pg xi^j, iq. ^ Gal. iv. 4, 5.

*Rom. viii. 3. 4. 'Matt. xx. 28.

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the law could not give us righteousness ; not that it was imperfect in itself, but because it was rendered inadequate, ineffectual, inoperative, by reason of our flesh or corrupt nature ; and, therefore, God, in His amazing grace sending forth His own Son, inflicted upon Him the sentence of condemnation, not only against sins in their outward form, but against sin in the flesh, or the sin of our nature. And " now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets ; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all [that is, it is offered to all], and upon all them [that is, it is the actual portion of all them] that believe." ^ I cannot be too emphatic in remind- ing you that the law has not been set aside, but that it has been honored, vindicated, obeyed, satisfied, in every jot and tittle of its claims upon the believer, because " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." ^

As another has beautifully written, "We were under the curse, because we had not kept the law ; but Christ, the perfect Man, having magnified the law and made it honorable by the very fact of His obeying it perfectly, became a curse for us by hang- ing on the tree. Thus, in His life He magnified God's law, and in His death He bore our curse. There is, therefore, now, no guilt, no curse, no wrath, no con- demnation for the believer; and albeit he must be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ, he will find that judgment-seat every whit as friendly, by

» Rom. iii. 21, 22. «Gal. iii. 13.

CHEIST THE SAVIOUR OF THE BELIEVER 97

and by, as the mercy-seat is now. It will make manifest the truth of his condition, namely, that there is nothing against him ; what he is, it is ' God that hath wrought him.' He is God's workmanship. He was taken up in a state of death and condemnation, and made just what God would have him to be. The Judge Himself has put away all his sins and is his righteousness, so that the judgment-seat cannot but be friendly to him ; yea, it will be the full, public, authoritative declaration to heaven, earth, and hell, that the one who is washed from his sins in the blood of the Lamb is as clean as God can make him." Yes, he is as clean as God can make him, because Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth ; and, as we have ah*eady seen, this right- eousness which he receives through faith is the very righteousness of God Himself. The law is satisfied and can ask no more. It stood, if I may so speak, hand in hand with justice, looking upon that awful scene in Calvary where God " made him to be sin for us who knew no sin ; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him," ' and when they heard the cry, " It is finished," ^ they knew that the dying Kedeemer had prevailed through death " to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness," ^ and now they join grace and mercy in extending a joyful wel- come to the believing sinner.

They pursue him to the grave of Jesus, but they can go no farther, for their demands have all been

1 2 Cor. V. 21. 2 John xix. 30. ^ j)aii. ix. 24.

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met by Him who lay in the sepulchre of stone, and they come to an end, Avliile the believer passes safely through, and stands in the new creation upon which God looks down with infinite delight and sees that it is " very good." On this side of that tomb there is nothing but sin ; on the other side there is nothing but righteousness. On this side there is nothing but condemnation ; on the other side there is nothing but justification. On this side there is nothing but death ; on the other side there is nothing but life. Theolog- ical writers tell us that while the law is no longer the rule of justification, it is still the rule of life ; but surely they have no authority in the word of God for the assertion. In their anxiety to avoid the evils of Antinomianism, or the infamous doctrine that the Christian has license to sin, they fall into the opposite error of legalism, and " put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we are able to bear." ' When they affirm that the law is still the rule of life, if they mean that it still declares the mind of God as to what man ought to be and do, there can be no objection to the expression ; but if they mean that the believer is required to walk ac- cording to this rule in order to salvation, and that he will be judged and condemned if he fails in conform- ity to its demands, nothing can be more false. The very ground upon which the apostle exhorts Christians to abstain from sin, and assures them that it shall not have dominion over them, is, that they "are not under the law, but under grace. What then ? shall

^ Acts XV. 10.

CHRIST THE SAVIOUK OF THE BELIEVER 99

we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace ? God forbid." ' " What shall we say then ? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound ? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein ? . . . Knowing this, that our old man is [or rather teas'] crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. . . . Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." ^

Elsewhere the same apostle says, " As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse," ^ and no exception is made in favor of the believer. " But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held [or we being dead to that wherein we were held] ; that we should serve in new- ness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." ^ Christ took our place under the law, and by enduring its penalty made an end of it, and henceforth He is our life and rule of life, and all in all to the saved soul. The Bible everywhere affirms that when He died we who believe also died ; and when He was made alive, God " quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved ; ) and hath raised us up to- gether, and hath made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." ^ There the believer is now, as God views him ; no longer on earth, but in the heavenly places ; having a perfect righteousness be- cause his Divine Surety has met all the demands of

» Rom. vi. 14, 15. ' Rom. vi. 1, 2, 6, 11. =* Gal. iii. 10.

* Rom. vii. 6. * Eph. ii. 5, 6.

^SUG'Pi

100 THE WAY MADE PLAIN

the law for him, and possessing the resurrection life of Jesus, which is something infinitely better than the life given to Adam in Eden.

Thus it is, " Christ is the end of the law for right- eousness to every one that belie veth ; " because His righteousness, or that which He did to satisfy the claims of the law, is imputed to the believer ; and if you desire to know the meaning of the term " im- puted," turn to the Epistle to Philemon where the apostle, speaking of Onesimus, says, "If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account." ^ There the phrase, " put that on mine account," is precisely the same word in Greek which the apostle uses in Eomans where he says, " Sin is not imputed when there is no law." ^ The righteousness of Christ, then, is put on the account of the believer ; and whatever merits Christ has in the sight of the Father the believer also possesses. He who was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners " ; ^ " who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth " ; ^ who had the approval of God in " a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased";^ who could say, "I do always those things that please him," ^ and who " ap- peared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself," ^ is no nearer to the heart of the Father than is the believing sinner. The measure of the acceptance of one in the sight of God is the precise measure of the

1 Philera. 18. ""^oxw. v. 13. ' Heb, vii. 26.

* 1 Pet. ii. 22. ^ j^iatt. iii. 17. « John viii. 29. .

' Heb. ix. 26.

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acceptance of the other. Oh, matchless grace ! I do not wonder that men are so slow to believe it, for the news seems too good to be true. But it is true, for the Holy One hath said it, and it is true to every one that believeth. Believeth ^vhat? Believeth that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness ; be- lieveth that Christ appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself ; believeth the testimony of God that " the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." '

Many precious thoughts here crowd upon my mind, but I must not give utterance to them at present, for I have already made this chapter too long. The dis- cussion of belief will come up again, if the Lord will, and I cannot dwell upon it now. I merely wish to say that when men tell you to do anything to be saved they are preaching the law and not the Gospel. You have only to believe ; and believing is not doing : it is the opposite of doing ; it is simply receiving, and rest- ing on the finished w^ork of Christ which is already done, and done more than eighteen hundred years ago. The sin-hating God met the sin-bearing Jesus at the place of a skull, and there once and forever settled the question of the believer's salvation, and we had nothing to do with it. Now the glad tidings are sent forth to the ends of the earth : " Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins ; and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law

' 1 John i. 7.

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of Moses." * Are justified : mark that. They are already justified ; and tliey cannot be partly justified and partly unjustified, partly saved and partly un- saved. If they believe that what God has said about His Son is true, and true for them, as it is for any other sinner, they have at this present moment a per- fect righteousness, and there is not one condemnation against them. What, then, do these doubting be- lievers mean, if I may be allowed to use such an expression as doubting believers ? If their doubts are true, God is a liar, but if God is true their doubts are liars ; for He hath said, " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that belie veth."

^ Acts xiii, 38, 39.

CHAPTEE IX NO HOPE FOE THE SIN:^EE IN THE LAW

*' For Moses describetb the righteousness which is of the law, That the mau which doeth those things shall live by them. ' ' — liomans x, 5.

TIIEEE are only two ways by which men expect to enter heaven. One is by domg, the other is by believing. We often hear doleful and sometimes unmeaning complaints about the great diversity of religious opinions in the world, but all systems of faith can be readily reduced to the two already mentioned. In the one class w^e must place that vast multitude without the pale of the Christian Church who, acknowledging in general terms the existence of God and a future state of rewards and punishments, seek to win the approval of their Creator by their amiable character, or by their upright conduct, or by certain acts of worship sanctioned by custom or sug- gested by conscience. To these must be added that vast multitude within the pale of the Church who seek to win the approval of their Creator by their prayers, or good works, or reception of what are called the Sacraments. I am not here referring to any particular denomination of professing Christians, but to all in every denomination who rely upon any- thing whatever that they have done or can do to be saved.

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They agree precisely with the former class, and stand upon precisely the same ground, and are doomed to the same end ; for the unbelievei's are to have their " portion with the hypocrites," ^ and the hypocrites are to have their " portion with the unbelievers." ^ If the one will be saved by well-doing, so will the other, unless it can be shown that God has promised eternal life for a special kind of well-doing ; but if the one will be lost for refusing to rest simply and solely upon the finished work of Christ, so will the other. The fact that some are members of the Church and some are not does not change in the slightest degree the principle on which they act, and which in both cases is the principle of doing as the procuring cause of salvation. One man hopes to be saved because he pays his just debts, or because he is honorable in his business transactions, or because he is a faithful hus- band, an indulgent father, and a kind neighbor, or be- cause he contributes his money, example, and energies to advance the welfare of the community and country in which he lives. Another man hopes to be saved because he has been baptized in what he supposes to be an authorized form and by an authorized minister, or because he has partaken of the Lord's Supper, or because he goes to church, or because he tries to live up to the rules of the ecclesiastical body which he has joined and does his part in promoting the interests of that body.

It is obvious that these two men do not differ with respect to the principle which underlies their hope of

1 Matt. xxiv. 51. ' Luke xii. 46.

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salvation, for they depend alike upon their own doing to be admitted into the glorious d^Yelling-place of God when called to leave the world. One may ut- terly reject the Divine authority of the Bible, and the other may be a Presbyterian, or Baptist, or Congrega- tionalist, or Methodist, or Episcopalian, or Koman Catholic, or known by any other denominational title ; but it is clear that they build upon the same foundation and must stand or fall together. If you ask for the reason of their expectation that they will be saved, you will find that in both cases they rely on something that they have done^ or are doing ^ or intend to do^ and hence the ground of their hope, so far as they put themselves to the trouble of forming any dis- tinct views of the subject, is one and the same, whether they are in or out of the Church. It is to be feared that there are thousands in all the churches who would listen with blank amazement to the solemn direction of the Holy Ghost, " Be ready always to give an an- swer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you ; " ' but when we are able by close questioning to arrive at that reason, it amounts to nothing more than this : they were taught to believe that they are sinners, and sometimes a slumbering conscience wakes up long enough to confirm the teach- ing ; and influenced by the example and wishes of parent, or husband, or wife, or friend, they made a profession of religion, as it is significantly called. They are not happy in their relations to God, who is an object of dread or indifference, and hence they

^ 1 Peter iii. 15.

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They agree precisely with the former class, and stand upon precisely the same ground, and are doomed to the same end ; for the unbelievers are to have their " portion with the hypocrites," * and the hypocrites are to have their " portion with the unbelievers." ^ If the one will be saved by well-doing, so will the other, unless it can be shown that God has promised eternal life for a special kind of well-doing ; but if the one will be lost for refusing to rest simply and solely upon the finished work of Christ, so will the other. The fact that some are members of the Church and some are not does not change in the slightest degree the principle on which they act, and which in both cases is the principle of doing as the procuring cause of salvation. One man hopes to be saved because he pays his just debts, or because he is honorable in his business transactions, or because he is a faithful hus- band, an indulgent father, and a kind neighbor, or be- cause he contributes his money, example, and energies to advance the welfare of the community and country in which he lives. Another man hopes to be saved because he has been baptized in what he supposes to be an authorized form and by an authorized minister, or because he has partaken of the Lord's Supper, or because he goes to church, or because he tries to live up to the rules of the ecclesiastical body which he has joined and does his part in promoting the interests of that body.

It is obvious that these two men do not differ with respect to the principle which underlies their hope of

^ Matt. XX iv. 51.

^ Luke xii. 46.

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KO HOPE FOR THE SINNER IN TnE LAAV 105

I

salvation, for they depend alike upon their own doing to be admitted into the glorious dwelling-place of God when called to leave the world. One may ut- terly reject the Divine authority of the Bible, and the other may be a Presbyterian, or Baptist, or Congrega- tionalist, or Methodist, or Episcopalian, or Koman Catholic, or known by any other denominational title ; but it is clear that they build upon the same foundation and must stand or fall together. If you ask for the reason of their expectation that they will be saved, you will find that in both cases they rely on something that they have done^ or SLvedoiTig, or intend to do, and hence the ground of their hope, so far as they put themselves to the trouble of forming any dis- tinct views of the subject, is one and the same, whether they are in or out of the Church. It is to be feared that there are thousands in all the churches who would listen with blank amazement to the solemn direction of the Holy Ghost, " Be ready always to give an an- swer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you ; " * but when we are able by close questioning to arrive at that reason, it amounts to nothing more than this : they were taught to believe that they are sinners, and sometimes a slumbering conscience wakes up long enough to confirm the teach- ing ; and influenced by the example and wishes of parent, or husband, or wife, or friend, they made a profession of religion, as it is significantly called. They are not happy in their relations to God, who is an object of dread or indifference, and hence they

1 1 Peter iii. 15.

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think it wise to do something to secure them against punishment in the eternal world in case of sudden death, while their tastes, aims, and aspirations centre with supreme regard about the present world. I have known Christian mothers to take great comfort from the fact that their daughters, after a night of God-for- getting and God-defying revelry, were pious enough to say their prayers before retiring to rest ; and the poor deluded daughters really fancy that they have done something to cause the sleepless eye of Jehovah to look upon them complacently.

Upon ministers of the Gospel — nay, ministers of the law, I should term them — largely rests the re- sponsibility for this lamentable state of things ; be- cause in reply to the earnest question of many an anxious soul, " What must I do to be saved ? " ' in- stead of answering in the language of the apostle, and preaching the good news of God's love and of a finished salvation to the believer, they tell the inquirer to be confirmed, or to unite with the Church, or to enter into covenant with God to serve Him, or to keep on praying and striving, and thus put the dead sinner on a course of worthless doing. " They be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." ^ God knows I do not desire to express myself harshly ; and surely I can have no wish to excite the enmity and call forth the opposition of those who are warmly at- tached to their religious teachers and to the systems of religious faith in which they have been educated ;

1 Acts xvi. 30. "J Matt. xv. 14.

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but the interests involved in this discussion are too precious to allow the use of honeyed phrases concern- ing men who claim to be " the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation." * " To the law and to the testimony : if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." ^ " For Moses describe th the righteousness w^hich is of the law. That the man which doeth those things shall live by them."

If then a man expects to obtain righteousness by the law or by the principle of doing, he must do the things required by the law. It is not enough that he tries to do them ; or that he promises to do them ; or that he is sorry because he has not done them ; or that he does some of them ; but he must actually do, and do without faltering, and do all the things de- manded by the law, or a voice breaks like thunder above his head, saying, " Cursed is every one that con- tinueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."^ God, who gave the law and knows why He gave it, has also said, " Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." ^ " And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice, . . . Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them ; and all the people shall say. Amen."** Even the incarnate One who came on a mission of love and salvation to our lost race sol- emnly declared, " Till heaven and earth pass, one jot

^Acts xvi. 17. ^Isa. viii. 20. ^Gal. iii. 10.

* James ii. 10. ^ Deut. xxvii. 14, 26.

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or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." * The law, therefore, cannot lower its demands to humor the caprices or to suit the necessi- ties of the sinner, for then it would be no law at all. It is an unalterable expression of the will of God con- cerning the duty of man, and it remains forever the same in its holy precepts and in its dread penalty, whatever may be our state. Human laws are often repealed ; or changed in some of their principal fea- tures ; or suffered to lie on the statute book as a dead letter ; because the legislators and the executive are frequently ignorant, passionate, fickle, and powerless to enforce their decrees ; but the Divine law, as we have already seen, is perfect ; and the Divine Law- giver has all the resources of the universe at His com- mand to do His bidding. Hence it is written, " If the word [that is the law] spoken by angels was stead- fast, and every transgression and disobedience re- ceived a just recompense of reward ; how shall we es- cape if we neglect so great salvation ? " ^

The law, we here learn, is steadfast, stable, firmly established ; and every transgression — not only some gross and enormous transgressions, but every trans- gression and disobedience — is sure to receive a just rec- ompense of reward; " for the wages of sin is death." ^ AVhat hope, then, can the sinner derive from the law or from reliance upon his own doing to be saved ? Kone whatever. The righteousness which Moses de- scribeth, that the man which doeth those things shall live by them, most clearly can be of no avail to the

*Matt. V. 18. 2|je}j, n, o, 3. ^B.om. vi. 23.

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man who has not done them. The promise is only to him who doeth them, and not to him who fails to do them. If any can be found who have perfectly obeyed the requirements of the law in thought, emotion, word, and deed, they may begin to speak of winning heaven on the principle of doing ; but if it can be proved that all, without exception, have disobeyed these requirements, it follows, so far as the law is concerned, that it condemns and curses the entire hu- man family, and demands that the threatened penalty shall be inflicted.

I am not now speaking of the adorable grace and unsearchable wisdom of the Lawgiver in providing a substitute upon whom the penalty descended, instead of upon " his people which he foreknew," but my aim is to call the attention of the reader to the fact that if his reliance for salvation is upon keeping the law or upon his own doing, he is utterly helpless and hope- less. Law knows no mercy. Its whole office is discharged when it lays down a rule of action and promises to justify or to declare righteous those who conform to this rule, with the fearful alternative of punishment if the rule is violated in the slightest par- ticular. They, then, know not what they say, nor whereof they affirm, who dismiss the tremendous realities of eternity from their attention with the flippant remark that they will be saved if they do the best they can. Even if this were true, there is not an honest man in the world who will dare say, in the presence of the holy God, that he has always done the best he could. The general confession contained

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in the Episcopal prayer-book, " to be said by the whole congregation after the minister," might well be said by the whole human race in the humble acknowledg- ment: "Almighty and most merciful Father: we have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done ; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done ; and there is no health in us." ]S"ot only have we left undone many things which we ought to have done, but many things which we might have done ; and not only have we done many things which we ought not to have done, but many things which we might have avoided. This, I am sure, every candid and intelligent person will promptly admit, and hence those who claim that they will be saved if they do the best they can must see, after a moment's reflection, that they will have no ground upon which they can stand in the Judg- ment.

But I will go a step farther and say that if my reader were able from the hour his eye falls upon these lines to abstain entirely from sin, he could not be saved in \artue of his own doing. Yes, I will take it for granted, for the sake of argument, that hence- forth he can perfectly keep the law of God in thought, word, and deed ; and, after all, he must inevitably be lost if his dependence is placed on his own good char- acter and conduct ; " for Moses describeth the right- eousness which is of the law. That the man which

NO HOPE FOR THE SINNER IN THE LAW 111

doeth those things shall live by them." He does not say that the man which doeth those things part of the time, but all the time ; for if life is to be earned on the principle of doing the things required by the law, they must not be left undone, but done. If they are left undone once or for a single instant, all hope of being saved by doing is gone, and gone forever. Sup- pose, then, that when judged by the law you could truthfully claim that you had strictly observed all its commands for ten, twenty, or thirty years, the Judge would very properly reply, Why did you not observe them all the time ? What were you doing the many years previous to your observance of them but com- mitting sin continually? According to your own showing, you have utterly failed in your duty, and as you prefer to be judged by the law, O sinner, you are condemned. " Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." '

What would be thought of a court of justice which would justify or declare righteous a man arraigned at its bar on the ground that, although he had committed innumerable crimes through a long series of years, he had subsequently reformed and become an upright citizen ? The chief executive might possibly pardon him in view of his reformation, but he could not do it without setting the law aside; and surely he could not pronounce him a righteous man, or right accord- ing to law. But God can never set His " holy, just and good " law aside, nor can He fail, as has been

» Matt. XXV. 30.

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previously shown, to punish sin ; and therefore, if the sinner could be obedient hereafter in every respect to the demands of the law, his subsequent good conduct could not possibly atone for his former bad conduct, nor exempt him from the penalty which is denounced against " every transgression and disobedience."

But it adds immensely to the embarrassment of the sinner, and still further proves that there is no hope for him in the law or upon the principle of doing, when we remember that, strive as he may, he will continue to sin. Admitting that he can wholly abstain from transgression by the strength of his will, and resolu- tions, and vowSj and efforts, the law cannot possibly justify him, because he has already disobeyed its pre- cepts, and he cannot with his utmost endeavors do more than it requires ; so that he comes short of his duty although he should never again be guilty of a single offense. How helpless, then, is his condition when he discovers by sad experience, as he surely will discover, that the good which he would, he does not, and the]evil which he would not, that he does ! When, aroused from his death sleep by the quickening voice of the Son of God, he undertakes to do something to be saved and flies to the law for refuge, he finds to his amazement that he had not known before the hidden evils of his heart. He is like a man who dwells in a dark room and imagines that it is clean, until the law enters like the sunlight and reveals the dust and defilement lying all around. He is like a man who thinks in his intoxication that he is pursuing a straight path, until the law comes, like a perfect

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rule, and shows him how crooked his ways have been. " What shall we say then ? Is the law sin ? God forbid. Xay, I had not known sin, but by the law ; for I had not known lust, except the law had said. Thou shalt not covet." *

I am but stating the experience of all, without ex- ception, who have earnestly and resolutely tried the law, or the principle of doing, in order to be saved, when I say that a miserable failure has been the uni- form result ; and it is owing to my anxiety to save you this bitter experience, dear reader, that I dwell so much upon a point which may seem to you of little importance. How many sincere souls might be spared months and years of gloomy despondency and harass- ing fears if taught at the beginning of their religious experience the utter uselessness and worthlessness of their own doing ! You remember that when our blessed Lord was on the earth, " there came one run- ning, and kneeled to him, and asked him. Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life ? " Observe that, like sinners now, he wanted to do something, and the Saviour met him on his own ground. It is as if He had said. You ask what you must do ; and, since you are determined to seek salvar tion by doing, " thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not kill, Do not steal. Do not bear false witness, Defraud not. Honor thy father and mother." You will notice that Christ takes him only to that part of the ten commandments which requires us to love our neighbor as ourselves, and does not refer * Rom. vii. 7.

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to that higher part which requires us to love God with all the heart, and soul, and strength, and mind ; be- cause the former was sufficient to disclose to the in- quirer the deceitfulness of his heart. " And he an- swered and said unto him. Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest : go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and come, take up the cross, and follow me." If he really loved his neighbor as himself, why did he wish to re- tain his immense wealth and leave others around him wretchedly poor, when, if he had been poor and they rich, he would have desired to share in their abun- dance ? " And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved ; for he had great possessions." ' Alas ! with all his doing that made him so amiable and at- tractive, he had not complied with the spirit of the second table of the Decalogue, to say nothing of the first. My reader, if you really insist upon trying to be saved by trying to keep the law, you will discover that it will baffle your best efforts, and outstrip your most arduous pursuit of holiness, and more and more reveal the abyss of ruin in which you are plunged, and drag from their secret lurking-places in 3^our soul sins of whose existence you have probably been ignorant.

1 Mark x. 17-22.

CHAPTEE X NO HOPE FOE THE SINNEE W THE LAW

WHAT, then, will you do ? Go to the Church to save you ? Poor sinner ! how can the Church save you when it is nothing, as its name implies, but an assembly of sinners called out from the world to be the witness of the grace that has plucked them as brands from the burning ? I verily believe that there is nothing about which there is such mischievous con- fusion of mind and such horrible darkness as concern- ing " The Church." If the Church saves, pray in what part of it is salvation found ? Is it in the preacher, or the people, or the services ? Do you not perceive at a glance that in going to the Church for salvation you are going back to the law and to this fatal principle of doing ? Do you not see that you are guilty of blasphemy in transferring the perfec- tions of Jehovah, whose high province and sole prerog- ative it is to save, to sinful creatures like yourself ? Take heed, I beseech you, how you put your trust in the Church, lest you should be aroused by the terrors of the judgment to the frightful discovery that you have been building your hope of life on a foundation of sand. There is not a church organization on earth that has not departed from the simplicity and purity in doctrine and practice of the Gospel standard ; and

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inasmuch as the Lord has plainly revealed that all these ecclesiastical systems are to perish amid the crash and wreck that will close the present dispensa- tion, he who expects to be saved in virtue of his con- nection with any body of professing Christians will feel the ground on which he stands give way as with the throes of an earthquake, and no resting-place shall be found for his soul. God forbid that I should dis- parage the real Church, or the assembly of the saved which constitutes the mystical body, and by and by will be manifested as the beautiful bride, of the King of kings ; but woe to him who hangs his hope of eter- nal life upon her impotent arm ! He is ascribing to the creature the power and grace that belong only to the Creator and deludes himself with the vain confi- dence of the Jews, in the days of the apostles, when they lost sight of Christ to trust for salvation in circumcision and other appointed ordinances. The Church, however imposing her ceremonies and how- ever exalted her dignitaries, is composed of sinners who, believing in Jesus, " are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit ; " ' and it would be a strange thing indeed if the saved could become the Saviour in any other sense than to testify of His redeeming love and of the infinite merit of His aton- ing blood.

But I will go a step farther with my argument and assert that there could be no hope for the sinner, in the law or on the principle of doing, even if he were able to abstain entirely hereafter from the transgres-

^ Eph. ii. 22.

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sion of the commandments ; and even if he were able to say truthfully that he has never in the past violated one of these precepts ; and even if he were able to dis- cover a Church exactly conformed in all respects to the apostolic standard, and should become the most prominent leader in its services. When you read this assertion, do not, I pray you, throw the book con- temptuously down, but, however offensive it may be, at least consider what I have to say in its support. I would not thrust a bony and cold-blooded theology at you to haunt your dreams like a spectre, and I have as little relish as you can possibly have for those nice hair-splitting distinctions in doctrinal statement that are of no practical value to the soul. But, dear reader, I am dealing with a solemn truth and a tremendous fact when I repeat that if your outward life were per- fectly blameless, and if you were a distinguished mem- ber of the only true Church on the face of the earth, could you find such a body, you vf ould still need some- thing else before obtaining a scriptural hope of salva- tion. My authority for this declaration is found in the oft-repeated testimony of the word of God that our very nature is sinful, and hence our Lord, as if addressing each person belonging to our race, distinctly affirms, " Yerily, verily, I say unto thee" — I who can neither deceive nor be deceived — I who came down from heaven to die in the room and stead of lost men — " I say unto thee, Except a man [except any one, every one] be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." '

* John iii. 3.

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Those who reject the finished work of Christ as the only ground of their hope may cavil as much as they please at these words ; but there they stand forever in the Sacred Scriptures, and no impious hand can tear them from the Bible, and no ingenious criti- cism can force them to signify mere reformation or the reception of rites and sacraments. When the blessed Saviour said, '* Ye must be born again," ' He obviously meant just what He said, and not something He did not say. ^Ye have been born once, — born of our earthly parents, — and now we must be born again, or we cannot see the kingdom of God. The way in which we are born again is very simple, and the Lord states it in language that cannot be misunderstood when He says, ^' And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of Man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." ^ Whosoever believeth, then, has eternal life, and whosocA^er has eternal life surely sees and enters the kingdom of God : so that whoso- ever believeth is born again. " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that who- soever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." ^ God loved and gave, and we believe and have ; and this is all of it in order to attain life and experience the new birth. To the same effect we read, ''As many as received him [Christ], to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name : which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will

» John iii. 7. ' Johu iii. 14, 15, ^ John iii. 16.

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of man, but of God."* " Whosoever believetli that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." ^ " Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." ^ " Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature," ^ or, as it might be rendered, he is an unimpaired, uncontami- nated creation. In other words, he is born again ; and no one has the right