THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

“Ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”—St. Johnxiv. 17.

Inthis verse our Blessed Lord spoke of the knowledge enjoyed by His people. He spoke of the present, and the future; of that which they had then at the time that He was with them, and of that which they were about to enjoy after the Day of Pentecost, when He would be taken away from them. With reference to the present He says “He dwelleth” (or, is dwelling) with you, or amongst you; with reference to the future He says “He shall be in you.” There are clearly, therefore, two great subjects to be considered, the knowledge enjoyed by the disciples when the Lord Jesus was still upon earth, and the knowledge enjoyed by all His people ever since the Day of Pentecost.

“Ye know Him for He dwelleth with you.”

The expression does not describe an internal union within the soul, but an external companionship. The meaning is the same as when St. John said, “There standeth one among you, whom ye know not.”[38]There they were, a little company of disciples, and amongst them in the midst of their society, in theroom where they were assembled, was abiding, or dwelling, the Spirit of Truth.

Now what was the meaning of this declaration? Was it not this? That the Holy Spirit was at that time dwelling amongst them as embodied and manifested in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of Him it was said by John the Baptist “God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.”[39a]So it was said by St. Paul, “In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”[39b]And by St. Peter we are taught that He was anointed with the Holy Ghost, and God was with Him.[39c]

Consider, then, the Lord Jesus Christ as God manifest in the flesh, as the human manifestation of the mind and power of the Holy Ghost, and you will see in a moment that while He was on earth the Spirit of Truth was dwelling amongst the disciples. Where the Lord Jesus was, there was the Spirit; where He dwelt, there the Spirit dwelt; and when He and those twelve disciples sat together at the Last Supper, He could say of the Spirit of Truth, “Ye know Him for He dwelleth with, or among, you.”

It was to be very different afterwards. There is an immense change when our Lord speaks of what should take place after His departure. It is no longer “with,” but “in.” He would be not merely present in their company, but abiding in their souls.

In this promise, there are three things requiring our careful notice.

(1) The promise applies not to a company, to a society, to a Church, or to any body of men, butto each individual. The Holy Spirit will not be merelyin the midst of a congregation, but a sacred guest in each soul. You see this very clearly in the history of the Day of Pentecost.[40]The Holy Spirit came on the company, on the Church, for He filled all the house where they were sitting. But besides that there was a separate personal gift to each person present, for “it sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.”

(2) The sacred gift is no longer localized or specially enjoyed in one place. So long as the Lord Jesus was amongst them where He was, there was the Gift. But now, wherever the believer is, there is the Gift. See the unspeakable blessedness of this sacred promise. The gift of the Spirit is not confined to this place or that. It is the inestimable privilege of each individual believer wherever he is, and in whatever position it may please God to cast his lot. You may be cut off from the means of grace in which you have delighted, but wherever you are, you are not cut off from the Spirit of Truth, from the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, for He is not limited to time, or place, or circumstance, and wherever you go at the Lord’s command, there you will carry His presence with you.

(3) He dwellswithinthe soul.

There is this great difference between His presence and that of the most faithful and loving of friends. The friend can only judge by the outside; the anxious look, the tear in the eye, or the words of sorrow. But the Spirit of Truth is within, and He takes note of the inner secrets of the soul. He does not wait for any external evidence of what is passing. The hidden springs of thought are all open to His eye: the secret pain that is never breathed to anyone; the hidden hope that smoulders in the heart; the subtle temptation that is beginning to grow up unperceived, and the yearning of soul after a higher life,—all these things are open to Him, and He, dwelling within and knowing all that is passing within, can check, can guide, can heal, can help, can supply any possible need “according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”[41a]

There is no telling, then, the unspeakable blessing of the Pentecostal gift, and we can perfectly understand why it was that our Lord said “It is expedient for you that I go away.”

But do we all desire it? “Of course we do,” say some. But it is not at all a matter of course. There was no room for Christ in the inn at Bethlehem, and there is no room for the Spirit of Truth in many hearts. If He dwells within your soul He will humble you and make you to “abhor yourself and repent in dust and ashes.”[41b]Do you desire that? If He dwells within you, He will wean you from the world and teach you to live as one looking for the Kingdom. Do you desire that? If He dwells within you He will teach you to give up your own will. Do you desire that? Do you desire really to be led by the Spirit, taught by the Spirit to become a humble, gentle, and submissive child of God? I fear there are many who, when the whole subject is considered, are not prepared to give Him an unreserved welcome, and would be tempted to close the door of their hearts against His entrance. If the door is opened by them at all, it is only set ajar, and not thrown wide open that the King of Glory may enter in, in the fulness of His power, and turn out everything that is at variance with His will.

But I believe there are many who would hold nothing back and who long above all things that the Spirit of Truth may take full possession of their souls. Their difficulty is not that they do not wish it, but that they can scarcely believe it possible that He should ever dwell in such a heart as theirs. They find so much sin there that they can scarcely imagine it possible that the Holy Comforter should not be driven from them by all that He sees within. No doubt there is quite sufficient to drive Him grieved and displeased from His resting-place, and if it were not for the everlasting covenant of God, and the precious blood of Christ, I can perfectly understand the impossibility of His making such a heart His dwelling-place. But the atoning blood alters the whole case. The blood of Christ breaks down every barrier. It is a new and living way[42]by which not only may you enter boldly into the presence of God, but through which the Spirit of God may enter your heart and take full possession of it as His own abiding-place.

If you are longing to be filled with the Spirit, you must look straight to that cross of Christ. You must remember the fulness of the pardon. You must trust to that Atonement as breaking down even the barrier raised by your own dark corruption, and, pleading that precious blood, must open every avenue of your soul to the Spirit of Truth, that He may enter in and there reign supreme.

“Behold, I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.”—Isa. lv. 4.

Itis often said that a living head is essential to the well-being of a living Church. Nothing can be clearer than the teaching of Scripture that our Living Head is in heaven now, seated at the right hand of God.

It is as a Living Head that our Blessed Saviour is here predicted. Three rich promises are made by God to every hungering and thirsting heart—Life, a Covenant, and a living Head. Life, for He says, “Hear, and your soul shall live.” A covenant, for He says, “I will make an everlasting covenant with you;” and a Head, for He adds, in the words of our text, “Behold I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.”

The question may arise, “Who is it that is thus given for a witness? Who is the person that the people are to recognize as their leader and commander?” The prophecy says David. But David, we know, was a typical character. He was not merely a king, but a type; a type of Him who was to be both his son and his Lord. Accordingly we are taught that the name David was applied to the Lord Jesus, for we find the words applied by St. Paul toChrist and His resurrection.[44a]We are there taught that when God raised up Christ from the dead, He gave us the sure mercies of David. The Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, is the Witness, He is the Leader, and He the Commander of His people. In other words the risen Redeemer is our Living Head.

The text, therefore, directs us to His present action, not to His death or even to His life before His death, but to His present Headship at the right hand of God. He is

One who bears a true and faithful testimony. This He did in His life on earth, as we learn from His own words when He stood before Pilate. “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness into the truth.”[44b]And this same character He maintains in heaven, for at the opening of the Book of Revelation we are taught to look for grace and peace “from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-begotten from the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth.”[44c]It is clear that as the “first-begotten,” that is, as the risen Saviour, He now acts as a witness.

This is done in two ways. He is a witness to the world, bearing witness to God’s great plan of salvation. But more than that He witnesses to the heart of each of His own children, assuring them of His faithfulness, confirming them in His truth, and doing what David prayed Him to do, “Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.”[44d]There is an outer and an innerwitness; an outer witness in the power of His Spirit accompanying His word, and an inner witness within the souls of His own people; hidden from the world and known only to those who enjoy it, that witness of which St. John spoke when he said, “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.”[45a]And this may teach us an important lesson respecting the true nature of faith. It is faith when we receive the testimony of the Lord Jesus as an undoubted truth, and, without questioning, simply believe Him. There are difficult truths taught in His word, and some strangely at variance with human opinion; but true faith gives up all and trusts. It makes a complete surrender to Jesus Christ, the faithful witness.

And when we speak of Him as a Leader, we must not connect His office merely with the idea of war, for it is the office of peace also. When our Lord compares Himself to the Shepherd He says He “leadeth them out.”[45b]Nor is His office of a leader given up even in the peaceful rest of Heaven. There is a leading Hand even there, for when St. John was permitted to look in and to see the great multitude before the Throne, the Angel referred him to words from the blessed promise in Isaiah.[45c]In heaven, therefore, the promise is both fulfilled and known. It is fulfilled, for there the saints of God are refreshed by the living waters; and it is known, for the Angel himself, while describing the joys of heaven, calls attention to the ancient prophecy, and shows howin the peaceful scene around him it was receiving its complete fulfilment.

Now what is implied when we are taught that the Lord Jesus is a Leader for His people? It implies much more than teaching, and therefore the office of the leader is far beyond that of witness. It would be of but little use to explain to a blind man the windings of some narrow path. But it would be an act of great kindness to take him by the hand and lead him. And this is what our Leader does for us, for He says, “I will bring the blind by a way they knew not.”[46a]

Our proud hearts may dislike the dependent position of either the feeble or the blind; but, whether we like it or no, we are both blind and feeble, unable to trace our path amidst the perplexities of life, and equally unable to move safely alone even when the path may be discovered. It is, therefore, in mercy and in tender love that God has given Him to be a Leader, and our part is to accept the gift and trust Him. When we are brought into perplexity, into one of those positions of life where two ways seem to meet, we may fall down before Him as our great Leader, and say, “For thy name’s sake, lead me and guide me.”[46b]When we find ourselves in slippery places and scarcely know how to stand, we may come into His presence and cry, “Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe.”[46c]When perplexing doctrine is presented to us, and false teaching abounds around us, we may spread out His word which contains His testimony, and say, “Shew me Thy ways, O Lord.”[46d]And when we come to the valley of the shadow of death, when no human hand can help us, and no human sympathy reach our necessities, even then wemay be perfectly sure that our great Leader will never leave us; but as we part from all friends here on earth, and as all earthly helps fade away, we may lean more simply and more heavily than ever on Him and say, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me.”[47a]

So again for the Church of Christ. Our lot is cast in very perplexing times, and those who really care for the Church of God must often have their hearts filled with deep anxiety. It is a happy thing to know that God has given him to be a Leader of the people, and “Head over all things to the Church.”[47b]We may trust Him, therefore, to take care of His own truth, and rest assured that amidst all the perplexities of these latter days He will guide His own people safe to the end, until every one of them appeareth before God.

We cannot say of this office, as we did of the last, that it belongs to peace, for it is one peculiar to war. The commander is for the battle-field, and still more for the well-arranged campaign. Thus our Lord is presented to us as a Commander in the book of Revelation.[47c]He then appears in His royal character, and at the same time heading His army. He encounters all the powers of the world, but he is surrounded by a little company of faithful followers, and He leads them on to victory.

The Church of God must be prepared for conflict. Till the Lord comes sin will give the Church no peace. Till Satan is trampled down under His feet,he will never rest in his deadly warfare against the Lord Jesus and His little flock. The soldier of Christ must be a man of war.

The great Commander will have His own chosen and faithful followers—“they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”[48a]They are marked from the world by a clear line of separation. They bear His name; they wear His uniform; they rally round His banner; they are not ashamed of His reproach; and wheresoever He goeth there it is their joy to follow Him. There is no service like His, no commander so perfect, no struggle so noble, no victory so certain and so glorious.

If we really be amongst the chosen band of faithful followers, our one standard in life must be the will of our great Commander. We must be watching each signal from Him, and owning no authority but His. From first to last our spirit must be that of Saul of Tarsus, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?”[48b]This may sometimes imply a painful surrender, a surrender of ease, and inclination, and, hardest of all, of pride. But the soldier in the earthly army yields at once to his commanding officer, and how much more should we, when He has chosen us to be His people, blotted out our sins by His blood, called us into His own fellowship, sealed us with His seal, and made us heirs of His Kingdom?

“Our God shall fight for us.”—Neh. iv. 20.

Icanimagine nothing better calculated to make a people calm, peaceful, and courageous, than to be able to say in faith, “Our God shall fight for us.” If we can say this, we may think on our country and rest assured that, whatever happens, all is safe. If we can say this, we may look upon God’s people struggling for His truth, sometimes sorely pressed and sometimes quite disheartened; but when we look on Him whom God has given to be a Leader and Commander of the people, we may take courage that all will be well, for He is our God, and He will fight for us. Or, we may look at our own personal difficulties, at the temptation without by which we are surrounded, and the proneness to yield within, which renders us perpetually liable to its power; and sometimes we may be ready to ask the question, Can such as we are ever gain the victory? But, if we can but say in faith, “Our God shall fight for us,” then, weak as we are, we may look forward to a triumph, and say even beforehand, “Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory.”

But there are few cases in which this language of faith was more appropriate than when originally spoken by Nehemiah. Nehemiah was one of themost beautiful characters to be met with in all history. I know of no one in whom there was a greater combination of practical, business-like habits, with true, simple-minded, childlike faith. When acting as cup-bearer to the King of Babylon, he heard of the desolation of Jerusalem, and obtained permission to return thither in order to rebuild the walls and restore the city. The Jews at the time were so exceedingly feeble, that the onlookers laughed them to scorn. But, when once the work was begun, contempt was exchanged for indignation, and Sanballat with others “conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.” Then it was that Nehemiah used these words for the great encouragement of all who were working with him, and said, “Our God shall fight for us.”

But while he thus spoke with the full assurance of confiding faith, he was not led by that faith to negligence. True faith never leads to negligence. It always stimulates exertion and rouses men to hopeful energy. So it did in the case of Nehemiah, for the same verse which contains the assurance contains also the spirit of active preparation. We will study the conduct of Nehemiah as furnishing an illustration of the union of faith and effort, examining first his effort, then his faith.

It was made under very discouraging circumstances. The city was in ruins, the walls were in heaps, and there were only a few restored captives to labour for their restoration. Now, in what spirit did these feeble Jews rise to their work?

(1) They all worked together.

There was just such an united and harmoniousaction as we long to witness in the Church of God. It is an old proverb that “union is strength.” In this case the whole wall was portioned out and all classes united. First came the High Priest and his brethren, next the men of Jericho, soon followed by the carpenters, the goldsmiths, and the apothecaries. Then came the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, followed by Shallum and his daughters; further on we read of Baruch, who set an example to the whole company, for heearnestlyrepaired the portion entrusted to his care, till at length the circuit was complete.

(2) They worked with a will.

There is such a thing as work without a will. There is the dull, lazy work of the idle man, and the mechanical work of those who take no interest in what they are about. Just as in religion, there is the languid performance of a routine as different as possible to the real wrestling with God in faith. There is no soul in it, and who can wonder if there is no result? In this case there was rapid result, and they built the wall, and the reason is given, “for the people had a mind to work.”[51]An important lesson this for every Christian effort.

(3) They made real sacrifices for their work. It must have been a sore inconvenience to these men to leave their own occupations and to labour on the wall; but they laboured night and day till the wall rose from its ruins. Oh, that we had more of this spirit in the Church of God! Would that we knew better how to give to Him so as to pinch ourselves; to give our time, our money, our painstaking, our real self-denying work, in order to glorify God, and show that we live not unto ourselves, but unto Him that died for us and rose again.

This showed itself in three ways.

(1) In prayer.

Nehemiah was a man of prayer. When any trouble arose, his heart turned as if by an holy instinct to God, and so, when Tobiah mocked their efforts, Nehemiah gave no rough answer, but he turned his heart upwards and said, “Hear, O our God, for we are despised.”[52a]How much bitter strife would be avoided in the world if men acted like Nehemiah, and, instead of retorting, spread out their provocations before God.

But the conduct of the opponents soon turned from mockery to war, and there was a plan to attack the rising walls. But the attack was met just in the same way as the insult. In both cases he gave himself to prayer. I cannot imagine a better illustration of the praying believer than the words in verse 9, “Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night.” They heard of the conspiracy, and at once spread the intelligence before God; but, having done so, they did not consider that prayer superseded effort, but day and night they set their watch on the walls. Had they watched without praying, they would have been trusting to their own forethought; and had they prayed without watching, they would have tempted God to leave them. But they watched and they prayed, and they prayed and they watched, and so they acted in the spirit of the words in aftertimes spoken to us, “Watch and Pray.”[52b]

(2) Their faith showed itself also in the recognition of what God had done for them. Faith not only asks God’s help, but acknowledges it. It gives Him thanksfor His action as well as asks Him to act; so when the danger was past we find Nehemiah ascribing it all to the good hand of God on his efforts. He did not say, “When we had defeated their plans,” but “When God had brought their counsel to nought.”[53]

(3) Faith looks forward to the future. When the workmen were all at their posts; when the builders laboured, every one having his sword girded by his side; when the trumpeter stood by the chief, ready at any moment to sound the alarm; when the voice of prayer had been heard day and night all along the line of the rising walls; when all had been done that man could do—then the heart rose high above all that man had done, and in calm, confident trust, Nehemiah assures the people, saying, “Our God shall fight for us.” He had made preparation, but he trusted to God for victory. He was at the head of a feeble people, but he was the servant of the Most High God. He knew that the battle was not to the strong, nor the race to the swift; so he rested his hope on the strong hand of his God, and in simple faith he trusted Him to give the victory.

“By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also.”—Rom. v. 2, 3.

Thejoy of the Lord is a subject that goes to the heart of many. Some are rejoicing in the Lord, while others are longing to be partakers of it; it is a gift after which their heart is yearning.

Let us consider the real foundation of true, solid, well-founded joy. In these two verses there is a description of the joy and its power. There is the joy, for “we rejoice in hope of the glory of God,” and there is the power of that joy, for it rises above the troubles of life, and we rejoice “even in tribulation.” There is, therefore, such a bright hope of the coming glory, that we may go on our way with a thankful heart, rejoicing in the Lord; and there is such a manifestation of the love of Christ in the soul by the power of the Holy Ghost, that the distress of tribulation is overpowered, and even in the midst of sorrow there may be an abiding joyfulness in Christ Jesus the Lord.

Observe the foundation of this joy, and see how it is the consequence of our sure standing in Christ Jesus. When we rejoice in hope of the glory of God, and rejoice even in tribulation, this joy is the consequence of a previous transaction, and the result ofour occupying a new position. We have had access, or admission, and are now standing in His grace. It is the standing in that grace that is the foundation of the joy of hope. This leads us to the question, “What is the grace?”

The word “grace” has different meanings in Scripture. Sometimes it means the inward work of God the Holy Ghost in the soul, as when it says, “Grow in grace.”[55a]But this cannot be our standing-ground, for the simple reason that it is imperfect and variable. But this is not the only meaning of the word, or nearly so, for it is used for any great gift of love and mercy bestowed in God’s free favour on His people. We have to consider what is the free gift or favour into which we have had access, and which is now our standing-ground. This question the context must decide; and it seems to me impossible to study that context, without coming to the conclusion that the grace here referred to is that which must ever be the real resting place for those who are convinced of sin, a righteousness imputed in the free grace of God.[55b]

This, then, is the grace in which we stand, the grace of imputation, the gracious gift of a righteousness reckoned, counted, or imputed to us when we do not deserve it; the marvellous mercy through which we are accounted righteous, accepted as righteous, beloved as righteous, and finally saved as righteous, although we are not really so in fact, and although we are conscious in our own hearts of matter for the most profound humiliation before God. Who can wonder that we rejoice in hope when we are placed in mercy on such a standing-ground as that?

This, you observe, is a workforus, and notinus, and therefore never varies. The workinus isperpetually changing. It is a progressive work, and its progress is sometimes much more rapid than at others. But the workforus does not go up and down with the workinus; it is unchangeable, like God Himself. The righteousness imputed is the righteousness of God, and therefore perfect and unchangeable. It changeth not for the simple reason that He changeth not, and therefore always, in cloud as well as sunshine, in dark days as well as bright, in the hour of tribulation as well as in the season of unmixed prosperity, in the times of deepest humiliation as well as in those of emotion and encouragement, the justified believer may rejoice in Him, and triumph in the God of his salvation. It is this that gives its security to hope, this that makes us sure of its never failing. If we were relying on all the varied changes of our own feelings, there might be joy one day and despair the next; but while we stand in the grace of imputed righteousness, our hope has a foundation that can never give way, and therefore we may accept the joy without a fear, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

What is the great principle within the soul which constitutes our standing in this grace?

To this question we shall find an answer in the words of St. Paul, “Thou standest by faith.”[56]And this is exactly what is taught us in this passage. In verse 1, we are taught that it is by faith that we are justified; and then, in verse 2, we learn that it is by faith that we have access into this grace wherein we stand. From first to last, therefore, it is a matter of faith. The whole secret of our standing, and of the joy that follows from it, is found in that one word “trust.” Trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your finishedSacrifice and your living Lord, and you stand on the rock. Let your trust rest on anything else, on your feelings, your thoughts, your experience, your intentions, or your religious efforts, and you will be no better than men endeavouring to walk steadily on the waves of the sea. But trust Christasyou are,whereyou are, and that without putting even your own trust between you and Him, and you may go on your way rejoicing in Him, and need never cease to give thanks for a foundation so solid and a grace so free.

“Be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”—1Cor. xv. 58.

Wehave lately studied “the joy of the Lord,” and now I am anxious that our thoughts should be turned to another subject, which is much more intimately connected with it than many seem to suppose, that is, the work of the Lord. The joy of the Lord imparts strength for service, and the service of the Lord increases joy. There is action and reaction between the two.

It iswork—work with all the self-denial that accompanies steady work.

It is workforthe Lord. When we say that a father works for his family, or a servant for his master, it does not mean that such an one simply goes about his own business, but it does mean that he has a particular person in view, and that he is working for him. We are such poor, frail creatures that there is a constant tendency to admit bye motives in our work. I know how hard it is to preserve a single eye to the glory of God. One’s own reputation and the great pleasure of one’s own success have a constant tendency to introduce false motives. What we want is to lose sight of self altogether, and to remember that if weare doing the workofthe Lord, we are doing itforthe Lord.

It is workfromthe Lord. It is the work to which the Lord has appointed each of us. When God called Barnabus and Paul, He said, “Separate them for the work whereunto I have called them.”[59a]Now we are not called to the Apostleship, but I believe there is not an individual amongst us who is not called by God to a certain work in His service. The Church of God is said to be “compacted by that which every joint supplieth.”[59b]There is not, therefore, a joint in the whole body that is not to supply something. All who are in Christ Jesus are the children of God, and all are called to work in His service, the strong man in the fulness of his strength, or the suffering invalid laid low with broken health.

This, then, being the character of the work of the Lord, let us turn to the encouragement which God has given, and the root from which it springs.

There are some things in our Christian life which we think, some which we hope, and some which we know. We know some, for they are assured to us in God’s word, and we are fully persuaded that His word is true. Now here is one of the things we know, know as a matter of certainty without the possibility of doubt. We know that our labour is not in vain in the Lord. It may often appear to us exceedingly feeble and defective: we may be ashamed and humbled at its multiplied shortcomings: we may look back upon it honeycombed, as it were, by mistakes: we may be conscious that we have left undone those things that we ought to have done, and we may be painfully aware that nothing has been done as it oughtto have been done for God, but still we are assured that it will not be in vain. When Samuel was but a child, “the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground,”[60a]and we may be sure that He will not let one word spoken in His name fall to the ground now. If the Lord is with you, no one thing that you ever do for Him will be in vain. You may not see the fruit of it, or if you do it may be after years of waiting, but the Lord knows all about it. He sees exactly what you are doing, or saying, or giving, or praying, and the book of remembrance is written before Him. You yourself may be one of God’s hidden ones, and in the day when He makes up His jewels,[60b]you may meet then with others, hidden like yourself, to whom your labour, however feeble, has been blessed in His mercy. Cleave, then, to the work of the Lord without wavering. Let no discouragements dishearten you, hold steadily on your way, faint yet pursuing, being perfectly assured that what God has promised He is able also to perform, and that even your poor service will not be in vain in the Lord.

It is not all kinds of labour to which the promise is attached, for there is a great deal of labour that is altogether in vain. “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.”[60c]And the distinction is very clearly taught us here, for the work here spoken of is a labour “in the Lord.” It teaches how work is the consequence of union; that we do not do the work of the Lord in order that by doing it we may attain to union, but that the union comes first and the work of the Lord follows as its result. Therewill be no fruit on the branch if there is not first a union with the vine. There is no hope, therefore, of any man winning to himself a union with Christ by any amount of painstaking in work. If your heart is yearning for that union, you must accept it as a free gift because Christ Jesus, the Son of God, has redeemed you by His own most precious blood, and you must do so just as you are, without waiting for even one more effort in His service. You must be “in the Lord” before you can “labour in the Lord,” and that union must be the free gift of His unmerited grace. You must be created in Him unto good works before you will do anything for His glory.[61]

“Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.”—Psa. lxiii. 7.

Iwishto speak on the important use of Christian experience in the confirmation of faith. I say in the confirmation of faith, for there is the widest possible difference between confirmation and commencement. Experience may confirm the faith when it already exists, but the faith must obviously be there before there can be any experience of its result.

At the outset of our Christian course we have nothing to do but throw ourselves absolutely in naked trust on the sure promises of the covenant of God, and rest exclusively on what He has done and promised. We have nothing then to do with our own history, our own feelings, or our own progress, it is Christ and Christ alone on whom the soul must rest for life. And so, if we look to the real foundation of faith, it must be to the last day of our pilgrimage. It is a fatal-moment for us if we are led to look away for a single moment from Him. But at the same time we must remember that we are not always at the beginning of our Christian life. One who has trusted the Lord Jesus Christ and walked with Him for many years is not in the same position as one who is to-day seeking Him for the first time. He has had the experience ofthe loving-kindness of the Lord. He has never found Him to fail in any of the anxieties of his life, and if he could trust many years ago when he had nothing but the bare promise, how much more may he trust the Saviour now when the truth of His word has been tried and tested in all the varied experiences of life?

The Lord Jesus Christ is described as “a sure foundation;”[63a]sure, because He is the foundation laid by God; sure, because of His own eternal Godhead; sure, therefore, as an object of simple trust before a person has had any experience of His grace. To the trembling sinner who has hitherto been a total stranger to Him, and has never known anything of His love, even to him He is a sure foundation, and though knowing Him only through the word, that trembling sinner may come to Him and trust. But according to that same verse He is also a tried foundation. He has been tried by the whole church of God for eighteen centuries and has never once been found to fail any one that has come to Him in faith. He has been tried by us who have known Him for the greater part of our lives, and we are not to ignore all He has done for us, but say, as St. John did, not merely that we have believed, but that “we have known and believed the love that God hath towards us.”[63b]

Now this is the principle of the text. The Psalm was written when David was in great trouble, having taken flight from Saul in the wilderness of Judah. He was there hidden in such caves as Adullam, and cut off from the sanctuary of God. But it is a very cheerful and thankful Psalm. He was not downhearted because of his troubles, but he had such an assurance of the loving-kindness of the Lord that his heart was full of praise. He could praise Him, andthat with joyful lips, even in the wilderness. The reason was that he could trust Him, and though he was only a young man his trust had been confirmed by experience. He had been in difficulty almost the whole time since his call, but he had found a strong arm with him all the way, and therefore he said, “Because thou has been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice.” In this verse there are two things to be observed—

The Lord had helped him through many difficulties and he thankfully recognized the help. We do not know to what particular act of help he referred. It may have been to his victory over Goliath, or to the escape from the javelin of Saul. Or it may be to the daily, hourly help given to his own soul in all the difficulties of his situation; to that help which finds no place in history, but which is the unceasing source of life and strength to the child of God. But whatever was the peculiar character of the help, it is perfectly clear that it was accepted and recognized. He asked for help, he found it, he acknowledged it, and he was thankful for it.

Let us learn the lesson that we should not be always praying for help, and fearing to acknowledge it when given. It is our privilege to ask for the gift, but it is also both our privilege and duty to acknowledge it.

He knew that he believed in a God that changeth not, just as we believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever,”[64]and the result was the assurance that He who had helped himthus far would help him to the end. He knew that his God would not change, and therefore he was happy and confident though he was in “a dry and thirsty land.”[65a]His joy did not depend on circumstances, but on God, and being confident in His unchanging grace he could be happy anywhere. He used to delight in the Sanctuary, and we read in verse 2 how he had there seen in his own soul God’s power and glory. But the same Lord who had helped him in the Sanctuary would help him also in the cave, and therefore he was not an unhappy man even in the wilderness, but he said, “Because Thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee.”

And this was no new principle in his mind, for we find him acting on it when he was quite a youth. It was the principle that carried him into the conflict with Goliath, for when Saul dissuaded him from the attempt, he said, “The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.”[65b]Thus the recognition of past help ought to lead to confident trust. If we have found help actually given, if we have reason to believe that God is helping now, we may boldly look forward into the future, and be perfectly confident that He will help to the end.

The Practical Effect of this Blessed Hope on the Life and Character

“Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”—St. Jamesv. 8.

Thehope of the near approach of the Lord’s coming should lead us to sit light to the world and the things of it. There is no greater temptation besetting our path than that of becoming entangled in the things of the world. We are for ever spinning cobwebs for our own bondage, and being then caught in our own web. Hence the importance of the weaning power of the blessed hope of the near coming of our Lord and Saviour. This applies in sorrow.

There were sorrows in the days of St. Paul, just as there are now, and he never taught us not to weep. What he did teach was that we “should not sorrow as those that have no hope.” The character of the sorrow may be changed. And what was the power that should thus change the character of grief? The next verse supplies the answer. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.”[66]We may look forward, therefore, to His speedy return, whenthe graves of those who are in Christ shall open, and when all sorrow will be lost for eternity in the blessed privilege of being “ever with the lord.”[67a]Is not such a hope enough to change the character of grief?

This blessed hope changes also the character of our joy.

Just as it gives a tone to sorrow, so also it does to joy. It makes it sober and solid. It gives it a quiet, peaceful, abiding character. Turn to the words of St. Paul. “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice.”[67b]And observe the verse that follows: “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” Let your joy be the sober joy of men who believe that the coming of the Lord is at hand; the calm, well-assured, abiding joy of those who, being in the Lord, are persuaded that they will be with the Lord for ever.

And the same effect will follow with reference to all our possessions.

Let no one suppose we are not to prize those precious gifts which God has given us. Ought we to think lightly of money, time, influence, power? By no means; but if we believe that the coming of the Lord is near we must sit light to it all, for it will all soon give place to the glories of His kingdom. Remember St. Paul’s thrilling words: “The time is short,”[67c]and the exhortation that follows to “use this world, as not abusing it.”

If we believe that the Lord’s coming is near we must wake up and trim our lamps.

We must never forget that real, true believers may grow cold, and dull, and sleepy. Thus even the wise virgins were asleep when the Bridegroom came. Butthey were thoroughly prepared, so they were up in a moment when they heard the cry, and, having trimmed their lamps, were ready. Now, the thought of His appearing should have this effect on ourselves. Who is there amongst us that does not want to be quickened; to be aroused to fresh energy for God; to have the soul filled with a holy fervour, and the whole heart glowing with the love of Christ? Who is there that should not desire to respond with every faculty he possesses to the stirring appeal of St. Paul: “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand.”[68a]Shall we sleep on as if the old world were going on for ever? Do we really believe that “the Bridegroom cometh,”[68b]and shall we not trim our lamps without one moment’s delay in order that when He comes He may find them burning brightly to His glory?

If we are looking for the speedy coming of the Lord, it should lead to a calm, happy, peaceful hope in the midst of the turmoils of the latter days.

There is nothing to lead us to expect a calm termination to the present state of things. Our Lord when He comes will come riding, as it were, on the whirlwind and the storm. It is a very common thing to find a bar with heavy breakers on it at the mouth of the finest harbours, and so we must be prepared for a stormy sea as we enter the haven of rest. Our Lord taught this very clearly when He said, “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring.”[68c]And now observethe effect of these events on different characters. Through the world at large they produce what may be called a panic—“Men’s hearts failing them for fear.”[69a]But how is it to be with the people of God? Are their hearts to fail them for fear? No, for we read, “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads.”[69b]They are not to be bowed down, but to hold their head erect, and with a confident spirit to look up full of hope. And why? What is it that is to make so vast a difference between the two characters? How can we explain the contrast? It is all explained in the latter part of that verse—“For your redemption draweth nigh.” It is perfectly clear that by redemption is here meant the final deliverance, for in the previous verse[69c]we read of the final coming of the Deliverer. That calm peace, therefore, is the blessed result of a blessed hope. God’s people will know that the Deliverer is at hand, and therefore will not be afraid. They will believe God’s Holy Word, and therefore what alarms others will cheer them. The same storm which sinks the great ironclads outside will bring their little bark into harbour. They will know what it all means, and, with God’s Word in their hand, they will know who is reigning, and will see in all that is frightening others the predicted signs of His near approach.

The word “redemption” has a double sense in common use. It is sometimes used for atonement or propitiation simply, and sometimes for the great deliverance which is the consequence of the great propitiation. It is clear that in this passage it is used for deliverance. But another thing is equally clear,namely, this—that we shall never be able to rest in the hope of the deliverance unless we are first taught to rest for forgiveness on the completed propitiation. Redemption by power is the consequence of redemption by blood. It is the redemption by power of which the Lord said “He draweth nigh;” but we shall never be able to lift up our heads, and look up in joy to the prospect, unless we first know in our own souls the unspeakable blessing of that redemption by blood which has long since been completed for ever. It is only when we know Jesus Christ and Him crucified that we can look up in calm, peaceful confidence to Jesus Christ and Him glorified.

“And when they were come, and had gathered the Church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how He had opened the door of faith onto the Gentiles.”—Actsxiv. 27.

Thereare few institutions of greater antiquity than the missionary meeting. It is truly apostolic in its origin. The first such meeting of which we read was held at Antioch after the return of St. Paul from his first missionary journey. It was from Antioch he set off, having been commended by the brethren to the grace of God; and it was at Antioch, after his return, that he gathered together the Church and rehearsed to them all that God had done with them in his journey. This is the great subject of his address, and will suggest three subjects of inquiry for ourselves.

In the first place, the door of faith had been opened to the Gentiles. Surely by “the door of faith” we must understand that “new and living way” of which we read in Hebrews.[71]And what is that way? Is not this explained by the previous verse, “Having, therefore, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” It is the free access to the throne of Grace through the finished, final propitiation, there described as “the blood of Jesus.” When Hedied, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the mercy-seat was laid open to the sinner drawing near in faith, and the invitation was proclaimed to all. The throne of righteousness became the throne of mercy, and the throne of judgment became approachable even to the sinner, for it was transformed into a throne of grace.

This is the door of faith that had been opened to the Gentiles, and it is very difficult for us to realize all that was involved in such a fact. There was a middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile which kept them as wide asunder as if there had been no common Saviour. But now St. Paul reported that the middle wall had been broken down.[72a]Every stone of it had been swept away, and, according to the covenant of God, all were invited as one flock around one Shepherd.

But this was not all that had been done. The great work of that missionary journey was the turning of the hearts of both Jews and Gentiles to enter in by that open door. It is one thing to set a door open before a person, but often a much more difficult thing to induce him to enter in. Now the great result of this journey was that many precious souls were brought in through the open door, and in Christ Jesus were saved. This was the work of which St. Paul gave an account on his return to Antioch. If he mentioned individuals he doubtless told them of Sergius Paulus, the Roman pro-consul at Paphos, that “prudent man,”[72b]one of the first converts given to the Apostle. Then, again, he doubtless told them of the great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks in Iconium who believed.[72c]And if he were asked as to the reality of the work in their souls, he doubtless toldthem of the beautiful character of the Christians in the other Antioch, Antioch of Pisidia, of whom it is said, “the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.”[73]

They had, indeed, entered in by the open door. They had tasted the joy of the living way, they had been brought under the shadow of the mercy-seat. They had sat down under His shadow with great delight, and had found the fruit sweet to their taste. So marvellous had been the change that the very men who before this memorable journey had been living, some in Jewish hostility, and some in heathen abomination, were now happy, holy, thankful believers, and were actually filled with the Holy Ghost. We see, then, what had been done. The next question is—

St. Paul and St. Barnabas were the principal agents, and of these St. Paul was the chief speaker, but it was not he who changed the hearts or filled the disciples with joy and with the Holy Ghost. So he did not tell whathehad done, but what God had done. The drawing of the sinner, whether Jew or Gentile, into the new or living way was a Divine act. To open the heart required a Divine power as much as to open the door. It is important for us clearly to bear in mind this principle, that the power to enter in is of itself the gift of God—that we must trust Him not only to save us when we have entered in, but to enable us to enter in; not only to show mercy on us when we have come near to Him, but to draw us near by His own Spirit.

There are two expressions employed which throw great light on the subject. In this verse we read ofthe things which God had donewiththem, and the same expression occurs in Acts xv. 4. But if we pass on to Acts xv., we find it stated that “God had wrought upon the Gentilesbythem.”[74a]The one expression implies companionship, the other instrumentality. Consider them separately.

(1) “With.”

The idea is that throughout the journey our Lord was literally fulfilling His promise. “I am with you alway.”[74b]They went out to preach in His name and He went with them, as their constant, never-failing, though invisible, companion and friend. Thus, while they were acting, He was acting also. The two were acting together, and so fulfilling the one purpose of God. The action of the Lord was giving effect to the action of the preacher, though in some cases it was quite independent of it. Take the case of Lydia as an illustration.[74c]St. Paul preached to that little company assembled at the place of prayer by the riverside at Phillipi. There was the action of the preacher. But now look at the action of the Lord working with him. By His fore-seeing providence He had brought Lydia from her home at Thyatira, and by His guiding Spirit had brought St. Paul from his work in Asia Minor. It was He that brought them both to the same spot on that Sabbath morning. Then, again, while St. Paul was preaching the Lord was acting, for He was acting with His servant, first by the preparatory leading of His providence, and afterwards by the heart-opening movement of the Holy Ghost

(2) And this leads me to the other expression, “by.” This expresses something different to companionship, for it teaches that in thus drawing sinners to HimselfHe makes use of men as instruments. In the case of Lydia the Lord opened her heart, but the things which were spoken by St. Paul were the instrument which God employed to lead her to the faith. It was not without instrumentality, but by it, that God acted. It is important to bear this in mind—that human instrumentality is not in antagonism to faith. We must remember the “by” as well as the “with,” and that when God has given means, we do not honour Him by neglecting or ignoring them. St. Paul was most anxious to urge on the Corinthians that it was God alone who gave the increase, but while he did so he was not deterred from adding that he had planted and Apollos watered.[75]We know that God is a Sovereign, and that He, if He pleased, could gather in the whole company of His elect without the use of any one man to work for Him; but we know also that “by us” the preaching is to be fully known, and we are fully persuaded that if we are to look for a harvest we must both plant and water.

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