PRAYER.

‘I am Thine, save me; for I have sought Thy precepts.’—Psalmcxix. 94.

Westudied last Sunday the subject of consecration as taught us in the words of the Apostle Paul, in which he exhorted us to ‘present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God.’ I trust the result has been that many amongst us have so realised the multitude of God’s mercies that, under the deep sense of profound thanksgiving, we have knelt down before Him, afresh to yield ourselves to His service. If so, the question arises, What next? If the sacrifice of ourselves has been offered by us and accepted by God, into what position have we been brought, and what are we to expect in our future life? Are we to expect to be so set free from the impediments of sin, and so filled with holy love and joy that we shall be gentlywafted heavenward, without either a conflict or a difficulty? or, are we to expect a stiff, hard warfare to the end, with a certain hope of victory through the perfection of our Leader’s power, but with all the accompaniments of a deadly struggle until the victory is won and Satan bruised under our feet for ever? I regard this question as one of the utmost importance, for if we look for that which God has not promised, our very faith will lead to disappointment; whereas if we do not look for that which He has really promised, we shall clearly never rise to the high standard of His Word. To this question then I purpose to turn your thoughts this morning, and I pray God that the Holy Spirit may teach us all, and lead us rightly to understand, and truly to act on, His Word.

This text appears to throw great light on the subject, for in the first clause the Psalmist actually pleads before God the recognised fact of a past and present consecration. He does not say, ‘I wish to be Thine,’ or ‘I hope to be Thine,’ or ‘I pray Thee to make me Thine,’ but he says, ‘Lord, I am Thine,’ and no one could say that unless he had already yielded himself to God. But it is not consecration only that is expressedwhen the believer says, ‘Lord, I am Thine;’ for the consecration of which I was speaking last Sunday is a human act,—it is our own surrender of our own powers to God; and when we look closely at anything we do we may well remember the words of the prophet, ‘How weak is thine heart!’ If we can truly say in faith, ‘Lord, I am Thine,’ we must rely on something a great deal better than our own consecration of ourselves. We belong to the Lord Jesus by virtue of the eternal covenant to which He referred when He said, ‘My Father which gave them Me is greater than all;’ we belong to Him because we have been made His own by redemption, so as to be parts of the ‘Church which He has purchased with His own blood;’ we belong to Him because we have been separated unto Him by the mighty power of the Holy Ghost, and so been ‘sanctified unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ;’ we belong to Him, for we have been made His own children by adoption, so that He speaks of us, saying, ‘I and the children whom Thou hast given Me;’ and we belong to Him, for we have been solemnly signed and sealed unto Him in our baptism, and in our own persons have deliberately ratified thecovenant. So that when we say, ‘Lord, I am Thine,’ we do not merely refer to some one particular transaction of our own at some one particular time, but we look at the whole counsel and covenant of God,—at the great and perfect work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost,—before which any feeble effort of our own minds is absolutely nothing; and, reviewing it all, we kneel down, with our hearts full of praise, and wonder, and say with the deepest thanksgiving, ‘Lord, I am Thine.’

It is clear, therefore, that these words, while they include personal consecration on our own part, express that which is infinitely greater: namely, the great grace of God Himself in redeeming us by the precious blood of the Lamb, and separating us as a holy people unto Himself. And now follows the question: When in this highest sense we can kneel down and really say with truth, ‘Lord, I am Thine,’ what is to follow? The words of the text supply us with a most important answer; for they teach that one of the great results will be believing prayer, and they show that when we are really His, and when we know that we are His, we are not to rest content with that sacred and unspeakableprivilege, but to kneel down afresh and say, ‘Lord, I am Thine: save me.’

It is clear from this passage that there was something which David still wanted, although he was the Lord’s. He was safe, but he still prayed to be saved; he had been made the Lord’s own dear child, but he still prayed, ‘Save me.’ Let us consider, then, what he wanted, and what he did; and may God the Holy Ghost so apply the passage to our souls, that we may know the double blessing of being His and being saved through His grace!

I.What he wanted; or, in other words, what he prayed for when he prayed that he might be saved. There appears to be no reference in the psalm to temporal deliverance, so we need not consider the prayer as referring to it. It was for spiritual gifts that he prayed, and from spiritual difficulties that he desired to be saved. And when we consider these spiritual gifts it is very clear that it was not acceptance, or reconciliation, for which he prayed, for his mind must have been quite at rest upon that point when he said, ‘Lord, I am Thine.’ What he was longing for was personal holiness,—thatis, a complete conformity to the perfect will of that holy God to whom he belonged and whom he loved. You see this throughout the psalm. He does not pray, ‘Pardon me,’ ‘Receive me,’ or ‘Blot out my transgressions,’ as he does in some other psalms; but he does pray again and again that God’s statutes might be written on his heart: ‘Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes:’ ‘Teach me Thy statutes;’ ‘Deal bountifully with Thy servant, that I may live and keep Thy word;’ ‘Quicken me after Thy loving-kindness; so shall I keep the testimony of Thy mouth.’ The whole psalm is full of such prayers, and they show us perfectly clearly that the salvation for which he prayed was the power for holiness from God. So the psalm also teaches us what was the difficulty in the attainment of his wish. There are some allusions to enemies, from which we may infer that there were persons about him who hindered his progress. But the psalm shows clearly that the real difficulty lay in himself, and in the deadness of his own heart. No less than nine times does he pray, ‘Quicken me.’ And what did that prayer imply? Was it not that he was conscious of a dead, cold state of heart, and was longing for life and warmth?Had there been no element of deadness in his soul, he would not have required to be quickened; but there was that element of deadness, and he himself urged it as a reason for his prayer, when he said (verse 25), ‘My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken Thou me according to Thy word.’ It was the deep corruption of his human nature which continued to cling to him, even when he was the Lord’s, against which he prayed when he said, ‘Lord, I am Thine: save me.’

And now arises the most deeply important practical question: Are we, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, at the very time that we can truly say ‘Lord, I am Thine,’ to be prepared to meet the same difficulty? In answer to that question, I have not one moment’s hesitation in replying that we are. I have read and heard that original sin in certain persons is ‘destroyed,’ is ‘dead, though capable of revival;’ is ‘rendered inert,’ and is ‘in suspense;’ but I do not believe one word of it. It is far too large a subject for me to attempt to discuss fully in one short sermon: I have not time to give you more than two passages, but I hope they will be sufficient. In Romans viii.,—that grand chapter, so full of the grand tidings of safety, beginning with nocondemnation and ending with no separation,—the chapter which some claim as descriptive of what they term ‘the higher life,’—in the middle of that chapter we find a description of the sons of God who are led by the Spirit. Now observe carefully the effect of that leading of God’s children by the Holy Ghost. We find it in verse 13: ‘If ye do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live: for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.’ The word rendered ‘do mortify’ means ‘are habitually putting to death’ (θανατοῦτε). But if original sin were dead already, or inert, why should the children of God, by the power of the Holy Ghost, be habitually putting to death its deeds? The fact that its deeds are to be habitually put to death is a perfectly clear proof that the root of the evil is not dead already.

One passage more, and I have chosen it because I think it of peculiar importance in its bearing on what is called the ‘higher life.’ You remember that wonderful insight into heaven which St. Paul describes in 2 Cor. xii., and you remember how it was followed up by the thorn in the flesh,—‘the messenger of Satan,’ given ‘to buffet him.’ Now why was it thus followed?Why was this messenger of Satan let loose upon God’s chosen servant immediately after this wonderful blessing? He himself tells us the reason: ‘Lest I should be exalted beyond measure.’ In other words, he was in danger of pride of heart. He was caught up into the third heaven, but he carried with him even there so much of the old evil of his fallen nature that when he came down he was in such danger of being puffed up with pride that it was an act of mercy in God even to permit him to be buffeted by Satan’s messenger, in order to keep him in a humble spirit, depending upon grace. Surely we learn the lesson that, whatever be our spiritual attainments, and whatever God has taught us of His mercy, we have still to strive as David did against the active working of indwelling sin, and to pray as he did, ‘Lord, I am Thine: save me.’

II. We see then what the Psalmistwanted; let us consider nextwhat he did.

(1.) When he was conscious that his soul was cleaving to the dust, he was not content to leave it there. He did not say that it could not be helped, and so make it an excuse for sin. Hedid not do as some people do with reference to their temper,—say they have the misfortune of a bad temper, and therefore consider themselves not to be blamed when they break out in a passion, or settle down in a sulky fit. He resolutely, determinately, and prayerfully grappled with the difficulty. He was conscious of sin, but he could not endure the thought of it. He could say from the bottom of his heart, ‘I hate and abhor lying; but Thy law do I love and it was because he loved the law, and hated the sin, that he came before God with the cry, ‘Lord, I am Thine: save me!’ So we may be perfectly sure that if a person be really born of God, the knowledge of indwelling sin will never lead him to settle down in the apathy of hopelessness; but will arouse him, by the sense of danger, to watch, to pray, to trust, to strive, to conquer, in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the power of the Holy Ghost.

(2.) But while David was thus energetic in his struggle, and allowed no compromise with sin, he was evidently brought to the acknowledgment of his own helplessness. With reference to the past he could say, ‘I have sought Thy precepts;’ and with reference to the present,‘I love Thy commandments above gold: yea, than much fine gold.’ But notwithstanding all his painstaking, he found he could not raise his own heart above the dust, and was still obliged to acknowledge the truth of the words, ‘No man hath quickened his own soul.’ Thus the words, ‘Lord, save me!’ implied that he had given up all hope of saving himself; and when we offer the same prayer, there is the same act of self-renunciation as well as faith. I do not say that we shall give up the most diligent and devout endeavours after holiness, for we shall ‘press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus;’ but that in the midst of it all we shall both know and acknowledge our own utter helplessness; and thank God for that passage in Rom. v. 6, in which we are taught that ‘when we wereyetwithout strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.’ I commend that ‘yet’ to the careful consideration of all those who are painfully conscious of their own inability to rise.

(3.) But while this prayer implied self-renunciation as well as trust, it implied on the other hand trust as well as self-renunciation. When we pray, ‘Lord, save me,’ we clearlyrecognise His saving power. We know (as we are taught in Heb. vii. 25) that ‘He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him and therefore we come to God by Him that we may be saved. The saving in that sense is exactly the same as the saving in the text. It is not the first acceptance of the repentant sinner seeking salvation, but it is the habitual saving throughout the life; for the point of the text is that it is continued to the uttermost, or to the end. It is a saving carried on after the first great saving act is complete. I am anxious to press this on your attention, because I am inclined to think that it is the secret of the fresh help which many persons appear to have lately received. I cannot say I am sure of it; for the statements on the subject are so confused, that it is almost impossible to disentangle them. It is possible therefore that I may be entirely mistaken. But, whether it is or not, you will see in a moment the vast difference between knowing that there is a Saviour able to save, and resting in a Saviour who is actually and continually engaged in saving you; between being anxious to obtain the help of a certain physician, and being under that physician’s care; betweenhanging on a wreck and seeing a life-boat near you, and being in the life-boat, and, though still beaten by the storm, safe in the strong arm of the Deliverer. Now this is our position in Christ Jesus. We are not seeking to reach the life-boat, for we are in it, as David was when he said, ‘Lord, I am Thine.’ The storm is not over, the harbour is not yet reached; but the harbour is in sight, and our Father is at the helm. David clearly prayed to Him as to one who had already begun His saving work, as you will clearly see if you compare the 88th and 93rd verses. In the 88th he prays, ‘Quicken me after Thy loving-kindness;’ and in the 93rd he shows that the quickening was already begun, for he says, ‘I will never forget Thy precepts, for with them Thou hast quickened me.’ You will see in a moment what an enormous difference this distinction must make in daily life. If you are looking up to Him as one from whom you are only seeking help, you may be perfectly sure of His sufficiency, but it will not satisfy the anxieties of your soul: but if you are actually enjoying His help, so that you can say, as the Psalmist did, ‘My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped,’ then you may add, as he did, ‘Therefore myheart greatly rejoiceth, and with my song will I praise Him.’ Look on Him then as one who is engaged in bearing you home; acknowledge what He has done in the past, trust Him for what He will do in the future, and meanwhile rest in what He is doing now,—just as St. Paul did when, speaking of temporal deliverance, he said (2 Cor. i. 10), ‘Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that He will yet deliver.’ That one verse brings before us the past, present, and future,—the ‘yesterday, to-day, and for ever,’—the Lord Jesus a very present help, and a help to the end. He has redeemed you by His own most precious blood, and saved you from all condemnation of the law: that is done and perfected for ever. He has sanctified, or separated, you in Christ Jesus, to be a purchased possession unto God: that is done likewise, and done for ever. He has begun a good work in you, and made you new creatures in Christ Jesus: that, too, is done, thanks to His mercy! He is now holding you in His hand, guiding you by His counsel, helping you by His power, and giving you the victory even over the indwelling sin which still lives, though He will not let it reign, within yourheart. This is going on now: so that now, even now, He is quickening you, and when you are deeply and profoundly humbled for all that you have done and left undone, and when, under the painful conviction of indwelling sin, you are compelled to acknowledge that your ‘soul cleaveth unto the dust,’ you may still in happy, peaceful, loving trust, look up to Him who is even now bearing you in His arm, and say, ‘Lord, I am Thine: save me.’

‘And He said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.’—Luke, xi. 2.

Weare all in the habit of using this prayer every day,—for I hope that there is not one amongst us who presumes to think that he has reached a spiritual life beyond it. We use it with the utmost thankfulness,—for it expresses the deep and unceasing wants of the human heart; and, as far as I myself am concerned, I do not think that it occurs too often in our liturgy. This clause may be called ‘The child’s first prayer.’ It is the first desire of the child of God, poured forth morning by morning into his Father’s ear. But have you ever considered how it bears on the subject of Sanctification, which we have been recently considering? Are you aware that the two words, to ‘hallow’ and to ‘sanctify,’ mean the same thing, and may beinterchanged one with another, so that exactly the same idea would have been expressed had the clause been rendered, ‘Sanctified be Thy name?’ But so it is: and therefore in this prayer we pray every day of our lives that God’s own name may be ‘sanctified.’

Now it will be clear in a moment to every one of you, that when the expression is thus applied to God Himself, and to His name, it must mean something very different to what it does when it is applied to ourselves. It cannot mean separation unto God, for it is applied to Him who from all eternity has been essentially separate. Nor can it be used in the sense of ‘making holy,’ for perfect and unblemished holiness is the very essence of His Godhead. What then does it mean? It means that the holiness of His name should be known and honoured; and that whenever His name is named, there should be the recognition and exhibition of His holiness. It is a prayer, in fact, that His holiness may be glorified, and that throughout the world He may be obeyed and revered as a holy God.

This sanctifying, or hallowing, of the name of God Himself shall be our subject for thismorning. And may He Himself grant that His name may be sanctified in this very sermon! Let our prayer be, ‘Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.’

The first point to which I would draw your attention is that He is sanctified in His people. His power is manifest in the world: His holiness in His Church. It is by the Church that is to be known, even to principalities and powers in heavenly places, the manifold wisdom of God. The Church of God is gathered from a rebel world in order that God in it may display His holiness, and so make proof of His character. He manifests himself amongst His people, and this manifestation is witnessed by the world. You see this very clearly in such a passage as Ezek. xxxvi. 23: ‘The heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.’ God would be so sanctified in His people that the heathen should be persuaded of His Godhead. So you read in Levit. x. 3: ‘I will be sanctified in them that come nigh Me, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ Now mark what a lesson there is in this for ourselves. In one sense we are all come nigh to God, forwe have all been baptized into His name. We all meet in His house as His worshippers; and many of us delight in the sacred privilege of drawing near to Him in His sacramental feast. I hope it may be said of many in the reality of their souls’ salvation, as it may certainly be said of all in the externals of their Christianity,—that they are ‘a people nigh unto Him.’ But if so, He is to be sanctified in us. We who draw nigh unto Him, are to be like the glass reflecting His image: it is in us that His character is to be exhibited, and His holiness made manifest before the world. We are to be changed into His image, even as by the Spirit of the Lord, so that in us ought to be seen that image, and in us the holiness of His name should be exalted amongst men.

But now follows the question,—In what way and by whom, must His name be hallowed, or sanctified, in His people? In answer to this we shall find, if we study Scripture, that it will be sanctified by His people, and also by Himself. It will be however sufficient for our present purpose if we confine our attention to its sanctification by His people, as described in these words of the prophet Isaiah: ‘They shallsanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob.’

The great question, therefore, for us to consider is, In what way may we glorify God? And the answer is given in the words of our Lord Himself, as written in John, xv. 8: ‘Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.’ You will observe that it is not merely by feeling, or even by communion with God, but by fruit. I know that joy and peace are amongst the first-fruits of the Spirit, and God forbid that I should say one word that could possibly be understood as spoken lightly of such a gift as communion with God! It is the most sacred privilege that it is possible for a ransomed spirit to enjoy, and nothing but the finished ransom could ever admit us to it. But we must not confound it with the fruit that springs from it, or suppose that to enjoy communion is the same as to be holy. The sap is essential to the life of the tree, but the sap is not the fruit, and there is a great deal of sap in many trees where there is no fruit at all. The fruit is something practical, something contributed, and if it glorifies God, it will be visible to our fellow-men. So our Lord said (Matt. v. 16), ‘Letyour light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’

Nor must we confine it to a victory over sin. I sometimes meet with books in which this victory appears to be described as the sum and substance of holiness. Now I do not doubt for one moment that it is a part of it; but it is only a part: the negative side, and not the positive. It would not satisfy your mind to be assured there were no thorns on your roses, or no poisonous berries on your vines; you want flowers on the rose, and grapes on the vine. I do not know that there was any harm in the fig-tree that stood by the way-side from Bethany: I never read that it yielded poison; but it bore no fruit, and the Lord withered it. So it is that we stop utterly short of the true character of Christian holiness if we describe it simply as a victory over sin. Suppose that we really had overcome, and that there had been such a conquest in deed, in word, and in thought, that we should have no occasion for the confession, ‘We have done those things which we ought not to have done;’ we might still be as fruitless as the barren fig-tree, and have reason to throw ourselves,in the deepest and most profound repentance, before His feet, and cry, ‘We have left undone those things which we ought to have done.’ True fruit is positive service: something that pervades our life. Thus of the fruits of the Spirit, as described in Gal. v. 22,—‘Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,’—by far the greater number relate to our practical conduct amongst our fellow-men. In the account of heavenly wisdom given by St. James they are all of the same character: ‘The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.’ And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.’

True fruit again is something yielded up to God. When a missionary gives up home, and life itself for the Gospel, that is fruit. When the Sunday-school teacher devotes the day of rest to labour for God, that is fruit. When people bring freely of their substance, and throw large gifts into the treasury of God, that is fruit. When people in family life, heads of families, servants, young people, lay themselves out to make allhappy around them, and by their loving, gentle conduct, commend the Gospel to all with whom they are brought in contact, that is fruit. It may not be the fruit of the hot-house, enjoyed only by the rich; or like some of those fruits which look so beautiful aloft on our orchard trees, that all admire: for we must remember that some of our best fruits grow in the cottage gardens, close to the ground. So God is often best glorified by the holy, humble, and self-denying zeal of the humble believer, keeping alow by the ground, and there, in humble life, ‘adorning the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.’

But you will observe in our Lord’s words, that it is not merely by fruit, but by much fruit, that God is glorified. All trees of the same kind are not equally fruitful, nor are all believers; thus it by no means follows that all believers glorify God, or that those who do so, do so equally. Our Lord Himself describes four degrees in His parable of the sower. First, there are those who are choked by the cares, and pleasures, and riches, of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. The plant is not altogether dead, and there may be a little fruitformed; but there is none ripened, nothing worth having, nothing that glorifies God. I fear there is a terrible number of those choked-up Christians in the Church of God. Then where there is real fruitfulness, there are different degrees. Some yield their thirty, some their sixty, and some their hundred-fold. How earnest ought we to be that every one may be what I may term, hundred-fold Christians,—people abounding in the fruits of the Spirit, spending and being spent for God!

And why not? The sacred privilege of glorifying God does not belong to some peculiar class of Christians,—to persons who have been suddenly lifted into what they term ‘the higher life,’—but to all those who are abiding in Christ Jesus, and have Him abiding in them; for He says, ‘He that abideth in Me, and I in him; the same bringeth forth much fruit.’ You may have reason therefore to be most deeply humbled under the conviction of indwelling sin, and to be most heartily grieved for the mixed thoughts and motives that have intruded themselves into the holiest acts of your whole lives; you may be utterly displeased with yourselves for the utter poverty of your best services; youmay be so convinced of what you consider the peculiar difficulties of your own character, that you may think it quite impossible that you yourselves should ever rise to a high standard of Christian holiness: but there is a power in the Lord Jesus so to raise you above your difficulties that you may not only be saved, but actually raised to such a standard that, though you may not know it, you may bring glory to His name. Nothing could be more hopelessly dead than Aaron’s rod, but in one night it ‘budded and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded fruit.’ Nothing could be more hopeless than the case of David when he was in the horrible pit and the miry clay; but the Lord ‘set his feet on a rock and established his goings, and put a new song into his mouth, even praise unto his God,’ and the result was that God was glorified in his deliverance; for he adds, ‘Many shall see it and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.’ So you may say that you are dead, that you cannot rise, that there is no hope,—and there is no hope in your own efforts at self-quickening,—but He who raised the dead to life can so triumph even over your deadness as to bring out of your dead heart such anabundance of beautiful fruit, through the power of His own grace, that He Himself may be pleased with your loving and faithful service. Nay, more! Though you may never be able to see it, and though you may to the last be humbled to the dust for your shortcomings, He may still fulfil in you, and towards you, the prayer which St. Paul prayed for the Thessalonians: ‘That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and ye in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.’

Aim then at the highest possible standard. Never settle down contented with anything that falls short of it. Never consider that your case is too difficult for the Lord, the Deliverer, but trust Him so to abide in you with power, that His own words may be fulfilled: ‘Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.’

Ibelievethat a great deal of the difficulty felt respecting the seventh chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, arises from a mistaken idea that the different chapters are descriptive of consecutive periods of the Christian life. Persons are supposed to be justified in the fifth, brought to a new life in the sixth, and to be living in perfect peace in the eighth, and thus the conflict of the seventh is thought to be out of place. But surely there is no such consecutiveness to be found in the passage.

Both the sixth and seventh chapters are an answer to the question in the first verse of the sixth, ‘Shall we continue in sin?’ And this answer is founded on the principle that we must not do so, because such conduct would be inconsistent with the great change that has taken place in us. This change is then described under three figures.

(1.) A death unto sin through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ch. vi. 3–15.)

(2.) A change of service. (Ch. vi. 16–23.)

(3.) A release from the law, as a woman is loosed from the law of her husband when he dies (Ch. vii. 1–6); the result of which is that, therefore, we are now free from condemnation, etc. (Ch. viii. 1). The ‘therefore’ of this verse depends on the deliverance described in ch. vii. 6, and the intermediate passage (ver. 7–25) is a parenthesis. It is in the parenthesis that the difficulty is supposed to lie; and by the place which that parenthesis occupies in the argument that it must be explained.

In his argument the Apostle had connected sin with the law, which of course suggested the idea that the law was sinful; an idea which would have been shocking to Jewish minds, and was entirely contrary to his own. In accordance, therefore, with his usual style, he broke off from the direct line of his argument, in order to protect the truth against any such objection; and thus introduced the parenthesis.

This consists of two questions, with their respective answers.

The first is in the seventh verse: ‘What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid.’ This he answers by a reference to his own history, and by showing that the law, so far from being sin, had served to discover and develope it; and by doing so had slain him. (Ver. 7–12.) Thus far the passage is clearlyhistorical, and the ‘I’ is his own historical self, as I believe it to be throughout.

But this answer suggested a further difficulty: viz., that a good thing had been the means of slaying him; and this led to the second question (ver. 13): ‘Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid.’ To this the answer was that the fault was not in the law, but in himself; for even in his new condition, when he heartily loved the law, the old nature of the flesh was still so powerful that he could not fulfil it as he would. (Ver. 14–24.)

This explains the strong language of the fourteenth verse,—‘I am carnal, sold under sin,’—which people find it difficult to reconcile with the account of complete deliverance in the sixth verse.

For my own part I have no difficulty, for

(1.) The explanation is suggested by the account he gives of the ‘me’ in the eighteenth verse. ‘In me,that is,in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.’ It is clear that he is speaking there of his fallen human nature; and it is not unreasonable to believe that the explanation there given covers the fourteenth verse as well.

(2.) This is the only meaning that the words can bear in the context. He is showing that his death under the law was not the fault of the law, but of his own nature. And, therefore, he says, ‘The law is spiritual, but I am’ (by nature, that is) ‘carnal, sold under sin.’ He does not contradict his own words inch. vi. 11, where he directs his readers to ‘reckon themselves alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord,’ for he is not speaking of his position in Christ Jesus, but asserting that by nature he was carnal; so that the law was not to blame for having been made death unto him. There is no difficulty in the use of the present tense if we bear in mind that the old nature is not eradicated by the new birth. He, so far as his nature was concerned, was as bad as ever to the last day of his life.

The remainder of the parenthesis is a proof of this corruption of his nature derived from his present experience. And the exclamation of the twenty-fourth verse is the cry of a holy man who, being regenerate, loved the law, and longed to be set free from that power of a fallen nature which kept him back from its complete fulfilment. He had been delivered from the law as a condemning power; but he delighted in it as a rule of life, and longed to be free from his evil nature, that so he might obey it without impediment.

Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not.

Thesewords, if detached from their context and from the remainder of the Epistle, apparently teach the absolute and perfect sinlessness of all those who abide in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if the words, ‘sinnethnot,’ describe an entire freedom from all sin, they clearly do so.

But this cannot possibly be their meaning; for if it were,

(1.) The remainder of the verse would teach us that if any person should ever sin in thought, word, or deed, he would be thereby proved never to have seen or known Christ. ‘He that sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him.’

(2.) In the same manner the eighth and ninth verses would teach us that if any person ever did wrong in any way whatever, he would be of the devil, and not born of God. ‘He that committeth sin is of the devil.’ (Ver. 8.) ‘Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.’ (Ver. 9.)

(3.) This passage would be in direct contradiction to the first chapter, in the seventh verse of which those who are walking in the light are described as being cleansed from sin; in the eighth, as having sin; in the ninth, as confessing it, and being forgiven; and in the tenth, as having sinned.

Some other meaning, therefore, must be sought for the expression, ‘sinneth not.’ What this meaning is may be gathered from the great object of the Epistle: which was to correct the leading heresies of the day. (See ch. ii. 26.) Of these heresies one of the most prominent was that of the Gnostics, who taught that if a man had the knowledge, or the light, he might live as he pleased in practical life. Against that corruptnotion this passage is directed; and its great object is to show that if there be the new birth, or a union with the Lord Jesus, there is certain to be a practical change of life and character. That this is the meaning is plain from the context. It is there proved that he is speaking of practical and habitual religion.

I.Of Practical Religion.

In the seventh verse he shows that all true religion is practical: ‘He thatdoethrighteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.’ Our Blessed Lord was practically righteous, so His people will be the same.

In the eighth verse he shows that the practice of sin is of the Devil: ‘He thatcommittethsin is of the Devil.’

In ver. 5–8 he teaches that to destroy the works of the Devil was the great object of the manifestation of our Blessed Redeemer: ‘For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy theworksof the Devil.’

In the tenth verse he asserts that this practical righteousness is the distinguishing test between the children of God and the children of the Devil. It was clearly such conduct as was visible to other men, or the distinction would not have been manifest. ‘In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the Devil.’

II.Of Habitual Religion.

The present tense, indicating a continued habit, isemployed throughout the passage. So the word sometimes rendered ‘committeth,’ and sometimes ‘doeth,’ is used to express the habit. This may be seen from the use of it in these words of our Blessed Saviour (John, ix. 19): ‘None of you keepeth the law.’ If we adopt the rendering of that verse, and substitute ‘keepeth’ for ‘committeth’ in this passage there will be very little difficulty in understanding the meaning of the Apostle. The fourth verse would then be, ‘He that keepeth sin transgresseth also the law;’ and the eighth, ‘He that keepeth sin is of the Devil.’

The whole passage teaches us the great importance of being most earnest in urging the necessity of a practically consistent life on the children of God, and in showing that there must be a change in heart, in principle, and in habitual practice, whenever a person is born of God; but it has no reference whatever to the secret heart-struggles of the true believer in his earnest conflict with indwelling sin. They are not the subject of the passage. There are other Scriptures which speak of them, but this refers to practical and habitual conduct.

The word τέλειος is of so frequent occurrence in Scripture that it requires our careful study.

Its original sense is ‘complete,’ and the correspondingverb τελειόω is to complete, or finish. The derived senses will vary with the subjects to which it applied.

(1.) In the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, it stands for sincere, upright, undivided in heart.

‘Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.’ (Gen. vi. 9.)

Amaziah had a great deal of religion about him, but he was inconsistent; and, therefore, it says of him, ‘He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart.’ (2 Chron. xxv. 2.)

(2.) In Matt. v. 48, it means complete, or comprehensive, as opposed to being limited and partial.

Our Lord is exhorting His disciples to love their enemies as well as their friends (verses 43, 44); and says, ‘That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.’

He then goes on to show that there is no value in merely partial love (46, 47); and concludes with the words, ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’ That is, like Him; show your love to your opponents as well as to your brethren.

(3.) In Heb. v. 14, it is used of those who are ‘of full age,’ or complete in their growth, and therefore capable of strong meat; as contrasted with those whoare babes, and therefore fed on milk. It is the same in Eph. iv. 13, 14; and 1 Cor. xiv. 20.

(4.) In 1 Cor. ii. 6, it means ‘fully initiated.’ A mystery was something not known to the world, but revealed to those who were initiated, and those who were initiated were called τέλειοι. So here St. Paul says, ‘We speak wisdom amongst them that are perfect,’ or the initiated: ‘yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory.’

I am not sure whether Phil. iii. 15, expresses full initiation, or full manhood. I am inclined to think that it means initiation, as the verse speaks of a yet further manifestation of God’s will. ‘Let us therefore, as many as be perfect,’ or initiated, ‘be thus minded: and if in anything you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.’

At all events it is perfectly clear that it does not mean personal perfection, for St. Paul says, verse 12, ‘Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect.’

(5.) In Heb. x. 1, it means the complete removal of the guilt of sin through the sprinkling of blood. The law by its sacrifices could never ‘make the comers thereunto perfect.’ If they could have done so those sacrifices would have ceased to be offered, ‘because that the worshippers once purged shouldhave had no more conscience of sins.’ It should be observed that the passage is not speaking of the purifying of the heart, but of the purging of the conscience. To purify the heart, is to render it so pure that it will love only pure things; to purge the conscience is to remove from it the guilt of which it is conscious in consequence of the impurity of the heart. Thanks be to God, this purifying is complete through the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ once for all; and the comers thereunto are through it perfect before God!

I know of no passage in which the word is applied to a present sinlessness, or a present perfect purifying of the heart.

It is said of our Blessed Saviour, ‘For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.’ And it has been argued that because He was tempted, yet without sin, therefore there is no sin in temptation. I can scarcely imagine a more dangerous fallacy.

The meaning of the word, ‘to tempt,’ is to test, or to try. So ‘God tempted Abraham,’ or put him to the test. (Gen. xxii. 1.) Thus our Lord was in all points tried, or tested, like as we are: that is, by the sinless infirmities of the body; by the surroundingcircumstances of life; by the influence of man, both friends and foes; by the Devil; and even, we may reverently say it, by God Himself, when He called Him to bear a burden much more heavy than that laid on Abraham. But He was never tempted by any corruption in His own heart or nature, for if He had been He would not have been ‘without sin,’ even though He had resisted it. There was clearly no sin in being thus tested, nor did He ever sin in yielding.

Temptation to evil must always be considered in its origin, as well as in its effect. In daily life we think worse of the author of the temptation than of the victim. But no temptation originated in the heart of our blessed Redeemer. According to this text He was ‘without sin;’ for not only did He never yield, but there was no evil in His heart in which sin could originate. We are not, therefore, justified in quoting the temptation of our sinless Saviour, that came upon Him from without, as proving that there is no sin in those temptations which arise out of the evil of our own hearts. There is certainly sin in such temptation as that described by our Lord Himself, when He said, ‘Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders,’ etc., (Matt. xv. 19); and in that condemned by St. James in the words, ‘Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.’ (James, i. 14.) In no such cases are we covered by our Lord’s example; for, even if we are preserved from falling, the temptation itself is sin, and the result of sin within the soul.

Inthe first edition of these Sermons I added a short review of two books that have lately excited some attention in the Church. I understand that their author is himself so much dissatisfied with them, that he has been for some time past engaged in re-writing them. It is, therefore, not worth my while to republish my review, and, instead of it, I have added the following Notes.

Some of them are of a controversial character; but my object is to promote agreement rather than controversy. Several excellent persons, both clergymen and laymen, have lately experienced a remarkable answer to their prayers for an increase of faith, and in consequence of the peculiarities of the channel through which the answer has been given, they have been supposed to have deviated from old paths, and to have embraced new opinions at variance with the Word of God. I fear that this may be the case in some instances, though I hope it is not so to any great extent, for I find that many of them have neverread the books to which some of us have thought it our duty to object, and are as earnest for the old truths as ourselves. I have therefore drawn up these Notes, embodying what I believe to be the teaching of Scripture, in the hope that they may prove a basis of union amongst those who are of one heart and one mind in their common desire to exalt the name of their most blessed Saviour.

The texts quoted must be regarded as only specimens, and not supposed to contain the whole teaching of Scripture on the subject.

1. The only standard of holiness recognised in Scripture is the perfect character and will of God.

1 Peter, i. 15, 16; Rom. xii. 2.

There is no allusion in the Word of God to any lower standard of any kind whatever. We are never taught there that ‘We are not called to walk by the rule of angels, who excel, in strength,’ or that ‘our standard is not that which it will be in our glorified bodies.’ According to Scripture, our rule is exactly the same as that of angels: our standard is exactly the same as it will be after the resurrection: and our constant prayer is, ‘Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.’ It is not the objectof the Gospel to lower God’s standard to man’s level, but in, and through, the Lord Jesus Christ, to raise us to His standard, and at length present us as faultless before His throne.

2. Personal holiness is the work of God.

Of God the Father.

Jer. xxxi. 33; John, xvii. 17.

Of God the Son.

Matt. i. 21; 1 Cor. i. 30.

Of God the Holy Ghost.

Acts, xv. 9; 2 Cor. iii. 18.

3. It is the action of the believer.

Heb. xii. 1; 1 John, iii. 3.

I have seen God’s work in holiness described as the same as God’s work in the pardon of sin. But there is this essential difference: Forgiveness is an act of God in His own mind alone; holiness is a work of God in the mind of man, controlling and directing all the activities of the mind. Forgiveness is, therefore, altogether external to man, and must be received in trust alone; but holiness is a power and principle of human action, and therefore is developed in human activities. The distinction may be illustrated by repentance and forgiveness. Both are the gifts of our exalted Saviour. (Acts, v. 31.) But God forgives, and man repents.

4. It commences with a new creation in Christ Jesus.

2 Cor. v. 17; Eph. ii. 10.

5. It is the result of acceptance with God, and of the realization of His mercy.

1 John, iii. 2, 3; Rom. xii. 1.

6. The principle which God employs to produce it is faith.

Acts, xv. 9; 1 John, v. 4.

7. The instrument which He employs to produce it is the truth as revealed in His own Word.

John, xvii. 17.

8. The means by which it will be finally perfected will be the full view of Christ Himself.

1 John, iii. 2.

If there is any difference on the subject of Personal Holiness amongst those who hold the great principles of the Gospel, it is not likely to appear so much in General Principles as in their practical application to present life. It is, therefore, clearly important to ascertain what should be the extent, and what the limits, of the Believer’s expectation. If we do not expect all that He has promised, we cannot hope to rise to His standard; and if, on the other hand, we expect what He has not promised, we shall involve ourselves in either disappointment or delusion. It is well, therefore, to consider from the Word of God what we aretaught to expect, and what we are not taught to expect.

WE ARE TAUGHT—

1. That when we are created in Christ Jesus old things will pass away, and all things become new.

2 Cor. v. 17, 18.

2. That the Holy Spirit will dwell in our hearts.

John, xiv. 17.

3. That He will purify them.

Acts, xv. 9.

4. That we shall love the Lord Jesus Christ, and acknowledge our love.

2 Cor. v. 14; 1 John, iv. 19.

5. That we shall love the law of God, and delight in it

Ps. cxix. 97; Rom. vii. 22.

6. That we shall be set free from the dominion of sin.

Rom. vi. 14.

7. That we shall overcome external temptation.

1 John, v. 4, 5.

8. That we shall habitually live righteously in practical conduct.

Tit. ii. 12; 1 John, iii. 4–10.

9. That we shall be continually growing in grace.

2 Pet. iii. 18.

10. That in this present life, though we fail to fulfil God’s perfect law, we may have the joy ofpleasing God, and of actually bringing glory to His name.

John, xv. 8; Col. i. 10; Heb. xiii. 16.

WE ARE NOT TAUGHT—

1. That the most eminent believers will be sinless.

1 John, i. 7–10.

From that passage we learn that those who are walking in the light, as He is in the light,—

(1) Are continuously being cleansed from sin (ver. 7).

(2) ‘Have sin’ (ver. 8), ‘and have sinned’ (ver. 10).

(3) ‘Have sin to confess, for which they need forgiveness’ (ver. 9).

2. That original sin will ever in this present life be either ‘destroyed,’ ‘dead,’ or ‘rendered inert.’

Rom. vi. 12.

The words, ‘Let not sin reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof,’ are addressed to those who are to ‘reckon themselves dead unto sin and alive unto God.’ It is clear, therefore, that sin was still alive in them, or else it would have been quite needless to exhort them not to let it reign, and not to obey its lusts.

Compare also Rom. viii. 13; Col. iii. 5.

3. That sin is not sin till we discern it. So that ‘to-morrow I may discern evil in things in which to-day I am living without condemnation.’ Sin is the transgression of the law, and what will be wrong to-morrow is wrong to-day, whatever we may think of it. If the conscience is so deadened, or seared, or perverted, that it does not perceive sin, that deadness of conscience does not take away the sinfulness of sin, but only adds the sin of not feeling sin to the sin of committing it. The insensibility of a deadened conscience amongst those who have received the Gospel must never be confounded with the ignorance of those who never heard it

4. That believers attain to ‘perfection up to the measure of to-day’s consciousness.’ As nothing of the kind is found in Scripture, it is difficult to understand exactly what the expression means. But if it mean that believers are kept so holy that there is nothing in either their hearts or lives which their own conscience condemns, the statement is directly opposed to such passages as Heb. ix. 14, x. 2, &c., which show that one great purpose of the precious blood of Christ is to provide a continuous purging of the conscience. If there is never anything on the conscience which requires purging I cannot see that we have any need for the purging blood.

5. That we are to be assured of the existence of our personal holiness through faith, as we are of our justification. Faith is the evidence of things not seen, and, therefore, the only direct evidence of our justification: but personal holiness is within sight of conscience, and it would be an abuse of faith to reckon ourselves holy when conscience shows us that we are not really so. We believe ourselves to be accounted righteous, though we know that we are really guilty; but we must not believe ourselves to be actually holy when our own conscience condemns us of sin.

1 John, iii. 19–24.

6. That our believing reception of the promise of holiness from the Lord Jesus will supersede prayer.

Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27, 36.

7. That our trust in the Lord Jesus for holiness will supersede personal exertion and the diligent use of the means of grace.

Acts, xxiv. 16; 1 Cor. ix. 27; Jude, 21, 24.

8. That there is a higher life distinct from that of which we are made partakers when first brought into union with the ‘Lord Jesus Christ,’ into which we may enter by a definite act of entire consecration.

No Scripture on this subject.

9. That entire consecration is the means whereby we are to attain to union with the Lord Jesus Christ. The consecration of Scripture follows that union, and does not precede it. The Christians at Rome were first ‘baptized into Jesus Christ,’ and afterwards, when they were ‘alive from the dead,’ were exhorted to ‘yield themselves to God.’

Rom. vi. 3, 13.

There can be no doubt that the enjoyment of that blessed union is marred and hindered by any reserve within the soul. But if we are not to rest in it until we are satisfied that our consecration is entire, I see not, for my part, how the heart can ever be at rest unless the conscience is lulled to sleep by shallow and superficial views of sin. All who look at the self-consecration of our most blessed Saviour must be convinced that their own consecration, whatever it is, falls utterly short of such a standard; and if we are to wait for the enjoyment of our union with Him until our consecration is entire, or, in other words, till it is equal to His, that enjoyment seems to be placed at an infinite distance from our reach. Surely the teaching of Scripture is that we are admitted to the union as we are, through His free grace; and then, because we live in Him, we ‘live not unto ourselves, but unto Him that died for us and rose again.’

1.Redemption.

A Companion Volume toSanctification.

Just published, in square fcap. 8vo. 2s.6d.

2.Palestine and Russia.

5th Thousand. 16mo. cloth, 1s.6d.; paper cover, 1s.

3.Rome, Turkey, and Jerusalem.

17th Thousand. 16mo. cloth, 1s.6d.; paper cover, 1s.

‘Mr. Hoare argues on the broad, simple lines of prophecy, in a way which, to our mind, must bring irresistible conviction.’—Clergyman’s Magazine.

4.Conformity to the World.

New Edition, revised. 16mo. cloth, 1s.6d.; paper cover, 1s.

‘An admirable parochial book.’—Evangelical Magazine.

5.Inspiration:its Nature and Extent.

New Edition, revised. 16mo. cloth, 1s.6d.; paper cover, 1s.

‘Selects several important points of a wide subject, and treats them soundly.’—Christian Observer.

6.The Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper,

As Taught in the Church of England. Fcap. 8vo. sewed, 6d.

7.The Communion and Communicant.

New Cheap Edition, revised and enlarged.

18mo. sewed, 3d.; or 2s.6d.per dozen.

8.Baptism,

As Taught in the Bible and Prayer-book.

Sixth Edition. Fcap. 8vo. sewed, 4d.

Back to Index Next