The Unity of God

In the formation of every argument it is necessary to lay down correct premises; because on them the conclusion depends. In every science it is necessary to have a knowledge of its first principles. These are the basis of the whole system. In the science of Theology, as in all other sciences, there are fundamental truths, which must be admitted or proved, before inquiries can be prosecuted with success. The most important of these, and which claims the first attention, is, the unity of God.

1. The first argument, which offers itself in proof of this truth, is, there appears to be no need of more than one God. In treating subjects philosophically it is correct to admit no more causes, than are necessary to account for the effects produced. One Being of almighty power is sufficient to create the world. One Being of infinite wisdom is sufficient to organize it, and form a constitution for its government. One Being of infinite goodness is competent to the administration of its laws. The same Being, who created, organized and supports one world, can multiply them to any extent he pleases. It is no harder to conceive of infinite attributes residing in one Being, than to conceive of them residing in many beings. As all the effects, which are visible, or fall within the compass of human apprehension, may be traced to one Cause, possessing infinite perfections, there is no necessity of inferring more than one.

2. The unity of God is argued from the harmony and mutual subserviency of different parts of the world; and from the uniformity of its government. There is a just proportion between the various parts of the world. The elements are so adjusted, that one does not prevail against another. The globe is wisely balanced with earth and water. The spheres, which compose this system, are so exactly proportioned as to size and distance, that they perform their revolutions with the greatest precision. There is a remarkable correspondence and subserviency between the different parts of the world; between different classes of animals; and between the brutal and the intelligent creation. The face of the earth is agreeably and usefully variegated with hills and vallies. There is a happy subserviency between the atmosphere, earth, and water. The different parts of this system so correspond that they are mutually beneficial. The sun enlightens and warms the earth. The moon and the host of heaven, not only adorn the canopy of the skies, but they shed their milder rays. The regular succession of day and night promotes the growth of the vegetable kingdom; and affords a pleasing and refreshing variety to human nature. The rotation of the seasons is wisely calculated to bring forward and mature the productions of the earth, and to restore its wasted strength.

Cont'd tomorrow! 10/1/15

The Holy Spirit in the Life of Jesus part II

It is not the influence of the Holy Ghost that we receive but it is the Person of the Holy Ghost.

3. This leads us to the third distinction, namely, that under the Old Testament Dispensation, the Holy Ghost was not resident upon earth, but visited it from time to time as occasion required. Now the Spirit of God is dwelling upon the earth. This is His abode. He resides in the hearts of men, and in the Church of Christ, just as literally as Jesus resided upon the earth, during the 33 years of His incarnation and life below.

4. Perhaps the principal difference was this, that in the Old Testament age the Holy Ghost came rather as the Spirit of the Father, in the glory and majesty of the Deity; while under the New Testament, He comes rather as the Spirit of the Son, to represent Jesus to us, and make Him real in our experience and life. Indeed, the Person of the Holy Ghost was not fully constituted under the Old Testament. It was necessary that He should reside for three and a half years in the heart of Jesus of Nazareth, and become, as it were, humanized, colored, and brought nearer to us by His personal union with our Incarnate Lord; and now He comes to us as the same Spirit that lived, and loved, and suffered, and wrought, in Jesus Christ.

In a sense our Master left His heart behind Him; and when the Holy Ghost comes to dwell within us, He brings the living Christ and makes His person real to our hearts.

This must be the meaning of that remarkable passage in John 8:37, 38, where Jesus said that the Spirit in the believer should flow out like rivers of living water; and then the evangelist adds, "The Spirit was not yet; because Jesus was not yet glorified." The Holy Spirit in the form which He was to be manifest in the coming age was not yet constituted until after the ascension of Jesus. Now, He comes to us as the Spirit of Christ. Therefore, it is intensely interesting to us to look at the relation of the Holy Ghost to the person of our Lord in His first baptism and earthly ministry.

This is our present theme. May the Holy Ghost Himself illuminate and apply it to all our hearts!

The Holy Spirit in the Life of Jesus Christ

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire."—Matt. 3:11

These words from the lips of the Forerunner intimate that there was to be a great distinction between the old Dispensation which he was closing, and the new, which Jesus Christ was about to usher in.

The distinction was to be very marked in connection with the manner and measure in which the Holy Ghost would be poured out upon the people of God and manifested in connection with the work of redemption.

The two natural emblems of water and fire are used to denote the difference between the two dispensations.

We have seen that the Holy Ghost was present on earth during the Old Testament age, speaking in the prophets and messengers of God, and working out the Divine purpose in the lives of God's chosen agents, and instrumentalities. But the New Testament is pre-eminently the age of the Holy Ghost, and we might, therefore, expect that there would be a great and infinite difference. The principal difference between the old and new dispensations, with respect to the presence and manifestations of the Holy Ghost, might be summed up in the following particulars.

1. In the Old Testament, the Holy Ghost was given to special individuals to fit them for special service; and in the New Testament, the promise is that the Spirit shall be poured out upon all flesh, and they shall not need io say one to another, "Know the Lord, for all shall know Him," through the Divine unction, "from the least to the greatest."

The universal outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon all believers is the striking feature of the New Testament.

2. The Holy Spirit was with men and upon men rather than in them in the Old Testament. In the New Testament Dispensation, the Holy Ghost comes to dwell in us and to unite us personally with God, and to be in us not only a Spirit of power and a preparation for service, but a Spirit of life, holiness, and fellowship with The Divine Being.

Spiritual Growth, Responsibility, and Personal Efforts

"Giving all diligence, add to your faith,.." 2 Peter 1:5

While it is true, on the one hand, that all the resources are divinely provided, this does not justify, on our part, a spirit of passive negligence, but summons us all the more to diligence and earnestness in pressing forward in our spiritual career. And so the apostle adds, after this strongly emphasized enumeration of the resources of God's grace, "Giving all diligence, add to your faith," etc. There is to be no languid leaning upon God's grace, no dreamy fatalism, based upon His almighty purpose and power, but a strenuous and unceasing energy on our part in meeting Him with the co-operation of our faith, vigilance and obedience. In fact, the very provisions of God's grace are made, by the apostle, the ground of his exhortation to give earnest attention to this matter. For this very reason, that is, because God has so abundantly provided for us, and is so mightily working in our lives and hearts, and developing us from the power of sin, for this very reason, "Add to your faith," etc.

It is the same thought which Paul has expressed in Philippians, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God that worketh in you to will and to do of His good pleasure." This does not mean that we are to work for our salvation, for we are represented as already saved, otherwise it could not be '' our own salvation." But it is yet in embryo and infancy, an inward principle of life which must be worked out into its full development and maturity in every part of our life, and to this we are "to give all diligence," a diligence, indeed, which often reaches the extent of "fear and trembling," a holy and solemn sense of responsibility to make the most of our spiritual resources and opportunities, because "it is God that worketh in us." It is as if, with the finger of solemn warning raised, He were standing and looking into our eyes and saying, '' God has come. The Almighty has taken this matter in hand. The Eternal Jehovah has undertaken the work, therefore, mind what you do! Let there be no laxness, no negligence, and no failure on your part to meet Him and afford Him the utmost opportunity to fulfill in you all the good pleasure of His will, and the accomplishment of His high and mighty purpose for your soul."

Growth, Grace and Provisions part II

"According as His divine power hath given unto as all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to His glory and virtue. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises." 2 Peter: 1-3

This is the conception of Christian life given in the first chapter of the gospel of John, in that wonderful little expression "grace for grace." That is to say, every grace that we need to exercise already exists in Christ, and may be transferred into our life from Him, as we "receive of His fullness, even grace for grace." On the mount, Moses was called to see and study a model of the Tabernacle. A few weeks later the same Tabernacle might be seen going up piecemeal in the valley below, and, when completed, was an exact replica of the shown to Moses in the mount; for God's explicit command was, "See that thou make all things according to the pattern which was shewed thee in the mount." Corresponding to this is the tabernacle which God is building in each of our lives. It is just as heavenly a structure as the other and far more important, and is meant to be, as it is, the dwelling-place of God. 

It, too, has its model in the mount, and we may see, by the eye of faith, the model of our life, the pattern, the plan of all the graces which we exemplify and the life which is to be built up, worked out, and established. All the materials for our spiritual building are there now, already provided, and the whole design fully wrought out in the purpose of God and the provisions of His grace. But we have to take these resources and materials moment by moment, step by step, and transfer them into our lives. We have not to make the graces ourselves, but take them, wear them, live them, and exhibit them. '' Of His fullness we receive grace for grace," His graces for our graces, His love for our love, His trust for our trust, His power for our strength.

The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ

"That ye may know what is the hope of His calling and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward that believe, According To the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all." Ephesians 1:18-23

The resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ have become for us the pledge and pattern of all our faith and hope can claim. The power that God has wrought in Christ in raising Him from the dead and setting Him upon His own right hand is the very same power which we may expect Him to exercise to us-ward who believe. "The riches of the glory of this inheritance in the saints" is the standard of what we may share in our spiritual experience now. God has performed for us the most stupendous miracle of grace and power, and nothing can ever be too hard or too high for us to expect from "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

The picture is a very definite as well as a very glorious one. Step by step we can ascend its transcendent and celestial heights with our ascending Lord, as we see Him rise, first above the mighty power of earth, and then above and far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world but in that which is to come, until all things are beneath His feet. And then as we gaze upon His lofty preeminence we are permitted to sit down by His side and claim all the fullness of His glory as our own. For all HIS ascension power and majesty are, not for His own personal exaltation, but that He might become the Head over all things for His body the church, and He takes His high preeminence as our Representative and recognizes us as already seated with Him in the heavenly place. His resurrection, therefore, involves ours, His triumphs ours, His ascension ours, His rights are shared with us.

God's measureless measures part II

"We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." 2 Corinthians 10:12

We find a number of God's standards and measures referred to in the Holy Scriptures, rising like the rounds of Jacob's ladder from earth to heaven. There is a simple phrase often repeated in the New Testament and often overlooked, which expresses these measures and steps. It is the phrase"according to," two words which rise like the uprights of Jacob's ladder to the heavens, and across which many of the precious promises may be seen in the vision of faith firmly fastened as heavenly steps leading higher and higher up to all the good and perfect will of God. Let us glance at some of these heavenly measures.

I. The Will of God

This is at once the limitation and the inspiration of our faith and prayer. "If we ask anything According To His will He heareth us." "The Spirit maketh intercession for the saints According To the will of God." Beyond this our desires and our aspirations cannot go, but beyond it they need not desire to go, for within it lie all the probabilities of blessing which a human and immortal life can receive; and God's chief desire is to get us to see how much it means of blessing for us. As we have often said, there is no vaster prayer within the reach of faith than the simple sentence, "Thy will be done." This will must mean for each of us our highest possible good. We know it includes our salvation, if we will accept salvation, for "God will have all men to be saved." We know it includes our sanctification, for "this is the will of God, even your sanctification." We know it includes our deliverance from physical evil if we will receive it in His Name in faith and obedience, for He has said, "I will. Be thou clean." We know it includes every needed blessing that the obedient can require, for He has said '' He will withhold no good thing from them that walk uprightly." The apostle's prayer for his beloved friends was that they might have fulfilled in them ''all the good pleasure of His goodness;'' and that they might "prove that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

God's measureless measures

"We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." 2 Corin. 10:12

There are two sorts of human measures; the one is when we are "measuring ourselves by ourselves;" the other, when we are "comparing ourselves among ourselves ;" that is, measuring by others. Both are equally "unwise," for both come equally short of the divine rule. Many persons are always trying to measure up to their ideal and their aspirations and to the out-reaching of their poor souls, and the lofty ideals of humanity, as they are pleased to call them. They will tell us that they have lived up to their light and to their conscience and are satisfied with their opinions and content with their lives, and that it is nobody's business but their own. They are measuring themselves by themselves. Some who have come upon a higher plane are measuring themselves by a past experience, by some memory of blessing, some lofty mount to which they have risen in the distant past, and this, to them, is the type and ideal of all their life. And so, we find thousands trying to hold on to their experience or to get it back again, instead of remembering that God is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think."

Others again are ever comparing themselves with others, congratulating themselves that they are as good as some of their standard, or aiming to resemble some human ideal. The result of this is to be seen in the human traditions and the stereotyped patterns of Christian living, according to which so many are molding their dwarfed and wretched lives. All this is but human measuring ; all this is most unwise. From all this Paul turned to reach up to God's measure, and, "forgetting the things that were behind he pressed forward to the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus," striving that he might "apprehend that for which he was apprehended of Christ Jesus." It is a great thing to have a worthy ideal or pattern. It is better to aim high and miss it than it is to aim low and reach it. 

Love: A fruit of the Spirit

Is the mind of man naturally disposed to set its affections' on things above, rather than on things below? Is that love which is essential to real religion an innate principle, that grows spontaneously in the soil of the depraved heart? Far otherwise.

 Man, through sin, is naturally alienated and estranged from God. He has a revolting and a rebellious heart. How strongly, yet justly, is this expressed by the apostle Paul; “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be!” (Rom. 8:7). While men are in this unhappy state, they, in effect, say unto God, “ Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways,” Job. 21:4. The consequence is, that some are to be found as absolutely devoid of all religion, as if they were professed atheists; and others, who still wear a form of piety, adopt errors which rob God of his honor and praise, to offer a more costly sacrifice to the great idol, self. 

Divine love in us, is not therefore a native, but a heaven-implanted principle, the fruit of the Spirit. It is not a spark of our own kindling, but a flame brought from above. When the sword of the Spirit cuts away that thick veil which covers the carnal heart, love enters and dwells, where before enmity rankled. From the lips which once distilled the poison of asps, the milk of charity now flows. This representation agrees with the ancient promise, recorded in Deut. 30:6, “And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,'and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.” That the above passage describes that inward, spiritual renovation which is the effect of free grace, is beyond a doubt. It is easy to see the precious truth, under every form of figurative words. As the uncircumcised ear cannot hear, so the uncircumcised heart cannot feel.

No sooner, however, does the hand of God remove all obstructions, than the ear receives the joyful sound of the gospel, and the heart melts by the touch of Divine love. “ I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee,” Jer. 31:3. To this sweet and gracious attraction the stubborn will bends, and the perverse, untoward passions yield. “Hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us,” Rom. 5:5. This remarkable passage deserves particular attention. It is the sole prerogative of Him who hath the key of David to open the heart, as appears from what is spoken of Lydia, Acts 16:14. 

When he hath opened the heart, he empties and cleanses it, casting out the idols and abominations, as he once cast the buyers and sellers out of the temple, Matt. 21:12. And that grace may reign, through righteousness, unto eternal life, he plentifully pours his love into the heart, where it is diffused, through the whole course and conduct of the saint.

Love the Lord God and serve Him only!

“ Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets,” Matt. 22: 37-40.

God, as the source of all being, and the center of all perfection and excellency, claims the chief place in our affection. Now, to deny his claim, or prefer another, is to pervert the law of universal order, and to open a door for the entrance of confusion and every evil work. If a Being of infinite majesty, un spotted holiness, and unbounded goodness, is not to be devoutly adored and supremely beloved, there is not a single principle in religion or morals on which we can rely, but all is involved in darkness and uncertainty.

The footsteps of his wisdom and power, goodness and glory, may be traced in the works of creation. But though the earth is full of his riches, and the heavens sparkle with his glory, it is in the Scriptures chiefly that the Divine attributes appear in the most attractive and delightful manifestations. Here we have marvelous light, to give us those spiritual discoveries which are adapted to fill our hearts with s love. Here we behold God in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Here "mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace embrace each other."(Psalm 85:10).  "In the only begotten Son, who is the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person," we find every thing great and good, to interest and engage the heart. (Heb. 1:3)

As God is the supreme object on which holy love fixes, so creatures ought to have a subordinate measure of love, according to the degree in which they bear his image.

 

Understanding

"He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding." Proverbs 15:32

Compliments are easy to absorb, but criticism is much more difficult.  However, one's best friend will tell him the truth no matter what the consequences, and to reject constructive criticism is the height of folly.  Such an attitude bespeaks pride.  Some of the prophets of Israel suffered because the king wanted to hear only pleasing things.  Prophets who could outdo others in predicting rosy futures were promoted to positions of favor.  Conversely, those who told the truth, no matter how severe, were remanded to dungeons or exiled.  the king always suffered the consequences of his own folly.  By contrast there was King David, who when rebuked by faithful prophets of God, repented of his sins, put on sackcloth and ashes, ad literally groveled before the Lord.  This man loved his own soul.  This man got understanding.  

A good listener must have the spirit of meekness or he will never hear the voice of reproof without resentful reaction, and meekness is a very rare quality in our world.  Jesus said, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." (Matt. 5:5)  Meekness is a quality that has to be cultivated.  One must deliberately, by an act of the will, humble himself before God daily, acknowledging his sins.  Some of the prayers of David are beautifully interspersed with confessions of unworthiness.  Meekness is also often the product of suffering.

Peter in his earlier years was brash, impulsive, and quick tempered, but in that courtyard scene, when the rooster's voice three times signaled the folly of human resolutions unaided by divine power, and when the piercing eyes of the Son of God searched his soul, driving him to Gethsemane and to his knees, a different Peter emerged- a Peter meek and powerful.  To say it better:  His meekness was his power.

Most of the strife in our world may be traced to misunderstanding.  There a too few people with the gift of being able to sit down and analyze a situation without emotion.  The prayer of Solomon was for a wise and understanding heart.  His prayer was answered, and today, thousands, of years after his death, his wisdom is a legend.