Gye es, ee tig, ee tie ye a 5 JL GALS de Zs GN. 8) ed Ch From the Library of Professor Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield Begueathed by him to the Library of Princeton Theological Seminary BT -111.:P34 1902 Palmer, B. M. 1818-1902. | The threefold fellowship ani the threefold assurance The Threefold F ellowship AND The Threefold Assurance: An Essay in Two Parts. Ws BY B. M. PALMER’ DoD. Tit. p.. Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, New Orleans, La, RICHMOND, VA.: THE PRESBYTERIAN COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION. CoPpyRIGHT, 1902, BY JAMES K.-HAZEN, Secretary of Publication. PRINTED BY WuiTTEtT & SHEPPERSON, RICHMOND, VA. CONTENTS. PARTE THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. CHAPTER I. THE TRI-UNE JEHOVAH, CHAPTER IL. FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD IN THE PERSON OF THE FATHER, . CHAPTER III. FELLOWSHIP WitH GoD IN THE PERSON OF THE Son, CHAPTER IV. FELLOWSHIP WITH GoD IN THE PERSON OF THE Horny GHostT, . dedi Wadd Witt THE THREEFOLD ASSURANCE. CHAPTER I. THE ASSURANCE OF UNDERSTANDING, CHAPTER II. THE ASSURANCE OF FAITH, CHAPTER III. Tre ASSURANCE OF Hops, PAGE. 20 46 69 i) 118 134 PARES, The Threefold Fellowship. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2022 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/threefoldfellowsOOpalm The Threefold Fellowship. CHAPTER I.—InTRODUCTION. THE TRI-UNE JEHOVAH. HE Scriptures plainly teach that there is only one living and true God, and yet that he is plural in the mode of his being. The testimony as to the first is exceedingly full in the Old Testament. Two citations will suffice to show this; in Deut. iv. 39 we read, “Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else;” Isaiah xliv. 6, “Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.”’. These emphatic utterances were a constant protest against the polytheistic idolatry which, taking form soon after the flood as the second apostasy from God, was through the dispersion of the nations scattered over the whole earth. In connection with this, however, it is not a little remarkable that the first name given in the Old Testament to the Divine Being should be plural in its form; and that this plural name should be the third word in the first verse of the - Book of Genesis. It is also noteworthy that this plural 8 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. designation should occur in reciting the first active work of the Deity of which we have any knowledge, to the significance of which reference will be made hereafter. Nor should it escape our attention that in Num. vi. 23. to 26 the priestly benediction to be pronounced upon Israel should correspond with the apostolic benediction of the New Testament, not only in its threefold form, but in the very substance and matter of the blessing contained in each. If these references to the plural name of God and the plural form of his benediction upon Israel should appear too slender a prop to support so weighty a truth as the trinal subsistence of the Godhead, it may be replied that the testimony is in precise accord with the progressive character of the Old Testament revelation throughout. The first hint of God’s mercy to fallen man is the obscure reference to the “seed of the woman,” lodged precisely in the bosom of the curse denounced against the serpent; and the first intimation of the method of grace was afforded in the bloody sacrifice of Abel in contrast with the Eucharistic offering of Cain. Yet these earliest sparks of divine revelation con- tinued to glow through the whole antediluvian period, to wax brighter and brighter under the patriarchal dis- pensation, kindling into a flame through all the symbols of the Hebrew ritual, and flashing into moving beams of light through the later prophets — all converging at length in the full glory of the New Testament economy. It was thus in perfect harmony with this progressive THE TRI-UNE JEHOVAH. : 9 unfolding of God’s purpose and method of grace that he should withhold the mystery of his threefold sub- sistence until the time should arrive for the display of his threefold office-work in the salvation of men. It is God’s way to reveal himself through his works; and it is in the exposition of these that the words are spoken which explain his ways to the children of men. In passing from the Old Testament to the New, we encounter only the embarrassment of riches. The record in every line throbs with the doctrine of God in Christ; bringing conjointly into view a threefold differentiation in the unity of the Godhead. Hence in the citations that follow, the two points of unity and diversity will not need to be separated. In Mark xii. 29 our Lord himself echoes the testimony of the old economy, “Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord: to which the Hebrew scribe responds, “Master, thou hast said the truth; for there is one God, and there is none other but he.” Yet in John x. 30 our Lord as distinctly says, “T and my Father are one,” which the Jews construed as blasphemy; “because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” This inference our Lord, so far from disclaiming, immediately confirmed by declaring him- self “the Son of God” (vs. 36). In John xvii. 3 the same lips announce the same truth: “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” In like man- ner the apostle, in rebuke of idolatry, testifies that -“there is none other God but one; for though there 10 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. be those that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, to us there is but one God, the Father of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him? | (1 Cor. viii. 4-6.) Again, in Eph. iv. 6, he writes: “One God and Father of all, who is above all and through all, and in you all.” In the second chapter of the same Epistle (vs. 18) he presents the three Persons of the Godhead in their official distinction, “For through him (Christ Jesus) we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” In immediate connection may well be presented other testimonies affirming the Trinity in the Godhead. In the memorable discourse of our Lord, wherein he comforted his disciples in view of his depar- ture from earth, are these words: “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things,” ete. (John xiv. 26.) So, in John xv. 26, we read the words: “When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.” And again, in John xvi. 7: “If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” In these three utterances of our Lord we are not only presented with the distinction of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, but also with the interaction between the Three in the economy of the Godhead. Thus the Father is said to send the Spirit in the name of the Son: also, that the Son will send the Spirit from THE TRI-UNE JEHOVAH. Tt the Father. In the baptismal formula, delivered by our Lord himself at the moment of his ascension into heaven, and in connection with the great commission to preach the gospel in all the world, he directs that baptism shall be administered “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Matt. xxvill. 19.) In the solemn apostolic benediction answer- ing to that of the Aaronic priesthood of the Old Testa- ment, the threefold blessing upon the church is thus announced: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.” (2 Cor. xiii. 14.) These testimonies are but a tithe of what might easily be adduced. In the recorded discourses of our Lord he constantly affirms, in a single breath, his dis- tinction from the Father, and also his intimate correla- tion with him in the fellowship of the Godhead. For example, he saith to his disciples in John xiv. 7-10: “Tf ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficéth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father ; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father. Be lievest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth ‘the works.” And again, in verse 23: “If a man love 12 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” The sacred Scriptures thus reveal the one God, beside whom there is no other, and yet under the three- fold distinction of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. These are severally distinguished each from the other by the pronouns I, thou and he, as well as under the three names just recited. We find also distinct offices assigned to each, which are of such a nature that they cannot be consolidated upon a single party. The Father sends, and the Son is sent; but the sender and the sent cannot be at one and the same moment the same identical unit. Again, the Father judicially inflicts upon the Son the penalty of the law; but the judge and the criminal pun- ished cannot be identically the same. Still further, the Father dispenses the pardon to the sinner for whom the Son offers his priestly intercession, and which is sealed upon the conscience by the Holy Spirit. How can these contrasted operations be conducted by a single agent? All this goes to show, not only that there is a distinction in the Godhead, but that this distinction is real, and not simply nominal. If it be inquired upon what ground this differentiation takes place in the nature of the Divine Being himself, the answer is found in Col. i. 19 and ii. 9. In the latter the statement is made that “in him (the Son) dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily”; and in the former, “It pleased the Father that in him all fulness should dwell.” The THE TRI-UNE JEHOVAH. ee fulness of the Godhead dwells in both, this makes the one; but it is derived to the Son from the Father, and this distinguishes between the two. In like manner the Holy Spirit is said to proceed from the Father and the Son in the same numerical essence, yielding alike the unity and the differentiation of the three. Of course, this does not explain the mystery of the triune exist- ence; for in this communication of the “fulness of the Godhead” there can be no succession in time. With a Being who is sélf-existent and eternal there can be no succession of thoughts, and therefore no succession of moments. The priority is not one of time, but simply a “priority of order’! in the revelation which is made to us. In the presentation of this abstruse matter we are further embarrassed by the want of a common term by which to designate the three in the One. Shall we describe them as the three Persons in the Godhead ? We have only the dialects of earth from which to make the selection; and yet any human term would be apt to mislead when applied to a form of existence so entirely unique as that of the Divine Being. The word person, for example, carries with it the notion of a single indi- vidual, complete in himself, and separate from every other, as locked up in the possession of his own con- sciousness, which cannot be invaded from without. In employing the word person, therefore, to express the distinction in the Godhead, we must carefully guard *Pearson’s Haposition of the Creed, Art. 8--On the Holy Ghost. : 14 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. eae the danger of making three Gods instead of one. Every science, however, has the right to its own nomen- clature; and in our theological language the best we can do is to say the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are three Persons simply to indicate the thr -eefold distinc-— tion in the one Godhead. If the one God be thus revealed as subsisting in three Persons, there must be the equal concurrence of these three in all divine operations, alike in creation, providence and grace. By referring to two of the pre- ceding testimonies (1 Cor. vii. 4-6 and Eph. iv. 6), and also Rom. xi. 36, the reader will perceive that all things proceed from the Father by way of eminence, as supreme in authority and dominion — from the Son, as the immediate Efficient, by whom all things are wrought — and the Holy Ghost as the in-breathing source of all life, whether it be physical life in the old creation or spiritual life in the new creation. By the use of three distinct prepositions, almost technically employed, from, by and through, the separate agency of the three Persons is distinctly marked in all the out- ward activities of the Godhead. Thus does the sacred book set its final seal upon the profound mystery of the Trinity in unity of the divine nature riself, at 18 1m this concurring agency of the three Persons of the God- head that we find significance in the plural name of Jehovah, to which reference has already been made, first given in the Book of Genesis, and so frequently employed throughout the Old Testament. THE TRI-UNE JEHOVAH. 15 If the reader should resile from this mystery, which transcends alike the power of human expression and of human conception, let him remember that it is far from being the only mystery connected with the being of God. There is a primal mystery in his underived and neces- sary self-existence equally incapable of being understood and explained. All forms of being known to us have been. produced — something went before in the deriva- tion of each. Multiply as we may the links im this chain of cause and effect, it cannot be endless without denying the fundamental postulate on which all science rests — that for every effect there must be the ante- cedent cause. We are forced by the simple necessity of thought to find the ring-bolt which shall fasten it tosome beginning. But what was before the beginning ? Only God in his “eternal, underived existence.” It is easier to assume the priority of one supreme intelligent Creator of the entire universe than it is to hang untold myriads of existences on their separate chains in empty space without a hook anywhere to support them all. If, then, the easier mystery of the underived self-existence of the infinite God cannot be brought within the com- prehension of human reason, why should we stagger under the later mystery involved in the mode of his being. Let us rather bow in adoring worship before the cloud in which Jehovah conceals the glory of his pres- ence! “Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; 16 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.” (Job x1. 7, 8, 9.) The reverberation of this solemn challenge is heard in the New Testament ascription of praise from the lips of the inspired Paul: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past find- ing out! Who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? For of him, and through him, and to him are all things: to whom be glory forever.” (Rom. xi. 83, 34, 36.) Know, vain man, that if thou couldst compass God within the measure of thy thought, he would be a creature like thyself. What a doom it would be to thee to wander in the vastness of infinite space and of endless duration without the com- panionship of him who alone can fill them both! This Introduction cannot be concluded without drawing the reader’s attention to the astonishing diselo- sure that the gospel scheme of salvation not only has its origin in the infinite grace and mercy of God, but also finds its method and its execution in his threefold personality. It has somewhere been stated that the Eddystone Light, on the coast of England, has its first chamber in the excavation of a solid rock, to which its four walls are glued with strong cement. Thus the imposing tower seems to grow from the bony structure of the earth to its topmost chamber, from which its protecting light is thrown over the waters of the stormy ¢ deep. In like manner we find the “great salvation” THE TRI-UNE JEHOVAH. £7 imbedded in the very nature of God and in the mode of his subsistence. In the secret counsels of the eternal Three is the plan devised. The Father, speaking to the Son, proclaims, “I the Lord have called thee in right- eousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.” (Isa. xlii. 6.) In response to this we hear in prophecy the voice of the Son, “Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God.” (Ps. xl. 7, 8.) In the New Testament we have his further declaration: “TI came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John vi. 88); and at the close of his ministry he says directly to the Father, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” (John xvii. 4.) In accomplishment of all this we find the Son, in the body which has been prepared for him, going down into the work-house and forge of his own passion, offer- ing up his soul a sacrifice for human guilt. Upon his ascension to heaven there follows the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, turning the hearts of the children of men from sin to holiness, and preparing the redeemed for the saints’ inheritance in glory. As this grace descends to the sinner from the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit, so again it ascends through the indwelling of the Spirit, by faith in Christ the Son, to be presented blameless and without spot before the Father. Thus by two currents, descending and ascend- 18 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. ing, the redeemed soul moves forever within the bosom of the Godhead. Thus, both in counsel and in act, we find the scheme of grace springing out from the very nature and form of the Divine Being himself. It is such a salvation as could only be devised by the God who is revealed to us, and as executed by him in his threefold distinction as Father, Son and Holy Ghost. What amazing security does this view give to the whole system of grace, seeing that it cannot fail in a single point except through a schism in the Godhead itself. The hand trembles that writes the daring suggestion; which is only saved from blasphemy by the assurance that he who searches the heart knows it is written only to give the most intense emphasis to the truth which it declares. Well may the Psalmist of old sweep with his fingers the strings of the Hebrew lyre to the tune of the sixty- second Psalm (vs. 6, 7): “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength and my refuge isin God.” Equally may we join in the refrain: “ Glorious things of thee are spoken, Sion, city of our God; He whose word cannot be broken Formed thee for his own abode: On the rock of ages founded, What can shake thy sure repose? With salvation’s walls surrounded, Thou mayest smile at all thy foes.” If now the Triune God be thus engaged in working THE TRI-UNE JEHOVAH. 19 out this great salvation, there should be in Christian experience a recognized fellowship with each of the Divine Persons to whom the requisite offices have been assigned and by whom they have been discharged. It will be the design of the essay which follows to elucidate this threefold fellowship, together with the threefold assurance which attaches to each. CHAPTER II. FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD IN THE PERSON OF THE FATHER. “Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”—1 JouN i. 3. ILE reader will perhaps exclaim upon reading these words, “Is there nothing but mystery in this religion of ours?’ Having accepted in faith the first ereat secret of God’s underived being, and then of his social existence in the three Persons of the Godhead, are we still further to individualize these that the believer shall come into personal correspondence with each? It may serve to soothe the agitation of this inquiry to remember that, both in nature and grace, the deepest mysteries are brought the most fully within our practical knowledge. What mystery can be greater than that of life, and of its propagation from generation to generation? Yet who can doubt the truth of both, upon the testimony of consciousness and of direct observation? Equally so, the mystery of spiritual life and its origin provokes the skepticism of Nicodemus in the question, “How can these things be?’ Yet it is a truth brought within our knowledge through an actual experience. Who can tell what thought is, and what its connection with the greyish matter within the skull Se — Ce ——_ | FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER. yal which we call the brain? Yet every one thinks, and knows that he thinks. Thus, in the Christian religion, the profoundest mysteries relating to God, eternity and the soul are certified to us in their reality when they cannot be explained through our philosophy. Let it be further noted that our fellowship with the Father, Son and Spirit is not with them in their hidden relations within the Godhead, but in the outward work which they perform in a revealed system of grace. In carefully marking this line of distinction we will be pro- tected from error by being kept close to the testimony of Scripture. The passage at the head of this chapter sufficiently affirms our fellowship with the Father. Testimony equally explicit will set forth our fellowship with the Son and with the Holy Ghost. It may be well, however, to mass together just here a few citations which connect the believer’s fellowship with all the Persons in the active discharge of their respective functions. Thus, in John xiv. 1, we read, “Ye believe in God, believe also in me;” and in verse 23, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” The same divine voice, speaking from the midst of the golden candlesticks, saith (Rev. iii. 20): “If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Reference is made in 1 Cor. xii. 4-6 to the church in her relation to each of the three—“There are diversities of gifts, 29 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. but the same Spirit; and there are differences of admin- istrations, but the same Lord; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.” In Eph. ii. 18 we find the words, “Through him (the Son) we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” Lastly, in Eph. iii. 14-17, the apostle says, “I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” The same distinet fellowship with each of the Divine Persons is embodied in many other Scriptures, and most notably in the apostolic benedictions. In what particulars, then, and on what grounds, can the believer hold this fellowship with God in the person of the Father ? 1. As first-in the order of subsistence, the Father is the Representative and Administrator of Law, to whom supreme allegiance is due. Man, created in the divine image, is possessed of a moral nature which at once brings him under the jurisdiction of law. His original righteousness is a derived, not a self-existent, quality — entirely dependent upon the divine holiness which it simply reflects. It must therefore be subjected to a test, in order that through voluntary obedience his will may be brought into correspondence with the will of his maker, thus adopting the divine holiness as the | | ) FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER. Be reculating principle of his life. When, under force of temptation, he violated this law he was brought under the penalty of disobedience. No truth can be more solemn than this, that in no condition or state of exist- ence can man absolve himself from the control and authority of the divine law. If, therefore, it should please God to show merey to the transgressor, the foundation of the scheme must be laid in meeting the requirements of strict justice. Thus we find the Father appointing the Son to the work of redemption, exacting of him the full endurance of the penalty, requiring a perfect obedience to the precepts, establishing a perfect righteousness, in the which the sinner may stand com- pletely justified before the law which he has broken. In applying this remedy to the case of an individual sinner, the first stage is distinctly a legal process pro- ducing conviction of sin. This is done by the Holy Spirit bringing the divine law close to the awakened conscience, the lower tribunial which God has erected in the human soul. Through a judicial mdictment the law flashes its light into the guilty soul, until it is made to tremble in apprehension of the doom which it antici- pates. There can be no proper sense of sin except as seen in the light of God’s awful holiness. The natural man in his unrenewed state knows sin only under its human aspects as crime or vice. These, occurring only in human relations and against the interests of general society, have a human standard by which they may be : measured. Both these are doubtless sins against God; 24 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. but are recognized as such only when seen as committed against him. It is when the commandment comes, to use the apostle’s language, that “sin revives and we die.” (Rom. vii. 9.) Doubtless the work of the Spirit is to produce this conviction of sin through the action of the law upon the conscience; but it 1s through the official administration of law by the Father that this process of conviction obtains. David’s “offence” against Uriah was “rank and smelled to heaven”; but it was only when his conscience was stirred by the Holy Spirit that he breathes his confession, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.” (Ps. li. 4.) Just at this point, when the penitent sinner pleads for mercy at the throne of grace, it is again the office of the Father to dispense the pardon for which the sup- pliant sues. The sense of reconciliation with God, through the sealing of this pardon upon the troubled conscience, discloses the fellowship which the renewed soul has now with the Father. All that has been here described in the passage of a sinner from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light has its repetition through the whole after experience of the believer. As he advances in the divine life he gains deeper views of the hatefulness of sin, turns from it with increasing abhorrence, feels more intently the joy of reconciliation with God, and thus becomes more and more distinctly conscious of his fellowship with the Father. The Scrip- tures give no hint that the first Person of the Godhead will ever resign this office as administrator of law. For 4 bo FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER. 5 even after the decisions of the judgment day, the Son will deliver up the kingdom to the Father, that God may be all in all. (1 Cor. xv. 24.) Having pronounced the Father’s benediction upon those at his right hand, the Son has fulfilled on earth his office as Redeemer. He will lead the mighty procession through the gates of pearl into the presence of the Father (Ps. xxiv.): saying, here are those whom thou gavest me to be redeemed; I return them to thee freed from the curse and stain of sin—‘‘washed, sanctified, justified.” (1 Cor. vi. 11.) Thus, through a long eternity, the law, | which has “been magnified and made honorable” (Isa. xlii. 21) through the obedience of the Son, will be administered by the Father over the universe; and the redeemed will forever rejoice in their fellowship with him as the executive and representative of the Godhead. 2. There ws fellowship with the Father in the Sov- ereignty of his Electing Love. This doctrine is so often misunderstood and misrepresented that it will be well to set it forth in the express language of Scripture. In the Old Testament the Messiah is described as, the chosen or elect of the Father. In Isa. xlii. 1 we read as follows: “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect in whom my soul delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.” In Isa. xi. 1, 2: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,” ete. If, then, the Redeemer of men is thus described 26 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. as personally chosen of God, the logic of the case will require all those who are saved in him to be also chosen in him. For if “the Head” be elected, the “Church, which is his body and the fulness of him that filleth all in all,” must be comprehended within the same eternal counsel of the Father. But we are not left merely to inferential reasoning, but have the most direct testi- mony in support of this gracious truth. In Col. in. 12 we yead the exhortation to the saints: “Put on there- fore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies,” ete. The Apostle Peter addresses the strangers scattered throughout Asia Minor as “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctifica- tion of the Spirit,” ete. (1 Pet.i.2.) And in his second epistle he adds the counsel, “Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.” (2 Peter 1. 10.) Dike wise, Paul opens his letter to the Thessalonian church with the words, “Knowing, brethren beloved, your elec- tion of God.” (1 Thes. i. 4.) In 2 Thes. ii. 18 the fuller language is employed: “We are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth.” In Eph. i. 4, 5 the sovereignty of this election is thus set forth: “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER. 27 pleasure of his will’— reiterated in verse 11: “In whom (Christ) also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” In the Epistle to the Romans the Apostle Paul, speaking by inspiration of the Holy Ghost, suspends the entire chain of the believer’s salvation from the hook of God’s eternal purpose until its last link is fastened to the inheritance of heaven: “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be con- formed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he ealled, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Rom. viii. 29, 30, 31.) In Rom. ix. 10-12 the sovereignty of this election is illus- trated from the early patriarchal history: “When Re becca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac (for the children being not yet born, neither hav- ing done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth,) it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger.” In the eleventh chapter, in speaking of the rejection of Israel, he adds in verses 5 and 7: “Even so then at this present time also there is a rem- nant according to the election of grace. What then ? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; 28 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” | The testimony of our Lord himself is properly re- served to give emphasis to the same truth. To the unbe- lieving Jews he says in John vi. 37, 39: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me J will in no wise cast out. And this is the Father’s will that hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” In his mediatorial prayer in John xvii. he prays for all who shall believe in him as those who were given especially to him by the Father. Thus in verse 2 he speaks of the power received from the Father — to “give eternal life to as many as were given him.” In verse 6 he declares, “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me.” In verse 9 he thus distinguishes, “I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” Verse 11: “Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.” In verse 24 he writes the legacy in his own will about to be ratified in death, which bequeathes to his redeemed an inheritance of glory. “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” It is not difficult from these passages to determine FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER. 29 what this election is. It refers to ind*vidual sinners of the human race who have been chosen in Christ to be redeemed and sanctified and made the heirs of eternal glory. They are represented as “beloved of the Lord, chosen to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth’—as being made “holy and without blame before him in love”—as being made“con- formable to the image of his Son” (the Christ). These and other like descriptive phrases can apply only to individual units, and never to collective bodies of men. Again, this is not an election contingent upon anything foreseen in the character or conduct of the beneficiaries ; but is absolute and sovereign, resting alone on the deter- mination of the divine will. The predestination is expressly declared to be “according to the good pleasure of his will”— and again “being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” (Eph. i. 5,11.) So strong is the assertion of the divine sovereignty in the Seriptures that Paul indignantly replies to the objector on this very point, “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another to dishonor ?” (Rom. ix. 20, 21.) Nor yet was it a decree originating in time from any conditions in the administration of the divine government; but before the foundation of the world, in the depth of that eternity which was before the begin- 30 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. ning. Perhaps the language of Peter, “elect according to the foreknowledge of God,’ may be urged in contra- diction of this, and as implying some contingency in the case. A fitting occasion will shortly occur for showing that what is thus foreknown proves the decree to be rest- ing alone upon the divine supremacy. No statement in the Bible more deeply stirs the resentment of the unrenewed heart than this personal election to eternal life. It is alleged to be unfair, unjust and abridging human liberty. But as the Seriptures already recited affirm an election of some sort, it becomes necessary to define its limits both as to whom it em- braces and to what it extends. The effort is, therefore, made to restrict this election to classes or bodies of men who are chosen to certain external privileges. or example, God saw fit to select the Hebrews, and to enter into covenant with them as his own people. In like manner, through all history, there are preferred nations who are distinguished by advantages and degrees of prosperity not granted to others. Even in ordinary life we find large classes of men in possession of dignities and emoluments denied to others. In fact, the irregu- larities of life are so marked through all the grades of human society that all are compelled to admit the supremacy of an ordaining will that rules the earth. Under these analogies there are some who feel warranted in allowing that God may grant even religious privileges to individuals or to masses of men which are withheld from others, without implying that their final destiny FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER. aL is fixed in his eternal purpose. But if God may dis- eriminate at all, who shall define the limit of his power, or draw the line where his sovereignty shall be arrested ? We are treading upon very dangerous ground when we admit the existence of an infinite and supreme Ruler, and then undertake to measure the length of his scepter or to abridge the liberty of his will. If we consent that God shall be supreme in matters which are temporal, but not in those which are spiritual, how are we to build a wall between the two? Some election there must be. The principle is the same in every case; it must be wholly admitted or wholly rejected. It comes at last to this: in order to be fair and just, God must treat all men alike in every particular,—or he has the right to do with all his creatures as shall seem good in his sight. We can throw no limitations over his will. He can never be unfair or unjust to any under his rule, simply because he is God. His own nature, as infinitely holy and just, affords the guarantee that all his ways will be just and equal with the children of men. The further allegation, that personal election to eter- nal life abridges human liberty, falls still more easily to the ground. This election remains a profound secret in the bosom of God until it is revealed in the determina- tion of the sinner himself. No one on earth has access to “the Lamb’s book of life’ to see what names are writ- ten therein. What is wholly unknown to us cannot pos- sibly be the reason of our action. There is not a faculty of our nature that can be influenced by what is hidden in 32 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. darkness. The offers of salvation are made fully and freely to the children of men; and these are dealt with just as each may please. The fact of election is disclosed in the result, and in that alone. How there can be any abridgment of the sinner’s freedom of choice is incon- ceivable, when it is notorious that no man ever rejected the Saviour except from his own unwillingness to reccive him. Enough has been written in rebuttal of objections. The stage has now been reached in this discussion for a more articulate defence of this great truth, Sin did not originate on this earth. In the brief account given in the Bible we learn that the angels were created holy, and were placed upon probation even in heaven. Some of these remained steadfast in their allegiance; others “kept not their first estate,” and are now “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” (Jude vi.) Almighty God is evidently . dealing with the great problem of sin, in this case with an overwhelming stroke of avenging justice. This, however, does not conclude the drama. A new scene opens in the creation of man, in like manner holy, but placed under a different form of trial. The consti- tution appointed for him is strictly federal. One man is created alone, as the representative and head of the entire race putatively existing in him, to be developed from his loins through successive generations until the end of time. No intelligent reader of the Scriptures can fail to recognize the reason for this peculiar economy. FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER. oe It is based upon the great principle of representation in a government of law, and constructs the platform on which rests the entire system of grace revealed in the gospel of our salvation. The first Adam prepares the way for the second Adam, and the covenant of works is only the basis of the covenant of grace. For the scriptural proof of this relation between the first Adam and the second, as well as the connection between the dispensations of law and grace, the reader should eare- fully read and digest what is written in Romans v. 12-21 and in 1 Cor. xv. 45-49, both too long to be inserted here, In dealing with the fallen angels, God made a tri- umphant display of his justice: in dealing with fallen man, it is his purpose to make an equal disclosure of his mercy enthroned in the bosom of his justice. To this end the Father appoints his only-begotten Son to the work of redemption for lost man. In this new cove- nant of grace a seed is given to Christ putatively exist- ing in him to be justified by his righteousness; just as in the old covenant of works the entire posterity of Adam was viewed as existing and falling into con- demnation through him. Here, then, is the parallelism between the two dispensations; which, standing together upon the same constructive principle, must be main- tained or abandoned together. Yet just here, in the gift of a seed to his Son (Isa. lili. 10, 11), is found the decree of personal election, which many regard as unjust and dishonorable to God. Would it not be fair, say 34 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. they, for God to treat all men alike, without this dis- crimination — either giving none, or else giving all alike to Christ as his seed. It is overlooked in this complaint that sin completely estranges man from God, entailing upon him a corrupt nature, which left to itself will never become reconciled. What is the spectacle before our very eyes after the lapse of nineteen centuries since the birth of Christ? During this long period it is but a small remnant in every generation that, even in Chris- tian lands, is willing to accept Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour. The offer of salvation made indiscriminately to all is known to rest upon the work of One in whom “dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily”: who there- fore brings all the resources of his divine nature to qualify the obedience, which he renders alike to the pen- alty and precept of the law which man has broken. His, therefore, is a satisfaction rendered to divine justice infinitely more complete and glorious than would be the ageregate obedience of all the children of men massed together in one single act. Yet this perfect salvation, so fully revealed and so freely offered to all men, has been declined by an overwhelming majority, even of those who have lived under the full light of a divine revelation. What does this import, but that every sinner of our race would do the same if left wholly to the influ- ence of that corrupt nature which he inherits. But the omniscient God does not need the experiment of centuries to learn what man’s treatment of the gospel will be. He knows the very nature of sin and what FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER. oD man’s estrangement from holiness means. Let it be remembered that there can be no succession of thoughts with God, and therefore no succession of moments. The measure of time applies only to man, who lives from one beat of the pulse to another. God dwells in his own eternity, which is with him an ever-present now. All things are with him embraced in the secret of his own eternal purpose. In his omniscience he saw the whole human race in their successive generations, heedless of all the offers of mercy, floating upon the stream of time to their eternal doom. This is that foreknowledge of God to which St. Peter refers, and of which we affirmed in a preceding paragraph that it settles forever the fact that election rests alone upon the divine purpose. It is not the foreknowledge of those who will accept the great salvation; but the foreknowledge that every soul of man will of himself reject it to the end. In his absolute sovereignty he sees fit to pluck multitudes of these from perdition, giving them in covenant to his Son to reward the “travail of his soul,” and to be in him the heirs of glory in the world to come. Who shall dare to say that he has not the right to do this, when all have equally rejected the salvation to whom it has been fully offered 2 Shall it be said that he must either save all or none — and that any discrimination would be unfair? Let it be replied that Jehovah is still engaged in dealing with the problem of sin. In the revelation of mercy there must be the equal exhibition of justice. It must not be forgotten that in the whole method of salvation by grace, 36 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. mercy has always been seen wrought out in the sphere of justice itself. -Merey acknowledges throughout the claim of infinite justice; and justice, on its part, stands for the protection of merey. In the results, therefore, of the plan of redemption, the vindication of justice must stand side by side with the exhibition of mercy. Thus it is that in the decree of election there are those saved through sovereign and unmerited mercy alone whilst others are passed by in the execution of a holy justice. A sovereign blessing has been conferred upon the one, while no injustice is wrought upon the other. Both left to themselves decline alike the offers of grace, and God sees fit to exercise his prerogative as the admin- istration of law in exhibiting alike his mercy and his justice. | This doctrine, so often maligned, proves to be the pivot upon which our hope of salvation is securely bal- anced. Take it out of the Scriptures and out of the scheme of grace and the last hope of our salvation 1s destroyed. It is the security given by the Father to the Son, that he shall not lose the reward of his mediatorial work, and the final pledge that all who believe in Christ shall certainly be saved. It is therefore referred in the Scriptures to the Father as the early and great demon- stration of infinite love. Thus we read, “God so loved the world that he gave,” etc.; and, again, “We love him because he first loved us.” It follows from this that in so many passages the name God is given by way of emi- nence to the person of the Father, as representatively FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER. ot in the apostolic benediction, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.” It is in the reciprocation of this sovereign love that the believer holds conscious fellowship with the Father. In the joy of a Christian hope he feels the thrill of this divine love from the Father, through the Son, to him- self; and his own heart vibrates in every one of its chords to the same. He cannot but join with all the saints in the ascription of praise: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past find- ing out!” 3. Belevers have fellowship with the Father in the grace and privilege of adoption. In Eph. iii. 14, 15 the apostle “bows his knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named’; testifying that the act of adoption pertains to the office and work of the first Person of the Godhead. He who is the Father of Christ is by neces- sary sequence the Father of all who are in Christ. But what is adoption? Amongst men it is simply a process of law by which one who is not the issue of our loins is put among the children, trained and treated as such, and entitled to share in the common inheritance. It is only a legal fiction at best. There is no act of legislation or judicial decree which can transfuse one drop of our blood into the veins of an alien, or transfer one feature of resemblance to his person, or transmit one distin- 38 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. guishing trait of mental or moral character. In like manner adoption with God has its legal aspects. Le originates in that election of grace which has just been discussed, and in the Father’s gift to the Son of a sinner to be redeemed and saved. This conveys a legal title to his absolution from guilt and to his acceptance before God. There is as yet no actual conveyance to him of the blessings of the covenant. To this end something more is required in this adoption of grace. Through a spiritual birth the sinner is made a child of God in fact as well as in law; precisely as through natural birth a real relationship is established among men between parent and child. Of such it is written, “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John i. 13); also, in iii. 8, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God;” again, in 1 John v. 1, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” These testimonies are sufficient to show that in adoption the sinner is made actually a child of God through the new birth; and is thus doubly entitled to all the privileges of sonship. In further proof of the general doctrine of adoption, a few passages of Scripture will be cited. In Jer. 11. 19 God asks of ancient Israel, “How shall I put thee among the children? . . . . Thou shalt call me, My Father; and shalt not turn away from me.” The final fulfilment of this promise, yet to be accomplished, is furnished in Heb. x. 16, 17: “This is the covenant that I will make FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER. 39 with them, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” Also in Gal. iv. 4, 5, 6: “But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Again, in Rom. viii. 14, 15: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we ery, Abba, Father.” Probably no word in our science of theology more completely covers all parts of the system of grace than does this word adoption, as may be seen from all the citations we have adduced. It is proper just here to discriminate against a false claim made by men of the world that they are the chil- dren of God through natural creation. Doubtless when first made in the image of God man was properly a child of God, because a “partaker of his holiness.” But through the fall this likeness to God is lost; and all right to the title of divine sonship is forfeited through sin. Whilst, therefore, in his general providence God bestows earthly blessings indiscriminately upon the righteous and the wicked, they come to the latter by no covenant promise, but through the sovereignty of the divine will. Yet we daily hear men who have not the 40 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. fear of God before their eyes pompously exclaiming, “Have we not all one Father? hath not one God created us?” (Mal. iii. 10.) In the assertion of this claim upon a natural ground the design is obviously to obscure, if not to obliterate, the distinction between themselves and the righteous — and so to justify their neglect and con- tempt of the gospel. In the language of holy Scripture the title, sons of God, is exclusively applied to those who are in Christ Jesus, and who are born, not of the flesh, but of the Spirit. In this grace of adoption many privileges are em- braced, in all of which a recognized fellowship with the Father may be enjoyed. These are so intertwined, shading into each other like the colors of the spectrum, that it is not easy to make a perfect classification. There is, for example, the sweetness of reconciliation with God. Who does not remember the ecstasy of the moment when the burden of guilt was first removed from the soul under a sense of pardon sealed for the first time upon. an accusing conscience? Who does not recall the first joy felt in escaping from the bondage of fear, and that in possession of a perfect righteousness he could stand before God with the familiar freedom of a child in the presence of its father? And yet what is the lengthening experience of the Christian but a deepening sense of this reconciliation and the fulness of joy spring- ing from daily intercourse with God ? Again, there is a serene trust in God in the adminis- tration of his providence. We know that God does his FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER. 41 pleasure among the armies of heaven and the inhabi- tants of earth: still his dispensations towards us are often dark and mysterious. Yet the Christian has this assurance that to him all things come from a loving Father and in fulfilment of a gracious covenant. There is nothing penal to him in what grace has converted into a discipline of love. This earthly life is simply educa- tional, in which the Heavenly Father trains his child for the life that is life in that it lasts forever. “All things work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom. vill. 28); and these “light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work out for us the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” (2 Cor. iv. 17.) Thus, in all the changes of earthly fortune the language of Christian patience will always be — “Trials must and will befall; But with humble faith to see Love inscribed upon them all, This is happiness to me.” Still further, there is a divine comfort in the promises. ‘Two of these have been already quoted: but they are innumerable, like the stars scattered over the firmament above. They may be compared to circles of electric hight diffused through the Scriptures, illuminating every part. The question has been raised whether these promises are absolute or contingent. It may be replied, they are both. When made by the Father to the Son they are based upon conditions which he must fulfill; 42, THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. but through that fulfilment they are made absolute to us. They are declared to be “Yea and amen” in him, thus doubly affirmed. In the yea the language is, it 1s so; in the amen the meaning is, so let it be. The affirmation in the one is reéchoed by the continuing affirmation in the other. Whilst, therefore, the comfort of these prom- ises depends upon their fulfilment by the Son, there is another comfort derived from their original issuance fiom the Father. It is on this latter that our fellow- ship with the Father through the promises is particu- larly founded. Lastly, there is a holy joy in the security of our salvation. Through all the spiritual conflicts of the Christian, which are continued to the end of his career on earth, this bright star of promise shines upon the horizon before him. There is not a quiver of uncer- tainty in the assurance that he will be “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Pet.1.5.) Originating in the believer’s eternal election by the Father, fulfilled in the work of redemption by the Son, and accomplished by the work of the Spirit in his own heart, the promise shines with a threefold light upon his path. Not more surely did the star in the east guide the wise men to the babe in Bethlehem than does this promise safely lead the weakest believer into the palace of the King to see him in his beauty. It is needless to break the unity of this topie into further details. Suffice it to say that wherever the FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER. 43 authority of law touches the Christian under the admin- istration of grace, there his fellowship with the Father as first in the Godhead is disclosed and may be en- joyed. 4. There is fellowship with the Father in the supreme worship rendered through him to the Godhead. Our Lord taught his disciples to pray, saying, “After this manner pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” (Matt. vi. 9.) He thus places upon their lps the language of adoption and designates the Father as the Person to be officially addressed. The sinner condemned under the law is cut off from all inter- course with God; to whom he can make no approach except upon the footing of grace and through an appointed mediator. This distribution of offices desig- nates the Father as the representative of Deity, to whom therefore all general and supreme worship should be offered. 2 Undoubtedly the necessities of the believer will direct his attention to succor, which can be derived immediately from the Son and the Spirit. It is natural, therefore, that these needs should be presented directly to these Persons respectively. But this, so far from disturbing the conclusion reached above, renders it more conspicuously evident that to the Father should be directed that large worship which includes the agency of all the Persons alike. In clearing this subject of obscurity as far as may be possible, it is important to note this distinction between the more special and the 44 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. more general acts of worship and to observe the recon- ciliation between the two. Tn order to exhibit alike this differentiation and this unification in all true worship, the following citations from Scripture may be presented: In Luke xxiu. 42, 43 the prayer of the penitent thief is addressed imme- diately to Christ —“Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom’”’—with the favorable answer, “Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” In Acts vii. 59 the dying Stephen commends his spirit into the hands of Jesus —“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’”—almost in the words in which the Christ had before commended his spirit into the hands of the Father. These two instances justify every believer in directing his prayer to each of the divine Persons in the definite relation which is sustained to either of the three. In John xv. 16 the promise is made, “Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you.” In Eph. 1. 17 the apostle prays “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.” Both these testimonies mark the distinction from whom and through whom the bless-_. ings of salvation are conveyed to us, and denote the preéminence of the Father as the one to whom the prayer is directly addressed. This distinction is more emphatically announced in Eph. iii. 14-16: “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER. 45 is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man,” etc. No exposition of these words is needed to call the reader’s attention to the supreme fact that all the blessings of salvation emanate from the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; who, there- fore, must be the One to whom our final homage must be paid. Under this view, it is easy to see in what sense our fellowship with the Father consists. In all these acts of worship—-secret, social and public—we recognize the tri-unity of the Divine Being. We trace all the benefits of grace which we enjoy by the Holy Spirit, — through the Son, to the eternal and _ ever-blessed Father—the “Father of lights, from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift.” CHAPTER: TT. FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD IN THE PERSON OF THE SON. “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”—1 CoRINTHIANS i. 9. HIS text sets forth our fellowship with the second Person of the adorable Trinity under a double emphasis—as involved in our effectual calling, and as secured to us by the divine faithfulness. The topic will be found exceedingly fruitful, unfolding as it does the entire method of grace in human salvation. 1. This fellowship is with the Son, as the orrginal source of all divine revelation. Connecting Colossians ii. 9 and i. 19, we discover two facts: that the fulness of the Godhead dwells in the Son, and yet that it descends to him from the Father. This testimony has been adduced before to prove the true divinity of our blessed Lord, and also his distinction from the Father. It is employed now to show the relation he sustains to the holy Scriptures. Jn his derivation from the Father we are at the fountain-head and source of all revelation. The infinite Jehovah is in himself the unknown God, “whom no man hath seen nor can see.” (1 Tim. vi. 16.) It is in the communication of his fulness to the Son that a foundation is laid for the communication of knowledge concerning himself to the creature. In this interior relation to the Father the Son is styled the “image of FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SON. 47 the invisible God” (Col. i. 15), and, again, he is described as being “the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person.” (Heb. 1. 3.) Thus it is declared in Scripture, ““No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” (John i. 18.) Again, “No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” (Matt. x1. 27.) Hence it is that the term Word is one of the names which he bears in his divine nature and relations ; and it is very significant that his first recorded work should be that of creation itself. The testimony is, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John i. 1, 2, 3.) For what is the created universe but one vast word which reveals to us the benign wisdom and power of the infinite Jehovah; and which it has required the science of ages to explore and unfold? How closely welded are the links of this splendid chain; the Son through an eternal generation is the only-begotten of the Father; for this reason it is eminently fitting that he should be the organ of com- municating all knowledge concerning him; his first act is that of creating the world, which is the beginning of that revelation that discloses to us all the purposes of law and grace in the sacred Scriptures! 48 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. As thus hinted, this revelation by the Word was only begun in the act of creation. We learn that “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1. 14.) Again, “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.” (Gal. iv. 4.) This, then, is the great “mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, beheved on in the world, received up into glory.” (1 Tim. iii. 16.) This brings before us the whole doc- trine of the incarnation. It is the simple fact itself which concerns us at present: for it is questionable whether its full significance is taken up in the concep- tion of the church at large. The suggestion is absolutely stunning in itself: that he who “‘was in the form of God, and thought it no robbery to be equal with God, should yet take upon him the form of a servant, and be found in fashion as a man.” (Phil. ii. 9.) This means that a being who is pure Spirit shall assume human form, one person in two natures, wholly dissimilar, yet strictly conjoined. But such a Being stands before us pro- phetically announced in all the theanthropic appear- ances in the period of the patriarchs and the judges, and in all the Messianic predictions of the Hebrew prophets, to be more fully disclosed in the conception and birth of Jesus of Nazareth. What does this stupendous fact import, viewed inde- FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SON. 49 pendently of the work of redemption achieved by him ? The answer is found in the almost universal idolatry _ which has overspread the earth since the days of the flood. The inspired apostle gives the origin of this strange departure from Jehovah, that “not liking’ to retain God in their knowledge, they changed the glory of the uncorruptible God to an image made like to cor- ruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” (Rom. i. 28, 23.) The ultimate cause of this second apostasy of the race is doubtless the utter estrangement from God and the consequent corruption of nature which sin has produced; but the intervening cause, giving the line of direction which was pursued, was the difficulty of retaining the idea of an unseen Being as an object of worship. This has been the apology for idolatry in every age, to-wit, that the visible are not the objects upon which the worship termi- nates, but only the media through which the real objects of worship are brought distinctly before the mind. So urgent appears this necessity for a visible representation of the spiritual unseen that, in more recent times, and under the full blaze of the Christian dispensation, we find in the Romish Church the same substitution of the visible for the invisible. A material cross is everywhere paraded to hold in view the sufferings and death of our Lord; and the great atonement wrought thereby must be reproduced in the sacraments of the mass. This is the larger necessity for the incarnation, not only for the redeemed, but for all who are confirmed 50 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. forever in holiness. God was made “manifest m the flesh” in order that the creature in his acts of worship might not be strained in overleaping the vast distance separating him from the Creator. To this end the only- begotten of the Father leaps from his middle throne, descending through all the erades of being until he reaches man at the bottom of the scale. T henceforth he +s the one mediator through whom God descends to the creature and the creature ascends to God. The God- man becomes thus, through his dual nature, forever the medium of worship between the creature and the infinite Jehovah. Not only does the saint on earth enjoy this advantage, but the saint in glory as well; and not only the saints redeemed and glorified, but the angels also through the same render their praise and adoration to him that sitteth on the throne. For he is “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and evury name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” (Eph. i. 21,.22, 23.) Here, then, the believer finds a ground of fellowship with the Son; who is not only the author of all revelation, but through the incarnation leads him up to the throne of the Father in every act of worship. 9. There is fellowship with the Son, as the Author and Architect of grace in the work of redemption. The first intimation of grace is undoubtedly to be found in the election to eternal life by the Father, but it has its FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SON. 51 outworking in the scheme of redemption. The difficul- ties which surround the problem of human salvation could never be solved, even by a Senate of angels. The question, of course, is how can a new and seemingly antagonistic principle be introduced into a system of law. It is mercy alone that can interpose for the salva- tion of the sinner, yet. mercy seems to contradict the justice which condemns him under the penalty. Where 4s the agent to be found who can solve the problem, and what shall be his relation to the Law-giver? Evidently he must be man and lineally connected with the race that has sinned. Otherwise he would have no right to offer himself as a substitute, and could not render that human obedience which would satisfy all the require- ments of justice in the case. Again, he must be one who is not subject to the law which he undertakes to sustain, for in that case all the obedience he could render would be due on his own account, and could not be charged to the benefit of another. This sweeps out of view at once all created beings in heaven or upon earth. Not one such would have any residuary righteousness beyond that which is due for himself. There can be no work of supererogation on the part of a creature who is under law. Still further, the obedience required of this agent must be twofold. As the sinner is under condemnation, the penalty must be discharged; as through transgression the original righteousness has been lost, it must be legally restored complete as before. This feature is peculiar, and renders the obedience of 52 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. this agent entirely unique. Under all government, human or divine, the subject who obeys the precept 1s never brought under the penalty. But here is an agent fulfilling all righteousness, who must nevertheless sus- tain the full burden of guilt under the curse. Lastly, he must be a person who has perfect right over his own life, with equal power to resign and to resume it; for only in such a case can the obedience to law be shown to be voluntary, and also acceptable to the Law-giver. Such, then, are the qualifications required in meet- ing the equal demands of mercy and of justice in the sinner’s salvation. Only in the pavilion of the Godhead and within the bosom of the Father could be found the agent capable of the vast undertaking. As, in the lan- euage of Erskine, Father, Son and Holy Ghost sat around the council-board of redemption, the commission was given to the Son to accomplish the stupendous work. “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” (1 John tv. anh To this end that he might render a human obedience, “a body is prepared him” (Heb. x. 4), for he was “made of a woman” (Gal. iv. 4); thus becoming strictly the woman’s seed, according to the first promise, and lineally connected with the race whilst yet the entail of original sin was cut off. The human nature was thus constituted complete in the possession both of body and of soul; bringing him as man under the law and enabling him to render the human obedience, both to a < Waae FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SON. 53 its penalty and precept, which was required of any party acting as the substitute for the transgressor. It should be distinctly observed in this connection that Jesus of Nazareth never existed as a mere man; in which case his obedience would be due for himself alone. The human nature of our Lord never subsisted, even for a metaphysical point of time, separate from his person as the Son of God. At whatever moment that human nature was rendered complete by the union of body and soul, it was assumed into the union with his divine person. No possible use can therefore be made of the obedience of Christ, except to reckon it to those who shall be saved through him. Evidently our Lord did not need it for himself in his divine nature, for in that he was above law. Nor, again, did he need it in his human nature, for in that alone he was never under law. What disposal of it, therefore, remains, except to apply it to those for whom Christ offered himself as a redeemer. | In like manner his resources in his divine nature rendered him equal to the sublime undertaking. Being God as well as man, he had perfect knowledge of the law emanating from himself and reflecting his own glory. He could, therefore, go down through the depths of the law so as to exhaust the penalty. He could rise to the highest pinnacle of that righteousness which was re- quired in the precept. There was thus an inconceivable fulness in the obedience which he rendered to both, meet- ing the last requisition which justice should make of the 54 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. sinner. In his atoning work there was an infinite satis- faction of all the claims of the divine law with a sufficiency in it, if need be, for the salvation of a universe of worlds. | But had this Christ a right to his own life, to dispose of it at his own pleasure? Life is always the gift of God, to be held as a sacred trust, and to be laid aside only at the call of him who gave it. In the person of our Lord, the giver and the receiver of the life are the same. It is the Son of God laying down a human life for the souls of men. It will be remembered, how- ever, that he is acting under the commission of his Father; therefore he declares, “This commandment have I received of my Father.” Yet in himself he has the power to recover it when it has been relinquished. Therefore he adds, “No man taketh it from me, but i lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” (John x. £3.) In this dual statement he affirms the perfect voluntariness of his own death and his consciousness of power to rise again. , This was distinctly shown at the moment of his arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, saying to his disciples, “Think ye that I can not now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. xxvi. 58.) And as the band of traitors was in the act of arresting him they instantly “went backward and fell to the ground.” (John xviii. 6.) All the qualifications required for the work of human redemption are seen to meet in the mys- FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SON. 55 terious personality of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through a sinless obedience of thirty years, he fulfils the right- eousness of the law, receiving thrice from the Father the testimony, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” In the mysterious anguish of his soul in Geth- semane and at Golgotha he exhausted the penalty which sin had incurred. His heart-breaking appeal to the Father on the cross, “Why hast thou forsaken me?’ revuals that the suffering of his soul was strictly penal: for the word “forsaken” has its fearful echo in the word “depart,” pronouncing in the day of judgment the doom of the impenitent. Through his whole work on earth, ending in his triumphal resurrection and ascension to heaven, our Lord is viewed as the architect of grace. Through his costly sufferings and final triumph he wrought out the principle of grace and engrafted it upon law; in the administration of which Grace shall, as the queen majesty, forever sit side by side with Justice. It is, therefore, with the Son, as thus working out the whole scheme of grace, that the believer recognizes his constant fellowship. It is notably in connection with this work of atonement that the church holds frequent and public communion with her Lord through the sacrament of the supper. 3. We have fellowship with the Son as the trustee and head of the redeemed, to each of whom he is respon- sible for the application of this grace. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews certifies that he who is “the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image 56 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. of his person, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Heb. i. 8.) In his memorable discourse on the day of Pentecost Peter declares, “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.” (Acts 11. 32, 33.) He reiterates the same statement before the Jewish council: “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgive- ness of sins.” (Acts v. 80, 31.) Nay, our Lord himself had before his death announced the necessity of his departure to the Father, saying to his disciples, “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” (John xvi. 7.) The work of redemption was unquestionably finished through his death and resurrection; but there remains a second function to be fulfilled in the presence and before the throne of his Father above. The covenant between the two makes the Son responsible to the Father for the seed who had been given him. The benefits of his redeeming work remain to be applied to all the saints until the last one shall be received into glory. Thus, in the testimony of our Lord given above, the dispensation of the Spirit cannot take place until his own exaltation FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SON. aye on high; and the office of that Spirit is declared to be wholly in the application of saving grace to sinful men. It will not be difficult to trace the different processes by which this trustee discharges his suretyship in the salvation of all his people. In his death upon Calvary, the High Priest of our profession has discharged the first part of his necessary office in making atonement for sin. The second part remains of entering into the holy of holies. The blood shed for the remission of sins must be sprinkled before the mercy-seat in the inner sanctuary. ‘The propitiatory sacrifice having been con- - sumed upon the altar, the priestly intercession follows, which is founded upon it. Upon this work of interces- sion our Lord enters after his ascension into heaven. Thus the seraphic John, looking through the open doors into heaven, sees, “in the midst of the throne a Lamb as it had been slain.” (Rev. v. 6.) The simple pres- ence of this Lamb is an embodied and permanent inter- cession, a perpetual oblation of the sacrifice which makes expiation for sin. The character and scope of the inter- - @ession is presented so vividly in the words of an old divine that they are engrossed here. He is viewing the sinner under conviction for guilt, trembling at the bar of his own conscience in apprehension of the wrath to come, when the Intercessor interposes on his behalt: “This poor criminal was thine by creation, thy prisoner by his rebellion: but thou gavest him to me. I bore the curse of the law, due to his sins, for him; behold 58 THE TUREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. my wounds! TI purchased all saving blessings; lo! there is my blood, the price of redemption. The term is come. I crave, therefore, that, in consideration of what I have done and suffered, he be acquitted, pur- chased grace given out to enable him to put in his claim at the bar where he now stands personally convicted ; and finally, that thereon he be absolved, accepted and entered to orderly possession of all purchased privi- leges.”! These words indicate the range and the sign of our Lord’s priestly intercession. It is for every child of God that has lived or shall live in all succeeding generations on this sinful earth, and covers the entire breadth of experience in every one of these. It is. pre- sented in the form of prayer to his Father, as well befits the subordination of his office; but conveys at the same time a claim of right, founded upon the terms of the covenant binding upon both the parties. The double office of the priest being thus fulfilled, our Lord gathers around him his priestly robes and ascends the throne as mediatorial King—uniting the mitre with the crown and the crozier with the sceptre. All this the reader will remember clearly unfolded in the prophecy of Zechariah: “Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua, the son of Josedech, the high priest; and speak unto him saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he 1Walyburton’s Inquiry into the Nature of Regeneration and Justification. Velie a oF FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SON. 59 shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” (Zech. vi. 11,12, 13.) Having control thus of the agency of the Holy Ghost, who is subordinate to him in office as he is subordinate to the Father, the first act of administration is the communica- tion of spiritual life to the soul dead in trespasses and sins. In his own resurrection Christ not only resumed his own life, but brought up also from the penalty of the law the redeemed life of all his people. This is stored in him, to be held in trust and dispensed to all who were given to him by the Father. The communica- tion of this life is indeed through the Spirit, but it is drawn from the Son, in whom it was invested from the beginning; and in the new-birth of the regenerated sinner the offices of both are blended. This involves, of course, the engrafting of the be- liever in Christ, and for which the distinct revelation of Christ to the believing soul is required. Here, again, the office of the Holy Spirit is involved, not only in the disclosure of Christ as the Redeemer, but in working that faith through which the believer is forever united to him. Well, therefore, may the apostle say, “The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Gal. ii. 20.) The spiritual life of the Christian is thus 60 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. a continuous flow from Christ, in whom is the treasury of this life through all eternity, ever flowing from its divine source and communicated by the indwelling Spirit. | ) Following this in the order of thought and experience alike comes the sealing of pardon upon the guilty and accusing conscience. This pardon issues from the Father in the exercise of his executive function in the administration of the law; and it is applied by the Holy Spirit bringing the sinner into perfect reconcilia- tion with God. But it comes through the intervening agency of the Son, who has purchased the pardon and bestows it as a gift from himself to the believing soul. As there is a continuing discharge of office with all the three, so there is a continuous and enlarging experience of the peace over-shadowing the heart in its intercourse with a holy God. “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,” saith the Scripture, “shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil. iv. 7.) Nor should the relation which Christ sustains to the promises be overlooked. These are all “‘yea and amen in him,” and for the certainty of their fulfilment, he, as the trustee of his people, is personally responsible. The very spirit of the gospel lies in them as they breathe the infinite and unchanging love of God to the children of men. They are the warrant of the believer’s faith, and are in large degree the form in which the offer of salvation is conveyed. Covering as they do both the spiritual and temporal wants of God’s people, these \ FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SON. 61 promises may be regarded in the hght of bank checks drawn upon the deposit in the treasury of grace, placed _by the Redeemer to the credit of each individual be- liever. Jt is there for him, and it is his, to be drawn upon the demand of all his necessities as they may arise in life. These specifications need not be multiplied further. They might be extended indefinitely; as, for example, in Christ’s administration of providence, by which the _ Father trains and educates his children in the school and under the discipline of grace, until they shall be pre- sented before him in glory, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. The reader cannot fail to see in what has been already presented the variety of relations in which he stands to Christ, and the fulness of the fellow- ship which he may hold with him as the administrator of the covenant. In them all he will be constrained to add, “*Whom having not seen, we love; in whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” (1 Peter i. 8.) 4. We have specific fellowship with the Son as the ummediate object of our faith in the work of redemption. God and the sinner are thrown widely apart; and they are kept asunder by two repelling forces. The holiness of God drives the sinner ever away from itself; the sin- fulness of man withdraws him ever from the divine pres- ence. Under the combined forces, how shall they ever be brought together? The solution of the problem may almost be illustrated through a diagram. It consists in 62 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. throwing a mediator between the two parties, which shall be equally related to both and equally the exponent of merey and of justice. The reconciliation is to be found in a righteousness which shall, on the one hand, fulfil all the demands of the law, and meet, on the other hand, all the necessities of the transgressor. This recon- ciliation is accepted on the part of God, and is offered in the gospel to the acceptance of the sinner. Here a diffi- culty emerges which is real and not fictitious in its char- acter. It is that man is created with an inextinguish- able conviction of his responsibility for his own sins. How, then, shall he transfer this responsibility to another, and consent to stand before God in a righteous- ness which is not his own? At first he does not perceive how it can ever be made his own; and he staggers under the double difficulty of technically accepting the pro- posed substitute and practically how to get rid of his own self-righteousness, which clings to him as though it were a part of his being. Yet this offered righteousness must become his if he is to be saved, and it is in the full and free acceptance of it that his sense of personal responsibility is to be met. Here is shown the power of that faith by which the sinner accepts Christ and is forever knit to him as his Saviour and Lord. The Holy Spirit first of all discloses Christ as perfectly competent to work out this righteousness, and then enables the _ sinner honestly to accept it with an abiding trust. In the language of the Shorter Catechism, “He (the Spirit) doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SON. 63 freely offered to us in the gospel.” Shall it be asked how this is done? The answer is that it is the first act of the spiritual life infused into the soul at the new birth. Natural breathing is the evidence of natural life; we breathe in order to live, but we must first live in order to breathe. So a divine faith is the first breath of the new-born soul, with which it first embraces Christ -as the sole author of salvation. This righteousness, by which the sinner is now justi- fied, consists of two parts—first, in the exhaustion of the penalty and the perfect obedience required in the precept. This faith, therefore, must distinctly embrace both. It matters little whether there is a full conscious- ness of this acceptance at the moment of conversion; or whether it breaks upon the soul like the dawn of the morning, widening into the splendor of noon. The Holy Ghost has different ways of entering into a sinner’s _ heart—as seen in the cases of Lydia and the jailer, in the sixteenth chapter of Acts. It is the same acceptance of the Redeemer as our personal Saviour in the single act at the beginning, and growing through a thousand repetitions into the permanent habit which comes finally to know neither a doubt nor a fear. It is hard to see how a Christian can fail to grow in the consciousness of an increasing fellowship with Christ in the continual acceptance of this justifying righteousness. There is another view of faith in the acceptance of Christ Jesus as the object of our personal love. It scarcely needs to be emphasized that love is always 64 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. directed towards a person. We may admire the qualities of a friend, but we love the friend in whom these qualities reside. So there may be an intense and holy admiration of the attributes of the Divine Being, but it is God himself to whom we give the deep and rever- ential love of which we are conscious. But it is this God viewed, not simply as our creator and preserver, but as “God in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” (2 Cor. v. 19.) Here the doctrine of the incarnation comes in with its inexpressible relief and comfort. He is not a God afar off, but nigh at hand. He is the God manifest in the flesh; who wore our nature that he might be of kin to us, our elder brother, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. He is clothed with all human sympathies and affections which are sinless; one who has borne our griefs, carried our sorrows; himself preéminently the Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He is there- fore by experience prepared to enter into the deepest sorrows of the human heart; whilst in his divine nature, he can bring all the consolation of a divine love to sustain us in our anguish. Who is there of God’s chil- dren who has not felt'the support and joy of this human sympathy, in a divine Saviour at times when the heart has been bruised and almost crushed under the succes- sive bereavements of life. Yet there is even a greater support from the human sympathy of Christ which comes to us in our worship directed to the Father. The prayers and the praises, | a 9 q 3 ; Oe — ——e FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SON. 65 which we seek to render, appear so contemptible when addressed to the great and dreadful God. We shrink from them, even after they have been offered; and this seems to cancel the faith in which they were first attempted. But infinite consolation is found in the fact that the great High Priest stands for us before the throne, gathering up our prayers in his golden censer, and presents them all perfumed with the incense of his merit at the mercy-seat. He translates the poor lan- guage of our earthly homage into the sacred dialect, which is never heard outside the pavilion of the God- head. This gives us sweet contentment, even under the _ discomfort of conscious deficiency in all our attempts to serve and worship God. 5. We have fellowship with the Son, as he is the portion of our mheritance. In Eph. i. 11 we learn how this inheritance is acquired: “In whom (Christ) also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” In Col. i. 12 it is styled an “inheritance of the saints in light.” And in 1 Peter i. 4, 5 it is described as “an inheritance, incor- ruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.” In Rom. viii. 16, 17 we have the title upon which it is assured to us: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that. we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and 66 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also elorified together.” A twofold mvasure of its greatness is here given—that true be- lievers are “heirs of God” and “Joint-heirs with Christ.” Tt would be more than sufficient to dwell upon the first. To be “heirs of God’ implies that we are made par- takers of his holiness and of his blessedness, just as far as these may be brought within the compass of a finite being. This would seem to be beyond the reach of the loftiest imagination. But this heirship of God means immeasureably more—that we come under the protec tion of all the divine attributes, and in a sense to be enriched by them. His truth is the only boundary of our knowledge; his wisdom, a pledge for our euidance ; his power, the guard for our protection; his goodness, the only limit of our supply; his mercy, the assurance of his continuing love; and his holiness the only measure of our sanctification. No one can meditate upon this without exclaiming, who is “able to compre- hend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height ; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the fulness of God 1?!) (Eph. aii 18; 192) This view of the saints’ inheritance does not pertain, however, to the topic under. consideration, which 1s rather the joint “heirship with Christ”—“if so be that wo suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” The complete identification of the believer with his Lord, so constantly pressed upon our attention FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SON. 67 in the Scriptures, is a well of consolation in our earthly career. In the distressing conflicts with indwelling sin, itis a comfort to know that our blessed Redeemer is still carrying on his warfare with the powers of darkness, and that our victory is made sure through his antecedent triumph. So, again, in all the discipline of trouble, pain and sorrow, we are but sharing our Redeemer’s humiliation here on earth. Is it not in the contempla- tion of this that the apostle uses language which only _ the consciousness of inspiration would justify? “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church.” (Col. i. 24.) A slight analysis of this joint heirship will enable us better to understand its nature. The glorified saint, for example, will then enjoy the full fruition of all the hopes which he cherished in Christ here below. His wanderings will have ceased — his conflicts will be over—his tears of sorrowing repentance will have been wiped away—he has passed through the gates of pearl with the tread of a conqueror. He may bear aloft the _ sear of many a wound, but they will then be converted into sears of honor. The Lord will then have “perfected that which concerneth him” (Ps. exxxviii. 8.), and he is safe forever in the everlasting arms. But this joy _ of contrast with the past will speedily give place to the higher bliss of looking into the face of the King. Our Lord seems to intimate this as the peculiar import of the saints’ inheritance when he prays “that they may 68 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me.” (John xvii. 24.) Itis now that the blessed transformation 1s completed, when, not as in a glass, but face to face, “sve behold the glory of the Lord, and are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Cor. iii. 18.) Who of us has not longed, especially in seasons of darkness and sorrow, like Mary in the garden, to clasp the knees of his Lord; which, forbidden on earth, will be granted forever in heaven? Again, this connec- tion with the Redeemer will be drawn even closer when we are brought around his person as the immediate rep- resentatives of his grace, and giving the first note of the new song, which shall be chanted forever. before the throne, and of which the angels can only swell the chorus: “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation; and hast made us unto God kings and priests.” (Rev. v. 9, 10.) It will be the unceasing wealth of glory to the saint thus to share the triumph of the Redeemer in dealing with the problem of sin; so as, in the widest sense of the prophecy of Daniel, to “fish the transgression and make an end of sin’ for- ever. Thus it will be that the Redeemer also shall enjoy “the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” (Eph. i. 18.) Surely in the hope of such an inheritance the believer cannot fail to have a constant fellowship with the Son. ee CHAPTER IV. FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD IN THE PERSON OF THE HOLY GHOST. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you.’’—2 Cor. xiii. 14. ELLOWSHIP with the Father and the Son having been discussed in the preceding chapters, the third clause in the above verse alone claims our attention in this. The term communion does not vary in its meaning from fellowship; as they are both the translation of the same word in the original. Itis, however, singularly appropriate in our English version to express the peculiar blessing pronounced in this apostolic benedic- tion as coming from the third Person of the Godhead. As will be especially noted hereafter, all the operations of this agent are strictly subjective—wrought within the experience of the Christian, and thus in common with him. Because of its hidden character a veil of mystery shrouds the work of the Holy Spirit, like the mist which sometimes covers a mountain landscape. In this respect it is more difficult of interpretation than the work either of the Father or the Son. The action of these is dis- closed through the medium of law—the one in adminis- tering, and the other in fulfilling it. Both operations, therefore, stand out to view as objects to be recognized. 70 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. We are able for instance to go arcund the four sides of the square, and view the altar of sacrifice for human guilt. With equal mental discrimination we can discern the Father seated upon his throne and dispensing pardon to the penitent sinner. But in the work of the Spirit we are called to consider his agency as carried on through the complex machinery of all the faculties of the human soul. Indeed, there is a vagueness in the very name, Spirit, as well as in the indefinite word, pro- cession: both of them, with a similar design, concealing the nature of his distinction from the other persons of the blessed Trinity. The one awful secret as to the mode of the divine subsistence will doubtless never be disclosed through all eternity. Notwithstanding the obscurity which marks the line of his distinction from the Father and the Son, the proofs are abundant which establish his own personality and the personal character of his work. The Scriptures caution us not to grieve, nor to vex, nor to resist the Holy Spirit, which terms denote sympathies and affec- tions which belong only to an individual person, who stands in personal relations with other parties. A stronger emphasis is laid upon this fact in the still more awful warning in reference to the sin against the Holy Ghost; with the terrific declaration that it can neither be forgiven in this world, nor in the world to come. (Matt. xii. 32.) It would be simple impertinence to construe such a warning, reaching in its execution into the distant eternity, as being directed simply against FELLOWSHIP WITH THE HOLY GHOST. TA an impersonal influence, as some pretend. All the opera- tions of the Spirit within the soul of the believer will go still further to prove the reality of a personal agency in every case. Whilst the mysteriousness of the Spirit’s work may render the investigation difficult, its intense practicalness as woven into the texture of our religious life makes the knowledge of it all the more important. 1. There ws fellowship with the Holy Spirit wn the relation he sustains to the holy Scriptures. . It has been already shown in what sense the Son is the original source of all revelation. As the Word, he discloses the thoughts and purposes which le in the mind of the infi- nite Father. But if these are to be conveyed to man in a permanent record, they must be strained through a human mind and be embodied in human language. Here is introduced the agency of the third Person of the Godhead. It is his office to convey God’s eternal truth into the mind of prophet and apostle, so as to be both accurately conceived and safely expressed. This process is what is understood in the use of the word inspiration. Revelation and inspiration are therefore .. strictly correlative. The one gives the divine side and the other the human side of the book we call the Bible. Inspiration is, then, the outer halo which surrounds the head of the Revealer—the second incarnation of him who is “God manifest in the flesh.”- It is through the combined work of the Son and Spirit that we have in the sacred Scriptures an authoritative, because an infal- lible, exposition of the divine will in creation and in 72 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. grace. In the language of the Book itself, “Holy men of God spake as they were moved (borne forward) by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter i. 21.) It may be asked how was this marvellous effect pro- duced? By what method did the Holy Ghost render men perfectly infallible, both in their conception and in their expression of divine truth? The mystery deepens when we consider the difficulties on both sides of the problem. On the one hand, the truths which the writers record are the secret things of God, which they could only know as directly conveyed to them. On the other hand, there is every mark of originality with the writer of each of the sacred books. The individuality of Isaiah is just as distinct from that of Jeremiah, as Jeremiah himself can be from Ezekiel. Paul is as dif- ferent from John as Peter is from James. And so, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, through the entire canon, each writer puts the seal of his individual: genius and taste upon his own composi- tion. The subject matter is always and exclusively divine, while the medium of conveyance is not only distinctly human, but also characteristic of the author whose name it bears. Let the mystery be accepted without explanation ; the certainty of the fact is all that is important to us; how it is accomplished is the secret which remains with God. After all, the mystery is no greater than those which encompass us on every side in the sphere of nature, as well as of religion. Who can explain how an oe FELLOWSHIP WITH THE HOLY GHOST. ries external object shall pencil its image on the eye, which, transmitted to the brain, will give the mental conception of a tree, a mountain or a landscape? Who can explain how one mind can, through a word or a sign, bear upon another mind, and fill it with thoughts and emotions just as it may please? Why, then, should we stumble at the fact of the Divine Spirit’s influence upon any human mind to give it the knowledge he desires? What, indeed, is mind? who can tell us its nature? We may define it as a part of our spiritual being. But, then, what is spirit? What do we know of its essence or of the mode of its working? The truth is, we are plunged into a sea of mysteries; and the man who will accept no mystery may as well abandon thought altogether. The ultimate truth is, that we can know nothing of God except what he is pleased to reveal. The final issue, then, is simply that infidelity must wage its war against that revelation. If this should be overthrown, then we are without any knowledge of God, eternity and the soul. The discoveries of science and the refinements of philosophy range within the earthly sphere alone. _ And without the knowledge of God man is but a phan- tom, the world a bubble, and this life only a dream. In all, therefore, of strength and comfort which may be drawn from the sacred volume the believer finds his _ fellowship with the Holy Ghost. _ 2. The believer has fellowship with the Holy Ghost as the gwer of spiritual life in the new birth. Here, again, the work of this blessed agent intersects with 74 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. that of the eternal Son. The spiritual life, which was lost in the transgression, is that which was redeemed through the sufferings and death of Christ on the cross. This, now, is the life which is restored by the Holy Spirit to the soul claimed by this Sufferer as his own. It is this necessity of a spiritual birth which our Lord announces to Nicodemus as marking the transition of a sinner from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God. This impartation of a new hfe to man is repre- sented in the Scriptures under different names. It is | termed a creation, a resurrection, a quickening, ete.: all these expressing the same fundamental idea of the giving of life, though under different conditions. In none of them, however, is it to be understood that in the new birth there is the absolute creation of a human soul. In the fall, man did not forfeit any of the natural faculties necessary to a being who is still under law, and who, therefore, remains voluntary and responsible for all his acts. “Ihe right direction of these, however, 1s lost, as no longer moving on the plane of holiness, through the soul’s entire estrangement from God. It is the replacing of this soul in its proper relation to this holiness of God which is accomplished in the new birth. The spiritual life is the infusion of a new principle and power, which shall thenceforward control the whole out- ward and inner being of the man. As far as the spiritual may be compared with the physical or natural, this may be illustrated by the mariner’s compass. This consists simply of a thin, narrow piece of metal about FELLOWSHIP WITH THE HOLY GHOST. fe the length of a finger, most delicately poised upon its pivot, that it may be perfectly devoid of all friction. Its peculiarity is that it is thoroughly magnetized, so that it can only rest when lying in the magnetic meridian, pointing always to the north. The mariner can thus determine the direction of his vessel by measuring the deflection from a course due north. Now, the will of ) - man in the first creation was in like manner impregnated with the principle of holiness, moving always in a right direction towards God as the source of all holiness. But the will of man in his fallen condition is like that mari- ner’s needle when it has become demagnetized. It has lost its virtual principle, which before caused it to lie in the direction of holiness. When, however, the Holy Ghost restores the spiritual life to the sinner, the rein- vestiture of the soul with the holiness it has lost is lke restoring the magnetic quality to the needle and fitting it again for its appropriate function. All this is mysterious enough. Who knows what magnetism is in itself? But we know this property of it which has been described, and the practical uses to which it can be applied. We know that the magnetic needle is so balanced as to be perfectly free in its move- ments, and yet be controlled by its own magnetic property. So the will of a renewed man is free in its own action, and yet is under the control of the holiness with which it is endued. In like manner we cannot tell what animal life is; nor how its power acts upon all the organs of the body so as to perform their necessary 76 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHIP. functions. Why should we expect to understand the more subtle agency of the Divine Spirit, as he works upon and through the more mysterious and delicate organism of the human soul ? | The very name given to this Person of the Godhead, Spirit or breath, imphes that he is the manifestation of life, in its secrecy and power. The sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. was “the sound of a rushing mighty wind.” (Acts ii. 2.) So our Lord, on his first appearance to the collected dis- ciples after his resurrection, breathed upon them and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” (John xx. 22.) Again, if we reflect the light of the New Testament upon the Old, we read in the history of the creation that “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Gen. i. 2)—indicated under the term wind. Thus, brooding over chaos as the principle of life, he became the separating force which “divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament.” (Gen. i. 6.) In the same his- tory, when God created man he “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” (Gen. 11. 7.) Who but the Spirit, or breath of God, should breathe this life into the inanimate clay; and through the infusion of an immortal soul, make the indwelling of this Spirit the necessary condition of the life of the body through all time? We may stretch our conception even beyond this. The most marvellous feature of our modern science is that it discloses the FELLOWSHIP WITH THE HOLY GHOST. 77 hiding of God’s power throughout nature. What are all these mysterious forces of nature but the products of his secret power in matter itself? What is force but the expression of will? And what is will but the pro- perty of a being that has life? And what is life but the breath of the Creator himself? And who should be the breather of this life, whether in nature or in grace, but he whose style and title is the Spirit or Breath of God ? Whatever may be thought of this as merely human speculation, it is certainly true that God reveals his secret power through the scheme of grace in the salvation of men. And the Holy Spirit is the immediate agent by whom this power is wrought, lifting the soul of man out of death itself into the life of God forever. In the possession of this spiritual life, and in all its conscious activities, the renewed soul must recognize its fellowship with the Spirit. 38. The third Person of the Godhead, in due subordi- nation of office, becomes the efficient agent im applying the purchased salvation to sinners of our race. This brings into view his permanent indwelling in the heart - which has been renewed. The distinct promise of our Lord is, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” (John xiv. 16.) The word here translated Comforter 1s paraclete, which signifies one called in from without to assist us. For example, one embarrassed in his busi- ness, will call in some one learned in law to assist him with his counsel. Again, one prostrate with disease 78 THE THREEFOLD FELLOWSHID. needs an able physician to restore him to health, ‘Thus our Lord is the one advocate interposing before the bar of divine justice for us sinners; “if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John ii. 1.) The Holy Ghost becomes the other advocate or comforter, whose office is to cleanse us from sin. Their two offices interlock and become equally necessary. to our salvation. Hence his perma- nent indwelling for the purpose of stimulating and expanding that spiritual life which he has infused. This — constant impelling force may be traced in many par- ticulars. The very first to be noticed is the manifesta- tion of this spiritual life in the act of faith, in which the Lord Jesus is accepted as a personal Saviour. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of your- selves: it is the gift of God.” (Eph. 11. 8.) Itis im this our sense of responsibility under the law is dis- tinctly met, removing a legal difficulty to which refer- ence has already been made. It is in this way we dispose of those sins of which we are conscious, by laying them on a substitute, to be dealt with under the law which we have broken. In this act of faith also is effected our mystical, but real, union with Christ. Thus we draw continually upon that life which has been stored in him as our Redeemer, and which the Holy Ghost first infused and constantly invigorates. Thus the believer is made one party with Christ, lashed together by two reciprocal bonds. The bond on the part of the believer is this act of faith, which makes him one with Christ; the bond