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DIVINrrY SCHOOL
TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY

GIFT OF

The Rer. Oscar E. Maurer, D.

D.

Pastor

First Church, New Haven

 1909 - m/n_..

THE

FULNESS OF BLESSING;

THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST,

AS ILLUSTRATED FROM

THE- BOOK OF JOSHUA.
BY
•SARAH F. SMILEY.
* I REJOICE AT THY WORD, AS ONE THAT FINDBTH GREAT SPOIL."— PSALM CXIX.

NEW YORK:
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY,
900 BROADWAY, COR. 20th STREET.

Copyright, 1876, by
Anson D. F. Randolph & Company.

ROBERT RUTTER, EDWARD 0. JENKINS.
BINDER, PRINTER AND .STEREOTYPER,
64 BEEKMAN STREET, H. T 30 NORTH WILLIAM ST., N. V.

TO MY FRIENDS.
To all those, beloved in Christ Jesus, to whom in
widely scattered places, it has been the joy of my life
to unfold the treasures of the Word, and to all others
who make it their delight and meditation, I present
this volume.
, I have written it as ever looking out upon a multi
tude who earnestly desire a deeper knowledge of their
Lord, and as one pressed in spirit to fulfil a sacred
trust. It is my earnest prayer that each of you in whose
hands I place it, may find the Lord opening your
hearts to attend to His own truth, and coming in
Himself in the fulness of His blessing.
Most especially do I pray that it may bring some
message to the many ministers of Christ,- to whose
kindness I have owed so largely the opportunities
of also serving Him. If any who are called to teach
others, shall find here such truth as may enlarge and
strengthen their own hearts first, it will, indeed, be a
multiplying of my joy. While I can not venture to
hope that my secluded study will secure on many
points the same exactness as the training^ of the
schools, yet I feel vvell assured that to you, as to
fin)

IV TO MY FRIENDS.
myself, this will seem a light thing compared to any
portion of that Anointing, which teacheth all things
and is truth and is no lie.
And now I would solemnly dedicate these pages to
Him, who even in their writing has so richly blessed
my own soul; entreating Him to defend 'them from
any misapprehension that might mar their service, or
harm His flock, and to take them into His own haads
and "bless them, as once He did the loaves and fishes,
to the feeding of all such as hunger and thirst after
righteousness. Saratoga Springs, October, 1876

CONTENTS

Introduction  i
I. — The Land of Promise  20
II. — The Failure of Unbelief .... 44
III. — Ch/nge of Leadership  66
IV. — The Boundary Line  8i
V. — The Triple Preparation  10c
VI. — The Ark of the Covenant . . . .126
VII. — Memorial Stones  143
VIII. — The Reproach of Egypt  158
IX. — The Passover in Canaan  175
X. — The New Corn and Fruit of the Land . 200
XI. — Seeing the Captain  220
XII. — The Good Fight of Faith . . . .240
XIII. — Failure and Mistake  266
XIV. — Choice Possessions . . . . . .286
XV. — The Last Charge of Joshua . . . .313
Passages of Scripture, quoted with varia
tions from our present version . . 329
Index  331

THE
Fulness of Blessing.

INTRODUCTION.
" the holy ghost this signifying." — {Hebrews ix. 8.)
TV TUSICIANS tell us that the quality of the voice
-*-'-*• in song depends upon its overtones ; that is, the
accordant notes which are heard sounding faintly
above the fundamental tones. It is the same pecul
iarity which gives the silvery ring to some voices in
speech. And so as we listen to the voices of the
Law and of the Prophets, we find a wondrous, and,
to some, a mysterious charm. But the ear that has
been trained by the same master-skill that taught
their lips, solves the secret of the spell, and catches
with delight through the deep thunder utterances the
glad over-tones of the coming Gospel. They could
not rise so high as to utter its loftiest truth ; but
they reached on to this, and this, the Spirit, speak
ing through them, signified. Alas ! that for so many
it was signified in vain — for the dull of mind became
sluggish of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken.
It is a somewhat astonishing folly that stands
charged to the saints, that so many who have essayed

2 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
to expound the Word of God, have, in the very out
set, and, as a matter of principle, flung away that key
which can alone unlock its most intricate wards. The
sequel has been too often, that they fell into .the same
ditch of ignorance with the confessedly blind whom
they professed to lead. Until a period comparatively
recent, and not yet fully inaugurated, the majority
of English and American expositors have ignored
the typical teaching of the Old Testament, some of
them even denouncing all such interpretations not
fully sanctioned by the later Scriptures.* With all
that erudition to which we owe so much, they yet
have missed a treasure which God, even in hiding,

* For a list of authors adopting this view, see Fairbairn on the
Typology of Scripture, pp. 37, 39. He quotes the following from
Moses Stuart : " Just so much of the Old Testament is to be
accounted typical as the New Testament affirms to be so, and no
more." He adds this comment upon such a system : " It drops
a golden principle for the sake of avoiding a few lawless aberra
tions  And in proportion as a more profound and spiritual
acquaintance with the Divine Word is cultivated, will the feeling
of dissatisfaction grow in respect to a style of interpretation that
so miserably dwarfs and cripples the relation that the prepara
tory bears to the ultimate in God's revelations."
Dean Alford deals more summarily with the system : " Of
course no one who reads, marks, learns, and inwardly digests the
Scriptures, can subscribe to the shallow and ignorant dictum of
Macknight. ' This is to be laid down as a fixed rule, that no
ancient history is to be considered allegorical but that which
inspired persons have interpreted allegbrically.' " — The Greek
Testament, by Henry Alford, D.D. Fourth Ed. Vol. III.,
p. 48.

INTRODUCTION. ¦,
brought often to the surface, that the eager and
earnest might track its deeper veins.
Along with some happy exceptions to this state
ment, there have been others who erred by an
opposite extreme. Among the latter may be num
bered not a few of the early Christian writers. These
first explorers of the rich mines brought up such a
mixture of metals as was beyond their skill to assay,
and so mingled- fact and fancy as to cast discredit
upon their work. And yet, along with every great
revival of Evangelical Truth, these mines have been
re-opened, if only for random research.
Meanwhile, all along these centuries, a mass of sim
ple Christian believers, escaping the dicta of the wise
and prudent, have been steadily and instinctively
applying this typical teaching to their own needs.
At least the babes, who were never sent to school,
have kept this knowledge which their Father gave
them;* and as the most childlike simplicity is always
* " The real secret of the neglect of the types, I can not but
think, may, in part, be traced to this — that they require more*
spiritual intelligence than many Christians can bring to them.
To apprehend them, requires a certain measure of spiritual
capacity and habitual exercise in the things of God, which all do
not possess for want of abiding fellowship with Jesus. The mere
superficial glance upon the Word in these parts, brings no cor
responding idea to the mind of the reader. The types are, in
deed, pictures, but to understand the pictures it is necessary we
should know something of the reality. The most perfect repre
sentation of a steam-engine to a South Sea savage, would be
wholly and hopelessly unintelligible to him ¦ simply because the

4 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
close of kin to the most profound wisdom, we see at
last the highest scholarship, and especially German
scholarship, on the side of these little onas. The
prominence given of late both to unfulfilled proph
ecy and unexplained type, is only the due honor
ing of the claim that " all Scripture is given by in
spiration of God, and is profitable." That God has
chosen to teach us in such a way — by patterns, types,
and symbols, among all His divers manners, is enough
of itself to justify its wisdom. It is the skill of the
master, who has a further aim than to make all things
as easy as possible to the learner. He has given
us Holy Scripture, not to read merely, but to
search. Such teaching is analogous to another which began
with Creation, when God let His invisible things be
clearly seen and understood by the things which He
made, giving to the world, even in the Primer of
Nature, such lessons as left' it without excuse if it
knew Him not. And having filled one volume with
the living letters by which men should spell out the
words of Truth, it was but fitting that human life, as
wrought out in History, should be another for still
higher study : that laws and customs, arts and events,
reality, the outline of which was presented to him, was some
thing hitherto unknown. But let the same drawing be shown to
those who have seen the reality, such will have no difficulty in
explaining the representation. And the greater the acquaintance
with the reality, the greater will be the ability to explain the pic
ture."- The Law of the Offerings, by Andrew Jukes, p. 6/

IN TROD UC TION. c
as arranged by God, should all be a revelation of.
Himself. And such the Scriptures assert them to
be* "Which things are an allegory,"f is the simple
statement of St. Paul respecting the two sons of
Abraham, the one by a bond-woman, the other by a
* Rev. Hugh Macmillan (*' The Garden and the City ") speaks
of " that subtle organization of Scripture, which must strike every
exegete, and which, like the organization of nature, presents from
every new point of view new harmonies of form and detail." Again,
speaking of the resemblances of Scripture and the manifold com
binations resulting : " The whole typology of Scripture is founded
upon this law of mutual resemblance. The study of Scripture
derives from it much of its charm and interest, for each special
aspect of Divine truth can be perfectly combined with every other.
Nay, more, the whole scheme of nature, the whole history of life
is based upon the law in question  All things, according to
the poet, by a law divine, mingle in one another's being. And
if the discovery of profound resemblances of form and analogies
of structure, where others see only wide divergencies and palpa
ble contrasts, be to the naturalist one of the purest of his pleas
ures, inasmuch as it brings him into contact with the Great Mind
of the universe in whose image he was made ; so over the soul
of the Bible student there creeps a feeling of increasing joy and
wonder at the fulness and subtlety of the connection by which
each part of the Scriptures is bound to all the others — for this is
the highest proof of its inspiration and of its fitness for gathering
together all things in heaven and earth into One, even in Him
who is the Truth and the Life, the Beginning and the End." —
See Introduction, p. xxxix.-xlvi.
t Gal. iv. 24. "The lesson to be drawn from this whole pas
sage, as regards the Christian use of the Old Testament, is of an
importance which can scarcely be overrated."— Conybeare and
Howson's Life and Epistles of St. Paul.

6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
free-woman — although in the history itself not a hint
of the kind is given. Again, concerning a variety of
events, he twice asserts that " these things happened
unto them for types''* He does not even treat
them as events first occurring, and then found after
ward to convey a useful lesson, but he boldly traces
an " intent " of God in permitting them so to hap
pen, and then preserving their record for the lesson's
sake.f Yet this is the very point upon which we find
such peculiar sensitiveness. Use, it is said, if it so
please you, these historical incidents, and apply them
as illustrations of truth. But do not call them types.
Think your own profitable thoughts, but do not sug
gest that God had any such thoughts. Are we, then,

* Cf. i Cor. x. 6; I Cor. x. II.
t " Every moment it becomes a more serious question whether
this language [of Hebrew ideas and imagery] is to be allowed
for as inaccurate in itself, but under the circumstances of the
case inevitable, or whether it is to be insisted on as the method
prepared in the purpose of God for the most adequate expres
sion of spiritual truth. The question was, indeed, decided by
the two facts, that the Old Covenant itself was a Divine ordi
nance, and that its historical relations with the New Covenant
were a Divine provision. Still, it was of high importance to the
clearness and fixedness of the doctrine, that this connection be
tween the two covenants should be deliberately shown to con
sist not in rhetorical illustration, but in a divinely-intended
system of analogies. This is the permanent office of the Epistle to
the Hebrews  It expressly recognizes the fact that " the word
of the beginning of Christ " had been enlarged by intervening
teaching into a " perfection," which many of those who are here
addressed had sinfully and shamefully failed to receive ; the

INTRODUCTION. j
really more quick - sighted and far-sighted than the
Spirit, who " searcheth all things, yea, the deep things
of God ? " Whatever of truth we see in any of these
words of Inspiration we may be sure that He placed
there, in order that we might see it.
Again, when it is said that " these things were
types," they seem selected as examples and not as
exceptions. Indeed, in the. constant use of the Old
Testament by our Lord and His Apostles, regarding
its spirit rather than its letter — what it implies more
than what it asserts, determining the nature of events
more by their seed than by leaf or flower — we find
the law of their true interpretation to be not literal-
ness, but liberty.* And taking this ground them
selves as highest authorities, they do not forbid us to

teachers sent from God having wrought out for them full ex
positions of truth, to which their old prepossessions had closed
tfieir hearts. And it exhibits the further fact that this perfecting
of the truth by the fullest definite interpretation of the principles
of the Gospel, had been accomplished by means of the true
reading of the Old Testament in the light of the knowledge of
Christ." — Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament — Bamp-
ton Lectures, by Thomas Dehany Bernard, p. 170.

*" The existence of an abiding spiritual sense underlying the
literal text of the Old Testament, is sufficiently attested by the
quotations in the New. Unless it be recognized, many of the
interpretations of the Evangelists and Apostles must appear forced
and arbitrary ; but if we assume that it exists, theirusage appears
to furnish an adequate clew to the investigation of its most in
tricate mazes." — Westcott's Introduction to the Study of the
Gospels, p. 63.

8 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
follow ; on the contrary, it seems everywhere sug
gested that we should trace out these clews. " Have
ye not read ? " was the usual query of Jesus in draw
ing profound inferences from the simplest statements.
His words imply, " Have ye not read it thus ? Ye
also should have seen its .meaning as I do. How is
it that ye do not understand ?"
The Types of the Bible lie like so many island
groups in the wide sea of Truth. The mainland of
each, with many another isle, has been put upon our
chart by the pen of inspiration. But all the little
islets that lie clustering around are for us to explore.
Nor have we to launch out-into a far-off ocean. Our
simple task is but to reach them from the shores dis
covered for us. The remotest of them shall hardly
take us out of sight of land. Nor are we sent out
adrift upon such new discoveries. As true as the
needle to the pole-star, though that star be hidden,
so does the Spirit ever point to Christ, even when
we see Him not. And greater than that gift of the
magnet to the voyager, was the promise to the souls
of all that seek after God, " He will guide you into
the whole truth."* All Scripture presupposes the
light by which alone it can be truly read. Surely, it

* In this, as in all other quotations from Holy Scripture in
this volume, wherever our present version at all obscures the
meaning, free use has been made of others, as well as of the
original. Except in a few instances, it has not seemed needful to
credit the special authority or to indicate the change.

INTRODUCTION. g
was not for a brief moment only that Jesus opened the
understanding to " understand the Scriptures." There
would seem to be a misapprehension of the very
genius of Christianity among those who profess such
alarm, lest venturing beyond that interpretation of
Scripture given in itself, we should go utterly astray.
There are and must needs be perils in all liberty.
But they who, from unhallowed fear, forego the lib
erty, only fall into worse perils.
God, who gave us His Holy Spirit, has provided
still further against danger in His promised gift of " a
sound mind." Again, we have a safeguard in that
important authority established in the* Scriptures —
the consenting judgment of the Church. Making all
due allowance for the Church in her aphelion, and
the dim sight of many in her brightest hours, yet
that which fails finally to commend itself to the chil
dren of God whose lives are richest in experience,
must be delusive.*

* We are forced to recognize the extent to which the judg
ment of the Church is responsible, from what we know of the
collection of the Canon. In ah extremely suggestive volume by
the late Frederick Myers, his thoughts upon the- latter subject
will also apply to the one before us. I copy from the edition
printed for private circulation only, though the work has since
been published : " No event has exercised greater influence on
the character of the Church of Christ than the existence of
the Christian Scriptures, and yet no event was less apparently
miraculous as contra-distinguished from providential. It was, it
must be repeated, a result of the exercise of that enlightened
and sanctified spiritual judgment which is the special continuous

10 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
But, it is objected, such license would flood us with
a vast variety of interpretations, in itself a plain
proof of error. This shallow argument is met by
the Scriptures themselves. In the free use of this
great store of types, the same figure does service in
more than one direction ; as, for instance, the Tem
ple finds, orfe fulfilment in Christ, another in the
Church, and yet is fearlessly applied to the very body
of an individual believer* In fact, it appears to be
a prominent feature of this whole plan of typical
teaching, not to give us framed pictures, but a series
of dissolving views.
Especially (does St. Paul, in his use of the types and
symbols of the Old Testament, take delight in turn
ing them round and round, like so many bright frag
ments in a kaleidoscope. He breaks up suddenly a
perfectly harmonious arrangement to give us a new
combination, and so on with variations that seem
simply inexhaustible. How can we but draw the in-
endowment of all ages of the Church ; which, if duly honored,
would be found equal to great tasks always, and which, if unduly
dishonored, will be found to leave us in difficulties wfiich will be
also dangers. This case of the Christian Canon is*fe case in
point. For, if none but a literal line and measure of Canonicity
will be accepted, in this case there is none forthcoming ; if Chris
tian tact and discerning of spirit be despised, there is nothing
which remains in their stead." — Catholic Thoughts on the Bible
and Theology, 1841-1848, p. 52.

* Dr. Farrar, in his Life of Christ, speaks of this " many-sided
symbolism " of some of the acts of Jesus. See Vol. II., p. 216.

INTRODUCTION. ri
ference that so our interpretation gives us a harmo
nious picture in full accord with Truth as otherwise
revealed, we have in it a right lesson, though very
possibly not the richest.
No one eye can ever, by itself, see all that God has
thus taught us. No more can any one sect, nation,
or age. There is needed for this the grand universal
ity of the One Church, and the unity of the One Spirit.
Only, with all the saints, shall we be able to compre
hend the breadth, and length, and depth, and height.
In the great Body of the Church it is with our vision
as with the eyes of so many insects. The organ is
composite, and the many thousands of little eyes are
grouped upon a convex surface ; and while the range
of each is thus more limited than is the human eye,
the field of vision, as a whole, is greatly widened.
Nor is there really any lack to each, since equally
with purs the vision is a unit. It is easy to accept
the limitations of our own individual insight of Truth,
as we find our gain in the widest sympathy with oth
ers. Each of us set to gather into a perfect focus
some one. aspect of Truth, we are bound to impart
this, while we receive in return all the other aspects.
To have the vision complete — to sweep over the
whole range of revelation, we need the eyes of all
the ages, of all nationalities, of all true creeds, of all
temperaments — the eyes of youth and of age, the
eyes of the unlettered and the learned. There is
good ground to hope that in the Christianizing of

12 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
Oriental nations, one of our greatest gains will result
from their clearer insight into symbolic teaching.
There is a still larger class of objectors who are
ready to admit the value of typical teaching in a
general way, but who feel the strongest repugnance
to its interpretation in detail. For instance, they
regard the Jewish sacrifices on the whole, as pointing
to Christ. But the attempt to find significance in
the minute arrangements of that ritual, they regard
as simply contemptible. Does it ever enter into
their thoughts that they are in danger of despising,
not man, but God? If it be puerile to seek a
meaning in them, why were they written by Inspira
tion, and why was so large a space assigned them ?
Yet it does not seem to us unworthy of the scientist
to sit patiently before the tiniest thing in nature, and
with his microscope, examine the most exquisite and
skilful touches of the finger of God. He is perfectly
sure that everything has a meaning, and he toils on
to its discovery.* And is, then, God's Word so infe-

* As an instance of this, see a strong statement of Darwin as
quoted by the Duke of Argyle in his " Reign of Law." It is
taken from a work entitled " The various contrivances by which
British and foreign Orchids are fertilized by Insects." By Chas.
Darwin, F.R.S. London, 1862. "The strange position of the
Labellum perched on the summit of the column, ought to have
shown me that here was the place for experiment. I ought to
have scorned the notion that the Labellum was thus placed for
no good purpose. I neglected this plain guide, and, for a long
time, completely failed to understand, the flower,'' p. 262..

IN TROD UCTION.

13

rior to His other works, that, like man's work, it
can not bear this close inspection? Such, surely, is
not the relative position which is claimed for it in
the Word itself. Nor need we make an abatement
from this claim from the fact that it is not, like nature,
purely the work of God, but in part the work of man ;
since at least to the full extent of human imperfec
tion, both in its origin and transmission, are human
research and enlightened Christian judgment allowed
to enter now.
But, again, the general objection to such interpreta
tion falls with double force upon the histories of the
Old Testament. Yet these, as we have already seen,
are so interpreted in the New Testament. And one
may well ask what such readers find in these portions
that is spiritually "profitable." Nor can we be sur
prised at their frequent though half-reluctant admis
sion of dullness, and a corresponding slight put upon
this part of the Bible. Nor does the evil end here.
As histories only, many of these events seem so un
important, so repugnant even to our tastes, that it is
no rare thing to find the germs of doubt and scepti
cism springing freely up in such waste and untilled
soil. No better instance of this can be selected than the
Book of Joshua, which will be used as the historical
basis for the teaching attempted in this volume. It
is almost purely historical ; and, to some, simply a
book of bloody battles and a geographical description

14 ' THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
of the divisions of the land of Canaan, with here and
there a few lessons of faith, and courage, and kindred
virtues. And if this, indeed, be all, then it may as
well be openly said, as so often secretly thought,
ministering far less to our spiritual needs than many
an uninspired volume of Christian devotion. There
is no refuge from the scepticism, that assails the Scrip
tures save in their more spiritual study.
But approaching this same Book- of Joshua with
faith in that clear statement, " Now these things hap
pened unto them for types," and readingit as a his
tory indeed, but, at the same time, so anticipating
the history of our own hearts as to be an allegory —
we see now before us a Picture, the grandest in its
proportions — the most life-like in its groupings — the
most striking in its wealth of coloring — and the most
skilful in its quiet touches, of any that God has given
us in this Royal Art Gallery of Truth. There is sig
nificance even in the very place where the Picture is
hung. We have gone through the Pentateuch — we
are well out of this shadowy vestibule of the Law,
and at once the advancing eye is met by this grand
representation of the Gospel. In this Book we find
that the failure is over, and the victory begins. An
ticipation becomes realization.
Moreover, it is that Book in our Bible which, more
than any other, presents and powerfully illustrates
that range of truth which, as by a subtle consent, is
attracting the eyes of all Christendom ; which has

INTRODUCTION. tc
taken to itself many names — as many as its mountain
peaks — but which, as a whole, is covered by one
matchless expression of St. Paul, " The fulness of the
blessing of [the Gospel of] Christ." *
It is, indeed, in the awakening of the Church to
the clearer recognition of this blessing, that the key
is recovered to the right interpretation of the Book
of Joshua. To those who have seen Heaven, but no
intervening Hcavenlies — a rest that remaineth, but no
rest which the believer now enters — it was perfectly
natural that Canaan should signify Heaven, and Jor
dan be simply the river of death. If this were true,
there would be little else to be said. There could be
no consistent typical meaning in the warfare which
followed. Besides, such an application could make
nothing of the command to enter the land, the failure
to do so, and the consequent ange'r of God. In fact,
it passes by entirely the very points which are so
clearly interpreted for us in the New Testament.
One of the ablest of modern writers upon this sub
ject, f after a masterly review of the Exodus, upon
reaching the wilderness wanderings, thus disposes of
them : " The inevitable falling off" of the common
hours and experiences, from the level of the mo
ments when our life gets up into the world which
was made to be its home, seems to me to be the

* The Gospel is omitted in the best MSS.
t James Baldw'n Brown, " The Soul's Exodus and Pilgrimage."

j6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
great teaching of this passage of Israel's history."
Happily a higher authority has given us a different
teaching. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, we read,
" So we see that they could not enter in " (not because
it was inevitable, but) " because of their unbelief." To
carry on such an interpretation into the Book of
Joshua, were to lose, almost entirely, the warnings,
the encouragements, and the manifold lessons which
fill its pages. Of course, too little is left to make
it an attractive field; so that, in fact, it is repre
sented by little more than a few fragmentary volumes
in English Exegesis.*
* In one of these few works, it is only upon the last page of its
Appendix that we find how far the author has seen beyond the
limits to which he restricted his comments.
" Nor can we ignore the lessons which come to us through a
symbolism which we are taught by the Apostle Paul and the
author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. We see, not as a poetic
imagination, but as a heavenly instruction, the entrance into Ca
naan symbolizing the believer's entrance into rest, not the rest
of heaven, but the rest which, even here, he has in Jesus Christ.
We see that in this rest he may be disturbed by his own lack ol
faith, the results of which failure will be thorns in his side, and
that only by a complete commitment of himself to the will of
God will his rest be made perfect. We see, moreover, how our
Joshua (Jesus) is the sole guide to this rest, so that as Jesus is
both priest and sacrifice, both foundation and builder, so is He
both the Rest and the Guide to it. In the light of the New
Testament, this Book of Joshua will prove full of spiritual com
fort and edification to every seeking believer. God has placed
it in the Canon, not to praise Joshua or Israel, but to teach and
bless His dear people to the end of time." — Expository Notes on
the Book of Joshua, by Howard Crosby.

INTRODUCTION. Y-j
In these pages it is by no means a commentary,
and scarcely an exposition, which is attempted ; but
rather the unfolding of that Truth which is signified
both there and elsewhere. The great theme of vic
tory through faith which is here opened has many
parts. The Divine Epic which begins in History,
reappears in the Psalms as Poetry, in Isaiah as Proph
ecy, in the teaching of Jesus as the highest of all
Philosophy; and, finally, in the Epistles as Expe
rience. So that if proper light is allowed to fall
upon our Picture, it must be freely borrowed from
the other portions of Scripture. The outline of the
subject is so distinctly sketched, however, in the his
tory, as to require little change.
The Book of Joshua would seem to be the special
heritage of this generation. The mists that have
hung so long around the hills, are rolling off, and
many are lifting up rejoicing eyes to see how much
more lies beyond them of Christian possibility than
they had thought to reach. Surely the day in which
we live is one of those set times in which God favors
Zion. But while He thus dispels the darkness and
gives us clearer light, so that things once unseen or
dimly seen, now shine as the day, there may be, with
not a few, a personal hindrance remaining ; — a veil not
taken away in the reading of the New Testament.
As the Israelite's veil kept him from seeing to the
end of that which was commanded, so may the Chris
tian's v=il keep him from seeing to the end of that

I^ THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
which is promised. No struggles of our own, no pos
sible straining of our intellectual vision, can meet this
difficulty. " Nevertheless when it shall turn to the
Lord, the veil shall be taken away."
Meanwhile, working in harmony with the Word and
promises of God, there lies a vast power in Christian
testimony to convince even veiled eyes of the privi
leges that await them. It is not often wise for such
a testimony to put its own experience in the fore
ground ; .and yet without such experience there could
be no true testimony or even right knowledge. He
who lays the scene of his story in a land of which
he has only read and heard, will, with all his care, be
sure to betray his ignorance. If he has only visited
it, this also will appear. Even as a dweller in the
land, there may still be local discrepancies to be
detected. She who ventures in these pages to describe the
Land of Blessing, so far as her feet have walked its
length and breadth, has found it everywhere a good
and glorious land ; and she can only hope that what
her eyes have missed, or seen mistakenly, will find
other and wiser witnesses. She gives this as her sim
ple contribution to the comprehension of all saints.
It is her comfort to consider that it is not theory
acutely thought out for which the Church of Christ
is now longing, but practical truth, and to know alike
from experience and observation that there is a Truth
which, whether philosophically discerned or not, can

IN TROD UCTION.

19

yet assert its living power in the hearts of the hum
blest, and against all odds of nature. If others shall
find in these pages a joy in the least proportionate
to that which she has found in their preparation, it
will be to her an unspeakable reward.

CHAPTER I.
THE LAND OF PROMISE.
*' OEHOLD I HAVE SET THE LAND BEFORE YOU :
¦D GO IN AND POSSESS THE LAND. " {Deut. i. 8).
" HE BROUGHT US OUT FROM THENCE, THAT HE
MIGHT BRING US IN, TO GIVE US THE LAND."
{Deut. vi. 23).
Before taking up the lessons of the Book of Joshua,
we need to review the history which precedes it, so
far as respects the promise made to the Israelites of
the land of Canaan, and their failure to accept it.
The full scope of their redemption was two-fold
— out of Egypt and into Canaan ; but the latter was
always the more prominent.
In the earliest promise made to Moses, we read,
" I am come down to deliver them out of the hand
of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that
land, into a good land and a large, unto a land flow
ing with milk and honey."* When the first promise
had been fulfilled, and they sang their song of deliv
erance upon the shores of the Red Sea, their faith
rose at once to claim the second, as the completion
* Exodus iii. 8.
(20I

THE LAND OF PROMISE. 21
of their triumph : " Thou shall bring them in and
plant them in the mountain of their inheritance, in
the place, 0 Lord, which thou hast made for thee to.
dwell in, in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands
have established."*
Yet, closely as the two events are linked in promise,
there was an intermediate stage between them. Egypt
did not border upon Canaan, and, therefore, it could
not be a single experience to be brought out, and to
be brought in. Furthermore, the Lord did not choose
to lead His people by the shortest possible way. Long
before their unbelief had caused the forty years of
wandering, we see a wise delay which is fully ex
plained. " And it came to pass that when Pharaoh
had let the people go, that God led them not thro'
the way of the land of the Philistines, although that
was near,. for God said lest peradventure the people
repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt ;
but God led the people about through the way of the
wilderness of the Red Sea."f
And again, the Red Sea crossed, we do not yet find
the shortest route to Caanan chosen. They were led
down to the back, side of the desert, nearly to the
end of Arabia, to that mysterious land where God
has chosen to train and discipline so many ; where
Moses spent his forty years of preparation ; where
Elijah went on his long journey, and where Paul also

* Exodus xv. ly. t Exodus xiii. 17, 18.

22 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
was sent for his secret training. This new-born na
tion had everything to learn, and Canaan would have
been wasted upon its ignorance. So they were led
down to Horeb, there to receive the Law from Sinai,
and there to be trained as an encampment around the
sacred Tabernacle.
The books of Exodus and Leviticus give us thir
teen months of such a history. It is resumed in
Numbers with the preparations for an advance " on
the first day of the second month of the second
year."* The voice of God now called them onward.
" Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount ; turn
you and take your journey  Behold, I have
set the land before you ; go in and possess the land."f
The length of the journey before them is stated, with
precision, as eleven days from Hpreb to Kadesh Bar-
nea, the place where they were to enter.:]:
But now began delays which God had not ordered.
They lusted for flesh, and for two days they stopped
to gather quails ; and then for a whole month to dig
the graves of them that lusted. Again, Miriam
speaks against Moses ; she is not prepared to see the
low exalted in these patterns of grace, and the alien
made as the home-born — much less to see her own
brother stoop from the leadership of a great nation
to place by his side an Ethiopian woman. There
fore she is smitten with leprosy, and the whole camp

* Numbers i. i. t Deut. i. 6-8. \ Deut. i. 2.

THE LAND OF PROMISE. 2X
must wait seven days until she can rejoin theng. In
these and other ways the journey was prolonged for
months, since, when they reached the land it was the
time. of the vintage. But while the delay was theirs,
the way itself was God's, as we learn from the review
of it which Moses gave : — " When we departed from
Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible
wilderness .... as the Lord our God commanded
us ; and we came to Kadesh Barnea."*
Standing at last upon the border of the land, they
should have entered it at once. Instead of this, we
find another delay which, begging for only forty days,
was recompensed with forty years. In Numbers we
read that the Lord spake unto Moses, directing him
to send the spies.f But in Deuteronomy, we learn
that it was only a command accommodated to their
choice, as so carefully stated by Moses : " I said unto
you, ' Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amor-
ites, which the Lord our God doth give unto us.
Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before
thee : go up and possess it as the Lord God of thy
fathers hath said unto thee ; fear not, neither be dis
couraged.' And ye came near unto me every one of ^
you, and said, ' We will send men before us, and they
shall search us out the land and bring us word again
by what way we must go up and into what cities we
shall come.' "% As afterwards, in giving them a king,

* Deut. i. 19. t Numbers xiii. 1, 2. \ Deut. i. 20-22.

24 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
God fielded to their choice since they would not
accept His. *
The report of the spies resulted in the failure to
enter the land, and thus, for a long season, their life
became abnormal — outside of the true plan of God,
though not beyond His merciful care.f Leaving
this failure as the subject of the following chapter,
and pausing at that point when the possession of the
land was brought within their immediate reach, let
us seek the lesson here signified ; for " all these things
happened unto them for ensamples."
The scope of our redemption also is two-fold — " God
hath saved us and called us with an holy calling."^:
This salvation and this calling are always coupled in
the promises of God, and yet must be wrought out at

* i Sam. viii.' 9.
t " If the Israelites had gone on to Canaan without inquiry, their
confidence had possessed it. Now they send to espy the land ;
six hundred thousand never lived to see it : and yet I see God
enjoining it upon them to send ; but enjoining it upon their in
stance. Some things God allows in judgment : their importu
nity and distrust extorted from God this occasion of their over
throw. That which the Lord moves unto prospers ; but that
which we move Him to first seldom succeedeth. What needed
they doubt of the goodness of that land which God told them did
flow with milk and honey ? What needed they doubt obtaining
that which God promised to give ? When we will send forth
our senses to be our scouts in the matters of faith, and rather
dare trust men than God, we are worthy to be deceived."  .
Bishop Hall's Contemplations.
% 2 Tim. i. 9.

THE LAND OF PROMISE. 2$
separate stages. But as He brought them out that
He might bring them in* so we find the main stress
of the Gospel falling upon this ultimate design. The
Scriptures speak not so much of what we are saved
from as of what we are saved unto ; and even the
very word salvation is sometimes limited to the1
latter meaning.
Such has not been, however, the most current teach
ing of the Church. Her efforts have been concen
trated far more upon the conversion of sinners than
the nurture of the saints. We have had, consequently,
more fishers of men than shepherds who could feed
the flock, and justification has been more frequently
and fully presented than sanctification.f We have

* Deut. vi. 23.
t Dr. Crawford, in his able work on the " Atonement," thus
writes : " The mediatorial work and sufferings of Jesus Christ
were intended, not only to obtain for us redemption from the
guilt and penal consequences of sin, but also to secure our per
sonal sanctification.
" This is a truth which has too frequently been overlooked.
In speaking or thinking of the salvation which Christ has pur
chased, there are many who seem to attach to it no further idea
than that of mere deliverance from condemnation. They forget
that deliverance from sin — the cause of condemnation — is a no t
less important blessing comprehended in it 
"Nay, it would seem as if the former of these deliverances—
that is to say, our deliverance from sin itself — were represented
in some passages of Scriptures as the grand and ultimate con
summation of redeeming grace, to which the latter, though in
itself inestimably precious and important, is preparatory. Wit
ness these plain and forcible declarations : ' He died for all, that
2

26 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
reversed the proportions which are so apparent in
the Epistles. St. Paul does not tell us so much of
his anxiety to reach the hardened, as he does of his
desire to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
Respecting that, he tells us, " Whereunto I also labor,
striving according to His working which worketh in
me mightily."* He does not speak of the prayers
of Epaphras for those without, but he writes of his
fervent prayers for those within, that they "might
stand perfect and complete in all the will of God." f
The five prayers of his own, which are given at some
they who live, should not henceforth live unto themselves, but
unto Him who died for them and rose again! ' Christ loved
the Church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify ana
cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, and that He
might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot
or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be holy and
without blemish.' 'You that were sometimes alienated and
enemies in youT mind by wicked works, yet now hath He recon
ciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy,
and unblamable, and unreprovable in His sight.' 'He gave
Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.'
'The blood of Jesus, who through the eternal Spirit offered Him
self without spot unto God, shall purge your conscience from
dead works, to serve the living God.' 'Who His ownself bore
our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins,
might live unto righteousness.' These statements seem to indi
cate that our redemption from the guilt and penal consequences
of sin, was intended to be the means to an ulterior end — that
end being our personal sanctification." — The Doctrine of Holy
Scripture respecting the Atonement, pp. 194, 195.
* Col. i. 28, 29. tC0l.1v. 12.

THE LAND OF PROMISE. 27
length, all have a common burden — that the Church
may see and receive the fulness of Christ. So, also,
in the list of special gifts, he dwells in detail only
upon those which have these objects — " the perfecting
of the saints ; the work of the ministry ; the edifying
of the body of Christ." *
As we turn to the words of Christ, we find in that
one most precious prayer of His which is left us,
that He says expressly, "I pray not for the world,
but for them which thou hast given Me ;" f and what
a prayer ! — that they might have all His joy, His love,
His glory !
It is not — God forbid the thought ! — that the Scrip
tures slight the salvation of any soul. But as it would
have been little to the glory of God to have merely
brought the people out of Egypt without giving
them a home, so are we shown that Christ is only
fully glorified in the glory of His Church. The House
hold of Faith is regarded as a family in which the
responsibilities are not ended by the birth of the chil
dren. That any of them should remain unfed, sickly,
dwarfed, is not for a moment to be allowed. Their
nurture and full development is the one great object
of the true 'Father.
Again, we find a wrong impression prevalent as to
what this Sanctification signifies. There are many
who strongly urge its claims, but see in it only a

* Eph. iv. 12. f John xvii. 9.

28 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
further deliverance, as it is so often expressed, from
the power as well as from the guilt of sin.
But Sanctification is not so much a removal as an
impartation. That which Christ takes from us is as
nothing to that which He gives us ; and it is this
positive, rather than the negative, side of the truth,
which the Scriptures everywhere present, and which
is most clearly set forth in this type of the call to
Canaan. It was a bestowment, an inheritance, a fore
shadowing of all those spiritual blessings with which
God has blessed us in Jesus Christ.
Few Christians are without a vague sense of some
thing good that is set before them. But there is
immense gain in its clearer comprehension. Let us,
therefore, look more definitely at that which the Holy
Ghost has signified in this instance.
The entering of the Land of Promise is spoken of
frequently as entering into Rest. Settlement was to
take the place of constant change. It was to be a
Home, which the desert could not be ; for, apart from
its failure to supply their needs, everything was tran
sient, and it was useless to plant or build in a land
through which they were only journeying. And the
contrast was made stronger from the fact that they
were spared the weary waiting of preparation. God
set before them, in His promise, a Home where all
was ready for their coming, — " Great and goodly cities,
which thou buildest not, and houses full of all good
things which thou filledst not, and wells digged which

THE LAND OF PROMISE. 2g
thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive-trees which
thou plantedst not."*
And in such rest as this might every one of those
families of Israel have been found speedily ; and not
only in Rest, but in the satisfying Bounty which it
implied. What a contrast was that which awaited
them, from the old life of Egypt. Weary hands that
made the bricks, tired feet that watered the dry land,
now at rest with only healthy toil, and the poor
slaves lifted up from the very dung-hill to sit like
princes in their pleasant homes among the hills and
valleys — their hunger satisfied with better things than
the coarse food of Egypt — with better things than
manna even — with corn and oil, and honey and wine,
and all else that could strengthen, and enrich, and
sweeten, and cheer their life.
It was true that enemies filled the Land, and that
warfare also awaited them. But had not God prom
ised to deal with these seven nations even as He dealt
with Pharaoh, and would He not do it ? So, then,
it was not so much warfare as Victory of which God
spoke. Therefore no fear, no discouragement was to
dampen their ardent hopes as they passed on theii
way to Rest, and Wealth, and Triumph.
And to. Rest, and unsearchable Riches, and a great
Victory, are we also called, finding them all in the.
Lord Jesus. He is Himself the anti-type of that
good land and large. Our calling is, to be " in Christ"
* Deut. vi. 10, n.

3°

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

The first and deepest need of our being is rest. St.
Augustine among all his sayings, has none sweeter
or stronger than this, " Thou hast made us for Thy
self, and our heart is restless till it rests in Thee." *
But there is a saying that surpasses this ; it is the
call of Christ to all the children of men, soft and
soothing as a mother's lullaby, " Come unto Me, and
/will rest you." It is rest first, and after that all else
that He holds for us.
Nor is it rest as opposed only to the toil of sin, but
also the unrest of Christian activity. Our Rest should
be like our Sabbath, a beginning of the days. Under
the Law, as still under all Legality, the order was,
work at the first, and day after day until the seventh,
when the labor shall end in rest. But when Christ
rose from the dead, that first day of the week became
the hallowed one, consecrated to rest, and life, and
joy. And from that living, joyful rest in Him, the
whole being energized and fitted for its task, the soul
can go on to serve Him to the end. It has found rest
because it has ceased from working in its own strength,
ceased from its own will, and now God worketh in it
to will and to do of His good pleasure. Practically,
it makes the widest possible difference whether we
work up to rest ox from it.

* Fecisti nos ad te, et inquietum est cor nostrum donee requies-
cat in te  Quies est apud te valde et vita imperturbabilis.
Qui intrat in te, intrat in gandium Domini Sui ; et non timebit,
et habebit se optime in optimo. — Confess., Lib. I. I, and II. 18.

THE LAND OF PROMISE. j!
When this rest has preceded our work, it will also
permeate it, -and will render it calm, undistracted, un-
oppressive. It has been said, " Faith rests while it
works. This is a peculiarity of the true Gospel. No
false religion could teach it. Many professed disciples
of Christ Himself — men to whom the name of religi
ous persons can not be denied— never learn it. True
faith rests habitually, rests in working. It is a para
dox ; but a paradox full-of truth, full of beauty, full
of admonition." *
This rest can be ours in no other way than as a gift
from Christ. Such deep repose of soul is neither found
in man, nor can be evolved out of any of his powers.
Only as the strong and loving arms of Jesus are folded
around it, shall the tired and tossed soul 'be rested.
Is the heart burdened still at times with the weight
of old sins ? Are there seasons when " the spirit of
fret and fuss" disorder it? Is it strained with anxie
ties? Is its work ever a weariness ? Above all, has
it wandered like a wayward child into forbidden paths,
and found no shelter ? Such a soul needs not that
any should tell it that it has not yet come to the
rest which God has promised — that, more or less, it
is falling short of it. How far short, we can tell best
by looking at the Divine copy of it — Jesus Himself.
In studying that life in its human aspects, we do
not behold the favorite of Fortune, nor the creature
of circumstances. The rest of Jesus was conditioned
* Voices of the Prophets, C..J. Vaughan, D.D., p. 81.

32 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
by nothing outward. But we trace a silent power
that ruled His whole being, the poise of a human
spirit in perfect harmony with the will of God — ever
going forth to meet that will, and never waiting to
be overtaken by it. . Calm in His most crowded work,
calm in every peril, calm in His utmost suffering and
agony, never for a moment excited, unbalanced,
fevered or fretted — this is He who still calls, "Come
unto Me, and I will rest you." How much is signi
fied in that promise we can not know, except as Chris
tian expectation passes into experience.
But rest is not the only hope of our calling. We
are- promised the supply of all our need ; not only of
such wants as we now feel, but of those also which
shall be first awakened by the sight of unbounded
treasure. Certainly if anything is clear in the Word
of God it is this bounty. The " Unsearchable Riches
of Christ" is a cognomen of the Gospel. All riches
of 'the full assurance of understanding, all that can
nourish and adorn, encompass with comforts and
develop this new spiritual life, all possible wealth
of grace and love, — all these spiritual blessings are
given us " in the heavenlies " in Christ Jesus. Nor is
the least portion of this wealth the privilege of shar
ing it with others, and of making it even more blessed
to give than to receive — by such a law excluding all
possible satiety, and providing ever-enlarged powers
of enjoyment. In brief, the promise runs, " All things
are yours ;" and the eager soul, escaping from the

THE LAND OF PROMISE. 3,
poverty of its bondage, looks on confidently to a day
nigh at hand when it shall have no want unsatisfied.
But with these promises of Rest and Riches there is
linked a third — of Victory. At first the soul has
little thought of enemies, save such as it has already
known. Pharaoh and the hosts of Egypt, from these
it fled ; from the despotism of Satan and the low
bondage of this world. God, ordinarily, shields the
newly-converted soul from the sight of struggles be
yond, leading it about by other easier ways, and let
ting its thought be concentrated, for a time, on the
great facts of forgiveness and deliverance. Its first
fears come from the pursuing foes ; but so signal is
the overthrow of these, that even the certainty of
seven mightier nations before it can bring no terror.
To Faith, the future is as sure as the past, and the
whole process of victory appears like one continuous
work of God. Like Israel upon the seashore, even
while we are singing to the Lord who hath tri
umphed gloriously, we go on to celebrate the whole.
" The people shall hear and be afraid : sorrow shall
take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina — all the
inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away."* That God
should save us from the hands of one enemy to let
us fall into the hands of another, is simply incon
ceivable to a child-like faith.
The completeness of this victory has been described
for us in one of the holy songs that heralded the
* Exodus xv. 14, 15.
2^

34 THE FULNESS OF BLESSfNG.
coming of Christ, when Zacharias tells- us that God
would grant us — " that we being delivered out of the
hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days
of our life."* And this he calls, first, God's promise,
and then, His covenant, and, finally, His path,f so
giving us three immutable securities.
The nature of these enemies and the secret of this
victory, will need to be considered in another connec
tion ; but, meanwhile, this may be assumed as the
proper position in which the Gospel places us. — "Now
thanks be unto God who always causeth us to triumph
in Christ."
Such is the Land of Promise set before us. It is,
indeed, the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of
Christ. Probably no Christian ever entered at once
upon such an inheritance. Apart from the gracious
shielding from our foes, already alluded to, there are
still other reasons why the Lord for awhile should
lead us about. Some one has said that it takes God
much longer to prepare us for a blessing, than it does
to give it when we are ready to receive it. It is in
perfect harmony with the processes of all lower life,
that our spiritual life should have a space allowed
for development and training. When Jesus had com
passion on the shepherdless- multitude, all that even
He could do for them was to begin to teach them
many things. And He had taught His own disciples
* Luke i. 74, 75. t Luke'i. 72, 73.

THE LAND OF PROMISE. 35
for years when He said, "I have yet many things
to say unto you, but ye can not bear them now."
As they stood around Sinai to receive the Law, so
do we need to gather around Jesus as He sits upon
another mountain, making that old . Law new, and
giving us, not the curse, but the blessing. All knowl
edge requires time for its acquisition ; but Christian
knowledge demands it still more, since it is valueless
until it becomes experimental.
Again, there are certain steps which we must take
before any marked advance can be made. The les
sons in the first chapter of Numbers are full of mean
ing to us. The people were required to declare their
pedigree,* and to be enrolled under their proper stand
ards. Before we attempt to reach this fulness of
* " Can I declare my pedigree ? It is greatly to be feared there
are hundreds, if not thousands, of professing Christians who are
wholly ihcompetent to do so. They can not say with clearness
and decision, ' Now are we the sons of God ' (i John iii. 2).
'Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. And if
ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to
the promise ' (Gal. iii. 26-29). ' For as many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God.' ' The Spirit itself beareth wit
ness with our spirit that we are the sons of God ' (Rom. viii.
14, 16). •
" This is the Christian's 'pedigree,' and it is his privilege to
be able to ' declare ' it. He is born from above — born again —
bom of water and the spirit ; i. <?., by the word and by the Holy
Ghost (compare, diligently, John iii. 5 ; James i. 18 ; 1 Peter i.
23 ; Eph. v. 26). The believer traces his pedigree directly up to
a risen Christ in glory. This is Christian genealogy." — Notes on
the Book of Numbers, by C. H. M., pp. 8, 9.

36 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
blessing, our sonship must become an established fact
— the Spirit of God bearing witness with our spirit
that we are the children of God ; and as distinctly
must we have accepted the warfare and the service to
which He calls us. None can be counted in that army
till he can say, " Whose I am and whom I serve."
The importance of this can not be too strongly
stated, so large is the proportion of those who are in
doubt, at times, as to their being really the children
of God.
But, again, how true to the history of Israel are
the hindrances which we ourselves occasion — true
even to their very character. It is still by demand
ing the visible in the place of the Invisible, that wei
begin to fall from our faith. And then it is by the
lust of other things entering in — the revival of some
old desire. And yet again by presuming to speali
against those whom God has set over us.
But none of these begin to compare, in their con
sequences, with that sin of unbelief by which the
Land was forfeited. And that siri, as we see in the
type, began by what might be termed experimenting
upon God's word — looking at the human chances for
His promise holding good. They overlooked the
fact made so clear in this promise, that the redemp
tion and the inheritance were equally God's work and
gift. " They soon forgot His word ;" and at the root
of this fo/getfulness lay that self-sufficiency which
was finally to issue in despair. Such has ever been

THE LAND OF PROMISE. 37
the working of the human heart ; and because of this
tendency such care is taken in the presentation of
the Gospel to convince us that, as forgiveness is not
of the Law, no more is our righteousness, but equally
with that a gift, and by grace.
Sanctification is by faith as truly and fully as is
justification. The voice that lifted Luther from his
weary climbing of the stair-way, saying, " The just
shall live by faith," was a voice calling to all Christen
dom through him. And it needs that same voice of
God to rouse the weary climbers up their arduous
way, and to make the bowed spirits of thousands
exultant with hope. Yet it needs no new message ;
for of the life more abundantly, as well as of the
least that can be called life, is it true that " the just
shall live by faith." " Through faith that is in Me,"
was the sole condition announced by the Lord Jesus,
as covering not only " forgiveness of sins," but an " in
heritance among them which are sanctified." *
This Land of Promise to which we are thus so
clearly called in the Lord Jesus Christ — this fulness
of blessing — is it, or is it not, the prevalent experience
of Christians ? Have they so believed, that while
looking on to the glorious appearing of Christ as the
completion of their hope, and the final triumph, they
have in the meantime entered into this rest ?
And if in answer to this a charge must be brought
against not a few of the children of God, let it be
* Acts xxvi. 18.

38 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
done in the charity that hopeth all things, and that
seeks only to help those whom an enemy hath hin
dered. A leading divine in the Church of England has
said plainly, what is, doubtless, quite as applicable to
our own land as to his, " The impression has been
that people knew everything about Christian duty,
and have no need to be enlightened on that head.
And if by Christian duty be meant simply the moral
law of God, in its outward, literal aspect, perhaps the
impression is, more or less, correct, at least as regards
the educated classes. But if by Christian duty be
meant sanctity of life and character, and a growing
conformity to the image of the Lord Jesus, we must
be pardoned for expressing our conviction, that our
best and most respectable congregations have very
little insight into the thing itself, and still less into
the method of its attainment."*
Such shortcoming as is here spoken of, is the less
likely to be usually regretted, as the true standard is
so rarely presented. But seeking that standard in the
Scriptures, turning fresh from its glowing presentation
of Christ and His fulness, surely all will admit that it
is not merely an exception, but a rare one, to see any
such state of blessedness in actual life.
There are many who believe in such fulness, and
dare not let go their faith in it ; but they are com-
* "Thoughts on Personal Religion," by Edward Meyrick
Goulburn, D.D., p. 12.

THE LAND OF PROMISE. 30
pelled to confess that they have not found it. There
are many who have seen it with their eyes, and
reached out eager hands to it ; but they do not hold
it. They strive, they wrestle ; but it seems ever, to
elude them. The ideal does not become the real,
and " the there is never here!'
Christians grow reconciled to a state which has
become so common, and then from concluding it to
be a universal experience, they end by regarding it as
a necessity. But such can never be the earliest expectation of
a soul that has heard for itself, and from Jesus, the
call to come unto Him. Every one who has heard
that call, knew that it was " to glory and virtue ;" and
that as surely as the land of Canaan was set before
the Israelites, while God said, " Go up and possess
it," so surely has His Voice' come to our hearts,
saying, " Go up into the heavenly places in Christ
Jesus, where I will bless you with all spiritual bless
ings. Go up and possess the peace that passeth
understanding, even perfect peace. Go up and dwell
in Christ, and, therefore, dwell in love, a perfect love,
that casteth out all fear. Go up and be filled with
all the fulness of God. Go up and always triumph
in Christ Jesus."
And now falling back upon our allegory, let us
venture, for the sake of an illustration, to add to it a
simple fable.

40

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

Suli, an Egyptian philosopher, is returning home
from a long journey, and in crossing the desert, sud
denly comes upon the camp of the Israelites. It is a lit
tle over a year since they left his own land, but he has
not heard of it, and is full of wonder. In no unfriendly
spirit he enters the tent of a man whom he had once
known as a slave, now a prince among his people,
Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the head of the
tribe of Judah.* He sits down and listens with pro
found interest to the account of the plagues ; of the
last fearful night ; the sprinkled blood and the Pass
over Lamb ; the crossing of the Red Sea on foot,
and the drowning of all their pursuers. He is told
also of the discipline and training of the people. The
giving of the Law at Sinai is described, and the sig
nificance of their worship. Full of astonishment, it
is now his turn to speak.
" Marvel not, O Nahshon, that thy servant is well-
nigh silent with astonishment. No tale like this hath
mine ear ever heard. And not the least wonderful
of all is that which mine own eyes can see, the
change in the people themselves. I doubt not these
words of thine concerning any of those great won
ders. And yet this is. the miracle to me: When I
set out from Egypt but two years since, you were,
as thou thyself knowest, a most abject people. And
I find you here a well-governed nation — an army
trained for the battle. Truly, O Nahshon, thy people
* Num. i. 7.

THE LAND OF PROMISE. 4I
deserve this freedom. But now let me ask of thee
your purpose for the future. You can not surely live
always in this desert, and I see you are still journey-
ing. " I have yet to tell thee of this, O Suli," replies the
Prince, " as the chief thing of all. A good land and
large has been given us. The land of Canaan was
promised to our father Abraham hundreds of years
since, and the promise repeated to his heirs Isaac
and Jacob. And when the Lord first spake of our
deliverance to Moses, He told him precisely how He
would first bring us out of Egypt, and then into Ca
naan. Having performed the one, He is now prepar
ing for the other ; and though we have by our way
wardness hindered Him, yet we are now upon the
very eve of entering the Land."
" But art thou, 0 Nahshon, sure of this ? Dost thou
not fear the struggle ? I have myself passed through
the land, and the tribes holding it are fierce and
strong. They are well-armed, and have walled cities.
It is true, the country is exceedingly fair and fertile.
It could not well be better suited to your wants, but
pardon thy servant, O Nahshon, if he can but doubt
if you ever come to possess it. What, then, if you
should fail ? What other plan have you to fall back
upon ? Is there still any other country where you
could get a foothold ?"
" We were never promised any other, and as we
have so long been promised this, we can see no possi-

42

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

ble reason why we should not get it. It is not at all
more impossible than our rescue from Egypt. And
were it, O Suli, even tenfold harder than thou think-
est, it would matter naught, for our God never makes
a promise which He can not keep."
" But still, in case you should fail, which wouldst
thou judge to be wisest — to go back to Egypt, or
attempt to live in this desert ?"
" We shall never return to Egypt. Thinkest thou,
O Suli, that we could at all endure its bondage now ?
And as for this desert, it is only a place to pass
through. We have learned from its hardships both
self-denial and faith in God. But surely we could
never become what we are told we shall be, with such
surroundings. Besides, it would be out of all keep
ing with the ways of our God. However, we need
not consider such a case. Verily, O Suli, I do wrong
to even suppose it. As our father Abraham has said,
' What God has promised He is able also to perform /' "
" This, then, is thy thought, O Nahshon, that your
Helper is so mighty that there is no need to think
at all of your own weakness. Thy trust in thy God
is sublime indeed. But tell thy servant, — are there
^no conditions? Is there nothing left to yourselves
to fulfil, so that a chance of failure remaineth after
all ? "
"Yes, Suli, there are conditions, yet not of our
strength, but simply of our faith in God. He might
delay His promise, or even break it if we failed to

THE LAND OF PROMISE.

43

trust Him. But how could that ever happen ? We
have had so many proofs of what He is and of what
He does, that to begin now to doubt whether He
will keep His word or not, were to deny almost His
very being — a God of Truth and a God of all Power.
As I said before, so say I now again, O Suli,
' What God has promised He is able also to
PERFORM.' "

CHAPTER II.
THE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF.
UQO WE SEE THAT THEY COULD NOT ENTER
*J IN BECAUSE OF UNBELIEF." — {Heb. iii. 19.)
The men to whom the searching of the land was
entrusted were no ordinary spies. Chosen from each
of the tribes, they were all " heads of the children
of Israel " — " every one a ruler." " So they went up
and searched the land ;"* and a search that extended
through forty days must have been a thorough one.
From north to south they saw with wondering eyes
such bounties as they had never seen before. They
passed on to the shores of the great sea. They be
held Lebanon and its cedars. They rested before
the peaks of Hermon and Carmel. They followed
the bed of the Jordan from the beautiful lake where
it is born, to that sea in which it dies. They marked
the countless hills and valleys, and the multitude of
brooks. They saw, also, their enemies, the strong
holds, and the very giants. They went to the graves
of their fathers at Hebron, and saw there in that old
city the three sons of Anak, whose names are so sin
gularly preserved.f
One can but listen in imagination to the talk of
* Num. xiii. 21. t Num. xiii. 22.
(44^

THE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF.

45

these men as they journey over those hills. What
outbursts of joy — what sighs of dismay ! What rea
soning in their hearts, and what constant interchange
of hopes and fears !
And now they have returned, and the whole con
gregation, with Moses and Aaron at their head, stand
around, ready to listen to the travellers. " Beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings ;" and blessed might their feet have been
that day. There is a hush of expectation : " We
came into the land and surely it floweth with milk
and honey ;" and then, slowly lifting that heavy
cluster of grapes of Eshcol from the staff resting
upon the shoulders of two of them, and upraising
it in the sight of all, — " This is the fruit of it ! "*
What visions of plenty are swimming before all
those straining eyes ! How the little children even
clap their hands for joy !
But listen, the men have not told all ! " Neverthe
less the people be strong that dwell in the land, and
the cities are walled and very great ; and, moreover,
we saw the children of Anak there." And now,
with a minuteness not given to the other side of the
picture, they go on to describe their enemies : " The
Amalekites dwell in the land of the south : and the
Hit.tites and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in
the mountains : and the Canaanites dwell by the sea
and by the coast of Jordan." f
* Num. xiii. 27. t Num. xiii. 28t 29.

46 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
At once all those eager faces are downcast, and
murmurs and cries are heard. And why should they
not fear? These men who speak are their rulers — •
their leaders. If such are terrified, why not they?
Therefore, it seems a decisive voice — a voice of
authority. But now Caleb, who has claimed by faith
his own possession, and knows better than any what
foes they have to meet, stands forth to still the peo
ple : " Let us go up at once and possess it ; for we
are well able to overcome it." * By his side is
Joshua, but they are only two, and the ten again
repeat : " We be not able to go up against the peo
ple, for they are stronger than we."f" And now they
forget all else, and their fears swollen by this tide of
popular feeling, they go on to present the darkest
possible picture, which, as truthful men, they could
venture to give : " The land through which we have
gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhab
itants thereof ; and all the people that we saw in it are
men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants,
the sons of Anak, which come of the giants : and we
were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we
were in their sight ! " %
O Princes of Israel ! if only as ye went upon your
way, ye had bethought yourselves to sing once more
the song ye once sang so well : " All the inhab
itants of Canaan shall melt away. Thy right hand
O Lord, is glorious in power ! " § But no, they for-
* Num. xiii. 3?. t Num. xiii. 31. % Num. xiii. 33. § Ex. xv.

THE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. *»
got even to make mention of His name. They saw
only themselves and their enemies ; and so seeing, it
was but a slight hyperbole to draw the contrast of
grasshoppers and giants. They had lost sight of the
Lord. Had they only lost sight of themselves, while
they looked to Him, how different had been the con
trast — no longer between grasshoppers and giants,
but between giants and God ! Would the feet of a
giant fall heavily upon the grasshopper in his path ?
Much more would the strongest enemy melt away
before the advancing feet of the Lord strong and
mighty ! And herein it was " an evil report " rather
than a false one, that it ignored God — His promise
and His power.
All that night throughout the vast camp, lying
down but the night before to happy dreams of the
land so close before them, is heard the sound of
weeping.* And well may they weep, cince they
had lost that buoyant hope. The terror and grief
become at last a panic. As the strong men look
upon their wives and children, who give way to still
more violent emotion, they ask, with indignation,
" Are these to be a prey ? Wherefore hath the Lord
brought us into this land ? Were it not better for
us to return into Egypt ? " f And at once the bold
decision is made by which they take themselves out
of God's hand — " Let us make a Captain and let us
return into Egypt."
* Num. xiv. i. t Num. xiv. 3, 4.

48 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
But who shall be the Captain to lead them back ?
Not Moses, not Aaron. They are fallen flat upon
their faces before all the people. Meanwhile, Joshua
and Caleb make another attempt to rally the host.
" The land which we passed through to search it, is
an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us,
then He will bring us into this land and give it us ; a
land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel
not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people
of the land ; for they are bread for us : their defence
is departed from them, and the Lord is with us : fear
them not." * The bravest and noblest words that
ever came to rally a panic-stricken host ! Yet they
only vex and anger the people. And for standing
there and saying no new thing, saying only what
God had always said, they well-nigh met the fate of
Stephen — " All the congregation bade stone them
with stones."f
But another voice is heard. As they look up, be
fore all their eyes, shining from out the Tabernacle,
appears the glory of the Lord. He speaks to Moses :
" How long will this people provoke me? and how
long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs
which I have shewed among them ? " % In these words
we see at once their real offence, and what sin of sins
it was that stirred Him thus. Even at their last re
bellion it was something deeper than their lust that
had chiefly grieved Him ; for " a fire was kindled
* Num. xiv. 7-9. t Num. xiv. 10. % Num. xiv. 11.

THE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. aq
against Jacob, and anger came up against Israel, be
cause they believed not in God, and trusted not in his
salvation." * But this word of God which they be
lieved not now, was a word so often given, so old, so
ever new, that not to believe it was, indeed, to deny
Him. What marvel that He said to Moses, " I will^
disinherit them !" The sublime pleading of Moses
with his God, that unworthy as the people were, He
would yet regard His own honor among the heathen,
won at last the gracious answer, " I have pardoned
according to thy word."f But Pardon more often
wisely includes chastisement, than excludes it ; and
even because He kept them as His children, must
His hand be heavy upon them. Ten times the
men who had seen His glory, and all His signs, had
tempted Him4 Their trial was complete. They
could not see the land. — " To-morrow turn you and
get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea."
And, so saying, He did but take them at their own
word. They would not believe His Word, therefore
their own should come to pass — " As truly as I live,
saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in my ears, so will
I do to you : Your carcasses, shall fall in this wilder
ness  Doubtless ye shall not come into the*
land concerning which, I sware to make you dwell
therein  And ye shall know my breach of
promise." §

* Ps. Ixxviii. 19-22. t Num. xiv. 20.
\ Num. xiv. 22. § Num. xiv. 28-34.
3

50 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
Slowly, but surely, the weary length of forty years,
were more than half a million of men to whom God
had given a home in Canaan, to find their graves in
the sand of the desert. There was little to break the
monotony of that nomad existence; but one toil never
ceased. Day after day, they carried forth out of their
camp the score or more of corpses of soldiers, who had
fallen, not in hattle, but because of their unbelief.
A still sadder doom was assigned to the ten spies.
We justly count among the sins of darkest dye the
deliberate slander of a fellow-being. But these men
had slandered God. Upon the face of it, it was only
an evil report against the land. But in reality it was
charging God both with untruthfulness and ineffi
ciency : and for such a sin as this, " they died by the
plague before the Lord." *
Finally, we find that presumption takes the place
of faith. They recognize at last their fearful mistake,
but not to humbly repent of it. Only their strong
and stubborn wills refuse the punishment. Going up
against their enemies to be smitten and discomfited,
they have to learn that not a step is safe unless God
go before them.
Forty years in the wilderness ! For forty years
grieving the Lord, and chastened by Him ! And yet
even this is used to show forth His long-suffering and
goodness — " Being full of compassion," not even then
did He " stir up all His wrath."
* Num. xiv. 37.

THE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. t;i
There is a brief review of this period in the Acts,
which forms a most interesting sequel to a statement
of Moses. The latter, in reviewing the period previ
ous to the provocation, says to the people : " Thou
hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a
man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went
until ye came unto this place." * The Apostle Paul
takes the same view of the entire period. "And about
the time of forty years, even as a nurse beareth her
child, so bare He them through the wilderhess.f "
So they were still His people — fed, guided, and
defended by Him ; and possibly abusing these very
mercies, in concluding that even by these they might
measure the lightness of their offence.
We might well suppose such a lesson as this his
tory furnishes to be too significant for the Scriptures
to be silent respecting it. It is, in fact, one of
the most clearly applied among all these allegorical
events. Unquestionably it is the key-note of the
* Deut. i'. 31.
t Acts.xiii. 18. "The beauty of this metaphor has been lost
to the authorized version on account of the reading (krptmaty-
bfmami instead of tTpo$o$6pri6ev) adopted in the Textus Receptus.
Griesbach, Scholz, and Lachman restored the latter reading on
the authority of the Uncial MSS., A. C. E. We regret to see
that Tischendorf has reinstated the former reading (because it
has a somewhat greater weight of MSS. of the Greek Testament
in its favor) without taking into- account the evident allusion to
Deut. i. 31, where rootpotpoprioai. is acknowledged to be the correct
reading." — Conybeare and Howson's Life and Epistles of St.
Paul, vol. i. chap. vi.

g2 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
Epistle to the Hebrews, and with what distinctness
is it announced : — " With whom was He grieved forty
years ? was it not with them that had sinned, whose
carcasses fell in the wilderness ? And to whom sware
He that they should not enter into His rest, but to
them that believed not ? So we see that they could
not enter in because of unbelief. Let us therefore
fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into His
rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For
unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto
them ; but the word preached did not profit them,
not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
For we which have believed do enter into rest." *
Alas ! that the any for whom He feared should
ever mean the many — that a time should come when
the majority of Christians — the great mass of them,
indeed — should at least seem to come short of this
fulness of blessing. We believe them to be children
of God — for they have known the sprinkling of the
blood of the Lamb, and have come out from the
world into new life in Christ Jesus. They have been
at Sinai and have listened to the Law, and have
come up more or less fully to its moral standard.
But beyond their present experience lie half the
promises of God, and by far the more glorious half
yet unfulfilled. No one could venture to claim that
the rich gifts of God, even to all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ, are in the general posses-
* Heb. iii. 17 — iv. 3.

THE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF.

53

sion of the Church. The spirituality of Christians
does not satisfy themselves, even according to their
own low standard.
There is a class of teachers who distinguish very
widely between our standing and our state; claiming
that however it may be as to the latter, any one who is
in Christ at all has, by reason of the former, all these
blessings. But it is this practical difference, phrase
it as we may, that is so emphasized in Holy Scrip
ture. It was a difference wide enough between prom
ise and possession, to call forth God's utter displeasure
of old. It is a difference wide enough now, between
what He has given us in Christ, and what we have
received in'Him, to leave room for holy fear of exceed
ing loss. The poor man may call himself rich the
moment he hears of the estate bequeathed him ; but
it still profits him nothing till he has obtained it; as
we find, indeed, the bequest itself declares : " Every
place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that
have I given unto you."
There is, however, another distinction to be drawn
between the Travellers and the Wanderers ; between
the Travellers following Him who leadeth them about
even with all their lingering, and who will speedily
bring them to the Border of the Land ; and the Wan
derers turning back in unbelief and disobedience to
spend all their lives in that wilderness — always com
ing snort.
As to the manner of this failure, the analogy is very

54 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
close between theirs and ours. It came about then,
by their pausing to prove the promises of God by
human opinion. When God said, "Go up all of you
and possess the land," they said, " Nay, but we will
let twelve of our foremost men go up first, and bring
us word about it, and we will abide by their judg
ment." And it is still, through leaning to the word of
man, instead of listening singly to the voice of God,
that we expose ourselves to further temptation.
But how justly responsible were they held, who let
their own faithless fears turn back the multitude !
Do the ministers of Christ, indeed, understand what
it means to be set for the defence of the Gospel ?
Do they all remember that only as they are taught
by the Holy Spirit, can they possibly teach spiritual
truth ? Do not some of them assume the guidance
of immortal souls, when with a like lack of knowledge
they would never dream of steering a ship upon the
seas? And what is the report which they bring of our
Land of Promise ? As they stand before the people,
do they cheer them on, by telling them what good
things are in reserve for them, and how sure God is
to give them to all that seek ?
We touch upon a most vital theme when we ask,
What is the ministry of this age?
There is one sort more prevalent than is suspeated,
in which Christ and His doctrines are made subordi
nate—often one may hope unconsciously — to philoso-

THE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. ec-
phy, erudition, and rhetoric. The only place which
is left for the Gospel, is that of a prologue, or a perora
tion, or sometimes even a parenthesis. The sadness
of it is, that such sermons are often preached with
much acceptance ; and the sorrow of it is, they are
sometimes preached by, apparently, earnest and sin
cere men, who are trammeled by training, or what
they suppose to be the demands of the age. They
are men it may be of many gifts ; but none the less
is the hearer left like the poor starved Traveller in
the fable, who found a pilgrim's pouch beside a well,
and cried, " Here is my food !" but as he opened it,
he sighed, " Alas ! they are only pearls !" O ye who
teach the people, — tricking out the Truth of God in all
your finery that she may pass with credit — trust her
in her white-robed simplicity. Have you not some
times seen with shame how the homely, wholesome
barley-loaf was eagerly eaten, when all your fine con
fections failed !
But passing by this class, and coming to the de
voted men who desire to be utterly faithful in their
stewardship — do they tell of these spiritual privi
leges ? Do they seek — " striving mightily " — to
present every man perfect in Christ Jesus ? Do not
even these falter ? Or, if the fulness of Christ be
proclaimed, is it not often as a study for our admira
tion ? If the beauty of holiness be. delineated, is it
not as one of the lost Arts ? Is it often preached not
only as a possible, but a probable attainment ?

56 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
There is a reason for this neglect, which" may be
assigned the more freely, as it would be the reason
often given by God's servants themselves — that they
have no. such experience ; and that they can not
really expect their hearers to be influenced by mere
precept. A joint reason might be added, that they do
"not see around them the living examples of such truth.
At the same time there can be little doubt that
many most honestly hold back, because they have
proved some flaw in the teaching, or some falsity in
the life, of those who have attempted to present the
higher truths of the Gospel. They are thus far right,
that of all shams, that of Sanctification is the most
sickening — of all hollow pretences, that of holiness is
most fearful. , But all falsities, all crudities, by which
man may surround the Truth, do not for a moment
make that Truth itself less real or less lovely.
Of old, they were ten against two, who brought the
evil report, and discouraged the hearts of the people.
What a warning against being guided by majorities
in the things of God, or entrusting His cause to a
human jury ! Has He not said, " Let God be true
and .every man a liar !"
Yet the Lord does not so leave His truth to be
utterly deserted. He had His two witnesses even
then. And who now ever cares to remember those
other ten ? Their names are put on record, but are
read unheeded — Caleb and Joshua are alone remem
bered and honored. Their nobility and their fidelity

THE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. 57
make every kindred chord throughout our hearts to
vibrate. Surely no other two than they could have
borne upon their shoulders those grapes of Eshcol !
Bringing their good report they brought its proof
also. The Lord be praised that He ever reserves
such witnesses. In every age there have been those
who not only spoke glorious things of the City of
God, but showed in their lives the choicest fruits of
the Spirit. True, men instead of tasting their grapes,
try to stone them with stones. They are ready to
fling their hard thoughts and hard speeches against
them for a time, but in the end they trust them.
But while such is the responsibility of the leaders
of the people, there is another resting upon all. It
is no real excuse to say as they did of old, " Our
brethren have discouraged our heart," since our re
sponsibility is this : — " Yet in this thing ye did not
believe the Lord your God."
There are few Christians who appear to understand
how fatal a sin is distrust. They are very apt to re
gard it as at worst an amiable weakness, while the
real stamp of it is this : "He that belicveth not God
hath made Him a liar."* We try to disguise this
doubting of God and His Word, by claiming that it
is only doubt of ourselves ; that in our case, God's
Word still remaining true, there are such very practi
cal difficulties that it can not be fulfilled ; forgetting
that these promises of God were addressed to man as
* 1 John v. 10.
3*

58 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
he is, in all the weakness and disadvantage of his
fallen nature, and that nothing in our own constitu
tion or circumstances can be any hindrance to the
mighty power of God.
What if we should begin to discount human prom
ises as we do these Divine pledges ? We see at once
that we could do no greater wrong to the friends who
love us. Every doubting of God's Word is a distinct
step towards atheism — for if we take away from our
thought of God our confidence in His love, or power,
or truthfulness, what is there left to receive the name
of God ? Yet Christians who would be shocked be
yond measure at the thought of committing such sins
as either theft or falsehood, commit with scarcely a
thought of wrong, this great sin of making God a liar!
And then as He lets it happen to them according to
their fears, they are foolish enough to accept this as
a confirmation that they were right in their judgment.
And because He still keeps over them His fatherly
care, they are presumptuous enough to think that
there is nothing so greatly amiss in their present
position. And thus there are those who will tell you that the
Church of Christ was never more flourishing than
now. They are ready to prove it by statistics of all
sorts. Busy with their counting, they forget the ways
of God, and see not the fingers that silently write
amid their boasting, " Thou art weighed in the bal
ances, and art found wanting." The Laodicean sign

THE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. eg
of entire satisfaction with themselves is fulfilled.
They appeal to "the wealth and solid worldly stand
ing of their organizations, and say complacently,
"We are Tich and increased with goods." Success
is their idol, and spirituality is set at naught. Mean
time they seem blinded as to the final effect of such
a low state of Christian attainment upon the world,
and forget how powerless to win souls is a Church that
is not Christ-like !
But along with the classes thus indicated, there is
a large and daily increasing number, who earnestly
desire some better thing ; who have never assumed
for themselves any such position of unfaithfulness,
but simply find themselves involved in the general
shortcoming. They are bent upon wholly following
the Lord their God, if only He will show them His
way, and lead them out of their perplexities. For
all such may the blessed lessons that follow in the
Book of Joshua be as a message from the living God.
May He send out His light and truth, and guide
them, and bring them to this land of blessing.
And now let some of these suggestions be still
further enforced by a simple sequel to the fable that
closed the preceding chapter.
Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, is sitting at the
hour of the evening sacrifice in his tent door. Lean
ing upon his staff, he is watching with dim eyes the
smoke of the Altar as it rises against the westward

60 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
sky. Suddenly he is startled by a voice : " Art thou
Nahshon the Prince of Judah?"
And he answered, " I am he, but I can not behold
thy face. Tell me whence thou comest, and where
fore." And the voice made answer, " I am Suli, from the
land of Egypt. Dost thou not remember that eight
and thirty years ago, I did eat bread in thy tent ?
Suffer me again to salute thee."
" Thou* art welcome, O Suli, and it pleaseth me
that thou hast turned thy feet hither once more
while I am yet alive."
" I thank thee for thy welcome, O Prince, but I
can not say in truth that I also am pleased to find thee*
where thou art. Despise not my pity, but I remem
ber thy expectation of that ' good land and large,' as
thou didst love to call it. Yet thou hast only shared
the common doom of man. He is born to hope and
disappointment. But thy sorrow, O Nahshon, is great
beyond that of most ! "
" Nay, Suli, thou art mistaken. I do not need thy
pity. Hast thou not heard how great a nation we
are become ? When I was set over the house of
Judah, they were but threescore and fourteen thou
sand and six hundred, and behold how greatly my
own tribe has multiplied. See, also, how large are
the camps of Issachar and Zebulun, who do pifch
with me. Whereas those that are numbered in the
camp of Ephraim are nearly fourscore thousand less.

THE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. gj
My own tribe has always taken the lead in our march.
All this rejoiceth my heart."
" But I see not, O Nahshon, how this can comfort
thee under the failure of which I spake."
" Failure, didst thou say ? Suli, thou art mistaken.
I do assure thee we have had great success. Behold,
now, our Tabernacle. When I made my first offer
ing therein, I gave one silver charger, the weight
whereof was an hundred and thirty shekels. Like
wise a silver bowl of seventy shekels. I filled them,
moreover, with fine flour and oil, and gave with them
a golden spoon full of incense : and one and twenty
sacrifices, for burnt-offerings, and sin-offerings, and
peace-offerings. Likewise did all the Princes. When
I had first made mine own offering, no man of them
all offered less."
" But thou art telling me of things that happened
long since. I did hear of this offering of thine as I
left thy tent before."
" Let me tell thee, then, of our present prosperity.
Didst thou behold as thou earnest the cattle of Reu
ben and of Gad upon the pastures of Bashan ? It is
a land they say that excelleth for cattle, and their
flocks and their herds have greatly multiplied."
" Thou dost not, O Nahshon, understand my
thought. I spake concerning men, and not of cat
tle." '
" Hast thou not, then, regarded the order of our
camp ? Behold our men of war — how they are trained

62 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
to great skill ! Behold the discipline that is observed
through all the host ! "
" I have observed all these things this day ; but
still I can but judge that all this training is only to
be accounted of as the means unto some end. I do
not behold an end that is worthy of it. With all
these men of war you have not been able to enter
that land."
" But hast thou -considered, O Suli, what a train
ing this manner of life is for us ? Have we no need
to be taught patient waiting and submission ? It is
a part of our belief that our shortcomings work to
gether in the end for good. We are kept humble by
this proving. Who knoweth how our heart might
have been lifted up in pride had we dwelt upon the
other side of Jordan ? "
" How is it, O Nahshon, that in all this thou dost
not speak of thy God ? Thou didst ever make men
tion of Him, and not of thyself, when I did enter
thy tent before. Is He still the God whom thou
dost worship ? "
" The same, O Suli ! and He forgiveth us oft."
" Thou art wise, O Nahshon, and thy people with
thee, to make the best of this failure, but it seemeth
to me that thou art not wise when thou sayest that
all is well with thee. Suffer me to ask one question
further of thee. If, when Moses came to call you,
he had only given you the promise of your God to
bring you out of Egypt, and had said nothing at all

THE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF. g,
of Canaan, but, furthermore, had told you plainly
that you would spend forty years in the Desert,
would you have followed him ? Thinkest thou he
could have roused the nation without so great a
promise ? "
" Thou hast spoken rightly, and therein, as it seem
eth to me, was the wisdom of such a promise. We
needed to set out with high hopes. There was time
enough to learn afterwards to give them up, and to
take the other blessings of which I spake."
" How sayest thou, O Nahshon ! Is thy God then a
Deceiver, who must deal falsely with you to draw you
on ? Surely, thou didst tell me, eight and thirty
years ago, that He had given you such a promise,
and that He would without fail give you that Land."
" I marvel, O Suli, that thou dost not understand
this. The Land is ours. The promise is the same.
None of us for a moment doubt it. In all our holy
songs we still sing about it. We speak of it some
times to one another, that it is ours by right, for God
hath given it to us. And, indeed, the only trouble
is that while we know it to be our home, we have not
yet reached it."
" Nay, Nahshon, if this be thy philosophy, it is
falsely so called ; for surely not to possess that which
we have been promised, is worse than any poverty
whatsoever. Thy words as thou speakest now, do
contradict all whereof thou didst once assure me.
One word thou spakest then — the saying of thy father

64 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
Abraham — hath ever been borne in mind by me as
the sublimest speech mine ears have ever heard —
' What God hath promised He is able also to per
form ! ' Not until then had I ever heard of a God of
real power, who had never failed to help His worship
ers. A strange whisper sounded through my soul, ' This
is that unknown God for whom thou seekest ! ' Yet
have I wandered on, over many lands, having resolved
to spend my days in seeking after that which is true,
and to make out what I might of this great riddle of
life, and to learn of those mysterious beings, whom we
see not, but who no less clearly seem to exist. And
now I had come back to thy people as the people of
the True and Living God. But from that which thou
hast told me, I perceive that thou wast mistaken.
Even He is not true! All others, I am well per
suaded, are false ; and now I must die, despairing of
ever knowing whether there be a God that has power
upon earth or no. Thou mayest be satisfied for thy
self, but thou hast made the heart of thy servant
sad." " Stay, stay, my friend ! Thou dost force me to
confess that which I should have told thee at the first.
Our God was faithful and true ; but we ourselves
became disobedient, and refused to enter the land
because of our fears. Therefore are all we who are
men to die in the wilderness ; and our children are
yet to possess it, if they be willing and obedient.
Only a few remain among the living, and already, as

THE FAILURE OF UNBELIEF.

65

thou seest, O Suli ! is my strength decaying before
my time. So soon as the last of us hath departed,
they will cross over Jordan and possess that land. I
rejoice for the sake of my children, for far be it from
them to live the life which I have lived. I can only
trust that we may render this service to our God ;
that all who follow will be warned by our example,
what a fearful thing and bitter it is not to believe in
the word of our God. Surely all generations to come
will point the finger at us as they say, ' Take heed
lest ye also come short after this example of unbe
lief.' I must die, but may thy life, O Suli ! be spared
to see with thine own eyes what glorious things the
Lord Dur God can do. And then, surely, thou wilt
cast it1, thy lot with this people, and thou wilt say,
' This God shall be my God for ever and ever. He
is true and faithful altogether.' "

CHAPTER III.
CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP.
"l\ if OSES MV SERVANT IS DEAD. NOW, THERE-
iVl FORE, ARISE, GO OVER THIS JORDAN, THOU
4.ND ALL THIS PEOPLE." — {Joshua i. 2).
In the lessons which are drawn in Holy Scripture
from various events, there seems little care to bring
even the moral antecedents into unity with the one
point which supplies the instruction. In reality,
Moses was excluded from the promised land because
he spake unadvisedly with his lips. But in accord
with Christ's own manner of teaching,* we are at
perfect liberty to ttraw a lesson from his removal to
give place to Joshua, as though this cause had not
existed. Unquestionably his death at this critical
period, and the raising up of a new leader whose
very name anticipated Jesus,f were designed to teach

* See, for instance, the Parables of the Friend at Midnight, and
the Unjust Judge.
t " Instead of Hosea, i. e., help, which he was already called
as the delegate of his tribe, Moses named him, with little change,
of the sound, but with an important addition to the sense, Jehos-
hua, i. e., God help." — Ewald.
" Such a union of mildness with strength, of simplicity with
(66)

CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. fa
Us the separate spheres of Law and Grace — " The
Law was given by Moses, but Grace and Truth came
by Jesus Christ." *
As they could not possibly enter Canaan until Moses
had died, so the Law is in one sense a hindrance. It
can never introduce us into the fulness of the bless
ing of the Gospel of Christ. It must not only die,
but be buried, and all the days of its mourning
must be ended. It might be objected to such an
application of these facts, that had the people en
tered Canaan from Kadesh-Barnea, Moses would in
that case have been their leader. But the same ex
ception might be taken to many an inspired com
ment. The bare event itself, apart from cause or
circumstances, is counted sufficient for " the analog}'
of faith."
And this special lesson, though not drawn for us
by any inspired writer, is in the fullest harmony with
their teaching. The whole Epistle to the Galatians
is an earnest adjustment of the relations of Law and
Grace — Works and Faith — Moses and Christ. One
of the most important sections of the Epistle to the

prudence, of humility with magnanimity, has in it something
evangelical. This peculiarity of his character, together with the
peculiarity of the period in the kingdom of God in which he
lived, and of the position which be took, makes him and his
work a" rich type of Him that was to come." — E. R. Fay : —
Lange's Com.
* John i. 17.

68 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
Romans deals with the same subject, entering into
some of its deepest difficulties. In both of these
Epistles the truth that is taught has special reference,
not to conversion, but to Christian life. It is, in- fact,
at some of the advancing stages of his course, that
the disciple begins to find his need of such strong
protests against the law. The usual tendency is to
run well for a season, and then to be hindered.
And while many other things may at first cause the
failure of God's children to enter their glorious in
heritance, there can be no doubt that subsequently,
by far the greatest hindrance is their legality.
The moment that faith ceases to look unto Jesus,
it loses all that heavenly vision that lies above the
horizon ; and as the eye is still lowered, and the
glance shortened, there is only self for it to rest
upon ; — not always self in its indulgent forms, but
self in its sufficiency ; self even in its denials ; self
in all its solitary struggles. The history of many a
Christian has for its chief data his so-called holy reso
lutions. So blinded are the victims of this legality that they
never dream of such a snare being set for them. They
find themselves convicted of failure. Stirred up by
fthe power of the Spirit, the will is aroused from its
carelessness, and returns to its loyalty to God. And
then it begins to act in its own strength. It "says to
itself, " It shall no longer be thus ; I will from this
.moment lead a better and nobler life ; I will put

CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. gg
forth all my efforts, and surely God will help me."
And so this poor, humbled will regains its own self-
respect. It begins to build up a .reputation for itself
It does not see that this is self-reliance and not
Faith. Greatly to its astonishment it finds that it does not
sustain this purpose. And now to its solemn resolu
tions it adds its vows. It v/ill bind itself to God's
will so that it can not break away. And lo ! the
vow is vanity. Now it adds intenser effort — " I must
wrestle — I must struggle — it can not be that I am to
go down before* the puny power of these petty pas
sions — that the things which I despise should yet
master me." It is confounded when it finds that all
these efforts only seem to call out the strength of its
foe. Seeing that the battle is, indeed, desperate, it
betakes itself more earnestly to prayer, but not to the
prayer of simple trust. It is only a varied exercise
of its own energy. It is only fulfilling one more of
the many works which it is told it must perform. Its
reliance is really more upon prayer than upon God.
It is in utter consternation when it finds that even
yet its help cometh not; What further can it do ?
It catches a watchword, " Believe only !" Ah ! surely
it has found the secret now ! and leaving all else it
will do this alone. Yes, it will believe, and it puts
forth its last tremendous energy in what it calls an
act of trust, but still self-originated, self-centred.
Thus eveiy stepping-stone which God has furnished

70 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
by which Faith may draw nigh to Him, Legality
turns into a stone of stumbling. Its provided helps
become its hindrances, and only by repeated defeat
does it learn that the law is but a standard, and never
strength. It brings with it no power to fulfil itself,
and so becomes weak, indeed, through the flesh.
To say that it finds no ability in man to keep it,
would be to deny all moral responsibility. To some
extent it finds man able to observe in it its letter.
But as the Law becomes Spiritual, as its significance
unfolds, as the Law given at Sinai is expounded on
the Mount, as it claims the thoughts and intents of
the heart, it finds the utmost strength of man unequal
to it. However meeting some of its requirements,
yet in others failing, he is -with all his care a trans
gressor. And the wretchedness of this failure is that he does
not do this evil thing of choice. To will the good
is present with him, but how to perform it he finds
not. It is another law warring within him, and bring
ing him into captivity. He is like the strong man
upon whom insidious disease is creeping. His task
is before him, and he applies himself without a mis
giving of failure. A strange languor drags him down.
He is not doing it as he ought, and again he bestirs
himself. And as he still fails, he goads himself on
even with violence. But at last the law of disease
asserts its full might, and he falls powerless. Sin is a
disease. It works through all our nature like a poi-

CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. ?l
son. The claims of the law were adjusted to health ;
and while under this disturbance there is the constant
and inevitable failure to meet them all. The sick man
must be healed before he can possibly fulfil the tasks
of health.
Or, it is as when the frosts of winter still hold in
their death-like grasp the trees of the forest and the
seeds in the bosom of the earth. A law of growth
has been given them. But this other law utterly
opposes it. You place the perfect seed in the soil,
and you ask it to fulfil the law of its being. It can
not, until the soft showers have touched it, until the
quickening rays of the sun have reached it. This law
of growth is dependent upon powers that are to reach
it from above. By itself it is a prisoner forever.
And so at last, man learns that the great law of his
spiritual being is, that he shall live by Faith. He learns
that his life is always derived, and always dependent.
He learns that a power outside of himself, even the
power of Christ, must be brought to bear steadily
upon him, and so control him continually, if he ever
fulfils his destiny. As he needed once a Ju.stifier, so
he always needs a Sanctifier.
When he sees at last that the help must be a Liv
ing Helper, when he ceases to ask, " What shall I
do ?" and cries instead, " Who shall deliver me ?" he
is very near his only possible answer—" Jesus Christ
our Lord." He wages an unequal warfare till the
law of sin and death is met by " the law of the spirit

72

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

of life in Christ Jesus." When this mighty Ally
enters, the Usurper is mastered, and the soul is made
free. Henceforth weak as ever in itself, it learns what it
is to be " strengthened with might by the Spirit in
the inner man." Such words as, " Christ liveth in
me," are now no vague and mystic speech, but the
simplest expression of absolute truth. The death of
Moses marked a new epoch. But it marks a more
wondrous epoch in the history of our souls when we
give up the law as our Leader, and are given over
fully to the power of Jesus. In some respects it is a
critical change * for we need thoroughly to under-

* Olshausen's clear spiritual insight becomes especially power
ful in his treatment of this subject — as, for instance, in these few
detached passages : " The lofty aim of man, the diKatoavvri Oeov,
is to be obtained without law through faith in Christ. By the
X<->pk vo/iov, however, as is self-evident, it is not intended to ex
press a renunciation of the law, for the law is holy and good,
and necessary for all phases of life, but to designate the altered
position in which man stands to the law  The condition
in which man is thoroughly one with the law, even as our Lord
tells us God Himself is, constitutes exactly that Sutaioafori Benv,
to which faith brings us, because through faith man receives the
being of God into the depths of his soul"
" That which is new in the Gospel does not consist in a more
excellent system of morality, but in this, that the Gospel opens a
new source of strength, by means of which true morality is at
tainable." " The death of the faithful in' the old man is connected with
the death of the Redeemer, so that His death was their death,
and did not merely prefigure it  As little as the wife may

CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. 73
stand that thus we do "not make void the law," but
ever " establish the law," till the righteousness of the
law is fulfilled in us.
Life is its own law. Lifeless things are fashioned
from without. The Masterpiece of Architecture must
be led slowly up — shaped with line and plummet, and
squared and measured continually; and meanwhile,
a tiny seed shall, without line or measure; or the touch
of a human hand upon it, or the outward application
of any law, shape itself into the perfect grace and
symmetry of a forest tree. How it mocks all art !
Art may copy its arching, interlacing boughs, Art
may shape its lordly pillars also ; but how shall it

wantonly separate from her husband, since his death is requisite
for her liberation : so little may the " I " free itself from the law
as long as the old man is living. If this is done, therefore, as is
always the case where a mere seeming faith prevails, it is a
spiritual adultery, the lust after false freedom, that is, licentious
ness, lawlessness. The liberation from the law rightly takes
place only where the new man arose in the stead "of the old,
where, therefore, Christ is truly living in the man. There is no
licentiousness, for Christ brings with Him the strictest law where
soever He works ; but the yoke of the law is removed by that
love which is shed into the hearts. This love urges to do more
than the law requires, and to fulfil every act with purer intention
than the most threatening law can demand. For love is insa
tiable. She never satisfies herself and the Beloved ; she burns
on till with her fire she glows through the whole heart ard
being, and has sacrificed her all to the Beloved. After this
manner works the Gospel all in man without law, although it
exacts nothing from him, but only promises, and gives to him."
— Olshausen on the Romans {Clark's Edition), pp. 143-231.
4

74 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
ever carve out those countless leaves, and keep them
moving lightly in their airy dance ! It is a thing of
life. Its law was hidden in itself, and yet how true
to law. The pattern once given by God to the parent
stock is faithfully reproduced. Thousands of years
ago God said, " Let the earth bring forth the fruit
tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in
itself, and it was so." And it is still so. That which
we watch with wonder is the continuous creation of
God. And such is the manner of that inward law by
which fallen man comes to be "renewed after the
image of Him that created him." Born again of in- .
corruptible seed, it must develop in the likeness of
that from which it is derived. " Whosoever is born
of God doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth
in him: and he. can not sin, because he is born of
God."* It is a strong statement, but it is held to
truthfulness by all the analogy of nature. It is the
glorious law of the Spirit of Life. Wherever Christ
is allowed to come, He comes with creative power,
both killing and making alive. He comes in to be
Himself all in all. He comes into our being with
His Edict, " Behold, I make all things new !"
As a striking preparation for the removal of Moses,
we find him in renewed authority. Deuteronomy is
composed almost entirely of his words. There all
God's dealings with His Chosen pass in solemn re-
* i John iii. 9.

CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. 75
view. Then the Law is recapitulated, but with a
significant change that may well be stamped in the
title of the Book as a Second Law. It is given now
not so much in threatening as in blessing. Richer
promises cluster around it. It constantly anticipates
the life of Israel in the Land of Promise. It is the
Law less in its letter and more in its spirit ; as, for
instance, in the sixth chapter, where all the com
mandments are headed up in one that so wonderfully
anticipates the Gospel : " Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy might."* The purpose of the Law
, stands out more clearly — "for thy good alway." And
at length the Law clothes itself with the soft tints of
the morning, and almost- shines with the same glory
that shines in the face of Jesus Christ, as God is
spoken of as having a delight in them to love them,
and as rejoicing over them for good.
And in this is prefigured the pathway by which the
soul passes out into the fulness of Grace. A Deuter
onomy is as needful a preparation as Sinai. The Dis
ciple of the Law has not outgrown his tutelage till,
from the mere use of rules, he passes to the deep
principles that underlie them. The Law thus even
revives in preparation for its passing, and with less
of terror, and more of love, makes its claims to be
more imperatively felt than ever.
And now it is almost ready to depart ; and yet one
* Deut. vi. 5.

j6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
thing remains to be done. There has come through
all this discipline, this leading on and on, the most
intense desire to reach the goal. Shall it have no
glimpse of all the grace it has been ministering unto ?
Even so Moses entreated the Lord — " I pray thee let
me go over and see the good land that is beyond
Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon."
And so he stood upon the top of Pisgah, while the
Lord, who stood beside him ready to give him burial,
showed him all the land. The eye that was not dim
received, doubtless, some new power as God bade him
look — " This is the land which I sware unto Abraham,
unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it un- ¦
to thy seed ; I have caused thee to see it with thine
eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. "*
Not then, and not until his Lord summoned him
from that valley sepulchre which none else knew, to
climb another mountain, and appear there with a fel
low-servant who had not tasted even death as he was
taken up — both of them sharing now in their Lord's
transfiguration ; talking not of that mystic burial,
not of that mysterious chariot of fire, but of that
decease yet to be accomplished at Jerusalem. When
Christ is glorified, Law and Prophecy appear with
Him in glory ; yet in such wise that their light is
speedily absorbed in His, and the eyes that look see
" JESUS ONLY," and the ears that hearken are bidden
to " hear Him."
* Deut. xxxiv. .4,

CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. jj
In the first command that reaches Joshua after the
death of Moses, we find an expression full of mean
ing — " Thou and all this people." Throughout the
Book we never find the Lord speaking directly to the
nation ; but as the " Lord spake unto Joshua," so " he
spake unto the people." It had been thus since they
said unto Moses, " Speak thou with us and we will
hear; but let not God speak with us lest we die."*
But not only is Joshua the mediator between the Lord
and Israel, in the same manner that Moses was, but
we find now a new identification between the Leader
and People : He is included with them and they with
him. " Go thou over this Jordan ;" — " Be thou
strong and very courageous;" — "I have given into
thine hand Jericho." In all these charges the people
also are signified, but as represented in him. And
so the Record is fitly called, not the Acts of the
Israelites, but the Book of Joshua. One person is
pre-eminent. The spiritual truth with which this is in harmony
is of exceeding importance. Our Gospel is the Gos
pel of Jesus Christ, not of any truth or blessing apart
from Him. Standing as the Mediator between God
and Man, not only has He entered into heaven for
us, but also in every step of His pathway He took
us with Him, saying evermore to His Father, " Behold
I and the children whom thou hast given Me !" f
And He did this not ideally, but in a sense as true
*Ex. xx. 19. tHeb. ii. 13.

78 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
as it is deep. That which was true of the parent
tree, is true of its branches. We do not assign one
age to its trunk and another to its twigs. We speak
of it as a unit. This same continuity of life belongs
to mankind. Thus St. Paul speaks of Levi paying
tithes in Abraham. So, also, he says, " I HAVE BEEN
crucified zvith Christ." So he reasons that if " One
died for all, therefore, all died'' So he teaches us to
reckon our rising into newness of life from His
resurrection — " Ye were also raised again WITH
Him."*
To Jesus was given the glorious work of conquer
ing a possession for all His people. As the Prince
of Faith, He passed through death to life, and took
and held for us the heavenly heights of all spiritual
blessing. Putting Himself as one of us, and speak
ing as the Head of the whole Body, He declared,
" For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also
might be sanctified through the truth. "f
So, then, the work of sanctification is primarily to
be Regarded as that which Jesus has already done, not
as that which we have yet to do. The completion
* " If Christ took our nature upon Him by an act of love, it
was not that of one, but of all. He was not one man only
among men, but in Him all humanity was gathered up. And
thus now, as at all time, mankind are, so to speak, organic
ally united with Him. His acts are in a true sense our acts, so
far as we realize the union ; His death is our death, His resurrec
tion our resurrection." — Westcott's Gospel of the Resurrection,
t John xiii. 19.

CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP. »g
of it is simply this, that we apprehend that for which
we were apprehended by Jesus Christ.
Thus, in Christ, Christian experience is no longer
problematical. It is only the corollary of faith fol
lowing from the truth which He has demonstrated.
The intellectual apprehension of this truth, how
ever easy to some, appears to be extremely difficult
to others. Yet its spiritual apprehension makes it
simple to all. Let it once be clearly recognized by
faith, and we stand forthwith upon new ground. No
longer on the shifting sands of our narrow selfhood,
we tread the Rock of Ages in all its breadth and
strength. It happens with this truth more often, perhaps,
than with others, that we think ourselves perfectly
familiar with it, while knowing very little of it. In
its real revelation to our souls there can be no mis
taking it. It is no longer a theory at which we look,
but a Power that, like the living Creature in the
wheels, lifts us up and bears us ever onward.
" Thou, and all this people." — " Christ first, after
wards they that are Christ's." And so our career is
already certified, being only this, to follow Him whith
ersoever He goeth. God's promise links togethei
the Leader and his followers when He declares,
" Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread
upon, that have I given unto you."* The feet of
Jesus have outstripped our feet ; but every place
* Josh. i. 3.

80 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
whereon His blessed feet have rested, is already con
quered, and is ours as well as His. Life, death, things
present, things to come, all are ours, for we are Christ's.
Far above us, up the heights we slowly climb, we see
His standard set already. " We see not yet all things
put under us, but we see JESUS crowned with glory
and honor." Since He is s5ated there, our place is
there — at Sion, not at Sinai.
We set at naught all this work of Christ, when we
go back to Moses, and with him exceedingly fear and
quake before the terrible sight, and the trumpet of
the Law. How has our Captain charged us, — " See
that ye refuse not Him that now speaketh from
Heaven." See that ye believe His truth and grace.
See that ye trust Him, and let the exceeding fear
give place to the exceeding joy of ever looking unto
Jesus, the Prince and Perfecter of Faith.

CHAPTER IV.
the boundary line.
"^THEgood land that is beyond Jordan."
¦I — {Deut. iii. 25).
The crossing of Jordan was to be the great initia
tive of the Conquest. All the events of their future
were focalized at this point, and, therefore, thither
their eyes were always directed. " When ye be come
over Jordan," was the fitting introduction of many a
precept. The wisdom of God is very apparent in
leading His people out of Egypt by the way of the
Red Sea, appointing that as the memorable boundary
of the land of bondage, and there " baptizing them
unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." It is the
counterpart of this act to give them now a like bap
tism in Jordan — committing them, by another marked
display of His power, to the leadership of Joshua,
and bringing them in with an arm outstretched as
wide as when He brought them out. The two cross
ings stand thus coupled in the second Psalm of the
Hallel, as similar displays of the presence and power
of God — ¦ " What ailed thee, O thou Sea, that thou
fleddest, thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back !" *
* Ps. cxiv. 5.
4* (81)

82 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
Elsewhere, we find an omission of the crossing of
Jordan as significant as this special mention of it.
In that sublime chapter in Hebrews, where the heroes
of the kingdom pass along their triumphal way of
Faith, there is a sudden hiatus of forty years, leaving
two remote events in conjunction : " By faith they
passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, which
the Egyptians assaying to do, were drowned. By
faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were
compassed about seven days."* Up to this point
each important step had been noted ; but the Apostle
would not turn aside to trace the by-ways of unbe
lief; no, not even to glance at that step of faith
which ended them. The record with this silence
restores the true order of experience. Had there
been no wandering, there would have been no Jor
dan to cross.
In harmony with this we find that the Epistles
which describe so fully the doctrines of Christ, never
teach that any second marked experience is needful
to follow conversion save this — after they had be
lieved, to be " sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,"
which was the earnest of their inheritance^ The
route which they marked out for every traveller ran
direct to Kadesh-Barnea. Besides this, such was the
faith of the early disciples, that they could be usually
addressed as those who were already in heavenly
places, although very far, in some instances, from
* Heb. xi. 29, 30. f Eph. i. 13, 14.

THE BO UNDAR Y LINE. 8 3
having conquered all their enemies, and from possess
ing all the land. The counsel adapted to them is
precisely that which we need, as we come to take the
same stand of faith. But until then we need another
lesson. Thus, in the case of giving counsel to a for
eigner already landed on our shore, we would say
nothing about the sea. Whereas, were he on the other
side, we would speak first of the most pressing point
— how to cross. Such crossing over is unquestionably
the great need of the majority of Christians ; not to
make some slight change in their course, but to get
upon new ground.
And yet there may for many be other needs, lying
back of this. Some may have accomplished their
Exodus who have not learned Leviticus ; — who have
not come to worship God in spirit and in truth.
Others, again, have never passed through Numbers
— have never declared their pedigree and claimed
their adoption. Others who have come thus far
have stopped short of Deuteronomy. Having drawn
back in unbelief and lost their vantage ground, they
have never been roused to have the law revived in
their hearts, and pressing its claims upon them with
all the more force, for all that they have learned of .
the goodness of God. Some, indeed, there seem to
be, who have even forgotten that there is a Land of
Promise before them. They have neither climbed a
Pisgah for themselves, nor believed the report that
has been brought by others. *

84

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

Doubtless much of the failure of those who think
for a time that they have found the desired blessing,
only to learn their mistake, is the result of neglecting
this preliminary teaching. Their need is deeper than
is apprehended by themselves or others. It is in vain
to think of crossing over Jordan, until God has pre
pared us to conquer and to hold the land ; and how
can this be done, unless we know assuredly that He
is ours and that we are His ? Happily, these ante
cedent steps, while all- important to be taken, may
be rapidly taken ; and still more happily, a large
number of Christians are prepared to take them as
soon as they are clearly pointed out. These are
steps of comparative ease ; but the step which now
more specially claims our attention, is one that no
human foot can take by itself. God Himself must
make the pathway here ; and when it is made, His
wonderful work will be coupled forever, in our
thoughts and in our songs, with His first great work
for us : " The Sea saw it and fled ! Jordan was
driven back ! "
What then does Jordan signify? and what more
does it teach us than was signified in the Red Sea
crossing? St. Paul has taught us that the fathers
were " baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the
sea." * It was a shadow of that substance concerning
which he writes — " Buried with Him in baptism,
wherein also ye are risen with Him." The Lamb
* i Cor. x. 2.

THE BO UNDAR Y LINE. g 5
with its sprinkled blood had set forth one all-impor
tant aspect of salvation— that of Atonement ; while
the Red Sea crossing was needed to set forth another
no less important — Regeneration. With this — their
baptism — the old life ended and the new life began.
That crossing corresponded to conversion or the New
Birth, of which Baptism now in its form and spirit is
both the symbol and the seal.
The Red Sea and Jordan alike signify Baptism, in
its double meaning of Death and Resurrection. Yet
they differ in this, that the Red Sea gives prominence
to the Death, and Jordan to the Resurrection. The
one marked the end of bondage— the other the en
trance upon true freedom. Strictly, speaking, the two
events have but one Antitype — the Death and Resur
rection of Jesus. Objectively they are one. But sub
jectively, in our own death and resurrection with
Christ, the two events give each experience its fitting
emphasis. As one crossing took Israel out of Egypt,
and the other into Canaan— so with us, one separates
us from the world, the other leads into Heavenly
places. Again, this further . distinction appears : at
the Red Sea they were baptized unto Moses ; that
is, unto fellowship with him in that faith by which
he had forsaken Egypt, and unto following him. At
Jordan they were committed to Joshua — precisely as
we follow the Law-giver, while it is the death of
Christ that is mainly recognized, and then when we
see more clearly the Risen Lord, we follow the Life-

86 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
giver. The great lesson of Jordan is the power of
Christ's Resurrection* to separate us not only from
Egypt, but from all wilderness wanderings, and to
secure -for us an entrance into Heavenly places. +
The significance of Jordan may appear more clear
from a glance at its hallowed associations. The Scrip
tures often use mere locality as the link of spiritual .
truths. A singular instance appears in the words,
" Out of Egypt have I called my Son," as applied to
the sojourn of the infant Jesus in that land — the

* " Arise, sad heart, if thou dost not withstand,
Christ's resurrection, thine may be :
Do not by hanging down break from the hand,
Which, as it riseth, raiseth thee :
Arise, arise ;
And with His burial-linen dry thine eyes."
— George Herbert.
t " It is obvious to every thoughtful Christian, that a strong
link of connection exists between the crossing of the Red Sea
and of Jordan. It is found in the death and resurrection of the
Lord Jesus ; but there are two effects sensibly different and of
real importance, that we should distinguish.
" Regarded in the type of the Red Sea, it is simply setting us
apart to God from the world, making us pilgrims while we are
passing through it ; crossing the Jordan, or the death and resur
rection of Christ, in this point of view does far more. .It is the
power of that mighty work as bringing us into the possession
of our heavenly blessings before v/e go there. We are made
consciously of Heaven ; we have still to fight before the time is
come to rest. In both cases it is not that merely is Christ dead
and risen, but this applied to us by the Spirit." — Lectures Intro
ductory to the Historical Books, by W. Kelly, p. 4.

THE BO UNDAR Y LINE. g7
utter unlikeness of the. outward events forcing us to
seek for some more subtle accord.
Around the name of Jordan we find a group of
events which are in close alliance as to their inward
character. Jacob passed twice over Jordan — once as
the lonely pilgrim with his staff, and again returning
with his two bands. It was over Jordan that David
fled in the darkness of the night from Absalom ; and
to its banks he returned to be brought over it again
in state, as king of the very hearts of his people.
When Elijah was to be taken from Elisha, the two
stood by Jordan till Elijah with his mantle smote the
waters, and they went over on dry ground ; and again,
Elisha returned thither with a double portion of his
master's spirit upon him, and himself smote the
wafers, and passed safely through, as his first miracle.
In these instances, the first crossing is in poverty —
in defeat — in sorrow ; and the second, is in wealth —
in restoration — in triumph.
Again, this very. crossing of Jordan by the Israel
ites has another event as its companion. When Jacob
was carried back into Canaan to be buried, they went,
it is expressly noted, beyond Jordan to the threshing-
floor of Atad, lying between the river and Jericho.*
"There they mourned with a great and very sore
lamentation." The head of their nation was gone.
In the cave of Machpelah reposed the bones of Abra
ham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that sepulchre was their
* Gen. 1. 10.

88 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
sole possession in the land promised to each. The
nation turned back bereft to Egypt, not to come over
Jordan again, till multiplied beyond measure, they
went into Canaan as their home. National death
and national resurrection are signified in these two
crossings. Again, during the baptism of John, Jordan was the
significant stream selected. There they " confessed
their sins." They virtually declared themselves dead
in those sins by submitting to a rite known hitherto
only to aliens, in their acceptance of Judaism. Jesus
could not possibly join in this confession of sin, even
while by a like baptism he identified himself with the
sinner. Instead of this, there was a confession of His
righteousness from the opened heavens — " This is My
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." * Both
of these meanings are accordingly preserved in Chris
tian baptism — death of self unto sin, and resurrection
in Christ unto righteousness.
" Yet again, in these two crossings of the Red Sea
and Jordan, we may find the coupling of the offices
of Christ and His Spirit. The first gives no faint
foreshadowing of the power of His death and His
most precious blood. The second has significance in
its very name, " The Descender" or " flowing down."
The power of the Risen Lord was manifested chiefly
in the descent of the Holy Spirit. It was the out
pouring of-this gift that made the marvellous change
* Matt. iii. 17,

THE BOUNDARY LINE. gg
in the Disciples of Jesus, and it is still a distinct ex
perience from that of believing in the Lord Jesus for
the forgiveness of sins ; as is clearly taught, for ex
ample, in the question, " Have ye received the Holy
Ghost since ye believed ?" * and again, in this state
ment, " As yet He was fallen upon none of them ; only
they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." f
The close connection of the two appears in the charge,
" Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the
name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." %
Jordan signifies to us this baptism of the Holy
Spirit, or the power of Christ's resurrection : since
upon this and His subsequent glorification, the giv
ing of the Spirit depended. This Baptism of the
Spirit means far more than being bor?i of the Spirit.
The birth of Jesus identified Him with our human
nature ; His baptism in Jordan identified him still
further with our human lot of sin and suffering. So
does our birth of the Spirit make us partakers of His
divine nature, while the Baptism of the Spirit makes
us sharers of His righteousness, His joy, His power.
It is not merely life that is bestowed, but life more
abundantly. To attain fully to all that this resurrection implies,
is the life-work of each child of God — the " working
out " of his salvation. As the Resurrection of Jesus
ended in His glorification, so ours goes on to the
* Acls xix. 2. t Acts viii. 16. \ Acts. ii. 38.

90 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
same goal. It can not be completed till we reach
" the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ ;"
until we reach this with our entire being, even this
body of ours becoming like unto His glorious body.*
Therefore, the full appropriation of what Christ has
wrought for us must be a continuous work, and the
Baptism of the Spirit must be a life-long baptism,
coming not only once, like the early rain, but in
many a soft shower, and in silent successive dews of
night.

* ' ' This tendency to ignore the importance of the body, proceeds
from a general lack of insight into the Scriptural philosophy of
nature and of spirit. Those who do so are entirely wanting in
any profound apprehension of the process of salvation, by which,
according to Scripture, God is carrying on the world toward its
consummation. This process must extend to the corporeal world
as well as to the spiritual. For the victory of divine love over
all the powers of sin and death would not be /complete, if the body
of man were not once to be released from the bonds of death,
and raised into that glorious condition for which God has orig
inally destined it. Like all other terrestrial bodies, it is intended
one day to be entirely penetrated by the spirit — to be translated
into the glorious liberty of the children of God, and thus to be
transformed in light inwardly and outwardly (Rom. viii. 21-23 I
Phil. iii. 21 ; 2 Cor. iv. 10, etc.) And how otherwise could this
world-renewing process be begun, than by the resurrection and
transformation of that one Body over which death had no power
— the sinless body of Christ, the second Adam, in whom all are
to be made alive ? (1 Cor. xv. 22, et se.) In His resurrection " the
consummation of the world is anticipated." As in the nether
world Christ broke the bonds of spiritual death, so in His resur
rection He destroyed the organic power of death in the earthly
creation, and impregnated it (as an organism ; hence the dead

THE BO UNDAR Y LINE. QI
Thus we have the paradox of a work that is fin
ished, and yet only begun — of Christ having "per
fected us for ever," and yet we ourselves " going on
unto perfection."
St. Paul has given us, in most admirable terms,
this distinction between God's side and man's side.
In his Epistle to the Philippians, he glances first at
this power of Christ's resurrection and the hope it
holds out to him. In all humility he declares that
he has not attained, that he is not already perfected ;

bodies of the saints appear in Matt, xxvii. 52 and 53) with new
and divine vital forces ; just as in the heart the life-blood is pre
pared afresh, and from it flows forth into all the limbs. The resur
rection-power coming from Christ, through the medium of His
Word and sacraments, tends mainly to the sanctification and
renewing of the sinner (Rom. v. 10 ; Eph. ii. 5, 6 ; I Pet. i. 3),
and thus interpenetrates, first, the spiritual nature of man, plant
ing within those who are regenerate a germ for the resurrection
of the body (Rom. viii. 11). Then the spiritual life of Christ
breaks forth in a manifestation in the visible world, by revivify
ing the bodies of those who are sanctified (in the first resurrec
tion. 1 Cor. xv. 23 ; John v. 25-29 ; Rev. xx. 5, 6). In the suc
ceeding general resurrection — an act of Christ's power which
extends to the whole of the corporeal world, and introduces the
great mundane catastrophe (Rev. xx. 11-13) — as well as in the
formation of a new heaven and a new earth, this grand and
gradually progressive progress of the world's renewal has its fit
ting consummation. It is God's will that His glory should dwell
in His whole creation, that He may be all in all (1 Cor. xv. 28 ;
Rev. xxi. 3, et se.) In this respect we must indorse the sentiment
of Oetinger, that " corporeity is the end of God's ways." — Mod-
em Doubt and Christian Belief, by Theodore Christlieb, D.D.,
pp. 451, 452.

Q2 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
but he presses on to " apprehend" that for which he
was " apprehended" of Christ. It was because of the
fixity of the mighty work of Christ, and the support
it gave to faith, that all his energies were roused to
obtain the full benefit of it. Because he is appre
hended, he will henceforth apprehend.
Yet is the first apprehension, the first entrance
upon this risen life, the all-important point, and that
which Jordan represents. You plant, for example, a
little vine. You know its possibilities and provide
for them. You place close to its root the trellis upon
which it is to climb, without which it could only creep
upon the ground. In the placing of that trellis with
in its reach, with full provision for all future growth,
the vine may be said to be apprehended. But the
chief difficulty is found in the first attachment to its
support. When the vine has fairly clasped it and
begun to wind its tendrils about it, it has begun to
apprehend. Its career is before it, but the crisis is
that beginning.
It was an immense advantage in leaving Egypt, to
know it by the sharpest of all boundary lines. Had
the boundary been a valley, a hill, a rock, the fact
would have been known ; but how slight would have
been the impression thus made upon the mind ! But,
being what it was, passing first through the walled
waters, and watching then the waves that over
whelmed their enemies, an entire revolution in all
their thoughts and purposes would naturally follow,

THE BOUNDARY LINE. g.
That Sea was both a boundary and a barrier. They
stood upon new ground with another life before them.
And no less was the advantage of a distinct bound
ary and barrier between the wilderness and Canaan.
There a host more formidable than all Pharaoh's
horses and -chariots were swallowed up — even their
fears and unbelief — and as once their hearts thrilled
with the cry, " Out of Egypt !" so would they thrill
again at the blessed certainty, " over this Jordan !"
In how many human events is our interest concen
trated upon some one act that clearly and openly
signifies many beside itself. How much meaning in
that one moment when the crown is set upon the
brow of a Monarch ! Does He not seem from that
time more truly to reign ? How much it means when
the hand is set in solemn signature, in the presence
of witnesses, to that Title-deed which gives a Home
stead or forfeits it ! How much it means beyond all
that has already been — the marriage-day — the spoken
vow — the ring upon the hand ! Those now wedded
hearts were pledged long ago. They give themselves
to each other at this moment not more fully than then.
But God and man alike ordain that such an event
should be signalized, that there should be somewhat
to mark it for the eye and ear of others. What emo
tions stir the soul even of a spectator in such a scene !
By all these tokens it becomes a reality that is recog
nized. And so in countless things the new future demands

g4 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
its turning point. Did not Caesar feel it when he
crossed his Rubicon ? Was not every man in that
army stronger for that act ? Jordan is the Christian's
Rubicon ; and is it not well when the Lord calls to
us with a voice of command so distinct as this,
" Arise, and go over this Jordan ! " And were these
glorious privileges in Christ Jesus pointed out long
and lovingly — were they spoken of line upon line,
till dull hearts caught the meaning, what an arising
would there be through all the slumbering hosts
of Christendom !
We have on record the lives of not a few noble
men and women who, years after their conversion,
heard this new call to arise and go further on. They
passed through a distinct spiritual crisis, and stood
henceforth on new ground. They were full of the
Holy Spirit. Here and there through that region of
Christian biography resounding with secret moans of
" Wo is me ! " we find those who have walked almost
like Enoch, in wondrous fellowship with God. And •
yet in their own statements of truth there is often a
vagueness. The silver trumpet does not give a cer
tain sound. They had not really come unto all
riches of " the full assurance of understanding ;" and
so, while in their own experience they had far out
stripped their comrades, they knew not how to give
the clew to others to follow them, as they had fok
lowed Christ. Their teaching lacked that great essen
tial of definiteness.

THE BO UNDAR Y LINE. q -
There are always to be found, however, those
whom indefiniteness suits. The vague teaching
shelters their want of full devotion to God. They
carefully avoid a crisis. They are not whole-hearted
enough to be decided. They do not want to face
the question, Do I from this day follow the Lord
fully? Am I ready to be made conformable unto
His death, that I may know the power of His resur
rection ? Am I willing that God's Holy Spirit should
baptize my whole being — spirit, soul, and body, so
sanctifying me, and keeping me blameless unto the
coming of the Lord ? Such questions search the
heart down to its hidden thoughts and intents. It
requires the truest faith to die with Jesus, and to live
only in Him. But such thoughts can only irritate
those whose policy it is to evade conviction of their
true state. And even where it only results in hesi-
tation, yet what terrible quicksands of unbelief even
this discloses. No, they do not care to give over the
whole being to God ! They desire to keep to them
selves the control and choice of many little things,
for God might not always care for their pleasure, nor
secure the interests they most prize !
Poor soul ! that art weighed in such a balance
and found wanting, look yet again that thou mayest
see. The first step out of every difficulty is the re
moval of our misapprehensions of God. Listen to the
voice that pleads with thee, and even through the
Law declares of every dealing with thee — "for thy

g6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
good always." He loveth thee ! He delighteth in
thee ! Look and listen till thou canst trust Him
fully, and lay thy all before Him !
But how many are there of quite another class —
souls earnest and eager to be taught of God — who
have been hindered by the erroneous teaching of the
very truth they need ! Important as it is to put a
clear boundary line between our failure and our faith
and to cross over this Jordan, yet it is a most serious
mistake to overload this experience with a stress it
can not bear. Very plainly, in the case of the Israel
ites, to cross the Jordan was not to conquer all their
enemies in the act. It was to prepare them for vic
tory ; it was to pledge it to them ; and yet it could
only be the earnest of their inheritance. Nor was it
in the fullest sense possession, since, as has been said,
it was only the soles of their feet that could secure
that. The land was theirs by promise before. It
was theirs now by the first putting in of an actual
claim. Hereafter it should be more fully theirs as
they advanced and conquered and held it.
This subject will claim a fuller handling when we
reach the long warfare that followed their entrance ;
but here let it be simply premised that the system
which teaches that entire sanctification is an instan
taneous work, has the feeblest possible support from
Scripture, either as to the doctrine or the phraseol
ogy. Experimentally, the results of such teaching,
however flattering for a time, are finally most disas-

THE BO UNDAR Y LINE. g-
trous. The poor soul, once beguiled into self-decep
tion and the assertion of claims which can not be
soberly sustained, is either pushed on the one hand
up the heights of presumption, or else is driven back
on the other to drop into the depths of despair. No
close observer can doubt that such has been the gene-:
ral tendency of this teaching, while happy exceptions
may be seen, where there has been such a private ad
justment of its terms as virtually to change the doc
trine. Beside this, the love of God really shed abroad
in the heart, has a wonderful power to render error
innocuous. But taking the system in its legitimate
results, there can be little doubt that eventual loss is
sustained by its supporters. The testimony which it
encourages has a singular tendency to recur to past
experiences, or if touching upon the present state,
to claim little more than the conservation of former
blessings. Meanwhile, the importance attached to
such testimony repels those who, like an apostle, de
sire to know not the speech of them that are puffed
up, but the power !
It seems the more needful in all Christian charity
to allude to these errors, from the fact that, with few
exceptions, this has been the prevalent mode in
which the doctrine of Holiness or Sanctification has
been presented as a specialty. At the same time
such a monopoly of the subject has been claimed, as
to insist that it was the only correct mode — so chal
lenging the assent of those who could heartily sym-
5

gg THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
pathize with its object. The unhappy result in the
case of many who recoil from these assumptions in
doctrine, linked with such inconsistencies in life, is
that they do so, as though released from all further
inquiry upon the subject. They begin to waste their
strength upon controversy, and are more eager to
point out the logical inaccuracy of the system, than
to find a true remedy for their own shortcomings.
It is a dark day for those who begin finally to justify
themselves for the beam in their own eye, because
they have found a mote in the eye of a brother.
When the great beam of an unconsecrated life is
taken from their own eyes, it may be that God will
give them the grace, not to point out, but to pluck out,
the mote of misapprehension from their brother's eye.
As for the many thousands who desire to follow
the Lord fully, whether among the satisfied sustainers
of such a system, or those who are perplexed and
hindered by it, or those who, ignorant of this, yet
know right wellthe need of their lives — as for the
multitude thus seeking after God, may He make His
own Word a lamp unto their feet and a light unto
their path.
Any failure which exists in the lives of such, pass
ing by all secondary causes, has its real origin in
unbelief. Like Israel of old, losing sight of God to
see only self and the giant enemies, the one pressing
need is to have the eye refixed on Christ in a true
apprehension of Him as our Risen Lord — a work

THE BO UNDAR Y LINE. gg
which only the Spirit of God can accomplish for us.
A right relation to Christ must precede our growing
up into Him in all things. Happy that moment when
the eye sees Him !
And how often is it the work of a moment at last.
The sunrise may have been long heralded by steady
increase of light, and yet it is in a flash that you see
the golden orb itself. And when once the eye long
occupied with self, whether in seeking its pleasure or
proving its weakness, is lifted at last to see Jesus as
the Prince and Perfecter of Faith — when it sees that
it is Christ that it wants, and that this Christ is wait
ing for us, having all power in heaven and earth, it
has had its vision — it has had its call, " Arise, and go
over Jordan !" Seeing Christ arise, and give thyself
fully to Him, to receive His fulness, and henceforth
go on to apprehend that for which thou art now
apprehended.

CHAPTER V.
the triple preparation.
i.— courage.
"t)e strong and of a good courage; be not
jd afraid, neither be thou dismayed : for
the Lord thy God is with thee whitherso
ever THOU GOEST." — {Josh. i. 9).
The first element of success in this vast undertak
ing of obtaining the Land of Promise was Courage.
Hitherto the people had not set their heart aright,
and fearing had failed. A new attitude of heart must,
therefore, be assumed. The Hebrew words which are
so often repeated fix very clearly the special character
of this courage, " Be strong and firm." * This mean
ing is brought out very distinctly in our own version of
the words of Isaiah, " Strengthen ye the weak hands,

* Joshua i. 6, 5?>31S!^ pTT\> " Verbum pf^ proprie notat vires
quae sunt in manibus ad prehendendum retinendum que viriliter ;
sicut contra JJ ft 1$ firmitudinem, qua? in genibus est, ad|Con-
sistendum, ne ab alio quis evertatur.'' — Michaelis.
" Joshua must lay hold boldly and with a strong hand, and
then when he has done so, allow nothing to drive him from bis
position." — Lange's Com.
(100)

THE TRIPLE PREPARATION. IOI
and confirm the feeble knees'' * To be strong signifies
that the hands were fitted to take sure hold of the
land ; to be firm, that the feet should be so planted
that they could not be dislodged. Again, this mean
ing appears very literally in the charge addressed to
the saints in the Epistle to the Hebrews, " Wherefore
lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble
knees; and make straight paths for your feet."f
But how is it that such courage is commanded?
And being commanded, who can possibly create it in
his heart ? The command was based upon an assur
ance — " I will be with thee ; I will not fail thee nor
forsake thee. Be strong and firm." % This strength
was to come, therefore, from believing in the presence
and power of God. The courage was to be the cour
age of Faith. The fear which had been so disastrous
to them was the result of looking away from God,
and forgetting Him ; and so the courage could only
result from again looking unto Him, and ever remem
bering Him. The revelation of a personal, present,
and all-powerful God, is given as the basis of their
faith and its consequent courage.
Further, it was to be sustained by meditation upon
the Word of God ; as we find in close connection the
charge, " This book of the law shall not depart out
of thy mouth ; but thou shalt meditate therein day
and night." Deep and quiet thought which revolves
day by day the thoughts of God, feeds the strength
* Is. xxxv. 3. t Heb. xii. 12, 13. J Josh. i. 5, 6.

102 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
of faith. We are assured in the first Psalm, that to
" delight in the law of the Lord," and to " meditate
in it day and night," is the secret of constant growth
and fruitfulness. For faith comes by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. And so it is the "word
of faith " which is presented. Apart from some such
revelation of God there could be no faith. Along
wfth that word proceeding out of the mouth of God,
there ever flows a vital effluence of the Spirit, by
which the soul that receives it is enlightened and
strengthened. And so believing, it also obeys. It
" observes to do " according to this revelation of the
mind of God. And so brought into harmony with
Him, it prospers and has good success.
And thus there comes at last a holy confidence in
God, that seeing. Him always, cannot be afraid — as
when in this brief charge to Joshua, we find for the
third time the words, " Be strong, be firm ;" it is
added, " For the Lord thy God is with thee whither
soever thou goest." No minute direction, no specific
precept whatever, could at all compare in importance
with this fundamental charge. Nothing must distract
the servant of God in the clear reception of this one
grand truth : God is with thee ; therefore be strong,
be firm. Take hold of His promises, and keep that
hold. It was thus that the Lord Jesus provided for the
faith and courage of His disciples in the great work
He gave them in the world : " Lo I am with you all

THE TRIPLE PREPARATION. I0,
the days, even unto the end of the world." " Fear
not," is the gracious charge He is ever giving as He
more and more reveals Himself.*
; * And what need is there still of this charge ! The
experience of ages has not taken away our weakness ;
and the fears and the waverings of many a Christian —
the weak hands and feeble knees — are even now piti
able to consider. Until this element is eliminated,
Christian heroism is an impossibility, as is, indeed,
anything noble in character or service. Nothing so
demoralizes the forces of the soul as fear. But if we
answer the question of our Lord, "Why are ye so
* Stier upon Acts xviii. 9, thus sums up the occasions of its
use : " Fear not but speak, and keep not silence ! Still coming
first the same word ef encouraging grace — so needful to us poor
children of men — which runs through the whole of Scripture
from beginning to end, Fear not / Simon Peter heard it from
the lips of the Lord Jesus when his call to be a fisher of men was
repeated, Luke v. 10 ; Abraham received it first in the Old Testa
ment, Gen. xv. .1, — after a victory, too, like St. Paul here ; for
father Adam first of all confessed in behalf of us all — I was
afraid ! The Lord and His angels often say it in the Old Testa
ment. The New begins with it to Zacharias, Mary, Joseph, the
Shepherds. Tie Lord often utters it during His earthly life,
down to John xiv. 1 : the angels at the sepulchre of the risen
Jesus give it new strength. The ascended and glorified Re
deemer inspires vigor into the soul of St. John at Patmos by the
same word, Fear not I Rev. i. 17. How needful is this word to
His Disciples everywhere and in all ages ; and how ready He
ever is to utter it to them !
" It is the abiding word of the Divine majesty and mercy for
human poverty, weakness, and guilt." — The Words of the Risen
Savit ur, by Rudolf Stier, p. 72.

104

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

fearful ?" we can give no reason save the absence of
that faith that is ever looking unto Jesus. .Nothing
fosters fear like solitude ; and nothing is more quick
to catch contagion from evil converse. Only as we
recognize the presence of the Lord, does fear give
place to faith — a faith that is communicated by Him.
The child that in the hour of danger has been always
by his father's side, and has never seen him flinch,
receives his courage from him. As we dwell con
sciously in the presence of God, as our thought is
ever of His Love and Power, our souls, despite all
their natural fears, will uprise in their strength. We
can say calmly in the midst of darkness and tumult,
" The Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom shall
I fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom
shall I be afraid?"
Such simple, childlike faith in God has made more
heroic souls upon this earth than the stoic could ever
dream. Not through the long training of the iron
nerve, but by the trusting glance at the risen Lord,
have the tender woman and the timid child been
strong and firm, in the midst of peril and of terrible
torture. They " endured as seeing Him who is invisi
ble." Would that all could be persuaded that it is not
a question of nature, but of grace ; not of temperament,
but of trust. What an instance of this is found in the
lives of these three men — Peter, Nicodemus, and
Joseph of Arimathea. Studying the natural charac
teristics of Peter, any of us would have trusted his

THE TRIPLE PREPARATION. 1Q*
courage before its failure ; and by all their antecedents
we would look for anything but heroic discipleship
from the other two. We see Peter ever ready to do and
dare ; Nicodemus stealing stealthily by night to Jesus ;
Joseph full of fear of the Jews. So stand the three
by nature. But look at them again, when Grace has
outstripped nature. Peter, lying and cursing for fear
of a maid-servant ; Joseph, going boldly to Pilate to
beg the body of Jesus ; and Nicodemus, in the full
daylight, staggering beneath his hundred pounds of
spices, to the tomb of the Teacher, sent from God —
these two out of weakness made strong, even as the
other shall be, when he has- learned his own weakness.
Timid soldier of Christ, called to pass over this
Jordan and possess the good land and large — listen
to the first charge of all, " Be strong ! be firm !"
And to win this holy courage, look unto Jesus. Never
look downward to thy fear — never around to thy foes
— look solely unto Jesus !
And looking thus, meditate also upon His law, re
membering that this holy law is now a gospel, and
that we are to observe to do according to all that is
written therein — not only according to all its precepts,
but also according to all its promises, all its privi
leges. If ever your hands grow weak, and your knees
feeble, it is because you see too little ; because, like
Elisha's servant, you see only the hosts and chariots
of the enemy close around. Therefore you ask, " Alas 1
S*

106 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
how shall we do ?" The Lord open your eyes, that
you may look further, and see the mountains beyond,
full of the hosts of God encamping round about you !
It was to Joshua, that this charge to be firm and
strong was given primarily. His own exhibition of
these qualities was to inspire the people. The Lord
Jesus was the living embodiment of this holy cour
age. We see Him strong to endure the cross, firm
to despise the shame. We see Him taking the straight
path toward that joy which was set before Him, and
we know that He will not fail nor be discouraged till
He has set judgment in the earth. As we watch
Him thus — Prince and Perfecter of Faith — how our
weak hands grow strong and our feeble knees firm.
This thrice repeated charge to Joshua had been
already given thrice before. We find it in the last
words of Moses, addressed first to the people at
large, and then twice in the sight of all Israel to
Joshua, so that six times in all, the chosen Leader
heard the words of God — " Be strong, be firm!' We
also need their repetition. Not all at once are such
qualities established in the soul. How often the
Lord finds us, like Daniel, with no strength in us.
He lifts us first, from that utter prostration to our
knees. Again, at His words of command and cheer
we stand trembling. But He does not leave us until
once more, with all the similitude and sympathy of
one of the sons of men, he touches us, saying, " O
greatly beloved, fear not ; be strong, yea, be strong !"

THE TRIPLE PREPARATION. 1Qr,
And when He has so spoken unto us we are strength
ened ; for " our God hath commanded our strength."
How exquisite the tenderness that breathes through
these commands of Jesus : " Son, take courage !"
" Daughter, take courage !" " Take courage, doubt
ing disciples, It is I !"* Thus, by His own presence
and power, He inspires us with that which we shall
need all our life long — a high resolve, an undaunted
spirit, an intrepid bravery — and coupled with these,
steadiness, constancy, and endurance. By all our
growth in the knowledge of Christ will these heroic
virtues be sure to grow. " Be," then, " of good cour
age, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that
hope in the Lord."
II.— CONSECRATION.
The second element of success is thus indicated :
" Joshua said unto the people, ' Sanctify your
selves, FOR TO-MORROW THE LORD WILL DO WON
DERS AMONG YOU.' " Elsewhere in similar commands,
we find acts of purification and abstinence enjoined.
The word itself means simply bodily purity ; and as
washing was the preparation for each religious serv
ice, the term came to signify to set apart ; and as so
used, is rendered in our Bibles " to consecrate," or
" sanctify ; " so that the charge now given to the people
was virtually this, " Set yourselves apart to God" —
Yield yourselves to Him — Put yourselves in that
* Cf. Matt. ix. 2, Matt. ix. 22 and Matt. xiv. 27.

108 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
attitude in which He can with perfect readiness take
you up. — Draw nigh unto God, for He is drawing
feigh unto you.
The context of this command, which gives such
prominence to the wonders which God will do, is a
happy correction of a very common notion respect
ing consecration, as though it were some great giving
to God by us, some surrender or sacrifice of what we
previously held ; in fact, a sort of favor conferred
upon Him, whereas it is only the readiness to receive
from Him. Consecration is not a meritorious work
of our own, but a willingness to let the Lord work
His wonders «pon us. It simply means a ready re
cipiency. Yet even this recipiency may involve surrender in
a subordinate way, as it evidently did in the case of
the Israelites. They could not possibly receive Ca
naan, without giving up the wilderness. That com
mand, therefore, " Sanctify yourselves," was a call to
heart-searching. It pressed home to all their thoughts
this recognition, " We are the Lord's." It could not
long remain a matter of doubt with any, whether
they stood ready for God to lead them over Jordan
or not. The command given them was completely
overshadowed by the promise that followed, and yet
it was the Promise itself that tested and tried the
very intents of their hearts.
It continues to be a part of the manifold wisdom
of God to furnish such tests, even in providing our

THE TRIPLE PRE PAR A TION. Iog
richest blessings. He who becomes a man must put
away his childish things. The lingering child-nature
struggles and shrinks from the sacrifice, but the spirit
of the strong man uprising, spares not the old treas
ures as he reaches on to the new. God can not fill
our hands with His great and good gifts till we drop
the baubles they have held. And so in every on
ward step, calling us to some surrender, to some sac
rifice, He clears away the superficial wrappings of our
nature to learn what soundness exists beneath. Je
sus Himself is even to be a sign spoken against, that
so the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
How often, when on earth, did He disc-lose to them
selves, the true nature of many a half-hearted follower,
by some sharp requisition ; or, in the same manner,
call out the deepest faith of those who left all and
followed Him ! We may well thank Him for every
thing in the discipline of life, or in the secret conflicts
of our own hearts, that gives us this knowledge of our
selves, and brings us to the solemn decision whom
we will choose.
The time which is fixed for the blessing of God,
follows close upon the preparation — " Sanctify your
selves, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders among
you." It is always thus. It is we ourselves who set
the times in which our God shall bless us ; for what
ever day it be in all our life, that we take for our con
secration to Him, He will take the morrow for His
wonders. There is no real delay with God, beyond

1 10 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
that which we occasion. There may be seeming de
lay, for often He works in secret, and mysteriously ;
but He always works, and that wondrously, so soon
as we are set apart to Him — even as from the first
day that Daniel set his heart to understand, and to
chasten himself, the Lord Himself came forth to
answer him.
Yet precisely here, what misapprehension is there
of His ways ! Men fancy that they are all ready —
even eager for blessing — and they marvel why God
delays. He does not delay. If we have, indeed,
consecrated ourselves, He has already begun His
work ; not where we, perhaps, desired it, nor in a
way we looked for, but in the surest way. When the
great Builder declares His work begun, we look at
once for the imposing structure — and what if we see
only an excavation ! By seeming delay, then, as
well as by tests of service and of sacrifice, He
searches our hearts, and reveals our thoughts to
ourselves, as He already beholds them. And if still
we see not the wonders which were promised us,
shall we not at least hear a voice saying, " Art thou,
then, truly consecrated ? Art thou ready for God to
work ? Is there nowhere any holding back ? Is
there no sparing of self? — no secret stipulation? —
no subtle ambition ? — no love of reputation ? — no
unhallowed affection?" And- He who so searches us
will hold us waiting, until we are ready to look and

THE TRIPLE PREPARA TION. j j j
see as He sees, and are really willing to give up our
all to God.
Such is the position, doubtless, of not a few who
are even perplexed by their failure to go" further.
They are earnest souls even, that have pressed on
beyond their comrades ; souls that have gone far
enough to see what there is for them over this Jor
dan. They are servants of the Master, and they
have wrought in His field unweariedly. But they
long for richer results. They want these ideal pos
sibilities of the Gospel realized. They desire to see
one of the days of the Son of Man — to exult in some
new Pentecost. But no morrow with its wonders
dawns for them. And standing thus upon the very
verge of blessing, they ask, as they suppose, in all
sincerity, " What doth hinder me ?" — and as they see
nothing lacking in their consecration, they are dis
posed to be faithless as to God's fulfilment of His
promise. Alas ! for the long, weary waiting of those
who thus begin to question God's ways, instead of
their own hearts ! He will surely be silent unto
them, until they heed what He has already spoken — ¦
" Sanctify yourselves — set yourselves apart."
They who are thus turned back from marvelling
over the mysterious delays of God, to suspect rather
their own sincerity, will soon learn that consecration
implies no hollow, hasty work. They become aware
that only Faith can do it — that even as the only true

112 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
courage was the courage of Faith, so the only true
consecration is the consecration of Faith. Even this
is to be one of the works of God—" Thy people shall
be willing in the day of Thy power." No_ more mis
taken counsel can be given to a soul which is con
scious that it is not wholly consecrated, than that so
often heard — ' This is your part of the work. Your
will must put forth all its power, and solemnly re
solve that it will dedicate itself to God.' He who
has learned the extent of his infirmity will answer,
' You bid me do the most difficult task of all myself.
Precisely here is my perplexity — that I can not feel
sure that my whole will is honest in this surrender,
and that I draw nigh with a true heart. My very de
sire to do it*may still be selfish ; and that disinclina
tion which I discover, being a part of my will, holds
me helpless. I find that I have neither full knowl
edge of myself, nor full mastery of myself. It is my
will itself that is perverse, and treacherous, and un
stable ; and how can it possibly furnish the power
that shall force it into rectitude ? ' *

* The searching and sententious lines of Herbert's " Hold
fast," will naturally recur to the reader :
" I threatened to observe the strict decree
Of. my dear God with all my power and might :
But I was told by one, it could not be ;
Yet I might trust in God to be my light.
Then will I trust, said I, in Him alone.
Nay, even to trust in Him, was also Hi* :
We must confess that nothing is our own.
Then I confess that He my succour is.

THE TRIPLE PREPARATION. 113
Consecration, be it repeated, therefore, can only be
the work of Faith. As Faith first encouraged itself
in the Lord by looking unto Him, so now Faith
yields to this mighty attraction which draws the
soul to God. His sovereign will alone can restore
to unity and simplicity, the complexity and strife of
our being. The kingdom of the heart has been the
prey of each new Usurper. Only the Spirit of God
can put them all down, and set us up as kings unto
Him. Swayed hither and thither by both human
and supernatural influences, there can be no stability
till Faith elects the Spirit of God as the Sole Pos
sessor. . Ask, then, ye who are seeking to consecrate your
selves to Christ — ask for His fuller revelation. " Look,
ye blind, that ye may see." — He looketh upon you.
Listen, ye deaf, that ye may hear, for to you He
speaketh. Look and listen until your Faith grows
into Love, until you see in Him, One who is worthy
of all confidence, and the powerful attractions of
whose nature so tell upon your yielding soul, that
you can not possibly hold back anything, or allow
the least reserve between yourself and Him, because
" The love of Christ constraineth you." No forced
surrender can possibly meet the claim of God upon
But to have naught is ours, not to confess
That we have naught. I stood amazed at this,
Much troubled, till I heard a friend express
That all things were more ours by being His.
What Adam had, and forfeited for all,
Christ keepeth now, who cannot fail or fall."

H4

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

you. It is the citadel of the Will itself that must be
yielded, even to its last reluctance. It is the love and
loyalty of your inmost souls, that Jesus calls for, and
they are never self-commanded. As you fully believe,
you will fully love. As you fully love, you will fully
give yourselves to God. Thus only can you be conse
crated to Him. Love has no will save this, " I de
light to do Thy will." Love makes all labor light ;
love makes all sacrifices sweet ; love sees the crown
over every cross ; love has no fear ; love never stipu
lates ; love never needs to test itself by future possi
bilities ; and love, when Christ Himself tests it, can
straightway answer, " Yea, Lord, thou knowest all
things, Thou knowest that I love Thee !"
III. — COMMITTAL.
We come now to that preparation which, through
the power of God, passes over into performance itself.
The heart being full of courage because of its faith,
and full of devotion because of its love, must now
take the step of a full committal to His ways ; and
this also must be the work of Faith.
When the Lord led His people through the Red
Sea, His winds had been long blowing over it, and
-they saw a path prepared for them. They saw
also the outstretched rod of Moses that seemed to
pledge the safety of their passage. So that though
it was "by faith," that "they passed through the
Red Sea as by dry land," yet it could not be said

THE TRIPLE PREPARATION.

"5

'they walked by faith, and not by^ sight." Rather,
they walked by a faith, that had sight for its helper.
But now the demand upon their faith was absolute.
No sign or token was given. No outstretched rod
was seen, and they heard the roarings of no winds.
They ^saw no moving of the waters. They had no
outward security. They had only a simple promise
of their God. In truth, all outward sight seemed to
contradict that promise. Jordan was overflowing all
its banks, giving the stream a double breadth. But
not even this was to be changed, till faith had ven
tured upon the word of their God. " It shall come
to pass," was the promise, " as soon as the soles of
the feet of the priests that bare the ark of the Lord,
the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of
Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off
from the waters that come down from above ; and
they shall stand upon an heap."* The first step
was to be taken in the waters. They were called
upon not only to face the difficulties, but to enter
them. They were not to ask God to' prove His power
first. They were to trust Him first, and then should
they see as they followed on to know the Lord, " His
giving forth " to be " prepared as the morning."
There does not appear to have been a moment's
hesitation on the part of the priests.
The record follows almost in the very words of the
* Josh. iii. 13.

t 1 6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
promise, " And it came to pass when the people re
moved from thefr tents, to pass over Jordan, and the
priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the
people; and as they that bare the ark were come
unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare
the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for
Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of
harvest,) that the waters which came down from
above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from
the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan; and those
that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the
salt sea failed, and were cut off: and the people
passed over right against Jericho."*
How fatal had been a halt, although but one step
short of the brim of the waters. Even the foot up-
* Joshua iii. 14-16. " On the broken edge of the river — so the
scene which follows is placed before us by the narrative — the
band of priests stood with the Ark upon their shoulders. At a
distance of nearly a mile in the rear stood the great mass of the
army. Suddenly the full bed of the Jordan was direct before
them. High up the river — 'very far' — 'in Adam, the city
which is beside Zaretan ' — that is, at a distance of nearly thirty
miles from the place of the Israelite encampment, ' the waters
which came down from above,' from the Sea of Galilee, stood,
and rose up in a barrier ; and ' those that came down towards
1 the sea of the Desert, the salt sea failed, and were cut off.' The
scene presented to us, therefore, is of the river-bed dried up
from north to south, as far as the eye could reach — an image
which, however it may be .explained, is important to bear in
mind, to avoid a confused notion which is often formed from a
supposed parallel with the account of the Red Sea." — Dean
Stanley's Sinai and Palestine, p. 298.

THE TRIPLE PREPARATION. Xly
lifted, ready to fall as soon as the path was ready,
would have waited in vain. The promise was ad
dressed only to the faith that, without seeing signs
and wonders, could yet believe. That one step taken
which proved their faith, and placed it in a position
of entire receptivity — then God could prove His faith
fulness and manifest His power. His wonders follow
at once.
The lesson which is here taught us is of the utmost
importance, showing us the very essence of all true
faith. Mature faith must be able to dare and to en
dure, with no other stay than seeing Him who is
invisible. Our Father does, indeed, stretch out the
hand of yearning tenderness to steady the tottering
steps of a babe. In His pity and compassion He
will hot forbid the poor cripple his staff; but the
faith of full years and of steady strength, can never
be developed by continued indulgence. It must be
exercised by reason of use. And so God leads His
children out at last beyond all visible stays and
props, or even stepping-stones, where hearing only
His voice, " Go forward " —
" Nothing before, and nothing behind,
The steps of Faith
Fall on the seeming void, and find
The rock beneath."
Again, that God instead of giving His people some
visible aid for their crossing, set before them a most

1 1 8 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
. visible hindrance, doubling the danger and difficulty
to the natural eye, is in perfect accord with our ad
vanced experience. Only how often does the sim
plicity of our faith fail to equal theirs. It would
have been a most natural thing for an Israelite to
say, rising up that morning and looking wistfully
over Jordan, "We can not possibly cross to-day.
This can not be the time, for it is high flood. Surely
the Lord will have us wait awhile until the waters
abate." It would have been natural, even for such
doubts to become a denial of God's word, as the
suggestion followed — ' The days for such wonders are
past. There were evident reasons why Jehovah should
lead our fathers through the Red Sea, and inaugurate
our national life with a miracle. But the necessity
has past. Forty years have gone by since the time
of those mighty signs and wonders. Is it not pre
sumptuous to look for the repetition of such a mira
cle ? Let us use our own judgment and strength as
best we may. When Jordan has fallen again, we can
either find jts fords, or bridge it at some favorable
point.' But happily we have no such record. They
had learned at last the dangers of doubt, and the
blessedness of believing God.
But what of our own record ? In the face of prom
ises as distinct as were given to them, are not many
of us found questioning the result ? It is the first
instinctive impulse of unbelief to seek a sign — to
have something to interpose between itself and the

THE. TRIPLE PREPARA T10N. x Ig
bare word of God. And so, how often is the ques
tion asked : ' If God be really disposed to bring me
into this glorious liberty, will there not be at least
some token of it ? Shall I find no evidence of it in
my own altered feelings ; and especially will not the
Lord prepare the way by lowering the opposing tide
of temptation ? ' The Word of our God needs neither
sign nor surety. Be it a promise, or be it a command,
it matters not ; for every command has a promise for
its kernel. We are to go forward to obey His com
mands — forward to receive His promises — forward in
faith — forward though difficulties double. Not from
the withdrawal of these is our strength to come, but
from Him who has said, " My grace is sufficient for
thee ; my strength is made perfect in weakness."
Yet, in the face of this assurance, the complaint is
heard on all sides, ' I am at this present time exposed
to unusual pressure— Outward circumstances combine
against me. Within, temptations and weakness meet,
and my peculiar temperament is tried by all that can
trouble it most. Is it not too much to expect deliv
erance ? After all, these wonders of grace must have
been meant for apostles. At least, they belong to
the early ages. It certainly does not please God to
work so in our own day, unless it be with some very
extraordinary people. Why should I be so presumptu
ous as to expect it ? Should I not even dishoner the
Lord in attempting to claim such special promises,
when I am well-nigh certain to fail, and draw back in

120 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
confusion and shame? Surely, the Lord never in
tended me to obey any such command, or receive
any such great promise. I stand, therefore, ex
cused.'' The Word of God allows not a particle of license to
any such quibbling. To whom of all mankind has
God not said, "Be holy?" Whom does He release
from that law of blessing that girds His universe?
If we can find a soul excepted, from His commands,
that soul must also be excepted from His promises
But how significant it is that while our faith is not
energetic enough to accept the promises of God, we
are not consistent enough to really loose our con
sciences from the commands, but secretly hope some
time to find a way, under favoring circumstances, to do
that which we can not quite believe that God is able,
at any time, to do for us.
In truth, we are accustomed to discount the prom
ises of God, in a way that would utterly dishonor any
fellow-being. Whenever we place full confidence in
a friend, a solemn assurance, though it be but a word,
is decisive. But if we thus receive the witness of men
to their own ability to aid us, how shall we not receive
also that witness of God which" is so much greater —
greater because He is not only full of truth in pur
posing, but also never forgets His promise, and can
never be thwarted in its performance. Our confi
dence can not be misplaced as it rests upon His
promises, seeing that the slightest of them is built

THE TRIPLE PREPARATION. T2i
four square upon these strong foundations — His
Righteousness, His Truth, His Love, His Power.
This, then, is the foot dipped in the brimming
waters — when we have heard the Lord calling us to
follow Him, " To walk worthy of Him unto all pleas
ing," to have " spirit, soul, and body, preserved blame
less unto His coming," to let "the God of Peace
sanctify us wholly;" — *when we have heard this call,
to take then His promise, " Faithful is He that call-
eth you who also will do it" and to go on, though
confronted by temptation, .and encompassed with
weakness ; to go on, as though these were not — so
stepping out of self and its limitations, into Christ, and
all His boundless possibilities ; and finding that it is no
longer we, that live, that walk, but Christ, who even
as He has promised, dwells in us, and walks in us.
Again, the foot dipped in the brimming waters
declares emphatically that faith is to precede feeling.
Incalculable mischief has crept into Christian expe
rience through the neglect of this simple truth. A
religion that rests upon feeling, for either its security
or comfort, will find itself tottering and trembling to
the end. Yet so common and so great has been the
loss sustained in this way, that, having recognized it,
we are now not a little in danger of an extreme reac
tion. There are some who, at least, seem to teach that
faith is not only to precede feeling, but to supersede
it. Our feelings, they say, are not at all to be regarded.
At 110 stage can their evidence be taken. This is
6

122 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
plainly unscriptural. Very crude indeed must be the
conception of truth, where a soul in the midst of un
satisfactory and unsanctified feelings, settles the whole
matter, by regarding itself complete in Christ through
faith alone, and so allows its evil frames and feel
ings to go on unchecked.
Nothing that we* discover in heart or life, need hin
der us in coming to Christ to seek deliverance from
it. We may even use our worst discoveries as our
plea in coming ; " For the whole have no need of a
Physician, but they that are sick." Nor will my sick
ness make the Physician displeased with me in my
first application to him. Yet, if he has given me all
that should restore me, and my own wilfulness or
carelessness still keep me in the same feeble condi
tion, he will be greatly displeased with me. Now,
my feelings are not the real seat of the disease, and
yet there we find our surest symptoms as a rule. I
can not possibly be in health with such disordered
feelings. I ignore them at my peril. And so as I
come to Christ — feeling no glow of love, no peace
that passeth understanding, no joy unspeakable— -I
am not to regard these as reasons for not coming to
Him, or as hindrances. This very trouble gives me a
right to come. I can appeal now to the compassion
of my Healer — "Lord, I am well-nigh sick unto
death." But if after He has healed me, and taught
me the conditions of sustaining health, I find my
self again unloving, cold, perturbed, fretted, moody, I

THE TRIPLE PREPARA TION.

123

have not the least right to say that all is well,
and that disregarding all this, I am to believe myself
fully accepted through Christ. Unless I bring this
disturbance to Him for confession, forgiveness, and
healing, I am utterly at fault.
Our feelings are of importance. The same Creator
who set the faithful nerves as sentinels along all the
lines of the senses, to give due warning of danger and
disease, gave a corresponding sensitiveness to our
' souls. Faith is not to discharge this as unnecessary,
but to retain it in her service. If it be well with our
faith, it will also be well with our feelings. If we
have the Spirit of Christ, then the fruits of the Spirit
will be ours also ; and many of these fruits are pre
cisely what we are accustomed to class loosely under
the head of feelings. They are such as love, joy,
peace. They are not the root, but they are the fruit ;
they furnish finally the test, not of God's power, but
of our reception of that power.
The Apostle John repeatedly appeals to such tests
as these respecting our adoption, and growth in grace.
The words so often used by him — " Hereby we
know " — most certainly teach us that while looking
unto Jesus, we are to see also, that both in outward
acts and inward states, we are becoming like Jesus.
Having faith first, we shall have all holy frames, and
heavenly feelings.
And now let us take one more glance over this
triple preparation of courage, and consecration, and

124

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

committal. Each of these represents a practical
truth. Each is a step in harmony with the will of
God. Each is necessary to the development of effect
ual faith. And yet such are the simplicity and the
speed of Faith, that the three will seem as but one
step, and in action will need no such analysis.
No one will ever pass over into the fulness of blessing
who fails to set his feet in these old way-marks. It*
is impossible, without the courageous faith that can
say, " My heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord." It is
impossible unless we can say, " Lord, I am thine, en
tirely thine." And how can it ever be more than a
beautiful ideaUto those who can not say, ' I am so tak
ing the promises of God as to act upon them. I am
following along their track, fully persuaded that God
Himself will perform all that He has promised. I
count His promises my open pathway. I venture
upon them, and know that it .shall come to pass
according to His word. I commit my whole being
to Him in well doing. He will remove every obsta
cle from my path. He will guide me. He will endue
me with power from on high. I dip my feet in this
Jordan. I die to all confidence in myself. I rise to all
completeness in Jesus. Life in myself, has been a
failure. Life in the Spirit of God, is my hope of
triumph now. I pass beyond the bounds of human
power, and risen in Christ, I set no bounds to
that which He will do for me — exceeding abundantly
above all I ask or think. I believe in Jesus, and

THE TRIPLE PREPARA TION.

125

therefore I shall see the glory of God. I trust Him,
and I see Him at once arrest the whole, resistless,
swollen tide, holding the waves of terror and tempta
tion, cut off even very far away, so that I fear no evil.'
With the Courage of Faith, the Consecration
of Faith, and the Committal of Faith, " we who
have believed do enter into rest."

CHAPTER VI.
*
THE ARK OF THE COVENANT.
" AND Joshua said unto the children of
¦i*. Israel, Come hither, and hear the
words of the Lord your God. And Joshua
said, Hereby ye shall know that the liv
ing God is among you, and that he will
without fail drive out from before you
the canaanites, and the hlttites, and the
hlvites, and the perizzites, and the glr-
gashites, and the amorites, and the jebus-
ites. Behold, the Ark of the Covenant of
the Lord of all the earth passeth over
BEFORE YOU INTO JORDAN." — {Josh. iii. 9-1 1.)
This it was that was to stay the waters — " THE
Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all
THE EARTH." Not till all the people had passed
over, was the Ark of the Lord to pass over. The
priests who bore it stood firm on dry ground, in the
midst of Jordan, till all had passed.
The Ark here assumed its proper prominence.
Hiiherto a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of
(126)

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT.

127

fire by night, hovering over the Tabernacle, had
guided them. Now the Ark itself was to go visi
bly before them, as the immediate symbol of the
Living God, and the pledge of His presence and
power in their midst. It was the most sacred por
tion, by far, of the hallowed structure. More fully
than all else it represented Christ. Especially was it
adapted to suggest His Person, and Presence, and to
show forth His work, as living, as dying, and as alive
forevermore. In common with those other portions of the Tab
ernacle which represented Christ, the Ark was made
of shittim-wood, and overlaid wjth gold. For every
where the same blessed lesson is repeated — the union
of the human and the Divine — the very man and
very God. And yet it is the human nature that is
overlaid and glorified by the Divine — taken into it
and shielded by it, and so preserved and ennobled.
The Ark held also, in security, the Tables of the
Law. This was, indeed, the office for which it was
appointed ; and nothing could so establish the high
nature of Law, and so prove its essence to be the
very mind of God, as to assign it a home in the
most sacred spot of all, as the very regalia of His
realm. This same Law, as at first given, was broken by the
people, before Moses could reach them with the writ
ten Tables in his hand — his own breaking of the Stones
only representing their breaking of the Covenant it-

128 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
self. The second set of Tables was not entrusted to
the hands of men, but was placed at once in the
Ark, which was prepared before he went up into
the mount.* Thus, till Christ came, every man who
touched the Law broke it ; and though it were the
least of the Commandments, yet was he. " guilty of
all." That is to say, it mattered not through which
line of the Law the fracture ran, or whether its frag
ments were small or large, broken anywhere it ceased
to be a whole. It was dishonored throughout. But
Jesus came and fulfilled all righteousness. He so hid
the Law in His heart, that there was never the slight
est fracture of either Tablet — never a sin against God
or against man. In Christ first, was exhibited that
new Covenant, in which the Law should be put into
the mind, and written in the heart. It was so writ
ten in the mind of Christ, that He had perfect knowl
edge of the Law (an aspeet of obedience often greatly
overlooked), and it was so put into His heart, that He
had perfect love of it. He came, saying, " I delight
to do thy will, O my God ! " This was His life-work
through all its phases of waiting, and working, and
suffering. But the Mercy-seat rested upon, and covered the
Ark. Mercy could find a basis where the Law was
fully kept. Mercy and Truth there met together.
He who was first the antitype of the Ark, in fulfill-
* Deut. x. 1-5.

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. j2g
ing the Law in His life, became then the antitype
of the Mercy-seat as set forth in His death for a pro
pitiation* for sins. He honored the Law by His own
keeping of it, and then, as the far greater task, hon
ored it by atoning for the sins of those who had
broken it. The great truth taught by the Mercy-
seat, is exhibited in the sprinkling of the Blood upon
it, on the great day of Atonement.
But still a further task remained — to provide for the
keeping of this Law, by those who were forgiven their
iniquities ; and this glorious truth is exhibited in the
two Cherubic figures, which formed the completion
and crown of the Mercy-seat. " Beaten out of the
matter of the mercy-seat" as a part of it, their signifi
cation must be kindred with its own. They plainly
represent some provision of the great salvation from
sin. In form and posture, they present as clearly as
possible, the idea of living and reigning. Now the
living, reigning Jesus has still this other work to do
in honoring the Law, to enable His people to keep it,
by writing it also in their minds and hearts. In this
great office the Holy Spirit is His Go-worker. So
we behold the upper portion of the Mercy-seat as
sume the form of two Cherubim, with outspread
wings, and faces toward the Mercy-seat. Between
them God dwelt. Thence He shone forth. And
while we should tread softly amid such sanctities as
* (Rom. iii. 25) Vkaxmiputv ; i. e., Mercy-Seat. Compare Heb.
ix. 5. 6*

130

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

these, of which even an Apostle did not see fit to
-' speak particularly,'' one can not but feel that any
interpretation falls short, which fails to recognize the
manifestation of Divine Natures — not in similitudes,
but in symbols. ' They were a part of the Mercy-seat
— they were enthroned — they stood in closest prox
imity to the Invisible God. They could not signify
angels, for angels have no share in the high office of
Salvation ; to angels God has not put in subjection
the world to come. But in these immediate sup
porters of the Most High — these Indicators of the
Invisible — we can recognize no lower beings than the
very Sharers of His own Being — Christ and the Spirit.
We are not for a moment to think of these Cheru
bim, as suggesting any likeness of their persons, but
simply set forth as symbols of their offices, as was
everything else in this structure. And so they
stand erect, as full of life. They spread out their
wings, for they are full of all holy activity. Their
faces look one to another, and toward the Mercy- ¦
seat ; for in their holy fellowship, their one aim is to
develop this work of atonement to its richest results
of righteousness. It is the Risen Jesus, and it is His
Holy Spirit, who have now to carry out the Covenant
in the hearts of men. They alone can write it there.
They alone can give true knowledge of what it is.
They alone can incline the heart to heed it. Those
who are redeemed from the curse of a broken law, find
their refuge here. They come under the protection

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. I3I
of Christ and the Spirit. Their Power and their
Presence are the wings that overshadow them ; as
their Lord Himself* has promised, " All power is
given unto me in Heaven and in earth ;" and, " Lo I
am with you all the days, even unto the end of the
world." In the Ark of the Covenant, then, we behold the
entirety of Christ's relation to the Law, as developed
in three great parts. We see at once a LIFE which
is our perfect pattern; a DEATH which is our perfect
propitiation; and a LIVING FOREVERMORE, which is
our perfect provision for living also ; even the two
fold might of an Advocate with the Father, and an
other Comforter with us.* Under those outspread
wings, our human life, expands to meet the measures
of things divine. This is the security that we have
now in Christ ; and hereby we know that the Living
God is among us, and will, without fail, drive out every
enemy before us.
In this same Ark, as placed afterwards in the Tem
ple, we find some significant changes, at which it may
be well to glance. The Cherubim are there made of
olive-wood, overlaid with gold, instead of being as in
the Tabernacle, all of gold. As man, Christ does not
yet reign; but when He so reigns, we shall reign
also. The Temple sets forth the greater glory of His
Kingdom, when firmly established. Redeemed man
in that Kingdom, " when the Son of Man shall come
* Cf. John xiv. 16, and i John ii. i — In both Uapdn7.rjTos.

132 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
in His glory," is to be even enthroned* They that
have part in the first resurrection, are to " live and
reign with Christ." Upon the right hand of the
King is to stand "the Queen in gold of Ophir."f
Christ, the Bridegroom, is to present unto Himself
" a glorious Church," as His chosen Bride. % Nozv,
it is Christ and His Spirit, who reign, by virtue of
their Divinity, as shadowed in the temporary struc
ture of the Tabernacle, where the Cherubim were all
of gold. But then it will be the " olive-wood overlaid with
gold." As the wood is the emblem of humanity, so
the olive-wood symbolizes its interpenetration by the
Spirit, which found one of its most appropriate figures
in the oil-olive. Christ through the Holy Ghost tak
ing our nature upon Him, and* we through the Holy
Ghost becoming partakers of His Divine nature — He
the only begotten, Eternal Son of the Father, born
of woman, and we born again of God, are yet to be
brought into that wondrous union, which is by pre
eminence the "great mystery" of the Gospel, as well
as God's " eternal purpose in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Christ is yet to be all for His Church, and His Church
all for Him. Few know this hope of their calling — ¦
none unless God hath revealed it unto them by His
Spirit. To all others it is as an idle tale, heard, but
neither believed nor understood.
The Ark of the Covenant, then, that goes before us

* Rev. iii. 21. t Ps. xiv. 9 X Eph.

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. 1^1
is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a glorious thing to
have a Covenant embodied in a Person, to have the
" exceeding great and precious promises" made secure
to us in a still more precious Promiser.
But the Ark of the Covenant, borne on before all
the people into the opening pathway, told not only
of Jesus, but of Jesus as our Forerunner — the first to
pass'through the barriers that shut us out from our
inheritance. He went down first of all, setting His
feet in the brim of the waters, as our Priest, and the
Prince of Faith. He passed on into the flood, that
swelled for Him beyond all bounds, as it never
swelled before or since, and never- can again. For He
touched the waters of sorrow, that they might hence
forth be cut off, and our sorrow turned into joy. He
touched the waves of Temptation, and they rolled
away beneath His feet. He met the Tempter, only
that He might depart from him, and that his works
might be destroyed. He touched the billows of
death, and they also rolled far away. He tasted
death, only that through death, He might destroy
him who held its power. Every high wave that was
ready to overwhelm humanity, was stayed as the Son
of man entered.
For while the Lord Jesus went before us as the
Son of God, He went also as Man, and as the Repre
sentative of Man. It is therefore the Baptism of
Humanity that we witness in His own. As the Son
of man, He rested entirely upon the power of the

134 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
Spirit. Conceived by the Holy Ghost, He could live
a sinless human life. Baptized by the descent of the
Spirit, at His baptism in Jordan, He went " in the
power of the Spirit " to His ministry of words and
works. And yet He had still another baptism to be
baptized with, so emancipating, so glorious, that He
could only say, " How am I straitened 'till it be accom
plished."* Therefore, when through the Eternal Spirit,
He offered Himself without spot unto God, then the
Body also shared in the wondrous -power. It could
not be holden of death ; it rose, passed into new
freedom, was transfigured, spiritualized. For forty
days on earth, and ten in heaven, the work went on.
And now, as soon as the rich anointing oil that was
poured forth, had covered the head of the great High
Priest, then it began to flow down to the skirts of the
garments. So when Jesus was glorified, the Holy
Ghost was given.
Henceforth, there was a new mold for man — the
Son of Man glorified. Whatsoever He was, or will be
as man, that He would have us also become. And
wheresoever He goes, there it is His will that we
should follow. The exceeding greatness of God's
power to us-ward who believe, is only to be measured
by what " He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him
from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in
* See on this interpretation of Luke xii. 50, some extremely in
teresting thoughts on " the Glorification of Christ " in Chap. xv.
of Jesus and the Coming Glory, by Joel Jones, LL.D.

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT.

135

the heavenly places." Nor let our faith falter, as this
measure reaches on and on — " far above all princi
pality, and power, and might, and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this world, but
also in that which is to come ; " — and still on — for
" He hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him
to be the Head over all things to the Church, which
is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in
all."* These are not the words of ecstatic song, but " the
words of truth and soberness." And yet, how shall
the Christian be persuaded of them, and embrace
them ? — for there are multitudes who miss them.
In their narrow thought, and in feeble faith, they see
not the great object of God in drawing nigh unto us
in the flesh. They put Him back again far from them.
They receive the blessing of His humanity, so far as
to claim in Him the friend of sinners ; but they do
not let Him come nigh enough to be truly their
brother — much less are they looking for Him, and
making ready for Him, as the Bridegroom.f They
still measure their risen life by their old life, and for
get that Christ leads us on to that true ideal of man
which first appeared in Him. It is a new path to a
new glory. None of us has " gone this way hereto
fore ;" for man was not created thus, nor has he
ever been able, nor will he ever be of. himself, to
reach such a height. It is the calling of the Church,
* Eph. i. 19-23. t Rev. xix. 7.

!36 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
even to be FOR Christ, IN Christ, LIKE Christ, and
WITH Christ forever.
Yet, let it never be forgotten, that a reverent space
was to be left between the people and the Ark. The
Ark was to stand in its solitary majesty, upheld so
high upon the shoulders of the Priests, that while
supporting it, they should not screen it. And then,
two thousand cubits intervened between it and their
pathway. " Come not near unto it," was the charge,
" that ye may know the way by which ye must go."*
In all our drawing nigh unto God, we are never to lay
aside the "reverence and godly fear." Whenever
mysticism, in her extreme forms, has forgotten this,
there has invariably followed, first, the indulgence of
self, and then, that which Neander has so aptly called
" The gulf of pantheistic self-deification." f
A vast space must ever lie between our derived
and dependent life, and His life and glory, who is God
over all, and never will the life which is so closely
united with His, become identical.
But while the Ark upborne in Jordan teaches us
such wondrous truth, another touch of power is given
to the picture, in its tarrying till all was accomplished.
" For the priests, which bare the Ark, stood in the

* Josh. iii. 4..
t The whole passage in which he traces "the very thin and
subtle line which often separates truth from error," is a profound
analysis of the tendency referred to. See his " Church History "
(Clark's Ed.), Vol. IX., pp. 535-6.

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT 137
midst of Jordan, until everything was finished that
the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the peo
ple, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua ;
and the people hasted and passed over." * All these
glorious provisions of the Gospel stand secure, till all
the ransomed have learned the power of Christ's
resurrection. Not only has the Lord Jesus gone
before us to prepare our way, but He sits at the
right hand of God, "waiting until His enemies be
made His foot-stool." \ How majestically calm and
patient those waiting years of Christ, because so confi
dent. When He purposed to crown His Temple
with this High Tower of the Church, He counted the
cost, and found that He had sufficient to finish it.
The looker-on, knowing little of Divine Art, may
" despise the day of small things," and often question
if the Gospel has not failed in the accomplishment
of its full design. But a word has been spoken more
sure than that of any earthly builder : " The hands
of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house,
his hands shall also finish it." % Those blessed hands
have never laid down the work. Whether it be a

* Josh. iv. 10. t Heb. X. 13, b/ciexo/tevos.
X Zech. iv.' 9. " It must be remembered in reading these
prophecies that as David is the type of Christ, and not only so,
but Christ Himself is also called David by the Prophets, so
Zerubbabel (the seed of David, and leader of the people from
captivity, and builder of the Temple) is not only a type of Christ,
but Christ is called Zerubbabel." — See Bishop Wordsworth's
Minor Prophets.

138 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
day, or a thousand years, it is all one in His sight.
He waits, while to so many His "long-suffering is
salvation ;" He waits, and as the long procession of
His followers files on, He ever reassures their hearts,
" Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the end
of the world !" He waits, until " everything be fin
ished." The great Architect will eventually suffer
no blemish, and no lack, in His great work. And as
once when He laid the foundation, upon His cross in
Sacrifice, He cried aloud that it was finished, so will
He yet cry louder with the shout of exceeding joy,
when the whole Salvation is finished. " He shall
bring forth the head-stone thereof with shoutings,
crying, Grace, grace, unto it." * And that which is
true for the Church which is His body, is true for
each member of it. The Apostle Paul might well
say to his beloved Philippians, " I am confident of
this very thing, that He who hath begun a good
work in you, will perfect it, even until the day of
Jesus Christ." He has learned very little of the
character of Christ, who can think of Him as possibly
forsaking the works of His own hands. The prayer
of David that He would not do it, was one of full
confidence, for it is preceded by these words of trust,
" The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me :
Thy Mercy, O Lord, endureth forever." \ . And yet,
•vhile this is absolutely true, it is possible upon the

* Zech. iv. 7. t Ps. cxxxviii. 8.

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. I3g
other hand, to " frustrate the Grace of God " in our
individual growth, and so even while saved, to suffer
loss ; and possible also, to delay His coming for His
Church.* Blessed are all who can say in sincerity,
" I do not frustrate the Grace of God."
In the history of this crossing of Jordan, there is a
beautiful conjunction of God's waiting, and of man's
hastening. The Priests and the Ark stood still ; but
" the people hasted and passed over." Many com
mentators assume that they hastened from fear. But
while the form of the verb does not in the least indi
cate this, it would also be out of all harmony with
the history. Hastening for fear, when so many miles
above them the bed of Jordan lay dry ! Hastening
for fear, when they saw the Ark of God and His
Priests far nearer any possible danger than them
selves ! Hastening for fear over Jordan, when their
fathers had marched through the flood of the Red
Sea on foot, rejoicing in God ! Such haste would
have been both utterly unseemly, and an evil omen
for the conquest. There were other reasons for mak
ing all possible haste. Were they not keeping the
priests of God with their arms outstretched, to bear
up their holy burden ? And moreover, there, dis-
*Cf. I Cor. iii. 15, and 2 Peter iii. 12. See Dean Alford's
Greek Testament upon airevSovTac, in the latter passage, which he
renders thus : " Hastening the advent of the day of God." If
it be possible to hasten Christ's coming it is also possible to hin
der it.

140

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

tinct before them, beautiful in the soft, rich light of
the early morning, lay the homes, and vineyards, and
fields, which they were to possess. It was but a little
space to cross — they could see the very flowers bow
ing with the weight of the dew — a little space, and
an open path. A few steps, and their feet would be
in Canaan ; a few moments, and the weary waiting of
years would end. As the tired laborer hastes at the
first glimpse of his home, so must they have hastened.
There may have been, also, some innocent rivalry to
be among the first to touch the further shore. All
these motives, indeed, might easily combine as they
hastened and passed over. And shall not the thought
that Jesus waits, till all be gathered in — waits, with
out coming yet " in His power and great glory " —
waits for His coming and His espousals — shall not •
this thought stir up His Church, not only to be look
ing for, but hastening His coming ? By all the dili
gence we give to make our calling and election sure—
by all our diligence in adding to our faith the graces
that complete it — by all our hastening to pass over
and share the risen life of Christ, and receive the ful
ness of His blessing, do we at the same time render
it possible for Him to hasten ? The love of Christ
constraining us, will urge us onward. And who that
has had " the eyes of the understanding opened," to
behold what are " the riches of the glory " of this
inheritance in Christ Jesus, would not fain ' to his

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. i^r
speed add wings,' that he might enter it, and at once
possess it ?
When Israel came out of Egypt, two opposite com
mands were given to them : the first, "Stand still and
see the salvation of God ;" the second, " Speak to
my people that they go forward!' So again, upon
the banks of Jordan, there were days of quiet resting,
before they could hasten and pass over. No one can
ever go forward in the strength of God, till he has
first stood still in his own utter helplessness. But
when the call is heard, and the promise given, then
go forward he must, or forfeit all before him. All
these gracious promises, so ancient, so often renewed —
all the provision for the future in the land — all this
patient preparation — all the stay of God's presence
and power — all these are forfeited, if he fail to go
forward in the obedience of faith. " If ye know these
things, happy are ye if ye do them."
Most ruinous to faith, is that serious sentimentality
which admires the truth, studies it, teaches it, and
even thinks to hold it as its own ; but does not after
all suffer itself to be possessed by it. Truth asks for no
patronizing. It calls for humble, submissive, loyal
hearts. Its command is, "Go forward — HASTEN."
And, indeed, it is not enough that we go forward.
We must also HASTEN, if the fulness of blessing is
ever to be ours. We are solemnly told that only as
we "give diligence" shall we make our calling and

142 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
election sure ; that only as we " show the same dili
gence," shall we have "the full assurance of hope
unto the end." Respecting this very type we read
in the Epistle to the Hebrews, "Let us, therefore,
hasten * to enter into this rest ;" and again, we learn
how it is that in "giving all diligence," "an entrance
shall be ministered unto us abundantly into the ever
lasting kingdom." f
The Lord of the Covenant passing on before us at
once our Ark, our Priest, our Leader, calls to His
halting disciples, "Follow me — FOLLOW ME." And
" he that believeth shall not make haste " \ for any
fear ; but for the joy of following Him, whithersoever
He goeth, " thy children shall make haste !" §
* Heb. iv. 1 1, "Zizmidaau/iev — elsewhere rendered, be diligent.
r 2 Pet. i. 5-1 1. J Is. xxviii. 16. § Is. xlix. 17.

CHAPTER VII.

MEMORIAL STONES,

UrPHESE STONES SHALL BE FOR A MEMORIAL
J- UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL FOREVER."
~-{Josh. iv. 7.)
After the crossing of Jordan, immediate steps were
taken to keep the great event alive to all coming gen
erations. By express command of the Lord, twelve
stones were carried from the bed of Jordan, where
the priests had stood, and were set up at Gilgal,
where the children of Israel lodged that night. As
the song of Moses preserved the memory of the Red
Sea Crossing, so now that they have at last reached
a spot which is not to be left behind in journeying,
a more solid memorial is to bear witness to the won
derful works of the Lord.
The lessons to be learned from these stones of
memorial, are more simple than many others in this
history, and yet of too much importance to be wholly
slighted. The first suggested, is the duty of " well
remembering " whatever the Lord has done. There
are steps in our Christian course which can never be
repeated in act, but which need often to be repeated
(M3)

144

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

in vivid remembrance. The blessed influences of a
moment may thus be diffused over a lifetime. It
may often happen, also, that the significance of an
act not fully recognized at the time, may so grow
upon the soul that, like those fruits which mellow long
after they are gathered, its real blessedness is tasted
in far distant years. Indeed, the events are very few
which assume their full importance at the time. The
thought of this should quiet that keen regret, which
would fain transfer to the past, the fuller comprehen
sion of the present. Mere sentiment might thus re
ceive a finer gratification ; but still all really solid
and substantial uses may be served by a right re
membrance. On the other hand, forgetfulness of our past bless
ings and of the wonderful ways of our God, is un
speakable loss. He who has " forgotten that he was
purged from his old sins," has lost the very main
spring of Christian progress. For as remembrance
means renewal, so does forgetfulness mean forfeiture.
A lively faith will always be blessed with a clear mem
ory, and thus forgetfulness is one of the earliest and
surest symptoms of unbelief. " They soon forgat His
works," is equivalent to saying that their faith had
waned. So Jesus upbraids His disciples who, after
twice seeing the multitude fed by Him, were heard
reasoning because they had no bread — "And do ye
not remember? "* Throughout the Epistles remark-
* Mark viii. 18.

MEMORIAL STONES.

H5

able stress is laid upon the power of such recollec
tion. St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, that if they
kept in memory that which he had preached and
they received, they should be saved* And to the
Ephesians, seated in heavenly places, he writes :
" Wherefore remember !" They were still to bear
constantly in mind that they had once been far off,
and were made nigh only by the blood of Jesus.
Again, how earnestly he charges Timothy, " Of these
things put them in remembrance." Still more strik
ing are the words of the Apostle Peter, who an
nounces his design in both his Epistles to be this, to
" stir up their pure minds by way of remembrance." \
Well taught as bad been his hearers, and profound
as was his own knowledge of the truth, there yet
seemed to him nothing so pressing as this. " Where
fore," he writes, " I will not be negligent to put you
always in remembrance of these things, though ye
know them and be established in the present truth.
Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this taber
nacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance.
Moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able after
my decease to have these things always in remem
brance!' % In these Athenian days, when men spend '
their time either in telling or hearing some new thing,
and even in the house of God listen restlessly to old
truth, we have need to be reminded of this high

* 1 Cor. xv. 1, 2. t 2 Pet iii. 1. J 2 Pet. i. 12-15.
7

146 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
authority for such reiteration of it, as shall keep it
always in mind. And it is safe to say that whenever
the truth, as already heard, has been assimilated,
there will always be fresh eagerness to hear it again,
as both new and old. It is through such constant
remembrance, that faith is found ripening into ever
richer experiences.
As to the significance of the stones themselves
thus set up at Gilgal, there are two interpretations —
not, however, in conflict, but the one being rather
continued and completed in the other. We may re
gard them, in the first place, and with reference to
the foothold they supplied, as representing the word
and promises of God, which are the stay and support
of the soul ; and then, in their fuller meaning, that
same word as embodied in the risen life of Believers,
and especially in the twelve Apostles.
As to the first of these meanings, we have to note
that the stones were taken out of the place where
the priests' feet stood firm. To hold the Ark stead
ily up before the eyes of the people who looked to
this as their security, there was needed firm foot
ing — such footing as could be found only on a rock.
Doubtless the first efforts of the priests would be to
secure this standing. And whether we regard the
bearers of the Ark as representing Christ, the Up
holder of His own Covenant, or as still further signi
fying the delegation of this priestly privilege to oth
ers — what in either case could give firm foothold,

MEMORIAL STONES. iaj
save that Word of God, which is very sure and very
steadfast ? " The True Sayings of God "— " The ex
ceeding great and precious promises " — these furnish
a firm foundation in the deepest depths. Brought
out of the horrible pit and the miry clay, the feet
may be set upon these as on a rock.
Each priest stood upon his own stone, and then a
man out of each tribe was appointed to bring up
each one a stone. Their distinctness was not to be
lost in "the monument as a whole, for the question
of coming ages was to be, " What mean ye by these
stones ?" Practically, it is not upon the entire revela
tion of God, but upon some one portion of it, that
each man takes his stand. Any one of the promises
appropriated singly in an hour of need, will yield far
more support than a general conviction of the truth
of all. Because there is always some promise that is
not only secure, but precisely adapted to our present
need, and which while it does not distinctly include,
yet powerfully suggests the whole Gospel. Christian
Biography abounds with instances, where an epoch of
life was characterized by the vivid apprehension of
some single saying, out of all the many words of
God. It is well that there should be many stones, and
many witnesses ; that as human needs are definite
and varied, so should be also the instrumentalities.
Each true witness for God can only bear his witness
from his own experience, and in his own way ; and

I48 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
there will always be those that could receive no
other. Many ropes may be thrown from the ¦ life
boat ; it is salvation to grasp but one — the nearest.
Twelve manner of fruits grow, each in their season,
upon the tree of life ; it is the best sustenance for
the hungry to take that which is ripest. By twelve
gates will the holy city be entered, and the right gate
for all those who come from the north, and from the
south, from the east, and from the west, is that which
we see upon our own side, and can reach by the short
est road. And so while there are twelve stones, to
each his own stone will seem the strongest and surest.
That promise of God in which he first clearly finds
the resurrection-power of Jesus, must needs be the
most precious. Again and again will he prove it.
Like the sword of David, it is that with which he
triumphed at the first, and " there is none like that."
As these stones were set up at Gilgal, and they ,
gathered round them, on that most memorable night
of first resting in the land of rest, how naturally would
each of the priests point to his own stone, and say,
" Upon this one it was that my feet stood firm ;" while
another near him would make answer, " And that same
stone it was that I brought up upon my shoulder." The
joy of all would be multiplied by the special joy on
the part of each ; and their sense of possession in the
whole memorial, be heightened by the fact of their
peculiar portion in a part.
It would furnish a most interesting study, to con-

MEMORIAL STONES.

149

sider in the case of the Apostles, so far as we have a
record of their faith, what it was that was the per
sonal stand-point of each. And another study might
be made more complete, in considering what twelve
true sayings of God, would best set forth the manifold-
ness and adaptiveness of His truth ; and whose feet
also they had stayed, and on whose shoulders they
had been carried as trophies.
But without attempting this, let one stone be here
brought over, and set up as a memorial ; not only be
cause personally, exceedingly precious, but also because
it is so broad that the whole world might stand there,
if they would. " He that spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how
shall He not with Him also freely give us
ALL THINGS ?" As in a granite rock, glittering with
its clear crystals, so out of this strong logic of the Gos
pel, there flashes all the light of love. There it stands
in the past — that great fact — that Christ died — died
because " God so loved the world." Such a gift once
given, what else shall He not give !
" Behold His greatest gift of all is free,
And pledges every lesser gift to thee !"
It was in vain that Archimedes sighed for his
irov cttio from which to move the earth ; but in the
marvellous mechanics of Grace, the Cross of Christ is
that stand-point which has been given, and from which
He will yet move the Universe. There we may stand

ISO

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

in all our weakness, and wait and watch to see Him
work His wonders. And to what a climax of hope
we climb, as word after word of this persuading prom
ise sets our feet higher yet : "How — shall He not —
with Him — also — -freely — give us — all things f ' How
the strong arches stretch in succession over the whole
wide stream of judgment ! Or rather, we may behold
it, as the one lithe span of a Sure Salvation, suspended
over the chasm sundering earth and heaven, and let
down on either side from the High Towers of a
Father's and a Brother's love !
This sure word of promise, is no private title deed,
but the broad charter of all who claim their citizen
ship in Heaven. Every one, who has received Christ
at all as a Saviour, may go on to receive with Him
all things. If any one admit the least flaw in this title
to the'fulness of Grace and Glory, he at the same time
disallows it all, and must stand wholly disinherited.
For with what consistency can he who claims not all,
claim anything ? " ALL THINGS " — " FOR US ALL " —
for whom Christ died. Such is the substance of the
Promise. " All things, for us all." Such a saying should silence
forever all the babbling of the faithless, who still
insist, " These blessings are for a few, not for all — not
for me." But God has graven it in the Rock forever,
"All things- for us all." Venture, then, timid
traveller, upon this sure promise of thy God.
Here, take thy stand upon the Rock, saying, "I

MEMORIAL STONES.

151

can do no other." Make this thy stepping-stone into
the Land of Promise, and the power of Christ's Res
urrection. Make this also thy sure foundation, and
there uphold the glorious Covenant, in the eyes of all
whose feet seem ready to fail for fear. Set it up as
thy memorial, and keep it always in thy remembrance.
And thou shalt never need to seek for any other stone
upon which to write thy Eben-ezer ; but with every
coming day, thou canst still say, " Hitherto hath the
Lord helped me," and so set to thy seal that God is
true. But to pass on to the fuller significance pf this
symbol. The word of God thus proven in experience,
becomes embodied in the life of the Believer. Each
faithful confessor of His Lord becomes a Rock, and
is built up as a living stone, in that monument which
witnesses to the power and wisdom of God — His holy
Church. The Resurrection of Jesus was followed by
the setting up of its foundations, and as it " groweth to
an holy Temple," it is the truest trophy which He
exhibits to' the Universe. Christian Confession, Chris
tian Character, Christian Conduct — these are the true
memorials of a Risen Saviour. And as the stones at
Gilgal renewed from age to age the question, " What
mean ye by these stones ?"— so will it always be that
such a life will suggest the deepest searching into the
ways of God. Very sweetly, in words that are daily
endeared to the hearts of thousands, has this great
need been shaped into the prayer, " We beseech thee,

152

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our
hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we may
show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in
our lives ; by giving up ourselves to thy service,
and by walking before thee in holiness and right
eousness, all our days."*
Meanwhile, there is one great memorial, that has
already been set up, and that has stood strong
throughout the ages — twelve goodly stones that
have been marked with special honor — the Twelve
Apostles of our Lord. Distributing to the many
members of the one body their gifts and offices,
" God hath set in the Church, first, Apostles." Joined
in a peculiarly close and sacred fellowship with the
Chief Corner-stone, these twelve were ,to constitute
the first solid round of foundation stonesf which in
all the future growth of the Holy Temple could
never be repeated. The Building could only be fitly
framed together, by every other stone being built
upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets.:}:

* Book of Common Prayer — General Thanksgiving of Morning
and Evening Prayer.
t Rev. xxi. 14.
J'" Ye are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone ' (Eph. ii. 20).
The corner-stone is but part of the foundation, though it be the
first and the chief part ; and this consolidation of the corner
stone with the adjacent foundations, as one basement to sustain
the building, exhibits in the plainest manner the fact, that the
Church, in respect of its faith, rests upon a testimony which

MEMORIAL STONES. 1 53
Chosen to be witnesses of Christ's Resurrection, they
are set up as soon as their Lord has passed over
through death into life. The importance of their
office may be somewhat measured from that long
night of solitary prayer on the mountain-top, which
preceded their call, as well as from all the solemn,
sacred words and acts of their subsequent commis
sion. Were our Gospel given us only in the life of Jesus
upon earth — had our New Testament closed with the
record of the Evangelists — we should have had only
that which " Jesus began both to do and teach." For
its completion and its full preparation for the world,
it was needful that it should be wrought out practi
cally in merely human lives. It was fitting, also, that
the number selected for the first exhibition of this new
power, should be the same as that so often chosen by
God as representing human instrumentality. Twelve
is the multiple of that number which marks the Tri
une Being of God, and of that other which denotes
earthly expansion, and completeness of human com
bination.* Thus both Divine and human factors are

was delivered partly by Jesus in person, and partly by the agents
whom for that purpose He ordained. Their inspiration as be
lievers associates them with the whole Church ; their inspiration
as teachers unites them only with their Lord."— Bernard's Prog
ress of Doctrine in the New Test., p. 125.
* See page 194-5 of Vol. I. of Bahr's " Symbolik des Mosai-
schen Cultus " (Heidelberg, 1874.) See also the Introduction to
Lange's Com. on the Revelation of St. John.
<7*

154 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
seen in the number of Instruments, set apart by God,
for working upon man, through man.
Thus then were the Twelve Apostles set forth as
our examples — taken out of the common quarries of
humanity, even out of its roughest regions — to show
before the world, what forms of God-like manliness
the great Sculptor could shape and polish. /
And standing first as ensamples, they are also
clothed with high authority. It was the safety of
the earliest converts, that " they continued steadfastly
in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship." It is still
the safety of the Church, even for such as are " proph
ets " and " spiritual," to acknowledge the things which
they wrote unto us, as the commandments of the
Lord* " What mean ye by these stones?" was the inquiry
to be ever incited by the memorial at Gilgal. And a
question like it still confronts the sceptic and the
careless — What mean these Living Stones — these
lives of Christ's Apostles ? /
What ' mean from simple peasants and fishermen
such dignity and grandeur ?— out of a nation so nar
row and so rigid, such breadth, such pliability ? — What
mean in men who have sheathed the sword, a zeal
and courage that no warrior ever matched ? — What
mean from unlearned and ignorant men, those torrents
of effective eloquence ? — What mean — we will not
ask the " signs, and wonders, and migfity deeds,"
* i Cor. xiv. 37.

MEMORIAL STONES. . jgr;
which men have mocked and mimicked — but that
Patience, which is the foremost sign of an Apostle,*
whereas no enchantment can ever " do in like man
ner?" — What can they mean save this, that Christ who
died is risen again, and that these are the witnesses of
His Resurrection, each of whom can say, " Christ
liveth in me."
It must not be overlooked that while these twelve
stones upon the further shore constituted the great
memorial, twelve other stones were set up in the
midst of Jordan to mark the place where the Ark of
the Covenant had gone down ; and, says the histo
rian, " There they are unto this day."
For never, while giving testimony to " Jesus and
the Resurrection," must the deep valley of His death
be forgotten. The Lord Himself has taught us how
we should behold Him now, in those words that
opened the Apocalypse, " I am the Living One and
I BECAME DEAD." " There they are unto this day" —
the Agony — the Trial — the Cross — the Tomb!
There it was that He stood so long for our sakes
that He might bring us unto glory. Yea, even let
Him remain, " a Lamb as it had been slain in the midst
of the Throne !"
So, also, in that Memorial, which would be robbed
of its chief blessing, were it not the communion of
the soul with an a*scended, glorified Lord, how clearly
are we still pointed to the broken body, and the shed
* 2 Cor. xii. 12.

156 THF FULNESS OF BLESSING.
blood, and told, in tones that stir all our tenderest
thoughts, " Do this in remembrance of me."
It may be permissible to regard one more final
lesson as suggested by this latter group of stones.
Taken as they were from the Land of Promise itself,
and carried back to the bed of the river, they may
set forth the call of some of God's servants, to a
special fellowship in the sufferings of Christ, for His
service sake. The call of the Apostle Paul was thus
marked, — " I will show him how great things he must
suffer for my name's sake."
So he counted not his life dear unto himself, that
he might fulfil his ministry ; and thus he filled up
" that which was behind of the sufferings of Christ,"
for the sake of His Church.
And so we may find indicated in these deep-sunken
stones, what one of the most spiritual of the German
divines has spoken of as, " the deep principle that tc
every vessel of grace, and especially every witness ol
the Gospel, suffering is inevitable ; and that the meas
ure of affliction is in proportion to the height and
dignity of the vocation."* To all His disciples Christ
gives His seven-fold Benediction ;\ but he has an
other beyond these,:}: wherewith to crown His Kings
and Priests ; that suffering for righteousness' sake, they
m'ght " rejoice and be exceeding glad."

* Rudolph Stier, " Words of the Risen Saviour,'' p. 36.
t Matt. v. 3-9. X Matt. v. 10.

MEMORIAL STONES.

157

Ye whom God honors thus, be not moved by these
afflictions. Let your hearts be comforted by the
words of one, who knew full well of what he spoke,
" Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only
to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake."
" It is a faithful saying, For if we be dead with Him
we shall also live with Him ; if we suffer WE SHALL
ALSO REIGN WITH HIM."

CHAPTER VIII.
THE REPROACH OF EGYPT.
u AND Joshua made him sharp knives and
a circumcised the children of israel.
And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day
have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt
from off you." — ( Josh. v. 3, 9).
The first experience in the Land of Blessing was
to be one of pain. As the people had needed a spe
cial preparation for passing over Jordan, so did the
larger portion of them need a further preparation for
the Conquest. Upon the other side the command of
God had been, " Set yourselves apart." The time
had come to carry out their consecration. The cove
nant of circumcision was to be renewed. Through
all the bondage of Egypt it appears to have been ob
served, and nothing marks more clearly the demor
alization of the wilderness, than its utter neglect.
" Now all the people that came out were circumcised ;
but all the people that were born in the wilderness
by the way, as they came forth out of Egypt, them
they had not circumcised."
(15S)

THE REPROACH OF EGYPT.

1 59

The command seems very stern — " The Lord said
unto Joshua, make thee sharp knives and circumcise
again the children of Israel ; " yet it marks the good
ness rather than the severity of God. He was thus
renewing for them a Covenant of Blessing..
The first consequence of this covenant had been
the change of Abram's name to Abraham, as now to
be the father of many nations. Ninety years old and
nine when he was circumcised, he must suffer in his
flesh, before the promised seed was given. God, who
had called him out of his own country, that He might
bless him, and make him a blessing,* who had ap
peared again as his shield and exceeding great re
ward, and counted his faith for righteoHsness,f now
in this third call, summoned him to walk before Him,
and to be perfect.:]: He had led him up step by step
to this absolute devotion to Himself, and so finally
gave to him this significant token of the covenant,
which He made with him and his posterity. The
penalty of disobedience or of neglect was this — •
" That soul shall be cut off from his people : he hath
broken my covenant."
It is often questioned how far these types could
be comprehended by the people who observed them.
But in regard to this one, it appears certain that its
moral import was seen. We find all along the record
of its outward observance, a contemporary spiritual

* Gen. xiu 1-3. t Gen. xv. 1-5. X Gen- xvii- 1~I°-

l6o THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
use of the term. Even in the wilderness Moses called
upon the people to " circumcise their hearts and be
no more stiff-necked ;" and even there was the promise
given, " The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart,
and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with
all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou may-
est live."*
And seeking for its significance to us, we find in
perfect accord with the appeals of the Old Testament,
the teaching of the New, that circumcision is of the
heart, in the spirit and not in the letter. We are
shown that its present correlatives are, " the keeping
of the commandments of God," " faith working by
love," and " a new creature." We are told that " We
then- are the circumcision who worship God in the
spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no con
fidence in the flesh ; " and that in our " circumcision
made without hands," that which we have put off is
" the body of the sins of the flesh." f As clearly as
God commanded the shadow of things to come, when ,
He made this special covenant with Abraham, so
clearly did the Lord Jesus ree'nact its substance, when
He turned and said unto His disciples, " If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross and follow me. He that loveth his life
shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world,
* Deut. xxx. 6. >
•f See i Cor. vii. 19; Gal. v. 6 and vi. 15; Phil. iii. 3, and
Col. ii. 11.

THE REPROACH OF EGYPT. j6i
shall keep it unto life eternal." * The lesson of cir
cumcision then, while including much beside, is fun
damentally this — the putting away of selfism, so af
fecting a radical change of life, by substituting for the
love of self in all its intricate ramifications, the sin
gleness of love to God. The process changes the
very polarity of our nature. In the world at large,
" all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus
Christ's." But the heart which the Lord has circum
cised to love Him, " seeketh not its own."
It is somewhat startling at first, to find such a scene
of suffering over Jordan, since it would seem to be
long rather to the preparation. But the order in
which it stands is certainly in accord with the develop
ments of Christian life. In the Epistle to the Colos-
sians, St. Paul writes, " Ye are dead, and your life is
hid with Christ in God ; mortify, therefore, your mem
bers which are upon the earth." The first working
of the power of Christ's resurrection is in the fellow
ship of His sufferings — His love of necessity con
straining us to die unto sin and self, and live unto
Him. Only as we take our share in His life and in
His love, can this be possible ; for there can be no
such thing in Christian experience as the mere nega
tive abstinence from evil. Only a living and loving
soul that has taken firm hold of the promises of God,
can cleanse itself " from all filthiness of the flesh and
of the spirit." No one would ever dream of attempt-
* Matt. xvi. 24, and John xii. 25.

1 62 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
ing to remove the darkness from a room, without
letting in the light. And as the entering of the light
removes the darkness, so must the Spirit come to
banish self.
Let no one be dismayed in the first joy of this res
urrection life, at finding that a painful process awaits
him, and that all is not even yet left behind. But
neither let him think that there can be any further
progress, until his consecration has become a solemn
covenant, sealed by sacrifice. He must neither des
pair at the discovery of self, nor fail to let it be cru
cified. Again, let none think that we are able to do this
for ourselves. Jesus, our Joshua, is the only one who
can cause His love so to constrain the soul, as to
remove all " superfluity of naughtiness." And the
sharp knife which He will use is His own Word,
which is " quick and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asun
der of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart." It is of the utmost importance for us to understand
that whatever of self still exists in us, it can by no
possibility be hidden from God. It is naked and
open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to
do. As clearly as Jesus read the hearts of those
around Him when on earth, thus answering their

THE REPROACH OF EGYPT. x6y
thoughts rather than their words, so clearly does He
comprehend every undercurrent, and subtle depth in
our being now. We may be self-deceived, but we
qan never deceive the" Lord. .
And very rarely are they deceived who walk in His
light. When to that native intuition which often
reaches far below the surface, there is added any
power of discerning spirits, the true standing of those
with whom they mingle is almost sure to be known
— whether self be living or slain. How foolish, there
fore, not to say how sinful, to evade that knowledge
of ourselves which others have.
Christians are usually ready to make any amount
of general confession of sin ; they recognize and la
ment the taint that is found everywhere in humanity.
They can judge their own sin in the abstract ; but not
always — not often — are they ready to humble them
selves, and receive the message, " Thou art the man!'
The Physician rarely finds his ¦ patient offended by a
simple statement of his disease, but how few who, in
the sickness of their souls, seek for spiritual counsel,
are willing to be told the truth. Thoroughly aware
of some difficulty, they think themselves ready for any
sacrifice — for the removal of any hindrance. And it
is no difficult task for one accustomed to deal with
souls, to detect that special form of self which is their
snare. But if it be simply and honestly stated; of
fence is taken ; it is denied or evaded ; while the soul,

164 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
to shelter its wounded pride, affects discouragement
at such misunderstanding, and so, by its own wilful
ness, sinks into a worse condition than before.
What wonder if even. true and faithful friends, fore
seeing this, hesitate to perform an office which will
not be accepted. It is a fearful thing when self has
grown so strong, that in its pride it ceases to wel
come the truth. What if God also should be un
willing to force it upon those who so little desire it !
What if His only way to bring us to the knowledge
of all that is in our heart, should be to leave us, that
the sin which lies hidden in the depth of the heart,
might work itself out in some bitter humiliation !
It is perfectly certain that while self thus remains
alive, there are many of the very richest blessings,
which God can not possibly impart, save at the risk
of most imminent peril to the receiver. They would
be perverted at once, to minister to the life of self.
This is the most common cause of those delays, which
so many experience in receiving that which they have
asked — Self is not slain. Some instances of this kind
may be very perplexing, since such secret selfism may
coexist with much zeal and outward fidelity, and many
striking traits of Christian character. Especially may
it coexist with the stronger elements. The strong
man is lifted up because of his strength ; and his
heart must needs be changed to that of a little child,
before he can grow again in knowledge and in grace.
Whoever stands self-sufficient, even in God-given wis-

THE REPROACH OF EGYPT. 165
dom and strength, has lost the power of receiving
more. He has to learn that men never grow— that
only the child grows. When he is ready, even as a
little babe, to desire the sincere milk of the word,
then will God restore this privilege of growth.
On the other hand, there are instances of those who
pass into the inner courts, to behold the nearer glory
of God, with an ease that is equally perplexing to the
superficial eye. Their lives are not at the time purer,
and in almost every respect they may exhibit less of
strength, than those whom they outstrip. But they
have one all-important prerequisite, simplicity of heart.
" Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile ! "
said Jesus ; and " the Jew inwardly," whose " circum
cision is that of the heart," is thus ever recognized by
the Lord, and receives praise of Him.
The least portion of that guile which is even more
deceived than deceiving, is an evil root in the soil,
which proves the most difficult of all things to eradi
cate. It can live upon so little. It can die apparent
ly so often, and yet revive. But until self is really
removed, and we come down below all pretence and
conceit to solid ground — to a basis of entire truthful
ness toward God — how impossible to be solidly built
up. As well might one venture a tower above a
quicksand !
Never has a truth of God been so travestied as this
of denying self, in that which passes usually under the
name of self-denial — the giving up of the most that

1 66 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
we may keep the dearest ; the denial of somewhat to
ourselves instead of the denial of the whole self to
God. We may let a thousand things go out of our
life and die, but our life has not died. The world
may have been crucified unto us, but not we unto the
world. We may possibly have parted with our right
hand, or our right eye, but still, " skin for skin, yea,
all that a man hath will he give for his life" — a fact
well known to Satan who said it. " Living in any
thing unto ourselves, even in the best things, is the
essential of self. When self is dead, its own heart
ceases to beat ; and every pulse of the new life, united
unto Christ, keeps time with the throbbing of His
own heart. The new heart which He has given,
finds again the life which was lost for His sake,
risen and glorified. It truly lives when it lives unto
God. What shall be said of this great need of Christians,
and of the thousands in whom self is still alive ? How
shall, indeed, any intimation of their need be given
them ? How rend the veil of good works, and gifts,
and graces, which drape and beautify this secret shrine
of self ? But for so much that is excellent, one might
come sooner to the knowledge of the evil. In the lives
of not a few, there are two currents ; and we need
thoroughly to understand that the under-current is
the dangerous one. The eye that judges by the sur
face is not deceived — that current is real and regular;
but as you enter the waters, you are swept along,

THE REPROACH OF EGYPT.

167

helpless, by the fitful force below. In all partially
subdued natures, there will be found more or less
of the contrary of their chief characteristics. Are
they humble in converse and manner ? — A secret
pride or vanity finds a rich feeding-place beneath
that humility, and some sudden outburst of jealousy
or envy will betray it. Are they energetic, and full
of stir and activity ? — Somewhere an unwelcome duty
will be turned into a couch of luxurious ease. Is the
whole bearing that of perfect candor and frankness ?
— The occasion will come when insincerity will cloak
itself with these, and pass unchallenged in its disguise.
Is the life rich in its nobility and its generous deeds ?
— Below this good graft will spring up offshoots of
timidity and petty meanness, to surprise some one
long wonted to the sweeter fruits, with the crabbed
taste of these. Every close observer of unbalanced
Christian character, is prepared to find the faults in
this marked contrast to the virtues, so that whatever
may be the general grain of the growth, a sudden knot
breaks through at the sharpest possible angle. It
has been often noticed that the points on which
many break down, are their strong points. Even in
what seems the most assured to us, we have thus to
" have the sentence of death in ourselves, that we
should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth
the dead."
Such are some of the subtleties of self, which only
the most piercing Eye can fully see, and only the

1 68 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
Hand, that is infinitely tender, as well as true, re
move. But there are other more prominent and shameful
forms of self, which prevail throughout the Churches.
Among these, we may number that worldliness
which is everywhere rampant ; the sensuality, or more
refined sensuousness, which are asking, " What shall
we eat, and what shall we drink, and wherewithal
shall we be clothed ?" — ambition and covetousness,
which have never yet been exorcised, and which find
their way into highest and holiest places ; that con
formity to custom, which is accepted as such a matter
of course, that little room is left for asking, " Lord,
what wilt Thou have me to do ?" — but their name is
legion ! Sad as is the statement, such is beyond all
question the prevalent state of Christians. — Uncircum-
cised in heart — the self-denial which we witness, being
too often either special and spasmodic on the one
hand, or on the other, so ascetic as only to minister
to spiritual pride.
Such is the reproach of Egypt which God sum
mons us to roll away — the merited reproach that the
old and evil nature is still visible, and that Christians
are, after all, very much like others. Even amongst
themselves, how utterly incomplete is the confidence
which they can place in one another. Notwithstand
ing all that is lovely and of good report, how constant
is the reproach.
In one of the Messianic psalms, we find a cry that

THE REPROACH OF EGYPT.

169

only falls short, in its sorrow, of the " lama sabacthani "
of the Cross, " Remember, Lord, the reproach of
thy servants ; how I do bear in my bosom the re
proach of all the mighty people ; wherewith Thine
enemies have reproached, O Lord, wherewith they
have reproached the footsteps of Thine anointed." *
Alas ! that it should be His own anointed — that such
should be the stains upon hearts and lives sprinkled
by the blood of Christ, and consecrated by the holy
oil of the Spirit. God chose His people to be to
Him for a name and an honor, and behold the re
proach ; He called them to be holy, and behold the
corruption. Of old the nationality of Israel was to be kept
perfectly distinct. Yet it was not to be a nationality
solely of birthright and of blood, for the circumcised
stranger was to be as one born in the land. So, then,
the physiognomy did not furnish the proof. The real
tok^n by which they were known as the people of
God, was not that which is most obvious, but that
which is most hidden. And yet this secret separation
to God, compelled in various ways a separation from
others, that would always mark them openly. The
line was drawn with unmistakable clearness.
And though it be also with us " in the hidden man
of the heart " that God puts His seal — still if it be
there, by many another sign the world will know it,
and we shall be separate from the world. When God
* Ps. lxxxix. 50, 51
&

170 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
calls upon us to circumcise our hearts, it practically
involves this also — " Come out from among them and
be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing."
The Jew has always been known as such at once.
But can we as easily discern the Christian? Here
and there, " the ointment of the right hand bewrayeth
itself." But how many who have professed to follow
Christ, make themselves almost indistinguishable
from a world that rejects Him ? No attempt at a
merely external separation avails. Such was not that
of Christ. He even shocked the social standard of
those who were for making a fair show in the flesh ;
and they said of Him — " This man receiveth sinners
and eateth with them." But all the more for this
was He "holy, harmless, undefiled — separate from
sinners!' When the Israelites hastened to pass over Jordan,
their first thoughts as they looked on to Jericho,
must have been of immediate battle, and of drawing
the sword upon their enemies. Instead of this, God
gave them days of delay, and drew the sharp knife
upon them. Gilgal* was their first encampment in
Canaan, and there, where they had set up their monu
ment to the mercies of God, and then presented their
bodies as living sacrifices, was their standard to re
main. Gilgal appears to have continued to be their
base throughout the long war that followed. There
must have been a moral power in every return to
that spot, where they had first rolled together the

THE REPROACH OF EGYPT.

171

memorial-stones — and then let God roll away their
own reproach. He was their God, for He had done
wondrous things for them ; and they were His peo
ple, for they had given themselves to Him. From
Gilgal they could go forth again and again to conquer
and possess the land.
Have we o*ur Gilgal? — Why, then, is it that so
much of our service and warfare is uncrowned with
success and victory ? Alas ! the house in which self
has any dominion is a house divided against itself,
and can not stand. And the Church so constituted,
is a host with variance and rebellion in its midst — ¦
weak at the best, and often in the very thick of the
battle betrayed unto its enemies. If the Church of
Christ would follow her Lord, as He goes forth " con
quering and to conquer," let her be truly consecrated
and circumcised. If the Christian in the daily con
flicts of life, would first learn to "die daily," there
would never an enemy stand before him. But let
him cease to wonder that he does not come off vic
torious, if he is saving his life from such a death.
And yet it must needs be always a severe expe
rience for those who have been living at ease, and as
they have tried to think in all good conscience ; very
hard for those who have been held in high honor by
their fellow-men ; and sharpest of all to those who
have become half-spoiled by facile flattery, or their
own fatal self-fondling ; — upon whose ears little but
praise has ever fallen. The sharp knife of God asit

172 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
touches these, will seem terrible in its truthfulness.
They will almost demand that God should accept the
award that has so satisfied themselves ; and so strug
gling against His purpose, they prolong their suffer
ings. Would that they only knew how tender and
how true is the Hand that wounds them ! Then
they would neither fear nor flinch !
For when we turn from the negative character of
this symbol to the more positive form of the spiritual
truth, we find that this sharp knife is, after all, only
the pruning of the Husbandman, that the old decay
ing shoot may give place to a new one full of vigor
and fruitfulness. It means not a maimed existence,
but life more abundantly. It means not poverty,
but wealth. It means not anger, but intensest love.
It means that the one deadly element eliminated, God
can then, without any reserve, flood us with every
good thing. Self is often the only evil in many a
pursuit and plan. Tha.t self once surrendered, they
may be restored to us in all their richness to use and
to enjoy for the glory of God, and to our own honor
— an honor that cometh from Him. And yet even
here must a signal of danger be held up. While he
that loveth his life shall find it, it is not when we lose
it that we may find it, but when we lose it for His
sake. It is our own Gospel, then, that we read in those
ancient words, " The Lord thy God will bring thee
into the land, .... and the Lord thy God will circum-

THE REPROACH OF EGYPT. 773
cise thine heart ... to love the Lord thy God with
all thine heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayest
live!' *
Life is another thing when once a great love has
entered it. Who has not known how Love turned
pain to pleasure, and made sacrifices sweet ? Love
never talks of crosses and of losses. — It calls its losses
gains, and its crosses crowns. For my sake, makes
even death a delight. When we so love the Lord
with all the heart, then to follow Him fully is our
own choice. There comes ah end to all mere theo
retical consecration, in which we recognize solemnly
the claims of God, and pass on our own way. There
comes an end, also, to all testing of ourselves by
suppositions of future claims. But another work
begins — the constant cultivation of the conscience to
see those claims. It is a little thing for Love to re
spond to an uttered wish. — It studies and anticipates
the pleasure of the Beloved. The loving heart es
capes a thousand difficulties which others meet, and a
truly devoted life is not often puzzled by details of
duty. Such perplexities are often the simple result
of a discordant will, seeking at once to please itself,
and avoid displeasing God. The soul that so loves,
walks in holy law,, but moves in perfect freedom.
When the Lord has enlarged the heart, then it
" runs " in the way of His commandments.

* Deut. xxx. 5, 6.

174 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
" Love hath taught me to obey
All His precepts, and to say,
Not to-morrow, but to-day !
" What He wills, I say I must ;
What I must, I say I will ;
He commanding, it is just.
What He would, I should fulfil :
Whilst He biddeth, I believe ;
What He calls for, He will give :
To obey Him is to live.
" His commandments grievous are not,
Longer than men think them so ;
Though He send me forth, I care not,
Whilst He gives me strength to go,
When or whither, all is one.
On His business, not my own,
I shall never go alone.
" If I be complete in Him,
And in Him all Julness dwelleth,
I am sure aloft to swim,
Whilst that Ocean overswelleth ;
Having Him that's all in all,
I am confident I shall
Nothing want for which I call."

CHAPTER IX.
THE PASSOVER IN CANAAN.
UTHE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL ENCAMPED IN
A Gilgal, and kept the passover on the
FOURTEENTH DAY OF THE MONTH AT EVEN, IN
THE PLAINS OF -JERICHO." — {Josh. V. 10).
The event which we find following next in order,
stood in a very significant relation to the preceding
rite. As we have seen that circumcision symbol
ized the loss of self, so we find that in the Passover
Feast, the lesson taught is one of greatest gain — even
the gain of Christ as OUR LIFE.
It was a part of God's gracious providence to bring
the people over Jordan in time to be rightly prepared
for the Feast ; for the law was stringent — " No un-
circumcised person shall eat thereof;"* for let it be
again repeated, there can be no building up of an
impure life ; no true communion with God, while in
the bonds of self.
And as the Passover thus depended upon another
rite, so were there still further privileges depending
upon this. This Feast was to precede their enjoy-
* Ex. xii. 48. ('75)

176 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
ment of the fruit of the land, of which they were
not permitted to eat until the following day. Hav
ing crossed upon the tenth of the month Nisan, they
kept the Passover upon its appointed day, the four
teenth : ". and they did eat of the new corn of the
land on the morrow after the Passover." * It is
added that " the manna ceased on the morrow after
they had eaten of the new corn." f Its continuance
for nearly a week in a land of plenty, is a circum
stance so extraordinary, as to indicate at once some
spiritual lesson. Indeed, the necessity for it must
have ceased long before, upon entering the fertile
region east of Jordan. .But still it fell for their daily
food, until the slain Lamb and unleavened Bread
should rightly introduce them to the fulness and fat
ness of the Land. First the Passover, and then the
new corn and the ripe fruit. First Christ, and then
with Him, " all things."
Though forty years had passed since that pight in
Egypt which was so much to be remembered, this
was but the third Passover. The first they had eaten
in haste, girded for their journey. The second was
observed a year from that time, upon 'the setting up
of the Tabernacle at Mt. Sinai. After that the
neglect of circumcision and- their whole abnormal
condition in the Wandering, would render the Feast
both inappropriate and impossible. No hint of any
such observance appears upon the sacred page.
*Josh. v. 11. Seep. 200. t Josh. v. 12.

THE PASSOVER IN CANAAN.

177

It is very striking that this first service after enter
ing Canaan, in which all the people participated, was
the same as that which had signalized their depart
ure from Egypt. That first deliverance had alone
made their present blessings possible. Therefore it
had been said unto them, "Ye shall observe this
thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for
ever. . . . And it shall come to pass when your chil
dren shall say unto you, What mean ye by this serv
ice ? that ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's
passover, who passed over the houses of the children
of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians,
and delivered our houses."*
When the Lord smote in judgment all the first
born of Egypt, but for the sprinkled blood of the
Lamb, they had all likewise perished. But for the
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, none of us
had ever escaped from the just judgment to be exe
cuted against sin. It was life from the very jaws of
death that was given us. And so, as we celebrate
the mercies of our God, we can not stop short of this,
that " Jesus delivered us from the wrath to come."
Nothing so prepares us for advancing blessing as our
return to this truth ; and by every good thing that
is given us, does this become ever more precious. No
other thought can so humble us, and none other can
so lift us up in holy hope.
This Passover in Canaan, however, differed widely
* Ex. xii. 24-27. 8*

178 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
in its mode of observance from the first in Egypt.
Indeed, the whole subsequent character of the Feast
is one of the most striking instances occurring under
the Law, of the spirit of a command being so devel
oped as to almost outgrow its letter. The Lamb and
the Unleavened Bread indeed remained. But glanc
ing over the details of its institution, we see at once
that the minute directions given were mainly adapted
to their peculiar position at the time, and if perpetu
ated at all, could only become mere forms. Yet we
find in the Scriptures no record of any permission to
vary its observance, and only slight and scattered
statements of the changes themselves. But from
unquestionable historic sources, we learn how many
and how marked were the modifications introduced,
and to all appearance divinely sanctioned. Indeed
the great truth embodied in this service, was too vital
to be cumbered, with unyielding forms, and for its
very protection was allowed a power of free adapta
tion. All that was truly essential in it was thus
strengthened, rather than weakened.
Had the Church of Christ in past ages only pon
dered this precedent more fully, what cruel contests
over the mere modes of her Christian ordinances,
might she have been spared. And were it even now
more pondered, what bitter bigotry might be abated.
No charge concerning any ordinance, can surely ever
compete with words like these — "This is my com-

THE PASSOVER IN CANAAN.

179

mandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved
you ! "
As the service was first observed, the two things
to be made prominent were these — protection from
death, and departure from Egypt. But once safe in
the Land, there followed an expansion of its mean
ing, requiring to be duly marked. No longer need
ing to be eaten in haste, it became a prolonged and
restful service. No longer looking to the future, but
to the past, and what God had wrought, it was fitting
to intermingle it with song after song of praise.
How precious from such continuous use are those
six Psalms",* which end with one more precious than
all, because sung by Jesus, before He went forth to
suffer. How must the holy Hymn have swelled
upon His lips, as He sang. — " I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the Lord " — " God is the
Lord which hath showed us light; bind the sacrifice
with cords even unto the horns of the altan" f
But by far the most striking change was the intro
duction of the wine, of which the very poorest in the
land was to drink at least four cups, in the course of
* Pss. cxiii.-cxviii.-'- These Psalms, called the Egyptian Hallel,
or the great Hallel, were appointed to be sung eighteen times in
the year. " On the feast of the Passover, the hallel was so di
vided, that Pss. cxiii. "and Cxiv. were sung before the meal, be
fore taking the second festal cup ; Pss. cxv-cxviii., after the
meal, after filling the fourth cup." — Dr. Moll's Introduction to
the Psalms, Langtis Com., p. 13.
f Ps, cxviii. 17, 27,

!8o THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
the meal.* The blood which at first was sprinkled
upon their doors, was subsequently poured out at the
altar by the Priest ; but that it might not fail of its
commemoration at the feast, wine, the symbol of
social joy, was permitted to represent it ; thus fitly
marking the advance from protection without, to life
and joy within. And thus was made ready in its
completeness, the symbol which the Lord Jesus used
when He took the cup after supper, saying, "This
cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed
for you." f
In tracing this chief Feast of the old Covenant, on
to this " new testament," and viewing it as there ful
filled, we find not mere instruction, but truth of the
most vital kind. As in so many previous lessons, it
is still Jesus and the Resurrection that are here pro
claimed ; but now in an entirely new aspect. We
saw in Jordan, a symbol of Christ's -death, through
which we rise into His life. In the Land of Promise
we saw a symbol of His fulness, into which we
rise. But in the Passover, we begin to see how it is
that He rises in us. The Lord Jesus is that corn of
wheat that having fallen into the ground and died, is
here seen springing up again, no more " abiding alone,"
* " There is no mention of wine in connection with the Pass
over in the Pentateuch ; but the Mishna strictly enjoins that there
should never be less than four cups of it provided, at the paschal
meal, even of the poorest Israelite."— Smith's Dictionary of the
Bible. t Luke xxii. 20.

THE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. IgI
but "bringing forth much fruit " in all those many
lives that make up the Church as His Body.
We enter here upon holy ground — upon one of the
profoundest mysteries of the Gospel, which even as
taught by the. Lord Jesus, gave rise to misunder
standing, and offence, and the turning back of many ;
but which is all the more precious to those who know
that He " has the words of eternal life."
While it is impossible to separate this subject from
that of the Lord's Supper, it is most needful to draw
one clear line of distinction. " The spiritual verity
which underlies the ordinance " is not indissolubly
connected with it. The Passover was by no means
the symbol of another symbol, but of a great Reality.
Gliding as one ordinance did into the other, it was
the same truth which, taught first in the ceremony
of the Law, was to find its highest and richest expres
sion in the Church's celebration. For closely as it
pleased the Lord to connect the substance and the
symbol, He has not limited the one by the other. The
same wisdom that appointed ah outward form for the
spiritual truth, that we might have every help, pro
vided against any possible hindrance, by giving that
truth a life that was dependent upon no form.
The safeguard against any such confounding of
things that differ, is set very clearly in the Scriptures.
St. John in his Gospel gives us the inner aspect of
this truth, as taught by Christ in His wonderful
words about His flesh and blood, and then is utterly

1 82 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
silent respecting the institution of the Supper, — leav
ing the other Evangelists to give the corresponding
outward aspect. Precisely as elsewhere, it is the
New Birth which He presents, and not the corre
sponding rite of Baptism. It is the' more needful
to draw this distinction, since there is great reason to
fear, that not a few Christians have been robbed of
one of the most precious presentations of Truth, by
falsely connecting it with Sacramentarianism. On
the other hand, it seems not a little . singular that
profoundly spiritual as is this truth, the cry of Mate
rialism has been so often raised against it. Plainly
in the case of the Jews, who first charged Christ with
such a meaning, it was their own materialism which
led to their utter misapprehension of that which
could only be spiritually discerned.
The significance of the Passover (and much more
the Lord's Supper) can not possibly be stinted to a
memorial service. Some present participation is very
plainly implied, while the starting-point is that of a
grateful remembrance. " It is a night to be much
observed unto the Lord for bringing them out of the
land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord to be
observed of all the children of Israel in their genera
tions." But if the observance of this service forever,
was simply to keep the past in remembrance, there
was no significance in its chief symbol. With the
blood upon their doors, they ate of the Passover
Lamb. Even in Egypt, they were shown at once,

THE PASSOVER IN CANAAN.

I83

that there was to be an inward appropriation of their
sacrifice. That which had saved from death, was also
to impart to them life and strength ; and as already
stated, this idea would be still further developed
upon the subsequent introduction of the wine. So
likewise in the Supper, the remembrance is made the
basis of other blessings, as it also furnishes the chief
ground of obligation — "This do- in remembrance of
me." First of all, the Lord would have us turn our
eyes to the broken body, and the shed blood. Not
even in heaven are we to cease from this remem
brance ; for there indeed we shall come still more
clearly to the recognition of His death. In the midst
of the Throne we shall see " a Lamb as it had been
slain;" and the new song of heaven will open with
the dear familiar words of many an old song on
earth, — " Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to
God by Thy blood ;" while the chorus of ten thou
sand times ten thousand will repeat it, — " WORTHY
is the Lamb that was slain."*
But remembrance is not to be repetition. We are
to recall the great salvation, rather, than to reclaim
it, and thus to reassure our hearts before God. Christ
has no need to offer Himself often, since He has
offered one sacrifice for sins forever ; arid they whose
sins and iniquities He remembers no more, can have
now no more conscience of those sins, the one remis
sion of which is as sure as the one offering.^ Only
* Rev. v. 6-12. t Heb. x. 18.

1 84 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
once do we keep our Passover in Egypt, with the
blood sprinkled upon our doors. There was never
indeed but one Passover ; and after that it was the
Feast of the Passover.
What then is our present privilege in this remem
brance — our participation of Christ ? Is it real, or
only ideal ? Is the cup a testimony, or a Testament?
And if He indeed gives aught, or we receive aught,
what is it, and in what manner is it given and' re
ceived ? The Scriptures make answer, that Christ our
Passover gives us Himself- — that is, He gives His
entire being — gives us His Spirit, and gives us also,
"His flesh and His blood."
But here we find ourselves touching upon other
truths, which must be accepted as preliminary to this,
and to which the Scriptures give no uncertain testi
mony. First among these is the new relation, estab
lished by Christ, between matter and spirit, which is
the very significance of the Incarnation. " The Word
was made FLESH." Next, but closely linked with
this, is the glorification of Christ's human body ; and
then as the result of this, the final glorifying of our
own. These are not speculations, else were the Scrip
tures silent respecting them ; and the reasoning which
recoils from them, ends consistently in the refusal
to confess, that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh,
in any true sense. Indeed it is to be seriously
questioned if the doctrine of the Incarnation itself be

THE PASSOVER IN CANAAN.

I85

generally and fully received in our day — if many have
not drifted into a sort of Gnosticism, with its dual
ism, and docetism.
When the chasm between the Divine and human
was to be filled, the first step in the great mystery,
whose completion was to be " Christ in you, the hope
of glory," "was this — "Who was manifested in the
flesh." Coming into the world He saith — " A body hast
Thou prepared me." That body, formed by the over
shadowing of the Highest, was a holy thing, and
therefore having in it " the power of an endless life."
It had no need for itself to pay by death the wages
of sin. No man took that life from Jesus — He laid it
down of Himself- — laid it down that He might take it
again* Yet it was not possible for Him to be holden
of the bands of death, nor did God suffer His Holy
One to see corruption. The Scriptures put this
point beyond all dispute, by repeated assertions.f
" He whom God raised again saw no corruption " —
" Neither did His^if^ see corruption; " and the pre
cious blood of Christ is especially declared not to be a
corruptible thing.J The resurrection from the dead
declared Him to be the Son of God with power, " ac
cording to the Spirit of holiness" It was a Body still,
with flesh and bones, that might be seen and handled,

* John x. 17, 18. t Cf. Acts ii. 27-31 and xiii. 34-37.
X 1 Pet. i. 18, 19.

t86 tzf fulness of blessing.
and yet moving with all the freedom of a Spirit^
" showing Himself alive by many infallible proofs."*
Had there been no deeper meaning in the Resurrec
tion than an evidence, the manifestation in the flesh
might have ended here, and the body have been put
away, when He ascended up where He .was before.
But the blessed mystery goes further — " Was received
up into glory." Into what glory let the " Light from
heaven at midday, above the brightness of the sun,"
that blinded Saul of Tarsus, while it answered, " I
am Jesus," tell us ; even as the Face, that had once
already "shone as the sun," had given token. It

* " The glorified body of Christ was not altered as regards its
fundamental components ; it was the same body, with the marks of
the nails and the wound in its side, but in a new spiritual form of
existence, and therefore standing under other laws. It therefore
appears until the ascension, when its transformation was com
pleted — as an elementary, earthly, material body ; but its ele
ments are no longer bound by space, and it can go here or there,
make itself visible or invisible — in fact, shape itself outwardly ac
cording to the internal will. And this is possible, because the body
is spiritualized through and through ; it has become an ade
quate expression of the spirit and its willing instrument. The
body no longer opposes its own laws (of space, gravitation, mo
tion, etc.,) to the volitions of the spirit ; it does not hinder nor
limit them, but implicitly obeys. All strife is at an end. If the
spirit will to transport itself to any place., it can do so together
with the body ; the body no longer hinders it, for it is saturated
with vital force and immortality. This is what the Scriptures (i
Cor. xv. 44-46) call a spiritual body (au/m irvev/ianKJv), in con
tradistinction to the " natural body " (ij>vxut6v). — Christlieb's
Modern Doubt and Christian Belief, pp. 475-6, (Am. Ed.)

THE PASSOVER IN CANAAN.

I87

was evidently the whole being of the Lord, in that
triple division which the Scripture sanctions — of spirit,
soul, and body — that rose from the' dead, ascended,
and was glorified. But this last Adam being " a
quickening Spirit," is the great Fountain-Head of all
renewed being. Being glorified, He shed forth His
Holy Spirit, that He might quicken first our spirits,
and then our mortal bodies also. As it was His
whole being that was glorified, so is it plainly our
whole being that is to be glorified together with
Him* — even as it is our "whole spirit and soul and
body," which are to be "preserved blameless unto
His coming."
And now we advance to the great revelation, that
this work is not only wrought by Him, but through
His " giving us Himself as the Bread of Life!' He
has taught us that there in His glorified Being a
blessed power of imparting itself, in a real communi
cation of both spiritual and bodily life. We surely
can not keep the Feast — Christ our Passover sacrificed
for. us — with any spiritual intelligence, unless we
receive in simple faith, those wonderful words in
which He has taught us — " He that eateth Me, even
He shall, live by me."\ The many words which the
Lord Jesus used in that most memorable discourse,
are not so much restatements, as constant advances,
in the. unfolding of the truth.
First of all He taught—" I am that Bread of life."
* Cf. Romans viii. 17 and 23. \ John vi. 57.

1 88 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
They who had eaten the manna, died ; — for the
manna had no life — but this was living Bread ; and
he who should eat, should live forever. Not only
should have now everlasting life, in his renewed
spirit, but Jesus would also raise him up, in body, at
the last day*
" I am that Bread of life." It is to His own Person,
that Jesus draws our eyes in His promise, " that every
one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him" shall
have everlasting life, and be raised up again at the
last day.
But He had further truth to teach. It was not only
of His giving us His Spirit that He spoke, but " the
Bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give
for the life of the world."f A hard saying indeed to
* " The natural import of the phrase J last day' restricts this
necessarily to the bodily resurrection. Every application of the
expression to the merely spiritual ministry of Christ would make
it- a mere repetition of the ' eternaLlife.'" — Olshausen on John
vi. 40.
t See Dean Alford's Greek Testament, for a deeply interest
ing note on John vi. 51, in which he " at once rejects all meta
phorical and side-interpretations, as, that the teaching of Christ
is the Bread, and to be taught by Him is feeding upon it (so
Grotius and the modern rationalists) : that the divine Nature of
Christ, or His sending of the Holy Spirit, or His whole life of
doing good on earth, can be meant : all such have against them
the plain sense of the words, which, as Stier observes, are very
simple ordinary words  His Flesh is the glorified sub
stance of His Resurrection Body, now at the right hand of
God .... He has given His flesh for the life of the world
(tov koo[iov). The very existence of all the created world is owing
to, and held together by that Resurrection Body of the Lord"

THE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. j8q
listen to — but what if they should see the Son of
Man ascend up where He was before ?* What if He
proved that His sacred flesh was worthy of the pres
ence of God, and subject to no earthly conditions ? It
was then His flesh, in its resurrection glory, of which
He spoke, when the Body once broken should become
living, life-giving Bread.
But He had still another gift — His blood — of which
He next began to speak. " Except ye eat the flesh
of the Son of man, and drink His blood,, ye have
no life in you  He that eateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I in him."f

* " The Lord signifies and promises here & future removal of
the offence, a subsequent better knowledge, when His present
earthly manifestation should be finally withdrawn just as in Ch.
viii. 28  Then will it be disclosed to you that, and in what
way My human corporeity, become heavenly and glorified, may
be given to be eaten and to be drunk." — "Stier's Words of _ the
Lord Jesus," Vol V., pp. 210-21 1.
t John vi. 53-56. Jesus represents Himself as the quickener of
the whole man, the spiritual quickening prevailing up to ver. 50,
while from v. 51 the idea which lies at the foundation of the Holy
Supper — that the glorified corporeity of Christ sanctifies and glo
rifies ours also — comes out in stronger relief. . . . With the eating
and drinking of the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, are con
nected everlasting life, abiding in Christ, and living forever, ". e.,
the sublimest effects which the Redeemer proposed in general to
call forth  The life and being of Christ is an all-penetrat
ing, sanctifying, and glorifying power ; the union of man with it
in all three departments* of his being is internal, real, essential."
— Olshauseri s Biblical Com., Vol. II., p. 418. See also, the same,
for the view of the early Fathers, and also Luther's, concerning
the germ of the resurrection body.

!00 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
We enter here a path which, however unfamiliar to
modern thought, discloses to the spiritual eye a glo
rious vista up to the very treasure-house of Truth — a
path where Saint and Scholar have walked side by
side, with reverent tread — where we meet in their
holy meditations, such men as Chrysostom, and Cal
vin, and Bengel, and Stier* What a distance from
their apostolic " faith in His blood " to that reason
ing which sees in it at best a figure.f
The blood of beasts, shed for so many years, what
ever the value assigned it for an atonement under
the Old Covenant, was but a figure. Not so when
Jesus said — " This is My blood of the New Testa
ment." " The blood of the everlasting Covenant "
was a true thing. As has been said, " the unintelligent
horror of the blood, which unbelief in the truth of God
* While referring freely in these notes to Scholars who have
taken, the view here presented, I feel bound to add that my own
convictions were formed solely from the study of the Word. It was
not merely a surprise, but an astonishment to meet with such
confirmation. Most heartily can I re-echo the words of the
saintly Bengel, " I shall indeed rejoice if by means of the things
which I have stated, any occasion will be afforded for increasing
the love and knowledge of our Redeemer, who has paid the price
of His blood for us."
t " Theproper consideration of Christ's blood is sparingly intro
duced, and many have straightway recourse to a figure, where
by they understand under this word, blood, either the whole
merit of Christ, or His life, i. e., the living principle, or soul."
— See Bengel's Gnomon, Vol. IV., Clark's 'Ed., where he devotes
fifteen pages (474-488) to a subject on which he once meditated
a Treatise.

THE PASSOVER IN CANAAN.

I9I

in the Old Testament has created, is here done away
in the centre of the Christian worship, in this most
precious bond of love between Christ and His own."*
As has been already seen, we need here to keep
steadily in view the glorification of the entire being
of Jesus. The blood was no unimportant part of that
being — for "the life of the flesh is in the blood."f
Besides, be it repeated, we are told in express words,
that we were " not redeemed with corruptible things,
but with the precious blood of Christ "% — confirming the
truth, that He whom God raised up saw no corrup
tion. Why then should the faith that follows the
ascending body of Jesus into Heaven, falter when it
learns that the blood had its own entrance also ? In
the Epistle to the Hebrews, we are told how the High
Priest, once every year, entered into the holiest, not
without blood ; and then how Christ having come,
entered in once into the Holy Place, by His own
blood. § This was " the better sacrifice " that purified
* Stier. t Lev. xvii. 11. J 1 Pet. i. 18, 19.
§ Heb. ix. 12. " 'Christ entered into the sanctuary by His
own blood ; not merely after the blood was shed, and by the
force of its being shed, nor with the blood taken back into the
body, but by the blood : therefore, this Priest Himself carried
into the sanctuary His 6wn blood, separately from his body.' 
(Chrysostom Horn. 33, on Heb. xiii.) : The actual economy of the
suffering was without, I say without ; but the blood was carried
up into heaven. You observe that we are partakers of the
blood that was carried into the Sanctuary — -the true Sanctuary —
the blood of the Sacrifice in which He alone, the High Priest
delighted." — BengePs Gnomon, p. 476-7. — In the same passage

192

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

"the heavenly things themselves." This was "the
blood of His cross " with which He made peace. Our
own confidence to enter into the Holiest, we are fur
ther told, is in that blood* Nor need it surprise
us when we are warned a little further on, of the sore
punishment of which they are worthy, who " count
the blood of the covenant an unholy thing."f
As has been said by Bengel,:}: "The blood itself
shed, not the shedding of the blood, is the ransom, the
price of eternal redemption. That price paid to God,
remains paid, without being restored to the body of
the Redeemer. The redemption is eternal ; the
value of the price is eternal, just as if the Re
deemer hung on the cross daily, and expired daily
for us. In His death there was the power of a life
that was not to be dissolved. In His life there is the
value of His death, which is perpetual."
One can but note the care with which distinct
mention is made by the Lord Jesus, of His flesh,
and of His blood ; as afterwards at the last Supper,
He gave the separate emblems — the bread, of His
body, and the wine, of His blood. Thus they are
also mentioned by St. Paul.§ So once more in He
brews, where we are told of the realities of heaven, to
Bengel also quotes from Calvin, as saying, " Christ carried His
own blood into the heavenly Sanctuary to make atonement for
the sins of the world."
* Heb. x. 19. t Heb. x. 29.
X Gnomon, Vol. IV., p. 479. § 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25.

THE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. I93
which we have now come — after the mention of " in
numerable angels," of " the festive assembly and
Church of the First-born," and " God the Judge of
all," and " the Spirits of just men made perfect,"
there are also added — " Jesus the Mediator " of the
new Covenant, AND the blood of sprinkling " that
speaketh better things than that of Abel." *
But to follow the teaching of Jesus to its close.
He tells us plainly, that He is not using words as
figures, but as names of real things. " My flesh is
true meat — My blood is true drink." f And it is
now no longer upon His giving this food for the life
of the world that He dwells ; but upon our eating
and drinking, which -are repeated again and again.
The giving was His one act — the receiving our con
stantly renewed act. And now at last, after Jesus
had for the first time foretold His Ascension, He
explains, that it was not mere flesh of which He had
been speaking — not the carnal thing that was in their
thoughts — "the flesh profiteth nothing" — but of
" the Spirit that quickeneth " — (words which the
* Heb. xii. 24.
t "John vi. 55, afafifc is not ij ukrftivri, nor is the sense, 'My
flesh is the true meat,' etc., but My flesh is true meat, i.e.,
really to be eaten, which they doubted. Thus ukrfiCx; is a gloss
which falls short of the depth of the adjective. This verse is de
cisive against all explaining away, or metaphorizing the passage.
Food and drink are not here mere metaphors ; — rather are our
common material food and drink mere shadows and imperfect
types of this only real reception of refreshment and nourishment
into the being." — Dean Alford' s Greek Testament, Vol. I. p., 718.
9

194

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

Apostle Peter must have had in mind, when he spoke
of Christ as being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit). And then all is summed
up in the pregnant saying — " The words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." What
words? — unless chiefly those upon which He had
rested such a weight — the words so often repeated — -
" My flesh — My blood !" These should prove " true
meat, true drink," because also, when He had as
cended, " Spirit, and Life." * Recalling no word
that He had said already, He only rescued His pearls
frorii the swine, who were trampling them under their
feet. And still some believed not. How indeed
should they? It was hard to receive His witness
when He only told of earthly things. That a liv
ing man could be born again— born from above —
by being born of water and of the Spirit, was a strange
thing to their thought. And yet they needed not to
marvel, if only they had marked the mystery of the
wind, that cometh and goeth. But how then should
they believe Him now, when He told them of One
* Dean Alford says upon John vi. 63 : " He is explaining the
life-giving principle of which He had been before speaking — ¦
He does not say ' My Flesh profiteth nothing,' but 'the flesh.'
To make Him say this is to make Him contradict His own words
in verse 51 : ra frrifi. & £yc> XeXd^rjica— viz., the words fiov t>)v capita
and ftov rb alfia, above. They are, irvsv/jta and fo^ : — spirit, not
flesh only : — living food, not carnal and perishable.. This mean
ing has been missed by almost all commentators. Stier upholds
it, iv. 281 (2d ed.) ;' and it seems to me beyond question the right
one. — The Greek Testament, I. 769.

THE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. T95
who ascended into heaven, to be the Bread of this
new life.
And what is our own need to marvel, if we only
reverently ponder the mystery of our daily bread.
We eat it — but how little even Science knows of
that great secret, How is it that the grain first grows
from crudest elements ? How is it that it is changed
into the tender tissue, the tense sinew, and the warm
coursing blood ? We know it only as a fact. The
bounteous table is not spread for us to analyze, but
to enjoy.
Enough then, that in spiritual as in natural things,
" we know and are sure," that we are invited to feast
upon " true meat, and true drink ;" that we eat of
Bread ' that strengtheneth our heart,' and drink of
' wine that maketh it glad.' Who can even describe
the cheer and comfort that compass the frame, and
that pervading sense of speedy strength, that comes
through common sustenance ? How then set forth the
blessedness of the Heavenly Banquet — the strength
and sweetness of the shedding abroad of the Holy
Spirit in our hearts — the steady bracing of the whole
being — the poising of all its powers — or yet its brim
ming in the bewilderment of gladness, as this " best
wine goeth down sweetly ! " * We know not how, but
we know and are sure by every inner sense that He has
given us, that as He feeds us thus — it is His Spirit
penetrating our spirit, His soul possessing our soul,
* Cant. m. 9.

ig6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
till these mortal bodies feel the quickening Spirit
that dwelleth in us, and thrill with the stirring of
that new life, in which they shall be raised up at the
last day. Even thus, O Great High Priest, King of
Righteousness, and King of Peace, dost thou come
forth to meet and bless Thy servants, with Thy
Bread and Wine !
And so the mystery is made known — dimly to rea
son, but how brightly to Faith, that " Christ loved
the Church, and gave Himself for it " — that when it
was not good for Him to be alone, the deep sleep fell
upon Him, and the Church found His death to be
her life. Therefore because it is " His own flesh " —
because " we are members of His body, of His flesh,
and of His bones," " He nourisheth and cherisheth
it." Thrice happy Church, thus fed by her Beloved
— thus beholding His glory, and so changed into the
same image from glory to glory ; in such a wise that
at last this body of our lowliness shall be conformed
to the Body of His Glory !
And so it is, indeed, no longer as in Egypt, that we
now keep the Passover. The Birth feast is changed
into a Marriage Feast, and the first miracle at Cana
is the perpetual miracle of the loving and believing
heart, in which life cleanses, and love purifies. For
Christ's cleansing of His Church, is not after the
manner of the purifying of the Jews — a washing of
water without, to leave the inner man unchanged.
" The sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ," as it is

THE PASSOVER IN CANAAN. 197
first without, is then within ;* the cleansing of the
Wine that searches and yet heals ; that bringing into
our being a vigor not its own, exalts all our powers
to the partaking of His divine nature, and fills us
with the joy of the Lord.
And here let it be again distinctly stated, that such
blessing as this comes through faith, and not through
any form. The Lord Jesus in teaching the great
truth, made known but one condition — believing on
Him. When He afterwards added His ordinance it
was based upon this truth — not the truth upon the
ordinance. And yet as certainly as He taught the
truth, He appointed the form. As surely as He gave
His very flesh and very blood, to be our meat and
drink — He also gave the bread and wine, to be their
tokens. One may well fear lest parted from its strik
ing symbol, the spiritual substance may become, even
to the sincere, a shadowy blessing faintly and vaguely
apprehended. The Lord Jesus surely makes every such remem
brance of Him the occasion of His special manifesta
tion. " The cup of blessing which we bless — is it not
the communion of the blood of Christ ? The bread

* " A double benefit becomes ours by the blood of Christ, name
ly : I. Deliverance from the guilt of sin ; II. The gift of the new
powers of life which are subsequently exercised in good works.
The former is* called justification by the blood of Jesus Christ :
and the latter is obtained by the man who eats the flesh of Christ,
and drinks His blood ; John vi." — Bengel's Gnomon— on Heb,
xii. 24.

I98 THE FUDNESS OF BLESSING.
which we break—As it not the communion of the
body of Christ ?"* And while thus intensifying our
faith in this vital union with our Lord, we at the
same time confirm our fellowship with one another —
" We being many are one body, for we are all partakers
of that one bread." + Every supper of the Lord should
also be a feast of Charity. Finally, it is the Church's
testimony to a Christless world. " As often as ye eat
this bread, and drink this cup, ye do proclaim the
Lord's death till He come." %
Yet let us deeply ponder that which must follow,
when in any way the eye of Faith has become so dim
as not to discern the Lord's body, — " For this cause
many are weak and sickly among you, and many
sleep !"
Till He Come. Only a little longer shall we keep
* i Cor. x. 1 6.
" According to the Scripture (John vi.) the Lord was to be in
us and with us also in flesh and blood after His ascension ; yes,
then first truly so. His heavenly flesh and blood pervaded by
spirit, and which have become spirit and life, these are the
true ' mediating organs ' of that fellowship which is as really
bodily as spiritual ; and the bread and the wine are the mediat
ing symbols of this in the second degree. Was there not for the
Church of the Lord an actual reception of His flesh and blood pro
vided, it could have no life in itself, it never would be or could
be His Church, that is, His body. If this reception was not at
the same time (not indeed exclusively, but especially) mediated by
an external, earthly corporeal element, the Church of the New
Testament would have no Sacrament." — Stier's Words of the
Lord Jesus, vii. 105.
t 1 Cor. x. 17. J 1 Cor. xi. 26.

THE PASSOVER IN CANAAN.

.199

this Feast ; for soon the Holy Supper of our Lord
will become the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We
do not even rightly remember His dying, unless we
are looking for that blessed Hope. How passing
sweet His promise — "Until / drink it NEW with you
in my Father's kingdom !" " When we become as
He is, then will He be again as we are ; He will eat
and drink with us the new fruits of the new world in
the fellowship of an eternal enjoyment of the renova
ted creation of the Father." *

* Rudolph Stier.

CHAPTER X.
THE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE
LAND.
u and the manna ceased on the morrow
¦i* after they had eaten of the new corn
of the land; neither had the children of
Israel manna any more; but they did eat
of the fruit of the land of canaan that
YEAR."*— {Josh. V. 12.)
The most marked providence of the forty years in
the wilderness, was the manna. It was the time of
man's provocation — yet such was the compassion of
God, that he " did eat angels' food."t For forty
years, was God grieved with Israel, yet for forty
years, day by day, He gave them their bread from
heaven. But now occurs a great change. The prom
ise of God is fulfilled, that in this land they should
eat bread, without scarceness.
The lessons contained in this change, are not the
least in value' of the many which crowd the fifth
chapter of Joshua — making it like the cluster of the
* " The produce of the same year ; i. e., the new corn." — Keil
and Delitzsch.
t Ps. lxxviii. 25.
(200)

THE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND. 20I
grapes of Eshcol. Among those lessons, the most
obvious upon the face of the history are these. The
cessation of the manna, marks a return from correc
tion to comfort — from the extraordinary to the ordi
nary — from the direct provision of God, to His bless
ing upon their own efforts — yet all in such a way, as
to indicate not less, but more, erf His goodness.
But to revert to the history of the manna. In Egypt
it was the abuse of God's bounty, that they " sat by
the flesh pots, and did eat bread to the full."* The
satisfaction of the lower wants of our being, though a
part of the Creator's design, is never to become an
object in life. Very good as the means which it was
appointed to be — as an end, it is very evil. " Let us
eat and drink, for to-morrow we die," is the lowest
possible valuation of life. The tendency of such a full
supply, unbalanced by higher pursuits, is always to
degrade the soul, to animalize the being, and to give
the body an ascendancy over the spirit, instead of
keeping it in subjection. Hence excessive fertility
nearly always proves a curse.
But the food of Egypt was not only abundant, but
gross and stimulating. Bodily appetite had a fearful
dominion over the childhood of Israel. The " leeks
and cucumbers " seem to have left a stronger impres
sion on their memories, than the ten plagues and the
Red Sea. Their murmuring for bread was their first
sin In the provision which the Lord graciously
* Exodus xvi. 3.
9*

202 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
made for their need, He introduced a wise discipline
He could still have given them fulness of bread ; but
it was far better for them for a time to be trained
to abstinence, and to utmost moderation. He gave
them, therefore, but one sort of food, and that the
lightest. The deep design of this was explained to
them by Moses : — " He humbled thee, and suffered
thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou
knewest not, neither did thy fathers know ; that He
might make thee know that man doth not live
by bread only, but by every word that proceed-
eth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live."*
In a profound significance, stretching far beyond their
earlier sense, Christ used the last of these words in
His own hunger. His first temptation was Israel's
first, as well as our first and lowest. But even their
weak understanding must have grasped a part of the
meaning of Moses — Bread was not the chief necessity
of life, and hunger was comparatively a small evil.
They must be trained to know the needs, and the
supplies, of soul life, and spirit life.
When Israel came out of Egypt, their life was lit
tle more than such as fish, and onions, and garlic
could feed — little more than an animal life. It was
not the plan of God to lead His people into perma
nent distress and poverty. He had promised them a
land, full of all good things, where they should eat
bread without scarceness. But for the present, scarce-
* Deut. viii. 3.

THE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND. 203
ness of bread was the needful corrective. How hard
that discipline was for them, and how necessary, we
see soon afterwards, when that whole camp forgot the
dignity'of freedom and of manhood, and like so many
spoiled children, absolutely cried aloud, because they
did not like the food which God had given them.* It
was needful to subdue such lust before He could pro
ceed with their moral culture.
And then He fed them by other words out of His
mouth. All His commands, and all His ways, were
such words, and by every one was their being nour
ished and developed. He fed them by the very
sublimity of their mountain path,, as they marched
downward to Sinai. By each grand form, and by
each lovely tint, He fed both the strength and the,
tenderness of their nature. By all the routine of the
journey, by all the closer companionships of lives set
free from servitude, He fed them. By all the awe
and terror of Sinai, and most of all by His holy Law,
He fed them, and made them live. And they grew.
Mental and moral manhood were developed. Even
in their wanderings, when He had to give them so
largely the bread of adversity, and the waters of
affliction, they still grew ; and most of all, in readiness
of soul, to receive more real blessing from God. And
now over Jordan, life was another thing for them.
They had been lifted up in the scale of being. The
correction had wrought out its purpose, and they
* See Numbers xi. 4.

204 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
could again be trusted with the good things of earth.
So the manna ceased, and the corn and all the fruit
age of Canaan were theirs. They had learned their
lesson, that the life was more than meat. A1id now
that they were ready for it, God gave them all that
was needed to sustain such a life.
How easily one can picture the gathering of the
families of Israel to their first repast, the day after
the manna ceased — to partake, with an almost child
like pleasure, of the good things so long promised.
And yet how all greediness would be held in check, by
their reverent sense of God's own gifts. What thanks
givings must have gone up that day from the tables
in the Camp of Gilgal !
The training of His people of old in this manner, is
the pattern from which God still works, in His loving
correction. Our outward bread is the natural symbol
of all that can be called food in a wider sense ; of all
that comes to nourish up the life of our complex be
ing — to develop it, and to strengthen it — embracing
all that in this outward creation yields support of any
kind to our nature — all the manifold providences of
God, and events of life — all the influences of our fellow-
beings, and all that descends to us from God out of
heaven. It is a primary law of all organic life that it must
be fed ; and the higher it is, from the more sources
must its supplies be sought. He who fixed these
laws in our being, has at the same time created theii

THE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND.

205

supplies, and given us the instincts to seek them.
So long as these instincts are natural and healthy, all
that they desire must be good.
We may apply this to the manifold blessings of
life — Health is good ;• Wealth is good ; Happiness is
good ; and on the contrary, disease, poverty, and
grief, are all in themselves evils, and the derange
ments of God's highest plan. But even the best things,
even things the most needful, are good for us only
when we are prepared to use them rightly. And as
we take away from the sick child much of the food
which was previously good, and do not allow his ap
petite to have its way, so God is compelled to take
away from the being disordered by sin, many of His
best gifts, since they would only increase the evil.
In this process by which He restores us, we are
bound to co-operate. We must accept, not only
with submission, but with sweetness, the medicine
instead of food, the little instead of the much. So
blessings suffer for the time a reversal. Thus poverty
may be the present blessing, and God choose the
poor of this world, to make them only rich in faith
now — but in the return to the true estimate of things,
heirs of a kingdom hereafter. Adversity may thus be
the present blessing, but not the highest and truest —
Prosperity is that. Light food and- scanty, are these
limitations of our being, pressing us on every hand.
But while we accept this humbling, and suffering
of hunger, which come if need be — and how common

2o6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
is that need — we ought not to be content with their
continuance beyond it. We need to distinguish in
the work of God upon us, very carefully, between
that which is directly progressive, and that which is
remedial. From a neglect of this, have sprung the
evils of asceticism, and the extremes of Puritanism.
The sick man, who has found his medicine and spare
diet agree with his weakness, does well to recom
mend them to the weak ; but it would be quite another
thing, to persuade the healthy and strong to adopt
the same regimen.
" The Giving God " desires ever to give us His
best ; but that best is something altogether relative
to our state. It is not judgment, but mercy rejoicing
against judgment, that when man has broken the
commandments, makes the flaming sword turn every
way, to keep the way of the tree of life. But it is Love,
that, when man is so blessed as to keep . these com
mandments, gives him again the " right to the tree
of life." Until we have the grace to receive and use
God's gifts aright, it is better for us to be without
them; but far better to be so restored as to safely
use them — better for us, and better for His glory.
So, then, when He gives us for our bread a light thing,
and gives it by measure, we do well to ask Him that
we may be speedily " humbled," and " proved," and
" taught," that so we may, like Israel, pass on to richer
and truer blessings.
But to pass to another lesson. There was to be no

THE 'NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND.

207

more an infantile dependence upon the provision of
God. That bread from heaven had needed no sow
ing, no tilling, no reaping : it only asked to be gath
ered. Yet He led them not backward, but forward
in privilege, in ordering that henceforth their supplies
should bear a proportion to their own energies. Such
is ever our Father's way with His children — first to
work for them, and then to make them co-workers
with Him. In giving us some of His choicest things,
He absolutely requires this co-operation ; and even
doubles the value of His gifts, by the training and
development of all our powers.
It is an utter mistake, therefore, to regard the Lord
as any less the Giver, for giving to us through our
own selves, as instruments. He may be all the more
working for us, and blessing us, when He sets His
gifts at a little remove from us, and even with many
intervening obstacles.
Again, another kindred lesson here shadowed forth
is this. It may seem paradoxical, but it is simply a
matter of experience, that as our lives become more
spiritual, they also become more natural, and there is
less seemingly of the extraordinary about them.
But in this we do indeed see only in part. For
Law, and Order, are but names which we give to the
v/ays of God's working, so far as they have become
familiar to us. Probably all the works to which we
give other names, calling them miraculous, and su
pernatural, are equally within the range of Law and

268 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
Order, as seen by higher intelligences. Just as the
native of the Tropics knows some of the laws of water;
while the savage "of another zone knows an added
law, which completely sets aside the others, and the
ice-bound river is his easy path, instead of a perilous
flood. The man of science finds out yet another law,
and bids this same element carry him swiftly over
land and sea.
So, as our spiritual apprehension enlarges, we note
this change — the ordinary works of God appear more
extraordinary ; and the extraordinary, more in accord
with the ordinary. In the latter, the element of mere
marvel and astonishment fades from our minds, as
we consider those laws that lie beyond our world, and
how easy and natural are all things to Omnipotence.
And in the former case, we come to understand, that
His simplest handiwork is so full of skill, as to de
mand His constant supervision. Such recognition of
the power, and present working of God in all com
mon things, prepares us in the most healthy manner
for a further insight into His hidden ways. How can
one who has really, confessed his Creator, doubt the
possibility of any miracle? How can one who has
watched the daily unfolding of His providences, doubt
His interposition at any needful point ?
Among the designs of miracles, a chief one seems to
have been to call the attention of men to God. When
they fell on their faces and cried, " The Lord He is
the God," the end was sufficiently answered. A

THE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND. 209
good example of this is the gift of tongues. It was
all-important to bring the early Church to a clear
recognition of the power and presence of the Spirit.
This accomplished, their service ceased, except as
they might be needed to produce a like effect on
others. So St. Paul presents the case — " Wherefore
tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but
to them that believe not."*
But again, there are other signs to " follow them
that believe," in which the object is to restore the
order disarranged by sin.f The miracles of Christ
were very largely of this class ; as, for instance, all His
works of healing. For this there was needed the
momentary exercise gf some new law, after which
there would be an immediate return to the old laws,
which had sufficed for their work.
In the case of the manna, both the above objects
appear. That barren desert was an abnormal thing,
not at all in the original perfection of God's works.
For obvious reasons, He did not give it permanent fer
tility ; but for the time, He made good the supply it
* 1 Cor. xiv. 22.
t Christlieb, in his admirable volume on " Modern Doubt and
Christian Belief," after showing that miracles belonged especial
ly to " the epoch in which the Church was first founded," claims
that in the work of missions " miracles should not be entirely want
ing — nor are they. We can not, therefore, fully admit the prop
osition that no more miracles are performed in our day. In the
history of modern missions, we find many wonderful occurrences
which unmistakably remind us of the apostolic age!' He goes
on to give several pages of instances — See Lecture. V., iii.

2IO THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
should have yielded. Then, also, the other purpose was
accomplished, that they clearly recognized God as the
Giver of daily bread. And to those who had learned
this, the gift of the manna would seem a simple thing,
by the side of that munificence, which year after
year brought forth from the rain of heaven, and the
dust of the earth, the nutritious grain — the figs and
pomegranates — the olive, with its golden soothing
oil — the vine, with its purple kindling juice — and
working on through the mysterious chemistry of ani
mal life, made the land flow with milk and honey.
But for the manna, they might have seen no miracle
in all this — might have taken it as from Nature, and
' not from God. " There is not, indeed," as has been
well said, " a miracle on record, that can compete
with the miracles of Creation and Providence."
Moreover, it is most mischievous to become ab
sorbed with the extraordinary — as happened in the
Corinthian Church — and to prefer what is striking, to
the simple and serviceable. Man, as a rule, can bear
very little of the extraordinary. He is very apt to
abuse it for some display.
And now to make these considerations more prac
tical. Few persons, probably, pass through a full Chris
tian experience, without some special display of the
Lord's power. Most frequently this occurs at an
early stage, or else at some subsequent marked
period of growth, and anxiety is often felt at its

THE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND. 2I I
withdrawal. Perhaps the soul was fed by some
word of God, that fell clear as a Voice speaking from
heaven. Perhaps some wondrous vision was spread
out before the eye. But when this manna ceases, has
God's bounty ceased ? No, the new corn of the land,
and all its fruits, are theirs. Only now He would
have them search the Scriptures. He would have
them meditate in His law. He would have them even
wait for the precious fruit of the earth. And if they
accept this ordering of their lives, they will find their
souls led on to really richer blessings, for which the
extraordinary visitation was only meant to prepare
them. They become more simple, and more spiritual,
at once.
Thus does the Master keep His disciples from
straining their life to an unnatural pitch, where, un
able to sustain it, they are nearly sure to break down
altogether. There are lines of thought and expe
rience which it is well for us to be trained to touch at
times, but to be fastened there, would be the de
struction of the soul.
And the Master Himself is our example here.
Look at the life of the Lord Jesus. There were great
crises in it — hours and days that were most extraor
dinary. Witness His Baptism, the Temptation, the
Transfiguration. But as soon as the high occasion
passes, His life moves on again, simply, and sweetly,
without any strain. Indeed, notwithstanding all that

212 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
so widely separates it from other lives, the intense
naturalness of Jesus, is one of His chief human
attractions. We see this also in the life of Paul. There is no
assumption, no cant, no attempt to act a part. He is
real, throughout all the constant changes of his ca
reer. How cheerfully he comes down from_ his third
heaven,- to his thorn in the flesh. How humbly he
owns his danger of getting exalted above measure.
It was a choice tribute that was lately rendered to
a noble Christian woman, that " her natural life was
so completely Christian, that her Christian life became
completely natural." In truth, simplicity is a vital
element in all greatness, most of all in that which is
spiritual. It measures also very closely that which is
lovable. Sanctimoniousness is a widely different
thing from sanctity. The effort needed to support it
in all its conventional proprieties, exhausts the re
sources of life. The nature is so spent in seeming,
that it has no strength for being.
In eating the new corn of the land/there was a re
turn to simple, natural ways. They turned from the
Paschal feast to find their common life crowned with
bounty. When once Christ has lifted us up to sit in the
¦heavenlies, to eat His body, and to drink His blood,
then He returns to sup also with us. When we have
seen the slain' Lamb in the midst of the Throne, we
see Christ in all things. He fills and hallows the
whole sphere of our humanity, so that henceforth we

THE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND.

213

can call nothing unclean. In the most common things
of life, " sanctified by the word of God and prayer,"
man may eat more than angels' food ; and life in loving
loyalty to Jesus, may become one long blessed sacra
ment. Of more than the broken bread may it b^
said, " Do this in remembrance of Me."
Every service which He appoints, every pursuit
which He sanctions, every pleasure which He pro
vides — all of these as we take them in His name, and
for His sake, shall be to us like the corn and fruits of
Canaan — more abundant and more luscious for all our
care — and yet His own daily gifts, strengthening and
refreshing us, and helping us to grow up into Him in
all things. Bread without scarceness, food in richest
variety, even the fat of the Land, shall the willing
and obedient eat ; for it is a high and complex being
that is to be thus fed.
Such a view of our ultimate liberty will keep us,
even in the midst of much present sacrifice and self-
denial, free from all narrowness of spirit, and especial
ly from its worst form, censoriousness. We can not
always tell, who still needs to be fed with manna, and
who may eat the fruit of Canaan. The correction
and training of His children, rest with God alone ;
and few things are more difficult, than to judge the
liberty or restraint of others. " Every creature of
God is good " — This is the broad, true ground of lib
erty claimed by an Apostle. Yet practically — for in
expediency, for present necessity, for the weakness

214 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
of others — who so ready as he, to " eat no meat while
the world standeth."
" He who is weak eateth herbs." We may pity,
but not despise him for it. Nor may this herb-eater,
as is very common, judge him who believeth that he
may eat all things. He is safe, while " he eateth to
the Lord, and giveth God thanks."
Go, then, ye that are hungering, and gather the
bread of the land. Feed first on Christ, and then on
all He gives you. " Sow your fields, and plant vine
yards, which may yield fruits of increase." Let
even the fallow ground be made to bring forth your
sustenance. Consecrate the wide field of life to
Christ, and He will command His blessing upon it all. •
Give your all to Him, and then out of the hundred
fold which He returns to you, let every faculty which
you possess — your every power — your whole charac
ter and being — be built up, as becomes the noblest
workmanship of God upon this earth.
But we come now to the deepest lesson to be
drawn from this ceasing of the manna, and eating of
the fruit of the land. Any view of it would be in
complete which overlooked Christ's own reference to
it. " He that eateth me even he shall live by me.
This is that bread which came down from heaven ;
not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead ; he
that eateth of this bread shall live forever." * Jesus
Himself, then, is the true Antitype of the manna. To
* John vi. 58.

THE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND. 215
believe that Jesus is the Christ, to confess that He
has come in the flesh, this is to have life. No soul
that accepts Him in His life and death shall ever
perish. But Christ came not merely to give us life, but
" life more abundantly." And as we follow on to
know the Lord, we know Him not only as He that
lived and died for us, but as the Living One — alive
forevermore. And if His life and death were the
very bread of heaven, and the stricken Rock, that
saved us when we were ready to perish in our hun-
ger and thirst, so also His resurrection life in Heaven,
is as the rich and abundant fruit of Canaan. All of
His life that lies upon this side Jordan is the manna,
but the full fruition is Christ glorified. Yet only to
one who hag well learned the saving truth — " It is
Christ that died," can there possibly be a greater —
"Yea rather that is risen again." The manna had
ceased for Paul, and he was feasting on the richer
portion, when he said — "Though we have known
Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we
Him no more." *
It is impossible to receive the full knowledge of
Christ, through what He was on earth. For He
"humbled Himself "—"emptied Himself "—"had no
form nor comeliness " — was " a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief." All this was to cease — all

* 2 Cor. v. 16.

2l6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
power, all glory, all loveliness, all joy, all unsearch
able riches, are in Him as our Lord in Glory.
Every one must have felt at times, that Christ's
life did not, after all, touch our life at many points.
We see why it could not be, but this does not quiet
the longing that it might have been. How widely
removed from our lives, for instance, as we know that
God Himself orders them, in close family affection
and dependence, and in all innocent pleasures, was
the life of Jesus. We take our fill of the joy of
social converse — we smile, and laugh, — and it almost
startles us as we turn to our Great Example, to
remember that no such record is given of Him. Nay
further, there are many things which we do daily,
which we do not like to think of Him as also doing.
We would rather have it written that " Jesus wept,"
than that He smiled ; and yet our very smiles are
sad, unless they can somehow claim His sympathy.
But all that we miss in Him, in that short wilder
ness journey, we can surely claim as His, now that
He has entered into His rest. His whole life was a
losing of life for the Gospel's sake ; and yet surely,
as He said it should be with us, He kept it unto Life
eternal. The Man Christ Jesus, mediating between
God and man, walked this earth with the vow of a
Nazarite upon Him — separated for His. service sake
from much of the very joy which He came to bring.
The Nazarite, of old, might not drink the strong wine,
nor even the juice of the grape, nor eat the moist grape

THE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND.

217

itself, nor yet the dry ; nor even so much as taste
husk or kernel.* But this was only for " all the days
of his separation ;" " and after that, the Nazarite may
drink wine." So also he might not shave his beard,
and the long hair must mark neglect and subjection ;
— " Until the days be fulfilled, he shall let the locks'
of the hair of his head grow." f
The days of Jesus' vow were the days of His life
on earth, marked by the renunciation of social joys,
and human honor. But His vow was ended when
He cried, " It is finished." And now we may not
think of the risen Lord as still a man of sorrows, nor
count our Pattern, to be no more than the homely
web of a Galilean life. His humanity has been glori
fied with the same glory, which already as to His
divinity, He had with the Father before the world
was. And far more glorious than the cunning work
upon the veil of the Temple of old, is the work now
wrought upon what was once His flesh. " The Glory
Man " has risen infinitely above all that the highest
culture of this world ever reached. All that God
ever gave our human nature, has found its full and
pure development in Him. And being all this Him
self, we may not limit His sympathies with us, by
what He once did, and was, on earth. He would
have us even in this sense "through His poverty
become rich."
The beginning of His miracles was not to remove
* Num. vi. 3, 4. f Num. vi. 5
10

218 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
human sorrow, or to heal disease ; nor was it to meet
a necessity of life, but to add to its festive joy. He
who so late, would not so much as turn stones into
bread, to satisfy the hunger of His long fast, turned
water into wine, for those who had before "well
drunk."- Even so He waits to supply all our need,
" according to His riches in Glory!'
" Thou drawest all things to an Order fair ;
The things we treasure most, with those our haste
Doth count for nought, alike in Thee are graced
With beauty past compare.
" For all grows sweet in Thee,
Since Thou didst gather us in One, and bring
This fading flower of our humanity
To perfect blossoming !" *
Let none for a moment think, that by turning thus
to the glorified Christ we slight His life, much less
His death. It is the manna first ; next the Passover ;
then, all the fruit of the land : and the manna ceased
not until they' kept their Passover. Only through
the gate of His death, can we pass to His joyful
resurrection. And let it not be forgotten that our Lord may call
us also, for an appointed season, or even for a whole
life, to the vow of a Nazarite. We may be keenly
alive to the stimulus and delight of a high-toned
social circle, and yet put this exhilarating draught

* Poems, by the Author of " The Patience of Hope."

THE NEW CORN AND FRUIT OF THE LAND.

219

aside — to go down the ranks of society, and give a
cup of cold water to some little one. And beholding
Art in her manifold attractions, conscious of some of
her creative power, we may yet hasten from her tem
ple — to make like Dorcas, garments for the widow,
and to be " full of good works and alms-deeds."
And if God so call us, it shall only be our greater
gain. It shall be no slighting, no wasting, of any
gift He has given us. Many a seed of sacrifice bears
its hundred-fold in this life : and those which can
not, sown in Christ's grave, shall when we are glorified
with Him, receive a life everlasting.
Faint shadow, then, of the fulness of our Lord, wert
thou, O Land of Judea, in those days of thy bounty.
Thy cool springs from the depths beneath, thy show
ers in their season, thy early and thy latter rain, thy
fields of waving corn and the joy of thy harvest,
thy trees with all their goodly-laden boughs, thy
vines and the gladness of thy vintage, the excellency
of thy Carmel and the glory of thy Lebanon — faint
shadows in all ye gave of old, of what He gives, in
whose Risen Life " WE LIVE, AND MOVE, AND HAVE
OUR BEING."

CHAPTER XI.
SEEING THE CAPTAIN.
" A ND IT CAME TO PASS WHEN JOSHUA WAS BY
¦i* Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and
LOOKED, AND BEHOLD, THERE STOOD A MAN OVER
AGAINST HIM WITH HIS SWORD DRAWN IN HIS
HAND; AND JOSHUA WENT UNTO HIM, AND SAID
UNTO HIM, ART THOU FOR US, OR FOR OUR AD
VERSARIES? And he said, Nay; but I am the
PRINCE OF THE ARMY OF JEHOVAH ; NOW I AM
COME."*— {Josh. V. 13, 14.)
The preparation of Israel for the Conquest has
been traced step by step, but it is still incomplete
until the Conqueror is seen. It would almost appear
that Joshua stood by Jericho, lifting up his eyes, and
looking in some expectancy. Certainly he had been
prepared for this by all the previous revelations of
the Law. He had learned of Him as Creator, by all
His' manifest mastery over His own works ; he had
learned of Him as Ruler, drawing very nigh to man
in government, and judgment ; he knew also of that
holy Presence between the Cherubim ; but the prom-
* Keil and Delitisch.
(220)

SEEING THE CAPTAIN. 22I
ises of God pointed to a still more personal manifes
tation. It had been said to Moses at Sinai, " Behold I send
an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and
to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke, him not ;
for he will not pardon your transgressions; for my
name is in him."* . This promise which plainly indi
cated the Lord Himself, was withdrawn after the sin
of the golden calf, and some angel of lower order.
substituted : — " I will send an Angel before thee . . .
for I will not go up in the midst of thee."f The mourn
ing of the people over these evil tidings, and the in
tercession of Moses, resulted in the restoration of this
blessing ; — " My Face shall go, and I will give thee
rest.":}: It was as Isaiah tells us—" The Angel of His
Face saved them. In His love and in His pity, He
redeemed them : and He bare them and carried them
all the days of old." §
When the Lord thus renewed this promise, it was
in the cloudy pillar at the Tabernacle door, speaking
unto Moses " face to face as a man speaketh unto his
friend." Joshua, who remained always near at hand,
must have heard the promise, and must have known
also of the vision which followed it in the Cleft of the
Rock. That promise now belonged to him ; for as
* Ex. xxiii. 20, 21. f Ex. xxxiii. 2, 3. J Ex. xxxiii. 14.
§ Is. lxiii. 9. See Keil and Delitzsch, Com. on Pentateuch. Vol.
II., p. 235.

222 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
given at first, it had made mention of these nations
now before them, and declared that they should be
thus cut off. Was not this the time of need ? Was
not the enemy within their very sight ? — where was
the Angel then ? How the prayers of his heart must
have beert poured out, as he stood and looked. What
sign would the Lord give him ? If His Face was
there, would He show it ? Not in great glory, not
even in angelic might, did the Lord appear ; but so
simply, so humanly, that Joshua saw only that He
was a stranger. That sword in His hand meant war
fare. But was it an enemy, or was it indeed some
helper sent by God ? And now he learns that it is no
earthly captain, but the great Leader of all the heav
enly hosts of God. Joshua may remain the Captain
of Israel's forces, but meantime another Captain, and
another army, are to fight their battles for them, and
subdue the Land.
There had been previously no manifestation of
Jehovah, which so mingled the human and the
Divine. Never before had one with the form and
voice of a man, called upon man to render him the
honor given to God only. — Joshua fell on his face to
the earth, and did worship, and no voice restrained
him, saying — " See thou do it not ;" but, " the Captain
of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe
from off thy foot ; for the place whereon thou stand-
est is holy. And Joshua did so."* Moses had doner
* Josh. v. 15.

SEEING THE CAPTAIN. 223
this, when God called to him out of the midst of the
burning bush ; but now a man worships a seeming
Man : this heralds the Incarnation and anticipates
the Gospel. In the revelation of this Person —this
Prince — the blessed preparation for possessing the
land clearly culminates.
It is true that the eyes of one man only, saw this
Captain ; but in some sense he saw for all his people :
he saw Him but for a few moments, and yet he saw
for all those years of warfare. Never in any coming
hour of battle,, could he forget that there before
them stood One, whose sword it was inconceivable
that any foe could resist. Nor could he ever feel
again, that further responsibility rested upon him,
than faithfully to follow. Another led them on ;
Another gave command ; Another always conquered.
There are often sudden revelations to the soul, which
contain the strength of years to come — which, like the
lightning flash in the darkness, reveal the path, where
the feet may tread safely, long afterward. To have
seen the Lord, though for a moment, that is to be
strong for a whole life.
In granting such a revelation to Joshua, as a per
sonal privilege, the Lord recognized a very real need
in our nature. The heart instinctively demands a
Person, as the object of its trust, and the closest pos
sible knowledge of that Person. You give to such a
craving heart a creed ; it may be well, but it is only
another need that vou have met. You give it doc-

224 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
trine ; you give it the various relations of truth ; it
gathers up its treasure, and still is full of longing ;
for this human heart is all alive, and can find commun
ion only in life. You go further still, and give it the
clearest teaching of a Personal Christ, and of the ab
solute personality of the Spirit; but only all the
more will it reach out beyond even this, and say —
" My heart and my flesh crieth out for THE Living
God !" " We would see Jesus," is the demand of the
most distant, who have heard of Him afar off; and
it is the one overmastering desire of those who have
come the nearest.
In what way, then, and to what extent, has Christ
provided for the satisfaction of this desire ? The In
carnation has met it in part. The foundation for it
was laid very solidly in that mystery — " God manifest
in the flesh." Nor is the blessing of that manifesta
tion at all limited to the brief period in which it was
a present fact ; it reaches back through all the time,
in which Prophecy pointed expectantly to the Com
ing One, and forward through all the ages to which
the testimony of His life is handed down. Apart
from the basis of such a fact, a spiritual revelation
could have little power : all would be vague and shad
owy, and there could be little vividness of mental
or spiritual apprehension. But this the Incarnation
has secured ; and the blessedness of it has been em
phasized for us, by the one who knew it beyond all
others, and yet sought to share it with all — " That

SEEING THE CAPTAIN. 225
which was from the beginning, that which we have
heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that
which we looked upon, and our hands handled, con
cerning the Word of Life— (And the life was mani
fested, and we have seen it, and bear witness of it,
and declare to you that Life which is eternal, the
which was with the Father and was manifested to us)
— that which we have heard and seen, we declare to
you also, in order that ye also may have communion
with us." * Such a reality, preserved by such testi
mony, may transmit to an unlimited future the fellow
ship of Christ. Jesus has lived upon this earth ; and
the simple belief of this record by all those whose
eyes never saw Him, brings a blessing not sur
passed by theirs who because they saw, therefore
believed. Bethlehem and Calvary share in the mys
terious nature of Eternity, stretching backward and
forward. But the outward manifestation of Christ is not our
sole need ; — there is still a deeper, which not even the
endless perpetuation of His life upon this earth, could
have met. " It is expedient for you that I go away,"
said Jesus — expedient, because He must reveal Him
self, both more intimately, and more universally, to
His own. He must come in such away, that not only
in Galilee and Judea, may great multitudes behold
Him — but that over all the earth, without any inter
vening space for the foot to travel, wherever a long-
* 1 John i. 1-3. See Dean Alford's "Greek Testament."

226 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
ing eye is lifted, there it shall see Jesus. He must
come, moreover, in such a way, that something more
precious even than outward presence — His spirit, His
inner life — may be revealed, and revealed also to that
which is highest in us — our spirit. Even when out
wardly manifested, there was no true perception of
Him without this. When Peter confessed Him as
Christ, the Son of the living God, it was the Father
who revealed it unto him. So also no man was ever
to be able to say that Jesus Christ was Lord, but by
the Holy Ghost. It was an inestimable blessing to
St. Paul, to be added as last of the many hundred
witnesses who saw the Lord in His resurrection
Body ; * but it was a blessing even beyond this to
have Christ, revealed in him.f Unquestionably the
fullest revelation of all will be that which will com
bine both of these ; and while we exult in the glo
rious manifestation of Christ through the Spirit, we
may not forget that the true Apocalypse is yet to
come. Not till He who has redeemed our Spirits,
shall have redeemed our Bodies also, can we see
Him as He is — " face to face." But being what we
now are, the manifestation through the Spirit, is a
richer blessing than was given in the days of His
flesh. While we wait for His coming to receive us
unto Himself, we know that He has said of that
time of waiting — " I will not leave you comfortless :
*i Coi.xv. 6, 8. tGal. i. 16.

SEEING THE CAPTAIN. 22J
I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world
seeth me no more ; but ye see me." *
What then is the -nature of this coming? — Is it to
be a mere influence, reaching us from One who dwells
afar off? — Is it only thinking of the Lord' Jesus, and
giving Him a place in our hearts— nay, enshrining
Him in our deepest affections ? — A strange question
is this to ask, in the face of such promises ; and yet
this is the poor, pittance that many gather from His
blessed words ! And they will tell you, how when
a beloved earthly friend goes far from you, your
thoughts will follow still to the other side of the
globe, and so bring the cherished - presence back;
that his image will abide in your heart ; his life as
you have known it still influence your life ; so that
still he seems ever with you ; — and that even thus it
is that Christ dwells in our hearts by faith.
All this is true, but it is only a tithe of the great
spiritual truth. — We see at once that were there
nothing beyond this ideal presence, we could never
claim for it a real personality. But this personality
it was that Jesus promised, and so carefully reiter
ated — " I will not leave you orphans ; T will come
to you :" — "He the spirit of truth shall come." It is
not only our thought following Him into His heavenly
home ; it is not only His thought constantly fixed
upon us in the midst of His glory — but it is a Power,
* John xiv. 18, 19,

228 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
it is a Presence— it is a Person who comes — "/will
come" — "/will 5V?<? you " — "/will manifest myself."
And in this last form of promise, He clearly gives
us to understand that we should have perception of
His presence. He would make His coming clear and
satisfying to our souls — a substance, not a shadow.
He would give ah evidence which should appeal not
indeed to bodily senses, but to spiritual : He implies
that they also are trustworthy; that as the sight,
and hearing, and touch, are accepted as soundest evi
dence, unless the witness be disqualified by bodily or
mental disease — so a spiritual sense, more subtle, but
not less sure, should attest the reality of spiritual
things. Not only are we warranted in accepting such
impressions as conclusive to ourselves, but there may
be results which shall become appreciable evidence to
others. The words of Jesus respecting our being
born of the Spirit, may apply to every subsequent
manifestation of His — " The wind bloweth where it
listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth :"
Something shown, and something secret — concealing,
even while revealing — this is for the present the man
ner of the Spirit, and the way of all Divine manifes
tations. The evidence is addressed to Faith; and
while there will always be enough to meet its needs,
the false demands of Reason will not be met. Such
a manifestation can never be less than a mystery;
but it is one of the mysteries which Christ has said

SEEING THE CAPTAIN. 229
should be given to us to know. How clearly is such
evidence contrasted, by St. Paul with that of the
senses, and yet claimed to be equally reliable — " Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard " — " but God hath re
vealed by His Spirit ;" and again we have the same
contrast, and claim — " What man knoweth' the things
of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him ?
even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the
Spirit of God. Now we have received the Spirit
which is of God ; that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God." To make this
still clearer, it is added — " The natural (psychical) man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither
can he. know them, because they are spiritually dis
cerned." * No words could well make it plainer, that
both the revelation, and the perception, are God's
gifts to the believer ; that in receiving spiritual life,
he receives new powers, and new senses ; — in fact, an
absolute enlargement and elevation of his being. Yet
it is also shown to be necessary, that by reason of
use these senses should be exercised. In the fact
that they are so often neglected, lies the explanation
of very much of the weakness and helplessness of
those, who in these respects are babes, when they
should be men of full age. Yet how difficult for one
to describe what sight and hearing are, to the blind
and deaf; and almost more difficult still to convey
* 1 Cor. ii. 9-14.

23o THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
their nice discriminations, and most delicate percep
tions, to untrained eyes and ears.
That the soul has such a perception, that such
manifestations of Himself are given by Christ, has
been in all ages the clear consciousness, and calm
testimony, of those who have walked most closely
with God. No one can call in question the fact, that
under the old Dispensation, such knowledge of heav
enly things was repeatedly given ; — that not only
Prophets, but many a humbler servant of God, saw
and heard far beyond the range of his natural senses.
Surely that which was extraordinary and exceptional
then, was never designed to utterly vanish with the
personal coming of the Holy Spirit. Chrisf's own
announcement to Nathaniel teaches us quite other
wise : His new follower marvelled because %esus haa
seen him under the fig-tree ; but the time had come,
when His disciples should not only be seen, but see.—
" Verily, verily, I say unto you, HENCEFORTH, _y<r shall
see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending
and descending upon the Son of man."* Nor dare
we limit these words to spiritual sight : the Body
which is hallowed as a Temple by the indwelling
Spirit may have its vision also ; and it is not for us
to say, how soon it shall be given, or how far it shall
be able to reach. One memorable instance we have
of its power, when Stephen,-" being full of the Holy
Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the
* John i. 51.

SEEING THE CAPTAIN. 23 1
glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand
of God, and said, Behold, / see the heavens bpened,
and the Son of man standing on the right hand of
God."* And if we may judge at all from well-
avouched records in the past, and from the sacred
scenes that are cherished in so many memories of the
living, there must have been thousands upon thou
sands since Stephen fell asleep, who ready to depart
and be with Christ, had not only spiritual vision of
Him — but as if in pledge and foretaste of their resur
rection, knew the Spirit so to quicken their mortal
bodies, that the eye saw, and the ear heard. Cher
ished as such instances rightly are, as sacred secrets
by the survivors, they can not be discredited by thou
sands of others that might be cited, of the hallucina
tions of unbalanced and unregulated minds ; though
even in these instances what may be the residuum of
truth, and how far the Lord may condescend to great
weakness and ignorance, it is not always safe for us
to judge.f
But such questions lie beyond the subject properly
before us, which is that of such a spiritual manifesta
tion of Christ to our spirits as shall be both sensible and
sure. The witnesses of this reality are beyond sus
picion, and they are many, albeit not multitudes.
*.Acts vii. 55, 56.
t In this exception the writer has chiefly in mind, the large
number of such statements which she has heard from the former
slaves of the South — told with- such sincerity that one could not
slight them.

232 THE FULNESS OF BLESS'ING.
That the world at large knows nothing of all this,
is in precise accordance with the limitations of the
promise — " Whom the world can not receive, because
it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him." Again
that all the children of God are not conscious of such
a presence, that with many it is rare or interrupted,
and with, others so faint as to bring little assurance,
is also precisely what we might infer from the condi
tion of the promise — " How is it," asked one of his
Lord, " that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and
not unto the world ? Jesus answered and said unto
him, 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."* Once more — " He
that followeth Me," said Jesus, " shall not walk in
darkness, but shall have the light of life."f Will not
those who love most, know most of the Holy Pres
ence ? Will not those who follow closely, see much ;
and those who follow afar off, see little ? And yet
there are instances of apparently close walking, where
the Heavenly vision is not given : there are loving souls
that can find no link between them and their Lord,
more real and living than His Word which He has
left them. Baffling as are some of these cases, yet in
many of them — only He who searches the heart can
know whether in all or not — there are visible hin
drances. Such a hindrance, is the assertion of the
natural powers beyond their proper province ; for
* John xiv. 22, 23. t John viii. 12,

SEEING THE CAPTAIN.

233

Reason, and keen Analysis are out of their sphere in
this Presence. When they are even applied to the
experience of others, the sensitive soul shrinks from
them as from the horror of a vivisection. Especially
is there a lack in many of that childlikeness of spirit,
which is always foremost in privilege — the readiness
and the receptivity of the guileless spirit, and the
quick response to the least token of His presence : —
" Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of heaven
as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein." And
if it must be so that he enters the kingdom, how
otherwise shall he see the King ?
" The childlike faith that asks not sight,
Waits not for wonder or for sign,
Believes, because it loves aright —
Shall see things greater, things divine."
Again, how often is the hindrance some slight reser
vation. The soul, half conscious of the difficulty,
argues — But this is such a little thing ; besides, it is a
somewhat doubtful thing ; it could not surely hinder
my Lord from revealing Himself. But, remember, it
is written, " If a man love Me," and has true love any
reserve ? Have you never known how a very little
concealment may mar a human fellowship? Have
you never noticed, also, how the extent to which you
can speak of very little things to others, and seek
their counsel in them, measures not only your confi
dence, but the mutual intimacy? We love to go
often to that home where nothing is hidden from

234 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
us, nothing changed for our coming ; but where the
whole life as it is, is lived out simply before "us. Vis
its of ceremony are not pleasurable upon either side,
and the Comforter never so comes.
Still another hindrance exists in the vague appre
hension of the promise itself, so that many might
answer, not wholly unlike the disciples at Ephesus :
" We have not so much as heard that the Holy Spirit
does so manifest Himself, and that we may enjoy the
presence of the Lord Jesus." Faithful answers re
turned from all Christendom to this question — What
is the Presence of Christ to your souls? — would
doubtless bring to light an astonishing sum of igno
rance as to this great blessing. Finally, the position
will be taken by many, that this is a treasure so
choice as to be offered only to a few ; and that while
some are no doubt permitted to enjoy this richest of
God's gifts, the majority must be content to walk by
faith, and not by sight. They say, mournfully, " The
Quest is not for me." But surely the promise of
Christ is partial, only, in requiring a certain sort of
receptivity which His grace makes possible to all be
lievers. Not a hint is given of any other restriction.
The gift of the Spirit implies "every degree of privi
lege to which we will suffer Him to guide us, and that
gift, the Apostle Peter declared to be " unto you and
to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as
many as the Lord our God shall call." *
* Acts ii. 39.

SEEING THE CAPTAIN. 235
As to the invidious distinction, drawn between
walking by faith and walking by sight, it is quite irrel
evant to the question. For what is Faith, if we
accept the only direct definition of it which is given
in the Scriptures? "Now, Faith is the substance
{vnooTaotg) of things hoped for, the evidence (e'/ley^oc)
of things not seen." * Whatever may be the full force
of these words, whether we choose to fritter away
their grand objective solidity, to a mere subjective
shadow or not — one thing it is certain, they can not
mean ; — a mere belief about the things hoped for and
unseen. They suggest no possible contrast to sight,
but even in their lowest significance, confirnrthe fact
of an inner vision, of the most certain kind, enjoyed
by Faith. When St. Paul spoke of walking " by faith
and not by appearance" f he was dwelling upon the
difference between this inner vision, and that, more
open one which awaits us in the Resurrection — so
much more glorious and satisfying, that we can not
cease from longing for it.
It is not easy to appreciate the^ knowledge of any
thing of which we are ignorant ; and so the question
has been asked — ' Of what practical use can such a
manifestation be? Does it secure anything beyond
mere transient joy ? May not one be as strong who
simply takes the Word of God, and walks by its
light, trusting to the secret cooperation of the
Spirit?' * Heb. xi. 1. t 2 Cor. v. 6-8.

236 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
No one who has ever known the Lord in the way
' which He has promised, could possibly assent to this.
The higher knowledge of Jesus is absolutely incom
municable, through even the most precious of those
words given by inspiration of God — " I have heard
of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye
seeth Thee" marks a new mode of acquainting oneself
with the Lord. It is as with the friends we love.
We may have known much through hearing of them,
much more through the frequent reading of their own
best thoughts, and yet, when for the first time we
meet, a few days of personal presence puts us in such
possession of their inmost nature, of the character as
a whole, and of our own share in their love, as it were
hopeless to think of gaining in any other way. True,
we have to wait for the full day-dawn, and the Day-
Star, jto know even as we are known ; but even in the
light of the Morning Star, we do know in part. This
knowledge of His blessed Presence, enriches and en
dears all other knowledge of Him. It is a constant illu
mination for His Word ; for now, as we read, we see
ever the expression of His eye ; as we listen, we ever
hear the intonation of His own voice ; the word be
comes a living -Word, when Faith has seen the Lord.
But, not only does the manifest presence of Jesus
give fuller knowledge, and impart greater strength,
but beyond anything else, it intensifies Love. It is
the instinctive yearning of love to be near the beloved
one. The richest part of its life is in that love. Is it

SEEING THE CAPTAIN. 237
not, then, because God is Love, that He so manifests
Himself? — that He can not stay far off from the de
sire of His own eyes ? — and that, therefore, if a man
love Him and keep His words, the Father will love
him, and they — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — will!
come and make their abode in him who so loves ? He
who has missed this presence of the Lord, has missed
the joy of joys — " the love of God shed abroad in our
hearts, by the Holy Ghost which is given unto "us."
He who has missed this Presence/has missed also one
of the chief secrets of his sanctification. How can
any one become like the Lord, without seeing Him ?
— since we are told that it is by beholding in a mirror
the glory of the Lord, that we are changed into the
same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit
of the Lord. When the heart turns to the Lord with
the veil that hides this glory, He has said that it shall
be taken away ; He who heard the prayer of Moses
will hear our prayer, " / beseech Thee, show me Thy
Glory." And only to such seeking souls, is there any secu
rity that they will find Him. Even His coming again
in visible glory, is limited in its blessing, " unto
them who look for Him!' * So it is written also, " The
Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His Tem
ple."! And we may venture to apply to the coming
of the Lord by His Spirit, that which was said of His
glorious appearing, " Looking for and hastening His
*Heb. ix. 28. t Mai. iii. 1.

238 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
coming." Even now, the Lord whom ye seek, and
whom ye delight in, is He who comes. Nor will any
fitful seeking suffice : it must be the settled attitude
of the soul. The Good Shepherd seeketh His lost
sheep until He find it, and thus should we return to
the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. It was when
Joshua lifted up his eyes and looked, that he saw
the Heavenly Captain : — How many may miss their
Lord for want of this ! We see quickly, and see
often, whatever interests us most. The Naturalist
will put to shame a common eye, by the ease with
which he everywhere discovers his treasures : he has
learned where to look and how to look. In this busy,
bustling age, the Christian too often allows the hurry
of the world to sweep away all repose of soul ; so
that he has no noontide hour when he can. sit like
Abraham in his tent-door, ready to call in the angels ;
with leisure enough to lift up his eyes and look, and
with love enough to run to meet the heavenly Visitant,
and constrain Him to tarry, saying — " My Lord, if now
I have found favor in Thy sight, pass not away, I pray
Thee, from Thy servant." *
Blessed be God that seeing the Lord Jesus, we see .
Him as our Captain, not only commanding His army
here on earth — but Prince of all principalities and pow
ers. The whole host of heaven is at His command :
He can send forth, as He pleases, the ministering
spirits, " to minister to them who shall be heirs of
* Gen. xviii. 1-3.

SEEING THE CAPTAIN.

239

salvation." Having seen His Face as our light and
our salvation, how calmly can we front the enemy.
" Though an host should encamp against me, ' my
heart shall not fear ; though war should rise against
me, in this will I be confident."*
And blessed be God for the Sword that our Cap
tain holds — that out of His mouth there goeth the
sharp, two-edged sword : for He speaks and it is
done ; He utters His word, and out of weakness we
are made strong ; again He utters it and all our ene
mies melt away. Having seen Jesus, have we seen
also the flashing of the sword of the Spirit? All
Holy Scripture that has been written, still cometh
out of His mouth in its fulfilment, quick and power
ful to do its work, alike by the Blessing and the
curse, the Promise and the woe.
Great Prince of Faith, going forth before Thine
armies, let Thine " eyes as a flame of fire " kindle all
our hearts with holy courage ; and hold us by Thine
own power, " looking unto Jesus " — till Thou comest
" in the clouds of heaven," and we see Thee FACE TO
FACE.

* See Ps. xxv'i, 1-4.

CHAPTER XII.
THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH.
<£'TVHE PEOPLE PASSED OVER RIGHT AGAINST
A Jericho." — {Josh. iii. 16.) " And the Lord
said unto Joshua, See, I have given into
thine hand Jericho." — {Josh. vi. 2.)
The time was past for leading the people about,
lest they should repent at the sight of war. They
had come over Jordan to possess the land, and were
thoroughly advised that they must therefore, dispos
sess their enemies. Moreover, it was well for them
to learn at the very outset, that their God was able
to save them in their sorest straits, and to show Him
self stronger than the strongest, that so they might be
set free from the fear of every foe. Therefore, even
while passing over Jordan, they faced the Fortress,
the key to all the Land. Joshua had fully under-
stood its importance, when he sent the two men from
Shittim, to view the land, even Jericho. The terror
that fell upon that stronghold, might well cause
" all the inhabitants of the country to faint," because
of this advancing host. Here, then, the work was to
(240)

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH.

241

begin*, which was to result in the driving out of seven
nations mightier than they. The conquest of this
one city forecast the whole campaign.
The question now arises, Wherein do these new
enemies differ from those already encountered ?
Egypt had been their enemy,*but God in delivering'
them from that oppression, had said, " The Egyp
tians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them
again no more forever."* Pharaoh and his host, hard
ly letting the people go, are vivid types of the bond
age of this world, and the tyranny of " the god of this
world." But, however sore the struggle, or hot the
pursuit, God so delivers His own, that henceforth
they are " not of the world," nor the " servants of
sin." But now .follow conflicts of another character.
The next encounter of Israel was with Amalek.f
This tribe which took its naime from the grandson of
Esau, cherished all the bitter hatred that sought to
avenge a bartered birthright. Its mode of attack, as
recounted by Moses, was full of malice. " He met
thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee,
even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou
wast faint and weary."^: Here is the fitting type of
the Flesh, with which name the Scriptures. stamp the
whole natural man, with his wild and wayward
nature. " As then, he that was born after the flesh,
persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so

* Ex. xiv. 13. t Ex. xvii. 8. J Deut. xxv. 18.
11

242 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
it is now!'* Only too closely does that stealthy
attack of their own kin, in an unguarded moment, re
semble those temptations which waylay the soul,
when " the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is
weak ;" when the inward man delights indeed in the
law of God, but finds* " another law " in this same
flesh, warring against him. Only discomfited and
held at bay in this attack, Israel was charged to " re
member what Amalek did," and when the Lord had
given them rest from all other enemies in the land,
then they were to " blot out his remembrance from
under heaven."f So Moses builded his altar, and
"called the name of it Jehovah Nissi ; for he said,
Because the Lord hath sworn, that the Lord will have
war with Amalek from generation to generation.";":
Again and again in the history of the Judges, we find
this nomad nation helping to oppress Israel. Saul
lost his kingdom because he did not execute the fierce
wrath of the Lord against Amalek ; while David was
established in his, only after he had returned from
that slaughter, in which he recovered all that he had
lost.§ So that the first foe encountered after their
redemption was the last to be utterly subdued.
* Gal. iv. 29. + Deut. xxv. 17-19. X Ex. xvii. 15, 16.
§ 1 Sam. xxx. 19. In this final destruction of Amalek at the
setting up of the kingdom, there seems shadowed. forth the end of
the long warring of the Flesh against the Spirit, in the kingdom of
the true David. After all the great distress, and the weeping — " till
they had no more power to weep " — David pursued, and recov
ered all that had been carried captive. "There was nothing

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH.

243

This conflict with Amalek was the only contest up
to the time of the Provocation. Immediately after
that, when the people attempted to enter the land
presumptuously, in their own strength, we find a sig
nificant combination of the Amalekites and Canaan
ites, which resulted in Israel's discomfiture and flight
to Hormah.* Near the expiration of the forty years,
on their return to this same place, the Canaanites
" took some of them prisoners." It was then that
" Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord," to put all their
cities under a ban, as He should deliver them into
their hand. After the victory " they called the place
Hormah," i. e. " the banning-place!'\ These few con
tests were intermediate.
The next phase of warfare is totally different.
Israel is at last prepared to assume the aggress
ive. We have upon the east of Jordan a sort of
rehearsal of the main conquest. " Rise ye up, take
your journey, and pass over the river Arnon : behold
I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king
of Heshbon, and his land : begin to possess it, and
contend with him in battle." % Then follows the
lacking to them, neither small nor great  David recovered
all." So we know that down to the very victory of the grave,
Christ will " without fail recover all." Also, as at the Exodus,
they had spoiled the Egyptians, so here we read of flocks and
herds which were driven back with their own, of which they said,
" This is David's spoil."
* Num. xiv. 40-45.
\ Num. xxi. 1-3. See Keil and Delitzsch. J Deut. ii. 24.

244

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

overthrow, so often celebrated in their songs, of
Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan,
whose lands became their possession. This was in
troductory warfare*
Still the main struggle awaited them over Jor
dan ; and the summons was now — " Hear, O Israel :
Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to
possess nations greater and mightier than thyself,
cities great and fenced up to heaven ; a people great
and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou
knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can
stand before the children of Anak !" f Again and
again they are mentioned by their names, as " seven
nations greater and mightier than thou." Such were
the enemies who held the inheritance given to Abra
ham centuries before, and whom they must now dis
possess and destroy. WAR now opens in earnest.
In like manner, the main struggle of the Christian
is not found among his earlier experiences. The
World and the Flesh may have caused him many' a
conflict, but what were these compared to the more
direct power of the Devil, as he resists with all his
combined forces the advancing soul. The Epistle to
the Ephesians, which describes most fully our rich
spiritual blessings, gives also .the strongest statements
* In a small volume entitled " High Truth," by the Rev. R.
Aitken [London : Macintosh], there is a very interesting applica
tion of this warfare with Sihon and Og. See pp. 60-70.
t Deut. ix. 1, 2.

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. 245
of this warfare, and the profound nature of it. " Our
wrestling is against governments, against powers,
against the world rulers of this darkness, against the
spiritual armies of wickedness in heavenly places !"
It is thus against " the schemes of the Devil " that
we are to stand.*
This subject involves some of the profoundest mys
teries that surround our being. While naturalism has
proudly denied the existence of Satan, even Christen
dom has largely ignored it. Where the Scriptures
speak simply and strongly, and doubtless with the
profoundest philosophic truth, of the Devil and of
Demons, of their power to bind, and afflict, and op
press — giving us their very numbers — whether one,
or seven, or a legion — expressing their fears, which
are like no human fears, and their instant knowledge
of Christ, with much else that clearly characterized
them, how many Christians think of this language as
only an accommodation to the superstition of the
times. May it not be possible that the pride of
Science, and the presumption of Christian Reason,
have both of them yet to be humbled, by some sub
stratum of terrible truth glaring through the darkness
and deceit of " Spiritualism ? "
Very plainly by all the assertions of Revelation,
the chief conflict is not between our souls and the
World that lieth in the Wicked One ; nor is it only
between the good and evil in our own natures. The
*.Eph. vi. 11, 12. (Dean Alford's rendering).

246 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
chief contending powers upon both sides are super
natural : they are the Spirit of God, and the Prince
of the power of the air. The existence of this super
natural region — the fact that the rebellion originated
there, and is to be encountered there, even in heav
enly places — invests our share in the warfare with the
utmost importance. It was another fall, that makes
our fall the fearful thing it is ; and our susceptibility
to influences, reaching us not only from nature, and
our fellow-beings, but from other worlds, is the fate
ful element of all.
For the dominion once allotted to man, and lost .
through sin, is not unoccupied — it is usurped: the
active forces of evil are astir over the entire region.
One part of that" dominion was this earth ; but, as the
result of this usurpation, we find Creation marred, and
its laws disordered, and " it groaneth." We find the
same disorder, but still more rife, in the body of man ;
its sickness and its sufferings, its frequent deformity,
and its common shame — these surely are no part of
that work which was "very good." "An enemy hath
done this!' But the Usurper has seized the intellect
of man, and sometimes sinking it below the intelli
gence of the beasts, has more often stolen the gifts
which only God could give, to make them subtle as
himself in all evil ends. Again, as no man is a unit
by himself, but much of his life the composite life of
his race, we behold Society in all its ramifications,
from government down to family life, poisoned by this

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. 247
same Serpent. Hence, the oppression of Rulers, vio
lence and strife among men, malice and -fraud, envy
and evil-speaking, and the Destroyer pressing closer
and closer to the great centres of society — at last man's
chief sufferings spring from the very affections which
were meant to link him to his kind. The highest
civilizations of earth, apart from the Gospel, have left
the social relations as they found them, a wreck.
Finally, the Foe entered the Citadel also, and so
seized the noblest part of man — his spirit — as to con
sign it to very death — so that to regain it he must
even be born again.
All this wide dominion which he has usurped, is
the dominion to be regained. Whether it be sin, or
whether it be sorrow, or whether it be only straitness,
the Lord Jesus came to " destroy the works of the
Devil." His Gospel announces the final recovery of
all that was lost — a time of " restitution of all things,"
not only down to the redemption of our body, but
the deliverance of Creation also.
But this is not all that the Gospel pledges. To His
own Church, Christ will give His own glory. Man in
Him is to be made higher than the angels. Our
original estate in Adam was blessed, our inheritance
vast. But what shall be said of the glory of this ? —
this Hope of our Calling — the riches of glory of our
inheritance in Christ ? Such a result of Redemption
as this —

248 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
" Greater good because of evil,
Larger mercy through the fall " —
must needs enrage our Adversary to resist to the
utmost the purpose of "God, and to keep us, if possi
ble, from its realization.
The War of Canaan corresponds to this great con
test. Not with the World — not. with the Flesh — it is
waged directly with the Devil, from whom they de
rive their power, and who may employ them still as
his instruments. Above all it is aggressive. We must
advance upon "the strong man keeping his palace
with his. goods in peace." He cares not to come forth
and begin the attack ; but so soon as we set our feet
upon " the heavenly places," then comes that onset
which St. Paul has described as a wrestling, hand to
hand, foot to foot.*
It has been said, that " all the promises of God to
His elect take hold of unfathomable mysteries."
And as the natural man can not receive these things,
as they can only be spiritually discerned, the first wile
of Satan is to keep us from the sight of them. While
he wholly blinds the eyes of them that believe not,
he succeeds in drawing over the eyes of many a be
liever, a veil, which so dims these mysteries of Grace,
that few suspect what they are missing. For such, the
good fight of faith means only defensive warfare.
*Eph. vi. 12. "irdXv must be literally taken. It is a hand to
hand, and foot to foot ' tug of war' — that in which the combatants
close and wrestle for the mastery." — Dean Alford" s Greek Test.

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH.

249

Then he can carry his wiles still further, and so ob
scure the conscience, that the definition of sin dwin
dles into deliberate disobedience ; till for the sins of
ignorance, and the sins of omission, and the taint of
sin through our whole existence, and the tendency to
sin in the soul itself, there is no discernment left.
Accordingly, many a scheme of so-called Sanctifica
tion has been set forth, which resolved Holiness into
mere integrity of purpose, and a consciousness which
escaped condemnation.
Another wile of Satan, is to make us mistake the
field ; to regard the battle before us as chiefly the
more visible one, between the children of God, and
the children of the Wicked one. It is true we must
each take our part in this great contest of the whole
Body of Believers ; but to be efficient in this wider
warfare, another victory must precede it, won in the
secret of the soul. " He that ruleth his spirit is bet
ter than he that taketh a city." * It is not first to
storm the citadel of stubborn hearts, that our Cap
tain summons us, but to let His banner wave above
our own. The work as set before us by the Scriptures
is this — "The pulling down of strongholds, casting
* " We may dream that it would be a grand and glorious work,
to overcome sin in the world : we may think of sallying out on
such an enterprise for the sake of magnifying ourselves by it :
all efforts, however, directed towards such an end will be vain,
until we have gone through the far more painful and toilsome
task of overcoming sin in ourselves." — Archdeacon Hare's Mis
sion of the Comforter, p. 202.
11*

250 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
down imaginations, and every high tower that exalt-
eth itself against the knowledge of God, and leading
captive every intent of the mind into subjection to
Christ." * Such was the victory won by the Apostle
Paul in his owr. spirit, and which he coveted for
others. Such is the struggle, or call it rather the
victory, that awaits the consecrated and believing
soul. Let us turn now to trace another lesson in those
things which " happened unto them for types." We
see that as it did not please the Lord to expel their
enemies before their entrance, so it did not please
Him even after it, to expel them instantaneously.
Each would have been perfectly easy, but would not
have accorded with the plan which He had long
before announced. It was at Mt. Sinai that He had
said — " I will not drive them out from before thee in
one year; lest the land become desolate, and the
beast of the field multiply against thee. By little
and little I will drive them out from before thee,
until thou be increased and inherit the land." + Such
is that principle of deepest wisdom which guides the
ways of God, and which may be traced throughout
His Creation, and throughout His Providence ; which
is interwoven in all History, and which in the volume
of Inspiration, is seen reaching from the lost Eden,
to the Paradise of our God. Everywhere with a
gracious accommodation of Truth, in itself unchange-
* 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. t Ex. xxiii. 29, 30.

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH.

25"

able, is the word spoken unto His people as they are
able to bear it. In all things, but most especially in
His best things, does our God work on slowly and
steadily, but surely, to His great everlasting end.
Time in His Eternity, is not the slow thing it is to
us, and He builds for Eternity.
Forty years after this announcement of the Divine
plan at Sinai, we find Moses repeating it still more
. explicitly — " The Lord thy God will put out those
nations before thee by little and little : thou mayest
not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the
field increase upon thee. But the Lord Thy God
shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them
with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.
And He shall deliver their kings into thine hand,
and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven ;
there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until
thou have destroyed them."* Three points are to
be noted in this promise :
I. God would drive them out by little and little.
II. This was to end in a mighty destruction.
III. Meantime His people should be constant victors.
As regards the first point, it is clear that this grad
ual conquest in no way resulted from Israel's unbelief,
but was the original plan of God. Not in one year,
He had said, would He drive out before them these old
inhabitants ; and we gather from the history that it

* Deut. vii. 22-24.

252 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
was seven years before the land " rested from war." *
If the inference be correct, it was a year for a nation
that was needed. As their enemies represented in
their very number the completeness of strength, so
may the number of the years, the full course of time.
There was a "needs be" in the thoughts of God
for this " little and little." Their enemies were not
to diminish too rapidly in proportion to their own
increase. Unless for each man driven out, there
were found an Israelite to fill his place, then some
thing worse than a man would take it — "the beasts
of the field!' Even so our Lord has taught us that
wheri the unclean spirit goes out of a man, and finds
upon his return to his house, that however swept and
garnished, it is empty, with no master to defend it,
he not only enters himself, but takes with him seven
other still more wicked spirits : " and the last state of
that man is worse than the first! 'f
Yet it is a lesson which the world is slow in learn
ing, that to rescue any part of our being, any of our

* " Joshua made war with the kings of Canaan a long time
judging from chap. xiv. 7, 10, as much as seven years, though
Josephus Ant. v. 1, 19, speaks of five. From the words, 'The
Lord hath kept me alive these forty -five years,' Theodoret
justly infers that the conquest of Canaan by Joshua was com
pleted in seven years, since God spake these words towards the
end of the second year after the exodus from Egypt, and, there
fore, thirty-eight years before the entrance into Canaan."— Keil
and Delitzsch on Joshua, pp. 123, 149.
t Matt. xii. 43-45.

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. 253
faculties and powers from the service of sin, without
havjng them at once occupied by the Spirit, is to ex
pose ourselves to still worse danger. Such energy of
evil in filling all vacant spaces, might perhaps go far
to explain the sudden lapse of God's servants into
some great sin, which now and then startles the
Church. St. Paul has sketched for us in one of his
own strong antitheses the safe procedure — " As ye
have yielded your members servants' to uncleanness,
and to iniquity unto iniquity ; even so now yield your
members servants to righteousness, unto holiness.*
He could not counsel any putting off of the old man,
apart from the putting on of the new.
But secondly, although the conquest was a work
of time, there was to be a limit to it. The history
abundantly confirms the promise of a mighty destruc
tion. In the eleventh and twelfth chapters of Joshua,
we have the statistics and summary of the war — "AH
the kings were thirty and one ;" — " Joshua made war
a long time with all those kings ;" — " So Joshua took
the whole land ;" — "And the land rested from war."
The " until " of the promise was no endless chain ;
the warfare was as sure to be limited as it was to be
by little and little.
And so also read the promises of victory which the
Gospel gives to us. " The God of peace shall bruise
Satan under your feet shortly ;"f " The God of all
grace who hath called us unto His eternal glory by
* Rom. vi. 19. t Rom. xvi. 20.

254 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make
you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you."* And
with this promise, the experience of some, at least,
agreed. The beloved disciple wrote to young men,
in terms which show plainly that a whole life is not
required for victory — " I have written unto you, young
men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abid-
eth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one!'\
That in the experience of many, the land never rests
from war, except now and then to enjoy some brief
Truce of God, is to be charged solely to their unfaith
fulness, and by no means to His purpose. The sub
sequent history proves, however, that this rest was no
immunity from danger apart from their fidelity ; and
that subject remnants of their enemies in their own
borders, or hostile fugitives without, were capable of
becoming at any moment, snares, and traps, and
scourges in their sides, and thorns in their eyes4
The third point to note in this Promise of God,
that meantime His people should be constant victors,
is the most important of all — " There shall no man
be able to stand before thee, until thou have de-
* i Pet. v. 10.
1 1 John ii. 14. Of course this does not apply to that fullest
sense of the Conquest which is realized only in the Resurrection ;
nor yot to the Conquest set before the entire Church. In regard
to the latter a most interesting parallel exists between the seven
nations of Canaan and the seven conquests of the seven churches
in the Revelation.
| Josh, xxiii. 13.

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. 255
stroyed them." In all those years of warfare, it is a
striking fact that, with the exception of the defeat at
Ai, where they justly forfeited the promise, we are
not told of the loss of a single man, nor of any even
temporary defeat. Even if we can not positively as
sume that these were bloodless victories on their side,
we have here at least one of the significant silences of
Holy Scripture. The career of Israel in Canaan was
a career of continual conquest.
And herein it is that the good fight of Faith differs
from the contest that is all too common ; for a con
tinued conflict being admitted even in this case, it
might be asked, Where then is the advantage ? It is
this, the advantage of constant victory over frequent
defeat ; for a constant victory it will be if we keep the
faith. Never yet did the Captain of the host of the
Lord lose a single battle. Nay, more, the good
soldier of Christ Jesus learns to welcome the sight of
his enemies, knowing that it really means larger posses
sions ; learns to "count it all joy, when he falls into
divers temptations," knowing that it means completer
triumph. Of that old warfare in Canaan, it stands
written, "It was of the Lord to harden their hearts,
that they should come against Israel in battle, that
He might destroy them utterly, and that they might
have no favor." * Even so, it is of the Lord that the
evil hitherto lying latent in our nature should be
discerned ; it is of the Lord that the trials even
* Josh. xi. 20.

256 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING
league themselves together; for it is that the evil
may be dislodged and destroyed, and that the domin
ion of Grace may be enlarged.
While the good Fight of Faith may be regarded
as almost synonymous with the work of Sanctifica
tion, it may be well to trace the application of these
lessons more definitely under that head. The word
Sanctification ('Ayiaa^cj, which occurs only ten times in
the New Testament, is rendered in half that number
by another word in our version — Holiness. So again, it
is simply the same allied term (dywg), which is rendered
holy and saint, as is the corresponding verb (&yi<%a)
by hallow and sanctify. But none of them appear,
from their context, to be held to a single fixed mean
ing. Christians are addressed as saints, and epistles
are written to the sanctified, when they were evi
dently far from being in a state of practical purity.
In the Epistle to the Hebrews, we find a key to the
right understanding of this ; where first we read —
" We have been sanctified, through the offering of the
body of Jesus Christ, once for all ; " * and very soon
after this, " For by one offering, He hath perfected
forever them who are being sanctified." f So then He
hath sanctified, while we are being sanctified. He hath
perfected, while we are going on unto perfection.
The " once-for-all-ness," marked the power of Christ's
Cross ; while our practical partaking of it, is plainly
a process. But everywhere, the ultimate standard
* Heb. x. 10. t Heb. x. 14.

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH.

257

even of this> is to be "sanctified wholly," and to
"perfect holiness."
Those who claim that entire sanctification is to be
instantaneously received, would appear to confound
the two uses of the word. In its highest sense, as
wrought out by the Sanctifier, and so imputed by
the Head of the Body to all its members, it must be
entire ; but such a word can not be used of a process
which is still going on.
Growth in Grace is put under the condition of all
growth — demanding time. Nor do the Scriptures
speak of any state of entire -purity, from which we
grow on into maturity. It is the purity itself, which
is to mature, as St. John tells us, that every man that
hath the blessed hope of seeing Jesus as He is, puri-
fieth himself, even as He is pure. He plainly speaks
of a continuous work, with which the constant exhor
tations of all the Apostles agree. They give us no
single precept, enjoining any such sudden attainment ;
and they leave no record of any such experience. \%
is noticeable that those who claim such entire sancti
fication as a present experience, are always obliged to
limit it in other ways, as extending only to the Affec
tions, to the. Will, or to " the essence of the soul," and
thus they deprive themselves of the proper term for
expressing its practical completeness. As to another
limit which has been often set — our consciousness — ¦
an Apostle has given us some solemn thoughts on
that head — "I am conscious to myself of no delin-

258 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
quency ; but I am not hereby justified ; but He that
judgeth me is the Lord." * It is true, that only the
evil which comes within the range of our conscious
ness, can be overcome ; but our responsibility extends
far beyond this, and includes the most diligent culti
vation of the conscience.
As great confusion of thought has thus arisen
from the inaccurate use of the word Sanctification,
so has still more confusion sprung from loose and
unscriptural definitions of sin. The Scriptures
give us three — ranging from the negative to the
positive, from the lowest to the highest estimate of
it. For as we grow more spiritual we grow' more sen
sitive to sin. Our perception of it will advance very
much in the order of these definitions.
I. " Sin is the transgression of the Law."
II. "All unrighteousness is sin."
III. " Whatsoever is not of faith is sin."
We are first convicted of special acts of sin. Then
we become troubled at the absence of positive right
eousness ; and it is the sin in our nature that we rec
ognize. Finally, we advance to the full meaning of
sin, taught in the very word itself— z. e., missing the
mark. Wherever we see ourselves not yet trans
formed by this renewal of our minds, whatever it be
that is still unlike our Lord, whatever deed or word
or thought reaches not high enough as yet, for the
holy harmony of doing God's will on earth as it is
* i Cor. iv. 4.

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH.

259

done in heaven, that to the cultivated conscience,
coming to share His thought in all things, even that
is now our sin.
Another nice distinction is drawn in the Word of
God between sin and temptation. It is often claimed,
under the system already referred to, that the very
"roots of evil are so eradicated" in that "instanta
neous sanctification," that temptation comes to the
saint, as to his Saviour, " solely from without." Yet
it is to saints that the Apostle James writes : " Every
man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own
lust, and enticed." * But then how carefully he goes
on to show, that this outcome of our own nature is .
not counted by the Lord as sin, till it is further de
veloped. "Then lust, having conceived, bringeth
forth sin."f Only the consent of our will turns
temptation into sin.
A like distinction is drawn between our confession
of sin, and our condemnation for it. As to the con
demnation for sin, God is graciously pleased to own
our renewed will, and to disown our old nature —
allowing us to take the same view. " It is no more I
that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."J " There is
. ... no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus."§ And yet His Holy Spirit must convict us
even of the sin which dwelleth in us, and the lust
that enticeth us ; even their presence in us calls for a
*Jas. i. 14. tjas. i. 15.
| Rom. vii. 17. • § Rom. viii. 1.

26o THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
Deliverer. There must be, upon our side, a hearty
confession of them as they come to light — a fresh
claiming of the cleansing of the blood of Christ, and
then a going forward in His name to their conquest.
We are told by St. Paul that if we would thus " dis
cern ourselves, we should not be condemned."* This
discerning in the light of the Spirit will bring to view
not merely temptation, but also our neglected duties,
our careless ways, our unsanctified habits, our neg
lected privileges. These will seem set before us as
enemies, many and mighty, to be overcome. And
along with these we must constantly consider our sins
of ignorance as calling for both confession and con
quest. " Though he wist it not, yet is he guilty,"f
is the plain decree of justice — to be met only by the
decree of Mercy — " If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness."^: Our career in the con
quest of the Land of promise, may therefore be re
garded as a constant discerning of ourselves — a con
stant coming to the Light, that must still convince,
though it be not to condemn, and so a constant over
coming by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word
of our testimony.
And thus the Christian who has not yet in a prac
tical sense been sanctified wholly, may in the mean
time be " preserved blameless!' Such a distinction is
clearly presented in the Scriptures. " The very God
* i Cor. xi 31. t Lev. v. 17. t. 1 John i. 9.

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. 26l
of peace sanctify you wholly ; and I pray God your
whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blame
less unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do
it."* So St. Paul prays. But the Apostle Jude goes
further still, and commends the sanctified, and " pre
served in Jesus Christ," " unto Him that is able to
keep them from falling, and to present them faultless
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."f
So then we may be blameless without being faultless :
we are to be blameless now: we shall be faultless
hereafter: — "preserved blameless," and "presented
faultless." Such is the blessed and glorious ideal
which is set before the Christian, and which both the
ability and faithfulness of God are pledged to make
real. If it be asked what practical difference there is
in such a distinction, we may take as an example a
little child whose loving heart is bent upon pleasing
her mother. Her first little task of needlework is put
into her hands. But the little fingers are all unskilled,
nor has she any thought of the nicety required ; still,
with intense pleasure she sets stitch after stitch, until
at last she brings it to her mother ; she has done her
best, and does not dream of failure. And the mother
taking it, sees two things : — one is a work as faulty as
it well can be, with stitches long and crooked ; and
the other is that smiling, upturned face with its
sweet consciousness of love. Not for anything could
* i Thess. v. 23, 24. t Jude 24.

262 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
she coldly criticise that work. She thinks of the
effort to please, and how little she could expect in a
first attempt. It is the child's best for the time be
ing. So she commends her, and even t praises the
poor, imperfect work, and then gently and most lov
ingly shows her how. she may do still better. The
child is blameless, but her work not faultless. It will
be nearer and nearer faultless, as day after day she
gathers skill, and even new ideas of care and faithful
ness in her tasks ; but still in her mother's eyes she
is at first, as well as at last, her blameless child.
And surely every believing, loving child of God, may
regard this blessing of blamelessness, not as one to be
finally reached, but as one to enjoy all along the way.
Only in this case, there will be not only a life more
and more holy, but a heart growing purer and purer
in its love. And precious beyond all price will it be
day after day of our lives, to hear again and again, our
Father's acceptance of our work and of ourselves.
" Blameless, my child — still blameless." And yet
such a child can not aim at less than His entire ap
proval. He will not abuse such a comfort, or count
it the chief thing; but ever seeing more fully the
vast importance of all his Father's interests, and His
earnest desire to make him a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, he will even beseech Him not to
spare His correction, but to show him faithfully every
fault. Such a distinction as this provides for perfect peace

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. 263
with God, but not for any profession of perfection.
Such a claim as this, not covering the defects of
which we are yet unconscious, nor the conquest
which may istill be incomplete, does not suggest, as in
the case of other claims, a painful sense of discrepancy
between profession and possession.- Such a claim, as
it leaves no room for discouragement, allows none for
presumption. It is calm and confident, but very
humble. It keeps its eye on Christ, and the power
of His resurrection, and it speaks soberly — " Not that
I have already won, or am already perfect; but I
press onward — if indeed I might lay hold on that, for
which Christ also laid hold on me : I count not my
self to have laid hold thereon ; but this one thing I
do— forgetting that which is behind, and reaching
forth to that which is before, I press onward, towards
the mark, for the prize of God's heavenly calling in
Christ Jesus."* This is its experience, and its simple
exhortation is — " Let us all, then, who are ripe in
understanding, be thus minded."f
So pass we onward, then, unto our conquest ; little
by little to drive out our enemies, but still to always
win our battles, always to overcome ; and even when
we reach a rest from the long war, still to watch and
pray lest we enter into temptation ; and still ever
more fully to-possess the land.
As to the manner of the Conquest, the secret of
victory is'so simple, that a few words may set it forth.
* Phil. iii. 12-14. t Phil. iii. 15. — As rendered by Conybeare.

264 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
It is clearly shown in the capture of the first city :
"By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they
were compassed about seven days."* In fact, the
victory was won before they even began — "See, I
I have given into thine hand Jericho." Day after
day their faith was disciplined and developed, and
patience also had her perfect work, till at last came
the command, " Shout ; for the Lord hath given you
the city." " It was the shout of Faith, that saw not
and yet believed ; and that, having believed, at once
saw the glory of God." .
For us also the real battle has been fought, and we
can claim an accomplished victory. " Be of good
courage," said Jesus, "/ have overcome the world:"
and now " this is the victory that overcometh the
world, even our faith." f The prince of all these
powers of evil was met by Him in single combat —
and this was the issue : " The prince of this world is
judged :" " Now is the judgment of this world : now
shall the prince of this world be cast out.":]: The
Serpent's head was bruised. Satan is the Saviour's
vanquished foe, with not a particle of actual power
to assert against Him in His kingdom, mighty as he
is in his own. And for us also whose life is in Christ,
he is a conquered foe — with not a particle of power
to send one of his darts through the shield of faith.
But his chief strategy lies in concealing this — in pre
senting an unbroken front. He would make us be-
* Heb. xi. 30. t t 1 John v. 4. X John xii. 31.

THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH. 265
lieve that we have still as hard a battle to fight, as
though Christ had not fought for us. We are charged,
indeed, not to be ignorant of his devices — we are to
put on the whole armor of God — but so going forth
we shall never find a wall so high and strong, that it
shall not fall down flat at the shout of our Faith.
We may make war a very long time, and manifold
may be our enemies ; but the way is the same through
out. Whatever God charges us to do, whether it
seem to be much or little, the Heavenly Captain and
His host win all our victories.
What shall be said, then, of that precious Faith
which our Lord has given us, and endowed with
such a power? Faith sees the Land — Faith pre
pares itself — Faith passes over — Faith goes from
strength to strength — Faith waxes valiant in fight
— Faith has an eye ever on the Captain, to follow
Him whithersoever He goeth — Faith "ever listens,
for it has received its charge, " Whatsoever He saith
unto you, do it" — Faith never needs to measure
walls, or count the giants — Faith sees nothing but
the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward
who believe — Faith ponders day and night the ex
ceeding great and precious promises — Faith is ever1
saying, "We are well able to overcome !" and Faith
ever hears God saying, " He THAT OVERCOMETH
SHALL INHERIT ALL THINGS."

12

CHAPTER XIII.
FAILURE AND MISTAKE.
U ''PHERE IS AN ACCURSED THING IN THE MIDST
A of thee, O Israel : thou canst not stand
BEFORE THINE ENEMIES, UNTIL YE TAKE AWAY THE
ACCURSED THING FROM AMONG you." — {Jgsh.vn. 13.)
" The men took of their victuals, and asked
not counsel at the mouth of the lord." —
{Josh. ix. 14.)
The Book of Joshua contains the record of but one
lost battle : • only once does it number the slain of
Israel. This defeat followed close upon their first
great victory. Their holy confidence in God sank
quickly into an unhallowed confidence in themselves :
Jericho had fallen — what need to put forth all their
strength against Ai?
Thus do our greatest failures often happen in the
little things of life. We miscalculate the strength of
the foe ; we fail to spy out the reserved forces. In
deed, we mistake, when we think it an easy matter to
subdue any enemy. How often has it happened, that
he who has won his signal victory in some great crisis
(266)

FAIL'URE AND MISTAKE.

267

of the Church, who has rescued the Truth from the
teachers of false doctrine, or stormed the entrench
ments of Vice, has forthwith failed in some petty do
mestic disturbance, in some simple social duty, or in
a trifling claim of common charity. If there be a
time in life when we need more than ever to watch
and pray, lest we enter into temptation, it is the hour
of success.
The discouragement, verging upon despair, which
followed the flight from Ai, shows how the ground of
faith had been deserted. " The hearts of the people
melted, and became as water." * Even Joshua, with
his clothes rent, and dust upon his head, lies flat upon
his face, and gives himself over to the strange regret —
"Would to God we had been content, and dwelt on
the other side Jordan ! " f
Who has ever overcome without an Ai ? — a ques
tion of fact to be carefully distinguished from the
question of necessity. And with whom has it not
been their first temptation, to regard with impatience
their further ventures upon faith? — as though God
really left us at liberty to be content with lower
things, when there are higher set before us !
But still more overwhelming to Joshua was the
sense of Israel's dishonor, as compromising the name
of God. " O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel
turneth their backs before . their enemies ! . . . ,
and what wilt Thou do unto Thy great name?"|
* Josh. vii. 5. t Josh. vii. 7. X Tosh- v"- 8, 9.

268 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
And what shall any of us think, or say, when we find
that after all the development and discipline of faith,
the failure comes ? Shall we charge God with it, as
not having provided against it ? Shall we still lie flat
upon our faces, as the sorrow glooms into sullenness ?
Nothing more thoroughly tests our loyalty to God,
and our regard to His honor instead of our own, than
our readiness to receive the chastening by which He
must judge us, when we do not " discern ourselves."*
As surely as the cause of failure is always found with
us, so surely is there a remedy with God. " Israel
hath sinned — therefore, the children of Israel could
not stand before their enemies : neither will I be with
you any more, except ye destroy the accursed thing
from among you." f Thus did the Lord make a clear
case of this mysterious dispensation. By His decree
the whole spoil of war was His: all treasure was
" devoted" to Him ; perverted to their own use, it was
the "accursed" thing4 It was the accursed use of
good things that was their sin.
Thus does the Lord hold His children true unto
Himself; He compels th'em to let Him search out
all hidden, hindering things, as their only way to
victory. Their short suffering is as nothing to this
necessity. Their own sense of shame, and even the
taunts of their enemies, are little things in His eyes,
* i Cor. xi. 31, 32. t Josh. vii. 11, 12.
X The same word is rendered in our version by both devoted
and accursed.

FAILURE AND MISTAKE. 269
compared with the deeper evil. He must teach
them that they can not serve Him in one sphere, and
take their own way in another. Any secret using of
His treasures, apart from His will and blessing, they
must understand to be sin. Achan had marched
around Jericho, and had shouted in that great shout
of faith : in such great matters he could be true to
God ; — but the mantle, and the gold and silver, why
should he not have these to enjoy?
Christianity in this nineteenth century since Christ
came, has not outgrown the same gross form of temp
tation that was the snare of Israel fifteen centuries
before — " the lust of the eye, and the pride of life."
There is surely no more crying sin to be found among
thedaughters of the Lord, than their love of display
in these " goodly Babylonish garments." Beyond all
that is allowed for comfort, and comeliness, how much
is coveted for mere display. The evil is in the heart,
and not in the garment. That mantle of old be
longed by right to the Lord ; it was treasure even in
His sight,, and He could have called upon some one
to wear it, even to His glory. But Achan could not
— the covetous, the proud, the selfish, never can ;
they are not pure enough in heart, to take as pure,
that pattern their Creator set them, when He clothed
the lilies of the field in all their glory. True, there
are other bearings of this subject — growing out of
the present disorder of the world — touching the toil
and strain enforced upon the heads of families —

270 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
touching the needs of the poor and of Christ's cause
— touching the example set for the weak and thought
less — touching also great moral questions upon which
social happiness and purity depend — but these are
as the husk to this fatal seed of evil. The vital germ
is " the lust of the eye " — lust seeking to gratify self,
where love should be glorifying God !
Again, there is no more crying sin among the sons
of God, than that " love of money " which is " the
root of all evil." Wealth held in trust for the Lord,
kept as a devoted thing, is not only a blessing, but a
very necessity in the perfect plan of His providence.
But gold apart from God, hankered after through the
pride of life, is still the accursed thing in thy midst,
O Israel ! Once, it was only a single garment, and a
few pieces of gold and silver, in the tent of one man.
Is it the less a sin no"w, that men do it upon a grand
scale, and that there is little hiding of the matter?
What marvel that God goeth not forth with our ar
mies !
And when we remember that these two forms of
sin — " the lust of the eye, and the pride of life " —
extend to " all that is in the world," and so class with
them all that they really represent — when we think
of God's claim over all things, and of all our persist
ent and varied robbery of His dues, with what fear
ful force does the charge come home to us in our own
day — " There is an accursed thing in the midst of
thee, O Israel : thou canst not stand before thine

FAILURE AND MISTAKE.

271

enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from
among you." Alas, that so dear is this accursed
thing to many, that upon the whole, they choose de
feat, rather than to confess the sin, and let this of
fending Achan of lust be stoned with stones, and
burned with fire.
Another most important lesson lies in the fact, that
the sin of one involved all. Such a law of organic
spiritual life is very clearly stated by St. Paul —
" Whether one member suffer, all the members suffer
with it ; or one member be honored, all the members
rejoice with it."* There can plainly, then, be no indi
vidual perfection, till the whole Body is perfected.
Hence Love, with all its tender care one for another,
is the vital thing it is. The sin and shortcoming of
one single member, are the suffering and the loss of
all the other members. God honors to the utmost
the faith and devotion of each ; but there are heights
to which they can not attain, save with the help of all.
Even if the cloven tongue of some Pentecostal gift
were to alight upon the chosen of the Spirit, yet if
it met no kindred spark — if it fell only upon the
damp and chill of unbelief — how surely would it
expire, with only a brief and ineffectual gleam.
The sin of Achan — unknown as it was to all but
himself, and his God, yet troubling a nation — teaches
us to trace the evil to something more secret than
mere example. What a study for the thoughtful is
* 1 Cor. xii. 26.

272 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
this strange sympathy of soul ! What a solution of
many a problem ! And how does such a law render
sin exceeding sinful. Each offence is not only against
God, and to the injury of our own life, but tells upon
the life and vigor of the whole Church of Christ. Like
the healthful body, it may be able to heal the wound,
or throw off the disease of one part by the rallying of
the rest ; but at best there is an expenditure of force
that is needed elsewhere. Every sin is in its essence
the failure to love God, and to love our brother also.
All covetousness is idolatry, and all selfishness a stab
at the life of some one. He that hateth his brother is
a murderer — not in intent, but act — as truly strikes by
his hatred the life of his spirit, as a murderer slays
the body. What a responsibility is ours, therefore,
when we see our brother sin — not only to rebuke in
faithful love, but to ask that God will give him life:
again ; seeing that it is not only his life, but our life
also, and the life of Christ's own Body.
Among all the rich, promises that spring from God's
forgiving and restoring love, there are few more won
derful than this — that He has given us " the Valley
of Achor for a door of hope." * From that valley,
which they so named from their sore "trouble,"
Joshua and the people rose up ; and soon before his
spear, outstretched towards that same Ai from which
they lately fled, twelve thousand of their enemies
melted away, even all the inhabitants of the place ;
* Hos. ii. 15.

FAILURE AND MISTAKE.

273

and fear fell on all who heard it. The one failure
was never repeated ; and the six and thirty men who
fell at Ai, give us the only death list of a seven years'
war. When once we have added to our experience of
God's favor as shown to the willing and obedient,
that of His faithfulness even in our failure, we come
up from this dark passage of our trouble and loss, to
a door that opens wide upon His great Love. We
gather even cheer from the certainty, that .the Lord
will cleanse us from secret faults. For sin, to a lov
ing child of God, is a more fearful thing than any
suffering for sin. Welcome, then, shall be the disci
pline, that put us on the track of its discovery ; for
so soon as we see it, we are met by this faithful word
— " If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgjve us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unright
eousness." How often does it happen in our expe
rience, that some one form of trial is strangely reiter
ated, until we are tempted to regard it as our fate.
Is it not rather the voice of the Lord, calling to us
again and again, until we heed Him, and learn the
lesson He has set us ? When we have learned it, He
will no more repeat the trial. We learn, moreover,
from such an .experience as this, to anticipate His
correction, and not compel Him to chasten us Him
self. Very weighty is that lesson of St. Paul, and
given to us in words most fitly chosen* (sadly as they
* 1 Cor. xi. 31, 32.

274 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
are marred in our version) — that if we would duly
discern ourselves — before any doubtful deed — we
should have no occasion to be fudged after it. But
that failing in this, even our judgment is only the
chastening of the Lord, that we should not come to
be condemned with the world. So, then, the Lord
does not purpose to lead us into any valley of Achor,
but if we fall into the snare, He provides a way to
recover ourselves from it — giving us even there a
door of hope. The two chapters occupied by this
narrative, are followed by a third, which gives us,
not indeed another failure, but a great mistake.
The people lean now to their own understanding,
as just before they relied upon their own strength.
The foe fearing to come out longer in open battle,
approaches them with deceit. Long before, the
Gibeonites had learned to their cost, from Simeon .and
Levi, a fearful lesson of dishonorable strategy.* Doubt
less it was this that suggested a sort of retaliation,
which God permitted as a sure retribution. " They
did work wilily." Feigning to come from a far coun
try, they entrapped Israel into a friendly league. So
clear appeared the case, that " the men took of their
victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the
Lord." How much erring in judgment is foreshad
owed in this simple incident. The instances are com
paratively few where the Christian fails and flees
before a recognized enemy; in by far the greatei
* Gen. xxxiv.

FAILURE AND MISTAKE.

275

number he goes astray through the deceitfulness of
sin.* There was but one Achan, who hearing God's
command about the dedicated things, went and hid
them in his tent ; but Joshua and all Israel were
caught in the snare of the Gibeonites. No warning
voice from God came to arrest them, for they had
neglected to seek His counsel, and they must learn
the peril of it.
It is often carelessly said, that if we do the best we
know how to do — acting up to the light we have —
we are guiltless.
Such a maxim is not allowed to pass in earthly
matters. The Captain who doing the best he can at
the time, runs his ship upon- a rock well known to
seamen, is held responsible for his ignorance. We
are not only to act up to the light we have, but to
seek the light and come to the light. Sincerity may
never dare to claim" the same high reward that is
given to Truth, nor are the immunities of the one
like the immunities of the other. For every portion
of the full and rounded Truth of. God that is missed
even by mistaken judgment, some loss is inevitable ;
and who shall venture to estimate the aggregate of
that loss to the Church of Christ from the multitude
of her mistakes, both in doctrine arid in practice ?
* Farrar speaks of Judas even as half concealing from himself
the grossness of his own motives, and adds :_ " People rarely sin
under the full glare of self-consciousness; they usually blind
themselves with false pretexts and specious motives.'' — Farrar's
Life of Christ, Vol. II., p. 192.

276 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
One gleam of comfort, however, we are permitted to
gather from the old story of the Gibeonites. Inex
cusable as was their neglect to seek His counsel, God
graciously brought out of the evil, somewhat of bless
ing. These deceivers of His people should hence
forth be their hewers of wood, and drawers of water ;
— some compensation should be found for what they
had lost. In the wonderful amends of Grace — even
in missing the highest mark — the Lord can surely
put the mistakes of His children among the all things
that work together for good to them that love Him.
But far more edifying than to enumerate such mis
takes, will it be to consider the provision that is made
against them.
Distinct promises of God have pledged to every
seeking soul His light, and truth, and wisdom. " If
thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of
light." " When the Spirit of truth is come, He will
guide you into the whole truth." — " If any of you
lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all
men liberally and upbraideth not ; and it shall be
given him."* Very plainly, then, must our mistakes
originate like that of Israel — " We ask not counsel
at the mouth of the Lord." The contrary of this is,
however, most commonly claimed — " We did seek it."
Ah, but did you not first " take of the victuals ? "
That which is often asked of God, is not so much
His will and way, as His approval of our way. It is
* Matt. vi. 22 ; John xvi. 13 ; Jas. i. 5.

FAILURE AND MISTAKE.

277

remarkable how little perplexity as to their duty,
appears among the saints of the Bible. Especially
in the Epistles, we find scarcely a trace of uncer
tainty as to the way which they should take. But in
our own day, how common is the cry that men " walk
in darkness and have no light." We have no right to
remain in that darkness. If we love the light, we
shall find the light. If the windows of my dwelling-
place be closed with blinds of ignorance, they must
first be thrown open. If the curtain of prejudice be
drawn closely down, it must next be put aside. If
the thin shade of conceit be left, there is still more
to do — for though I may now have the sunlight, I
have not the sunshine. If this shade be lifted, and
yet the window be obscured with frost, or dust, or
even so thin a film as my own breath, I can not
have a clear vision of that which lies beyond it. My
apathy is that frost — my carelessness that dust — my
selfishness that film. I must look if possible with
nothing between me and the truth, or if I must look
through glass, let it be so clear as to be itself invisi
ble. But instead of seeking thus until we find, do
we not hastily take our clew from custom, and chang
ing conventionalities, and from human opinion ? It is
well-known that the Red man who fears the approach
of the foe, does not listen through the air, where so
many sounds are stirring, but presses his ear close to
his mother-earth, and so hears afar off the stealthiest
tread. So does our ear in its distraction need to list-

278 THE. FULNESS OF BLESSING.
en, shut off from common channels, and holding it
self fast by that Word of truth, which is the choice
conductor of the will of God.
It is a prime condition of such wisdom that we
have a certain affinity with the truth, as a ground of
receptivity — " He that is of the truth," said the Lord
Jesus, " heareth my^oice." When the secret attrac
tions of the soul are false to God, there can be no real
counsel asked of Him.
Again, the first step towards knowledge is the con
fession of our ignorance. The human understanding
wholly fails in heavenly things. — It is Love that is
the great illuminator. — " If any man think that he
understandeth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he
ought to know. But if any man love God, the same
is known of Him!'* In His own knowing of us, all
our knowledge originates^ first of Himself, then of
all things. Closely akin to the conceit of our own
understanding, a veritable Gibeonite in its clouted
shoes, and equal to deceiving even a Joshua, is that
habit of j^/f-examination which is so often practiced.
As though the heart were not " deceitful above all
things, we assume the ability to discover its depths,
and to analyze its mixture of motives. That is a
work for God alone. There lies a world-wide space
between the old Delphian oracle — " Know thyself," —
and that wisdom that coming from above teaches us
to cry, " Search me, O God, and know my heart /"
* 1 Cor. viii. 2, 3.

FAILURE AND MISTAKE.

279

Another all-important condition of our protection
from error, is that we should seek not only counsel,
but the close companionship of the Counsellor. We
are directed not to a mere written word of wisdom,-
but to a Wisdom who walks among men ; not to the
bare letter of any law, but to a Living Law that has
comedown to lead us safely. Listen to that Voice
that in due time becomes the Incarnate Word —
" Counsel is mine .and sound wisdom. I am under
standing. / have strength  BlesSed is the man
that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting
at the posts of my doors!'* Listen as it calls again. to
still closer intimacy, — "When thou.walkest, let it
guide thee ; when thou liest down, let it guard thee ;
and at thy waking, let it talk with thee."f
Our need is so constant and so varied, that only
the Spirit of God can supply us with wisdom. In so
guiding us He will make His own Word our lamp
wherever that is possible. Where it is not, He will
point out some other way. His own Word itself again
and again throws us back upon this immediate guid
ance of the Spirit. For how many are the emergencies
of life, concerning which that Word is silent, and can
no more answer us than it could have told the Camp ot
Israel from what country came the Gibeonites. There
fore, while God put His holy Law in the Ark of the
Covenant, He put His Urim also in the Breast-Plate
of the High Priest ; and so flashed from time to time
* Prov. viii. 14, 34. -fProv. vi. 22.

280 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
the guiding ray upon the perplexities of His people.
Moreover, how many messages, for the man, and for
the moment, did His Prophets carry from His mouth.
All this He gave before the great day of Pentecost.
How " the Holy Ghost spake " thenceforth, how He
taught and counselled, is proved by almost every
page of that " second treatise" in which St. Luke, who
had written in a former the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
gave next, the Gospel of His Holy Ghost.
But it is the thought of some that while such a
provision indeed exists, yet such is our weakness, that
practically it avails but little — that while so many
have sought such guidance, and forthwith fallen into
dangerous delusions, it is much safer to forego it, and
to keep closely by the Word of God. No such substi
tution is possible ; and if we thus slight the Spirit, we
do dishonor to some of the strongest sayings of Holy
Scripture, and forfeit utterly a priceless privilege.
For the Lord has, not mocked us by first promising
that He would speak to us with His own Voice,
and then failing to provide the hearing ear. . Indeed,
the very pith of the promise, is this accuracy in
knowing His Voice. He does not say, as some would
seem to suppose, " I will go before My sheep — I will
call very clearly to them to follow Me, but the foolish
sheep will not be able to understand Me " — but this
is what He says of the True Shepherd, " The sheep
follow Him for they know His voice. And a stranger

FAILURE AND MISTAKE. 28 1
will they not follow, but will flee from him : for they
know not the voice of strangers."*
"And yet we can not ignore the fact, that many and
even monstrous have been the mistakes of those who
claimed to know His voice. But one solution of this
seems at all satisfactory. They have never been train
ed by holy familiarity to really know it. We learn to
distinguish human voices with perfect accuracy ; and
not only so, but their slightest changes can convey
the most delicate shades of thought and feeling to
the well-trained ear. Our spiritual senses are not less
sure, but they also require their training. The little
babe as it first begins this great art of listening, can
not tell a human voice from any other sound ; but
soon in the darkest midnight one voice is unmistak
able. So the wife, sitting it may be in the twilight,
hears a step along the hall, and then a voice, that can
be no other than his for whom she has been waiting.
But if as she rises, saying confidently — " It is my hus
band " — you ask her how she knows that voice, what
can she do but smile and say simply, but more surely,
" 1 know it I" She can not give you the secret ; nor
could you ever learn it, save as she has learned it.
Apart from being much with Christ, above all apart
from loving Him, we can not know His voice. But
so loving, so following closely, we have His own sure
promise that the stranger can never deceive us ; though
* 'John x. 4, 5.

282 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
the hands that touch us seem the very hands of Esau,
yet we shall know that the voice is indeed the voice
of Jacob.
Any difficulties which may still be attached to this
privilege, are not beyond the difficulties of all spiritual
attainments, and however impossible with men, per
fectly possible with God. So that we are without
excuse as the flock of God, if we do not clearly know
our Shepherd's Voice ; and therefore know the wiles of
Satan. His devices are so many, and even when old,
putting on such new disguises, that had we to learn
them one by one, we should never feel secure. But
to know One Voice with certainty, solves in the sim
plest possible manner the entire difficulty: if it be
the voice of any stranger, we know that we must not
listen. We must not even listen to him who comes
to accuse us of sin, if still it be the voice of a stranger,
and not the voice of our Beloved. Satan is the great
Accuser: he accuses us before God, and he accuses us
to our own hearts — sometimes justly, as well as in-
justly ; but in no case have we any right to parley
with him at all. We are not even to learn about our
sins from Satan ; for he comes that he may drag us down
if possible, to discouragement and despair. The re
proofs of Him who loves us are entirely faithful ;
only we may be very sure that when He has some
what against us, He will not send Satan as His mes
senger to say so, but will correct us Himself, with His

FAILURE AND MISTAKE.

283

own loving correction — cleansing and healing, even
while He chastens us.
But the Spirit has other ways of guidance than by
His voice. " I Will guide thee with Mine eye."* As
the eye speaks more swiftly than the lips, so can it
speak more sweetly, or more severely. The quick
glance gathers His sanction — " approved of Christ," or
if need be that He turn and look upon us, His silent
reproof sends us out, like Peter, to weep bitterly.
Again we are told of another spiritual sense: —
Isaiah prophesied of Christ that the Spirit of the
Lord should rest upon Him, and make Him " of
quick understanding." f The root from which this
word is taken, and still more plainly, the context,
show us what is signified. The " sight of His eyes,"
and the " hearing of His ears," were not enough —
not even by these would He judge ; but by another
sense more subtle, swift, and sure — even as when He
" smelled a sweet savor " from Noah's altar and the
cleansed earth. How much oL our outward protec
tion from danger is left to this sense of smell, as the
keenest and readiest of all. Everything may be fair
and beautiful to the eye, but as the sickening effluvia
is wafted to us, we flee as from a pestilence. The
Holy Spirit resting upon us, we shall become like
Christ, of that "quick understanding" which will
prove one of our chief securities from evil. The odor
of false doctrine can not escape us, and the very
* Ps. xxxii. 8. t Is. xi. 3.

284 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
scent of sin will keep us from its touch ; while we
turn in all haste to Him, all whose garments smell of
myrrh, and aloes, and cassia.
The combined result of all this training is given us
by St. Paul in one of those delicate touches, which he
knew so well where to put upon his great landscapes, of
Truth : " And this I pray, that your love may abound
yet more and more in knowledge, and in all judg
ment" {Ala6r\aiq).* The word which he uses here
stands quite alone in the Bible, and denotes a sphere
of judgment beyond its common range. St. Paul
teaches us that there are Spiritual ^Esthetics : that
besides knowledge, there is a nice perception, a ready
tact, a quick sense of the proprieties and fitnesses of
things, so important for us as to be the proper object
of most earnest prayer. He who could not call His
outward ^creation good, till He had woven in the
wondrous woof with His swift shuttles of Light and
Sound, can surely give to none of us this testimony,
" that we please Hiirf)" till He has trained us to alike
harmony — until in our souls can be seen the mellow
toning of all the tints of truth, and from our lives be
heard the rhythm of all holy works and ways.
The perfect provision of our Lord, allows plainly,
no liberty for the life that is risen in Him, to be a
failure, or to be marred even with mistakes — allows
even no liberty for terror, or anxious fear of these.
Child of God, dwelling in the secret place of the
* Phil. i. 9.

FAILURE AND MISTAKE. 285
Most High, thou canst not be afraid ! A thousand
may fall at thy side, or even ten thousand at thy
right hand, but — " Surely He shall deliver thee from
the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pesti
lence." And not only so, but the same loving care
extending to the slightest of thy steps, " He shall
give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all
thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands
lest thou trip thy foot against a stone." For all
thy need of His strength, " His truth shall be thy
shield and buckler ; " and for all thy need of His
tenderness, " He shall cover thee with His feathers,
and under His wings shalt thou trust "

CHAPTER XIV.
CHOICE POSSESSIONS.
" '"PHERE REMAINETH YET VERY MUCH LAND TO
1 BE POSSESSED." — {Josh. xiii. I.)
" HOW LONG ARE YE SLACK TO GO TO POSSESS
THE LAND WHICH THE LORD GOD* OF YOUR FA
THERS HATH GIVEN YOU?" — {Josh, xviii. 3.)
With the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Joshua
we enter another section, which treats of the division
of the land of Canaan, as the former treated of its
conquest. The distribution of the country, varying
widely as it did in natural advantages, and, therefore,
sure to tell strongly upon the future character of the:
Tribes, was too important to be left to human decision.
The Lord Himself had a choice for each. His plan
for His people was as perfect in all its details, as it
was grand and comprehensive. The charge respect
ing this division ran thus : " Ye shall divide the land
by lot for an inheritance among your families : and
to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and
to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance : every
man's inheritance shall be in t\e place where his lot
falleth ; according to the tribes of your fathers ye
(«86)

CHOICE POSSESSIONS. 287
shall inherit." * Yet the very terms of the lot left
much to the judgment of those entrusted with the
task, who had been previously designated by the
Lord ; — Eleazar the priest, Joshua, and one prince of
every tribe.f The history shows us how many modi
fications of the original - allotment were made, and
what regard was had to special requests ; so that finally
the actual settlement was the result not only of the
Lord's appointment, but also of the decision of the
judges, and to some extent of their own desires — the
same mingling, in fact, of divine and human agencies
which 'we find everywhere in the developments of
life. This distribution of the Land while less marked by
stirring incidents than the Conquest, was not inferior
in importance, and has a large space allotted to it.
Indeed, looking at the minuteness of .this record, and
that of the prophecies given here and there in Patri
archal blessings and high visions of God, we may well
question if its mere geographical import has yet been
appreciated. The future of this earth will make all
these enigmas clear. As a man plants his Estate,
and plants for far-off years, and gives to each tree
the soil and situation it requires — so has the Lord
planted this earth, and certainly with reference to a
time not yet fulfilled ; for when has Israel taken its
priestly position among the families of the earth ?
The dying song of Moses waits yet, in part, for its
* Num. xxxiii. 54. t Num. xxxiii. 17-29.

288 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
accomplishment: "When the Most High divided
to the nations their inheritance, when He separ
ated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the
people according to the number of the children of
Israel."* But passing from this to the spiritual lessons to
be here gathered, we find in the first Epistle to the
Corinthians a passage not unlike this allotment of
the land : " There are varieties of Spiritual Gifts, but
the same Spirit gives them all ; and they are given
for various ministrations, but all to serve the same
Lord Jesus ; and the inward working whereby they
are wrought is various, but they are all wrought in
every one of those who receive them, by the working
of the same God. But the gift whereby the Spirit
becomes manifest, is given to each for the profit of
all. To one is given by the Spirit the utterance of
Wisdom, to another the utterance of Knowledge,
according to the working of the same Spirit ; to an
other, the power of Faith through the same Spirit ;
to another, the gifts of Healing through the same
Spirit ; to another, the powers which work Miracles ;
to another, the gift of Prophecy ; to another, the dis
cernment of Spirits ; to another, varieties of Tongues ;
to another, the interpretation of Tongues. But all
these gifts are wrought by the working of that one
and the same Spirit, who distributes them to each
* Deut. xxxii. 8. See on this subject a most suggestive vol
ume, "Israel's Future," by Rev. Capel Molyneux.

CHOICE POSSESSIONS.

289

according to His will." * Thus a law like that which
links in amity the nations of the earth, by the special
wealth of each in produce and in art, was to link in
holy charity the inheritors of Christ's great kingdom.
Yet this distribution admits the same practical
modifications as did that of old. It appears more
than probable that a basis for our spiritual gifts is
provided in the individuality that is mapped out for
each by the laws of transmission, in which we also
inherit "according, to the tribes of our fathers."
Thus far it is "the lot cast into the lap," the whole
disposing of which is of the Lord. But how much
that narrows or enlarges the natural boundary of
one's gifts, depends upon the care and the decisions
of others. Again,, in spiritual, as in natural things,
our own earnest desires, and above all our faithful im
provement of the talents given, are allowed a large
influence. So that our lot is no portion thrust upon
us, but rather that which is set. before us.
It is indeed the side of human responsibility, and
not God's secret decrees, that is first of all presented
in the seven chapters devoted to this subject: —
"There remaineth yet very much land to be pos
sessed." And who can read, with any thoughtfulness, the
records of the Apostolic period, without recognizing
the importance attached to the gifts of the Spirit ; and
at the same time admitting, in view of such an enu-

* 1 Cor. xii. 4-1 1 — (Conybeare's rendering).
J3

290 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
meration of them as that above cited, that the Church
of Christ has scarcely any present possession of them.
While the qualifications for the Apostolic office were
plainly exceptional, and the gift of tongues is in
stanced as designed for a sign rather than service, yet
taking these gifts as a whole, there is not a hint in
Holy Scripture of their temporary use, and subse
quent withdrawal ; and without such an authority
against it, it is but simply reasonable to regard the
gifts of God as given in perpetuity to His Church.
Nor dare we claim that the blessed truth of His be
stowal, is a whit altered by the sad fact of our failure
in receptive faith.
Joshua was old and well stricken in years when the
Lord reminded him of the neglect of his people to
possess the land ; indeed, it would even appear that
some of the possessions once theirs had relapsed to
the enemy. But what was their delay and loss to
ours ? For nearly nineteen centuries the Church has
had her Mighty Conqueror, and her Land of Promise;
but while advancing here and there, what hold has
she at large upon this vast heritage? Mental gifts
have indeed been recognized and received often all
possible culture ; but how often have spiritual gifts —
God's own special gifts — been given over to suspicion,
and sarcasm, and scorn ? It does not furnish the least
excuse for this, that there has been so much of false
pretence, and even imposture, and so much conse
quent delusion ; for whatever of Truth God has given

CHOICE POSSESSIONS. 2Q\
us, we are bound to take fearlessly, however counter
feited or perverted : still further, there will be coun
terfeits and- perversions until we take it.* Error
always thrives upon neglected Truth. How often it
happens that in such errors we see the distorted and
preposterous shadows of Truth before her light has
fully risen. Again, there may be another solution of
a certain class of errors which seem to contain a por
tion of truth. The basis only of such spiritual gifts
having been laid in our nature at our birth, as a body
prepared for. a soul—this, if the real gift be not re
ceived from God's own Spirit, will still remain as a
certain blind abortive power, working irregularly and
fruitlessly. Had the Church of Christ retained her
spirituality; she might never have been vexed with so-
called Spiritualism. Had she had more simple faith,
she would never have witnessed such silly credulity.
It is precisely these special personal gifts of the
Spirit, rather than the more general blessings of the
Gospel, that find their symbol in this distribution.
All that is common in the heritage depends for de
velopment upon that which is peculiar ; and it is this
dependence, which renders the right reception of
these powers a matter of such importance. The
Church can only reach her true estate, as each one
* Christlieb, in the Preface to his " Modern Doubt and Christian
Belief," says wisely — " Error is always assuredly a mixture of
truth and falsehood, nor can be overcome so long as the elements
of truth which it contains are unacknowledged, and not carefully
separated from what is false." (See p. xi.)

292 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
uses that gift which God has given for this very pur
pose : — « He gave some as Apostles ; and some as
prophets ; and some as evangelists ; and some as pas
tors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ : till we all come in the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto
a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ .•"*— this for the positive gain ; and
for the negative, a deliverance thus, and only thus,
from all that is false and fanatical ; — " That we hence
forth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they
lie in wait to deceive," f
But now let us gather up in order other, but often
accordant lessons of the distribution of the Land.
The first tribes mentioned are those of Reuben and
Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, on the east of
Jordan. Their inheritance was not given them by
lot, and although included in the larger grant that
was made to Abraham, it was not in that portion
which at this time was assigned to them by the Lord
— the land of Canaan.^ While awaiting the end of
the forty years, two of the tribes had settled upon
Gilead as their future home, and preferred a request
for this to Moses, with no attempt to conceal their
motive : " The country is a land for cattle, and thy
* Eph. iv. 11-13. t Eph. iv. 14. \ See Num. xxxiv. 1-12.

CHOICE POSSESSIONS.

293

servants have cattle."* Their choice resembled that
of Lot, who would have the well-watered plain, how
ever near to Sodom. Moses was justly displeased,
and saw clearly the tendency of such falling off from
the great advance awaiting them, likening it to the
sin of the spies in discouraging other hearts. Upon
their promise to go over with their brethren, and help
to fight their battles, after which they would return,
Moses acceded to their wish rather than approved it.
It very soon appeared how this choice exposed them
to indifference and danger. In the sublime Song of
Deborah we trace one of the first of these results : —
" At the brooks of Reuben were great resolutions of heart.
Why remainest thou between the hurdles,
To hear the piping of the flocks ?
At the brooks of Reuben were great projects of heart,
Gilead rests on the other side of the Jordan."t
And so they had come rapidly to the pass, when
their patriotism could evaporate in good resolutions
and grand projects ; when the soft shepherd's pipe
could seduce them from the stern summons of the
Trumpet. Further on we find that, exposed as they
were to the advance of foreign enemies, their cities
we're the first to surrender ; after which their idolatry
and consequent captivity hastened apace4 Yet Reu
ben was Israel's first-born, and who can say what lot
God held for him. But he could not wait for the

* Num. xxxii. 4. t Judges v. 1 5-17 — Keil and Delitzsch.
X 1 Chron. v. 25, 26.

294

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

slow giving of God. It was not the sin of him who
sold his birthright for a mess of pottage ; yet he who
had chosen only a place for cattle, could never be
chosen by God to furnish either prophet, judge, or
king, to the house of Israel.
" Bring us not over Jordan," Is still the entreaty of
many a Christian. Ask us not to give up these
worldly advantages : let our possessions lie among
the things of earth : has not godliness the promise
of the life that now is ? We will not fail to help on
the cause of Christ ; we will be loyal to Him and to
His Church ; but ask us not to go further ; we are
content to take up a lower position. And God may
hearken to them in this — giving them their desire,
even while He sends " leanness into their soul."
Alas, for the high hopes of all whose chief care is
for cattle ! Sooner or later they will learn that the
Lord Jesus said not in vain, " Beware of covetous-
ness ; for a man's life consisteth not in the abun
dance of the things which he possesseth."
And yet while giving up all selfish choice, to let
God choose our inheritance for us, we are at the same
time even commanded to " Covet earnestly the best
gifts."* Thus we find Caleb asking for one of the
choicest portions, and receiving it as the first inherit
ance over Jordan; at the same time reminding
Joshua of the events of forty-five years before, and
of the good word which he had brought according as
* i Cor. xii. 31.

CHOICE POSSESSIONS. 2qc
it was in his heart ; for deep conviction and a con
science that held him true to this in his confession, had
left no room in this noble heart for the cowardice of the
ten spies. What memories must have revived in these
two men, as he went on to say, " Thou knowest the
thing which the Lord spake concerning me and thee,
in Kadesh-Barnea :" — No need to cast the lot for
Caleb ! — he had known all those years where his pos
sessions lay : — " Now, therefore, give me this moun
tain, whereof the Lord spake in that day."* .
Long before he saw it, Hebron must have been
dear to him by all hallowed associations. It was an
old city when Abraham pitched his tent in the plain of
Mamre, which is in Hebron.f It was there that Jehovah
and His angels visited him. It was there that in bit
ter bereavement, he bought the only spot that was
his by earthly title — a grave in which to bury his
dead out of his sight. There he himself "was buried.
There Isaac came to sojourn in old age, and in his
turn be buried. To the same tomb had been borne,
in solemn state, the embalmed body of Israel. The
spot itself was one of rare beauty; the hill — which
still bears an ancient oak called " the Patriarch " —
overlooks a picturesque and fertile valley, and trav
ellers tell us of the varied charms that complete the
picture, in their most glowing language. But delight
ful as was the spot, it was the most difficult of all to
win. Its name at that time marked it as the abode

* Josh. xiv. 6-12. t Gen. xiii. 18.

296 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
of giants— " Kirjath-arba, the city of Arba, the father
of Anak." The sight of the Anakims had brought no
dismay to the youthful heart of Caleb; and now
while strong men had died in the wilderness, he still
kept the undiminished vigor of his prime. Moreover,
the Lord was with him : — " I shall be able to drive
them out, as the Lord said; " — " And Joshua blessed
him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh
Hebron for an inheritance. Hebron therefore be
came the inheritance of Caleb, because that he wholly
followed the Lord God of Israel."* Henceforth, no
longer the city of the giants, it was to bear that name
which signified Communion, Fellowship; — as the
Arabs call it to this day, " The friend of God." Nor
is it surely without its meaning in a Book where names
are so significant and cypical, that it was at Hebron
that David was anointed King of all Israel, and that
there he reigned seven years before his throne was set
up at Jerusalem. Blessings gather like a halo, around
the very dwelling-plaoe of him who wholly follows
the Lord his God.
And still God has His choice possessions ; and He
gives them still to the "willing and obedient." They
belong to those who, while others are doubting or
denying His Word of promise, still serve Him stead
fastly in all good conscience. Such a faith fears not
to claim its possessions. Nor does it marvel when
evil is heard saying "
* Josh. xiv. 13, 14,

CHOICE POSSESSIONS. 2g7
" I tLought the best, perverted, would be worst."
And so it turns not back from the hope of recovering
God's primeval blessing, where all seems given over to
the curse. Man's noblest powers and privileges are
ever the first to be seized by Satan for his stronghold ;
but the Spirit of God is well able to dispossess him,
though like the three Anakims, he sit there in his
giant trinity of evil, keeping his goods in peace.
Nothing in man has suffered loss like that which is
highest in him, because most like God. Instead of
that holy love that was to hold him with all his heart
and strength to the Source of his life, that he might
ever be enriched from Him whose name is Love — in
stead of that blessed love which was to knit him also
to his kind, in all varied relationships and companion
ships, that so it might join all together in one body,
and compact and supply all, as it thus made increase
with the very increase of God — instead of this, the
powers that were given for it, have stooped to the
creature in place of the Creator, and so sunk into in
ordinate and vile affections, until the sacred name of
Love has been often utterly lost in that of Lust. A
very den of wild beasts, or at best, a city of the
giants, is then, that heart of man which God created
to love Him, and to love its fellow.
Yes, Love — Communion — Fellowship — this is
the choice possession in all our Father's land. The
gifts of intellect may be even glorious, and yet have
13*

298 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
no glory, by reason of one that excelleth. Love is
set higher than knowledge, not qnly for her own sake,
but because she has a wisdom all her own, which
grows not in the slow way of gathering from without,
but glows out from within, a light and a law unto it
self! Love does not become rich ; she is born an heir
ess. What privilege like that of being a " friend of
God ! " Such sublimating power lies in this blessed
fellowship, that it is but a little step from it to glory.
So Enoch walking with God, '' was not, for God took
him." So the face of Moses shines, and Stephen's
becomes like that of an angel. The very life of God
being most fully expressed in Love, it becomes the life
of our life, feeding it, warming it, and cherishing it. It
is the very Sun that shineth in its strength. What
wonders might it not work on this poor, starving
earth, so turned as it is from its true pole, that its
short days can only shiver in a few slanting rays.
Whenever man will let his God bring back this per
verted love, to be true to Him, his whole nature will
leap into luxuriance. Germs that lie utterly dor
mant, will then be developed. The world awaits this
healing, quickening miracle of Love ; and blessed in
deed, are they who, meanwhile, follow the Lord sq
fully that He can give them this choice inheritance.
Yet we are taught also by this record that it is in
deed, " The most difficult of tasks to keep
. Heights which the soul is competent to gain. ''

CHOICE POSSESSIONS. 299
Joshua had already taken Hebron ; but now it needed
to be retaken by Caleb, and yet again by David. " The
expulsive power of a new affection" is needed not only
to drive out, but to keep out all that is unhallowed.
Here, then, first of all in this Citadel of Love and
holy fellowship with the Father and with the Son,
our King sets up His throne* Here we make our
covenant with Him, and He with us, and then when
our love has been perfected, He will reign yet more
royally in " that great city, the holy Jerusalem, de
scending out of heaven from God, having the . glory
of God."
In the portion of Caleb, there was one stronghold
reserved by him for the prowess of another arm,
that should at the same time secure a greater prize :
"And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher,
and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daugh
ter to wife." The little episode that follows is again
repeated in the Book of Judges, as though its lovely
lesson might possibly be overlooked.-}- The daugh
ter knew her father's bounty, and so she moved her
husband to ask of him a field ; and along with this
they needed springs of water : — for this she herself
will ask him. Drawing nigh in her journey to her ,
father, she alights in token of reverence and entreaty.
But before her lips can shape a word, the father's
heart is open : — " What wilt thou, my daughter ?'
* Cf. 1 Chron. xi. 1-7, and xxix. 27.
t Cf. Josh. xv. 16-19, and Judges i. 12-15.

300 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
" Give me a blessing ; for thou hast given me a south
land ; give me also springs of water." " And he gave
her the upper springs and the nether springs :" —
above all she had asked or thought ; springs in the
valley, and springs also upon the hills, so that she
should lack no good thing. The lot was not so
rigid as to exclude either rewards for the faithful,
or free gifts for the filial, trusting heart. The patient
endurance of a dry land might have been a good
thing ; but how much better the faith that drew her
on ! What dearth, what weary wanderings might
have been her portion, had she never said at her
father's feet, " Give me a blessing !"
Whatever portion God has assigned to us, or what
ever He has permitted our hand to win, what is any
thing or all, unless He add the blessing of these
springs of water, of which He has told us, " The
water that I shall give shall be within, a well of wa
ter springing up unto everlasting life." No simpler,
stronger symbol of the Spirit, could be found than
this. A Spring — a Well-spring — never dry — never
turbid — from its clear depths, fed through the secret
veins of earth, it gushes ever into life ; it goeth not
downward, but it springeth up. Resisting its own
common law, it resists also the influences that meet
it : in the fiery heat of summer it is the cool and
satisfying spring ; and the fierce frosts of winter can
not bind it, for it is warm with central heat. The
soul that has found all its springs in God, never knows

choi:e POSSESSIONS. 301
its supplies to fail or vary. And we need both upper
and nether springs : we need the Spirit of God in the
highest regions of life ; and down to its lowest level,
the need is still the same. The thought of few of
God's children is broad enough to embrace both in
their asking. With some the thought is this — In the
things of God we must have the Spirit of God ; but
it would derogate from His dignity to refer the com
monplaces of life to Him. Such familiarity were
fatal — our own judgment, our natural powers, are
our resources here. Again, others have no true con
ception of spiritual things ; never having been among
these hills, they only aspire to live out life in the low
valley of common duties, and to have these enriched
by blessing from the Lord.
Meanwhile, our Father's thought is to harmonize
these two regions of life, and no Christian can have
real completeness of character without it. Who has
not known good people — say holy men and women —
saints, indeed, in all spiritual things, with both knowl
edge and power — whom to meet was a delight ; — but
with whom to live were utter discord ; — they had
no nether springs : spiritual, but not practical, they
seemed better fitted for heaven than earth. Such a
life is not patterned after that of Christ. The Lord
Jesus never overlooked the little things : one mo
ment with His holy hands lifting the cold, folded
palms of Jairus' little daughter, and saying from the
heights of spiritual power, " Damsel, arise I" — the

302

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

next moment, He commands the astonished and for
getful mother to give her something to eat ! The
faith that is fully poised forgets no earthly duty.
Abraham, when he entertains angels, can run to the
herd as the thoughtful host, to make ready their
table ; nor do even angels upon their side neglect the
courtesy cjf partaking of his feast. What might not
even the petty things of life — as we dare to call them
— become, if thus purified and elevated by the per
meating Spirit ! How many a wife and-mother finds
that her lot has fallen in a valley, and that her field
of service in itself is almost utterly arid. It is not a
change of lot she needs — it is the fountain of living
water. Coming to her Father in heaven not with
murmuring, but thanksgiving, how graciously He
listens to her plea, " Give me a blessing." It is
there already — close beside her, but unseen by her
weeping eyes, until God shows her the well. Then
she thirsts no more ; and He teaches her how to
guide the gracious gift, till everywhere her valley
home is green and glad.
We find next in order a request from the children
of Joseph. Already Manasseh held the rich portion
of all Bashan, and half of Gilead* while the five
daughters of Zelophehad had been allowed to count
as so many heirs along with the five brethren of their
father in receiving ten portions in Canaan. Ephraim
also had one of the richest portions in all the land.
?Josh. xiii. 29-31.

CHOICE POSSESSIONS. 303
But covetous of still more, they brought their cause
to Joshua, resting their claim not on any word of the
Lord, but upon their own conceit :— " Why hast thou
given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, see
ing I am a great people, forasmuch as the Lord hath
blessed me hitherto?" The answer of Joshua, him
self an Ephraimite, was both just and spirited.
He challenges them to prove their greatness by cut
ting down the wood country, and driving out the
giants. They object that they are not able to do this,
since the Canaanites have iron chariots.- But Joshua,
even in virtually granting their request, abides by his
first decision — "Thou art a great people, and hast
great power ; thou shalt not have one lot only ; but
the mountains shall be thine ; for it is a wood and thou
shalt cut it down : and the outgoings of it shall be
thine ; for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though
they have iron chariots, and though they be strong."*
The. rebuke belongs to all who desire God's immedi
ate giving, to take the place of their own eourage and
energy ; who would have Him even make up the de
ficit of their own timidity and indolence. There are
many who aspire to be gifted by the Lord, who are
slow to see how largely He gives through their own
diligent use of what He has already given — the full
cultivation and occupancy of their own lot. What an
enlarging of all our lots would there be, if instead of
vainly envying the gifts denied us, we gave all dili-
* Josh. xvii. 14-18.

304 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
gence in clearing the wilderness,, in breaking up the
fallow ground, and above all, in expelling every enemy.
The clamor of conceit is ever — " Give me opportunity,
and I will be great :" the answer for all such is,
" Show yourselves great by first filling the sphere in
which you already are."
After the allotment of the Land as. far as the fami
lies of Judah and Joseph, the work was for a time
suspended. No outward cause existed for this.
Joshua said unto the children of Israel, that is, the
seven remaining tribes which had not yet received
their inheritance — " How long are ye slack to go to
possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers
hath given you?" It seems almost incredible that
after all this training, and preparation, and warfare,
when there remained but one more simple step to the
realization of God's great promise — even then they
should come short of it. Jordan — Gilgal — Jericho —
they had failed at none of these ; yet now a spirit of
sloth possesses them at the last critical moment.
It is found needful to rouse them by a new expedient
Three men from each tribe were appointed to go
through the land and describe it. Walking first
through the entire country, they then " described it
by cities into seven parts, in a book." This explora
tion not only served them essentially in the casting of
lots, but was of far more importance in another way.
When they had seen the land with their own eyes,
and the people had heard from them this minute

CHOICE POSSESSIONS. 305
report^ they were aroused to new eagerness to en
joy it.
Such slackness as theirs is found still in the Church
of Christ, and as then, in by far the greater majority.
Some indeed, like Judah and Joseph, press on at
once to their possessions; but others linger until
some one arises to stir them up. Inertia of spirit is
one of the last besetments of the believer — the more
to be feared, that it comes at a time when he needs
to be especially alert. If the first step of our Chris
tian course be decisive, so also is the last : " For
we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the begin
ning of our confidence steadfast unto the end."* The
foot, must not grow weary, till it has reached in its
experience, the utmost length, and utmost breadth,
of all the promises of God.
But to Christians collectively, how emphatically
may it be still said, " There remaineth yet much land
to be possessed." The Church has still to measure
out with the lines of her knowledge even, as far as
the revelation of the Gospel reaches. There are vast
regions of glorious Truth that are little known to the
many. How few venture into the wilderness of
Prophecy, to pitch their tents ! And who is there to
go up that highest summit among all their holy moun
tains, and see what things they are which our Blessed
Lord has " shewn unto His servants," and " which
must shortly come to pass ?"f What heart is found so
*Heb. iii. 14. tRev.i. I.

3o6 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
full of holy courage, as to go forth alone, and year
after year, steer steadily up to the great fountain-
heads of those mighty rivers, that have flowed so long
from unknown sources ? Alas, for Christianity, when
she gave up that good old way of " faring forth " to
seek the Truth — to go into her cloister, and there
with infinite pains indeed, make out her maps from
the old models of men whom she called her masters —
till at last she could settle down in a comfortable
congratulation over their completeness ! What room
has she, indeed, in her beautifully executed systems
of Theology, for the strange stories of these travellers
and sight-seers !
It were wise for us to heed such a voice as that
which charged the Pilgrim Fathers of our Land in
their exile for conscience sake — " I am verily per
suaded, I am very confident, that the Lord hath more
truth yet to break forth out of His holy Word." *
Lengthen therefore thy eords, O Church of Christ.

* Neal gives this parting address of Pastor Robinson as
follows : —
'' Brethern : — We are now quickly to part from* one another,
and whether I may ever live to see your faces on earth any more,
the God of heaven only knows ; but whether the Lord has ap
pointed that or no, I charge you before God and His blessed
angels, that you follow me no further thaji you have seen me follow
the Lord Jesus Christ,
" If God reveal anything to you, by any other instrument of His,
be as ready to receive it as ever you were to receive any truth
by my ministry ; for I am verily persuaded, the Lord has more

CHOICE POSSESSIONS. 307
Strengthen all thy stakes. " Enlarge the place of thy
tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy
habitation." Arise ! walk through the land, ye
chosen men of God — Look from its Mountain-tops —
Sail out upon its Seas — Write it in many a book —
Describe it in the ears of all the people — Stir them
from this slackness — Let them know what are the
riches of the glory of this inheritance in Christ Jesus !
The last of all to receive his possession in the Land
of Promise, was Joshua. As it was given by special

truth yet to break forth out of His holy Word. For my part I can
not sufficiently bewail the condition of the Reformed Churches,
who are come to a period in religion, and will go at present no
further than the instruments of their reformation. The Lutherans
cannot be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw ; whatever part
of His will our God has revealed to Calvin, they will rather die
than embrace it ; and the Calvinists, you see, stick fast where they
were left by that great man of God, who yet saw not all things.
" This is a misery much to be lamented,, for though they were
burning and shining lights' in their times, yet they penetrated not
into the whole counsel of God ; but were they now living, would
be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first
received. I beseech you remember it is an article of your
Church-Covenant, that you be ready to receive whatever truth
shall be made known to you from the written Word of God.
Remember that, and every other article of your Sacred Covenant.
But I inust here withal exhort you to take heed what you receive
as truth — examine it, consider it ; and compare it with other Scrip
tures of truth, before you receive it, for it is not possible the
Christian world should come so lately out of such thick anti-Chris
tian darkness, and that perfection of knowledge should break
forth at oice." — Neat's History of the Puritans, Vol. L, pp. 476,
477-

308 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
word of God; so had it also to be given by all the
people, as his inheritance among them — Timnath-
serah — the portion of the Sun. Even so, when the
Lord Jesus has secured to all His people the posses
sions which He has won for them, then will His tab
ernacle also be with men, and He will dwell among
them. There were still, however, two other classes to be
provided for, without their receiving what might be
called an inheritance. These classes were the two
extremes of Society — the Manslayer and the Levite.
Even for the poor fugitive fleeing from the Avenger
of blood, there were to be cities where he might not
only find a refuge, but a home ; — a refuge in all cases
until his cause was judged, and it was shown whether
he was an unwilling slayer, or a murderer ; and then
a home, if delivered from judgment, till the death of
the High Priest should restore him to his native city.
Thus in dividing the land, the Lord did not forget
the needs of the most distressed. The six cities
selected were so situated, that some one of them was
always within reach. So has the Saviour placed Him
self within the reach of all, even of such as are in ut
most peril of Vengeance. He is the Refuge, and the
Home, and the final Restorer. It is surely most sig
nificant that instead of mean and unimportant cities
being chosen, these six were all among the forty-
eight Levitical cities. It showed not only the. stand
ing of all on common ground, but seemed to the

CHOICE POSSESSIONS. 30q
distressed the- utmost sympathy and succor; for it is
always found that the purest in heart, who dwell
nighest to God, are the most compassionate and lov
ing to them who are out of the way.
The Levites held their cities upon a different tenure
from the other tribes. "Unto the tribe of Levi
Moses gave not any inheritance, for the Lord God of
Israel was their inheritance, as He said unto them."*
If they were denied in some sort an earthly portion,
it was that they might claim more clearly the heavenly
home. This distribution of the Levites among all
the tribes of Israel is a most striking instance of the
reversal of a curse ; and again, taken in connection
with a like scattering of Simeon, we see the same
outward lot, so altered by inner conditions, as to pre
sent the very extremes of favor and displeasure.
Both of them were to be divided in Jacob and scat
tered in IsraeLf * Simeon, therefore, instead of receiv
ing a clearly-bounded territory, had only those por
tions of Judah which proved too much for that tribe.
The cities assigned them were in various and remote
groups, so as naturally to place them at a disadvan
tage, and in dependence upon others. Simeon is very
significantly omitted from the last blessing upon the
tribes of Israel ; while in the case of Levi, we find a
striking series of prophecies, extending from Genesis
to Malachi, and leading from the depths up to the
heights. Coupled with his brother Simeon, we hear
* Josh. xiii. 33. t Gen. xlix. 5-7.

3io

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

the dying Israel recoil from their anger and self-will — ¦
" O my soul, come not thou into their secret ; unto
their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united."*
What a change had come upon the children of Levi,
when Moses gave his blessing — " They shall teach
Jacob Thy judgments, and Israel Thy law."f And,
finally, to what honor had they been chosen, when we
read in Malachi : " My covenant was with him of life
and peace ; and I gave them to him for the fear
wherewith he feared Me, and was afraid before My
name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and in
iquity was not found in his lips : he walked with Me
in peace and equity, and did turn many away from
iniquity." % So a leaden curse, seeming like a mill
stone about their necks, is transmuted by the alchemy
of grace into a sort of golden crown ; and while the
first is found to be the last, the last is first. Reuben,
the first-born, has sheep-folds ; and Levi, the out
cast, has the service of the Most High God.
However bitter and dark the past record of any
life, how dare any one despair in the face of such a
fact as this ? And what a stimulus is given here, as
everywhere in God's Word, to choose the better part
— to brave the self-denial and abnegations of service,
for the sake of such a covenant of life and peace, and
such abundant blessedness to others.
How many ministers of Christ — how many mis
sionaries in their far greater sacrifices — must have had
* Gen. xlix. 6. t Deut. xxxiii. 10. J Mai. ii. 5, 6.

CHOICE POSSESSIONS. 3 j r
their souls sustained by the assurance, " The Lord God
is my inheritance." For us who so follow Christ,
there is a standard of both wealth and honor, that the
world wots not of. The True Riches outweigh the
treasures of all earth ; and looking to Him who said,
" I am among you as He that serveth," we rejoice to
make ourselves least of all, and servants of all, and
thus in all lowliness and love—
"To fill the measure up of gentle deeds —
Even as we have learned that in these,
That in the holy Christian charities,
And the suppliance of the lowliest needs
Of the most lowly, our true greatness is ! "
The account of the distribution of the Land closes
with a strong statement, that at first glance would
seem unsupported by facts. But we have to bear in
mind that the great reality of the Lord's giving was
none the less true, for a failure here and there to re
ceive, or to keep the good thing that had been given.
It is the record of what the Lord had done, and there
fore may not be sullied by the failures of man : " THE
LORD GAVE unto Israel ALL THE LAND which He
sware to give unto their fathers ; and they possessed
it and dwelt therein. And THE LORD GAVE THEM
REST round about, according to all that He sware
unto their fathers : and there stood not a man of all
their enemies before them ; THE Lord delivered
all -their enemies into their hand. THERE FAILED

312

THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.

NOT AUGHT of any good thing which the Lord had
spoken unto the house of Israel ; ALL CAME TO
PASS." *
It was the triumph of that same Lord, who, " when
He ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and
gave gifts unto men." It is this same Lord, that will,
without fail, give us the riches of the glory of His in
heritance, but who, therefore, gives to every one of us
all, some special gift of His Spirit. The very smallest
of them all may not be hidden with impunity. It is
even because the gifts so differ, that we are to be so
diligent in using them.
Fellow -Christian, " stir up the gift of God that is in
thee ! " It is thy wealth ; it is thy portion among
thy brethren ; be not slack to possess thy land.
Church of Christ, claim all thy gifts ! Thou mayest
not say of one of them, as given to any member in
all thy Body — "I have no need of thee." — But
" COVET EARNESTLY THE BEST GIFTS."

* Josh. xxi. 43-45.

CHAPTER XV.
THE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA.
U/T\AKE GOOD HEED, THEREFORE, UNTO YOUR-
-l SELVES, THAT YE LOVE THE LORD YOUR
God." — {Josh, xxiii. n). "As for me and my
HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD." — {Josh. xxiv.
IS)- The testimony of Triumph was not permitted to be
the close of the Book of -Joshua. The aged Leader of
God's people, looking to their future as well as to
their past, had a solemn message to leave with them
before he was gathered to his fathers. Once and
again he must speak those words of cheer, and words
of warning, that pressed upon his spirit. His deep
interest in the nation, and his own sense of responsi
bility, received an unmistakable emphasis in the second
gathering at Shechem, where the Elders and Judges'
" stood before God," while Joshua, with all intensity
of earnestness, gave his parting charge.
There was no new thing to say ; but simple as the
exhortation was, momentous were the interests that
hung upon their heeding. He reminded them of
14 (313)

314 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
what the Lord had done in the past — of what He
was ready to do in the future. It was the Lord who
would still fight for them, and continue to drive out
their enemies ; therefore one man of them should
chase a thousand. But as He had brought all good
things upon them, so would He, if they turned away
from Him, bring upon them all evil things. St. Paul
repeated the same charge in substance, when he wrote
to the Church in Rome : " Behold therefore the
goodness and severity of God — :on them which fell,
severity ; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue
in His goodness; otherwise thou also shalt be cut
off." * By reason of such hopes, and by reason of
such fears, they were to be very courageous to keep
and do all that had been commanded. From idols
and false gods, and from all who served them, they
were to turn utterly away. And that all this might
be accomplished, there was given one golden watch
word, — "Take good heed therefore unto
YOURSELVES, THAT YE LOVE THE LORD YOUR
GOD."f As God has no other power whereby to
draw us unto Himself than His " bands of love," so
has He no other power by which to hold us steadfast
unto the end. It is the only clew, that has been
given us, to lead us safely out from the labyrinth of
life, and we may not let it slip ; for losing this, we
wander in "the mist of darkness forever." With
weightiest reason, therefore, did the dying Leader
* Rom. xi. 22. t Josh, xxiii. u.

THE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. 3x5
of his people say, " Take good heed that ye LOVE the
Lord your God."
The first pass-word given to the youthful soldier
is "TRUST;" but as the hours move on, he finds
that he must learn still another to secure his safety —
" Watch." The Captain of our salvation who gave
the first so often, gave this also at the last. Sitting
on the Mount of Olives, with none but Peter and
James and John beside Him, He could not say it to
them only ; but His holy care took us all into His
thought that hour : — " What I say unto you, I say
unto all, Watch."* How solemnly He spoke it
in the Garden ! Temptations were gathering thick
around them ; therefore they were to watch with an
eye glancing at the enemy, even while resting ever
more upon God : — " Watch and pray, that ye enter
not into temptation."f And there was yet another
need to watch. The Master was coming in the Morn
ing; but neither man nor angel knew when that
morning would dawn : and meantime the thief would
be seeking to enter ; — " Watch, therefore, for ye
know not what hour your Lord doth come."|
So, also, St. Paul at Miletus, looking for the last
time on that dear flock from Ephesus, foresees the
grievous wolves, and straightway charges them,
" Therefore, Watch !" Already by the space of
three years, he had not ceased to warn every one
night and day with tears. But still the peril will
* Mark xiii. 37. t Matt. xxvi. 41. f Matt. xxiv. 42.

316 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
come. Even from among those very men, now
weeping sore upon his neck, will some arise to speak
perverse things ; and unless they watch, others still
will be drawn away-—" Take heed, therefore, unto
yourselves, and to all the flock."*
St. Peter, also, counted it not enough to tell in his
last Epistle, of exceeding great and precious prom
ises ; but looking on to the days of " false teachers "
and " destructive heresies," he gives thus his closing
charge : " Beloved, BEWARE lest ye also being led
away with the error of the wicked, fall from your
own steadfastness." f
At the close of that most wonderful Epistle, which
above all others, tells us of Life, and Light, and Love,
with what startling abruptness come the closing words
— as though the Apostle had said already his last
tender thoughts, and then turned again to utter this
one brief warning — "Little children, BEWARE OF
Idols.":]: Finally, when the Lord Jesus, walking in the midst
of the seven candlesticks, sends forth His messages
to the Churches, it is to sound successive notes of
warning, even while holding out the highest prom
ises. The solemn charge to Sardis is more or less
•the common burden of all — "Be watchful, and
strengthen the things which remain, that are ready '
to die." §
* Acts xx. 17-38. \ 2 Pet. iii. 17.
X 1 John v. 21. § Rev. iii. 2.

THE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. 317
If one would understand ,th; necessity for such
warnings from age to age, let him but turn to the
records of that Church which Christ purchased with
His own blood. " So safe," is our thought at first,
as we look upon our Surety. So safe with such a
Saviour — so safe through the might of the indwelling
Spirit. But these records, what say they ? There is
no study that is so passing sorrowful as Church His
tory, even with all that also makes it joyful". Behold
how quickly the wolves break in, and the slaughter
and scattering of the sheep ! Behold the heavy
mists of speculative thought rising along the stag
nant shores of old Philosophy, and spreading far
and wide, till the pure air is poisoned in the homes
of thousands ! Behold the floods . of worldliness let
loose, and sweeping along the multitude ! Behold,
again, the gross darkness that covers the people, till
they weary themselves as in the very fires, to purchase
peace and pardon !
And even when the Lord came forth so marvel
lously to restore the lost Truth, and sent a new Morn
ing, and a glad Spring-time to the world — behold how
speedily once more, there came the blighting winds
of deadly doctrine, or more destructive still, the chill
frosts of utter apathy ! And looking also at the time
not yet handed over to History, behold the swift and
scathing fires that incendiary hands have kindled —
setting any of their wild lights to do the work, and
snatching often as they dare the sacred torch of

3 1 8 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING. .
Science, to hurry on the conflagration !. Yet of the
lands that have been thus ravaged, we must remem
ber, that the Lord may still see and count His seven
thousand, while even a prophet thinks himself alone.
In view of all the past, and the scourges of the
present in many a region, can we fondly hope that
our own day, or our own land, is to prove at last the
happy exception ? Never, indeed, was there witnessed
such activity in spreading the Gospel — such affluence
even of Christian appliances. But may not the Church
be nearing in her career the case of that last^ one
among the typical Seven, when she seemed in her
own eyes to have need of nothing? — and yet all
that the faithful and true Witness could say was
this, " Because thou art lukewarm, I will spew thee
out of my mouth."* No external activity can ever
take the place of personal affection and inward com
munion with the Lord.
Nor is this the only peril of our day. We recog
nize with great joy, the fact of a wide-spread earnest
ness to come up to a higher standard of Christian
life. Sometimes it would seem that we are even on
the eve of unprecedented blessings. There is good
promise of a more vital hold on Truth, as well as of
its clearer vision. There are signs of more ardent
love, and more joyful sacrifice in service. Above all,
brotherly love is making the boundary lines of a
greatly divided Church, if not yet indistinct, yet far
* Rev. iii. 1 6.

THE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. 3m
more unobtrusive. No longer high walls and moats,
but blooming hedgerows mark the fields upon the
one vast estate. Indeed, one can so look at the
present blessings of the Christian community, as to
make the simplest suggestion of fear appear a discord
and disloyalty.
There have been times not a few — and in whose
memory is there not such a one — when God's
Spirit has so brooded over great assemblies, as to
knit them into wondrous unity, and to lift them up
as on wings of eagles. Did it not seem on some such
happy day as though all that was low, and petty, and
self-willed, had gone forever ! The River swelled with
the upheaving tide from God's great outer Sea, till all
its wonted obstacles, its sand-bars and its snags, were
too far down to touch, and free and fearless each little
sail went on its way. ' The full flood of Heavenly
Love had lifted them all up into safety. But have
we no need to watch the ebbing ? How soon may
the mindful Spirit need to revive these memories —
" Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and
heard ; and hold fast, and repent."*
Do we not already see the signs that should be
heeded? Has not the Philistine stalked into our
conquered Canaan? It is such an easy step from
leading the people like a flock, to lording it over
God's heritage ; so natural after judging for oneself,
to judge the consciences of others also ; so easy to for-
* Rev. iii. 3.

320 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
get, that the angelic tongue may turn to a poor tink
ling cymbal, and all knowledge and all faith become
nothing, the moment charity collapses. Arrogance,
bickerings, cliques, dogmatism, jealousies — one dead
fly among them all, will spoil the best " ointment
of the apothecary" — What have they who speak
of holiness, to do with unclean things like these !
Nor must it be overlooked that the very qualities
which fit men to be leaders, expose them to the dan
ger of such assumption, grounded upon strength of
will. And precisely here- are some of the most diffi
cult of. conquests called for : the development of
active energies is an easy task ; but to be gentle as
jChrist was gentle — " in meekness to instruct those
that oppose themselves " — to make oneself of no rep
utation — this is the difficult task ; for this sets aside
the high spirit of man, that the Spirit of Jesus may
rule in all things.
All such as have found in faith the victory that
overcometh the world, still need to listen to one of
the most striking features in this last charge of
Joshua ; — the direction given to still drive out their
enemies.* Such a charge at first seems to contradict
the claim of a complete conquest. But it is found
thoroughly true in experience. Whoever dreams that
because his Garden has been well-weeded, he may
now give over that care? How often it happens that
the round is not complete, before it needs some-
* Josh, xxiii. 5.

THE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. 321
where to be renewed. No weed may be suffered to
sow its seed in that well-enclosed spot, but the germs
are in the very soil, and they float on all the winds.
One may gain upon them, some of them may wholly
disappear, and the others be known only to one vigi
lant eye and unsparing hand — but wherever man is
put into his garden " to dress it and to keep it," he
will have to continue this conquest. And what need
to watch also the too rampant growth — to train that
which is wild and irregular, to prune the choice vine
that it may bear much fruit — to watch the insidious
and fast-spreading blight — the sudden attacks of in
sect enemies — the withering heat and the wanton
winds ! Never may one dream of success through
immunity from these : that is the reward of never-
tiring watchfulness. ;
But it may be suggested, such watchfulness is pain
ful. It involves anxiety, care, responsibility, which
we are taught to cast upon the Lord. Why not, since
we are so apt to become unwatchful, simply hand it
all entirely over to the Lord ? Because we have no
where any warrant so to abuse that trust — because
we are never to abandon that duty which He has
plainly laid upon us. We may and must abandon all
anxiety, all distrust — but watchfulness, never / The
watchword that the Lord Jesus gave us was not
"Abandon yourselves," but " Watch !"
This combination of both trusting and watching is
perfectly simple. The Alpine traveller selects his

322 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
guide with care, and then places full confidence in
him. But does he expect his guide to absolutely
carry him? — or does he forthwith become reckless?
Does he rush to the edge of the precipice, or whither
he will ? Does he not understand rather that his own
prudence is presupposed, and that he must, under the
directions of his guide, use his foresight, skill, and
strength, to their full limit ? And yet his confidence
is solely in his guide ; and because he watches him,
and follows him, and obeys him in all things, he can
also trust him.
We are told that in the last days, perilous times
shall come, and that a multitude of evils will then
be let loose. How much more is yet to come, none
of us can tell ; but certainly it seems the character
istic of our own time that all the various enemies that
have ever attacked the Church, are now combined
against it ; so that while we watch on one side the
openly advancing foe, the secret snare is set for us
upon the other. Never, surely, was there such a
necessity to "watch in all things." Every new treas
ure entrusted to our keeping, must needs draw down
the thief upon us. All our priceless possessions as
the Church of Christ, expose us in precise proportion
to their development, to the rage of him " that dash-
eth in pieces." Therefore are we charged — "Keep
the munition ! Watch the way ! Fortify thy power
mightily."* Not to the few, not to the most, but
*• Nahum ii. I.

THE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. 323
to all His soldiers — every one of them in a post of
danger — does the Lord Jesus now speak from heaven,-
" What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch !"
Watch, then, even along the very line of progress
and of seeming safety, lest ye take one step beyond the
safe footing ; lest you carelessly cross that light line
which is still the very real boundary between good
and evil.
Watch, lest while you break free from the tram
mels of mere Tradition, and claim that freedom of
thought which is your rightful heritage, in which
every man is to be "fully persuaded in his own
mind " — watch, lest there come an overweening sense
of your own power, and scope of thought — lest you
fancy in some vain moment, that by searching you
can find out God. Watch, lest, like that anointed
cherub, set by God, of old, upon His holy mountain,
thy heart also be lifted up, and thy beauty be cor
rupted by reason of thy brightness. Watch, lest thou
" set thy heart as the heart of God ! " *
And watch also, ye whom the very Spirit of God is
leading on, illuminating your vision — who see deeper
than all forms and symbols, and yet behold them as
mediating between the natural and the spiritual ;
who have learned what channels have been consti
tuted, through which the all-powerful Word can give
and your lowly faith receive — Watch, lest that which
is now real, become ideal only; lest Imagination
* See Ezek. xxviii. 1-19.

324 THE F.ULNESSJDF BLESSING.
usurp the place of the Invisible power of God, and
Sense encroach upon the realm of Spirit. Watch,
lest your high-way of spirituality bend little by little
toward that which is beneath ; remember that even
along such a treacherous track as this, has many an
unthinking traveller missed his mark — Therefore,
Watch !
And you who, listening to the voice of -the Holy
Spirit, find Him teaching as man never taught, beware
lest in some moment, when your ear is turned the
way of your own heart's lust — a stranger's voice
should seem to you the voice that calls you onward ;
and your fancies and your fears alike combine to
cheat you, till you wander far from the Good Shep
herd : remember that this very road is white with
the bones of those who have fallen upon their high
places :— Therefore, Watch.
And you who have come to account Charity as great
er than all creeds, who see everywhere how they that
love and fear God are accepted of Him, beware lest
you lose sight of Truth, in giving place to her poor
counterpart — and the mere convictions of Conscience,
with all her variable voices, come to claim a common
credit. Remember that Eternal Truth is stable as
the being of God is stable. Remember that her pure,
white light, as it floweth from His throne forever, is
more potent by far than any of the brightest of those
refracted beams that work their little wonders. Re
member that Truth is no'divisible fund, but "the liv-

THE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. 325
ing Child " which no sword must slay ; and that every
fragment which you forfeit, is so much loss "in the
completeness of your own life.
And you also who have learned that this Truth is,
indeed, the chief jewel in the crown laid up for you
— =-who know that it is not a vain thing for you, but
your very life, to be embodied in you as it was in
Him who said — "/ AM the Truth" — watch in your
turn, that while you thus hold fast to all that is im
movable, you give full freedom also to that which
ever changes, because it ever lives. Smother her not
in a close-fitting shroud — stiffen her not into a statue
---and settle not the measure of a growth that is not
reached. Therefore, watch as Wardens of the Truth,
that while you guard the majestic forest oak, and
suffer no rude hand to mar that strong old trunk that
has stood the same for ages — that still you let it year
by year put forth its new and living verdure as it
pleases. Watch, ye who have been trained in holy awe of
the high attributes of your God, and have stood afar
off as ye worshipped', lest this very reverence of yours
become a barrier, to stay that tide of love with which
the Lord is seeking to enrich your being — lest ever,
ye lie flat upon your faces, forgetful of that blessed
bosom where every disciple whom Jesus loves, may
lean as fearless as a child. But watch, ye who have
learned this lesson, and remember that you are not
to be less reverent because more loving ; that your

326 THE -FULNESS OF BLESSING.
freedom is to be no forwardness. Remember, also,
that it" is fitting that the household caress should be
sheltered under the home shadow. Sons and daugh
ters of a King, it is your sweet privilege to forget all
state in a Father's fondness : but before that world
that knows Him only as its Sovereign, give Him the
reverence that is His due. Let not even the dear,
familiar names by which He would have you call
Him when alone with Him, fall so freely upon the
ears of others, that they turn away to misdeem His
dignity. Therefore, watch !
Take heed that when the Lord Jesus bids you " go
and show what great things God hath done to you,"
that at once you go your way and publish it : but
take heed also that when He charges you, as He
sometimes will — " See thou tell no man," that then
you only keep all these things, and ponder them in
your hearts.
Watch, ye whom the Lord has brought into His
good Land of Promise, and given it to you to pos
sess — watch, lest ever you come to rely upon a past
experience, instead of His continual faithfulness.
" Be sober, be vigilant ; because your adversary the
Devil as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom
he may devour." Resist him steadfast in the faith.
And watch him all the more when he transforms
himself into an angel of light. Watch his open
attacks and his secret entanglements. Watch that
you suffer nothing which the Spirit of God condemns

THE LAST CHARGE OF JOSHUA. 327
to linger in your land— that even the little failures of
your consecrated lives, prove not the daily vexing of
your souls, as of those who walk among thorns and
briers. Watch all along the line of His Commandments —
walking in love — walking as children of Light — walk
ing circumspectly — proving what is acceptable unto
the Lord. Watch that ye use faithfully every gift that
He has given you. Take heed especially that you
" first learn to show piety at home." Watch that as
you say in the hearing' of all Israel, " As for me and
my house we will serve the Lord," so you be willing
to write upon the very bridles of your horses,*
" Holiness unto the Lord."
Watch all along the line of His Promises, that you
receive all that He so freely gives. Day by day let
the healing, animating beams of the Sun of Right
eousness shine down upon you. Moment by moment
take that breath of life which the Lord Jesus breathed
into you when He said — "Receive ye the Holy Ghost."
Take good heed that ye still search the Scriptures
daily. Watch the ripening, one after another, of the
twelve manner of fruits that are borne upon its blessed
boughs — that so your souls at each new period of life
may feed upon never-failing freshness.
And watch that ye still come continually to Him
of whom these Scriptures testify, that ye may have
life. Feed upon Him daily as your true Bread of
•* Zech. xiv. 2d, marginal reading.

328 THE FULNESS OF BLESSING.
Life. Let your holy fellowship with Christ be close
and continual. " Watch unto prayer " — " praying
always " — " praying in the Holy Ghost." Take
heed above all things that ye " continue in His
love." Watch most of all this Fountain-head of all
the issues of your life. Take heed that evermore this
love of Christ constrain you. So in a perfect love
that casteth out all fear — in trust and not in terror,
shall ye sing upon your Watch-tower, "The Lord is
my Keeper" — "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on Thee because he trusteth in
Thee."
BLESSED IS HE THAT WATCHETH.

PASSAGES 'OF SCRIPTURE,

QUOTED WITH VARIATIONS FROM OUR PRESENT
VERSION."
[These variations have been often used in order to
bring the force of the original to bear as fully as possible
upon the subject in hand, selecting whatever accessible
rendering appeared best to effect this, and sometimes using
a slight paraphrase. The words employed are not at all
suggested as in all cases to be preferred.]

Exodus, xxxiii. 14
Numbers, xxi; 3
Joshua, i. 9 . .
" v. 11
" v. 12
" v. 13, 14
Judges, v. 15, 17
Proverbs, vi. 22
Isaiah, xi. 3 . .
" lxiii. 9 .
Zechariah, xiv. 20
Matthew, ix. 2, 22
" xi. 28
xiv. 27
" xxviii. 20
John, i. 51 .
" vi. 55 .
" xvi. 13 .
Acts, xiii. 18
Romans, xv. 29
1 Corinthians, iv. 4
" viii. 2, 3

. 221
¦ 243
. 100
. 176
176, 200
. 220
• 293
. 279
. 283
. 221
• 327
. 107
• 3°
. 107
. 138
. 230
• 193

5i 15
258 278

1 Corinthians, x. 6 . .

6

" xi. 26 . .

198

" xi. 31, 32 .

.

260, 268

273

" xii. 4-1 1 .

289

2 Corinthians, v. 7 . .

235

v. 14 . .

78

x. 4,5- •

250

Galatians, ii. 20 . . .

78

Ephesians, vi. 11, 12, 245

248

Philippians, i. 9 ...

284

" iii. 12, 14 .

263

" iii. 15 . . .

263

" iii. 21 . . .

196

Colossians, ii. 12 . . .

78

Hebrews, iv. 1 1 ...

142

" x. 10, 14 . .

256

x. 13 ... .

137

316

" iii. 12 ... .

139

1 John, i. 1-3 ... .

225

" v. 21 . . . -

316

(329)

INDEX.
Accursed, same word as devoted, 268.
Achan, Sin of, 269.
Achor, Valley of, 272.
Achsah, Request of, 299.
Aesthetics, Spiritual, 284.
Ai, Defeat at, 266.
Aitken, Rev. R., Reference to, 244.
Alford, Dean, quoted, 2, 188, 193, 194, 248
Allegorical Teaching, 5.
Amalek, 241.
Angel of the Face, 221.
Apostles, Authority of, 152 ; Twelve ditto Symbolism of, 153.
Apprehended and apprehending, 92.
Arabia, Associations of, 21.
Argyle's, Duke of, Reign of Law referred to, 12.
Ark, Symbolism of, 126.
Assurance, Want of, 36.
Augustine, St., quoted, 30.
Bahr, reference to his Symbolik, 153.
Baptism of Christ, Representative, 133.
Bengel quoted, 190, 191, 192, 197.
Bernard, Thos. Dehaney, quoted, 6, 152.
Bickersteth quoted, 297.
Blameless, not faultless, 261.
Blood of Christ, 189.
Brown, Jas. Baldwin, quoted, 15.
Canaan, War in, typical, 24S.
Calvin quoted, 192. (J3i)

332

INDEX.

Canon, Collection of, 9.
Captain, Seeing the, 220.
Cherubim, Symbolism of, 129.
Childlikeness of Spirit, 233.
Christlieb quoted, 90, 186, 209, 291.
Chrysostom quoted, 191.
Church, Calling of the, 135 ; Blessedness of, 196.
Church History, Records of, 317.
Circumcision, Typical meaning of, 159.
Committal of Faith, 1 14.
Consecration, 107 ; do., a ready recipiency, 108 ; do., the work
of Faith, 112, 113.
Continuity of Life of Christ, 77-79, 195.
Conybeare and Howson quoted, 5, 51.
Courage, 100.
Crawford, Dr., quoted, 25.
Crosby, Dr., quoted, 16.
Darwin quoted, 12.
Death of Christ, 155, 183.
Deborah, Song of, 293.
Definiteness, Lack of, in teaching, 94.
Delays, none on God's side, 1 10.
Deuteronomy, Teaching of, 75.
Devil, The existence of, 245 ; Usurpations of, 246.
Distrust, Sin of, 57.
Egypt, Symbolic meaning of, 241.
Ewald quoted, 66.
Extraordinary, Dangers of the, 210.
Eye of the Church composite, 11.
Faber quoted, 248.
Fables — two illustrative, 40, 59.
Fairbairn's Typology quoted, 2.
Faith, Only direct definition of, 235 ; Its career, 265.
Farrar's Life of Christ referred to, 10 ; quoted, 275.

INDEX. 333
Fay, F. R., quoted, 67.
Feeling, to follow, not to precede Faith, 121.
Fellowship with God, 297.
Flesh, The, 241.
Freedom not to be forwardness, 326.
Garden, Need of caring for, 320.
Garments, Babylonish, 269.
Gibeonites, Snare of, 274.
Gifts of the Spirit, 288 ; ' Given in perpetuity, 290 ; Neglect of, 290.
Goulburn, Dean, quoted, 38.
Guidance of the Spirit, 276-284.
Hall, Bishop, quoted, 24.
Hallel, The, 179.
Hare, Archdeacon, quoted, 249.
Hastening, Importance of, 140.
Hebron, Attractions of, 295.
Herbert, George, quoted, 86, 112.
Holiness, in Greek, the same as Sanctification, 256.
Incarnation, Significance of, 184.
Inertia of spirit, 305.
- Israel, Future of, 287.
" Jesus and the Coming Glory " referred to, 134.
Jericho, The Fortress, 240.
Jordan, Significance of, 84-87 ; Possessions east of, 292.
Joseph, Request of the Tribe of, 303.
Jukes, Andrew, quoted, 3.
Keble quoted, 233.
Keil and Delitzsch quoted, 200, 252, 293.
Kelly, W., quoted, 86.
Lange's Com. quoted, 100.
Law a standard, not strength, 70 ; Law of the Spirit of life,
74; Breaking of, 128.

334 INDEX.
Legality, Struggles of, 67-70.
Levi, reversal of his curse, 309.
Liberty in Christ, 213.
" Little by little," 250.
Love, Power of, 173, 298.
M  , C. H. — Notes on Numbers quoted, 35.
Macmillan, Rev. Hugh, quoted, 5.
Majorities.no true guide, 56.
Manifestation, Inward, of Christ} 225-232.
Manna, Symbolism of, 200, 214.
Manslayer, Provision for, 308.
Materialism, where justly charged, 182.
Meditation, Importance of, 101.
Mercy-seat, Symbolism of, 128.
Michaelis quoted, 100.
Ministers, Responsibilities of, 54.
Miracles, Chief objects of, 208.
Misapprehension of God, 95.
Moll, Dr., quoted, 179.
Molyneux, Rev. Capel, referred to, 288.
Money, Love of, 270.
Moses, significance of his death, 66, 67.
Myers, Frederic, quoted, 9.
Naturalness, Examples of, 211.
Nazarite, Vow of the, 216.
Neal's History of the Puritans quoted, 306
Neander quoted, 136.
Olshausen quoted, 72, 188, 189.
Passover in Egypt, 176 ; Feast of, 177-180.
" Patience of Hope," Author of, quoted, 218.
Pedigree, Declaring our, 35.
Preaching, Frequent character of, 55,

INDEX. 335
Presence of Christ perceptible, 225-233.
Promises, Strength of, 1 20.
Red Sea, Significance of, 84.
Redemption, Twofold Scope of, 20, 24.
Refuge, Cities of, 308.
Remembrance, Duty of, 143.
Rest, Promise of entering into, 28-32.
Resurrection of Christ, 185.
Reticence sometimes commanded, 326.
Reuben and his cattle, 292.
Revelation, Unexplored regions of, 136, 305.
Reverence towards God, 136, 325.
Robinson, Pastor, Farewell Address of, 306.
Sacramentarianism referred to, 182.
Sanctification — an impartation, 27 ; by faith, 37 ; system of In
stantaneous, referred to, 96, 259 ; False schemes of, 249 ; de
fined in Scripture, 256 ; specially treated of in Chap. XII.
Satan not to be parleyed with, 282.
Scriptures, Scepticism respecting, 13 ; Continual study of, 327.
Self-denial, Perversion of, 165.
Self-examination, Erroneous ways of, 278,
Selfism, 162, 172.
Senses, Spiritual training of, 281.
Separation from the world, 170.
Sin as defined in Scripture, 258.
Sincerity not sufficient without Truth, 275.
Smith's Dictionary of the Bible quoted, 180.
Spies, Sending of, 23 ; Return of, 45.
Spiritualism referred to, 245.
Springs, Symbolism of, 300.
Standing and state unlike, 53.
Stanley, Dean, quoted, 116.
Stephen seeing the Lord Jesus, 231.
Stier, Rudolph, quoted, 103, 156, 189, 191, 198, 199.
Stones set up at Gilgal, 146.

336 INDEX.
Suffering, Call to, 156.
Supper, The Lord's, 197.
Temptation, how differing from Sin, 259.
Temple representing more than Tabernacle, 131.
Trench, Archbishop, quoted, 311.
Truth, its Stability, 324.
Turning points, 93.
Types, Varied application of, 10 ; Details of, 12.
Vaughan, C. J., quoted, 31.
Veil to be taken from our hearts, 17.
Victory designed to be constant, 254 ; already won for us by
Christ, 264 ; Securities for, 34.
Voice of the Spirit distinguishable, 281.
Watchfulness, Importance of, 315.
Westcott's Introduction quoted, 7. — Gospel of the Resurrection
quoted, 78.
Whittier quoted, 117.
Wordsworth quoted, 298.
Wordsworth, Bishop, quoted, 137.

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