IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // .^^ c^" %^ M Vx 1.0 I.I 1.25 t lis. M 2.2 Hill ' fl U IIIIII.6 '/. 9 /}. 4 \^ c> / e « *% ^V \ \ % V o^ ^ ^^ r^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques I 1980 Technical Notes / Notes techniques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Physical features of this copy which may alter any of the images in the reproduction are checked below. n Coloured covers/ Couvertures de couleur Coloured maps/ Cartes g^ographiques en couleur Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages ddcolordes, tachetdes ou piqu^es Tight binding (may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin)/ Reliure serrd (peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure) L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. 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The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol —►(meaning CONTINUED"), or the symbol V (meanik>g "END"), whichever applies. Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de I'exemplaire filmd, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la der- nidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". The original copy was borrowed from, and filmed with, the kind consent of the following institution: National Library of Canada L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grdce d la g6n6rositd de I'dtablissement pr§teur sulv^nt : Bibliothdque nationale du Canada Maps or plates too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper l«ft hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour dtre reproduites en un seul cliche sont filmdes d partir de Tangle sup^rieure gauche, de gauche d droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la m^thode : 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 i Life IN A Look. MAURICE S. BALDAYI]Sr, I'uH-tor of the y.u-ish of J^toutrc.il : Cnnon r>f the CntrscbmL MONTREAL : DAWSON BROTHERS, Publishers, 1879. I'RIXTKD nv J. Thko. EoBiNSoy, successor to J. Stark k a Co. / LIFE IN A LOOK Chaptci- £: The Neckssity of the Xew Biiith. Chaptcu i£: The Natuije of the New Birth. Cha^jtci- £££ : KeGEXEKATIOX IX ITS COXXECTIOX WITH ClIUIBT OX THE ClfOSS. Coucluoiou : " LooKixG uxTO Jesus ; " or, GkOWTH IX rjRACE. m'ks -'i^ti-Jh'^'- -^j^m ^^ LIFE IN A LOOK, fl "^ M Chapter I. THE NECESSITY OF THE NEW IMRTH. ^■l^EAR Reader, am I wrong in .^upposin^^ ^M y reject Christ as their Kedeenier. bnt vet in some .sense consider Him a great Keioruier ; sceptics "Nvhowonld snbvertjif possible, half the Bible ; professing Christians, ignorant of the ///)/ that is in Christ — all niav he heard to-dav addres;- ing the Lord Jesus in the exact words of Nicodemus: Rabbi, we know Thou art ' ; what indeed the whole Avorld shall vet be made to see — is, that Christ is more than a teacher come from God; He is THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. Eternal Life dwells IN HIM, "for as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have Life in himself" Therefore, until we know Christ as our LIFE, we know Him not. '^ He that hath the Son hath LIFE, and he that hath not the Son of God hath NOT lif( n T o s LIFE JN A LOOK. tliis bear all the prophets witness; to (liis our Lord lliinself and His ApostU's unite their testimony '' TJiat God lintlt f/irc/i to us eternal lite, and this life is in His Son." And now, I will ask you carefully to weigh our Lord's answer to Nicodenuis. It was one in every way momentous, and as such should seriously be considered. Its striking peculiar- ity is, that it seems to have no apparent con- nection Avith the words of Nicodemus; and yet, doujjtless, it was the exact answer he }ieeded — the (me best suited to his spiritual war.ts. ''I am lie,'' saith Christ, ''that fSearcJath the heart.^;" and assuredly in this instance he did so, for, looking deep down into the heart of Nicodenuis, He instantly saw what the wants of his soul were, and these He immediatelv meets. The learned Jew had begun the interview by saying : '' Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God." This remark the Saviour passes by, and, addressing Himself to the great truth of which Nicodemus w\as most profoundly igno- rant, namely, his need of a new birth, He ntters these memorable words : '^ YERILY, VERILY I SAY UNTO THEE, EXCEPT LIFE IX A LOOK 9 A iMAN BE BOHX AGAIN, JIE CANNOT SKK TlIK KINGDOM OF GOD." These words of the Lord Jesus are as directly addressed to f/on, dear reader, as they were to Nieodeiuiis, that is, if voii have not yet experience d this new l)irth of whicli Christ s[)eaks Therefore, seeing they are for ijoar evei'lasting life, and tliat tlii' speaker is none other than Jesus Christ Himself. I implore vou hoth eiirnesth' and nraxerfnllv to weii»'li them. Observe, iirst Christ goes to the Vf-rij root of thi)Hjs'. lie says spiritual LIFE begins X\ witn s])iri tual BIRTH. Men see physical activity all about them, and they know that in each case this activity had its oriii'in in the hirth of those who are now so incessantly engaged. There was lir.-t birth, then development, then manhood, and with manhood ceaseless industrv of mind and body. In spiritual matters, however, thou- sands who admit to the full all the above, will' persist in reversing this well known law; for the idea to w.iich thev most tenaciou.sl v clini>: i-!, that if they can only DO those things which are pleasinu' in Gou\^ siadit. that //<<^m tt 10 LIFE IN A LOOK. »God ^vill grant them life. In spiritual matters, as in pliysical, life is fifsf, activity afterwards. You meet a man anxiously pressing toward the Cemetery, and, stopping him, ask the eajise. "I have just ol)tained," he says, ^'a larii;e contract, and Avant nuMi to enable me to fulfil it." ''But why go, of all places, to the cemetery?" you au'aiu ask — " ncme there but th;.^ dead." " The verv reascm why I do go," he replies — '^ unemployed hands there, sir ! unemployed hands ! 1 have something for them to do." '• The man's mad," you say, and turn away, feeling nudan- choly at the shipwreck of his intellect. No doubt he is, but -not more so, in a spiritual sense, than he who addresses a whole con2:re- gation dead in trespasses and sins, as if the}^ "vvere all LIA'ING members of Jesus Christ, and, taking all the precepts (if the Christian life, asks those Avlio have not yet begun to BREATHE, to carry them out in their daily lives. How often, for instance, do we hear this text given out: — "So run that ye umij ohtaln^' and hen the gh)rious and com- pleted salvation of the Son of God is de- LIFE IX A LOOK. scribed as a race in wliieh the swiftest runner ' alone obtains eternal life. The congrega- tions, largely composed of people absolutely dead before God, are then exhorted bv all meaiks to run this race, and by all means to obtain this life. It is just this outra- geous perversion of the W(n*d of God which utterly misleads thousands ; it bolsters them u]) with the fiilse idea that they are the children of God, when they are n(^t; it is a going to the DEAD to give them employ- ment : an assiuning labor to those whom the Resurrection and the Life has not vet raised into being, and the result is utter and hope- less failure. Spiritual life only begins with spiritual birth, and as those to whom I allude have not been J^orn of the Spirit, they can no more fulfil the precepts of the Christian life than vou, dear reader, can 11 v with the eagle, or race with the lightning (jf heaven. Secondly : These words of Christ clearly prove thJ UTTER HELPLESSNESS OF ALL 111 MAN EFFORT, and the ABSO- LUTE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. One thing mav safelv be said of Nicode- nuis, and that is. he Avas thoroughlv in earn- 12 LIFE IN A LOOK. est. There was therefore nothing within the range of human possibility he would not gladly have done at the suggestion of our Lord. Had Christ told him his sorrow for his past sins was not deep enough, he would have humbled himself in the profoundest abjections; had Christ commanded his imme- diate surrender of all his goods to feed the poor, doubtless he would have hasted to obey ; but our Lord sa3's none of these things. He gives him, iu fact, NOTHING TO DO; nothing to please his vanity, or stimulate his self-conceit. He prescribes no fasts, no tears, no human effort; only utters these words — so dark and inexplicable to the mind of Nicodemus — " Except a man he horn again lie ccmnot see the kingdom of God.'* Now, as lonix as a man thinks there is some- thing by the doing of which he can procure his salvation — no matter what that some- thing may be — he will never despair. If he fail in his effort to-day, he will only try the more to-m(»rrow ; but when at last the conviction is forced upon him that he is abso- lutely DEPENDENT on the Holy Spirit, and that he must be BORN AGAIN, he sees» LIFE IN A LOOK. la for the fii>t time, that God requires soiibi- thing utterly BEYOND his power. Now ii man may make the most costly sacrifices, he may even go as far as laj'ing down his life ill the fond hope of pleasing God therehy, Ijut there is one thing he can not do, and that is, effect his own new hirtli. Yet our Lord says positively, ^* Except a man be lx)rn again, he CANNOT SEE the kingdom of God." It follows, therefore, that the unsaved sinner is thrown back on the absolute sover- eignty of God. Effort iti cuif/ directi(ni on his pait is utterly impossible. This only can he do: — as speechless, lay his hand Tipon his mouth ; as humbled, bend down his face to the dust; and thus, in silence, //s-^c^y?, Avliile GOD SPEAKS. But many people object to this, and say : Does not St. Paul command, '•'' AVork out vour own salvation Avitli fear and tremblini>; " ? and does not this precept of his teach us that salvation is the result of a lile-loni}: strugiide ? Bv no means. To whom did the OCT v' Apostle utter this command ? Was it to the Court of Nero? — to the gladiators of the circus? — to men dead in trespasses and sinst 14 LIFE IN A LOOK. No, it was to the Pliilippian Christians — to men and women rejoicing in the truth. His very letter is thus addressed : '^ To all the SAINTS in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi." Now, no man can be a saint while the wrath of Cod abides on him, and the wrath of God abides on all who are not '[justifiedhy faith : " it abides, in other words, on all who are unsaved; but the Philippians were saints, they were therefore ^^ Justified hf/ faith,'' and as such were saved — were BORN AGAIN. What then does the Apostle mean when he says, ^* Work out your own salcation with fear and tremhling? '^ In explanation of this, two facts have to be borne in mind, first, — While all the justified will be saved, thev will not all receive a croivn : manv of them will be saved "60 as hy fire;'' and, {secondly, — Salvation from wrath is only part of our redemption. Redemption really im- plies life in union with our Lord Jesus Christ, liberation from the servitude of sin, and vic- torv over Satan and the world. Bv the ex- pression, ''Work out your own salvation," the Apostle means the salvaticm you have ;already received — not the salvation you are I ' I ':i'l LIFE IX A LOOK. 15 to obtain — and we are to do so '* with fear and trembling," lest we should dishonor our Lord, and LOSE the recompense of the rew\ard. This idea is well expressed by the Church of England in her Xth Article : ^^ AYherefore we have no power to do good wcn^ks, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing (going before) us, tliat w^e may have a good will, and w^orking with us, when we have that good will." No, dear reader, there is nothing you can DO,- but as LOST and HELPLESS, listen to the words of Christ. Thirdly : Onr Lord's words teach the citul NECESSITY of the new hlrth. Whatever opinions we may hold about the new birth, there is one point on which all must be agreed, and that is, ITS VITAL NECESSITY. Our Lord does not say: Except a man be born again, it will be ages of time before he enters the kino-dom of God ; nor. Except a man be born again, he will never eniov the same dearee of izlory as one Avhohas; nor, Except a man be born again 16 LIKE IX A LOOK 1^ i lio .sliall not cnler tliu kiimJoiu of God : but o' *•' Except a mail be born again, he cannot SEE," that is, comprehend, " the kingdom of God." You Avill therelbre see the absohite ne- cessity of your oljtaining tliis new birth. Whatever its meaning — whatever event it points to — its vital importance is awfully .evident. Our Lord sav Without it no ]nan can even SEE the kingdom of God." Fourthly : Our Lord's icorth teach vs that the hlrth lie refers to is a TIEAA'ENLY llrth. Literally, the word ''again'' is FROM ABOVE. Now, we have all had one birth from beneath J that is, our natural physical birth, when we came into the world ; but Christ says this first physical birth is not ^enouali ; we need another — one from above. When therefore we have this birth from above, we are, in our Lord's lanofuaiie, bor o^? n of the Spirit; we have experienced this wondrous birth without which no man can see the kingxhmi of God. I would have you also notice that the two births, the physical and the spiritual, never occur TOGETHER. Man was altogether '' born in .sins," with a " heart deceitful above all UTE IN A LOOK. 17 thiiigs, and despenitely wicked/' Indeed so strongly is this insisted on by the inspired writers, that St. Paul tells us, in the 8th chapter of Romans: '^ lite mind of ihe jle^h (the carnal mind in our versi(m) is ENMITY A(;A1NST god." it is not merely ut en- mity, but the very ininciple — ^wmxis itself. St. Paul further affirms two other truths of this natural heart of ours : first ^ '^ that it is not subject to the law of God," and secoiul, '' neither indeed CAN be." It is not subject to the hxw of God either in the reu:enerate or unregenerate, and this impossibility to be subject to God's law comes from the very nature of its own being — a nature which is always in a state of irreconcilable hostility to God. Born therefore with such a heart as this, you need, dear reader, to be EOIIN AGAIN ; and it must be apparent to you that no (me receives the two births, that is, the physical and the spiritual, at one and the same time ; for then our spiritual birth could no more be a matter of injunction or com- mand than our physical ; we would all be regemrated people from our very entrance 18 LIFE IN A LOOK. into the world, and no one would need to be saved, for all would be f^aved already. In connection with this subject, I wish to draw your attention to an expression, very common among peopi<3, but, at the same time, one thoroughly unscriptural. I refer to the oft-used phrase, '' a chaiHje of heart." Now such an expression as this does not occur in the whole range of Scripture. We find in Daniel that a watcher said, concerning Nebuchadnezzar : " Let his heart he chamjsd from mcnis, and let a heart's heart he r/lren unto Jilm '/' but from Genesis to Revelation there is no passage which teaches that God CHANGES the natural evil heart into a GOOD HEART. We find such expressions as a "new heart," "another heart," a "new spirit," but never a changed heart. The truth is, God never mends, renews, or changes the natural heart. What He says, is — " A NEW heart also will I give you, and a NEW spirit Avill I put within you." Our Lord, therefore, in speaking to Nicodemus, did not say : Except a man's heart be renewed or changed, he shall not see the kingdom of God, but,— "Except a man be BORN AGAIN." CilAPTEK II. THE NATURE OF THE NEW BIKTH. cl^pHE Sjivionr's w-orcls fell on heavy ears. @i Not tlie faintest idea of the truth He ut- tered passed through the mind of Nicodenuis; for, supposing our Lord to he speaking of a physical hirth, he asks with astonishment : '' How can a man he horn w hen he is old ? can he enter the second time into his mother's womlj and he horn ?" To this the Redeemer makes the memorahle renlv : "- Yerih', verih', I say unto thee, except a man he horn of WATER and of THE SPIRIT, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Our first enquiry therefore must he :— What did our Lord mean h}' the expression Born of Water ? Water occurs in Scripture as siii'nif\ ino' the perfect washing Avhich Christ effects in the *saul, including not only His purgation of our ••r ' '20 LIFE IX A LOOK, :■>■ I 1^ ! ^^ills by His most precious blood, l)iit tilso his cleansing us from our own natural selves, that is, our carnal and deceitful hearts. The siiiuihcition of the Avord '^ water" is not uui- foi'ui throughout Scripture; for instance, in Jer. i. 13, water is spoken of as a ligure of QfHl Iliimelf: ^'^ They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters." As descriptive i)^ IK ilitary power : ^^ Behold Avaters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overllowing flood." (Jer. xlvii. 2.) As emblematic of deep and terrible ajfiictloii: ^- Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of Thy waterspouts : all Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me." (Psahn xlii. 7.) Especially of the awful sorrows of Christ : '^ Save Me, God ; for the waters are come in unto Mv soul. I am come into deep waters, Avhere the floods over- ilow Me. Let Me be delivered from them that hate Me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the waterflood overflow Me, neither let the deep swallow Me up." (Psalm Ixix. 1, 2, 14,15.) Of God's judgment on the sinner, thus Eliphaz says to Job : '• Thou hast sent widows away empty. * * * Therefore snores are round about thee, * ^ * an< LIFE IX A LOOK 21 aljiiiidiinoc of waters cover tlicc." (Jol) xxii. 9,10, 11.) Ol'tlir Holy Spirit, thus our Lord siiys : •' Jle tluit believetli ou Me, as the Scrip- ture hath said, out of his hi'lh' sludl llo\v rivers of liviug water. But this s[)ake He of the S[)irit, which thev that believe on lliui should receive." (John vii. o8, 39.) It is mentioned as that which t\'[ ically ch'anses. Thus God says by the mouth of His servant E'/ekiel : '' Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you." (Ez.ekiel xxxvi. 2o.) And in this sense was it so used in the brazen Laver, and '• water of separation," — two objects in the Levitical economy of the deepest spir- itual import. Leaving, however, the types and shadows of the Law, we find the Avord water" repeatedly occurring in other parts of Scripture, as a striking and beautiful type of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For instance, in these words spoken by Isaiah : " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the Avaters, and he that hath no (( mono y come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy Avine and milk without money and without price," 22 LIFK IN A LOOK. we liave an invitation i'or all who arc In want to come and partake of the rich honnty of tlie Gospel least. The ^"waters" here mentioned are tire blessings* of the covenant of grace — the nnsearchahle riches of Christy made known to ns in that (losi)el which is the ])()wer of (Jod unto salvation to cverv j said He, " because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed : blessed are they that have not seen, yet have believed." Christ is now on high, seated in glory at the riii'ht hand of the Father, but before He ascended to so exalted a place. He assured LTTK IN A LOOK. 23 Ili.s disci[)les that It >vas expedient Tor tliem that He shduhl go awav and h'avo them, and the reason He assigns I'or so great a change is, that the Dispensation whieh was imme- diately to folhjw was to be the Dispensation of the Spirit. He was no h)nger visibly to tread the earth ; men were no longer with tlieir own eyes to see Him raising the dead, healing the sick, calming the sea, feeding the hungry, or casting out unclean spirits with His word. In His room was to be the Holy Spirit, not working on the external organs, but convincing the nnderstanding and winning the heart. And this the Spirit does, not to draw sinners to IlimscJf, but to the L&rd Jt-^afi Christ ; for, speaking of the Spirit, our Lord says : '' The Spirit of Truth, which proceed- eth from the Father, He shall TESTIFY OF ME." (John XV. 20.) The work therefore of the Comforter on earth is to uplift alike in the heart of the saved and nnsaved, the person, the work, and the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. He labors, therefore, to bring home to the soul of the sinner God's record concerning His Son ; to convince him of his unutterable need of that salvation I : \ f Hi 24 LIFE IX A LOOK. !|! which the Father has provided in Christ; to accept the eternal gift; to helieve and live forever. Bat how can the Spirit testify without a testimony ? How can He speak to the heart of the sinner unless He have a message from the Father to convey to it ? A testimony, a message, he must have ; and that testimony and that message He has in the BIBLPi, the ivord of the eternal God. The Holy Spirit therefore in leading a lost one to Christ, does not bring before his eyes phy- sical miracles ; nor does He scare him Avith dreams, or overcome his judgment witli appeals to the sensuous and emotional. On the contrary. He speaks to the conscience simply and alone through the testimony of Cod's v.'ord. xVnd num knows not how. Init suddenly, and with great p()V\'er, a passage of Scripture is brought home to him. It is no new revelation, but a Avell known verse he has read and heard a tlnmsand times before, but it now C(mies down into his soul with a reality and ccmvicticm unfelt in the past. He wonders w^hat it all means; it is the Holy Ghost applying Cod's written word to his conscience ; opening his eyes and arousing I LIFE IN A LOOK. 25 his mind to hear the eternal truths which make for everlasting life. Such then is the way in which the Spirit acts ; His message is the word of God, and His work is to apply this word to the con- sciences of those who either read it themselves or have it preached to them by others. Thus we see clearly the way in which people are saved. There is first the Bible, the word of God, declaring the way in Avhich alone God will justify sinners, namely, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; and secondly, there is the Holy Spirit to apply that word with saving efficacy to the heart of man. The WORD and the HOLY SPIRIT are therefore God's two great agents in the salvation of men. If the Holy Spirit were alone on earth without the word of God, He could not bear testimony to the truth con- cerning Jesus Christ; and if, on the other hand, the Bible were by itself on earth without the presence of the Spirit, no one would be saved, '' for the natural man (that is, the unrenewed heart) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God : for they are FOOLISHNESS unto him ; and he CANNOT m IM! ''ii \ * i 11 26 LIFE IN A LOOK. know them, because they are spiritually dis- ceriiL'd." (1 Cor. ii. 14). Such being the cavse, we might expect that our Lord would declare this truth in such a discourse as we have before us, and this assuredly He has done in these words : "' Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." I have already shown how many in Scrip- ture are the significations of the word ** water," but I now wish to add that often, when the Holy Ghost wishes to describe the refreshing and invigorating nature of the Gospel, He does so by picturing it under the form of that well known element. For instance, in Isaiah Iv. 1, God says: "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the WATERS." Now here the prophet is an- nouncing the glorious Gospel, afterwards to be revealed in the coming of the Lord Jesus. He describes under the word "waters" the unspeakable blessings of the " everlasting covenant " mentioned in the third verse, and this everlasting covenant is, and can be noth- ing else, than the Testament or Gospel of the grace of God. The vision of the "holy LIFE IN A LOOK. waters," issuing from under the tliresliold of the Temple, was a striking and beautiful simile by which God. through Ezekiel, fore- told the publication of the Gospel of peace. {p]zek. xlvii. 1.) So too the " living waters " of Zecli. xiv. 8, point to the great truth that during the period of millennial blessedness, Jerusalerci is to be tlie spiritual centre of the earth, and that from it are to go forth *• living w^aters" for the salvation of the Gentile world. In like manner, the very last invi- tation we have in the Bible, speaks of the glorious Gospel under the word '^ water : " " Whosoever will, let him take the WATER OF LIFE freely." (Rev.xxii. 17.) Thus we see that one of the manv uses of this word is to bring before us the blessed and life- giving qualities of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That this is the correct interpretation, is confirmed to us by the fact that the inspired writers ascribe regenerailon to tlie power of the Gospel. St. Paul, writing to the Ccn'inthians, says: "In Christ Jesus I have BEGOTTEN YOU THROUGH THE GOSPEL." (1 Cor. iv. 15.) So also St. James: "Of His own will BEGAT HE US WITH THE WORD ■■ ! 28 LIFE IN A LOOK. ;'■ f iii r ■ OF TRUTH." (James i. 18.) St. Peter's tes- timony is also to the same effect : "• Being BORN AGAIN, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by THE WORD OF GOD which liveth and abideth forever." (1 Peter i. 23.) Prev.'ously, in this chapter, the same Apostle states : " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Ch/ist, which ac- cording to His abundant mercy hath BEGOT- TEN US AGAIN unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." We are said to have been begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection, from the fact of its being the grand confirmation of the Gospel ; the sublime miracle by which the Gospel was proved to be of God, and by which our faith in it is triumphantly and for ever vindicated. Thus we see that the word of God, applied to the conscience by the Holy Ghost, is the great and sole agency employed by God for the regener- ation and salvation of man. In many ways that word may be brought before us ; we may read it for ourselves, or faithful men may declare it in our ears, but in whatever way it reaches us, it is only the entrance of !|!i| LIFE IN A LOOK. 29 God's word that giveth us light. It was for this reason that St. Paul exclaimed : " I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVA- TION to every one that belie veth." (Rom. i. 16.) To be born therefore of WATER is to be born by the agency of GOD'S WORD. In further proof of this I may quote our Lord's language to His disciples : " Now ye are clean through the WORD which I have spoken unto you." (John xv. 3.) Christ's word (as water) had cleansed them, so that by it He tells them they had been made pure. St. Paul's teaching is to the same effect : " Hus- bands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water BY THE WORD." (Eph. v. 25, 26.) In this passage God's people are represented as being cleansed in the word of truth as in a sea, and thus made ready, as a chaste bride, for the coming of the Bridegroom. As there are many who believe that by this word " water " we are to understand 30 LIFE IX A LOOK. baptism, I wish now to say on wliat grounds I uti^erly dissent from such an interpretation. First : //* icater he explained here as being the literal icater of baptism, all mention of the Redeemer s worh in the regeneration of man is excluded from a. sentence in v'hich Christ is teach- ing ivhat is the very NATURE of regeneration. Our Lord is speaking of the regeneration of man ; He mentions two agents, water and the Spirit. Of these, one, the hatter, we know to be the Holy Ghost, without whom man cannot possibly be regenerated ; the other is water. Now, if this be interpreted as literal water, it would teach that man is regenerated by the Holy Ghost and the sim- ple element of water, without any mention of the work of Christ. Irreconcilable with this is the fact that the Bible teems with state- ments to the effect that we have LIFE only from the Lord Jesus Christ. He Himself says : '' I am the life." St. John adds : " He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." For this reason, as well as that already adduced, namely, that Christians are directly stated to be begotten through the Gospel, I deem it wholly improb- I LIFE IX A LOOK. oi If] able that o^r Lord aHcribe.s our regeneration here only to the Holy Ghost and literal water. Secondly: It is according to nnaJogf/, or ivhat ice know of other parts of Scripture, to believe that icater is here mentioned as a type of something deeper, and therefore not to he taken in its literal signification. In explaining the words, "Except a man be born of water," many urge that the word '^ water" must be understood in its absolutely literal sense, and affirm that no other inter- pretation is reasonable. In reply, I may say, there is no word of more varied signifi- cance in the whole Bible, than this word '- water." For example, in this same Gospel we have no less than three distinct occur- rences of the w^ord water, and in each place a totally different signification is evidently demanded. The passages I refer to are the following : Chap. iii. 5, — the text in question ; Chap, iv^ 13, 14; and Chap. vii. 87, 38, 39. Now let it be granted for argument's sake, that when our Lord spoke to Nicodemus He meant literal water, it follows that Avhen He addressed the woman at the well He meant literal water also, and would have her i' ii ill i I 32 LIFE IN A LOOK. 'Mi understand that, instead of water from thuf well, He would give her the water of Bap- tism, and Baptism would be in her a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Now, no one seriously believes such to be the true interpretation of the passage, as it is abundantly evident that our Lord designed to impress upon her mind a deep, life-giving truth, but which she, on her part, utterly failed to comprehend. By water, our Lord means here eternal life, and every other spiritual blessing which comes to us through Him. The " gift of God," says the Apostle Paul, " is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord," (Rom. vi. 23 ) and therefore this living water is not material w^ater, but eternal life, and every other holy gift, in Jesus Christ our Saviour. If now we turn to the seventh chapter of St. John, we find our Lord again speaking of water — '' living water." Here, however, we have positive inspiration to tell us what He meant : " But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive." Thus water here means the Holy Ghost; but it had not this signification in the third chapter, for our Lord w^ould not LIFE IN A LOOK. 33 say : Except a man be born of the Spirit, and of the Spirit ; water there must mean something else, and as I have already dwelt on its signification in the fourth chapter, it follows that we have the word water used in three different meanings in the third, fourth and seventh chapters of St. John. That water is thus variously to be explained, admits of no doubt, and therefore we may the more readily see its force in the passage before us, as indicating that great element by Avhich God quickens the spiritually dead, namely. His Word. Thirdly : //' hj icater ivere meant Christian Baptism, the Old Testament saints Jacked the main element in regeneration, for they were never baptized. Baptism is essentially a New Testament ordinance, and therefore if our Lord were stating something absolutely new, we can hardly understand His surprise at the igno- rance of Nicodemus. " Art thou," He said, " a master of Israel, and knowest not these things ? " Nicodemus may have seen prose- lytes baptized, but neither he nor his fathers had ever seen that ordinance administered to Ml ■■^1 "TT 34 LIFE IN A LOOK. one born in the faith of Israel. Indeed, if we insist that water here can only mean Christian baptism, we mnst exclude appa- rently from regeneration, and therefore from ^^alvation, all those Old Testament saints Avhose rest, we know, is secured ; all children dying unbaptizA'd ; all who at their last mo- ments may be utterly unable- to obtain bap- tism ; even the very thief to whom our Lord on the Cross said : *' This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise," besides hosts of others who for doctrinal reasons have not received this rite. Fourthly : //* Baptism ivere God's great way of regenerating men, it is utterly heyond the power of any one to explain certain passages and facts of Scripture. St. Paul, for instance, says : ^' I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gains ; * * * for Christ sent me NOT TO BAPTIZE, but to PREACH THE GOSPEL." (1 Cor. i. 17.) Now such language is utterly inexplicable, if the water of baptism were the great means of regenerating men. Surely the great Apostle would hardly thank God he had had no part in the work of saving the LIFE IX A L(.)OK, 35 Coriiitliian.s, and surely Christ Himself would not have sent Ilis servant to do the ?e.s-s and omit the ffreatt'i' W(n'k. We now come to the examinaiion of the second clause, BoKX OF Tin: SriRiT. In nothing is Scripture clearer than in its testimony concernin"; the utterly lost condi- tion of him who is yet in his sins, that is, the unregenerate man. Such an one, it de- clares, is a criminal on whose head abides the wrath of God. Having refused the sal- vation which is in Christ, and the blool which cleanseth from sin, his guilt is ever before God; it rises up like a cloud, calling for judgment, and therefore while he is in this state — separate from Christ through unbelief and impenitency of heart — emphat- ically it declares he shall not SEE life, but that the wrath of God ABIDETH on him. Far otherwise, however, is it with him Avho has fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us in the Gospel. Such iin one stands JUSTIFIED from all things; his glorious substitute, the Lamb of God, has 86 LIFE IN A LOOK. !i borne hi« sins and taken his place in wrath; the penalty of death, justly due his guilt, has been endured by Christ ; and this sacrifice of the Son of God, having been accei)ted l)y the Father as the full and eternal satisfaction for {dl his sins, he stands absolutely FlIKE, UNCHARGED WITH FAULT BEFORE GOD. But this is not all. Not only is the believer forever delivered from death by virtue of the sacrifice of his chosen Substi- tute, but this same Substitute, even Jesus Christ, is made unto him an everlasting RIGHTEOUSNESS. As therefore the right- eousness of Christ is of infinite merit by reason both of the dignity of His person and the perfection of His obedience, it follows that as Christ is precious, so is the heliever precious to the Father. Thus, accepted in the Beloved, he stands Avholly in the infinite righteousness of Another. For him Christ died, and for him wrought out while on earth a righteousness so perfect and sublime that even the awful holiness of the Father could Q-est in it as absolutely without fault. Such then — the infinite merit of Christ — constitutes the ONLY RIGHT of the be- H '< \ |i I.IFK IX A LOOK. 87 liever to stand before God and say : '• 1 know Thou hast forever saved me. This is my only l)lea, as a ehild of God, and an heir of gh)ry;' So mucli thiai for his riijltf to call God his Father in Christ, and to rest in that peace which comes irom being justified by faith. Ilis acceptance, his whole standings rests entirelvon the Loi'd Jesus Christ. We now proceed to another and equally momentous question, namely, What DISPOSITION is that, In the hel'uwer, hy ivhtch, ivith the aid of the Uoly Spirit^ he is enaWed to Herce God ? Certainly he has none in his own natural heart, that being *^ deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." " It is not subject to the law of God, NEITHER INDEED CAN BE." In the emphatic language of St. Paul, the mind of the Hesh, that is, the natural heart, is DEATH. Now, can the reader for one moment imagine that with such a heart any man can serve God ? Sooner will water help fire to burn ])righter, than< our natural heart minister to the service of God. Observe, it is not inablllfy to keep .•38 LIFE IN A LOOK. abreast of GocVs law to which I allude. It is not as if I said: As well might an eagle race with the lightning as our natural heart keep up to the perfect law of God ; for in that case, the eagle might fly ver}^ swiftly, ihou";h unsuccessfully. There would be faihire but not cudcff/onism. With our natural heart it is far otherwise, '' it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed ccdi be." 'To trust in this heart — to believe that it either can or will serve God — is like letting loose a Avild zebra of the desert, in the fond hope that afterwards it will return at your call. It cannot possibly do so; its whole nature revolts against the yoke ; it hates all restraint, and like the winds, it must be free. Two mistakes in connection with this truth .are very common; they are the following : — First : Many imagine thai on their helieving, God loill change this natural, evil heart, and .make it holy and good ; v'hile, secondly, others suppose the natural hearts will he ivholly done aicay ivith, so thai it will not even exist. Now, with regard to the first of these xorrors, nothing is clearer than that God does .not CHANGE the natural heart into that I. ,! : ; LIFE IX A LOOK. 30' which is L'ood and hid v. Throimliout tho whole range of Scripture we do not once find the expression " change of heart;' God does no mending, no re-furbishin2' ; lie CREATES ANEW. What therefore we do find in the word of God is, the doctrine of a new hearty and of a new spirit. Thus in Ezekiel, God says : ^' A uew heart also will I give you, and a 7ieic spirit will I put within you ; and I will taJi'e away the stony heart out of your fleshy and I will give you an heart of flesh." (xxxvi. 26.) So too St. Paul says: "Therefore, if anv man be in Christ, he is a NEW CRP]A- TURE: old things are passed away ; behold^ all things are become new." (2 Cor. v. 17.) And again : ^' For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircum- cision, buta NEW CREATURE." (Gal. vi. 15.) *^For we," that is, believers, "are His workmanship, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS." (Eph. ii, 10.) Tiius we see that Christ comes into the heart with this decree :. " Behold, I make all things NEW." (Rev. xxi. 5.) The old heart, therefore, will not be re- made, or changed ; on the contrary, it will continue till the end the same utterlv hostile t i! 40 LIFE IN A LOOK. II ^md corrupt nature that it wan at first. But this, dear reader, will God do for you, should you now accept the Lord Jesus Christ, " A -new heart also will He give you, and a new Spirit will He put within you." The 'iCfWid t'vroY is refuted bv the constant 4/ statement of the Apostles, as well as by the bitter experience of God's people in all ages, and in all lands. Who can read the epistles x)f St. Paul without seeing how terribly he had to struggle with an evil heart within ? "I know," he says, "that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwellcth NO GOOD THING." (Rom. vii. 18.) "I find," he adds, -'a law, that when I would do good, evil is present imth .me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man ; but I see another law IN MY MEMBERS, warring against the law of iny mind, and bringing me into captivity to the LAW OF SIN which is in ray members. wretched man that I am I who shall de- liver me from the bodv of this death ? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." In a remarkable passage in Galatians, the .same Apostle declares : " The flesh LUST- ETH AGAINST THE SPIRIT, and the LIFE IN A LOOK. 41 I O Spirit against the flesh : and these are con- trary the one to the other: so that ye may not do the things ye may wish." (Chap. v. 17, Ellicott.) These texts I quote, and. many more might be added, only to -^how how desperately opposed to God's grace the natural heart is; for we see that even after a man has been saved by grace, it remains the same in its ineradicable hostility to God. It is true, we shall hereafter be wholly free from its contaminating presence when we stand w^ith Christ in glory ; true, that even here, by virtue of our union with the risen Redeemer, we are legally free from its DOMINION, and may actually be so from its BONDAGE, but we are in this life never free from its conscious presence ; never free from the absolute necessity of our watching, waiting., praying, lest the flesh betray us into sin. And now, by way of illustration, let us suppose the case of a man who, through grace, has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. What is his position ? The blood of Christ has availed to wash his sins forever away: but is this all ? Suppose God were now to leave him, would he not soon be as 42 LIFE IN A LOOK. deep in the mire as ever ? Certiiinlj', only lower down still. You want a servant ; under the hope of reward, a savage offers himself; you. accept his terms and he enters your service. In an unguarded moment he at- tacks you, and having robbed you of "all your effects, leaves you for dead. On your recovery you send for him, pardon all his brutality, and inforni him you freely forgive his outrage. Now, what have you done ? Have you bettered the savage ? No, not in the least. He was a savage before you forgave him, and he is a savage after you have forgiven him. He needs more than forgiveness ; he needs to be made NEW ; he needs A NEW HEART. Now vScrip- ture discloses the great truth that God will forgive his sins; He will CREATE in him a NEW HEART, that is, he will abso- lutelv call into existence that which before was not in him, and this He will do ]>v the operation of the Holy Spirit. As this '^ new heart" is commonly known in Scripture by the name of the *•' neiij man,'' or other kindred terms, I shall henceforth speak of this new •creation under this title, but before I pro- LIFE IX A LOOK. 48 ceed to explain tlio nature of tlie " new man," I wish a^i^ain to call vour attention to two truths which should ever be kept clear and distinct in our minds : — First, our RIGHT to stand before God as'acccepted, lies w^holly in the infinite merit of the Lord Jesus Christ ; and secondly, our ABILITY to render God service lies in the creation within us of the ^' new man," to- gether with the gift of the Holy Ghost. The New Man. Writing to the Romans, the Apostle re- fers to a great truth which, he sa}s, they knew. This truth, which is of the greatest importance to us, is as follows : " Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer serve sin." (Rom. vi. G, Alford.) Now, here the Apostle speaks of some one in us under the title of " OUR OLD MAN," and the LIFE IS A LOOK. 47 9 J j> having created in him a new heart, called by the Apostle Paul THE NEW MAN. In writing to the Corinthians, the same in- spired writer says : *' AV here fore if any man be in Christ^, HE 18 A NEW CREA- TURE." (2 Cor. V. 17.) Not a reformed man, but a new man, " God's workman- ship, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS unto good works." (Eph. ii. 10.) And he is this new creature by virtue of God having created in him that which before he possessed not, namely, a heart to love and serve Ilim ; a heart which from the very fact of its hav- ing been created " in righteousness and holi- ness of the truth," enables the believer, through the mighty and ever present help of the Holy Ghost, to walk in the light as Christ is in the liffht. And this walkinfr in the li<>;ht is no mere mechanical imitation of Christ, but the result of the Holy Ghost liaving begotten us anew in Christ Jesus. The promises which had gone before were all to the same effect ; for God, speaking to Israel through Ezekiel, says : " A NEW HEART also will I give you, and a NEW SPIRIT will I put within you ; " and in Jeremiah : I II H ! 48 IJKE IN A LOOK " But this sliall be the covenant that I will make with tlie house of Israel ; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put MY LAAV' IN THEIR INWARD PARTS, and WRITE IT IN THEIR HEARTS; and I will be their (lod, and they shall be my people. (Jer. xxxi. oo.) Such, th(ni, is the "new man" as described in Holy Scripture. In order, however, to make the w4iole clearer, I will ask vou to observe three points: First, The orujin of its existence ; second- ly, the time when it occurs ; and thirdly, the result of its beino; within us. As regards the first, I have already shown it is of God, for the new^ man is said to have been created after God in righteousness and holiness of the truth. The Holy Ghost is that Person of the Trinity by whom this is effected, for our Lord distinctly states : " It is the spirit that quickeneth," (John vi. G3,) and that His people are all BORN OF THE SPIRIT. Life dwells in Christ. He is the life-giving one^ and there- fore he that hath the Son hath life ; but this quickening power Christ has equally with LIFE IN A LOOK. 49 the Father, for, '^an the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth tliem, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will." Still we are to understand that the Holy Ghost directly quickens the spiritually dead, for, in addition to what I have already quoted, St. Paul says : '^The Spirit giveth life." (2 Cor. iii. ^6.) And now let it be clearly understood that this everhvsting life which we have in Christ Jesus is not that mere eternity of existence which the wicked will have in the " lake of fire ;" it is Christ in ns the hope of glory. The wicked exist here in this life without personal union with the Lord Jesus Christ, and they shall so exist throughout all eter- nity y they have existence, and that exist- ence is eternal, but not LIFE ETERNAL, that is, LIFE IN CHRIST. This " life in Christ" God's people have; they have it from the time of their new birth, when the new heart was given them ; and now that they have received it, though they are, like the wicked, still mortal as to their bodies, yet are they united for ever to Christ, and when He shall appear, they shall also appear with Him in glory. 1 50 LIFK IX A LOOK. \ h il ,;. Christ, thereforo, tlie fuuntaiii, preserver and fulness of life, is the Author of otw life : hy Ilis Holy Spirit lie has quickened us, having created ^ ain us a new heart, which new heart is THE NEW MAN of whicli I have been speaking. To this new man, so created in us, the Holy Ghost testifies of Jesus Christ ; fills with His glorious pres- ence, strengthens, guides, directs, especially at a Throne of Grace, where, with groanings which cannot be uttered, he makes interces- sion with the sa'nts, according to the will of <;od. ■ . ' . As therefore we have before seen that our RIGHT to stand before God in peace rests -ou the merit of ANOTHER, even on THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST, so now we see that our ABILITY to serve Him rests on the fact of there having been cre- ated within us a new heart in union with the will of God, with Avhich new heart the Holy Ghost pleads, and, as being ever present with, strengthens, fills and guides. Sicondhj, the time when this new creation takes place is that moment when the sinner fir^t with the heart believes in Jesus Christ LIFE IN A LOOK. 51 fts his Saviour. As I shall treat of tliis siilv ject in -my third chapter, I must refer the reader to it for a full and definite declara- tion concerning that life which hy faith is instantaneously communicated to the soul. T/iinllf/, the results of the " new man '* being within us are, that we are enabled^ through the Holy Cfhost assisting us, to walk with God and do His holy will. There is now within the believer that which really does love God, so that he can now say with the, Apostle Paul : " I delight in the law of God after the inward man." He has indeed become a son, and as a son can glorify the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. Ignorance of this truth leads to the most deplorable results, for it induces people to make a fond effort to try and serve God with a heart deceitful above all things, and des* perately wicked. Not having received Christ by faith into their hearts, and therefore not having been born of the Spirit, they have only resident within them a principle which is in direct and incessant antagonism to God. The effort consequently to " make all things; new," can only have one result, and that is^ i 1. 1 1: . i'i ( J!i 52 LIFE IN A LOOK. utter failure. How often, for instance, have poor drunkards come to the writer, burning with indignation against themselves on ac- count of the degradation into which their own sins and follies had involved them. They have vowed and vowed again to leave all the past behind them ; to give up sin in every form ; to become entirely new, and henceforth only to soar upward to the skies. Their abhorrence of sin has been real ; their intention to reform sincere ; their prayers earnest, sometimes agonizing; but within a month they have gone back like a dog to its vomit a, d a sow that was washed to its wallowing in the mire. Peoole have been in despair at the spectacle, but no other result could be looked for. Vehemency of desire and earnestness in vows will not take the place of the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore, however much a poor drunkard may desire to reform, until he receives Christ by faith into his heart he is on the sand, and the house of fond expectations and visionary delights built thereon must inevit- ably fall. It is true indeed, men may some- times give up drinking withtut bccjm in LIFE IN A LOOK. 53 true Chrif^tians, but this is only reform, not salvation ; and it is of salvation that I speak. No, the drunkard, as well as every other unsaved sinner, needs to be CREATED ANEW in Christ Jesus, and until he is, he must of necessity be tlie sport and prey of his own passions. I do not mean to deny that open violators of God's laws may not under certain circumstances effect an exter- nal reformation of their lives, a reformation, too, in every way to be desired as rendering them better able to understand the words of life spoken to them ; but to serve as sons in God's house, never. Even the effort at ex- ternal reformation is often futile, and this because these victims of passion trust in a heart which is not subject to the law of God,, neither indeed can be ; they trust in their indignation against sin ; in their vehement desires; in the vows they are taking; in the strength which they imagine they pos- sess; in everything, in fact, except in that which alone would save them, namely, the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of trusting on Him who is mighty to save, they trust on their own hearts and " he that I, ;! I ! 54 LIFE IN A LOOK. trusteth in his own heart," Solomon say 8, "is a fool." No, God's plan is wholly different : it is for the lost sinner to look to the Lord Jesus Christ, believe and live for ever ; then at this moment of his believing is there created within him a new heart, one that DELIGHTS in the law of God, and though it has still to wrestle with the old and carnal nature, yet being ever aided by the Holy Ghost, it con- tinually presses towards the mark for the prize of its high calling in Christ Jesus. It hates sin and loathes the garments spotted by the flesh; and, being GOD'S WORK- MANSHIP, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, it knows God and is known of Him. ■ « ^'1 1 Chapter III. Regeneration in its connection with Christ ON the Cross. EIEN our Lord said to Nicoderaus : tici^ " Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the King- dom of God," the learned Jew was still as utterly unable to comprehend His meaning as before, and could only, in his astonish- ment, utter the unbelieving exclamation : " How can these things be ?" On this Christ said: "Art thou a (the) master of Israel, and knowest not these things ?" Evidently our Lord considered Nicodemus ought to have been familiar with these truths, as they were not new revelations but clear and blessed statements proj^hesied of iu the old Testament Scriptures. Still, being Himself a merciful High Priest who always had com- passion on the ignorant and on them that are 56 LIFE IN A LOOK. i out of the way, He proceeds to show Nico- (lemus, by referring him to a well known historical incident, that this great doctrine of the new birth, or regeneration through the uplifted Christ, was typically made known to Israel as far back as the days of Moses. This He does by referring him to the following event, recorded in the twenty- first chapter of the Rook of Numbers : '' And the people spake against God, and against Moses, wherefore have ye brought us up out of Eg\' pt to die in the wilderness ? for there is no bread, neither is there any water ; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people ; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee ; pray unto the Lord, that He take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole : and it shall come to pass, that everv one that is bitten, when he look- eth upon it, shall live. And Moses made a LIFE IN* A LOOK. 57 a ♦serpent of brans, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, WHEN HE BEHELD THE SER- PENT OF BRASS, HE LIVED. ' This was a scene in the history of Israel with which Nicodemus could not be but familiar, and therefore, with peculiar propriety, pointing him to that grand historical .scene, Christ says : " As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wil- derness, EVEN SO must the Son of Man be lifted up : that whosoever belie veth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." Now, here our Lord states two most import- ant facts ; Jirst, that the uplifting of the brazen serpent in the wilderness was a type of Himself upon the Cross; and, secondly, that the physical results flowing to the bitten Israelites from a look at the serpent of brass were typical of the spiritual and eternal results which flow to our souls from a be- lieving look at Him as the Bearer on the Cross of our appointed doom. The " even so" marks the exactness of the similitude. It follows, therefore, that any preaching which makes salvation less FREE, less EASY, less PERFECT, or less IMMEDI- r- 58 LIFE IN A LOOK. m fill r I M,ii I ATE than the healing offocted by the type, is not the teaching of the Lord Jesu8 Christ. AVhat Nicodemus was anxious to know was, how a man could be born when he was old ? Our Lord said it was by faith in Himself as uplifted on the Cross. Standing before this tremendous sacrifice, and believing on Christ thus offered, the sinner not only obtains the full and eternal pardon of his sins, but also full spiritual health, that is, he is BORN AGAIN, a new heart being given him and a new spirit put within him. Thus we see Christ has forever connected regeneration with faith in Himself as God's appointed sacrifice for sin ; and so close and so real is this connection, that whenever a sinner be- lieves in Jesus Christ as the bearer away of his sins on the Cross, at that moment is he also born again : at that moment he receives power — to use the language of St. John — to become a son of God. As our Lord presses upon us the exactnes!;^ of the similitude betw^een the healing by the brazen serpent, and regeneration through faith in Himself as offered upon the Cross^ I LIFE IX A LOOK. 50 I .shall now eiuleavour to point out some striking features in this resenibhince. Fir&t: The people for v:hom the brazen ser- jyent teas vpVifted in tlte wilderness were those dyinrj cibsolnteli/ without hope, and those for whom Christ died loere the LOST. The Israelites who had been bitten had to die ; no physician could heal them, no human arm could help them ; the bite was certain death. For such the serpent of brass was lifted np, and for such alone. So Christ was lifted np for a certain object — TO SAVE THE LOST. If, therefore, there are any people in this world who are not lost — lost, I mean, in the sense in which Christ nses the word — then Christ did not die for them, for, in fact, they need no Saviour ; but as the Scriptnre says positively that no such people exist, but that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, it follows there i.; no man who mav not be saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as all come under the title of THE LOST. And now, dear reader, do you know what Christ means when He says you are lost ? If you are not yet '* in Him," and therefore I ^ GO LIFE IN A LOOK. P ','>■■ ^•4 forever free from all condemnation, I am very certain you do not ; for no one grasps this awful fact by intuition, no one learns it by mere feeling, it can only come to our mind by the revelation of God's word. I will not therefore ask you whether you feel you are lost, or whether you tJihik you are lost, but reverently and prayerfully to con- sider the fact that man's utterly LOST con- dition does not rest on theory, but on three very startling and most plainly revealed truths : — (1.) On the imputation of Adam's sin, by which DEATH passed through unto ALL^ MEN, on the ground that ALL SINNED ; (2.) On the consequent depravation of our nature by which we inherit, as spring- ing from Adam and standing in his guilt, a heart, or mind of the flesh, w^hich is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be ; and (3.) On the ground of our daily wail- ful and repeated transgressions, by which, as sinning against light and truth, we are continually increasing our guilt. lit LIFE IN A LOOK. 61 And now as regards the first of these, namely, the imputation of Adam's sin, let us see on what ground it rests. The place in Avhich this truth is most emphati- cally laid down is in the fifth chapter of Romans, where the following declaration is made on the subject : " For this cause, as by ONE MAN sin entered into the world, and by sin, death, and so DEATH PASSED THROUGH UNTO ALL MEN, for that (on the ground that) ALL SINNED. (Ellicott.) Now, here is a very forcible statement to the effect that Adam was our representa- tive, and that AVE SINNED in HIS SIN. St. Paul says : ** By one man sin entered into the world." This is conceded by all. He affirms in the next place, " and by sin, death." This we know to be in ac- cord with the terms of the original judg- ment : "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." His third statement is a deduction or inference from the above : "And so death passed through (permeated) unto all men, on the ground that all sinned ;" not "have sinned," but sinned, that is, in the act of Adam. Death is here represented p? jl fi 'i ii- i$ : !l M =62 LIFE IX A LOOK. t\.s radiating or spreading out from a certain event, and that event was Adam's sin. But the question arises, Why was it thus? The iinswer is : On the ground that ALL SINNED. Not that each one of us is born an heir to immortal bliss, with an incorruptibility of body, and that this happy state exists until in an evil moment we sin and all is lost, but the awful sentence of death was passed upon .all who should be born of Adam, ON THE GROUND that all sinned in him. The Apostle next proceeds to expand upon this truth, and adds: '^Tor up to the time of the law there was sin in the world, but sin is not reckoned where the law is not. But • death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who sinned not according to the t^imilitude of the transgression of Adam, w^ho is a figure (type) of the future (x\dam)." The argument of the Apostle is as follows : He had just stated that death extended to all men on the ground that all sinned in Adam. He then goes on to say that, up to the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, sin -was in the world, that is, there were bad passions everywhere shewing themselves LIFE IX A LOOK, C>5 ill I in evil acts; but sin, lie aflirnis, is not reckoned (set down as transgression) where there is no h\w. Notwithstanding all this — notwithstanding that God does not reckon, that as sin Avhich is done without the- protest of His law — yet, nevertheless, DEATH REIGNED from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. Now those who lived from Adam to Moses did not sin after the similitude of Adam's transgres- sion. Adam had a well known and fixed law to live by. So also had Moses. Those who intervened had not ; they had no re- vealed, declared law ; they were, many of them, very grievous sinners^ but they didt not sin as Adam sinned, that is, against a know^n law ; they followed the wild bent of their ow^n vicious dispositions and knew no ruler but themselves But God does not reckon as sin that which is done wdthout the protest of law. Why, then, did death reign, over them if sin was not reckoned to them ? The answer is: BECAUSE THEY ALL. SINNED IN ADAM. It is the same now ; we have among us those who do not sin. r. ' f J r^r > 1 1 G4 LIFE IN A LOOK. i I after the similitude of Adam's a'ansgressivn, namely, infants and idiots ; these do not, and cannot sin after the manner of Adam, that is, consciously, against a known law, yet death reigns over them. They sicken, suf- fer, languish, die ; and people often ask. Why is this? — why do these poor unconscious ones, who have never committed actual sin, thus suffer ? The answer is : Because they are resting under the imputation of Adam's guilt? They were born into the world with his sin upon them, and, as a consequence, his judgment, which is death. We know indeed from Scripture that such as die before they have become conscious agents will be saved through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ ; but then this does not alter the fact concern- ing the imputation of Adam's sin. The Holy Ghost in the word of God always places man under one or other of the following heads : The first man, Adam, or the second Adam — Christ. These constitute the only two camps in the world. All who have lived, or do live, or shall live, will be found in either one or other of these. Of those under the first Adam, Scripture affirms that they all die — die tem- LIFE IN A LOOK. 6: m lor 111, ]M)rally, and die eternally. Of those under the second Adam, Christ, Scripture affirms that they have LIFE— life eternal ; for though they, too, die temporally, yet in Christ they shall all he made alive. The passage I have quoted from Romans dis- tinctly states three solemn facts : first, that sin entered into the virld through the disohediencc of Adam ; secondhj, that death was the consequence of that sin ; ihirdhj, that all the human race is charged by God as having sinned in ADAM, and conse- quently the judgment of death Avhich was pronounced on him, was pronounced upon the whole race as being in IIIM. Dear reader, should you be in this great camp of sin, condemnation and death, youV duty is to flee for your life from it, as Lot did from the gates of Sodom, for surely God has written it : " All in Adam die." Should any say, "IIow is this?" I answer, God is infinitely holy, infinitely just ; what He ordains must be just — infinitely so. And let it be remembered that if God has ordained that Adam's guilt should be im- puted to the human race, Jlii has also or- m LIFE IN A LOOK. n 'j ti [i ill. P ..! . t r -^ ■ lit m dallied that Chri.st's rigliteousness shall bj imputed to all who flee to His dear Son, though their sins be as red as scarlet and as deep as crimson die. 2. — Of the depravity of our natural heart, and its utter inability to serve God, I have already spoken at some length, and will now only add that this natural heart is the HESULT of our being born under condemna- tion, and comes to us by inheritance from Adam, in whom we have sinned. In other words, it is one of the terrible results which How to us from that ONE SIN. Should we, however, fly to Christ, being then FREED from a state of condemnation, a new heart would be given us, even one created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 3. — Under this head I wish to say a few words concerning God's holy law. Fir,'>f, it is "holy and just and good;" so searching and penetrating in its demands that it re- quires and will receive no other obedience than that which is absolutelv and DIVINELY faultless. It not only says " Thou shalt NOT DO," but it states '"This SHALT THOU BE." It not onlv utters the com- ii! 14:1 LIFE IN A LOOK. 67 manclment "Thou slialt NOT steal," but it says "Thou SHALT h)ve the Lord thy God with all thy heart." Secondly, such obe- dience as the Law re([uires no one has ever rendered except the Lord Jesus Christ, the " sinless one," in whom God v/as well pleased. TlurdJtj^ the Law was not given to man a ■ a means whereby he might obtain justification and pardon, but to reveal to him the awful heinousness of sin, and to show to him at all times what is God's standard of infinite holiness and right. St. Paul says distinctly: "By the Law is the KNOvV- LEDGE of sin." (Rom. iii. 20.) The Law is God's great metre for sin — His sin-ometre. Plunging this into the great river of iiuman- ity, and testing man by this holy and perfect standard, the reading is : " There is none righteous, NO, NOT ONE." (Rom. iii. 10.) For these reasons, therefore, an unpar- doned sinner must say : " I am lost — first, by the imputation of Adam's sin I am in- volved in the judgment of death ; stcondhj^ my own natural heart is enmity to God and utterly incapable of reformation ; f/tlra/f/, every day I am increasing my guilt by wil- |i ff '! 68 LIFE IN A LOOK. 1 P ' « ful transgression, that is, by sin aj^ainst light and truth. Being therefore CONDEMNED, INCAPABLE of REFORMATION, at least by any powers inherent in myself, and DAILY SINKING DEEPER INTO GUILT, I may well say I AM LOST." Terrible, however, as is the condition of the sinner by nature, yet grace is ready tO' save him to the utmost. Just because man is by nature lost, therefore God has given His Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. If 6m has abounded, tjiace has" much more abounded, so that the imputation of Adam's guilt, with its consequent judgment of death, the inherent depravity of the natural heart, or the oft-recurring sins of daily life, are more than met by the transcendent salva- tion of the Son of God. The imputation of Adcmis guilt is overbalanced by the imputa- tion of Chris fs rigliteousness ; the depraved heart, by the creation of a new heart in righteousness and true holiness ; and the recurring sins of daily life, by grace suffi- cient from on high. As God has thus made provision in Jesus Christ for the HI t f LIFE IN A LOOK. 69 Ihus Itlie salvation of all, the sinner is without excuse. Down through all centuries of time come these glorious words, forever refuting the calumnies of men, of Satan, and of our own evil heart as to God's not wishing the salvation of the sinner, " And this is THE WILL OF HIM THAT SENT ME, THAT EVERY ONE WHICH SEETH THE SON and believeth on Him MAY HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE: and I will raise him up at the last day.'' (John vi. 40.) After such words, joy is for all, however burdened, who will accept the salvation of God. Hence arises a new condemnation, a condemnation only revealed by the Gospel, and expressed by Christ thus : *^ He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not be- lieved in the name of the onlv begotten Son of God." And this h the condemnation, '^ that LIGHT is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than li.q:lit, because their deeds were evil." (John iii. 18, 19.) There is, in other words, no excuse ; all MAY be saved who WILL. A man who will not receive Christ into his heart is like a patient in the hospital who refuses to take 70 LIFE IN A LOOK. I ill' ■■}'- the physician s remedy. The pliysiciaii says : "Your malady, if left to itself, Avill kill you, but take this, and you will undoubtedly re- cover." If he refuse, his death is his own fault ; so is it with the sinner. It is true that he is in himself utterly lost, but Christ hast- ens to him, saying: I am come to SAVE THE LOST. If, therefore, the sinner finally rejects Christ, his doom is forever sealed, there remains no other sacrifice for sin. Secondly: That icldch cured the hraelitefi was something OUTSIDE of themselves: they were to look A WA Y from themselves at the brazen serpent ; so, too, the sinner is not com- manded to look at himself for healing, hut to Christ on the Cross. Most people look to the wrong place for salvation — to themselves rather than to Christ. I would class error here under two heads : first, those who cannot believe that Christ's death now avails for them, because they do not immediately see in themselves a holy and renewed life. Such people ignore the fact that this holy and renewed life can only be the RESULT of salvation by faith ; it does not go before, it follows LIFE IN LOOK. 71 for to two hhat iiuse Ive* ople wed tion • Hows iifter. St. Ptiiil, writing to the Epbesians, ^saj^s : " In wh(jm also after that ye hclicvcd, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of prom- ise." The Holy Spirit came permanently to dwell in them AFTER they had believed in Christ. Let this be clearlv borne in mind, for when men seek for rectitude of life they are only seeking that which in itself is most commendable. But the question is — How is it to be obtained ? Let us suppose you have taken part in an unsuccessful rebellion. As ii necessary result of your conduct }'our life is forfeit to the crown ; to save yourself, you i\y to a foreign country and there remain. At last, growing weary of exile, you say : " I would like to go back and live as a peace- able subject in my own land," but your friends Avarn you that it will be death for 30U to return until you can first have the ban removed. The crown has condemned you to death, and until that sentence has been revoked you cannot possibly return. First have the ban cancelled, and then re- turn. So is it with the soul. " He that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the WRAlri OF GOD ABIDETH ON m r i, ■-..■It iiiii .! 72 LIFE IN A LOOK. ]IIM." (John iii. 3G.) This is God's son- tence on all out of Christ. You ask for rec- titude of life ; this is well, but before you can (jljtain grace to walk acceptably with God you must first have this awful sentence of wrath removed, and this most certainly will be the case when, as an utterly lost sinner, you look away to Christ and believe on Him as God's propitiation for your sins. Secondly, those who say that, because they cannot feel the truth of the Gospel in their heart, therefore they cannot accept it. This is like a man with small-pox saying he does not feel strong and well, and therefore re- fuses to take the doctor's medicine. The man is sick and cannot -po^^ihly feel anything else than sick ; and the soul which is under the wrath of God cannot possibly feel the peace of acceptance in the Beloved when that peace has not yet been secured. There- fore God does not ask you to look in for feeling, but out of you to Christ for salvation. Salvation in Scripture is never once made to rest on feeling but on the finished work of Christ alone ; and that this glorious Avork of Christ saves us we KNOW by LIFE IN A LOOI IV. ►TO virtue of God's written word. Clirist savs to you : " Yerilv, verilv, I say unto vou. he that believeth on Me HATH everlasting life." When, therefore, you believe on Him as one who has saved you bv His death, vou clearlv know vou are saved, simplv because His word savs so. There mav be at first but little joy, or, on the contrary, there may be much. A great deal will d^'pend both on temperament and on the appreciation which a man has of the gift he has just obtained. What is PROMISED to everv soul who be- lieves in Jesus Christ, is everlasting life. When once he is saved he is COMMANDED to rejoice. Thirdly: There loas life in a look at the brazen serpent: there is ETERNAL life in lookinrj unto Christ. The bitten Israelite lay dying in the dust ; his flesh is swollen, his skin turned black ; his tongue parched with thirst; life fast ebb- ing from him. Suddenly the cry is heard, ''- Look, and live." Where ? he asks, where ? They point him to the brazen serpent as it glitters in the sunlight, and say, '"There!" In an instant his fadinir sijiht is turned HI, 74 LIFE IN A LOOK. 1 r 1 1 i i ■ ,( . 1 1^1 toward it, and with a rush, the Avarm, healthy life-blood mantles to hi.s cheek, ihe poison vanishes, he knows not where, and to his feet he springs rescued from the very jaws of death. So is it with the lost soul who looks to Christ ; salvation comes to him in the look. The bitten Israelite could not possibly help himself, every moment the poison spread further and death came nearer. The physician could not heal him ; no medi- cine, no burning, no amputation could arrest its terrible pr«:>gress, or keep back the ap- proach of death. God alone could help him ; and God did help him, and by this typical serpent save him. Now our Lord says this brazen serpent was an exact representation of the way in which He saves and regener- ates the soul. I suppose you, dear reader, to be one who has not yet been saved. You need the pardon of your sins — eternal life, the new birth, in fact, everything. Like the dying Israelite, you are utterly unable to save yourself, and therefore, just because of this utter helplessness — this extremity of misery and woe — God has exalted His Son Jesus Christ to give you salvation to the t LIFE IN A LOOK. 75 uttermost and to place you. as an heir in the kingdom of His glory. Pointing you, there- fore, to Christ on the Cross as His eternal satisfaction for sin, and knowing all your need, He says : '' Behold the Lamb of God," LOOK UNTO HIM AND LIVE. Omiplete healing came to the Israelite from looking to the serpent : infinite sctlvaflon will come to you from looking to Christ. By this I mean that look of faith which, on the authority of Holv Writ, sees in Christ on the Cross in- finite satisfaction for all your sins — instan- taneous life for your soul. And now, just to make this glorious truth clearer to you, I will state two things of great importance : Why you should look to Christ, and lioio you should look. First, because, in the death of our Lord, an infinite satisfaction was made for all your sins. Sin demands punishment. The law of God, holy, just and good, cries out for vengeance on all who break its pre- cepts. You have bnjken them times without number, and therefore your life is forfeit to the law. How, tlien, will you be freed from your sins? The Scripture says: "Without shedding of blood is NO KEMLSSION ;" li'i \m I m 70 LIFE IN A LOOK. (Heb. ix. 22) anil .:lio blood which jUone remits is the BLOOD OF CHRIST. Here then, on the Cross, Clirist bore to the full all the sins of those who had believed or should in after ages believe on Him. Here too, on this same Cross, for their healinir was He wounded. Isaiah sums it all up in two sub- lime verses: *' All we, like sheep, have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath LAID ON HIM the ini(j[uity of us all." It was there- fore God who laid our sins on Christ, and bur- dened Him with the weight of our iniquities. In the fifth verse we have given us the rea- son of Christ's death on the Cross : '• He was w^ounded for our trangressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him ; and with HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED. ' (Is. liii. 5, G.) On the Cross, therefore, our glorious Redeemer presented His own righteousness for acceptance, and our -sins for punishment ; and God the Father accepted this awful death as the eternal propitiation, or satisfac- tion, not only for the sins of His oioi people, but also for the sius of THE WHOLE LIFE IN A LOOK. 77 WORLD. (1 Jolm ii. 2.) ''Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death FOR EVERY MAN," (Ileb. ii. 0,) and therefore there was no one who ever dkl live, or no one who ever shall live, for whom Christ did not die. Look then, dear reader, to Ilim. Here in Chri^ ' • DEATH is God's satisfaction for all your sins. He will, according to His own word, accept this death as the full remission of all 3'our guilt, as your title to sonship, and inheritance to glory, provided only this day you thus accept Him by faith. Secondly^ liow you are to accept Him : by simple faith, " For by grace are ye saved THROUGH FAITH," nothing more. You wish to draw nigh to God. Scripture says you may assuredly do ^o through Jesus Christ. Before vou now, He stands the Lamb of God for sinners slain. God asks vou simply to believe on Him and live for ever. Can you not therefore say : Lord, I do from my heart hellcve that Thou by this thine awful death dost NOW SAVE ME FROM DEATH, and that Thy perfect righteousness is accepted by the Father for me ; and with my mouth I do confess that ft' ir ^ 78 LTFE IN A LOOK. [lili I HI li i ' it ! 1 III I I Thou art my Saviour, who hawt redeemed mc with Thy precious blood, whereof the Father hath given proof in that He raised thee from the dead. This is Scriptural faith, and this is all God asks of you in order to be saved. It is not therefore faith in yoiirself, faith in your resolutions of amendment, faith in any effort you may make, but faith in Christ — in His work — in His word. God will not save you for what you are, but for what Christ is, and therefore tlie Holy Ghost asks you to look with faith to Christ on the Cross and with the whole heart believe that there Christ tasted death FOR YOU. And Avhen, dear reader, you do so look, you will not only be eternally saved, but BORN AGAIN, that is, the Blood of the Lord Jesus will not only wash away your sin^, and His righteousness be made the ground of your justification, but your soul will then be QUICKENED by the power of the Holy Ghost working in you through Jesus Christ. Nicodemus wished to know how a man could be born again. Our Lord brings back to his mind the grand old his- torical scene of the brazen serpent, and then i L™ LIFE IN A LOOK. 79 tells him : '' EVEN SO must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Ilim should not perish, but have eternal life." Now Christ has not only life in Him- self, but He has power to quicken or give life to all who believe on Him. He is the "BREAD THAT GIVETH LIFE," and therefore whosoever believingly looks to Him, is at that instant, by Him, quick- ened into spiritual life. There is at that moment created within him the new heart of which Ezekiel speaks ; the new man of whom St. Paul speaks ; in other w^ords, he is horn again, and has undergone that great change without which no man can see the kingdom of God. Understand, therefore, that salvation is not merely the pardon of our sins, and the promise of infinite bless- ings in the future. It is far more : it is at once the eternal remission of our sins by virtue of the sacrifice of Christ — the being formally pronounced righteous by reason of the perfect obedience of Christ reckoned to us, and, at the same time, the creation within us of a new heart in righteousness and true holiness. This new and God-lovins; heart I I ill f! 'IS m d 1; ii 1 iS !;;• I j -•' 1 [ j ■ 1 ' j 1 > 1 " ' ll 1 1 ' Ii L 80 LIVE IX A LOOK. comc's t ) US fi'om Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost, and takes place when- ever the sinner flies to Christ and believes on Ilini. To conclude— This salvation is INSTAN- TANEOUS. The iM-stauf the dying Israelite lo'jked to the ])razen serpent he was made W(dl ; and the instant a sinner from the heart believes in Christ he is eternal! v saved. \^\\i many say : How is this possible? — has ot remniancii to come in first, and is not n< -ei repentance deep and prolonged sorrow for sin ? — if it be such, how caij salvat'()n by any possibility be instantaneous? In reply I must say, that, certainly, if by repentance Avere meant ^'deep and prolonged sorrow for sin," then the statement that salvati^m is a gift instantaneously conferred, could not be maintained ; but that life is so conferred., is the emphatic teaching of our Lord in His ccmversation with Nicodemus, as well as in His repeated statements tiirougbout the Avliole Gospel of St. John. The ({uestion then is, What is meant by repentance ? iiy repentance in Scripture is meant an after mind or thought ; hence a fli(in(je of LIFE IX A LOOK, 81 Hand. Thus Ksau found no plact' of repent- iince, tliougli lie souglit it carefully witli tears. His anxiety was to induce his father to iiive him the bh'ssinji: lie had already be- stowed on Jacob. This Isaac would not do, and Esau eould not make him repent o:- cJiange Jiis mind. So too in the case of the two sons. (Mathew xxi. 28-32.) One son said I will not, but afterward he r3i)ented and went— that is, on reflection, he saw he had done wrongly, and this change of mind led him to change of conduct. Repentance is therefore not mere sorrow for sin; it i- a change of mind leading to a change of con- duct. Now the point I wish you especially to observe is this: — Repentance does not of itself and by itself mean sorrow. There may, or there inay not be deej) grief connected Avith repentance; ail depends on God's indi- vidual dealing with the soul. In some in- stances there may be nothing experienced save unaffected joy, and in such cases the re})entance is just as real, as true, and as much '^ unto life," as in those instances where there is nothing but the deepest grief. All 1 wish vou to notice is — re])entance does '1 \h\ m i 82 LIKE IX A LOOK. not of itself mean sorroNv on the one hand, nor joy on the other, hut thai r/ia7if/e of v mid which leads to a total change of conduct. Tliis will he seen more clearlv if we con- wider the foUovving facts: — First, man's mind needs to he wholly changed. Man is hy nature wholly Avrong in all his ideas ahout God, ahout Satan, ahout the world, and even about himself. This in the result of the fall hy which his mind has been made not only dark, but very darkness itself. " Ye were sometimes darhiesfi,'' says St. Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, '' but now are ye llfjld in the Lord." The result of all ignorance is, that people believe the suggestions of Satan and the promptings of their own heart, and thus entertain a thousand wrong ideas about God and the way of salvation. What people therefore need is, to have God's glorious Gospel preached to them — that is, the revelation of Ilis will, in order that tliey may see how wrong all their ideas are. When, then, a man on this representation of the truth changes his mind about God and Jlis Son Jesus Christ, this is repentance toward God. LIFE IN A LOOK. 83 Take for instance the case of St. Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost. When tlie Apostle had proved to tliern that tliey had been guilty of crucifying the Lord of lif(^ and gh)ry, they were overwhehiied with grief; they cried out, '' Whiit must we do to be saved ?" Now this deep sorrow and un- feigned remorse is just what many would call reitoitanae ; but the Aposth', so far from calling it repentance, says: ^' Kepent and be baptized every one of you." What he meant to convey was that inasmuch as theses people knew nothing of God as reconciled in Jesus Christ — nothing about salvation being wholly (:(>inplet(^d on the Cross — nothing, in fact, about Cod or about thenisidves — there- fore thc^y shoukl immediately repetit, that is, not give way to wild despair, or go about seeking to establish their own righteousness^ but, on the representation of the Gospel^ change their minds and see God as willing to receive them into favour through the merits of His dear Son. Secondly, repentance is always in close connection with fa If h ; that is, repentjuu^e towards (iod always occurs at the sduie flinfi 11 m II Mi 1 i 84 LIFE IN A LOOK- as faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every passage in the worci of God in which salva- tion is said to be instantaneouslv conferred on him that belie veth proves this. Take, for instance, the foHowing passage : *' The hour is coming, and now is, w^ien the dead .shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." Now, if repent- ance is to come in at all, and we know it is indispensable, it must come in between death iind life ; the dead are to Jiear, and wiien they hear they are to live. Nothing is men- ticmed but hearing, that is, with faith, for Christ saj's : " A'erily, verily, I say unto you, he that BELIEVETH ON ME HATH EVERLASTING LIFE." It follows, there- fore, that this hearing is believing, and that this believing must and does include RE- PENTANCE. St. Paul, however, distinctly tells us what repentance is, and when it occurs. Writing to Timothy, he tells him that '^ the servant of the Lord must in meek- ness instruct those •'ho oppose themselves ; if God, peradvei.ture, will give them repent- ance to the acknoidedging of the trutJi'' (2 Tim. ii. 25.) Here we see repentance is the T\ LIFE IN A LOOK. 85 acknowledging the truth as it is in Jesus, and so acknowledging it as to believe in it with the heart, and thus to be made new bv its power. Thirdly, Repentance is not always accom- panied by sorrow. People say : Does not the Scripture affirm that *'' godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of"? Certainly it does; and wherever God works deep grief in a man's soul for his sin^:, it is a blessed thing, for it will surely lead him to Christ. But God's ways are not uniform in dealing with the soul. On some minds the light gradually arises as a glorious truth filling the soul with joy unspeakable, and in this instance the re- pentance is just as deep, just as real, as in the case where there is the most unfeigned sorrow. Repentance is not jo^ or sorrow, it is that change of niind. which leads to the acknowledgment of the truth. The Ethi- opian did not understand the Prophet Isaiah ; but Philip, having been taken up into his chariot, explains to him the salvation of Christ. On this the eunuch repents, that is, acknowledges to ti.^ full the truth he has ; 1 fi I 13 It'' li 86 LIFE IN A LOOK. heard, and joyfully believing in Christ, in immediately baptized. This was a change of mind to the acknowledgment of the truth, which is true repentance. It took place at the same time as when by faith he grasped Christ; for there can be no repentance to- wards God separate from faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. How different is all this from what is generally advanced concerning repentance. According to the popular idea, repentance is a period of intense suffering on account of sin through which a man must pass before he can be saved ; and furthermore, that this intense sorrow causes God's favour to shine npon ns, and is in itself one of the main reasons why God pardons us. Now nothing could be more thorouo^hlv destructive of the Gospel than this impression. It leads people to look info Ihemselves for feelings rather than \(p to Christ for salvation ; it drives them to despair on the one hand, or to utter indiffer- ence on the other ; for, after seeking in vain for feelings which never can be in the fallen heart, unless God especially put them there, they give up all for lost. Others put off i 11 i I'll LIFE IN A LOOK. 87 coiniii"; to Christ until some time when thev hope to feel a sorrow for sin which they do not at the present. It inverts the whole order of God's economy as illustrated by the brazen serpent:; for it makes a man to a very large extent his own healer rather than Christ, and thus turns away his eyes from that glorious Being whom God has exalted for our salvation. Understand, therefore, I do not depreciate sorrow ; on the contrary, whenever it comes from God it Avorks re- pentance unto salvation. So, too, does the "goodness of God" (Rom. ii. 4) effect the same. All I wish to say is : repentance is in itself neither joy nor sorrow. There ma}' be, by God's ruling in individual cases, in- tense sorrow for sin, as the soul comes into the full and glorious light ; or, there may be, on the other hand, intense joy ; but, whether joy or sorrow, repentance takes place in both, and is as real in the one case as in the other. Repentance — to sum up all I have said — is that change of mind which takes place in every man who having had wrong ideas about God, about the redemption of Christ, about himself, is led, through the revelation of 88 LIFE IN A LOOK. It i! I I ■■■'-■ \ the Gospel to see his error Jind believe in Christ, llepentrtiice, therefore, toward God is that clif.wfje of mind Avhicli is hisejKWdhly connected with FAITJI IN CHRIST, and is always followed by a change of life. What is the practical effect of all ti Is ? It is that the poor sinner can Ije saved — and God means that he should be saved — directly and instantaneously by the Savi()ur. God points you, dear reader, to the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross, and . says : LOOK, BELIEVE, AND LIVE. Should vou ask : What am I to believe? I answaH- — That all that was necessary for y(jur eternal redemp- tion was FINISHED there ; that tliere you see CHRIST TASTINCJ DEATH FOR YOU, so that nothing remains but for you to re- ceive salvation as a gift. Can you not NOW look up and live forever? })elieving that He by His death saves you from death, and that hereafter He will be vour eternal Friend, your Saviour and your God. Hesitate not. Look not to your feelings, ])ut up alone to this gbn'ious Redeemer, and if this (lay you set to your seal that God is true by accepting Christ as THE ONE whose deatli and right- I..FE IN A LOOK. 80 cousness have procured your salvation, this day, ijiod's word declares, will you pass from death unto lil'e, and tJils (luy be written among the living. 1 sometimes wonder how peoi)le can enter- tain douhts as to the ability of Christ to save them. It is like a man coming to a dead halt beibre London Ijridge : hundreds of heavy waggons ladi>n with merchandise, be- side C'\rriages and loot passengers, aru hurry- ing over, as they have for years gone by, and yet he stands afraid to trust himself upon the bridge. The policeman asks him to '' move on," but he still hesitates, and tells him he fears the bridge will not bear him. *^ The man's mad," mutters the police- man, and leaves him to himself. And can you douljt, dear reader, the power of Christ's death to save yoa to the uttermost ? Has not that blood saved Paul, the chiefest of sinners? lias it not washed away the de- lilement of all God's people ? lias it not ob- tained peace for all God's waiting people ? and have not all their burthens, their sins, their sorrcnvs and their cares been fully ]x)rne bv Him ? And are YOU afraid to J ( 90 LIFE IN A LOOK. cast your weary heart, laden though it be Avith nins, upon Him, and believe that NOW His niij^hty sacrifice avails for your instan- taneous salvation ? Have you discovered faults in Him whom God has pronounced faultless ? Or, does not that satisfy YOU which satisfied GOD ? No, dear reader, her.itate not. Do not look into the ftdure^ and sadly hope that in some as yet unreached time God will make with you a treaty of peace ; but, standing before the awful sacrifice of the death of Christ, believe that HERK thy soul finds life; that here CHRIST, by this tremendous death, FOR EVER PUTS AWAY THY SINS. " Come, now, and let us reascm together, saith the Lord : though your sins be as SCAR- LET, they shall be Is WHITE AS SNOW; though they be RED LIKE CRIMSON, THEY shall be as WOOL." (Isaiah i. 18.) CONCLUSION. If n Al- >N. LoOKFNr. UNTO JeSUS ; OR, riROWTlI IN GrACE. jT?01i the c(jinfort of those who have already . '^. ^^ ^A ^ ;\ ^^<> 'C'^":r<> r^^ C'x II v 92 LIFE IN A LdOK. i 1 iX into closer suojection to the will of God. Let us now briefly consider tlie first. In the Epistle to the Hebrews there are three remarkable statements made about sanctification : first, that '• both He that scantifieth and they who are scantified are all OF ONE.'' (Heb. ii. 11.) This implies the perfect and eternal union which exists between Christ and His people, as is clearly seen by referring to verse 14, which declares that as tlie children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same. Secondly, that the sanc- tification of the believer was the result of the will of the Father, that is, according to His purposes in grace, and, furthermore, that this sanctification was effected thro'igh the offering of the body (jf Jesus Clirist, once for all. The words of the text are as fol- lows: "In which will we HAVE BEEN SANCTIFIED through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all." (Chap. X. 10, Alford.) Believers being, as we have just learned, one with Christ, rest forever in all the blessed and abiding conserpiences of that eternal offering by which He both [ 1 p LIFE IN A LOOK. 93 washed away their nins and consecrated them to the service of God. By tliat offer- ing they have hef)i sanctified, that is, they have heeii once and forever AV ASHED ; once and forever SEPARATED ; once and for- ever CONSECRATED ; and once and for< ever MADE IIOTjY by the sprinkling of Christ's blood. B}^ the offering of the body of Jesus Christ the sanctification of the believer is absolntely complete, in that he occupies a place of holy separation from the service of sin, and stand:-" now, as he shall alway stand, perfect in the righteous- ness of Christ, and holy with the holiness of that blood by which lie is sprinkled. This truth is forcibly In^ought out in verse 14 : '' For by one offering He hath PERFECTED FOR EVER them who are sanctified." How- ever poor and unworthy a believer may be in liimself — and tlie more we li-row in