Part 7 (1/2)
And here it est e of every believer not to commit sin There is no necessity whatever why he should ”My little children,” says the apostle, ”these things write I unto you, that ye sin not” This is a most precious truth for every lover of holiness _We need not sin_ Let us remember this ”Whosoever is born of God doth not commit [or, _practice_] sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John iii 9)
This is the divine idea of a Christian Alas, we do not always realize it! but that does not, and cannot, touch the precious truth The divine nature, the new man, the life of Christ in the believer, cannot possibly sin, and it is the privilege of every believer so to walk as that nothing but the life of Christ round of redeive effect to the desires of the new nature, so that the fleshbut Christ be seen in the believer's life
It is of the utmost importance that this divine idea of Christian life should be seized and maintained People sometimes ask the question, Is it possible for a Christian to live without coe of the inspired apostle, ”My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not” (1 John ii 1) And again, quoting the language of another inspired apostle, ”How shall we, that are dead to sin, _live_ any longer therein?” (Rom vi 2) The Christian is viewed by God as ”dead to sin”; and hence, if he yields to it he is practically denying his standing in a risen Christ Alas, alas, we do sin, and hence the apostle adds, ”If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the whole world”
This gives wonderful completeness to the work on which our souls repose Such is the perfect efficacy of the atonement of Christ that we have one Advocate with us in order that we may not sin, and another Advocate with the Father if we do sin The word rendered ”Comforter”
in John xiv 16 is rendered ”advocate” in 1 John iii 1 We have one divine Person caring for us here, and we have another divine Person caring for us in heaven, and all this on the ground of the atoning death of Christ
Will it be said that in writing thus we furnish a license for co sin? God forbid! We have already declared, and would insist upon, the blessed possibility of living in such unbroken co so filled and occupied with Christ--as that the flesh, or the old nature, may not appear
This we know is not always the case ”In s we all offend,”
as Jaht-minded person, no lover of holiness, no spiritual Christian, could have any sympathy with those who say we _must_ commit sin Thank God, it is not so But what a mercy it is, beloved Christian reader, to know that e do fail there is One at the right hand of God to restore the broken link of co in our souls, by His Spirit ells in us--that ”other Advocate”--the sense of failure, and leading us into self-judg, whatever it be
We say ”_true_ confession,” for it must be this if it be the fruit of the Spirit's work in the heart It is not lightly and flippantly saying we have sinned, and then as lightly and flippantly sinning again This isIt is sure to lead to the most disastrous consequences We have known cases of persons living in sin and satisfying the and coone on for months and years, until God in His faithfulness caused the whole thing to come out openly before others
All this isthe heart Oh that we ainst it, and ever keep a tender conscience! We may rest assured that when a true-hearted child of God is betrayed into sin the Holy Ghost will produce in him such a sense of it--will lead hi, such an abhorrence of the evil, such thorough self-judgo and coain This we may learn from the words of the apostle when he says, ”If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and”--hteousness_” Here we have the precious fruit of the double advocacy It is all presented in its fulness in this part of the first epistle of John If any h intercedes with the Father, pleads the full round of His having borne the judgment of that very sin Then the other Paraclete acts in the conscience, produces repentance and confession, and brings the soul back into the light in the sweet sense that the sin is forgiven, the unrighteousness cleansed, and the communion perfectly restored ”He restoreth hteousness_ for His name's sake” (Ps xxiii 3)
We trust the reader will be enabled to understand this great fundamental truth Many, we are aware, find it difficult to reconcile the idea of intercession with the truth of a perfect atonement If, say they, the atonement is perfect, what need is there of intercession? If the believer is made as white as snow by the blood of Christ--so white that the Spirit of God can dwell in his heart--then what does he want of a priest? If by one offering Christ has perfected for ever all them that are sanctified, then what need have these perfected and sanctified ones of an advocate? Surely we ht of an imperfect atone of the human mind, but such is not the faith of Christians Scripture does most surely teach us that the believer is washed as white as snow; that he is accepted in the Beloved--coiven and perfectly justified through the death and resurrection of Christ; that he can never coment, but is passed from death unto life; that he is not in the flesh, but in the Spirit--not in the old creation, but in the new--not a member of the first Adam, but of the last; that he is dead to sin, dead to the world, dead to the law, because Christ has died, and the believer has died in Hiely unfolded and constantly insisted upon by the inspired writers Scores of passages ht easily be quoted in proof, were it needful
But then there is another aspect of the Christian which round of his standing, but he is in the body as to the fact of his condition He is in Christ as to his standing, but he is also in the world as to the fact of his existence He is surrounded by all sorts of temptations and difficulties, and he is in himself a poor feeble creature full of infir as of himself Nor is this all Each true Christian is ever ready to acknowledge that in hi He is saved, thank God, and all is eternally settled; but then he has, _as a saved one_, to get through the wilderness; he has to labor to enter into God's rest, and here it is that priesthood comes in The object of priesthood is not to complete the work of atonement, inasmuch as that work is as perfect as the One who accoh the wilderness and brought into the rest that rereat High Priest who is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God His syet on for one moment without them
He ever liveth to make intercession for us, and by His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary He sustains us day by day in the full credit and value of His atoning work He lifts us up e fall, restores us ander, repairs the link of communion when snapped by our carelessness In a word, He appears in the presence of God for us, and there carries on an uninterrupted service on our behalf, in virtue of which we are rity of the relationshi+p into which His atoning death has introduced us
Thus much as to the atonement and advocacy It only remains for us to treat of the advent We wish specially to re of the death of Christ we have left wholly untouched one grand point therein, nao into on another occasion It is i sin as well as from this present evil world and from the law There are many who merely look to the death of Christ for pardon and justification, but they do not see the precious and e died in Him and their deliverance in consequence from the power of sin in them This latter is the secret of victory over self and the world, and of deliverance froality and mere fleshly pietism
[3] This has been touched upon in ”Sin in the flesh, and sin on the conscience”--a short paper in Miscel Writings, Vol ii [Ed]
Thus we have glanced at two of the weighty subjects presented to us in the closing verses of Heb ix, na death of our Lord Jesus Christ in its two aspects; and secondly, His all-prevailing advocacy at God's right hand for us It only remains for us to consider in the third place
HIS ADVENT,
which is here presented to us in ireat foundation truths which have already engaged our attention, and which, moreover, are held and prized by all true Christians Is it true that Christ hath appeared in this world to put away _sin_ by the sacrifice of Hirace put their trust in Him? Is it true that He has passed into the heavens and taken His seat on the throne of God, there to appear for us? Yes, blessed be God, these are grand, vital and fundamental verities of the Christian faith Well, then, it is equally true that He shall appear again, apart from the question of sin, unto salvation ”As it is appointed unto ment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time apart from sin unto salvation”
Here, then, we have the matter most definitely stated _As_ truly as Christ hath appeared on this earth--as truly as He lay in the er of Bethlehem--was baptized in the waters of Jordan--was anointed with the Holy Ghost--was teood, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil--groaned, and wept, and prayed in Gethse upon Calvary's accursed tree, and died, the Just for the unjust--was laid in the dark, silent tomb--rose victorious on the third day--ascended into the heavens, there to appear in the presence of God for His people--_so_ truly shall He appear ere long in the clouds of heaven to receive His people to Himself If we refuse one we must refuse all If we question one we must question all If we are unsettled as to one we must be unsettled as to all, inasmuch as all rest upon precisely the same basis, namely, the Holy Scriptures How do I know that Jesus _hath_ appeared? Because Scripture tells me so How do I know that He _doth_ appear? Because Scripture tells me so How do I know that He _shall_ appear? Because Scripture tells me so
In a word, then, the doctrine of the atonement, the doctrine of the advocacy, and the doctrine of the advent all rest on one and the saible foundation, namely, the simple declaration of the word of God, so that if we receive one we must receive all
How is it then that while the Church of God in all ages has held and prized the doctrines of atoneht of the doctrine of the advent? How coarded as essential, the last is deeo further and say, how is it that while a arded as a heretic, and justly so, yet the arded as hardly sound in the faith or bringing in strange doctrine?
What answer can we give to these questions? Alas! alas! the Church has ceased to look for her Lord Atonement and advocacy are held because they concern us; but the advent has been virtually let slip, although it so deeply concerns Him It is due to the One who suffered and died on this earth that He should reign; to the One ore a crown of thorns that He should wear a crown of glory; to the One who humbled Himself to the very dust of death that He should be exalted and that every knee should yet bow before Him
Most surely this is so; and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ will see to it and bring it to pass in His own appointed tiht hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool”
(Ps cx; Heb i) Thewhen that blessed One who is now hidden frolory