THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MILLENNIAL SAINT AND A CHRISTIAN
[p. 73] THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MILLENNIAL SAINT AND A CHRISTIAN
2 Corinthians 5: 15 - 18; Colossians 3: 10, 11
A newly constructed man, which the term ‘converted man’ generally implies, is a man for earth. It is interesting to learn from Scripture that there will be a man of this order on the earth in the millennium, and the better we apprehend his status, the easier it will be for us to discern the difference between him and an entirely new man; for doubtless many a devoted saint mistakes the former for the latter. First, then, the converted man is “born of water and of Spirit”; he believes in Christ, as typified by the two goats; Leviticus 16. Eternal redemption effected for him in the presence of God, and all his sins carried into the land of forgetfulness, and he is assured by the presence of Melchisedec that God has given to him the things on the earth to possess. Besides this, the law is written in his heart: “I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them”.
The converted man not only delights in the law of God but it is his nature; the resistance within has been removed and there is no opposition from without, and the Holy Spirit in him maintains him therein. The converted man loves God with all his heart and his neighbour as himself, while touching all the commandments and ordinances of the law, he is blameless; he is free of any fear of death or judgment; assured by the presence of Him who has the keys of death and hell. Deuteronomy 26 describes him; he traces all his blessing to the grace of God; he worships God; and he rejoices in every good thing which the Lord has given him. In all the sacrifices he calls to mind the death of Christ as the only ground and warrant for all his blessing; he is “like a tree planted by the [p. 74] rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper”, Psalm 1: 3.
When we have a true idea of a converted man, we are ready to say that there cannot be anything more, and, in fact, with christians generally, nothing beyond it is aimed at or expected.
Now the christian at the start is a man of a different order and type altogether. Here lies the great distinction or difference. The christian is not after the flesh, he is not earthy; he is heavenly and spiritual. “As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly”. He has put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all, and in all; Colossians 3: 10, 11. There is nothing of the first man of any nature or quality; Christ is everything and in all. No one can comprehend the nature and qualities of the christian but as he apprehends the nature and qualities of Christ. We know that because the children were partakers of blood and flesh, “he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil”. As Christ died for all, then were all dead, “.. . that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.. .. old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God”. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature”. “No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven”. The Son of God became a man, that through death He might make in Himself of twain ([p. 75] Jew and gentile) one new man, so making peace. The christian is a man of new and different tastes and order. The great exercise of a christian is to discern good and evil. There is nothing to correct or improve in the new man; as we put on Christ, we put on the new man; and the christian finds that even what was gain to him, as of Adam, he must count loss for Christ. Amiability or the best natural virtue is surpassed by Christ; and it is only as Christ is formed in him and he is kept by the power of God, that he resists the flesh. The flesh in the christian is unaltered, and hence, if he does not walk in the Spirit, he is carried away by the flesh. As Christ is in him, the salient traits of his nature are kept in abeyance, and as his conscience is good; he is sanctified, but he is the same person still. If the Spirit be grieved and hindered, he acts and behaves as he naturally would; but on the other hand, a christian led by the Spirit is an imitator of God; he surpasses the converted man; he magnifies the law of God. All the duties devolving on the man in the flesh, and all the ordinances of God are better fulfilled by the christian than by the converted man (the man as God required him to be). Under the law there is very little direction as to the domestic duties, save that children should obey their parents; while the man in Christ is most exemplary in the home circle, as we see in Ephesians 5 and 6. It is clearly shown that the nearer we are to God, the more we answer to every desire of His heart, and this, thank God, for the christian is par excellence.
I need not add that the christian is a man altogether suited to God; as the Son who is in the bosom of the Father is the Man of God’s pleasure, so we, through the infinite grace of God, are of Him - we are of the new man, and as we walk in the power of the Spirit, we glorify God in our bodies which are His.