INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

A general desire having been expressed that another visit should be paid to the American continent, similar to that which took place in 1898, the same brethren sailed from Liverpool on 18th September, 1902, and they arrived back again on 15th November. During that period they visited Quebec, Rochester, Chicago, Indianapolis, Knoxville (Tennessee), Baltimore and Plainfield. At most of these places meetings were held for three consecutive days, consisting of readings in the morning and afternoon, and addresses in the evening. At several places there were many present from distant gatherings, At Chicago, where the meetings were intended chiefly for the local residents, there were readings late in the afternoon and addresses in the evening, but a great many from Chicago also went on to Indianapolis.

Before sailing from New York there were two afternoon readings there with addresses in the evening. The character of the meetings throughout was free and happy, and many stated that they had received help and encouragement, The second visit necessarily differed in many respects from the first. The novelty had passed off and the actual state of things was more apparent. One result of this was that the ministry took more the direction of meeting the condition and needs of those present, than a simple setting forth of truth as on the last occasion, It is therefore not so easy to summarise the subjects which occupied attention, nor to refer to them in such a connected form as before, but it may be useful to direct attention to a few of the leading thoughts which were taken up in detail at several places.

There are two which stand out prominently, and they are

1. That it has pleased God to make Himself known to man, and to come, so to speak, within his reach, in spite of all his ignorance, his disobedience and his wickedness.
2. ^[p. 2] That from the moment sin came into the world God has wrought in view of another world, which is not yet displayed, but to which faith has always looked on, and of which Christ, having accomplished redemption, is now established as the Sun and centre.

As regards the first point it is clear that if God, who is (a) Spirit, and who dwells in unapproachable light, was to make Himself known to man, He must come near him in man, and therefore the Word became flesh — the Son became incarnate — took part in flesh and blood. Even so, however, He would still have remained alone — sinless and perfect in a world of sinful men — but as men lay under the sentence of death He Himself went down into death, and laid down the life which none could take from Him, so that rising out of it there might be set forth in Him, in resurrection, all that was in the mind and thought of God for man. These blessings are not, so far as the presentation of them goes, limited to any particular class of men, but are for all and every man. The believer is, however, the only kind of man who comes into the actual good of them.

It is of great importance to keep quite distinct in our minds that which in the goodness of God is presented to us as testimony, which man is responsible to receive, and the work of God in the souls of men by which they are brought into the good of it. This last has to do with the sovereignty of God, whilst the former is presented to the responsibility of man.

In considering the second point we must remember that this earth was created and made in view of man being established as head over it. Adam failed entirely to maintain such a position, but the purpose of God as set forth in Psalm 8 will yet be made good, and the scene and time of this being displayed will be “the world (or age) to come”. As already stated, from the moment that sin came into the scene God wrought in view of that world, and the faith of His saints was, in one way or other, directed towards it. When the suited moment had arrived He who alone was ^[p. 3] competent to be the Head of that world appeared (2 Timothy 1: 9, 10) — a divine Person, but taking the place and condition of a Man. As such He tasted death for everything, and having by that death accomplished redemption, the work which brings in reconciliation, He takes His place in resurrection as the Head of every man, and as Head over all things to the church which is His body, all power being given to Him in heaven and upon earth. We do not yet see all things put under Him, but faith knows it to be true, and all that remains is to wait for the introduction in manifested power of that world, or age, which takes its character wholly from Him who is its Sun and centre.

To be in the light of the knowledge of God as He has been revealed by the Son, and of that “world to come”, which, though not yet actually displayed, is established morally in Christ, is the blessed privilege of the christian today.

It is a great help in understanding man’s relationship with God to remember that sin is really “lawlessness”. The word “sin” has lost its meaning in many minds, partly no doubt from the unfortunate error in the ordinary translation of 1 John 3: 4, which states it to be “transgression of the law”. An illustration drawn from the ‘solar system’ helps us to understand lawlessness, and what the contrast to it actually is.

The earth and all the other planets have their appointed places in relation to the sun, and are held in attachment to it by certain fixed laws. Each one is maintained in its proper place and there is no disorder. In those rare cases in which a body seems to break loose from its place the result is destruction, as with the wandering stars of which Jude speaks.

In applying this figure to man it must be remembered that he is a moral being. As such he was created and placed in relationship with God, and though fallen he still owes an “account of himself to God”. Through disobedience he broke away from this relationship and so ^[p. 4] became a lawless being. His history ever since is one of unrighteousness. Each one has followed his own way, with the result that evil of every kind has developed and man is lost — is on the way to final destruction. When God graciously intervened to bring in salvation, the first thing we find is a Man in this scene who “loved righteousness and hated lawlessness”. This righteous One laid down His life for those who were unrighteous in order that He might bring them to God. He having tasted death for everything, God has given Him a place over all things and all men. In virtue of what He has wrought God now presents in His name forgiveness of sins to all, and to him who receives the testimony Christ gives the Spirit as “living water”. This becomes in the believer a spring, welling up into eternal life. From another point of view, by receiving the Spirit the believer is ‘firmly attached to Christ’ 2 Corinthians 1: 21, New Trans.: note.

Christ being, as already stated, the Sun and centre of that new moral system where all is according to God, he who is thus attached to Christ is brought into and maintained in his true place and relation to God. He is now no longer lawless, but is duly subject to Christ, and practises righteousness.

Such are the wonderful effects of appreciating what God has set forth as to the place which Christ now occupies, and we understand in measure the force of the statement that “grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” Romans 5: 21.

In connection with the subject of eternal life it was pointed out that whether life is looked at physically or morally it is dependent on certain conditions. Those conditions exist when any person is born, that is begins to live. They are necessary to the infant, and the life is lived in them. The moment a child is born it comes under the influence of the laws which govern all material bodies, and it requires and finds rule and air and light. In spiritual things there are what correspond to these, all found in Christ. He is “eternal life”, and to be really in it one must abide in Him.

With regard to redemption it is important to remember that only the one to whom an inheritance belongs has the right to redeem it for himself, and this brings before us the great fact that God as Creator has rights over men, and that when Christ — a divine Person — accomplished redemption He was really (to use the figure) discharging the liabilities which encumbered His own property. Man may refuse to come into the benefits of what has been done, but that in no way alters the fact.

Another interesting point which was brought out is, that in each of the epistles Christ is presented in some special character, and that the appreciation of this is a key in each case to the right understanding of the epistle. As to the gospels this has often been remarked, and it is true to a large extent as to the prophets. It may suffice here to say that in 1 Corinthians Christ is presented as the Wisdom and Power of God by which all that dominates man is set aside in order that all that is of God may be introduced in men, and all on the ground of resurrection. In 2 Corinthians He is seen as the One in whom all the promises of God are established, and in the epistle of John He is “the true God and eternal life”.

The sole object of these remarks being to direct particular attention to some of the subjects dwelt upon during the meetings, it is not desirable to extend them further. It only remains to add that there was a strong feeling expressed that in these closing days, whilst it is most important to have an enlarged appreciation of the extent and character of God’s thoughts, purposes and ways as set forth in Christ, it is also of the deepest importance to understand that it is only by the individual apprehension of these things in the power of the Spirit, and by being in the condition morally suited thereto, that there can be any real answer in us to what God has been pleased to unfold to us. There is little or no trace of anything formal or ecclesiastical in the early days of the church — everything ^[p. 6] was set up and carried on in the power of the Spirit. If this was the case, then it must surely be necessary now, when everything external is in ruin, and so we may justly appropriate the exhortation to Timothy, “Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine”.
J.S.A.