Here is a summary of THE CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD’S ROYAL WORD. It is brought before us in its authority, in its sufficiency, and in its freedom.
1. It is, in the first place, a law. It is not an opinion amenable to the caprice of the individual, to be obeyed or to be ignored at the bidding of an arbitrary will. It is a law, a supreme and an authoritative obligation issued by one who has a right to claim unquestioning obedience, and enforced by sanctions which it were madness to disregard. Herein does the teaching of Christ, the great Gospel Lawgiver, differ largely from the teaching of all others. He does not argue, He pronounces; He does not suggest, He commands. His words are veiled in no confusion and are prefaced by no apology. They are not opinions to be canvassed, perhaps refuted, but eternal truths, principles of conduct and of action, marching at once in their unconscious royalty to the lordship of the inner man. And with like majesty does the Word of God, our corn-men and precious Bible, present itself as a claimant for the sovereignty of the human mind. It is the province of your intellect to examine its evidence, to elicit its hidden meanings. Then your conscience should acknowledge its supremacy, and then your hearts, with loyal affections, should apply its truths and reduce them into the practice of the life.
2. I observe, secondly, this Word is presented to us not only in its authority, but in its sufficiency--it is a “perfect law,” given originally in fragments: it is presented now as the completed canon of Jehovah’s will, the last, sufficient, everlasting message of God’s love to man. It is a perfect law--then it can be followed by no supplement. Perfect--then it can be superseded by no supplement. Perfect--then it can be ignored by no school of modern illuminators. Coming from a holy God, its morality is spotless. Issuing from the Just One, its decisions are equitable. It is a sufficient revelation. It is enough; not as if God had begun to build and was not able to finish His work.
3. And then, thirdly, I observe, the Word is presented to us not only in its authority, and in its sufficiency, but also in its freedom. It is a “perfect law of liberty.” it has been well observed that the highest liberty is a self-imposed restraint. The lark enjoys as rare a sense of freedom when it nestles in the tuft of grass as when it trills its sky-song in the visionless heights. We do not wonder that James, and Peter, and Jude, so delighted to call themselves servants, or, as the word might be with equal accuracy rendered, “slaves” of the Lord Jesus; that Christ Himself should have presented it as the condition of Christian discipleship; that we should take His yoke upon us, which is easy; or that the heart, in the fulness of its new experience, should exultingly exclaim--“Thy service is perfect freedom.” And this is the liberty promised by the perfect law. And this inner freedom extends to all needs, and is poured over every department and every faculty of a man.
4. And this law of liberty is perpetual. It perpetuates this freedom. “There is now, therefore, no condemnation,” &c. Such is the glorious freedom conferred by this law of liberty upon every believing soul. It is a freedom which the universe cannot parallel. There is a magic, you know, in the very name of liberty to which every heart re-spends. Poets have sung its praises; painters have immortalised its heroes upon canvas, and sculptors upon marble; patriots have looked proudly to heaven from its death-beds: its associations have glorified the commonest and least interesting spots of earth into holy shrines beaten with the pilgrim-feet of the world. The Theropylae of the world’s liberties; the Marathon of its triumph; the flat marsh upon the banks of the Thames where the charter of our freedom was wrung from a monarch’s dastard soul; that field upon the Belgian plains which has grown up into, the Waterloo of a nation’s prowess--these flush our cheek, brighten our eye, and send the blood pulsing through our veins. But political liberty, dearly as we love it, though it has entailed sacrifice of blood and treasure, exerts no liberating influence upon the inner man, and can benefit any individual only for a few brief and fleeting years. But moral freedom is gained with no such price. We wade through no slaughtered hosts to reach it. Every individual is a partaker of its benefits. It dies not with the death of time; it is not an earthly boon or charter of victories that have turned tribunes into autocrats of a mob. There is no law of liberty here. It is there, if you choose to look for it, where frail and erring men--men of like passions with yourselves--have won, by the grace of God, the victory over their own hearts and passions, have pressed on in holiness of life and philanthropic service, resulting in blessing, and, at last, in the recompense of the conqueror’s heaven.
II. THE HEARERS OF THE WORD. If there be such a Word, so authoritative, so perfect, so free, and if that Word be the gospel which is preached unto you, there is a very solemn obligation resting upon you to take heed how ye hear. Those who fulfil this duty aright will not be forgetful hearers, to whom the truth comes in monotonous accents, as the dull sound of apology. (W. M. Punshon, D. D.)
The perfect law of liberty
I. A DIVINE DESCRIPTION OF THE GOSPEL.
1. A law. Not a mere set of propositions, theories, doctrines, which need not concern us; but a rule of life and conduct.
2. A perfect law.
(1) Made by the only and absolute Sovereign of mankind.
(2) Based upon a perfect knowledge of man’s entire nature, conditions, and relationships in every place and time.
(3) Adapted to promote the highest ends of law in every way perfectly.
3. A law of liberty.
(1) It accepts only willing obedience.
(2) Submission to it brings liberty from--
(a) guilt;
(b) fear,
(c) sinful habits and propensities,
(d) the everlasting consequences of past (forgiven) transgressions.
II. MAN’S DUTY TO THE GOSPEL.
1. Careful personal investigation.
2. Retention of the truth thus learned.
3. Continual obedience.
III. THE BLESSINGS OF THE GOSPEL.
1. Approval of conscience.
2. Assurance of Divine favour.
3. The delight of conscious moral progress.
4. The joys of usefulness. (Systematic Bible Teacher.)
The perfect law of liberty
I. A PARTICULAR DESIGNATION GIVES TO THE GOSPEL. Modern legislation is very largely a history of repeal--the repeal of unjust laws; and this will go on until all inequalities and injustice are swept away. The gospel is perfect. You cannot improve it.
II. A PARTICULAR CONDUCT TOWARD THE GOSPEL DESCRIBED. A persistent childlike look of a trustful obedient child.
III. A PARTICULAR ASSURANCE made to him who maintains that conduct toward the gospel. “Virtue is its own reward,” so is obedience in this case. (J. Lewis.)
The gospel the perfect law of liberty
I. THE GOSPEL IS A LAW. The gospel may be called a law, because everything that concurreth to the right constitution and making of a law is found in the gospel; as--
1. Equity. All precepts of the gospel are just and equitable (Rom_7:12).
2. Promulgation, which is the life and form of a law (Mar_16:15; Isa_61:1).
3. The author, God; who has a right to prescribe to the creature (1Ti_1:11).
4. The end, public good; and the end of the gospel is salvation (Rom_1:16).
5. By this law we must walk (Gal_6:16; Isa_8:20; Rom_2:16).
II. A LAW OF LIBERTY.
1. Because it teacheth the way to true liberty (Joh_8:36; Rom_6:18).
2. The bond of obedience, that is laid on us in the gospel, is perfect freedom.
(1) The matter. Duty is the greatest liberty, and sin the greatest bondage (Psa_119:45, 2Pe_2:19).
(2) We do it upon free principles (Rom_12:1; Tit_2:12).
(3) We have the assistance of a free Spirit (Psa_51:12).
(4) We do it in a free state (Rom_8:15; Gal_4:31; Luk_1:74).
III. A PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY.
1. When compared with the law of Moses (Heb_10:1-2).
2. It directs us to the greatest perfection (1Jn_4:18).
3. Because it is pure, free from error (Psa_119:140). And, lastly, because it maketh perfect (Psa_19:7).
IV. “WHOSO LOOKETH.”
1. Deepness of meditation (Psa_119:97).
2. Diligence of inquiry (Pro_2:3-4).
3. Liveliness of impression (2Co_3:18). As Moses’s face shone by talking with God; and we, by conversing with the Word, carry away the beauty and glory of it in our spirits.
V. AND CONTINUETH THEREIN; i.e. persevereth (Joh_8:31; 2Jn_1:9). He being not a forgetful hearer, but remembereth, so as to reduce to practice; Jam_1:23-24. (Pro_4:20-21; Luk_2:19); a doer of the work. The gospel was not ordained only for speculation (Mat_3:8; Joh_6:29; Heb_6:10). The apostle speaks of “a form of knowledge” (Rom_2:20). Let not the tree of knowledge deprive us of the tree of life. Work the works of God: faith is our work, repentance our business, and the life of love and praise our duty. “This man shall be blessed in his deed,” alluding to Psa_1:3; in his deed, net for it Psa_19:11). He shall be blessed here with peace (Gal_6:16), and hereafter with eternal happiness (Rev_22:14). (T. Hannam.)
Looking into the perfect law
“Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty.” A law must in the first instance be known and understood. It is by means either of the eye or the ear; by examining it for ourselves, or by receiving an account of it from the testimony of others. Both of these are alluded to in our text. The man whom the apostle pronounces “blessed” is he who “looketh into the perfect law of liberty.” He does not merely look at it; he looks into it. The word is expressive of fixed, earnest, and scrutinising inspection. Such is the disposition of the Christian inquirer, looking into the perfect law of liberty. He does not take matters on trust, or at second-hand. It is not enough that he has been instructed in the truths of the gospel in his youth by parents and others. He must look into it with his own eyes, and form a judgment of it from personal observation. Nor is he satisfied with a superficial inspection, or a general survey: He must look into it particularly--embracing in his inquiry every doctrine it reveals, every precept it recommends, and every ordinance it appoints; considering the nature and importance of each separately, estimating the evidence and excellence of the whole collectively. He gives it not a mere passing glance, but considers it with a steady, deliberate attention; reflecting on it calmly, dispassionately, with personal application and fervent prayer. It discloses to him the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ: it unfolds the plan of redeeming mercy; opens up the way of reconciliation; makes manifest the privileges of the people of God, both in a state of grace, and in the kingdom of glory. He looks into them not merely with the bodily eye, but with the eye of faith, realising their truth, persuaded of their necessity, continually discovering more and more of their grandeur, contemplating them with unfeigned growing delight; and by each new discovery animated to pursue his researches, until, in the light of eternity dissipating every shade of ignorance and error, he shall in God’s light see light, and know even as he is known. “A hearer” of it, and attends to the preaching of the Word, as well as the reading of it. I might enumerate classes of hearers in great variety, all of them equally in error, but time does not permit, nor does the subject call for it. Our text contains a description that includes them all. They are all “forgetful” hearers. They all forget the very thing which they should be most concerned to remember; and that is, their own personal interest in what they hear. They forget that their design in hearing should be the same with God’s design in speaking, and that is, that the heart may be made better. What they hear, however, makes no lasting or practical impression. But the man whom the apostle declares to be blessed, is “not a forgetful hearer.” He listens with deep attention, having both the understanding, the conscience, and the heart in exercise. He mingles faith with what he hears. Above all, he endeavours to follow up the design, and to secure the profit of hearing, by a course of devoted obedience. For true religion is altogether a practical thing. In this view, the apostle here contemplates it. The man whom he pronounces “blessed,” is, in opposition to the “forgetful hearer.” “A doer of the work.” It is observable that he says nothing of believing, and speaks only of doing. Nor was it necessary that he should. The “doer of the work” must, in the first instance, be a believer of the Word. The fountain must be cleansed that her streams may be pure. The tree must be made good that the fruit may be good. But as principle must precede, so it will produce practice. The believer, in obedience to the impulses of his renewed nature, will also become a doer. The man who from right principles yields obedience to any one precept of the law, will, under the impulse of the same principles, yield obedience to every other precept; will resist sin in all its forms, and pay a regard to duty in all its branches. What he ought to be at any time, he desires and endeavours to be at all times. To complete the description of the man whom he pronounces “blessed,” the apostle includes this thought. It is added, that he “continueth therein.” Of what use are momentary impulses and superficial impressions? There is a goodness which promises fair, but it soon vanishes, like the morning cloud and the early dew. The apostle has said of him, in most emphatic language, “This man shall be blessed in his deed.” This blessedness, though principally future, is partly present. He is even now blessed with an assured confidence, he is blessed with an approving conscience, which bears testimony to the sincerity of his profession, or the genuineness of his character, and holding out to him the prospect of a gracious reception, and a triumphant acquittal, at the tribunal of his Judge. He is blessed with a good hope, which rests on the surest foundation, is warranted by the clearest evidence. He is blessed with a contented mind, satisfied with the dealings of his heavenly Father, thankful for His mercies, patient under His chastisements. The consummation of blessedness is reserved for the just made perfect, who Shall suffer neither the misery of desire ungratified, nor the sickness of hope deferred; who shall drink deep in the river of pleasures, and be replenished with that fulness of joy which is at God’s right hand for evermore. (James Barr, D. D.)
The perfect law of liberty
I. What is “THE LAW--THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY”? This question I have no hesitation in answering. It is the gospel. And, as a designation of the gospel, it is full of encouragement.
1. In the first place, the gospel is a law. Let none be alarmed. Instead of there being anything fearful in this view of it, there is everything that is fitted to impart the surest confidence to our souls. Were it not a law, no such confidence could be ours. It is as much the law, or revealed will of God, that man the sinner should be justified by faith, as it was that man the innocent should be justified by works. The way of deliverance from the law’s curse has the same authority as the law itself, and the law’s sanction.
2. In the second place, the gospel is a law, as coming with the full force of a Divine command. And strange that sinners should refuse submission to it!--strange that they should not embrace it with gratitude and joy!--for itis “the law of liberty.” Now, in the terms of prophetic intimation, the gospel proclaims, with the full authority of the Supreme Lawgiver, “liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound”: and various are the descriptions of liberty which it imparts. And it is “the perfect law of liberty.” All that is Divine is perfect. All God’s doings, in creation, in providence, and in redemption, are “perfect.”
This “law of liberty” is “perfect,” in two senses
1. It is perfect, in regard to the ground of freedom which it reveals. That ground is perfect, as it perfectly provides for the unsullied glory of all the attributes of God; as it perfectly answers the demands of His pure and holy law; and as it perfectly secures the principles of His moral government, and the stability of His throne.
2. It is perfect also in its effect on the conscience and on the heart. In this respect, it stands in contrast with the institutes of the Mosaic dispensation; which is termed “a yoke of bondage,” “a yoke,” says Peter, “which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear.”
II. THE DUTY OF LOOKING INTO THIS LAW: “Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth.”--that is, I apprehend, continueth looking. There is apparently an intended contrast between the transient and careless “beholding of the natural face in a glass” referred to in the preceding verses. The “looking” is not, in this case, cursory and forgetful, but steady, and constant, and mindful. The full contents of “the law of liberty’--“the glorious gospel of the blessed God”--are full of sublimity and interest, in all the manifestations they make of the Divine Being, and of His relations to His creatures. They are inexhaustible. The duty incumbent upon us, then, is that of close, constant, unwearied contemplation.
III. THE INFLUENCE OF THIS LOOKING UPON THE CHARACTER: “Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work.” How is this? Mere looking is not doing. Contemplation is not action. No; but doing is the result of looking; action of contemplation. The contemplation will increase faith: and the faith will “work by love”; producing, by the efficacy of what God reveals, a growing conformity to what God enjoins. The effect, indeed, may be traced to two principles--that of fear, as well as that of love. The more we contemplate the wonders of Christ’s work in the gospel, the more must we see of the purity, the perfection, and the irrepealable sanction of the Divine law--of which the transgression by men mingled for Him the inexplicably bitter cup of mediatorial suffering; and, as inseparable from this, the holiness, the justice, the truth, and the avenging judicial jealousy of the Lawgiver: and the more must we be filled with a salutary fear of offending, and so of incurring His displeasure, who has thus testified how infinitely hateful in His sight all sin is. Then, on the other hand, “the love of God,” and “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,” so marvellously discovered in the gospel--“in the law of liberty”--cannot fail, the more closely they are contemplated, to animate the great principle of all godly practice--the principle of love--of love at once complacential and grateful--love for what God is, and love for what God hath done, delightfully harmonising, and blending into one irresistible impulsive affection--the moving power of active and devoted service.
IV. THE HAPPINESS THENCE RESULTING: “This man shall be blessed in his deed.” In holy obedience to God’s will--in the filial and free service of this Divine Master--there is true happiness; happiness with which “a stranger cannot intermeddle”; which no man can take from its blessed possessor. He is “blessed in his deed.” Whatever enjoyment he might have in the contemplation, there could be no blessing upon him from God, without the result of the contemplation the holy practice. He enjoys subdued and regulated desires and affections; and has thus peace within. He has the inward consciousness of love to God and love to men; and thus a participation in the blessedness of the Divine benevolence. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)
Law and liberty
“Law”--merely “law”--“law” only--is a bondage harsh and severe. “Liberty” alone, and unguarded, passes into licentiousness, runs riot, and becomes tyranny. “Law” needs to be sweetened by “liberty,” and” liberty” is no “liberty” without the fences of law. St. James strikingly blends them, and finds the blending where only it exists--in God’s Word: “The perfect law of liberty.” It is just, what all good legislation has as its aim: “Law” which is no less than “liberty,” and “liberty” which is compatible with “law.” But what human legislation has ever yet reached it? It would not be too much to say that the Christian religion is the only code in the whole world which ever has united, or can perfectly unite, those two things, so as to make them really one. See how it is in God’s method. And, first, we look at the “liberty.” Every man who becomes a real Christian becomes a free man: and the more he is a Christian the more he is free. The date and the measure of his Christianity are also the date and measure of his “liberty.” For, as soon as ever we really know Christ, and come to Christ, and believe in Christ, our sins are all forgiven. Therefore we are free from our past. And then, the Christian now, by his union with Christ, made, in a higher sense than before, a child of God, is undertaken for in everything: so that he need have no anxiety about what is coming. Every needful thing is covenanted to him for time and eternity: therefore that man is free from his future--he is liberated from the bonds of care. And the “liberty” is not only thus of a negative character. He is free, every moment of his life he is free, to go to the throne of God “by a new and living way”; to his own God, and to open there his whole heart and to tell Him everything; and have the closest communion with Him. And then to listen for “still small voices” which shall speak back to him. He is free to claim every promise. He is free to lay his hand of faith upon the Cross, and all that Cross has purchased, and say, “It is mine!” He is a freed man of the heavenly city, free, as a child of God is free of his Father’s house. To him the doors of glory are flung wide open! And he is free to mingle with the saints; to sit down at the feast; to join in the song; free, to the very feet of Jesus; to know as he is known, and love as he is loved. That is “liberty!” Now see the law--“the perfect law of liberty.” God has given, since the creation, four laws to man; but only one of the four can be rightly called a “law of liberty.” The original “law” of all was the law of conscience, a law which if man had not fallen would have been, we must believe, a perfect guide. But as man is now, conscience is only “law” in so far as it is the reflection of other laws which God has given us. Secondly, there was a “law” given to Adam and Eve in Paradise. This was a law of prohibition. Therefore it was not a “law of liberty.” The next “law” which God gave was the law enacted from Mount Sinai. But neither was this a law of liberty. Almost the whole of it is negative; it tells what we are not to do: and negatives can never be liberty. Fourthly, came the law of the Lord Jesus Christ. See what is the basis and the character of that fourth law. Every other law had failed; no man did keep it, or could keep it. If a man’s eternal happiness depended upon any law which could be given, no man, from Adam to the latest man, could have fulfilled the condition. Christ saw that, and He came, and He Himself fulfilled all the law, to the minutest point. He carried out the whole mind of God. He fulfilled it as a Representative Man, that His fulfilment might be our fulfilment. And so God accepted it. What, then, is our “law”? Love, love, love for a law which has been kept for us. It is the strictest law that was ever made on earth. It binds every thought, every moment: but it has no shackles. It is more than voluntary: it is happy, quite happy--the only thing that is happy and makes everything else happy. It is free, quite free--the only thing that is tree and makes everything else free. It is the outcome of the heart. It is the law of angels. It is the law of the saints in heaven. It is the law of love; and the law of love is “the law of liberty.” (James Vaughan, M. A.)
The perfect law of liberty
I. THE OBJECT.
1. The gospel, therefore, has all the qualities and characteristics of a Divine legislation.
(1) A law is the mandate of a superior, who is supposed to possess judicial authority.
(2) A law is supposed to be founded in equity; and it is assumed that its requirements and exactions are such as justice cud reason bind its subjects to observe.
(3) A law is established for the public good, and is beneficial in its operations.
(4) A law must be promulgated or made known to those who are under it.
(5) A law has certain punishments annexed to the violation of its institution.
2. This system of religious truth, which we designate the gospel, is emphatically a perfect law.
(1) It is perfect, having nothing either deficient or redundant.
(2) It is pure.
(3) It is perfect, contrasted with the ceremonial ritual of the Mosaic law.
3. The gospel is also a law of liberty.
(1) The gospel exhibits to us the privilege of liberty.
(2) The gospel exhibits the means necessary for the attainment of this liberty.
(3) The gospel is the instrument of liberty.
II. AN ACTION.
1. This action implies--
(1) Attention to the letter of the gospel.
(2) That it is our duty to search into its signification.
(3) It implies also a participation in the benefits of the gospel.
2. It is necessary that we not only look into “the perfect law of liberty,” but that we continue therein.
(1) There must be a continuance in the possession of gospel privileges.
(2) Constant use of its ordinances.
(3) A constant exercise of gospel graces.
3. We now proceed to consider another branch of Christian duty” He being not a forgetful hearer.”
(1) The man who is entitled to the blessedness of the text must be a hearer. Endeavour to cultivate an affection for the Word of God--it requires no labour to remember what we love. Let us meditate on its precepts, not only when we are in the house of God, but when we have returned to our several occupations (Psa_119:97). That we may not be forgetful hearers, we must seek Divine assistance (Joh_14:26).
(2) In order to profit by what we hear, it is necessary that we reduce it to practice.
III. THE BENEFIT RESULTING FROM THE PERFORMANCE OF THIS DUTY. The reward here mentioned does not consist in the acquisition of worldly wealth, nor yet in freedom from trials or persecutions. If implies that his soul shall receive such a measure of the favour of God as shall enable him to find comfort and satisfaction in every dispensation of Providence. He shall be blessed with the approbation of God. He has also peace of conscience. He enjoys heavenly protection. (R. Treffry.)
The gospel law
I. THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, HERE COMPARED TO A LOOKING-GLASS, IS ALWAYS BEFORE THE EYES OF THE CHRISTIAN, AND IS CALLED “THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY.”
1. By this glass the soul discovers its filthiness (Joh_16:8-9).
2. This points him to Christ for cleansing (1Jn_1:7).
3. This shows him his perfect purification (Heb_10:14).
4. And freedom from condemnation (Rom_8:1).
5. Hence the gospel is called a law (Rom_3:27).
(1) It is perfect (Psa_19:7).
(2) It is the law of liberty from sin, Satan, the world, death, hell; to love, know, enjoy, and believe in God (Rom_8:21).
II. THE BELIEVER’S CONDUCT IN RESPECT OF THIS GOSPEL LAW. He “looketh into it.”
1. He has now spiritual eyes to see (Isa_29:18).
2. To look is to understand (1Pe_1:12).
3. To look is to believe (Isa_45:22).
4. To look is to expect (Psa_123:2).
5. By metaphorical usage, it denotes to look into by way of examination: and by implication, to comprehend. Hence, believers look--
(1) Diligently.
(2) Anxiously.
(3) Constantly.
(4) Prayerfully.
(5) And with faith in Christ.
III. His PERSEVERANCE AFTER DIVINE KNOWLEDGE. “And continueth therein.”
1. God has pledged the grace of continuance (Jer_32:40).
2. The believer desires to continue (Psa_17:8).
3. The Scriptures exhort to continuance (Heb_13:9).
4. The gospel is a means of continuance (2Co_4:7).
5. Through this glass he continues to look unto Christ, and is saved Joh_15:9).
IV. THE INDIVIDUAL CONSEQUENCE OF UNDERSTANDING THE GOSPEL. “He being not a forgetful hearer,” &c.
1. Being conscious of his weak memory, he prays for the Spirit as his Remembrancer (Joh_14:26).
2. And of his wavering heart, that the gospel may be written therein Psa_119:80).
3. He is a doer of the work of faith and love (1Th_1:3).
4. It is not man’s, but God’s work (Joh_6:38).
5. It is not performed by man’s but God’s strength (Php_4:13).
6. It is done to Christ’s glory (Rom_11:36).
V. THE RESULTS OF BELIEVING THE GOSPEL. “This man shall be blessed in his deed.”
1. Not for what he does, but in what he does (Psa_19:11).
2. He shall be blessed providentially (Rom_8:28).
3. He shall be blessed graciously (Psa_132:15).
4. It also denotes that the Christian shall be blessed with--
(1) A knowledge of himself.
(2) A knowledge of God.
(3) A knowledge of His Word.
(4) A knowledge of salvation.
(5) The fulfilment of the promises.
(6) Deliverance from enemies.
(7) Support in difficulties.
(8) Joy in death.
(9) Everlasting glory of both soul and body in the life to come. (T. B. Baker.)
Christianity in three aspects
I. As A SYSTEM TO BE PROFOUNDLY STUDIED.
1. Its subjects have the highest claims to intellectual investigation.
2. Its method of revealing its subjects requires intellectual investigation.
3. Its blessed effects upon the heart can only be realised by intellectual investigation.
II. AS A LAW TO BE CONTINUALLY OBEYED. There are three things implied in a law--authority, publicity, and power of obedience. This law has the highest authority; is widely published; and all who bear it have the power to obey. The “law” of the gospel consists of two elements: the evangelical and the moral; the first, involving repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; and the second, love to our neighbour and our God.
III. As A BLESSING TO BE NOW ENJOYED. “This man” is “blessed,” not in his ideas, sentiments, talk, lint in his deeds; not for deeds in some future state, but in his deeds now. (D. Thomas.)
The law of liberty
I. THE NATURE AND PROPERTIES OF THIS LAW. The law by which Christ governs is “holy, just, and good.” It unites the glory of the sovereign with the good of the subject.
II. MAN’S DUTY IN RELATION TO THIS LAW.
III. THIS ADVANTAGES RESULTING. “This man shall be blessed in his deed.”
1. He shall have the approval of his own mind.
2. He shall be blessed with increasing light and knowledge.
3. That which he doeth shall prosper.
4. He shall be blessed after his deed. “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love.” “Every man shall be rewarded according to his works.” (Joseph Taylor.)
The perfect law
1. We should with all seriousness and earnestness apply ourselves to the knowledge of the gospel. Jewels do not lie upon the surface; you must get into the caverns and dark receptacles of the earth for them. No more do truths lie in the surface or outside of an expression. The beauty and glory of the Scriptures is within, and must be fetched out with much study and prayer. A glance cannot discover the worth of anything to us. He that doth but cast his eye upon a piece of embroidery cloth not discern the curiousness and the art of it. So to know Christ in the bulk doth not work half so kindly with us as when we search out the breadth, and the depth, and the length, the exact dimensions of His love to us.
2. The gospel is a law, according to which--
(1) Your lives must be conformed (Gal_6:16).
(2) All controversies and doctrines must be decided (Isa_8:20).
(3) Your estates must be judged (Rom_2:16).
3. The Word of God is a perfect law.
(1) It maketh perfect.
(2) It directeth us to the greatest perfection, to God blessed for ever, to the righteousness of Christ, to perfect communion with God in glory.
(3) It concerneth the whole man, and hath a force upon the conscience: men go no further than outward obedience; but “the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul” (Psa_19:7). It is not a lame, defective rule; besides outward observances, there is somewhat for the soul.
(4) It is a perfect law, because of the invariable tenor of it; it needeth not to be changed, but is always like itself: as we say, that is a perfect rule that needeth no amendment.
(5) It is pure, and free from error. There are no laws of men but there are some blemish in them.
(6) Because it is a sufficient rule. Christ hath been “faithful in all His house,” in all the appointments of it. Whatever is necessary for knowledge, for regulating of life and worship, for confirmation of true doctrines, for confutation of false, it is all in the Word “That the man of God may be perfectly furnished unto every good work” (2Ti_3:17). Well, then--
(1) Prize the Word. We love what is perfect.
(2) Suffer nothing to be added to it: “Ye shall not add to the Word which I command you.” So the whole Bible is concluded (Rev_22:18).
4. That the gospel, or Word of God, is a “law of liberty.” As it is a perfect, so it is a free law. So it is in divers respects.
(1) Because it teacheth the way to true liberty, and freedom from sin, wrath, death (Joh_8:36). There is no state so free as that which we enjoy by the gospel.
(2) The bond of obedience that is laid upon us is in deed and in truth a perfect freedom.
For--
1. The matter itself of our obedience is freedom.
2. We do it upon free principles.
3. We have the help of a free Spirit.
4. We do it in a state of freedom. Well, then, consider whether you be under a law of liberty, yea or no. To this end--
(1) Ask your souls, which is a bondage to you, sin or duty? When you do complain of the yoke, what is grievous to you, the commandment or the transgression?
(2) When you do duty, what is the weight that poiseth your spirits to it? Your warrant is the command; but your poise and weight should be love.
(3) What is your strength for duty--reason or the assistance of the free Spirit? When our dependence is on Christ, our tendency is to Him.
(4) Would you have the work accepted for its own sake, or your persons accepted for Christ’s side? It is an ill sign when a man’s thoughts run more upon the property and quality of the work than upon the propriety and interest of his person.
5. From that “and abideth therein.” This commendeth our knowledge of and affection to the Word, to con-throe in it. Hypocrites have a taste; some men’s hearts burn under the ordinances, but all is lost and drowned in the world again “If ye continue ill the Word, then are ye My disciples indeed” Joh_8:31). There may be good flashes for the present, but Christ saith, “If ye continue,” if ye ripen them to good affections. So 2Jn
1:9.
6. From that “being not a forgetful hearer.” Helps to memory--
(1) Attention. Men remember what they heed and regard.
(2) Affection. An old man will not forget where he laid his bag of gold.
(3) Application and appropriation of truths. We will remember that which concerns ourselves.
(4) Meditation, and holy care to cover the Word, that it be not snatched from us by vain thoughts.
(5) Observation of the accomplishment of truths.
(6) Practise what you hear (Psa_119:93).
(7) Commit it to the Spirit’s keeping and charge (Joh_14:26).
7. From that “he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer.” Sin cometh for want of remembering: forgetful hearers are negligent (Psa_103:18). There are some truths that are of a general use and benefit; others that serve for some cases and seasons. In the general, hide the whole Word in your heart, that ye may have a fresh truth to check sin in every temptation Psa_119:11). “Remember and forget not how thou provokedst the Lord thy God in the wilderness” (Deu_9:7). Labour thus to get a present ready memory, that will urge truths in the season when they do concern us.
8. From that “but a doer of the work.” The Word layeth out work for us.
9. From that “shall be blessed in his deed.” There is a blessedness annexed to the doing of the work of the Word; not for the work’s sake, but out of the mercy of God. See, then, that you hear so that you come within the compass of the blessing; the blessing is usually pronounced at the time of your addresses to God in this worship. (T. Manton.)
The perfect law and its doers
I. THE PERFECT LAW.
1. No word of the New Testament is given to us only in order that we may know truth, but all in order that we may do it. Every part of it palpitates with life, and is meant to regulate conduct.
2. In the very central fact of the gospel there lies the most stringent rule of life. Jesus Christ is the Pattern, and from those gentle lips which say, “If ye love Me keep My commandments,” law sounds more imperatively than from all the thunder and trumpets of Sinai.
3. In the great act of redemption, which is the central fact of the New Testament revelation, there lies a law for conduct. God’s love redeeming us is the revelation of what we ought to be, and the Cross, to which we look as the refuge from sin and condemnation, is also the pattern for the life of every believer.
4. This law is a perfect law. It not only tells us what to do, but it gives us power to do it: and that is what men want. The gospel brings power because it brings life.
II. THE DOERS OF THE PERFECT LAW.
1. Cultivate the habit of contemplating the central truths of the gospel, as the condition of receiving in vigour and fulness the life which obeys the commandment.
2. Cultivate this habit of reflective meditation upon the truths of the gospel, as giving you the pattern of duty in a concentrated and available form.
3. Cultivate the habit of meditating on the truths of the gospel, in order that the motives of conduct may be reinvigorated and strengthened.
4. The natural crown of all contemplation and knowledge is practical obedience.
III. THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE DOERS OF THE PERFECT LAW. Notice the in, not “after,” not “as a reward for,” but “blessed in his deed.” “In keeping Thy commandments there is great reward.” The rewards of this law are not arbitrarily bestowed, separately from the act of obedience, by the will of the Judge, but the deeds of obedience automatically bring the blessedness. This world is not so constituted as that outward rewards certainly follow on inward goodness. Few of its prizes fall to the lot of the saints. But men are so constituted as that obedience is its own reward. There is no delight so deep and true as the delight of doing the will of Him whom we love. There is no blessedness like that of increasing communion with God, and the clearer perception of His will and mind which follow obedience as surely as the shadow does the sunshine. There is no blessedness like the glow of approving conscience, the reflection of the smile on Christ’s face. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The blessedness of doing
To have the heart in close communion with the very Fountain of all good, and the will in harmony with the will of the best Beloved; to hear the Voice that is dearest of all, ever saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it”; to know” a spirit in my feet “impelling me upon that road; to know that all my petty deeds are made great, and my stained offerings hallowed by the altar on which they are honoured to lie and to feel fellowship with the Friend of my soul increased by obedience; this is to taste the keenest joy and good of life, and he who is thus “blessed in his deed” need never fear that that blessedness shall be taken away, nor sorrow though other joys be few and griefs be many. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Forgetteth what manner of man he was
Self-forgetfulness
There are some who have not forgotten what manner of men they are, simply because they have never known it. From childhood they have been brought up with utterly false notions of themselves. Subservience and flattery may create convictions which take such firm hold of the mind that it can never get free from them; or constant engrossing work may so expend its forces as to leave none for introspection. But most of us at times Lave had little glimpses of ourselves. We have been worsted in some conflict; and although we do say to ourselves that the contest was not quite fair, yet there is the fact that we have been beaten, that perhaps we have been beaten often; and there does come the little suggestion of disappointment at times, that perhaps we are not quite so wise and competent as once we took ourselves surely to be. Or some friend whose affection for us determines that we shall not think, without protest, more highly of ourselves than we ought to think--called “the malice of kind people”--such a friend feels it a duty to tell us of some fault which “people talk about and think such a pity,” and the spiteful truth, or lie “truth-tinged,” gives us a side view of ourselves which we have never seen before, and we do not like it much. Or people talk about graces and gifts which so eminently distinguish others, when, to tell the truth, if anybody is remarkable for possessing them, certainly we thought we were. It was mortifying that nobody seemed to know it. Then, again, there have been moments when, as it were, the devil himself has entered into us, and, by the lurid light of his presence, we have for an instant seen inside some of the dark chambers of our heart, and looked upon the unclean spirits which hide there, yet ready at any moment to go forth on an evil work. Or the vision of some beauty or purity with which the trust of love had endowed us, but which we knew was not ours, or some voice of God which seemed to draw the soul up from its low dwelling-place to fairer regions, have made us dissatisfied with ourselves and shown us our grievous faults, and yet filled us with the hope of rising above them. Few men thoroughly know themselves, few men can look upon their characters as upon a geological map, with each stratum clearly marked, showing its colour and extent and fossil history, so that a man can stand before his mapped-out character and see what manner of man he is. If the dead are able to read their own memoirs, how startled at times they must be, how mortified, how indignant! How should one of us like to read these words about ourselves: “His life was one long series of tricks--mean and malicious. He was all stiletto and mask. To injure, to insult, to save himself from the consequences of injury and insult by lying and equivocating, was the habit of his life. Besides his faults of malignity, of fear, of interest, and of vanity, there were frauds which he committed for love of fraud alone”? Do you think the man about whom such words were written thought himself all that? Yet that is Macaulay’s estimate of the character of Pope. But, as I have said, if we know ourselves very imperfectly, we do at times get glimpses of ourselves, and these transient glimpses should be turned to profit in new labour of caution and prayer. In the first place, I think we may say that there are those who not merely forget what manner of men they are, but who almost forget the fact that after all they are only men. Because circumstantially they differ from their fellows, they think that they belong altogether to another race. The vauntings of Nebuchadnezzar; the bursting ostentation of Herod Agrippa; the frenzy of some of the Roman emperors, whose deity compelled obsequious courtiers to shade their eyes; the punctilios of abject daily observance demanded by Louis XIV., these are types of moral dementia. But the same kind of improper forgetfulness extends through all ranks of life. It is sometimes seen in the mental arrogance of some powerful mind, which has nothing but scorn for the simple and the dull It is seen in that overweening sense of social superiority which is a fertile parent of bad manners, If, instead of this weak, foolish self-importance, we realised the Church’s teaching, “All ye are brethren,” the lot of the humbler and less fortunate of our fellow-men would be alleviated by the tender consideration and affectionate courtesy of those more highly favoured. But if we are in danger of forgetting that we, however highly placed, are only men, is it not a fact that we still more frequently forget that we are weak, faulty, and, indeed, too often fallen men? When one thinks of it, how few things can be more surprising than the readiness with which the mass of mankind are prepared to pass decisive judgment on anything which may come under their notice. They allot approval to this, and pronounce condemnation upon that, and have forgotten what manner of men they are--for-gotten that they possess nothing but inherited prejudices, or capricious partialities, or fugitive reflections from other minds on which to found their assumption. And, more especially, would not the hardness and intolerance which is shown by thousands towards certain Churches and certain parties be shamed away, if only those parties and Churches were thoroughly understood; and if only we all remembered how apparently accidental is our own position, that but for chance, as we say, we might have been that which now we denounce. But, again, if men forget their intellectual poverty, do they not oftener forget their moral depravity? Certainly there is a great deal of evil in the world, but it does not strike one that the mass of mankind are possessed by a sense of their own badness. Take those we severely blame in our tenants, servants, dependants. Have we not quite forgotten that something like the same thing is done by ourselves? Even a fraudulent bank director has sentenced a petty thief to gaol without blushing. The things we have done, and the things we should like to do if we dared--these tell us something of our nature, and should tinge all our judgments with pity. Or, take it again in the quiet scenes of worship, when the tumult of life is stilled, and we draw nigh in confession to the great throne of renewal. There are uttered the solemn words of confession, and on bended knees we join with the priest and make our self-revelation. But what is there we see when we pour forth the litauies of the penitent? Is it a line of hated foes through which we have passed, and by which we have been smitten on every hand, and does the new week show the same dark gauntlet to be run again? and is the cry, “Lord, have mercy upon us,” our cry of conflict with recognised evils? Then the pangs of memory become a cross of salvation. Or, on the other hand, when we make our confession, is the only thing we have forgotten our faults and the ruin they are working, our moral diseases and the grave to which they are leading us; and the only thing we see--ourselves arrayed in Sunday graces? Oh, we forget the days of the week, each with its evil of temper, intention, and indulgence, its meanness, its frivolity, its cruelty; the scenes of home, and work, and reelection--the scenes which, if some one for whon we cared had seen, would have compelled an unaccustomed blush--all these we forget as we kneel and confess. Oh! it is time that we remembered ourselves, so would a humbler and more gentle spirit rule us. It is time that we remembered ourselves, so would a regenerating intention inspire us. And if we would indeed see ourselves, and, having seen, see that same self no more, we must “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (W. Page Robert. , M. A.)
The nature or” the gospel law
Christ did not make laws for His Church as Phaleas, in Aristotle, did for his commonwealth, who took good order for preventing of smaller faults, but left way enough to greater crimes. No; He struck down all, digged up all by the roots, both the cedars and the shrubs, both the greatest and the smallest. He laid His axe to the very beginnings of them, and would not let them breathe in a thought, nor be seen in a look. Nor did He, like that famous Grecian painter, begin His work, but die before He could perfect it. It were the greatest opposing of His will to think so. He left nothing imperfect, but sealed up His evangelical law, as well as His obedience, with a Consummatum est. What He began He ever finished. In a word, His will is most fully and perspicuously expressed in His gospel. But yet, to urge this home, this giveth no encouragement to condemn those means which God hath reached forth to direct us in our search. Though the lessons be plain, yet we see many times negligence cannot pass a line, when industry hath run over the whole book. Nor can We think that that truth which will make us perfect is of so easy purchase that it will be sown in Any ground, and, like the devil’s tares, “grow up whilst we sleep” (Mat_13:25). (A. Farindon, B. D.)
True liberty
Horace Bushnell speaks of a liberty above, and a liberty below the elbows; and Charles Kingsley says, “There are two freedoms--the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where a man is free to do what he ought.”
Slavery and liberty
James II., on his death-bed, thus addressed his son:--“There is no slavery like sin, and no liberty like God’s service.” Was notthe dethroned monarch right? (H. Melvill, B. D.)
And continueth therein
Continuance
I commend perseverance unto you as “a condition annexed to every virtue”; so Bernard--as “that which compasseth every good grace of God about as with a shield”; so Parisiensis--as “that gift of God which preserveth and safeguardeth all other virtues”; so Augustine. For though “every good gift and every perfect gift be from above” (Jam_1:17), though those virtues which beautify a Christian soul descend from heaven, and are the proper issues as it were from God Himself; yet perseverance is unica filia, saith Bernard, “his only daughter and heir,” and carrieth away the crown (Mat_24:13). He runneth in vain, who runneth not to the mark. He runneth in vain, that fainteth in the way, and obtaineth not. Whatsoever is before the end, is not the end, but a degree unto it. What is a seed, if it shoot forth and flourish, and then wither? What is a gourd, which groweth up in a night, and shadoweth us, and then is smitten the next morning with a worm and perisheth? What is a fair morning to a tempestuous day? What is a Sabbath-day’s journey to him who must walk to the end of his hopes? What is an hour in Paradise? What is a look, an approach towards heaven, and then to fall back and be lost for ever? A good beginning must be had, but let the end be like unto the beginning. Let not Jupiter’s head be set upon the body of a tyrant; as the proverb is, “A young saint, and an old devil”: but let holiness, like Joseph’s coat of many colours, be made up of many virtues, but reaching down to the very feet, to our last days, our last hour, our last breath. For this is our eternity here on earth; et propter hoc aeternun consequimur aeternum: Our remaining in the gospel, our constant and never-ceasing obedience to it, is a Christian’s eternity below; “and for this span of obedience, which is the mortal’s eternity, we gain right and title to that real eternity of happiness in the highest Leavens.” To remain in the gospel and to be blessed for ever, are the two stages of a Christian; the one here on earth, the other in the kingdom of heaven: to “look into” the gospel, that is the first; and the second is like unto it, to “remain in it,” to set a court of guard about us, that no deceitful temptation remove us out of our place. Our perseverance is a virtue which is never in actu complete, “never hath its complete act in this life.” (A. Farindon, B. D.)
The eye effects the sight
There is much in the eye. For the law of liberty is still the same; it moulteth not a feather, changeth not its shape and countenance: but it may appear in as many shapes as there be tempers and constitutions of the eyes that look into it. An evil eye seeth nothing but faction and debate. A lofty eye seeth nothing but priority and preeminence. A bloodshot eye seeth nothing but cruelty, which they call “justice.” All the errors of our life, as the philosophers speak of the colours of the rainbow, are oculi opus, “the work of the eye.” For the law itself can lend nothing towards them, but stareth them in the face, when the eye hath raised them, to shake and demolish them. It were good, then, to clear our eye before we took into the law, lest whilst we find what pleaseth us, we find what will ruin us. But oh that we should have such eagles’ eyes in the things of this world, and be such bats in the gospel of Christ! The covetous looketh into the world, and that hath power to I transform his soul into earth. The wanton looketh upon beauty, and that turneth his into flesh. David beholdeth Bathsheba in her bath, and is on fire. Ahab looketh upon Naboth’s vineyard, and is sick. The eye of flesh pierceth deep into the object, and the object pierceth as deep into the soul. But we look and look again into the law of liberty, but so faintly that we draw no power from it to “renew us in the inward man” (Eph_3:16). It is a law of liberty, and we look upon it, and yet are slaves. (A. Farindon, B. D. )
Not a forgetful hearer
Spiritual mnemonics; or rules for improving the memory
It is a bad thing to have a poor memory. What a difference there is between people in this respect! How little impression events make on some persons! How easily they forget names, dates, faces, the books they have read, the scenes they have visited! And how wonderfully others remember all these things!
Macaulay could repeat from memory books he had read when he was a boy; could repeat the whole of “Paradise Lost,” or one of the books of Homer. Indeed, there seems to be hardly any limit to the power of memory. Generals have been known who recollected the name of every soldier in their army, and politicians who could call by name every man to whom they have been introduced. A good memory is the necessary basis of all intellectual action. I think the time will come when we shall know how to educate and discipline the memory, and keep it from forgetting. There will be rules for memorising taught in our schools, to strengthen the memory and keep it in a healthy condition. The most important element of such a system will probably be to form a habit of attention with the purpose of remembering. How we recollect times, places, scenes, adventures, experiences, in which our whole soul was interested! I have heard a woman describing the last days of her husband’s life, or that of her child, and every minutest incident was photographed on her brain. So the Evangelists recollect and record all the sayings of their Master, word for word. So the man who has been in a shipwreck, or a railroad accident, or a battle, describes, with intense minuteness and accuracy, all the details, till it rises before you a vivid picture, which you also will remember always, though hearing it at second hand. The stories of travellers are interesting for the same reason, because the novelty of the scenes they visit rouses their attention, and the vivid impressions made on their own minds excite a like interest in ours. We remember that in which we are interested, because we give our attention to it. But when we are not interested in anything, and so do not give our attention to it, we are sure to forget it. Facts and lessons which do not interest us are like the plants which have no root in themselves, and soon wither away. I heard a worthy gentleman arguing that studies ought not to be made too interesting, because boys and girls should have the discipline of hard work. But who works the hardest, I should like to know, he whose heart is not in the work, and who has to force himself to do it by main strength of will, or he who enjoys it while he does it, or does it with the hope of future joy. It is hope and joy which give us strength to work, not disgust or indifference. But we weaken the memory by inattention, which results from the absence of a deep interest and a living purpose. The general rule, then, for improving the memory is, “Take an interest in anything, and you will attend to it; attend to it, and you will recollect it.” But what cure is there for moral forgetfulness? Here is a man who forgets all the lessons of experience. He commits the same faults over and over again. Each time, he says to himself, “This is the last time; I will never do so again; I will keep my resolutions hereafter.” But he goes his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he is. When I was a boy at the Boston Latin School, our master introduced one day a learned-looking gentleman, who, he told us, had come to teach us a new system of intellectual mnemonics. The thing was done by help of the law of association. We first fixed in our mind a list of familiar objects, and then associated them with the names of kings and queens. But where is the science of spiritual mnemonics? Who shall teach the conscience to remember its duty in the hour of temptation? the heart to remember its best love when drawn aside to the world. There are many marked instances of moral forgetfulness, which show the importance of such a science as this. We are very apt, for example, to forget the religious and moral truth which we hear. We are forgetful hearers of the Word. Where is all the instruction which has been poured into our ears and heart from childhood, by ever-faithful parents, by teachers, professors and guardians. It has all gone. Again, how we forget our own good resolutions! We arrange our life, at the beginning of the year, into a perfect order. We select the faults to be conquered, the virtues to be acquired, the studies to be pursued, the good actions to be done. At the end of the year we look back and find that all these resolutions were presently forgotten, and we went on as before. Again, we forget our duties. “You are one of the most perfect of men,” said Lamb to Coleridge, “with only this one slight fault, that if you have any duty to do, you never do it.” We remember everything but our duties--these slip from our memory too easily. We forget our promises andengagements. How very mortifying to find that we have promised to do a multitude of things, and that we have forgotten them all! Alas I and worse, we forget the kindness done to us. At the time we feel very grateful, but gratitude becomes burdensome, and so, after a while, we have forgotten our benefactors and their deeds. We forget them, but do not forget those who have injured us, who have wounded our pride. Ah! we remember that too well; “the deadly arrow adheres to our side.” We forget the holy love of Christ, the ever-present providence of God, the impending judgments of the future. Who shall give us the system of moral mnemonics by which to remember these things? The difficulty is that we are not really as much interested in the love of God, in duty and s
