The Lord's Coming Part 8

But though sin cannot affect G.o.d's thoughts in reference to us, it can, and does affect our thoughts in reference to Him. Though it cannot make its way into G.o.d's presence, it can make its way into ours, in a most distressing and humiliating manner. Though it cannot hide the Advocate from G.o.d's view, it can hide Him from ours. It gathers, like a thick dark cloud, on our spiritual horizon, so that our souls cannot bask in the blessed beams of our Father's countenance. It cannot affect our relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d, but it can very seriously affect our enjoyment thereof. What, therefore, are we to do? The Word answers, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." By confession, we get our conscience cleared; the sweet sense of our relations.h.i.+p restored; the dark cloud dispersed; the chilling, withering influence removed; our thoughts of G.o.d set straight. Such is the divine method; and we may truly say that the heart that knows what it is to have ever been in the place of confession, will feel the divine power of the apostle's words, "My little children, these things write I unto you, _that ye sin not_." (1 John ii. 1.)

Then, again, there is a style of praying for forgiveness which involves a losing sight of the perfect ground of forgiveness, which has been laid in the sacrifice of the cross. If G.o.d forgives sins, He must be "faithful and just" in so doing. But it is quite clear that our prayers, be they ever so sincere and earnest, could not form the basis of G.o.d's faithfulness and justice in forgiving us our sins.

Nought save the work of the cross could do this. There the faithfulness and justice of G.o.d have had their fullest establishment, and that, too, in immediate reference to our actual sins, as well as to the root thereof, in our nature. G.o.d has already judged our sins, in the Person of our Subst.i.tute, "on the tree;" and, in the act of confession, we judge ourselves. This is essential to divine forgiveness and restoration. The very smallest unconfessed, unjudged sin, on the conscience, will entirely mar our communion with G.o.d. Sin _in_ us need not do this; but if we suffer sin to remain _on_ us, we cannot have fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d. He has put away our sins in such a manner as that He can have us in His presence; and so long as we abide in His presence, sin does not trouble us. But if we get out of His presence, and commit sin, our communion must of necessity be suspended until, by confession, we have got rid of the sin. All this, I need hardly add, is founded exclusively upon the perfect sacrifice and righteous advocacy of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Finally, as to the difference between prayer and confession, as respects the condition of the heart before G.o.d, and its moral sense of the hatefulness of sin, it cannot possibly be overestimated. It is a much easier thing to ask in a general way for the forgiveness of our sins, than to confess those sins. Confession involves _self-judgment_; asking for forgiveness may not, and in itself does not. This alone would be sufficient to point out the difference. Self-judgment is one of the most valuable and healthful exercises of the Christian life; and therefore anything which produces it must be highly esteemed by every earnest Christian.

The difference between asking for pardon, and confessing the sin, is continually exemplified in dealing with children. If a child has done anything wrong, he finds much less difficulty in asking his father to forgive him, than in openly and unreservedly confessing the wrong. In asking for forgiveness, the child may have in his mind a number of things which tend to lessen the sense of the evil; he may be secretly thinking that he was not so much to blame after all, though, to be sure, it is only proper to ask his father to forgive him; whereas, in confessing the wrong, there is just one thing, and that is self-judgment. Further, in asking for forgiveness, the child may be influenced mainly by a desire to escape the consequences of his wrong; whereas a judicious parent will seek to produce a just sense of its moral evil, which can only exist where there is the full confession of the fault in connection with self-judgment.

Thus it is in reference to G.o.d's dealing with His children, when they do wrong. He must have the whole thing brought out and thoroughly judged. He will make us not only dread the consequences of sin,--which are unutterable,--but hate the thing itself, because of its hatefulness in His sight. Were it possible for us, when we commit sin, to be forgiven merely for the asking, our sense of sin, and our shrinking from it, would not be nearly so intense; and, as a consequence, our estimate of the fellows.h.i.+p with which we are blessed would not be nearly so high. The moral effect of all this upon the general tone of our spiritual const.i.tution, and also upon our whole character and practical career, must be obvious to every experienced Christian.

G.o.d'S WAY, AND HOW TO FIND IT

(Read Job xxviii.; Luke xi. 34-36.)

"There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: the lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion pa.s.sed by it." What an unspeakable mercy for one who really desires to walk with G.o.d, to know that there is a way for him to walk in! G.o.d has prepared a pathway for His redeemed in which they may walk with all possible certainty, calmness and fixedness. It is the privilege of every child of G.o.d, and every servant of Christ, to be as sure that he is in G.o.d's way as that his soul is saved. This may seem a strong statement; but the question is, Is it true? If it be true, it cannot be too strong. No doubt it may, in the judgment of some, savor a little of self-confidence and dogmatism to a.s.sert, in such a day as that in which we live, and in the midst of such a scene as that through which we are pa.s.sing, that we are sure of being in G.o.d's path.

But what saith the Scripture? It declares "there is a way," and it also tells us how to find and how to walk in that way. Yes; the self-same voice that tells us of G.o.d's salvation for our souls, tells us also of G.o.d's pathway for our feet;--the very same authority that a.s.sures us that "he that believeth on the Son of G.o.d hath everlasting life," a.s.sures us also that there is a way so plain that "the wayfaring men though fools shall not err therein."

This, we repeat, is a signal mercy--a mercy at all times, but especially in a day of confusion and perplexity like the present. It is deeply affecting to notice the state of uncertainty in which many of G.o.d's dear people are found at the present moment. We do not refer now to the question of salvation, of this we have spoken largely elsewhere; but that which we have now before us is the path of the Christian--what he ought to do, where he should be found, how he ought to carry himself in the midst of the professing Church. Is it not too true that mult.i.tudes of the Lord's people are at sea as to these things? Are there not many who, were they to tell out the real feelings of their hearts, would have to own themselves in a thoroughly unsettled state--to confess that they know not what to do, or where to go, or what to believe? Now, the question is, Would G.o.d leave His children, would Christ leave His servants, in such darkness and confusion?

"No; my dear Lord, in following Thee, And not in dark uncertainty, This foot obedient moves."

May not a child know the will of his father? May not a servant know the will of his master? And if this be so in our earthly relations.h.i.+ps, how much more fully may we count upon it in reference to our Father and Master in heaven. When Israel of old emerged from the Red Sea, and stood upon the margin of that great and terrible wilderness which lay between them and the land of promise, how were they to know their way? The trackless sand of the desert lay all around them. It was in vain to look for any footprint there. It was a dreary waste in which the vulture's eye could not discern a pathway.

Moses felt this when he said to Hobab, "Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes." (Numb. x. 31.) How well our poor unbelieving hearts can understand this touching appeal! How one craves a human guide in the midst of a scene of perplexity! How fondly the heart clings to one whom we deem competent to give us guidance in moments of darkness and difficulty!

And yet, we may ask, what did Moses want with Hobab's eyes? Had not Jehovah graciously undertaken to be their guide? Yes, truly; for we are told that "on the day that the tabernacle was reared up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony; and at even, there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning. So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed; and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle, they rested in their tents. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment the Lord, and journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed; whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed; or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents and journeyed not, but when it was taken up they journeyed. At the commandment of the Lord they rested in their tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses" (Num. ix. 15-23).

Here was divine guidance--a guidance, we may surely say, quite sufficient to render them independent of their own eyes, of Hobab's eyes, and the eyes of any other mortal. It is interesting to note that in the opening of the book of Numbers, it was arranged that the ark of the covenant was to find its place in the very bosom of the congregation; but in chapter x. we are told that when "they departed from the mount of the Lord three days' journey, the ark of the covenant of the Lord _went before them_, in the three days' journey, to search out a resting-place for them." Instead of Jehovah finding a resting-place in the bosom of His redeemed people, He becomes their traveling Guide, and goes before them to seek out a resting-place for them. What touching grace is here! and what faithfulness! If Moses will ask Hobab to be their guide, and that, too, in the very face of G.o.d's provision--even the cloud and the silver trumpet, then will Jehovah leave His place in the centre of the tribes, and go before them to search them out a resting-place. And did not He know the wilderness well? Would not He be better for them than ten thousand Hobabs? Might they not fully trust Him? a.s.suredly. He would not lead them astray. If His grace had redeemed them from Egypt's bondage, and conducted them through the Red Sea, surely they might confide in the same grace to guide them across that great and terrible wilderness, and bring them safely into the land flowing with milk and honey.

But it must be borne in mind that, in order to profit by divine guidance, there must be the abandonment of our own will, and of all confidence in our own reasonings, as well as all confidence in the thoughts and reasonings of others. If I have Jehovah as my Guide, I do not want my own eyes or the eyes of a Hobab either. G.o.d is sufficient: I can trust Him. He knows all the way across the desert; and hence, if I keep my eye upon Him, I shall be guided aright.

But this leads us on to the second division of our subject, namely, How am I to find G.o.d's way? An all-important question, surely. Whither am I to turn to find G.o.d's pathway? If the vulture's eye, so keen, so powerful, so far-seeing, hath not seen it,--if the young lion, so vigorous in movement, so majestic in mien, hath not trodden it,--if man knoweth not the price of it, and if it is not to be found in the land of the living,--if the depth saith, It is not in me, and the sea saith, It is not with me,--if it cannot be gotten for gold or precious stones,--if the wealth of the universe cannot equal it, and no wit of man discover it,--then whither am I to turn? where shall I find it?

Shall I turn to those great standards of orthodoxy which rule the religious thought and feeling of millions throughout the length and breadth of the professing Church? Is this wondrous pathway of wisdom to be found with them? Do they form any exception to the great, broad, sweeping rule of Job xxviii? a.s.suredly not. What, then, am I to do? I know there is a way. G.o.d, who cannot lie, declares this, and I believe it; but where am I to find it? "Whence, then, cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. Destruction and Death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears." Does it not seem like a hopeless case for any poor ignorant mortal to search for this wondrous pathway? No, blessed be G.o.d, it is by no means a hopeless case, for "He understandeth the way thereof, and He knoweth the place thereof. For He looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; to make the weight for the winds; and He weigheth the waters by measure. When He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder, then did He see it and _declare_ it; He prepared it, yea, and searched it out. And unto man He said, 'Behold, _the fear of the Lord_, that is wisdom; and _to depart from evil_ is understanding.'"

Here, then, is the divine secret of wisdom: "The fear of the Lord."

This sets the conscience directly in the presence of G.o.d, which is its only true place. The object of Satan is to keep the conscience out of this place--to bring it under the power and authority of man--to lead it into subjection to the commandments and doctrines of men--to thrust in something between the conscience and the authority of Christ the Lord, it matters not what it is; it may be a creed or a confession containing a quant.i.ty of truth,--it may be the opinion of a man or a set of men--the judgment of some favorite teacher,--anything, in short, to come in and usurp, in the heart, the place which belongs to G.o.d's Word alone. This is a terrible snare, and a stumbling-block--a most serious hindrance to our progress in the ways of the Lord. G.o.d's Word must rule me--G.o.d's pure and simple Word, not man's interpretation thereof. No doubt, G.o.d may use a man to unfold that Word to my soul; but then it is not man's unfolding of G.o.d's Word that rules me, but G.o.d's Word by man unfolded. This is of all importance.

We must be exclusively taught and exclusively governed by the Word of the living G.o.d. Nothing else will keep us straight, or give solidity and consistency to our character and course as Christians. There is a strong tendency within and around us to be ruled by the thoughts and opinions of men--by those great standards of doctrine which men have set up. Those standards and opinions may have a large amount of truth in them--they may be all true so far as they go; that is not the point in question now. What we want to impress upon the Christian reader is, that he is not to be governed by the thoughts of his fellow-man, but simply and solely by the Word of G.o.d. It is of no value to hold a truth from man; I must hold it directly from G.o.d Himself. G.o.d may use a man to communicate His truth; but unless I hold it as from G.o.d, it has no divine power over my heart and conscience; it does not bring me into living contact with G.o.d, but actually hinders that contact by bringing in something between my soul and His holy authority.

We should greatly like to enlarge upon and enforce this great principle; but we must forbear, just now, in order to unfold to the reader one or two solemn and practical points set forth in the eleventh chapter of Luke,--points which, if entered into, will enable us to understand a little better how to find G.o.d's way. We shall quote the pa.s.sage at length.--"The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright s.h.i.+ning of a candle doth give thee light."

Here, then, we are furnished with the true secret of discerning G.o.d's way. It may seem very difficult, in the midst of the troubled sea of christendom, to steer one's course aright. So many conflicting voices fall on the ear. So many opposing views solicit our attention, men of G.o.d differ so in judgment, shades of opinion are so multiplied, that it seems impossible to reach a sound conclusion. We go to one man who, so far as we can judge, seems to have a single eye, and he tells us one thing; we go to another man who also seems to have a single eye, and he tells the very reverse. What, then, are we to think? Well, one thing is certain, that our own eye is not single when we are running, in uncertainty and perplexity, from one man to another. The single eye is fixed on Christ alone, and thus the body is filled with light. The Israelite of old had not to run hither and thither to consult with his fellow as to the right way. Each had the same divine guide, namely, the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night. In a word, Jehovah Himself was the infallible Guide of each member of the congregation. They were not left to the guidance of the most intelligent, sagacious, or experienced man in the a.s.sembly; neither were they left to follow their own way,--each was to follow the Lord.

The silver trumpet announced to all alike the mind of G.o.d; and no one whose ear was open and attentive was left at any loss. The eye and the ear of each were to be directed to G.o.d _alone_, and not to a fellow-mortal. This was the secret of guidance in the trackless desert of old, and this is the secret of guidance in the vast moral wilderness through which G.o.d's redeemed are pa.s.sing now. One man may say, Listen to me; and another may say, Listen to me; and a third may say, Let each one take his own way. The obedient heart says, in opposition to all, I must follow my Lord.

This makes all so simple. It will not, by any means, tender to foster a spirit of haughty independence; quite the reverse. The more I am taught to lean on G.o.d alone for guidance, the more I shall distrust and look off from myself; and this, a.s.suredly, is not independence.

True, it will deliver me from servile following of any man, by giving me to feel my responsibility to Christ alone; but this is precisely what is so much needed at the present moment. The more closely we examine the elements that are abroad in the professing Church, the more we shall be convinced of our personal need of this entire subjection to divine authority, which is only another name for "the fear of the Lord," or, "a single eye." There is one brief sentence, in the opening of the Acts of the Apostles, which furnishes a perfect antidote to the self-will and the servile fear of man so rife around us, and that is, "We must obey G.o.d." What an utterance! "We must _obey_." This is the cure for self-will. "We must obey _G.o.d_." This is the cure for servile subjection to the commandments and doctrines of men. There must be obedience; but obedience to what? To G.o.d's authority, and to that alone. Thus the soul is preserved from the influence of infidelity on the one hand, and superst.i.tion on the other. Infidelity says, Do as you like. Superst.i.tion says, Do as man tells you. Faith says, "We must obey G.o.d."

Here is the holy balance of the soul in the midst of the conflicting and confounding influences around us in this our day. As a servant, I am to obey my Lord; as a child, I am to hearken to my Father's commandments. Nor am I the less to do this although my fellow-servants and my brethren may not understand me. I must remember that the immediate business of my soul is with G.o.d Himself.--

"He before whom the elders bow, With Him is _all_ my business now."

It is my privilege to be as sure that I have my Master's mind as to my path as that I have His Word for the security of my soul. If not, where am I? Is it not my privilege to have a single eye? Yes, surely.

And what then? "A body full of light." Now, if my body is full of light, can my mind be full of perplexity? Impossible. The two things are wholly incompatible; and hence, when one is plunged "in dark uncertainty," it is very plain his eye is not single. He may seem very sincere, he may be very anxious to be guided aright; but he may rest a.s.sured there is the lack of a single eye--that indispensable prerequisite to divine guidance. The Word is plain,--"If thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light." G.o.d will ever guide the obedient, humble soul; but, on the other hand, if we do not walk according to the light communicated, we shall get into darkness. Light not acted upon becomes darkness, and oh, "how great is that darkness!"

Nothing is more dangerous than tampering with the light which G.o.d gives. It must, sooner or later, lead to the most disastrous consequences. "Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness." "Hear, ye, and give ear: be not proud; for the Lord hath spoken. Give glory to the Lord your G.o.d, before _He_ cause darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while ye look for light, _He_ turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness." (Jer. xiii. 15, 16.)

This is deeply solemn. What a contrast between a man having a single eye, and a man not acting on the light which G.o.d has given him! The one has his body full of light; the other has his body full of darkness: the one has no part dark; the other is plunged in gross darkness: the one is a light-bearer for others; the other is a stumbling-block in the way. We know nothing more solemn than the judicial acting of G.o.d, in actually turning our light into darkness, because we have refused to act on the light which He has been pleased to impart.

Christian reader, art thou acting up to thy light? Has G.o.d sent a ray of light into thy soul? Has He shown thee something wrong in thy ways or a.s.sociations? Art thou persisting in any line of action which conscience tells thee is not in full accordance with thy Master's will? Search and see. "Give glory to the Lord thy G.o.d." Act on the light. Do not hesitate. Think not of consequences. Obey, we beseech thee, the word of thy Lord. This very moment, as thine eye scans these lines, let the purpose of thy soul be to depart from iniquity wherever thou findest it. Say not, Whither shall I go? What shall I do next?

There is evil everywhere. It is only escaping from one evil to plunge into another. Say not these things; do not argue or reason; do not look at results; think not of what the world or the world-church will say of thee; rise above all these things, and tread the path of light--that path which s.h.i.+neth more and more unto the perfect day of glory. Remember, G.o.d never gives light for two steps at a time. If He has given thee light for one step, then, in the fear and love of His Name, take that one step, and thou wilt a.s.suredly get more light--yes, "more and more." But if there be the refusal to act, the light which is in thee will become gross darkness, thy feet will stumble on the dark mountains of error which lie on either side of the straight and narrow path of obedience; and thou wilt become a stumbling-block in the path of others. Some of the most grievous stumbling-blocks that lie, at this moment, in the pathway of anxious inquirers are found in the persons of those who once seemed to possess the truth, but have turned from it. The light which was in them has become darkness, and oh, how great and how appalling is that darkness! How sad it is to see those who ought to be light-bearers, acting as a positive hindrance to young and earnest Christians! But let not young Christians be hindered by them. The way is plain. "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." Let each one hear and obey for himself the voice of the Lord. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." The Lord be praised for this precious word! It puts each one in the place of direct responsibility to Christ Himself; it tells us plainly what is _G.o.d's way_, and, just as plainly, _how to find it_.

_C. H. M._

THE UNEQUAL YOKE

No one who sincerely desires to attain, in his own person, or promote in others, a purer and more elevated disciples.h.i.+p, can possibly contemplate the Christianity of the present day without an indescribable feeling of sadness and heaviness. Its tone is so excessively low, its aspect so sickly, and its spirit so enfeebled, that one is, at times, tempted to despair of any thing like a true and faithful witness for an absent Lord. All this is the more truly deplorable when we remember the commanding motives by which it is our special privilege ever to be actuated. Whether we look at the Master whom we are called to follow, the path which we are called to tread, the end which we are called to keep in view, or the hopes by which we are to be animated, we cannot but own that, were all these entered into and realized by a more simple faith, we should a.s.suredly exhibit a more ardent disciples.h.i.+p. "The love of Christ," says the apostle, "constraineth us." This is the most powerful motive of all. The more the heart is filled with Christ's love, and the eye filled with His blessed person, the more closely shall we seek to follow in His heavenly track. His footmarks can only be discovered by "a single eye;" and unless the will is broken, the flesh mortified, and the body kept under, we shall utterly fail in our disciples.h.i.+p, and make s.h.i.+pwreck of faith and a good conscience.

Let not my reader misunderstand me. It is not here, by any means, a question of personal salvation. It is quite another thing. Nothing can be more basely selfish than, having received salvation as the fruit of Christ's agony and b.l.o.o.d.y sweat, His cross and pa.s.sion, to keep at as great a distance from His sacred person as we can without forfeiting our personal safety. This is, even in the judgment of nature, deemed a character of selfishness worthy of unmingled contempt; but when exhibited by one who professes to owe his present and his everlasting all to a rejected, crucified, risen, and absent, Master, no language can express its moral baseness. "Provided I escape h.e.l.l-fire, it makes little matter as to disciples.h.i.+p." Reader, do you not, in your inmost soul, abhor this sentiment? If so, then earnestly seek to flee from it, to the very opposite point of the compa.s.s; and let your truthful language be, Provided that blessed Master is glorified, it makes little matter, comparatively, about my personal safety. Would to G.o.d that this were the sincere utterance of many hearts in this day, when, alas, it may be too truly said that, "All seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's" (Phil. ii.

21). Would that the Holy Ghost would raise up, by His own resistless power, and send forth, by His own heavenly energy, a band of separated and consecrated followers of the Lamb, each one bound, by the cords of love, to the horns of the altar--a company, like Gideon's three hundred of old, able to confide in G.o.d and deny the flesh. How the heart longs for this! How the spirit, bowed down at times beneath the chilling and withering influence of a cold and uninfluential profession, earnestly breathes after a more vigorous and whole-hearted testimony for that One who emptied Himself and laid aside His glory, in order that we, through His precious bloodshedding, might be raised to companions.h.i.+p with Him in eternal blessedness!

Now, amongst the numerous hindrances to this thorough consecration of heart to Christ which I earnestly desire for myself and my reader, "the unequal yoke" will be found to occupy a very prominent place indeed. "Be ye not unequally yoked together [ete????????te?] with unbelievers: for what partners.h.i.+p [et???] hath righteousness with unrighteousness [or rather lawlessness--a???a]? and what communion [???????a] hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath a believer with an unbeliever [ap?st??]? And what agreement hath the temple of G.o.d with idols? for ye are the temple of the living G.o.d; as G.o.d hath said, 'I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their G.o.d, and they shall be My people.'

'Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.'" (2 Cor. vi. 14-18.)

Under the Mosaic economy, we learn the same moral principle.--"Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.

Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an a.s.s together. Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together."

(Deut. xxii. 9-11; Lev. xix. 19.)

These scriptures will suffice to set forth the moral evil of an unequal yoke. It may, with full confidence, be a.s.serted that no one can be an unshackled follower of Christ who is, in any way, "unequally yoked." He may be a saved person, he may be a true child of G.o.d--a sincere believer, but he cannot be a thorough disciple; and not only so, but there is a positive hindrance to the full manifestation of that which he may really be, notwithstanding his unequal yoke. "Come out, ... and I will receive you, ... and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." That is to say, Get your neck out of the unequal yoke, and I will receive you, and there shall be the full, public, practical manifestation of your relations.h.i.+p with the Lord Almighty. The idea here is evidently different from that set forth in James--"Of His own will begat He us, by the word of truth."

And also in Peter--"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of G.o.d, which liveth and abideth forever."

And again in 1 John--"Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of G.o.d." So also in John's gospel--"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of G.o.d, even to them that believe on His name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of G.o.d." In all these pa.s.sages, the relations.h.i.+p of sons is founded upon the divine counsel and the divine operation, and is not set before us as the consequence of any acting of ours; whereas in 2 Corinthians vi. it is put as the result of our getting out of the unequal yoke. In other words, it is entirely a practical question. Thus in Matthew v. we read, "But I say unto you, 'Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; in order that [?p??] ye may be the sons of your Father which is in heaven; because He causeth His sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and sendeth rain upon the just and the unjust." Here too it is the practical establishment and public declaration of the relations.h.i.+p, and its moral influence. It becomes the sons of such a Father to act in such a way. In short, we have the abstract position or relations.h.i.+p of sons founded on G.o.d's sovereign will and operation; and we have the moral character consequent upon and flowing out of this relations.h.i.+p which affords just ground for G.o.d's public acknowledgment thereof.

G.o.d cannot fully and publicly own those who are unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for, were He to do so, it would be an acknowledgment of the unequal yoke. He cannot acknowledge "darkness,"

"unrighteousness," "Belial," "idols," and "an infidel." How could He?

Hence, if I yoke myself with any of these, I am morally and publicly identified with them, and not with G.o.d at all. I have put myself into a position which G.o.d cannot own, and, as a consequence, He cannot own me; but if I withdraw myself from that position--if I "come out and be separate"--if I take my neck out of the unequal yoke--then, but not until then, can I be publicly and fully received and owned as a "son or daughter of the Lord Almighty."

This is a solemn and searching principle for all who feel that they have unhappily gotten themselves into such a yoke. They are not walking as disciples, nor are they publicly or morally on the ground of sons. G.o.d cannot own them. Their secret relations.h.i.+p is not the point; but they have put themselves thoroughly off G.o.d's ground. They have foolishly thrust their neck into a yoke which, inasmuch as it is not Christ's yoke, must be Belial's yoke; and until they cast off that yoke, G.o.d cannot own them as His sons and daughters. G.o.d's grace, no doubt, is infinite, and can meet us in all our failure and weakness; but if our souls aspire after a higher order of disciples.h.i.+p, we must at once cast off the unequal yoke, cost what it may; that is, if it can be cast off; but if it cannot, we must only bow our heads beneath the shame and sorrow thereof, looking to G.o.d for full deliverance.

Now, there are four distinct phases in which "the unequal yoke" may be contemplated, viz, the domestic, the commercial, the religious, and the philanthropic. Some may be disposed to confine 2 Corinthians vi.

14 to the first of these; but the apostle does not so confine it. The words are, "Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." He does not specify the character or object of the yoke, and therefore we are warranted in giving the pa.s.sage its widest application, by bringing its edge to bear directly upon every phase of the unequal yoke; and we shall see the importance of so doing ere we close these remarks, if the Lord permit.

I. And first, then, let us consider the domestic or marriage yoke.

What pen can portray the mental anguish, the moral misery, together with the ruinous consequences as to spiritual life and testimony, flowing from a Christian's marriage with an unconverted person? I suppose nothing can be more deplorable than the condition of one who discovers, when it is too late, that he has linked himself for life with one who cannot have a single thought or feeling in common with him. One desires to serve Christ; the other can only serve the devil: one breathes after the things of G.o.d; the other sighs for the things of this present world: the one earnestly seeks to mortify the flesh, with all its affections and desires; the other only seeks to minister to and gratify these very things. Like a sheep and a goat linked together, the sheep longs to feed on the green pasture in the field, while, on the other hand, the goat craves the brambles which grow in the ditch. The sad consequence is that both are starved. One _will_ not feed on the pasture, and the other _cannot_ feed upon the brambles, and thus neither gets what his nature craves, unless the goat, by superior strength, succeeds in forcing his unequally yoked companion to remain among the brambles, there to languish and die.

The moral of this is plain enough; and, moreover, it is, alas! of but too common occurrence. The goat generally succeeds in gaining his end. The worldly partner carries his or her point, in almost every instance. It will be found, almost without exception, that in cases of the unequal marriage-yoke, the poor Christian is the sufferer, as is evidenced by the bitter fruits of a bad conscience, a depressed heart, a gloomy spirit, and a desponding mind. A heavy price, surely, to pay for the gratification of some natural affection, or the attainment, it may be, of some paltry worldly advantage. In fact, a marriage of this kind is the death-knell of practical Christianity, and of progress in the divine life. It is morally impossible that any one can be an unfettered disciple of Christ with his neck in the marriage-yoke with an unbeliever. As well might a racer in the Olympic or Isthmaean games have expected to gain the crown of victory by attaching a heavy weight or dead body to his person. It is enough, surely, to have one dead body to sustain, without attaching another. There never was a true Christian yet who did not find that he had abundant work to do in endeavoring to grapple with the evils of _one_ heart, without going to burden himself with the evils of two; and, without doubt, the man who foolishly and disobediently marries an unconverted woman; or the woman who marries an unconverted man, is burdened with the combined evils of two hearts; and who is sufficient for these things? One can most fully count upon the grace of Christ for the subjugation of his own evil nature: but he certainly cannot count, in the same way, upon that grace in reference to the evil nature of his unequal yoke-fellow. If he have yoked himself ignorantly, the Lord will meet him personally, on the ground of full confession, with entire restoration of soul, but in the matter of his disciples.h.i.+p, he will never recover it.