Why reason with themselves"? Why weigh the consequences of their reply? Alas! there was neither moral honesty, nor spiritual competency, in these men. It was not the glory of God, nor yet the simple claims of truth, that ruled their hearts and dictated their It was their own reputation, on the one hand, or their personal interest, on the other. answer. 66 It is always a bad sign, always suspicious, when men reason with themselves" as to the answer they shall give to a plain question. The moment a man begins to reason as to how far his answer will affect himself, he is not to be trusted. A thoroughly honest man will answer an honest question straight out, without any shuffling, or any reference to himself. But these elders and priests were not honest. They did not own the ministry of John the Baptist, and hence they would not say it was from heaven; and yet they had not the courage to say what they would fain have said, that it was of men. They were afraid of the people. It was no question with them of God or His truth. Self was their standpoint, and hence their entire range of vision was false, and all their conclusions utterly erroneous. They were wholly incompetent to guide others, and therefore they had no sort of right or title to challenge anyone for his authority. Nothing can exceed the wisdom and moral power of our Lord's reply to those priests and elders. They were left without a single hair's breadth of standingground. They were thoroughly exposed. They had presumed to challenge Him for His authority, but He shewed them, plainly and pointedly, their utter unfit ness for the position which they assumed, seeing they could not decide the question as to whether John's baptism was from heaven or of men. If they had understood that baptism, if they had owned it, if they had bowed under its mighty power, they would have had no occasion to ask Christ for His authority. If they had taken their place in true repentance, if they had gone down under the water of Jordan, confessing their sins, they would have been in a moral condition to hail the ministry of that blessed One who came to bind up the broken-hearted, and pour the rich consolation of divine grace into every contrite spirit. sons. All this comes forcibly out in the parable of the two "But what think ye? A certain man had two sons and he came to the first, and said, Son, go, work to-day in my vineyard. He answered, and said, I will not; but afterwards he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir; and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily, I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and the harlots believed him; and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him." The repentant son set forth the condition of the poor despised publicans and harlots. They were sinners, and they owned it. They bowed before the ministry of righteousness. They took the ground of true repentance-the only proper ground for a sinner-the ground on which the sovereign grace of God can meet him. The very moment a sinner takes the place of repentance and self-judgment, grace meets him, and conducts him, through the open door, right into the kingdom of God, where he is saved and blessed, according to all the love of the heart of God, and according to all the efficacy of Christ's precious sacrifice, and according to all the divine excellency and acceptability of His Person. The very moment a sinner truly confesses his sins, he is divinely, and therefore perfectly and eternally, forgiven. "I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Psalm xxxii.; 1 John i. It will be well for the reader to ponder deeply this weighty point. Repentance is the grand epoch in a sinner's history. It is the first step in that pathway of moral reality which not only leads straight to the kingdom of God, but which must ever characterise all who have entered that kingdom. Repentance is not a transient emotion, but an abiding moral condition-the permanent attitude of every soul that is really led and taught by the Spirit of God. The unrepentant, the unbroken, the self-trusting, those who are building upon their own righteousness-whatever that righteousness may consist of-all such, whoever and wherever they may be, are like the second son in the parable, who said, "I go, sir; and went not." There is empty profession, without one atom of reality. It is all a sham, a cheat, a delusion. How is it possible for such persons to understand or appreciate divine grace? How can they taste the love of a Saviour-God? How can they know aught of the value of the blood of Jesus Christ? They live in a region where all is fictitious; they breathe an atmosphere of unreality; they have never taken the very first step in the pathway of truth; they have never repented; never accepted the counsel of God against themselves; never bowed to the sentence of His holy word; never really owned themselves to be what God's word tells them they are; they are at issue with God about their own actual condition; their whole religious life is one great, palpable, egregious lie; there can be neither truth nor reality in the religion of an unrepentant soul. The axe of divine righteousness must, sooner or later, level every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit; and the only possible way of escape is to own that we are bad trees, and take refuge, by faith, in Christ, the sinner's Substitute-God's full, free, and everlasting salvation. It is the very height of religious folly for anyone to go on, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, giving utterance to the false and impious formulary, "I go, sir," while the whole practical life gives the lie to the utterance of the lips. But, on the other hand, the first step in the pathway of true, heavenly wisdom, is to repent and turn to God, in true contrition, in real brokenness of spirit; and then we are in a condition to know the divine efficacy of the work of Christ, not only in the complete putting away of our sins, but also in introducing us into an entirely new condition, in which we are actually linked with Himself in all His perfectness, in the presence of God, so that we can take up the marvellous language of 1 John iv. 17, and say, "As he is, so are we in this world." Nothing can exceed this. Even the love of God could not go beyond this; and hence it is said to be the very perfection of divine love toward us; and it applies, in all its fulness, to any poor publican or harlot, yea, and to any poor scribe or pharisee who truly repents; but it has no application whatever to those who are content with a hollow and worthless, "I go, sir." (To be continued, if God permit.) HE LOVED ME, AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME. GALATIANS II. 20. THY love, Lord Jesus, ever be |