The Bible Truth Review

  The Bible Truth Review

 Issue No. 14  (May/June 10, 1991)

 In This Issue

 "The Joy of Faith." by Charles H. Welch in The Berean Expositor

 circa 1912-13.  Do we know experimentally the joy of faith?

 Here's how.

 "Judging #5.  Who Should Be Judged?" by J. McEown in Bible

 Explorations, Vol. 1 No. 11, Nov. 1987.  An interesting

 conclusion is drawn from the epistles of Paul.

 "Love No. 1" by Charles H. Welch in The Berean Expositor circa

 1914-15.  First in a series on the grace and fruit of love.

 "The Parables. No. 9. Matt. xv. 10-20." by Charles H. Welch in

 The Berean Expositor circa 1914-15.  Things which defile a man.

 "The Sovereignty of God #8" by Oscar M. Baker in Truth For Today,

 Vol. 40 No. 12, April 1991.  The place of the Lord in the

 sovereignty of God.

 Subscription Information and Permission to Distribute by Leo

 Wierzbowski, editor of The Bible Truth Review.

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 "The Joy of Faith" by Charles H. Welch in The Berean Expositor.

 We have heard of the "work of faith," and realize increasingly

 the necessity there is to remember that "faith, if it hath not

 works, is dead, being alone."  We have heard that "faith worketh

 patience," and can understand even by our own small experiences

 that as we realize by faith all the goodness, grace and glory

 laid up by virtue of redemption, patience is no effort, but is

 rather one of the precious fruits of faith.

 We seem, however, to hear little of the "joy of faith."  All

 Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable.  All

 Scripture comes to us with a demand for conformity to its

 teaching. What of the "joy of faith"?  Can we have the real faith

 of the epistles if it is a joyless faith?  We know the "faiths"

 or "creeds" of man's construction (even though framed with the

 Word in view) often become grievous burdens, and shackle those

 who subscribe to them as with fetters of iron.  We want none of

 these joyless creeds, but still let us ask, Do we know

 experimentally "the joy of faith"?

 The expression is found in Phil. i.25.  The apostle writes, "I

 know that I shall abide and continue with you all, for your

 furtherance and joy of the faith."  J. N. Darby in a note says,

 "Progress and joy go together, not 'progress -- and joy in

 faith.'"  Whatever the exact meaning of the apostle may be in

 this passage, the truth which we feel we must emphasize is that

 to believe the truth of the mystery, to realize the fact of

 acceptance in the Beloved, to know that we have been raised

 together and made to sit together in the heavenlies, in Christ,

 to know that we have been delivered out of the authority of

 darkness, and translated into the kingdom of the beloved Son of

 God, this "faith" surely must bring "joy" with it (the very

 writing of the words stirs our heart with joy), and a furtherance

 or progress in this faith, while it may deepen our love, increase

 our sympathy, perhaps cause us much conflict and many tears, yet

 seeing of Whom it speaks, and the untold riches of grace and

 glory that it reveals, cannot but bring with it joy.

 Already in Rom. xv.13, with reference to other things, the

 apostle had written, "Now the God of the hope (namely of verse

 12, trust being hope) fill you with all joy and peace in

 believing."  Or again, in 2 Cor. i.24, he had written, "Not for

 that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers of

 your joy, for by faith ye stand."  "Joy" is a fruit of the Spirit

 mentioned early in the wondrous cluster, "love, joy, peace," &c.

 Peter was not a stranger to the "joy of faith," for speaking of

 the Lord Jesus Christ he said, "Whom having not seen, ye love, in

 Whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with

 joy unspeakable, and full of glory."

 What is the ground of this joy?  A reading of either Philippians,

 or I Peter, will dispel the idea that external circumstances

 contributed to this joy of faith.  In both epistles suffering and

 sorrow are emphatic, yet in the midst of it all there breathes a

 pure unconquerable joy.  "Joy" and "rejoice" are keywords of

 Philippians.

 One point of deepest significance, which must not pass unnoticed,

 arises out of the connection of the theme of the "joy of the

 faith" with the peculiar object of this epistle.  "Philippians"

 assumes that the blessed teaching of "Ephesians" is known and

 believed.  On that basis the apostle speaks of working out our

 own salvation with fear and trembling (working out, not working

 for), and has in prospect a prize not attained but sought.  It is

 not until he wrote 2 Timothy that he knew he had finished his

 course, and that henceforth there was laid up for him a crown.

 In Acts xx. he had said that he counted not his life dear unto

 himself, but that he desired to finish his course with joy.  This

 therefore is the reason why in Philippians the apostle passes

 from salvation by faith, or justification by faith, to speak of

 the joy of faith, the anticipation of the crown or prize.  The

 idea may be found in the well-known words of Matt. xxv.:-

 "Well done, good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful

 over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter

 thou into the joy of thy Lord."

 This joy, connected as it is with reward for faithfulness, may be

 seen in Heb. xii.1,2:-

 "Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking

 unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, Who for the joy

 that was set before Him endured a cross, despising the shame, and

 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

 When the apostle spoke of the fulfilling of his joy it was in

 respect to the good of others,and not of his own ease or comfort.

 "Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love,

 being of one accord" (Phil. ii.2).  Or again in iv.1, "Therefore,

 my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so

 stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved."  Look at the first

 six occurrences in the prison epistles of the word "rejoice."

 "What then?  Notwithstanding every way (and some of these ways

 were humanly hard to endure), whether in pretense or in truth:

 CHRIST is preached, and therein I do rejoice, yea, and will

 rejoice" (Phil. i.18).

 Had the apostle thought of himself, thought upon the baseness and

 ingratitude that moved some in their preaching to suppose they

 thereby added affliction to his bonds, what cause would he have

 found for rejoicing?  He had learned, however, a little of the

 mind that was in Christ Jesus, he thought of others rather than

 of himself.  He who could say, "Christ shall be magnified in my

 body, whether it be by life or death," could rejoice in the fact

 that Christ was preached, even though some who preached sought

 his injury.  Again, this utter regardlessness of self is

 manifested in his words of ii.17,18:-

 "Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your

 faith, I joy and rejoice with you all.  For this cause also do ye

 joy and rejoice with me."

 What words are here!  The apostle willing to be poured out as a

 drink offering over the sacrifice and service of their faith, and

 they, seeing his utter abandonment to the service and glory of

 his Lord, rejoicing together with him.  Can earth furnish such

 joy as this?  A joy which no tears can blind, but which, the

 rather, through those tears will take on added lustre as the

 rainbow from the storm.  His "finally" is still the same blessed

 theme, "Finally, my brethren rejoice in the Lord" (iii.1); "and

 again I say, rejoice" (iv.4).  If we rejoice in our attainments

 we shall fall into grievous error and sorrow.  If we rejoice even

 in the increased light shed upon the Word we must remember the

 One Who alone is to be praised for the opened eye to see.  Let

 our rejoicing be "in the Lord," then it will be real and full.

 Are we joyful enough?  We seek grace to manifest the fact that we

 are fellow-members of the One Body, we seek grace to exhibit all

 lowliness and meekness, to walk worthy of the calling, but let us

 not forget "joy."  We may in times past have been misled into

 believing that a solemn face, a funereal air, a joyless, sunless,

 rigid demeanour, glorified the Lord.  Thanks be to God for

 deliverance from such things.  Let us be glad and rejoice in the

 Lord.  The faith which is ours to hold is full enough to fill us

 all to the brim with "joy unspeakable."  We need not be trivial,

 frivolous or emotional to experience and shed abroad something of

 the radiance that should be evident in those who "rejoice in the

 Lord alway," and who have received the truth in the love of it,

 and the faith in some measure of its joy.

 Moses "wist not that his face shone," but it was evident he had

 been with the Lord.  So, in like manner, may it be ours to

 reflect something of the radiance of the "joy of faith."

 ===============================================================

 "Judging #5.  Who Should Be Judged?" by J. McEown in Bible

 Explorations.

 In Scripture, the word judge is from the Greek word meaning to

 sift or separate, and man has had to separate (judge) good from

 evil ever since his first parents took in knowledge of both.  He

 can easily be deceived in judging, but God has provided a new

 mind and His Word so that His children can discern between the

 two.  But what are they to judge and what are they to do with

 what they discern?

 At first glance, Scripture seems to give opposing commands,

 saying in some places to judge others and in other places saying

 not to judge others.  Each reference must be examined in its

 immediate context and in the greater context of all Scripture.

 Sometimes hypocrites are addressed and sometimes sincere saints

 are addressed.  Sometimes God's kingdom on earth is the subject

 and sometimes His kingdom above the heavens is the subject.

 Because examining each reference would take more time and space

 than feasible for this paper, we shall consider two principles

 about judging which are constant throughout God's Word.  Firstly,

 we will consider the believer's judging of himself and secondly

 his judging of others.

 Since the unregenerate, without the new mind, cannot understand

 God's Word and distinguish right from wrong, he is not

 accountable.  He is judged already for failure to believe on the

 Son of God (Jn 3:18).  But we who have believed on the Son of

 God, can understand God's Word and are accountable for our

 handling of that Word and for lives lived equal to our knowledge

 of it.  Paul said, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the

 faith." (ICo 11:28).  And again, "if we would judge ourselves, we

 should not be judged."  He wrote to believers whose behavior was

 wrong by God's commands.  Later he prayed that the Philippians

 would, "approve things that are excellent." (Php 1:10).  A

 rendering of this, closer to the Greek is, "distinguish things

 that differ."  They had entered a new and different

 administration of God and needed to sift the instructions and

 promises to Israel which they had embraced before from the

 instructions to the church of all nations to which they now were

 called.  Finally, to us also, members of that church, it is

 written, "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in

 the Lord: walk as children of light...Proving (testing) what is

 acceptable unto the Lord." (Eph 5:8,10).  Learning what is

 acceptable to the Lord today is each individual's responsibility.

 No one can discern for us.  We alone can sift our own beliefs and

 wrong behavior by testing them by the Scriptures and "approving

 things that are excellent."

 As to what others believe in their hearts, only the Lord can

 judge.  He knows how much understanding they have, what intents

 and desires they have, and what barriers befront them.  But the

 believer with the new mind and God's Word as his guide, can

 detect good from evil in acts and words and he has a

 responsibility to respond to such.  The Apostle Paul said to

 follow him as an example as he followed Christ (ICo 4:11).  We

 find his manner was to encourage the good he found and endeavor

 to dispel the evil.  His epistles show that when he knew of

 other's wrong doing his first effort was prayer, then he wrote

 letters, sent messengers, spoke face to face at times and finally

 he withdrew from those who repeatedly refused to hear warnings.

 He spent three years with the Ephesians where he said, "...I

 ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears." (Acts

 20:31).  Rather than condemning wrong doers we find him

 beseeching and warning of the consequences of evil, as one who

 loved them would.

 In his letter to the Romans, Paul first said he gave thanks,

 "that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world." (Rom

 1:3).  But he also addressed a segment there and told them they

 were inexcusable for condemning fellow saints for the very things

 they did themselves (Rom 2:1).

 He wrote the Corinthians that he longed to teach truths which he

 could not because of their envy and bickering, and he sent

 Timothy to them, "...who shall bring you into remembrance of my

 ways which be in Christ..." (ICo 4:7).  The Corinthian saints

 were also told not to keep company with any who claimed to follow

 Christ and lived in immorality; and we are told in IITi 2:19,

 "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from

 iniquity."

 Judging the words and acts of others as Paul did, should then

 evoke prayer, encouragement, beseeching, warning and even

 withdrawing on our part, but never may we speak evil of a saint

 (Tit 3:12).  Michael, Israel's archangel, dared not make an evil

 judgment on the devil (who so obviously deserved it), but he left

 that to the Lord (Jude 9).  How much less are we qualified to

 condemn one of our family members in the Body of Christ.

 Who should be judged?  We conclude that no person should be

 judged, but rather, our own beliefs need sifting sometimes, and

 the words and acts of all God's children need separating

 sometimes by that living instrument, the Word of God.

 ===============================================================

 "Love No. 1" by Charles H. Welch in The Berean Expositor.

 "Though I . . . . understand all mysteries . . . . and have not

 love, I am nothing" (I Cor. iii. 2).

 We are daily adding to our knowledge of the deeper teaching of

 the Word; fresh beauties shine forth from the sacred page; we

 seek increasingly "rightly to divide the Word of truth," and with

 this increased knowledge and light one might be led to imagine

 that spiritually nothing much was left to be desired.  As we read

 the Scriptures, however, light and knowledge are not put fort-

 most, love is first and greatest and must be in all times the

 criterion of our true spiritual advancement.  When the Lord was

 questioned by the lawyer as to which was the great commandment in

 the law, He replied:-

 "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with

 all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great

 commandment.  And the second is like unto it.  Thou shalt love

 thy neighbour as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the

 law and the prophets" (Matt. xxii. 37-40).

 It should be observed that heart love comes before that of the

 soul, or of the mind.  It is comparatively easy to love with the

 mind, to love in "word," or in "tongue," but to love "in deed and

 in truth" (I John iii. 18) necessitates the activity of the

 heart.  When we notice the prayers of the apostle Paul in

 Ephesians i. and iii., we find that while "the knowledge of Him"

 and "to know what is the hope of His calling" are prominent in

 the first prayer, love figures very largely in the second,

 "rooted and grounded in love," and "to know the knowledge-

 surpassing love of Christ."  In the practical section of

 Ephesians (iv.-vi.) the apostle exhorts the believer to a worthy

 walk, and the central occurrence of the word "walk" in that

 section is the exhortation to:-

 "Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given

 Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a

 sweetsmelling savour" (Eph. v. 2).

 This high standard is the basis of the apostle's appeal in Eph.

 v. 25, "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church, and

 gave Himself for it."  When the apostle would pray for the

 advancement of the Philippians, although he desired them to have

 "discernment" and ability to "try the things that differ," these

 were not the initial petitions.  The Spirit of God knew only too

 well that discernment without love is withering and harsh, and

 knowledge without love but ministers to pride; therefore the

 apostle was led to pray first and foremost for the overflowing of

 their love, "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more

 and more" (Phil. i. 9).  In the Epistle to the Colossians the

 apostle speaks of putting on the new man, and as a climax says,

 "And above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of

 perfectness" (Col. iii. 14).

 Let it be the earnest desire of every reader that our love shall

 keep pace with our advance in knowledge, otherwise our words must

 be written off as "sounding brass," and our knowledge as nothing

 worth.  As space allows in subsequent issues we hope to consider

 some of the aspects of this chief of graces, and first of the

 Spirit's fruits, "ABOVE ALL . . . . LOVE."

 ==============================================================

 "The Parables No. 9" by Charles H. Welch in The Berean Expositor.

 We have now concluded our consideration of the parables of Matt.

 xiii.  As we have seen,these parables of the mysteries of the

 kingdom form a complete line of teaching by themselves.  After

 this series of parables was concluded the Lord Jesus revealed the

 fact that He must not only be rejected, but be crucified, die,

 and be raised again the third day.  The parables of the second

 section accordingly take a somewhat different turn.  One parable

 is spoken after chapter xiii. before the revelation of the Lord's

 death in Matt. xvi.  After this the second series of parables

 follows, ending in the prophetic words of Matt. xxiv. and xxv.

 This series makes a complete set marked by a special aspect of

 dispensational teaching, just in the same way that the parables

 of Matt. xiii. are marked by a special aspect of dispensational

 truth.

 Before considering this group, however, we will look at the

 parable recorded in Matt. xv. 10-20.  It throws light upon the

 nature of the opposition, and the forces at work which had

 rejected the kingdom and finally would crucify the King.  It

 arose out of the question of the Scribes and Pharisees concerning

 eating with unwashen hands.  The Lord does not here, as He does

 in Matt. xxiii., fully and unreservedly strip off their mask of

 hypocrisy, for His hour had not yet come.  In parable form,

 however, He enforces the lesson of the previous words addressed

 to the Scribes and Pharisees.  These formalists were far more

 concerned about ceremonial washings, than about fruit of heart

 love.  The transgression of some minute point of rabbinical

 tradition was far more serious in their eyes than the breaking of

 the law of God.

 In answer to the question, "Why do Thy disciples transgress the

 tradition of the elders?" the Lord said, "Why do ye also

 transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?"  Opposition

 had been gathering, and many attempts to entrap the Lord had been

 made.  His free intermingling with the publicans and sinners

 wounded the pride of the teachers of the law.  His freedom

 regarding the sabbath was much resented and opposed.  It appears

 that on some occasion the Pharisees had noticed that the

 disciples had not observed the tradition regarding washings

 before meals, and this supplied them with a weapon of attack.

 The oral tradition laid peculiar emphasis upon these ceremonial

 ablutions.  No doubt we have all heard of Rabbi Akiba, who when

 imprisoned and supplied with only enough water to maintain life,

 chose rather to perish with thirst and hunger than to eat without

 the necessary washings.  What a pitiable misconception!  What a

 God these people had invented!  We can imagine the feelings with

 which these men came down with this charge upon the disciples of

 the Lord.  They did not expect the Lord to reveal the superficial

 nature of their teaching, which He did so incisively by his

 reference to their despicable gloss in relation to "the first

 commandment with promise :-

 "Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you saying, This

 people draweth nigh with their mouth, and honoureth Me with their

 lips, but their heart is far from Me.  But in vain they do

 worship Me (solemn words for all dispensations), teaching for

 doctrines the commandments of men" (Matt v. 7-9).

 Turning from these votaries of littleness, the Lord called the

 people together and said:-

 "Hear and understand.  Not that which goeth into the mouth

 defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth, this

 defileth a man" (Matt. xv. 10, 11).

 In these few words the Lord brushed aside the external and the

 ceremonial, establishing in their place the real and the

 essential.  The record in Mark vii. 15 should be compared:-

 "There is nothing from without a man that, entering into him can

 defile him, but the things which come out of him, these are they

 that defile a man"

 These words were sufficiently understood by the Pharisees to

 offend them, but the Lord in His reply shows how little He

 thought of man's judgment, "Let them alone; they be blind leaders

 of the blind."  Peter now asks for an explanation of the parable,

 and Matt. xv. 16-20 contains the Lord's answer:-

 "And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding, that

 whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is

 cast into the draught? but those things which proceed out of the

 mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.  For out of the

 heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,

 thefts, false witness, blasphemies.  These are the things which

 defile a man, but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man."

 Mark gives one or two additional statements which are too

 important to pass over unnoticed:-

 "Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth

 into the man, it cannot defile him, because it entereth not into

 his heart" (Mark vii. 18).

 Thus the whole subject revolves around the words "not into his

 heart" and "out of the heart."  "Their heart is far from Me."

 The A.V. continues, "but into the belly, and goeth into the

 draught, purging all meats."  The last clause has caused a great

 amount of unprofitable matter to be written.  The true meaning is

 given in the R.V., "This He said, making all meats clean," i.e.,

 abolishing for ever the scrupulosities of mere ceremonial

 distinctions.  The list of evil things is different from that

 given in Matt. xv.:-

 "Evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts,

 covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye,

 blasphemy, pride, foolishness" (Mark vii. 21, 22).

 We would now draw attention to one or two important words and

 expressions used in this parable, and then show the light it

 casts upon the times and circumstances of this closing section of

 Matthew's Gospel.

 DEFILED (koinos).--It must be remembered that the subject of

 defilement or uncleanness in this parable is ceremonial, it in no

 wise touches upon the desirability of having clean hands at meal

 times, neither does it teach that we may eat anything with

 impunity.  If we perceive the truth nothing can make us

 ceremonially unclean, but some things may do us a deal of harm

 physically.  The word koinos has nothing whatever to do with

 uncleanness in a physical sense; it means defilement only in a

 ceremonial sense.  The following are its occurrences:-

 Koinos.

 "*Defiled* (That is to say unwashen) hands"  (Mark vii. 2).

 "All things *common*" (Acts ii. 44; iv. 32).

 "*Common* or unclean" (Acts x. 14, 28; xi. 8).

 "There is nothing unclean of itself, but to him that esteemeth

 anything to be *unclean*, to him it is *unclean*" (Rom. xiv. 14).

 "The *common* faith" (Titus i. 4).

 "An *unholy* thing" (Heb x. 29).

 "The *common* salvation" (Jude 3).

 Koinoo.

 "*Defile* a man" (Matt. iv. 11, 18, 20; Mark vii. 15, 18, 20,

 23).

 "Call not thou *common*" (Acts x. 15; xi. 9).

 "Brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath *polluted* this

 holy place" (Acts xxi. 28).

 "Sprinkling the *unclean*" (Heb. ix. 13).

 "There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that *defileth*"

 (Rev. xi. 27).

 It will be seen by the above passages that the idea defile must

 be considered from the ceremonial standpoint.  The apostle does

 not hesitate to speak of the "common faith," not because there

 was anything unclean about it, but because it was not the

 exclusive possession of a privileged few, it being now proclaimed

 to the Gentile as well as the Jew.  The ceremonial ablutions were

 jealously guarded and observed not so much out of a desire for

 holiness or personal cleanliness, but out of a cramped, narrow

 and bigoted pride.  To the pharisaic mind there was but one

 class, "the elect," all others were either "Gentile dogs," or

 "the people who know not the law" who are cursed.  This narrow

 exclusive spirit was a fundamental cause of the great rejection,

 for in Matt. xxiii. 13 the first woe uttered by our Lord touches

 this very point:-

 "But woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  for ye shut

 up the kingdom of heaven against men, for ye neither go in

 yourselves, neither do ye suffer them that are entering to go

 in."

 Luke xi. 52 adds another weighty word:-

 "Woe unto you lawyers!  for ye took away the key of knowledge, ye

 entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye

 hindered."

 The reference to "the blind guides" in Matt. xxiii. 16 is a

 further link with Matt. xv.  So also the sentiment of verses 23-

 27.  The charge is very severe, and must have caused, as indeed

 we know it did, intense hatred.  These men, who were so

 scrupulous about the outside as in Matt. xv., were within "full

 of all uncleanness."

 HEART.--The way in which the Lord uses the word "heart" is full

 of deep teaching.  In the Beatitudes He had said, "Blessed are

 the pure in heart," the word "pure" being the Greek word

 katharos.  The next time the Lord uses the word in Matthew it is

 in direct continuance of this passage in Matt. v. :-

 "Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup

 and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also" (Matt.

 xxiii. 26).

 The clean in heart, not the ceremonially and externally clean,

 not as the whitewashed sepulchres, these and these alone should

 see the kingdom.  So superficial had become the ideas of men at

 the time of Christ, that He early disturbed the self-righteous

 complacency of those who thought that they were safe:-

 "Ye have, heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt

 not commit adultery, but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh

 on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her

 already in his heart" (Matt. v. 28).

 "The tree is known by his fruit.  O generation of vipers, how can

 ye, being evil, speak good things?  for out of the abundance of

 the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matt. xii. 33, 34).

 Thus the Lord would teach that just as the fruit of a tree

 indicates the nature of the tree itself, so the fruit of the lips

 will show the nature of the heart which gives that fruit origin.

 Once again, in answer to the lawyer's question, the Lord puts the

 heart in the first place:-

 "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with

 all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Matt xxii. 37).

 Heart first, mind last.  The mere intellectualism which always

 accompanies a pharisaical spirit is placed by its advocates

 foremost, while the heart is placed last.  Not so, in the Lord's

 estimate.  He does not call upon us to quibble over the petty

 details which occupied the little minds of these formalists, but

 urges love of heart first and foremost.

 The words of the R.V. of Mark vii. 19, "This he said, making all

 meats clean," should be noted.  These words are the inspired

 comment upon the Lord's teaching.  It indicated the trend of His

 teaching and the effect of His work.  It lifted the one who

 believed Him above the sphere wherein such observances were of

 service.  It entirely discountenanced the teaching of the

 Pharisees.  The spirit of the lesson is echoed in an apocryphal

 addition to Luke vi. 5 found in the Codex Bezae:-

 "On the same day, seeing one working on the Sabbath, He said to

 him, O man, if indeed thou knowest what thou doest, thou art

 blessed, but if thou knowest not, thou art accursed and a

 transgressor of the Law."

 Let us now examine the list of sins which the Lord said did

 defile a man, coming as they did out of the heart.

 EVIL THOUGHTS.--The word "thought" is dialogismos:D

 "When Jesus perceived their *thoughts*, He answering said unto

 them, What *reason ye* in your hearts?" (Luke v. 22).

 "The Scribes and Pharisees watched Him, whether He would heal on

 the Sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against Him,

 but He knew their *thoughts*" (Luke vi. 7, 8).

 So also Luke ii. 35; ix. 46, 47; xxiv. 38; and James ii. 4.  The

 word "evil" is poneros:D

 "Wherefore think ye *evil* in your hearts" (Matt. ix. 4).

 "O generation of vipers, how can ye (Pharisees, see verse 24),

 being *evil* speak good things?  for out of the abundance of the

 heart the mouth speaketh . . . . An *evil* and adulterous

 generation" (Matt. xii. 34, 39).

 It seems fairly clear that the Lord had the Pharisees and Scribes

 in view when He uttered the words in the parable concerning evil

 thoughts.

 MURDERS (phonos).--The word occurs in connection with Barabbas in

 Mark xv. 7 and Luke xxiii. 19, 25.  "Destroyed those murderers,

 and burnt up their city" (Matt. xxii. 7).  Refer back to the

 related parable in Matt. xxi. 38, 39 for the full force of this

 passage: note verses 45 and 46, and xxii. 15, and see how the

 Pharisees realize that the Lord meant to indicate them under this

 awful title.  Matt. v. 21 has already made it clear how "murder"

 may be charged against these plotting enemies of the Lord.  The

 Pharisees and Scribes are again charged with this foul crime in

 Matt. xxiii. 31-39.

 ADULTERERS (moicheia).--"The Scribes and Pharisees brought unto

 Him a woman taken in adultery" (John viii. 3).  These hypocrites

 were not concerned about the evil of the act (for they were

 guilty themselves, see verse 9), they simply desired to catch the

 Lord and involve Him in His words (verse 6).  The exceeding

 looseness with which many of the Pharisees held the marriage tie

 involved them in the sin of adultery before God (see Matt. v. 31,

 32, and xix. 3-9).  As with murder, so with adultery, the desire

 of the heart constituted guilt (see Matt. v. 27, 28).  On several

 occasions the Lord denounced these evil men as "a wicked and

 adulterous generation" (see Matt. xii. 39 and xvi. 4).

 FORNICATIONS (porneia).--It is a remarkable fact that this plague

 figures more conspicuously in the Epistles and in the Revelation

 than in the Gospels.  Once the enemies of the Lord use it (John

 viii. 41), an insult which His holy nature must have felt keenly,

 but how gracious and calm was His reply!  Although specific

 instances of this sin are not given in the Gospels, we know the

 Lord sufficiently to imagine that He would not use a word so

 foul, unless He knew only too well that the charge was actually

 true.  Its prominence in the Apocalypse, and the practical

 absence of adultery, throw a vivid light on the character of the

 last days.

 THEFTS (klope).--This word occurs nowhere else except in the

 parallel passage of Mark.  The cognate word kleptes ("thief") is

 used in John x. 1, 8, 1O, and includes the Scribes and Pharisees,

 as the context shows.  The devouring of widows' houses (Matt.

 xxiii. 14; Mark xii. 40; and Luke xx. 47), the traditions (Matt.

 xv. 5, 6), and the turning of the House of Prayer into a den of

 thieves (Matt. xi. 13), involve the Pharisees in this sin.

 FALSE WITNESS.--This word in all its hideous nakedness is written

 against the "chief priests, and elders, and all the council"

 (Matt. xxvi. 59) in relation to the deep-laid plot against the

 life of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This is the more significant when

 we consider the fact that these two passages contain all the

 occurrences of the word in the N.T.

 BLASPHEMY.--Mark iii. 29 shows that the Scribes were guilty of

 the most unpardonable blasphemy.

 We will not go through the list given in Mark, readers should

 make a study of the words there given.  One thing is prominent in

 this parable.  The Pharisees were guilty of breaking the very law

 in which they boasted so much.  Listen to our Lord's summary of

 the Law:-

 "Jesus said (observe the order here and in Matt. xv.), Thou shalt

 do no *murder*, thou shalt not commit *adultery*, thou shalt not

 *steal*, thou shalt not bear *false witness*. Honour thy father

 and thy mother (cf. Matt, xv. 4-6), and thou shalt love thy

 neighbour as thyself (Matt. xix. 18, 19).

 How weak, how beggarly, the petty observances and mere trifling

 externals of the Pharisees appear when seen from the standpoint

 of love.  The apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, seems to have

 the pharisaical spirit before him.  First in Rom. ii. we read:-

 "For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself . . .

 .  Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and

 makest thy boast of God, and knowest His will, and approvest the

 things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law,

 and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind (cf.

 Matt. xv. 14), a light of them which are in darkness, an

 instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which have the

 FORM of knowledge and of the truth in the law (cf. 2 Tim. iii.

 5); thou therefore that TEACHEST another, *teachest thou not

 thyself*?  thou that PREACHEST a man should not steal, *dost thou

 steal*?  thou that SAYEST a man should not commit adultery, *dost

 thou commit adultery*?  thou that abhorrest idols, *dost thou

 commit sacrilege*?  thou that makest thy boast in the law,

 through breaking the law *dishonourest thou God* . . . . who by

 the *letter* and *circumcision* dost transgress the law? (Matt.

 xv. 3).  For he is not a Jew who is one *outwardly* (see Matt.

 xiii. 28) . . . . circumcision is that of the HEART in the

 spirit, and not in the letter (cf. 2 Cor. iii. 6), whose praise

 is not of men, but of God."

 The sequel is found in Rom. xiii. 8-1O:-

 "Owe no man anything, but to love one another; for he that loveth

 another hath fulfilled the law.  For this, thou shalt not commit

 adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt

 not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, and if there be any

 other commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying,

 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself'"

 Returning to the parable of Matt. xv. with the knowledge we have

 now gained, do we not see that it foreshadowed that spirit which

 manifested itself in all its hollowness and sham, and whose

 loveless creed culminated in the basest act that the world has

 ever witnessed.  The second set of parables in Matthew's Gospel

 becomes luminous in the light of this one.  Into what a ditch

 these blind guides led that poor blinded people!  The Lord

 disowns them, they were never planted by Him, they were sown by

 the Devil, they shall be rooted up (Matt. xiii. 29).  They are

 the tares, the children of the wicked one.  The burden of guilt

 rested chiefly upon the rulers and leaders of the people.  They

 neither entered into the kingdom of the heavens themselves, nor

 allowed the common people, who desired to enter, to do so.

 While it is of the utmost importance to realize the

 dispensational setting and bearing of this parable, it is

 essential to our joy and peace that we take to heart the solemn

 teaching for ourselves.  May we remember that the mere observance

 of ceremonies is nothing.  Love is the fulfilling of the law.

 Our walk is to be "in love."  Let us take heed and beware of the

 "leaven of the Pharisees, and of the Sadducees."

 ================================================================

 "The Sovereignty of God #8" by Oscar M. Baker in Truth For Today.

 In all our study we must be careful that we give due honor to the

 Son, for if one does not honor the Son, then he does not honor

 God. We understand from the Scriptures that the Son is none other

 than God in flesh.

 In Genesis 1 we learn that Adam was made in the likeness of the

 image of God.  This image is Christ (Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4; Heb.

 1:3).  According to Daniel 2, an image in the likeness of man was

 used to show forth the idea of dominion.  And so in Genesis 1 we

 see that man was given dominion over the creatures of the earth.

 In the matter of dominion, Adam was a figure of Him that was to

 come, the One who will have all dominion (Romans 5:14).

 This dominion is further spoken of in Psa. 8 where it still

 refers to man and the earth.  But this same passage is quoted in

 Heb. 2:5-8 and we see that there it refers to Christ.  The

 dominion is universal.

 This universal dominion of our Lord is further expanded in many

 other passages.  In 1 Cor. 15:27 we learn that all things are put

 under His feet with the dispensational addition that He is the

 Head of the church.

 Our Lord is able to subdue all things unto Himself (Ph'p.3:21).

 This is His power.  And in Matt 28:18 He claims that all power

 was given Him in heaven and in earth.  So the subjection is to be

 universal, for we do not see all things subdued to Him as yet

 (Heb. 2:8).  The student must be very careful here not to include

 too much.  At the time that He takes His power He will subdue all

 things to Himself which are existing at that time.  There is no

 promise of resurrection in this statement.

 In Matthew 11:27 the Lord claimed that all things were delivered

 unto Him of the Father.  The context is judgment, revelation of

 truth, and an invitation to come unto Him.

 Another angle is presented in Eph. 1:10.  There all things are to

 be made a unity of which Christ is to be the Head.  This is more

 than the church.  It again is a universal dominion.

 But we have been speaking primarily of power, not sovereignty.

 Does the Lord have sovereignty as well as God?  Surely that is

 so.  In Ph'p. 2:10 we discover that to this Jesus of Nazareth is

 given a name that is above every name (this name can only be

 Jehovah if it is to fit this description) and that to Him every

 knee shall bow and every tongue confess in that day (this is what

 the Jehovah says of Himself in Isa. 45:23).  And in the next

 verse in Ph'p.2 we find Lordship ascribed to Christ.  Surely

 Lordship and sovereignty are not too far apart.  And the

 fulfillment of this passage may be found in Rev 5:13 where every

 creature in heaven and earth will confess His Lordship.  And this

 sovereignty extends to the right and the power to give life to

 whomsoever He will (John 5:21,26).

 The sovereignty of God cannot be known except due honor is given

 the Son.

 ============================================================

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