First, it is the heart's delight in God as the object of prayer, and particularly the recognition and realization of God as our Father. Thus, when the disciples asked the Lord Jesus to teach them to pray, He said, After this manner, therefore, pray ye, Our Father which art in heaven. And again, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, the Hebrew for Father, Father, Galatians 4.6. which includes a filial, holy delight in God, such as children have in their parents, in their most affectionate addresses to them. So again, in Ephesians 2.18, we are told, for the strengthening of faith and the comfort of our hearts, for through him, Christ, we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. What peace, what assurance, what freedom this gives to the soul to know we are approaching our Father. Second, joy in prayer is furthered by the heart's apprehension and the soul's sight of God as on the throne of grace, a sight or prospect, not by carnal imagination, but by spiritual illumination. For it is by faith that we see him who is invisible. Hebrews 11.27. Faith being the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11.1. Making its proper object evident and present unto them that believe. Such a sight of God upon such a throne cannot but thrill the soul. Therefore are we exhorted, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4.16 Thirdly, and drawn from the last quoted scripture, freedom and delight in prayer are stimulated by the consciousness that God is, through Jesus Christ, willing and ready to dispense grace and mercy to suppliant sinners. There is no reluctance in him which we have to overcome. He is more ready to give than we are to receive. So he is represented in Isaiah 30, 18. And therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you. Yes, he waits to be sought unto, waits for faith to lay hold of his readiness to bless. His ear is ever open to the cries of the righteous. Then let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, Hebrews 10.22. In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And we shall find that peace which passes all understanding, guarding our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, Philippians 4, 6 and 7. Chapter 5 The Scriptures and Good Works The truth of God may be well likened to a narrow path skirted on either side by a dangerous and destructive precipice. In other words, it lies between two gulfs of air. The aptness of this figure may be seen in our proneness to sway from one extreme to another. Only the Holy Spirit's enabling can cause us to preserve the balance. Failure to do which inevitably leads to a fall into error. For error is not so much the denial of truth as the perversion of truth, the pitting of one part of it against another. The history of theology forcibly and solemnly illustrates this fact. One generation of men have rightly and earnestly contended for that aspect of truth which was most needed in their day. The next generation, instead of walking therein and moving forward, warred for it intellectually as the distinguishing mark of their party. and usually, in their defense of what was assaulted, have refused to listen to the balancing truth which often their opponents were insisting upon. The result being that they lost their sense of perspective and emphasized what they believed out of its scriptural proportions. Consequently, in the next generation, the true servant of God is called on almost to ignore what was so valuable in their eyes and to emphasize that which they had. if not altogether denied, almost completely lost sight of. It has been said that rays of light, whether they proceed from the sun, star, or candle, move in perfect straight lines, yet so inferior are our works to God's, that the steadiest hand cannot draw a perfectly straight line, nor, with all his skill, has man ever been able to invent an instrument capable of doing a thing apparently so simple. T. Guthrie, 1867. Be this so or not, certain it is that men, left to themselves, have ever found it impossible to keep the even line of truth between what appear to be conflicting doctrines, such as the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man, election by grace and the universal proclamation of the gospel, the justifying faith of Paul and the justifying works of James, Only too often, where the absolute sovereignty of God has been insisted upon, it has been to the ignoring of man's accountability. And where unconditional election has been held fast, the unfettered preaching of the gospel to the unsaved has been let slip. On the other hand, where human accountability has been upheld and the evangelical ministry been sustained, the sovereignty of God and the truth of election have generally been whittled down or completely ignored. Many of our readers have witnessed examples which illustrate the truth of what has been said above, but few seem to realize that exactly the same difficulty is experienced when an attempt is made to show the precise relation between faith and good works. If, on the one hand, some have erred in attributing to good works a place which Scripture does not warrant, certain it is that, on the other hand, some have failed to give to good works the province which Scripture assigns them. If on the one side it be serious error to ascribe our justification before God to any performances of ours, on the other side they are equally guilty, who deny that good works are necessary in order to our reaching heaven, and allow nothing more than that they are merely evidences or fruits of our justification. We are well aware that we are now, shall we say, treading on thin ice. and running a serious risk of ourselves being charged with heresy. Nevertheless, we deem it expedient to seek divine aid in grappling with this difficulty and then commit the issues thereof to God himself. In some quarters, the claims of faith, though not wholly denied, have been disparaged because of the zeal to magnify good works. In other circles, reputed as orthodox, and they are what we now have chiefly in mind, Only too rarely are good works assigned their proper place, and far too infrequently are professing Christians urged with apostolic earnestness to maintain them. No doubt this is due at times to a fear of undervaluing faith and encouraging sinners in the fatal error of trusting to their own doings rather than to and in the righteousness of Christ. But no such apprehensions should hinder a preacher from declaring all the counsel of God. If his theme be faith in Christ as the Savior of the lost, let him fully set forth that truth without any modification, giving to this grace the place which the Apostle gave it in his reply to the Philippian jailer, Acts 16.31. But if his subject be good works, let him be no less faithful in keeping back nothing which Scripture says thereon. Let him not forget that divine command affirmed constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. Titus 3a. The last quoted scripture is the most pertinent one for these days of looseness and laxity, of worthless profession and empty boasting. This expression good works is found in the New Testament in the singular or plural number no less than 30 times. Yet from the rarity with which many preachers who are esteemed sound in the faith use, emphasize, and enlarge upon them, many of their hearers would conclude that those words occur but once or twice in all the Bible. Speaking to the Jews on another subject, the Lord said, What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. Mark 10, 9. Now in Ephesians 2, 8-10, God has joined two most vital and blessed things together, which ought never to be separated in our hearts and minds. yet they are most frequently parted in the modern pulpit. How many sermons are preached from the first two of these verses which so clearly declare salvation to be by grace through faith and not of works? Yet how seldom are we reminded that the sentence which begins with grace and faith is only completed in verse 10 where we are told, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good work. which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. We began this series by pointing out that the Word of God may be taken up from various motives and read with different designs, but that 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17 makes known for what these scriptures are really profitable, namely, for doctrine or teaching, for reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness, and all of these that the man of God may be perfect thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Having dwelt upon its teaching about God and Christ, its reproofs and corrections for sin, its instruction in connection with prayer, let us now consider how these furnish us unto all good works. Here is another vital criterion by which an honest soul, with the help of the Holy Spirit, may ascertain whether or not his reading and study of the Word is really benefiting him. Number one, we profit from the word when we are thereby taught the true place of good works. Many persons in their eagerness to support orthodoxy as a system speak of salvation by grace and faith in such a manner as to undervalue holiness and a life devoted to God. But there is no ground for this in the holy scriptures. The same gospel that declares salvation to be freely by the grace of God through faith in the blood of Christ and asserts in the strongest terms that sinners are justified by the righteousness of the Savior imputed to them on their believing in Him, without any respect to works of law, also assures us that without holiness no man shall see God, that believers are cleansed by the blood of atonement, that their hearts are purified by faith, which works by love, and overcomes the world, and that the grace that brings salvation to all men teaches those who receive it, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, they should live soberly, righteously, ungodly in this present world. Any fear that the doctrine of grace will suffer from the most strenuous inculcation of good works on a scriptural foundation betrays an inadequate and greatly defective acquaintance with the divine truth. And any tampering with the scriptures, in order to silence their testimony in favor of the fruits of righteousness, as absolutely necessary in the Christian, is a perversion and forgery with respect to the Word of God." Alexander Carson. But what force, ask some, has this ordination or command of God unto good works, when, notwithstanding it, though we fail to apply ourselves diligently unto obedience, we shall nevertheless be justified by the imputation of Christ's righteousness, and so may be saved without them. Such a senseless objection proceeds from utter ignorance of the believer's present state in relation to God. To suppose that the hearts of the regenerate are not as much and as effectually influenced with the authority and commands of God unto obedience as if they were given in order unto their justification is to ignore what true faith is and what are the arguments and motives whereby the minds of Christians are principally affected and constrained. Moreover, it is to lose sight of the inseparable connection which God has made between our justification and our sanctification. To suppose that one of these may exist without the other is to overthrow the whole gospel. The apostle deals with this very objection in Romans 6 verses 1 through 3. Number two, we profit from the word when we are thereby taught the absolute necessity of good works. If it be written that without shedding of blood is no remission, Hebrews 9.22, and without faith it is impossible to please him, Hebrews 11.6, the scripture of truth also declares, follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, Hebrews 12.14. The life lived by the saints in heaven is but the completion and consummation of that life which, after regeneration, they live here on earth. The difference between the two is not one of kind, but of degree. The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Proverbs 4.8 If there has been no walking with God down here, there will be no dwelling with God up there. If there has been no real communion with Him in time, there will be none with Him in eternity. Death affects no vital change to the heart. True, at death the remainders of sin are forever left behind by the saint, but no new nature is then imparted. If then he did not hate sin and love holiness before death, he certainly will not do so afterwards. No one really desires to go to hell, though there are few indeed who are willing to forsake that broad road which inevitably leads there. All would like to go to heaven. But who among the multitudes of professing Christians are really willing and determined to walk that narrow way which alone leads thereto. It is at this point that we may discern the precise place which good works have in connection with salvation. They do not merit it, yet they are inseparable from it. They do not procure a title to heaven, yet they are among the means which God has appointed for His peoples getting there. In no sense are good works the procuring cause of eternal life, but they are part of the means as are the Spirit's work within us and repentance, faith, and obedience by us, conducing to it. God has appointed the way wherein we must walk in order to our arriving at the inheritance purchased for us by Christ. A life of daily obedience to God is that which alone gives actual admission to the enjoyment of what Christ has purchased for His people. Admission now by faith, admission at death, or His return in full actuality. Number three, we profit from the word when we are taught thereby the design of good works. This is clearly made known in Matthew 5 16. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. It is worthy of our notice that this is the first occurrence of the expression and as is generally the case the initial mention of a thing in scripture intimates its subsequent scope and usage. Here we learn that the disciples of Christ are to authenticate their Christian profession by the silent but vocal testimony of their lives, for light makes no noise in it shining, that men may see, not hear boastings about, their good works, and this that their Father in heaven may be glorified. Here then is their fundamental design for the honor of God. As the contents of Matthew 5.16 are so generally misunderstood and perverted, we add a further thought thereon. Only too commonly, the good works are confounded with the light itself, yet they are quite distinct, though inseparably connected. The light is our testimony for Christ, but of what value is this unless the light itself exemplifies it? The good works are not for the directing of attention to ourselves, but to Him who has wrought them in us. they are to be of such a character and quality that even the ungodly will know they precede from some higher source than fallen human nature. Supernatural fruit requires a supernatural root, and as this is recognized, the husbandman is glorified thereby. Equally significant is the last reference to good works in Scripture, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, They may, by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 1 Peter 2.12 Thus the first and final allusions emphasize their design to glorify God because of his works through his people in this world. 4. We profit from the word when we are taught thereby the true nature of good works. This is something concerning which the unregenerate are in entire ignorance. Judging merely from the external, estimating things only by human standards, they are quite incompetent to determine what works are good in God's esteem and what are not. Supposing that what men regard as good works God will approve of too, they remain in the darkness of their sin-blinded understandings, nor can any convince them of their error till the Holy Spirit quickens them into newness of life, bringing them out of darkness into God's marvelous light. then will it appear that only those are good works which are done in obedience to the will of God. Romans 6.16 From a principle of love to him. Hebrews 10.24 In the name of Christ. Colossians 3.17 And to the glory of God by him. 1 Corinthians 10.31 The true nature of good works was perfectly exemplified by the Lord Jesus. All that he did was done in obedience to his Father. He pleased not himself, Romans 15.3, but ever performed the bidding of the one who had sent him, John 6.38. He could say, I always do those things that please him, John 8.29. There were no limits to Christ's objection to the Father's will. He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, Philippians 2.8. So too, all that he did proceeded from love to the Father and love to his neighbor. Love is the fulfilling of the law. Without love, compliance with the law is naught but servile subjection, and that cannot be acceptable to Him who is love. Proof that all Christ's obedience flowed from love is found in His words, I delight to do thy will, O my God. Psalm 40, verse 8. So also all that Christ did had in view the glory of the Father. Father, glorify thy name. John 12, 28. revealed the object constantly before him. Number 5. We profit from the Word when we are taught thereby the true source of good works. Unregenerate men are capable of performing works which in a natural and civil sense, though not in a spiritual sense, are good. They may do such things which externally, as to matter and substance of them, are good, such as reading the Bible, attending the ministry of the Word, giving alms to the poor, yet the mainspring of such actions, their lack of godly motive, renders them as filthy rags in the sight of the thrice-holy One. The unregenerate have no power to perform works in a spiritual manner, and therefore it is written, There is none that doeth good, no not one. Romans 3.12. Nor are they able to. They are not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Romans 8.7. Hence even the plowing of the wicked is sin. Proverbs 21.4. Nor are believers able to think a good thought or perform a good work of themselves. Second Corinthians 3.5. It is God who works in them both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2.13. When the Ethiopian can change his skin and the leopard his spots, then may they also do good that are accustomed to do evil. Jeremiah 13 23 Men may as soon expect to gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles as good fruit to grow upon or good works to be performed by the unregenerate We have first to be created in Christ Jesus Ephesians 2 10 have his spirit put within us Galatians 4 6 and his grace implanted in our hearts Ephesians 4 7 and first Corinthians 15 10 before there is any capacity for good works Even then we can do nothing apart from Christ. John 15.5 Often we have a will to do that which is good, yet how to perform it we know not. Romans 7.18 This drives us to our knees, begging God to make us perfect in every good work, working in us that which is well-pleasing in His sight through Christ Jesus. Hebrews 13.21 Thus we are emptied of self-sufficiency and brought to realize that all our springs are in God, Psalm 87 7 and thus we discover that we can do all things through Christ strengthening us Philippians 4 13 number 6 we profit from the word when we are taught thereby the great importance of good works condensing as far as possible good works are of great importance because by them God is glorified Matthew 5 16 by them the mouths of those who speak against us are closed 1 Peter 2.12. By them we evidence the genuineness of our profession of faith. James 2.13-17. It is highly expedient that we adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. Titus 2.10. Nothing brings more honor to Christ than that those who bear his name are found living constantly by his enablement in a Christ-like way in spirit. It was not without reason that the same spirit who caused the apostle to preface his statement concerning Christ's coming into this world to save sinners with, this is a faithful saying, etc., also moved him to write, this is a faithful saying, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. Titus 3.8. May we indeed be zealous of good works. Titus 2.14. Number seven, we profit from the word when we are taught thereby the true scope of good works. This is so comprehensive as to include the discharge of our duties in every relationship in which God has placed us. It is interesting and instructive to note the first good work as so described in Holy Writ, namely the anointing of the Savior by Mary of Bethany, Matthew 26.10 and Mark 14.6. indifferent alike to the blame or praise of men, with eyes only for the chieftess among ten thousand, she lavished upon him her precious ointment. Another woman, Dorcas, Acts 9.36, is also mentioned as full of good works. After worship comes service, glorifying God among men and benefiting others. That ye may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, Colossians 1.10. The bringing up, not dragging up, of children, lodging spiritual strangers, washing the saints' feet, ministering to their temporal comforts, and relieving the afflicted, 1 Timothy 5.10, are spoken of as good works. Unless our reading and studying of the scriptures is making us better soldiers of Jesus Christ, better citizens of the country in which we sojourn, better members of our earthly homes, kinder, gentler, more unselfish, thoroughly furnished unto all good works, it is profiting us little or nothing. Chapter 6 The Scriptures and Obedience All professing Christians are agreed, in theory at least, that it is the aboundant duty of those who bear his name to honor and glorify Christ in this world. But as to how this is to be done, as to what he requires from us to this end, There is wide difference of opinion. Many suppose that honoring Christ simply means to join some church, to take part in and support its various activities. Others think that honoring Christ means to speak of him to others and be diligently engaged in personal work. Others seem to imagine that honoring Christ signifies little more than making liberal financial contributions to his cause. Few indeed realize that Christ is honored only as we live holily unto him, and that by walking in subjection to his revealed will. Few indeed really believe that word, behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15.22 We are not Christians at all unless we have fully surrendered to and received Jesus Christ as Lord. Colossians 2.6 We would plead with you to ponder that statement diligently. Satan is deceiving many today by leading them to suppose that they are savingly trusting in the finished work of Christ while their hearts remain unchanged and self still rules their lives. Listen to God's word. Salvation is far from the wicked for they seek not thy statutes. Psalm 119, 155. Do you really seek his statutes? Do you diligently search his word to discover what he has commanded? He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 2.4 What could be plainer than that? And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Luke 6.46 Obedience to the Lord in life, not merely glowing words from the lips, is what Christ requires. What a searching and solemn word is that in James 1.22. Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. There are many hearers of the word, regular hearers, reverent hearers, interested hearers. But alas, what they hear is not incorporated into the life. It does not regulate their way. And God says that they who are not doers of the word are deceiving their own selves. Alas, how many such there are in Christendom today! They are not downright hypocrites, but deluded. They suppose that because they are so clear upon salvation by grace alone, they are saved. They suppose that because they sit under the ministry of a man who has made the Bible a new book to them, they have grown in grace. They suppose that because their store of biblical knowledge has increased, they are more spiritual. They suppose that the mere listening to a servant of God or reading his writings is feeding on the Word. Not so. We feed on the Word only when we personally appropriate, masticate, and assimilate into our lives what we read or hear. Where there is not an increasing conformity of heart and life to God's Word, then increased knowledge will only bring increased condemnation. And that servant which knew his Lord's will prepare not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes." Luke 12 47. Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of truth. 2nd Timothy 3 7. This is one of the prominent characteristics of the perilous times in which we are now living. People hear one preacher after another, attend this conference and that conference, read book after book on biblical subjects, and yet never attain unto a vital and practical acquaintance with the truth, so as to have an impression of its power and efficacy on the soul. There is such a thing as spiritual dropsy, and multitudes are suffering from it. The more they hear, the more they want to hear. They drink in sermons and addresses with avidity, but their lives are unchanged. They are puffed up with their knowledge and not humbled into the dust before God. The faith of God's elect is the acknowledging in the life of the truth which is after godliness, Titus 1.1. But to this the vast majority are total strangers. God has given his word not only with the design of instructing us, but for the purpose of directing us, to make known what he requires us to do. The first thing we need is a clear and distinct knowledge of our duty, and the first thing God demands of us is a conscientious practice of it. corresponding to our knowledge. What does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6.8. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes 12.13. The Lord Jesus affirmed the same thing when he said, Ye are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you. Number one, a man profits from the word as he discovers God's demands upon him, his undeviating demands, for he changes not. It is a great and grievous mistake to suppose that in this present dispensation, God has lowered his demands, for that would necessarily imply that his previous demand was a harsh and unrighteous one. Not so. The law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good. Romans 7.12. The sum of God's demands is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Deuteronomy 6.5. And the Lord Jesus repeated it in Matthew 22.37. The Apostle Paul enforced the same when he wrote, If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. 1 Corinthians 16.22. A man profits from the word when he discovers how entirely and how sinfully he has failed to meet God's demands. And let us point out for the benefit of any who may take issue with the last paragraph that no man can see what a sinner he is, how infinitely short he has fallen of measuring up to God's standard until he has a clear sight of the exalted demands of God upon him. Just in proportion as preachers lower God's standard of what he requires from every human being, to that extent will their hearers obtain an inadequate and faulty conception of their sinfulness, and the less will they perceive of their need of an Almighty Savior. But once a soul really perceives what our God's demands upon him, and how completely and constantly he has failed to render him his due, then does he recognize What a desperate situation he is in. The law must be preached before any are ready for the gospel. Number three, a man profits from the word when he is taught therefrom that God in his infinite grace has fully provided for his people's meeting his own demands. At this point too, much present day preaching is seriously defective. There is being given forth what may loosely be termed a half gospel. but which in reality is virtually a denial of the true gospel. Christ is brought in, yet only as a sort of make-weight. That Christ has vicariously met every demand of God upon all who believe upon him is blessedly true, yet it is only a part of the truth. The Lord Jesus has not only vicariously satisfied for his people the requirements of God's righteousness, but he has also secured that they shall personally satisfy them too. Christ has procured the Holy Spirit to make good in them what the Redeemer wrought for them. The grand and glorious miracle of salvation is that the saved are regenerated. A transforming work is wrought within them. Their understandings are illuminated, their hearts are changed, their wills are renewed. They are made new creatures in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5.17 God refers to this miracle of grace thus, I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts. Hebrews 8.10 The heart is now inclined to God's law. A disposition has been communicated to it which answers to its demands. There is a sincere desire to perform it. And thus the quickened soul is able to say, When thou saidest, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy faith, Lord, will I seek. Psalm 27 8. Christ not only rendered a perfect obedience unto the law for the justification of his believing people but he also merited for them those supplies of his spirit which were essential unto their sanctification and which alone could transform carnal creatures and enable them to render acceptable obedience unto God. Though Christ died for the ungodly, Romans 5 6, though he finds them ungodly, Romans 4 5, when he justifies them, yet he does not leave them in that abominable state. On the contrary, he effectually teaches them by his spirit to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. Titus 2.12 Just as weight cannot be separated from a stone, or heat from a fire, so cannot justification from sanctification. When God really pardons a sinner in the court of his conscience, Under the sense of that amazing grace the heart is purified, the life is rectified, and the whole man is sanctified. Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, not careless about, but zealous of good works. Titus 2.14 Just as a substance and its properties, causes, and their necessary effects are inseparably connected so are a saving faith and conscientious obedience unto God hence we read of the obedience of faith Romans 16 26 said the Lord Jesus he that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me John 14 21 not in the Old Testament the Gospels or the epistles does God own anyone as a lover of him save the one who keeps his commandments Love is something more than sentiment or emotion. It is a principle of action, and it expresses itself in something more than honeyed expressions, namely, by deeds which please the object loved. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. 1 John 5.3. O my reader, you are deceiving yourself if you think you love God and yet have no deep desire and make no real effort to walk obediently before Him. But what is obedience to God? It is far more than a mechanical performance of certain duties. I may have been brought up by Christian parents, and under them acquired certain moral habits, and yet my abstaining from taking the Lord's name in vain, and being guiltless of stealing, may be no obedience to the third and eighth commandments. Again, obedience to God is far more than conforming to the conduct of His people. I may board in a home where the Sabbath is strictly observed, and out of respect for them, or because I think it is a good and wise course to rest one day and seven, I may refrain from all unnecessary labor on that day, and yet not keep the fourth commandment at all. Obedience is not only subjection to an external law, but it is the surrendering of my will to the authority of another. Thus, obedience to God is the heart's recognition of his lordship, of his right to command, and my duty to comply. It is the complete subjection of the soul to the blessed yoke of Christ. That obedience which God requires can proceed only from a heart which loves Him. Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord. Colossians 3.23 That obedience which springs from a dread of punishment is servile. That obedience which is performed in order to procure favors from God is selfish and carnal. but spiritual and acceptable obedience is cheerfully given. It is the heart's free response to and gratitude for the unmerited regard and love of God for us. Number four. We profit from the word when we not only see it is our bounden duty to obey God, but when there is wrought in us a love for his commandments. The blessed man is the one whose delight is in the law of the Lord. Psalm 1-2. And again we read, Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. Psalm 112, 1. It affords a real test for our hearts to face honestly the questions, Do I really value his commandments as much as I do his promises? Ought I not to do so? Assuredly, for the one proceeds as truly from his love as does the other. The heart's compliance with the voice of Christ is the foundation for all practical holiness. Here again, we would earnestly and lovingly beg the reader to attend closely to this detail. Any man who supposes that he is saved and yet has no genuine love for God's commandment is deceiving himself. Said the psalmist, O how love I thy law, Psalm 119.97. And again, therefore I love thy commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold, Psalm 119.127. Should someone object that that was under the Old Testament, we ask, do you intimate that the Holy Spirit produces a lesser change in the hearts of those whom he now regenerates than he did of old? But a New Testament saint also placed on record, I delight in the law of God after the inward man, Romans 7.22. And my reader, unless your heart delights in the law of God, there is something radically wrong with you. Yea, it is greatly to be feared that you are spiritually dead. Number five. A man profits from the word when his heart and will are yielded to all God's commandments. Partial obedience is no obedience at all. A holy mind declines whatsoever God forbids and chooses to practice all he requires without any exception. If our minds submit not unto God in all his commandments, we submit not to his authority in anything he enjoins. If we do not approve of our duty in its full extent, we are greatly mistaken if we imagine that we have any liking unto any part of it. A person who has no principle of holiness in him may yet be disinclined to many vices, and be pleased to practice many virtues, as he perceives the former are unfit actions, and the latter are, in themselves, comely actions. but his disapprobation of vice and approbation of virtue do not arise from any disposition to submit to the will of God. True spiritual obedience is impartial. A renewed heart does not pick and choose from God's commandments. The man who does so is not performing God's will, but his own. Make no mistake upon this point, if we do not sincerely desire to please God in all things, Then we do not truly wish to do so in anything. Self must be denied, not merely some of the things which may be craved, but self itself. A willful allowance of any known sin breaks the whole law, James 2, 10, and 11. Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments, Psalm 119, 6. Said the Lord Jesus, ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. John 15 14. If I am not his friend, then I must be his enemy, for there is no other alternative. See Luke 19 27. Number six. We profit from the word when the soul is moved to pray earnestly for enabling grace. In regeneration, the Holy Spirit communicates a nature which is fitted for obedience according to the word. The heart has been won by God. There is now a deep and sincere desire to please him. But the new nature possesses no inherent power, and the old nature, or flesh, strives against it, and the devil opposes. Thus the Christian exclaims, To will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. Romans 7.18. This does not mean that he is the slave of sin, as he was before conversion, but it means that he finds not how fully to realize his spiritual aspirations. Therefore does he pray, Make me to go in the path of thy commandments, for therein do I delight. Psalm 119.35 And again, order my steps in thy word, and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Psalm 119.133 Here we would reply to a question which the above statements have probably raised in many minds. Are you affirming that God requires perfect obedience from us in this life? We answer, yes. God will not set any lower standard before us than that. See 1 Peter 1 15. Then does the real Christian measure up to that standard? Yes and no. Yes in his heart and it is at the heart that God looks. 1 Samuel 16 7. In his heart every regenerated person has a real love for God's commandments and genuinely desires to keep all of them completely. It is in this sense and this alone that the Christian is experimentally perfect. The word perfect, both in the Old Testament, Job 1.1 and Psalm 37.37, and in the New Testament, Philippians 3.15, means upright, sincere, in contrast with hypocritical. This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available. free and for sale in audio, video, and printed formats. Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail-order catalog containing thousands of classic and contemporary Puritan and Reform books, tapes, and videos at great discounts, is on the web at www.swrb.com. We can also be reached by email by phone at 780-450-3730 by fax at 780-468-1096 or by mail at 4710-37A Edmonton Alberta, abbreviated capital A, capital B, Canada, T6L3T5. You may also request a free printed catalog. And remember that John Kelvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since He condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying his word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.