DURING the past month the world has been startled with the tidings of a remarkable revolution in Portugal. The King has been compelled to leave the throne, and a Republican Government has been set up. It would appear that a spirit of disaffection towards the royal house of Braganza has existed among the Portuguese for a long time. It is only a little more than two years since the present King’s father and elder brother were assassinated in the streets of Lisbon. Manuel succeeded to the throne in unpromising circumstances, and although he expressed sympathy with the social aspirations of the people, and introduced some reforms in Parliamentary rule, he failed to quench the flame of discontent. We are not familiar with the political divisions in Portugal, but the papers report at least three parties—Royalists, Progressives, and Regenerators. Probably the Republicans assume the latter names. The spark which kindled the present explosion was ignited on Monday the 3rd October, when Dr. Bombarda, a Republican leader, “was shot in his consulting room by Lieutenant Santos, a former patient,” and a Royalist. On the day after, the revolution began, and details of events have appeared in the papers. The army and navy largely took the Republican side. One favourable feature of the change is that it has been affected with comparatively little bloodshed, and that the leaders are disposed to carry out their plans in as quiet and orderly a way as possible. Almost the only damage to property we read of was “the sacking of a famous Jesuit house in the capital”—a calamity by no means to be deplored. There was no attempt made on the life of the King or of any of the royal family. Rather, facilities were provided for their escape in a yacht to Gibraltar. The King and his mother, Queen Amelia, are to find a permanent place of refuge in England. According to a reported utterance, he has no intention of formally abdicating his throne, but it is not likely that this will in any wise further his restoration, for it is said that the Royalists are quietly falling in with the Republicans and accepting the new order of things with composure.
The feature of this revolution which is of special religious interest and far-reaching importance is the fact that it largely consists in an uprising against the tyranny and oppression of the Church of Rome. The revolt is distinctly “anti-clerical”—a revolt against the priests and other minions of the Vatican. Portugal has been a miserable, priest-ridden country for centuries—a hotbed of the Jesuits. The King’s mother, who is a zealous Papist, is regarded as responsible for much of the irritation that has caused the revolution. It is reported on the highest authority, says the English Churchman, that the Duke of Oporto, on the recent departure of the royal family from Lisbon, addressed to Queen Amelia the impassioned words: “You and your priests have ruined your son.” From all that is known, it would appear that this statement expresses the exact truth. The priests have kept the country in ignorance and degradation. Seventy per cent. of the people cannot read.
It is interesting to observe that the new Government, with Senôr Braga, a professor of literature, at its head, has repealed the law of 1901 which tolerated the Jesuits, and has decided to enforce ancient laws of 1759, 1767, and 1834, against them. The Order is expelled, and “all monastic property is confiscated.” Monks and nuns may return to their friends and resume private life if they choose, but if they do not accept this suggestion, they must quit the country. Some of the monasteries and nunneries have been attacked by mobs of men and boys. There seems to be a general desire to get rid of the Church of Rome. Its connection with the State has certainly been dissolved, while its general supremacy in the country has received a disastrous blow from which it is not likely to recover. The Lord has arisen for the deliverance of Portugal from the deadly yoke of Rome. May He, in His abundant mercy, send the true life and liberty of the Gospel into this emancipated nation!
There is no doubt that the new rulers purpose to do their best, as far as they know, for the social freedom and welfare of Portugal. But the sad thing is that the most of them are men who, through their disgust at the false Church, have revolted from religion altogether; they are to a large extent infidels, with a kind of infidelity, indeed, which calls for pity as well as condemnation. The Church of Rome has profaned the name of God and His Son, Jesus Christ, so dreadfully among these poor people, that they have, in spiritual ignorance, turned their backs upon Christianity as a superstitious delusion. They never saw the religion of Christ in any other form than that which is to be seen in “the Mother of Harlots and Abominations,” and their moral sense has revolted against such a fearful religion. They are fit objects for the most earnest supplications of God’s people at the present crisis. Who can tell but, when the Most High has removed the mighty Papal stone of opposition to the truth from the door of Portugal, He may be pleased, in His great mercy, to send the Gospel of salvation to a benighted and down-trodden people? One thing is certain—that the Republican Government will not place any special obstacle in the way of the more extensive proclamation of the Gospel among their countrymen. Probably all religions will be placed on an equal footing.
A feature of the present situation which is not so pleasant or hopeful for our own country is the likelihood that many of these monks and nuns who are expelled from Portugal will make Great Britain their house of refuge. We are pleased to see that Spain refuses to receive them, and that a number of them have been sent back from that country, which is at present waging war with its own share of Popish religious Orders. What is Protestant Britain going to do? Is it to open its arms and welcome to its shores the vampires that have sucked the life-blood out of Portugal and other continental nations? Truly, if this is to go on, our country shall fall into a most deplorable condition. It will become a perfect den of what can only be called religious brigands—ready to spring at the life and purse of the people. We are pleased to see that the Protestant Alliance has issued a note of warning, declaring that the situation is imminently dangerous, and calling for immediate action on the part of our Government as imperative to prevent the influx of these dangerous Orders into the country. Let God arise, and His enemies shall be scattered!
Liguori, the Roman Theologian, on the Priesthood.—
Liguori in his Sebzia applies, not merely to Popes but to priests as well, the following amongst other attributes:—”A Priest has same power in the confessional as Christ would have” (7); “Priesthood should be numbered among the things of heaven” (4); “Priests, even if wicked, obeyed by Christ” (6); “God obliged to abide by judgment of priests” (7); “Power of a priest surpasses that of Mary” (10); “Priest holds the place of the Saviour when absolving” (12), and on the altar” (28); “Christ the principal offerer and victim in the mass” (11); “As the word of God created heaven and earth so the words of the priest create Jesus Christ” (11); “The creator of his Creator” (10); “Priest performs the very office of the Holy Ghost in absolving” (13); “The priest is, as it were, a God on earth” (13); “Priests are the Kingdom of God” (24); “God . . . has made him [Priest] as it were a God on earth” (39, 49, 99); “St. Cyprian says that ‘the priest truly holds the place of Christ, and that therefore at the consecration he says, ‘This is my body, this is the chalice of my blood’.’ To His disciples Jesus Himself said, ‘He that heareth you heareth Me'” (74); Liguori calls the priest “the light of the world” (87), “the father of the world” (90, 102, 159), “the saviour of the world” (99) (“in whose hands is placed all the hope and salvation of men” (ib.). The dignity of the priesthood he calls the most Divine of all Divine things (98).).
A Sermon.
BY THE REV. D. MACFARLANE, DINGWALL.
Preached on Sabbath, 12th June, 1909.
(Taken down by a Hearer.)
“Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure: for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.”—2 SAM. xxiii. 5.
WE are told in the first verse of this chapter that these were the last words of David. He was now about to finish his course in the world, and we have the last words he spake kept on record. The last words of godly people will be remembered and repeated by their friends. In his last utterances we find David complaining, and drawing comfort from the word of God. He was complaining of his house, and looking to the everlasting covenant for consolation and support. He was complaining of his house: “Though my house be not so with God.” There were four houses of which David might complain.
First, his soul.—Though he was ripening for glory, yet he felt that he was not yet perfect. All within him was not so with God as he would desire. Sin still dwelt in him, and till he is completely delivered from sin in his nature, he must continue to complain. He began to complain for this reason when the Spirit of God convinced him of his sinfulness by nature and by practice, and from that time till now, on his death-bed, let us suppose, not a day passed without this man of God mourning that the house of his soul was not so with God as he would wish.
Secondly, his family.—We know that David’s family were not all on God’s side. His children were not all godly persons: some of them were very wicked, and this must have caused him much grief of heart and vexation of spirit. David was assured of his own salvation, but he could not but mourn to the last moment of his life for those of his family he was leaving behind him “without Christ, without hope, and without God in the world.”
Thirdly, the Church.—David identified himself with the cause of God in his day. The Church is God’s house, but it was David’s house also. He was interested in it, prayed and laboured for its prosperity, and felt concerned about it now drawing near his end. Although there were signs of prosperity, yet the Church was not so with God as he would like.
Fourthly, the kingdom.—Although David knew that his son, Solomon, was to succeed him on the throne, and that there would be much peace and prosperity during his reign, yet the kingdom as he was leaving it, was not so thoroughly on God’s side as he would desire.
These thoughts afflicted David and aggravated his last illness. He was suffering in mind and body, and pressed down because his house was not so with God. His bodily suffering was, in his estimation, we may believe, insignificant as compared with that. But in the midst of his complaint he remembered the covenant—or rather, God brought the covenant before his view. We may imagine this saint laid on his death-bed, burdened in body with his last illness, depressed in soul on account of the state of his house, that he could not raise his head from the pillow, but when he remembered the covenant he sat up in bed with a beaming face, so that his friends around him asked, “What do you mean, David? We thought every moment would be your last in the land of the living.” “I mean,” says David, “to speak my last words. I mean to preach to you before I leave you.” “What is your text?” “My text is the everlasting covenant,”—the greatest of all themes. When he remembered the covenant he ceased to complain and began to preach. “He preached as a dying man to dying men,” as Baxter, who was in delicate health all his lifetime, used to say. Now, we are to consider for a little David’s text and his sermon. We have both before us in this portion of God’s Word. His sermon, though brief, is comprehensive; it is short, but rich in matter. Let us notice:—
I.—The covenant spoken of.
II.—The parties to this covenant.
III.—The conditions of the covenant.
IV.—The blessings of the covenant; and
V.—David’s satisfaction with the covenant.
I.—The covenant.—What is the covenant? There are two covenants spoken of in Scripture, which God made relative to mankind—the covenant of works and the covenant of grace. Although the covenant of works comes first in respect of revelation, yet the covenant of grace was made long before it; it was made from all eternity. (1) It is a covenant of grace; it is grace from first to last, grace all through. It originated in God’s good pleasure and love; its blessings are freely given “without money and without price” to guilty sinners. “By grace are ye saved.” Every mention that is made of this covenant in the Word of God speaks of it as a covenant of grace. Some understand this covenant, of which David speaks, as that made with himself concerning the kingdom and the perpetuity of the throne in his line. God, indeed, did make such a covenant as that with David, but this is a different covenant. That was not a covenant of salvation, but this one is, for David says of it: “This is all my salvation.” It was therefore the grand source of comfort to him in his dying hour. The covenant of royalty was confined to a certain tribe, and it came to an end, but this covenant embraces “a great multitude, which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.”
(2) It is an everlasting covenant. The covenant of works was made in time and ended in time, but this covenant was made from all eternity, and it shall never come to an end; it lasts for ever.
(3) It is ordered in all things. A Mediator was appointed in it, set up from everlasting; the children of the covenant were set apart, and given to Christ to redeem them; it was arranged that each of the Persons of the glorious Trinity should have His own peculiar share in their salvation, and that all things—grace and providence—should work together for their good; the means of salvation were appointed, and the instruments of the conversion and edification of the redeemed were set apart. Withal, it was so well ordered that sinners would be saved in a way consistent with divine justice, and that God would be glorified in their salvation.
(4) It is sure. The covenant of grace is sure, strong, steadfast, unchangeable, and may be depended upon. It is ratified by the law of heaven; it is confirmed by the blood of the Mediator. Its promises are sure; its blessings are sure; everything in it is sure. Grace is sure and glory is sure, so that the heirs of the covenant may be as sure of going to heaven as if they were already there. They often doubt this themselves, but this arises from their own infirmity and not from the covenant. There are many doubts in their heart, but there is no doubt in the covenant.
II.—The parties to the covenant.—In any covenant there must be two parties. One individual is sufficient to make a vow, but in a covenant there must be at least two persons. In the covenant of works there were two parties—God and man. But in the covenant of grace the parties are God the Father and God the Son. This makes the covenant sure. The covenant of works failed on the part of man, who was one of the parties to it. It did not fail on God’s part—it stood firm on His part; and although man lost his ability to obey God, God did not lose His right to demand obedience, or to punish the transgressors. But this covenant shall never fail, seeing that the contracting parties are the Father and the Son. The salvation of the Church is not left doubtful; it is made secure in an everlasting covenant between God the Father and God the Son. It does not rest on an arm of flesh, but on the arm of Him who is mighty to save. When we consider that this covenant was made before the foundation of the world—before the creation of men or angels—it will be seen that no creature could be head thereof. It is important to observe this that we may see that salvation is of the Lord and not of ourselves in the least degree. When David says that the covenant was made with him, we are not to think that he meant by that that he was a party to the covenant, or a head thereof. He is indeed spoken of in Scripture as a type of Christ, but here he speaks as the mouthpiece of the Church. The covenant was made with the Church in her covenant head, Christ. If any mere man were head thereof it would fail, like the covenant of works, and no sinner could be saved in virtue of it. But the salvation of the Church was not left to rest on such an unstable foundation as that: the Father laid help upon One that is mighty—His own co-equal. This much on the parties to the covenant.
III.—The conditions of the covenant.—In every covenant there are conditions attached to it. In the covenant of works there was a condition. “When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience.” Perfect obedience was the condition on which man was to enjoy life. The promise of life was suspended upon the fulfilling of the condition. Man failed to fulfil the condition, and thereby forfeited God’s favour and made himself liable to death, the wages of sin. Now, in order that those whom God elected from all eternity to everlasting life, might be delivered out of the estate of sin and misery and brought into an estate of salvation, He entered into a covenant of grace with His Son, Jesus Christ, the second Adam. There were certain conditions which must be fulfilled in order that those so elected might be delivered from the state of sin and misery into which the breaking of the covenant of works brought them, and that they might be brought into an estate of salvation. These conditions they could not fulfil themselves, but God provided a substitute for them in the Person of His only begotten Son. For this reason, among others, it is a covenant of grace. He was under no obligation to make provision for the salvation of any of our fallen race, but He did it out of His own good pleasure and sovereign will. In this covenant Christ willingly undertook to fulfil the solemn conditions required. What were these conditions? There were two things in them—first, perfect obedience to the precept of the law, which mankind failed to perform; second, perfect satisfaction to justice for the transgression of the law. In order that the Son of God might fulfil these obligations, under which He, of His grace, came, it was necessary that He should come under the law, and in order that He should come under the law He takes to Himself human nature, for as God He is above the law; it is only creatures—reasonable creatures—that are under the moral law. It is as God-man—“the word made flesh”—that He begins to fulfil the conditions of the covenant. That which is a covenant of grace to His people was a covenant of works and sufferings to Him. He is made under the law, not as the first man was when God created him. So long as man continued in the state of innocence, the law had nothing for him but blessings; but having broken the law, it at once began to curse him and all his posterity, for whom he stood as covenant-head. “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them,” was the awful but just language of the law against them. It was under the law in this awful aspect Christ was made. O what love and grace that prompted Him to come under the curse of the law! Adam and his posterity came under the curse of the law for their own sins, but Christ came under it for the sins of others. He took the place of His people under the broken law, and rendered perfect obedience to the precept of the law, and perfect satisfaction for the transgression of it. This He did by His obedience unto death. Their sins were imputed to Him by the Father as Judge, and the punishment of their sins was laid upon Him. He thus fulfilled the conditions of the covenant so completely that He left nothing of these conditions for His people to perform. He cried on the Cross, “It is finished.” The law was satisfied; the Father was glorified; and His sinful people were redeemed from the curse of the law, He being made a curse for them. “This is the doing of the Lord, and it is marvellous in our eyes.” “Christ hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter iii. 18).
IV.—The blessings of the covenant.—Christ satisfied God’s law for the sins of His people, so that in the eye of the law God has nothing against them. Christ made an end of their sins; nothing more is required of them to atone for their sins. They shall not perish for any sin they have committed. God is for ever satisfied with Christ’s atonement on their behalf. But He did more than this. He merited blessings for them. These blessings were stored up in the covenant of grace. But the door of this covenant was shut, so that no blessing contained in it could be dispensed to sinners till Christ opened the door by His death. If sinners received out of the fulness of the covenant—as they certainly did—before Christ died, it was in connection with blood which typified His death. It is important to observe this, that we may see that it is on the ground of Christ’s meritorious death, and that alone, the blessings of the covenant can be communicated to sinners. Christ’s death is the only death that merits salvation. But what are the blessings of the covenant of grace? The blessings which God bestowed upon us in our original creation, and which we lost by sin, are included in it. He created us in His own image—in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and we had God Himself as our portion. Unspeakably great were the blessings we had. But we lost all that by sin. Nothing is ours now in our fallen state but sin and misery for time and eternity! But Christ restored that which He took not away. This is our remedy, our hope. In the covenant of grace, there is a gracious provision made, whereby our loss may be made up, and more than made up, on account of the price by which the blessings were secured—the price of the meritorious death of Christ. The blessings of the covenant are presented to us in Scripture, first in the form of promises, and then as actually bestowed on the heirs of the promise. These promises are absolute, without any condition annexed to them. They shall therefore be fulfilled without fail. These blessings are given by the Father to Christ, who fulfilled the conditions of the covenant to be through Him as the one Mediator conferred on undeserving sinners. “Ask of me,” the Father says to Christ, “and I will give thee.” “Christ ascended upon high, and received gifts for men, even the rebellious.” No blessing of the covenant shall be imparted to sinners but through the mediation of Christ. This honour the Father put upon Him because of the work which He finished, whereby He glorified the Father and redeemed His Church; and the blessing is doubly sweet and precious coming to hell deserving sinners from the liberal hands which were nailed to the cursed tree when securing it. As Joseph in Egypt was appointed steward of the provision, which he was the means of preparing in view of the famine, so that none received of that provision but as he was pleased to give, so Jesus Christ was appointed by the Father steward of the provision of the covenant of grace, so that no sinner or saint shall receive of that gracious provision but as He gives. This He told the Jews (John vi. 27), and this He tells us in the Scriptures. He merited salvation for His covenant people, and He makes them partakers of His salvation by the agency of the Holy Spirit and by means of His Word. They are effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and ultimately glorified, according to the arrangement of the covenant of grace. The blessings of the covenant include God Himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. With all other blessings, God promised to be their God, their portion. “I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people” (Heb. viii. 10). The Father is theirs; the Son is theirs; and the Holy Spirit is theirs. This is the crown of their bliss. What more do they need or desire?
V.—David’s satisfaction with the covenant.—”This is all my salvation and all my desire.”—He was not satisfied with himself, but he was satisfied with the covenant. From the day on which God convinced him of his sinfulness till now on the brink of eternity, he had reasons to complain of himself; but from the time in which God revealed to him the covenant of grace and salvation till now on his death-bed, he was perfectly satisfied with the covenant. The covenant was the ground of his hope, and the source of his comfort beginning his pilgrimage towards the heavenly city, whose builder and maker is God; it was his support in every step hitherto, and now, when he is about to finish his course on earth, his hope rests on it, and on it alone. He did many good works, but he makes no mention of these, but he makes mention of the covenant. He sees in the covenant all he needs to make him meet for the inheritance of saints in light, and all he is capable of receiving of the blessings of glory throughout eternity. Looking at it with eyes which look at the things which are not seen, he says, “This is all my salvation, and all my desire.” There is nothing in it that he would have out of it, and there is nothing out of it he would have in it. It is perfect as a covenant contrived by infinite wisdom, designed for the salvation of lost sinners in a way consistent with divine justice, as well as with love and mercy, and giving all the glory of salvation to the Triune God. To acquiesce thus in the covenant is faith. If this covenant is all your salvation and all your desire, it is yours. In saving faith, there is the assent of the understanding enlightened by the Spirit, and the consent of the will renewed by the Spirit. All God’s people in all ages and places are of the same mind with David about the covenant of grace. They close with it as it is proposed to them in the Word of the Gospel; they see in it all they need to be saved and to be made happy for ever; all their hope is placed in it, and they say, “This is all my salvation and all my desire.” But sinners in their natural state are of quite a different mind about it. They quarrel with the covenant, they find fault with it, and they think they would make a better covenant of salvation themselves than God made. They are too good to need the blood of the covenant, and too rich to need the grace of the covenant. But this is the only way God, in His infinite wisdom, devised for the salvation of sinners of the human race, and those who will not be saved in God’s way must perish for ever.
In conclusion, I shall make a few remarks by way of illustration in regard to the covenant of works, and the covenant of grace. The covenant of works may be compared to a bank which was at one time rich in money, but failed, and there is nothing in it now to help a needy person. Adam squandered all the riches that were entrusted to him, became a bankrupt, and entailed poverty, heavy debt, shame, and liability to punishment on his posterity. The bank was closed and locked, and a public notice was written on the door in these words, “By the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified in God’s sight.” This notice was intended to warn people who needed money against going for it to a bank where not even a farthing could be found, though it were searched through. But notwithstanding this public notice, posted on the door by the authority of Heaven, Adam’s posterity from generation to generation run to this empty bank every time they feel need of money either to buy food to feed them and clothes to cover their nakedness, or to pay their debt. Not only that they are naturally disposed to go to this bank to get their needs supplied, but they are told by agents that Satan set up that there is abundance of money in the bank to supply their needs. These agents have prepared counterfeit money, and spurious bank notes, which they readily give to their customers, who have to pay exorbitant interest. The Apostle Paul dealt with this bank till he discovered by the teaching of God’s Spirit that there was no money in it, and so did all God’s people during the days and years of their ignorance. But when they were taught of God, they withdrew their custom; and they would advise their fellow-sinners to do the same. They withdrew their custom when they found out that there was another bank full of the purest gold, and of unsearchable riches; and that bank is the covenant of grace of which we have been speaking. The banker of the covenant of works was the first Adam, and he failed; the banker of the covenant of grace is the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall never fail. He has wealth in His bank which is incalculable, unsearchable, and inexhaustible. He invites the poor and the needy to come as they are, sinful and unworthy, to receive according to their needs, of His riches, which cost Him His humiliation unto death. He gives freely, liberally, and He upbraideth not; He will not cast up to them the evil they had done against Him; the only security He requires of them is to plead the merit of His name. “If ye ask anything in my name, I will do it.” He will not give as much as one penny in their own name, or in the name of the greatest saint in heaven or on earth. He Himself is worthy as the Lamb that was slain. He gives freely on the ground of His own atoning sacrifice. He charges no interest, and if the recipients render Him praise and service it is not in the way of payment for what they received, but rather as the spontaneous outward action of His grace in them under a sense of the unspeakable obligations under which He laid them. Their continued sense of unworthiness preserves them from thinking that they merit anything. They always come to His door as the chief of sinners, encouraged to approach Him only on the terms of the covenant of grace—to receive of its provision “without money, and without price.”
The bank notes Christ has are the promises of the Gospel. You know that a bank note is a promissory note. It is not real money, but if you go to the bank with it, you will get real money or cash for it to the amount stated in the paper note. In order to this there must be in the bank a sufficient amount of cash to meet the demand. Accordingly, there is in the covenant of grace all blessings for the fulfilling of the promises, numerous as these are. There is a promise in the Gospel to suit the case of the greatest sinner that seeks to be saved, and to suit every case in which the believer may be, however desperate in his own view, and there is an all-sufficiency in the covenant for the fulfilling of the promise. Therefore, “Take with you words,”—the promises—”and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips” (Hosea xiv. 2). Go to Christ’s bank with the promises, and He will cash them or fulfil them to you. He will give you the blessing promised—the very blessing you need.
Another thing I wish to point out on the subject before I close is this: You will find that there are several branches or sub-offices connected with a bank. These are opened and stationed in suitable districts throughout the country for the convenience of customers. This is also true of the covenant of grace. It has many such branches. There was a time when there was only one Bank, stationed on Mount Sion, and it was comparatively few of the people of the world that received out of its treasure. But when Christ broke down the middle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles, He opened branches among the poor Gentiles. He established sub-offices in the kingdoms of Europe; and at the present day there are branches of this Bank in almost all parts of the world. But that we may not forget our own great privilege, let us remember that He opened branches in Scotland and in the Highlands of Scotland. He opened a branch in Dingwall long before we were born; and the wonder is that after all our provocations, it is still kept open! Let us appreciate our unspeakable privilege; let us be humble and thankful, and beware lest we provoke the Lord to shut it. But He is merciful and long-suffering, and He will not shut it as long as there are customers. We have a few of these in our midst yet. May the Lord add to their number from among the rising generation!
There are agents in all the branches connected with the chief office, to transact business with customers. Christ has His agents too. Who are these? They are the ministers of the Gospel, whom He Himself trained for the business and appointed to their office. No wise Banking Company will employ agents that never learned the business. Christ, who is all-wise and the fountain of all wisdom, will not do so. He takes care that all His agents are taught of Himself, and that they know their business before He puts them into such a responsible situation. They are customers—needy customers—as well as agents. But, alas! there are thousands, and tens of thousands, of professing agents who crept into the office without Christ’s authority. These revolutionised the sacred institution. They cast out the treasures of the covenant as obsolete, and substituted instead bank notes and coins of their own manufacture; and the reason assigned is that in this twentieth century they get more customers by the change. There is no great demand for the treasures of the covenant of grace. That is a bad sign of our times. But the customers shall find out at death that they were cheated. The Lord’s people will have no dealing with these agents; they will adhere to the covenant of grace, receive out of its fulness, and speak of it as David did—”This is all my salvation and all my desire.” They shall praise the Lord in time and throughout eternity for making such a gracious provision for their salvation, and for making them partakers of its blessings in some measure in this world, and for the hope He has given them of participating in its inexhaustible blessings more abundantly in the world to come. “Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.” Amen.
Adrianus and the Martyrs.—One Adrianus, in ancient times, seeing the martyrs suffer such grievous things in the cause of Christ, asked, “What is that which enables them to bear such sufferings?” One of them replied, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”