The Assembly of God. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. IIIMackintosh, Charles Henry
Religion
The Assembly of God. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. III
Mackintosh, Charles Henry
Theology
The reader cannot be too simple in his apprehension of this point. He
must rest like a little child upon the testimony of the Holy Ghost in
the Word. It is blessedly true that "He that believeth hath the witness
in himself." And again, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our
spirit that we are the children of God." All this is essential to
Christianity; but it must, in no wise, be confounded with the witness
of the Holy Ghost, as given to us in Holy Scripture. The Spirit of God
never leads any one to build upon His work as the ground of peace, but
only upon the finished work of Christ, and the unchangeable word of God;
and we may rest assured that the more simply we rest on these the more
settled our peace will be, and the clearer our evidences, the brighter
our frames, the happier our feelings, the richer our experiences. In
short, the more we look away from self and all its belongings, and rest
in Christ, on the clear authority of Scripture, the more spiritually
minded we shall be; and the inspired apostle tells us that "to be
spiritually minded (or, the minding of the Spirit) is life and peace."
The best evidence of a spiritual mind is childlike repose in Christ and
His Word. The clearest proof of an unspiritual mind is self-occupation.
It is a poor affair to be trafficking in _our_ evidences, or _our_
anything. It looks like piety, but it leads away from Christ--away from
Scripture--away from God; and this is not piety, or faith, or
Christianity.
We are intensely anxious that the reader should seize, with great
distinctness, the importance of committing his whole moral being to the
divine authority of the word of God. It will never fail him. All else
may go, but "the word of our God shall stand forever." Heart and flesh
may fail. Internal evidences may become clouded; frames, feelings, and
experiences may all prove unsatisfactory; but the word of the Lord, the
testimony of the Holy Ghost, the clear voice of Holy Scripture, must
ever remain unshaken. "And this is the Word which by the gospel is
preached unto us."
Thus much, then, as to the divine and everlasting basis of the
Christian's position, as set forth in the tenth chapter of the Epistle
to the Hebrews. Let us, now, see what this same scripture tells us of
the Christian's work, and of the sphere in which that work is to be
carried on.
The Christian is brought into the immediate presence of God, inside the
veil, into the holiest of all. This is his proper place, if indeed we
are to listen to the voice of Scripture. "Having therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a _new_ and
_living_ way which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is
to say, His flesh; and having a high-priest over the house of God; _let
us draw near_ with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with
pure water."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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