The Great Commission. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. IVMackintosh, Charles Henry
Religion
The Great Commission. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. IV
Mackintosh, Charles Henry
Theology
This makes all so blessedly clear. We have already dwelt upon the
fact, that "they that are in the flesh cannot please God;" but the
believer is not in the flesh, though the flesh be in him. He is in the
_body_, and on the _earth_, as to the fact of his existence; but he is
neither in the _flesh_, nor of the _world_, as to the ground or
principle of his standing. "Ye," says the Holy Ghost, "are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit" (Rom. viii.). "They," says our blessed Lord,
"are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (John xvii.).
What a sweet relief to a heart bowed down under a sense of indwelling
sin, and not knowing what to do with it! What solid peace and comfort
flow into the soul when I see God condemning my sin in the cross, and
justifying me in a risen Christ! Where are my _sins_? Blotted out.
Where is my _sin_? Condemned and set aside. Where am I? Justified and
accepted in a risen Christ. I am brought to God without a single cloud
or misgiving. I am not afraid of my Justifier. I confide in Him, love
Him, and adore Him. I joy in God, and rejoice in hope of His glory.
Thus, then, we have, in some measure, cleared the way for the believer
to approach the subject of the judgment-seat of Christ, as set forth
in ver. 10 of our chapter, which we shall here quote at length, in
order that the reader may have the subject fully before him in the
veritable language of inspiration. "For we must all appear (or rather,
be manifested) before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may
receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done,
whether it be good or bad."
Now there is, in reality, no difficulty or ground of perplexity here.
All we need is to look at the matter from a divine standpoint, and
with a simple mind, in order to see it clearly. This is true in
reference to every subject treated of in the word of God, and
specially so as to the point now before us. We have no doubt whatever
that the real secret of the difficulty felt by so many in respect to
the question of the judgment-seat of Christ is self-occupation. Hence
it is we so often hear such questions as the following, "Can it be
possible that all our sins, all our failures, all our infirmities, all
our naughty and foolish ways, shall be published, in the presence of
assembled myriads, before the judgment-seat of Christ?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account