The first chapter of John is considered one of the primary proof texts of the commonly-accepted doctrine of the Preexistence of Christ — i.e., that Christ had a personal, individual, and sentient existence before his conception and birth; indeed, that he was coexistent with the Father as a second person of the “trinity”.

Christadelphians often seek to refute this teaching, in John 1 at least, by asserting that the “Word” was not Christ literally, but the “Idea” or “Logos” of Christ, existing in the mind of the Father long before his conception and birth of the Son, and that this Idea found expression in Jesus when he was born (v 14?), as the embodiment of the Purpose of Almighty God.

This general idea — that the “Word” of God from the beginning (the Law and the prophets of the OT) described and pointed toward the Messiah who was yet to come — is certainly correct, but… is that what this passage is about?

The usual Christadelphian approach to John 1 is to assume that (1) “beginning” refers to Genesis 1, or earlier, and that (2) “Word” therefore cannot refer literally to Christ, at least at that “beginning”.

The following is a slightly different approach, which (1) has no problem with the “Word” being a title of Christ, but (2) interprets “beginning” in an entirely different way:

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Joh 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (NIV).

The word for “beginning” is the Greek “archee”; signifying “first in order”, from the root “arch, archon” = a ruler. “The beginning” is a characteristic phrase of John, referring to the beginning of the NEW CREATION in Christ: consider carefully Joh 15:27; 16:4; 8:25; 6:64; 1Jo 1:1; 2:7,13,14,24; 2Jo 1:6. [Notice in some of these passages that the KJV translation shows certain words italicized, and that omitting these words actually enhances the sense of the passages.]

The “beginning” of the Gospel of John is obviously patterned after the “beginning” of Genesis — hence there is much similarity of language, and connection of ideas. But it is the beginning of a new, or spiritual “creation” in Christ. As there was a Sun, created and ordained in the heavens by God, in the Genesis-beginning when He decreed, “Let there be light”, so likewise… “In the (new, spiritual) beginning” God testified of Christ: “Let there be light” (cp Gen 1:3 with 2Co 4:6; Mat 4:17; Mar 1:1; Luk 1:1,2; Act 10:37), and this time a new spiritual Light came into the world. And so God made and ordained His Son Jesus Christ the “beginning” and the first cause of His new spiritual creation (Rev 3:14).

It is instructive and significant that each gospel begins with a “beginning”: cp Mat 1:1 (genesis); Mar 1:1 (archee); Luk 1:3 (anothen); and that the four gospel accounts are placed at the head of the New Testament. Here, in the coming of His Son, God has begun the work of His new, spiritual, “creation” — the corner piece, the foundation stone of which is His Son.

As a separate point, it may be noted how often the Greek “ktisis” (creation) — when used in the NT — signifies, not the material, physical creation of Genesis, but the new, spiritual creation, in Christ, of regenerated and forgiven men and women who bear his name.

Jesus was the “Word of God”

Jesus was a man (Act 2:22; 1Ti 2:5; Rom 8:3; Heb 2:14) who spoke God’s words (Joh 8:28; 7:16). Thus, one of his names is “the word of God” (1Jo 1:1; Rev 19:13; 1:2 — there are only three other instances of John’s use of the phrase “word of God”, all referring to Christ personally). In Greek philosophy, “logos” means an impersonal, abstract wisdom; but in Hebrew thought, “logos” refers to God Himself. Yahweh is the source of all wisdom! Here in John 1 “logos” occurs with the definite article (“ho”) which serves to strengthen its meaning. Hence, ‘THE Word’ can also be seen to be THE “Divine Expression”. Christ was exactly this. It was in Christ that God fully revealed Himself to mankind. It was through Christ’s life and mission that God expressed and illustrated His new covenant, showing us the better way — which is the power of salvation for those who believe.

Jesus as the “Word” was “with” God. The Greek “pros” signifies facing toward or moving toward.

“The Word was God”

As John used the definite article (“ho”) to strengthen the meaning of “logos”, so here there is no definite article: i.e., “THE word” was not THE God personally, but rather “of God”, or “godly”, or A (manifestation of) God. (In v 14 John writes, “We beheld his glory”, i.e., the glory of the One who came from God, and was thus “divine”.) This phrase is translated, “The word was DIVINE” (Moffatt). John is affirming Christ’s divinity, not his deity. Christ was the Son of God, the ‘Divine Expression’ from heaven which dwelt among us, “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Heb 1:3).

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Joh 1:2: “He was with God in the beginning.”

This verse may be understood most literally if we define and circumscribe “beginning” to mean to the beginning of the “New Creation” in Christ. Truly Christ was with the Father in all the work of the New, spiritual, Creation in Himself; he was the prototype and the catalyst; such a Creation could not be without him!

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Joh 1:3: “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

There is plainly an intended, and extended, parallel between the material creation of Gen 1 and the spiritual creation of new men and women in Christ: Col 1:15-18; 3:10; 2Co 5:17; 4:6; 1Pe 1:23; 1Co 8:6. “All things” refer to men and women (Joh 5:17,20,21; 3:35; 13:3; 16:14,15; 17:10; Col 1:16; Eph 3:9). Cp 1Co 8:6: “To us there is but one God the Father, of whom are ALL THINGS (even we unto him), and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are ALL THINGS (even we through him).”

“Without him nothing was made”

There should be a period (full stop) here. “Without me you can do nothing” (Joh 15:5). Then there is required a slight rearrangement, repunctuation, and retranslation of the text, which puts together the last portion of our v 3 with the first bit of v 4, and yields:

“That which has been made (v 3b) was life in him (v 4a).”

Should this relative clause [‘that (or what) has been made’] go with v 3 or with v 4? The earliest NT manuscripts had no punctuation. Many of the later manuscripts — which do have punctuation marks — place the equivalent of a period before this phrase, thus putting it with v 4.

It has even been suggested that the editors of some later manuscripts introduced their own unusual punctuation to place this phrase (wrongly) at the end of v 3 (as it appears in most modern translations); and that this was done in a specific attempt to bolster the erroneous doctrine of the “Trinity” during the so-called “Arian controversy” of the 4th century — in other words, to suggest that Jesus Christ himself was the Creator (or was with the Creator) in Genesis.

So the whole of these verses should probably read:

“Through him (ie, Christ himself) all things were made. Without him (Christ) nothing was made. What has been made was ‘life in him’, and that life was the light of men.”

Read this way, it may be seen that John’s focus is unequivocally on the spiritual creation (‘life in HIM) and not the earlier, physical, creation of Genesis.

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Joh 1:4: “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”

“What was made was life in him” (RV footnote).

“That life was the light of men” proves that this is spiritual life, which is produced by the light of God’s word — not natural life! And thereby are set the parameters of “beginning” and “creation” in this passage: the “beginning” of God’s revelation of His Son to the world, and the new, spiritual “creation” of believers in him.

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Joh 1:5: “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood {or overcome] it.”

Briefly this states a parable of the Gospel: the epic battle between light and darkness: Jesus = the light, and the Pharisees, etc = the darkness. Cp 2Co 4:3,6.

“Understood” is the Greek “katalambano”, which may be “comprehended” (Act 4:13; 10:34) or “overcome” (RV mg). God’s word will not return to Him void (Isa 55:7; 1Th 5:4). Both meanings are relevant: the enemies of Christ did not “understand” him, nor could they “overcome” or defeat him!

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Joh 1:9: “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”

Notice: it is the Light [not every man] which was coming into the world (in contrast to the KJV translation): cp Joh 12:46; 16:28.

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Joh 1:10: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”

This verse is difficult too, until we recognize that Christ “made” the world in this sense: that his sacrifice was efficacious backward into the past, even for earlier believers in Old Testament times (Rom 3:25; Heb 9:15). Cp vv 3/4: “What was made was life in him”… even for Adam and Abraham. (In this sense, the new or spiritual “creation” did have a sort of beginning — at least prophetically and typically — in the history of God’s covenant peoples in the Old Testament.)

Or, “the world was enlightened through him” (Diag), which is essentially the same thing: spiritual “enlightenment” leads, in faith, to a new and spiritual creation!

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Joh 1:11: “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

“He came to his own (‘idia’: neuter plural): i.e., his own land or country; but his own (‘idioi’: masculine plural): i.e., his own people… did not receive him” (John Thomas, Eureka 1:29).

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Joh 1:12: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…”

Vv 12,13 — looking back to vv 1-4 — describe more literally the “creative process” at the “beginning”. These vv (12,13) demonstrate quite clearly that what is being discussed here is a spiritual “creation”! Those who believe in Christ’s Name are re-created as “children of God”.

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Joh 1:14: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the Only Begotten, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

“The Word became flesh” is here a straightforward reference to Christ’s nature, not merely his birth (cp 1Jo 4:2). God manifested Himself in the flesh of humanity (1Ti 3:16), not in stone (Exo 34:6). Jesus was of David’s seed (Rom 1:3); under a curse (Gal 3:13); being born of a woman, under the law (Gal 4:4); and made “sin” (2Co 5:21). He was of sinful flesh (Rom 8:3); in the likeness of men, of no reputation (Phi 2:7); and like his brethren (Heb 2:17).

The conception of Jesus in the virgin womb is likened to the original “Creation” of Genesis; in fact, it is the beginning of the new, spiritual “creation”: cp Gen 1:2 (the Spirit of God hovering over the waters) like a mother bird brooding over her young: Deu 32:11; Exo 19:4). The words portray the energy-giving presence of God — wrapping, protecting, and caressing the chaos of the unfinished earth as He prepared to complete His creation. And THIS SAME ENERGY IN CREATIVE PROCESS is described in Luk 1:35 (“the Holy Spirit will… overshadow you…”): The language of Gabriel calls to mind that of Genesis (cp Gen 1:2, LXX); the Spirit of God “overshadowing”, or “moving upon” the face of the waters to bring forth life, as a mother hen brooding over her eggs and then her chicks. This is a direct parallel to the natural creation; this is the beginning of the spiritual, or new, creation. It is a picture of vast creative power, yet nonetheless tenderness and love.

“Made his dwelling” is “tabernacled” (RV mg): Exo 25:8,9. Jesus Christ is Immanuel, a sanctuary (Isa 8:14; Exo 33:9; 40:35). The child, and the man, Jesus was set up on earth as the perfect tabernacle or temple, in which the glory of the Father dwelt: Joh 2:19-21; Mat 12:6.

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Joh 1:15: “John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.” ‘ ”

He has “surpassed” me, John said; he stands in front of me, because he was “before me”: “Protos” means: first, in sense of rank. It signifies “first” or “chief”: Mar 6:21; Act 13:50; 17:4; 28:7,17. There are numerous cases of younger men surpassing their older brothers: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, etc. Jesus is but one more, and the greatest, of younger men who surpass their elders.

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Joh 1:17: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

It may be said that the giving of the Law, by which Israel was constituted the people and nation of God, was a continuance of God’s original creation — or even the first, rudimentary, steps of His spiritual creation: men and women were being reconstituted or reborn as His own special family. So it is reasonable that the first, elementary, part of the Spiritual Creation would be seen by John as yet another pattern pointing forward to the fullness of the Spiritual Creation as it would be realized in the Son of God. What Yahweh began in Moses He finished — or rather, will finish — in Christ.

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Joh 1:18: “No one has ever seen God, but the only begotten Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”

The only begotten Son is ‘in the bosom of the Father’, an idiom for closeness or nearness: cp Joh 13:23. (Is this phrase a commentary of John, after the facts of the history, referring to Christ who was then in heaven?)

The Son has declared, or interpreted, the Father. In this final verse of the prologue is the climactic and ultimate statement of the career of the Logos, “the Word of God made flesh”, Jesus of Nazareth. His whole life, all his teachings, and at last and especially his death and resurrection and ascension to heaven, all “expound” or “interpret” his heavenly Father.

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Thus it is possible to read all of John’s Prologue as a statement about Christ, the Logos or “Word” of God in human form and expression, and the work of a new, spiritual Creation which God is carrying on through him. Indeed, this is a “Creation” which is far from finished — but one at which the Father, and the Son, continue to work to this very day. It will not be finished until every last redeemed one has been gathered in the great multitude standing before the throne of God. Indeed, so far as we know, it may not be finished even then!

Its decisions are immutable (Isa 8:20). Its doctrines are holy (Psa 19:80). Its precepts are binding (Deu 6:6). Its histories are true (Isa 55:11). It has light to direct you (Psa 119:105). It has food to nourish you (1Pe 2:2). It has comfort to cheer you (Psa 119:50). It is the traveler’s map (Isa 30:21). It is the pilgrim’s staff (Isa 41:10). It is the soldier’s sword (Eph 6:17). It is the pilot’s compass (John 16:13). It is the river of pleasure (Jer 15:16). It is a mine of wealth (Psa 14:10). Read it to be wise (Isa 55:4). Believe it to be safe (John 5:24). Practice it to be holy (2Co 7:1). Let it fill the memory (2Ti 3:4). Let it guide the feet (Psa 73:24). Let it rule the heart (Rom 10:10).

“Withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us… And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed” (2Th 3:6,14).

The argument for a “pure fellowship” achieved through broad excommunication goes as follows: “It is part of Paul’s word by this letter that we ‘withdraw’ from any brother who ‘walks disorderly’. If this withdrawal is not enforced, then it is necessary to ‘have no company’ not only with the original sinner, but also with all who disregard Paul’s instruction.”

This rather casually-constructed logic runs afoul of several considerations:

• 2Th 3:6 describes not false teachers, but those whose way of life is contrary to the apostolic norm. The “disorderly” meant the idlers, or loafers, who rapidly turned into “busybodies” (2Th 3:7,10,11). The word translated “disorderly” (“idle” in NIV) here is also translated “unruly” in 1Th 5:14. It is actually a military term for those “out of step” when marching, and thus “insubordinate”. This lack of discipline in the case of the Thessalonian ecclesia was manifested in a refusal to work (vv 8,10,12), perhaps because of a misguided belief that Christ’s imminent return rendered labor unnecessary.

• It must not be supposed, because Christadelphians conventionally use the milder “withdraw” instead of the more appropriate “disfellowship” or “excommunicate”, that the severing of fellowship ties is the meaning of “withdraw” wherever it occurs. As a matter of fact, the word stello (withdraw) signifies “to avoid”, the idea being that the ways of the unruly are to be shunned. The brethren themselves, however, are exhorted by Paul to work (2Th 3:12); they have not been cast out of the meeting! He speaks to them directly in terms which would seem highly inappropriate to evildoers no longer worthy of fellowship at all. V 15 uses the word “admonish”, a quite mild term. The parallel passage (1Th 5:14) says that such disorderly brethren are to be “warned”, again a degree of discipline much less severe than excommunication.

• 2Th 3:14: “Have no company with” merely means: ‘Do not join such brethren in their idle ways. By your aloofness you can express dissatisfaction. And perhaps the busybodies will become ashamed (v 15) and begin to reform themselves.’

We see, therefore, that 2Th 3 does deal with matters of ecclesial order, but only as pertaining to local matters of personal conduct. The terms of separation do not necessarily imply disfellowship. Even if disfellowship were the final outcome of an unrepentant attitude, the basis of that disfellowship would be improper conduct and not false doctrine. Finally, there is no suggestion that ecclesias failing to act as severely as Paul commands should themselves be disfellowshiped en masse by all other ecclesias. Yet all use of this passage to justify “block disfellowship” or “guilt by association” assumes that it clearly says this.

“Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:22,23).

It is surely true that Jesus was “murdered” by wicked men (Acts 2:23 says exactly that). But it is also true that he was “delivered” or “turned over” to their hands by God, and that this was no whim, no passing fancy: it was, rather, the “determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” — or, as the NIV, “His set purpose and foreknowledge” — that led to this death. All the sacrifices of the Law of Moses, and many of the events of the Old Testament, were enacted parables, and prophecies, of the One who — when he came — would be the perfect sacrifice for sins. It was in God’s purpose from the very beginning that His only-begotten Son, whom He loved more than anything, must die in a certain way.

All of Jesus’ life was a “sacrifice”, an ongoing “crucifixion” of the flesh with its lusts, a putting to death of the “old man” (which was in him, as it is in us), and a doing of his Father’s will rather than his own.

But it was not enough until he sealed the covenant in his own blood, by dying the death of the cross, freely and willingly laying down his life — the last act of a perfectly obedient life.

Was his death a crime? Yes, from the perspective of those who arrested him, and led him to trial, and condemned him, and drove the nails into his hands and feet.

But, from another perspective, it was God — who so loved the world — “giving” His only-begotten Son as the perfect example of how to live, and the perfect sacrifice, once and for all men and for all time.

And, may I suggest, here’s an aspect that we don’t perhaps think of as much as we might: there was, in the Father’s will, a merciful aspect in the crucifixion of Jesus:

Here was a man carrying the enormous burden of absolute sinlessness; never, in his 33 or so years, had he succumbed to the temptations and weaknesses of the flesh, which he possessed along with the rest of us. He had lived a life of absolute dedication to the Father’s will, but it was not easy, and it would never become easy, so long as he lived in a frail body of flesh and blood. So the man who had reached the age of 33, without sinning, was — in his death, brutal and painful though it was — being in fact liberated from the last “burden” he carried, the last hindrance to serving God. He was, in the words of Scripture, passing through the “veil”, the last “barrier” that separated him from the Eternal God. Seen from that perspective, his death on the cross was not a punishment — it was a “liberation”! It was “graduation day”! It was, praise God, the most merciful end that could be contrived (given God’s requirements) to a perfect life. The One who had struggled mightily, and resisted every impulse to sin (even though he was greatly helped by his Father), would not have to carry that same heavy burden for another 50 or 60 years, until he expired of old age — God was saying to His Son, “Enough. You may now take your rest.”

God “killing” His Son? No! More like God saying to His Son: “It is enough. I am well-pleased. You can do no more. Come, sit down beside Me!”

Jesus was praying during his last evening with his loved ones. He very much needed his Father’s support and that of his disciples. His Father was awake and listening, but his friends fell asleep for “their eyes were heavy” — as undoubtedly were their minds. It had been a long, hard day and all were weary.

To “watch” is defined as “the act or fact of keeping awake, especially of keeping awake and alert, in order to look after, protect or guard”. There are other meanings also, but none that are relative to these verses.

We all spend a lot of time “watching”. We might be clock watchers at school or work; we might be watching children at play; we might be watching TV; we might be watching traffic. The examples could go on and on. We spend a lot of our time watching (and waiting).

One hour… a mere 60 minutes of 60 seconds each… not much of our “threescore years and ten”. But what a long time that hour can be if you’re watching the time and patients ahead of you at the doctor’s office; or it could seem a LONG time if your loved one’s flight was delayed and you are left watching (and waiting).

And yet how short one hour can seem if you’re cramming for a test… or saying goodbye to a loved one.

We know that our Father in heaven has spent countless days and years, watching. He watched “in the beginning” as creation proceeded… for He saw everything that He had made… and it was very good. He watched probably with sadness as Adam and Eve disobeyed and then tried to cover their sin; He watched as wickedness grew upon the earth and Noah and his family were the only ones righteous enough to be saved; He watched as the floodgates of heaven and earth opened up. Yes, He watched throughout countless times… and He watches over us and His land even now.

And there are many examples in Scripture of those who have watched:

Abraham watched as the smoke of the Sodom/Gomorrah area went up as the smoke of a furnace.

Joseph watched his brothers… and his brothers watched him; later Joseph watched over the house of Potiphar and then over the prison house and then over the entire land of Egypt (and the world).

Moses and Israel watched as the Egyptians were destroyed in the Red Sea.

Eli sat watching… his heart trembling for the ark of God.

Saul watched for David… and David watched for Saul.

King Belshazzar watched as the finger of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall… and his knees knocked together in fear.

The examples continue on down to the Pharisees and Sadducees, who watched John the Baptist and then Jesus. They watched him constantly even as he hung on a cross.

But in Mat 26:36-45 Jesus asked his disciples, his friends, to watch with him as he struggled with his humanity there in sad Gethsemane. But they couldn’t and didn’t… not even for just an hour.

And what of us, brothers and sisters? How well do we watch? for an hour? how often do our minds wander during this meeting… during this exhortation… as the emblems are passed?

Can we… do we… give an hour a day for readings? prayer? contemplation of our hope? Or are our thoughts and prayers only fleeting? How many times have we fallen asleep as we said our prayers? An hour isn’t much… indeed, as Duncan Heaster says, “The 6,000 years of humanity is an absolute pin prick in the spectrum of eternity. And our 70 years is even less significant.”

One day soon our 70 years… our brief hour… will be complete, and the kingdom we have prayed for since childhood will be a reality.

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back — whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch” (Mar 13:32-37).

(BBk)

“But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification… Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life” (Rom 5:15-18).

Who wouldn’t want a “free gift”? And that’s what salvation is, isn’t it? The free gift of God, given — like all free gifts — with no strings attached?

Well, let me tell you about “free gifts”. Or, rather, let Wayne tell us about free gifts…

You see, Wayne is a school teacher, a group that haven’t exactly taken a vow of poverty, but they’ve come close! And it certainly was close enough some years ago, when Wayne discovered that, according to a special set of federal guidelines, his beginning teacher’s salary qualified him for a particular government give-away program.

It seems that the federal government, through one of those high-level bureaucratic management decisions, had somehow financed a vast nationwide overproduction of cheese. Millions of pounds of the stuff was stacked up in warehouses around the country, where even with all the proper refrigeration and other precautions it could only be stored for so long.

So what to do? Moving rapidly (for a change?), the federal government let it be known that individuals and families falling below certain levels of annual income would be eligible for… free cheese! And sure enough, Wayne’s full-time teacher salary qualified for this special benefit. Ten pounds of free cheese! What could be better?

Now comes the interesting part.

All you have to do, it turns out, is show up at a certain government building at a certain time, with all the proper paperwork (pay stubs, past years’ tax returns, photo ID, etc), wait in line for what seems an interminable time, answer a number of questions… and then the “free cheese” can be yours… IF you meet all the qualifications!

And so Wayne finally returned home with the free cheese… and a valuable lesson: Very few things in life, certainly very few things of any value, come with no price tag. Even things that are “free” cost something!

And so it is on the infinitely grander scale of human interactions with the Almighty. So it is with what Paul called the “free gift” of justification, or righteousness, or salvation.

What does this “free gift” really cost?

• First, we need to know that we qualify for the “free gift”. So many actually qualify, who never know about it… and they perish for lack of knowledge: how terribly sad!

• Secondly, we need to know where the “free gift” will be dispensed. They don’t just give it away anywhere: you have to know the location. In this case, the “location” is Christ, the mercy-seat of God. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

• Then, of course, we need to know when the “free gift” will be dispensed. And we need to be in the right place at the right time to receive it. Fortunately, there are many “right places” to receive this gift… wherever other believers are gathered together, raising their petitions to heaven, through the one mediator. Or even if the single believer is all alone, on a mountaintop or in a closet, he or she can still find the way to the throne of God: “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:19-22).

• And we must not forget our proper support documents… not pay stubs and tax returns, but our names, through confession and repentance and baptism, properly inscribed on heavenly “documents”: “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luk 10:20). “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God… to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven” (Heb 12:22,23).

• Finally… if we are willing to wait, and wait, and wait some more… then, at last, we will receive our “free gift”: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Rom 12:12). “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm” (Jam 5:7,8).

Now here’s the marvelous thing. Despite the “price” that must be paid — despite the knowledge, the time, the place, the credentials, the waiting — despite all these “qualifications”, the gift — when it finally comes — will still be a “free gift”. No amount of knowledge, no amount of “good works”, no amount of patient waiting, will ever be enough to “earn” such a gift!

When it comes, it comes from the blessed Hand of a loving Father, who desires that we share all His bounty. But it does not come to those who do not know, it does not come to those who do not act on their knowledge, and it does not come to those who do not wait, patiently and prayerfully, for it. In that sense, it has a real “price tag”! In that sense the “free gift” of eternal life will cost us our whole life: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his life? Or what can a man give in exchange for his life?” (Mar 8:35-37).

But who wouldn’t gladly pay over his whole life to “buy” such a “free gift”?

My life is but a weaving Between my Lord and me… I may not choose the colors; He knows what they should be. For he can view the pattern Upon the upper side, While I can see it only On this, the underside.

Sometimes He weaveth sorrow, Which seemeth strange to me; But I will trust His judgment And work on faithfully. ‘Tis He who fills the shuttle. He knows just what is best. So I shall weave in earnest and leave to Him the rest.

Not till the loom is silent And the shuttles cease to fly, Shall God unroll the canvas, And explain the reason why The dark threads are as needful In the weaver’s skillful hand As the threads of gold and silver In the pattern He has planned.

When there is a failure to maintain the principle of balance, the greatest danger is that the very first principles of right conduct may be neglected, while all attention is bestowed upon matters of little importance which for the moment chance to loom large.

This indifference to essentials and scrupulous whitening of exteriors is such a common failing of humanity that we can gather lessons from almost all parts of history. The essentials do not change. They can be expressed in a few laws, perfectly beautiful, appealing to our intelligence so completely that no man dares to call them in question. They are never disputed, but they are continually obscured and thrust into the background by mutable man – made laws.

The essential duties enumerated by the prophet Micah are substantially the same as those laid down by Christ. The prophet declared that the ideal was “to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God. Christ declared that the weightier matters of the law were judgment, mercy, faith and the love of God. Justice and judgment here surely have the same meaning. There can be no doubt as to the meaning of mercy. An infidel might be humble, but mere humility is not all that is required. A man cannot walk humbly with his God apart from faith. Conversely, if a man has the true faith and a proper appreciation of the love of God, he will be guided to the true humility. Why is it that these principles, though never disputed, are nearly always neglected in favour of something which seems large in human affairs just for the moment, but which, after the lapse of a century or so, is seen even by men to be of little consequence?

The Pharisees would not have disputed the fundamental principles laid down by Micah. They might have been quite able to point out the faults of their forefathers in neglecting those principles. They were blind to their own faults, however, as men are nearly always. With the deceitfulness of the human heart they were able to satisfy themselves that all their worst actions were due to a zeal for God. It was zeal for the law that made them want to stone the sinful woman; a punctilious regard for the Sabbath that caused them to condemn the works of healing on that holy day; and doubtless after the crucifixion, many pious adversaries of the Lord went home to their families each man “proclaiming his own goodness”, and explaining that his apparently severe action was only a righteous zeal for God.

How can we escape from this frightful self deception which makes men become so unbalanced that they put too much emphasis on relatively small duties and neglect the weightier matters of the law? We are all liable to fall into such errors, and the causes axe so different in different generations that unless we maintain a very clear view of principles, the faults of men in the past do not enlighten us as to our own mistakes. We see clearly that there was lack of balance in former days. We are under no misapprehension as to the relative size of ancient gnats and camels. It is the near gnats under the microscope of our present concentration that seem so large, and if once we make a mistake all the instincts of the deceitful human heart tend to exaggerate it, in the effort to build up defenses of our judgment.

The first step we must take if we desire to avoid such evil is to impress the mind with a clear recognition of the possibility that we may have erred. We must try to recognize this as a practical possibility, not merely as an abstraction. Here again the factor of time effects great changes. Even the span of an individual life is enough to enable us to correct our judgments. A man can be far more just and impartial in reviewing his actions of ten years ago than those of yesterday. In bitter controversies of the past there always seemed absolute conviction of right and the most vehement expressions of sincerity, even by those who were working havoc. In some instances the passing of a decade sufficed to effect a complete change of view, and brethren in private conversation have heard some pathetic admissions of mistaken judgment and vain regrets for evil wrought.

There is an explanation of this obtuseness, but an effort to lay bare some of the deceitful labyrinths of the human mind would lead away from the present subject. We may be able to examine the wicked and deceitful heart a little later, but for the moment the subject is the principle of balance in relation to the weighty matters of God’s law. In this matter we shall probably find help by taking a distant view rather than by introspection. When we are painfully crawling up a steep hill it may seem the greatest object in all the landscape; but at a distance of a few miles it is perhaps invisible, or only seen as one of many insignificant hillocks at the foot of a great mountain.

In the same way we obtain a truer view of human duties and privileges when we can look at them without the prejudice which comes with personal contact. We can easily imagine that two Pharisees might agree as to the great principles laid down by Micah. They might so fully agree, in fact, that their minds would never be agitated over these essential virtues. Truths admitted by everyone may become dead truths. The mind grows along the line of its activities. That is why men always tend to exaggerate the importance of matters to which they have given much attention or which have been the subject of their discussion. Our two Pharisees might have a lifelong dispute over some matter of ceremonial washing or of keeping separate from others of their nation. In the most natural manner they would exaggerate the importance of these subjects while the essential principles on which they agreed received no attention. In the final result they might do unjustly, hate mercy and walk arrogantly without God, though never for a moment denying that the prophet Micah was right.

Christ’s condemnation of the Pharisees was mainly because of their arrogant assumption of righteousness and their merciless treatment of more unfortunate sinners. He continually urged the importance of the essential principles of right conduct rather than the exteriors to which they devoted attention. He told them that in their zeal for little duties they had neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, faith and the love of God. He told them that if they had known the meaning of scriptural injunctions regarding mercy they would not have condemned the guiltless, and he told them — no doubt it seemed to them a most scandalous statement that the grosser sinners of humanity, harlots and publicans, should go into the Kingdom of God before them.

To his disciples the Lord gave similar instruction. Mat 25 gives more consecutive teaching on this subject than has been generally recognized. The very emphatic lesson concerning positive virtues follows the parable of the talents. What are the real talents? Are they not the opportunities to give to the least of Christ’s servants the life-giving bread and water and the protecting garment? In the parable the one who hid the money and brought upon himself the disapproval of his lord is not represented as a waster who had spent his talent in having a good time in service to the flesh. He hid the money because he feared his lord as a hard man who would want to reap where he had not sown. It was only logical that this servant should be condemned out of his own mouth. If his lord was a hard man, expecting to reap where he had not sown, surely he would demand to reap where he had sown. The unprofitable servant apparently hid the talent he had received and then puzzled his brains trying to produce something for which his lord had not asked, but which it was assumed that — being a hard man — he would demand. Is not the history of Christendom full of such anomalies? The fruits for which Christ asks have not been rendered, but tremendous efforts have been made to produce fruit where Christ has never sown. It is the worst of all the ill effects of lack of balance, and the danger threatens us all the time.

The picture of the judgment which follows puts all the emphasis on the positives. The righteous are approved for doing good, not merely for abstaining from evil. The rejected are condemned for their neglect of duty, not for evil they have wrought. “Come, ye blessed, because ye have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, visited the sick and clothed the naked with a garment. Depart, ye cursed, because ye have not done these things.” The principle is laid down that what we render or fail to render to the least of Christ’s servants provides the measure of our attitude toward the Lord himself.

In the final day of judgment we shall not be able to excuse sterility in these essentials by reference to our strenuous labours to produce fruit for which Christ never asked. If any such excuses came to mind we should surely think of the unfaithful servant in the parable and become dumb. We have not a hard master who will demand fruit where he has never planted, who will require a personal rectitude of super refined separation which he never commanded; but we have a just Master who will require the performance of those essential duties that he so patiently explained. If we give bread and water, either natural or spiritual, to servants of Christ who hunger and thirst, we give to the Lord himself. If we neglect our opportunities to give, we neglect Christ. If we sin against the brethren and wound their weak conscience we sin against Christ, and assuredly if we cut off those whom he approves we cut off Christ.

It is strange that some fail to realize even the possibility of sinning in this matter of cutting off brethren who have offended or are supposed to be of unsound views. We have heard earnest members defend what seems to us an extreme in the matter of withdrawals, by saying, “I grieve for this but I dare not imperil my salvation by fellowshipping one who is not sound on this point.” As if there were many scriptural reasons for dreading utter condemnation if we fellowship one who is not quite sound in his understanding of duty; but no fear whatever of imperiling our salvation by cutting off and condemning and even traducing those who differ from us in judgment but are still hearty believers in the Gospel of Christ and the magnified and holy scriptures in which that gospel is enshrined. It is difficult to see how such a conception of the will of Christ has arisen. It cannot be from Christ’s treatment of his immediate disciples. It cannot be from the letters to the ecclesias which give us much instruction as to ecclesial relationships if only we will receive it. The idea that there is safety in severe judgments should not be gathered from the letters of the apostle Paul, for though he commands disciples to withdraw from those who walk in a disorderly manner, from fornicators, from those who work not at all, and who do not conform to his righteous teaching, he is almost as explicit as the Lord himself in warning us of the danger of condemning ourselves in judging others.

The truth is that we might imperil our salvation either by an extreme toleration or an extreme of separation. We must take the whole counsel of God and apply the lessons to the circumstances of our day as honestly and faithfully as we can. We must not be drawn to extremes in a competitive zeal for purity. We must certainly not allow a feeling of resentment at the repudiation of our judgment to make a difference of judgment the end of all fellowship. We must certainly try to avoid the horrible blight of a kind of party politics, with its astute manoeuvres, its personalities and its unholy alliances for a common offensive. We must be taught of God and try with all our powers, at whatever cost of loss of friends or of personal humiliation, to take the course which Christ would approve so that if we have to go before him this year we shall be able to claim that we have really tried to be faithful stewards. We are weak and erring, with fleshly desires and many evil taints which make us sadly in need of divine mercy; but let us be able to claim that in the administration of his truth we have at least been honest, caring nothing for the counsels of mere men, but trying with all our powers to put the weighty matters of God’s law in the right place. In short, let us be able to claim that we have paid attention to the essentials that Christ explained so patiently, instead of hiding away our talent and wasting our energies by hard exactions regarding which he has not spoken.

(PrPr)

Nearly two hundred years ago — 1784 was the precise date — there was born in an obscure village in Wales a girl whose zeal for the Word of God was destined to leave its mark on world history. Mary Jones’ parents were poverty-stricken tuberculous weavers in Llanfihangel. Life was hard in that poor cottage and luxuries of the smallest sort unknown. But there was godliness.

From her earliest days Mary loved to hear the telling of Bible stories. It is difficult to know how accurately these were told by her parents, for there was no Bible in the house, and if there had been, no ability to read it. Nor, as she grew older was there opportunity for Mary to attend school. Llanfihangel had no school. But when she was ten opportunity came to go to school at Abergynolwyn 3 miles away.

Of course Mary had to walk. No school bus in those days! And she was far too poor to own a pony. She was a quick pupil, and before very long was being used unofficial auxiliary teacher (unpaid) to instruct younger children.

All this time she had no Bible, but as her eagerness to know the Book grew so also did her determination to have a copy of her own. A relation of the family, Mrs Evans Evans, who lived two miles away, had a Welsh Bible and was willing for Mary to go as often as she wished in order to read it. Almost daily, Mary walked those four miles for the pleasure of reading the Scriptures.

But she must have a copy of her own! And this meant eager disciplined self-denying saving for a long time. She took on any additional activity which might add to the meagre store of pennies she was setting aside. She chopped wood for old Mrs Rees, she looked after the neighbours’ children, she spent long hours hemming sheets. And it was a great day when Mrs Evans gave her three chickens for even at the pathetic prices ruling then, eggs meant more than pennies. That first year’s saving yielded the princely sum of one shilling! The next year, two shillings and seven pence — and Mary looked forward with shining eyes to the day when she would have a Bible of her own.

But then her ailing father fell more sick than he had ever been, and what little money Mary was able to get had to go towards keeping the home going. However, she never relaxed her efforts or her determination. So it took six years of dedicated labour before there was money enough for that long coveted copy of the scriptures. But now there was the money, where to get the Bible? There was no bookshop within miles of Llanfihangel. Mary was told that Mr Thomas Charles, a minister in Bala, would probably help her. So one day with a little bread and cheese to help her on the way, she walked barefoot by lonely paths through the mountains more than twenty-five miles to the home of Mr Charles. There, in the minister’s study, tired pathetic, strained, but eager as ever, Mary held out her money and asked for a Bible. “But I have only one spare copy,” he said, “and that is already ear-marked for someone else.” But then he heard her story, and in his mind’s eye saw her, dogged and footsore, walking those endless miles through the mountains. “No matter,” he added, “you shall have it. Others can wait till I get a further supply.” So next day, with a springy stride, Mary returned home with her precious Bible, pausing now and then to rest a while and to use the opportunity to read from the Scriptures, a lamp to her feet a light to her path.

And there the story of Mary Jones ends. No more is known about her.

Her legacy to the world

But not long after this, in 1802 at a meeting In London, Mr Charles told the story of Mary Jones and her Bible, and pleaded for the founding of a society to print the Bible in Welsh. The idea met with immediate approval However, one member of the company, with more vision and faith than the rest, stood up and declared with passionate emphasis, “But I say, if for Wales, why not for the world?” The proposal was taken up with acclaim. Two years later The British and Foreign Bible Society formally came into existence, with the avowed objective of making the Bible available in all the tongues of Babel. In 1814 the Bible Society of the Netherlands was formed. Two years later came the American Bible Society. Today they are the United Bible Society, operating on a massive scale with the financial help and support of Bible-minded people everywhere. How many millions of Bibles have been printed during that one-and-a-half centuries? [Now almost two.] “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations.” Mary Jones never had the slightest inkling of the mighty work her simple single-minded zeal for the Scriptures would get going. In this sophisticated, materialistic twentieth century, how many bring to the Bible a fraction of the zeal which took Mary Jones through the hills to Bala?

(WEnj)