PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Elijah the Tishbite. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. V
Mackintosh, Charles Henry, 1820-1896 · 106,040 words · 147 reading sections
ONE-SIDED THEOLOGY
We have lately received a long letter, furnishing a very striking proof of the bewildering effect of one-sided theology. Our correspondent is evidently under the influence of what is styled the high school of doctrine. Hence, he cannot see the rightness of calling upon the unconverted to "come," to "hear," to "repent,"…
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Nothing is more damaging to the truth of God, more withering to the soul, or more subversive of all spiritual growth and progress than mere theology, high or low--Calvinistic or Arminian. It is impossible for the soul to make progress beyond the boundaries of the system to which it is attached. If I am taught to regard…
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A few days since, a friend put into our hands a sermon recently preached by an eminent clergyman belonging to the high school of doctrine. We have found in this sermon, quite as much as in the letter of our correspondent, the effects of one-sided theology. For instance, in referring to that magnificent statement of the…
316 wordsSECTION 64BELOVED FRIEND,
I have been thinking a good deal of late, on the last verse of the third chapter of John. It seems to me to furnish a most powerful answer to two of the leading heresies of this our day, namely, _Universalism_ on the one hand, and _Annihilationism_, on the other: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and…
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This may seem strong, harsh, and ultra; but it is my deep and thorough conviction; and I feel most solemnly impressed with the necessity of warning all our young friends against the danger of admitting into their minds the very shadow of a question or doubt as to the divinely established truth of the endless punishment…
140 wordsSECTION 66"PUBLICLY AND FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE."
The sentence which we have just penned is taken from Paul's farewell address to the elders of Ephesus, as recorded in Acts xx. It is a very suggestive sentence, and sets forth in a most forcible manner the intimate connection between the work of the teacher and that of the pastor. "I kept back nothing that was profitab…
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Nor is this all. How much there is in a pastor's range that the public teacher never can compass! No doubt public teaching is most important; would that we had many times more of it than we have. The teacher's work is invaluable, and when mellowed by the deep and tender affection of a pastor's heart, can go a great way…
620 wordsSECTION 68ISRAEL AND THE NATIONS
Read Psalm lxvii It would greatly tend to give clearness and definiteness to missionary effort to keep fully before our minds God's original purpose in sending the gospel to the Gentiles, or nations. This we have stated in the most distinct manner in Acts xv. "Simeon hath declared," says James, "how God at the first d…
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That the "us" of the foregoing psalm refers to Israel, no intelligent reader of Scripture needs to be told. Indeed, as we all know, the great burden of the Psalms, the Prophets, and the entire Old Testament, is Israel. There is not a syllable about the Church in the Old Testament. Types and shadows there are in which--…
583 wordsSECTION 70LANDMARKS AND STUMBLINGBLOCKS
"Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmark, which they of old have set in thine inheritance" (Deut. xix. 14). "Take up the stumblingblock out of the way of My people" (Isa. lvii. 14). What tender care, what gracious considerateness, breathe in the above passages! The ancient landmarks were not to be removed; but …
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But it is more than unwise. It is positive opposition to the word of God; not only to the quotations which stand at the head of this paper, but to the spirit and teaching of the entire volume. Hearken to the risen Saviour's commission to His first heralds: "Go ye into _all_ the world, and preach the gospel to _every_ c…
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But then, some may feel disposed to ask, "Do you want to set aside the doctrine of election?" God forbid. We only want to see it in its right place. We want it as a landmark, not as a stumblingblock. We believe the evangelist has no business to _preach_ election. Paul never preached election. He _taught_ election, but …
702 wordsSECTION 73GRACE AND GOVERNMENT
The title of this paper may possibly present a theme to which some of our readers have not given much of their attention; and yet few themes are more important. Indeed, we believe that the difficulty felt in expounding many passages of Holy Scripture, and in interpreting many acts of divine providence, is justly tracea…
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Thus it was with Adam; thus it has been ever since; and thus it is at this moment. My reader should seek to get a clear understanding of this subject in the light of Scripture. It is well worthy of his prayerful attention. It too frequently happens that grace and government are confounded, and, as a necessary consequen…
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All this is deeply solemn. Grace pardons; yes, freely, fully and eternally pardons; but what is sown must be reaped. A man may be sent by his master to sow a field with wheat, and through ignorance, dulness, or gross inattention, he sows some noxious weed. His master hears of the mistake, and, in the exercise of his gr…
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Sufficient has now been said to open to the reader a subject which he can easily pursue for himself. The Scriptures are full of it; and human life illustrates it every day. How often do we see men in the fullest enjoyment of grace, knowing the pardon of all their sins, walking in unclouded communion with God, and all t…
299 wordsSECTION 77SAUL OF TARSUS
In contemplating the character of this most remarkable man, we may gather valuable principles of gospel truth. He seems to have been peculiarly fitted to show forth, in the first place, what the grace of God _can_ do; and, in the second place, what the greatest amount of legal effort _cannot_ do. If ever there was a ma…
182 wordsSECTION 78THE CHIEF OF SINNERS.
"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom _I am chief_" (1 Tim. i. 15). Now, let the reader note particularly what the Spirit of God declares concerning Saul of Tarsus: that he was the chief of sinners. It is not the expression of Paul's hu…
589 wordsSECTION 79THE CHIEF OF LEGALISTS.
"Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, _I more_" (Phil. 3: 4). Here we have a most valuable point. Saul of Tarsus stood, as it were, on the loftiest height of the hill of legal righteousness. He reached the topmost step of the ladde…
565 wordsSECTION 80THE MOST LABORIOUS OF APOSTLES.
If Paul learned to cease working for righteousness, he also learned to begin working for Christ. When we behold on Damascus' road the shattered fragments of this worst and best men--when we hear those pathetic accents emanating from the depths of a broken heart, "Lord, what wilt _Thou_ have me to do?"--when we see that…
381 wordsSECTION 81HIS REBUFFS, HIS RESOURCES, HIS RETURNS
Read Matthew xi There is a never-failing freshness in every part of the word of God, but especially in those portions of it which present to us the blessed person of the Lord Jesus; which tell us what He was, what He did, what He said, how He did it, and how He said it; which present Him to our hearts in His comings a…
268 wordsSECTION 82THE REBUFFS.
There never yet was one who stood as a workman for God in this world, that had not to encounter rebuffs in some shape or form, and the only perfect Workman is no exception to the general rule. Jesus had His rebuffs and disappointments; for had it been otherwise with Him, He could not sympathize with those who have to m…
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Need we wonder, then, after reading such records as the above, when we find the Baptist, amid the gloom of Herod's dungeon, faltering for a moment? Should we be greatly astonished to discover that he was made of no better material than the workmen of former generations? If Israel's lawgiver, Israel's reformer, and Isra…
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Some of us can well understand this. We are so often like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, restlessly struggling, instead of patiently submitting; rendering the yoke all the more galling and grievous by our senseless and useless efforts to shake it off. But the spiritual mind, the subdued heart, the lowly spirit, wi…
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The reader will discern a very marked difference between Christ's message _to_ John and his testimony _of_ John. In speaking to His servant, He lets him know, in a way not to be mistaken, that He _felt_ his question. We can have no difficulty in seeing this. We feel persuaded that the Lord's answer to His servant conta…
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Such was the glowing testimony borne by Christ of His servant, John the Baptist. "Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than he." There is a great principle in this--a principle which we may see illustrated, again and again, in the record of God's dealings with His people. If the Lord had a m…
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This is what God hath wrought, and this is the groundwork of the great principle on which we have been dwelling, and which we have seen variously illustrated in God's dealings with Israel in the plains of Moab, and in Christ's dealings with the Baptist in the dungeon of Herod. Jehovah was compelling Balaam to exclaim i…
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On the other hand, let it never be forgotten--indeed the earnest Christian never could desire to forget--that the state must be judged by the standing. If this wholesome truth be lost sight of, we shall very speedily make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience. We have to keep the eye of faith steadily fixed on a ris…
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But, beloved reader, does it not occur to you that the "woe" of the eleventh of Matthew may have a wider range than even Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum? Should it not fall with still deeper emphasis, and more soul-subduing power, upon the ear of Christendom? For our part, we cannot doubt it for a moment. We cannot …
628 wordsSECTION 90THE RESOURCES
which the true, the perfect, the divine Workman found in God. That blessed One had, most surely, His rebuffs in this wretched world; but He had His never-failing resources in God; and, hence, when everything seemed against Him, when He might say, "I have labored in vain, and spent My strength for nought and in vain;" w…
636 wordsSECTION 91THE RETURNS
which our blessed Lord and Saviour makes to us. "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." These words are familiar to our …
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Oh, that we may really learn of Jesus, and take His yoke upon us! May we drink into His meek and lowly spirit! What words--"Meek and lowly!" How unlike nature! How unlike the world! How unlike us! How much pride, haughtiness, and self-sufficiency in us! What self-confidence, self-seeking, and self-exaltation! May the L…
229 wordsSECTION 93DIVERSITY AND UNITY
It is at once interesting and instructive to mark the varied lines of truth presented in the New Testament, all finding their common centre in that blessed One who is the truth. We see this, both in the Gospels and in the Epistles. Each of the four Evangelists, under the direct guidance and power of the Holy Ghost, giv…
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This is the true and the divine way to look at the matter; and this, too, is the way to avoid sects, parties, cliques and coteries in the Church of God. There is one body, one Head, one Spirit, one divine and perfect revelation--the Holy Scriptures. There are many members, many gifts, many lines of truth, many distinct…
563 wordsSECTION 95LIVING BY FAITH
"The _just shall live by his faith_." This weighty statement occurs in the second chapter of the prophet Habakkuk; and it is quoted by an inspired apostle in three of his epistles, namely, Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews, with a distinct application in each. In Rom. i. 17 it is applied to the great question of righteous…
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Such is the life of faith. Let us see that we understand it. It must be a reality, or nothing at all. It will not do to talk about the life of faith; we must _live_ it; and in order to live it, we must know God practically--know Him intimately, in the deep secret of our own souls. It is utterly vain and delusive to pro…
824 wordsSECTION 97ELIJAH.
_By C. H. M._…
5 wordsSECTION 98INTRODUCTION.
The exercise of prophetic ministry in Israel, of old, was always a proof of the nation's decline. So long as the great national institutions were maintained in their vigor, and the machinery of the Mosaic economy carried out according to its original design, there was no need of anything extraneous, and therefore the v…
794 wordsSECTION 99THE PROPHET'S FIRST MESSAGE.
The reign of Ahab, the son of Omri, was a dark and dreary time for the house of Israel; iniquity had risen to a fearful height; the sins of Jeroboam were little when compared with the black catalogue of Ahab's transgressions; the wicked Jezebel, the daughter of the uncircumcised king of the Zidonians, was chosen to be …
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I Kings xvii. gives us Elijah's first appearance in public; but the Spirit, in James, has graciously furnished us with the account of a yet earlier stage in his history, and one full of instruction to us, be our sphere of service what it may. The sacred historian introduces our prophet in a way which might seem abrupt.…
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But Elijah was not merely called to pass unscathed, as an individual, through the evil; he was called to exert an influence upon others: he was called to act for God in a degenerate age; he had to make an effort to bring his nation back to the God of their fathers; how much more, therefore, did he need to seek the Lord…
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This was pre-eminently the case with our blessed Master. How little was He affected by the thoughts or judgments of those to whom He spoke! They might thwart, oppose, and reject, but that never led Him for a moment to lose sight of the fact that He was sent of God. He carried with Him, throughout His entire course, the…
838 wordsSECTION 103THE PROPHET IN RETIREMENT.
Hardly had our prophet delivered his testimony when he was again called away from public observation into retirement and solitude. "And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and _hide thyself_ by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan." These words are full of deep instr…
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What teaching for us in all this! Why are our souls so lean and barren? Why do we so little drink of the streams of divinely provided refreshment? Because we are not hiding self sufficiently. We cannot expect that God will strengthen and refresh us for the purpose of earthly display. He will strengthen us for Himself. …
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We are ever in danger, through the infirmity of our flesh, of having our faith propped up by circumstances, and when these are favorable, we think our faith is strong, and _vice versa_. But faith never looks at circumstances; it looks straight to God; it has to do exclusively with Him and His promises. Thus it was with…
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Now, this path of obedience is by no means an easy one; it involves the constant abandonment of self, and can only be pursued as the eye is steadily kept on God, and the conscience kept under the action of His truth. True, there is a rich reward in every act of obedience, yet flesh and blood must be set aside, and this…
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But there is another point in this lovely scene to be particularly noticed: it is the way in which death ever hovers around the spirit of one not walking by faith. "That we may eat it and die" is the language of the widow. Death and unbelief are inseparably linked together. The spirit can only be conducted along the pa…
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Our prophet heard no such words as "_me and my son_" when he took up his abode by the brook. There was there no selfish interest acting as a barrier to his sustenance and enjoyment. No, but the moment he passed from his retirement into human society, then he was called to feel that the human heart does not like to have…
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But there is more than the mere principle of obedience to be learned from this truly interesting scene between Elijah and the widow of Zarephath: we learn, also, that nothing but the superior power of divine grace can lift the human mind above the freezing atmosphere of selfishness in which fallen man lives, and moves,…
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Before, however, I turn from this branch of our subject, I would observe that the effect which the divine visitation produced upon this widow was to awaken a solemn inquiry in her conscience as to her sin. "Art thou come to call my sin to remembrance?" When the Lord comes near to us, there will always be observed a div…
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There is, however, considerable difference between what is called "self-examination" and self-judgment; not so much in the abstract things themselves as in the ideas which we attach to them. It is a most blessed exercise to judge nature--honestly, solemnly and rigidly to judge that evil nature which we carry about with…
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We have now arrived at the close of a very important stage of Elijah's history, embracing a period of three years and a half, during which he was hidden from the view of Israel. We have been occupied simply with the consideration of those principles of truth which lie on the surface of Elijah's personal history. But ma…
465 wordsSECTION 113THE HOUSE OF AHAB
We must now leave our prophet, for a season, and turn our attention to the sad condition of things in Israel during the time that he was hidden with God. Terrible indeed must be the condition of things on earth when "the heaven is shut up." Sterile and dreary must be the aspect of this lower world when heaven withholds…
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The following passage of Scripture may well be used, in connection with Ahab, as a solemn and seasonable warning: "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabi…
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Just so it was with Obadiah. It was his lot to stand in connection with the man who occupied the lowest step of that ladder of apostasy whereby the kings of Israel had descended from original principles. Hence he was obliged to act stealthily for God and His servants; he was afraid of Ahab and Jezebel; he lacked boldne…
808 wordsSECTION 116THE PROPHET ON MOUNT CARMEL
In the opening verse of chapter xviii. a new order is issued to our prophet. "And it came to pass, after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go show thyself unto Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth." Here Elijah is summoned away from his retirement at Zarephath, to make h…
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True they were both men of God; and, moreover, it may be said by some that Obadiah was as much in his place as Elijah, seeing he was serving his master. No doubt he was serving his master; but should Ahab have been his master? I believe not. I believe his service to Ahab was not the result of communion with God. True i…
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So it was, and so it is. The storm of controversy is always preferable to the calm of sin and worldliness. Truly happy is it when there is no need of raising such a storm; but when it is needed--when the enemy would stretch forth over the people of God "the leaden sceptre" of unholy repose--it is a matter of thankfulne…
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And so it will ever be. The Lord will ever stand by those that stand by Him. Had Obadiah only made a stand against Ahab and Jezebel, the Lord would have owned him and carried him through, so that instead of being the servant of Ahab, he might have been the yokefellow of Elijah in his great reformation. But this was not…
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How gracious of the Lord to raise up such a deliverer for His deluded people! And what a deathblow to the prophets of Baal! We may safely assert they never offered a more unwilling sacrifice to their idol than that which our prophet suggested. It was the sure precursor of his downfall, and of theirs also. What a sad as…
699 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.