"When it is considered that Christianity was a stumbling-block to the Jew, and foolishness to the Greek ; that, instead of pander- ing to the lusts and passions of men, it waged eternal war against them ; and that at its introduction it was opposed to the religious views and customs of the whole civilized and barbarous world, we may well wonder that it should have been received by any con- siderable number of men among the nations of the earth. And the fact that Christ was " believed on in the world " may well be mentioned by the Apostle in the passage before us ; for this also proves His Messiahship. If the gospel had not been from God it must have perished from the earth. It prevailed among men because God was with it ; He stamped its divinity by enabling His Apostles to perform wonders, and signs, and mighty deeds among the people. The weapons of their warfare were "not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong- holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."
^ Last night read Carlyle's Niagara, and after that heard James Calvert of Fiji tell an unvarnished tale of what simple faith in Christ had done among men-eaters and murderers. It is pleasant to be catholic and give honour to whom honour is due. Still it is right to be just to our own judgment. I see nothing in Carlyle that I don't see much better said in the New Testament, and with the unspeakable advantage of an infallible recipe for doing it. A friend of mine writes, "The advantage of the Gospel is that it enables the humblest man to do what only the hero can do with- out it." Carlyle's Drill — all the world marching and wheeling
I TIMOTHY III. i6 117
and getting ready to fight ! Whereas the fisherman Peter lays bonds and yokes on men which drill a man from within, and he fears God and honours the King, and knows his place, and doesn't put sham work into his harness or his buildings. I know such men by scores and hundreds, and feel sure that there are tens of thousands. We don't want eloquent howling to show man " what is good," or to do justice, or love mercy, or walk humbly with Cod and man. I will back James Calvert of Fiji against a troop of Carlyles for the actual accomplishment of the chief good.^
VI.
*' Received up in glory."
1. These words are a reference, beyond all doubt, to the ascension of our Lord, and as such they fitly close this verse ; for the ascension is the crown and completion of the incarnation. The most superficial reader of the Gospels must have felt the wonderful harmony of this ending of our Lord's life on earth with all that had gone before. The one perfect and Divine life, the life of the God-man, begins with the angel's song of " Glory to God in the highest," and ends with the ascension into glory. It is impossible even to imagine such a life as the life of Jesus closing in the shame and darkness of the crucifixion. Death could not be the end of " the mystery of godliness manifested in the flesh." " It was not possible," as St. Peter said on the day of Pentecost, " that he should be holden of it." We cannot even think that the resurrection, glorious as it was, the triumph of the Lord of Life over death, could be the termination of the mission of Jesus Christ on earth. For Him to have conquered death by rising from the tomb, and then again to have succumbed to its power and to " have seen corruption " would have been as great a miracle of darkness as Christ's miracles were miracles of light. Something still remained, after He had risen from the dead, without which the life of Jesus would have lost its perfect and radiant symmetry of loveliness and power. One last step had yet to be taken : for the Divine Son had to regain the crown He had laid aside at the incarnation. " He who was manifested in the flesh," who had descended from the royalty and glory of heaven to
* Letters of James Smetham, 295.
ii8 THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS
the humiliation and suffering of earth, who had " emptied himself, taking the form of a servant," must again ascend to the throne of universal dominion, passing in solemn and glorious state from the tears and shadows and sin of earth to the light and joy and victory of heaven.
^ In the biographies of great men we are told of one achieve- ment gained after another, of one honour conferred after another. But, however long and glorious the scroll which can be shown, it has to end with their bidding a long farewell to all their greatness. And, though monuments are raised to their memory, it cannot take away the essential ingloriousness of the termination to their career. With Christ it is at the earthly termination that to outward appearance He becomes great. He had indeed, like others and more than others, to undergo the ingloriousness of dying, and of being laid in the tomb. But the ingloriousness was completely reversed by His resurrection. He lingered long enough on earth for history to attest the fact that He was indeed risen. And then He made His triumphal entry into heaven.^