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 The Bible Truth Review

 Issue No. 14  (May/June 10, 1991)

 In This Issue

 "The Joy of Faith." by Charles H. Welch in The Berean Expositor
 circa 1912-13.  Do we know experimentally the joy of faith?
 Here's how.

 "Judging #5.  Who Should Be Judged?" by J. McEown in Bible
 Explorations, Vol. 1 No. 11, Nov. 1987.  An interesting
 conclusion is drawn from the epistles of Paul.

 "Love No. 1" by Charles H. Welch in The Berean Expositor circa
 1914-15.  First in a series on the grace and fruit of love.

 "The Parables. No. 9. Matt. xv. 10-20." by Charles H. Welch in
 The Berean Expositor circa 1914-15.  Things which defile a man.

 "The Sovereignty of God #8" by Oscar M. Baker in Truth For Today,
 Vol. 40 No. 12, April 1991.  The place of the Lord in the
 sovereignty of God.

 Subscription Information and Permission to Distribute by Leo
 Wierzbowski, editor of The Bible Truth Review.

 ============================================================

 "The Joy of Faith" by Charles H. Welch in The Berean Expositor.

 We have heard of the "work of faith," and realize increasingly
 the necessity there is to remember that "faith, if it hath not
 works, is dead, being alone."  We have heard that "faith worketh
 patience," and can understand even by our own small experiences
 that as we realize by faith all the goodness, grace and glory
 laid up by virtue of redemption, patience is no effort, but is
 rather one of the precious fruits of faith.

 We seem, however, to hear little of the "joy of faith."  All
 Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable.  All
 Scripture comes to us with a demand for conformity to its
 teaching. What of the "joy of faith"?  Can we have the real faith
 of the epistles if it is a joyless faith?  We know the "faiths"
 or "creeds" of man's construction (even though framed with the
 Word in view) often become grievous burdens, and shackle those
 who subscribe to them as with fetters of iron.  We want none of
 these joyless creeds, but still let us ask, Do we know
 experimentally "the joy of faith"?

 The expression is found in Phil. i.25.  The apostle writes, "I
 know that I shall abide and continue with you all, for your
 furtherance and joy of the faith."  J. N. Darby in a note says,
 "Progress and joy go together, not 'progress -- and joy in
 faith.'"  Whatever the exact meaning of the apostle may be in
 this passage, the truth which we feel we must emphasize is that
 to believe the truth of the mystery, to realize the fact of
 acceptance in the Beloved, to know that we have been raised
 together and made to sit together in the heavenlies, in Christ,
 to know that we have been delivered out of the authority of
 darkness, and translated into the kingdom of the beloved Son of
 God, this "faith" surely must bring "joy" with it (the very
 writing of the words stirs our heart with joy), and a furtherance
 or progress in this faith, while it may deepen our love, increase
 our sympathy, perhaps cause us much conflict and many tears, yet
 seeing of Whom it speaks, and the untold riches of grace and
 glory that it reveals, cannot but bring with it joy.

 Already in Rom. xv.13, with reference to other things, the
 apostle had written, "Now the God of the hope (namely of verse
 12, trust being hope) fill you with all joy and peace in
 believing."  Or again, in 2 Cor. i.24, he had written, "Not for
 that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers of
 your joy, for by faith ye stand."  "Joy" is a fruit of the Spirit
 mentioned early in the wondrous cluster, "love, joy, peace," &c.
 Peter was not a stranger to the "joy of faith," for speaking of
 the Lord Jesus Christ he said, "Whom having not seen, ye love, in
 Whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with
 joy unspeakable, and full of glory."

 What is the ground of this joy?  A reading of either Philippians,
 or I Peter, will dispel the idea that external circumstances
 contributed to this joy of faith.  In both epistles suffering and
 sorrow are emphatic, yet in the midst of it all there breathes a
 pure unconquerable joy.  "Joy" and "rejoice" are keywords of
 Philippians.

 One point of deepest significance, which must not pass unnoticed,
 arises out of the connection of the theme of the "joy of the
 faith" with the peculiar object of this epistle.  "Philippians"
 assumes that the blessed teaching of "Ephesians" is known and
 believed.  On that basis the apostle speaks of working out our
 own salvation with fear and trembling (working out, not working
 for), and has in prospect a prize not attained but sought.  It is
 not until he wrote 2 Timothy that he knew he had finished his
 course, and that henceforth there was laid up for him a crown.
 In Acts xx. he had said that he counted not his life dear unto
 himself, but that he desired to finish his course with joy.  This
 therefore is the reason why in Philippians the apostle passes
 from salvation by faith, or justification by faith, to speak of
 the joy of faith, the anticipation of the crown or prize.  The
 idea may be found in the well-known words of Matt. xxv.:-

 "Well done, good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful
 over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter
 thou into the joy of thy Lord."

 This joy, connected as it is with reward for faithfulness, may be
 seen in Heb. xii.1,2:-

 "Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking
 unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, Who for the joy
 that was set before Him endured a cross, despising the shame, and
 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

 When the apostle spoke of the fulfilling of his joy it was in
 respect to the good of others,and not of his own ease or comfort.
 "Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love,
 being of one accord" (Phil. ii.2).  Or again in iv.1, "Therefore,
 my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so
 stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved."  Look at the first
 six occurrences in the prison epistles of the word "rejoice."

 "What then?  Notwithstanding every way (and some of these ways
 were humanly hard to endure), whether in pretense or in truth:
 CHRIST is preached, and therein I do rejoice, yea, and will
 rejoice" (Phil. i.18).

 Had the apostle thought of himself, thought upon the baseness and
 ingratitude that moved some in their preaching to suppose they
 thereby added affliction to his bonds, what cause would he have
 found for rejoicing?  He had learned, however, a little of the
 mind that was in Christ Jesus, he thought of others rather than
 of himself.  He who could say, "Christ shall be magnified in my
 body, whether it be by life or death," could rejoice in the fact
 that Christ was preached, even though some who preached sought
 his injury.  Again, this utter regardlessness of self is
 manifested in his words of ii.17,18:-

 "Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your
 faith, I joy and rejoice with you all.  For this cause also do ye
 joy and rejoice with me."

 What words are here!  The apostle willing to be poured out as a
 drink offering over the sacrifice and service of their faith, and
 they, seeing his utter abandonment to the service and glory of
 his Lord, rejoicing together with him.  Can earth furnish such
 joy as this?  A joy which no tears can blind, but which, the
 rather, through those tears will take on added lustre as the
 rainbow from the storm.  His "finally" is still the same blessed
 theme, "Finally, my brethren rejoice in the Lord" (iii.1); "and
 again I say, rejoice" (iv.4).  If we rejoice in our attainments
 we shall fall into grievous error and sorrow.  If we rejoice even
 in the increased light shed upon the Word we must remember the
 One Who alone is to be praised for the opened eye to see.  Let
 our rejoicing be "in the Lord," then it will be real and full.

 Are we joyful enough?  We seek grace to manifest the fact that we
 are fellow-members of the One Body, we seek grace to exhibit all
 lowliness and meekness, to walk worthy of the calling, but let us
 not forget "joy."  We may in times past have been misled into
 believing that a solemn face, a funereal air, a joyless, sunless,
 rigid demeanour, glorified the Lord.  Thanks be to God for
 deliverance from such things.  Let us be glad and rejoice in the
 Lord.  The faith which is ours to hold is full enough to fill us
 all to the brim with "joy unspeakable."  We need not be trivial,
 frivolous or emotional to experience and shed abroad something of
 the radiance that should be evident in those who "rejoice in the
 Lord alway," and who have received the truth in the love of it,
 and the faith in some measure of its joy.

 Moses "wist not that his face shone," but it was evident he had
 been with the Lord.  So, in like manner, may it be ours to
 reflect something of the radiance of the "joy of faith."

 ===============================================================

 "Judging #5.  Who Should Be Judged?" by J. McEown in Bible
 Explorations.

 In Scripture, the word judge is from the Greek word meaning to
 sift or separate, and man has had to separate (judge) good from
 evil ever since his first parents took in knowledge of both.  He
 can easily be deceived in judging, but God has provided a new
 mind and His Word so that His children can discern between the
 two.  But what are they to judge and what are they to do with
 what they discern?

 At first glance, Scripture seems to give opposing commands,
 saying in some places to judge others and in other places saying
 not to judge others.  Each reference must be examined in its
 immediate context and in the greater context of all Scripture.
 Sometimes hypocrites are addressed and sometimes sincere saints
 are addressed.  Sometimes God's kingdom on earth is the subject
 and sometimes His kingdom above the heavens is the subject.
 Because examining each reference would take more time and space
 than feasible for this paper, we shall consider two principles
 about judging which are constant throughout God's Word.  Firstly,
 we will consider the believer's judging of himself and secondly
 his judging of others.

 Since the unregenerate, without the new mind, cannot understand
 God's Word and distinguish right from wrong, he is not
 accountable.  He is judged already for failure to believe on the
 Son of God (Jn 3:18).  But we who have believed on the Son of
 God, can understand God's Word and are accountable for our
 handling of that Word and for lives lived equal to our knowledge
 of it.  Paul said, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the
 faith." (ICo 11:28).  And again, "if we would judge ourselves, we
 should not be judged."  He wrote to believers whose behavior was
 wrong by God's commands.  Later he prayed that the Philippians
 would, "approve things that are excellent." (Php 1:10).  A
 rendering of this, closer to the Greek is, "distinguish things
 that differ."  They had entered a new and different
 administration of God and needed to sift the instructions and
 promises to Israel which they had embraced before from the
 instructions to the church of all nations to which they now were
 called.  Finally, to us also, members of that church, it is
 written, "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in
 the Lord: walk as children of light...Proving (testing) what is
 acceptable unto the Lord." (Eph 5:8,10).  Learning what is
 acceptable to the Lord today is each individual's responsibility.
 No one can discern for us.  We alone can sift our own beliefs and
 wrong behavior by testing them by the Scriptures and "approving
 things that are excellent."

 As to what others believe in their hearts, only the Lord can
 judge.  He knows how much understanding they have, what intents
 and desires they have, and what barriers befront them.  But the
 believer with the new mind and God's Word as his guide, can
 detect good from evil in acts and words and he has a
 responsibility to respond to such.  The Apostle Paul said to
 follow him as an example as he followed Christ (ICo 4:11).  We
 find his manner was to encourage the good he found and endeavor
 to dispel the evil.  His epistles show that when he knew of
 other's wrong doing his first effort was prayer, then he wrote
 letters, sent messengers, spoke face to face at times and finally
 he withdrew from those who repeatedly refused to hear warnings.
 He spent three years with the Ephesians where he said, "...I
 ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears." (Acts
 20:31).  Rather than condemning wrong doers we find him
 beseeching and warning of the consequences of evil, as one who
 loved them would.

 In his letter to the Romans, Paul first said he gave thanks,
 "that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world." (Rom
 1:3).  But he also addressed a segment there and told them they
 were inexcusable for condemning fellow saints for the very things
 they did themselves (Rom 2:1).

 He wrote the Corinthians that he longed to teach truths which he
 could not because of their envy and bickering, and he sent
 Timothy to them, "...who shall bring you into remembrance of my
 ways which be in Christ..." (ICo 4:7).  The Corinthian saints
 were also told not to keep company with any who claimed to follow
 Christ and lived in immorality; and we are told in IITi 2:19,
 "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from
 iniquity."

 Judging the words and acts of others as Paul did, should then
 evoke prayer, encouragement, beseeching, warning and even
 withdrawing on our part, but never may we speak evil of a saint
 (Tit 3:12).  Michael, Israel's archangel, dared not make an evil
 judgment on the devil (who so obviously deserved it), but he left
 that to the Lord (Jude 9).  How much less are we qualified to
 condemn one of our family members in the Body of Christ.

 Who should be judged?  We conclude that no person should be
 judged, but rather, our own beliefs need sifting sometimes, and
 the words and acts of all God's children need separating
 sometimes by that living instrument, the Word of God.

 ===============================================================

 "Love No. 1" by Charles H. Welch in The Berean Expositor.

 "Though I . . . . understand all mysteries . . . . and have not
 love, I am nothing" (I Cor. iii. 2).

 We are daily adding to our knowledge of the deeper teaching of
 the Word; fresh beauties shine forth from the sacred page; we
 seek increasingly "rightly to divide the Word of truth," and with
 this increased knowledge and light one might be led to imagine
 that spiritually nothing much was left to be desired.  As we read
 the Scriptures, however, light and knowledge are not put fort-
 most, love is first and greatest and must be in all times the
 criterion of our true spiritual advancement.  When the Lord was
 questioned by the lawyer as to which was the great commandment in
 the law, He replied:-

 "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with
 all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great
 commandment.  And the second is like unto it.  Thou shalt love
 thy neighbour as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the
 law and the prophets" (Matt. xxii. 37-40).

 It should be observed that heart love comes before that of the
 soul, or of the mind.  It is comparatively easy to love with the
 mind, to love in "word," or in "tongue," but to love "in deed and
 in truth" (I John iii. 18) necessitates the activity of the
 heart.  When we notice the prayers of the apostle Paul in
 Ephesians i. and iii., we find that while "the knowledge of Him"
 and "to know what is the hope of His calling" are prominent in
 the first prayer, love figures very largely in the second,
 "rooted and grounded in love," and "to know the knowledge-
 surpassing love of Christ."  In the practical section of
 Ephesians (iv.-vi.) the apostle exhorts the believer to a worthy
 walk, and the central occurrence of the word "walk" in that
 section is the exhortation to:-

 "Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given
 Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a
 sweetsmelling savour" (Eph. v. 2).

 This high standard is the basis of the apostle's appeal in Eph.
 v. 25, "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church, and
 gave Himself for it."  When the apostle would pray for the
 advancement of the Philippians, although he desired them to have
 "discernment" and ability to "try the things that differ," these
 were not the initial petitions.  The Spirit of God knew only too
 well that discernment without love is withering and harsh, and
 knowledge without love but ministers to pride; therefore the
 apostle was led to pray first and foremost for the overflowing of
 their love, "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more
 and more" (Phil. i. 9).  In the Epistle to the Colossians the
 apostle speaks of putting on the new man, and as a climax says,
 "And above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of
 perfectness" (Col. iii. 14).

 Let it be the earnest desire of every reader that our love shall
 keep pace with our advance in knowledge, otherwise our words must
 be written off as "sounding brass," and our knowledge as nothing
 worth.  As space allows in subsequent issues we hope to consider
 some of the aspects of this chief of graces, and first of the
 Spirit's fruits, "ABOVE ALL . . . . LOVE."

 ==============================================================

 "The Parables No. 9" by Charles H. Welch in The Berean Expositor.

 We have now concluded our consideration of the parables of Matt.
 xiii.  As we have seen,these parables of the mysteries of the
 kingdom form a complete line of teaching by themselves.  After
 this series of parables was concluded the Lord Jesus revealed the
 fact that He must not only be rejected, but be crucified, die,
 and be raised again the third day.  The parables of the second
 section accordingly take a somewhat different turn.  One parable
 is spoken after chapter xiii. before the revelation of the Lord's
 death in Matt. xvi.  After this the second series of parables
 follows, ending in the prophetic words of Matt. xxiv. and xxv.
 This series makes a complete set marked by a special aspect of
 dispensational teaching, just in the same way that the parables
 of Matt. xiii. are marked by a special aspect of dispensational
 truth.

 Before considering this group, however, we will look at the
 parable recorded in Matt. xv. 10-20.  It throws light upon the
 nature of the opposition, and the forces at work which had
 rejected the kingdom and finally would crucify the King.  It
 arose out of the question of the Scribes and Pharisees concerning
 eating with unwashen hands.  The Lord does not here, as He does
 in Matt. xxiii., fully and unreservedly strip off their mask of
 hypocrisy, for His hour had not yet come.  In parable form,
 however, He enforces the lesson of the previous words addressed
 to the Scribes and Pharisees.  These formalists were far more
 concerned about ceremonial washings, than about fruit of heart
 love.  The transgression of some minute point of rabbinical
 tradition was far more serious in their eyes than the breaking of
 the law of God.

 In answer to the question, "Why do Thy disciples transgress the
 tradition of the elders?" the Lord said, "Why do ye also
 transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?"  Opposition
 had been gathering, and many attempts to entrap the Lord had been
 made.  His free intermingling with the publicans and sinners
 wounded the pride of the teachers of the law.  His freedom
 regarding the sabbath was much resented and opposed.  It appears
 that on some occasion the Pharisees had noticed that the
 disciples had not observed the tradition regarding washings
 before meals, and this supplied them with a weapon of attack.
 The oral tradition laid peculiar emphasis upon these ceremonial
 ablutions.  No doubt we have all heard of Rabbi Akiba, who when
 imprisoned and supplied with only enough water to maintain life,
 chose rather to perish with thirst and hunger than to eat without
 the necessary washings.  What a pitiable misconception!  What a
 God these people had invented!  We can imagine the feelings with
 which these men came down with this charge upon the disciples of
 the Lord.  They did not expect the Lord to reveal the superficial
 nature of their teaching, which He did so incisively by his
 reference to their despicable gloss in relation to "the first
 commandment with promise :-

 "Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you saying, This
 people draweth nigh with their mouth, and honoureth Me with their
 lips, but their heart is far from Me.  But in vain they do
 worship Me (solemn words for all dispensations), teaching for
 doctrines the commandments of men" (Matt v. 7-9).

 Turning from these votaries of littleness, the Lord called the
 people together and said:-

 "Hear and understand.  Not that which goeth into the mouth
 defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth, this
 defileth a man" (Matt. xv. 10, 11).

 In these few words the Lord brushed aside the external and the
 ceremonial, establishing in their place the real and the
 essential.  The record in Mark vii. 15 should be compared:-

 "There is nothing from without a man that, entering into him can
 defile him, but the things which come out of him, these are they
 that defile a man"

 These words were sufficiently understood by the Pharisees to
 offend them, but the Lord in His reply shows how little He
 thought of man's judgment, "Let them alone; they be blind leaders
 of the blind."  Peter now asks for an explanation of the parable,
 and Matt. xv. 16-20 contains the Lord's answer:-

 "And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding, that
 whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is
 cast into the draught? but those things which proceed out of the
 mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.  For out of the
 heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
 thefts, false witness, blasphemies.  These are the things which
 defile a man, but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man."

 Mark gives one or two additional statements which are too
 important to pass over unnoticed:-

 "Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth
 into the man, it cannot defile him, because it entereth not into
 his heart" (Mark vii. 18).

 Thus the whole subject revolves around the words "not into his
 heart" and "out of the heart."  "Their heart is far from Me."
 The A.V. continues, "but into the belly, and goeth into the
 draught, purging all meats."  The last clause has caused a great
 amount of unprofitable matter to be written.  The true meaning is
 given in the R.V., "This He said, making all meats clean," i.e.,
 abolishing for ever the scrupulosities of mere ceremonial
 distinctions.  The list of evil things is different from that
 given in Matt. xv.:-

 "Evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts,
 covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye,
 blasphemy, pride, foolishness" (Mark vii. 21, 22).

 We would now draw attention to one or two important words and
 expressions used in this parable, and then show the light it
 casts upon the times and circumstances of this closing section of
 Matthew's Gospel.

 DEFILED (koinos).--It must be remembered that the subject of
 defilement or uncleanness in this parable is ceremonial, it in no
 wise touches upon the desirability of having clean hands at meal
 times, neither does it teach that we may eat anything with
 impunity.  If we perceive the truth nothing can make us
 ceremonially unclean, but some things may do us a deal of harm
 physically.  The word koinos has nothing whatever to do with
 uncleanness in a physical sense; it means defilement only in a
 ceremonial sense.  The following are its occurrences:-

 Koinos.

 "*Defiled* (That is to say unwashen) hands"  (Mark vii. 2).

 "All things *common*" (Acts ii. 44; iv. 32).

 "*Common* or unclean" (Acts x. 14, 28; xi. 8).

 "There is nothing unclean of itself, but to him that esteemeth
 anything to be *unclean*, to him it is *unclean*" (Rom. xiv. 14).

 "The *common* faith" (Titus i. 4).

 "An *unholy* thing" (Heb x. 29).

 "The *common* salvation" (Jude 3).

 Koinoo.

 "*Defile* a man" (Matt. iv. 11, 18, 20; Mark vii. 15, 18, 20,
 23).

 "Call not thou *common*" (Acts x. 15; xi. 9).

 "Brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath *polluted* this
 holy place" (Acts xxi. 28).

 "Sprinkling the *unclean*" (Heb. ix. 13).

 "There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that *defileth*"
 (Rev. xi. 27).

 It will be seen by the above passages that the idea defile must
 be considered from the ceremonial standpoint.  The apostle does
 not hesitate to speak of the "common faith," not because there
 was anything unclean about it, but because it was not the
 exclusive possession of a privileged few, it being now proclaimed
 to the Gentile as well as the Jew.  The ceremonial ablutions were
 jealously guarded and observed not so much out of a desire for
 holiness or personal cleanliness, but out of a cramped, narrow
 and bigoted pride.  To the pharisaic mind there was but one
 class, "the elect," all others were either "Gentile dogs," or
 "the people who know not the law" who are cursed.  This narrow
 exclusive spirit was a fundamental cause of the great rejection,
 for in Matt. xxiii. 13 the first woe uttered by our Lord touches
 this very point:-

 "But woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  for ye shut
 up the kingdom of heaven against men, for ye neither go in
 yourselves, neither do ye suffer them that are entering to go
 in."

 Luke xi. 52 adds another weighty word:-

 "Woe unto you lawyers!  for ye took away the key of knowledge, ye
 entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye
 hindered."

 The reference to "the blind guides" in Matt. xxiii. 16 is a
 further link with Matt. xv.  So also the sentiment of verses 23-
 27.  The charge is very severe, and must have caused, as indeed
 we know it did, intense hatred.  These men, who were so
 scrupulous about the outside as in Matt. xv., were within "full
 of all uncleanness."

 HEART.--The way in which the Lord uses the word "heart" is full
 of deep teaching.  In the Beatitudes He had said, "Blessed are
 the pure in heart," the word "pure" being the Greek word
 katharos.  The next time the Lord uses the word in Matthew it is
 in direct continuance of this passage in Matt. v. :-

 "Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup
 and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also" (Matt.
 xxiii. 26).

 The clean in heart, not the ceremonially and externally clean,
 not as the whitewashed sepulchres, these and these alone should
 see the kingdom.  So superficial had become the ideas of men at
 the time of Christ, that He early disturbed the self-righteous
 complacency of those who thought that they were safe:-

 "Ye have, heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt
 not commit adultery, but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh
 on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her
 already in his heart" (Matt. v. 28).

 "The tree is known by his fruit.  O generation of vipers, how can
 ye, being evil, speak good things?  for out of the abundance of
 the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matt. xii. 33, 34).

 Thus the Lord would teach that just as the fruit of a tree
 indicates the nature of the tree itself, so the fruit of the lips
 will show the nature of the heart which gives that fruit origin.
 Once again, in answer to the lawyer's question, the Lord puts the
 heart in the first place:-

 "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with
 all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Matt xxii. 37).

 Heart first, mind last.  The mere intellectualism which always
 accompanies a pharisaical spirit is placed by its advocates
 foremost, while the heart is placed last.  Not so, in the Lord's
 estimate.  He does not call upon us to quibble over the petty
 details which occupied the little minds of these formalists, but
 urges love of heart first and foremost.

 The words of the R.V. of Mark vii. 19, "This he said, making all
 meats clean," should be noted.  These words are the inspired
 comment upon the Lord's teaching.  It indicated the trend of His
 teaching and the effect of His work.  It lifted the one who
 believed Him above the sphere wherein such observances were of
 service.  It entirely discountenanced the teaching of the
 Pharisees.  The spirit of the lesson is echoed in an apocryphal
 addition to Luke vi. 5 found in the Codex Bezae:-

 "On the same day, seeing one working on the Sabbath, He said to
 him, O man, if indeed thou knowest what thou doest, thou art
 blessed, but if thou knowest not, thou art accursed and a
 transgressor of the Law."

 Let us now examine the list of sins which the Lord said did
 defile a man, coming as they did out of the heart.

 EVIL THOUGHTS.--The word "thought" is dialogismos:D

 "When Jesus perceived their *thoughts*, He answering said unto
 them, What *reason ye* in your hearts?" (Luke v. 22).

 "The Scribes and Pharisees watched Him, whether He would heal on
 the Sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against Him,
 but He knew their *thoughts*" (Luke vi. 7, 8).

 So also Luke ii. 35; ix. 46, 47; xxiv. 38; and James ii. 4.  The
 word "evil" is poneros:D

 "Wherefore think ye *evil* in your hearts" (Matt. ix. 4).

 "O generation of vipers, how can ye (Pharisees, see verse 24),
 being *evil* speak good things?  for out of the abundance of the
 heart the mouth speaketh . . . . An *evil* and adulterous
 generation" (Matt. xii. 34, 39).

 It seems fairly clear that the Lord had the Pharisees and Scribes
 in view when He uttered the words in the parable concerning evil
 thoughts.

 MURDERS (phonos).--The word occurs in connection with Barabbas in
 Mark xv. 7 and Luke xxiii. 19, 25.  "Destroyed those murderers,
 and burnt up their city" (Matt. xxii. 7).  Refer back to the
 related parable in Matt. xxi. 38, 39 for the full force of this
 passage: note verses 45 and 46, and xxii. 15, and see how the
 Pharisees realize that the Lord meant to indicate them under this
 awful title.  Matt. v. 21 has already made it clear how "murder"
 may be charged against these plotting enemies of the Lord.  The
 Pharisees and Scribes are again charged with this foul crime in
 Matt. xxiii. 31-39.

 ADULTERERS (moicheia).--"The Scribes and Pharisees brought unto
 Him a woman taken in adultery" (John viii. 3).  These hypocrites
 were not concerned about the evil of the act (for they were
 guilty themselves, see verse 9), they simply desired to catch the
 Lord and involve Him in His words (verse 6).  The exceeding
 looseness with which many of the Pharisees held the marriage tie
 involved them in the sin of adultery before God (see Matt. v. 31,
 32, and xix. 3-9).  As with murder, so with adultery, the desire
 of the heart constituted guilt (see Matt. v. 27, 28).  On several
 occasions the Lord denounced these evil men as "a wicked and
 adulterous generation" (see Matt. xii. 39 and xvi. 4).

 FORNICATIONS (porneia).--It is a remarkable fact that this plague
 figures more conspicuously in the Epistles and in the Revelation
 than in the Gospels.  Once the enemies of the Lord use it (John
 viii. 41), an insult which His holy nature must have felt keenly,
 but how gracious and calm was His reply!  Although specific
 instances of this sin are not given in the Gospels, we know the
 Lord sufficiently to imagine that He would not use a word so
 foul, unless He knew only too well that the charge was actually
 true.  Its prominence in the Apocalypse, and the practical
 absence of adultery, throw a vivid light on the character of the
 last days.

 THEFTS (klope).--This word occurs nowhere else except in the
 parallel passage of Mark.  The cognate word kleptes ("thief") is
 used in John x. 1, 8, 1O, and includes the Scribes and Pharisees,
 as the context shows.  The devouring of widows' houses (Matt.
 xxiii. 14; Mark xii. 40; and Luke xx. 47), the traditions (Matt.
 xv. 5, 6), and the turning of the House of Prayer into a den of
 thieves (Matt. xi. 13), involve the Pharisees in this sin.

 FALSE WITNESS.--This word in all its hideous nakedness is written
 against the "chief priests, and elders, and all the council"
 (Matt. xxvi. 59) in relation to the deep-laid plot against the
 life of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This is the more significant when
 we consider the fact that these two passages contain all the
 occurrences of the word in the N.T.

 BLASPHEMY.--Mark iii. 29 shows that the Scribes were guilty of
 the most unpardonable blasphemy.

 We will not go through the list given in Mark, readers should
 make a study of the words there given.  One thing is prominent in
 this parable.  The Pharisees were guilty of breaking the very law
 in which they boasted so much.  Listen to our Lord's summary of
 the Law:-

 "Jesus said (observe the order here and in Matt. xv.), Thou shalt
 do no *murder*, thou shalt not commit *adultery*, thou shalt not
 *steal*, thou shalt not bear *false witness*. Honour thy father
 and thy mother (cf. Matt, xv. 4-6), and thou shalt love thy
 neighbour as thyself (Matt. xix. 18, 19).

 How weak, how beggarly, the petty observances and mere trifling
 externals of the Pharisees appear when seen from the standpoint
 of love.  The apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, seems to have
 the pharisaical spirit before him.  First in Rom. ii. we read:-

 "For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself . . .
 .  Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and
 makest thy boast of God, and knowest His will, and approvest the
 things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law,
 and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind (cf.
 Matt. xv. 14), a light of them which are in darkness, an
 instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which have the
 FORM of knowledge and of the truth in the law (cf. 2 Tim. iii.
 5); thou therefore that TEACHEST another, *teachest thou not
 thyself*?  thou that PREACHEST a man should not steal, *dost thou
 steal*?  thou that SAYEST a man should not commit adultery, *dost
 thou commit adultery*?  thou that abhorrest idols, *dost thou
 commit sacrilege*?  thou that makest thy boast in the law,
 through breaking the law *dishonourest thou God* . . . . who by
 the *letter* and *circumcision* dost transgress the law? (Matt.
 xv. 3).  For he is not a Jew who is one *outwardly* (see Matt.
 xiii. 28) . . . . circumcision is that of the HEART in the
 spirit, and not in the letter (cf. 2 Cor. iii. 6), whose praise
 is not of men, but of God."

 The sequel is found in Rom. xiii. 8-1O:-

 "Owe no man anything, but to love one another; for he that loveth
 another hath fulfilled the law.  For this, thou shalt not commit
 adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt
 not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, and if there be any
 other commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying,
 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself'"

 Returning to the parable of Matt. xv. with the knowledge we have
 now gained, do we not see that it foreshadowed that spirit which
 manifested itself in all its hollowness and sham, and whose
 loveless creed culminated in the basest act that the world has
 ever witnessed.  The second set of parables in Matthew's Gospel
 becomes luminous in the light of this one.  Into what a ditch
 these blind guides led that poor blinded people!  The Lord
 disowns them, they were never planted by Him, they were sown by
 the Devil, they shall be rooted up (Matt. xiii. 29).  They are
 the tares, the children of the wicked one.  The burden of guilt
 rested chiefly upon the rulers and leaders of the people.  They
 neither entered into the kingdom of the heavens themselves, nor
 allowed the common people, who desired to enter, to do so.

 While it is of the utmost importance to realize the
 dispensational setting and bearing of this parable, it is
 essential to our joy and peace that we take to heart the solemn
 teaching for ourselves.  May we remember that the mere observance
 of ceremonies is nothing.  Love is the fulfilling of the law.
 Our walk is to be "in love."  Let us take heed and beware of the
 "leaven of the Pharisees, and of the Sadducees."

 ================================================================

 "The Sovereignty of God #8" by Oscar M. Baker in Truth For Today.

 In all our study we must be careful that we give due honor to the
 Son, for if one does not honor the Son, then he does not honor
 God. We understand from the Scriptures that the Son is none other
 than God in flesh.

 In Genesis 1 we learn that Adam was made in the likeness of the
 image of God.  This image is Christ (Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4; Heb.
 1:3).  According to Daniel 2, an image in the likeness of man was
 used to show forth the idea of dominion.  And so in Genesis 1 we
 see that man was given dominion over the creatures of the earth.
 In the matter of dominion, Adam was a figure of Him that was to
 come, the One who will have all dominion (Romans 5:14).

 This dominion is further spoken of in Psa. 8 where it still
 refers to man and the earth.  But this same passage is quoted in
 Heb. 2:5-8 and we see that there it refers to Christ.  The
 dominion is universal.

 This universal dominion of our Lord is further expanded in many
 other passages.  In 1 Cor. 15:27 we learn that all things are put
 under His feet with the dispensational addition that He is the
 Head of the church.

 Our Lord is able to subdue all things unto Himself (Ph'p.3:21).
 This is His power.  And in Matt 28:18 He claims that all power
 was given Him in heaven and in earth.  So the subjection is to be
 universal, for we do not see all things subdued to Him as yet
 (Heb. 2:8).  The student must be very careful here not to include
 too much.  At the time that He takes His power He will subdue all
 things to Himself which are existing at that time.  There is no
 promise of resurrection in this statement.

 In Matthew 11:27 the Lord claimed that all things were delivered
 unto Him of the Father.  The context is judgment, revelation of
 truth, and an invitation to come unto Him.

 Another angle is presented in Eph. 1:10.  There all things are to
 be made a unity of which Christ is to be the Head.  This is more
 than the church.  It again is a universal dominion.

 But we have been speaking primarily of power, not sovereignty.
 Does the Lord have sovereignty as well as God?  Surely that is
 so.  In Ph'p. 2:10 we discover that to this Jesus of Nazareth is
 given a name that is above every name (this name can only be
 Jehovah if it is to fit this description) and that to Him every
 knee shall bow and every tongue confess in that day (this is what
 the Jehovah says of Himself in Isa. 45:23).  And in the next
 verse in Ph'p.2 we find Lordship ascribed to Christ.  Surely
 Lordship and sovereignty are not too far apart.  And the
 fulfillment of this passage may be found in Rev 5:13 where every
 creature in heaven and earth will confess His Lordship.  And this
 sovereignty extends to the right and the power to give life to
 whomsoever He will (John 5:21,26).

 The sovereignty of God cannot be known except due honor is given
 the Son.

 ============================================================

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