A Spiritual Autobiography—V
By J. A. L. Derby
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Mark 1:14, 15. It must, of course, be understood that the mental processes through which I finally developed the conclusions given in the preceding numbers of this series, have been much abridged here. I might, indeed, say that only a mere outline has been sketched. Jesus Christ, the all and in all — that was the golden key which opened to me many a treasure, the light which shed its radiance on the pages I studied. If I were to give my mental biography complete, I should have to show how Jesus Christ has come to mean to me the very center of all history, science, philosophy, and religion. History without Christ has no philosophy; philosophy without Christ has no meaning; science, no explanation; religion, no rational end. The meaning of the Old Testament is, the broken law of God, and its remedy — Christ — to come. Without sin (transgression of the law) and Christ, the Bible would never have been written, — sin the tragedy of the universe, Christ the triumph of divine love. Man lost, doomed to death, shut off from the life of God through sin; man restored by obedience through Christ come in the flesh, — that is the theme of the New Testament. Significance of the Kingdom
What, then, is the significance of the kingdom that Jesus preached? Was it only a rhetorical fiction to attract attention, or was it something real? Did He in fact set up a new kingdom? — He did not. The kingdom had existed from eternity. The “kingdom of heaven” was no new thing in the universe. He preached no new kingdom. The prophet Daniel foretold a time when the “God of heaven” shall “set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed.” Dan. 2:44. But that is at the second coming of Christ. Jesus did not proclaim a new kingdom; He came as King of the old, to make the final revelation of the principles of God’s government, and the most complete revelation the world ever had or will have. He brought the kingdom with Him to earth, and would have set it up then and there over the whole world had the world been willing to accept it. As it is, Satan is still the “prince of this world.” The kingdom of God is on earth only in the hearts of His subjects scattered here and there. But what was the condition then, and what is the condition now, for entrance into that kingdom? — The same as ever since the fall — repentance of sin. “Repent,” was the exhortation of Christ’s forerunner, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” “Repent,” commanded the Saviour, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Christ’s Attitude Toward the Law
To require repentance for breaking a law, is not to abolish the law. Two or three texts are sufficient to show the attitude of Jesus toward the law. Even before His coming into the world, it was said of Him by one of the prophets, “The Lord is well pleased for His [Christ’s] righteousness’ sake; He will magnify the law, and make it honorable” (Isa. 42:21); and by Himself, speaking through another, “Lo, I come: in the volume of the Book it is written of Me, I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart” (Ps. 40:7, 8). Again, in His great sermon, known as the “Sermon on the Mount,” recorded in Matthew 5, Jesus announced: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:17-19. According to the conclusions I had previously reached, these scriptures were exactly what I expected. Fulfilling the ceremonial law ended it; fulfilling the Decalogue established it. And the part that did not cease, shall stand until not one being remains in the universe who is not fulfilling — that is, performing, obeying — that law. To this we shall recur in our next paper. When I decided to obey the law of my God — which was previous to the time when I had come to understand, so fully as here given, what is involved in that — I had an experience which taught me more clearly my own relation to the law and to my Redeemer, and His relation to the law, than any amount of theorizing could have done. My experience was this: With all my resolving and trying, I found that I could not keep that law — that is, with the spiritual amplitude given it by Jesus. How many young Christians have been grieved and discouraged by this same experience! For five years I tried and failed. Nor, so far as I recollect, did I learn first from the Bible what was the cause of my failure, tho there it stands written, as plain as words can make it. Let the poor desponding citizen of the heavenly kingdom, who is beginning to despair of ever being fit for the name of subject, if with all his trying he seems to find himself no better, — let him read the seventh and eighth chapters of Romans. What is the secret? — It is this: The law condemns, shows us our sins and imperfections — a needed work, but it is powerless to justify or to enable us to keep it. Now pray and listen: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh [did], and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law [surely not the law of ceremonies done away] might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom. 8:3, 4. Is not this yet plain? Then stop trying to keep the law, and put all that will and effort into trusting the Saviour to cause you to keep it. Does this mean that when temptation comes, we should just say, “No use; I’ve tried before,” and surrender to the enemy? — No, no. It means we should say, “No use; I’ve tried before,” and surrender to — Jesus Christ. Do not say in temptation, “I will not yield.” Say, “O sinless Christ, let Thy Spirit, matchless in power, save me just now.” Then burst into thanksgiving and songs of praise. Remember, it was here Israel failed; for “Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. . . . For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end [aim] of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” Rom. 9:31, 32; 10:3, 4. Israel failed to learn what you and I must not fail to learn, — that “by the deeds of the law [our own mere will or efforts] there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin [not power to keep that law]. But now [by faith — trusting Jesus Christ for power] the righteousness of God without the law [merely human efforts to keep it] is manifested” — how? — “Being witnessed by the law and the prophets.” Rom. 3:20, 21. How, then, do we know what the righteousness of God is, and when we have it manifested in our lives? — By looking into the law. But only when we “are kept by the power of God unto salvation,” can the law find us measuring up to its requirements.