The Assembly of God. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. III

FIRST EDITION 1898 TENTH PRINTING 1960 LOIZEAUX BROTHERS, Inc., PUBLISHERS A Nonprofit Organization, Devoted to the Lord's Work and to the Spread of His Truth 19 West 21st Street, New York 10, N. Y. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The original numbering of these writings has been retained, Many of the above may be had separately in pamphlet form.
The sentence which we have just penned occurs in Paul's second Epistle to his beloved son Timothy—an epistle marked, as we know, by intense individuality. All thoughtful students of Scripture have noticed the striking contrast between the two Epistles of Paul to Timothy. In the first, the Church is presented in its order, and Timothy is instructed as to how he is to behave himself therein. In the second, on the contrary, the Church is presented in its ruin. The house of God has become the great house, in the which there are vessels to dishonor as well as vessels to honor; and where, moreover, errors and evils abound—heretical teachers and false professors, on every hand.
It is in this epistle of individuality, then, that the expression, The man of God is used with such obvious force and meaning. It is in times of general declension, of ruin and confusion that the faithfulness, devotedness, and decision of the individual man of God are specially called for. And it is a signal mercy for such an one to know that, spite of the hopeless failure of the Church as a responsible witness for Christ, it is the privilege of the individual to tread as holy a path, to taste as deep communion, and to enjoy as rich blessings, as could be known in the Church's brightest days.
This is a most encouraging and consolatory fact—a fact established by many infallible proofs, and set forth in the very passage from which our heading4 is taken. We shall here quote at length this passage of singular weight and power:
Here we have the man of God, in the midst of all the ruin and confusion, the heresies and moral pravities of the last days, standing forth in his own distinct individuality, perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. And, may we not ask, what more could be said in the Church's brightest days? If we go back to the day of Pentecost itself, with all its display of power and glory, have we anything higher, or better, or more solid than that which is set forth in the words perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works?