But remember one expression in the text: viz. those three words, ‘With open face.’ The look that transforms is a look with an open face: there must be nothing between. There must not be a veil over it, as there is over the Jews, as you read in verse 15. Every barrier must be removed. The great barrier of the curse is gone, through the blood of atonement; and we must not now set up fresh barriers of our own creation. We must remember the hymn:—
‘Just as I am: Thy love alone
Has broken every barrier down;’
and just as we are,—humbled, unworthy, cold, and unfeeling, but yet admitted into the very presence of the Lord,—we must look with open face at the Son of God Himself; and I hope we may be able to say, as David did, ‘They looked to Him, and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed.’
IV. But the look is not enough; for besides all means there must be a power. We cannot will ourselves into the likeness of our Saviour, any more than an animal can will itself into a man: the great transformation must be by the power of a life-creating agent. So, when I turn again to this text, I find that it is not the look alone which effects the change, but that it is God the Holy Ghost making use of the look, and by divine omnipotence transforming the soul into the image of the Lord Jesus. In the last words of the text it is all ascribed to Him, as in the words, ‘Even as by the Spirit of the Lord,’ or, as the margin has it, ‘Even as by the Lord the Spirit.’ I have no time to dwell on this subject as I should like to do; but I cannot conclude without begging the careful attention of all those who are almost tempted to think that there is something in their constitution which blocks the way against their progress. They see others going forward while they stand still; they hear of others filled with peace in believing, while they are still hampered by doubt, so that they begin to think they shall never rise, and are never intended to rise, above their present condition. I quite admit that it may be perfectly true, that there is something peculiar in your case; something peculiar, it may be, in your habits, in your disposition, in your temper, in your temptation. Let us admit it, for most people have their peculiar difficulties. But, admitting it, I pray you to consider whether there is not a Divine power in the Lord the Spirit, which is quite sufficient to overcome that peculiarity. Is any thing too hard for the Lord? Think then on God the Holy Ghost: think of Him as working out the great salvation purchased for us through the precious blood of the Son of God, and then reflect whether it is possible that your difficulties are beyond His power. They are beyond your own: you have learned that. But are they beyond His? If you have failed, is that any reason why He should? Trust Him then, and behold Christ Jesus. Remember you are dealing with One mighty to save, and that, while you are looking to Jesus, He, working within, may heal your soul. Trust Him then to do it. You know He can; trust Him that He will: and never again admit the thought, that, notwithstanding all you have discovered in your soul, there is any thing there too hard for the Son of God,—anything which may not be overcome by the indwelling power of God the Holy Ghost.
INFECTION OF NATURE.
‘I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.’—Rom. vii. 25. [64]
There are few passages in the whole word of God that have excited a deeper interest amongst truly Christian people than the latter part of the seventh of Romans. It is so closely connected with the practical experience of Christian life, and at the same time it is so much opposed to the beautiful theories of some Christian people, that it has always excited an earnest spirit of inquiry, and engaged the deepest interests of the students of Scripture. I propose to make it the subject of our study this morning: to endeavour to find out what the Scripture really teaches. And in the outset of our study I should wish to give one caution, which I believe to be of the utmost importance for us all: viz., we must not bring the sacred Scriptures to the test of our theories, but must be prepared, if need be, to give up those theories to the authority of Scripture. If we want to live in God’s truth, we must be subject to God’s Word, and must be content to receive what He teaches as He teaches it. In other words, we must not twist Scripture so as to make it fit our own opinions, but must receive it as from God, and make all our opinions bend before its high authority.
With this caution before us, there are three subjects to be considered. First, of whom is the Apostle speaking: of himself, or some other man? Secondly, of what period in his Christian life is he speaking: does he refer to the past or to the present? And thirdly, what does the passage teach respecting his spiritual condition at the time he wrote the words?
And now, may God the Holy Ghost, who inspired the Word, lead us all reverently to study, and rightly to understand, His teaching!
I. To whom does it refer? I feel persuaded that we shall all admit that, if any person were to read the chapter without having some previous opinion to support, he would believe that the Apostle was speaking of himself. The word ‘I’ occurs no less than twenty-eight times in the passage. Such expressions as ‘I do,’ ‘I consent,’ ‘I allow,’ ‘I delight,’ are found continually; and certainly the natural conclusion would be that when he said, ‘I,’ he meant himself. I know that it is sometimes said that he personated some other person; a legalist, or one in a lower Christian life. But there is not the least evidence of any such personation in the passage, and he says not one word to lead us to suppose that such was his intention. In iii. 5, he does thus personate an objector; and says, ‘But if our unrighteousness commend,’ &c. But then he distinctly states that he is doing so in the words, ‘I speak as a man.’ But there is nothing of the kind here. There is a plain, simple statement in his own name; passing from the ‘I,’ which pervades the chapter, to ‘I, myself,’ in the last verse; and I am utterly at a loss to understand on what principle these plain words, ‘I myself,’ can be supposed to express the personation of some other man.