would "wax cold"-in such a period we find ourselves exposed to two opposite dangers. We are in danger either of becoming so deadened and apathetic in conscience as to become tolerant of evil, or else, if aroused, to be so hasty and proudly impetuous in action, as to fail both in duly estimating the circumstances and in waiting upon God. True faith is not impetuous nor unduly censorious. It weighs well and considers the difficulties, and is only confident because it waits upon God. So was it with David when he dwelt in the cave of Adullam : so was it with Gideon when he tried the fleece, wet and dry whilst Peter, on the other hand, neither considering his own powerlessness, nor what walking on the waters meant, was ready enough to meet the difficulty, and as ready to cry out in confusion and dismay. To walk steadily in the path of faith requires, that the conscience, and the affections, and the understanding, should be alike in healthful exercise: but if the conscience or the affections be active, and the understanding feeble or undirected by the Word of God, there must be failure. Yet I say not these things to discourage. It is well neither to be behind our conscience, nor beyond our faith; only we have to seek that our conscience be not morbid, but under the light of Truth; and that our faith should be reflective, and not be marked in its developments by hastiness or presumption. When Israel once were commanded to go onward they refused, and said they would go back into Egypt. Afterwards, when they were commanded not to go forward, they would go forward-and they disastrously failed. Again I repeat, that I say not these things to discourage. God forbid. Only let us be duly conscious of our weakness, and then cast ourselves on the graciousness and strength of Him "who resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble":"who giveth liberally and upbraideth not." The love and graciousness of the character of God, as well as the grace of the everlasting covenant, is often a sweet and needed thought in the hour of weakness and depression. On Ephesians III. 15. "The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom THE WHOLE FAMILY in heaven and earth is named." THIS text speaks of one of the chief, and most distinctive, of the blessings of the redeemed. On all of them, but on them alone, the name of the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is named. To exclude from this one family, any of the redeemed; or to ascribe its distinctive blessings to any except those whom grace has brought, through faith, into the fold of Christ, would alike be subversive of the Truth of God. The family of faith, although thus essentially one, may, by circumstances, be for a season separated. It is separated now. Part are in heaven: part militant on earth. The spirits of the saints who sleep, are at present with Christ in the Paradise of God, not as yet perfected in resurrection glory (for their bodies are not yet restored to them) but perfect as respects sinlessness, and waiting expectantly, until we who are brought into the fold of faith during the present dispensation, shall join them at the time of the FIRST Resurrection. Then, together perfected in glory, we shall form, not indeed the whole Church, but "the church of the first-born ones," (EKKANOLAV πρшτоток) and be with Christ in unearthly glory-having for our home the Heavenly Places, (та εTоupavia). The circumstantial separation, however, of the one family will not cease even at the time of the first resurrection. The very expression "Church of the firstborn ones," marks a contrast of circumstantial condition between those so denominated, and others, who, during the millennial dispensation, are to be brought into the fold of faith, and who will succeed into that place of militancy in the earth which the Church of the first-born will have quitted for ever. I say, "militancy," for although joy and triumph will attend their militancy, and not as in our case rejection and sorrow, yet it will be militancy still. The last enemy, Death, will not be destroyed; and although Satan will be bound, yet every millennial saint will have to say-"in me, that is, in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing:" and where "sin in the flesh" continues to exist, there will be found, not merely its strugglings, but, more or less, its manifestations. The millennial saints, therefore, will, circumstantially, be in a condition very different from that of their brethren who have risen before them into glory: for they, being "the children of the resurrection," will be beyond the power of death, and will know no sin, and will bear the heavenly likeness of their Lord: whereas the millennial saints, although no longer surrounded by a groaning creation, will still be waiting for their perfected "condition of sonship," (violeσia) to wit, "the redemption of the body." Great, therefore, will be the contrast of circumstantial condition, between the heavenly branch and the earthly branch of the one family, yet they will be essentially one-one, because united with the same risen Head, and quickened also by the power of the same one Spirit. Their separation will be only temporary. Finally, in "the dispensation of the fulness of times," when the new Heavens and new Earth shall be created, after the millennial Heavens and Earth have passed away, "THE WHOLE FAMILY" shall all be gathered together in perfect unity of blessing, in like nearness to Christ and to the Father, in equal conformity to His risen likeness, to form one glorified Church for ever, under Him as their Melchisedek Priest and King. The bearing alike the heavenly likeness of Christ, is, in 1 Cor. xv., ascribed to all, of every dispensation, who share in the resurrection of life. This oneness of the redeemed, is, by a numerous class of modern writers, denied. They contend that the name "Church," belongs not to all the redeemed, but to a part only. There are according to this doctrine, multitudes, washed from their sins in the blood of the Lamb, and precious in the sight of God according to its preciousness, who yet belong not to the Church, and will never inherit its distinctive blessings. Abraham and Job, Moses, David, and Daniel-in a word, all the saints of the Old Testament, and all who shall believe during the millennial age, are, by this system, excluded for ever from the Church and the Church's distinctive heritage. "The Church is supposed to include those believers only, who live between Pentecost, or, as others say, the mission of St. Paul, and a secret (as is imagined) coming of the Lord, when He will secretly remove His saints. This verse however, in the Ephesians, is a hindrance in the way of this new doctrine; for to speak of "THE WHOLE FAMILY in Heaven D and earth," &c., implies that all the redeemed are one family. It implies that Abel, and Abraham, and Paul, although as to their dispensational position and knowledge and service in the earth, they differed greatly, are yet in virtue of the acceptance and life granted in their Heavenly Head, brought into one heavenly family, and into all the everlasting blessings which the Epistle to the Ephesians describes as belonging to that family. The system, therefore, to which I refer, gladly avails itself of a proposed alteration in the translation of this verse, and reads "of whom every family in Heaven and earth is named." Yet what meaning (except indeed it were a pantheistic one) could be attached to such words it would be difficult to say. Is it in any sense true that the name of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is named on every family in this evil earth? Is that name of everlasting blessing placed upon all the families and tribes of unregenerate men ? Neologian Pantheism (of which, however, I by no means accuse those to whom I have hitherto referred) will, no doubt, answer, yes. The Broad-Church teachers, or I should rather say, those among them who yet retain some lingering reverence to the Scripture as the Word of the living God, (for to many among then it matters not one straw what the Bible says or does not say-Moses and Paul are alike set at nought) many of the Broad-Church teachers may well welcome a translation which seems to set the seal of Scripture on their truthless system. If one all pervading Spirit of Holiness and Truth is to be found, not indeed in the same degree of development, but measureably, in all men whether Jew, or Turk, or Brahmin, or Christian-if Christ, by the mere fact of becoming incarnate, united all men savingly unto Himself—if thereby, and not by the shedding of blood, men are reconciled to God-if these and kindred doctrines be true, then it is evident that the distinctiveness of the one family of faith and all the blessings which redemption and regeneration bring are gone. A falsified translation, therefore, which, if true, would place the Father's name in everlasting blessing upon EVERY family in earth and Heaven, is, of course, welcomed by such a system. The remarks in the following paper are intended to show that such a translation is utterly erroneous and inconsistent with the rules which regulate the use of the Article in Greek-that consequently the translation adopted in our authorised version is most undoubtedly correct On the Omission of the Greek Article before Definite Words, with especial reference to Eph. III. 15.* IN reading the Greek Testament, few things are more needful than to guard against certain very important errors of translation, that have, not unfrequently, been founded on the fact of the omission of the article before words which the context shows to be definite; and where, perhaps, the idiom of our language demands its insertion. Thus many are accustomed, because of the omission of the article, to translate Nouoc, "law," or "a law," in passages where it certainly means "THE Law." Many have asserted that IIvεvμa 'Aytov, or ПIvEvμа Oεov, without the article, are not to be understood as indicating the Spirit personally. Some also have said that waon yoapn should be translated "every writing," and not, "The whole Scripture," or "All Scripture": and in Eph. iii. 15, they wish to understand Tara Tarota as meaning "every family," instead of what it really does mean, "the whole family." πας, The determination of the translation in such cases as πασα γραφη, "the whole Scripture "-Taoa oikodoun, "the whole building," and the like, does not depend on any peculiarity in the use of but upon the rules which regulate the insertion or omission of the article. before the words with which waç is associated-such rules being entirely independent of the presence or absence of waç. Thus we Το Αι- In Greek, proper names continually drop the article. find Luke xxi. 24, και Ιερουσαλημ εσται πατουμένη, &c. γυπτος and γη Αιγυπτος we never find the article prefixed. Matt. ii. 3, we find πασα (not ἡ πασα) Ἱερουσαλημ—all Jerusalem. "Personal proper names, (says Kühner, Gr. Gr. § 244, 7) as such, i.e., so far as they in themselves denote merely individuals, do not take the article." * See previous paper. |