At the commencement of the year, when so many are occupied with the times and seasons, it seems fitting to call attention to the true character of Christianity. It is a totally new thing, which entirely displaces and supersedes all that has gone before, and which is itself ever new and unchanging.

Unless this is perceived, it cannot be understood; and it is because so many are ignorant of this that the effort is constantly made to blend it with that which is old. The consequence is that it is perverted, if not destroyed. This was the Galatian snare, and so many were entangled in it, including even the apostle Peter, who was wrought upon by the fear of man, that Paul had to withstand him to the face in defense of the truth of the gospel. The full issue of the same tendency, though in another direction, is seen in Laodicea, where the first man had been revived and Christ totally displaced.

The same conflict is ever going on; and those who maintain the truth as it is in Jesus (Ephesians 4:21) are becoming, and will become, fewer and fewer, for we are in the last days, and the perilous times have come. We need, therefore, to have our eyes opened to the prevailing danger, and to seek grace constantly from the Lord to enable us to watch, to stand fast in the faith, to quit ourselves like men, and to be strong.

In support of the statement that Christianity is wholly a new thing, it is only necessary to refer to a scripture or two. Even our blessed Lord reminded the scribes and Pharisees that it was useless to attempt to put a piece of new cloth upon an old garment, or new wine into old bottles (Luke 5:36-37). The new wine of grace He emphatically declared must be put into new bottles; while at the same time He revealed the secret of the corrupting tendency to combine the new with the old in pointing out that the old wine was better suited to the natural taste of man.

One statement by the apostle Paul declares the whole truth upon the subject: "If anyone is in Christ, he is [or better, "there is"] a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). It is quite true that this is only made good for faith, but it is all the more real on that account; and when we come to the consummation of God's purposes in the aspect presented in Revelation 21, we find that the former things have then actually passed away, and that the announcement is made thereupon by Him that sat upon the throne, "Behold, I make all things new."

This scene is undoubtedly future, but to faith it is already present (Hebrews 11:1).