Brief Notes of a Sermon: “Remove not the old landmark; and enter not the fields of the fatherless: for their Redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.”—PROV. xxiii. 10, 11. By the late Rev. Dr. Kennedy, Dingwall. Preached in Gaelic at Creich. (Taken down by a Hearer.)

LET us consider the two prohibitions in the text:—
I.—“Remove not the old landmark,” and
II.—“Enter not the fields of the fatherless.”
Though fatherless, he has fields and a Redeemer who is mighty.

I.—“Remove not the old landmark.”

The landmarks, if rightly set, should not be removed; if not so set, they require to be so by the charter of the estate. And when this is done, and they are set according to the plan by him who has authority to do so, they should not be removed. It was so with the land of promise; it was divided among the tribes and families of Israel according to the commandment of God, and the generations to come required to respect the marks.

We have landmarks in the Word of God, and respect must be had to them in connection with four things: (1) opinions or views, (2) hopes, (3) experiences, and (4) practices.

Views

(1) Views must not go beyond the mind of God a hairbreadth. We require to be kept in reverence of the anointing from the Holy One. For there never was a sheep more ready to follow another over a fence than you are to go beyond this landmark without “the unction.” Self makes some to be careful about their views being the same as those of the people of God, but that is very different from having these under the unction of the Holy Spirit. Some would pervert the Word of God to suit their views instead of seeking their views to be conformed to it.

Hopes

(2) Hopes. Some have a hope, but it is without the landmark of the Word of God, and they will cast aside the Word rather than their hope. What madness! How poor the hope upheld by the devil and falsehood! “Remove not the landmark,” though you had not a hair’s breadth to stand upon.

Experiences

(3) Experiences. Lay not to the charge of the Spirit what He did not do, and on the other hand, deny not what He did. Think not that the Bible sides with your experience unless it is according to His mind.

Practices

(4) Practices. The Word condemned your practice, and you set the Word aside. You removed the landmark to give an opportunity to the flesh. Who can free himself of this?

There is especially a call to a Church professing God. There is guilt in removing the landmarks of truth, and in backsliding from God. What are the landmarks (1) between the Bible and all other books; (2) between truth and error in the views of the Church; (3) between formality and the power of godliness; (4) between what is scriptural and carnal in worship; (5) between Church and State—the distinction and relation between them?

The Bible is apart from all other books

(1) The Bible is apart from all other books, because it is inspired by the Spirit, because there is in it what is provided as food to His people to the end of the world, and because it is the glass in which the glory of God is revealed. How awful to break this glass! Your looking-glass got broken, and it would not suit you, because you had respect to your own countenance. How much more should God prohibit the removing of this landmark!

Truth and Error

(2) Truth and Error. A housewife has a child and a pig to feed. The same cooking would not suit them. Care is required for that for the child, while a mixture of all refuse suits the latter. Another housewife has only a pig to feed, and therefore, does not need to be so particular in preparing the food. I fear the day is coming upon us, in which there is little regard for sound doctrine, and I fear the day is coming, when, as one said, there will be no wholesome food to be had from sea to sea in Scotland, but a revival will follow that.

Formality and the power of godliness

(3) Formality and the power of godliness. Discernment is so blunt in our day that the two cannot be distinguished by many. One comes with a musical instrument, and another pours legal doctrine on the natural affections, stirred by the music. The person is led to exercise a faith of his own making, and is then told that he is saved. They say it is a sign that this day is as good as ever was, when there are hundreds of such cases, and they sing over it while judgment is at the door. Instead of the song there should be weeping, because God’s power is withheld.

What is scriptural and carnal in worship

(4) What is scriptural and carnal in worship. The Old Testament form of worship has been done away with by Christ, and the New Testament worship is free from all that is carnal and formal. That is the example left by the Apostles and the teaching of the New Testament. Now a thirst has come into the Church for a change. It is not from the life of God in the soul or from the mind of God in the Word, but from the flesh. Some are saying that the sound of the music is blessed and has done much good, and must be brought into the Church. What can follow this but the displeasure of God?

Church and State

(5) Church and State. Both are within the ruling of Christ, He being universal proprietor. Church and State are surrounded by a wall, and are also divided into two parts by a centre wall. The Owner’s house is in one part, and He may be said to reside there, as He does not in the other. But on the other hand it cannot be said but He owns the whole estate. Christ rules in Zion as nowhere else, but as certain it is that He also rules over all the nations of the earth. Church and State are distinct, but cannot be separated because under the same King, and are intended to be useful to each other. The boundary between must also be looked to. The one is not to encroach on the other. The State is to help the Church, not to make it a slave—a mark of condemnation on the word Voluntaryism.

II.—“Enter not the fields of the fatherless.”

Here are three things to be considered—the fatherless, his fields, and the prohibition against entering them. “Their Redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.”

The fatherless

1. The fatherless. Such a person, literally, is one without a father. But it is true of him still that he is alive, that the nature of the child is in him, and that he has a desire after father and mother. Because of this, he cannot see other children more highly favoured without it making him sad.

What about the child of God that is experimentally—though not actually—fatherless? There is spiritual life in him from the moment of regeneration, and it cannot be taken from him. There is a desire after saying, Abba, Father, to God, and he is sad when he cannot say it. He is sad when the plagues of his heart get the upperhand, and God is silent to him in secret. It is true of him that when he reads of the communion of God’s children and their language, and finds himself a stranger without, that he feels sad. From fightings without and fears within, he feels a fatherless one, and when God hides His face, he cannot say, Abba, Father—may feel that he might as well create a world as attempt to say it.

His “fields.”

1. There is true, however, of his state, what is not true of his experience; he has “fields.” What are they?

The provision of the love of God in the covenant of grace.

(1) The provision of the love of God in the covenant of grace. All this is his through union to the Head, Jesus Christ. There is no proprietor like him.

The Word of God.

(2) The Word of God. The two Testaments, Old and New, contain a revelation of the covenant, and the provision of it is brought near to him in doctrines, calls, and promises.

The Church, the means of grace, and the ministers of the Gospel.

(3) The Church, the means of grace, and the ministers of the Gospel—Paul, Apollos, Cephas—are his. The Church is set apart for his use, that he may be prepared for the home above.

The special lot he has in the world.

(4) The special lot he has in the world. This is a bountiful field, because nothing is in it but what was appointed in wisdom and love. If anything else were in it, it would not be perfect. The spirit of the world would take an estate, but would despise the love that gives only a thatched bothy. It is lawful only to ask for grace to make use of what is appointed—a spot on which there would be union to Christ and a spot for communion with Him and service for Him. What need of more than this? There is nothing outside the child’s covenant right that he would be the better of having—“All things are yours.” What can be added to that?

The child of God is a wonderful person. The difference between his experience and his state is a riddle to him. Looking from “the dunghill” to the world, the Church and Heaven, he says, “All are mine.” O for a moment of this!

The prohibition—”Enter not the fields.”

1. The prohibition—”Enter not the fields.” This stands against teachers in the Church who weaken the opportunity of the child of grace of feeding in the fields by keeping back from him his portion. It also stands against all evil-doers on earth who trample his fields under their feet and try to make his lot harder than God has made it. The Lord is as careful of you as if there were none in the world but yourself to look after. Christ is a Redeemer set apart for the work. He requires to plead His right and yours, and will make it sure that it will not be forgotten. Everything needed to be done is in His hand. He is almighty against all intruders and opposers, and will plead your cause, and that effectually.

Thanks be to God for “the fatherless” here! I would wish to give them all over to the keeping of the Redeemer who keeps Israel.