(Continued from page 371.)
IN continuing this subject, we further observe that the sense of sin, which always accompanies vital godliness, is conspicuous by its absence from the supposed spiritual life of the modern class of Christians. The absence of this consciousness of sin is clearly connected in the present day with the lack of those gracious dispositions which evince the “new creation,” as may be seen from the following particulars:—
(1) There is an absence of “the fear of the Lord” from modern religious life.
The fear of the Lord is an essential feature of true piety, whether under the Old Testament or the New. The children of God, under the old economy, are very frequently described as those that fear the Lord, and it is written of the early Christians in the Acts of the Apostles that “they walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost.” The “perfect love” of the Gospel casts out slavish fear—the fear which proceeds from a sense of guilt—the fear in which there is nothing but fear—but it does not cast out filial fear, which consists in the love and reverence of the living and accepted child. Where this gracious fear is, there is a view of the infinite majesty and holiness of God, as seen both on Mount Sinai and Mount Calvary, and not less on the latter—a view which fills the soul with a sense of its inexpressible vileness and unworthiness. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” Now, this godly fear, accompanied with a deep sense of sin, is conspicuously absent from the newer religion. “The Lost Fear of God” was the title of an article in a popular religious paper some time ago. Unhallowed familiarity and presumptuous boldness have taken the place of “reverence and godly fear.”
(2) There is the presence of a great deal of confidence in the flesh.
The Apostle Paul describes true believers as those who “rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Fleshly confidence is an outstanding feature of present-day religion—a fitting accompaniment of the lack of the sense of sin. When the eyes of people are not opened to see their fallen and lost condition as sinners before God, and when there is no perception of the sin that cleaves to every thought, word, and action, there must necessarily be a great deal of esteem for the energies and works of the creature. Self-complacency and self-confidence hold the field, and men walk on from day to day well contented with themselves, their doings, and their attainments. They, secretly if not openly, resent the idea of man’s total depravity by nature, and inability to do anything pleasing to God, and they do their best to flatter their own souls, and the souls of many of their fellows, that all are objects of God’s favour and shall stand well at last. Flattery of the creature and his accomplishments is one of the most conspicuous symptoms of the absence of spiritual health in the religious life of to-day. If men knew in reality the deceitfulness and wickedness of their own hearts, they would act differently in this matter from what they do. This confidence in the flesh also disposes them, in the religious sphere, to multiply a great variety of organisations with a view, as they think, to spiritually benefit their fellow-creatures. They set aside Gospel simplicity, and launch on a course of inventing new methods of worship and service, whereby they imagine they will draw men to Christ—at least, to the Christ of their own fancy. Here they bewray their ignorance of themselves and of God. He will say to them, “Who hath required this at your hands?” “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord”—especially those sacrifices which He has never prescribed. Many of them, as vain displays of human art, cannot be anything else than loathsome in His sight.
(3) There is the absence of a real life of faith upon the Son of God as the Divine Saviour and Mediator of the new covenant.
Many suppose that it is quite enough to be born within the pale of the visible Church, to be baptised in the name of the Triune God, to go from the Sabbath School to the Bible Class, from the latter to the young Communicants’ Class, and thence to the Lord’s Table, in order to be sound Christians. They have no sense of sin or soul dependence upon Christ for salvation. Completely dead, they are in a mere profession; and if they have an orthodox creed, their sleep is intensified. Others, again, have had some slight religious turn in their lives. They were impressed with some sermon they heard, or some event in Providence; they became anxious for a season; and then they heard some word that they felt comforting, and so they passed on to be members in full communion and workers in the congregation. And yet for all this, there is no real life of God in their souls; they rest in a natural faith, and are not needy sinners entirely dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ for righteousness, strength, and all covenant blessings. Where there is the genuine faith, there is a constant realisation of soul need, and a daily seeking the face of the Lord—an inability to live without some communion at a throne of grace with the Father, through the Son and by the Holy Ghost. If this access is denied in experience, such Christians are sorrowful and downcast, but they persevere in watching and waiting for the rise of the Sun of Righteousness upon their souls. They cling by a faith of adherence to the word of promise when everything is dark to sense and feeling, and light arises to such upright ones in due time. What a lack of this vital godliness is to be seen in a generation who are pure in their own eyes!
4. The fourth and last general point that we shall presently notice is the serious results of the want of the sense of sin in the modern pulpit, and their bearing upon the pew.
Some of these results are that the preacher makes little or no distinction in his sermons between nature and grace, between a state of condemnation and a state of salvation, between the broad way that leadeth to destruction and the narrow way that leadeth to eternal life. Unconverted sinners are not warned of their sin and guilt and danger, or directed to the way of escape through Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Nominal professors are allowed to sleep on in their self-complacency and carnal security, while, if there be one child of God in the congregation, he is starved and stupefied until he hardly knows light from darkness. The way of salvation that is generally presented to the hearers, is a new but thinly-veiled edition of salvation by works—salvation by character, as the word is nowadays. The perfect example of the Lord Jesus is held up to view as the chief object of attention to the sinful worshipper—as if he could so follow that spotless example by his natural religious efforts as to win eternal life for himself. Christ is only a partial Redeemer: the sinner shares largely with Him the glory of his redemption. In fact, the chief part of the work is ascribed to the sinner; Christ’s merit and power to save are thrust into the background. Can anything more delusive or soul-destroying be imagined? How many must pass into eternity with a lie in their right hand!
Such are the manifold evil results of a ministry where the professed ambassador for Christ is a man ignorant of his own heart, ignorant of God, and ignorant of the scheme of redemption. And perhaps there are some who may not be destitute of saving grace who need another day of power in their experience, when superficial sentimentality shall be swept away, and when they shall declare the whole counsel of God in a discriminating and searching manner that they know very little of now. It is a dreadful thing to be lulling sinners asleep in the arms of a false peace on the brink of a lost eternity. The message that is frequently needed is not “All is well, and be happy,” but “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee; neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain (of God’s mercy in Christ), lest thou be consumed” (Gen. xix. 17).