Sermon

PREACHED BY REV. JAMES MACLEOD, MODERATOR, AT MEETING OF SYNOD, HELD IN GLASGOW, ON TUESDAY, 19TH MAY, 1936.

“I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour; other men laboured, and ye have entered into their labours.”—John, iv. 38.

AS the Lord may be pleased to enable me to speak from these words at this time, I desire to point out (1) first the labourers that the Lord had sent out; they were the Lord’s labourers and laboured for Himself in His own vineyard. We may also bring before you how they laboured. (2) In the second place we have Christ addressing His Apostles and Disciples thus, “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour.” They were sent to reap in the time of harvest and they did reap. (3) In the third place, they were sent, or you are sent—that is, those who are now sent by the Lord Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church, are being sent in the same manner, by the same authority, same Spirit and power as they were sent by on this occasion, to reap in Christ’s harvest in the world.

1. First of all, let us consider the labourers.
You know that the hardest part of the work is that of the labourer. Everyone does not like to be a labourer. Why? Because it is the hardest part of the work. Let us notice the Lord’s servant, Noah, who was sent out by Him. What could Noah see or do? There was nothing before him but a ruined world, miserable and wretched, ruined by the fall of Adam and nothing left of the original state of man. Noah was enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and what a terrible and solemn sight, when the wide field of ruined souls loomed before his vision like a burned down forest! Instead of being heirs of Heaven, they became heirs of everlasting death, and had to be redeemed from the curse that came on the whole human race, or be lost eternally. The foundation that Adam had in a state of innocence was lost for ever. Noah could not build on that foundation, neither could his children, for it was gone eternally; not only did Adam ruin himself by his fall but he ruined everyone of his family that should enter upon the stage of time after himself. Oh! we ought to praise God and praise Him without ceasing, that He, in His infinite wisdom and eternal love and mercy, laid another foundation which was to last and which could not be changed world without end. Let us always remember that it was not in man this foundation was laid for it is written, “I have laid help upon One that is mighty; I have exalted One chosen out of the people.” Who was He? “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon Him; He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles” (Isa. xlii. 1).

The Lord Jesus Christ, the co-eternal, and co-equal with His Father—the second person of the ever-adorable Trinity, who became the Substitute and Surety and Redeemer of an innumerable number of our lost and ruined race. That is the foundation laid in Zion, and the foundation upon which everyone that shall escape must build, as Christ Himself puts it, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John, xiv. 6).

Now, as the Substitute, Surety, Redeemer and Saviour of His people He was sending out His labourers. His purpose in so doing was the salvation of souls. They were to labour for the salvation of perishing men and women. Noah laboured faithfully for a long period of time in this world. He was a preacher of righteousness and that implies that he was preaching to the unrighteous, for it would be needless to preach to a righteous generation. He was a preacher of righteousness, declaring on the one hand, man’s ruined condition by his walk and conversation in the world; and on the other hand, pointing out the way that souls may escape for eternity. Oh, well! he saw very little fruit of his labour. But he had this satisfaction, and bear this in mind, that at the Great Day of Judgment, he shall be rewarded. Men may have mocked him as God’s labourer in his day and generation—they may have considered him the greatest buffoon on the face of God’s earth, but that did not change or deter him in his labour—he went on to the end of his day. “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Heb. xi. 7).

Again, we have the case of Moses. He was a labourer and a faithful one—the saint of God! “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward” (Heb. xi. 25, 26). What a faithful, honest labourer! Faithful in all the house of God as a servant, and God gives him a character which is written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and which shall endure unto eternity, that he was a faithful labourer in the vineyard of God in the world. What was Moses saying in his own day and generation? He was crying out to his beloved Israel that they were a stiff-necked and rebellious people—”for thou art a stiff-necked people,” “Ye have been rebellious against the Lord” (Deut. ix. 6, 7).

He was faithful to the souls of men, and his very calling demanded that he should be faithful to his trust; it was not to the crowds or masses he had to give an account of his stewardship at last, but to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the living and true God, at the great White Throne. His eye was on eternity—his eye was on the Judge of all—through the revelation of God the eye of faith penetrates beyond the regions of time—it looks into eternity, believes God and takes Him at His word. That is the nature of true faith which is the gift of God (Eph. ii. 8).

Besides Moses and Noah we have many more labourers. We come now to the prophets. They were all labourers, and at the end of their day when looking back, the dear men of God, even the most wonderful of them all in the person of Isaiah, had to say, “Who hath believed our report and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Yet they went on in their labour and they laboured faithfully in the vineyard of the Lord to the honour and glory of Him who sent them to preach the Word of God, being inspired by the Holy Ghost, not only to preach but to write it. “But holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (II Peter, i, 21). You find that all the prophets had their own grief, pain, and trouble. All the prophets you read of in the Old Testament had their own peculiar complaints. They might have different causes and reasons for their trouble but none of them ever passed through without having their share of trials and persecutions; as the Apostle said to Timothy in connection with the gospel—”Be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel.” Nevertheless they went on and laboured faithfully to the end of their day.

I am now to mention part of their labour. Not only did they preach to men and women, some of whom alas! it is to be feared, according to the Word of God, are at this moment in a lost eternity: but many, on the other hand, in everlasting glory to be forever with Christ. But they laid the foundation, as it is written, “and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone” (Eph. ii. 20). The foundation on which they built was Christ in the promise of the gospel. Christ was before them. Moses never took his eye off Christ, neither did the prophets. He was the object of their faith and apart from Him they could not preach: they directed men and women, boys and girls, kings and peasants to look to Christ as the only way by which sinners may escape the wrath to come. See how plainly that was set before them even on the great day of Atonement in Israel. What was set before them? Christ, in the types and figures. What was the Paschal lamb? Christ. The blood of the lamb was a type of Christ. To whom did the prophet Isaiah wish men to look? Not to himself. God forbid. But he called to men to look to Jesus Christ as the only way for them to escape eternal death, as it is written, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God and there is none else.” That is the call of the gospel and that is what they declared. They preached, prayed and pleaded with men to repent and turn from their evil way. They could not do otherwise, seeing by faith, the doom that awaited all who should continue in the ways of sin impenitent, reckless and indifferent to the claims of God and conscience. “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these saying, behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints to execute judgment upon all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him” (Jude, 14).

I must leave this part of my discourse, but verily the more you look at these extraordinary men of God, the more you are bound to love and admire them, if you are a follower of the Lamb of God, and not only to admire and love them, but to imitate them by the grace of God bestowed upon you, in your life, walk and conversation in the world. We may say to-day in our own land Oh! for a Samuel Rutherford! Oh! for a Robert Bruce of Edinburgh! They might call for an Isaiah, but these dear men of God had finished their course, and when their day was over, like tired labourers, sleep was sweet to them. “The sleep of a labouring man is sweet” (Eccles. v, 12). Blessed be God, that they do rest from their labours in everlasting glory for eternity!

II. In the second place, Christ in our text, addresses His Apostles, under the present dispensation and directs them to those who have gone before them.
Others laboured unto death, and under all circumstances and now I am sending you out, not to labour, but to reap the fruit of their labour. We do not mean that the Apostles did not labour; all the servants of Christ since do labour, but not in the sense of laying the foundation of truth and righteousness as the Patriarchs and Prophets who went before them did. The Apostles and Evangelists unfolded what was declared and implied by the patriarchs, seers and prophets which laboured for about four thousand years before this time. I can assure you that none of the Apostles would take from or add to what was written under the Old Testament dispensation. They were constructive critics not destructive, so called “higher” critics. They were not sent out to tear the Old Testament dispensation to pieces. No, they were not as many are in our generation, for they were sent out to reap. Christ sent them out, and you find the first indication of this in the Day of Pentecost. That was an extraordinary day. You find the Holy Spirit stating in the Word of God, that, at least, three thousand were added to the Church in one haul. What a beautiful harvest day for Peter and John!—to see three thousand souls, by the infinite power of the Holy Ghost, brought by the everlasting gospel out of the kingdom of the devil and now in the kingdom of Christ. What a reformation and transformation! What an extraordinary thing it was to see a day of Pentecost! My dear friends, this is what we, as a land, stand in need of. This is what Scotland needs—what Britain needs—what the whole world needs—that we would be caught in the net of the gospel, as they were on the Day of Pentecost—the first day that the net was cast down on the right side of the ship—Christ’s finished work. That is the right side, and there you would see them in thousands flocking to the banner that was now raised, and men and women crying out, “Men and brethren, what must we do to be saved?” Was it by the power of Peter and John? No, but by the power of the Spirit—the power of the Holy Ghost. The Apostles knew by divine experience that the Holy Ghost alone can call the things which are not, as if they were. It was their duty to sow the seed of divine truth. You would think in our day that we can do marvellous things—we make such a noise about what we can do. But ask any of the great men in our generation to create a blade of grass. It is impossible to do it. They are as weak as midges and as helpless as babes.

It was not by their own wisdom, power or graces that these labourers were instrumental in reaping such a glorious harvest. It was by the power of the Holy Spirit accompanying the Word, and until the Holy Ghost comes back to Scotland, to our congregations and families, we can rest assured of this, we shall not have a harvest, for it is He alone who can do it, and that is why we ought to examine ourselves most carefully in the sight of God, and our own consciences—are we instrumental in grieving the Holy Ghost? That is what we must examine, and we ought to do it as individuals on our knees in our closets, and in our studies, and be open to the searching of God by His Word and Spirit, and not by our own partial stupid searching. We are so lenient to ourselves!

The labourers went out to reap and they continued to reap as long as they were left in the world. Paul was one of those who did reap, and he continued to labour and reap to the end, and oh! dear friends, how many shall be with him at the Great Day of Judgment, as the children that were brought to Christ through his instrumentality by the Holy Ghost. What a reaper! What an army they will be on the right hand of the Lamb at the Day of Judgment. Ah! well, I think we can say, without hypocrisy and guile I hope, if so, glory eternally be unto Christ and joy eternally to Paul. They were labourers, and they were reaping. It was a time of harvest—thousands were added to the Church from north, south, east and west—a wonderful harvest. The people of God were living in a fearful generation—my brethren are well-versed in the history of the Church at this period and we see clearly what extraordinary sufferings they had in reaping the glorious harvest of Christ. We read of some of the early settlers in Canada that they had to have a rifle with them at their work in the fields defending themselves against wild beasts, but although the Apostles did not take a rifle in the literal sense, they had to contend with such as the wild beasts of Ephesus. They knew they were up against a cruel, wicked, and malicious enemy. Did they not feel it even unto death? Look at Stephen, the first martyr under the present dispensation. What about the rest of them? Were they not despised, persecuted, stoned and sawn asunder? Why? Because they were reaping the harvest. They would not be put to death in a dancing hall. The world loves its own; hates God, His truth and people. If they went on in the ways of the world the world would praise them, but that was not their object. Christ came to this world to destroy the kingdom of the devil to the very roots. These men were out in the same spirit and with the same purpose—that the kingdom of the devil should be utterly destroyed in the heart of kings, nobles, magistrates and peasants, yea, in the heart of young boys and girls. It was their desire that the whole world would turn unto Christ, not a mere handful of men and women.

You remember that they continued under the most fearful trials and difficulties until the year 315 when Constantine the Great gave them liberty. During the two preceding centuries they were being persecuted unto death, and no historian could have left on record the countless numbers that suffered unto death contending for the faith, and following the Lamb at all costs. They suffered nameless cruelties, and yet they went on reaping, until at last the whole Roman Empire was converted to Christianity, an edict being passed by His Imperial Majesty, Constantine, granting liberty to all Christian Churches in the Roman Empire. What a blessed work! It was the work of patience—the work of faith, and grace sustaining and strengthening the tried labourers of the Lord during the painful persecutions they had to encounter from pagans, heathen, Jews and religious bigots. The Church grew and multiplied under the hand of the Lord, even in the midst of the fires of persecution. The period that soon ensued after the above liberation is historically called the “Dark Ages.” Superstition, idolatry, and immorality was the order and religion of the ages until the Reformation in the 16th century.

Before the Reformation, matters were very low. One could hardly meet with any of God’s people anywhere except in obscure corners. They could not openly show themselves. They were being persecuted unto death and the Waldenses came to the conclusion that God’s people were exterminated out of the world, but no. When the Reformation came, men, such as Luther, Calvin and Knox began to reap in the field of Boaz—the field of Christ, the everlasting gospel of the grace of God being preached in purity, love, and faith to our perishing men and women, and immediately one could see a harvest coming in view again, so that in our own beloved country as well as in various parts of Europe, thousands of men and women were liberated by that glorious gospel of the sovereign grace of God, being born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. That continued for a long period. But did they set up new foundations? Did Knox set up a new foundation? Did Calvin? Did Luther? No! They had no foundation but the foundation of the apostles and prophets—the foundation that was laid before they were in existence and they built on the same foundation as the apostles and prophets—”Other men laboured, and ye have entered into their labours.”

III. That brings me to the third part.
I am addressing just now the Synod or preaching a sermon to the Synod—that is the meaning of this service, as far as I understand it. My dear brethren, you have been called by the Spirit of God to reap that upon which you have bestowed no labour, for everything was ready before we could differentiate between our left hand and our right. We had an inspired Bible placed in our hands, but time will not declare what that cost our fathers and the Covenanter’s of Scotland. It shall never be fully known here. We had the Confession of Faith based upon the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments—we had the Shorter and Larger Catechisms put into our hands from our childhood. Did we bestow any labour upon that great work? No! What an inestimable privilege and mercy that these great blessings were put within our reach in the kind and good providence of God!
Must we not confess that God was good and gracious to us?

“In our low state who on us thought:
For He hath mercy ever,
And from our foes our freedom wrought,
For His grace faileth never.”

How men ought to praise Him! We have all these great mercies that even some of our godly fathers had not—we had liberty of conscience—we had the right of private judgment from our earliest infancy, and can we estimate the infinite value of that? We were not better than those to whom those privileges were denied, but it was the providence of God towards us—“Other men laboured, and ye have entered into their labours,” and it is our duty to reap. To reap what? Well, first of all, they were to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, and we cannot in the short space of time at our disposal even touch the hem of that garment, but it is our privilege and duty to preach to men and women, old and young, “Repent and believe the gospel.” It is our privilege to offer this glorious gospel of the grace of God to black, white, red and yellow—to all and sundry. I sometimes think and perhaps some of my brethren do so also, that I wish I could preach to all the people in India, yea, to all the teeming masses of China, this everlasting gospel of the grace of God. You would wish this seed sown north, south, east and west. Now, my dear brethren, if you are circumscribed, if you are so limited, so hemmed in, in the providence of God, still, you are not hemmed in, in your spirits. How far do you go? You go north, south, east and west—not only to the City of Glasgow and the three or four millions of Scotland but the whole length and breadth of the world; and your prayer is this, “Let thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” I hope that will be the prayer on the lips of your soul as long as God leaves you in time. It is to be feared that we will not see the world converted in our time to the Saviour, the most wonderful Master that ever any was called to serve, yet we have the warrant of God’s truth in our consciences and understanding that it will come in His own good time.

How we would wish to see this nation of ours under the banner of the King Eternal, King Christ, but although we may not see it, let us go on sowing the seed, the seed of the kingdom, for as sure as He sent you out to sow His precious seed, so sure it is that His adorable purpose shall be fulfilled. It may be very dark to you at times, and sometimes you may be very discouraged—very much cast down in your mind—you see as it were, the terrific power of the spirit of evil in various aspects and ways unnamable, but you must not be discouraged when you see that—the kingdom of the devil, as it were, prevailing everywhere and as if the kingdom of David were getting smaller and weaker. The darkest hour is before the dawn. He ruleth ever by His power. His wisdom cannot be searched out for it is infinite, eternal and unchangeable. We live in dangerous times. Let us keep to our closets and Bibles more closely and attentively than ever. We are getting many warnings, but by faith, let us lean, look and wait upon the Lord.

What struck me very forcibly this evening was when the Lord Jesus was going up to the accursed Cross of Calvary, you see men following Him to a certain extent, but they had their limitation. You also see an Angel in the garden strengthening Him, but, dear friends, the moment came when no Angel or human creature could stand where the Lord of Glory stood for us poor sinners, in order that we might be delivered from everlasting death. Was it easy for the blessed Saviour? No! for it is recorded in the Word of God that He was in agony. You may even be in agony of soul seeing no conversions in your congregations and not seeing the people of Scotland turning to God, His truth and worship but your constant prayer is for their conversion. Who taught you that prayer? The Lord Himself. Therefore, go on sowing the seed as long as He will leave you in time, telling the wicked that it shall be ill with him, and the righteous that it shall be well with him, and let us be faithful to our trust at all costs. Do not look for friendship or comfort from the world, for the Lord declares that its love is enmity against God. “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” We are not of the world although in it, and blessed be the Lord, we hope, that shall be our experience to the full, when time is no more.

In conclusion He demands of us to be faithful—”Be thou faithful unto death.” Dear friends, the Cause of Christ is low in Scotland in our day and generation, but that is no cause or reason why we should be slack in connection with that cause. Let us go on, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Our prayer is for the conversion of our people as a land, yea, our whole nation, every man, whether black, red or yellow, from the rising of the sun to its going down. It is said of our own Empire that the sun never goes down on it. Would to God we would see the day when the Sun of Righteousness would never go down for a thousand years on all the continents and nations and kingdoms of the world. “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour; other men laboured, and ye have entered into their labours.” Let us go on reaping then, and sowing to the end of our day and may the Lord bless us in that most honourable and noble work till we close our eyes in death. May the Lord bless each and all of you.