THIS subject is not a new one to our readers, but it is one that calls for increasing attention at the present time. It is no mistake to say that the advance of Romanism in the country steadily, though in some respects quietly, proceeds; and that, unless there is a general Protestant awakening which will resolutely resist its inroads, it will soon have the place of pre-eminence. Than this no greater calamity could befall us as a nation.
It must be cordially acknowledged that the country owes no little debt to Mr. John Kensit, London, for his courageous efforts, past and present, against the evil. These efforts have served to arouse Protestant feeling and activity, with the result that some of the forms of Romish worship in some churches have been put down. There has also been a banding together more closely and enthusiastically of Protestant people against Romanism. But, notwithstanding these favourable features, what is to be said of the general state of the situation? It is to be feared it remains very much the same. The bishops may make slight concessions for the purpose of soothing the angry feelings of Protestants, but the main body of the system which they appear determined to protect and encourage continues untouched. Can it be believed by our readers that there is hardly a piece of doctrine or worship in the Church of Rome but is also found within the pale of the Church of England? We mention some of these evil things—the sacrifice of the Mass, belief in Purgatory, prayers for the dead, transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the veritable body and blood of Christ, prayers to the Virgin Mary, the abominable confessional, celibacy, penances, baptismal regeneration, the setting up of convents and monasteries, a secret belief by some in the supremacy of the Pope. No doubt the constitution of the English Church is not so free from blemish as we would like to see it; but surely things have come to a terrible pass when nearly every member of “the Beast” has found its way into a Protestant Church, and that one of the State Churches of the greatest Protestant nation in the world.
In another place we give a report of an enthusiastic Protestant demonstration that was recently held in London, and some information may be found in it as to the present state of matters. It may not be out of place here, however, to touch on a few special points, some of which are alluded to in the speeches at the demonstration, that call for serious consideration, prayer, and effort at the present crisis.
First, there is the attempt to alter the King’s Protestant Declaration. We may be sure that the papists will use every means in their power to get that Declaration wholly done away with. Romanism is not only one of the greatest enemies of man’s spiritual interests, but of his civil interests also, and unless the electors of the country will refuse to send any man to Parliament who is not a thorough Protestant, they will find out their mistake when it is too late. When the priest comes for the widow’s cow as payment for saying mass, it will then be vain to make an outcry. The day may not be so far distant as many blindly think.
A second point to be noted is the recent decision in the Canon Gore case. A number of Protestant gentlemen appeared at a special diet called for objections and tendered protests against the appointment of Canon Gore to the bishopric of Worcester on account of his erroneous views of doctrine published in several books. The Vicar-General ruled out the protests as invalid, but the objectors appealed to the law courts for a decision. That decision has now been issued by the Lord Chief Justice in his own name and that of other judges. It is to the effect that the ecclesiastical court can take notice only of objections bearing upon errors in the steps of formal procedure in connection with the ordination of the bishop, but it cannot take any notice of objections to his doctrinal views, inasmuch as he has been already nominated by the Crown. The law of England, therefore, puts the whole power as to the election of a bishop and his fitness for office into the hands of the king; it is he that must decide these very important points. Practically, however, the burden falls upon the Prime Minister, who makes the recommendation of particular persons to office. Everything then in this matter of great importance depends upon the character and views of the Prime Minister of the country. Need we hardly say that this order of things appears to us entirely subversive of Scriptural order. Every office-bearer in the Church of Christ should have an inward spiritual call to office, and also an outward call from the Church itself, but not from any civil authority. Here is just where the Erastianism of the Church of England comes in; and if the evangelical party in the Church have submitted their necks in the past to this un-Christian yoke, they may find it grievous enough before all is done. Truly it is time that a third reformation was begun, when a clean sweep would be made of all Erastian, Popish and Ritualistic rubbish out of the Church of England.
A third thing that is fitted to arouse much alarm, is the recent incursion of Jesuits into the country. Several orders of this most pernicious class of papists have come from France to England and Scotland. The French authorities have made a rule that all institutions, religious as well as civil, must be open to enquiry and examination as to their business affairs; the Jesuits have refused, as might be expected, to submit to this regulation, and so have decamped to a freer clime. They have found an asylum in our beloved country. Freedom is truly a noble thing, and Britain has been honoured as the standard bearer of freedom wherever her name is known. But, alas, there is a spurious freedom, a foul liberty that is not of God, but of the devil, and that will prove the ruin of the sons of freedom unless they awake to its malign character. It is no Christian charity to harbour the workers of iniquity; to give place and scope to the men who will do all in their power to rase the very foundations of Church and State, of religious and civil liberty in our country. O Great Britain, thy false charity will soon rob thee of all thy greatness, unless God in mercy intervene! There are laws on the statute book, however, that would secure the expulsion of the Jesuits and other papists from the land; and it should be our earnest effort to get, if possible, these laws put into execution.
A fourth circumstance that calls for notice is “a requiem service for the soul of the late Queen Victoria, which was sung in the Church of St. Matthew, Westminster, on the morning of the 4th February.” This is a flagrant example of praying for the dead, and clear it is that the practice has got a very serious hold of the country, and has become very popular in high circles, when ministers of the English Church would have the audacity to introduce it in connection with so exalted a person as Queen Victoria. We can hardly free the King from having given this service, at least, his tacit approval; we do not think the performers would otherwise have proceeded with it. Is this then the time to relax the Protestant Declaration when the Sovereign is condoning Romish practices? We are pleased to see by the report that there were several Protestants who spoke out at the end of the service, and said, “This is rank blasphemy, a blasphemous insult to the memory of Queen Victoria;” “This is the house of Baal.” Good it is that there are a few in England who seem alive to the signs of the times. May the Most High increase their number, and make them valiant for the truth upon the earth!
In conclusion, we express our deep sorrow at the great apathy that obtains in Scotland in this vital matter of Protestantism. No country suffered more for it in the past; and why should she be so indifferent now? Just because the pulpits have poured forth a flood of poisonous doctrine that has stupified the minds of the people and made them think that all kinds of religion are equally good, and that error is quite a harmless thing. May those who seek the good of Jerusalem be stirred up to cry mightily to the Lord for a day of awakening and enlightening power! Nothing else will meet the case.
A Sermon BY THE EMINENT ROBERT ROLLOCK, FIRST PRINCIPAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH. DIED IN 1599.
“Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil,” etc.—MATT. xv. 21-28.
IN this text which we have read,—well-beloved in the Lord Jesus,—we have a wonder that the Lord wrought on a woman, a Canaanite, a Gentile, of a cursed generation, the generation of Canaan. The wonder is, the healing of a woman’s daughter that was possessed and sore and miserably vexed with a devil. The woman having the occasion to meet with the Lord through His coming to these parts where she abode, she slippeth not the occasion, but seeketh mercy and grace; she findeth at the first great hardness and difficulty to get mercy; but at last, overcometh all by her faith, and getteth mercy.
Now to go through this history so shortly and plainly as the Lord shall give the grace. This woman is called a Canaanite; that is, descended of that old and rotten stock of Canaan, that was destinate for wrath and destruction, (Genesis ix. 25). Look to her estate—she is come of a cursed race, she is lying in sin and security of sin. This is the estate of every one of us—we lie in sin. Conceived in sin, and born in sin, we feel not the sin and that deadly sleep of security is worse than the sin we lie in. There is none of us better by nature than this woman was. Then, when she is thus lying in sin and security, the Lord from the heaven sendeth her a wakening and a sharp wakening; for the judgments of God are like so many messengers from heaven to waken us. In the example of the woman we see that the Lord’s children must be wakened; and oftentimes our first wakening is very sharp, doleful and fearful, as it is with one that is wakened in the rage of a fever. Yet there is grace here. Well is the man that is wakened, though the wakening were never so sore and sharp, for the multitude of the world die in security, and never waken till the fire of hell waken them. Well is thee, and thou be wakened, albeit it should be with never so heavy a judgment; yea, though thy daughter or thyself, should be possessed with a devil.
Now when this poor woman is thus wakened, and is wrestling under the heavy hand of God, the Lord casteth an eye towards her (for no doubt, howbeit she was one of the race of cursed Canaan, yet she was chosen to eternal life), and of very purpose He casteth Himself into these parts where she was. Whatever other errand He had, there is no question but He had a particular respect to her, that she might have the occasion to come to Him, and this was a great grace. When we are wakened out of security, then the mediciner hath his time, and this is a greater grace. It is a great grace to be wakened, but it is a greater grace to find a mediciner to cure thy disease; for, as multitudes die in security, so also multitudes die in pain, torment and desperation after they are wakened. Well, she hearing tell that He was come to these parts, and that He was such a man, “a wonderful man,” as the prophet Esay calleth Him, “who cured all sorts of diseases, who restored sight to the blind, limbs to the lame, cleansed the leprous, and raised up the dead,” she is moved to seek grace and mercy at Him. Had not the Lord prevented her, and come down thither and sought her to draw her to Him, there had never been such a thing, that she had sought for Him. All thy misery, albeit it were never so great, will never draw thee to Him, except He seek thee first, and draw thine heart unto Him.
Well now to come forward: When she seeketh Him, she findeth Him and getteth His bodily presence. Christ and His disciples were walking together after His accustomed manner. At the first meeting, saith the text, “The woman crieth:” He is apparently going before, and the woman followeth after, and crieth; misery constraineth her to cry. And if the Lord lay His hand upon thee, He will compel thee to howl and cry. O that power and might that is in the Lord over His creature!
But I doubt not, considering the words and communication that the Lord hath with this poor, miserable, and sinful woman, but it was that spirit of adoption that opened her mouth so wide to cry upon Him so, “O thou son of David, have mercy on me.” What crieth she? Mark her words: she crieth, “Have mercy upon me.” How many of Jerusalem cried after this manner? A heathen, a Canaanite, crieth this way: misery compelleth her to cry. But what maketh her to cry “Mercy?” We will rail and blaspheme God when we are in misery; but what caused her to cry “Mercy?” No question, the conscience of her demerits caused her to cry “Mercy.” She felt herself to be worthy of all that misery wherewith she was burthened. The voice of a miserable sinner that feeleth misery is, “O Lord have mercy upon me:” but lo, how she styleth Him, “O Lord, the son of David.” These were the common styles, indeed, of the Lord in this life: He was called of the multitude “Lord,” and, “The son of David.” But certainly I am of this mind, that this woman took these styles otherwise than the common multitude. The very eye of her soul was opened to see Jesus Christ to be the Lord, and to be the Son of God manifested in the flesh, of the seed of David—howbeit, I will not attribute unto her a distinct and clear knowledge of both His natures in one person, and of His offices.
Then, Brethren, ye see two grounds of her petition: The first is, a lordship, and power, and dominion in Him of whom she sought mercy; the next is, a pity, a mercy in Him of whom she sought mercy. She sought mercy at a merciful face, grace at a gracious face. Look that thy prayer be well grounded on the Lord; when thou openest thy mouth to seek mercy at that Lord, look that thou acknowledge that there is a power in that Lord to give thee every thing that thou standest in need of. And, chiefly, look that thou acknowledge that there is an infinite passing mercy in that Lord, surmounting all thy sins, and then shalt thou pray from the heart with confidence and liberty; otherwise thou mayest well seek mercy from the teeth outward, but never with thine heart. Then she letteth Him see a good cause wherefore she sought mercy: “Lord I have need of a physician, for I am sick.” What sickness is sorer to a poor body than this, to be rent both in soul and body with a devil? “Lord, my poor daughter is tormented with a devil.” As in thy prayer thou must have a sight of the infinite power of thy God, of the mercy of thy God, scorn Him not with a senseless heart: no, if thou gettest not a sense and feeling of thy misery, of thy trouble, and vexation in thine heart, call not upon the name of the Lord. It is true, indeed, the Lord sees and knows thy misery as well as thyself, albeit thou speak not a word unto Him of thy misery; yet, for all that, the Lord takes pleasure to hear thy misery out of thine own mouth. He will not only have thee to feel and groan in thy heart for it, but He will have thee to utter it unto Him with thy tongue also, if opportunity serve; He will have thee to make it known unto Him, as if He knew it not; He will have thee to bring up thy misery from the ground of thy heart, and as thou feelest it in the sadness of thy heart, so to utter it in thy voice; for the Lord delights to hear miserable bodies speaking of their misery.
Now to go forward. When she hath made her petition, see the meeting. The text saith, at the first He answered her not a word, but goeth forward with the disciples, and letteth her follow on, crying, “O Lord, have mercy upon me,” not once or twice, but the cry goeth never out of her head. This is wonderful. He that prevented her with grace, and gave her grace to seek Him, will not make her one word answer, but goeth His way, and will not speak unto her. Yea, thou wilt find that He who prevented thee with grace, and sought thee or ever thou soughtest Him, and gave thee grace to cry and pray, “Have mercy, O God!” yet He will seem to misknow thee, and make thee none answer. Thou wilt cry, in sickness, “Mercy,” but wilt thou always find mercy? No, no; thou wilt cry in other troubles, “Mercy,” and His Spirit, no question, will intercede for thee, and yet for a time He will make thee none answer. What meaneth this? why doeth He so? Now when He hath given thee grace to cry for mercy, a thirst and a hunger for grace,—”Blessed are they that hunger and thirst,”—when He hath given thee this first grace, He will let thee cry a great while to try thy constancy. We never get a spiritual grace in this life, but with the grace we get always a trial; and when He giveth us grace to cry, He will try if we will cry on; and to speak the truth, brethren, all our life here is but a trial of the graces of God, which He hath given us. We get not our heaven here, but a faith to look afar off unto it, a hunger, a thirst, a desire of it; and with our thirst, a trial of our faith, a trial of our hope, of our desire to see if we will stand in it. “And then,” saith Peter, “in the life to come, the trial of thy faith, and hope, and patience being ended,”—what shall follow?—”Praise, and honour, and glory when Jesus shall appear.” (1 Pet. i. 7.) Thou shalt be filled with satiety and fulness of joy—thy hunger and thirst shall be satisfied as soon as ever thou seest thy Redeemer.
Now to proceed: the disciples that followed the Lord they are troubled with the cry of the woman, and say to the Lord, “Either give her one answer or other, and let her go her way.” Surely, I think, this suit of the disciples was not so much for any desire they had that He should help her, as to be quit of her crying, because they were deafened with her. So, then, the Papists need not upon this to ground their intercession of the saints in heaven for us that remain here on earth; for this ground is as weak as their doctrine of intercession is. And she directeth not her speech to the apostles here, to Peter, James or John, that they should intercede for her, but to the Lord himself: she speaketh to none of them, but she passeth and speaketh to the Lord immediately. So should we leave all the saints, and with confidence go to the Lord himself. The disciples are deafened and troubled with her crying: the Lord himself letteth her cry on, and this is a token that He is not wearied with her crying. Well, then, thou findest a comfort here when thou criest night and day: He never wearieth with thee: He saith not “Thou troublest me:” all thy cries, sighs, and sobs are pleasant to Him. Men will be weary sometimes with thy crying, as we read that unjust judge was importuned by the just suit of the poor woman, and dispatcheth her away, and saith, “Thou troublest and irkest me night and day,” (Luke xviii. 1.). But the true righteous Judge is never wearied with thee; when He letteth thee cry out, He will not answer with a grudge, as the judge did, but cheerfully. The Lord that loveth a cheerful giver He himself giveth cheerfully. What meaneth that joy that the faithful find in their hearts, accompanying the benefit that cometh from Him, but that the Lord giveth his benefits cheerfully? For if the Lord gave them not thee cheerfully, but in anger and wrath, and threw them to thee as to a reprobate, thou wouldst never have joy in the receiving of them. There is not such a thing as a reprobate can have joy in the giver, or ever have his mouth open with true thanksgiving to the Lord to say once, “I thank thee.” Why? Because the Lord giveth him not his benefits in love, but in anger. So this is a sure token when thou findest joy in thine heart, and a contentation in thy prayer, and a purpose to be thankful, that the Lord giveth thee cheerfully, and heareth thee joyfully; and if thou canst get but a joyful look of thy God, thou mayest be assured that it proceedeth of mercy. When He looketh so unto thee He doeth not as earthly kings, or any earthly creature used to do, for they can keep a fair countenance and yet have little goodwill in their hearts.
Well, the woman crieth, and the disciples cry: the Lord must answer once, but He maketh an answer little to her contentment:—”I am not sent,” saith He, “but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. What have I to do with that poor woman? She is not one of my sheep; she is of a cursed generation of the Canaanites, ordained to destruction and wrath.” In a word, He debarreth her from grace, He closeth the gates of heaven upon her teeth; for when He saith He is not sent to her, He shutteth her out of heaven. We ought to mark this well, for we are Canaanites, that is to say Gentiles. It is true, indeed, the Lord coming down from the heaven, and manifesting himself in the flesh, He had His commission first and principally to the Jews, and not to the Gentiles,—not to Scotland—nor England, nor Germany, nor France, chiefly and principally. As Christ said to Jerusalem, “Oh! that thou couldst see the day of thy visitation” (Luke xix. 41). He was sent with commission to the Gentiles, but in case of the contumacy and rebellion of the Jews; as if the Lord had said unto Him, “Go thy way unto my own people, whom I have chosen from among all the nations of the earth, and see if thou canst win them: go no further.” And if the Jews had not been rebellious and disobedient, we had never gotten mercy and grace. Look Romans xi. 11. The fall of the Jews was the raising up of the Gentiles, and the diminution of the Jews was the riches of the Gentiles. “How got ye grace?” saith He. By their contumacy and rebellion. So Christ, sending out His disciples to preach, bideth them go, not unto the Gentiles, or unto the Samaritans their next neighbours, “but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. x. 5.). And Paul, in a preaching before both the Jews and Gentiles (Acts xiii. 46), “The word of God,” saith he, “behooved first to be preached unto you, the promise belonging unto you: But, because ye will not receive the word, and have made yourselves unworthy of life everlasting; therefore, I will turn and preach to the Gentiles;” and so he bade the Jews good-night, and turned him to the Gentiles. And the text saith, that then the Gentiles rejoiced exceedingly.
So we were strangers from heaven, and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. And we learn, in the example of this woman, that our entry to grace, and to heaven, was very hard and difficult. And as our entry to grace was hard, so if we fall from grace, our re-entry to grace shall be far harder. And if thou fall once from grace, hardly shalt thou get grace again. A Gentile that falleth once from grace, and treadeth under his feet the blood of Jesus, shall never be renewed with grace again. And I say to thee, O Scotland, if thou fallest from grace, look never for grace again. Look to the cities amongst the Gentiles that fell from grace, look Corinth, look Phillippi, look the Galatians, &c. Got they ever grace again? No: so if Scotland fall from grace, it will be a wonder if ever it get grace again. The wrath of God shall be poured forth upon every one, from the greatest to the smallest. For if He received not the Jews, His own people, into grace, after that they were once fallen from it, shall He take thee up again, a Gentile, a vile dog, in respect of them? And yet our men in this country care not to cast themselves and their whole land into hell, and into everlasting abjection from grace with all hope of recovery.
So this is a hard answer, she findeth no grace at all. They that follow Jesus Christ, and seek for grace, will find in their way a sore trial. Men think that heaven is but a common benefit, and that it is easy to a man to come thither: but albeit thou be a king, an emperor, or monarch, thou will find a hard entry therein. Will thy kingdom or thy lordship bring thee to heaven? No: if thou sleep on in careless security, thou shalt never see heaven. So if there were no more but this example of this Gentilish woman, it teaches us, that it is hard to win heaven, and that the gates of heaven at the first shall be shut upon our teeth. What is the cause of this? Thou art further from Christ, and from grace, from heaven, and from the joy of heaven, a thousand times more than the natural earth is from the natural heaven. Thou art a Canaanite, come of a cursed generation. What ado hath a Canaanite with heaven; so unworthy a thing, with so worthy a thing? The Lord, before He opened the gates of heaven unto her, He would let her understand, that she had nothing to do with heaven. And I say unto thee, that the Lord, ere ever He give thee grace, He will have thee knowing by tentations and trials, that thou art a Canaanite, descended of a cursed and reprobate generation, and unworthy that ever thou shouldst see heaven, or have ado with heaven. And if He bring thee not to this sight and this fear, I give thee thy doom, thou shalt never see heaven.
Now mark, He hath closed the doors of heaven upon her. And, certainly, this answer might have caused her to have gone away with shame and confusion. But for all this tentation, she continueth still, she crieth still, and hopeth for mercy. Hold upon mercy, hope still, believe on still, and that hope shall never make thee ashamed. She hath cried for mercy, the gates of heaven are shut against her. What doeth she? Goeth she her way? No, no; she tarrieth still, and knocketh. And if thou knewest what heaven were, and what hell were, thou wouldst be loath to leave heaven. Oh! the torments that remain for them that fall into hell! So she knocketh, and falleth down upon her face, and adoreth, and saith, “O Son of David, have mercy on me.” This adoring was not only for the casting the devil out of her daughter. No, no; she sought everlasting life at the hands of the Lord, and that healing of her daughter was an earnest-penny of that life. This was the mind of the woman, no question. It is said in the Scripture, “Seek and ye shall find, ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matt. vii. 7.) If the seeking fail ye, yet tarry still, and knock. And if it had not been the Lord’s will that a sinner, when he findeth heaven’s gates closed upon him, should tarry still, and knock, would He have bidden him knock? It were a presumptuous thing for a beggar to knock at one of our doors. But seeing the Lord hath expressly commanded thee to knock, then knock on boldly. And if thou go away with the first answer, or the first nay-saying, thou wast never truly hungry nor thirsty, and it is a token that thou countest little of the grace of God. If thou knewest how precious a thing the grace of God and Jesus Christ were, and what heaven were, and what hell were, thou wouldst never cease knocking, day nor night, all the days of thy life. For if thou go away proudly, and tarriest not upon God’s answer, but speak presumptuously, and say, “If He will not give me grace, let Him hold it to Himself,” as blasphemous men will say; then he will shoot thee into hell. For if thou wert a king of all the world, thou shalt never get thine head in at heaven gates, except thou knock. Lord, if the world knew how hard a thing it is to get entry there! Men think that they will come easily and sleeping to heaven, albeit they take their pleasure and pastime. But they deceive themselves, there must be much striving and fighting ere they get heaven. Before that heaven could be opened, it behoved Jesus Christ to shed His precious blood.
Now, brethren, ye may say unto me, alas, who can knock? Who is able to come there? No, thou hast no power once to lift up thine hand to knock at that gate, except that the Lord put out His hand and hold thee up even in the mean time when He is holding thee back. So wonderful is the Lord’s working with His own, He will be holding them aback with the one hand, and He will be pulling them in to Him as fast with the other hand. When He will be dissuading He will persuade, when He forbiddeth to approach unto Him, He inwardly allureth men to come unto Him.
Now, will ye hear the Lord’s answer? If the first answer was hard, this is as hard and rough; for with an angry countenance, no doubt, He answereth; “It is not lawful,” saith He, “to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto dogs.” It is even as much as if He had taken her by the shoulders, and thrust her out. First He saith, “Thou art but a dog, a Gentile, and this that thou sekest is a precious thing—the bread of life—this appertaineth only to the children of God; shall I take that, and give it unto a dog?” As if He had said, “Go thy way, dog, thou shalt not get such a precious benefit as thou requirest.”
Then we see here, because she was a Gentile, therefore He calleth her a dog. Suppose thou be a King, (I pray thee be not too proud in thine own conceit), and yet a Gentile—ergo*, by nature a dog. He will cast a kingdom, an empire, a monarchy to a man, as one will cast a bone into the mouth of a dog, but all is nothing in respect of one drop of grace, and the hope of the kingdom of heaven. Albeit thou be a beggar, and yet gettest but one drop of grace through Jesus Christ, any hope of the kingdom of heaven, any beginning of regeneration. then thou has gotten a greater grace, a more precious thing than Caesar, that got all the world. There is no comparison betwixt the meanest spiritual and heavenly gift, and betwixt the greatest temporal and earthly thing.
* In consequence of being a Gentile, thou art by nature, &c.
Now I note again the hardness to win to the kingdom of heaven. Would ye not think it a marvellous thing to turn a dog into the Son of God? It is as great a wonder to see a Gentile to be called to heaven, as to make dogs and stones the sons of God. Now know, that before thou gettest access to heaven, although thou wert a king, thou must be humbled in thine own conceit, thou must know thine own estate and condition, thou must think thyself as vile and contemptible as a very dog by nature, as this woman was brought to say; otherwise thou shalt never get heaven.
Then, brethren, if the entry to the kingdom of heaven be so hard, if thou like a dog return to vomit, or as a sow to the puddle, as Peter sayeth (2 Peter ii. 22,) after thou art washen with the blood of that immaculate Lamb, then it is a wonder if ever thou get grace to re-enter again. Now hear the poor woman’s answer; she granteth all:—”It is very true thou sayest. I am but a dog, a vile and an unworthy wretch, and that bread of heaven is a precious thing, I am not worthy that it should be casten unto me. Yet” (saith she), “the whelps do eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table. If thou wilt not shew me this grace to eat bread with the children yet let me eat the parings and crumbs under the table.” Ere ever the Lord bestowed grace and eternal life upon thee, He will have thee to accept thyself unworthy of any grace; yea, He will have thee to accept as vilely of thyself as of a dog, albeit thou hadst never so many great prerogatives otherways in the world. Ere thou get that life, thy conscience will accuse thee to be unworthy of such a life, and such a joy as the Lord ordained for His own. She skipped before, now she thrumbleth* and thrusteth in at the gates of heaven, and goeth like a violent woman—not indeed pressing like a sturdy beggar, to be in whether the Lord would or not; but by humility and acknowledging of her own unworthiness, in all submission, coming—as it were, creeping like a silly whelp under the table; that is “the violence that is done to the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. xi. 12). She taketh up heaven by violence, in all submission and humility. And if thou be once but a whelp under the table of God, in the house of God to gather up the crumbs of that plentiful table, thou art called to a greater honour than if thou wert made king of all the world. “I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of God than to be king of all the world.”
* i.e. Pusheth.
Now, brethren, when she is thronging in, He is loath to put her out again. No;† He saith, “O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee as thou desirest; thy faith hath won the victory.” From whence had this poor woman all this perseverance, and this continuance and this constancy, but from Him? And yet He standeth wondering at His own graces. The Lord,—behold His doing,—when He hath given thee grace and perseverance, when thou comest to heaven, He will wonder at thee; and there is the end of all thy perseverance, a fair crown of glory.
† He will not put her out again.
And what more doeth He? That same moment, that force that was in the word, that proceeded out of the mouth of Jesus, extended itself to the woman’s daughter, and healeth her, and casteth the devil out of her. Now she sought only to creep in as a whelp under the table to eat the crumbs, and now the Lord setteth her up at the table to sit with Him in glory; as Christ Himself saith, “I say to thee,” saith He, “many shall come out of the east, and out of the west, into mine house, into the kingdom of heaven, and sit down at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” (Matt. viii. 11.) And from whence are we come? Even out of the furthermost point of the west. And, O Scotland, believe in Jesus, seek earnestly grace at Him, and wait patiently, when He trieth thee, and thou shalt find that thou shalt be set down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in glory. We are the sons of God indeed, but it appeareth not yet what we shall be; but one day it shall appear, when we shall be crowned with the crown of glory. The Lord work this faith and earnest desire of grace in us for Jesus Christ’s sake! To whom be all glory, honour and praise, for ever and ever. So be it.