BY THE REV. NEIL CAMERON.
(Published by Request.)
“Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God-speed; for he that biddeth him God-speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”—II. John, 9-11.
THE Apostle wrote his epistle to one whom he calls “elect lady.” Some sound divines are of the opinion that he means the Church, while others hold that he means only one of the elect people of God. But there is no material difference, because the same thing is applicable as regards our text to the Church as a whole, and also to each individual of it. To be elected of God in Christ is of the utmost importance to any individual, for it secures all the blessings of the covenant of grace both for time and eternity. That is more valuable than all the riches, honours, and pleasures which this world can give. In the context the Apostle expresses himself thus:—”I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.” That cannot be said of the most of the children of our day, and this must be laid partly at the door of the most of the parents. But those children were reared in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and God’s truth was fulfilled in them—”Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Should there be no other encouragement given to parents but this truth, they should do their utmost to train their children. But let us proceed to consider our text.
I. Let us consider the doctrine of Christ.
II. The warning given in our text to men that they should abide in that doctrine.
III. The consequences of abiding in it—”He that abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.”
Without the Father and the Son, whatever any may have, they are poor indeed.
IV. How they should deal with such as brought not Christ’s doctrine.
I know that some think, and others say, that we deliver these lectures from a spirit of contention. Such are not to be our judges finally. The Lord knows why we deliver them each New-Year’s Day. In the first place, all our ministers are bound by decisions of our Synod to explain annually to our people the reasons why we separated from the so-called Free Church in 1893, who foisted most tyrannically an unscriptural creed upon the Free Church of Scotland. In the second place, we are bound, in faithfulness to your souls, to our own ordination vows, and to the position our Church took up in 1893, not only to assert and maintain, but also to defend the whole doctrine of the Westminster Confession of Faith.
I. Let us consider the doctrine of Christ.
The doctrine of Christ means in the first place the doctrines preached by Him in the days of His humiliation, as these are set forth in the four Gospels. In the second place, it means the doctrine of the whole of the Bible, given by inspiration of God, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation. You remember that our Lord, on the day of His resurrection from the dead, said to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus—”O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken . . . and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” This affixes the Lord’s attestation to all the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and also that such as will not believe them are fools. He said to the Sadducees, who were the Rationalists of those days—”Do ye not, therefore, err, because ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God.” This truth shows that ignorance of the Scriptures and of the power of God was then and is also now the root cause of Rationalism. It was the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of Christ, that inspired the holy men of old who wrote the whole of the Old Testament, and we are assured by our Lord that the same Spirit was given to the Apostles, as it is written—”When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth and He will show you things to come.” We have here a promise of the infallible guidance of the Spirit into all the truth already declared in the Old Testament, and a promise that He, the Holy Spirit, would show them things to come. This promise assures infallibility as regards the guiding of their minds into all the Scriptures that were then written, and also as regards all that was to come, or was to be written by them in the New Testament. Of the Old Testament our Lord’s doctrine was—”The Scriptures cannot be broken”; again—”Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” From these few examples of the doctrine of Christ, who was God, the Son of God, as regards the Bible, we should be fools indeed if we should follow infatuated men who departed from this doctrine. It was because we would not follow such infidels that we separated in 1893, and that we are still holding the position we then took. The New Testament closes by giving a most awful warning to us as to this doctrine—”For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book (meaning the whole Bible), if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city; and from the things which are written in this book.” It is written in the preceding context—”I Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.” The woe of the Lord God is upon the infidels of our day, who are verily guilty of both adding to and taking from the words of the book of God. These are not the vain and windy expressions of men, but the last warning given to men by the God of truth. The authority of the Almighty Son of God, Jesus Christ, is behind the above threatening, and He will assuredly make men believe it when He will act up to the threat—”Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” Follow God, speaking in His Word, and not men who do not believe, neither teach God’s Word. “The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my Word, let him speak my Word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord.”
In the second place, we have the doctrine of Christ set forth in the Westminster Confession of Faith, and also in the Larger and Shorter Catechisms—
(1) We are taught how God created all things, and all creatures, by the word of His power in six days;
(2) We are told of man’s transgression, and its most awful consequences—“By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned . . . for the judgment was by one to condemnation . . . by the offence of one death reigned by one.”
(3) It teaches that man’s nature is wholly corrupt—“The heart is deceitful, above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” “For to be carnally minded is death; because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
(4) It teaches that “the only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who being the eternal Son of God became man, and so was and continues to be God and man in two distinct natures and one person for ever.” The Father’s love in giving and sending His Son into the world to obey, suffer, and die for His people; the Son’s love in finishing this work which the Father gave him to do, are clearly set forth therein.
(5) The work of the Holy Spirit in applying to men the benefits of the redemption, purchased by Christ in their effectual calling is as clearly set forth. “Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, He doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the Gospel.” Without this work of the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of truth, sinners have got no experience of their need of the great salvation presented to them in the Gospel, no more than a healthy man feels any need of a physician—“The whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Faith and repentance are gifts from heaven, and they are communicated to the souls of men by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God read or preached. When the Holy Spirit convinces the sinner of sin as it is committed against the holy law of God, the wrath of God due to sin is felt in the conscience, and until the Holy Spirit directs the eye of the soul to Christ and Him crucified, there can be no peace of conscience, neither peace with God. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
(6) The doctrine of everlasting punishment—”Every sin, both original and actual, brings guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God, and curse of the law, and so made subject to death, with all miseries spiritual, temporal, and eternal.” Our Lord’s declarations as regards this doctrine are most explicit—”If thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” This doctrine our Lord repeats three times in order to assure men of its absolute certainty. Again He takes it up in connection with solemn transactions of the great day of final judgment—”And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal.”
(7) We read that our Lord did scourge out of the temple those who sold and bought in it, and reprimanded them by saying—”It is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.” He was so aroused at their sacrilegious conduct that it brought the Scriptures to the memory of His disciples—”The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up.” This proves the need we have of abiding in the doctrine of Christ; that there should be great care taken by us to make the specified use of God’s house—”A house of prayer and not a den of thieves.”
(8) Jesus Christ set up a government in His Church, in the hands of office-bearers—elders and deacons. Their duties are to rule in spiritual and temporal matters. They rule for God; and while they act in strict accordance with the Word of God, that which they bind on earth shall also be bound in heaven. Human nature being what it is, office-bearers have much need of the grace and strength of their Lord Jesus Christ, so as to be enabled to do their duty irrespective of the humours of men. They are to judge for God; and they have great need of the prayers of the Lord’s people in their endeavours to perform their duties faithfully and righteously; for should their aim be to please men, then they will cease to be servants of Christ. Let this very important statement of the doctrine of Christ suffice at the present time.
II. The warning is given in our text to men that they should abide in that doctrine.
(1) In the Church of England a large number of the clergy are putting forth every effort to bring that Church back into the superstition and idolatry of the apostate Church of Rome. They have had meetings with a dignitary of that Church at Malines, in Belgium, with consent of the Primate of the Church of England. Two consequences seem to have emerged from these conferences—(1) a revision of the English Prayer Book. The aim of it is to make lawful the Mass, prayers for the dead, auricular confession, and reservation of the sacrament. The Prayer Book was never approved of by the Church of Scotland, because they held that a set form of prayers was not in accordance with the mode of worship held forth in the New Testament. But it is certainly a departing from the doctrine of Christ that these Ritualists are guilty of, and their conduct will, if God will not prevent, lead the Church of England back to the Papacy. (2) The Roman Catholic Relief Bill is another long step away from the doctrine of Christ which is—”I heard a voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” Since 1829 the British Parliament has removed one law after another which the Reformers of England and Scotland placed on our Statute Book to safeguard the civil and religious liberties of the nation from the intrigues of Papists. This Bill has stripped us of almost all our bulwarks, and has given a free hand to the Roman Church to carry out her propaganda, free of legal restraints. We do not prophesy; but we expect that the effects of the removal of the landmarks which our forefathers set up will cause yet much trouble in our beloved land. It will be seen from the above that both the majority of the ministry of the Church of England, and of the members of the British Parliament, are hand-in-hand removing the bulwarks of this Protestant nation, and thereby strengthening the hands of our temporal and spiritual enemies.
(2) The powers conferred on the Church of Scotland by recent Acts of Parliament enable her to modify, and even change, within certain very elastic limits, the construction she may place on the doctrines of the Confession of Faith, and upon the relation of her office-bearers thereto. Hitherto the subordinate standards of the Church of Scotland were recorded in the Statute Books of Scotland and England, and they could not change even a sentence of them without the consent of Parliament. Now they can by consent of both Houses of Parliament (granted in “Church of Scotland Act, 1921”) “frame or adopt its subordinate standards, to declare the sense in which it understands its Confession of Faith, to modify the forms of expression therein, or to formulate other doctrinal statements, and to define the relation thereto of its office-bearers and members.” This is alarming, especially at a time when almost all the doctrines of the Bible are either denied or brought into doubt. Were these vital changes made to hold more firmly the doctrine of Christ, that would be well done indeed; but as a matter of fact it is a departure from His doctrine. For, as far as we have yet met any who disagreed with the doctrines of the Confession of Faith, it was quite easily seen that they were either not understanding their real meaning, or were unsound as to the doctrines held forth in the Bible so clearly, “that he may run that readeth it.” That this change should be made when so many in that Church manifest a strong leaning towards the Church of Rome, is disconcerting. The statements of the Psalmist are being fulfilled in Scotland—”A man was famous according as he lifted up axes upon the thick trees. But now they break down the carved work thereof with axes and hammers.” But when the Lord will again build Zion, He will appear in His glory, and He will build His Church on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, as He did at the Reformation. He alone knows when that will take place, and what sufferings will precede it.
(3) The United Free Church, by a majority of her General Assembly, turned her back publicly on the doctrine of the infallibility and absolute inerrancy of the Bible, by adopting a report of one of her Committees, viz.:—”The Social Problems Committee.” This report was written by Mr A. Herbert Gray. Some of the statements are:—”Do we hold that every word in the Bible is true? No, we do not. Do we accept the views of the Bible on scientific questions? No, we do not. Do we approve of all the moral sentiments expressed in the Bible? No, certainly not. Do we regard the Bible as infallible history? No. Do we agree with all the opinions of Paul? No, we do not. . . . Further, we know that large parts of the early books of the Old Testament are not history at all in the modern sense. . . . Israel began with what we should call Pagan ideas about God. They believed in many gods, and about their own spiritual god they believed some very strange things. . . . Why do we need the Old Testament at all? The answer to that is perhaps we don’t virtually need the Old Testament. Possibly the amount of Scripture which is thus living, and which actually operates in the lives of some Christians might turn out to be a little more than a tenth of the whole.” This is ceasing to abide in the doctrine of Christ with a vengeance. Until the U.F. Church of Scotland will reverse her decision, by which she placed her imprimatur on the blasphemous statements recorded above, she can not as a Church lay claim to the name Christian. May the Lord, in His infinite mercy, open the eyes of that Church, and turn her from her awful apostasy from His Word to sincere faith and repentance.
(4) The Free Church claims that she adheres to the Confession of Faith, and that she did so since 1846. By this statement she was bound to the doctrine of the infallibility and absolute inerrancy of the whole Bible. The fact that the first professor she appointed to one of the Chairs in her College had published Higher Critical views immediately before he was appointed, and that his book had been reviewed favourably in her Monthly Record before that took place, raises grave doubts. Another fact that makes this matter still more serious is that she failed to demand of this professor to withdraw his statements against the inerrancy of the Bible, and that he is still acting as one of her professors. In the year 1922 a petition came up to her General Assembly against congregational social meetings, the terms of which were as follows:—”Your petitioners are deeply grieved at the prevalence of congregational social meetings and sales of work within the Church, and believe that such functions are unscriptural and detrimental to true piety and gospel increase. That they consider the presence of such within the Church as a factor directly making for disquietude and disunity, and a hindrance to the spirit of brotherly love which ought to prevail. Your petitioners, therefore, pray the Assembly to take such steps as will in their wisdom make an end of the practices complained of.” This petition speaks for itself. Every person who holds by the doctrine of Christ—that God’s house is a house of prayer, and should on no account be made use of for merchandise or any other purpose—will agree with every word of it. What was the response of the Assembly? One of her ministers reveals that—”The intensity of the feeling displayed by the opposition would in my judgment prove disastrous to the Church, not to myself. I intended to move in the House by way of Christian appeal to the congregations of the Church.” I am of the opinion that this would only be cured by Hezekiah’s method, when he gave orders to have the temple cleansed:—”And the priests went into the inner parts of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.” May the Lord raise up priests and Levites (ministers and elders) in the Free Church to cleanse her from her inner courts to the outward, is the prayer of the writer. He will not enter further into these unpleasant matters at this time.
(5) The Free Presbyterian Church has continued to adhere consistently in the position taken by her in 1893. It becomes more evident every year since then that the separation was a wise step. This should cause us to adhere, with purpose of heart, to the position taken then, without wavering or compromising in the least. We are sure that, when the people of this country will have their eyes opened by the Spirit of God, they will return to the Bible, to its doctrines, and principles. Such as will adhere to God’s Book, as His infallible Word, and to the doctrines and principles of it, will not have to make any change then. Those who did not abide in the doctrine of Christ will then have much to clear out of their creeds, worship, and practice. But let no one think that his being a Free Presbyterian will save him. It is a very great blessing to be in a Church that keeps to God’s Word in doctrine and practice. The fact remains still that, “except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Repentance toward God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ are absolutely necessary in order to be saved. May the Lord, of His superabounding mercy and grace, pour the Spirit of grace and supplication upon us as a Church, and especially on the young of our families who are so exposed to all the evils of this untoward generation.
III. Let us now consider in a few words the consequences of abiding and of not abiding in the doctrine of Christ.
(1) Such as abide not in it may have riches in abundance, the applause and honours of the world to their hearts’ content; they may be men of learning, whose fame as scholars reach afar; but if they abide not in the doctrine of Christ, they have not God. We have an example in the deplorable case of the Church of Laodicea—”Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. . . Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” This picture of the Church of Laodicea is true to life of the Churches of this country. Christ was in these Churches to begin with, but they ousted Him by their pride, self-sufficiency, and irreligion; but He stands yet at their doors knocking for entrance for Himself and His truth.
(2) Those who abide in the doctrine of Christ have both the Father and the Son. They may be very poor as regards worldly riches, “but the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abound unto the riches of their liberality.” They may not have any of the honours or applause of the world; but if they be of the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is theirs. They may not be famous for learning; but all His children are taught of the Lord. Peter, a fisherman of Galilee, knew who Jesus of Nazareth was, viz., the Son of God, when the men of learning looked upon Him with hatred, contempt, and envy, and charged the only begotten Son of God with being in league with Beelzebub. They may “not have many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble,” among them. But if they are justified freely through His grace, they are “kings and priests unto God.” Let us make sure of having an interest in Christ as our personal Saviour, and then we will count all things as dross in comparison with the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord. Let us also hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.
IV. How they should deal with such as brought not the doctrine of Christ.
(1) They were not to receive them unto their houses. There is a swarm of men traversing our cities, towns, and rural districts, selling books and booklets just now, which are brimful of the most damnable doctrines. These men should not be encouraged to enter into our houses, neither should any buy any of their books. Such as have bought them unawares should commit them to the fire. This does not mean that hospitality should be done away with; but that we should guard ourselves and others from imbibing the views, or even harbouring men who are doing the work of Satan.
(2) We are not to “bid him God-speed, for he that biddeth him God-speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” A man is considered uncharitable in our day if he will not bid the man God speed who does all in his power to break down the faith of the people in the plain doctrines of the Word of God. But, let us beware that we will not become partakers in other men’s sins. “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. . . Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.”
A Sermon to the Young.
PREACHED AT DINGWALL, 2ND JANUARY 1859, BY THE
REV. JOHN KENNEDY, D.D.
“Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near” (Isai. lv. 6).
THIS is a message from the Lord to you this day. I am only like one sent on a message to another, who gets his message written by his master, and who must read it when he reaches the person to whom it is sent, and who must explain the message in order that what his master meant may be understood by those to whom he sent the message. Now, the message to-day is—”Seek the Lord while He may be found.” Now mark, it is not at any time the Lord is to be sought, but just only “while He may be found.” It will be vain to seek Him except then. There are some who seek Him while He may be found, and they get Him, and they get life, and favour of the Lord. There are others who seek Him when He cannot be found, as did the foolish virgins, but they won’t get Him. “Many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able.” Now, attend to the next part of the verse—”Call ye upon Him while He is near.” If you feel that you cannot find Him, just call upon Him to come and find you. You are just like a little child out at night, a dark night with a friend. The child has wandered and lost the way and lost sight of its friend. It may wander and wander till it falls over a precipice into the water and be lost. There is nothing wiser it can do than to try and find its friend again, but when it tries to reach him it cannot find him. What, then, is it to do? What but to cry to his friend to come to it and to lose no time, for it and the friend are going further away. Oh! when the friend is near and will hear its cry, then is the time to call, for that friend can reach and find the child though it cannot reach and find him. Now this is just the way here. You will perish if you don’t seek Christ and find Him, but if you cannot find Him, oh! call on Him while He is near to come to seek and to save that which is lost, for He is able and willing to do so, and He is near you just that you may call on Him to do this. “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.”
“Seek the Lord.” Seek Christ; that is the first thing to which we must attend. It is the Lord that saith this, and to whom does He say this? To each boy, to each girl, to each man and woman in this house. And why should you seek Christ?
(1) Because you want Him.
You have Him not for yourself. You won’t be seeking for anything which you have. It is what you want you will be seeking. Now, this is the greatest want you can have. The greatest want a sinner can have is the want of Christ.
(2) You should seek Him because you need Him.
I want many things which I don’t need. I have them not, but I can do without them. But I need Christ above everything else. If you got Him all your needs would be made up. You need some things for your comfort; you need some things for your life. Now, Christ you need, both for the comfort and life of your soul; you cannot have true comfort or life without Him. Why does the drowning man seek help? It is for his life, and he will die if he does not get it. Now, you are in a state of sin just like one in danger of drowning. You are in danger any moment of sinking into hell. Sin is a drowning sea, and if you are not rescued out of it you will sink down, down into hell. You are in that sea, but you are in it like the child that was going into the river step by step, not knowing where he was going till he put his foot in the deep hole beneath the water, and he went over head and was lost. Or like the child that was swimming merrily on the surface of the water, laughing to his companions, when suddenly he was seized with cramp, and down he went and never came up alive again. Or like the sailor that was bathing in mid-ocean on a hot day. When swimming merrily around the ship, what comes but a shark, which in a moment seized him, dragged him deep down beneath the water and devoured him. Or like the youth that was swimming across the river just above the great fall, when the stream caught him and carried him quietly but surely down, till in a moment over the fall he went and was dashed to pieces on the rocks. It is thus you are while careless and at your ease in a state of sin, and like the sudden cramp, or the dreadful shark, death will come in a moment suddenly and carry you down to the depths of hell. Why do you think Lazarus’ sisters were seeking to find Jesus when their brother was dead? It was because none else could bring him to life again. Now, your soul ought to be dearer to you than Lazarus was to his sisters. It is dead, and none can bring it to life but Christ, for He alone could say—”I am the resurrection and the life.” Why, do you think, were the blind men seeking Jesus, who were crying when Jesus was passing near—”Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on us”? It was because they needed to get their sight, and none but Jesus could give it to them. Now, you are blind as to your soul, and you should seek Jesus to open your eyes. Why, do you think, did the leper seek Jesus, who fell at His feet, crying—”Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean”? It was because he needed healing, and none but the Lord could heal him; and while he was a leper he was shut out from the society of the living. Now, your soul is covered with the leprosy of sin. You are shut out by it from God and from His people, and none can cure but Christ. You should seek Christ, then, because you are lost, and none but He can save you. You are dead, and none but He can bring you alive. You are diseased, and none but He can heal you. You are blind, and none but He can open your eyes.
(3) You should seek Christ because He is worth the seeking.
He is the pearl of great price. If you seek anything else rather than Christ it is just like one seeking and finding useless bits of straw instead of the richest pearl in the world, e.g., Charlotte Elizabeth teaching the deaf-mute the value of Christ’s blood. The child found it difficult to understand how the one sacrifice of Christ should be more valuable than all the thousands of sacrifices that were offered under the law, and all the works that men could do to reconcile themselves to God. The way the kind lady took to teach him was this. She placed one gold sovereign on the table, and opposite to it a heap of dirty rags and bits of paper and other useless things, and then by signs asked the poor dumb child to make choice. At once he seized on the gold piece, and with a wave of the hand tossed the heap of rubbish off the table. Why did the dumb boy seek the gold rather than the great heap that was opposite to it? Just because it was worth the seeking and the rubbish was not. This is the reason why you should seek Christ. He is “the pearl of great price.”
There are three things which Christ has infinitely above all else—1 Beauty, 2 Love, 3 Riches.
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Oh! who can speak of Christ’s beauty? Oh! if you saw Him, dear children, you would join with the Church in saying—”He is the chiefest among ten thousand and altogether lovely.” He has all the infinite beauty of God, all the perfect beauty of man, and all the wonderful beauty of God-man. He was His Father’s delight from all eternity (Prov. viii. 30). He tells us this Himself—”I was daily His delight rejoicing always before Him.” The angels adore His beauty—”Let all the angels of God worship Him.” All the saints in heaven are beholding and admiring and praising His beauty. This is their happiness. They will never weary of beholding Christ’s beauty for ever and ever. All whose eyes were opened on earth never saw anything they would compare to Christ’s beauty. David sung of Him—”Thou fairer art than sons of men” (Ps. xlv. 2). Solomon said of Him that “He was the chiefest among ten thousand and altogether lovely.” Paul counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Him. The disciples, when they saw, left all and followed Him. Oh! if you only saw Him you would think nothing of all you ever saw before. Put all the beauty of the world into one object, let all the glory of the sun, all the beauty of the moon, all the lustre of the stars, all the fair colours that adorn the earth, all the loveliness ever seen in any object in all the universe, and the beauty formed by a perfect combination of the whole world, as compared to Christ, are but as the vilest thing in the world compared to the most beautiful. Oh, dear children, you love to see strange sights and beautiful things, and you have often said of one thing and of another—”How beautiful! how wonderful!” but, oh! did any of you ever say this of Christ? Will none of you ask to see Christ? Oh! would that He showed His beauty to you; then would you seek Him indeed.
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There is none like Christ in love. The greatest love of any other is shown in giving one’s life for a friend. Christ is the only one that ever gave His life for enemies. Think of His shedding His blood for enemies. Oh! think of Him, the great and glorious Son of God, shedding His blood for enemies, and such enemies. Vile and worthless sinners who deserved to die ten thousand times, and who hated Him with all their heart, and He knew this, and yet He was willing to die the accursed death of the Cross for them, and He did this with all His heart. When they were hating Him with all their heart He was dying for them with all His heart. Oh, if you knew this love! If you were Christ’s lambs you would be just like the princess of old that was taken by a king, and when it was to be decided by the king what was to be done with her, her husband rises up and offers to give his own life as a ransom for her. When asked afterwards by someone what she thought of the appearance of the king, she said—”I had no eyes for anyone but the one who offered his life for mine.” Oh, are there none here who would like to keep all their eyes for Christ? Alas! alas! that it is true of many here that they see no beauty in Christ why they should desire Him. There is another thing Christ’s love can do that no other love will do. It will fondly embrace a vile, worthless enemy. Oh! if you only came to Christ after all you have ever done against Him, He would embrace you in the arms of His love. Others will embrace friends. He is the only one that will embrace enemies. He will do as the father did to the prodigal when he came back. He went to meet him, and fell on his neck and kissed him. He hates putting away the vilest sinner that can come to Him. Hear Him say—”Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” “Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.” There is another thing true of Christ’s love that is not true of any other. It will never change and it will never end. His is the only love of which this can be said. Other friends will soon weary of showing kindness, but Christ will not. Oh! if He was your friend His love begun would be always the same. It will follow you all your life. It would be about you wherever you went. You don’t read of any human love stronger than David’s to Jonathan and Jonathan’s to David, but it was not much Jonathan could do for him; they had to part. But here is love that can be doing you good whenever you are—in sickness and in health, in the house or in the way, in your closet or in your family, in life or in death. Oh! dear friends, Christ’s love is rare, rare love, and it can follow you when all other love will fail at death. Your best friends will then have to part with you. There is only one Friend that sticketh closer than a brother at death. Friends may weep for you then, but they will dry their tears, and if they will not altogether, they will very often forget you. But, oh! it is at death that Christ’s love will be fully known. It remembered its objects every moment till then, and then it will bring them in to be forever with Christ in the rest, the joy, and the glory of the Father’s house.
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There is none like Christ in riches. There are just three kinds of riches that Christ has, and if you found Him you would get them all. (1) Riches of merit.—That was the price of His own blood which He paid to God for the redemption of enemies. Now, this price you must have for yourself before you can escape the wrath and curse of God, and this first of all you must get. (2) Riches of grace.—All fullness of grace in Christ Jesus to supply all your soul wants. (3) Riches of sanctifying grace, riches of guiding grace, riches of strengthening grace, riches of comforting grace. All this is in Christ, and will be yours if you find Him. All the riches in heaven and in earth are His. God is His God and Father. Heaven is His. The angels are His. The Church is His. All the earth and its fullness is His. Now, if you find Christ all things will be yours in Him. Let us suppose a poor prisoner in the hands of enemies or in the hands of the law under sentence of death. A friend loves him. He is lying in prison, and he cannot escape. Besides, he is very sick, and his disease is a deadly one. All that he had he has lost, and there is nothing he can call his own. He can’t call the room he is in his own, his clothes are not his own, the food is not his own until he eats it. Poor creature! does he not need a friend? But there is a Friend. And what can He do for him? A great deal. He can do all for him he needs. But is He willing to do it? Oh! yes. And what is He able and willing to do? (1) He is able and willing to buy his freedom for him. He has riches enough to do this and to get his life for the poor prisoner. But this is not all. (2) He has power to heal him of all his diseases. He has love as rich as to seek to do this, and He has as much wealth of power as to be able to do it. But this is not all. (3) He has a great and glorious kingdom to give him, and He can make him heir of it all at once and can put him yet on the throne in health and glory and honour. Now, you are the prisoner, and Christ is the prisoner’s Friend. By the price of His blood He can secure your deliverance from your guilt, free you from condemnation, and give you eternal life. By the riches of His grace He can heal all your diseases and supply all your wants. His God and Father He will secure to you as your God and Father. All things will be yours if Christ is yours. All in heaven and in earth will be yours. Oh! is not this wealth worth the seeking? you may think. Oh! if they who get Christ will be so rich, how do we see some of them so poor in this world! Oh! if they were the great and rich men of the world, if the earth was theirs, would they be so poor as we see some of them? I remember coming out from seeing one who had found Christ and had Christ’s riches as his own, and who was lying on a sick-bed. Just as I came out from his bedside there was a splendid coach and four passing. He who had this fine carriage was one that had not found Christ. I asked myself which would I prefer to be like—the sick man in his filthy bed or the rich man in his fine chariot. Which would you have chosen? Which do you think was the richer of the two? The poor man was indeed the richer man; the rich man was indeed the poorer man. You might see a rich man on a wet day very drenched and very weary passing by a comfortable house, and you felt at the time how much better off those who were in the house were than he. But was it so? Oh! no. In a very short time he had reached a splendid house of his own, and the house which he passed was in his own property, but he did not choose to remain in it; it was nothing to his own. It is thus with Christ’s people. You may wonder when you see them passing through this world that they have not the outward honours and pleasures of the men of the world, but if you saw the house that is awaiting them, and the honour and joy of it, you would, like those, esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. Now all Christ’s beauty would be yours to delight you. All Christ’s love would be yours to embrace you, and all His wealth would be yours to enrich you if you only found Him for yourself. Will you, then, seek Him? Surely you should.
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Another reason why you should seek Him is that the Lord commands you.
This would be reason enough of itself. Whatever He commands you are bound to do, just because He commands it. It is He, then, who says—”Seek the Lord.” If your parent tells you to do a thing that is right, you should do it at once, whatever it is, without asking the reason why he asks you. It ought to be enough for you that you are ordered to do it. But if what he told you to do was the best thing for yourself you could do, would it not be very foolish as well as very wicked to disobey? Now, this is the best thing in the world for you that God commands you to do—to seek Christ that you may find Him for yourself; to have the living, lovely Jesus for yourself. Your own, your very own, your very own for ever. How foolish not to seek Him, then.
Where am I to seek Him? Just where He is. He is in the Bible. That is the field where the pearl of great price is. If the sermon is worth, Christ is in the sermon, and you should seek Him there. But there are many sermons in which He is not. But He is always in the Bible. “Search the Scriptures,” then, for Christ. Christ Himself tells you this. And what is it to find Him there? It is (1) to know Him as the Bible reveals Him—to see His beauty, His love, and His riches in the words of the Bible; and (2) to take Him as a free gift from God. A whole Christ to save you from all sin, and without money and without price. When may He thus be found? Whatever time this is, it is the only time there is any use in seeking Him. If you don’t seek Him you will never find Him. And what time is that? It is just the passing moment—”Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.” Not to-morrow. Not next year. Not next hour. Not next minute. It is now. How long is now? How long will you take to say now? That, then, is the length of now. What is your now? Oh! I expect to live long. Who told you that? It is Satan that tells you. But, oh! what though you should, can it be too soon to find Christ? Oh! if you knew Him you would feel the moments as long as hours till you could call Him your own. If you were expecting some great thing that was promised you, how long you would feel the time till you got it. Now, then, this day, this hour, this minute, this moment the Lord calls you to seek Christ. Oh! would you find Him? If so, call on Him while He is near. He is near in the Word. He is in this house. He is in that Bible. He is in these words as they are reaching your ears and your mind—”The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.” Oh! will you let Him pass? Oh! will you not cry like the blind men when they heard that Jesus was near. He is able and willing to make you find Him. He can show you your need of Him. He shows you Himself. He can make you willing to seek and to find Him. Oh! will you not, then, call? He is near now, but He may be soon far off, and you may find yourself yet at death like the poor sailor cast into the sea while the ship and the help leave him far behind, and there is none to hear his cry as he sinks to rise no more. When thinking lately of seeking I fell a-dreaming. I thought I saw a field enclosed with a high wall, but there was an opening into the field. In this field I thought there was much gold. As I came to the gate I saw a good many outside who were not going into the field, and I asked them—”Who are you?” Their answer was—”We are those who don’t attend church or the Sabbath school, or read the Bible or pray.” Then I said—”You can’t get the gold; you can’t get Christ.” Laughing at me, they said—”If not, we don’t care.” I then went in to see if there were any in and to see what they were doing. I found one, on entering, sound asleep on the ground. I tried to waken him, but he would not move. The next I saw was running over the field not seeking for anything. I said to him—”You can’t get gold in that way. You are not digging for it.” “I don’t want gold,” he said, and went off as before and left me. The next I saw when I came up began to dig, at least he pretended, but he was getting no gold, and to deceive me he was dropping bits of copper into his spade that I might think he was getting gold. The next I saw was by himself. He had dug deep into the field and had reached the gold and had quite a treasure of it gathered. I said to him in the words of the Lord—”If thou seekest wisdom as silver and searchest for her as for hid treasure, then shalt thou understand the way of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” “I hope I have found the treasure,” he said. I then asked him from what place he came. I am sorry to say that he could not tell me he was from the Dinwall Sabbath School. Now, try to interpret this dream. May the Lord bless you in trying this. May He apply to you His Word, and to His name be all the praise.
Let us be faithful, and care for our own part, which is to do and suffer for Christ, and lay His part on Himself, and leave it there. Duties are ours, events are the Lord’s. When our faith goeth to meddle with events, and to hold a court (if I may so speak) on God’s providence, and beginneth to say, “How wilt Thou do this and that?” we lose ground. We have nothing to do there. It is our part to let the Almighty exercise His own office, and steer His own helm.—Rutherford.
Christian Comes to the Gate.
BY JOHN BUNYAN.
THEN said Evangelist to him, Thy sin is very great, for by it thou hast committed two evils; thou hast forsaken the way that is good, to tread in forbidden paths: yet will the man at the Gate receive thee, for he has good-will for men; only, said he, take heed that thou turn not aside again, “lest thou perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.” Then did Christian address himself to go back; and Evangelist, after he had kissed him gave him one smile, and bid him God speed: so he went on with haste, neither spake he to any man by the way; nor if any asked him, would he vouchsafe them an answer. He went like one that was all the while treading on forbidden ground, and could by no means think himself safe till again he was got into the way which he left to follow Mr Worldly-wiseman’s counsel. So in process of time Christian got up to the Gate. Now over the Gate there was written, “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” He knocked therefore more than once or twice, saying—
“May I now enter here? will he within
Open to sorry me, though I have been
An undeserving rebel? Then shall I
Not fail to sing his lasting praise on high.”
At last there came a grave person to the Gate, named Good-will, who asked, Who was there? and whence he came? and what he would have?
Christian—Here is a poor burdened sinner. I come from the City of Destruction, but am going to Mount Zion, that I may be delivered from the wrath to come: I would therefore, Sir, since I am informed that by this Gate is the way thither, know if you are willing to let me in. I am willing with all my heart, said he; and with that he opened the Gate.
So when Christian was stepping in, the other gave him a pull. Then said Christian, What means that, The other told him, “A little distance from this Gate there is erected a strong castle, of which Beelzebub is the captain; from thence both he and they that are with him shoot arrows at those that come up to this Gate, if haply they may die before they can enter in.” Then said Christian, I rejoice and tremble. So when he was got in, the man of the Gate asked him, Who directed him thither?
Christian—Evangelist bid me come hither and knock, as I did; and he said that you, Sir, would tell me what I must do.
Good-will—“An open door is before thee, and no man can shut it.”
Christian—Now I begin to reap the benefits of my hazards.
Good-will—But how is it that you come alone?
Christian—Because none of my neighbours saw their danger, as I saw mine.
Good-will—Did any of them know of your coming?
Christian—Yes, my wife and children saw me at the first, and called after me to turn again. Also some of my neighbours stood crying, and calling after me to return; but I put my fingers in my ears, and so came on my way.
Good-will—But did none of them follow you, to persuade you to go back?
Christian—Yes, both Obstinate and Pliable: but when they saw that they could not prevail, Obstinate went railing back; but Pliable came with me a little way.
Good-will—But why did he not come through?
Christian—We indeed came both together, until we came to the Slough of Despond, into which we also suddenly fell. And then was my neighbour Pliable discouraged, and would not adventure further. Wherefore getting out again, on that side next to his own house, he told me I should possess the brave country alone for him. So he went his way, and I came mine; he after Obstinate, and I to this Gate.
Then said Good-will, Alas, poor man! is the celestial glory of so small esteem with him, that he counteth it not worth running the hazard of a few difficulties to obtain it?
Truly, said Christian, I have said the truth of Pliable: and if I should also say all the truth of myself, it will appear there is no difference betwixt him and myself. It is true he went back to his own house, but I also turned aside to go into the way of death, being persuaded thereto by the carnal argument of one Mr Worldly-wiseman.
Good-will—Oh, did he light upon you? What, he would have had you sought for ease at the hands of Mr Legality; they are both of them very cheats: but did you take his counsel?
Christian—Yes, as far as I durst: I went to find out Mr Legality, until I thought that the mountain that stands by his house would have fallen upon my head: wherefore there I was forced to stop.
Good-will—That mountain has been the death of many, and will be the death of many more: it is well you escaped being dashed in pieces by it.
Christian—Why, truly, I do not know what had become of me there, had not Evangelist happily met me again as I was musing in the midst of my dumps: but it was God’s mercy that he came to me again, for else I had never come hither. But now I am come, such a one as I am, more fit indeed for death by that mountain, than thus to stand talking with my Lord: but, oh! what a favour is this to me, that yet I am admitted entrance here!
Good-will—We make no objections against any, notwithstanding all that they have done before they came hither. They in no wise are cast out and therefore, good Christian, come a little way with me, and I will teach thee about the way thou must go. Look before thee; dost thou see this narrow way? That is the way thou must go. It was cast up by the patriarchs, prophets, Christ, and His apostles, and it is as straight as a rule can make it. This is the way thou must go.
But, said Christian, are there no turnings nor windings, by which a stranger may lose the way?
Good-will—Yes, there are many ways butt down upon this; and they are crooked, and wide: but thus thou must distinguish the right from the wrong, the right only being straight and narrow.
Then I saw in my dream, that Christian asked him further, if he could not help him off with the burden that was upon his back; for as yet he had not got rid thereof, nor could he by any means get it off without help. He told him: “As to thy burden, be content to bear it, until thou comest to the place of deliverance; for there it will fall from thy back of itself.”—The Pilgrim’s Progress.