*This Sermon was preached at the induction of Rev. James A. Tallach at Kames, 4th May, 1931.
WE have brought before us in this Book of Revelation, in the way of visions given to the Apostle John in the Island of Patmos, a prophecy which covers the whole history of the Church in the world from the time of John down to the day of Judgment. We have first brought before us the Book which John saw in the hands of Him who sat on the throne, sealed with seven seals, and no creature in heaven or on earth was found worthy to take that book and to open the seals thereof, and we are told that John wept, and no wonder when he saw that the Church was to be left in darkness down to the end of time. One of the Elders who sat before the Throne said, “Weep not, behold the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the Book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.” We find that these seven seals were opened by the Lamb, and under every seal there was a further development brought to light of the Church of God in this world. Then you have the opening of the seventh seal, and you have seven angels standing before God and unto them were given seven trumpets, which they were to sound. These trumpets were alarms to the people—to the Church in the world, concerning the awful judgment God would bring upon this world on account of sins in departing from God and His truth. The development of Anti-Christ is also brought before us, and that Man of Sin—the Pope of Rome. After that you have the seven vials full of the wrath of God, and each one of these was to be poured on the seed of the beast, which is the seed of the Papacy, until it will be exterminated and that so suddenly as a millstone thrown into the sea. Anti-Christ will come to an end as quickly as that when God’s time will come. All this was to take place before the Day of Judgment, when all nations will have to appear before Him who sits on the great white throne, to render their account. You will have then the one party taken to heaven, those who repented in time and were born of water and of the Spirit, and believed in Christ; and all the rest of the human race turned down into Hell with Satan. That is in a few words the contents of this book.
Turning now to the words of our text, we have in them part of an Epistle, which was written to the Churches of Asia. I might mention in passing that we read in the Gospels of the death and the burial in Jerusalem of the Messiah, the Son of God, and also a record of His resurrection on the third day and ascension into glory, but here you have Him after He was dead and buried, writing letters to the seven Churches. When a man dies you never hear of a letter being written by him, but here is One who died for the sins of all that shall be saved, and when He had finished that work, He rose from the dead, and He is now writing to the Churches to warn them of all He sees amiss, and He is doing the same still in His Word.
Now in considering these words, which we have taken as the basis of a few remarks at this time, we shall notice two things:—
1. The charge He gives to the Church in Philadelphia—”Hold fast that which thou hast that no man take thy crown.”
2. The special motive He holds forth to excite and move them to do this—(1) That He will come quickly, and (2) that unless they do what He commands, they will lose their crown.
- One or two things concerning the charge He gives them—to hold fast that which they had, and in connection with that we shall notice what it really was they had, and which they were commanded to hold fast. Man may be holding fast what may be to their everlasting ruin. God never advised men to hold fast to sin; he advises men to forsake sin, and to turn to the Lord and He will have mercy upon them. You find in the 10th verse of this chapter, He says, “Because thou has kept the word of my patience.” This is what they were to hold fast—”the word of God’s patience,” not a place in the world. We will consider briefly why He calls it the “Word of His patience.” You find on reading the Bible, much patience exercised towards the Jews. How they dealt with His Word. How they dealt with the holy men of God sent by the Holy Ghost to reveal God’s mind to them. Hardly one of them escaped persecution and death. Was there not patience exercised there? As an illustration take for instance an earthly king, were he to send an ambassador to another nation to communicate to them what he felt was really necessary for them to know, and his ambassador was ill-treated, what would he do? Would he not do as David did when he sent his servants down to the king of the children of Ammon to condole with him on the death of his father, and he ill-used them, and David sent down an army and destroyed them. There was no patience there, and that was a man—a godly man. But the men that God sent were shamefully treated, and yet He sent one after another, until He gave them the whole of the Old Testament scriptures. We think that is first of all implied in “the Word of His patience.” The Jews would not turn to the Lord and forsake their evil ways, but put to death those who brought this message from the God of Heaven, but God extended His patience in that He did not destroy them, and that is one reason why the Scriptures of the Old Testament deserve the name of the Word of God’s patience. He bore with them for fifteen hundred years. In one of the Parables, you have the husbandmen to whom the Lord let out his Vineyard, and when He sent His servants to collect the fruit of it, these husbandmen evilly entreated them, and yet He sent another, and they did the same thing, and the third, they stoned, and after that, the Lord of the vineyard said, “What will I do? I will send my Son and they will reverence my Son,” and God sent His Son in our nature into the world that He might get of the fruit of His vineyard, but they said, “This is the Heir, come let us kill Him.”
Although all this took place; although they killed the Prophets and at last murdered the very Son of God, the Creator of heaven and earth and all that in them is, yet God continued to give His Word to men down to the end of the Book of Revelation, and that showed how well this designation suits the Word of God—the Word of His patience. You would have thought that when men imbrued their hands in the blood of the Son of God, that God would have said, I will not communicate one word more of the Truth which I purposed to send them; but instead of that, He continued till He had given the whole of His counsel, and all that will be given to perishing men till the last day. “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” God was not overcome with all the evil that men committed in the world, refusing to receive His truth, and refusing to obey Him. It did not turn Him in the least degree from communicating His whole counsel, and that in this Book, the Bible. This is God’s Book, and this is what He asks them here to hold fast. This was the greatest gift that God gave to any nation, as you find it in the 147th Psalm. This was the greatest goodness that God gave to Israel, for all the honour and riches and glory that we may have, is not worth a pebble on the road in comparison with God’s truth. He gave us this Word as sure as He gave it to the Church of Philadelphia, in faithfulness to their souls and in order that they might be saved, and created anew in Christ Jesus; for the Word of God is the seed of religion in the soul of man, and there is no other seed that can change you or me. “Ye are born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God.” So to lose this Word is a greater loss than if a man were to find himself to-morrow without a penny in the world, and every man as penniless as a beggar. It would be nothing in comparison with losing the Word of God. All that we see here or possess or enjoy will be of very little consequence in the end, for it is just like a shadow, which we shall have to leave shortly behind us—”Behold, I come quickly;” and everything we have in the world, we must leave, and go to eternity as naked as we came into the world. If we go into eternity and it is true of us that we did not hold fast this Word, alas! alas! it were better that we never had a being.
When we are exhorted here to “Hold fast,” it is a command, and implies first, that you should not hold it loosely so that it might slip. Hold it fast, and although you should lose the world, and even your very life, don’t lose your hold. Others held it so fast in Scotland, that they allowed their lives to be taken rather than lose God’s Word. Alas, that we should be the offspring of such men and women, when we esteem the Word of God so lightly—the Word that they gave their lives for. How worthless we are when we would not say to any man, who would try to take this Word out of our hands—”Hands off, that belongs to me. It is God’s Word, and He gave it to me, and commands me to hold it fast.” It cannot be said that you are holding it fast if you let this and that part slip. You must hold it so that not one iota of it will slip out of your hands. It also implies that there will be some who will try to take it from you, otherwise there would be no reason to ask you to hold it fast, and it is then that you will have to show what grip you have of it, and what value you see in it, and how much you are prepared to sacrifice in order to keep it. The great enemy of God’s truth down through the ages, from the days of Cain and Abel, never ceases to try and take this treasure from God’s Church. Satan has done his very utmost to take this Word out of the hands of the Church, and when we look into the history of the Bible, of Cain and Abel, that is what he was trying to do there. What we have there is whether Abel would let go God’s truth and hold by the opinions of his own brother, and there are many in the world who think that anything they may devise is a worship good enough for God, and that He is bound to accept of it, but will He? What was the cause of all the misery that came upon the Old Testament Church? Was it not because they allowed Satan and his false prophets to take God’s Word out of their hands. Satan can transform himself into an angel of light, and he was doing this, and so strong was the force he had in the days of Elijah, that when that Prophet of God on Mount Carmel came to try and take the people back to the worship of God, there was over a thousand false prophets to face one man, who was holding fast by God’s Word. There is nothing new in our day when you look back on the history of the past.
It is necessary for you to hold fast by God’s Word, for to take an example, you see how after the Apostles were taken away, there began to come into the Church changes of doctrine and worship, and then idols. Why? Because men did not hold fast by God’s Word, but allowed Anti-Christ—the Pope, to come in—that fearful monster that caused millions of men and women and even children to be massacred and put to death because they would not bow their knees to him. We think there is no sting in that old serpent, but let the people in this country take care, there may be bloodshed in Scotland yet on account of this very thing, for it is growing like a mushroom.
You are to hold fast by the doctrine of God’s Word—that great doctrine which is over all the pages of the Bible, and which takes in first the fall of mankind in Adam. By the sin of one man many became sinners—the whole human race became lost. It matters nothing what men may say about this, God’s Word will stand—yea, let God be true and every man a liar. We noticed this that every generation which began to deny the fall of man, was the one which gave the greatest proof of it in their conduct. It was so manifest that an idiot could see it, and never more than in our day. They have forsaken the ways of God; parents never mention to their children that they have a soul, and that there is a God, and that they are accountable to Him. Some have told us that they never saw a Bible in the hands of their father or mother, never saw family worship, nor giving thanks for food; the Sabbath Day was not observed, and the reins, as it were, were thrown upon their necks. Oh! we pity the young of our day, how they have been reared by careless and godless parents, and have never been warned of the consequences of sin, not only the miseries of this life, but the miseries of eternity, in other words—Hell.
Then there is the doctrine of the atonement—God’s way and the only way, through Jesus Christ upon whom He laid the iniquity of all who shall be saved, and carried away their sins, and through whom God offers forgiveness freely to the guiltiest sinner through the merits of His blood.
Then there is the doctrine of the work of the Holy Ghost, calling sinners effectually, awakening their consciences, and enlightening their understandings, changing their will, and making them a willing people. It is the Holy Ghost alone that can do it, and this doctrine among others must be held fast. This doctrine was held in Scotland, but it is another gospel we have to-day, and you never hear a word about the work of the Holy Ghost at all. You are considered ignorant if you hold by it, and that shows how blind men are become when they do not know the doctrines of God’s Word. Don’t let these doctrines go for any philosophy or learning, but hold fast. There is no proof in the world that there is one error in this Book, and such as say otherwise, are only doing the work of Satan and wicked men.
Cain departed immediately from the mode of worship God set up in the world, and we are told now that on Harvest Thanksgiving day, you will find Churches full of turnips, and that sort of things. What does that mean? It simply means that they are going back to the worship of Cain. Nothing is to be brought into worship but what God commands—nothing but the Psalms of David in praise and that with the lips. God has given you an organ wherewith to praise Him, and it is a poor thing for you to allow men to set up a choir, and the rest sitting like dummies there. I would not allow any man in the world to stop my mouth from praising my God, seeing He has given me an organ to praise Him. I would sooner do like the farmer in the south of Scotland who had no music, and had a very loud voice, and who would be putting the precentor out of tune when asked to refrain from singing so loudly, said:—“No, I am told in the Scriptures to do so.” “How can you prove it from Scripture?” he was asked. “Is it not written? Praise Him with all your might” was his reply; and although you should be as bad as that you would be putting the precentor out of tune, don’t allow pieces of wood and metal to praise your God instead of your lips. There is nothing else to be allowed in God’s house. Oh! but you will be considered antiquated. That does not matter, my duty is to hold fast to His mode of worship whatever names I may be called.
Again, you must have discipline in the Church. To illustrate that, see you a family, especially where there is a lot of boys, if everyone gets his own way, what sort of family it will be? Every father will have a rod, and the presence of the rod itself is of great value in keeping order. When the father or mother takes the rod in his or her hand, you will hear crying, and probably the threat “When I get big, I will leave the house, and what will I not do.” Well, don’t be surprised when the Church of Christ will have to use discipline, although the same thing should happen. They are going to rebel and not submit. They will do this and that—they will go on the Sabbath Day and trample it under their feet, and yet you will have to give them the place of elders and ministers, and if you will not do that, you will hear about it. We must be men in these matters and use discipline and turn them out if they will not come under God’s discipline set down in His Book, which is the only rule.
Our great Divines, who were worthy of the name, when they began to construct the Shorter Catechism, they began where God began with you and me—”What is the chief end of man?” “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.” Then there comes in, “What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him?” There is not another book like the Shorter Catechism that is so logical, it gives the only rule as the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, and this is the ONLY rule. We ought to be men and women in this way that we would not take from any man, learned or unlearned, what is contrary to God’s revealed will in His Word. It is THE rule and we ought to keep to it, and to hold it fast, for we shall never glorify God in any other way, and we shall never enjoy Him in time or in eternity but by this one rule, and if you try otherwise and you will have long enough in eternity to mourn over it. O dear friends! it is your soul, your soul, you will destroy if you turn from this one rule, and if I knew a person here by face of whom that would be true, I could not stand before you—it is terrible! terrible! and alas! alas! there are many here who will not see life unless they will turn to God’s truth and believe it, and believe in their own ruined condition, and apply themselves as lost sinners to Christ to be saved from sin and its consequences by His blood, and His intercession.
- Let us consider the motive. Without any promise or motive at all, this would be your duty, and God, my friends, will punish eternally all who will depart from His Word in this world.
(1) First, in the motive, there is—”Behold I come quickly.” To whom is this addressed? Surely to old men with their grey heads, some of them eighty and others not far from it. Surely He will come quickly to them. My dear friends, I have been now for about 50 years going among people, and alas! alas! how few and far between are the graves of old people in comparison with children and young men and women. How often are the young called away in a moment to give their account! Perhaps the youngest in the house will be the first person to whom He will come, but come He will, and that quickly.
It is in order to enforce this advice—”Hold fast that which thou hast,” that He says “Behold I come quickly,” and He will come quickly to you to take an account of how you dealt with His Word in the world. All of us shall have to give an account to God as individuals, and it will not do for us in that day that we did as other men did, it is your responsibility no matter what others may do.
He will surely come quickly to old age for the aged cannot be very long in the world, but as I said already, how many graves you will find in Kerry of little children, boys and girls, and how few you will find that were over 70 years of age. He comes quickly to the young to take them away from all the privileges that we have here now, and there is no work nor device nor wisdom nor knowledge in the grave to which we are going. As the tree falleth so shall it lie, and perhaps you who promise yourself long life and are going to do great things in turning from vanities when you are old, you may be dust in the earth before that time comes, but God sets before you To-day—”To-day if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts . . .” Do it now! Hold fast God’s Word now, and as I said already, many a young man and woman in Scotland lost their life—why? because they were found with a Bible in their possession, and they would not give it away in order to save their lives, but how lightly we part with it in our day—alas! for our loss.
He will not only come quickly at death, but it will not be long till the day of judgment will come, when our souls and bodies will have their destinies fixed for ever. We are destined to exist as long as God will exist, and eternity will not see an end of you. There is no calculation that will reach a millionth part of the eternity that is before you and me, and we have only a short time—”Behold I come quickly.” As the Lord said to Judas—”That which thou doest, do quickly.” There was no time to be lost.
I read in the writings of that most eminent servant of God, Thomas Boston, who was giving a description of the word eternity, in which he made use of this illustration—supposing that the whole globe of this earth was made up of sand, and that a bird was coming once in a thousand years to take away one grain of which it was composed, the time would come, but who could calculate it, when the last would be taken away, but in eternity it would be only as if it began yesterday when all that was over. That is what is before you and me, that eternity, and our time is very short. Let us therefore hold fast God’s Word, its doctrines, its worship, its government and its discipline—all that it contains, and not let it go for any man, or Satan, or for our own lusts.
(2) The second motive is—That no man take thy crown. O dear friend, if there was a prospect of your getting the crown of Great Britain, how earnest you would be that nothing would come between you and it, but what is it to the crown that is set before you here—the crown of life, which you are in danger of losing, and instead of attaining to eternal life in glory, to lose your life and be eternally weeping and wailing and gnashing your teeth on account of your folly. This crown of life is set before sinners in the world, and seek it earnestly, dear friend.
I remember having read that at the time of the pagan persecution, about twelve men, Christians, who were under sentence of death, and the jailor of the prison had a strange dream just before the execution was to take place. He saw an extraordinarily fine looking man coming into the prison, and he had twelve crowns with him, and he went and tried the crowns on the head of the first prisoner, and the second, and right on to the eleventh, and the crown fitted the head of everyone. At last he came to the twelfth, and the crown did not fit him at all, and he told the jailor to come over, and he put the crown on the jailor’s head, and it fitted him perfectly, and he left it there. The next day the prisoners were taken away to be burned, but when it came to the twelfth man, he recanted, and cursed Christ, and when the jailor saw that, he said:—”That is not what Christ deserves.” He was asked: “Would you recant?” “No,” he said, and he took that man’s place at the stake, and got the crown, which awaited him. And so ought you, and so ought I to see that we would not lose this crown of eternal life, for all the people of God, however contemptible they may be in the eyes of the world, they are kings, and shall reign with Christ on His throne. They shall be raised from the dunghill—”He will raise the poor out of the dust, and the beggar out of the dunghill, and set them with the princes of His people.”
There is this therefore set before you here as a motive to enforce upon you and me to hold fast to God’s Word, and not to let it go in any of its doctrines and principles for the sake of any man—first, how short the time is until Christ will come—in death and at the Great Day, and secondly that another may not take your crown, like the man mentioned above. He certainly was not holding fast although he was in prison. In conclusion, take you good care that another may not be wearing the crown of glory for ever, which you might have had, if you had held fast to God’s Word in the world.