God constituted man in such a way that he is capable not only of remembering things that took place in the past, but he is also capable of drawing a comparison, or a contrast, between the past and the present, and forming a judgment as to whether conditions in the past or in the present were best. This has caused the Lord’s people to look wistfully to the past and desire the conditions which existed then. Job in his afflictions said, “Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; when his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness” (Job xxix. 2, 3). Not only are these reflections indulged in when one has personal afflictions, but those who are lovers of Zion draw a contrast between the past and the present in
connection with the changing condition of the Church of God in the world. The Psalmist has the past and the present before him when he said: “A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers” (Psalm lxxiv. 5, 6).
It is not necessary for us to go outside the bounds of Scotland to see in a very clear manner the contrast between the past and present in their bearing on the Church of God. God raised up men among us who were instruments in His own hand for setting up His Church, and these men are famous for the great work which they did. The apostate Church of Rome held almost undisputed sway in Scotland for centuries, but when God’s time came for setting up His Church on a Scriptural foundation, He raised up men for the purpose. Scotland, at this time, could be likened to a dark forest whose swamps bred death and corruption, for men had wandered out of the way of understanding and remained in the congregation of the dead. Men to whom God had given strength of body and mind, making them capable of a more exalted service, were rooted and grounded in the error and superstition of Rome, so that, though they were fair to look upon as trees in a forest, they served neither God nor their country.
It was upon these thick trees that John Knox and Andrew Melville and a host of others, raised up the axe of God’s Law, showing them that “by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” At first sight it appeared like a work of destruction as one giant after another in the forest fell with a crash to the ground, but the men who were at the work had their eye on the foundation of which the Apostle said, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (I. Cor. iii. 11). In due time those who had been thick trees in the forest of Papal Rome were reared upon this foundation as pillars in the temple of God. These pillars might at first be few and far between, but they were parts of a noble structure which was to be the glory of our land, and which was to stand the shock of many an attack on the prerogatives of King Jesus. In rearing this noble structure men were not left to their own devices, neither did they copy their plans from structures already in existence in other lands. They went to the Bible and did after the example of Moses who “was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for see, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.” Thus we find not only the pillars reared but the carved work of the Church’s Confession and Catechisms, her government and discipline, and all her other Scriptural and time-honoured institutions standing out in bold relief. It is true that many who were set up to be pillars were burnt, while others were removed out of their place by the enemies of the Church, and even many an effort was made to mar the carved work, but in spite of all this, Scotland had a Church which was unique among the churches of the world.
Things, however, have taken another turn. The famous men who lifted up their axes upon the thick trees and set up the carved work, have heard the “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. . . . Enter thou into the joy of the Lord,” and others have taken their place, who have proved themselves to be of the “mighty men, which were of old, men of renown,”
that were the fruit of the marriages of the sons of God and the daughters of men (Genesis vi. 4). These seem to have been in the same school as the young men who grew up with Rehoboam, and who put in his mouth to say to the people, “My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins” (I. Kings xii. 10). To them the carved work is antiquated and unsuitable for an age of learning and progress, and they must go at it with axes and hammers to break it down, nor do they pause to consider that it is only men of knowledge and understanding who can set up carved work, while any untutored savage can break it down.
It must not be forgotten that all this breaking down of the carved work is done in the name of culture and enlightenment. A man may be a big enough dolt as regards general education and the practical application of it to the incidents of everyday life, yet because he has specialised in certain matters he gets the name of being a learned man. It is such who consider themselves competent judges as to whether, or not, the carved work should be preserved, and they always give their verdict against it, yet because of their name for learning none dare find fault with them. When the Robertson Smith case before the Free Church Assembly it was maintained by his friends, for reasons which are obvious, that the question was one of deep scholarship on which only profound Hebraists could form a judgment, and yet hardly a question was raised in the whole case but what every minister who passed through the ordinary curriculum was competent to deal with. History has often repeated itself on this same point when men endeavoured to break down the carved work set up by men who were famous for their piety, integrity and learning.
Again, many who break down the carved work might be compared to Jehu, the son of Nimshi, who said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord,” yet “from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them.” They set themselves up as paragons of faithfulness and wisdom, and all who will not agree with them are traitors to the cause of Christ. They find unfaithfulness where there is nothing more or less than an impartial exercise of discipline, and when their own purposes and plans are frustrated they raise the cry of persecution. Such, to the extent of their power, will break down the carved work, and being so blinded by the idea that they are martyrs themselves, they become quite oblivious to the consequences of their recklessness.
These consequences, it may be pointed out, are many. The cause which they should have strengthened is, by their actions, weakened, and thus they give cause of rejoicing to Satan’s kingdom. The movements which they originated come to nothing, because they proceeded from men, and such as have swallowed their cry of unfaithfulness in the Church, despairing of finding faithfulness according to their own peculiar standards, cease to go to any place of worship, or in some cases go to the other extreme, and patronise places of worship where the worship and doctrine are decidedly un-Scriptural. These are but a few of the consequences of the actions of men who, in the name of faithfulness, seek to lord it over the consciences of their fellow creatures, and when their plans do not carry they show how little they care for the carved work of God’s Church on earth.
This brings before us the necessity of discriminating between a real stand for the Truth, and that which is merely so in name. Those who become office-bearers in the Church take ordination vows and sign the formula, and thus they testify that they are perfectly satisfied with the Constitution of the Church in which they take office. Before leaving that Church, or charging it with having undergone a change, they ought to be satisfied that the Constitution has been altered, and that it accepts now in doctrine or government, something which it did not receive when they took office. They must be satisfied that this change took place by putting the appropriate machinery in motion for effecting a change in the Constitution. When such has taken place and all proposed remedies are set aside, separation not only becomes a duty, but it is the only means for preserving the carved work which the innovators break down with axes and hammers. If no such constitutional changes have taken place in the recognised manner, all who separate from the communion of the Church instantly become schismatics and have a hand, according to their power, in breaking down the carved work.
Our duty, therefore, is plain. We must preserve the carved work as a precious heirloom that has been handed down to us by our fathers, and we must hand it down intact, in every detail, to those who are coming after us. In doing so we must expect criticism, and even persecution, and the loss of many who once were friends. They may judge us to be traitors to the cause of Christ, but so were others judged whose Scripture-enlightened consciences testified that they were acting rightly. In these matters we must act as the Apostle did in another connection when he said: “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of any man’s judgment.”—J.C.