Preached by Rev. A. BEATON, Gairloch, on 1st January, 1947.
“Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”—Rev. iii. 2.
THIS is the sixth letter, and it is written to Philadelphia. In this one the Lord Jesus sets himself forth as: “He that is holy” and as “He that is true.” These, “truth” and “holiness,” are two attributes of the Godhead and show that Jesus, the speaker, is God. Another designation by which the Lord sets himself forth is: “He that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth; and shutteth and no man openeth.” This respecteth his office as mediator. The government is on his shoulders. Here is held forth the sovereignty and absoluteness of Christ’s dominion—there is no reversing of His orders. The matter of the letter shows that the Lord knew the state of this church, as He did the other churches in Asia. It appears that this church was honest and free from the gross faults of which other churches were guilty. The fact, however, that the Lord did not rebuke her does not mean that she was a perfect church; there never was such a body in this world.
The Lord blesseth this church: “Behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.” By an “open door” usually is understood the Lord’s making way for the gospel in the hearts of sinners and His giving liberty to preachers to preach with ease under the influence of the Holy Spirit. This is called a “door of utterance” by Paul. “When I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord.” This latter door opened in Troas is successful ministry. The “open door” also means that the gospel was preached and the sacraments dispensed in Philadelphia according to God’s words, notwithstanding how numerous and malicious the opposers were. The “open door” here is different from the irreligious “open door” recognised by the Glasgow Presbytery of the Church of Scotland, which is a lamentable display of spiritual bankruptcy. This church is commended in that she “kept His word” and “hast not denied His name” by her “little strength” which is, that she was weak in her own estimation and working with weak ministers. Yet these ministers are sent by the Lord. For this steadfastness the Lord gives her a promise: “Because thou has kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” The privilege of Philadelphia is not, that she shall be kept from the troubles that are common to the church in this world, but that she shall be kept under the trial. The “word of His patience” teaches her to be patient, and strengthens her that patience might have its “perfect works” in her.
In making a few remarks on the words of our text as enabled, we will consider:—
I. The intimation which the Lord makes regarding His coming: “Behold I come quickly.”
(1) These are words of comfort to the Lord’s own people and a warning to His enemies. The Lord’s last message to His people is: “Surely I come quickly, Amen.” In answer to this His people saith: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus (Rev. xxii. 20). When He comes it is to say to His people: “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” and to say to the wicked: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” “I come quickly,” it will not be long compared to eternity; a few short years and the believers’ hope will be realized. The wicked is not looking for the Lord’s coming, and when He does come, at death and at the last day, it will be sudden and unexpected: “For the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” The scoffers of the “last days” say: “Where is the promise of His coming?” (II. Pet. iii. 4).
(2) The intimation of the Lord’s coming is also given as a ground of encouragement to the angel, or minister, and people of this church, to continue faithful to the word of His patience. Seeing Christ was to come to judgment shortly, they could have two things in view. Firstly, any sufferings they would have to meet with would only be for a short and uncertain duration, and secondly, how soon their hope of enjoying the pleasures that are at God’s right hand would be realised. Thus armed they would be fit, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, to fight the good fight of faith.
(3) We are to keep in view the Lord’s coming, friends, and how we spend our time in view of it. During the year that has now come to an end a number have left us to inhabit eternity. Our sand-glass of time is also running and one day we will be like them in eternity. Our great work is to enter into God’s peace in this hand breadth of time. It is a work worthy of your time and all the labour you can bestow on it. It is a most necessary work: “One thing is needful. It is a most profitable work.” “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” We are accountable to God for time. God might have reckoned with you twenty or thirty years ago, with honour enough to His justice; but He has borne with you all this while. God is seeking fruit of gospel-hearers. You are the fig-tree planted in the Lord’s vine-yard. Time is not ours to dispose of at our pleasure. The believer gives himself and also his time to God.
II. The direction given in view of the Lord’s coming: “Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”
(1) This church is represented as being in a good condition: “Hold that fast which thou hast.” She is in possession of a dowry which she received from her Lord. He considered her faithful, “able to teach others,” and committed unto her the “word of reconciliation.” The Free Presbyterian Church is in this good state to-day, being in possession of the Creed and Constitution of the Established Church of Scotland, as established at the Revolution Settlement, and preserved in the years 1843 and 1893. We can declare here to-day that all our preachers, ministerial and lay, declare the whole truth of God from our pulpits and platforms. We, therefore, use and rely on God’s own means which He left in His Church below for the ingathering of His people; and we pray to, and for, the Holy Spirit to bless the Word. But we live in the day of small things. The good Lord withholds the influences of His Spirit. He does this in His awful sovereignty to show that He is not a debtor unto any of His creatures. He does it for the sins of the people who are in possession of the Bible and do not listen to it: “My people would not hearken to my voice: therefore I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lusts: and they walked in their own counsels” (Ps. lxxxi. 11, 12). Let us still wait on Him who can command His blessing to rest upon our weak efforts as a Church.
(2) The church of Philadelphia was commanded to “hold that fast” which she had, which means that there were forces at work to take from her her heavenly privileges. The Free Presbyterian Church to-day as a witness-bearing Church has to contend with such evil forces. The enemy comes in like a flood, and we must be prepared to fight the enemy. We can mention some of those blighting influences that our church and her people have to contend with in this back-sliding day.
First, Modernism—
Not in the F.P. Church but around it. And if our young people do not watch, their contacts with modern ideas will eat the heart out of them like a canker. Modernism is really a revival Gnosticism and is largely woven out of plausible unproven theories which have been proved to be false. There are ministers and people in Scotland and they express openly their disbelief in the Virgin Birth of Christ, the Fall, the Atonement, the infallibility of the Scriptures and other doctrines of the Bible. The blighting effect of this kind of teaching is seen in the lawlessness that is predominant in this land to-day. There are ministers in the Church of Scotland to-day and have D.D. appended to their names, and one in a broadcast address dispenses with the doctrine of original sin, another states in a book that Christ never rose from the dead, while another is a spiritist. Another still had the effrontery to tell his congregation why he is “not a Christian,” still he takes his salary as does a teacher of the Christian doctrine. Another aspect of Modernism is “The Youth Service Scheme” which we need only mention, but its fruits will be damaging to Scotland. Modernistic and Latitudinarian tendencies are the fashion of our day and preachers are obliging the carnal mind in many respects, and in this respect which we can mention—short services. This innovation of short services is appallingly coming into the Free Church of Scotland to-day, even in the Highlands. One hour service is becoming the fashion in some congregations in that Church. This is one way of setting aside the preaching of the everlasting gospel by lessening the importance of what used to be the main part of the service of God’s house. In many congregations of the Church of Scotland the pulpit is given a side position, and the communion table, or “altar” as they call it in some congregations, is placed in the centre where the pulpit used to be. This is a step in the way of meeting the ritualistic novelties of the day. We have our firm conviction that the chief part of public worship is not sacramental. Not the Lord’s Supper. That is a memorial service: “This do in remembrance of me.” The chief part of our service is the preaching of the word. The Church was enlarged by the preaching of the gospel. “For, after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” Every attempt to thrust the preaching aside to a secondary place, and to give the most prominent position to the communion table is a violation of distinct evangelical Protestant doctrine.
Second, Worldliness in the Church—
This is another blighting influence which our church and people have to contend with in this back-sliding day. In most of the churches in Scotland to-day you will find Boys’ Brigades, Girl Guides with all their accompanying frivolities. On the Lord’s Day in the cities and towns these boys are very often led to the church by a pipe band from a place where they first gather. Such open transgression of the Lord’s Day by professed Christians is appalling. No wonder though the leading article in the English Churchman stated recently that “the land is full of baptized pagans.” The churches also do a lot of trading in the way of sales of work, sales which drew serious complaints from drapers on different occasions before the war, as the church acted in opposition to them. It is probable that the rationing of clothes curtailed the churches’ activities in this way. But it is not long since we saw a notice at a church door of a “Bring and Buy Sale.” The Free Church, with all its grand profession, permits sales which go under names of “sales of work” and “cake and candy sales.” These forget the incident in the life of the Lord Jesus when he cleansed the Temple from such merchandise and uttered the injunction: “Make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.” Coupled with this may be mentioned the disgraceful conduct of ministers and church members in attending concerts and dances and theatres and cinemas and all the frivolities of the day. These are far more at home in the world than they are in the church, and to show that they are inclined to the world—they bring the world into the church.
Third. Another evil which the F.P. Church had to meet with in her history, is the effort that has been made, by men who rose within herself, to overthrow her distinctive position—
This effort was made by those who joined other churches. These did their utmost to take our people away. Our people were faithful. They knew what it meant to them to leave the Free Presbyterian Church. History shows that these men did not benefit the Cause of Christ by taking this step in the wrong direction. They did not leave to join better Churches.
In recent years men arose in the church who when they would not get their own way decided to move outside the F.P. Church, as did the MacQueenites in Inverness and their rivals the Mackenzieites in Glasgow. The leaders of these foolish movements certainly misled the poor people. The latter, the MacKenzieites or “Memorialists,” consulted a K.C. for consolation, and to see if they could get their views confirmed. They were told that “no resort to the Civil Courts was open to the ‘memorialists'” and that their “Civil rights are not involved.” I do not read in the copy I have of the speeches of the leading ‘memorialists’ at their first meeting in the Christian Institute that they told the above to the people. By way of explanation, these called themselves “memorialists” in the “memorial” they sent to the K.C. These movements will certainly come to nought and the F.P. Church will stand in spite of all the efforts made to overthrow her position; and in spite of such “mushroom prophets” as our Editor referred to lately who prophecy that the F.P. Church is to pass “out of existence in the Nemesis of fearful retribution.” But we can confidently assure our people that the position of the F.P. Church is the same as it was when it first came into separate existence. Satan has a special eye on the F.P. Church, and we are sure that all her troubles were engineered by him with a view to putting her out of existence.
(3) The church of Philadelphia was to be on the lookout lest her crown be transferred to another. This church was now in a kingly condition; she was not a vassal of the world but rather ruled over it. She was already crowned, and this crown was her honesty, and was the fore-runner of the crown of glory. This church is also represented as running in a race. Among men when a race is being run some appear well on to the mark, and yet obtain not the crown because some others outstrip them and obtain the fame. The Lord is thus spurring up his most faithful people to prevent spiritual lethargy. The late Rev. Donald Macfarlane, Dingwall, said that the F.P. Church would continue till the millennium. If the F.P. Church will continue faithful till then she will get a crown. She should be running and waiting for that crown to-day. The Church of the Millennium will have the same Constitution as the F.P. Church, so that it will be but the F.P. Church enlarged. It is then our duty to wait in doctrine, government, and discipline, for the Lord to come to build up Sion, so that He need make not alteration but give His Spirit to His waiting Church, who is in possession of the instruments already. The Lord bless His word to us.