Words such as these were hardly spoken in less propitious circumstances. They were uttered by the Apostle Paul in the very midst of danger and death, when, as it were, the very elements were uniting in all their fury to bring the Apostle and all aboard the broken and battered vessel to a watery grave. Yet even here, and in circumstances such as these the Apostle unashamedly and avowedly owns himself to be the Lord’s.
In one instance at least in the history of the Church in Scotland in Covenanting times we do have an echo of the Apostle’s words. The instance to which we refer to is Margaret Wilson, one of the Wigtown martyrs. Facing death through drowning by being fixed to a stake well below the high water mark she remained undaunted. When her persecutors urged her to recant her beliefs, she only cried out more firmly “I am one of Christ’s children. Let me go.”
How easy it may be to own the Lord when placed in congenial circumstances; yet even there how often do the Lord’s followers fail and deny their Lord. The Apostle Peter himself, so ardent a follower of Christ as to aver — though all should deny thee, yet will not I, found himself in an atmosphere so hostile to Christ and His Cause, that the accusation of a servant maid and others was all that was required to make him say — and to say with an oath — “I know not the man.” How little we know of the difficulty of owning Christ in Peter’s circumstances — a time of which the Lord said to his enemies, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness.” Let us not raise an accusing finger at the servant of the Lord as though we would do better in similar circumstances but let us ever be conscious of our proneness to falter and fall. If Peter failed how much more would we!
To own that we are Christ’s, and that we are for him and not for another is our duty in all circumstances. We must be like those who said, “Thine are we, David; and on thy side, thou son of Jesse.” There must be no ambiguity here. If we have been redeemed with the precious blood of the Lamb of God, if we have been washed from our filthiness in that blood, must it not be a sin of the deepest dye to deny that we are Christ’s. We are well aware of the difficulty of owning that we are the Lord’s when the world is pointing out to us how little we resemble the Master, and the devil is bringing his lying accusations to bear upon us, and the corruption of our own hearts seems to confirm it all. But over against all these and in the most trying circumstances we are required to confess Christ.
At the beginning of another year, then, let this be our motto: Whose I am and whom I serve. Let us carry it with us as a banner throughout the year; let us wave it aloft, not only in the times when for a season the conflict has subsided, but also in the very heat of battle and in the many encounters with the world, the flesh and the devil which await us during the year. May it please the Lord so to bestow His grace upon us that when we reach the end of this year — should the Lord in His providence spare us till then — we will still be holding this banner high. Above all, when we come to the last encounter and must march off the battlefield forever, may it be as victors with a shout of triumph and with banners flying — and this, one among the rest, Whose I am and whom I serve — declaring to the praise of God’s grace, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” 2 Tim 4: 7, 8.