In Matthew the eighteenth chapter and the nineteenth verse, we read, "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." It does not mean that if the two should agree together as touching any one thing, but agree with him, for wherever you find two in prayer there are three, and wherever there are three there are four, and the additional one present is the Spirit of G.o.d waiting to help us in our praying and to present our prayers unto the Father in the name of Jesus Christ.
He must inspire the singing of the church. In Ephesians the fifth chapter and the nineteenth verse we read, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." One reason why there is such a lack of power in many churches in this country is due to the fact that the singing is simply used as filling for the services. Hymns are used in a haphazard way with little thought as to their bearing upon the theme to be presented. I am quite persuaded that when the preaching, praying and singing are all submitted to his control, whatever may be man"s opinion of the service, he himself will give to it his hearty amen.
IV
We are the sons of G.o.d. In Romans the eighth chapter the sixteenth and seventeenth verses we read, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of G.o.d; and if children, then heirs; heirs of G.o.d, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." To this truth he will say amen. A careful study of the Scriptures will reveal the fact that,
1. We are heirs. If therefore this be true we have but to claim our birthright privilege, and there is no weakness in our lives but may be offset by the strength of his. Whatever Christ has received as the head of the church he has received in trust for the body and we may have our possession in him if we but appropriate it.
A man in England died the other day in the poorhouse. He had a little English farm upon which he could raise no grain and he let it go to waste and died a pauper. His heirs discovered that on this little English possession there was a copper mine and they are living in luxury to-day in the possession of that which belonged to their ancester [Transcriber"s note: ancestor?] all the time but was not appropriated and used by him.
2. Being sons of G.o.d, we are not free from trial; but there is this one thing to say about our Christian experience: "Our light afflictions which are but for a moment work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," and G.o.d"s presence with us in trial is infinitely better than his absence from us in the time of prosperity. Our trials are but the discipline through which we must pa.s.s in order that we may one day be prepared to stand in his presence and do his bidding throughout eternity.
3. Being sons of G.o.d, we are sure one day of glory. The song which has been singing its way around the world in the Torrey-Alexander meetings presents this thought to us beautifully.
"When all my labors and trials are o"er And I am safe on that beautiful sh.o.r.e, Just to be near the dear Lord I adore Will thro" the ages be glory for me.
"When by the gift of his infinite grace I am accorded in heaven a place, Just to be there and look on his face Will thro" the ages be glory for me.
"Friends will be there I have loved long ago; Joy like a river around me will flow; Yet just a smile from my Savior, I know, Will thro" the ages be glory for me.
_Chorus._
"Oh, that will be glory for me, Glory for me, glory for me, When by his grace I shall look on his face, That will be glory, be glory for me."
Whatever may be our limitations here, they shall be gone there; whatever may be our weakness here, it shall be lost there.
Dr. Charles Hodge in his "Lectures on Theology" has given us an imaginary picture of Laura Bridgman, the famous deaf-mute. The celebrated theologian has described her standing in the presence of Christ in that great day when we shall all be before Him, when Christ shall touch her eyes and say, "Daughter, see," and there shall sweep through her vision all the glories of the sky; when He shall touch her ears, which have been so long closed, and say, "Daughter, hear," and into her soul shall come all the harmonies of heaven; when he shall touch her lips, which on earth have never spoken a human word, and say, "Daughter, speak," and with all the angel choir she will burst into the new song. What Dr. Hodge has said concerning Laura Bridgman will be true of us. Our day of limitations will be past, the experiences of weakness be gone, and we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
This, therefore, is a good outline of a creed for us to-day. We believe the Bible is the Word of G.o.d, we believe that Jesus is the Son of G.o.d, we believe that the Church is the body of Christ, we believe that we are by regeneration the sons of G.o.d, and making such a statement we have a right to stop and listen and I am sure we shall hear as from the skies, "Amen, saith the spirit."
A REASONABLE SERVICE
TEXT: "_I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of G.o.d, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto G.o.d, which is your reasonable service._"--Romans 12:1.
There is perhaps no chapter in the New Testament, certainly none in this epistle, with which we are more familiar than this one which is introduced by the text; and yet, however familiar we may be with the statements, if we read them carefully and study them honestly they must always come to us not only in the nature of an inspiration but also with rebuke, especially to those of us who preach.
Paul"s intellectual ability has never been questioned. Yet, giant though he was in this respect, he was not ashamed to be pathetic when he likens his care for his people to the care of a nurse for her children. He is not ashamed to be extravagant when he likens his sorrow and pain at their backsliding to the travail of a woman for her child. He is not ashamed to be intense when in the ninth chapter and the first, second and third verses he says, "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh."
We must also be impressed with the fact that he was not at all afraid of public criticism. He not only sat at Gamaliel"s feet but the great lawmaker might well have taken his place at his feet, and yet he says, "I am willing to be counted a fool if only I may win men to Christ."
He is not bound by custom. He not only preaches in the synagogue and in the places set apart for the churches of the early days, but he goes about from house to house entreating people to come to Christ. He is not ashamed to weep, for he sends his messages to the people and exclaims, "I tell you these things weeping"; and here in this text he is strikingly unusual, for he is not a preacher speaking with dignity, nor an Apostle commending obedience, but a loving friend beseeching in the most pathetic way the yielding of themselves to Christ.
There are two things to remember about Paul in the study of such a subject.
First: He was a Jew and he knew all about offerings. Sacrifices were not forms to him and a living sacrifice was not a meaningless expression. He had been present on the great day of Atonement when the scapegoat bore away the sins of the people. He had heard the chimes of the bells on the high priest"s robe as he moved to and fro before the entrance to the holy of holies, and he had waited with breathless silence for him to come forth giving evidence in his coming of the fact that Israel could once more approach Jehovah. The text to him was throbbing with holy memories and was full of significance.
Second: He received his instructions concerning these things of G.o.d, not from men, for when he writes to the Galatians he says: "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man, for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11-12). And so, since he is a heaven-taught man, we must listen while he speaks and give heed to his entreaties.
I
_The context_. We shall not appreciate this striking text unless we take into account its setting.
The first chapters of Romans present to us a black cloud indeed, for when the first sentences are spoken we shudder because of their intensity. We read in the twenty-fourth verse that G.o.d gave the people _up_ to uncleanness; in the twenty-sixth verse that he gave them _up_ to vile affections, but in the twenty-eighth verse that he gave them _over_ to a reprobate mind. With this awful condition of affairs we start; and yet for fear that the man who counts himself a moralist might read these verses and feel that they did not apply to him, Paul writes in the third chapter and the twenty-second verse these words, "Even the righteousness of G.o.d, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference." But when the cloud is the blackest the rays of light begin to appear, and they are rays of light from heaven; looking on the one side at mystery and catching a vision on the other side of grace, Paul exclaims, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of G.o.d, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto G.o.d, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1).
The word mercy is of frequent occurrence in the Bible. "From everlasting to everlasting is G.o.d"s mercy," we read. This gives us some idea of duration. "New every morning and fresh every evening are his mercies." This reveals to us the fact that they are unchanging.
"He is a G.o.d of mercy." This is his character. "Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him." This is the invitation of G.o.d given to all the world! But Paul is not speaking of mercy in general; he goes on in his masterful argument outlining the doctrines of grace and on the strength of that he uses the text.
First: We are justified. The fifth chapter and the first verse, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with G.o.d through our Lord Jesus Christ." In justification our sins are pardoned and we are accepted as righteous because of the righteousness of Christ, which is imputed unto us and received by faith alone. And yet to him this definition in every day language means that, being justified, we stand before G.o.d as if we never had sinned. No wonder that in the light of such a doctrine Paul could say, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of G.o.d, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto G.o.d, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1).
Second: _We are kept safe_. Romans 5:10, "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to G.o.d by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Literally the closing part of this verse is, "We are kept safe in his life." A child in its mother"s arms could not be so secure as we in his life.
Underneath us are the everlasting arms and around about us the sure mercies of G.o.d.
Third: _We are baptized into his death_. "Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"
(Romans 6:3). "The wages of sin is death." This is G.o.d"s irrevocable statement, but Christ died for our sins and Paul"s argument here is that we died with him, so the demands of the law have been met and we are to go free. No wonder Paul could say, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of G.o.d, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto G.o.d, which is your reasonable service."
Fourth: _We are alive unto G.o.d_. Romans 6:11, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto G.o.d through Jesus Christ our Lord." Not only are we justified and kept safe and crucified with him and buried with him but in the plan of G.o.d we are risen with him. What a wonderful mercy this is!
Fifth: _We have deliverance from the self life_. The seventh chapter of Romans is just the cry of a breaking heart and reaches its climax in the twenty-fourth verse, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" But the deliverance is in the eighth chapter, especially in the second verse, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."
What a mercy this is!
Sixth: _For those of us who believe there is no condemnation_. Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
Judgment is past because he has been judged. We have nothing to do with the great white throne; Christ as our subst.i.tute has met sin"s penalty and paid our debts. What a mercy this is! No wonder Paul is thrilled with the thought of it.
Seventh: _No separation_. Romans 8:38-39, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor princ.i.p.alities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of G.o.d, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." So that for time we are safe and our eternity is sure. Was there ever such a catalogue of mercies? In the light of all this the Apostle exclaims, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of G.o.d, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto G.o.d, which is your reasonable service"
(Romans 12:1).
It is a good thing to study Paul"s "_therefores_." He is a logician of the highest type.
In Romans 5:1, there is the "_therefore of justification_."
In Romans the eighth chapter and the first verse there is the "_therefore of no condemnation_."
In Romans the twelfth chapter and the first verse there is the "_therefore of consecration_," and this as a matter of fact is the outline of the Epistle.
II
_Present your bodies_. This means the entire yielding of one"s self to Christ. It corresponds to the Old Testament presentation of the burnt offering all of which was consumed. Back in the Old Testament times for fourteen years there had been no song in the temple, for it was filled with rubbish and uncleanness, but the rubbish was put away and the uncleanness vanished, the burnt offering was presented and the song of the Lord began again. If you have lost your song and have been deprived of the harmony of heaven then present your bodies a living sacrifice.
There is a threefold division in man"s nature.
_The Spirit_, where G.o.d abides if we are his children. This is like the holy of holies.