We find ill.u.s.trations of this in Old Testament times. All the great reformatory movements in Israel were characterized by this very thing.
It was so in Jehoshaphat"s time, and in Hezekiah"s time. The Lord calls back His people to the original standard, to what they had received at the first. Hezekiah goes back to Moses, as his authority to maintain the divine standard in the celebration of the pa.s.sover.
Many might have said, Oh, it is all hopeless; your national unity is gone. Even Solomon had left abominations behind him. The devil suggests to lower the standard because of the ruin; but Hezekiah did not listen to that. He was an overcomer. A tide of blessing rolled in, such as had not been known since the days of Solomon (2 Chron. x.x.x.)
So, again, in the days of Josiah: a child was on the throne; a woman filling the prophetic office; Nebuchadnezzar almost at the gates. What did Josiah do? The book of the law was read. Instead of lowering the standard on account of the state of things, he acted on the word of G.o.d; that was his standard of action, and he kept the pa.s.sover in the first month. The result was, there had not been such a pa.s.sover since the days of Samuel.
Thus was it with Hezekiah and Josiah; and we have a still more beautiful example of it in Ezra and Nehemiah. In those days a feast was kept which had not been observed since the days of Joshua the son of Nun. It was reserved for that poor, little remnant to keep that feast. They were overcomers; they went back to G.o.d, and to what He had given at the beginning.
Again, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego gained a magnificent victory when they refused to eat the king"s meat. They would not yield one hair"s breadth. Were not they overcomers? They might have said, G.o.d in His governmental dealings has sent us into captivity; why should we refuse to eat the king"s meat? But no! they were enabled to hold up the standard of G.o.d in the midst of the ruin around.
It was the same with Daniel. He stood in unshaken faithfulness, and gained a splendid victory. It was not to make a show that he opened his windows, and prayed towards Jerusalem, but to maintain the truth of G.o.d; he prayed towards G.o.d"s centre, and he was called the servant of the living G.o.d. If these had surrendered, they would have lost their victories, and G.o.d would have been dishonored.
All this bears upon us in a very distinct way, in the midst of Protestantism. It makes the word of G.o.d of unspeakable value to us. It is not a question of setting up our own opinion or authority, but we are called on to maintain the truth of G.o.d, and nothing else; and if you do not get hold of that, you do not know where you are. It might have been said to Josiah, when he broke down the high places built by Solomon (2 Kings xxiii. 13), Who are you, to set yourself up against Solomon, and the inst.i.tutions set up by a great man like him? But it was not a question of Josiah _versus_ Solomon, but of G.o.d _versus_ error.
And now, as to our second great principle, namely, that our character is also to be formed by what is before us--the coming of the Lord. But mark here, the church of Sardis, instead of being cheered by the Church"s proper hope, the bright and Morning Star, is warned, "If, therefore, thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." This is how He will come upon the world--as a thief. We belong to the region of light; our proper hope is the Morning Star, which is only seen by those who are watching during the night. The reason why Sardis is warned, instead of cheered by the hope of His coming, is, that it has sunk down to the world"s level: low, lifeless, sapless Christianity; and it will overtake them as a thief. This is what Protestantism is threatened with, and what you are threatened with, if you let yourself go down with the stream, like a dead fish. The Lord is awakening the hearts of His people to a deeper sense of this. He is giving them to see that nothing will do, save downright reality. If we have not this, we have nothing. It is one thing to have doctrines in the mind, and another thing altogether to have Christ in the heart and Christ in the life.
He is coming for ME, and I have to watch for the bright and Morning Star. Now let my heart rise up, and overcome the condition of things around. If I find saints in that condition, I seek to rouse them out of it. If you want to instruct saints, you must bring them back to the truth you have received, what G.o.d gave at the beginning. Build on what G.o.d has given you, and on the hope that is set before you. I find it a great thing to say to any one, Are you prepared to abandon everything that will not bear the test of the word of G.o.d--to take your stand on that? Hold fast the standard of the truth of G.o.d, and do not accept anything less; even though you may be alone. If a regiment were cut to pieces, and only one man left, if he hold the colors, the dignity of the regiment is maintained. It is not a question of results, but of being true to Christ, to be really alive in a scene which is characterized by having "a name to live, while dead." We want something more than mere profession. Even the breaking of bread may become an empty formality. We want more power and freshness, more living devotedness to the person of Christ. We are called to overcome.
The hearing ear is found only with the overcomer. May our hearts be stirred up to desire it increasingly.
LIFE-WORKS
"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all, especially unto them who are of the household of faith"
(Gal. vi. 10).
If aught could enhance the value of these lovely words, it would be the fact of their being found at the close of the Epistle to the Galatians. In the progress of this very remarkable writing, the inspired apostle cuts up by the roots the entire system of legal righteousness. He proves, in the most unanswerable way, that by works of law, of any sort, moral or ceremonial, no man can be justified in the sight of G.o.d. He declares that believers are not under law in any way whatever, either for life, for justification, or for walk--that if we are under law, we must give up Christ; we must give up the Spirit of G.o.d; we must give up faith; we must give up the promises. In short, if we take up legal ground, in any shape whatever, we must give up Christianity and lie under the actual curse of the law.
We do not attempt to quote the pa.s.sages, or to go into this side of the question at all, just now. We merely call the earnest attention of the Christian reader to the golden words which stand at the head of this paper--words which, we cannot but feel, come in with incomparable beauty and peculiar moral force at the close of an epistle in which all human righteousness is withered up and flung to the winds. It is always needful to take in both sides of a subject. We are all so terribly p.r.o.ne to one-sidedness, that it is morally healthful for us to have our hearts brought under the full action of _all_ truth. It is, alas, possible for grace itself to be abused; and we may sometimes forget that, while we are justified in the sight of G.o.d by faith alone, a real faith must be evidenced by works. We have, all of us, to bear in mind that while _law-works_ are denounced and demolished, in the most unqualified manner, in manifold parts of Holy Scripture, yet that _life-works_ are diligently and constantly maintained and insisted upon.
Yes, beloved Christian reader, we have to bend our earnest attention to this. If we profess to have life, this life must express itself in something more tangible and forcible than mere words or empty lip-profession. It is quite true that law cannot give life, and hence it cannot produce life-works. Not a single cl.u.s.ter of living fruit ever was, or ever will be, culled from the tree of legality. Law can only produce "dead works," from which we need to have the conscience purged just as much as from "wicked works."
All this is most true. It is demonstrated in the pages of inspiration beyond all possibility of question or demur. But then there must be life-works, or else there is no life. Of what possible use is it to profess to have eternal life; to talk about faith; to advocate the doctrines of grace, while at the same time, the entire life, the whole practical career is marked by selfishness in every shape and form?
"Whoso," says the blessed apostle John, "hath this world"s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compa.s.sion from him, how dwelleth the love of G.o.d in him?" So also the apostle James puts a very wholesome question to our hearts, "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man _say_ he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked or dest.i.tute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?"
Here we have life-works insisted upon in a way which ought to speak home, in the most solemn and forcible way, to our hearts. There is an appalling amount of empty profession--shallow, powerless, worthless talk in our midst. We have a wonderfully clear gospel--thanks be to G.o.d for it! We see very distinctly that salvation is by grace, through faith, not by works of righteousness, nor by works of law. Blessedly true, and our heart praises G.o.d for it. But when people are saved, ought they not to live as such? Ought not the new life to come out in fruits? It must come out if it be in; and if it does not come out, it is not there. Mark what the apostle Paul says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of G.o.d; not of works, lest any man should boast." Here we have what we may call the upper side of this great practical question. Then the other side, to which every true and earnest Christian will delight to give his attention. The apostle goes on to say, "We are his workmanship _created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which G.o.d hath before prepared that we should walk in them_."
Here we have the whole subject fully and clearly before us. G.o.d has created us to walk in a path of good works, and He has prepared the path of good works for us to walk in. It is all of G.o.d, from first to last; all through grace, and all by faith. Thanks and praise be to G.o.d that it is so! But, let us remember that it is utterly vain to talk about grace and faith, and eternal life, if the "good works" are not forthcoming. It is useless to boast of our high truth, our deep, varied, and extensive acquaintance with Scripture, our correct position, our having come out from this, that, and the other, if our feet are not found treading that "path of good works which G.o.d hath before prepared" for us. G.o.d looks for reality. He is not satisfied with mere words of high profession. He says to us, "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in _deed_ and in _truth_." He, blessed be His name, did not love us in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth; and He looks for a response from us--a response clear, full, and distinct; a response coming out in a life of good works, a life yielding mellow cl.u.s.ters of the "fruits of righteousness which are by Christ Jesus, to the glory and praise of G.o.d."
Beloved Christian reader, do you not consider it to be our bounden duty to apply our hearts to this weighty subject? Ought we not diligently to seek to promote love and good works? And how can this be most effectually accomplished? Surely by walking in love ourselves, and faithfully treading the path of good works in our own private life. For ourselves, we confess we are thoroughly sick of hollow profession. High truth on the lips and low practice in daily life, is one of the crying evils of this our day. We talk of grace; but fail in common righteousness--fail in the plainest moral duties in our daily private life. We boast of our "_position_" and our "_standing_;" but we are deplorably lax as to our _condition_ and _state_.
May the Lord, in His infinite goodness, stir up all our hearts to more thorough earnestness, in the pursuit of good works, so that we may more fully adorn the doctrine of G.o.d our Saviour in all things!
P. S.--It is very interesting and instructive to compare the teaching of Paul and James--two divinely inspired apostles--on the subject of "works." Paul utterly repudiates _law-works_. James jealously insists upon _life works_. If this fact be seized, all difficulty vanishes; and the divine harmony is clearly seen. Many have failed to do this, and hence have been much perplexed by the seeming difference between Roman iv. 5, and James ii. 24. We need not say there is the most perfect and beautiful harmony. When Paul says, "To him that _worketh not_, but believeth on him that justifieth the unG.o.dly, his faith is counted for righteousness," he refers to law-works. When James says, "Ye see then how that _by works_ a man is justified, and not by faith only," he refers to life-works.
This is abundantly confirmed by the two cases adduced by James in proof of his thesis, namely, Abraham offering up his son and Rahab concealing the spies. If you abstract faith from these cases, they were bad works. Look at them as the fruit of faith, and they were life-works.
How marked is the far-seeing wisdom of the Holy Spirit in all this! He foresaw the use that would be made of this pa.s.sage; and hence, instead of selecting works abstractedly good, He takes up two from the history of four thousand years, which, if they were not the fruit of faith, were bad works.
"THERE IS ONE BODY"[10]
Psalm xciii.; 1 Cor. iii. 16, and vi. 19.
[10] Notes of an Address delivered in London.
These scriptures set forth a truth which I believe to be of cardinal importance to every one of us, individually as well as corporately: the Church as a whole is the temple of G.o.d; and every believer is made such as really, as literally, as absolutely as the temple of old in which G.o.d dwelt, only, of course, in a different way. He dwells in each individual believer in this room to-day. Mark that fact; ponder it. It is not a question of opinion; it is G.o.d"s truth. If people do not bow to Scripture, it is of no use to argue with them.
The truth presented here is not one about which you may think this or that. _G.o.d has a house here on the earth._ Take in that fact, beloved; ponder it. Do not say it is what we _ought_ to be, but what we _are_; and then see the conduct that flows from it; see what becomes G.o.d"s house: "Holiness becometh Thy house, O Lord, for ever."
This is the basis of the truth which underlies all discipline from the time that G.o.d had a house on earth. We never hear a word about G.o.d dwelling with man until redemption is accomplished. But the moment that Israel is out of Egypt, on the sh.o.r.e of the Red Sea, the first note that falls on our ear from the lips of a redeemed people is: "I will prepare Him a habitation." And the moment the last pin is put into the earthly tabernacle, the glory of G.o.d comes down to take up His abode in the midst of His people.
But His presence demands and secures holiness. Read Joshua vi., vii., and see how we get there two grand consequences of the self-same presence: Jericho in ruins, and the heap of stones in the valley of Achor. One man dared to defile the a.s.sembly of G.o.d! How solemn it is!
It was a fine thing to see those bulwarks crumbling to dust beneath the feet of G.o.d"s people. But mark: the same presence that laid Jericho in ruins could not allow that one man"s sin to escape notice.
The Holy Ghost has penned these records for us, and it is our bounden duty to hang over them, and to seek to drink into our souls the instruction in them.
The very instincts of faith ought to have taught Joshua that there was some hindrance. G.o.d"s people were His habitation. That fact gave them a characteristic which marked them off from every other nation upon earth. No other nation knew aught of that great privilege but Israel.
But G.o.d is G.o.d; He will be true to Himself; He will take care of His great name. Joshua thought the glory of that great name was involved: but there are more ways than one to maintain that glory.
If Jehovah is present to give victory over His enemies, He is also present to discipline His people. "Israel hath sinned!" G.o.d does not say, One man has sinned--find him out. No; it is the six hundred thousand of Israel, because Israel is one nation; one divine presence in their midst stamped and marked and formed their unity. Do not try to reason about it, brethren, but bow down your whole moral being to that truth. Do not judge it, but let it judge you. "Israel hath sinned;" that is the reason why they could not get the victory. And Israel must come up man by man, so that he who has transgressed the covenant of Jehovah may be taken. G.o.d cannot go on with unjudged evil.
Weakness is no hindrance, wickedness is. Can G.o.d lend the sanction of His presence to evil? Never! If we are G.o.d"s dwelling-place, we _must_ be holy. This is one of those eternal principles which can never be given up.
But the question is raised: How could it be said that Israel had sinned? Six hundred thousand innocent people! The answer is, _the nation is one_, and that unity has to be maintained and confessed.
In Leviticus xxiv. we read, that twelve loaves were placed on the golden table before the Lord continually, with the seven lamps of the golden candlestick to throw their light upon them. The end of the same chapter shows us a man brought outside the camp, where all Israel is to stone him with stones. Why this grouping of pa.s.sages? It is full of meaning. The grouping of Scripture is among some of its brightest glories; the very way in which the Holy Ghost groups His materials commands our attention. Every fact, every circ.u.mstance tends to ill.u.s.trate its infinite depths and its moral glories.
Why, then, do we find this connection in Leviticus? For the simple purpose of ill.u.s.trating this great principle: faith"s power to grasp the eternal truth of Israel"s unity, and to confess it in the face of everything;--a magnificent, practical truth. There is first the divine side: what Israel was in G.o.d"s mind; and then, what Israel might become under G.o.d"s discipline. And it ever behoves the faithful company to confess and maintain the original truth of G.o.d, even in the midst of the ruin around. I earnestly, urgently press the necessity as from G.o.d to-day, to maintain the great truth of the unity of the body of Christ as that which we have to hold, maintain, and confess in the face of everything.
Elijah on mount Carmel, when the kingdom was divided, called for twelve stones with which to build the altar. But Israel is no longer twelve tribes, it might be said; Israel"s unity is broken and gone.
No; it is an indissoluble unity, a unity which is never to be surrendered. Israel is twelve while G.o.d"s eye rests on the twelve loaves on the golden table, on the twelve stones in Aaron"s breast-plate. Faith holds fast that truth, and Elijah builds his altar of twelve stones. The unity is never to be given up, though it may be like a chain flung across a river, with the tide flowing over it, so that you cannot see it. The Church was one on the day of Pentecost; it will be one in the glory; and it is as true to-day that there is one body and one Spirit, as it was when the Holy Ghost penned the fourth of Ephesians. How is this unity formed? By the Holy Ghost; it is union with the Man at the right hand of G.o.d.
Thus I get three substantial reasons for a life of holiness: I am not to dishonor Him to whom I am united; I am not to grieve the Spirit by whom I am united; and I am not to grieve the members to whom I am united.
I feel my responsibility to urge this truth upon you, beloved hearers.
Let not the devil cheat you of the blessing of walking in it. See that you realize its formative, influential power. Think how your state and walk at this moment are affecting the saints elsewhere. "If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it." All Israel was affected by Achan"s sin. He thought n.o.body saw, n.o.body knew, and quietly hid the forbidden thing in his tent. If this is your state, there is a complete stoppage at once: there is no more power put forth on your behalf by G.o.d; there is power truly, but power not to act for you in _victory_, but to act towards you in _discipline_; power to smash you to pieces.
Let us not measure the word of G.o.d by our consciences, or by our sensibilities, but in simplicity believe what it says. We read that there is one Spirit uniting every member to the Head in glory, and uniting every single member on the earth to every other. In this body a saint out of communion is like a waster in a candle; he affects his fellow-saints. Confess this great truth, own it simply, whatever the condition. Never deny it, never give it up. You say, Brethren are smashed up! I answer, I am not to be occupied with brethren, but with the truth of G.o.d. Take your eyes off brethren, and fix them on the truth of G.o.d. Are you conscientiously gathered on the ground of the one body? I speak freely and pointedly to you, because I believe this truth is a.s.sailed. "He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit," and is joined to all who belong to Him. There is no such thing as independence in the word of G.o.d. The a.s.sembly in one place is the corporate local expression of the Church of G.o.d, as we saw of the twelve tribes of Israel in the Old Testament.
Why did Daniel pray towards Jerusalem? The house of G.o.d was not there to the eye of man; but it was there to faith. Faith still recognizing it prays towards it, though the lions" den be its reward.
Again, when Paul was before Agrippa, the nation scattered among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, but Paul will speak of "the promise unto which our twelve tribes hope to come" and the noun is in the singular (_dodecaphulon_). Could Paul have _shown_ them?
Nor can you talk "joining" this body. If you are converted to Christ, all the "joining" is done! you are "added to the Lord;" you are a part of that which man cannot touch for a moment; no one can cut off one single member of the body of Christ, which, according to the eternal purpose of G.o.d, and according to the operation of the Holy Ghost, is united to Him.