There is no limit to the blessing which grace has in store for the broken and contrite heart. If all Israel had responded to Hezekiah"s touching appeal, they would have shared in the blessing; but they were _unbroken_, and therefore _unblessed_! Let us all remember this; we may rest a.s.sured it has a voice and a needed lesson for us. May we hear and learn!
We shall now pa.s.s on to the reign of the pious and devoted king Josiah, when the nation was on the very eve of dissolution. Here we have a very striking and beautiful ill.u.s.tration of our thesis. We do not attempt to go into details, having done so elsewhere.[4]
[4] See a paper ent.i.tled, "The Power and Authority of Holy Scripture, as Ill.u.s.trated in the Life and Times of Josiah." (15 cts.)
We shall merely quote the few closing lines. "And the children of Israel that were present kept the pa.s.sover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. _And there was no pa.s.sover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a pa.s.sover as Josiah kept_, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this pa.s.sover kept" (2 Chron. x.x.xv. 17-19).
What a very remarkable testimony! In Hezekiah"s pa.s.sover we are carried back to the brilliant reign of Solomon; but here we have something brighter still. And if it be asked what it was that threw such a halo of glory around Josiah"s pa.s.sover, we believe it was the fact of its being the fruit of holy and reverent obedience to the word of G.o.d in the midst of abounding ruin and corruption, error and confusion. The activities of faith in an obedient and devoted heart were thrown into relief by the dark background of the nation"s condition.
All this is full of encouragement and comfort for every true lover of Christ. Many might have thought it very presumptuous of Josiah to pursue such a course at such a moment and under such circ.u.mstances; but it was the very reverse of presumption, as we may gather from the blessed message sent to him from the Lord by the mouth of Huldah, the prophetess: "Thus saith the Lord G.o.d of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard; _Because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before G.o.d_, when thou heardest His words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before Me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before Me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord" (Chap. x.x.xiv. 26, 27).
Here we have the moral basis of Josiah"s remarkable career; and most a.s.suredly there was nothing savoring of presumption therein. A contrite heart, weeping eyes and rent garments are not the accompaniments of presumption or self-confidence. No; they are the precious results of the word of G.o.d acting on the heart and conscience and leading to a course of deep-toned personal devotedness, most cheering and edifying to contemplate. Oh, that there were more of it amongst us! Truly the heart longs for it. May the word of G.o.d so tell upon our whole moral being that instead of yielding to the condition of things around us we may live above it and pa.s.s through it as witnesses to the eternal reality of the truth of G.o.d and the imperishable virtues of the name of Jesus.
But we must pa.s.s on from the interesting history of Josiah, and present to the reader some further ill.u.s.trations of our theme. Hardly had that beloved servant of G.o.d pa.s.sed off the scene when every trace of his blessed work was swept away, and the heavy tide of judgment, long held back in the long-suffering mercy of G.o.d, rolled over the land. Jerusalem was laid in ruins, its temple burnt to the ground, and all the people who escaped were carried captive to Babylon, there to hang their harps on the willows and weep over the faded light of other days.
But, blessed forever be the G.o.d of all grace, He never leaves Himself without a witness; and hence, during the long and dreary period of Babylonish captivity, we find some most striking and beautiful proofs of the statement that the greater the ruin the richer the grace, and the deeper the gloom the brighter the flashes of individual faith.
There was then, as there ever is, "a remnant according to the election of grace"--a little band of devoted men who loved the Lord and were true to His word amid the pollutions and abominations of Babylon, and who were prepared to face the fiery furnace and the lions" den for the truth of G.o.d.
The opening chapters of the book of Daniel furnish some magnificent results of individual faith and devotedness. Look, for example, at chap. ii. 46. Where in the history of the nation of Israel have we aught more striking than what is here recorded? Earth"s greatest monarch humbled before a captive exile and giving forth this wonderful testimony: "The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your G.o.d is a G.o.d of G.o.ds, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret."
But where did Daniel get the power to reveal the king"s secret? Verses 17 and 18 supply the lovely answer: "Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: that they would desire mercies of the G.o.d of heaven concerning this secret." Here we have a prayer-meeting in Babylon.
These dear men were of one heart and one mind. They were one in their purpose to refuse the king"s meat and wine. They were resolved, by the grace of G.o.d, to tread the holy path of separation, though captive exiles in Babylon; and they got together for prayer, and received an abundant answer.
Can aught be finer than this? What an encouragement to the Lord"s beloved people in darkest days to hold fast Christ"s word, and not deny His precious name! Is it not most refreshing and edifying to find amid the dark days of Babylonish captivity a few true-hearted men treading in holy fellowship the path of separation and dependence?
They stood for G.o.d in the king"s palace, and G.o.d was with them in the furnace and in the lions" den, and conferred upon them the high privilege of standing before the world as the servants of the Most High G.o.d. They refused the king"s meat; they would not worship the king"s image; they kept G.o.d"s word and confessed His name utterly regardless of consequences. They did not say, "We must go with the times; we must do as others do; there is no need to make ourselves singular; we must outwardly conform to the public worship, the religion of the State, and hold our own private opinions all the same; we are not called to withstand the faith of the nation; being in Babylon, we must conform to Babylon"s religion."
Thank G.o.d, Daniel and his beloved companions did not adopt this contemptible, time-serving policy. No! and what is more, they did not draw a plea, from the complete wreck of Israel"s national polity, for lowering the standard of individual faithfulness. They felt--could not but feel, the ruin. They confessed their sin, and the sin of the nation; they felt that, so far as they were concerned, sackcloth and ashes became them; they would bow down their whole moral being beneath that solemn word, "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself." All this was, alas, too true; but that was no reason why they should defile themselves with the king"s meat, worship the king"s image, or give up the worship of the one true and living G.o.d. Ah, _G.o.d_ was before their eyes, and Him they served and obeyed.
All this is full of the most precious teaching for all the Lord"s people at the present moment. There are two special evils which we have to guard against. We must beware of ecclesiastical pretension or boasting in mere Church position, without an exercised conscience and the holy fear of G.o.d. This is a terrible evil, against which every beloved child of G.o.d should most sedulously watch. We must never forget that the professing Church is a hopeless wreck, and that any human effort to restore it is a delusion. We are not called, and hence not qualified, to restore it. The Holy Ghost is nevertheless forming the body of Christ, and hastening its completion for the Lord"s return.
But, on the other hand, we are not to draw a plea from the ruin of the Church for laxity as to truth, or sluggishness in our personal walk.
We are in great danger of this. There is no reason whatever why any child of G.o.d, or servant of Christ, should do or sanction what is wrong, or continue for an hour in a.s.sociation with aught that has not for its authority, "Thus saith the Lord." "Let _every one_ that nameth the name of the Lord _depart_ from iniquity." And what then? Stand alone? Do nothing? Not so, thanks and praise to our ever-gracious G.o.d!
But "follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, _with them_ that call on the Lord out of a pure heart"--a heart true to Christ and His interests.
But we must pursue our subject, and ask the reader to turn to Neh.
viii. We have been looking at the remnant before the captivity and during the captivity; and now we are called to look at them after the captivity; brought back, by the rich mercy of G.o.d, into their own beloved land. We shall not attempt to go into details, but just take one weighty fact in ill.u.s.tration of our special thesis--a fact of immense importance for the whole Church of G.o.d at the present moment.
We shall quote a few verses of this lovely scripture: "So they read in _the book in the law of G.o.d distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading_.... And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even _to understand the words of the law_. And they found written in the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month.... And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for _since the days of Joshua the son of Nun_ unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness. Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of G.o.d. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn a.s.sembly, according unto the manner."
This is very striking. Here we find a feeble remnant gathered round the word of G.o.d, holding a reading-meeting, and getting to understand the truth and feel its power on the heart and conscience. And what was the result? Nothing less than the celebration of the feast of tabernacles, which had never been kept since the days of Joshua the son of Nun. Throughout the days of the judges, the days of Samuel the prophet, the days of the kings--even the brilliant days of David and Solomon--the feast of tabernacles had never been celebrated. It was reserved for a feeble company of returned exiles to keep, amid the ruins of Jerusalem, this precious and beautiful festival--the type of Israel"s glorious future.
Was this presumption? Nay, it was simple obedience to the word of G.o.d. It was written in the book--written for them; they acted upon it.
"And there was very great gladness." There was no pretension, no setting up to be anything, no boasting, no attempt to hide their true condition; they were a poor, feeble, despised remnant, taking their true place, broken and contrite, confessing their failure, deeply conscious that it was not with them as it was in the days of Solomon, David, and Joshua. But they heard the word of G.o.d--heard and understood--bowed to its holy authority--kept the feast. "And there was very great gladness." This surely is another striking and beautiful ill.u.s.tration of our theme, that the greater the ruin, the richer the grace; and the deeper the gloom, the brighter the flashes of individual faith. At all times, and in all places, the contrite and confiding heart is met by unqualified, unbounded grace.
We shall now turn, for a moment, to the last page of Old Testament Scripture--the prophecy of Malachi. Many years have rolled by since the bright days of Ezra and Nehemiah, and we have here a most sorrowful picture of Israel"s condition. Alas, alas! "the down grade"
has been rapidly trodden. It is the same sad story--"O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself!" Let us quote a few sentences:
"Ye offer polluted bread upon Mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted Thee? In that ye say the table of the Lord is contemptible....
Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for naught?
neither do ye kindle fire on Mine altar for naught. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.... Ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even His meat, is contemptible. Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord" (chap. i. 7, 10, 12, 13; see also chap. iii.
5-9).
What a deplorable condition of things! It is simply heart-breaking to contemplate. The public worship of G.o.d brought into utter contempt; the ministers of religion working only for hire; venality and corruption in connection with the holy service of G.o.d; every form of moral pravity practiced amongst the people. In short, it was a scene of deep moral gloom, depressing beyond expression to all who cared for the Lord"s interests.
And yet, even in the midst of this terrible scene, we have a most touching and exquisite ill.u.s.tration of our thesis. As ever, there is a remnant--a beloved company who honored and loved the Lord, and found in Him their centre, their object, their delight. "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord harkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name. And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels [my special treasure]; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."
How lovely is all this! What a contrast to the general condition of things! We may range through the entire history of the nation, and find nothing like this. Where do we read of "a book of remembrance written before the Lord"? Nowhere; not even amidst the brilliant victories of Joshua and David, or the splendors of Solomon. It may be said there was no need. That is not the point. What we have to ponder is the striking fact that the words and ways of this feeble remnant, in the very midst of abounding wickedness, were so refreshing to the heart of G.o.d that He had a book of remembrance written about them. We may safely a.s.sert that the communings of these beloved ones were more grateful to the heart of G.o.d than the singers and trumpeters in Solomon"s day. "They spake often one to another." "They feared the Lord, and thought upon His name." There was individual devotedness, personal attachment; they loved the Lord; and this drew them together.
Nothing can be more lovely. Would there were more of it in our midst!
Those dear people were not doing anything very great or showy in man"s view; but ah, they loved the Lord, they thought of Him, and their common attachment to Him drew them together to speak of Him; and this gave a charm to their reunions which gratified and refreshed the heart of G.o.d! It stood out in bright and beauteous relief from the dark background of hirelingism and heartless routine with which they were surrounded. They were not bound together by certain views or opinions which they held in common, though doubtless they had their views and opinions; neither were they held together by ritualistic services or ceremonial observances; no, they had something far better and higher than any of these things; they were drawn and knit together by deep-toned personal devotedness to the Lord, and this was agreeable to His heart. He was weary with the whole system of ritualism, but refreshed by the genuine devotedness of a few precious souls who got together as often as they could to speak one to another, and to encourage one another in the Lord.
Would that there were more of this amongst us! We long for it, and we may just own to the reader that our one earnest desire in writing this paper is to promote it. We greatly dread the withering, paralyzing influence of mere formalism or religious routine--getting into a groove, and going on day after day, week after week, year after year, in a poor, cold, formal manner, most offensive to the loving heart of our adorable Lord and Saviour, who desires to be surrounded by a company of whole-hearted, devoted followers, true to His name, true to His word, true to one another for His sake, seeking to serve Him in every right way, while ardently looking out for His blessed appearing.
May the Spirit of G.o.d work mightily in the hearts of all His people, healing, restoring, reviving and maintaining a faithful company to welcome the heavenly Bridegroom! Let us cry to our gracious G.o.d day and night for this.
I might here close this paper, were it not that I am anxious to present the reader with two or three ill.u.s.trations drawn from the precious pages of the New Testament. In the opening of Luke"s Gospel we have a lovely picture of a remnant in the midst of a hollow, heartless profession. We listen to the spiritual heart-utterances of Mary, Elizabeth, Zacharias, and Simeon. We read of Anna the prophetess, who spoke of Jesus to all who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. I remember hearing my beloved and revered old friend J. N.
D. say in reference to Anna, "I am sure I do not know how she managed to get at them at all, but she did." Yes, she did, because she loved the Lord and loved His dear people, and delighted to find them out and speak of Him. It is just our beloved remnant in Malachi over again.
Nothing can be more lovely or refreshing. It was the exquisite and fragrant fruit of deep-toned love to the Lord in contrast with the wearisome forms of dead religiousness.
We shall now pa.s.s on to the epistle of Jude. Here we find apostate Christendom in all its appalling forms of wickedness, just as in Malachi we had apostate Judaism. But our object just now is not apostate Christendom, but the Christian remnant. Thanks and praise to our gracious G.o.d, there is always a remnant marked off from the ma.s.s of corrupt profession, and characterized by genuine attachment to Christ, to His interests, and to every member of His beloved body.
It is to this remnant that the inspired apostle addresses his solemn and weighty epistle. It is not to any special a.s.sembly, but "To them that are _sanctified_ by G.o.d the Father, and _preserved_ in Jesus Christ, _called_: _mercy_ unto you, and _peace_, and _love_, be multiplied."
Blessed position! Precious portion! "Separated," "preserved,"
"called,"--this is the position. "Mercy," "peace," "love,"--this is the portion. And all this made sure to every true-hearted child of G.o.d on the face of the earth ere a single word is written about the overwhelming tide of apostasy which was so soon to roll over the whole professing Church.
We repeat, and would emphasise the expression, "to every true-hearted child of G.o.d." As in Israel of old, so in the professing Church, the remnant will be found to consist of those who are true to Christ, hold fast His word in the face of everything, are devoted to His precious interests, and who love His appearing. In a word, it must be a living reality, and not mere church-membership or nominal fellowship here or there, with this or that. Moreover it is not a.s.suming to be, but really being, of the remnant--not the name, but the spiritual power; so the apostle says, "I will know, not the speech, ... but the power."
A weighty word for us all.
And now let us turn for a few moments to the precious words of exhortation addressed to the Christian remnant. May the Spirit clothe them with power to our souls!
"But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ." They are directed to the Holy Scriptures, and to these alone. It is not to human tradition of any kind; not to the Fathers; not to the decrees of general councils; not to the commandments and doctrines of men; not to any of these, or all put together, which can only bewilder, perplex, and mislead; but to the pure and precious word of G.o.d, that perfect revelation which in His infinite goodness He has put into our hands, and which can make a little child "wise unto salvation" and make a man "_perfect_, thoroughly furnished unto _all good works_" (2 Tim. iii.).
The Lord be praised for this unspeakable favor! No human language can set forth the importance of having a divinely settled authority for our path. All we want is to be absolutely and completely governed by it, to have it hidden in our hearts, acting on our consciences, forming our character, governing our conduct _in everything_. To give the word of G.o.d this place is one of the marked characteristics of the Christian remnant. It is not the worthless, baseless formulary, "The Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants."
Protestantism is not the Church of G.o.d, it is not the Christian remnant. The Reformation was the result of a blessed work of the Spirit of G.o.d; but Protestantism, in all its denominational branches, is what man has made of it. In it human organization has displaced the living work of the Spirit, and the form of G.o.dliness has displaced the power of individual faith. No mere _ism_, call it what you please, can ever be regarded as the Church of G.o.d or the Christian remnant. It is of the very utmost moral importance to see this. The professing Church has utterly failed, its corporate unity is hopelessly gone, just as we see in the history of Israel. But the Christian remnant is made up of all those who truly feel and own the ruin, who are governed by the Word and led by the Spirit, in separation from what is contrary to that Word, to wait for their Lord.
Let us see how all this comes out in Jude"s address to the remnant.
"But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of G.o.d, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."
Here then we have a lovely view of the true Christian remnant and their occupation among themselves. Nothing can be more beautiful. We may be asked, to whom does this charming pa.s.sage apply? We answer, to those--whoever and wherever they are--addressed in the first verse of the epistle: "To them that are sanctified by G.o.d the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called." Nothing can be more simple or more blessed. It is perfectly obvious that these words do not and cannot apply to mere professors; neither can they apply to any ecclesiastical body under the sun. In a word, they apply to the living members of the body of Christ. All such should be found together building up themselves on their most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keeping themselves in the love of G.o.d and looking out for their Lord.
This is the Christian remnant, just as in Malachi iii. we have the Jewish remnant. Nothing can be more lovely. It is the position in which all true Christians should be found. There is no pretension to setting themselves up to be anything, no attempt to ignore the sad and solemn fact of the utter ruin of the professing Church. It is a Christian remnant in the midst of Christendom"s ruins, true to the Person of Christ, true to His word; knit together in true Christian love--not the love of sect, party, clique, or coterie, but love in the Spirit, love to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity; love expressing itself in true devotedness to Christ and His precious interests; and loving ministry to all who belong to Him and seek to reflect Him in all their ways. It is not resting in mere position, regardless of condition--a terrible snare of the devil--but a healthy union of the two in a life characterized by sound principle and gracious practice; the kingdom of G.o.d established in the heart and developing itself in the whole practical career.
Such then is the position, the condition, the practice of the true Christian remnant; and we may rest a.s.sured that, where these things are realized and carried out, there will be as rich enjoyment of Christ, as full communion with G.o.d, and as bright a testimony to the glorious truth of New Testament Christianity as ever was known in the brightest days of the Church"s history. In a word, there will be that which will glorify the name of G.o.d, gratify the heart of Christ, and tell with living power on the hearts and consciences of men. May G.o.d, in His infinite goodness, give us to see these bright realities in this dark and evil day--a fresh ill.u.s.tration of the soul-stirring fact that the greater the ruin, the richer the grace; the deeper the gloom, the brighter the flashes of individual faith.
Before closing this paper, we shall ask the reader to look for a moment at the address to the fourth of the seven churches, as given in the second chapter of Revelation. The church of Thyatira gives us the history of the Church during those long, dreary centuries of the Middle Ages, when gross darkness covered the earth, when popery--that darkest moral blot--prevailed in the well-known character of Jezebel.
In the address to this a.s.sembly we find a marked change, indicated by three plain facts--namely: first, a remnant is for the first time addressed: secondly, the Lord"s coming is for the first time introduced; and, thirdly, the hearing ear is no longer looked for in the a.s.sembly at large, but in the _overcomer_. Now these facts prove beyond all question that in Thyatira all hope of corporate restoration is abandoned. "I gave her s.p.a.ce to repent, ... and she repented not."
The case is hopeless as regards the professing body. But here the remnant is singled out and cheered--not with the hope of a converted world or a restored Church, but with the bright and blessed hope of the Lord"s coming as the bright and morning star. "But unto you I say, the remnant[5] in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine [d?da???, the same root as d?d?s?e??, what Jezebel was doing], and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have hold fast _till I come_."
[5] The word rendered "remnant" in the above pa.s.sage is ???p???, and is from the same root as the word "remnant" in Romans xi. 5, which is ??a. Both are from ?e?p?, to leave.