Part 3

We need not pause to examine into the frail and feeble arguments on which the claim to such a gift is based, nor need we attempt to follow controversial writers in their contradictory endeavours to ascertain its seat. Let that seat be what it may, whether popes alone, or councils alone, or councils summoned under pontifical authority, we are prepared to prove from the prophetic Scriptures that there are no circumstances whatever under which any body of uninspired men can claim to be received as unerring authority by the church. If ever there has been a necessity for an infallible living voice to preserve the truth, and to cut off heresy by decrees, that necessity, all must admit, will be vastly multiplied in the latter days. Then there will be the false Christs foretold by our Lord; then the three unclean spirits will go forth to seduce professors; then the man of sin will be seated in the temple of God, and then, if ever, the infallible decree will be needful to assert the truth. But who at such a time is to decree it? There will be, as we have shown, a body of men within the church, corrupting the truth, resisting the truth, turned unto fables, believing lies. Are such persons to be admitted to the church’s councils, or are they not? Are they, or are they not, to take a part in the decision? If they are, there is too much reason to fear it would be vitiated by their fables, that the dead fly would cause to stink the apothecary’s ointment. But, if not, how are they to be excluded? By what tests is the council to be purified? They will all retain the form of godliness; they will appear with all the weight of ecclesiastical position, and apostolical ordination; there will be nothing wanting in the regularity of their orders, the validity of their sacraments, or the apparent godliness of their life; they will subscribe to any forms, and sign any articles; nor will there be any visible, tangible, criterion, by which they can be excluded from the church’s ministry or council chamber; but yet, if admitted, they will draw away disciples after them, and by speaking perverse things will vitiate every decision in which they are permitted to take a part.

The prophetic Scriptures, therefore, are in perfect harmony with the remainder of the bible and lead us like it to the one infallible rule of faith, the written word of the living God. To this St. Paul directed Timothy; for, after having foretold the seductive errors about to arise and advance within the church, he leads him to the bible as the only sure resting place, and says, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works;” _vv._ 15–17. He seems here to place the infallibility of the word in direct contrast to the fallibility of men. In the course of his prophecy he has shown that amongst those who retain the form of godliness there will spring up many who deny its power; but then, turning to the written word, he says, “_All_ Scripture is given by inspiration of God;” every sentence is infallible, every word inspired. On this alone is there any sure footing for those that would stand the shock of the latter days. If they lean on tradition, on councils, on popes, or even on devoted ministers whose characters they revere, and whose ministry they have found a blessing to their souls, they are leaning after all on man, on man who may fail them at the very crisis of their peril; but, when they draw truth from the fountain of truth, they may receive it with unreserved reliance, for God himself has given it, and declared by the Holy Ghost that it “is able to make us wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

(2.) The people of God should not be shaken in their faith by the dangers which they observe within the church.

In saying this, it is not intended to under-rate the deep anxiety of the times in which we live. On the contrary, we believe the conflict now rising amongst professors to be one of so vast a moment as to have been the subject of prophetic warning no less than eighteen hundred years ago. But, at the same time men should not be soon shaken in mind or troubled. Our faith should rather be confirmed than weakened; for, as the fulfilment of each prophecy gives additional strength to our confidence in the prophet, so the rise of each new danger within the visible church should only add to our unshaken reliance on the divine authority, and unaltered infallibility of the word. If the guide through some unknown country were to warn us at the outset of our journey that, as we approached the close, we should find the path narrow, the bye-ways many, and the guides divided, we might feel distressed when his words were verified, but each new danger would increase our confidence in his guidance. So it is with the church. The path is narrow, the journey difficult and dangerous, but we must remember that the Guide told us of it at the outset, and the one result should be that we trust him more unreservedly, and lean with more peaceful security on his word. This is the use which our Lord himself has taught us to make of rising dangers. For mark his words: “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh;” Luke, xxi. 28. Believers are not to look down in discouragement, but to look up in hope. They are to take courage and be cheered on to fresh victories; they are to rejoice in the unfailing character of the word, and witnessing the progress of predicted dangers, are to look joyfully for predicted joys; they are to regard these fearful times as forerunners of their coming glory, and, fear being absorbed in hope, are to watch in joyful expectation for their crowning blessedness at the advent of their Lord.

(3.) How precious are the promises of a Saviour’s preserving grace!

It has been shown that the latter days will be days of peril, that there will spring up seducing teachers even in the very heart of Christianity in its purest form, that no articles or ecclesiastical system can avail to prevent their rise and progress, and that no human tests can separate the reality from the form of godliness. As these latter days approach, we are bound to apprehend these spiritual perils for ourselves and our little ones; we must expect our sons and daughters, as they grow up into the world, to be attacked by this deadly pestilence, and, unless preserved by grace, blighted and withered ere the lovely bloom be formed. In perilous times we live; for perilous times we are training our families. Oh! the blessedness of those precious promises which assure us that he will keep his own children to the end! Oh! the peace of being able to fall back upon those gracious words, “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand!” Keeping to them we need not tremble at the subtle and skilful combination with which the enemy leads on his mighty hosts against the truth; nor need we shrink from the struggle in the deep consciousness of weakness, insufficiency, and ignorance. No! Believers! ye are in the right hand of the Lord; ye are purchased by the blood of Jesus, and loved with an everlasting love; ye are under the sacred teaching of the Holy Ghost, and by him called, preserved, taught, and sanctified; ye must therefore be content to cast away all earthly dependencies, to cease from every arm of flesh, to throw yourselves without either reserve or doubt on Him who has redeemed you by his blood; resting on his word as alone infallible, and abiding in his grace as the one and all-sufficient source of life, strength, peace, and holiness. “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”

LECTURE III. THE PEOPLE OF GOD.

IN considering the state of the world as foretold in prophecy preparatory to the advent of our blessed Lord, we have been led thus far to much matter of a distressing character; we have had to draw the picture of a busy world steeped in apathy, and a professing church full of apostacy; the prospect has in very truth been fearful, gloomy, and disheartening; but we are now to turn to brighter topics, and draw our thoughts to the beloved family of God’s faithful children, to the little band of justified believers, to those that are new born of God, to the blessed church of God’s elect: we are to examine prophecy respecting them; we are to search into their character, joys, and sorrows; and to gather from the testimony of the Spirit the condition in which they will be found at the advent of our Lord.

* * * * *

I. They will be found _scattered throughout society_.

Our Lord prayed for his people, “not that they should be taken out of the world, but that they should be kept from the evil;” and we are never to expect to find them externally separate from the surrounding world. They will not be gathered together in separate states and villages; there will not be one village of unbelievers and another of believers; but there will be some of both classes every where. The tares will grow with the wheat, and the wheat with the tares. This appears very plainly from the prophecy of our Lord already referred to; “I tell you, In that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left;” Luke, xvii. 34–36. This passage describes the separation of God’s children from the world, or the gathering in of God’s elect; and the point which at present we would particularly observe is this, that up to the very crisis they are together in society, in the same bed, the same shop, the same field; there is no visible separation, no drawing off from the duties of common life; all are together to the very night of the advent.

II. And we may remark, secondly, that the saints of God will not be _distinguished by any ecclesiastical system_.

There is a natural craving in the human mind for something tangible and visible. Hence the origin of idolatry; men want to see the object of their worship, and so create for themselves an image. Hence also the craving after that which God has declared impossible, a visible church free from error; an outward form inseparable from inward grace; a pure, holy, spotless framework, which, excluding all others, shall embrace in its system the whole of God’s elect. But this second fiction is quite as impossible as the first, and there is no more expectation of seeing God’s elect embodied in a form than of seeing God himself represented in an image. {51} God’s children are a scattered family; scattered not merely as to place but as to discipline. In saying this we do not undervalue a Scriptural discipline, or regard episcopacy as a thing which may be set aside at pleasure: as we find it in the bible we give thanks also that we find it in our church. But what we mean is this, that God’s grace is not tied down to ecclesiastical machinery; that a true church cannot command it, a defective church cannot exclude it. None can bind the life-giving power of the Spirit.

Thus all the descriptions of the saints of God in the latter days describe them not by outward form, but by inward grace; the distinguishing features are always spiritual, never ecclesiastical; they refer to character, not discipline. For example: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed;” Isaiah, lxvi. 5. There can be no doubt as to the date of this prophecy; it plainly carries us right up to the advent. “He shall appear to your joy.” Nor can there be any doubt again as to the persons addressed in it; they are the blessed company of the saved in distinction to the miserable multitude of the lost. “He shall appear to your joy.” And now how are they described? He does not say “Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye that are correct in your ecclesiastical arrangements; ye whose ministers are possessed of Apostolical succession;” nor “ye that are in communion with the Pope of Rome;” but “ye that tremble at his word.” Whoever therefore receives in faith the promises of the bible; whoever is brought by God’s Spirit blessing those promises to believe on Jesus, whoever he be, and wherever he be, whether he be churchman, dissenter, or even Romanist, that man is safe, and the Lord Jesus “shall appear for his joy.” {53}

It is just the same in the book of Revelation. In that remarkable prophecy we have repeated mention of the saints in direct contrast with the apostacy of the latter days: we have in several passages their portrait clearly drawn, as if to leave no doubt as to their character when that last peril should gather around the faith. Now this description is always of a spiritual character. The seed of the woman are those “which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ;” xii. 17. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus;” xiv. 12. “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful;” xvii. 14. In all these passages there is not one word of outward form, they refer exclusively to inward life.

But still more. A corrupt church _cannot exclude divine grace_; for we have in this book a full description of the great apostacy which is to swallow up all other heresies in the latter days. In chap. xvii. and xviii. it is described under the name of “Babylon.” There is, we know, a difference of opinion as to the application of this prophecy. It may be an open question whether or not it applies to Rome. But on one thing all are agreed—that it is a description of a tremendous ecclesiastical apostacy which will be destroyed at the advent of the Lord. Now chapter xviii, gives a description of its fall,—a fall predicted in immediate connexion with the advent: “And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird;” _v._ 2. And the remarkable point is this, that even in Babylon, just at the period of her fall, there shall be found scattered a little band of the chosen saints of God; for what saith the angels cry? “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues;” _v._ 4. Even there, and even then, will be some of the chosen people of the Lord.

But, on the other hand, a _pure church cannot secure divine grace_. A Scriptural liturgy, and Scriptural articles, cannot secure a Scriptural people. There will be weeds in the garden, as well as flowers in the waste. This appears very plainly from the parable of the virgins. There can be no doubt of the reference of this parable to the visible church before the advent. It is a description of those who professed to be waiting for the bridegroom. Now we see in the ten virgins a perfect oneness of ecclesiastical form. There was no visible difference between the foolish and the wise. They were watching together; they professed allegiance to the same bridegroom; they had the same vessels, and the same lamps; the passer by could have seen no difference: the distinction was within, not without; and because the oil was wanting to the foolish, the bridegroom said, “I never knew you.”

We are brought therefore to the conclusion that the saints of God will not be distinguished by ecclesiastical system. There will be nothing in them which the world can see, except it be the fruit of the Spirit. There will be no outward form, which can stamp them certainly as the elect of God. They will be knit to Christ by a living union, but the tie will be invisible. They will have the Father’s name written on the forehead, but no mortal eye can discern the character. They will be sealed by the seal of the Spirit, but there will be nothing external to enable man to pronounce with certainty upon their safety.

And how solemn are the thoughts involved in this sacred truth! We have already found that there will be no distinction in society, that in the same family, in the same trade, in the same shop, nay even in the same bed, one shall be taken and the other left. But this carries us farther still, and shows that there will be the same separation even in the same church. Two persons will come together to the same building, join in the same outward worship, make use of the same liturgy, sing the same praises, hear the same chapters, listen to and perhaps approve the same sermons, and kneel side by side at the same communion. Man will discern no outward difference. And so Christ will find them at his coming. They will “both grow together until the harvest.” Then and not till then will God separate his children. Then will it appear that the one has been a follower of the Lamb, the other of the world; the one born again of God, the other unregenerate; the one justified, the other damned; and all because the one was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, the other had the form of godliness, but rested there, and was without its power.

* * * * *

III. They will stand out _as witnesses for Christ_ in the midst of general declension. The ship at anchor will remain unmoved while all around it are drifted down the tide: and this is the position in which Christ will find his chosen people: they will hold fast anchored in Christ, while all around them are drifted off from God. We have already called your attention to the great apostacy foretold within the visible church, and we have only now to remark its widespread influence and effect. This is described by our Lord: “And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved;” Matthew, xxiv. 11–13. These words foretell a period of abounding error, abounding sin, and abounding departure from the Lord: abounding error; “And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many:” abounding sin; “because iniquity shall abound:” and abounding departure from the Lord; “the love of many shall wax cold.” The chill shall reach even those whose hearts once seemed warm. Nor shall any stand but the heirs of God’s salvation. “He that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved.” All mere professors are here described as fallen; all mere hereditary Christians fallen; all Christians by expediency fallen; all who have rested in ecclesiastical, architectural, and ornamental Christianity fallen; all those who have had the form without the power—fallen; all fallen but the little band of those faithful men whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. They will then stand out as the rock, when the storm has washed away the sand that covered it; unshaken, immovable, and only made conspicuous by the tempest. Or as the evergreen; still verdant, still beautiful, when the winter’s frost has stripped the neighbouring plants whose short-lived beauty seemed far more brilliant under the summer’s sun; so will they abide in the winter time of the church’s history; their life untouched, for it consists in a union with their Lord; their beauty undiminished, for it is His unfading likeness impressed by the Holy Ghost upon their heart.

* * * * *

IV. A fourth remark follows at once from this position of the saints as witnesses in the midst of general declension, _viz._ this: they will be _unsupported by the arm of flesh_. When all except the true saints have declined from the faith, it stands to reason that those saints will be left unsupported by the world’s influence. This appears also very plainly from our Lord’s prophecy: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake;” Matthew, xxiv. 9. Political influence will then be against the truth. “Ye shall be hated of all _nations_.” There will be a national opposition to true godliness, as there ought to be a national support of it. We must be prepared therefore to see all national and political influence thrown boldly into the scale of error: we shall be taught by the sins of those in power not to lean on the arm of flesh, to cease from man, to rest simply upon Christ and Christ alone. Then God’s redeemed will find no help from statesmen, but draw all their help from Christ. They will be forced to cleave to those precious promises, “I am with you always even unto the end of the world;” “The gates of hell shall not prevail against you;” “Fear not, little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Their union with him will be every day more and more precious; their thirsting after him more and more intense; his word, his grace, his presence, his love, will be the strength of their hope, the subject of their discourse, the one source of their joy; and, forsaken by all other, they will cleave only unto him till the blessed day when as the King of kings he shall come forth for their joy and glory.

* * * * *

V. And this leads us to a fifth and last feature in the description of the saints. They will be _waiting and watching for the coming of the Lord_.

It is sometimes thought enthusiastic to be speaking much of the second coming of the Lord. Unfulfilled prophecy is thought difficult, and it is better, say many, to dwell exclusively upon the more certain narratives of the past. But not so the Scriptures. They describe believers as waiting, watching, and ardently expecting the blessed period of their Saviour’s glory. For example, in 1 Thess. v. 4, expectation of the advent is the distinguishing characteristic of the people of God: “But ye brethren are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” To the world at large it should come as a thief in the night; it would find them unexpecting, unprepared; but not so to the saints. They would be on the look out; the world’s night would be their day; the world’s darkness their light; the world might see nothing, but they would see Christ. “Ye brethren are not in darkness, that that day should overtake _you_ as a thief.”