DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 29, 1878,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"That you may know how you ought to beha ve yourself in the house of
God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and basement of
the Truth." 1 Timothy 3:15.
PAUL'S design in this Epistle was to instruct young Timothy how he
should behave himself in the Church of God, so as to discharge his
office as minister, evangelist and pastor with honor to himself and
profit to the people. He reminds him that the Church is the house of
God and in God's own house a man ought to be upon his best behavior,
for it is no light thing to draw near unto the Lord. A poor man who is
called to visit a prince or king will anxiously enquire how he ought to
act. We, poor creatures that we are, when we are admitted into the
Church which is the house of God, should enquire what conduct will be
decorous and comely in those who are admitted into the Presence of the
great King and permitted to dwell within His palace gates.
Especially should each of us endeavor to behave himself aright in the
house of God if we know that we are looked up to and imitated. All who
teach the young, all who are parents, all who are persons of age and
experience, all who occupy influential positions and especially all
deacons, elders and preachers should pray the Lord that they may know
how they may behave themselves in the house of God, lest inadvertently
their misbehavior should be injurious to the weaker sort. Such need to
learn how they should behave to their brethren, to the Elder Brother
and to the great Father of all. We need to learn the ways of the house,
the customs of the palace.
Part of the objective of the sermon this morning will be that those of
us who are in the house of God may learn how we should behave in
it–but special prominence will be given to steadfastness in the faith
which makes a man not only a dweller in the Church but a pillar of it.
I am not going to trouble you, this morning, with the various
interpretations which have been given to the passage before us. It has
been a sort of Plain of Esdraelon, where battles have been fought from
time immemorial. Many suggestions have been made as to its
interpretation, so as to avoid the sense given in our version because
that sense has been perverted into a defense of the Romish church. It
seems to me, however, looking at it as carefully as I am able to do,
that our translation is about the best possible one and I feel sure
that it has in it the mind
of God.
Probably the sense would never have been disputed if it had not been
for the controversies which have arisen in which this verse has been
misused and misrepresented. I am rather suspicious of interpretations
which arise out of controversies. What have we to do with giving either
a Protestant or a Catholic sense to Scripture? Is it not our duty to
give the true sense, be it what it may? There can never be any
justification for twisting Scripture in order to wrench it out of an
enemy's hand. Nor is there any need in this case, even if it were
allowable! In vain has the Romish church tried to gather from this
verse that she is the great source of truth, for the passage can never
apply to her, since she has utterly gone aside from the Truth of God
and is described by the Apostle in the verses which follow the text as
departing from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, forbidding
to marry and so forth.
Popery or no popery, let us take the Word of God in its natural and
evident meaning, and we shall be instructed thereby. May God the Holy
Spirit enable us to understand His own word.
I. First, I shall at some length expound the text, and then try to
enforce the lesson from it. In expounding it, I see three things to
note, and the first is THE GLORIOUS NAME OF THE CHURCH–"The Church of
the living God." First, it is called the Church. What is a church? It
is an assembly–and a Christian Church is an assembly of faithful
men–of men who know the Truth of God, believe it, acknowledge it
boldly and adhere to it.
The Greek word signifies an assembly summoned out of the whole
population to exercise the right of citizenship. An ecclesia, or
church, is not a mob, nor a disorderly gathering rushing together
without end or purpose, but a regular
assembly of persons called out by Grace and gathered together by the
Holy Spirit. Those persons make up the assembly of the living God! In
order to be a Christian Church, there must be a selection and a calling
out–and that calling must come from God who alone can call
effectually. Touching all the members of this select assembly there is
an eternal purpose which is the original reason of their being
called–and to each of them there is an effectual calling whereby they
actually gather into the Church.
Then, also, there is a hedging and fencing about of this Church, by
which it is maintained as a separate body, distinct from all the rest
of mankind. The command which calls them away from the world is very
clear–"Come out from among them and be you separate, says the Lord,
and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a
Father unto you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord
Almighty." The Church is not a number of unregenerate people coming
together entirely of their own notion to defend such-and-such dogmas.
Such persons may form a club, but they cannot make a Church! There must
be a coming together of renewed men, in the name of Jesus, by the power
of the Holy Spirit–and these must meet for purposes which God Himself
ordains–and be joined together after His own fashion.
Jesus must be the uniting cornerstone and His Spirit the indwelling
power, as it is written, "In whom you also are built together for an
habitation of God through the Spirit." But the title grows upon us when
we read it as "the Church of God." There is a Synagogue of Satan and
there is a Church of God. There are churches so-called which are not of
God, though they take upon themselves His name. But what an honor it is
to be one of the assembly of God, to be one of those whom God has
chosen, whom God has called, whom God has quickened, whom God has
sanctified, whom God loves and calls His own! How honored is that
assembly in which He resides! The text speaks not of the church of a
country, or of a city, nor of the church of king or prelate, but of the
Church of God!
Blessed be God, since Jesus Christ ascended up on high there has never
ceased to be a Church of God in the earth, generally hidden and
concealed, often persecuted and always despised, yet still living! This
Church, like its Lord, has been more often found among the poor than
among the rich, more frequently confessing at the stake than honored in
the palace. Still has she been present bearing witness for the Truth of
God even in the darkest times. There has been left to us a remnant,
according to the election of Grace, in every age–I speak not, now, of
this denomination nor of that–but of the truly spiritual people who
have witnessed faithfully in the life and power of God to the Truth of
God as it is in Jesus. This is the Church of God!
The title is enhanced in its excellency by the word which is applied to
God. It is, "The Church of the living God"– not your congregation, O
Diana, though they said of you that you did fall from Heaven, for you
are a lifeless image! What was Diana of the Ephesians? What life or
power was in that senseless block? Timothy knew that the assembly which
gathered in the name of Diana was not called out by a living god.
Brethren, it is a glorious fact that our God, the God of the Church,
lives and reigns, and that He shows His life all around us! We see Him
sustaining Nature, ruling Providence and reigning in the midst of His
Church! And while we see Him we adore Him. Jehovah is the living God
and the Divine Life is seen in each of the adorable Persons of the
Godhead. Our Lord Jesus Christ is not to us a dead Christ–we love and
bless Him because He once died upon the Cross–and we adore Him because
He always lives to make intercession for us!
We are bold to preach the Gospel because of His living power and we are
earnest to observe His commands because we acknowledge His living
government in the midst of the Church. The living God proves His life
among us by the Holy Spirit, by the conversion of sinners, by
comforting and instructing saints and by edifying the faithful into a
building fitly framed together. Since, then, the Church belongs to the
living God, what is a dead church? Is that the church of the living
God? How can it be? Only as you and I possess the Spirit of God
quickening us to a life of godliness may we dare to think ourselves a
part of the Church of the living God! If you have never been quickened
by the Spirit of God; if you are dead in trespasses and sins, what have
you to do with the Church of the living God?
O you dead and corrupt, how can you have communion with the living in
Zion?! Only when you live unto God may you be built up as living stones
into the living Temple of the living God! The thing most to be dreaded
in any one Church is the decay of life. We may soon fall into formalism
and even hold the Truth in the cold grip of spiritual death! Prayer may
be neglected and the other offices of spiritual life may be disregarded
and then all will languish. "You have the name
that you live and are dead" is the dreadful sentence which must be
written across the brow of a merely nominal church! Brethren, if we
would be the Church of the living God, we must be thoroughly alive unto
God!
What an august body is this Church of the living God! Where do I see
it? I say not that I see the whole of it, for as yet this bride of
Christ is in the making. As Adam saw not Eve until she was perfected
and, therefore, we cannot suppose that she saw herself, so we see no
visible embodiment of the entire Church of Christ nor shall we see it
until Christ shall come a second time and shall present her unto
Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such
thing. Today we must walk very much by faith as to the Church of
Christ, for her members are yet being fashioned and are best discerned
by spiritual men. Happy are we if we are members of that Church, yes,
members of Christ Himself by the living faith which unites us to the
living God!
Never let us speak disrespectfully of the Church of God, nor think of
her with other than love and with intense devotion to her interests,
for she belongs to God! Let us pray for her peace and prosperity, since
she is the City of the great King. Let us ask the Lord daily to make
His own Church more and more visible and powerful in the midst of
mankind, that she may come forth "fair as the moon, clear as the sun
and terrible as an army with banners."
II. Now, secondly we will consider HER DESIGN IN REFERENCE TO GOD. The
Apostle speaks of the Church of the living God as the house of God.
This is a very beautiful and instructive figure. "The Most High dwells
not in temples made with hands," whether they are called cathedrals,
churches, or meeting houses. Today there is no consecrated shrine, no
appointed building where we must resort if we would meet with God, for
behold the Lord is to be found everywhere by those who worship Him in
spirit and in truth! True hearts view the entire universe as a temple
wherein everyone speaks of the Glory of God. Yet there is a shrine and
a temple, but it is living and spiritual–the called-out assembly– the
Church of the living God is the special abode of Deity.
I suppose we are to understand, first, by the Church being God's house,
that it is the place of His worship. As of old the temple was the holy
place to which the children of Israel went up in pilgrimage, the point
towards which they opened their windows when they prayed and the place
of the one altar and the one sacrifice. So now the Church of God is the
only place of God's true worship. He is spiritually worshipped nowhere
else. They who were never called and never quickened by Him may pretend
to worship Him, but what is dead worship to the living God? They may
profess to serve Him with gorgeous ceremonies, smoking incense and
harmonious music–but what is this to Him who is a Spirit and must be
worshipped in spirit and in truth?
It is only where men are spiritual that there can be spiritual worship!
It is only with their love, their trust and joy in the name of Jesus
and with their prayers and praises presented by the power of the Holy
Spirit that God is to be worshipped at all! Do not dream, you ungodly,
that you can worship the living God! The first essential to your
acceptance is that you accept His salvation. Be first reconciled to Him
by the death of His Son–for how shall His enemies present to Him
acceptable praises? You must become a part of the living Church by
being born again, or else you cannot worship the Lord at all!
But I like better, still, to get away from the somewhat ceremonious
idea of a temple to the more familiar thought of a house or home. The
Lord makes the Church the place of His indwelling. The thought, itself,
is charming. It is that old prophecy fulfilled, "I will dwell in them
and walk in them." God calls His Church a house in the sense of His
residing there! He is everywhere, but His special resort, the place of
His feet, the home of His heart, is His called-out congregation, His
elect, redeemed, regenerated, sanctified Church! Does not this invest
Believers with a wondrous dignity, that God should dwell in them? "Know
you not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit?" God
dwells in you! If you are, indeed, quickened of the Spirit, the Spirit
abides in you and shall be with you forever!
Of the Church we read, "God is in the midst of her, she shall not be
moved." In his own house, a man not only dwells, for he might do that
in any inn–but there he feels himself to be at home and, therefore, it
is the place of his manifestation. You do not see the real man on the
bench, for there you see a judge–nor on business, for there you see a
trader–but at home with the children! As one of them, you see the man,
the father, the husband! You see his heart and soul. And God is not
seen in all the universe with anything like the degree of clearness
that He is beheld in the midst of His people! The Lord God is more
gloriously manifested in His people than in all the works of creation.
First, in the Person of His Son He has revealed Himself right
gloriously! And then in all those who are united to His Son, He
manifests Himself to us as He does not unto the world. Oh, what
unbending of Divine majesty have we seen!
What unveilings of the incomprehensible! What revelations of the
infinite has the Lord caused to pass before His Church! "I sat down
under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet unto my
taste." "He brought me into the banqueting house and His banner over me
was love." It is in the midst of His Church that we see our Lord and
are glad! A man's house is, also, the place of his paternal rule. In
the Church we are under the present rule of our heavenly Father.
In the Church of God you will sometimes see this very remarkably. I
believe that when Paul said, concerning certain offenses in the Church,
"For this cause some are sickly among you and many sleep," he gave us a
hint of the remarkable discipline which the great Head of the house
exerts over Church members. I do not say over members of all churches,
but I say that among members of pure churches there is a solemn
discipline going on, for the Lord is jealous over His house and He will
be sanctified in them that come near unto Him. Therefore "be you clean
that bear the vessels of the Lord."
If a man is a father, he expects that his word should rule his
household. In the blessed household of God our Father, our Lord is the
only ruler! In God's house we know no Law but God's Law and we
acknowledge no legislator but Jesus, who said, "One is your Master,
even Christ, and all you are brethren." Blessed is that rule and
blessed are they who submit to it, obeying His commandments, listening
to the voice of His Word! God grant us Grace to stand up for the crown
rights of King Jesus and the paternal authority of God in His own
Church! And never may we idolize any merely human authority in the
Church, however long the usurpation may have continued. If any come
among us and speak not according to His Word, let us judge that they
have no light in them and let us give no place for subjection to
them–no, not for an hour!
Once again, it is for his own house that a man works and spends his
strength. It is the object of his choicest purposes. If a man shall
compass sea and land to gain gold, it is for his house. If he rises up
early and sits up late and eats the bread of carefulness, it is still
for his house. And so the great Householder rules all things for His
chosen family and the end and the design of all Providence, if we were
to trace it to its ultimate objective, is the good of them that love
God and are the called according to His purpose! The Lord's people are
His portion and His inheritance. Dwelling in them, He regards them as
His palace–He looks upon the Church as the eye of the universe, the
joy of the earth, the crown of all His works! Towards her His thoughts
of love go forth and for her are His Words of Truth and acts of power!
We will not leave this point without observing how holy, then, should
all members of Christian Churches be! "Holiness becomes your house." An
unholy member of a Church of the living God?! What shall I say? Let
that black stone be wet with tears of penitence this very day and then
may it be washed in the blood of Jesus! O members of the Church, is
your conduct inconsistent with your profession? Judge yourself and be
zealous and repent! All of us may well humble ourselves in the sight of
God and ask Him to cleanse us that we may be fit for Him to dwell in.
How obedient, also, should we be–for if we are a part of the house of
God, let it be our joy to submit ourselves to the Master.
When we were children in the home of a loving father, his rule was not
irksome to us–and with such a Father as our God we admit that His
Commandments are not grievous. Let us obey carefully and joyfully, each
one of us. How struck with awe ought every Church member to be to think
that he is built into God's house! Truly, as I enter among the people
of God, I feel bound to cry with Jacob, "How dreadful is this place! It
is none other than the house of God!" Take not lightly upon yourselves
a profession of Christianity! And when you have been baptized into the
name of Christ and are united with His Church, see that you walk
circumspectly and that you adorn the doctrines of God, your Savior, in
all things.
At the same time, how full of love ought we to be, for God is Love! A
house is no home if love is absent and a Church of the living God is
unchurchly if there is division among the Brethren. Is it not written,
"The Father Himself loves you"? "Little children, love one another"?
"God is love and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in Him"?
Thus have we spoken upon the design of the Church in reference to
God–the tug of war comes in the third place.
III. THE DESIGN OF THE CHURCH IN REFERENCE TO THE TRUTH. Paul compares
it to a pillar and its
pedestal or basement, for that, I think, would be a fair translation.
The temple of Diana, at Ephesus, was adorned with more than a hundred
columns of stupendous size. They were mostly of Parian marble and were
either furnished by the various cities of Asia as offerings to the
goddess, or were contributed by wealthy men and princes. These pillars
are said to have been immense monoliths–single stones of 60 feet in
height–and they were set upon a basement which was elevated ten steps
above the surrounding area.
Diana had her pillar and her basement, but she had no pillar or
basement of the Truth of God–hers was all imposture throughout. Now,
Paul calls the Church of God the basement and pillar of the Truth. What
does He mean? Notice, that she is not the creator of the Truth, nor the
inventor and fashioner of doctrine. You would think from the talk of
certain divines, nowadays, that the Church of God must surely be a
manufactory of notions, a school of inventions where clever men think
out new gospels for new times, or, like spiders, spin out of themselves
fresh webs as the old ones are broken!
Our admiration is solicited for those who are "abreast of the times"
and who keep pace with the wonderful advance of the 19th Century. Now,
the Church of God is not the inventor of the Truth of God–she is the
pillar and basement of it! Let it be remembered, also, that the figure
must not be pushed beyond what it was meant to teach. In a certain
sense the Church cannot be the pillar and basement of the Truth. Truth
is true of itself and owes its origin to God Himself and the nature of
things. The Church is not here described as the deepest foundation of
the Truth, for the basement of the pillar of the Truth of God rests on
a Rock and the Church rests on God, the Rock of Ages.
But the Truth of God, in itself, is one thing, as truth as existing in
the world is another thing! You often hear it said at public meetings
that truth is mighty and will prevail. I dare say the proverb is true,
but if you put a truth away on the shelf and no man mentions it for
ages, it will not prevail! Truth never prevails till some living mind
believes it, vindicates it and proclaims it abroad. The person who thus
takes up a grand Truth of God, declares it, fights for it and makes it
known, may be very properly called the pillar and the basis of the
cause, for the spread of the principle depends upon him. We may say of
the Reformation, Luther was its pillar and basement–or of Methodism
the same might be said of Wesley.
Note how, in another place, Paul says that James and Cephas and John
seemed to be pillars–that is to say, they held up the good cause.
There are men alive at this day of whom we may say, "They are the
pillars of the cause," and in the same sense the Church of God is the
pillar and the basement of the Truth of God among mankind. Notice that
the text speaks of, "The Church of God," meaning all the people of God
and not the clergy, alone. There is a very grave lesson here. We
frequently hear it said, "So-and-So is gone into the church." Now
remember that everybody who has gone into Christ Jesus has gone into
the Church, but no one else! The clergy are not the Church! It would be
a great pity if they were.
In all Churches of the living God it is a great fault if the whole of
the people are not recognized in the work of the Lord, in the affairs
of His house and especially in the maintenance of His Truth. As fish
are said to stink first at the head, so will you find that the first
people to depart from the Truth are those who ought to be the very
last, namely, the professed teachers of it! If the people could but
speak so as to be heard, we should not have one-half the heresy which
now defiles the house of God! The people are very often put on one
side, as if they were not at all to be considered, but were to be
managed and catered to by their spiritual lords! Then, alas, these
great ones betray the cause and sell Christ as cheaply as Judas did!
They mix up the teaching of the Spirit with the conceit of the flesh
and become so wise that they refuse to know Christ and Him crucified.
They will not keep to the Scriptures, but dive down into their own
thoughts and imaginations till they stir the mud at the bottom of their
subjects and do not, themselves, know where they are, nor can any man
tell them! Most of the false doctrine in the world has been suggested
by those whose very office it is to preach the Truth! Hence the Truth
of God is not trusted to the ministry–it is based and pillared upon
the whole Church! The poor old bed-ridden Sister who sings of Jesus'
everlasting love is quite as much a defender of the faith as an
archbishop–perhaps more! The unlettered peasant who knows the
doctrines of Grace by deep experience and, therefore, will never let
them go, is as true a guardian of the Gospel treasure as the most
profound scholar! And perhaps far more so. The whole of you who really
love God are set for the maintenance of the Truth of God in the world!
Under God the Holy Spirit, the cause of Truth depends upon you– you
are its pillar and its basement!
What does the expression mean–the pillar and basement? I think it
means, first, that in the Church, the Truth should abide. In the Church
of the living God it always does abide, even as a pillar stirs not from
its place. In the confession of the Church, made by each one of her
members; in the teaching of her ministers and in the witness of the
whole body, the Truth of God will be found at all times. The Church of
God is not the quicksand of the Truth, but the pillar and pedestal of
it–she is not the floating island of the Truth, but the eternal column
of it. The Church stands
steadfast and unmovable as a pillar of Truth fixed on its base. If you
find not the Truth of God anywhere else, you will find it in the Church
of the living God, which is Truth's castle and stronghold.
"In which church?" you ask. I said in the Church of the living God! I
did not say in the Church of England, nor in the Church of Scotland,
nor in the Wesleyan Church, nor in the Baptist Church, nor even in the
assembly of Exclusive Brethren! But I did say that the Truth of God is
as a treasure in the Church of the living God and it is never removed
from her keeping! Therefore, if the Truth of God is not maintained by
any so-called church, it is not the Church of God! When the Truth of
God is given up, everything is given up! The very idea of a Church
involves the retaining of the Truth with constant steadfastness and if
this is neglected, the so-called church has nothing left in it but the
name! As a pillar and its base are always in one place, so will the
Church be a fixed, permanent and unalterable column of Gospel Truth–
and woe to her if she is not!
Secondly, "the pillar and basement," means that in the true Church the
Truth of God is lifted up as upon a pillar. Truth not only rests there
as on a pedestal, but it stands upright as a pillar! It is the duty and
the privilege of the Church of God to exalt the Truth into the open
view of all mankind. Possibly you may have seen the column of Trajan,
or the column in the Place Vendome in Paris–these may serve as
illustrations. Around these shafts you see the victories of the
conqueror pictured in relief and lifted into the air, that all may see
them.
Now, the Church of God is a pillar which lifts up and publishes, far
and wide, the achievements of our conquering Lord! It says to all
mankind, "God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen
of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world,
received up into Glory." I may give an illustration of a pillar being
said to speak from our own column commemorating the great fire of
London which is popularly called the Monument. It used to bear an
inscription to the effect that the papists burned the city, a charge
which no one now believes. The poet Pope said of it–
"Where London's column, pointing to the skies, Like a tall bully lifts
its head and lies." Now I shall venture to alter the lines, and say–
"See Christ's own Church, still pointing to the sky Like a tall
champion, lifts His Truth on high."
Our Lord never taught us to hide the Gospel in little rooms down back
alleys–He would have us come to the front as much as we can! The
Church is not a cellar to conceal the Truth of God, but a pillar to
display it! "A city set on a hill cannot be hid." What is there to be
ashamed of? We may, ourselves, remain unknown, but we must make the
Truth known at all costs. The Church should be like a lighthouse, which
is often built as a tall pillar to bear the light at its summit and,
like a memorial column which bears a statue upon the top of it, she
should lift up the Truth of God before the gaze of all men!
Again, a Church is intended by God to set forth the Truth with beauty,
for in a temple, pillars and columns are meant for ornaments as well as
for service. The fluted and richly carved pillars of Diana's temple
were the admiration of all who saw them and, in later days they were so
esteemed that they were carried to other lands to adorn other
edifices– the dome of Santa Sophia, in Constantinople, now rises from
columns of green jasper originally placed in the temple of Diana! The
Church should adorn the doctrine of God her Savior in all things. His
Truth should be emblazoned upon her like an inscription upon a column,
so stately as to secure attention and command respect. A living
Christian is the best ornament of Christianity–God's service should be
performed in the beauty of holiness.
Once more, it is the Church's business to maintain the Truth of God
with all her might. She is set as a bronze wall and an iron pillar
against all error. However men may cringe or bow, there stands the
column fast and firm, fixed on its pedestal, set on its base. So should
the Church in all ages stand fast to Truth and yield to no error, nor
concealment of doctrine, nor change of ordinance! The Church of the
Apostles is the model of the Church of today. The pattern of the Church
of Christ is not to be found in the popish synagogues of the middle
ages, but in the first age when Jesus Christ spoke and said, "Go you,
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to
observe all things whatever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the world."
The business of the Church is to uphold, defend, maintain, and
propagate the pure doctrines of Christ and His Apostles–and if she
fails in this–if in her midst the Truth is not prized, if it is not
adorned, if it is not vindicated and proclaimed, the church, so-called,
is no longer the pillar of the Truth, but a bowing wall and a tottering
fence! Now, I
must occupy your time a little longer while I try to enforce a Truth
which lies very near my own heart. And I pray God it may lie near the
hearts of all His people at this perilous hour.
The Truths of God which may be derived from the text are of one order.
The first is that the whole Church is to maintain the Truth. Dear
Brothers and Sisters, be very zealous for the Gospel, the old, old
Gospel of the Grace of God! Be very zealous of the doctrine of
Justification by Faith and forgiveness by the Atonement. I speak to you
who know the Truth, for you, alone, make up the Church of God. Do not,
I beseech you, allow in yourselves an ignorance of God's Word, but
study it and seek to know more and more of it. And what you do know, by
the teachings of God's Spirit, bind about yourselves as a belt never to
be loosened!
There are seducing spirits abroad that would deceive, if it were
possible, the very elect! Therefore I entreat you to not be beguiled by
their exceeding craftiness. Turn not aside from your steadfastness, but
abide in the faith! They will tell you that you are bigoted. Never mind
them, for in their mouths bigotry is another name for decision of
character! The Gospel of salvation is the hope of men, therefore do all
you can to make it known! Do not cast in your lot with those who are
given to change, but stand in the old paths. It may happen that the
wealthier people of the town are in error and it may be for your
temporal advantage to join their community–but make no confederacy
with false doctrine! Better go to the meanest conventicle and help to
maintain the Truth of God than attend the wealthiest congregation where
the Gospel is thrown into the background!
I charge you by the living God, in these evil days, to keep yourselves
pure from error! A true Church is appointed of God for the conservation
of His Truth–and before the Lord, at the foot of the Cross, in the
power of the eternal Spirit–we would pray that even unto death we may
be faithful to our charge! Next, remember that a church is unchurched
which is not faithful to the Truth of God. The church of Rome, when she
forbade to marry and commanded to abstain from meats, set up also the
"mass" in the place of the Sacrifice of Christ and her priests in the
place of the one Great High Priest. Then she taught and encouraged
idolatry in the worship of images, relics and the like. By all this she
unchurched herself and is now described in Scripture, not as the bride
of Christ, but as the harlot of Babylon!
She is not the pillar of the Truth, but the grave of it! She was moved
by error. She fell from her uprightness. She lies prone in utter ruin,
never to be restored. Alas, any church may thus perish! The apostasy of
Rome should be a warning to all other Churches of the living God, lest
they, also, by little and little become defiled and cease to answer to
the Divine design and are cast away forever! Next, remember that any
Church fails in her design as being the pillar and basement of the
Truth of God in proportion as she departs from the Truth of God. I
therefore do, with all my soul, condemn what I see around me everywhere
of disregard to the Truth of God!
It is not merely that men change their views, but that they are
becoming indifferent to Truth altogether and seem to think they do God
a service when they unsettle the youthful minds of our day! First, we
deplore all tampering with Inspiration. The Sacred Volume is scarcely
admitted to be Inspired at all, or at best it is said to be inspired in
some such moderated sense as Milton or Shakespeare may have been
inspired! Then this Book is torn away from Scripture and then the
other–and some who ought to know better say, "That portion of the
Bible is written for the Jews, but not for us." And so, by degrees, all
the precious Volume is torn from us.
Could the saints in Heaven, who used to feed on the Word of God, return
to this lower world, they would be surprised to find that our wise men
have questioned almost every Prophet, Evangelist, Psalm and Epistle!
Every portion of the Word of God is challenged and the whole of
Scripture is assailed–and that by men who continue in what professes
to be a Church of the living God! We still hold that the Bible, and the
Bible, alone, is the religion of the Christian–and we intend to hold
to it all the more because others fall from their steadfastness! Alas,
the grand old doctrines of the Gospel are also despoiled! Do you
notice, nowadays, how all the great Truths of God are being spirited
away? Men use the words, but they mock the ears, for they reject the
sense–they hand us nuts–we crack them and we find that the worm of
modern thought has eaten out the meat!
The doctrine of the Atonement has, in some cases, been the chief object
of assault. Take that away and what is left?! For what purpose is there
a Church at all if the Atonement of Jesus Christ is not to be
proclaimed by it? Let her die! Why should she live if she has no
testimony to bear! If she has no Divine, Infallible message of pardon
for the guilty and rest for the weary, let her perish! Listen to the
detestable talk of modern ecclesiastics and you will hear them say,
"Brethren,
your own thoughts are your best guide! The enlightened consciousness of
this age will best instruct you. The Bible is our sacred book, but cut
out whatever you like, alter whatever you please.
"We will yield anything sooner than be in opposition to the
philosophers! Our illiterate predecessors, the fishermen, together with
Paul and others, were raw hands at teaching and very unwisely thrust
themselves into conflict with the best thought and culture of the
period–so that their teaching was to the Jews a stumbling block and to
the Greeks foolishness–but we know a great deal better! We adapt
ourselves to the times and entertain great sympathy for honest doubt.
We also know on which side our bread is buttered and we are ready to
alter and amend to please the fashion of the hour!" Where this is the
talk, there remains no longer a Church of the living God! It is nothing
but the name of a church when the doctrines of God's Infallible Word
are trod in the dust!
A church ceases to be a Church of Christ in proportion, also, as she
alters the ordinances of God. These must be practiced as they were
delivered. When a church rejects the ancient ordinances of Believers'
Baptism and the Lord's Supper, her next step is to make new ones! Thus
forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meat are brought in.
The first is much vaunted as a means for the production of purity, but
how much the priests and monks and nuns have done for purity I leave
history to record! Believers' Baptism was thrown to the winds and then
baptismal regeneration must be brought in. The Lord's Supper was by far
too common and so the "unbloody sacrifice of the 'mass'" was devised! O
Church of God, when will you come back to the Law and to the Testimony
and follow the mind of Christ and the doings of His Apostles?
Churches also get wrong when they neglect discipline; when they admit
into their membership persons who do not even profess to be converted
and, I add, when, because of pleasing men, they tolerate in their midst
ministers whose teaching is corrupt and full of infidelity! There are
preachers, nowadays, who are studiously undermining the faith once
delivered to the saints! The Church should separate itself both from
wicked persons and from false teachers. She should no more tolerate
evil teachers in her pulpits than you would allow a poisoner in your
nursery, or a wolf in your sheepfold. God grant that our Churches may
rise to their duty, however painful it may be! Yes, may they keep close
to the faith, for otherwise they cannot be the pillar and basement of
the Truth of God! An unholy, unregenerated church can never be the
pillar of the Truth of God. If there is a failure in vital godliness;
if humble walking with God is neglected, the Church cannot long remain
a healthy Church of God.
Now, Brothers and Sisters, you see how each one of you ought to behave
in the Church of God. One part of your behavior is that you abide firm
as a pillar. Stand fast! Be strong! You ought to be pillars, especially
you who have known the Lord 30 or 40 years. You should stand fast to
the Truth of God and I pray that you may. May the Church in Scotland,
which of old witnessed to the Gospel, be kept steadfast. Her
Covenanting fathers loved the Truth of God and shed their blood for it.
May the Lord help their sons to be strong in the Lord and in the power
of His might. May the Churches of our own England also be recovered
from their declension and then maintained by the Spirit of God in stern
fidelity to the Gospel.
I cannot finish my sermon better than by commending to you the verse
which was sung just now by your 5,000 voices–
"Should all the forms that men devise Assault my faith with treacherous
art,
I'll call them vanity and lies, And bind the Gospel to my heart."