DELIVERED ON THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 9, 1881,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"And He came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophets, He shall be called a
Nazarene." Matthew 2:23.
WE find the Jews speaking of Paul, and they say, "We have found this
man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews
throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the
Nazarenes"–Acts 24:5. Thus it appears that our Lord and Master is
called a Nazarene and His disciples are styled "the sect of the
Nazarenes," while Christian doctrine was called, by the Jews, the
heresy of the Nazarenes. Our Savior, though actually born at Bethlehem,
was commonly known as Jesus of Nazareth, because Nazareth was the place
where He was brought up. There He remained with His reputed father in
the carpenter's shop until the time of His showing unto the people.
This Nazareth was a place very much despised. It was a small country
town and the people were rough and rustic. They were some three days
distance from Jerusalem, where I suppose the Jews thought that
everything that was learned and polite could be found, as we are apt to
think of our own city, or of Oxford, Cambridge and other seats of
learning. The people of Nazareth were the boors of Galilee, the clowns
of the country. More than that, you will generally find in every
nation–I was about to say in every county of our own country–some
town made the butt of ridicule. I do not know that "silly Suffolk," is
any sillier than any other part of the world, but I do know that I,
myself, happen to have been born in the next parish to the town of
Coggeshall, in Essex, concerning which all sorts of jokes are made–so
that when any stupid thing is done they call it "a Coggeshall job."
I merely mention this because it is an illustration of what used to be
said concerning Nazareth. It was a primitive place. It was situated in
Galilee, which was thought to be quite boorish enough, and Nazareth was
the most rustic of all. The name signifies, in rough words, "sprouts,"
and the Jews, who were great at puns upon names, threw it as a jest at
the people who came from that town. We Anglicize it in a more refined
way by the word, "branch," for, "Netzar," or, "Nazareth," signifies a
branch. You will begin to understand why the Savior is said to be
called by the Prophet, a Netzar, or a Nazarene, and you will guess that
Matthew refers to the passage in Isaiah, in the 11th chapter at the
first verse, where it is said that a rod shall come out of the stem of
Jesse, and "a Netzar, a Nazarene, a Branch shall grow out of his
roots."
There is another passage in Jeremiah where we read of the man, the
Branch–the Netzar–the Nazarene. And again in Isaiah, "And His name
shall be called a Branch," or Nazarene. Those are the passages, I
think, to which Matthew referred when he said, "That it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophets, He shall be called a
Netzar, a Branch, a Nazarene." The Hebrews made a great deal out of
names–a great deal more than you and I generally do with names of
places in England–and they had reason for so doing, for there was
generally a meaning in the names of places. Perhaps Nazareth was
called, "Branch" because trees flourished there and not much else. Or
because they thought that the people were rather verdant and they,
therefore, called them, "sprouts" and, "greens," making the same use of
language as the vulgar do at this day when they wish to express
contempt.
That may have been the origin of the term, "Nazareth." Certain it is
that the place was the subject of the jests of the Jews of our Lord's
time, for even Nathanael, in whom was no guile–one who spoke in a
simple-hearted, honest way and had no prejudices, but wished well to
everybody, said–"Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" As if
he felt that Prophets and saints were by no means likely to spring from
a town so low down in the scale of progress and education. How could He
of whom Moses spoke be found way down there among the country folk of
Nazareth? As Nazarene was a term of contempt in the olden times, so it
has continued to be. The apostate emperor, Julian, was known always to
call our Lord, the Galilean. And when he died, in his agony of death,
he cried, "O Galilean, You have vanquished me!" He was obliged to
confess our Lord's supremacy, though he still showed his contempt by
calling Him the Galilean.
The Jews, to this day, when they feel wroth against our Christ, are
known to call Him the Nazarene. Nazarene is not at all the same word as
Nazarite. It is a different word in the Hebrew and you must not confuse
the two. Never suppose that when you say, "He shall be called a
Nazarene," that it signifies that He was called a Nazarite. Nazarite,
among the Jews, would have been a title of honor, but Nazarene is
simply a name of contempt. A late traveler tells us that he had a
Muslim guide through Palestine and whenever they came to a village that
was very dirty, poor and inhabited by professed Christians, he always
said, "These are not Muslims, they are Netza," or, "Nazarenes,"
throwing all the spite he possibly could into the word, as if he could
not have uttered a more contemptuous term.
To this day, then, our Lord has the name of the Nazarene affixed to Him
by those who reject Him. And to this day Christians are called, among
Muslims, Nazarenes. Our Lord Jesus Christ was never ashamed of this
name. In fact, He called Himself, "Jesus of Nazareth," after He had
risen from the dead. He told Paul, when He smote him to the earth, "I
am Jesus of Nazareth whom you persecute." His disciples were not
ashamed to call Him by that name, for as they walked to Emmaus and He
joined them, and asked them what they were speaking of, they said they
were talking of Jesus of Nazareth.
This is a name at which devils tremble, for they besought Him, even
Jesus of Nazareth, that they should not be sent into the deep when He
cast them out! It was the name which, in contempt, was nailed above His
head upon the Cross– "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Oh,
but it is a glorious name, as I shall have to show before I have done!
But still, this is the meaning of it–the meaning of Matthew when he
says that the Prophets declared that He should be called a Nazarene. He
meant that the Prophets have described the Messiah as one that would be
despised and rejected of men! They spoke of Him as a great Prince and
Conqueror when they described His second coming, but they set forth His
first coming when they spoke of Him as a root out of a dry ground
without form or comeliness, who, when He should be seen, would have no
beauty that men should desire Him. The Prophets said that He would be
called by a despicable title and it was so, for His countrymen called
Him a Nazarene.
I want you to notice our Divine Redeemer's condescension, before I
plunge further into this matter. It was a marvel that Jesus should live
on this world at all! He who inhabits all things, whom space is not
wide enough to contain, dwells on this poor, dusky planet! If He must
dwell in this world, why is He born in Judea? For though I am grieved
it should be so, yet the Jews are a people greatly despised–shame on
Christians when they ever join in such despising! But still, if Jesus
must be a Man in this world, why is He not born in Rome, in the capital
of the nations? Why must it be in a little miserable country like
Judea? And if He shall be born in Judea, why must He live in
Galilee–that Boeotia of Israel– that most despicable part of Judea?
If He must live in Galilee, why not at Capernaum? Why does He choose
Nazareth? Why must He go to the lowest of the low–that most despised
place of a despised country? And if He must come to Nazareth–follow
Him a step lower– why must He be a carpenter's son? Why, if He lives
there, can He not be the son of the minister of the synagogue, or some
respectable scribe? No–He must be reputed to be a poor man's son. And
then if He must be a carpenter's son, why can He not so constrain men's
hearts that they shall receive Him? For the deepest depth of all is
that even as a carpenter's son His fellow citizens will not endure
Him–they take Him to the brow of the hill to cast Him down headlong
from the cliff whereon the city stood! Was there ever such
condescension as that of the Savior? If, in the lowest depth, there is
a lower depth, He plunges into it for our sakes!
He emptied Himself. Our old version says, "He made Himself of no
reputation," but the new one is, in this case much better–"He emptied
Himself." Nothing was left Him of honor or respect. He gave up all.
"Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor"–poor to the
last degree, poor in reputation! He was born a Man, a Jew, a Galilean,
a Naza-rene. You have gone down as far as language can descend and I
invite you, now, to think of the way in which Jesus, the Nazarene, is
still despised. That shall be our first head. When we have thought upon
that, we will say a little upon His disciples–the sect of the
Nazarenes must expect to be despised till brighter days shall dawn.
When we have talked about that we shall have to say, in conclusion,
that there is nothing despicable either in the Master or in the
servants, though they are called Nazarenes by a contemptuous world.
I. First, then, OUR MASTER, THE NAZARENE, WAS DESPISED AND IS DESPISED
EVEN TO THIS DAY. He was despised, first, because in His Person, His
parentage, His state, His apparel, His language, His habits there was
nothing of grandeur, nothing of parade, nothing but what was simple,
gentle, lowly. He did ride, once, but it was on a
colt, the foal of an ass. It was said, "Behold your King comes," but
His coming was meek and lowly. He might have been a king–He was very
near being taken by force to be pushed up into a throne–but He
withdrew Himself, for He did not strive, nor cry, nor cause His voice
to be heard in the streets. He was no popularity-hunter, or flatterer
of the great.
He was no man of confusion and strife, who sought to push Himself
forward and tread down others. Those that opposed Him were weak like
bruised reeds, but He would not break them though He could have done
it. They offended Him with their weak arguments, for they were like a
smoking flax to Him, but He would not quench them. He left them for
another day when He shall bring forth judgment unto victory. I suppose,
if we had seen the Savior, we should not have thought Him "altogether
lovely," for His heavenly beauty was not of the kind that strikes the
natural eye. Hence the impossibility of any painter ever being able to
paint Him, for though He must have been superlatively lovely, it must
have been a beauty with which nobody would be charmed unless their eyes
were opened to perceive the beauty of holiness.
His was the loveliness of virtue, the charm ofpurity and not that
sensuous beauty which excites desire and kindles the passions of
mankind. He was loveliness itself, but only to those who know what
loveliness is. About His dress there was nothing remarkable. He wore
the ordinary smock-frock of the country, a garment without seam, woven
from the top throughout–a very serviceable, useful piece of workday
apparel–but possessing nothing in it of official dignity, or princely
richness to distinguish Him from an ordinary person. As for the place
where He lived, it was no bishop's palace, nor even an ordinary manse,
for He had not where to lay His head.
He sought no dignity and no honor. As for His companionships, they were
of the lowest, for it is said of Him, "This Man receives sinners and
eats with them." "Then drew near unto Him all the publicans and sinners
for to hear Him." The off casts of society delighted in His discourses
and they gathered round Him to receive blessings at His hand. He lifted
them up from the dunghill, renewed them and set them among princes. He
was the last person in the world to be hampered by pride. There was
nothing of the kind about Him! He was the personification of love. He
condescended, but He did not seem to condescend, for graciousness was
natural to Him. He did it so really that one almost forgot the
condescension in the altogether naturalness of the way in which He
sympathized with all grief and helped all who came for succor. And,
therefore, the proud despised Him.
Those who looked for dress and garb, as so many do in our day–those
who looked for a show of learning, quotations from great writers,
continual perplexities to human minds–could not see much in Jesus.
Those who needed a display of power, a leader bold and brave to drive
out the Romans and play Judas Maccabaeus for the people, turned away
and said, "He is nothing but an ordinary Nazarene." His followers, too,
were another cause of the contempt poured upon Him, for His chosen
friends were, to those who knew them, nothing but common fishermen.
Indeed, that is all they were! Unlearned and ignorant men they are said
to have been, though they baffled the pretended wisdom of the age in
which they lived. How could He have selected such followers? There were
scribes and there were Pharisees–there were Rabbis and Rabboni–He
might surely have called some of those to follow Him!
But, you see, the Savior was not a preacher that at all attracted the
elite of society. Those highly cultured minds, as a rule, went to hear
Rabbi Simeon, the Pharisee, who expounded points of no earthly
importance. But Jesus was one of whom it is written, "The common people
heard Him gladly." And so the wise ones ran Him down as "a Nazarene."
"Look," they said, "look and see who they are that He has chosen to be
His chief helpers! See how the lower orders flock around Him. They are
no judges–what notion have they of profound learning and research?
They like a man who is ignorant, for He is like themselves. They have
no taste, they have no education and so they gather to one of
themselves." "Ah!" said one of these wiseacres, "I am ashamed of
Him–quite ashamed. Indeed, I shall speak to Him, for He ought not to
be so lost to all sense of propriety."
And so he goes to the Master and says, "Do You hear the boys crying,
'Hosanna!' in the Temple? Do You hear what these say?" He thought that
the Lord would be ashamed of having such admirers as mere street boys.
But the Savior answered, "Have you never read"–as if He were going to
question this great man's reading–"Have you never read, Out of the
mouth of babes and sucklings He has perfected praise"? He was not
ashamed, even, of chits of children that strewed the pathway for Him,
nor ashamed of the sick and sinful people that gathered around Him, nor
ashamed of the poor fishermen that were the lieutenants of His
salvation army! But rather did He rejoice therein and say, "Father, I
thank You that You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and
have revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good
in Your sight."
But the higher classes, the refined and the cultivated, said, "Tush! He
is nothing but a Nazarene!" Well, then, when they came to listen to His
doctrine, they were not a bit more pleased, nor did they hold Him any
higher in esteem. What do you think He taught them? Among other things
it is reported that He said, "Except a man is born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God"–and, would you believe it, He said this not to one
of the lower order at all, but to a learned gentleman who was a ruler
in Israel? Why, it has come to a pretty pass, this, to tell educated
people, refined, aesthetic people, that they must be born again or else
they cannot see the kingdom of God–to insist upon regeneration as a
thing as necessary to a philosopher as to a prostitute–as necessary to
a senator as to a jailbird! As necessary to the purest as to the most
defiled. Oh no, we cannot bear such leveling doctrine! It is shocking!
So they turned their backs on Him and called Him a Nazarene! When a man
tells you unpalatable truth, it is very easy and natural to call him
bad names. If you cannot answer him anyway else, you can always answer
him by reviling him.
And, then, what do you think He said besides that? On one occasion He
had the audacity to say–and I am sure the Pharisees thought it was
audacity, indeed–"Except you eat My flesh, and drink My blood, there
is no life in you." What could the Man mean–that they, even they, the
sons of Abraham who were born free–the priests who had partaken of the
sacrifices, must actually eat Him? Did they think that they would
accept His teaching as food for their souls? I wonder if they went as
far as that in understanding Him? But if they did, they liked it no
better. They were indignant that He should say that the only food for
their souls must be Himself–that unless He became their life and the
nourishment of that life–unless He became part and parcel of their
very being, they could not be saved! Even those who did think a little
of Him, said that after this they must give Him up. They could not
stand that and so they walked no more with Him.
He went even further. Why, He actually dared to tell the scribes and
Pharisees who had fasted so many times in the week and never ate bread
without washing their hands, and tithed the mint and the cummin, that
there was nothing in all this! He said–"You blind guides, you
hypocrites, you strain at a gnat and you swallow a camel!" He went on
to tell them that all their outside religion was a lie and a falsehood
unless the inner part of the soul were cleansed. He said that it was
not that which a man ate or drank, but that which came out of the man
that really defiled him. People said, "Did you ever hear such talk as
that? Why, He is putting us all down, we that are the best people
around! If we are not good– we that are the leaders of society, the
pink of perfection–who can be?"
"We swallow a widow's house sometimes, but we always do that behind the
door. It is true that we are not as clean inside as we should be, but
then we always make clean the outside of the cup and platter. Nobody
can say but what we do and He has been talking against us–and at the
same time He is inviting the fallen to Himself and saying–'Come unto
Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'
Well, well," they said, "we cannot bear it! He is nothing but a
Nazarene!" And so they turned their backs upon Him. Dear Friends, today
Jesus Christ is as much despised as ever by those ungodly and
vain-glorious men who understand what His Gospel is! How frequently you
will find, in the public newspapers, and in the magazines of those who
think themselves the cultivated class, remarks against the doctrine of
justification by faith.
You and I are simpletons enough to believe that we are justified by
faith in Christ Jesus, because God has told us so, and we sing–
"Nothing in my hands I bring Simply to the Cross I cling"
and they tell us that this is inconsistent with public morality! That
the masses ought to be told that unless they behave themselves they
cannot possibly go to Heaven, and so on–which thing they have been
told times without number–and they have grown worse, the more they
have been told it! When we talk about Free Grace which pardons the
vilest through faith in Christ, men are changed and made moral and
holy! But our unbelieving critics choose to ignore all that and go and
talk against what is the very essence of the Gospel of Christ, as
though it were a poor, miserable thing, only fit for a set of fanatics
to preach! "Only believe and you shall be saved?" they say, "that is
their absurd doctrine!" In other words, they repeat the old abuse and
call us Nazarenes.
But if you want to see the ungodly world foam at its mouth–oh, if you
want to see rage get at its worst–and wish to see pretended learned
men upon their mettle, preach the doctrine of Atonement by blood! Tell
them that remission of sin is by Substitution–that Christ stood in the
sinner's place and took the sinner's sin–and that without shedding of
blood there is no remission of sin. See how they writhe and rage! They
cannot bear this horrible doctrine of Atonement
by Sacrifice and yet, most learned Sirs, it is upon that horrible
Atonement that our hope depends! It is upon that horrible doctrine that
we hang our destiny for time and for eternity! And we are not ashamed
to bring it out with all plainness of speech, for the precious blood of
Christ, God's dear Son, and that alone, cleans us from all sin!
"Ah, well," they say, "that is just the old story which your Puritan
fathers used to tell. That is the old Methodist doctrine. That is your
Presbyterianism and, as James the First said, Presbyterianism is no
religion for a gentleman." These learned men admire the broad-Church
school where everything is taken to be true except the Truth of God!
Still, Jesus is, to the mass of mankind, the despised Nazarene! I will
not dwell longer upon it, however, because you that know the Lord need
not be told that He is, to this day, despised and rejected of men. Call
yourself a Christian and forget what Christianity is–and you will have
easy times of it. Instead of preaching the simple Gospel of Christ, get
fine music and fix up fine shows. Turn the place of worship into a
conservatory, or a theater, and there will be no persecution for you!
Of course not, that is not Jesus Christ! But preach Jesus Christ and
see if all the dogs will not howl at you, directly. You shall have ill
names and wicked stories and all sorts ofjests poured upon you! Go
through the world as a respectable professor of religion and never let
fall a single distinctive Truth of God from your lips. Never perform
one single distinctive action of Christianity–but just do as others do
and live as others do–and I will guarantee you, you shall be in a
whole skin from the first of January to the end of December!
But be a Christian and live your Christianity and speak it out–and see
how long it will be before they of your own house are at war with you!
If we are true to the Master, we shall find that we have not enlisted
in a service which is all fine feathers and music–stern fighting is to
be done! There is war to be borne and hardness to be endured by every
good soldier of the Cross, for Jesus is still called the Nazarene!
II. But now, secondly, our other text informs us that CHRIST'S
FOLLOWERS HAVE BEEN KNOWN AS THE SECT OF THE NAZARENES–that is to say,
they must expect to bear a measure of the indignities poured upon their
Leader. Dear young Friends, I need to press some matters home upon you
who have lately joined the Church and also upon you who love the Lord
but have never yet confessed it. If you follow Christ fully, you will
be sure to be called by some ill name or other. For, first, they will
say how singular you are. "My inheritance," says God, "is unto Me as a
speckled bird. The birds round about her are against her."
If you become a true Christian, you will soon be a marked man. They
will say, "How odd he is!" "How singular she is!" They will think that
we try to make ourselves remarkable, when, in fact, we are only
conscientious and are endeavoring to obey what we think to be the Word
of God. Oftentimes that is the form of contempt–practical Christians
are set down as intentionally eccentric and willfully odd. Mothers have
brought that charge against daughters who have been faithful to Christ
because they would not go into gaiety, or indulge in vain apparel. And
many a working man has said it to his fellow man by way of accusation,
"You must be different from everybody else." This difference, which God
has made a necessity, men treat as a mere whim of our own. If we do not
come out from among them and be separate, we cannot expect to be housed
beneath the wings of the Eternal! But if we do, we may reckon upon
being regarded by those around us as strange, unfriendly creatures.
Then, again, they will say to the genuine Christian, "Why, you are so
old-fashioned! Look at you! You believe the same old things that they
used to believe in Oliver Cromwell's day–those old Puritan doctrines!
Do you not know that the world has made a great progress since those
times and we have entered upon the 19th Century–a wonderful
century–there never was century like it! There was only one Solomon,
centuries ago, but we are all Solomons now! The very least of us! While
the greater ones far excel a thousand Solomons rolled into one! The
19th Century! And here are you, you still stick to an old book that was
written half of it ages ago, and the other half is at least 1,800 years
old! Will you never move with the times? Will you get as far as Moses,
Jesus and John and stick there?"
Yes, exactly there! We go not an inch beyond Jesus Christ, the same
yesterday, today, and forever! We try to hold fast the faith that was
once delivered to the saints. In ordinances we hold to the olden
Baptism and the ancient Supper! In doctrine we abide by the Truths of
God which Paul taught among the Gentiles, for we feel that we cannot
improve upon them! We would wish to exhibit the same spirit as Jesus
Christ our Lord, for we know we shall never improve upon His
perfections! Therefore they say, "You are so old-fashioned!" And we
answer that for this we give no apology. When that form of criticism
does not take effect, they laugh at our faith. They say, "You
simple-minded people have great capacity
for believing! Look at us, we are far too sensible to believe anything.
We do not feel sure about anything. What we think we know today we are
not certain of. We are so receptive that we may learn the reverse
tomorrow!
"We get our faith out of our own moral consciousness and compel, even,
the Scriptures to plead at the bar of our inward conceptions. We do not
need to have things revealed to us and to have a Bible and bind
ourselves down to a Book of Revelation. We are our own teachers, judges
and infallible guides–and the very idea of absolutely certain truth is
abhorred by us! As to this Spirit of God that you trust in, it is sheer
enthusiasm! There is nothing in it and we wonder that you should be so
credulous! Instead of that, you ought to be rational and believe in
Huxley and Tyndall. Do not be credulous and believe in God, but be
rational and believe in Bradlaugh, Voltaire and Tom Paine!"
This is another sting for the Nazarenes, but happily it has small power
to vex us, since our reverence for the authorities of modern wisdom is
not sufficient to make us fear their scoffs. Time was when Christianity
was opposed by men of real ability, masters in learning–but in the
present age its antagonists are men of much smaller caliber whose lack
of argument is scantily concealed by the outrageous absurdities which
they invent! Instead of attempting to overwhelm us by the weight of
their learning, they endeavor to surprise us with unexpected hypotheses
which we are more inclined to ridicule than to refute! And then, with
mock sobriety, they assert that our bewilderment is defeat. The spears
of the phalanx of reason are seen no more, but the shafts of folly
stand thick upon our shields. In this, also, we shall conquer through
the blood of the Lamb! Meanwhile we leave sneers of contempt to those
who are such masters of them. It is for Nazarenes to receive, but not
to return arrogance.
Another arrow of contempt is the assertion that Christian people have
not their liberty. "Look at you, you dare not go to the theater! You
dare not drink! Why," says one man, "I like a jolly drink sometimes and
if I were a Christian, I could not enjoy that great privilege." No,
Friend, you certainly would lose that booze of yours. As far as we are
concerned, we have no ambition in that direction. Some of us know a
little of what the amusements of the ungodly are and we are astonished
that you should be able to find content in them, for they do not suit
our taste at all! We never envy hogs their wash. Let them have their
trough well-filled as often as they please! We have no taste in that
direction. But you need not say that we have no liberty because we do
not feed out of the swine trough, for such liberty we never desired!
We have liberty to serve God and do good–and this is the freedom which
we covet. We have liberty to do as we like, for we like to do what God
would have us do–and we pray that our likes may, every day, be more
and more conformed to the liking of God. There is not much, after all,
in the taunt, "You God-fearing people are cowardly! You dare not enjoy
yourselves." We live daily so as to give this taunt the lie, for we are
a happy people, a free people, even we who are of the sect of the
Nazarenes!
Again, some turn round upon true Christians for their not being very
choice in their company. If we associated only with the rich and great,
whose society, as far as I know of it, is about the poorest thing out,
we should then be acting properly. Keep to "society," and society will
smile upon you. But if you attend meetings where you call a coal miner
your Brother in Christ, where the washerwoman is your Sister, where so
long as people love Christ you count them the best of company, then you
are low and vulgar, a Philistine, or a Nazarene! If you are willing to
be a true Brother to a black man, or to one who is an outcast in
condition–who was actually seen with a broom, sweeping a
crossing–then, of course, you cannot expect to be recognized by
anybody who is anybody! Listen to the world's ridicule of true
Christian Churches where there is real brotherly love and true
fraternity! They cannot endure it!
Well, they may do without it, then, but this shall be my glory–that
God has made of one blood all nations of men that dwell upon the face
of the earth and that where there is a touch of Grace in any man–his
dress and his rank are nothing to me! Real Believers in Jesus are truly
our Brothers and Sisters in Christ, however poor or however illiterate
they may be. This is the very genius of Christianity! To the poor, the
Gospel is preached! As soon as men enter into the Church of Christ, all
outward distinctions are forgotten and they are one in the gracious
family of God their Father! This, however, is the subject of contempt
even among those who profess and call themselves Christians! Many of
your fine ladies and gentlemen would not acknowledge Jesus, Himself, if
He were now upon earth! And as for His disciples, I am sure they would
get the cold shoulder on all sides! I, for one, never expect to see
saints fashionable, nor holiness popular–let us be content to be low
and vulgar in men's esteem for the Lord's sake!
And then, if God's servants will preach the Truth of God outright, or
if not being preachers they will hold it and dare to live it, I
guarantee you they will soon meet with some contemptuous title or
other. Pare down the Gospel; cut
away its angles; draw out the lion's teeth and then, at once, you shall
be friends with the world! But hold the Doctrines of Grace; bring forth
the Atonement; speak out plainly; have your convictions and state
them–and soon the hounds will be after you full cry! Say that the
Bible and the Bible, alone, is the religion of true Christians, and
that we are not bound by prayer-books, synods, conferences, or anything
of the kind–but only by the Word of God, and you shall see what you
shall see, for here and there and everywhere all sorts of people will
be against you!
Live a godly, gracious life and you will not escape persecution! You
may be happily circumstanced so as to live among earnest Christians and
so escape persecution–but take the average Christian man in this city
and he will have a hard time of it if he is faithful! He will be
pointed at by some opprobrious name or other, something like Paul was
when they said he was a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
III. Now, listen to me as I close. THERE IS, AFTER ALL, NOTHING
DESPICABLE IN EITHER CHRIST OR HIS PEOPLE. I feel half ashamed to say
such a thing, or that it should ever be necessary to be said that there
is nothing to despise in Jesus! What is there to be ashamed of in Him?
He is the Son of the Highest! He is "God over all, blessed forever" and
if He stooped–and stoop He did–and became lower than the lowest by
His sufferings or death, even the death of the Cross, He did it out of
such glorious disinterestedness of kindness to fallen men that He is
thereby revealed as the most grand of all characters! His is the most
sublime of all lives! Angels have never ceased to wonder and adore!
Even the enemies of Christ have often been struck dumb as they have
seen the splendor of the love that moved Him to stoop so low.
And what if He has revealed a plain Gospel? Would you have the
illiterate left out in the cold? What if He preached the Gospel to
sinners? Who needed the Gospel but sinners? What if He did not flatter
the pride of those who thought themselves good? Is it not true that
"the whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick"? For my
part, I bless my Master that He has given us a commonplace Gospel. It
is sublime beyond sublimity! But it is plain so that a little child may
understand it. A man with slender wit may find his way to Heaven guided
by the Light of the Holy Spirit and this is one of the most grand
proofs of the profound wisdom of God! Glory be to Jesus Christ that He
did not come here to tantalize the multitude by a Gospel only suitable
to the elite! That He did not come here to proclaim doctrines that
could only be learned in the universities and could never be understood
except by such men as Isaac Newton or Robert Boyle!
I bless the name of Jesus that He came to give a Gospel to the poor and
needy, to the simple and the childlike! And while I do it, I feel that
I hear Him saying again, "I thank You, O Father, Lord of Heaven and of
earth, that You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and
have revealed them unto babes." The practical point is this–there is
nothing to be ashamed of in being a Christian! I am afraid that there
are some Christians that we have need to be ashamed of and that we,
ourselves, do many unworthy things. Christians ought to be reflections
of Christ, but I fear they often cast reflections upon Christ. Oh you
that despise Christ, when you find out our faults and speak against us
for them, you treat us justly and we cannot complain!
But why lay our crimes at our Savior's door? If you find us false to
our profession. If we are not like our Master. If we are not true to
Him, you may well ridicule us and we cannot answer you. We must be
beaten as with whips of scorpions when we are untrue to our Leader–but
why blame Him? The fact is that the ungodly revile those who are true
to the Lord Jesus. Well, when they do, there is nothing in that to be
ashamed of. What if I believe the Truth of God? Shall I be ashamed of
it? What if I fear God? Shall I be ashamed of it? Let those be ashamed
who do not fear Him. What if I believe in prayer? What if I receive
answers to prayer? Shall I blush about that? Let those blush scarlet
who never pray, or have no God to hear their prayers! Shall I be
ashamed because I try to do what is right and have a conscience before
God–and cannot enjoy loose pleasures–or listen to lascivious song?
Shall I be ashamed of chastity and truth?
Why, then, let angels be ashamed of purity! Let the stars be ashamed of
light! Let the sun be ashamed of day! There is nothing to be ashamed of
in things honorable and of good repute. Why is it that some of you–you
who are, I trust, Christians–never come out and acknowledge your
religion? What will your Master say to you in the day of His appearing?
What honor can you expect to share with Him if you will not share His
shame? If any man wants to spit on Christ, let him do me the honor to
spit on me! If any man will rail on Christ, let him do me the pleasure
to rail on me, for if I may stand between him and my Master, I shall be
promoted by the deed!
Napoleon's Mamaluke flung himself in the way of the bullet to save the
emperor's life. Shall not Christ be served after that fashion? Shall we
not be willing to be Nazarenes for the Nazarene? Shall we not glory to
be despised and rejected
of men for His sake, if by any means we may bring honor to Him? I trust
it shall be so and yet some of you have not even been baptized into His
name, though you know that it is His command! You have never joined
with His people in Church fellowship and yet wish to share their joys!
You let them fight the battle alone! You think, I suppose, to slink
into Heaven by the back door and not to be found among the soldiers of
Christ till the crowns are distributed? Ah, Sirs, you miss a great
honor in not standing shoulder to shoulder with the rank and file of
Christ's chosen! Angels would leave Heaven, if they could, to come and
fight for Christ!
They would be glad to leave their rest to bear the hardness which a
follower of Christ must endure for His dear Captain's sake. Jesus is
coming! He is on His way! He may come tonight! He may come before
another Sabbath's bells shall ring–and oh, if I have never confessed
Him, if I have been ashamed of Him–how shall I face Him? Hear this,
you cowards! What will you say when He appears? Be wise and confess Him
tonight! Come you out from among the ungodly! Be you separate! Confess
your Lord and Master!
"He that with His heart believes, and with His mouth makes confession
of Him, shall be saved." "He that believes and is baptized shall be
saved. He that believes not shall be damned." God save us from being
ashamed of the Nazarene! Amen.
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Sarah and Her Daughters