Confidence and Concern
(No. 1913)
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S DAY MORNING, AUGUST 8, 1886,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not
ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is
able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.
Hold fast the form of sound words, which you have heard of me, in faith
and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed
unto you keep by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us." 2 Timothy
1:12-14.
OUR Apostle was in prison. If he was confined in the Mammertine, those
of us who have shivered in that dark underground dungeon may well pity
him. And if he was confined in the prison of the Praetorian Guards, he
fared no better, for the near company of such rough and cruel soldiers
would involve much suffering. The Apostle was not only a prisoner,
chained by his right hand to a soldier both day and night, but he was,
to his intense sorrow, forsaken by his friends. The encouragements of
Christian communion are exceedingly great and the loss of them is very
bitter. Those who ought to have gloried in the Apostle for his fervor,
his self-sacrifice, his courage and his zeal, had turned against him.
He writes to Timothy, "This you know, that all they which are in Asia
have turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Her-mogenes." It
would seem that these two notable persons were ashamed of Paul's chain
and, to their endless disgrace, turned against him.
Deserted in his utmost need, deprived of his liberty and treated as a
breaker of the laws, we could not have marveled if the Apostle had been
somewhat dispirited. Active spirits are apt to fret in confinement and
tender hearts bleed under desertion. Beside that, the man of God was in
daily danger of execution by the tyrant's sword. He was not likely to
be spared by the monster who occupied the Roman throne and already he
had the sentence of death in himself. Any morning he might be awakened
by a rough summons to come forth and die. See him, then–such a one as
Paul the Aged! Wearing his chain, he sits in his cell, expecting soon
to die a cruel death–but instead of being personally discouraged–he
has encouragement to spare for others! He is thinking of young Timothy
and not of himself! As for himself, he says, "Nevertheless, I am not
ashamed." And then he charges his young Brother not to be disheartened
nor shaken in faith, but bravely to carry on the great work committed
to his charge. It is grand to see how calmly this man bore himself! In
his case it was, indeed, true, that "stone walls do not a prison make,
nor iron bars a cage." Paul ranged the world with his free missionary
spirit and he reigned more royally in his prison than Caesar in his
palace! No one envies Nero, but many have felt that Paul's sufferings
might readily be embraced for the sake of his exalted life.
What was the cause of the cool courage of the Apostle? On what
foundation was his peace built? How was his confidence sustained? He
tells us in our text how his fears were removed–and he also informs us
as to a matter which pressed upon his mind. Our discourse this morning
will be an attempt to show at once Paul's confidence and his concern. I
pray God to bring our minds into a parallel line with that of the
Apostle so that we may enjoy the most serene peace, as Paul did, and
may, at the same moment, feel a noble concern for higher interests than
those which begin and end with ourselves! The honored Apostle had
committed all his own matters into the hands of God and so was at
perfect peace about them. But he experienced deep anxiety for another
treasure which was committed to him–which he handed over to Timothy
with an earnest entreaty that he would guard it by the Holy Spirit. The
blending of deep peace and holy zeal will give us a condition of heart
of a most desirable kind!
Our subject opens up to us under four divisions. First, we shall notice
what Paul had done. Then, secondly, what Paul knew. Thirdly, what Paul
was persuaded of. And lastly, what he was concerned about.
I. First, observe carefully WHAT PAUL HAD DONE. I will speak but
briefly here.
He had trusted a Person–"I know whom I have believed." He had trusted
that Person with full, clear knowledge of Him–so trusted that he did
not alter his trust as years rolled by but, as he grew in the knowledge
of that Person, he was also confirmed in his confidence in Him–"I know
whom I have believed."
He does not say, "I know what I have believed," though that would have
been true. He does not say, "I know when I believed," though that would
have been correct. Nor does he say, "I know how much I have believed,"
although he had well weighed his faith. He does not even say, "I know
in whom I have believed," but he goes still closer! He says expressly,
"I know whom I have believed," as much as to say, "I know the Person
into whose hand I have committed my present condition and my eternal
destiny. I know who He is and I, therefore, without any hesitation,
leave myself in His hands." Brothers and Sisters, it is the beginning
of spiritual life to believe Jesus Christ! Is not this the one word
that we preach to you continually? "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and you shall be saved." "He that believes on the Son has everlasting
life." "He that believes on Him is not condemned." Many are the
Scriptural assurances to the same effect. Paul had not ventured upon a
fancy, but he had trusted in a well-known Friend! He had not done this
in ignorance, nor in fanaticism, nor in desperation, but with cool,
clear, deliberate judgement–knowing whom he had trusted. Ignorance is
a wretched foundation, but sure knowledge is like a rock!
Paul had gone further and had practically carried out his confidence,
for he had deposited everything with this Person. He had unreservedly
committed his body, soul, spirit, character, life and immortality to
the guardian care of that Person whom he knew and loved so well! I may
believe in a person and yet I may never have committed anything to his
charge– he might not wish that I would do so, nor be willing to accept
any trust at my hands. But we must go that length with the Lord Jesus.
While we are bound to believe in the Lord Jesus as faithful and true
and able to save, this belief is not enough, in itself, to work
salvation–we must, in consequence of this belief–actually and
definitely convey out of our own keeping all our eternal interests and
put them into His keeping. We must make the Lord Jesus Christ the
depository of all our anxieties and hopes. He must be to us the banker
who has the custody of all our valuables, bonds and title-deeds–yes we
must also leave ourselves with Him–all that we are, all that we have,
all that we expect to have, we must confide with Jesus.
A poor idiot, who had been instructed by an earnest Christian, somewhat
alarmed him by a strange remark, for he feared that all his teaching
had been in vain. He said to this poor creature, "You know that you
have a soul, John?" "No," said he, "I have no soul." "No soul!" thought
the teacher, "this is dreadful ignorance." All his fears were rolled
away when his half-witted pupil added, "I had a soul, once, and I lost
it, but Jesus found it. And so I have let Him keep it." How could he
better have expressed his faith? Is not that exactly what the Apostle
meant–he passed his soul out of his own keeping into the care of
Jesus, his Lord? As a man leaves his estate with a trustee, or as the
patient entrusts his life to his physician, even so had the Apostle
Paul committed himself into the hands of that glorious Person whom
having not seen, he loved!
I pause here to ask whether we have all done the same. This is a vital
question. If you, my Friend, are keeping your own soul, you have a poor
keeper! You will lose your soul as surely as you attempt to be your own
savior! Have you once and for all transferred salvation work from
yourself to Jesus? Are you looking out of yourself and looking to
Jesus, only? Are you leaning upon the Beloved? Are you living in Him?
If so, your safety is secure. In the hands of Jesus, a soul must be
safe. In the keeping of Jesus, nothing shall hurt you either night or
day. In Him you dwell in a fortress and high tower–and no enemy shall
molest you. Through time and eternity you are secure! Death shall leave
you sleeping on His bosom! Resurrection shall awaken you in His
likeness and endless ages shall display your security in Him forever
and ever!
What Paul did is summed up in these words, "I know whom I have
believed," "I have committed everything to
Him."
II. The next thing is, WHAT DID PAUL KNOW? He tells us plainly, "I know
whom I have believed." We are to understand by this that Paul looked
steadily at the Object of his confidence and knew that he relied upon
God in Christ Jesus. He did not rest in a vague hope that he would be
saved, nor in an indefinite reliance upon the Christian religion, nor
in a sanguine expectation that all things would, somehow, turn out
right at the end. He did not hold the theory of our modern divines,
that our Lord Jesus Christ did something or other, which, in one way or
another, is more or less
remotely connected with the forgiveness of sin. No, Paul knew the Lord
Jesus Christ as a Person and he deliberately placed himself in His
keeping, knowing Him to be the Savior!
His countrymen did not know Jesus, or they would not have crucified the
Lord of Glory, but Paul knew Him. Those around the Apostle were
strangers to the Lord Jesus and could not sympathize with Paul, yet he
knew Him. Some of them curiously asked, "Who is this Christos of whom
you sing?" Others asked, "Who is this Crucified One, of whom you make
so much fuss?" Paul answers by avowing his own faith–"I know whom I
have believed." He had no phantom Savior, no mythical Savior, no
unknown Savior, no Savior sharing salvation with two or three others.
Paul knew no company of saints and virgins, nor even a church to which
he trusted his soul–he says, "I know whom I have believed." Jesus was
a distinct Person to the Apostle, so real as to be known to him as a
man knows a friend. Paul knew nobody else so well as he knew his Lord!
By faith he knew Jesus as He was born at Bethlehem, partaker of our
humanity, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh–a Brother born for
adversity. He knew Him as He died on Calvary, bearing our sins in His
own body on the tree. He knew Him as dead and buried in the tomb of
Joseph–and as risen from the dead for our justification! He knew Him
as gone up into Glory and sitting at the right hand of God, clothed
with honor and majesty. Because of all this, the Apostle trusted his
Lord. On what better ground could he have gone? What could be more
reasonable than that he should entrust his all with One so fitted to
preserve him till he day of His appearing?
Dear Friends, do you really know Christ Jesus as a real Person? Do you
trust in Him as now living? I beseech you, do not trust the weight of
your salvation upon a doctrine! A statement, an abstraction, cannot
save you–you need the active interference of a Person. Do not trust in
a form of faith, nor in a code of rules. What are they? Trust in the
living Person of Him who, though He was dead, rose again and always
lives to make intercession for us at the right hand of God, even the
Father! I trust that you have no hesitation as to faith in Him, but
that you can sing with me–
"Jesus, my God, I know His name,
His name is all my trust!
Nor will He put my soul to shame,
Nor let my hope be lost."
Paul also knew the Character of Jesus whom he trusted. His perfect
Character abundantly justified the Apostle's implicit trust. Paul could
have said, "I know that I trust in One who is no mere man, but very God
of very God. I have not put my soul into the keeping of a priest, like
unto the sons of Aaron, who must die, but I have rested myself in One
whose Priesthood is according to the Law of an endless life–a Priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. He upon whom I confide is He
without whom was not anything made that was made, who sustains all
things by the Word of His power and who, at His coming, shall shake
both the heavens and the earth, for all fullness of Divine energy
dwells in Him." Paul knew that his Christ was God as well as Man and so
he felt safe in relying upon Him.
He knew also that this blessed Person was pre-eminently satisfactory to
the heart of the eternal God. What manner of perfection must
concentrate itself in Him in whom the Father, Himself, delights? Think
of Him as the great Sacrifice for sin who has made a complete, absolute
and everlasting Atonement, to which nothing can be added, from which
nothing shall ever be taken away! Think of Him in whom the Justice of
God is vindicated and the Love of God is displayed! When my own eyes
dart a glance to Calvary and I picture the Lord of Glory dying there
for my sake, I cannot allow a doubt to live–I feel compelled to
trust–I cannot but rest in perfect peace when I see that great
Sacrifice which has forever put away all the sins of Believers!
Beloved, Paul knew whom he had believed as being Divine in His Person
and complete in His Sacrifice, but more than that. Paul knew that the
Lord Jesus Christ, to whom he trusted his soul, was now adorned with
all the Glory of Heaven and clothed with all the Omnipotence of the
mighty God. He knew that, if he was bound, Jesus was not bound and
that, if he must die, yet Jesus could not die. He knew that the Lord
shall reign forever and ever and his expectant ears caught the
hallelujahs of eternity when the Crucified shall be acknowledged Lord
of All! "All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth," said
Jesus, "Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them." Paul
felt that such power was worthy of boundless confidence and, therefore,
he said–"I know whom I have believed." Jesus was to Paul's faith no
longer the despised and rejected Nazarene; no longer the condemned and
crucified Man of Sorrows, but He was the acknowledged King of Kings and
Lord of Lords! He knew Him in His risen Glory. Happy, happy, happy
heart which has such knowledge of Jesus and such confidence in Him!
Now, Brothers and Sisters, I think I have shown you why Paul had much
faith in Jesus. How could he do otherwise than trust in One of whom he
knew such wonderful things? But how did Paul come to know Christ? I
suppose he knew Him in great part by the Word of God. Every page of
Scripture, as the Apostle perused it, revealed Jesus to him. These
Scriptures are the swathing-bands of the Holy Child Jesus. Unroll them
and there He is! This Book is a royal pavilion within which the Prince
of Peace is to be met with by Believers who look for Him. In this
celestial mirror, Jesus is reflected! This is a sure testimony–more to
be trusted than the sight of the eyes, or the hearing of the ears. Do
you know Christ by seeing Him in His Word?
Paul also knew Jesus in another way than this. He had personal
acquaintance with Him. He knew Him as "the Lord Jesus, who appeared
unto him in the way." When he was going to Damascus to persecute the
saints of God, this same Jesus spoke out of the excellent Glory and
said to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" Brethren, have we
any personal acquaintance with Christ? If not, our witness will not run
parallel with Paul's utterance in our text, "I know whom I have
believed." Did Jesus ever call you to Himself, and have you answered
His call? Has He so spoken as to change the whole current of your life?
Does He still speak to you? Do you remember a sacred place, a
consecrated spot where Jesus has met you? Have you a chamber where He
meets you and manifests Himself to you as He does not to the world? If
so, you can well trust Him whose love is shed abroad in your heart by
the Holy Spirit. You can well trust Him, for He is no stranger, but
your near kinsman who is mindful of you and visits you. Cannot you join
with our poet and softly sing–
"Yes, though I have not seen and still
Must rest in faith alone,
I love You, dearest Lord, and will,
Unseen, but not unknown."
There are other gates of the soul beside eyes and ears, other touches
than those of the hands and other feelings than those of the flesh. Our
inner spirit, when it would commune with the spiritual world, disdains
to use the gross and inefficient instruments of this poor body–she
cannot, with these, have fellowship with the Father and with His Son,
Jesus Christ. By its own inner hands, our spirit has touched Him. With
her own inner mouth she has kissed the Well-Beloved. With other than a
material eyes she has beheld her unseen Spouse. Our eyes do not see–we
see through our eyes even these temporal things–but we see eternal
things without the need of eyes. Our spirit needs no intervening
medium, but she sees in her pure spirit the pure spirit of Jesus, face
to face! More than the senses could convey to the soul, she perceives
without them! This is a Divine and blessed knowledge and the Apostle
could, with all his heart, declare that it was his own. Though he had
once known Christ after the flesh, he declared that after the flesh he
knew Him no more, but he knew Him so well and so truly after the spirit
that he said, without reserve, "I know whom I have believed."
He knew the Lord, also, by practical experience and trial of Him. Paul
had tested Jesus amidst furious mobs, when stones fell about him, and
in prison when the dampness of death chilled him to the bone! He had
known Christ far out at sea, when Euroclydon drove him up and down in
the Adriatic. And he had known Christ when the rough blasts of
un-brotherly suspicion had beaten upon him on the land. All that he
knew increased his confidence! He knew the Lord Jesus because He had
delivered him out of the mouth of the lion. "I know," he said–he was
past the age of speculation and theory. Look at his hoary locks and his
scarred face–he is no fair-weather sailor–he has sailed with his Lord
upon the great deeps and has suffered many things for His sake. And
now, after all his experience, he does not say that he hopes, supposes,
or thinks, but he writes, "/know."
Glorious dogmatist, we are not ashamed to follow in your track! Where
is there any comfort or stimulus except in the Truth of God assuredly
believed? To doubt is to be downcast and feeble. Only in solemn
assurance is there courage and strength. Come on, you who quibble and
criticize–Paul meets you with, "I know!" You demand that he shall
maintain his thesis with logic? He answers, "I know!" What he knew of
his Lord was as sure to him as his own consciousness. He had no reserve
in his mind for future alterations of creed, for he had reached
certainty. "I know whom I have believed." He could not doubt Him, nor
distrust Him, nor stir an inch from the absolutely unlimited confidence
which he reposed in Him. Beloved, I trust we know as much of Jesus as
leads us to a living faith in our living Lord. Some people do not know
much else, but they are well educated if they know this! Others are
skillful in classics, mathematics and applied sciences, but if they do
not know Jesus, in whom the saints believe, they are in the worst of
ignorance! I pray God to send such untaught persons to His infant
school, for it is written, "Except you are converted and become as
little children, you
shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." May we be taught of God to
know Jesus by that practical acquaintance which engenders trust in Him!
III. Thirdly, let us enquire–WHAT WAS THE APOSTLE PERSUADED OF? If one
should say to a Christian man, "Pray, Sir, what are your opinions?" he
might answer, "I have no opinions, but I know whom I have believed." If
the enquirer then said, "But what is your persuasion?" he might answer,
"I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to
Him." This method of treating matters is far better than forming mere
opinions for ourselves, or borrowing persuasions from others.
/mplicitly Paul declares his faith in our Lord's willingness and
faithfulness. He does not mention these in words, but sometimes there
is great instruction in omissions–things not said may, perhaps, be
more conspicuous by their absence than things which are spoken. Silence
is often more emphatic than speech. Paul does not raise the question
whether the Savior was willing or faithful to keep what he had
committed to Him–he takes that for granted. He will not even assert
his knowledge of the Truth and Grace of his Redeemer–he leaves these
among the things which could not be questioned for a moment! Dear
Heart, if you have given yourself to Christ, Christ has given Himself
to you–do not doubt His readiness to receive you! If you are leaning
upon the Beloved, He is willing to be leaned upon and He will never
fail you. If, in very truth His Word is your trust, the Lord will never
run back from His promise. Has He not said it and will He not do it?
Take this for granted! Receive it as an acknowledged principle which
none may question.
But the point which the Apostle expressly mentions is the power of
Christ–"I am persuaded that He is able." He had a solemn conviction of
the ability of the Lord Jesus, who is able to save unto the uttermost.
Let us hope that no Believer here has any doubt about the power of
Christ. If he has, the doubt is most absurd! He that goes to the sea
for salt water cannot rationally fear that he will be forced to come
back with an empty bucket. He that lifts up his face to the sun can
have no doubt but that his features will be bright with the light. So
he that turns to Christ may be persuaded that there is no lack of
sufficiency or ability in Him.
"Oh," one says, "I do not doubt the ability of Christ to save me!" May
I ask you, then, what you do doubt? "Oh, I doubt my own merit, my own
ability and so forth." What have any of these things to do with the
matter in hand, which is the power of Jesus? These things are
altogether out of the circle! All the salvation of a man depends upon
the Lord Jesus Christ–and if He is able to save you, why are you full
of fears? If you have committed your money to the banker and you say,
"I am afraid it is not safe," the only justifiable reason for such
suspicion must be because the bank is not solvent. Would you say, "I
doubt about my money because I have a headache?" Would that be
rational? Would you say, "I am afraid my money is unsafe because my
eyesight is failing me?" Does that influence the safety of your deposit
at the bank? Nothing can affect that matter but lack of stability in
the bank, itself.
If you have committed yourself to the care of the Lord Jesus Christ, I
cannot listen to those miserable, "ifs," and "buts"–they are
unreasonable and irrelevant. I blow them away as so much chaff. If
Jesus is able to save and you are trusting Him, there is no room for
distrust. Can you doubt the Lord's ability? Have we not believed in His
Godhead and in the almighty power with which the Father has girt Him as
the God-Man, the Mediator, now that He has gone up into His everlasting
reward? If these are facts, how can it be difficult to trust such a
One? Trust my soul with Christ? Why, if I had all your souls within my
body, I could trust them all to Him! And if every sin that man has done
in thought, word and deed since worlds were made, or time began, could
meet upon my one guilty head–I dare say it–the precious blood of
Jesus could wash them all away! Trust Him with one soul? Yes, indeed,
it seems too little a thing!
He that goes on board a great Atlantic liner does not say, "I venture
the weight of my body upon this vessel. I trust it to bear my ponderous
frame." Yet your body is more of a load to the vessel than your soul is
to the Lord Jesus. Did you ever hear of the gnat on the horn of the ox
which feared that it might be an inconvenience to the huge creature? O
Friend, you are but a gnat in comparison with the Lord Jesus! No, you
are not so heavy to the ascended Savior as the gnat to the ox! You were
a weight to Him once, but having borne that load once and for all, your
salvation is no burden to Him now. Well may you say, "I am persuaded
that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him."
What was this which Paul had committed to Christ? He committed to Him
everything that he had for time and for eternity–his body, his soul,
his spirit–all fears, cares, dangers, sins, doubts, hopes, joys. He
just made a clean removal of his all from himself to his Lord. "I am
persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto
Him." See how the eyes of the Apostle light up as he tells his copyist
to write down, "He is able to keep my deposit against that
day." If he had little joy and rejoicing in his waiting time, he would,
nevertheless, look to have his full of it in that day of days, that day
in which his Lord would appear! He left everything with Jesus with a
view to the Advent, the Judgment, and the eternal Glory! Then would he
look for his Divine Keeper to produce the deposit entrusted to Him.
There will be no need in that day to ask, "My Lord, is it all right?"
Yes, we may picture Him as coming in all His Glory and majesty to be
admired in all them that believe! He sits upon the Throne of His Glory
and there are you among the countless multitude!
Suppose you could say, "My Lord, I trusted You with my soul. Am I safe?
I trusted You with my eternal interests. Are they all secure?" How
sweet will be His reply, as He says to His Father, "Of them which You
gave Me have I lost none." And to us, "Come, you blessed of My Father,
inherit the Kingdom prepared for you!" If any enquire of us in Glory,
"How did you get here?" we will answer, "He brought us here." If they
say, "How is it that you are on His right hand?" we will reply,
"Because His own right hand brought us there." "But how is it that you
are so bright in your apparel?" "We have washed our robes and made them
white in His blood." "How is it that after you were converted you did
not turn back?" "He kept us in the Way and preserved our lives, for He
said, 'Because I live, you shall live also.'" "How is it that you have
escaped the power of the enemy, since you were only a sheep, and a wolf
was after you?" "It is because He said, 'I give unto My sheep eternal
life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of My
hand.'"
When the Lord shall make up His last account of His jewels in that
Great Day, we shall be found in Christ, even as gems are found in a
golden vault! In the Lord Jesus Christ, all His elect, all His
blood-bought, all His called, all His justified, all His believing
people shall be found in that day. None of His redeemed shall be absent
in the day when the sheep shall pass, again, under the hand of Him that
counts them. All who were marked with the blood-mark here below shall
be folded in the pastures of Glory! "I know whom I have believed," says
Paul, "and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have
committed unto Him against that day."
Those of you who are acquainted with the original will follow me while
I forge a link between my third division and my fourth. If I were to
read the text, thus, it would be quite correct–"I am persuaded that He
is able to keep my deposit against that day." Here we have a glimpse of
a second meaning. If you have the Revised Version, you will find in the
margin, "that which He has committed to me." And the original allows us
to read the verse whichever way we choose– "He is able to keep that
which I have committed unto Him"–or "that which He has committed unto
me." This last expression, though I could not endorse it as giving the
full sense of the text, does seem to me to be a part of its meaning. It
is noteworthy that, in the 14th verse, the original has the same phrase
as in this verse. It runs thus–"that good deposit guarded by the Holy
Spirit which dwells in us."
Inasmuch as the words are the same–the Apostle speaking of "my
deposit" in the 12th verse and, in the 14th verse speaking of "that
good deposit"–I cannot help thinking that one thought dominated his
mind. His soul and the Gospel were so united as to be, in his thought,
but one deposit–and this he believed that Jesus was able to keep. He
seemed to say, "I have preached the Gospel which was committed to my
trust and now, for having preached it, I am put in prison, and am
likely to die, but the Gospel is safe in better hands than mine." The
demon of distrust might have whispered to him, "Paul, you are now
silenced and your Gospel will be silenced with you! The Church will die
out. The Truth of God will become extinct!" "No, no," says Paul, "I am
not ashamed, for I know that He is able to guard my deposit against
that day."
I cannot tell you what heart-cheer it often brings to my soul, in these
evil days, to join in the confidence of this text! At the present
moment it seems as if parts of the Church had almost forgotten the
Gospel of the Grace of God. We hear on all hands, "another gospel,
which is not another; but there are some that trouble you, and would
pervert the Gospel of Christ." We hear the noise of archers at every
place of drawing of water and the wayfaring man almost ceases from the
highways of Zion. Worldliness is growing over the Church, she is
overgrown with the moss of it. The visible Church is honeycombed
through and through with a baptized infidelity! Unholy living is
following upon unbelieving thinking. They boast that they have nearly
extirpated Puritanism–some of us are described as the last of the
race! Have they quenched our coal? Far from it! The light of the
Doctrines of Grace shall yet again shine forth as the sun!
Elijah was known to say, "As the Lord lives, before whom I stand." And
this also is my confidence–the Truth of God lives because God lives!
Though Truth were dead and buried, it would rise again. The day is not
far distant when the
old, old Gospel shall again command the scholarship of the age and
shall direct the thoughts of men! Even if it were not so, it would be a
small matter, for it signifies little, except to themselves, what men
think, since God is true and with the Truth of God there is power. The
fight is not over! The brunt of the battle is yet to come! They dreamed
that the old Gospel was dead more than a hundred years ago, but they
dug its grave too soon. Conformists and Nonconformists had, alike, gone
over to a cold Socinianism and in the old sanctuaries, where holy men
once preached with power, modern dreamers droned out their wretched
philosophies! All was decorous and dead, but God would not have it so.
All of a sudden, a voice was heard from Oxford, where the Wesleys and
their companions had found a living Savior and were bound to tell of
His love!
From an inn in Gloucester there came a youth who began to preach the
Everlasting Gospel with a trumpet tongue. A new era dawned. Two schools
of Methodists with fiery energy proclaimed the living Word of God. All
England was awakened! A new springtide arrived–the time of the singing
of birds had come–life rejoiced where once death withered all things!
It will be so again. The Lord lives and the Gospel lives, too. Our
charioteers are driving as fast as they can in the direction of
Unitarianism and spiritual death, but the Lord will lay His hand upon
the bridles of the horses, though Jehu himself drives them, and He
shall turn them back by the way they came! "I know whom I have
believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep my deposit against
that day."
IV. This leads me on to this fourth point–WHAT THE APOSTLE WAS
CONCERNED ABOUT. The matter
about which he was concerned was this deposit of his–this everlasting
Gospel of the blessed God. He expresses his concern in the following
words–"Hold fast the form of sound words, which you have heard of me,
in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was
committed unto you, keep by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us."
First, he is concerned for the steadfastness of Timothy and, as I
think, for that of all young Christians and especially of all young
preachers. What does he say? "Hold fast the form of sound words." I
hear an objector murmur, "There is surely not much in words." Sometimes
there is very much in words. Vital truth may hinge upon a single word.
The whole Church of Christ once fought a tremendous battle over a
syllable–but it was necessary to fight it for the conservation of the
Truth of God. Only the unorthodox ridicule words and with them it is an
affectation, for were they not impressed with the importance of words,
they would not be so eager to alter them. "Surely we may change our
terms." I have no objection if I know that your intentions are honest!
"Surely we may change the form of a creed, however sound it may be." Do
so if you like. I will not contend for words to no profit. But as for
some of you who ask for these changes, I shrewdly suspect that you
would get rid of a phrase that you might be rid of that which the
phrase means. You gentlemen who say, "Surely you will not stick out for
a word," are, after all, neither so innocent nor so liberal as you
appear to be. Brethren, it is not a word they would amend, but a Truth
of God they would efface! I intend calling a rose a rose, even though I
admit that by another name it might smell as sweet, for I perceive that
there is an intent to inflict upon me a rank smelling weed which is no
rose at all! When people rail at creeds as having no vitality, I
suppose that I hear one say that there is no life in eggshells. Just
so–there is no life in egg shells–they are just so much lime, void of
sensation.
"Pray, my dear Sir, do not put yourself out to defend a mere shell."
Truly, good Friend, I am no trifler, nor so litigious as to fight for a
mere shell. But listen! I have discovered that when you break eggshells
you spoil eggs! And I have learned that eggs do not hatch and produce
life when shells are cracked! I have come to be rather tender about
shells, now that I find that certain rogues are depriving me of
chickens by cracking my eggshells! At certain periods when everybody is
sound and right at heart, it may be wise to revise expressions, but we
will have none of it when the very air is tainted with unbelief! If you
walk round certain continental towns you will see bright lawns and
gardens where once there stood grim walls. In times of peace we are
glad to see fortifications demolished, but, mark you, when the
Prussians are around Paris, no Frenchman will tolerate the proposition
to throw down the forts! This is our case, today, and therefore we hold
fast the form of sound words!
"We hate your narrowness–your nasty narrowness! You are shut in within
your walls of creeds and beliefs!" Yes, gentlemen, so we are. And we
mean to remain so, since we see how you hate the Gospel. If everything
were in peace and we believed in you, we might, perhaps, think about
turning bulwarks into boulevards–but at the present moment we will do
nothing of the kind, but rather hear the voice of our old captain from
his prison at Rome, crying–"Hold fast the pattern of wholesome words
which you have heard from me." Brothers, do not change your posture nor
shift your posi-
tion! Stand fast on the Immutable Truth of God, trusting and loving
your Lord. Hold the old faith and hold it in the old fashion, too. We
are crossing the stream and can make no change of horses. Brothers, why
should we change? Do these tempting novelties offer any real
improvement on the old? Do they offer us anything to die upon? Can
these new teachings afford us comfort in poverty, in sickness, in
depression of spirit or in prospect of the Day of Judgment? They are
only pretty flowers for the children of this world to play with. They
suit well with minds that love frivolities, but they are not for men
whose life is a warfare against sin! The eternal Truths revealed within
this Book and grasped by the hands of our inner life–these are
everything to us–therefore we shall stand by them even to the last
with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus!
The Apostle was anxious not only that the men should stand, but that
the Everlasting Gospel, itself, should be guarded. "That good thing
which was committed unto you, keep by the Holy Spirit which dwells in
us." O Friends, it were better for us that the sun were quenched than
that the Gospel were gone! I believe that the moralities, the liberties
and, perhaps, the very existence of a nation depend upon the
proclamation of the Gospel in its midst! Have you not noticed that
where the Gospel has been given up and various forms of infidelity have
ruled, foul pollution has also boiled up from below! The very idea of
morality seems to have departed from some men by whom belief in God has
been rejected. The Lord save us from the general spread of this
mischief! Let the sea, itself, cease to ebb and flow sooner than the
Gospel fail to be preached among the sons of men! If the whole Church
were to die for the defense of the Gospel, it were a cheap price to pay
for the maintenance of it! I speak solemnly when I say that our main
care in life should be to preserve this Gospel intact and hand it down
to our descendants. God grant that future ages may not have to curse us
for having been undecided or cowardly in the hour of conflict!
How are we to keep the faith? There is only one way. It is of little
use trying to guard the Gospel by writing it down in a trust-deed–it
is of small service to ask men to subscribe to a creed–we must go to
work in a more effectual way. How is the Gospel to be guarded? "By the
Holy Spirit which dwells in us." If, my dear Brothers and Sisters, the
Holy Spirit dwells in you and you obey His monitions, are molded by His
influences and exhibit the result of His work in the holiness of your
lives, then the faith will be kept. A holy people are the true
bodyguard of the Gospel. Only living people, in whom the Holy Spirit is
the soul of their soul and the spirit of their spirit, are able to keep
the Truth of God living and influential in the world! Let the power of
the Gospel be missing where it may, it must be present where the Holy
Spirit abides, for He makes the Word of God to be a living and
incorruptible Seed which lives and abides forever! God send us, more
and more, the Holy Spirit! May He be in us as rivers of Living Water!
Oh for His heavenly Presence in this day of blasphemy and rebuke! Amen.