"Persecuted, But Not Forsaken"
(No. 2574)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JUNE 12, 1898.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH
8, 1883.
"Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth. Let Israel now say:
many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not
prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long
their furrows. The Lord is righteous: He has cut asunder the cords of
the wicked. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.
Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withers before it
grows up: which the mower fills not his hand; nor he that binds sheaves
his arms. Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be
upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD." Psalm 129.
You see, dear Friends, the Psalm speaks of two sorts of people–there
is Israel and there are those that hate Zion. The first three verses
are dedicated to God's people. The last five speak of those who are not
God's people, but are the haters of them. From the very first, there
have been two seeds in the world. The first man that was born–Cain,
was of the seed of the serpent, but the second was, by the Grace of
God, of the seed of the woman. And so early, when those two boys had
but just developed into manhood, he that was born by Grace served his
God and brought a lamb as his sacrifice. But he that was born after the
flesh–the firstborn of man–became his brother's murderer. Thus, in
the very first household that ever existed, there was a sharp line of
demarcation between the man of faith and the man of sense–the man that
lived unto God and the man that lived after his own passions. Always
and everywhere since that day there have been the same two characters
and, albeit there is a large number of persons about whom you or I may
not be able to give any decision, for they seem as if they stood
between the two! Yet in the sight of God there is a line, narrow, but
most sure, which divides the living from the dead–the believing from
the unbelieving–the men that fear God from them that fear Him not.
And still, right down the ages, that Word that was spoken to the
serpent in the Garden of Eden stands true–"I will put enmity between
you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed." There are the
believing people of God– His own elect brought out from among men, and
there is the world that lies in the Wicked One. To one of these two
classes we all belong–there are really no neutrals–it is not possible
that there should be. There is no borderland between life and death–a
man is either alive by the quickening of the Spirit, or he remains dead
in trespasses and sins.
I am going to speak of each of these two classes that are mentioned in
my text. So, first, let us notice the description given of God's own
people. The first three verses of the Psalm may be summed up
thus–Israel persecuted, but not forsaken. When I have spoken on that
theme, I shall hope to say something about the wicked flourishing, but
perishing. Those two words–flourishing, perishing–describe the
condition of those that hate Zion and that hate the children of Zion.
Before I plunge into the text, however, let me give you a few sentences
by way of introduction.
The life of the Lord Jesus Christ is the picture of the life of His
people. "As He was," says Paul, "so are we, also, in this world." This
is so remarkably true that, in the Psalms we sometimes can hardly tell
whether the writer is describing himself or the Lord Jesus, because, as
is the Head, so are the members, and there is a growing likeness which
is often spoken of in Scripture as if these two were one, as indeed, in
the highest sense, they are. If you read this Psalm carefully, you can
see Christ in it. Jesus could truly say, "Many a time have they
afflicted Me from My youth: yet they have not prevailed against Me."
Herod sought the young Child's life to destroy it. Satan seemed to stir
Hell, itself, to seek the destruction of the Infant Jesus. "The plowers
plowed upon My back: they made long their furrows." How true was that
of our Divine Master–when He was in His agony in the garden, the
furrows were plainly visible! When He was brought before Herod, and
before Pilate, and was scourged till He was covered with wounds–and
when He died and they took down that blessed but mangled body–how deep
were the furrows!
Now the sufferings of Christ, of which I spoke to you last Sunday night
[See Sermon #2573, Volume 44–Unparalleled Suffering] are, in their
measure, repeated in His people–we are made to have fellowship with
Him in His sufferings. Shall the disciple be above his Master? Shall
the servant be above his Lord? If they have persecuted Him, they will
also persecute us! He bids us look for such treatment as this. Do not,
therefore, expect rest where Christ had none, or look to wear a crown
of gold where Christ wore a crown of thorns.
My next observation is that the history of God's people, Israel, is
also, in type, a history of His Church. Truly, the sins of Israel are
far too often repeated in Believers, but the woes and griefs of Israel,
and their deliverance out of them, are the means of comfort to many of
God's saints. See how the Israelites were afflicted from their youth,
when they were but a little nation and went down into Egypt. How hard
they had to work in the brick-kilns! With what enmity did Pharaoh look
upon them! How cruelly and craftily he sought to compass the
destruction of the nation by drowning the male children in the Nile! He
used his wit and his power every way possible to destroy the chosen
people–but the Lord preserved His own. Then, in the day of Israel's
youth, when she went into the wilderness, she was afflicted. "I
remember you," says God, "the kindness of your youth, the love of your
espousals, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was
not sown." But in the wilderness she had her trials and when she came
to the promised land, her trials did but begin again. Scarcely was she
delivered from the Canaanites before she fell prey to the Philistines!
And the Philistines were hardly overcome before we hear of the Syrians,
the Edomites, the Moabites–and then of the Assyrians and the
Babylonians who, at last, carried away captive the people of God. That
nation, Israel, to this day may say, "Many a time have they afflicted
me from my youth: but they have not prevailed against me."
Now one more remark. I have already reminded you that Christ's life is
the picture of His people's life and that the history of Israel is the
picture of His Church. Now notice how true it is that the Church, from
her very outset, has always been afflicted–first by Herod, when he
sought to slay the Apostles, and did murder James. Next afflicted by
the Jews and driven from city to city. Then afflicted by Saul of Tarsus
who breathed out threats and slaughter against the Church of Christ
from her youth. Then broke out the great Pagan persecution. Your
knowledge of history, I suppose, tells you how the emperors of Rome
used the whole of their force to crush the Christian Church, yet they
prevailed not against her! When the Roman emperors had done their
worst, and done it in vain, the Church of Christ was turned into an
established church by patronage–and from that moment became a harlot
and so grew into the apostate Church of Rome!
Then the Pope, with all his night, sought to crush out the Church of
God. Read the stories of the Albigenses in the South of France, the
Waldenses in the valleys of Piedmont. Read the history of the Lollards
in England and of the saints of God in any country which you please to
choose. They were torn asunder. They were made to rot in prison. They
were tortured on the rack. They were put to death in all manner of
ways. In our own country, especially, by being burned to death at the
stake. Yet the enemies of Zion have not prevailed against her. No,
Rome, you shall never triumph! And even now, though today our clergy
preach your doctrines and wear your garments, yet you shall not prevail
against the Church of God, for He shall surely come, even He that has
delivered in days gone by, and shall work deliverance for His Israel
once again!
So I have spoken to you of Christ, of Israel, and of the Church. Now I
come to deal with the subject as it relates to yourselves. As it was
with the Church at large, as it was with Israel, as it was with our
Lord Jesus, so expect it to be with you! As I go through this Psalm
with you, and dwell upon it, you can apply it to yourself, my dear
tried and persecuted Friend.
I. In the first three verses of the Psalm, we have a description of
ISRAEL PERSECUTED, BUT NOT FORSAKEN.
First notice, concerning Israel's affliction, from where it came–
"Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth." Who was it that
afflicted Israel? The text says, "they" And why is the word, "they,"
used? Because, to enter into particulars would rather obscure the sense
than impress anything upon the memory. "They." Why, it meant, in the
case of the nation of Israel, Egyptians, Amalekites, Hivites, Hittites,
Jebusites, Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians–it would be such a long
list–so the Psalmist just says, "they." Who are the people that have
afflicted you, my dear Friend? The
Scripture leaves room for you to add the names if you care to put them
in. But perhaps it will be wiser for you to forget all the names and
simply to leave it as it is here–"Many a time have they afflicted me
from my youth."
I hardly like to think of who they are, who, in many cases, have
afflicted God's true servants, but it is still true that "a man's foes
shall be they of his own household." A woman is just brought to Christ
and her greatest trouble comes from him whom she loves best of all
living mortals–her husband becomes her terror! When a child has been
brought to the Savior, it is sad that his worst fears should arise
concerning the treatment he will receive from his father or his
mother–but it has often been so. We do not put the names in–we can
pray for the persecutors all the better if we leave it, "they." A
newly-converted Christian goes out into business. Does he find friends
there? Sometimes God is very tender and pitiful, and casts the lot of
his young children in among the gracious. But there are others who have
a hard time of it, for they have to earn their bread in the midst of
the ungodly. Christ seems to say to them, "Behold, I send you forth as
sheep in the midst of wolves." And these wolves are always seeking to
destroy the lambs, if possible! Is it not a singular thing in
Providence that though the wolves might have eaten all the lambs up
long ago, yet there are a great many more sheep in the world, now, than
there are wolves? And in this country, you know, there is not a wolf
left–they have all died out. They could take care of themselves and
fight, yet they have all gone. The sheep could not defend themselves,
yet here they are in flocks! God takes care of the weak and the
feeble–and in that very fact of natural history He seems to say to His
people, "'Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure
to give you the Kingdom.' When the wicked are cut off, you shall see
it. 'The meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in
the abundance of peace.'"
Outside, in the world, the Christian frequently meets with those who
would rejoice to see him stumble, who try to make faults where there
are none and exaggerate little mistakes into great crimes. Wherever he
goes, he has to travel with his sword drawn–he finds an adversary
behind every bush. He is a pilgrim through the midst of Vanity Fair
whom the traders cannot understand. In his case, that ancient word is
again fulfilled–"My heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds
round about are against her." Such a man can truly say, "Many a time
have they afflicted me."
But, next, let us ask, how does this persecution come? The Psalm says,
"Many a time." That means very often. So then, you who are faithful to
God must expect that you will frequently be assailed by the foe. I know
some of God's saints who feel almost frightened when people speak well
of them. They begin to say, "What have we been doing wrong? Would these
people commend us if we had been serving our Master faithfully?" There
is another side to that truth, for, "when a man's ways please the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." But, between the
two, it is not always easy to tell which is the right course. This we
know–we are not to expect to find favor where Christ found no favor!
If they called the Master of the house Beelzebub, we must expect that
they will have ill names for us. If they imputed evil motives to Him,
they will impute evil motives to us. If they even said of Him that He
was a drunk and a wine-bibber, we must not be astonished if sometimes
things of which we have never heard, or things that we abhor, should be
laid to our charge! Therefore, arm yourselves, also, with the same mind
as Christ had, who endured such contradiction of sinners against
Himself many and many a time.
The Psalm tells us that these attacks of the ungodly were a real
affliction to the people of God. "Many a time have they afflicted me. .
.Many a time have they afflicted me." It is written twice over to show
how trying it was. The brine made poor Israel's wounds smart. She was
really hurt and she felt it. I have sometimes met with a person who has
said, "I do not care what people say of me." I am not sure whether that
feeling is right, or wrong. Sometimes it may be an indifference which
is pitiable. At other times it may be a courage which is admirable. But
this I do know, that the saints of God have found slander to be a very
piercing thing–it has gone right to their heart–the iron has entered
into their soul. Hence the Savior said to His disciples, "Let not your
heart be troubled," for trouble tries, sometimes, to get to the heart.
Affliction that does not really afflict is no affliction. But here they
felt it. They groaned under it. The plowers made deep furrows, not mere
surface ones–they cut down deep into the very spirit, into the very
soul of Israel. And we must not wonder if, sometimes, for Christ's
sake, we have to meet with this kind of trial.
Possibly, some Christian sitting here is saying, "I do not know much
about that sort of affliction." Well, be very thankful if you do not,
but be ready for it–be prepared for it. There are some of us who had a
hard time of it in years gone by. There was not any name in the catalog
of contempt which some of us have not been made to bear. And now,
perhaps, we have smoother times, but we stand quite ready to go into
the burning fiery furnace, again, if so it must be, for this is a part
of the portion of God's servants–"Many a time have they afflicted me .
. . Many a time have they afflicted me."
But notice, while we are speaking of how affliction came to Israel,
that it came to her in her youth. What a coward Satan is! He always
tries to attack God's children most fiercely when they are young. Fight
one of your own size, Sir! But that he is afraid to do. When the child
of God gets well matured and, by experience knows how to fly to his
God, Satan will often leave him quietly alone. You know the story in
the Revelation of how, when the woman was delivered of a Man-Child, the
dragon sought to destroy the Child at once and it was, therefore,
caught up unto God, and to His Throne. No sooner did the devil spy out
Christ, as He rose dripping from the waters of Baptism, than he
determined to assail Him with his fierce temptations and, if possible,
destroy Him before He began His ministry! But that young Christ,
freshly anointed of the Spirit, was more than a match for him. Many a
time since then has the Adversary met God's people in their youth, when
as yet they were feeble–when they were not expert in war, just as
David in his youth had to fight the lion and the bear, and afterwardsto
meet the giant.
Oh, it was grand for that ruddy youth to be able to say to Saul, "Your
servant slew both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of
the living God." It may be so with you who are young in Grace–do not
be astonished if you meet with your fiercest attacks in the morning of
your days! But have courage and say to yourself, "It was told me that
it would probably be so. I am not taken at unawares, I was warned of
that as I read the Psalm, 'Many a time have they afflicted me from my
youth, may Israel now say: many a time have they afflicted me from my
youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.'"
Notice again that the Psalm goes on to describe this persecution of
Israel under the imagery of plowers plowing her back. It is a kind of
duplicate metaphor. It is just as the scourger, when he takes his
dreadful lash and brings it down with all his might on he bare back of
his victim, makes a deep gash where the throng falls. And it is also
like the furrow that is cut by a plow, only it is not made in dead
clods, it is right in the quivering flesh! The scourge falls again and
there is another mark–again you can hear the dreadful motion of the
whip of wire as it falls and cuts deeper and deeper into that poor
sensitive bleeding back.
Now, just so, Israel says, it was with her, and you know that it was
so, for she seemed to be all but destroyed many times. That little
nation was hacked to pieces. Zion was plowed as a field. So is it with
some of God's people–as it was, also, with their Master, and as it has
been with the entire Church of Christ. The whip has come down
mercilessly again and again and again–forty stripes save one–for
Satan will never stint his blows. He will vex God's people again and
again and again, and if he could, he would utterly destroy them. Such
often has been the lives of God's saints–the very best and truest of
them–and such are their lives now. It is not so with all of us, but it
has been so with many. May the Lord help His suffering people! In
patience may they possess their souls! As I remind you of what some of
our Brothers and Sisters in Christ are just now suffering, I pray you
to remember those that are in bonds as bound with them, and those that
are in trouble, knowing that you, yourselves, also are yet in the body.
This, then, is the description of what God's people have often had to
suffer. The plowers have made long their furrows–they have left no
headlands–they have plowed the back again and again–and scourged it
with the cruel lash.
But now, what is the reason for all this persecution?There are two
reasons. And the first is the hatred of the serpent and his seed. There
are two things that are inconceivable in length and breadth. The first
is the love of God to His people, which is altogether without limit.
And the next is the hatred of the devil, which is and must be finite,
for he is only a creature, but still, it is as great as it possibly can
be. We have no idea with what determined vehemence Satan hates these
who belong to Christ! He will do anything he can in the hope of
destroying one of them. He goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom
he may devour. That, Beloved, is why you have so many persecutions from
those who are the faithful children of Satan–they are of their father,
the devil, and his works they will continue to do–and one of those
works is persecuting those who are the children of God.
Still, there is a higher reason for the persecution of the saints. The
second reason is because God permits it. Why does He permit it? Well,
very often for your safety. "For our safety?" you ask. "For our
safety?" Yes, the Church of God has often been preserved by
persecution–she was never purer, she was never holier, she was never
truer and she never lived nearer to God and more like her Savior than
when she was persecuted! I venture to say of the Church of Scotland
that she was never grander than in the Covenanting times when they met
among the glens and up in the lone places when she sat on the heather
watching, lest Claverhouse's dragoons should be near. I think, of late
years, she was never nobler than in Disruption times, and I believe she
will never again be so good and great unless she is persecuted.
Often we do not prosper in spiritual things, in times of ease, as we
ought to do. Sometimes, the best friend of the sheep is the dog–and
when the shepherd lets him loose, he fetches back the wanderers. And if
there are any animals that ought not to be with the flock, the dog gets
in among them and makes the separation between his master's sheep and
other people's. We owe a great deal to persecuting dogs! I knew a young
man who used to steal in here on Thursday nights and who would come
into the Prayer Meetings and pray very sweetly and very earnestly. But
he had no comfort in his home, for he had a father who could not endure
his religion and was very bitter against him. His father died and the
son inherited his property. He is never here, now. He has no love for
God, as far as I can judge. He has grown cold and has turned aside, but
as long as he was persecuted, he certainly seemed to be one of the most
earnest men I ever knew! I believe that it has often been so, for
silken days do not suit Christ's soldiers–but in the battle they will
glory when their Master is with them. So you see how persecution is
sometimes for our safety.
Next, it is for our trial and testing, to separate the precious from
the vile. We are put into the sieve and Satan sifts us. He likes that
task, but what a fool he is to do the sifting for Christ! It is good
work when it is done and Satan, in persecuting the saints, is simply a
scullion in Christ's kitchen, cleansing His pots and pans. They never
are so bright as when he scours them and it is a scouring with a
vengeance. Yet, in that way he separates, or God, through him,
separates, between the precious and the vile! The Lord sometimes allows
persecution to break out upon His people that they may know more of
themselves. And oh, how we fail when we come to times of persecution! I
have heard of one who, when he was condemned to die for the faith, got
out of bed in the night and held his finger over the candle to see
whether he could burn. Poor soul, he felt that he could not endure that
pain, but yet he said, "I do verily believe that when I come to the
stake, the agony which I cannot endure in my finger, now, I shall bear
in my whole body, for then I shall be suffering God's will. Now, when I
hold my finger in the candle, I am only suffering for my own curiosity
and I get no support and strength."
And it was so. In Foxe's Book of Martyrs, the tale is told of a poor
woman who was taken with the pains of travail when condemned to die in
prison. And when she cried out, her enemies said to her, "If you cannot
bear this which is but natural, what will you do when you come to
burn?" The woman answered, "Now, I am only suffering the curse that
came upon the race through sin, and I feel it bitterly. But when I am
burning at the stake, I shall be suffering for Christ's sake, and I
shall feel it to be sweet." And it was noticed how bravely–to quote a
strange phrase–she played the man. No, she played the WOMAN for Christ
and suffered well for Him without tears or cries! Ah, yes, when God is
with His people, He helps them wonderfully. But what a test it is to
them and how they are driven at such times to prove their own weakness!
How it tries their faith and proves of what stuff it is made! And how
it makes them reel trembling and weak where they thought they were
steadfast and strong!
I find that my time has nearly gone, yet I am not half-way through my
subject. I must just mention the blessings which come to the tried
children of God through their troubles. I do so enjoy the reading of
that part of the Psalm where it says, "But they have not prevailed
against me." You see a troop of horsemen riding into the very midst of
the battle and you lose sight of them for a moment amidst the dust and
smoke. But out of the middle of that cloud you hear the brave captain's
cry, "They have not prevailed against me!" You see that little band
advancing into a yet more crowded host, all glaring upon them like
wolves. Surely they will be cut to pieces! But in the very center of
the struggling mass you see the banner still waving and again comes the
cry, "They have not prevailed against me!" That is, in brief, the story
of the Church of Christ, and that shall be the story of every Christian
who puts his trust in God–he shall have to say, at the close of every
trouble–yes, and even in the midst of it–"They have not prevailed
against me."
What is the reason why the enemy cannot prevail against the saints of
God? Read the next verse. "The Lord is righteous." If He were to
forsake His people and they were to perish, He would not be righteous.
But He will not forget our work of faith and labor of love, nor will He
leave us to fall in the evil day. "The Lord is righteous." That is to
say, He will take the right side, He will defend those that fight for
the right and for the truth, He will prove Himself strong on the behalf
of them that put their trust in Him. "The Lord is righteous" and,
therefore, He will smite His adversaries upon the cheekbone! He will
not let them go on forever in their pride and cruelty. They get the
upper hand for a while, and they smite His saints, but, "the Lord is
righteous," and He will speedily avenge His own elect that cry day and
night to Him! He may delay the overthrow of His people's foes, but He
will, in the end, take their part and display His Almighty Power. For
the present, He is patient. He bears long with the ungodly, but He will
not always do so. The fact that "the Lord is righteous" is the pledge
that the wicked shall not prevail over His saints.
Then notice the next sentence–"He has cut asunder the cords of the
wicked." Literally, it should run thus–"He has cut the traces of the
wicked." They are plowing, you see, and in the East, the oxen are
fastened to the plow by a long cord. What does God do in the middle of
their plowing? There are the bulls and there is the plow, but God has
cut the harness–and how wonderfully He has sometimes cut the harness
of the persecutors of His people! Look at the way He did this for our
poor hunted Brothers and Sisters in Piedmont. They were likely, every
one of them, to be crushed and, apparently, there was nobody to protect
them. The Duke of Savoy, whose subjects they were, had given them up to
be destroyed. The next country was France, but the King of France was a
Roman Catholic and as eager for their destruction as was the Duke. But
one day, Oliver Cromwell sent for the French ambassador and said to
him, "Tell your master to order the Duke of Savoy to leave off
persecuting my brethren in Piedmont, or he shall hear from me about the
matter." "Sir," said the ambassador, "they are not the subjects of the
King of France. He has nothing to do with them. The Duke of Savoy is an
independent prince–we cannot interfere with him." "I do not care about
that," replied Cromwell. "I will hold your king answerable if he does
not stop the Duke of Savoy from persecuting the Piedmontese."
And they knew that "Old Noll" meant what he said. So, somehow, the King
of France managed to interfere with that precious independent prince
and told him that he had better cease his persecutions, for if he did
not, Oliver Cromwell would take up the quarrel. Yes, and when the Pope,
himself, had persecuted some English sailors at Rome, Cromwell wrote
and said that he did not know whether "his holiness" would like to hear
the thunder of his guns at Rome, but he very soon would do so unless he
ceased his cruelties. Cromwell was the defender of those that feared
God, and it was most Providential that such a man should have come into
power just when he was needed for the protection of the persecuted. God
always knows how to save His people! What He has done in the past, He
can do again. He can cut the traces of those that are plowing and there
will be no more deep furrows. How frequently He has done it! How often
has He put out His hand and said to the wicked, "Stop!" And they have
had to stop and that has been the end of their persecution! Cry
mightily, then, you who are tried! Cry mightily unto the Lord to
deliver you!
Dearly Beloved, "avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto
wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the
Lord." Therefore, leave your persecutors in His hands. Be you like the
anvil–there have been a great many generations of hammers that have
come and have gone, but the old anvil still stands in the smithy! Be
you just like that–let your persecutors hammer away, but stand you
steadfast to your God and to your faith–and may His blessed Spirit
keep you so even to the end!
The latter half of the sermon must come, if the Lord wills, on another
Thursday night. May God's blessing be with you! Oh, happy are they that
are God's people! Blessed are they that are in the furnace! Blessed are
they that are tried and troubled! Has not He, whose lips can never lie,
pronounced them blessed? "Blessed are they which are persecuted for
righteousness' sake: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are
you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all
manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice and be
exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in Heaven: for so persecuted
they the Prophets which were before you." Therefore, reckon yourselves
gladdened and honored when you are counted worthy to suffer for
Christ's sake!
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: GALATIANS4, 5:1.
Galatians 4:1-5. Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child,
differs nothing from a servant, though he is lord of all; but is under
tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so
we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the
world: but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His
Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were
under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Like little
children, the Jewish Believers were under the Law. They observed this
ceremony and that, just as children, though they may be heirs to vast
estates, yet, while they are in their minority, are under tutors and
governors. But now in Christ we have come of age and we have done with
those schoolbooks and that tutorship, and we have received the adoption
of sons! Now we have joy and peace in believing. We have begun to enter
into our possession. We already have the earnest of it and, by-and-by,
we shall receive the fullness of the inheritance of the saints in the
Light of God.
6. And because you are sons, Godhas sent forth the Spirit ofHis Son
into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father While the Jewish Believers, like
children, were under the Law, they did not have such direct access to
the Father as we have. They could not enter into such close fellowship
with God as we now can. We who are the sons of God, really born into
His family, feel within us a something that makes us call God,
"Father," not only in prayer, saying, "Our Father, which are in
Heaven," but, inwardly, when we are not in the attitude of prayer, our
hearts keep on crying, "Father, Father." The Jew may say, "Abba," and
the word is very sweet. But we cry, "Father," and it means the same
thing.
7. Therefore you are no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then
an heir of God through Christ All God's sons are, in a certain sense,
His servants, but there is a sense in which servants are not sons. We,
therefore, are not like those servants who have no relationship to
their master and no share in his possessions–we are sons. Whatever
service we render, we are still sons, and we have a share in all that
our Father has. We are heirs, "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ." Are you living up to your privileges, Brothers and Sisters?
Are we, any of us, fully realizing what this heirship means? Do we not
often live as if we were only servants toiling for hire? Do we not
tremble at God as if we were His slaves rather than His children? Let
us remember that we are God's sons and daughters, His heirs, and let us
come close to Him. Let us take possession of the blessed inheritance
which He has provided for us.
8-11. Therefore, then, when you knew not God, you didservice unto them
which by nature are notgods. But now, after that you have known God, or
rather are known of God, why turn you, again, to the weak and beggarly
elements, whereunto you desire again to be in bondage? You observe
days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid for you, lest I
have bestowed upon you labor in vain. Among the heathen, there were
many "lucky" and, "unlucky" days–sacred days and days in which they
indulged in sensual excess. They had even "holy" months and, "unholy"
months. Now, all that kind of thing is done away with in the case of a
Christian–he is set free from such weak and beggarly superstitions!
Among the Jews there were certain sacred festivals–times that were
more notable than other seasons–but they, also, were done away with in
Christ. We observe the Christian Sabbath, but beyond that, to the true
Believer, there should be no special observance of days, months and
years. All that is a return to "the weak and beggarly elements" from
which Christ has delivered us. That bondage is all ended, now, but
there are some who still "observe days, and months, and times, and
years." And Paul says to them, "I am afraid for you, lest I have
bestowed upon you labor in vain." Every day is holy, every year is holy
to a holy man! And every place is holy, too, to the man who brings a
holy heart into it.
12. Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as you are: you have
not injured me at all. ' 'Be perfectly at home with me, for I am so
with you. Though you Galatians have treated me very badly, yet you have
not really injured me and I freely overlook your ill manners toward
me."
13-15. You know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the
Gospel unto you at the first. And my trial which was in my flesh you
despised not, nor rejected, but received me as an angel of God, even as
Christ Jesus. Where is, then, the blessedness you spoke of? for I bear
you record, that if it had been possible, you would have plucked out
your own eyes and have given them to me. The Apostle remembers how they
received him at first. His Gospel was, to them, like life from the dead
and though he was full of infirmities–perhaps had weak eyes–perhaps
had a stammering tongue– perhaps was, at that time, very much
depressed in spirit–yet, he says, "You received me as an angel of God,
even as Christ Jesus. You loved me so much that, if it had been
possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and have given them
to me."
16. Have I, therefore, become your enemy because I tell you the truth?
There come times, with all God's servants, when certain people proclaim
something fresh and new in doctrine–and then the old messenger of God
who was blessed to them, comes to be despised. I have lived long enough
to see dozens of very fine fancies started, but they have all come to
nothing. I daresay I shall see a dozen more and they will all come to
nothing. But here I stand–I am not led astray either by novelties of
excitement or novelties of doctrine. The things which I preached at the
first, I still preach, and so I shall continue, as God shall help me.
But I know, in some little measure, what the Apostle meant when he
said, "Have I, therefore, become your enemy, because I tell you the
truth?"
17-20. They zealously affect you, but not well; yes, they would exclude
you, that you might affect them. But it is good to be zealously
affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with
you. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ
is formed in you, I desire to be present with you now, and to change my
voice; for I stand in doubt of you. The point of doubt was that they
had been led astray by legal teachers–they had been made to believe
that, after all, there was something in outward ceremonies, something
in the works of the Law and so they had come under bondage again. So
the Apostle says–
21-23. Tell me, you that desire to be under the Law, do you not hear
the Law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a
bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman
was born after the flesh–by Abraham's own strength–
24. But he of the freewoman was by promise. Born when Abraham and his
wife were past age–born by the power of God's Spirit, according to
promise.
24. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two Covenants: the
one from the mount Sinai which genders to bondage, which isHagar. It is
the strength of the flesh which leads to bondage.
25, 26. For thisHagarismountSinaiin Arabia, andanswers to Jerusalem
which nowis, andisin bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is
above is free, which is the mother of us all That is, of all of us who
believe in Christ Jesus. We are born of the freewoman, not of the
bondwoman–not born of the Covenant of Works and in the strength of the
creature–but born of the Covenant of Grace, in the power of God,
according to promise.
27, 28. For it is written, Rejoice, you barren that bear not; break
forth and cry, you that travail not: for the desolate has many more
children than she which has an husband. Now we, Brothers and Sisters,
as Isaac was, are the children of promise. If we are God's children, it
is not by our own strength, or by the strength of the flesh in any
measure or degree–it is by the Grace of God and the promise of
God–that we are what we are.
29, 30. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him
that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what
says the Scripture?Make a compromise, and be friends? Let Isaac and
Ishmael live in the same house and lie in the same bed? No!
30, 31. Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the
bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then,
Brothers and Sisters, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the
free.
Galatians 5:1. Standfast therefore in the liberty which Christ has made
us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. God grant
us Grace to keep to Grace! God grant us faith enough to live by faith,
even to the end, as the freeborn children of God, for His name's sake!
Amen.