DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JUNE 26, 1870,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"A good soldier of Jesus Christ." 2 Timothy 2:2,3.
MANY men, many minds. In reference to what a Christian is there have
been very many and diverse opinions. According to the notions of some,
a Christian is an exquisite of remarkably delicate tastes. He cannot
worship except it be in a place whose architecture is correctly Gothic,
otherwise his dainty soul will be shocked. He is unable to offer prayer
aright unless his devotions are uplifted upon the wings of the choicest
music. And, even then, scarcely will he be successful unless he is
aided by sundry gentlemen, whose pedigree, like that of racehorses, can
be clearly traced, and whose garments the tailor has fashioned
according to the directions of the ecclesiastical fashion book for the
various seasons of the year.
If this is to be a Christian in these days, it must be confessed that
Paul has said little concerning this delicate and artistic sort of
creature, unless, indeed, he had reference to it in Galatians 4:9, 10,
11, which read at your leisure–neither would Paul's Master acknowledge
it.
With some a Christian is a spiritual gourmet. He attends upon the
ministry of the Word for no purpose but to be fed. He strongly
denounces every sermon that is aimed at the conversion of sinners, for
he looks even upon the Bible itself as a book solely intended to yield
him personal consolation. The more any doctrinal teaching promises him
a monopoly of good things, and the more it excludes others, the better
he enjoys it–it being to him a particular part of the sweetness of the
feast to believe that but a very slender company may dare to partake of
it.
For him to live is to enjoy and not to serve. To gratify his
selfishness he would blot out the free invitations of the Gospel. He is
not a hearer only, but certainly he is not also a doer. He is a hearer
and a feeder, in a certain coarse sense, upon the Word of God, and
nothing more. That is not Paul's ideal of a Christian. He does not
picture him with his napkin in his hand, sitting at a banquet table,
but rather with a sword girt upon his thigh, ready for the conflict.
To some, the highest form of Christian is a great reader–a profound
student of the best of books–for the purpose of composing spiritual
riddles. He reads for no practical end. He is a picker-out of words, a
speller-over of syllables, a magnifier of microscopic points, a
proficient in biblical hair-splitting. The more a passage perplexes
others the more sure he is of its meaning. He cares most for things
which have the least practical bearing. He is a peeper through
spiritual spyglasses, fancying that he can interpret what wiser men
leave to God to expound. He is a hunter after spiritual conies, which,
if caught, would never pay the huntsman for his toil, while the
weightier matters he holds in small esteem. This does not seem to have
been Paul's conception of a Christian. For the Apostle was no lover of
foolish and unlearned questions which gender strife.
And I am afraid I must add that with some the ideal of a Christian is
that of a man who can sleep out his existence in blissful serenity–a
man who, having believed, or professed to believe in Christ–has
settled his lifework forever, and from now on can say, "Soul, take your
ease, you have from now on much goods laid up for many years in your
own security. Eat, drink, be merry in the Gospel. But as for feeding
the hungry or clothing the naked, are you your brother's keeper? What
is that to you? See you to yourself, and if you, yourself are right,
let fate, or Providence, or Sovereignty, take care of the rest."
Paul does not appear to have pictured true Believers as sluggards sound
asleep upon the downiest beds. His description of a Christian in the
text is that of a soldier. And that means something far different
either from a religious fop, whose best delight is music and millinery,
or a theological critic who makes a man an offender for a word. Or a
spiritual glutton who cares for nothing but a lifelong enjoyment of the
fat things full of marrow. Or an ecclesiastical slumberer who longs
only for peace for himself. Paul represents him as a soldier and that,
I say, is quite another thing.
For what is a soldier? A soldier is a practical man, a man who has work
to do, and hard, stern work. He may sometimes, when he is at his ease,
wear the fineries of war, but when he comes to real warfare he cares
little enough for them. The dust and the smoke, and the garments rolled
in blood–these are for those who go soldiering. And swords all hacked,
and dented armor, and bruised shields–these are the things that mark
the good, the practical, soldier. Truly to serve God, really to exhibit
Christian graces, fully to achieve a lifework for Christ, actually to
win souls–this is to bear fruit worthy of a Christian.
A soldier is a man of deeds, and not of words. He has to contend and
fight. In war times his life knows little of luxurious ease. In the
dead of night, perhaps, the trumpet sounds to boot and saddle–just at
the time when he is most weary–and he must hurry to the attack just
when he would best prefer to take his rest in sleep. The Christian is a
soldier in an enemy's country always needing to stand on his
watchtower, constantly to be contending, though not with flesh and
blood–with far worse foes–namely, with spiritual wickedness in high
places.
The Christian is a self-sacrificing man as the soldier must be. To
protect his country, the soldier must expose his own bosom. To serve
his King, he must be ready to lay down his life. Surely he is no
Christian who never felt the spirit of self-sacrifice. If I live unto
myself I am living unto the flesh, and of the flesh I shall reap
corruption. Only he who lives to his God, to Christ, to the Truth of
God, to the Church, and to the good old cause–only he is the man who
can reckon himself at all to be a soldier of Jesus Christ.
A soldier is a serving man. He does not follow his own pleasure. He is
under law and rule. Each hour of the day has its prescribed duty. And
he must be obedient to the word of another and not to his own will and
whim. Such is the Christian. We serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Though no
longer the slaves of man so as to dread his frown, we are servants of
Christ who has loosed our bonds.
The soldier is full often a suffering man. There are wounds, there are
toils, there are frequent stays in the hospitals– there may be ghastly
cuts which let the soul out with the blood. Such the Christian soldier
must be ready to suffer, enduring hardship, not looking for pleasure of
a worldly kind in this life, but counting it his pleasure to renounce
his pleasure for Christ's sake. Once again, the true soldier is an
ambitious being. He pants for honor, seeks for glory. On the field of
strife he gathers his laurels, and amidst a thousand dangers he reaps
renown.
The Christian is fired by higher ambitions than any earthly warrior
ever knew. He sees a crown that can never fade. He loves a King who
best of all is worthy to be served. He has a motive within him which
moves him to the noble deeds– a Divine spirit impelling him to the
most self-sacrificing actions. Thus you see the Christian is a soldier,
and it is one of the main things in Christian life to contend earnestly
for the faith, and to fight valorously against sin.
Paul does not exhort Timothy to be a common, or ordinary soldier, but
to be a "good soldier of Jesus Christ." For all soldiers, and all true
soldiers may not be good soldiers. There are men who are but just
soldiers and nothing more. They only need sufficient temptation and
they readily become cowardly, idle, useless and worthless. But he is
the good soldier who is bravest of the brave, courageous at all times.
He is zealous, does his duty with heart and earnestness. He is the good
soldier of Jesus Christ who, through Divine Grace, aims to make himself
as able to serve his Lord as shall be possible.
He tries to grow in Grace and to be perfected in every good word and
work that he may be in his Master's battles fit for the roughest and
sternest service, and ready to bear the very brunt of the fray. David
had many soldiers, and good soldiers, too, but you remember it was said
of many, "These attained not unto the first three." Now Paul, if I read
him rightly, would have Timothy try to be of the first three, to be a
good soldier. And surely I would, this morning, say to my dear comrades
in the little army of Christ meeting here–let each one of us try to
attain unto the first three. Let us ask to be numbered among the King's
mighties, to do noble work for Him and honorable service, that we may
bring to our Master's cause fresh glory. Be it ours to covet earnestly
the best gifts, and as we have had much forgiven, let us love much, and
prove that love by action.
Before I proceed fully to open up this metaphor, let me say that though
we shall use military terms this morning, and stirring speech, it
should ever be remembered that we have no war against persons, and that
the weapons which we use are not such as are forged for the deadly
conflicts of mankind. The wars of a Christian are against principles,
against sins, against the miseries of mankind, against that Evil One
who has led man astray from his Maker. Our wars are against the
iniquity which keeps man an enemy to himself. The weapons that we use
are holy arguments and consecrated lives, devotion and prayer to God,
teaching and example among the sons of men.
Ours is battling for the peace, and fighting for rest. We disturb the
world to make it quiet, and turn it upside down to set it right. We
pull down strongholds that they may not pull down the Zion of God. We
dash down the mighty that the humble and the meek may be established.
We have no sympathy with any other war, but count it an evil of the
direst sort, let it be disguised as it may. Now with that caution,
whatever I shall seem to say will not sound as though I loved or
excused ordinary warfare–for nothing can be more abhorrent to the
Christian man than wholesale slaughter. Nothing can be more desired by
us than the promised era when men shall beat their swords into
ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.
Now let us come to the work of this morning. First, we shall describe a
good soldier of Jesus Christ, and when we have done so, we shall exhort
you to be such.
I. First, then, this morning, we shall endeavor TO DESCRIBE A GOOD
SOLDIER OF JESUS CHRIST. We must begin with this fundamental–he must
be loyal to his King. A soldier of Jesus Christ owns the Divine
Redeemer as his King, and confesses His sole and undivided sovereignty
in the spiritual kingdom. He abhors Antichrist in all its forms, and
every principle that opposes itself to the reign of the Beloved Prince
of Peace. Jesus is to him both Lord and God. The day when he enlisted,
he did, as it were, put his finger into the print of the nails, and
said with Thomas, "My Lord and my God."
This was his enlistment declaration, and he remains true to it. "Christ
is All," is his motto, and to win all men to obedience to Immanuel is
his lifework. Till he sheathes his sword in the last victory, the
Crucified is sole monarch of his soul. For Him he lives, for Him he
would even dare to die. He has entered into solemn league and covenant,
to maintain against all comers that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father.
Moreover, the Christian soldier not only acknowledges Jesus to be his
King, but his heart is full of loving devotion to Him as such. Nothing
can make his heart leap like the mention of that august, that more than
royal name. He remembers who Jesus is, the Son of God, "the Wonderful,
the Counselor, the Mighty God." He remembers what Jesus did, how He
loved him, and gave Himself for him. He looks to the Cross and
remembers the streams of blood whereby the elect were redeemed, even
when they were enemies of God. He remembers Christ in Heaven, enthroned
at the right hand of the Father.
He loves Him there, and it ravishes his heart to think that God has
highly exalted the once-despised and rejected One, and given Him a name
that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall
bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
earth. He pants for the time when the Crucified shall come in His
Glory, and rule the nations as their liege Lord. He loves Jesus so that
he feels he belongs to Him altogether, bought with His blood, redeemed
by His power, and comforted by His Presence. He delights to know that
he is not his own, for he is bought with a price. And since he loves
his King, and loves Him with an ardor unquenchable–for many waters
cannot drown his love, neither can the floods quench it–he loves all
the King's Brethren and servants for the King's sake.
He hails his Brethren in arms with hearty affection. He loves the grand
old banner of the Gospel. He prays for the wind of the Holy Spirit to
expand its furls, that all eyes may behold its beauties. He is
steadfast in the faith once delivered to the saints, and rejoices so
much at every doctrine of the Gospel that he would gladly lay down his
life to preserve it to the world. Above all, he loves the crown of his
King, and the cause of his Master. Oh, could he set the Captain of his
salvation higher among men, he would be content to die in the ditch of
neglect and scorn! Could he but see the King come to His own, and the
Heir of all things loyally acknowledged by His revolted provinces, he
would be satisfied whatever might become of himself. His heart is more
than loyal, it is full of personal affection for the Chief among ten
thousand.
I ask you, Brethren, whether it is so with you? Believing, yes, knowing
that it is so with many, I would to God it were thus with all.
Brethren, I know you love Jesus well, no music sounds to your ears so
sweetly as His charming name. No song of choicest minstrel is half so
sweet. The very thought of Him with rapture fills your breasts.
Assuredly you have one of the first marks of good soldiers–go on, I
pray you, to that which lies beyond.
The next characteristic of a good soldier is that he is obedient to his
captain's commands. He would be no soldier at all who would not take
his marching orders from his leader, but must needs act after his own
mind. He would soon be dismissed from service, if not shot by order of
a court martial for crimes which military rule cannot tolerate. Now,
with-
out enlarging on that illustration, let me ask every Christian here,
and myself first of all, are we doing all the Master's will? Do we wish
to know the Master's will? I should not like that any part of the
Scripture should be distasteful to me. I would tremble if there were
portions of my Lord's Testimony which I feared to read, or found it
convenient to forget.
It is terrible when men are obliged to pass over certain texts, or else
to cut and square them to make them agree with their beliefs. We should
not practice an ordinance merely because our Church teaches it, or our
parents believed in it. We must read the Scriptures and search the
question for ourselves, or we are not respectful to our Lord. The
soldier who did not take the trouble to read the orders of his superior
might justly be suspected of mutinous intentions. Disobedience rankles
in any heart where there is carelessness about knowing the Lord's will.
Be courageous enough always to look Scripture in the face–it is, after
all, nothing more than your bare duty.
Better for us that we changed our sentiments every day in order to be
right, than that we held to them obstinately while we had some fear
that perhaps we were wrong. To live a life of obedience is a greater
matter than some suppose. Obedience is no second-rate virtue–"to obey
is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." "If you
love Me"–what does Jesus say, "Go to the stake for Me," or, "Preach
before kings for Me"? No, neither of these things is expressly
selected, but "If you love Me, keep My commandments," as though this
were the surest and most accepted test of love. May you thus, then,
being loyal to the King, be in the second place obedient to His
commands.
The third matter for a good soldier to mind is this–if he is, indeed,
a first-class soldier, worthy of the service–to conquer will be his
ruling passion. The fight is on, and the soldier's blood is up, and now
he feels, "I must drive the enemy from his entrenchment, I must take
yonder redoubt. I must plant our conquering standard on the castle of
the foe, or I must die. Accursed be the sun if he goes down this day
and sees me turn my back upon the enemy." He is resolved that he will
win or lie cold and stark upon the battlefield. The Christian man, in
order that he may win for Christ the souls of others, may make known
Christ's Truth, may establish Christ's Church on fresh ground, is quite
as ready to suffer or die as is the boldest member of the most renowned
regiment.
To do this he disentangles himself as much as he can from all other
ambitions and aims, "for he that wars, entangles not himself with the
affairs of this life." With a good soldier of Christ the master passion
is to spread the Gospel, to save souls from perishing–and he would
sooner do this and be poor than be rich and neglect it. He would sooner
be useful and live unknown than rank among the great ones of the earth
and be useless to his Lord. A truly good soldier of Jesus Christ knows
nothing about difficulties except as things to be surmounted. If his
Master bids him perform exploits too hard for him, he draws upon the
resources of Omnipotence, and achieves impossibilities.
Wellington sent word to his troops one night, "Ciudad Rodrigo must be
taken tonight." And what do you think was the commentary of the British
soldiers appointed for the attack? "Then," said they all, "we will do
it." So when our great Captain sends round, as He does to us, the Word
of command, "Go you into all the world and preach the Gospel to every
creature," if we were all good soldiers of the Cross, we should say at
once, "We will do it." However hard the task, since God Himself is with
us to be our Captain, and Jesus the Priest of the Most High is with us
to sound the trumpet, we will do it in Jehovah's name. May such
dauntless resolution fire your breasts, my Brothers and Sisters, and
may you thus prove yourselves "good soldiers of Jesus Christ."
The passion for victory with the soldier often makes him forget
everything else. Before the battle of Waterloo, Pic-ton had had two of
his ribs smashed in at Quartre Bras, but he concealed this serious
injury, and, though suffering intense agony, he rode at the head of his
troops, and led one of the great charges which decided the fortunes of
the day. He never left his post, but rode on till a ball crushed in his
skull and penetrated to his brain. Then in the hot fight the hero fell.
How few among us could thus endure hardness for Jesus? O that we felt
we could suffer anything sooner than be turned aside from accomplishing
our lifework for Him we love!
In that same battle one of our lieutenants, in the early part of the
day, had his left forearm broken by a shot. He could not, therefore,
hold the reins in his hand, but he seized them with his mouth and
fought on till another shot broke the upper part of the arm to
splinters, and it had to be amputated. But within two days there he
was, with his arm still bleeding, and the wound all raw, riding at the
head of his division. Brave things have been done among the soldiers of
our country–O that such brave things were common among the armed men
of the Church militant!
Would to God that in the teeth of suffering we could all persevere in
living the holy life He bids us live, and in zealously spreading abroad
that glorious Gospel which has saved our souls and which will save the
souls of others. Great
Master, by Your own example inspire us with this valor! I desire to see
in this, our Beloved Church, more of you who are resolved that Christ's
Gospel shall conquer this South of London. That it shall conquer the
world! That Christ shall see of the travail of His soul and be
satisfied. I long to witness more of that dogged perseverance among
Christians which would make them work on and on, even without success,
and persevere under every discouragement, until at last their Master
shall give them their reward on earth, or else take them away to their
reward in Heaven. To be a good soldier of Jesus Christ there must be a
passion for victory, an insatiable greed for setting up the Throne of
Jesus in the souls of men.
Fourthly, a good soldier is very brave at a charge. When the time comes
and the orders are given for the good soldier to advance to the attack,
he does not wish himself away. Though a perfect hail of hurtling shot
whistles all around, and the ranks of the army are thinned, he is glad
to be there–for he feels the stern joy that flushes the face in the
light of battle–and he only wants to be within arm's length of the foe
and to come to close quarters with him. So is it with the genuine
Christian when his heart is right with God. If he is bid to advance,
let the danger be what it may, he feels he is honored by having such a
service allotted to him.
But are we all such? I fear not. How many of us are silent about Jesus
Christ in private conversation? How little do we show forth our light
before men. If we were good soldiers, such as we ought to be, we should
select every favorable opportunity in private as well as in public
communion with our fellow men, and prudently but yet zealously press
the claims of Jesus Christ and His Gospel upon them. Oh, do this,
Beloved, and good will come of it! We should each one be seeking to
have his own special work for Jesus, and if no one else were attempting
the task, we should, like the brave men who rush in to the storming of
a battery, carry the flag first and plant it, knowing that there are
hundreds of others who will follow the first brave man, who might not
be able perhaps to lead the way themselves.
My Beloved, may you and I be ready for anything, and bold to bear
witness for Christ before a scoffing world. In the pulpits where we
preach, in the workshops where we labor, in the markets where we trade,
in every company amidst which we are called to move–wherever we may
be, may we be brave enough to own our Lord and to uphold His cause.
But this is not all that goes to make a good soldier. A good soldier is
like a rock under attack. So British soldiers have been. They have
stood in solid squares against the enemies' cavalry until their foes
have dashed upon them madly, gnashed their teeth, fired in their faces,
thrown their guns at them, and yet might just as well have ridden
against granite rocks. For our soldiers did not know how to yield, and
would not retreat. As fast as one fell another filled up the gap, and
there stood the square of iron defying the rush of the foe.
We want this kind of fixed, resolved, persevering godliness in our
Churches, and we shall have it if we are good soldiers of Jesus Christ.
Alas, too many are exhausted by the zeal at first exhibited. For a time
they can reach the highest point, but to continue on, and on, and
on–this is too difficult a task for them. How many young people will
join the Church and for awhile seem very zealous and then grow cold!
Alas, it is not always the young, there are some among yourselves who
were once most diligent in your various forms of service. What hinders
you that you are not diligent in your Master's business now? Has Christ
given you leave to retire into inglorious ease? Does He exempt you from
service?
Take heed lest you are also exempt from reward. No, we must through all
our Christian life maintain our integrity, resist temptation, tread the
separated path, and seek the souls of men with undying ardor–with
indefatigable earnestness–wrestling with God for men and with men for
God. Oh, for more of this stern determination to stand, and having done
all–to still stand!
The last mark of a really good soldier of Jesus Christ is that he
derives his strength from on High. This has been true even of some
common soldiers, for religious men, when they have sought strength from
God, have been all the braver in the day of conflict. I like the story
of Frederick the Great. When he overheard his favorite general engaged
in prayer, and was about to utter a sneering remark, the fine old man,
who never feared a foe, and did not even fear his majesty's jest, said,
"Your Majesty, I have just been asking aid from your Majesty's great
Ally." He had been waiting upon God.
This is how Christians get the victory. They seek it from the Church's
great Ally, and then go to the conflict sure that they shall win the
day. He is the best Christian who is the best intercessor. He shall do
the most who shall pray the best. In the battle of Salamanca, when
Wellington bade one of his officers advance with his troops and occupy
a gap which the Duke perceived in the lines of the French, the general
rode up to him, and said, "My lord, I will do the work, but first give
me a grasp of that conquering right hand of yours." He received a
hearty grip, and away he rode to the deadly encounter.
Often has my soul said to her Captain, "My Lord, I will do that work if
You will give me a grip of Your conquering right hand." Oh, what power
it puts into a man when he gets a grip of Christ, and Christ gets a
grip of him! Fellowship with Christ is the fountain of the Church's
strength. Her power did never lie in her wealth, nor in the eloquence
of her preachers, nor in anything that comes of man. The strength of
the Church is Divine, and if she fails to draw strength from the
Everlasting Hills, she becomes weak as water. Good soldiers of Jesus
Christ, watch unto prayer, "praying in the Holy Spirit," for so shall
you be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.
II. Thus I have in a very poor way described a good soldier of Jesus
Christ. Give me a few minutes while I EXHORT YOU TO BE SUCH. And, mark
you, I shall speak especially to the members of this Christian Church.
I exhort you, dear Brethren, who are soldiers of Christ, to be good
soldiers, because many of you have been so. Paul was likely to commend
the Churches when he could, and I feel I may honestly and from my heart
commend many of you, for you have served your Lord and Master well.
I know you have nothing whereof to glory, for when you have done all,
you are unprofitable servants. But still I rejoice, and will rejoice
when I see the work of the Holy Spirit in you. And I will venture to
say that I have seen here instances of Apostolic ardor and
self-sacrifice such as I have read of in ancient records, but hardly
ever expected to see. There are those in this House this day who will
shine as stars forever and ever, for they have turned many to
righteousness. Dishonor not your past, I beseech you! Fall not from
your high standing. "Forward" is your motto! Never think of declining,
but rather advance in love to God, and in the ardor of your zeal.
Be good soldiers still, and depart not from your first love. I am sure
there is greater need of good soldiering now than ever. Ten years ago,
or sixteen years ago, when first I addressed you, the power of popery
in this land was nothing compared to what it is now. In those days the
Church of England was more generally Protestant. Now it is so
frequently popish that I may broadly say that now we are afflicted with
two popish churches–that of Rome and that of Oxford. The second one is
not one whit better than the first–only more crafty and
insidious–inasmuch as it attracts to itself a number of godly and
gracious men who protect the villains who bear a Protestant name and
who are doing the Pope's work.
I grieve to know that the evangelical clergy of England, by their
continued union with the Church of England are acting as a shield to
the ritualistic or popish party, and giving them every opportunity to
work out their schemes for leading the nation back to popery en masse.
Around this very spot a battle will have to be fought between the
Sacramen-tarians and the lovers of the Gospel. At your very doors the
battle is come at last. It was not so till but lately, but here it
is–and you that are men must show your colors, and serve your Master
against innumerable and constantly active foes. You have never failed
me, you have always been bold and steadfast, and laborious, and so let
it be, for the time requires it.
I can see on all hands that many of you young men are being attracted
by the worldly amusements which surround us, for our dangers are not
only those of popery, but those of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
There must be greater earnestness and a deeper piety among you, or the
next generation will become unworthy of yourselves–your grief–and not
your joy. I pray you see to this. Be good soldiers, for much depends
upon it. Your country will be blessed in proportion as you are earnest.
Nonconformity in England will lose all its power if it loses its
godliness. I do not care much for our political strength–I was about
to say I am almost indifferent to our political rights–I care for
them, but only so much as to occupy a very minor place in my
consideration.
Our spirituality is the main matter. It is this, alone, that can make
us a blessing to our country. Sons of the Puritans, you must walk with
God, or your day is past–you will be swept away as Esther would have
been, who came to the kingdom for the salvation of her nation–if she
had not fulfilled the office for which God had exalted her. You have
grown in numbers, grown in strength. O that you may grow in Grace, love
the Gospel better, and love Christ better, for your country needs it,
your children need it, you, yourselves need it! The times are perilous,
and yet they are hopeful! By their peril, and by their hopefulness, I
beseech you, be good soldiers of Jesus Christ! Good soldiers we ought
to be, for it is a grand old cause that is at stake. It is the kingdom
of God, it is the Church of Christ, it is the Word of God, the Truth,
the doctrine of the Gospel, the crown of Jesus, that are all at stake.
I grant you that none shall ever shake the Throne of Jesus, for though
"the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing," yet shall His
Throne be established. But we now speak according to the manner of men.
God has been
pleased to leave this matter to His Church, which is the pillar and
ground of the Truth. Oh then! Stand up manfully, and fight earnestly
when so much rests upon it! God grant that you may not be as the
children of Ephraim, who being armed and carrying bows turned their
backs in the day of battle.
I implore you, my Brethren, and mostly myself, to be good soldiers of
Jesus when you consider the fame that has preceded you. A soldier, when
he receives his colors, finds certain words embroidered on them to
remind him of the former victories of the regiment in which he serves.
Look at the eleventh chapter of Hebrews and see the long list of the
triumphs of the faithful. Remember how Prophets and Apostles served
God. Remember how martyrs joyfully laid down their lives. Look at the
long line of the reformers and the confessors. Remember your martyred
sires and covenanting fathers, and by the Grace of God I beseech you,
walk not unworthy of your noble lineage.
Be good soldiers because of the victory which awaits you. Oh, it will
be a grand thing to share in the ultimate triumph of Christ, for
triumph He will! When all His soldiers shall come back from the war,
and the King Himself at their head with the spoils of the victory. When
they shall come back to the metropolitan city, to the ivory palaces of
the great Captain. When the song is heard, "Lift up your heads, O you
gates, and be you lifted up, you everlasting doors." When the question
shall be answered, "Who is the King of Glory?" by the reply, "The Lord
of Hosts, the Lord mighty in battle, He is the King of Glory," it will
be a glorious thing to have shared the fight, for so surely you shall
share the honors of that coronation day!
A crown is prepared for that head though it is now made to ache with
care for the cause. There is a palm branch for that hand which now
toils in the fight. There are silver sandals for those feet which have
now to march over weary miles for Christ's sake. Honor and immortality
not to be imagined till they are enjoyed await every faithful soldier
of the Cross!
Besides, and lastly, if I want another argument to make you good
soldiers, remember your Captain, the Captain whose wounded hands and
pierced feet are tokens of His love to you. Redeemed from going down to
the pit, what can you do sufficiently to show your gratitude? Assured
of eternal Glory by-and-by, how can you sufficiently prove that you
feel your indebtedness? Up, I pray you! By Him whose eyes are like a
flame of fire, and yet were wet with tears–by Him on whose head are
many crowns, and who yet wore the crown of thorns–by Him who is King
of kings and Lord of lords, and yet bowed His head to death for
you–resolve that to life's latest breath you will spend and be spent
for His praise. The Lord grant that there may be many such in this
Church–good soldiers of Jesus Christ.
Two or three words and I will close. At this present time I contemplate
exhorting you to engage in fresh efforts for Christ. I do not know that
you are relaxing, neither have I complaints to make of any. But I would
wish that we would commence with renewed vigor this day, if God so
wills it. As I myself commence a new year of Sundays as to my own age,
I desire to see a new era of greater exertion in the cause of Jesus
Christ. And, in order that it may be successful, let not a single man
or woman on the Church-roll be missing from his or her post in the
spiritual conflict.
It is a remarkable fact that on the eve of a great battle in the
Peninsular War the officers read the muster-roll, and noted that "not a
man was missing." They had all good stomach for the fight, and were all
there. You that are in the Sunday school, you that distribute your
tracts, you that preach in the streets–every man to his post! And if
you have no post as yet, find one–let there not be one idler, not one
single loiterer, for a single sluggard may mar the work. Then if we are
to be successful let nothing divide us. The motto of one of our most
famous regiments embroidered on their banner is, "Quis separavit." Who
shall separate us?
We are but mortals, and, therefore, little jealousies may spring up.
And among us there may be little causes of personal vexation, but brave
warriors in the olden times who had fallen out have been known to come
together on the eve of battle and say, "Come, let us be reconciled, we
may die tomorrow. Besides, we join in common hatred of the foe and love
to the king." Let your peace be unbroken, your union indissoluble, and
God will bless you.
To help us to succeed now, let us lay down this one rule–let no low
standard of work, or virtue, or spiritual attainment, content any one
of us. Let us resolve to be as good Christians as can be found beneath
the stars, as fond of Christ as human hearts can be, doing and giving
as much for Christ as we can do or give consistently with other duties.
Let us spare nothing, and keep back no part of the price. Let there be
no Ananias and Sapphira among us, but all be as John, who loved his
Lord. And Paul, who counted all things but loss for the excellency of
Christ Jesus his Lord.
Next, let me say let the present moment be seized. I should like to
saturate this district with a mass of tracts simply teaching the Gospel
and protesting against the bastard popery around us. Heaven and earth
are being raised around us just now. Our poor are being bribed, the
houses of our members are being systematically visited with the view of
decoying them from our worship. We are told that a certain small
building used by the Episcopal body is the parish Church, and we ought
to attend it. I might far more truthfully assert this to be the Church
of the parish by the choice of a far more numerous body, but I care not
to make pretensions which prove nothing.
The true question is–do we follow Christ, and uphold the teachings of
Scripture? If so, our standing is unassailable. Doubtless the word has
gone forth that Dissent must be crushed, but if we live near to God,
and maintain our zeal, Dissent will rise invincible from every attack.
Foreseeing the gathering storm, it is our consolation that we know
where He dwells who is Master of the tempest, and can walk the waters
for our help, and calm the sea around the weather-beaten boat. It
becomes us now at this present moment to be indefatigable, to put forth
all our strength for the Truth of God, even the Lord's pure Word in
doctrine and in ordinance.
Let no man's heart fail him. There is no fear of defeat. Lo, these many
years the Lord of Hosts has been with us as a Church, and He will still
be our Helper. We have seen the rise and fall of many who blazed for
awhile–but are now quenched in darkness–while we have increased from
a handful to this mass, and God who has been our trust, and is still
our stay, will not forsake us now. He has not drawn you together, and
held you in one body by cords of love, that after all you may prove to
be a powerless unwieldy mass of associated Christians. He intends to
direct and strengthen you for nobler ends and purposes!
God, even our own God, will bless us! Immanuel, God with us, leads the
van. The Truth, like the virgin daughter of Zion, shakes her head at
boastful error, and laughs it to scorn. Let Falsehood put on her tawdry
garments and think herself a queen, and say that she shall sit alone,
and see no sorrow. Let Error come forth in her panoply and wave her
flaunting banner before the sun. She draws near her end. Her
armor–what is it? It is but pasteboard, and the lance of Truth shall
pierce it through and through. Her banner, what is it but a foul rag of
the Roman harlot? It shall be laid in the dust.
No, let Error bring forth all her hosts, and let them stand in their
serried ranks, and through them the faithful soldiers of Jesus will
ride and bow the columns like reeds in the wind. In these days, the
doctrines and traditions of men compass us about, yes, like bees they
compass us about, but in the name of the Lord will we destroy them.
Only let us have confidence in God, and the victory is sure. As for the
thought of turning back, that can never be endured. A message came to
Sir Colin Campbell at the Alma, that Her Majesty's Guards were falling
thick and fast beneath the shot, had they not better retire for a
little while into safe quarters? The answer was, "It were better, Sir,
that everyone of Her Majesty's Guards should lie dead on this
battlefield than turn their backs on the enemy."
And it is so. Let us die, yes–it were to be devoutly wished rather
than we lived a coward's life! Let the preacher first of all be carried
to his grave. Let him never live to see the shame of this Israel. Let
these eyes be sealed in death rather than behold "Ichabod" written on
these walls! No, Brethren, it shall not be! You will serve Jesus, you
will love Him, and "Onward to victory" shall be your watchword from
today on. Be more in PRAYER–for this is the great matter. Seek out,
each one, your own sphere of action–give yourselves wholly to it. And
if any grow cold or careless, let him remember Jesus says, "I stand at
the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I
will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me."
This blessed supping with Jesus will restore you! Though you are like
Laodicea, "neither cold nor hot," fellowship with Jesus will renew the
love of your espousals. Oh, then, my Brethren, in Jesus' name I bid you
be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might!
I have not preached to sinners, but you will do that if you catch the
spirit of this sermon. There will be many thousands of words to sinners
spoken as the result of this exhortation, if God, the Holy Spirit,
makes it answer my design. Only this word to those who are not soldiers
of Jesus Christ–trust Him now! Come now and kiss His silver scepter of
Divine Grace. He will forgive the rebel, and take him to be His
servant. God bless you. Amen.
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The Pilgrim's Grateful Recollections