Life And Walk Of Faith

Life And Walk Of Faith
SERMON DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 7, 1862, BY REV. C. H.
SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walkyou in
Him.
Colossians 2:6.
OUR nature is fond of change. Although man was made in the image of God
at first, it is plain enough that any trace of immutability which he
may once have possessed has long ago departed. Man, unrenewed, could he
possess the joys of Heaven, would in time grow weary of them and crave
for change. When the children of Israel in the wilderness were fed on
angels' food, they murmured for variety and groaned out, "Our soul
loathes this light bread." It is little wonder, then, that we need
cautions against shifting the ground of our hope and the object of our
faith.
Another evil principle will work with this love of change in our hearts
and produce much mischief–our natural tendency to build upon our own
works. For a time that pernicious habit is cured by conviction of sin.
The Law, with its sharp axe, cuts down the lofty cedar of fleshly
confidence and withers all its verdure. But, since the root still
remains, at the very scent of water it sprouts again and there is good
need to set the axe going with all its former edge and weight. When we
think legality quite dead, it revives, and, linking hands with our love
of change, it tempts us to forsake our simple standing upon Christ, the
Rock of Ages. It urges us to advance to a something which it decorates
before our eyes with fancied colors and makes out, to our feeble
understandings, to be better or more honorable to ourselves.
Though this will certainly be again beaten down in a Christian, for he
will meet with trouble after trouble when once he goes astray from his
first path, yet again the old secret desire to be something, to do
something, to have some little honor by performing the works of the
Law, will come in and we shall have need to hear the voice of Wisdom in
our hearts saying to us, "As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk you in Him." Persevere in the same way in which you have begun,
and, as at the first, Christ Jesus was the source of your life, the
principle of your action, and the joy of your spirit, so let Him be the
same even till life's end–the same when you walk through the valley of
the shadow of death and enter into the joy, and the rest, which remain
for the people of God.
In trying to teach this very useful, though simple lesson, I shall, in
the plainest possible language, first of all talk a little of the text
by way of exposition. Then, secondly, by way of advocacy. And then,
thirdly, by way of application.
I. Oh that the gracious Spirit, who alone can lead us into all the
Truth of God, would aid me while I endeavor to open up this verse BY
WAY OF EXPOSITION. In expounding the text, we readily break it up into
two parts–here is the life of faith–receiving Christ Jesus the Lord.
Here is, secondly, the walk of faith–so walk you in Him.
1. The Holy Spirit here reveals to us the life of faith–the way by
which you and I are saved, if saved at all. Mark, carefully, that it is
represented as receiving. Now the word, "receiving," implies the very
opposite of anything like merit. Merit is purchasing–merit might be
called making by labor, or winning by valor. But receiving is just the
accepting of a thing as a gift. The eternal life which God gives His
people is in no sense whatever the fruit of their exertions. It is the
gift of God. As the earth drinks in the rain, as the sea receives the
streams, as night accepts light from the stars, so we, giving nothing,
partake freely of the Grace of God.
The saints are not, by nature, wells or streams. They are but cisterns
into which the living water flows. They are but as the empty vessel.
Sovereign mercy puts them under the pipe and they receive Divine Grace
upon Divine Grace till they are filled to the brim. He that talks about
winning salvation by works–he that thinks he can earn it by prayers,
by tears, by penance, by mortification of the flesh, or by zealous
obedience to the Law–makes a big mistake. For the very first principle
of the Divine life is not giving out, but receiving. It is that which
comes from Christ into me which is my salvation. Not that which springs
out of my own heart, but that which comes from the Divine Redeemer, and
changes, and renews my nature. It is not what I give out but what I
receive, which must be life to me.
The idea of receiving, again, seems to imply in it a sense of
realization, making the matter a reality. One cannot very well receive
a shadow. We receive that which is substantial. Gold, silver, precious
stones–such things we can receive. Estates, riches, bread, water,
food, raiment–all these are things which are substances to us, and
therefore it becomes possible for us to receive them. We do not receive
a dream. We do not receive, again, I say, a shadow. We do not speak of
receiving a specter. We do not receive a phantom. There is something
real in a thing that is received.
Well now, so is it also in the life of faith. We realize Christ. While
we are without faith, Christ is a name to us, a Person that may have
lived a long while ago, so long that His life is only a history to us
now! By an act of faith Christ becomes a real Person in the
consciousness of our heart, as real to us as our own flesh, and blood,
and bones–and we speak of Him and think of Him as we would of our
brother, our father, our friend. Our faith gives a substance to the
history and idea of Christ, puts real solidity into the spirit and name
of Christ–and that which to the worldly man is but a phantom, a thing
to hear about and talk about–becomes to us a thing to taste and
handle, to lay hold upon and to receive as real and true.
I know, you that are unconverted, think all these things an idle tale.
But you that are saved, you who have received Christ–you know that
there is substance here–and shadow everywhere else. This has become to
you the one grand reality, that God is in Christ reconciling you unto
Himself. But receiving means also a third thing, that is getting a grip
of it, grasping it. The thing which I receive becomes my own. I may
believe it to be real, but that is not receiving it. I may believe,
also, that if I ever do get it, it must be given to me, and that I
cannot earn it for myself. But still that is not receiving it.
Receiving is the bona fide taking into my hands, and appropriating to
myself as my own property that which is given to me.
Now this is what the soul does when it believes on Christ. Christ
becomes my Christ. His blood cleanses my sin, and it is cleansed. His
righteousness covers me, and I am clothed with it. His Spirit fills me,
and I am made to live by it. He becomes to me as much mine as anything
that I can call my own. No, what I call my own here on earth is not
mine. It is only lent to me, and will be taken from me. But Christ is
so mine, that neither life, nor death, nor things present, nor things
to come, shall ever be able to rob me of Him. Oh, I hope, dear Friends,
you have that blessed appropriating faith which says, "Yes, He is not
another man's Christ, He is my Christ," I hope you can look into His
face today and say, "My Beloved, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
I hope you do not talk of these things as I might talk of my lord
So-and-So's park, and admire its beauties, while I, myself, have no
right to one acre of the many thousands within the fence. But I trust,
on the other hand, you can say– "The blessings and promises of the
Lord, my God, are all my own. Whatever I read of in the Covenant of
Grace that is good, that is comely, that is desirable, I have heard a
voice say in my ears, "Lift up now your eyes and look to the north and
the south, to the east and the west: all this have I given you to be
your possession forever and ever by a covenant of salt."
Now put these three things together and I think your have the idea of
receiving Christ. To receive Him is to have Him as the result of God's
free gift. To realize Him. And then to appropriate Him to yourselves.
The word "receive" is used in some ten or a dozen senses in Holy
Scripture. Five of them will suffice my purpose just now. To receive is
often used for taking. We read of receiving a thousand shekels of
silver, and of receiving money, garments, sheep and oxen. Perhaps in
this sense we understand the words of the Master–"No man can receive
anything unless it is given him from above." And that other
sentence–"To as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become
the sons of God."
We take Christ into us–to return to my old simile–as the empty vessel
takes in water from the stream–so we receive Christ. The love, life,
merit, nature, and Grace of Jesus freely flow into us, as the oil into
the widow's vessels. But the word is also used in Scripture to signify
holding that which we take in. Indeed, a vessel without a bottom could
hardly be said to receive water. I do not suppose anyone would talk of
a sieve receiving water except in a mock sense. But the life of faith
consists in holding within us that which Christ has put into us, so
that Jesus Christ is formed in us the hope of glory. By faith it comes
in. By faith it is kept in. Faith gives me what I have, keeps what I
have. Faith makes it mine, faith keeps it mine. Faith gets hold of it
with one hand, and then clasps it with both hands with a grasp that
neither death nor life can loose.
Then, receiving sometimes means in Scripture simply believing. "He came
unto His own and His own received Him not." We read of receiving false
prophets, that is, believing them. Now, to receive Christ is to believe
Him. He says, "I can save you." I receive that. He says, "I will save
you." I receive that. He says, "Trust Me and I will make you like
Myself." I receive that. Whatever Jesus says, I believe Him, and
receive Him as true. I make His words so true to myself that I act upon
them as being true, and regard them not as a word that may possibly be
true but which must be true, even if Heaven and earth should pass away.
This is receiving Christ–believing what He has said.
Receiving, also, often signifies in Scripture entertaining. Thus the
barbarous people at Melita received Paul and his companions kindly and
kindled a fire. Ah, after we have once found all in Christ to be our
own and have received Him into ourselves by faith, then we entreat the
Lord to enter our hearts and sup with us. We give Him the best seat at
the table of our souls. We would feast Him on the richest dainties of
our choicest love. We ask Him to abide with us from morn till eve. We
would commune with Him every day and every hour of the day. We
entertain Him. We have a reception chamber in our hearts and we receive
Christ.
And then, once again, receiving in Scripture often signifies to enjoy.
We hear of receiving a crown of life which fades not away. That is,
enjoying it, enjoying Heaven, and being satisfied with all its bliss.
Now, dear Friends, when we receive Christ, there is intended in this an
enjoying of it. I am only now talking the simplicities of our faith,
but I do want to make them very personal to you. Are you thus enjoying
Christ? If you had a crown you would wear it. You have a Christ–feed
on Him. If you were hungry and there was bread on the table, you would
eat. Oh, eat and drink, Beloved, of your Lord Jesus Christ! If you have
a friend, you enjoy his company–you have a Friend in Christ. Oh, enjoy
His conversation! Do not leave Him, like a bottle of cordial for the
fainting, sealed up from us.
Let him not be as some choice dainty all untasted, while you are
hungry. Oh, receive Christ, for this is the very Heaven and rest of the
soul. His flesh is meat, indeed. His blood is drink, indeed. Never did
angels taste such Divine fare. Come here, Saints, and satisfy
yourselves in Him. To take Him into one's self, to hold Him there, to
believe every word He says, to entertain Him in our hearts, and to
enjoy the luscious sweetness which He must confer upon all those who
have eaten His flesh and have been made to drink of His blood–this it
is, to receive Christ.
But we have not brought out the real meaning of this life of faith yet
till we dwell upon another word. As you have received. Received what?
Salvation may be described as the blind receiving sight, the deaf
receiving hearing, the dead receiving life. But Beloved, Beloved, here
is a thought here–oh that you may get hold of it! We have not only
received these things but we have received CHRIST. "As you have
received Christ Jesus the Lord." Do you see it? It is true that He gave
us life from the dead. He gave us pardon of sin. He gave us imputed
righteousness. These are all precious things– but do you see we are
not content with them?
We have received Christ Himself!! The Son of God has been poured out
into us, and we have received Him, and appropriated Him. Mark, I say,
not merely the blessings of the Covenant, but Himself! Not merely the
purchase of His blood, but He Himself, from whose veins the blood has
flowed, has become ours. And every soul that has eternal life is this
day a possessor of Christ Jesus the Lord. Now we will put this, also,
personally to you. Have I received Christ, that is the Anointed? My
soul, have you seen Christ as the Anointed of the Father in the Divine
decree to execute His purposes? Have you seen Him coming forth in the
fullness of time wearing the robes of His priesthood, the Anointed of
the Father?
Have you seen Him standing at the altar offering Himself as a Victim,
an anointed Priest, anointed with the sacred oil by which God has made
Him a Priest forever after the order of Melchisedek? My Soul, have you
seen Jesus going within the veil and speaking to Your Father and to His
Father as One whom the Father has accepted, of whom we can speak, in
the language of David, as our shield and God's Anointed? Oh, it is a
delight, indeed, to receive Christ not as an unsent Prophet, not as a
man who came of His own authority, not as a teacher who spoke His own
words, but as One who is Christos, the Anointed, the Anointed of God,
ordained of the Most High, and therefore most certainly acceptable!
As it is written, "/have laid help upon One that is mighty, I have
exalted One chosen out of the people. It pleased the Father to bruise
Him, He has put Him to grief." Delightful is the contemplation of
Christ under that aspect! Soul, do you thus receive the Messiah of God?
But the text says," Christ Jesus." Now Jesus means a Savior. Christ is
His relation to God, Jesus His relation to me. Have I received Christ
in His relationship to me as a Savior? My Soul, has Christ saved you?
Come, no "ifs" and "ands" about it. Have you received Him as your
Savior? Could you say in that happy day when your faith closed with
Him, "Yes, Jesus, You have saved me"?
Oh, there are some professors of religion who do not seem to have
received Christ as Jesus. They look upon Him as One who may help them
to save themselves, who can do a great deal for them, or may begin the
work, but not complete it.
Oh, Beloved, we must get a hold of Him as one that has saved us, that
has finished the work. What? Don't you know that you are this day
whiter than the driven snow because His blood has washed you? You are
this day more acceptable to God than unfallen angels ever were, for you
are clothed in the perfect righteousness of the Divine One. Christ has
wrapped you about with His own righteousness. You are saved! You have
received Him as God's Anointed. See that you receive Him as Jesus, your
Savior.
Then, again, it is clear that saving faith consists also in receiving
Him as He is in Himself, as the Divine Son. "You have received Christ
Jesus the Lord." Those who they say cannot believe in His Deity have
not received Him. Others theoretically admit Him to be Divine, but He
is never a subject of confidence as such. They have not received Him.
But I trust I speak to many hundreds this morning who willingly accept
His Godhead and say, "I entertain no doubt about His Deity and,
moreover, on that I risk my soul. I do take Him into my heart as being
God over all, blessed forever, Amen. I kiss His feet while I see His
humanity. But I believe that, since those feet could tread the waters,
He is Divine.
"I look up to His hands, and as I see them pierced I know that He is
human. But as I know that those hands multiplied the loaves and fishes
till they fed five thousand, I know that He is Divine. I look upon His
corpse in the tomb, and I see that He is Man. I see Him in the
resurrection, and I know that He is God. I see Him on the Cross,
suffering, and I know that He is bone of my bone, and flesh of my
flesh. But I hear a voice which says, 'Let all the angels of God
worship Him.' 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.' And I bow
before Him and say, 'Oh Lord, You Son of God, and son of Mary, I
receive You as Christ Jesus the Lord.' "
Now this is all very plain talking, you will say. And I remind you that
souls are saved by very plain truths, and the dealings of men's souls
with Christ are not carried on in learned or metaphysical terms. We do
believe, and so take Christ Jesus the Lord into us, and by that act of
faith, without any doing of our own, we are completely saved.
I shall only make this further remark here, that the Apostle speaks of
this as a matter of certainty and goes on to argue from it. Now we do
not argue from a supposition. I must have you clear, dearly Beloved in
the Lord, that this is a matter of certainty to you. We can hardly get
to the next point unless you can say, "I have received Jesus." The
verse runs, "As, or since, you have received Christ Jesus the Lord so
walk you in Him." We must not alter it into, "Since I hope I have,"
"Since I trust I have." You either have or have not.
If you have not, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God and cry
to Him for His great gift. But if you have, O, dear Friends, do not let
it be a question with you, but say, "Yes, yes, yes, I can say, once and
for all, I have received Him. Poor, weak, and worthless though I am, I
do put my humble seal to the fact that God is true, and I trust in Him
who is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by Him."
This is the life of faith.
2. Now, in expounding the text, our second point was the walk of faith.
"Since you have received Him, walk in Him." Walk implies, first of all,
action. Do not let your reception of Christ be a mere thing of thought
to you, a subject only for your chamber, and your closet–but act upon
it all. If you have really received Christ, and are saved, act as if
you were saved–with joy, with meekness, with confidence, with faith,
with boldness. Walk in Him–do not sit down in indo-lence–but rise and
act in Him. Walk in Him. Carry out into practical effect that which you
believe.
See a man who has received an immense fortune, his purse is bursting,
and his caskets are heavy. What does he do? Why, he behaves like a rich
man. He sees a luxury which pleases him, and he buys it. There is an
estate he desires, and he purchases it. He acts like a rich man.
Beloved Brethren, you have received Christ–act upon it. Do not play
the beggar, now that boundless wealth is conferred upon you!
Walking, again, implies perseverance. Not only being in Christ
today–that would be standing in Him and falling from Him. But being in
Him tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and the next, and the
next–walking in Him all your walk of life. I remember Matthew Henry,
speaking about Enoch walking with God, says he did not only take a turn
or two up and down with God, and then leave Him, but he walked with God
four hundred years. This implies perseverance. You have received
Christ–persevere in receiving Him. You have come to trust Him–keep on
trusting Him. You hang about His neck as a poor, helpless
sinner–remain hanging there. In other words, abide in Him.
Walking implies habit. When we speak of a man's walk and conversation,
we mean his habits, the constant tenor of his life. Now, dear Friends,
if you and I sometimes enjoy Christ, and then forget Him, if sometimes
we say He is ours and soon loose our hold, that is not a habit. We do
not walk in Him. But if you have received Him, let it be your habit to
live upon Him, keep to Him–cling to Him, never let Him go–live and
have your being in Him. This walking implies a con- tinuance. There is
no notice given in the text of the suspension of this walking, but
there must be a continual abiding in Christ. How many Christians there
are who think that in the morning and evening they ought to come into
the company of Christ, but then they may be in the world the rest of
the day?
Ah, but we ought always to be in Christ, that is to say, all the day
long, every minute of the day. Though worldly things may take up some
of my thoughts, yet my soul is to be in a constant state of being in
Christ, so that if I am caught at any moment, I am in Him. At any hour,
if anyone should say to me, "Now, are you saved?" I may be able still
to say, "Yes." And if they ask me for an evidence of it, I may, without
saying so, prove it to them by the fact that I am acting like a man who
is in Christ, who has Christ in him, has had his nature changed by
receiving Christ's nature, and has Christ to be his one end and aim. I
suppose, also, that walking signifies progress. So walk in him–proceed
from Divine Grace to Grace–run forward until you reach the uttermost
limit of knowledge that man can have concerning our Beloved. "As you
have received Him walk in Him."
But now I want you to notice just this. It says, "Walk you in Him." Oh,
I cannot attempt to enter into the mystery of this text–"Walk in Him!"
You know if a man has to cross a river, he fords it quickly and is out
of it again at once. But you are to suppose a person walking in a
certain element always, in Christ. Just as we walk in the air, so am I
to walk in Christ. Not sometimes, now and then coming to Him and going
away from Him, but walking in Him as my element. Can you comprehend
that? Not a soul here can make anything out of that but the most silly
jargon, except the man who, having received the inner spiritual life,
understands what it is to have fellowship with the Father and with His
Son, Jesus Christ.
Dear Friends, in trying to open up that point just for a moment, let us
notice what this walking in Christ must mean. As Christ was at first
when we received Him the only ground of our faith–so as long as we
live, we are to stand to the same point. Did you not sing the other day
when you first came to Him–
"I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all,
But Jesus Christ is my All in All"? Well, that is how you are to
continue to the end. We commence our faith with–
"Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to the Cross I cling."
When you are old with honors, when you are covered with fame, when you
have served your Master well, still come in just the same way with–
"A guilty weak and helpless worm, On Christ's kind arms I fall, He is
my strength and righteousness, My Jesus and my All"
Let not your experience, your sanctification, your graces, your
attainments, come in between you and Christ. But just as you took Him
to be the only pillar of your hope at first, so let Him be even to the
last.
You received Christ, again, as the substance of your faith. The infidel
laughed at you, and said you had nothing to trust to. But your faith
made Christ real to you. Well, now, just as the first day when you came
to Jesus you no more doubted the reality of Christ than you did your
own existence, so walk in Him. Well can I remember that first moment
when these eyes looked to Christ! Ah, there was never anything so true
to me as those bleeding hands, and that crown of thorns on His head. I
wish it were always so, and indeed, it ought to be. As you have
received Christ really, so keep on realizing and finding substance in
Him.
And remember that day, Beloved, when Christ became to us the joy of our
souls? Home, friends, health, wealth, comforts–all lost their luster
that day when He appeared, just as stars are hidden by the light of the
sun. He was the only Lord and giver of life's best bliss, the one well
of living water springing up unto everlasting life. I know that the
first day it mattered not to me whether the day itself was gloomy or
bright. I had found Christ! That was enough for me. He was my Savior.
He was my All. I do think that that day I could have stood upon the
fire wood of Smithfield to burn for Him readily enough.
Well now, just as you received Him at first as your only joy, so
receive Him still, walking in Him, making Him the source, the center,
yes, and the circumference, too, of all your souls' range of delight,
having your all in Him. So, Beloved, that day when we received Him, we
received Him as the object of our love. Oh, how we loved Christ then!
Had we met Him that day, we would have broken the alabaster box of
precious ointment, and poured it upon His head. We would have washed
His feet with our tears, and wiped them with the hairs of our head.
Ah, Jesus, when I first received You, I thought I should have behaved
far better than I have. I thought I would spend, and be spent for You,
and should never dishonor You or turn aside from my faith and
devotedness and zeal. But ah, Brethren, we have not come up to the
standard of our text–walking in Him as we have received Him. He has
not been by us so well beloved as we dreamed He would have been. I take
it, then, to be the meaning of our text, as Christ Jesus the Lord was
at the first All in All to you, so let Him be while life shall last.
II. I shall be very brief upon THE ADVOCACY OF THIS PRINCIPLE, for
surely you need no urgent persuasion to cleave unto such a Lord as
yours. In advocating this principle, I would say, first of all,
suppose, my Brethren, you and I, having been saved by Christ, should
now begin to walk in someone else, what then? Why, what dishonor to our
Lord! Here is a man who came to Christ and says he found salvation in
Him. But after relying upon the Lord some half-a-dozen years, he came
to find it was not a proper principle, and so now he has begun to walk
by feelings, to walk by sight, to walk by philosophy, to walk by carnal
wisdom. If such a case could be found, what discredit would it bring
upon our Holy Leader and Captain!
But I am certain no such instance will be found in you, if you have
tasted that the Lord is gracious. Have you not up till now found your
Lord to be a compassionate and generous Friend to you, and has not
simple faith in Him given you all the peace your spirit could desire? I
pray you, then, unless you would stain His glory in the dust, as you
have received Christ, so walk in Him.
Besides, what reason have you to make a change? Has there been any
argument in the past? Has not Christ proved Himself all-sufficient! He
appeals to you today–"Have I been a wilderness unto you?" When your
soul has simply trusted Christ, have you ever been confounded? When you
have dared to come as a guilty sinner, and believed in Him, have you
ever been ashamed? Very well, then, let the past urge you to walk in
Him. And as for the present, can that compel you to leave Christ? Oh,
when we are hard beset with this world or with the severer trials
within the Church, we find it such a sweet thing to come back! Pillow
our head upon the bosom of our Savior. This is the joy we have
today–that if we are in trial–we are saved in Him. And if we find
this today to be enough, why should we think of changing!
I will not forswear the sunlight till I find a better, nor leave my
Lord until a brighter Lover shall appear. And, since this can never be,
I will hold Him with a grasp immortal, and bind His name as a seal upon
my arm. As for the future, can you suggest anything which can arise
that shall render it necessary for you to tack about, or strike sail,
or go with another captain in another ship? I think not. Suppose life
to be long–He changes not. Suppose you die–is it not written that,
"neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, shall
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord"?
You are poor. What better than to have Christ who can make you rich in
faith? Suppose you are sick. What more do you want than Christ to make
your bed in your sickness? Suppose you should be maltreated and mocked
at, and slandered for His sake–what better do you want then to have
Him as a Friend who sticks closer than a brother? In life, in death, in
judgment–you cannot conceive anything that can arise in which you
would require more than Christ bestows.
But, dear Friends, it may be that you are tempted by something else to
change your course for a time. Now what is it? Is it the wisdom of this
world, the cunning devices and discoveries of man? Is it that which our
Apostle mentions as philosophy? The wise men of the world have
persuaded you to begin questioning. They have urged you to put the
mysteries of God to the test of common sense, reason and so forth, as
they call it, and not lean on the inspiration of God's Word. Ah, well,
Beloved, it is wisdom, I suppose, which philosophy offers you. Well,
but have you not that in Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge? You received Christ at first, I thought, as being
made of God unto you wisdom, and sanctification, and righteousness, and
so on. Well, will you cast Him off when you have already more than all
the wisdom which this philosophy offers?
Is it ceremonies that tempt you? Has the priest told you that you ought
to attend to these, and then you would have another ground of
confidence? Well, but you have that in Christ. If there is anything in
the circumcision of the Jews, you have that, for you are circumcised in
Him. If there is anything in Baptism–as some think that to be a saving
ordi-nance–you have been buried with Him in Baptism. You have that. Do
you want life? Your life is hid with Him. Do you want death? You are
dead with Christ, and buried with Him. Do you want resurrection? He has
raised you up with Him. Do you want Heaven? He has make you sit
together in heavenly places in Him.
Getting Christ, you have all that everything else can offer you.
Therefore be not tempted from this hope of your calling, but as you
have received Christ, so walk in Him. And then, further, do you not
know that your Jesus is the Lord from Heaven? What can your heart
desire beyond God? God is infinite. You cannot want more than the
infinite. "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."
Having Christ, you have God. And having God, you have everything. Well
might the Apostle add to that sentence, "And you are complete in Him!"
Well, then, if you are complete in Christ, why should you be beguiled
by the bewitcheries of this world to want something besides Christ? If
resting upon Him, God is absolutely yours, and you are, therefore, full
to the brim with all that your largest capacity can desire, oh, why
should you thus be led astray, like foolish children, to seek after
another confidence and another trust? Oh, come back, you Wanderer! Come
you back to this solid foundation and sing once again with us–
"On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand."
III. And now, last of all, a few words BY WAY OF APPLICATION "So walk
you in Him." One of the first applications shall be made with regard to
some who complain of a want of communion, or rather, of those of whom
we ought to complain, since they injure us all by their distance from
Christ.
There are some of you who never have much communion with Christ. You
are members of the Church and very decent people, I dare say, in your
way. But you do not have communion with Christ. Ask some
professors–"Do you ever have communion with Christ?" They would be
obliged to say–"Well, I do not know that my life is inconsistent. I do
not think anybody could blame me for any wrong act towards my fellow
man. But if you come to that, whether I have ever had communion with
Christ, I am compelled to say that I have had it now and then, but it
is very seldom–it is like the angels' visits–few and far between."
Now, Brethren, you have received Christ, have you not? Then the
application of the principle is as you have received Him, so walk in
Him. If it were worth while for you to come to Him at first, then it is
worth while for you always to keep to Him. If it were really a safe
thing for you to come to Him and say, "Jesus, you are the way," then it
is a safe thing for you to do now. And if that were the foundation of
blessedness to you, to come simply to Christ, then it will be the
fountain of blessedness to you to do the same now. Come, then, to Him
now.
If you were foolish in trusting Him at the first, then you are wise in
leaving off doing so now. If you were wise, however, in approaching to
Christ years gone by, you are foolish in not standing by Christ now.
Come, then, let the remembrance of your marriage unto the Lord Jesus
rebuke you! And if you have lost your fellowship with Jesus, come again
to His dear body wounded for your sake and say, "Lord Jesus, help me
from this time forth as I have received You, day by day to walk in
You."
There are many of you who complain of a want of comfort. You are not so
comfortable as you would like to be and why? Why, you have sinned. Yes,
yes, but how did you receive Christ. As a saint? "No, no," you say, "I
came to Christ as a sinner." Come to Him as a sinner now, then. "Oh,
but I feel so guilty." Just so, but what was your hope at first? Why,
that guilty though you were, He had made an atonement and you trusted
in Him. Well, you are still guilty–do the same as you did at
first–walk in Him, and I cannot imagine a person without comfort who
continually makes this the strain of his life, to rest on Christ as a
poor sinner, just as he did at first.
Why, Lord, You know the devil often says to me, "You are no saint."
Well, then, if I am not a saint, yet I am a sin-ner–and it is
written–"Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." Then–
"Just as I am and waiting not,
To rid my soul of one foul spot,
To Him whose blood can cleanse each blot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come."
Why, you cannot help having comfort if you walk with your Surety and
Substitute as you did at the first, resting on Him and not in feelings,
nor experience, nor graces, nor anything of your own–living and
resting alone on Him who is made of God unto you all that your soul
requires.
There is yet another thing. There are many Christians whose lives
really are not consistent. I cannot understand this if they are walking
in Christ. In fact, if a man could completely walk in Christ, he would
walk in perfect holiness. We hear an instance, perhaps, of a little
shopkeeper who puffs and exaggerates as other shopkeepers do–he does
not exactly tell a lie, but something very near it. Now I want to know
whether that man was walking in Christ when he did that. If he had said
to himself, "Now I am in Christ," do you think he would have done it?
We hear of another who is constantly impatient, always troubled,
fretting, mournful. I want to know whether that man is really walking
in Christ as he walked at first, when he is doubting the goodness, the
Providence, the tenderness of God. Surely he is not! I have heard of
hard-hearted professors who take a Christian Brother by the throat
with, "Pay me what you owe." Do you think they are walking in Christ
when they do that? We hear of others, when their Brothers have need,
shut up the heart of their compassion–are mean and stingy. Are they
walking in Christ when they do that?
Why, if a man walks in Christ, then he so acts as Christ would act. For
Christ being in him, his hope, his love, his joy, his life–he is the
reflex of the image of Christ. He is the glass into which Christ looks.
And then the image of Christ is reflected, and men say of that man, "He
is like his Master. He lives in Christ." Oh, I know, dear Brethren, if
we lived now, as we did the first day we came to Christ, we should live
very differently from what we do. How we felt towards Him that day! We
would have given all we had for Him! How we felt towards sinners that
day! Lad that I was, I wanted to preach and–
"Tell to sinners round,
What a dear Savior I had found."
How we felt towards God that day! When we were on our knees, what
pleading there was with Him! What a nearness of access to Him in
prayer! Oh, how different! How different with some now! This world has
with rude hands brushed the bloom from the young fruit. Is it true that
flowers of Divine Grace, like the flowers of nature, die in the autumn
of our piety? As we all get older, ought we to be more worldly? Should
it be that our early love, which was the love of our espousals, dies
away? Forgive, O Lord, this evil, and turn us anew unto You–
"Return, O holy Dove! return,
Sweet messenger of rest!
We hate the sins that made You mourn,
And drove You from our breast.
The dearest idol we have known,
Whatever that idol be,
Help us to tear it from Your throne,
And worship only You.
So shall our walk be close with God,
Calm and serene our frame–
So purer light shall mark the road
That leads us to the Lamb."
"As you have received Him walk in Him," and if you have not received
Him, oh, poor Sinner, remember He is free and full–full to give you
all you need–and free to give it even to you. Let the verse we sung be
an invitation to you–
"This fountain, though rich, from charge is quite clear;
The poorer the wretch, the more welcome here–
Come, needy and guilty; come, loathsome and bare;
Though leprous and filthy, come just as you are."
Trust in God's anointed–that is receive Him–and then, having trusted
Him, continue still to trust Him. May His Spirit enable you to do it
and to His name shall be glory forever and ever.