The Foundation and Its Seal–a Sermon for the Times
(No. 1854)
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, AUGUST 9, 1885,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, 'The
Lord knows them that are His,' and, 'Let everyone that names the name
of Christ depart from iniquity." 2Timothy 2:19.
PAUL had met with many difficulties in his earnest career, but his most
painful trials came from false brethren. It is battle, enough, for the
Church to contend with the world, but what is she to do when she has to
contend with herself? To go forth weeping, bearing precious seed and,
in due time, to reap it in the heat of the sun is toil enough for the
farmer– but what is he to do when the tares are sown among the wheat
and they spring up and well-near choke the growing grain? He is
distressed and knows not what to do! At first he is eager to root up
the tares; then he fears that he might root up the wheat with them and
so, at his Master's command, he lets both grow together until the
harvest. This he does with tears in his eyes, for he foresees that
those growing tares must do fearful mischief to the good seed and, in
the end, where he looked for much, he will gather little.
A compact army of brave spirits, every man in health and every man a
hero, can march across a continent and strike at the foe, time after
time–and every stroke shall fall as from the hammer of Thor. But if
you have the leadership of a great and motley host–and there are many
sick folk to be carried in the ambulances, while others are
faint-hearted, cowardly and cold in the cause and, yet another company
are half suspected of a design to go over to the adversary–then the
captain's hair may well turn gray in a night at the thought of what may
be the result of a battle! Paul was full of somewhat similar anxieties
when about to leave the field of conduct to receive his crown. He was
handing over his commission of Watchman of the Churches to Timothy and,
as he did so, it was with a trembling hand, as he thought of the evil
influences which were at work within the Church, itself. Outside
persecution seemed light enough to him, but internal dissension, heresy
and ungodliness weighed upon his spirit.
When I read this Second Epistle to Timothy, it reminds me,
somewhat–only it is a great improvement upon it–of David's addressing
Solomon and reminding him of those who had given him trouble in his
lifetime. He exhorted him how to deal wisely with them lest his kingdom
should be disturbed by them. You notice that throughout the Epistle,
the Apostle makes more mention of troublesome individuals than in any
other letter. In the first chapter there is Phygellus and Hermogenes.
And now we come upon Hymenaeus and Philetus. These dogs generally hunt
in couples. A little further on you get Demas and Alexander, the
coppersmith, who had done much evil to the Apostle. The departing
saint, harboring no resentment, yet has great anxiety of spirit as to
what these mischief-makers might do with a young man like Timothy,
since they had been such thorns in his own side.
It is a cheering thing to note that while Paul mentions these things
with a gracious anxiety, they do not disturb the serenity of his faith,
nor make him question, for a moment, the success of the cause, nor
doubt the success of the work which the Lord had worked by his own
hands. These are his words–"For I am now ready to be offered, and the
time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept the faith: therefore there is laid up
for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge,
shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them, also,
that love His appearing." Courage, then, servant of God! Whatever may
be your trials because of an apostatizing church, your faith will give
you victory! Be faithful to the Word of the Holy Testimony and the
Truth of God shall yet prevail. Live much in communion with your
Master, for by His name shall you triumph!
Project yourself into the eternal future. Feel the crown already upon
your head when it is aching under many sorrows! Hear the Master's word,
"Well done," when you are weary with the noise of them that oppose the
Cross. Stand
fast! Having done all, still stand! The campaign is not lost. Despite
all that has happened, or ever shall happen, not one jot the less does,
"the foundation of God stands sure." The work of God goes on and the
reward which God gives to the workers is not diminished, nor even
placed in danger. Therefore, in patience, possess your soul.
This morning, with deep solemnity of soul, I approach this text and
pray that the Spirit of God may bless it to us all. I see in it, three
things. The first, perhaps, is rather in the context, it is the
lamentable overthrow of which the Apostle has been speaking. He says
that these two men, Hymenaeus and Philetus, overthrew the faith of
some. Secondly, we shall survey the abiding foundation–"the foundation
of God stands sure." And then, thirdly, the instructive inscription
upon the foundation stone, "The Lord knows them that are His." And,
"Let everyone that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity."
I. First, let us think, for a little, of THE LAMENTABLE OVERTHROW which
the Apostle so much deplored.
The Apostle observed with sorrow a general coldness. It was, in some
respects, coldness towards himself, but in reality it was a turning
away from the simplicity of the Doctrine of Salvation by Grace through
faith. He says in the 15th verse of the previous chapter, "This you
know, that all they which are in Asia are turned away from me; of whom
are Phygellus and Hermogenes," two men, I suppose, of whom he had hoped
better things–perhaps persons who had professed a warm attachment to
him. Their departure was the unkindest cut of all.
A great lack of spiritual life and zeal for the Truth of God is our
trial, today. Laodicea is not the only Church that is neither cold nor
hot. I am, at this moment, unwillingly compelled to believe that a very
serious blight is upon many of our Churches. From a wide
correspondence, I gather that a wintry chill is just now upon the
Church–possibly it is not to such an extent as in certain terrible
periods–but still to a very saddening degree. There is not that
firmness in the faith, that holiness of life and that enthusiasm for
the Cross of Christ that one would wish to see. I view the immediate
prospect with serious anxiety. Yet, I was reading Mr. Bunyan's words
concerning the age in which he lived and I find that he had similar
apprehensions in his time. And I notice that before his day, each
loyal-hearted man of God was troubled with similar fears.
Nor were those fears childish–they were not a presumptuous trembling
for the Ark of the Lord, but a godly jealousy lest the enemy should get
an advantage over the hosts of God. It is a mercy that there should be
somebody to complain; somebody to express the longing of the Church for
better things. I am sure that there is grave reason for regret at this
moment. Though we look with the greatest gratitude upon all the things
that are good, we still have to look with heavy hearts upon much that
is grievous to the Spirit of God in the Churches of the present day.
Furthermore, the Apostle saw with much alarm that teachers were erring.
He names two especially, Hymenaeus and Philetus, and he mentions the
doctrine that they taught–not needlessly explaining it, but merely
giving a hint at it. They taught, among other things, that the
Resurrection was already past. I suppose they had fallen into the
manner of certain in our day who spiritualize or rationalize
everything. They say, "This is mythical! This death of Christ is to be
understood as the triumph of self-sacrifice. This Resurrection of
Christ means the revival of forgotten principles." Thus they hold an
atonement which is no Atonement and a resurrection which is no
Resurrection. They appear to accept the great historical fact and yet
they reduce it to fiction! This is the subtlety of the old serpent!
Somehow or other, these men manage to extract from the Gospel an
attractive philosophy, but it is not the Gospel which God intended to
be preached! They seek, rather, the wisdom of man's thought than the
Revelation of God's thoughts. You need not that I go into particulars,
for all around us men are dealing craftily with the Truth of
God–adulterating it and in heart denying it. These are, by no means,
persons to be trifled with–many of them are keen, acute, and
thoughtful–and it is the great peril of the Church, at this moment,
that she numbers such among her teachers. These can stab under the
shield. We care not for the besiegers outside, but we are distressed
because of the traitors within! God grant that this thing may go no
further, but may His people become alarmed by the growing decline of
the Church and resolve to be rid of this destructive influence which
eats as does a canker.
In Paul's day, many professors were apostatizing from the faith because
of the evil leaders. Sheep are such creatures to follow something,
that, when they do not follow the shepherd, they display great
readiness to follow one another. When Hymenaeus and Philetus taught a
highly intellectual doctrine, many people who fancied themselves to be
cultured, must necessarily be of their mind. Hymenaeus had discovered a
method of being abreast of the times, so that the Christian teacher
could figure in the heathen academy and be complimented for his liberal
views. These "cultured" teachers looked
down with contempt upon those uncouth fishermen who were so unlearned
and ignorant as to believe that the teaching of Jesus meant what it
said, for they, themselves, gave the Gospel a more rational meaning!
They thought themselves profound and eclectic men who could see the
soul of things and, therefore, they rejected the simplicity of the
Cross and put in its place the theories of the philosophers. They took
away the foundation facts under the pretence of building higher and
thus the faith of many was overthrown.
Take away the Resurrection and what remains of the Gospel? The
Resurrection of Christ and the consequent resurrection of His people is
the keystone of the arch of the Christian system! And if that is
removed as a myth, the whole building falls. The Apostle saw numbers of
persons led astray by this error as, alas, we see many in these times
deluded with kindred falsehoods! It becomes Christian men, nowadays, to
carefully discriminate as to what they hear. I read, the other day, a
complaint as to small towns having many chapels where one might have
sufficed. Truly, one might suffice if the Gospel were faithfully
preached in it, but a score would not be enough if, in them all, there
was an absence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of the life and power
of the Holy Spirit! When another Gospel is introduced, those who love
the Truth of God are bound to enter their earnest protest and to form
another congregation. I am for unity in the life and Truth of God, and
for our coming closer and closer together–spiritual men to spiritual
men–but that is quite another thing from making an aggregate of this
great motley mass of Christian profession and unchristian teaching,
since it has so little of the true life of Christ within it! Would to
God that in every place where Christ is preached professedly, He were
preached truthfully! Oh that you who profess to follow Christ were
really doing so! But what is the chaff to the wheat? How much of chaff
is mixed with every heap that lies upon our Lord's threshing floor!
Paul also deplored that ungodliness increased. He says that the profane
and vain babblings of his time increased unto more ungodliness. O
Brothers and Sisters, it is godliness that we need–the living of the
soul with God, in God and to God. We need a holy fear of God, a sacred
sense of God, a true delight in God! We need less of man and more of
God! Less of mere creed-repeating and more of vital faith in God. Less
following of men and more following of God in Christ Jesus. More of
union with God, living in God and likeness to God. Oh that He would
work this in us! The world grows dark with accursed lusts and the
Christian Church grows more conformed to the ungodly world.
Persecutions unto death have ceased–it is easy and respectable to bear
the Christian name–and, therefore, the separation from the world,
which is the glory of Christians, becomes less and less apparent!
My heart is sorely wounded with the sight of some who will come into
God's house and undertake God's service during the Sabbath and yet,
during the week they are unjust, oppressive, graceless and greedy–not
servants of God, but servants of self and sin! By unholy professors,
the Cross is dishonored, the Holy Spirit is grieved and Christ is put
to an open shame! All this vexed the heart of the Apostle in his day
and it is our cross and burden at this hour. "Lord have mercy upon us!
Christ have mercy upon us!"
II. Now let us turn to the subject which supplied Paul with
consolation. He speaks of the ABIDING FOUNDATION–"Nevertheless the
foundation of God stands sure." It is a joy to quit the ever-moving
flood for the firm, substantial rock. It is bliss to feel that there is
something under your feet, something substantial, abiding, sure.
"Nevertheless, the foundation of God stands sure." Though the earth is
removed and though the mountains are carried into the midst of the
sea–though the waters thereof roar and are troubled and though the
mountains shake with the swelling thereof– yet will we not fear, for
the Lord Jehovah changes not!
What is this foundation which stands sure? Those who have interpreted
the passage have given many meanings to it, but I believe that all
those meanings are really one. For the sake of clearness, I would give
three answers to the enquiry– the foundation is, secretly, the purpose
of God; doctrinally, the Truth of God; effectively, the Church of
God–in all, the system of God whereby He glorifies His Grace. The
foundation is the Divine purpose. Though men prove fickle, false,
wicked and the Church is sorely grieved, "nevertheless" God's purpose
is carried out! The Covenant of Grace is fulfilled and the Glory of God
is revealed. God has a grand design from which He has never swerved,
no, not by so much as a hair's breadth! His purpose shall stand! He
will do all His pleasure. It is incumbent upon us to believe in the
responsibility of men and to feel the weight of that Truth, for as a
Truth of God, it is of the most solemn importance. It is our duty to
give ourselves up with all our might to the doing of that which is
right, as if all things depended on us. Yet when we are baffled by
matters which are beyond our control, it is a blessed thing to fall
back upon the purpose and Providence of the Almighty–and feel that
though we are defeated–He cannot be! There is a power high over all
which works for
righteousness. The Messiah "shall not fail nor be discouraged till He
has set judgement in the earth and the isles shall wait for His Law."
The Divine design in creation shall be effected and in redemption and
in Providence, it shall be the same. The Lord shall be, at the last,
victor all along the line! The good shall glorify Him and even the evil
shall be compelled to magnify the greatness of His majesty. "The Lord
reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad
thereof." God Himself, who is in very deed the Foundation of all
things, stands sure!
The Apostle also meant the Divine Truth, which is the foundation of the
Gospel. He had been speaking about certain Truths of God which were
spirited away by those two unworthies, Hymenaeus and Philetus, and he
says, "Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure." Interpreters
have thought that Paul points at the doctrine of the Resurrection. No
doubt he does, but he includes every other doctrine which is a
foundational Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yonder is a man who
has proved that Jesus is not truly God. Let him prove what he likes,
since Jesus is God for all that! Another man has disproved the
substitutionary Atonement of Christ–let him disprove it if he pleases,
for it is just as true! Rhetoric and logic can do wonders in
appearance, but they do nothing in reality. The orator's thunder has
not shaken the unchangeable Truth of God! He is proud of his triumphs,
but as we look into the Book and look into the dear Master's face, we
feel that, "nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure."
No Truth of God has ever been destroyed by all the fires through which
it has passed! The fire which tried the bush in the wilderness was a
much more potent element than any that men can kindle, for it was God's
own Presence and He is, emphatically, "a consuming fire." Yet the bush
was not consumed by such a fire! What, then, can destroy it? Even so,
since the Truth can stand the test of God, the All-Trying One, depend
upon it, it can endure the test of such poor fires as man can bring to
bear upon it! In a broad Scotch version I read, "The bush lowe'd and
was nane the waur"–that is to say, "it was none the worse." Brethren,
the Gospel is none the worse for all the opposition which has
surrounded it, though it has been as fierce as a devouring flame! Only
the additions of men have been burnt out of it. Everything that can be
consumed ought to be consumed and only that which cannot be burned is
really God's eternal Truth. All that has happened by all the
controversy of all the ages, is that man's fiction has been separated
from God's foundation–man's speculation has been purged out of God's
Revelation! The foundation of God stands sure and, oh, the joy of this
fact to every heart that loves the Lord!
But, further, I think Paul meant, here, not only the purpose of God and
the Truth of God, but God's Divine work in the world in the salvation
of His own. The Divine Election of God has been fulfilled so far–and
those whom God has really saved–in whom there has been a real work of
Grace, stand sure when all others are overthrown. You look upon the
Church and lament that so many have turned aside; that so many others
are very poor specimens of Christians; that so many more are sadly
questionable and that a certain company are evidently false. Well, it
is very sad, but there is a remnant according to the election of
Grace–"the foundation of God stands sure." Those who were really laid
upon the foundation by the Spirit of God–those who are vitally united
to Christ–these still stand firm in faith and character! Those who are
truly born of God live unto God! The righteous hold on their way. The
choice spirits endure unto the end. Does not Jesus say, "My sheep hear
My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me"? Does He not declare
that, "A stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for
they know not the voice of strangers"?
The teachers of error would, if it were possible, have deceived the
very elect, but the chosen detect the deception by the spiritual
discernment which is in them and by the teaching of the Holy Spirit!
They love the Truth and live the Truth–and the Truth lives in them.
Thus in their persons, "the foundation of God stands sure." Brothers
and Sisters, let us take great joy in this foundation of God, this
faithful Church of God which is steadfast and immovable in the day of
blasphemy and rebuke. Blessed be the name of the Lord, He still has a
quickened people! He still has a Church in the world–in all
communities of professing Christians, there is a secret seed of
faithful ones–and while the floods and the winds have driven down the
stream, the many towering houses that were built upon the sand, yet the
house of God still stands upon the Rock!
It is not yet complete so as to be fully built as the great House of
God is to be. At the present it wears, rather, the aspect of a
foundation, or basement, than of a house–but it will rise by degrees
to be a fair palace–and even now the King, Himself, deigns to dwell in
it! What there is of the true Church is a sure prophecy of what there
shall be before long. "The foundation of God stands sure." Let us take
courage from this and be not sorely moved nor dismayed in the day of
apostasy. "They went out from us, but they were not of us." The
hireling flees because he is an hireling. Let us not
dwell exclusively upon the mournful side, lest we lose that joy of the
Lord which is our strength. Our Master wept over Jerusalem, once, but
He also rejoiced in spirit when His mind looked another way. In His
heart He always mourned over the woes of ungodly men, but still, He
thought and spoke of more cheering themes–and so must we. It would not
become us to let any one form of thought penetrate our hearts through
and through with painful monotony. You can contemplate the sad side of
things till you become so wretched as to be unable to do good! Have a
brave and hopeful heart. When you see a black cloud, look for its
silver lining. When you see that which looked like substantial material
consumed in the fire, be thankful that if the wood and hay are gone,
the gold and silver remain. God is laying a foundation for the future,
a foundation so sure that it cannot be moved! And He will build upon
it, course after course of jeweled stones till its walls, great and
high, appear unto all men!
Soon shall we see its windows of agate and its gates of carbuncle. Soon
shall the glittering pinnacles of "the terrible crystal" shine in the
eternal light and, best of all, we shall inhabit the house forever and
go no more out, for the Lord God and the Lamb shall be the Glory of
that House and His faithful ones shall be built into it as living
stones! Pluck up courage, then, and stand in your place, O you who are
trembling! Let, "Onward!," be your watchword! Victory is not so far
away as we fear. The retreat of yonder cowards is nothing–the turning
back of the men of Ephraim is according to their nature. But be strong
and quit yourselves like men, for the Lord of Hosts is with us, the God
of Jacob is our refuge!
III. Now, we are, in the third place, as we may be helped of the Holy
Spirit, to look at this foundation and observe
THE INSTRUCTIVE INSCRIPTION. I think this figure best expresses the
Apostle's intent. He represents the foundation stone as bearing an
inscription upon it, like the stone mentioned by the Prophet Zechariah,
of which we read, "I will engrave the graving thereof, says the Lord of
Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day." The
custom of putting inscriptions upon foundation stones is ancient and
general. In the days of the Pharaohs, the royal cartouche was impressed
upon each brick that was placed in buildings raised by royal authority.
The structure was thus known to have been erected by a certain Pharaoh.
Here we have the royal cartouche, or seal, of the King of Kings set
upon the foundation of the great palace of the Church. The House of
Wisdom bears, on its forefront and foundation, the seal of the Lord.
The Jews were known to write texts of Scripture upon the doorposts of
their houses–in this, also, we have an illustration of our text.
The Lord has set upon His purpose, His Gospel, His Truth, the double
mark described in the text–the Divine Election and the Divine
Sanctification. This seal is placed to declare that it belongs to the
Lord, alone, and to set it apart for His personal habitation. Does not
the Lord thus say, "This is My rest forever: here will I dwell; for I
have desired it"? By His choice and by His sanctifying Grace, He has
formed a people for Himself and they shall show forth His praise. The
inscription, moreover, is put upon the foundation stone, that every man
may take heed how he builds on it. We cannot be sure, when we build,
that every stone we place upon the foundation is well and truly laid
there–"The Lord knows them that are His." But we have this mark to
guide us–those who truly name the name of Christ depart from all
iniquity. "By their fruits you shall know them."
We are to use judgement in our building and this is the rule of it–we
must look for holiness in every real convert, for, "without holiness no
man shall see the Lord." It is labor in vain to build those into the
visible Church who are not sanctified in the spirit of their minds. In
doctrine, also, it is in vain to preach unless our doctrine is
according to godliness. A holy God will not dwell with an unholy
people! If the foundation is holy, so must the building be. The seal
upon the foundation is the mark of the builder and the indication of
the object of that which is built. It is intended to denote the
character of the entire edifice, for God's building is all of one piece
and of one nature throughout. On each individual Christian, who is
truly so, there is the private seal of Divine knowledge and the public
seal of Divine likeness. God knows and approves each true Believer and
each true Believer proves his knowledge of God and his delight in Him
by departing from iniquity.
My inmost soul vehemently desires to aid in building up a Church that
shall be composed of men approved of God– God-fearing, God-loving men
and women in whom God lives and who, therefore, live unto Him! What a
Church this will be! Upon such a people will be seen the second mark,
for they will hate all sin and flee from it. They love that which is
good, true, loving and God-like. In us these two things must
meet–God's free and sovereign Grace towards us and our hearty and
practical obedience to His will, or else we are not His sealed ones and
are not built on His sealed foundation.
If I might use another illustration, I can suppose that when the stones
for the Temple were quarried in the mountains, each one received a
special mark from Solomon's seal, marking it as a Temple stone and,
perhaps, denoting its place in the sacred edifice. This would be like
the first inscription, "The Lord knows them that are His." But the
stone would not long lie in the quarry. It would be taken away from its
fellows, after being marked for removal. Here is the transport mark in
the second inscription–"Let everyone that names the name of Christ
depart from iniquity." The first seal marked it for the Lord, the
second secured its removal from the common stones around it. First
comes election and then sanctification follows. I want every professing
Christian to have that double mark and so to be Christ's man, known of
all to be such by coming out from the unclean and being separated unto
the Lord. Remember the words of the Prophet Isaiah–"Depart you, depart
you, go you out from them, touch no unclean thing; go you out of the
midst of her; be you clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord."
Carefully follow me while I notice that the first mark is concerning
God and us, and the second mark is concerning us and God.
The first is concerning God and us. "The Lord knows them that are His."
He knows, that is, He foresees and predestinates, for, "whom He did
foreknow He also did predestinate." Those that are His, He always has
known to be His, for they were His from before the foundation of the
world! They are His known ones when He deals with them in Grace and
comes into their hearts by His powerful operations. He watches over
them by a special Providence, knowing the way that they take and never
losing sight of them.
The text teaches us that the Lord discriminates–"The Lord knows them
that are His." Some who bear His name are not His and He knows them
not. He will say of them at the last, "I never knew you." They are
supposed to be His. They suppose themselves to be His–they are taken
into His Church as His, they continue throughout a long life nominally
His–but they are discovered at the last. There is another and severer
test than that of ministers, elders and Church votes–the Lord knows
the secret things of the heart. Be not deceived, God is not mocked!
There is an eye that has no failure in its vision, but sees to the very
soul of things and reads the hypocrite despite his pretended sanctity!
This discernment on the part of God should make us walk very truthfully
before Him. Let none of us profess to be the Lord's unless we are
such–nor ever pretend to an experience which we have not truly felt,
for the Lord cannot be, in any measure, deceived–He searches the heart
and tries the reins of the children of men.
"The Lord knows them that are His," signifies that He is familiar with
them and communes with them. They that are really the Lord's property
are also the Lord's company–He has conversation with them. They know
Him and He knows them. He makes Himself known to them and they make
themselves known to Him. O Brothers and Sisters, do you know God? Does
God know you? Will He ever say, "I never knew you"? When I have been
cast down, I have said unto the Lord–"Lord, You cannot say You do not
know me, for I have knocked at Your door by the hour together! I have
burdened You with my needs and haunted You with my groans. I have been
Your daily beggar, receiving large alms at Your hands." It is a blessed
thing to be sure that we are not unknown in Heaven. At least we have
the fellowship of asking and receiving, if no more.
Further, the words imply God's preservation of His own, for when God
knows a man, He approves him and, consequently, preserves him. "The
Lord knows them that are His" and He will keep such to the end. This
man, Hymenaeus, and his fellow, Philetus, may deceive many, but the
Lord, who is the true Pastor of the Church, will keep His own sheep
according to His word–"I give unto My sheep eternal life and they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand."
This is the first seal of the sure foundation. Be not afraid of it.
"The Lord knows them that are His."
The second seal is concerning us and God–"Let everyone that names the
name of Christ depart from iniquity." Observe how the practical always
goes with the doctrinal in holy Scripture. Those whom Free Grace
chooses, Free Grace cleanses. We are not chosen because we are holy,
but chosen to be holy and, being chosen, the purpose is no dead letter,
but we are made to seek after holiness. Note that the word is universal
as to Believers–"Let everyone that names the name of Christ depart
from iniquity." You expect ministers to be careful in their conduct and
so they should be. But are not their people under the same obligation?
Elders and deacons are expected to be gracious. This, indeed, is as it
should be, but why not those of whom they are the servants? Let
everyone that is called a Christian, or trusts Christ, or preaches
Christ, or teaches Christ, flee far from the ways of unrighteousness!
This is a sweeping precept as to the thing to be avoided–let him,
"depart from iniquity"–not from this or that crime or folly, but from
iniquity, itself, from everything that is evil, from everything that is
unrighteous or unholy! O you Christian people, be holy, for Christ is
holy! Do not pollute that holy name by which you are named. O you
people of God, if you are, indeed, the Lord's, let no sin dwell with
you! Do not say, "It is a constitutional sin." You are born again, what
have you to do with the old constitution but to mortify it? Do not say,
"Oh, but others do it." What have you to do with others?–to their own
master they stand or fall! Depart from iniquity on your own account,
even as Israel departed out of Egypt. Let your family life, your
personal life, your business life be as holy as Christ, your Lord,
would have it to be.
The text is very decisive–it does not say, "Let him put iniquity on
one side," but, "Let him depart from it." Get away from evil. All your
lives long travel further and further from it.
Do you know where my text originally came from? I believe it was taken
from the Book of Numbers. Read in the 16th chapter the story of Korah,
Dathan and Abiram. In the Septuagint, almost the same words occur as
those now before us. Moses and Aaron were the servants of God and they
were, so to speak, the foundation of the building of the Jewish
Commonwealth. Moses was faithful in all his house. Korah, Dathan and
Abiram rebelled and sought to overthrow that foundation–and Moses
replied to them, "The Lord will show who are His, and who are holy; and
will cause him to come near unto Him; even him whom He has chosen will
He cause to come near to Him." So Moses bids them come and bring their
censers and officiate as priests, if they dare to do so. There they
stand and there stands Aaron and the Lord knows and shows who are His!
Now, turn to the 26th verse of the same chapter and read, "Depart, I
pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of
theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins." Then the faithful fled
away from their tents on every side and, before long, the ground split
asunder that was under them and the earth opened her mouth and
swallowed them up. What a parallel is the whole chapter with my text!
And what a warning to all who teach false doctrine within the Church of
God! Judgment will surely overtake them. The Lord shall "gather out of
His Kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity and
shall cast them into a furnace of fire." The Lord Jesus is exercising
discipline in His Church every day. It is no trifling matter to be a
Church member and no small business to be a preacher of the Gospel. If
you name the name of Christ, you will either be settled in Him or
driven from Him! There is continually going on an establishment of
living stones upon the foundation and a separating from it of the
rubbish which gathers.
Come to Christ, we say, and oh that you would come! But still do not
come to Him pretendedly and nominally, for, "His fan is in His hand and
He will thoroughly purge His floor." To and fro goes that great
winnowing fan and every breath of the wind drives away chaff that looks
like wheat! Who can tell, by sight, what it is? The good grain falls to
the ground, but lo, the chaff is blown away! Yonder fire that is
burning outside the threshing floor destroys it. Judgment must begin at
the House of God! The Lord may let the wicked remain in this world
unpunished for many a day, but if you come near to Him, He will be
sanctified in you, or upon you. There is discipline within my Master's
house and if you come under His roof, you must come under that
discipline. For this cause in olden times many were sick in the
Churches and many died prematurely–and it is still so, for within His
great house a jealous God maintains a strict rule. Thus says the Lord,
"You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I
will punish you for all your iniquities." Look how He dealt with
Ananias and Sapphira within the Church, while many a liar outside of it
grows gray in falsehood! Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord because
they offered strange fire, while many another man has lived on in the
blackest iniquities. For Achan's sin, the whole nation of Israel was
sorely troubled! What a solemn thing is iniquity in the Church of God!
Brothers and Sisters, I conclude with a brief but earnest appeal. Let
us seek after the highest degree of holiness. Let us not be satisfied
with being nominal Christians! Let us aim at the greatest measure of
godliness. Let us plunge into the stream of Grace, immersing ourselves
wholly into the life of God. How many professors appear to know nothing
of the real force and energy of the Spirit of God in subduing sin and
creating holiness! Theirs is a shallow life. Alas, how much they lose!
They come under the obligations of the House of God, but they do not
know the infinite privileges of that house. It is for the truly
spiritual that God reserves the choicest of His dainties. Be half a
Christian and you shall have enough religion to make you miserable–be
wholly a Christian and your joy shall be full! Walk with God in the
light as He is in the light and you shall have fellowship with Him,
such as shall make earth akin to Heaven!
But take a little light and a little darkness and attempt to make a
mixture of them–seek to join the Church and the world–and you shall
have neither the pleasures of the world nor the comforts of the Spirit.
It is a pity for a man to miss joys which an angel might covet! What an
injury such professors are to the Church! Each one pulls his companions
up or drags them down. Every man in the Church is either a help or a
hindrance. No Christian man can live to himself. He may attempt to
confine himself within his own ribs, button up his coat and fancy that
what he does is to himself, alone, and that his tongue and his heart
are his own, but it is not so. A smell steals forth from every man's
life and it is either like the spikenard of the alabaster box, or like
the reeking of a dung-hill. God help us to remember our influence upon
others!
Think, also, how much the world is injured by Christians who are not
Christians! Oh Friends, we need, nowadays, a sterling Christianity! We
cannot do with German silver, now! We must have the real metal. I was
about to say I would sooner you had no religion and made no pretence to
having any, than to have the imitation of it. Sin is real today. We
have heard enough of how far sinners will go–they venture not only to
the brink of Hell, but they snatch the accursed fire out of the pit,
itself, and bring it into our city! Shall saints be shams, when sinners
are so real? Shall Baal have worshippers that cut themselves with
knives and leap upon his altar in the frenzy of their lust–and shall
Jehovah have only a faithless company who, as yet, are halting between
two opinions and do not know whether He is God or not? Oh for a Church
of God that will shake itself loose from the world! If we had but one
such Church, there would be hope for our age. God send it!
Last of all, how is Christ shamed and dishonored when we are not holy,
but worldly, covetous, proud and unloving! Oh, Sirs, it seems to me
that since the foundation of God was laid in agony and bloody sweat
and, since God Himself became Incarnate that He might lay the
foundation of holiness in the world, we ought to take heed how and what
we build thereon! We must come to it, for, "other foundation can no man
lay." And it behooves us to come very solemnly to it and to know what
we mean by building thereon. True godliness is not to say, "I believe,"
but to believe! Not to talk of repentance, but to repent! It is not to
speak of regeneration, but to be born again! It is not to talk about
consecration, but really to live to God! It is not to speak about the
Holy Spirit, but to have Him dwelling in you!
Be it ours to have the Truth of God in the inward parts and Grace in
the core of the heart. Oh, may God bring us to this! We ask it for our
Lord Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
__________________________________________________________________