Supposing Him to Have Been in the Company

Supposing Him to Have Been in the Company

(No. 1724)

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JUNE 3, 1883,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Supposing Him to ha ve been in the company." Luke 2:44.

ALL who were present on the occasion are sure to remember our
meditation upon, "Supposing Him to Be the Gardener" [Sermon #1699,
Volume 29.] Although it was only supposition and evidently a mistake,
yet it yielded us most profitable thought. Here is another supposition,
again a mistake–a mistake which yielded a good deal of sorrow to those
who made it–and yet in the hands of God's Spirit, it may bring forth
profitable instruction to us as we think it over.

I. We will begin our discourse by saying THAT THIS WAS A MOST NATURAL
SUPPOSITION. That the Child, Jesus, should have been in the company
returning to Nazareth was a most likely thing. When the Jews came up
from their different allotments, once each year to Jerusalem, they
formed family groups at their first starting and then, as they got a
little on the road, these groups combined and made larger bands. And as
the roads approached to Jerusalem, the people gathered into great
caravans–thus they went up to the House of God in company. It must
have been a delightful season, especially if they sang those "Psalms of
degrees" which are supposed to have been written for such pilgrims.
What with prayer, praise, holy conversation and with the prospect of
meeting together in Jerusalem, they must have been happy bands of
pilgrims!

It was natural enough then, when all was over at Jerusalem, the Child,
Jesus, should return home. His parents knew that when they were ready
to return, He would be ready to go with them. But failing to meet with
them, they figured He would join the company with which He came and so
go back to Nazareth. His parents did not expect to find Him wandering
alone–they looked for Him in the company. Jesus was a child who loved
society. He was not stoical and thus selfishly self-contained–and He
was not sullen, avoiding society. He did not affect singularity. In the
highest sense, He was singular, for He was "holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners," but throughout His life He never aimed at
singularity either in dress, food, speech, or behavior.

He grew up to be a Man among men, mixing with them, even at weddings
and funerals–no man was more truly human than the Man, Christ Jesus.
It is to be believed that as a Child He was like other children in all
things but sin. Even as a Man, He was like other men in all but evil.
Jesus was not one whose company would be shunned because of His ill
manners–rather would it be courted because of the sweetness of His
disposition. He would not make Himself disagreeable and then crown that
disagreeableness by stealing away from those whom He had vexed. They
knew the sweetness of their dear Child's Character and the sociableness
of His disposition and, therefore, they supposed Him to have been in
the company.

This supposition would even more readily occur to us, knowing what we
know about Him, which is more than His parents knew. For we know that
of old His delights were with the sons of men. We know that He often
came among men in angel form before His Incarnation and that when He
came into the world He came seeking men. As a Man, He never seemed
happier than when He was in the midst of His disciples, or surrounded
by publicans and sinners, or feeding famishing crowds. He was so great
a lover of mankind that He loved to be "in the company." Living and
working in such a city as this, with all its millions, the burden is
enough to break one's heart as we consider the city's sins, its
irreligion, its neglect of God. It is sweet to hope that He who loved
to be "in the company," when He was here, will certainly come and bless
these throngs of men!

If ever a physician was needed, it is in this vast hospital. If ever a
shepherd was needed, it is among these perishing sheep. Jesus has such
a love to the sons of men and such a wish to gather them to Himself,
that even now His redeeming work is done! He is still always with us.
He has been lifted up and now He draws all men to Himself and,
therefore, we

expect to find Him in the center of these throngs. Those who go into
the dense masses of humanity may expect this same Jesus to be with them
in full power to save. Rescue the perishing and He will be in the
company! It was a most natural supposition because of the sweetness and
friendliness of His temper, that His parents would find Jesus in the
company.

They never suspected that He would be found in any wrong place. No
thought ever crossed their minds that He would be found in any haunt of
vice, or in any assembly of vanity, though such could have been found
in Jerusalem. We expect to meet our Lord and the throng of perishing
men and women, seeking and saving them–but we know that we shall not
find Him among those who find pleasure in noisy laughter and lawless
mirth. We never look for Jesus in the theater or the drinking
saloon–it would be profanity to suppose Him there!

We never look for Him where a question of morals might be raised, for
He is undefiled. We expect to find Him where His people meet for
worship. We look for Him where honest men are laboring hard for their
daily bread, or where they are suffering His Father's will, but we
never dream of His being found where the world, the flesh and the devil
hold supreme control. Let His example be followed by us! Let us never
go where our Master would not have gone. There are some places where we
cannot suppose Him to have been–in those places let it not be
supposable that we can be! Let us go only where we can remain in
fellowship with our Divine Master and where we should be happy to be
found if He were suddenly to come in His kingdom.

Let us judge of where we may go by enquiring, "Would Jesus have gone
there?" and if He would not have gone, let our feet refuse to carry us
that way.

II. But, secondly, THIS SUPPOSITION BROUGHT THEM GREAT SORROW, from
which I gather that we ought, with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ, to
leave nothing as a matter of supposition. By supposing Him to have been
in the company, they were made to miss Him and to seek Him, sorrowing
for three days. Why did they lose sight of Him at all? Why did they not
abide with Him? We may not blame them, for He did not–but, at any
rate, they fell into days and nights of trouble by supposing something
about Him. Do not suppose anything about Jesus at all. Do not suppose
anything about His Character, His doctrines or His work–go in for
certainty on such points.

I have heard of a German who evolved a camel out of his own inner
consciousness. What kind of a camel it was, I do not know–but many
persons evolve a Christ out of their own imaginations. Do not do it! If
you do this, you will make yourselves a Christ nothing like Jesus–it
will be a mere image–a false Christ, an idol Christ. No human thought
could ever have invented our Savior! We put it to all those who doubt
the Inspiration of the four Evangelists–would they kindly write us a
fifth gospel? Could they even suggest another action of Jesus which
would fit into the rest and be of the same order? They cannot do it!

The whole conception of Jesus is original and Divine. It is not
possible that the most ingenious fancy can add anything to the life of
Christ which would square with that which is recorded. If you chance to
read the Prot Evangelism, or the Gospel of the Infancy which are
spurious narratives of the Childhood of Jesus, you will throw them into
the fire and say at once, "These do not fit in with the records of the
true Evangelists. These stories are ludicrously unlike the Child,
Jesus." In fact, all the books which pretend to be a part of the canon
will be detected and rejected at once by the simplest reader who is
thoroughly versed in the four Evangelists. Do not, therefore, suppose
anything concerning Jesus, but read the Word of God and see what is
revealed about Him.

Never clip the King's coin, but accept it as it is minted in all its
purity and preciousness. Add not to the perfect Word of God, lest
plagues be added to you. What the Holy Spirit has written concerning
the Man, Christ Jesus, the everlasting Son of God, receive humbly and
do not import suppositions into your theology. This has been the cause
of the division of the Church into sects–the bones of contention have
not been revealed Truths of God, but imagined fictions! I may invent
one theory and another man, another, and we shall each fight for his
theory. An hypothesis is set up and supported by the letter of
Scripture, though not by the spirit of it–and straightway men begin to
differ, dispute and divide. Let us lay aside all suppositions, for
these things will only bring us sorrow in the end. Let us believe in
the real Jesus as He is revealed in the Scriptures and as the Holy
Spirit graciously enables us to behold Him in the glass of the Word of
God. "Supposing Him to have been in the company." This supposition
caused Jesus' parents great sorrow.

Again, I say, Beloved, do not take anything about Jesus at haphazard
and perhaps. Let this Truth apply to your personal dealing with Him,
as, for instance, do not suppose Him to be in your hearts. Do not
suppose that because you were baptized in infancy you are, therefore,
in Christ and Christ in you. That is a dangerous supposition! Do not
say, "But I

have been baptized as a professed Believer and, therefore, Jesus is in
my heart." The inward Grace is not tied to the outward sign! Water
Baptism does not convey the Spirit of God. Blessed are they who, having
the Spirit, can use the ordinance to their profit, but do not suppose
that the Grace of God is tied to any outward rite.

Do not say, "I have eaten at the communion table and, therefore, Jesus
is in my heart." You may eat and drink at His table and yet never know
Him–and He may never know you. Outward ceremonies convey no Grace to
graceless persons. Do not take it for granted that because you are
admitted into a Christian Church, and are generally accepted as being a
Believer, that, therefore, you must be so. I dread lest any of you
should think your Church membership to be a certificate of salvation!
It was not given to you with that view–we judged favorably of your
conduct and profession–but we could not read your heart! Do not even
suppose that Grace must necessarily be in your souls because you have
been professing Christians for a great many years, for the lapse of the
will does not turn falsehood into truth!

It is difficult to know how long hypocrisy can be kept up, or how far a
man may be self-deceived. It is even possible that he may die with his
eyes blinded through the exceeding deceitfulness of sin. Do not suppose
that Jesus is in your heart because you are an elder, or a deacon, or a
pastor! I will not make any supposition in my own case, for woe is unto
me if, after having preached to others, I myself should be a castaway!
Such things have happened–Judas was one of the Twelve. Men have been
sweet of voice and yet bitter of heart–they have been taught in the
Word of God as to the letter, but they have not known the power of the
everlasting Spirit–and so they have perished!

Verily, I say unto you, in Christ's name, unless the Spirit of God
actually rests upon each one of us personally, it will be all in vain
for us to suppose that He is in our hearts because of professions and
ordinances, for the supposition may be a damning falsehood and may lull
us into a fatal slumber. How terrible to be taken out to execution with
our eyes bandaged by a supposition! Again, dear Friends, do not ever
suppose that Christ is in our assemblies because we meet in this house.
Do not go up to a place of worship and think Jesus is sure to be there.
He may not have been there for many a day! Is it not sad that out of
the tens of thousands of assemblies held on this day there will be many
in which Jesus will not be present–for His Gospel will not be
preached, or if preached–it will not be set forth in the living power
of the Holy Spirit! Christ is not present where He is not honored.

All your architecture, all your millinery, all your music, all your
learning, all your eloquence are of small account. Jesus may be absent
when all these things are present in profusion. And then your public
worship will only be the magnificent funeral of religion, but the life
of God will be far away! It brings great sorrow in the long run to a
Church if they take it for granted that Jesus must be among them. Our
question every Sunday morning ought to be, "What do you think, will He
come to the feast?" If He does not come to the feast, it will be the
mockery of a festival, but no bread will be on the table for hungry
souls. We must have our Lord in our company or we will break our hearts
over His absence! We desire His Presence even in the smallest Prayer
Meeting and in our minor gatherings when we meet to consult as to His
work. If He awakens us by His Spirit and reveals to us that He was not
in our former meetings, we will seek Him sorrowing, as His father and
mother did.

Once more, let us not take it for granted that the Lord Jesus is
necessarily with us in our Christian labors. Do we not, too often, go
out to do good without special prayer, imagining that Jesus must surely
be with us as a matter of course? Perhaps we thus conclude because He
has been with us so long, or because we feel ourselves fully equipped
for the occasion, or because we do not even think whether He is with us
or not. This is perilous! If Jesus is not with us, we toil all the
night and we take nothing. But if Jesus is with us, He teaches us how
to cast the net and a great multitude of fish are taken! If Jesus is
not with us, we are like Samson when his hair was shorn–he went out as
at other times thinking to smite the Philistines hip and thigh, as he
had done before, but as Watts puts it, he–

"Shook his vain limbs with vast surprise, Made feeble fight and lost
his eyes." So shall we be defeated if we imagine that we can succeed
without fresh Divine assistance–the fact being that we ought to seek
the Lord in prayer before the smallest Christian engagement–and then
we may reap in it the most important result of our lives. You are going
to see a poor bedridden old woman. Do not attempt to comfort this
King's daughter without first seeking the Presence of "the Consolation
of Israel." You are going to teach your Sunday school class this
afternoon. You have done it so many times that you eat your lunch and
walk off to the school scarcely thinking

enough about what you are doing to breathe a prayer for your Lord's
help! Is this right? Can you afford to waste one single Sunday
afternoon, or one opportunity to speak for Jesus? And yet, it will be
wasted if He is not with you.

Some of your children may be dead before next Sunday, or never come to
the class again! Go not, even once, without your Lord. Do not sit down
to teach as if you had Jesus at your command and were sure that of
necessity He must succeed your endeavors! He will withdraw from us if
we fall into a careless, prayerless habit. Why was He not with His
mother that day? Truly He had to be about the business of His heavenly
Father, but why did He permit His human mother to miss Him? Was it not
because she needed to be taught, as well as the rest of us, the value
of His company? Perhaps if we never missed Him, we might not know how
sweet He is!

I can picture Mary, when she had lost the dear Child, weeping floods of
tears. Then she began to understand what old Simeon meant when he said,
"Yes, a sword shall pierce through your own heart, also." The sword was
piercing her heart, even then, to prepare her for three other days in
which she would mourn Him as dead with still bitterer grief. See how
she enquired everywhere, "Have you seen Him?" She reminds me of the
spouse in the Song, "Have you seen Him whom my soul loves?" I think I
see her going through the streets and saying, at the close of the day,
"I sought Him, but I found Him not." Everywhere the same question,
"Have you seen Him whom my soul loves?" But she gets no tidings of Him.
Peace is all unknown to her till she finds Him.

But, oh, how precious He was in her eyes when, at last, she discovered
Him in the Temple! How careful she was of Him afterwards. How happy to
think that no harm had come to her dear charge! If you and I ever lose
the society of Christ in our service, we will go to Him, and cry, "My
Lord, do not leave me again! What a fool I am if You are not my wisdom!
How weak I am if You are not my strength! How worse than silent I am if
You are not my mouth to me! How heartless is all my talk and how flat
it falls upon the hearer's ears, if You are not the spirit and the life
of all my speaking!" Oh, if all our preaching and teaching were in the
power of the Presence of our Divine Master, how different it would be!

Do then, learn the lesson, Brothers and Sisters, as I desire to learn
it for myself, that we must not take anything for granted about Jesus.
We must make sure work concerning eternal things, for if these are
allowed to slip, where are we? Grasp the Truth of God and know that it
is the Truth of God! Never be satisfied with "ifs," and "buts," and, "I
hope so," and, "I trust so," but make sure of Christ! If you are not
sure about the health of your body, yet be sure about your being in
Christ and so healthy in soul! If you are not sure about the solvency
of your firm; if you are not sure about the deeds of your estate; if
you are not sure about your marriage, yet at least be sure that you
have Jesus within your heart! If you have any doubt, today, give no
sleep to your eyes nor slumber to your eyelids until the Holy Spirit,
Himself, has sealed upon your spirit the certainty that Jesus is yours!
Thus have I used the supposition in two ways.

III. Now for a third lesson–THE SUPPOSITION made by these two good
people MAY INSTRUCT US. Let us use it as this, then, and turn to,
"Supposing Him to have been in the company." I speak now to children
who are hearing this sermon. This is for you. Jesus was about 12 years
old and you are of much the same age. Suppose He had been in the
company returning to Nazareth–how would He have behaved Himself? Think
of Jesus as an example for yourselves. I am sure, when the whole
company sang a Psalm, that bright-eyed Boy would have been among the
sweetest singers! He would have sung most heartily the praises of God,
His Father! There would have been no inattention or weariness in Him
when God was to be praised. You would have numbered the Holy Child
among the most devout worshippers.

Therefore, dear children, whenever you come in among God's people, give
your whole hearts to the worship–pray with us and sing with us–and
endeavor to drink in the Truth of God which is spoken, for so will you
be like the holy Jesus. Let all boys and girls pray that among God's
people they may behave as Jesus would have done. I feel persuaded that
Jesus would have been found in that company listening to those who
talked of holy things! Especially would He have been eager to hear
explanations of what He had seen in the Temple.

When the conversation turned upon the Paschal lamb, how that dear
Child, who was "the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the
world," would have listened to it! I think I see His sweet face turned
towards those who spoke of the sprinkled blood. He would surely have
said, "What do you mean by this ordinance?" He would have been anxious
to share with the grown-up people all the solemn thoughts of the day.
So whenever you come up to the House of God, try and learn all that you
can from all the teaching of God's Word. Seek good company and learn by
it. Have a deaf ear to

those who speak wickedly, but always be ready to listen to everything
about your God, your Savior, your faith and the Heaven where you hope
to dwell.

I feel sure, also, that if He had been in the company going home, He
would have been the most obliging, helpful, pleasing child in all the
company–if anybody had needed to have a burden carried, this Boy of 12
would have been the first to offer! As far as His strength allowed, if
any kindly deed could be done, He would be first in doing it. He grew
in favor both with God and men because He laid Himself out to be
everybody's servant. Mary's Son won the love of all around, for He was
so unselfish, kind, gentle and willing. He did all that He could to
make others happy and blessed are those boys and girls who learn this
lesson well. Oh, children, you will be happy if you live to make others
happy! Act thus to your parents, brothers and sisters, friends and
schoolfellows–and you will, in this, be like Jesus.

I am sure, also, that Jesus would not have done in that company as too
many boys are apt to do. He would not have been mischievous, noisy,
annoying and disobedient–but He would have been a comfort and delight
to all about Him. No doubt but He would have been the liveliest and
most cheerful boy in the whole company, yet He would not have been
rough, coarse, willful, or cruel. There would have been no quarreling
where He was–His very Presence would have bred peace among all the
children that were with Him. I should like you to think over all that
Jesus would have done and would not have done. And then I should be
glad to see you acting as He did. Take this little word home with you,
dear children. Ask yourselves often, "What would Jesus do?" For what
Jesus would have done is the best rule for you.

And now to you elder folks, "supposing Him to have been in the
company," and you had been in the company, I will warrant there is not
one father or mother but what would have been willing to care for Him.
Every matron here says, "I would have taken Him under my wing." You say
that honestly, do you not? You mean it, I am sure. Well, you have an
opportunity of proving that you are sincere, for Jesus is still in our
company. You can find Him in the form of the poor. If you would have
watched over Him, relieve their needs–do it to the least of these, and
you have done it unto Him. You can find Jesus in the form of the
sick–visit them. I wish more of God's people would addict themselves
to calling upon the sick, visiting them in their homes and cheering
them in their needs.

As you say you would have taken care of Jesus, prove it at once by
remembering His Words, "I was sick and you visited Me." If you would
have taken care of Jesus, you can show it by caring for the young, for
every young child comes to us under the guardian care of Him who said,
"Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not." You
that spend your leisure in seeking to bless the young are proving that
if you had been in that company, you would have taken care of the
Child, Jesus. Above all, consider the orphans! For, had He been in that
company, He would have been practically an orphan, for He would have
lost, for a while, both father and mother. Many among you have such
fond maternal hearts that you would have said, "I must look after that
bright, beautiful Boy who is now without parents. Evidently He has lost
them. Come here Child, come here!"

You would have felt a joy to have kissed Him and folded Him to your
bosom. Prove it by looking after orphan children wherever they are–and
let each represent to you the Jesus of that day as He would have been
had His parents' supposition been correct. Let us see that the love you
feel to Jesus when you read your Bibles is not mere emotion or
sentiment, but that practical principle lies at the back of it and
affects your life and conduct. So far have we gone and I hope not
altogether without profit. May the Spirit of God help us yet further.

IV. But now I change the line of our thought altogether for a little
while. Forget the Child Jesus, now, and let me use

the words concerning Jesus in the fullness of His power. SUPPOSING HIM
TO BE IN OUR COMPANY IN ALL HIS

GRACIOUS INFLUENCE, what then? Then, Brothers and Sisters, first, how
happy will such company be! For with Christ known to be in their
company, saints cannot but be glad! You may have seen a picture
representing certain of the martyrs sitting together in prison. They
are to be burned, by-and-by, and they are comforting each other. Now,
supposing Him to have been in their company, as I doubt not He was, I
could wish to have been there even at the price of sharing their
burning–wouldn't you?

Or look, a few poor people met together in a cottage talking about
Jesus, as people seldom do now–Jesus is there and their hearts are
burning within them! How favored they are! If their hearts might
otherwise have been sad, yet supposing Him to be in the company–how
restful all the mourners become–how light every burden grows, how
every aching heart rejoices, for in His Presence there is fullness of
joy! Get but Christ into your family circle and it is a ring of
delight! Supposing Jesus to be in the company, next how united His
people will all become! Whenever Christian people

fall out, it is because Jesus is not in their company. Whenever there
is a lack of love; whenever there is a lack of forbearance; when people
fall to fault-finding and quarrelling, one with the other, my heart
says to me, "Supposing Him to have been in the company, they would not
have acted so."

They would have looked at Him and straightway have forgiven one
another! No, they would hardly have had need to forgive, for they would
neither have given nor taken offense, and their hearts would have
flowed together in one common stream. The sheep are scattered
everywhere upon the hills till the Shepherd comes! They know His voice
and they gather to Him! Jesus is the center and the source of unity and
when we have Him reigning in His full glory in the midst of the Church,
divisions and schisms will cease to be. "Supposing Him to have been in
the company," how holy they would all grow! Sin dies as Jesus looks
upon it and men's wayward passions yield to His sweet sway. How devout
would all hearts be, "supposing Him to be in the company!"

What prayer there is and what praise! There is no hurrying over morning
devotion, no falling asleep at the bedside at night when Jesus is in
our company! Then our heart is praying all day long and we delight to
pray together for His coming and His kingdom. How teachable we are,
too, when Jesus is in the company, opening the Scriptures and opening
our hearts–what sweet communion we enjoy. How souls go out to His soul
and hearts to His heart–and how fine we knit together in the one
Christ! How happy, how united, how holy is the company supposing Jesus
to be in it! When Jesus is in the company how lively they all are! Why,
in these warm mornings, some seem half inclined to fall asleep, even in
the House of Prayer–"The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is
weak."

But when Jesus is in the company, the spirit triumphs over the flesh
and we feel full of life, power and energy in the Divine service! When
our hearts burn within us because of His Words, our bodies cannot
freeze. When the soul is quickened by His Presence, then the whole man
is awakened. As when the sun rises, his light wakes thousands of
sleepers, though no voice is heard, so the smiles of Jesus awaken a
sleeping Church and stir it to zeal and energy. If Jesus is in the
company, how earnest we grow! How zealous for His Glory! How intent to
win souls! I am afraid it is because Jesus is not in the company that
we allow many sinners to go by us without a warning and we neglect fine
opportunities for serving our Lord.

You have heard of holy Mr. Payson, the American Divine, a man who
walked with God in his ministry. He was out one day with a brother
minister who had to make a call at a lady's house and Payson went in
with him. The lady pressed them both to stay to tea. She was not a
Christian woman and Payson had other business and, therefore, he
declined. But as she pressed him very earnestly, he sat down and
invoked the Divine blessing which he did in terms so sweet and full of
holy unction that he impressed everybody. The lady waited upon him with
great attention and when he rose up to go, he said to her, "Madam, I
thank you much for your great kindness to me, but how do you treat my
Master?" A work of Grace was worked in that lady by the question–she
was brought to Jesus and she opened her house for preaching–and a
revival followed.

Now, if Jesus had not been with Payson, what had become of that woman?
I fear that we go in and out among dying men and women and we let them
perish–yes, we let them be damned without an effort for their
salvation–and all because we have not obeyed the voice which speaks to
us as it did to Abraham, "I am God Almighty, walk before Me and be you
perfect." We shall never be perfected as the servants of God unless we
walk in His conscious Presence. But if we walk before Him and He is
with us, then shall we be earnest in the winning of souls. I am sure,
dear Friends, that if Jesus is in the company, then we shall be
confident and all doubts will vanish. How firmly shall we believe
because we are living in fellowship with "the Truth"! How safely we
shall be guarded against temptation, even as the sheep are safe from
the wolf when the shepherd is near!

What blessed, heavenly lives shall we lead! Surely it will be a small
change for us to rise from earth to Heaven if Jesus is always in the
company, in the family, in the business, in our labors, recreations, in
our joys and sorrows!

V. Lastly, I want to dwell, for just a minute, by way of touching the
conscience, upon the reflection that JESUS HAS BEEN IN THE
COMPANY–whether we have seen Him or not. I want you to look back upon
what He has seen in your company supposing Him to have been there, when
you were disputing the other night. Yes, a point of doctrine had come
up and you differed over it. Did you not wax very warm, my Brother,
even so as to grow red in the face? Did you not go away from that
friend with whom you disputed almost hating him? You know you did!
Supposing Jesus to have been in the company? He was there and He was
grieved at the way in which you remembered His doctrine but forgot His
spirit!

Had you perceived His Presence, you would have put your argument much
more sweetly, and you would have spoken, not for the sake of beating
your friend in argument, but for the sake of instructing him and
glorifying your Lord.

You know that you did not yield a point you ought to have yielded. You
knew you were wrong at the time, but your friend pushed you hard and
you said to yourself, "I will not give way though I see that he is
right." Although I suppose that we shall differ about many points till
the Lord comes, yet when differences arise, they will present fair
opportunities for holy charity and mutual edification and these will
gladly be seized if Jesus is in the company. When next we argue, let
each one say, "Jesus is in this company and, therefore, while we speak
up for what we believe to be true, let us do it in a loving spirit.''
Our arguments will not lose force by being steeped in love. Truth is
never stronger than when it walks with charity.

Then, again, it may be that some little time ago certain of you were
acting in such a way that no common observer could have seen any
difference between you and worldlings. You were out in business,
dealing with one who was trying to do his best for himself, and you
were trying to do your best for yourselves. Do I blame you? Not for
being prudent and circumspect–but I hope you will blame yourselves for
going far beyond this. You did nothing which I may style
dishon-est–but did you not sail dreadfully near the wind? You stated
something which I must not call a lie, but still, it was not true as
you meant it to be understood, was it? Businessmen too often aim at
getting undue advantage of each other–it is "diamond cuts diamond,"
and rather worse at times. If Christian men, in all their dealings,
would suppose Jesus to be in the company, how it would change their
manners!

Think of Jesus on this side of the counter along with you who sell, and
on that side of the counter along with you who buy. You both need His
Presence, for the buyer is generally quite as intent upon cheating as
the seller! He wants the goods for less than they are worth and the
seller, therefore, baits the hook for him. They are both deceivers but
the blame is not all on one. When persons must have goods far below the
price for which they can be produced, they must not marvel if they find
that they are sold an inferior article which looks well enough but
turns out to be worthless. Oh, that you Christian people would always
suppose Jesus to be in your company! I can hardly imagine Judas
cheating John with Jesus looking on–nor Philip trading hardly with the
lad who had the barley loaves!

Should not our dealings among the sons of men be such as Jesus can
approve? He is our Master and Lord–let us imitate Him and do nothing
that we would be ashamed for Him to look upon. Do not accuse me of
being personal this morning, for if you do, I will plead guilty! If the
cap fits, you wear it! The other day you were in company and certain
persons were talking profanely, or was it skepticism which they vented?
And you, as Christ's disciple, heard them and what did you do? Did you
bear witness for the Truth of God? They made a joke–it was not very
clean, but you laughed! Did you not? And, alas, you said nothing for
your Lord! Yet He was in the company, seeing all! You had several
opportunities, but you did not put in a word for Truth and holiness!

Now, supposing Jesus to have been in the company? I think He must have
been sorely grieved. Surely your Lord must have thought, "What? All
this said against Me and never a word in reply from him whom I redeemed
with My own blood!" Was not this Peter, all over again, in his denials
of his Lord? You did not deny Him with oaths and curses, but the same
cowardly spirit ruled you! Oh, if you had but come out in your true
colors! You do not know what an influence you might have had for good!
If we set the Lord Jesus Christ always before us, should we not be
brave to testify and quick to defend? Think, again, of those evenings
when a few friends meet together–are they not often a waste of time?
"Supposing Him to have been in the company," as He really is, do you
think the evenings should be spent as they frequently are?

Dr. Chalmers, a truly devout man, tells us that once, at a nobleman's
house, he spent an evening with various friends and talked over the
question of the cause and cure of pauperism–a subject most suitable
for conversation. An aged Highland chieftain among the company listened
with great attention to the doctor, for Chalmers was master of the
subject. Surely they had not spent the evening amiss. But in the night
an unusual noise and a heavy groan were heard. The chieftain was dying.
In a few minutes he was dead and Dr. Chalmers stood over him, the
picture of distress. "Alas," he cried, "had I known that my friend was
within a few minutes of eternity, I would have preached to him and to
you Christ Jesus and Him crucified."

With how much more reason may many Christians repent of their
conversation! How bitterly may they look back upon wasted hours!
Supposing Jesus to have been in the company, how often must He have
been grieved by our frivoli-

ties! Do you not think that it is greatly to our discredit as Christian
people that we should so often meet and so seldom pray? The happiest
evenings that Christians spend are when they talk, even upon secular
subjects, in a gracious manner, and do not fail to rise to holier
themes–and mingle prayer and thanksgiving with their talk! Then when
they retire, they feel that they have spent the evening as Jesus would
approve. Did I not hear, the other day, of some Christian friend who
was going to give up working for Christ? And of a dozen Christian
friends who were going to break up and no more go on with their holy
service for Jesus?

One was going to leave the Sunday school in which he had been for
years! Another was going to allow a weak Church to break up and go to
pieces, for he had grown tired of working under discouragements.
Another said, "I have had my turn, let somebody else do the work."
Supposing Jesus to have been in the company, do you think that such
observations pleased Him? If Jesus were perceived among us, would any
of us turn his back in the day of battle? No, Brothers and Sisters,
since Jesus is with us, let us serve Him as long as we have any being!
Remember John Newton's speech when they told him that he was too old to
preach–the venerable man exclaimed "What? Should the old African
blasphemer cease to preach while there is breath in his body? Never!"

Do not suffer any difficulty, or infirmity to prevent your persevering
in the service of Jesus in some form or other. And when you feel as if
you must leave the ranks, suppose Him to be in the company–and march
on! Forward, Brethren! Jesus heads the way! Forward, for His Presence
is victory! God bless you, dear Friends, and all this day may Jesus be
in the company to make it a hallowed Sabbath to your souls. Amen.