The Substance Of True Religion

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MAY 15, 1881,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"But you should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the
matter is found in me?" Job 19:28.

You will always understand a passage of Scripture better if you
carefully attend to its connection. The habit of picking out portions
from the Bible and separating them from their context may be carried a
great deal too far and in the process the reader may miss the mind of
the Spirit and force upon the words a meaning of his own. If we were to
treat men's books as we do God's Book we would, probably, be judged to
be insane! It is, indeed, a wonderful Book to bear such mangling! Every
sensible person will see that it must always be wise to study the
context, for it is likely enough to cast a light upon the passage in
hand.

Job, in the verse before us, is answering Bildad the Shuhite. Now, this
Bildad on two occasions had described Job as a hypocrite and accounted
for his dire distress by the fact that, though hypocrites may flourish
for a time, they will ultimately be destroyed. In the two bitter
speeches which he made, he described the hypocrite under the figure of
a tree which is torn up by the roots, or dim even down to the root. In
his first address, in the 8th chapter and the 16th verse, he says of
the hypocrite, "He is green before the sun and his branch shoots forth
in his garden. His roots are wrapped about the heap and sees the place
of stones. If he destroys him from his place, then it shall deny him,
saying, I have not seen you." Even the very root of the hypocrite was
to be pulled up, so that the garden in which he once flourished should
not remember that he had ever been there!

Being much pleased with his metaphor, Bildad, in the 18th chapter, uses
it again. He says, in the 14th verse of the chapter, "His confidence
shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the
king of terrors. His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall
his branch be cut off." This, then, was his mode of attacking Job–he
set forth, by the emblem of a tree, the state and fate of the
false-hearted–they might flourish for a time, but they would wither at
last, even down to the very root, dried up and blasted by the justice
of God. The inference he meant to draw was this–"You, Job, are utterly
dried up, for all your prosperity is gone and, therefore, you must be a
hypocrite." The assault was very cruel, but the sufferer successfully
parried it.

"No," says Job, "I am no hypocrite. I will prove it by your own words,
for the root of the matter is still in me and, therefore, I am no
hypocrite. Though I admit that I have lost branches, leaves, fruit and
flowers, yet I have not lost the root of the matter, for I hold the
essential faith as firmly as ever and, therefore, by your own argument,
I am no hypocrite. You should say, 'Why persecute we him, seeing the
root of the matter is found in me?'" There is, then, dear Friends, a
something in true religion which is its essential root. It has
fundamental matters which cannot be dispensed with under any
circumstances. Some things pertain to godliness, are useful as
ornaments, pleasant and desirable, yet these may be absent and still
there may be the truth of religion in the soul!

But there is a something which cannot be absent in any case without its
being certain that the man is not a true child of God. There is a
something which is vital, without which there is no spiritual life. Of
this essential thing we are going to speak, this morning, as we are
enabled by the Holy Spirit. Job derived comfort from the fact that the
root of the matter was in him, whatever his accusers might say, and I
trust that others will be encouraged as they, too, shall find that the
root of the matter is in them. It will be pleasant to my heart to cheer
the fainting and equally so if I can lead my stronger Brethren to deal
tenderly with such.

I. Our first thought will be that THIS ROOT OF THE MATTER MAY BE
CLEARLY DEFINED. We are not left in the dark as to what the essential
point of true religion is–it can be laid down with absolute certainty.
True, there has been considerable disputing over the phrase before us
and questions have been raised as to what Job meant by, "the root

of the matter," but I conceive that if we read the verse in its own
connection, apart from any extraneous suggestion, there will be no
doubt about its meaning. Commence at the 25th verse and read on as Job
spoke–he tells us plainly what is "the root of the matter." Here it
is–"I know that my Redeemer lives and He shall stand at the latter day
upon the earth: and though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet
in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself and my eyes
shall behold, and not another; though my reins are consumed within me."

This knowledge of the Redeemer is evidently the root of the matter.
Come, then, let us look more closely into this choice confession of
faith! I shall not attempt to expound this golden utterance, but I
shall glance at it with the one objective of showing what Job
considered to be the essence of true religion. And, first, it is clear
that "the root of the matter" is firm faith in the Redeemer! It is to
be able to say from the inmost heart, "I know that my Redeemer lives."
Not, "I think so," but, "I know"–for saving faith is certain and the
true Believer is a positive. Faith abhors conjectures! It will not put
its foot down upon fictions, but rests upon matters offact! Faith never
deals in the fancy goods of opinion, theory, speculation or
probability–she searches for the priceless pearl of certainty–she
must know!

Such was the faith of Job and he expresses it in firm, decided, clear
language, saying–"I know that my Redeemer lives." This faith was an
appropriating one, so that Job took to himself the Redeemer. "I know
that my Redeemer lives," laying hold upon the lord to be unto him all
that He was meant to be, namely, a Redeemer who would set him at
liberty from his misery! He embraced the Redeemer as his own and
believed that he would be raised by Him from the pit of corruption.
Come, Brothers and Sisters, have we such a faith as this? Have we a
faith which knows that there is a Savior able to redeem and sure to
accomplish the work?

And do we take Him for our own, saying–"my Redeemer"? This is the
point–Do we accept Him in His ordained office and cast our soul
entirely upon Him? Are we content to sink or swim with God's appointed
Savior? If saved, it shall be by Him! And at the foot of the Cross are
we content to lie and wait the issue? Whatever other redeemers there
may be, is the Lord Jesus our Redeemer in whom we trust as able to save
to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him? This is the "root of
the matter"–a recognition of the redeeming Lord and a simple
dependence upon Him for sure salvation! Look steadily at the passage
and especially gaze into its original meaning and you will see that in
this "root of the matter" there is a recognition of the blessed Christ
of God in the peculiar relationship which He has taken up to man.

It is, "I know that my goel, or kinsman, lives." You know what the next
of kin was among the Jews–it was he who must redeem the inheritance if
it had been alienated from the family. He was the guardian of those to
whom he was next of kin. If there had been manslaughter committed, it
was the goel, the near kinsman, who must take vengeance on behalf of
the murdered man. The goel was the patron of the weak ones of the
family and the defender of the whole clan. Boaz was the redeemer of
Ruth's patrimony because he was her next of kin after one other had
refused to fulfill the office. Beloved, this is a cardinal point of
saving faith, that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, is next of kin
to us poor, guilty men!

His name is Emmanuel, God With Us–not only God from before all worlds,
but God with us in our nature! The Word was made flesh! Jesus was born
at Bethlehem and there He was nursed at the breast of a woman. He lived
among our race, bearing our infirmities and tempted in all points like
as we are, though without sin. It is most sweet for faith to say He is
nearest of kin to me–my Goel, my Redeemer; bone of my bone and flesh
of my flesh–

"In ties of blood with sinners one." He is the Head, the Second Adam of
our race, a Brother born for adversity, yes, and more than a Brother!
Because He has deigned to enter into the closest of all relationships
with us by taking upon Himself our nature, the Lord Jesus has now
become our Redeemer, bound to restore to those who are in Him the
inheritance which was forfeited by the Fall. Glory be to His name! He
has restored that which He took not away! He has redeemed from the hand
of the enemy that which sin and Satan snatched from us by our first
parents' fault!

Nor is this all. The goel was bound, also, to avenge the quarrel of his
client. Our Lord is now our Advocate with the Father, pleading our
cause both by the words of His mouth and by the power of His arm. "You
have pleaded the causes of my soul," O Jesus! You are my Defender, my
Patron, my Shield and my exceeding great Reward! Brethren, this is the
root of the matter, to believe in the Incarnate God, to accept His
headship, to claim His kinship and to rely upon His Redemption! This is
the root of the matter, to call Jesus ours, our Kinsman and Redeemer
and then to leave everything in His hands–to commit to Him our cause,
our hopes, our fears, our past, our present and our future–and now and

throughout life to fix our entire confidence upon Him because it is His
office and prerogative to be the Redeemer of all that are akin to Him.
This is plain enough and there is no mist about it! Say, is the Son of
God all this to you?

Look at the text, farther, and you perceive that the root of the matter
is to believe that this Kinsman, this Redeemer lives! We could never
find comfort or salvation in one who had ceased to be! We have no
lively hope unless we believe that our Lord Jesus Christ was raised
from the dead! Job knew that the Redeemer lived in that capacity before
He died and we know that He always lives, though He once died and was
buried. If it were possible for us to believe in the merit of Christ's
death and to deny His Resurrection, our faith would have a fatal flaw
in it. "He was delivered for our offenses, but He was raised, again,
for our justification," and, therefore, we must believe in the
Resurrection or we are not justified! It is because He always lives to
make intercession for us that He is able to save to the uttermost them
that come unto God by Him!

In the Romish Church her images are the image of her faith. What Christ
is that which we see portrayed in places of worship of the papal order?
We see there, times without number, Jesus as a child in His mother's
arms–feeble, dependent, insignificant–well setting forth how the
worship of Christ is overshadowed by that of the Virgin and how His
blood and righteousness are forgotten amid the imaginary glories of
Mary! How else do you see the Savior in papal churches? Why, everywhere
He is represented as dead, as nailed to a cross, or wrapped in
winding-sheets. So far, so good, for we, also, believe in Christ who
died, though we set not up His image or picture! But Jesus is not now
dead, neither is He here among the tombs, for He has risen! It is
testified of Jesus that He lives! But in the Church of Rome it is the
priest that lives and sets and does all things, while the Christ of God
is virtually excluded and made of no use apart from sacraments and
ceremonies.

Our Savior is still living and active in the midst of His people and
this is one of the vital points of our holy faith. We address ourselves
at once to the living Redeemer and His present power to save is the
groundwork of our expectation of eternal life and resurrection! Oh, if
it were not for this, we might all despair! We would be the ministers
of a dead Christ and you would be Believers in a lifeless Savior! The
Cross would be a powerless doctrine and the Gospel a lifeless
mes-sage–and under it men would still lie dead in their trespasses and
sins! Our Redeemer lives in fullness of power to bless us by His
everlasting Priesthood! Say, then, dear Souls, do you believe in Jesus
Christ, your Kinsman? Do you believe that He has redeemed both your
persons and your inheritance? And do you believe that He lives, having
gone up into Glory to prepare a place for you? This is the "root of the
matter"–a living faith in a living Redeemer who, by His death, has
ransomed His people!

There was still more than this. Job believed in this next of kin of his
who still lived, that He would surely save him, seeing he trusted in
Him. He expected that He would right all things, however wrong they
might be, and clear the character of His servant. Job felt that though
his accusers might condemn him and his appeal to God might not win him
a vindication so that he might go down to his grave under a cloud of
reproach and lie there and rot with a dishonored memory, yet he would,
be one day, cleared. Though the worms might devour his body till no rag
or relic of him remained, yet his living Kinsman would never rest till
He had cleared him and enabled Job to see God without fear!

This is the grandeur of faith, to feel that whatever God may do with
me, if I am in Christ and behave myself as His faithful servant, He
will preserve me from all harm! My cause may seem so utterly dead that
it is only fit for worms' meat, but the Christ of God will bring forth
judgment unto victory! This is the work of faith, to cast my soul on
Christ, my next of kin whose business it is to redeem me–and though I
cannot see the way by which I am to be saved–yet to be sure that I
shall be! If my hopes perish and my soul sinks down into the dust of
death, yet to the uttermost, Christ can save me and He will–and I am
sure of it!

And when at last the death frost strikes cold at my heart and I can
help myself no more and human helpers fail me, I will commit my spirit
into the dear hands of Him who is nearest and dearest–and I shall
feel, in that last fainting hour, that His presence is my stay. Yes,
and I shall see my God, again, and even my poor failing body, full of
aches and pains and weakness, after resting in the grave a little
while, shall rise again in beauty and power! The grave is a refining
pot where the bodies of the saints are purified and made fit to dwell
with the pure and holy God forever! Faith has no question about the
Resurrection–she has not a mere hope, but a firmly assured belief so
that she cries–"I know that in my flesh, through Christ my Redeemer, I
shall see my God without fear."

Every man, in a certain sense, will see God, for every eye shall behold
the King upon the Throne of Judgment. But that expectation could not be
a ground of comfort and, therefore, more is here meant by seeing God.
Job evidently expected to see God with acceptance and with delight! And
this he felt quite sure about, though the corruption of his body looked
like an effectual barrier to the realization of such a hope. All his
friends may condemn him and treat him as an alien and a stranger, but
he so trusts himself with his Redeemer that he is quite sure of
justification before God and men! Those who have a Divine Advocate must
be cleared on the Judgment Day.

Now, Soul, answer this question–Do you commit yourself wholly and
entirely to the Mediator, the Incarnate God, the Kinsman of humanity?
Say, do you look only to your living Advocate in life, in death and in
eternity? Is Christ your All in All, your only and solid hope? Oh,
then, rest assured that "the root of the matter" is found in you! It is
clear that the essence of true religion can be clearly defined–Job has
defined it and there it is! Judge yourselves as to whether you possess
it or not.

II. Secondly, let us spend a few minutes in remarking that in our text
THIS FUNDAMENTAL MATTER IS MOST

INSTRUCTIVELY DESCRIBED by the words which I have so constantly
repeated–"the root of the matter." What does this mean? First, does it
not mean that which is essential? "The root of the matter." To a tree,
a root is absolutely essential–it is a mere pole or piece of timber if
there is no root. It can be a tree of a certain sort without branches
and, at certain seasons, without leaves, but not without a root. Look
at the trees in the winter. Their substance is in them when they lose
their leaves. The foliage has all fallen, but the bare branches and
trunk still make a tree because a root is there.

You may call it a tree even though only the trunk remains rooted to the
soil. But it is not a tree if you have taken the root away and set it
up in the hedge–it is mere dead timber for the scaffold or the fire.
So, if a man has faith in the Redeemer, though he may be destitute of a
thousand other most necessary things, yet the essential point is
settled–he that believes in Christ Jesus has everlasting life! If he
has faith, he has the substance of things hoped for and hope will turn
to experience as he grows in Divine Grace. But if he has no faith in
the Redeemer, he may make a towering profession; he may possess vast
knowledge; he may speak with the tongues of men and of angels and he
may outstrip all his companions in zeal, but he is not a plant of the
Lord's right hand planting, for he has no root in himself and will,
before long, wither away.

The root, again, is not only that which is vital to the tree, it is
from the root that the life-force proceeds by which the trunk and the
branches are nourished and sustained. There is hope for a tree, after
it is cut down, that it shall sprout again at the scent of water. As
long as there is a root, there is more or less of vitality and power to
grow and so faith in Christ is the vital point of religion–he that
believes lives. If you do not know the living Redeemer, you do not know
life. Without trust in the work of Jesus, a man may attempt to follow
the moral teachings of Jesus, but he will miss salvation since no
morals which do not begin with faith in God can be acceptable to the
Most High. The practical teaching of our holy religion is admirable and
we must obey it or be lost–and the root of holy living is faith in
Christ–and it cannot be produced otherwise.

I would not say a word against the right exercise of the emotions, or
the education of the understanding, or the regulation of the
passions–for all these are good as branches of the tree. But the root,
the living part of godliness, is our union to Christ by faith, our
laying hold upon the Incarnate Son of God as dying and rising, again,
on our behalf. Again, it is called the, "root of the matter," because
it comprehends all the rest, for everything is in the root. You walked
your garden in the winter and many plants were entirely
invisible–there was not the slightest token of their presence in the
soil. Now they are above ground, they are flowering, they are
proceeding to fruit. Where was the plant? It was all in the root. Leaf,
branch, fruit, seed–all were there.

Even so, all the elements of a perfect character lie hidden in faith in
Christ. The holiness of Heaven is packed away in the faith of a
penitent sinner. Look at the crocus bulb. It is a poor, mean,
unpromising sort of thing and yet wrapped up within that brown package
lies a golden cup which, in the early Spring, will be filled with
sunshine! You cannot see that wondrous chalice within the bulb, but He
who put it there knows where He has concealed His treasure! The showers
and the sun shall unwrap the folds and that dainty cup shall come forth
to be set upon God's great table of Nature as an intimation that the
feast of summer is soon to come!

The highest saintship on earth is hidden within the simplicity of a
sinner's faith like a flower within a seed. Yes, the perfect character
of those that are without fault before the Throne of God is all in
embryo within that first look of faith

which links the soul with the atoning merits of the great Redeemer! My
Brothers and Sisters, a young Heaven sleeps within your childlike
confidence in Christ! It will only need the culture of the Holy Spirit
to develop your new life into the perfect image of Christ Jesus your
Lord. Faith is the essence, the vitality, the sum of true godliness
and, therefore, it is called, "the root of the matter."

III. So I come, thirdly, to dwell upon a further remark–THIS ROOT OF
THE MATTER MAY BE PERSONALLY DISCERNED AS BEING IN A MAN'S OWN
POSSESSION. Job says to his teasing friends, "You should say, Why
persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?" Notice
the curious change of pronouns! "You should say, why persecute we him,
seeing the root of the matter is found in him?" That is how the words
would naturally run. But Job is so earnest to clear himself from
Bildad's insinuation that he is a hypocrite that he will not speak of
himself in the third person, but plainly declares, "The root of the
matter is found in me."

Job seems to say, "The vital part of the matter may or may not be in
you, but I know it is in me. You may not believe me, but I know it is
so and I tell you, to your faces, that no argument of yours can rob me
of this confidence; for as I know that my Redeemer lives, I know that
the root of the matter is found in me." Many Christian people are
afraid to speak in that fashion. They say, "I humbly hope it is so and
I trust it is so." That sounds pretty, but is it right? Is that the way
in which men speak about their houses and lands? Do you possess a
little freehold? Did I hear you answer, "I humbly hope that my house
and garden are my own"?

What? Then are your title-deeds so questionable that you do not know?
Is this the way in which you speak of your wages at the end of the
week? "I sometimes have a hope that these shillings are mine." Is that
the way you talk about your wife? Is that the manner in which you speak
of your own life? Are you afraid, even, to call your soul your own? No,
no! We demand certainties in reference to things of value and so it
ought to be with regard to Christ and eternity! We cannot put up with
mere hopes and surmises in reference to them. Believers should aim at
certainty about eternal things and learn to say, like Job, "I know that
my Redeemer lives," and, "The root of the matter is found in me." Note
well that sometimes this root needs to be searched for.

Job says "the root of the matter is found in me," as if he had looked
for it and made a discovery of what else had been hidden. Roots
generally lie underground and out of sight and so may our faith in the
Redeemer. His interest in the Redeemer may have been a question for
self-examination with Job when first his griefs came thick and heavy.
It may be a matter of search with us, too–

"He that never doubted of his state, He may–perhaps he may, too late."
I can understand a Christian doubting whether he is saved or not, but I
cannot understand his being happy while he continues to doubt about it,
nor happy at all till he is sure of it! Job had made his personal
condition the subject of investigation. He had dug beneath the surface
and had seen within his heart. You cannot always find roots in winter
time unless you use a spade and turn over the soil–there are winter
times with us when we cannot tell whether we have real faith in Christ
or not till we examine whether we are in the faith.

After searching, Job found the treasure and said, "the root of the
matter is found in me." And note again, the root of the matter in Job
was an inward thing. "The root of the matter is found in me." He did
not say, "I wear the outward garb of a religious man." No, but, "the
root of the matter is found in me." If you, my Hearers, are in the
possession of the essence of true Christianity, it does not lie in your
outward profession, your baptism, your Church membership, or your
reception of the Lord's Supper! It lies within your heart and mind.
Faith, which is the evidence of the inner life, is altogether spiritual
and inward. Its abode is within the vitals of the spiritual being–in
the very core of the renewed heart. True godliness is not separable
from the godly man–it is woven into him just as a thread enters into
the essence and substance of the fabric.

When Grace is found in us and we really believe in our Redeemer, we
ought to proclaim it, for Job says, "The root of the matter is found in
me. I know that my Redeemer lives." Are there not some among you who
have never said as much as that? Some of you who are Believers have
never yet acknowledged our Lord! What did I call some of you the other
day? I think I compared cowardly Believers to rats behind the wainscot
that come out at night to eat a crumb or two and then run in again. The
rat is a poor creature to be compared with–it is a domestic animal, I
suppose, for it lives in the

house–but it is not a beautiful object to be likened to and so I will
not compare you to it, although there might be more untruthful
comparisons.

I pray you try and change before I am driven to the simile. Never be
ashamed of Christ, but if you ever are, be more ashamed of yourselves!
There ought to be an open declaration of our faith whenever it is
necessary, for it is written, "Be you always ready to give a reason for
the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." The fact of our having
the root of the matter in us will be a great comfort to us. "Alas,"
says Job, "my servant will not come when I call him. My wife is strange
to me, my kinsfolk fail me–but I know that my Redeemer lives! Bildad
and Zophar and others of them all condemn me, but my conscience acquits
me, for I know that the root of the matter is in me."

It is a blessed thing to be able to hear the harsh speeches of men as
though we heard them not. What does it matter how others judge me if I
know what I know and am sure in my own soul that I am right with God?
What if men find fault with our eyes–does it matter, if we can say,
"One thing I know, whereas I was once blind now I see"? Critics may
find fault with our experience and they may call our earnest
utterances, cant, but this will not affect the truth of our conversion
or the acceptableness of our testimony for Jesus! If the little bird
within our bosom sings sweetly, it is of small consequence if all the
owls in the world hoot at us!

There is more real comfort in the possession of simple faith than in
the fond persuasion that you are in a high state of Divine Grace. When
we proudly think, "Oh, I need not look at the root of the matter, for
my flowers and fruits are more than sufficient evidence," we are
getting dangerously elevated. That man is in a perilous plight who
glories in himself, saying, "How useful I am! How gifted! How
influential! How highly my brethren think of me!" All this will turn
out to be unsubstantial comfort in the hour of trial. But the root of
the matter yields the sweetest and surest consolation at all times. If
your Redeemer lives, you shall have a candle lighted for you in the
darkest night! This fact will also be your defense against opposers.
Thus may you answer them in Job's fashion, "You ought not to condemn
me, for, though I am not what I ought to be, or what I want to be, or
what I shall be, yet still the root of the matter is found in me. Be
kind to me, therefore."

Carefully observe this, my dear young Friends. You have been lately
converted and if you fall in with those who are very stern and
censorious, you must not be surprised. Some venerable professors have
not so much grown ripe as sour and they show their sourness by
censuring their younger Brothers and Sisters. It does not occur to them
to say, "Why do we persecute him, seeing the root of the matter is in
him?" But you may defend yourself against their hard speeches by
declaring that you believe in the Savior even as they do! Say to them,
"I do not know as much about the Lord Jesus as you do, but I most
heartily trust Him. He is as much my Redeemer as He is yours. Do not,
therefore, drive me from your company, but deal gently with me, as with
a lamb of the flock."

I hope that you who are now young and timid will become strong in the
Lord before long and be no longer in danger from severe judgments. And
when that comes about I hope that you will, by experience, be very
gentle with those who are weak in the faith. If our friends are sincere
in their attachment to the Redeemer, let us treat them as our Brothers
and Sisters in Christ. Thus much on our third point.

IV. Now we come to the fourth subject of discourse, which is a
practical lesson from the text for those Believers in Christ who have
passed beyond the root stage into a further development. Notice, then,
that THIS ROOT OF THE MATTER IS TO BE TENDERLY RESPECTED BY ALL WHO SEE
IT. "You should say, why persecute we him, seeing the root of the
matter is found in me?" What a rebuke this is to the persecutions which
have been carried on by nominal Christians against each other, sect
against sect! Romanists have fiercely persecuted Protestants and
Protestants have persecuted one another. If they had but listened to
their gracious Lord and Savior, they would have heard Him whisper, "You
should say, why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is
found in Me?"

How can those who trust in the same Savior rend and devour each other?
In many of the islands of the South Seas our missionaries have been the
means of converting the people to the faith. In one of these the shaven
crowns of Rome began to put in their appearance with the view of
turning away the people from the faith to the errors of Rome. Among
their cunning instruments of conversion was a picture representing the
tree of the Church. Certain twigs were represented as rotten–they were
out off and were falling into the fire–these were such persons as
Luther, Calvin and other famous teachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Protestant missionaries, too, were dead twigs and were all to be
removed from the tree. The natives were not quite sure about this and
made more enquiries. Certain other branches were green and
vigorous–these were the priests of the Catholic Church and the larger
branches were bishops and cardinals of the same community. The natives
were not quite clear about that and passed on to examine the trunk.
This, of course, consisted of an array of popes, of whom the islanders
had never heard. They passed on, hoping to come to something they knew
and so they did, for at the bottom was the name of our Lord Jesus. The
enquiring islanders said, "And what is this at the bottom, marked with
the name of Jesus?" "That is the root," said the priest. "Well, then,"
shouted the natives, "we have the root! The new teachers say we have
the root and so we are all right–our missionaries have told us the
truth."

There was philosophy in that. Let us see to it that "we have the root."
Friend, do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God? If so, you have
the root! I shall be very sorry if you belong to the Church of Rome,
for she teaches much error. But if you rest only in Christ Jesus you
will be saved. Do you believe in the once crucified but now living
Christ? Well, my Brother, I am sorry you should be a high-churchman, or
anything else which is not according to Scripture, but your faith has
saved you! I pray you think the same of me, if I, too, am a Believer in
the one Redeemer. If I believe and rest my soul on the one salvation
which God has provided in Christ Jesus, have charity towards me, for
this Rock will bear both you and me. This should end all religious
persecutions.

But next it ought to be the end of all ungenerous denunciations. If I
know that a man is really believing in Jesus Christ, I may not treat
him as an enemy. If I perceive that he holds a great many wrong
notions, I am to be grieved at his mistakes and to labor for his
instruction, but I ought not to feel hatred towards him. It is my duty,
especially if I am a public instructor, to expose and refute his
errors, but as for the man, himself, if he trusts in the atoning blood,
I am not to treat him as a reprobate. Does he believe in only Jesus
Christ? Does he hold to the vital, fundamental Truths of God? Then I am
not to make him an offender for a word and twist his language into a
meaning what he never intended by it. I am too near akin to every
Believer in Jesus to take down bell, book and candle and excommunicate
him for not being so well-instructed as he might be!

If the Redeemer is next of kin to me and next of kin to him, why, then,
we are near of kin to one another and it is unseemly for us to strive
together being Brothers in Christ! For the faith and against all errors
we are bound to contend, but anything like personal animosity must be
far from us. O for more Christian love! If the root of the matter is in
any man, do not let us persecute him, but encourage him. "Well, but I
could not enter into any Christian work with him, nor enjoy fellowship
with him, for he does not agree with me." Is it, indeed, so? The Lord
have pity upon you! I should not wonder but what you are the worse man
of the two–he may be wrong in head, but you are certainly wrong in
heart.

Very frequently it happens that the man who has most of the spirit of
love is also the man who is nearest to the Truth of God and I generally
assume that he who is the least sour is the most sound. The party who
most needs to be questioned as to whether the root of the matter is in
him is the Brother who has no love. He whose spirit is perfumed with
love to others not only has the root, but something of the branch, too,
for love is the fair outgrowth of faith. Death to error, death to sin,
but salvation to the sinner and life to the Believer, notwithstanding
all his mistakes! Let denunciations and exclusiveness be ended forever
and let us admit our kinship with all who are in Christ!

Further than this, the question is, "Why persecute we him?" We can do
that by a cold mistrust. I have seen chill suspicion exercised by good
solid substantial Christians who have had a chronic fear and trembling
lest new converts should not be true converts. The young man seems to
be very earnest. He is evidently much impressed. He forsakes his sin
and there is a great change in him. He boldly declares his faith in
Jesus Christ, but the jealous guardian of the purity of the Church
objects, for the young man was converted in an irregular way–he did
not go among the Presbyterians or Baptists, or Congregationalists, or
Evangelical Church people and get saved in a respectable manner! No, he
went out in the street and he heard a mere ranter, or a Salvation Army
captain and, therefore, it is feared that it cannot be a genuine work
of Grace!

The cautious Brother does not say much, but he draws himself into
himself and retires from the person whom he suspects, just as a snail
draws in his horns and hides himself in his shell. The elder Brother is
angry and will not go in and in that way he persecutes the returning
prodigal! Why, some of these icy critics will cause the very marrow of
a poor fellow's bones to freeze while he looks at him! Do not let us
stand off in holy isolation from any who have the root of the matter in
them! Why should we persecute such? Let us encourage them and give them
information upon the points in

which they are deficient. Some people appear to think that every
convert ought to be born a fully developed man in Christ Jesus, even
as, according to mythology, Minerva sprang from the brain of Jove a
full length woman, fully armed, shield and spear and all!

I do not see people born again in this fashion. I believe that some of
God's men who are to be leaders are born with beards and very early
exhibit a knowledge far beyond their years which sets them in the front
from the first–but for the most part, God's children are little when
they are born, even as ours are. When my sons first came to my house
they were by no means the young men they are now. I should think it
likely that the same may be said of your children! What wonder, then,
that it is so in God's house! Little children cannot run alone and
cannot even speak plainly. Besides, they make strange noises and by
their cries they become a nuisance to those who have no sympathy with
babies. And so it is with new-born Christians–they cannot run as we
wish them to and they cannot spit out the Doctrines of Grace as we
desire, or pray as we should like them to pray. Well, but they are
little children. And they are alive! Let us not bury them, but let us
nurse them!

It is one of the duties of mature Christians to take these children and
nurse them for God, for He will give us our wages. Dear Brothers and
Sisters, I beg you to be on the lookout in this congregation for those
who have just received the root of the matter–those that have just had
the Seed of God dropped into their soul! It has hardly begun to sprout,
but you can see it is there. They can just say–

"We are poor sinners, and nothing at all, But Jesus Christ is our All
in All." Do not frighten them, do not distress them, do not chill them
like a sharp frost! Cheer and encourage them and say, "I, too, was once
as you are–Yes, and I, too, often am as you are. Yes, and I, too,
sometimes wish I were still as you are, for I would still be on my
knees, keeping humbly dependent upon Christ. Come, if elder Brothers
and Sisters will not receive you, I will and I will cheer you and
encourage you for Jesus' sake."

Well, try and do that this morning, if you can, before you leave the
Tabernacle. There may be somebody sitting next to you who just needs a
word. Try it. I know some will be quite frightened at your venturing to
speak to them. Very well, frighten them a little, it will not hurt
them! Try the power of courteous personal appeal. It may be if you
frighten one or two you will be the means of blessing so many more that
if those who are frightened do not forgive you, they will not break
your heart. God Himself will not, because there will be nothing to
forgive. He will commend you for what you have done and I pray you,
therefore, do it for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
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Everyday Religion