These two subjects form the great matter of their protest. “They keep
the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” They are not occupied
by secondary matters, nor debating on ecclesiastical distinctions. Such
questions would not justify their separation. The word of God and the
Son of God are the grand points for which they struggle.
Now this, let it be well observed, is the exact position of the faithful
Protestant. As witnesses we are forced into separation from the great
mass of professing Christendom. We were compelled at the Reformation
either to abandon truth, or to quit the church which claims to itself the
name of Catholic. And what is the subject matter of our protest? What
are the points for which we struggle? If we were to search throughout
the English language for any one short sentence, which should contain at
once the sum and substance of our Protestant profession, I know of none
that could be so exactly suitable as that with which the Holy Ghost has
furnished us,—“the witness of Jesus and the Word of God.” The whole of
the Protestant controversy branches out from this one passage: it
contains the germ of the whole argument.
Now there is something very cheering in this conclusion. We are often
taunted with our disunion from the (so called) Catholic church: we are
often reproached because we are in a state of separation. But we give
thanks for those reproaches. They are amongst the title-deeds of our
inheritance; they help to prove us what we wish to be, the saints of God,
and the witnesses for Christ. Had the Spirit of God described the saints
in the latter days, as united under one vicar upon earth, as swaying the
sceptre of unresisted power, as exercising lordship over kings and
potentates, as reigning triumphantly through the known world, then indeed
we should have trembled. But now it is the reverse. Our position is
exactly that ascribed to the saints of God in prophecy; the position of
Rome exactly that ascribed to the man of sin. The Scriptures tell us
plainly that the saints in the latter days must stand aloof from the
great apostacy, raising against it the voice of protest; and it fills our
heart with gladness to find ourselves in that exact position. The saints
of God are described in prophecy almost by the very name of “Protestant.”
We are not ashamed, therefore, of the blessed title, but following the
guidance of the prophetic Scriptures, we had rather far be called
“Protestant” than “Catholic.” He that sits in the temple of God, showing
himself that he is God, he is sure to claim for himself the name of
Catholic, but he that is the servant of God must stand out boldly as the
unflinching Protestant for Christ.
(2) This also is the security of the saints.
To stand against the apostacy of the latter days, they must be drawing
truth from God himself, and deriving life from Christ himself. They must
listen to God himself, as speaking to them in his own inspired word, they
must be kept by Christ himself while they believe on him as their only
Lord. Their strength lies in this, that there is no curtain, no veil, no
cloud between the soul and God—no second Mediator to convey the truth to
them, or to convey them to Christ. They go straight into the presence of
the Father: they learn his own word from his own lips, and they are
ushered into his presence by his own well-beloved Son. So it is that
they “overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
testimony.”
This is their safety against error. In the doubts, and dangers, and
delusions of the latter days, they rest on that which is infallible.
Holy writers may mislead; human guides may fail; the most attractive
ministers may become spellbound by the seductions of the day; but the
Word of God remains unaltered and unalterable; and the saints of God must
stand secure, being taught by the Spirit to depend on it alone for truth.
This is their security against a fall. They bear their testimony to the
glories of Christ’s grace, and meanwhile they rest secure in it. As
witnesses for Christ, they are believers in Christ. The foundation on
which they build is Christ himself. They lean on his atonement, his
all-sufficient sacrifice, his perfect and complete redemption, nor can
all the storms of hell prevail to shake their safety. The anchor of
their soul entereth into that within the veil; and though they may here
be tossed and troubled, no trouble, no turmoil, no distraction can tear
them from the anchor that is fixed fast in the sanctuary of God. They
derive their strength from Christ himself, as seated at the right hand of
God; they live with him in the enjoyment of a direct and immediate union
with himself; “Their life is hid with Christ in God:” and no man can rend
the bond; no distractions can burst the union; nor can all the devils in
hell combined prevail to pluck one single saint out of the faithful hand
of his redeeming Lord. “I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
And now, dear brethren, to conclude. I have preached these sermons under
the deep conviction that clouds are gathering around us, and that our
great sifting time is near. Eighteen hundred years have nearly passed
since the Saviour said, “I come quickly.” Nor are there signs wanting of
his approach. There is to be seen throughout the world a breaking down
of fixed principles of religious belief, a spirit of un-settlement
brooding over the minds of men, and a loose indifference to the
unscriptural claims of Rome. All this is predicted as a sign of his
approach. Let us then stand fast in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ
alone. As pardoned sinners, let us cling to the cross; as justified
believers, let us go boldly to the throne of grace; as God’s elect, let
us rally round the banner of the Lamb. Then men of expediency may
forsake the truth in the hour of its need; men ignorant of their bibles
may be carried off by the seducing spirits of the latter days: men of
unbelief may scoff alike at our fears and hopes; but Christ will hold us
fast in his own right hand till the day of his coming. Clouds may
gather, black as hell; storms may burst, terrific in their crash; but we
shall be kept safe in the pavilion of our God, till we join the one,
vast, harmonious hymn of praise, which will swell up from the whole
company of God’s elect, to welcome Christ as he comes forth in his
kingdom, the Redeemer, the Advocate, the Strength, the Salvation of his
saints.