(1.) _A wide-spread departure from Christian morals_. “For men shall be
lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection,
truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those
that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more
than lovers of God;” iii. 2–4.
How sad a picture, but how true! It is surely drawn from what God
foresaw in present life! We have here a class of men sealed unto Christ
by baptism, and, while they bear his name, dishonouring his kingdom.
There is no evidence that they are born again of God, no fruit of the
Spirit, no sign of his inward guidance. Love they have, but it is
absorbed by self, and become hateful. For heavenly-mindedness, they are
carried on by worldly covetousness; and, instead of wrestling for God,
they are grasping, labouring, speculating for money. In the pride of
wealth and intellect they grow boastful of their successes, and blaspheme
the Lord who gave them. Parents are neglected and disobeyed; and, as is
usually the case, when the earthly parent is set at nought, the heavenly
Father is disregarded also; for self-confidence and self-pleasing reign
in the unthankful and unholy heart.
Natural affection falls next, and the vile temper vents itself in savage
fierceness even against the wife, the child, the brother. Promises are
broken, slanderous reports are circulated, wives are neglected,
profligate companions are adopted; and the children of God are despised
and scoffed at, as absurd in their peculiarities, and contemptible in
their faith.
Governments again are disobeyed, political factions plot against the
state, dignities are evil spoken of; and, strong in their own conceit,
heady and high-minded men regard their own intellect as their only guide,
and their own will as their only law. Meanwhile God is forgotten in a
wide-spread thirst for pleasure; sabbaths are broken in pursuit of
pleasure, souls endangered, and all for pleasure. Pleasure is the idol;
the phantom before which they bow; the vain idea on which they fix their
hearts’ best love. They are “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
God.” Such, saith the Scripture, is to be the moral character of vast
multitudes of professed believers in the latter days.
(2.) And now look at what may be termed their _religious_ character.
We have already remarked they will retain the form of godliness. There
is no open rejection of the name or the outward acts of Christianity: in
appearance their standard is high, for it is a form of _godliness_. But,
with all this, they deny its power; they do not like its soul-searching
message. They would not for the world be accounted any thing but
serious, they are regular and attentive at the round of the church’s
services; they welcome your words so long as you speak of the externals
of religion; but, when you search into the real matter, the new birth by
the Holy Ghost; pardon through the Lamb’s blood; justification freely
given through his righteousness; the deep humiliation of those who live
by grace; the weaning of the affections from the world, and the fixing
them unreservedly on Christ; then it is that the natural man rises up,
and, if not by words, they will by facts deny its power. They will live
as much in the world as ever. They will have the form of godliness at
the sacrament on Sunday, they will deny its power by their eager thirst
after gain and pleasure through the week. They will approve the form
when the services are reverently conducted in the church: they will deny
the power when called upon to cleave anew to Christ in life.
And, even when there is not this cleaving to the world, there may be the
denial of its power in conjunction with the form of godliness. Such is
the case when the church and its forms are made more prominent than
Christ and his grace. There may be the form of godliness in the
expression of peculiar reverence for the things of God, in frequent
bowings, in the constant use of the epithet “holy,” and in humble
submission to the church’s teaching. But with all this there may be the
stopping short of the power of a lively faith. The church may be like
the painted window disguising the true colouring of the sun; the soul may
be resting on the church’s ordinances rather than the cross; baptism may
be exalted, and the new birth by the Holy Ghost forgotten; while the mind
becomes so subjected to the church’s teaching, that it dares not presume
to make a fearless use of the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God. When such is the case, we have the form of godliness without the
power.
(3.) A third feature of the character of the church in the latter days,
as here described by prophecy, is _an ignorance of_, _and aversion to_,
_the truth as it is in Jesus_.
In chap. iii. _v._ 7, there is a description of future ignorance: “Ever
learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
In chap. iv. _vv._ 3 & 4, this ignorance is turned into actual aversion.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and
shall be turned unto fables.” And this is the more remarkable if you
observe that the ignorance of truth does not arise from neglect. They
are not like persons who pass it by as a thing of no importance, who turn
aside from the whole matter; but they are “ever learning.” They will
make the thing their study, they will have many books and read them, they
will ransack human literature, they will be able to quote human
testimonies, they will strive to unravel the tangled mazes of patristic
theology. And, what says the prophecy respecting their success? They
are “never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Why is this?
How can it be, that with all this fair form of godliness, with all this
deep research and learning, they are yet outstripped by some simple
cottager who knows only his bible and his Lord? The prophecy must again
reply, and it shows that the defect is rather in the heart than in the
head; for (iv. 3) “they will not endure,” they do not like, “sound
doctrine;” and again (iii. 8) “they resist the truth.” Truth is
presented and resisted, and then they will turn to fables. They are
blinded, because they will not see; their mind is turned unto fables;
just because their heart has never been turned in true repentance to the
cross. They are exactly like those whom St. Paul describes as led astray
by the man of sin: “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in
them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned
who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness;” 2
Thess. ii. 10–12. They have pleasure in unrighteousness, and therefore
cannot love the truth. The result is a strong delusion, a judicial
blindness, an incapacity of receiving Christ. In their latter stages
they really think they are conscientious; they are not hypocrites or
infidels, but have schooled their understanding into the belief of the
fables to which their heart is turned. Having begun by disliking the
truth, they end by believing lies. “For this cause shall God send them
strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.”
(4.) But there is a fourth remark from the prophecy of no small
importance; _viz._ this; _the apostacy will be found not merely amongst
the laity_, _but the clergy_, _i.e._ amongst those who exercise the
office of the ministry in the house of God.
Ordination cannot effect regeneration. The Bishop’s hands may give the
pastor’s office, but they cannot give the pastor’s spirit; and thus there
will be amongst the clergy the same leaven of corruption that there is
amongst the flock. Like priest, like people. Thus you will observe in
the prophecy that there is to be no lack of teachers in the latter days.
There will be deceivers as well as the deceived, and men will “heap to
themselves teachers, having itching ears;” iv. iii. Nor will these be
mere upstarts rising up without legitimate ordination, for let us turn to
the parallel prophecy, Acts, xx. 29 & 30. These words were addressed by
St. Paul to the elders of the church of Ephesus, the very men over whom
Timothy presided as a bishop. They are therefore closely connected with
the epistle, the only difference being that they are addressed to
different officers of the same church. It is only consistent therefore
to suppose them to relate to the same apostacy. Nor can there be any
doubt as to the ecclesiastical position of the persons addressed; they
had authority higher even than Apostolic; for the command was given them
“Take heed unto yourselves and to the flock over the which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers.” And now what says the prophecy? It contains
the description of a two-fold danger, from without and from within: some
shall arise without and break in upon the church’s fold, “I know this,
that after my departing, shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not
sparing the flock;” _v._ 29. But others shall spring up within, in the
very midst of a rightly ordained ministry, corrupting the faith without
attacking it. “Also, of your own selves shall men arise, speaking
perverse things, to draw away disciples after them;” _v._ 30.
And this makes the latter days so pre-eminently perilous; seduction
within is vastly more dangerous than attack without. How much more when
it arises amongst the consecrated guardians of truth! If the defection
were limited to the laity, the believer’s path would be comparatively
easy; but here lies the danger, that the truth will be resisted by the
very men whose sole office it is to teach it; perverted by those who are
solemnly entrusted with its maintenance; that there will be traitors in
the very heart of the camp of God; that men holding the church’s orders,
and thereby winning to themselves the church’s confidence, will draw away
disciples after them, and, retaining their ecclesiastical position, will
employ its influence as the secret antagonists of the truth. {41}
Such being the predicted condition of the visible church in the latter
days, it remains only that we draw from the prophecy two or three
important practical conclusions.
(1.) There is no Scriptural warrant for expecting infallibility in the
visible church.
We need not pause to examine into the frail and feeble arguments on which
the claim to such a gift is based, nor need we attempt to follow
controversial writers in their contradictory endeavours to ascertain its
seat. Let that seat be what it may, whether popes alone, or councils
alone, or councils summoned under pontifical authority, we are prepared
to prove from the prophetic Scriptures that there are no circumstances
whatever under which any body of uninspired men can claim to be received
as unerring authority by the church. If ever there has been a necessity
for an infallible living voice to preserve the truth, and to cut off
heresy by decrees, that necessity, all must admit, will be vastly
multiplied in the latter days. Then there will be the false Christs
foretold by our Lord; then the three unclean spirits will go forth to
seduce professors; then the man of sin will be seated in the temple of
God, and then, if ever, the infallible decree will be needful to assert
the truth. But who at such a time is to decree it? There will be, as we
have shown, a body of men within the church, corrupting the truth,
resisting the truth, turned unto fables, believing lies. Are such
persons to be admitted to the church’s councils, or are they not? Are
they, or are they not, to take a part in the decision? If they are,
there is too much reason to fear it would be vitiated by their fables,
that the dead fly would cause to stink the apothecary’s ointment. But,
if not, how are they to be excluded? By what tests is the council to be
purified? They will all retain the form of godliness; they will appear
with all the weight of ecclesiastical position, and apostolical
ordination; there will be nothing wanting in the regularity of their
orders, the validity of their sacraments, or the apparent godliness of
their life; they will subscribe to any forms, and sign any articles; nor
will there be any visible, tangible, criterion, by which they can be
excluded from the church’s ministry or council chamber; but yet, if
admitted, they will draw away disciples after them, and by speaking
perverse things will vitiate every decision in which they are permitted
to take a part.
The prophetic Scriptures, therefore, are in perfect harmony with the
remainder of the bible and lead us like it to the one infallible rule of
faith, the written word of the living God. To this St. Paul directed
Timothy; for, after having foretold the seductive errors about to arise
and advance within the church, he leads him to the bible as the only sure
resting place, and says, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy
Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith
which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect,
throughly furnished unto all good works;” _vv._ 15–17. He seems here to
place the infallibility of the word in direct contrast to the fallibility
of men. In the course of his prophecy he has shown that amongst those
who retain the form of godliness there will spring up many who deny its
power; but then, turning to the written word, he says, “_All_ Scripture
is given by inspiration of God;” every sentence is infallible, every word
inspired. On this alone is there any sure footing for those that would
stand the shock of the latter days. If they lean on tradition, on
councils, on popes, or even on devoted ministers whose characters they
revere, and whose ministry they have found a blessing to their souls,
they are leaning after all on man, on man who may fail them at the very
crisis of their peril; but, when they draw truth from the fountain of
truth, they may receive it with unreserved reliance, for God himself has
given it, and declared by the Holy Ghost that it “is able to make us wise
unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
(2.) The people of God should not be shaken in their faith by the
dangers which they observe within the church.
In saying this, it is not intended to under-rate the deep anxiety of the
times in which we live. On the contrary, we believe the conflict now
rising amongst professors to be one of so vast a moment as to have been
the subject of prophetic warning no less than eighteen hundred years ago.
But, at the same time men should not be soon shaken in mind or troubled.
Our faith should rather be confirmed than weakened; for, as the
fulfilment of each prophecy gives additional strength to our confidence
in the prophet, so the rise of each new danger within the visible church
should only add to our unshaken reliance on the divine authority, and
unaltered infallibility of the word. If the guide through some unknown
country were to warn us at the outset of our journey that, as we
approached the close, we should find the path narrow, the bye-ways many,
and the guides divided, we might feel distressed when his words were
verified, but each new danger would increase our confidence in his
guidance. So it is with the church. The path is narrow, the journey
difficult and dangerous, but we must remember that the Guide told us of
it at the outset, and the one result should be that we trust him more
unreservedly, and lean with more peaceful security on his word. This is
the use which our Lord himself has taught us to make of rising dangers.
For mark his words: “When these things begin to come to pass, then look
up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh;” Luke, xxi.
28. Believers are not to look down in discouragement, but to look up in
hope. They are to take courage and be cheered on to fresh victories;
they are to rejoice in the unfailing character of the word, and
witnessing the progress of predicted dangers, are to look joyfully for
predicted joys; they are to regard these fearful times as forerunners of
their coming glory, and, fear being absorbed in hope, are to watch in
joyful expectation for their crowning blessedness at the advent of their
Lord.
(3.) How precious are the promises of a Saviour’s preserving grace!
It has been shown that the latter days will be days of peril, that there
will spring up seducing teachers even in the very heart of Christianity
in its purest form, that no articles or ecclesiastical system can avail
to prevent their rise and progress, and that no human tests can separate
the reality from the form of godliness. As these latter days approach,
we are bound to apprehend these spiritual perils for ourselves and our
little ones; we must expect our sons and daughters, as they grow up into
the world, to be attacked by this deadly pestilence, and, unless
preserved by grace, blighted and withered ere the lovely bloom be formed.
In perilous times we live; for perilous times we are training our
families. Oh! the blessedness of those precious promises which assure us
that he will keep his own children to the end! Oh! the peace of being
able to fall back upon those gracious words, “I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of my hand!” Keeping to them we need not tremble at the subtle and
skilful combination with which the enemy leads on his mighty hosts
against the truth; nor need we shrink from the struggle in the deep
consciousness of weakness, insufficiency, and ignorance. No! Believers!
ye are in the right hand of the Lord; ye are purchased by the blood of
Jesus, and loved with an everlasting love; ye are under the sacred
teaching of the Holy Ghost, and by him called, preserved, taught, and
sanctified; ye must therefore be content to cast away all earthly
dependencies, to cease from every arm of flesh, to throw yourselves
without either reserve or doubt on Him who has redeemed you by his blood;
resting on his word as alone infallible, and abiding in his grace as the
one and all-sufficient source of life, strength, peace, and holiness.
“Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”
LECTURE III.
THE PEOPLE OF GOD.
IN considering the state of the world as foretold in prophecy preparatory
to the advent of our blessed Lord, we have been led thus far to much
matter of a distressing character; we have had to draw the picture of a
busy world steeped in apathy, and a professing church full of apostacy;
the prospect has in very truth been fearful, gloomy, and disheartening;
but we are now to turn to brighter topics, and draw our thoughts to the
beloved family of God’s faithful children, to the little band of
justified believers, to those that are new born of God, to the blessed
church of God’s elect: we are to examine prophecy respecting them; we are
to search into their character, joys, and sorrows; and to gather from the
testimony of the Spirit the condition in which they will be found at the
advent of our Lord.
* * * * *